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The Jewish Star February 17, 2012
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A watched pot is boiling overand all the cooks are stirring the potBy Juda Engelmayer
Disturbing video images from Syria show ci-vilians being used as shields for Syrian troops. They are fi rst seen standing, then seemingly lying dead having served the purpose of the advancing Syrian guards. This, as documents leaked from President Bashar Al-Assad’s offi ce reveal that Iran has been helping Syria circum-vent sanctions by handing over $1 billion to
continue slaughtering its civilians.
United Nations Sec-retary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the ferocity of the Syrian assault, saying “I fear that the appalling bru-tality we are witnessing in Homs, with heavy weapons fi ring into civil-ian neighborhoods, is a grim harbinger of things
to come.” He sees the inevitable end to this too.The U.N. is frozen, unable to do anything
about the slaughter of some 6000 people. Se-curity Council mainstays like China and Russia have vetoed any attempts at intervention. Not-withstanding how easy it is for both to act fast when condemning the State of Israel for de-fending itself – even when it fi rst drops leafl ets warning civilians of its intent to strike, the Syr-ian government has little to worry about from the world body.
While the war against the Syrian people rages on, Iran’s fi ngerprints were found in some failed attempts to kill Israeli diplomats around the world; in India, Thailand and Georgia. Al-though they deny it, the Iranian plot was ex-posed when the terrorists were caught in Thai-land with Iranian passports in hand. That one blew his leg off trying to lob a grenade at Thai police only proves incompetence, not detach-ment.
Now there are heightened threats of Iranian
VOL 11, NO 7 ■ FEBRUARY 16, 2012 / 24 SHEVAT 5772 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM
Soaring like an eagle...scout’s honor Page 3 Kosher Bookworm: Aleppo and the Jewish connection Page 5Who’s in the kitchen: Apples compute Page 11 Miriam’s musings: Reading, writing, history Page 15
THE JEWISH STAR
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Senate candidate:‘Don’t second guess Israel’
By Malka Eisenberg and Karen C. Green
Even in his home region, George Maragos is not yet a household name.
But the Nassau County Comptroller, a Republican, is confi dent he can mount a strong campaign against Democratic in-cumbent U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and that he can make a difference in the “dysfunctional” atmosphere of Washing-ton, DC.
Maybe he gets his confi dence from the fact that he has already succeeded in every fi eld he has worked in — from tele-communications, to defense, to banking and fi nance and, ultimately, to politics.
Declaring that he “came into politics to do the right thing,” Maragos present-ed his policy points to The Jewish Star
staff this week as he prepared to take on his fi rst hurdle in the Senate
race — the Republican primary in March.
“The Jewish community is very supportive,” hesaid. “It’s very diffi cult
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Juda Engelmayer
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George Maragos says he wants to be the ‘common sense’ Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Watched potattacks on Jewish and Israeli interests in the U.S. It would seem that Iran is provoking Israeli or American action to create a worldwide ca-lamity. Controlled by the promise of power, oil and fi nancial interests and not the mandate of actually bridging the world of nations, the U.N. remains powerless.
Once again, Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to block a passageway for a fi fth of the world’s oil supply. If Iran does this, it would also make countries that are holding up action in the U.N. against Syria more dependent on Iran’s oil and more prone to do its bidding.
Oil plays a critical role in setting policy and policing human rights or abuses around the world, and it begs the question as to why the United States does not act faster to develop better alternative energy solutions, or why we allow politics to interfere with matters like the Keystone pipeline that could replace a signifi -cant quantity of Middle East oil with Canadian crude. We allow issues like electioneering and foreign threats to oppose one another and de-feat rational thinking.
The Iranian threat has been brewing for a long time. As it is a very dangerous and diffi cult situation to manage, leaders of rational coun-tries quietly hope that someone else will strike at the problem fi rst and remove their burden. Some are actually being less quiet while trying to play down their encouragement of a preemp-tive strike.
Leon Panetta, the U.S. Defense Secretary made no secret in his declaration that he be-lieved Israel would strike Iran. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote on February 2, “Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June - before Iran enters what Israelis described as a ‘zone of immunity’ to commence building a nuclear bomb.” This week, however, Panetta backed off and refused to confi rm that he said it at all.
Then on February 9th, after Iranian state television reported on evidence that the U.S. was behind the assassinations of its scientists, NBC News cited Obama administration insid-ers suggesting that Israel’s Mossad had trained the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) to assas-sinate Iran’s nuclear scientists.
If true, why would it benefi t the U.S. to re-veal this and possibly provoke Iranian action, which it may have done with the attempts on the lives of Israel’s diplomats this week?
For a nation like the U.S. to pawn off the re-sponsibility of Iran to Israel, through implied ac-ceptance of an inevitable action as Panetta did, or through actual provocation, as the unnamed White House sources did, is confrontational. Yet, it creates enough mayhem should an Israeli fi rst strike occur, and enables U.S. actions un-der the guise of protecting an ally or an interest rather than the more frowned upon act of actu-ally launching a fi rst strike.
This is a public relations strategy for America to insulate itself from blame of a strike on Iran. Partly for the sake of ultimate anemic approval from the inept U.N., but more to quell the op-position stemming from the American left who does not support military activity.
Syria’s boiling over with Iran’s money, and Iran itself is reaching a standoff with Israel and the west - which is facing a global economic cri-sis that cannot withstand any oil fl ow interrup-tions - something’s got to give. The groundwork is being laid for action. Whether or not the U.S. is making Israel a scapegoat for preemptive ac-tion is more about domestic policy and election-eering than real objection to that action.
As President Obama has been buttressing Is-rael’s military arsenal lately, we would be naïve to assume that Israel and United States are not lockstep on the fi nal course. The posturing is for constituency consumption and not critically indicative of true foreign policy.
Inside
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for a Republican to win a Senate seat in New York but no one expected me to win comp-troller. I’m resourceful enough to fi nd a way to get the job done. I wouldn’t do it unless I believed in my heart of hearts that I would be successful.”
He’s running for the upper house, he said, because so many State issues have to be dealt with at the Federal level and he wants to “ap-ply my energies where I can have the greatest impact.”
“That’s my only motivation,” he said. “We’ve stabilized the local government. We had a defi cit of $135 million, cut expenses and turned a surplus. We haven’t raised prop-erty taxes in three years and have done what we can. The taxpayers can’t pay anymore.”
With extensive experience in fi nance and management, Maragos speaks intelligently and comprehensively and yet to the point on a range of issues from health care, job growth, government spending, education, and Israel.
At our interview, the candidate — who came to North America as an eight-year-old — sat straight, his gray hair combed back, and spoke articulately with a slight accent, as he gazed intently through rimless wire glasses.
Don’t ‘second guess’ Israel
Emphasizing that he is “completely sup-portive” of Israel Maragos said that “the poli-cies of this administration served to isolate Israel and weaken its security. They set forces in control to the detriment of Israel’s and our national security. We are losing control of the Mideast to Islamic extremists. Disputed issues should not be debated and fought in public. Israel is in the middle of the Mideast and we should defer to their judgment and not second guess them from far away. It is insincere, inappropriate and counterproduc-tive to make comments; Israel is fi ghting for
its security, they live or die on a daily basis, we should be completely supportive.”
Obamacare must go
He noted that the objective of health care reform is insurance for all and controlled costs but costs have “accelerated upwards, with health insurance premiums up 30 per-cent and small companies electing to drop coverage because it is so prohibitively expen-sive, so more are losing health coverage.
“All agree that affordable healthcare for all is good but none of the controls are in place,” he added.
He insisted the Health Care Reform act must be repealed, calling it a “jobs killer as it stands.” He’s also a strong supporter of tort reform, aggressive attacks on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, interstate health insurance competition, and free and open pharmaceu-tical and medical markets.
Regulation stifl es job growth
“It’s the government’s responsibility to put people back to work,” he explained. “There are regulations in place that the fi -nancial industry can’t comply with,” he said, noting that businesses have moved overseas. “We need to align regulatory and tax policies to create incentives to bring manufacturing back to New York State,” he said, “We are na-ïve, we are not fi ghting back and are allowing the export of jobs. We need to make it attrac-tive for jobs to be here.”
He pointed out that in 2010, federal and state regulations added $10,000 per worker to the overall cost to a small business.
“GE had $5 billion in profi ts and Goldman Sachs had $6 billion in profi ts and neither paid corporate tax,” according to Maragos.
“Some businesses in Manhattan had 20-year property tax abatements,” he said, “On
the other hand, small companies will pay 30 percent in taxes and workman’s compensa-tion went up 20 percent last year.”
If elected, he would call for a policy of tax breaks and other incentives to bring busi-nesses back and keep them here.
The education monolith
“I think the education system has failed us,” Maragos said, noting that it costs $29,000 a year to educate students in grades K through 12 in the Great Neck public schools and it costs $70,000 for a student at New York University. In the middle class, he said, both parents have to work and pay taxes. He supports vouchers, “we have to break down the monolithic edu-cational system,” he added.
Where’s the leadership?
He questions the authenticity of recently released unemployment fi gures and statistics and sees “dysfunction” in Washington.
“What is the vision of the country? Where is it heading? There is no leadership.” Mara-gos has campaigned in counties up- and downstate and has been endorsed by Nassau County Conservative Party Chairman Dan Donovan and Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Mondello.
The candidate said that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand “has offended many people in her change from conservative to liberal” and called her a “rubber stamper to Senator Schumer and President Obama.”
A striving immigrant
Maragos was born in Greece in 1949, and immigrated with his family to Montreal, Canada when he was eight. After graduat-ing from McGill University, he married An-gela and went to work for Bell Canada/Bell
Northern Research. He was rapidly promotedto a management position there.
He was recruited by a New York consult-ing fi rm and got security clearance from the U.S. government to work on U.S. Military De-fense Command and Control Systems.
He later joined Chase Manhattan Bank working on international data and moneytransfers, becoming a vice president whileearning an MBA from Pace University. He be-came a U.S. citizen in 1985. After a term as Vice President at Citibank, Maragos foundedSDS Financial Technologies in 1989.
Railroaded into politics?
He decided to enter politics when, he re-counted, “on a train ride into the city I wasasked if I would be interested in running for public offi ce.” He considered running forState Comptroller but was persuaded to runfor County comptroller fi rst and “see howthat goes. The time was right to do some-thing different,” he added, “my son was inthe company (SDS) for seven years, so Icould just retire or retire into politics. I enjoybringing my expertise and experience to anew environment.”
Counting on common sense
He said that he is currently self-fundinghis campaign and is — as of now — run-ning unopposed, but will start fundraising ifhe gets 25% of the vote in the Republican primary. There is a lot of money and familysacrifi ce. Everybody is interested in a moresecure and better future. Around the state,[New Yorkers] fear the job situation, increas-es in costs, and more jobs moving overseas.”
“I have common sense experience,”stressed Maragos. “I have leadership skillsthat rely on building consensus to get thingsdone to work towards big ideas.”
Senate candidate: ‘Don’t second guess Israel’
By Karen C. Green
What started as a brief two week stint at a Massachusetts summer camp seven years ago, has turned into a commitment for An-drew Mermelstein, 17, of Woodmere. Just a week shy of his 18th birthday, Mermelstein, a senior at DRS yeshiva, has the unique distinction of being the fi rst Eagle Scout of Troop 613 to have been recognized with a Court of Honor ceremony.
On March 4, 2012, Young Israel of Wood-mere will host the ceremony followed by a breakfast to mark the auspicious occasion of receiving the coveted Eagle Scout award. Offi cials from the Theodore Roosevelt Coun-cil of the Boy Scouts of America, along with prominent elected offi cials, shul and commu-nity members will be in attendance to honor Andrew for his achievement.
Fewer than 4 percent of all Scouts in the United States ever earn the prestigious Eagle Scout Award which is a testament to its high standards. All the skills mastered, wisdom gained, and experiences enjoyed, on the trail to Eagle last a lifetime. They also strongly support —and enhance the achievement of— the goals of the home, the school, and the synagogue.
Andrew’s cousin, Dr. Howard Spielman, who initially got Andrew involved in Boy Scouts is not only the Scoutmaster to an or-thodox troop in Sharon, Massachusetts, he is also an enthusiastic mentor for frum scouts. At age 11, Andrew started his summer off by attending the two week Orthodox Scout camp in Massachusetts.
There, Andrew got to experience life with
the bare essentials, a far cry from life at home in The Five Towns. He slept in a lean-to in a sleeping bag on a cot without a mattress, he was covered with mosquito bites, used a latrine, showered in primitive stalls, took turns serving and cleaning up after meals and loved it.
He returned to the camp year after year, in addition to attending a mainstream Jew-ish camp for the second session of the sum-mer. Andrew loved the Scouting experience from day one and offi cially entered Scouting that same fi rst year by joining a troop in Mas-sachusetts. Participation in scouting activi-ties was obviously diffi cult for a boy living in Woodmere, New York but Andrew was intent in his commitment to the troop. He complet-ed task after task to go up the ranks.
After two years of being a long distance scout, Andrew’s father, Dr. Steve Mermel-stein, decided to become involved. With the approval of Rabbi Billet of the Young Israel of Woodmere, troop 613 was born four years ago. The creation of Troop 613 was an ac-commodation for frum boys who wanted to participate in the activities that scouting offers while adhering to their religious prin-ciples. “It eliminates all barriers to entry, while allowing full access to the spectacular Scouting program”, as noted in Troop 613’s membership literature.
Included in the reading material is a tweaked version of the 12th point of the Scout law, A Scout is Reverant. Troop 613’s version includes observance of the four re-quirements: kashruth, Shabbat, tefi lah, and limudei kodesh, as noted in Troop 613’s
membership literature.Through scouting, which was the cata-
lyst for Andrew’s participation in a plethora of activities such as fi shing, hiking, fi rst aid, computer skills, health class, Andrew gained valuable leadership experience. Driven by a merit-oriented framework, scouts choose from a smorgasboard of activities, leading to their mastery and ultimate badge reward. Of the 130 badges that can be attained, An-drew earned 28, beyond the minimum of 21 required to become an Eagle Scout. Scouts
can pitch a tent, build a fi re, cook a meal to-gether and be part of a minyan. This is inaddition to all the recreational activities suchas fi shing, hiking, boating, swimming, rifl ery, repelling that Andrew and his fellow scoutsengage in. Each activity is supervised by prosand taught with safety-fi rst as a rule.
Andrew’s exposure to different disci-plines has made him a very well roundedhigh school student. He has explored elec-tronics with a professor from MIT, discusseda robotics project with a professor from Co-lumbia and learned fi rst aid with his doctordad who is also a volunteer.
Andrew speaks with enthusiasm aboutusing skills derived in scouting year next year in Israel and hopefully beyond that inYeshiva University, where is leaning towardsa major in engineering. He’s also especiallyproud of how Troop 613 acclimates well inthe larger Boy Scout organization.
Over the years he has fi elded many ques-tions from members of secular troops in regardto Judaism and his observance. “ I feel proudto represent Orthodox Jews in secular circles.”
Tantamount to the principles of Scoutingis the importance of engaging in communityservice. As a yeshiva student, his commit-ment to chesed makes him a natural fi t inthis regard. Andrew not only met the require-ments but exceeded them.
Andrew put in hundreds of hours to com-plete his Eagle project; the redoing and or-ganization of the Young Israel of Woodmerelibrary. He facilitated the entire project forthe shul and engaged support from memberswho were anxious to get involved.
He’s ready to soar like an eagle... scout’s honor
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Andrew Mermelstein
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Last Wednesday I drove to our nation’s capital to cover the Conservative Political Ac-tion Conference (CPAC). CPAC is more than a gathering of conservative-minded people; it is part educational, part salesmanship, part pep rally.
Many of the highlights of the event were covered incorrectly by the mainstream media or not covered at all. What they missed most was the difference in tone. While there were certainly disagreements on who was the best person to get them there, this confab was unifi ed in purpose and seemed to concen-
trate on the “big pic-ture” more than ever before.
Below are some highlights of the event:
The Straw-PollNothing about the
media coverage of CPAC astounds me more than the coverage of the straw-poll. The straw-poll is as real as unicorns, monsters under the bed and of course the tooth fairy.
The last time Mitt Romney won the CPAC straw poll was four
years ago. That victory was legitimate; Rom-ney was being thanked for almost denying John McCain the 2008 nomination. In 2010 and 2011 Ron Paul won the poll by busing in and paying admission for hundreds of his supporters from area college campuses. This year Mitt Romney did the same thing.
Romney probably would have won any-way, albeit by a smaller margin. But he could take no chances. Romney needed to win an endorsement from the country’s largest conservative organization to help prove his right-wing “street-cred.”
For the media to treat it as anything but an inaccurate “beauty contest” was absurd, and they should know better.
The Vision Thing Part 1One timely issue that became a huge part
of CPAC was the Obamacare ruling made by Health and Human Services Director Kath-leen Sibelius and approved by President Obama. The ruling forces Catholic schools, hospitals and charities to purchase health in-surance that covers birth control, abortion-producing drugs, and sterilization, which is
against their religious beliefs. This order by the executive branch was vilifi ed by almost every speaker who covered domestic issues, and the President’s “compromise” announced on Friday didn’t seem to calm people down.
Rather than position the controversy as a “pro-life” issue the speakers framed it as a fi rst amendment issue. One attendee I ques-tioned said:The vision of the First Amend-ment wasn’t of a wall between church and state; it was of a guarantee of freedom of reli-gious worship and practice. The amendment was not designed to protect government from the infl uence of religion, but religion from the bully tactics of the government. Obama is just trying to bully Catholics into submission.
A Catholic priest I spoke to wanted to thank the Jewish people for all the support they have given his church on the issue.
If the Catholic Church fails to overturn the ruling, the next ruling may try to force you to eat pork or to abandon other parts of your beliefs.
The Father’s warning is not too far-fetched. Last year a community in San Fran-cisco tried to ban circumcision of children less than eighteen.
The Vision Thing Part 2Speakers who spoke of repealing Obama
policies such as Obamacare, Dodd-Frank and the oppressive EPA regulations were popular. But the “big-picture” speeches, about restor-ing freedom and shrinking the size of gov-ernment, were remembered.
The speeches garnering the most atten-tion were those of Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) as well as Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) along with the always electrifying (and entertaining) Andrew Breitbart.
The Vision Thing Part 3 All three conservative presidential candi-
dates addressed the CPAC Conference (Ron Paul is a libertarian not a conservative) and were well received. Santorum’s was received best and generated the most after-speech buzz--Gingrich’s generated the least.
Santorum was fi rst up and immediately drew a standing ovation. Standing in front of his wife and kids he went right after Mitt Romney, saying the GOP should not sacrifi ce its conservative principles (a reference to the perception that Mitt Romney is not a true conservative). Over and over and in different ways he said that Romney did not present a big enough contrast to Barack Obama to de-
feat the sitting president. The bulk of Santorum’s speech was about
this election not being about individual po-lices, but
about returning to the individual rights granted by God, outlined in the Declaration of Independence and protected by the Con-stitution.
Despite the fact that at times he tried too hard, Mitt Romney’s speech was his best in a long time. There were, however, weak points. It’s understandable (especially in front of this forum) that he needed to prove that he was conservative. But 25 times during the speech he felt the need to tell the crowd he is a con-servative including using the phase “I was a severely conservative Republican governor,” which was a severely poor choice of words.
On the other hand Romney fi nally dis-played fl ashes of the vision needed to win the presidency.
I believe this is a moment that demands we return to our basic values and fi rst princi-ples. This is our moment. This is why we are conservatives. The task before us now is to reaffi rm the convictions that unite us and go forward shoulder to shoulder to secure the victory America deserves.
It’s a tepid start but if he gets the nomi-nation (and wants to beat President Obama) Mitt Romney needs to take that paragraph and expand it. He needs to start his speeches by explaining his vision and principles and how all of his policies must fl ow from those values, not the other way around.
The Newt Gingrich speech was very “pol-icy heavy.” He repeated the rapid-fi re procla-mation of what he would do during the fi rst 40 days of his presidency which was very popular with some of the crowd. It was also forgotten soon after it was given. Newt de-livered his regular stump speech. And that fi rst 40-days scenario was outlined in at least one of the debates. While others were talk-ing vision, Gingrich was presenting rehashed “trees” at a conference to an audience look-ing for brand new “forest.”
The Vision Thing Part 4The 2012 Keynote Address was delivered
by former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, a polarizing fi gure even within conservative circles. I am still not sure why so many con-servatives speak derisively about her. All she has done for the past three years is support conservative causes, campaign for conserva-tive candidates and speak at conservative events.
Palin’s keynote was the perfect way toend a conference that expounded the “visionthing.” It had a Knute Rockne “Win one forthe Gipper” feel to it (except it was more likewin one for your children).
When a group of occupy protesters wereable to sneak their way into the hotel and interrupted Sarah Palin’s speech they werequickly drowned out by the over-fl ow audi-ence shouting “USA! USA!”
“See, you just won. You see how easy thatis?” Palin told the adoring crowd.
Palin rallied the crowd not just by attack-ing Obama but by lashing out at the cronyism in both parties in Washington.
But this Washington is a place where poli-ticians, men and women arrive as men and women of modest means and they becomePlutocrats. The money-making opportunities for DC politicians are really endless, but theydon’t just enrich themselves off of you, for themselves, they spread the wealth aroundto their pals, and this has a name: crony capi-talism.
I said in a speech this summer, this isn’tthe capitalism of free men and free markets,of risk and sacrifi ce, of innovation and hardwork. No, it’s the capitalism of connections,and of government bailouts and handoutsand waste, and corporate welfare and cor-ruption. This is the capitalism of BarackObama and the Permanent Political Class.
It’s why I say to the Occupy Protesters,you are occupying the wrong place. You areprotesting the wrong thing. This crony capi-talism is the root of our economic problems.It has spurred the expansion of government which diminishes freedom and opportunity for all to rise and to succeed. See, some poli-ticians get elected just by promising more programs, and new freebies and new favors,and then government grows to accommodate their promises. It never shrinks, and thatcrowds out the liberating individual initia-tive and the equal opportunity that Americawas built upon. It swallows up the work ethicthat we try to teach our children and it extin-guishes that independent, pioneering Ameri-can spirit.
Palin delivered one of the best articula-tions of the “Vision Thing” I had ever heard.It was the perfect exclamation point to CPAC,a big picture rallying cry designed to moti-vate the convention to spend the next ninemonths working hard to achieve CPAC’s po-litical agenda, replacing this president andshrinking the government.
THE JEWISH STARIndependent and original reporting from the Orthodox communities of Long Island and New York City
All opinions expressed are solely those of The Jewish Star’s editorial staff or contributing writers
Publisher and Editor Karen C. Green Assistant Editor Malka Eisenberg Account Executive Helene Parsons Contributors Miriam Bradman Abrahams Rabbi Avi Billet Jeff Dunetz Juda Engelmayer Rabbi Binny Freedman Alan Jay Gerber Jonathan Greenstein Rabbi Noam Himelstein Judy Joszef Zechariah Mehler Aviva Rizel Editorial Designer Alyson Goodman Photo Editor Christina Daly
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POLITICO TO GO
Jeff Dunetz
CPAC 2012 Wrap-Up: It was all about the ‘Vision Thing’
of this email, I will keep you posted as soon as I can.
The Lawrence operation has both a Glatt and non Glatt operation. Only the Glatt operation is supervised by the Vaad Hakashrut of Flatbush. The Glatt ovens as well as Glatt utensils are all stored under lock and key with secured hasps when not being used. All stove tops and sinks are kashered before each Glatt job. There is also a video camera system which monitors the kitchen at all times. The Vaad of Flatbush assures us that that it is impossible for anything other than reliably Kosher food to be cooked on their utensils in Lawrence.
In Woodbury the caterer is exclu-sively Glatt Kosher under the Vaad Hakashrut of Flatbush with the exact same locking system and video system. It is impossible to use the kitchen in Woodbury unless there is a Vaad su-pervised Glatt Kosher job being done. There are a series of permanent Mash-
gichim always present when cooking is done in each place.
I then checked with independent trustworthy sources in Flatbush not connected to the Vaad of Flatbush who acknowledged that with such safeguards, there is no reason to be concerned about the reliability of the Kashrut for Glatt Kosher Vaad super-vised affairs in Lawrence or any food shipped out of the Lawrence commis-sary under Vaad supervision. No food can enter Woodbury or can be pre-pared in Woodbury unless it is reliably Kosher.
Therefore, at present, it is my opin-ion that the Vaad Hakashrut of Flat-bush hashgacha in both Lawrence and Woodbury is trustworthy and you need not be concerned about using either place from a Kashrut point of view.
Respectfully yours,
Rabbi Hershel Billet
Dear YIW membersI have tried to clarify the status of the Kashrut at Mor-
rell Caterers in both Woodbury and Lawrence. Many of our members have booked parties there and therefore it
is important to try to clarify matters regarding the Ko-sher supervision at both places ASAP. Of course, if there are further developments that change the conclusions
The Reuters dateline for February 10th headlined, “Explosions kill 17 in Syrian city of Aleppo.” By Saturday, February 11, 2012, the numbers of fatalities increased and the reports in that day’s New York Times and Wall Street Journal refl ected even more omi-nous numbers of incidents in Aleppo, an oth-erwise peaceful and calm city. The implica-tions of these events for the future merit our serious attention and concern.
Since the advent of the Arab Spring, I have always contended that the events in Syria, especially in Aleppo, should be given added attention given its loca-tion and past history both within the Arab world and with the Jewish people.
With events chang-ing from day to day, especially in Aleppo, I decided to devote this column to a singular literary chapter of the
Jewish historical background of that part of the Arab world. Hopefully, this will help you better understand the importance of this re-gion both to our own history and to appreci-ate the religious signifi cance that Aleppo and Syria mean to us both yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Twelve years ago, Hebrew University in Jerusalem published “Keter Yerushalayim, The Jerusalem Crown: The Bible of the He-
brew University of Jerusalem.” This book is based upon the text and mesorah of the Alep-po Codex and related manuscripts, following the methods of Rabbi Mordechai Breuer and funded by the Karger Family Fund of Basil, Switzerland.
Two years later a companion volume of scholarly essays was published that for the fi rst time gave the Aleppo Codex its fi rst seri-ous treatment from both religious and aca-demic points of view. Within these essays are to be found a history of the Aleppo Codex, and the making and production of the Jeru-salem Crown.
While I will leave it to the reader to fur-ther research the historical background to the Aleppo legacy, let it fi rst be noted that the Aleppo Codex, while still in Eretz Yisrael, was regarded by the Rambam as the most re-liable mesorah of the Tanach.
Over the next centuries, the Aleppo Co-dex was safeguarded by Aleppan Jewry un-til the outbreak of violence in 1947 when all Jewish sacred scripts were subjected to the looting and arson that became commonplace after the UN partition of Palestine vote.
Subsequent to this, most of the Jews of Aleppo left Syria and ultimately what re-mained of the Aleppo Codex found its way to Israel. Much restoration was done and it is now housed in the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book together with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Another literary source of information on the Aleppo Codex, which will be the subject of a future review, can be found in “Crown of Aleppo” [The Jewish Publication Society, 2010] by Dr. Hayim Tawil of Yeshiva Univer-
sity, and Bernard Schneider. Aside from all the cloak and dagger as-
pects to the history of this sacred manuscript and the mesirat nefesh that so many Syrian Jews gave to the preservation of this Tanach, what fascinated me most was the epilogue to this compan-ion volume by Dr. Mordechai Glatzer. He notes the follow-ing regarding the kind of let-ters used in this edition – the font of the Jerusalem Crown. I quote him in full text below:
“This edition of the Bible is the third among the Hebrew Bibles published in Israel with a new letter font – the ‘Koren’ Tanach [Jerusalem 1959-62] , the ‘Horev’ Tanach [Jerusalem 1996-98] , and the Jerusalem Crown. The late Eliyahu Koren designed the ‘Koren’ letters for his edi-tion of the Tanach in the style of the Sephardi square script of the Middle Ages. The let-ters of the ‘Horev’ Tanach were designed by Zvi Narkiss following the square script used in Ashkenazi manuscripts. The Jerusalem Crown letters were also cre-ated by Zvi Narkiss.
For the fi rst time in the history of Hebrew printing we now have a letter font designed in the style of the calligraphic square script employed in the monumental Bibles in the Land of Israel and in other eastern Mediterra-nean lands, from the 10th century onwards.
This, the eastern script, is the script in which the Aleppo Codex
was written; it is the script that the Sep-hardi script eventually developed.”
This peeked my interest since I fi nd that a better comprehension in the reading of Hebrew comes wit h the variationof the letter font utilized in our sacred texts. It was not for naught that our ances-tors used these fonts, fontsthat are fi rst now being re-visited and utilized in our Bible and prayer book textsto much public acclaim inIsrael, and hopefully here soon, to an increasinglymore aware and educated public.
As events unfold in theMiddle East in the days,months, and years to come, please take note of the ge-ography and keep in mindthe religious history thatthese territories have rep-
resented in our people’s past, present andfuture. These lands, towns and cities aresuffused with our people’s blood and bone.Never forget that.
And further, never forget the creativity that our people gave to the spiritual enrich-ment in these lands both to ourselves and tothose of other faiths who benefi ted from ourvoluminous contributions to their civiliza-tions.
Alan Jay Gerber
The Kosher Bookworm
Aleppo, Syria, and the Jewish Religious Connection
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Chapter 24 describes the immediate events preceding Moshe’s trek to the mountain for forty days and nights.
Aharon, Nadav, Avihu and the seventy elders accompany Moshe as he is about to com-mence his hike up the mountain.
“God said to Moshe, ‘Come up to Me, to the mountain, and remain there. I will give you the stone tablets, the Torah and the commandment that I have written for [the
people’s] instruction.’ Moshe and his aid Ye-hoshua set out. Moshe went up on God’s Mountain. He said to the elders, ‘Wait for us here until we return to you. Aaron and Chur will remain with you. Whoever has a prob-lem can go to them.’” (24:12-14)
Rashi says “I don’t know why Yehoshua is here, but maybe he is serving the role of “stu-dent who accompanies
teacher.” This answer leaves much unsaid.Where did Yehoshua come from, and
what was his role in all of this? Explaining Yehoshua’s sudden presence,
Ramban says he was one of the elders. When Moshe leaves Aharon and Chur in charge, he does so because Yehoshua alone is accompa-nying him. How far is Yehoshua allowed to go?
When Moshe emerges in chapter 32, the fi rst person he meets is Yehoshua, who is similarly unaware of the Golden Calf fi asco. This leaves open the suggestion that Ye-hoshua is somewhere on the mountain – a point which can easily be read into the verses quoted above.
How did they survive if they did not bring supplies? Ibn Ezra maintains Yehoshua was close enough to where the manna fell that he could easily sustain himself.
As for Moshe, the question of food be-comes a little more complicated. In Devarim 9, Moshe recounts to the second generation his multiple trips up the mountain (chapters 24 and 32-34) – and how “I did not eat bread and I did not drink water” during the 40-day periods that he was up there.
Could he really have gone 40 days with-out any food?
But we know Moshe is, above all, a hu-man being. Special – yes. But also human. The Talmud (Yoma 4b) says the food that had been in Moshe’s intestines were purged during the seven day waiting period (before he entered the cloud), until he was ready to become sustained by spiritual food. (The Al-shikh calls this being sustained from the “ziv haShechinah.”)
We should recall that in lieu of saying “I did not eat anything,” he singled out bread and water as things he did not eat – while allowing that he may have still eaten some-thing. The Talmud (Sukkah 5a) says Moshe never entered the realm of God, and God never rested in the realm of Man. If so, Moshe
was always in the physical realm – and yet he never ate physical food. Physical food, as we know, has good qualities, as well as nega-tive parts which our digestive system rejects. The gemara Yoma (75b) discusses what the people ate in the wilderness: Abirim bread (based on Tehillim 78:25) – which is bread that ministering Angels eat. It is called Abirim because it is absorbed in Eivarim, the limbs of the body, and does not produce waste.
The Maharsha therefore suggests that Moshe ate manna on the mountain because it is a spiritual food, and it was only “bread” (specifi cally) that Moshe said he did not eat, as opposed to saying he did not eat at all.
How did Moshe get the food?There is a debate as to how Moshe en-
tered the mountain. One approach has a path opening for him to walk upon (Yoma 4b). The other side has him entering a cloud that brought him to the top, in a Mary-Poppins-inspired move.
If he went up using the latter method, we have to assume God provided for him. But if he walked up on the path, is there room to suggest he did so to leave the line open back to Yehoshua?
The opening Mishnah in Avos says Moshe transmitted the Torah to Yehoshua. Rashi contradicts this in Shmot 34:32, when he leaves Yehoshua out of the chain of the heri-tage transmission. When did Yehoshua learn directly from Moshe, to the point that he is the top on the list in Avos?
The Shakh quotes the Medrash Tanchuma who says that while on the mountain, Moshe
the human forgot everything he learned on adaily basis until God gave him all the knowl-edge as a gift. The change happened when his own physical matter became spiritual.
The Talmud (Baba Batra 75a) records howYehoshua was like the moon to Moshe’s sun.Yehoshua, as the leadership heir-apparent,is slated to refl ect the light of the teachingsof Moshe, just as the moon refl ects the lightof the sun. Yehoshua’s accompanying Mosheserves the purpose of demonstrating the con-nection they’ll carry as the links in the meso-rah (heritage) that they bear to this day.
Is it such a stretch to suggest that Moshecommunicated with Yehoshua on a daily ba-sis while he was on the mountain? If there was a path from Moshe to Yehoshua, perhapsthere was a transfer of manna (which theTalmud Yoma 76a says also fell in Yehoshua’smerit), and a transmission of informationthat Moshe soon forgot afterwards.
If Yehoshua was the fi rst link in the chain of mesorah, his presence on the mountainserved a purpose. He could provide food forand help his mentor in a fi tting manner, and he could be a sounding board for Moshe to practice teaching as quickly as Moshe learnedthe information.
This is the best way to learn, says a differ-ent mishnah in Avos (1:4), lay at the dust ofthe feet of the scholars.
We learn from Yehoshua how to get closeto a teacher, how to play the role of facilitatorand learner, and to have the patience to wait until it is your turn to shine.
Parshat Mishpatim
Mentoring 1A: Sit Among the Dust of Their Feet
Rabbi Avi Billet
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&Generously sponsored by Robyn and Shukie Grossman & family
LOVETHE ABRAHAM ARBESFELD KOLLEL YOM RISHON & THE MILLIE ARBESFELD MIDRESHET YOM RISHON PROGRAMS PRESENT
$10 Admission Free for current YU students
Register online at www.yu.edu/
kollelyomrishon Open to Men & Women
Refreshments will be servedComplimentary parking available
Seforim Sale will be open all day in Belfer Hall
For more information about this event or other Yeshiva University opportunities please
contact YU’s Long Island Director, Julie Schreier at [email protected] Dr. Meir
SoloveichikThe Virtue of Hate
Session 1 10:30am-11:30am
Session 2 11:30am-12:30pm
d b RR bb dd Shh k HATE in
Tanach
Rabbi Hayyim AngelLove and Politics in Sefer Shmuel
Rabbi Ephraim KanarfogelFamily Dynamics and Relationships as Reflected in Comments on the Torah by the Ba’alei ha-Tosafot
Professor Smadar RosensweigWhat is the meaning of Love in Tanach?
Rabbi Kenneth Brander Is all Fair in Love and War? Just War through the Prism of secular and Jewish Thought
Rabbi Ezra FrazerFather Knows Best? Towards Understanding Yitzchak’s Love of Esav
Dr. Shira WeissCan We Truly Love God?: An Analysis of the Trials of Abraham and Job
Keynote9:30am
Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012 Yeshiva University Shenk Shul
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Want a tech job in Israel? Call the ladies at RYBBy Malka Eisenberg
Two West Hempstead natives who made aliyah have joined forces to found a tech-nology recruiting company, run from their homes in Beit Shemesh, helping English speaking programmers and web designers fi nd jobs with companies in Israel, the U.S. and throughout the world.
The company, RYB Technologies, provides outsourcing coverage for U.S. based compa-nies and provides workers for Israeli compa-nies that are based in Israel but are in the international marketplace. The company can place workers and assist companies in other areas of technology as well.
Mia Weiss and Miriam Schwartz made aliyah a few years ago with their families. Weiss had ties to AMIT and the Young Isra-el of West Hempstead and Schwartz was a teacher for many years at the Hebrew Acade-my of Nassau County. Weiss was a pre-school teacher before being a stay-at home mom for ten years.
When the Weiss family home burnt down in January 2008 they saw it as a message from G-d, said Weiss. “It was time to make a big change in life,” she said. “Everyone was on board.” She currently has six children; her oldest fi nished SKA then studied in MMY, served in sherut leumi and is now a student at Bar Ilan.
Weiss explained that Schwartz saw the need for a technology recruitment company. Her husband was in technology and while working in Israel for a U.S. based company found he did not have time for the additional freelance work that was offered to him and
offered to fi nd someone else to do the job. He explained to his wife Miriam what ques-tions to ask and advised her on how to do re-search to fi nd the right candidate for the po-sition. She placed two people, noted Weiss, “and that’s how it got started.”
They work from their own homes; Weiss in Sheinfeld, Schwartz in Ramat Shilo. “Most of the work is done on the phone and the Internet,” explained Weiss. “We rarely need to meet clients face to face. If we do, we set up a meeting.” She said that neither of them has experience in technol-ogy but Schwartz’s husband is their advisor. “The premise,” said Weiss, “is that we help companies across the world to fi nd program-mers and computer experts to fi ll their busi-ness needs.”
RYB Tech has been recruiting English-speaking tech workers since November 2010 and has placed 15 to date. Their clients are men and women from Haifa, Bat Yam, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Efrat, Modiin and Beit Sh-emesh. Their service benefi ts companies, helping them fi nd highly trained, educated, skilled, low-cost English speaking tech sup-port, and benefi ts Anglo’s looking for jobs, who may have diffi culty fi nding work in Is-rael if they’ve come from the U.S. and have limited Hebrew.
One of the companies they work with, 3BASE, is a ground breaking operation founded by two men, a secular Israeli and a national religious Israeli, who saw a need to fi nd employment and set up conditions suit-able for Charedi women.
They currently employ 90 Charedi womenand draw women from charedi communitiesin Israel to their base in Rosh HaAyin. Wom-en who are graduated from the Bais Yaakov system with a degree in computers are testedto be sure that they meet the standards of3BASE when they apply there. They workin an open space, meeting rooms have largeglass windows for everyone to see and theywork from 6:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. so they canreturn in time for their husbands to get tonight seder.
Weiss emphasized that they are not awareof their clients’ religious leanings and, inspite of all the negative press in Beit Shem-esh, things are quiet. “Since the whole hoop-la, and I’m right up the block, it’s been quiet.People took a stand that this can’t continue.
They were a small group of people. Theycan’t behave this way; it’s not acceptable. There were protests and since then it’s been quiet. The girls have been able to go toschool and there is no more of that activity.”
As far as their ties to West Hempstead,Weiss pointed out that, “I really truly feelthat we are people’s home away from home.Many come to visit us and their kids come to visit us on their summer programs and theiryear in Israel.
More of them come all the time and welove it. It helps us feel connected to our oldstomping ground. We miss everyone andlove the community. We still feel connected.Just come, we’re waiting for everybody. If anyone is interested in Aliyah just give us acall.”
For more information visit: www.rybtech.com.
Mia Weiss Miriam Schwartz
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I’ve always wanted to compare apples to apples, and fi gured, since the recipe I’m shar-ing with you this week is an apple cake, what better time than now?
apples to Apples China produces 44% of the world’s ap-
ples, and 100% of the world’s Apples.
In 2009, 71,000,000 tons of apples were grown, and 138,000,000 tons of Apples were produced.
The average apple orchard is 50 acres, while the average Ap-ple store is .1 acre.
The fi rst apples were cultivated in Mes-opotamia around 8,000 B.C.E. Before this, ap-ples were sour, seedy,
and inedible. The fi rst Apple was built in 1976 by Steve
Wosniak. Before this, computers were ugly, clunky and undesirable.
There are over 7,500 varieties of apples and 400 varieties of Apples.
Of the 7,500 varieties of apples, a few are standouts for those of us who like to bake and cook with them.
McIntosh apples are sweet, slightly tart, juicy and have tender fl esh. They are good eaten raw, made into applesauce, or baked in a pie. Like the Apple Mac computer, they are versatile, can be found in a student’s knap-
sack and are the most popular apple in New York.
Honey Crisp was introduced fairly re-cently. They are sweet, slightly tart, and very juicy. They make a wonderful eating apple and are perfect for baking and sauces.
Granny Smith is one of the most popular tart apples. They’re crisp, quite tart, and per-fect for baking and cooking.
Golden Delicious are sweet with rich, mel-low fl avor. They are best for all around cook-ing as they maintain their shape after baking.
Mutsu (Crispin) are juicy and super crisp with a sweet refreshing fl avor. They’re great for baking, eating, salads, freezing, and sauc-es.
Empire are fi rm textured and slightly tart. They are good for eating, pies, salads, sauces, freezing, and baking.
Cortland are juicy, and slightly tart, but terrifi c for baking and are a welcome addi-tion to fruit and cheese plates, as the fl esh doesn’t brown quickly.
When people hear the word apple, so many images come to mind.
Adam and Eve and eating the forbidden apple.
Sir Isaac Newton, sitting under an apple tree and observing the law of gravity, as he watched an apple fall ( or so the story goes).
■ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.■ An apple a day keeps the doctor away.■ Apple Records■ Adam’s apple■ The Big Apple■ Bad apple
■ William Tell■ Don’t upset the apple cart■ Applesauce■ Apple cider■ Apple vinegarAnd let’s not forget Johnny Appleseed,
whose real name was John Chapman. He spent 49 years of his life in the American wil-derness, planting apple trees.
It was his dream to have blossoming apple trees, everywhere, so that no one would go hungry.
Of course, when I hear the word apple, I conjure up images of my apple cookie crumble pie or my moist apple cake that melts in your mouth. This week I’d like to share that apple cake recipe with you.
Ingredients: ■ 8 Granny Smith apples, peeled and
sliced thin■ 8 teaspoons sugar■ 3 teaspoons cinnamon■ 2 cups sugar■ 1 cup oil■ 4 eggs■ 3 cups fl our■ 1 teaspoon salt■ 3 teaspoons baking powder■ ¼ cup orange juice■ 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla Directions: Mix together fi rst three ingredients, and
set aside Beat together the sugar, oil and eggs until
smooth Mix together the dry ingredients in an-
other bowl, and add to the egg mixture, al-ternating with the orange juice and vanilla.Beat until smooth
In a 10” 2 piece greased tub pan, pour alittle less than half the batter. Top with halfthe apples, cover with the rest of the bat-ter, and add the rest of the apples
Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for75 minutes
Remove from oven and let cool complete-ly. Run a sharp knife around the sides of thecake and around the center tube, lift up the center portion of the pan with the cake
Slide the knife under the cake and lift thecake off the tube section of the pan. Place on a serving platter and enjoy!
Oh, and a special thanks to Johnny Ap-pleseed.
Judy Joszef is a pastry and personal chef as well as a party planner. She spent 18 years as apastry chef at Abigael’s, The Cedar Club, Cen-tro and T42 in the Five Towns, before launch-ing her current business. She may be contactedvia email at [email protected].
Who’s in the kitchen
Apples compute no matter how you slice it
Judy Joszef
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Feb 17 - 23Yeshiva University Ring Family Film Festival “A Lens on Israel: A Society through its Cinema.” The four-part festival will be supplemented by a variety of lectures, workshops and open forums with leading Israeli actors, writers, producers and directors. The highlight of the event is the Feb. 16 screening of “Footnote”—winner of “Best Screenplay” at Cannes and “Best Picture” at the Israeli Ophir Awards, and a nominee for “Best Foreign Language Film” at this year’s Academy Awards. Following the screening, director Joseph Cedar, an observant Jew who won “Best Director” at this year’s Ophir Awards, and actor Lior Ashke-nazi will take questions from the audience.
Feb 17 – 18Music, Meaning and SpiritualityOceanside Jewish CenterScholar in Residence, Rabbi Dr. Elie Holzer, Professor at Bar Ilan University and Founder of Shira Hadasha Friday, Feb 17 at 5:30 p.m. Singing, Kabbalat Shab-bat, Dinner with an Asian fl air, dessert, discus-sion. $18 per adult, children 12 years and under $13. Advance reservations. Saturday, Feb.18, 9 a.m. Shacharit, Torah, Musaf Services. Oceanside Jewish Center is located at 2860 Brower Avenue. For more information and to RSVP, please call the synagogue offi ce at 516-536-6112.
Feb 19Blood DriveThe Young Israel of Woodmere will be holding a blood drive in the Saul Kaufmann Social Hall on Sunday, February 19th, from 7:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Please help to make this drive a success by coming down to donate blood. Please email [email protected] with your name and phone number to indicate if you will be donating. Please do not forget to eat and drink plenty of fl uids and to bring your ID. Type O donors are especially needed at this time.
Feb 20Discussion: History of
Shilo-From Yeshoshua Bin Nun to Mark TwainYoung Israel of Kew Garden Hills and Congrega-tion “Nof Harim” EliMrs Eliana Passentin, spokeswoman for the Town of Eli will speak. She will be joined by Mr. Koby Elraz, Mayor of the town of Eli and reserve offi cer in the Golani Brigade, who will speak about politi-cal and military strategy of the State of Israel. Presentations, short movies and refreshments will follow. The Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills is located at 7011 150th Street Flushing, NY 11367.
Feb 21 – Mar 27Torah-based Kabbalah and Jewish MysticismFree weekly introductory class: Free six-week class meets every Tuesday evening at 8:30 pm. Learn about Kabbalistic concepts from a Torah perspective. The class will include a survey of
the Jewish mystical tradition from the Biblical era through the Talmudic era, to the classic texts published in the last thousand years and into the modern era. All welcome! Class conducted at the Young Israel of North Bellmore, 2428 Hamilton Road, 11710. Visit yinb.org or call 516-826-0048 for more information.
Feb 21If you’re in IsraelOne Israel FundDepart Jerusalem via route 443 through an area that in ancient times was heavily populated by thriving Jewish communities. Visit Modi’in, Kfar Haoranim, Givat Hayekavim, Biblical Tzreda, Yakir, Rechelim and winery. Moshe Ben Baruch, a renowned English speaking guide and teacher of tour guides, will lead this fascinating tour in a new armored bus. The bus will leave promptly at 8:30 am from the parking lot at the bottom of the Liberty Bell Park, located next to the Sonol Gas Station, and return at approximately 6:30 pm. There is an adjacent bus stop for the 4, 18, and 21 bus lines. Cost per day including lunch: $75 adult, $65 children under 12. For reserva-tions and further information:In the US: Ruthie
Kohn 516.239.9202 x10·In ISRAEL: Irwin Borvick 054.570.1548 Email to [email protected] or register online at www.oneisraelfund.org/daytrips
Feb 22HAFTR 5th Annual Interschool Girls’ Choir competition to benefi t Panim el Panim.The choirs of Central, HAFTR, HANC, Shalhevet and SKA will sing for Israel. The event will be held at HAFTR H.S. located at 635 Central Ave. in Ce-darhurst at 7:30 p.m.. Proceeds from ticket sales will support American Friends of Panim el Panim, an organization that teaches members of the IDF and other young Israelis more about their Jewish Identity and helps to bridge the gap between the secular and religious in Israel. Tickets are on sale in the participating high schools. Ticket prices are $10 for students in advance $12 in advance, $15 V.I.P. For information contact Mrs. Rachel Gerstley at HAFTR 516-569-3807 extension 722
Feb 25HAFTR 34th Annual DinnerThe Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway will be holding its 34th annual dinner at the Sands at Atlantic Beach, Saturday evening, February 25, at 8 p.m. Michelle and Scott Sulz-berger are the Guests of Honor, Miriam and Avi Kestenbaum are the Yachad Awardees, and Rabbi Dr. Gilbert Klaperman, Esq. will receive the Life-time Achievement Award. For more information, please contact the business offi ce at 569-3370.
Feb 26Young Israel of Woodmere NY Giants victory celebration breakfastThe Fourth offi cial Sol Rybstein Giants victory breakfast will take place iy”h on Sunday morning February 26th at Young Israel of Woodmere, following the 8:30 minyan. Sponsorships ap-preciated. Please contact Sol at:516 244 4866 for information.
NCSY’s Jewish Yeshiva Mentoring Program (JUMP) offers yeshiva day school students the opportunity to gain leadership skills helping them to make positive changes in their communities. . Five organiza-tion, Kulanu, Yachad, Friendship Circle of West Hempstead, Ohel Bais Ezra of Woodmere, and Cahal, participated in this special event. Pictured are left to right Joyce Lieberman, the Maccabeats’ Daniel Albert, Rabbi Mezei , and Max Kahn. Bottom are left to right Rebecca Grossman, Zoe Stern, Tamar Os-sip, Reut Baer, Jordana Moldovan, Sydney Daitch, Michelle Teitelbaum, and Devorah Schwartzman.
ON THE
CalendarSubmit your shul or organization’s events or shiurim to [email protected].
Deadline is Wednesday of the week prior to publication.
By Malka Eisenberg
Friends of the Gush Katif Museum in Jeru-salem is extending a community wide invita-tion to its fi rst annual dinner to be held at the Razag Ballroom, 739 East New York Avenue, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Wednesday, February 22, at 6 p.m.
The goal of the dinner is to commemorate the tragic destruction and expulsion of 21 established Jewish communities in Gaza and four in the northern Shomron in August of 2005 and to mobilize to prevent similar at-tempts in Judea and Samaria.
The Gush Katif Museum, at 5 Shaarei Tze-dek Street in Jerusalem, opened in 2008 to educate the public about the dire conditions of those expelled from the communities and to thwart any future attempts at disman-
tling any other Jewish towns in Israel. Over100,000 people have visited the museum sofar, including members of Knesset and con-gressmen.
John Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the UN from 2005-2006 wil be the keynote speaker.He will be joined by noted talk show hostGlenn Beck, and comedian and commentatorJackie Mason who will address the dinner via Skype. Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo with hisorganization SOS-Israel will be joining forcesin this effort with Americans For a Safe Israel(AFSI) and the Executive Committee of The World Committee of the Land of Israel.
To RSVP call 718-989-2767, go to [email protected] or www.sos-israel. AFSI is offering subsidized rates tomembers if needed(www.afsi.org) as is The World Committee for the Land of Israel.
Remembering Gush KatifRabbi Dr. Gilbert Klaperman, Esq, became
the fi rst rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom in 1950 after moving to Lawrence and was involved in establishing the shul’s building as it stands today. Realizing the need for a mod-ern Orthodox yeshiva in the Five Towns, Rab-bi Klaperman, along with other community leaders, then established Hillel Day School, the precursor to HAFTR. He also initiated the acquisition of the site of the current cam-pus of HAFTR Elementary School.
Klaperman received smicha from Dr. Samuel Belkin and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveit-chik. Until recently he practiced law, was a professor of Law at Hofstra School of Law, a professor of religion at the Univ. of Iowa and YU. He has also authored a number of books, including, with his late wife Libby, a four-volume history of the Jews. In addition
to his local community service, Rabbi Klaper-man was very active in Jewish affairs world wide, including his his leadership role with the New York Conference on Soviet Jewry in 1956, and on various organizations includ-ing the Rabbinical Council of America, the Rabbinic Alumni and the College Alumni of Yeshiva University and the National Rabbinic ORT Committee. He also was a chaplain in the Canadian Army in World War II.
Rabbi Klaperman is married to Susan Al-ter and has three children, four grandchil-dren and is a recent great-grandfather.
HAFTR is also honoring Michelle and Scott Sulzberger, the guests of honor, and Miriam and Avi Kestenbaum, the Yachad awardees. The Dinner will take place Sat-urday night, February 25,at The Sands of At-lantic Beach.
HAFTR pays tribute the Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Shalom at annual dinner
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When the U.S. Army liberated Buchen-wald concentration camp and began administering to the survivors, Rabbi
Herschel Schachter, then chaplain of the U.S. Eighth army, stayed in the camp to attempt to create a Jewish experience for them.
Rabbi Schechter requisitioned one of the barracks and set it up as a synagogue. No-ticing one of the survivors standing on the side watching the prayers, Rabbi Schechter invited him to join. The man refused.
Realizing he had seen this fellow there be-fore, Rabbi Schechter approached him again,
offering him a siddur (prayer book). He re-fused again, and said:
“One day, one of the men in our barracks succeeded in smug-gling a siddur into the camp. I was amazed that someone was will-ing to risk torture and certain death simply for the opportunity to pray. That a Jew, even in this hell, was willing to defy the Germans, and continue to believe in G-d, was a testament to the power of the hu-man spirit, and to the Jewish people’s sur-vival, against all odds.
And I resolved that if a Jew could continue to pray under such circumstances, then maybe G-d was still out there, hidden in the indom-itable spirit of the human soul, and I, too, would pray.
“I was in awe of this fellow, until I dis-covered what he was doing with the prayer book he had smuggled in: he refused to lend the siddur to anyone unless they fi rst handed over their meager daily food ration. He was renting the prayer book out for rations, and Jews in the barracks, desperate to hold a sid-dur in their hands after all this time, were forced to give up their only food for a few minutes with the prayer book.
“At that moment I decided that if a human being could sink that low, then there was no G-d, and I resolved never to pray again.”
Rabbi Schechter responded with a simple question: “Instead of looking at the fellow who refused to give away his siddur without fi rst taking the food of his fellow prisoners, why don’t you look at all the Jews who were willing to give up the only food they had for a chance to pray with a siddur?”
There was a moment of silence between the two, and something glimmered in those vacant eyes. And then, quietly, Simon Wi-esenthal, took a siddur, and began to pray.
What does it mean to be a slave, and are we ever truly free?This week’s portion, Mish-patim, begins with a very challenging and almost incomprehensible concept: the idea of a Jewish slave, serving his Jewish master.
“And these are the judgments (or rules) that you must set before them (the Jewish people): If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years, but in the seventh year, he is to be set free… And if the slave declares, “I love my master, my wife and my children; I do not want to go free,” his master must bring him to the courts… and the slave shall then serve his master forever.” (Exodus, 21:1-6)
Is this the reason we left Egypt behind us,
to create our own system of slavery? Three thousand years before the American Decla-ration of Independence, in a world steeped in paganism and the belief that might makes right, the Jewish people came forward with the belief that all men are created equal.
How can the Torah now be telling us about Jewish slaves, in a Jewish slave system? Per-haps a closer look will help us understand.
A slave remains a slave for only six years. When he is set free, he only takes with him what he had when he came in. If he marries a woman who is a fellow slave, she doesn’t go with him when he leaves; she is the property of her master, and remains enslaved!
What sort of a slave loves his master? (And what sort of a husband loves his mas-ter more than his wife?) The Talmud tells us: “Kanah Eved Kanah Rav”; “He who acquires a slave, has really acquired a master.” The laws regarding slaves are incredible: If one has a Jewish slave, and there is only one pil-low in the house, or if there is only enough food for one meal or if there is only one bed in the house, the slave gets them! If the mas-ter hits his slave, and injures him in any way, the slave immediately goes free! (See 21:26)
The term slave, with all of its negative connotations, should probably be replaced by ‘indentured servant.’ To understand this, we need to learn how a Jew becomes an in-dentured servant in the fi rst place.
A Jewish ‘slave’ is someone who was, for example, caught stealing. Today, a thief is imprisoned. In Judaism punishment never involves prison. Judaism has a simpler sys-tem: If a person makes a mistake, there is a consequence, and that is the responsibility of the person who made the mistake.
First a person must repay what he took. He has to then try to again become the per-son he was before he stole. This is why Juda-ism’s word for this process is not ‘repentance’ but Teshuvah, from the root Shuv, to return.
What if a person stole, but has long sincedisposed of what he stole or spent the moneyand can’t repay his victim?
In Judaism, when a person has noth-ing, the Jewish court evaluates this person’s worth and sells his services to someone toenable him to repay what he stole.
When a person has hit bottom and feels he is worthless, the judges effectively say to him: ‘We will show you that you have value;you are worth much more than you think youare.’ He goes into service, and discovers allthat he can contribute. He is part of a family,very different from convicts of our era whoare shunned by society and hidden away.
Now it is easy to understand why a personwould want to stay in such a reality. No billsor worries, a sense of purpose and belonging.
But the purpose of his experience is to teach him that he has only one master. Weare put in this world to make a difference;G-d never wanted slaves. We are meant to be partners with G-d in building the world.
Our challenge is to embrace our freedomand decide what to do with it, and how bestto use it to serve the world, by making thisworld a better place. Like those Jews in Bu-chenwald, whether we are free or living asslaves is really up to us. Ultimately, we all serve something; and the only freedom wereally have is the ability to choose what wewish to serve: the pot of soup at the end ofthe day, or the higher purpose we are willingsometimes to give it up for.
Shabbat Shalom,Binny Freedman
Rav Binny Freedman, Rosh Yeshivat Oraytain Jerusalem’s Old City is a Company Com-mander in the IDF reserves, and lives in Efratwith his wife Doreet and their four children. His weekly Internet ‘Parsha Bytes’ can befound at www.orayta.org
FROM THE HEART OF JERUSALEM
Rabbi Binny Freedman
Freedom is what you make of it
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Achievement Learning Center
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High-ranking government and elected offi cials, Rabbinic and business leaders and more than 1,100 members of the community turned out to show their strong support and friendship at OHEL’s 42nd Annual Gala in NYC. It was a spectacular and memorable evening with tributes to the agency’s extraor-dinary honorees and the children and fami-lies OHEL serves.
To pay tribute to extraordinary individu-als who help OHEL help our community, the Annual Gala celebrated special OHEL friends and contributors. This year’s Honored Guests were Philip and Lisa Baratz, David and Tzip-pora Baratz, Michael and Ellen Baratz and
Sammy and Rachellie Baratz, in memory of their mother Rita Baratz A’’H who took in so many foster children. Ohel Co-President Moishe Hellman in speaking about Rita Baratz quoted Mrs. Schickman, “Biological children grow in mommy’s tummy, Foster children grow in mommy’s hearts.” Rita’s tireless efforts on behalf of foster children was exemplary.
Dr. Patrick I. Borgen received the Human-itarian Award; Andrew H. Marks and Bruce Tindal of Bollinger Insurance Solutions were Corporate Guests of Honor; and Assembly-man Gary S. Schaer received the Legislator of the Year award.
Michael Baratz, Sammy Baratz, David Baratz and Philip Baratz (L to R bottom row) Ellen Baratz, Rachellie Baratz, Tzippora Baratz and Lisa Baratz
The Baratz boys pay tribute to their mother, Rita Baratz A’H, at the OHEL annual dinner
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S ometime soon, I’m going to get yelled at for invading a stranger’s privacy as I look over his shoulder on the train, inch clos-
er to her beach chair, or spy from under dark glasses in a doctor’s waiting room. I simply want to see the title of the book she’s holding. I am fascinated by what people choose to read and wish I could just go up to them and ask if they like it, Sometimes I get up the courage to do it, striking up a conversation with the person
next to me, which can be great for a few mo-ments, until it becomes awkward. That’s what book groups are for!
I belong to a few lo-cal book groups. We have a moderator with the tough job of con-trolling the fl ow of the discussion, allowing an opportunity for all to speak. There are varied personalities in atten-dance, ranging from the quiet listener to the ac-tive participant. Our fa-cilitator makes sure each member has a few mo-
ments to voice her opinion, give a “thumbs up or down” and back that up with some relevant facts or feelings. We heartily discuss future book picks for the group. Some people want current bestsellers, others want to revisit romantic clas-sics. Some desire indulging in trashy “sum-mer books,” while others prefer challenging themselves to a more intellectual read. Some only want to delve into Jewish subjects, while others enjoy strictly secular books. We choose a few promising titles, have an informal vote,
and eventually get around to reading all genres anyway.
Mira Rosenfeld Sennett, my brilliant, literary friend, educator and book discussion facilitator, recently surprised me with her comment that there are enough books written by Jewish au-thors covering the gamut of human experience and emotion to afford one a lifetime of reading. She said she simply didn’t have time anymore to read anything else and now keeps exclusively to “Jewish books.” Through my association with the Jewish Book Council I have been fi nding her sentiment to be absolutely true.
As a volunteer book reviewer for the quar-terly Jewish Book World and as Hadassah Nas-sau Region’s scout to fi nd and book interesting authors to enhance our programs, I’m experi-encing fi rsthand the vast scope of Jewish writ-ers and their subject matter. Whether you fancy history, mystery, memoir, biography, poetry, philosophy, humor, a novel, children’s tales, recipes, and the entire range of excellent Israeli literature in English translation, it’s all readily available, written by a member of our tribe, the “people of the book.”
I do indulge in great reads which have ab-solutely nothing to do with Jewish life; it gives me a break and helps me vicariously experience the “outside” world. Reading the Sunday New York Times Book Review and attending the Ja-vits Center Book Expo keeps me up to date on wonderful bestselling titles like The Help, Room and The Paris Wife.
Lately I’ve noticed that my editor at Jew-ish Book World is sending me more and more Holocaust memoirs and fi ction related to the Shoah to review. Just in the past twelve months I read these new titles: Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwarz, Pictures at an Exhibition by Sara Houghteling, The Final Reckoning by Sam
Bourne, The Finkler Question by Howard Ja-cobson, The Price of Escape by David Ungar, The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman, Children and Fire by Ursula Hegi, Blood in the Promised Land by Eliot Sefrin,The Rescuer by Dara Horn and All That I Am by Anna Funder. Some are award winning publications translated into multiple languages. Each is unique in geographical lo-cation and varies by the narrator’s age, gender and point of view. They are tragic, horrifying, heartbreakingly sad, but also personal, uplifting and awe-inspiring. All are incredibly important to read and know.
The JBC must be receiving a glut of manu-scripts on this subject. Writers may be feeling a sense of urgency to get their families’ stories out “now or never” as the Holocaust generation is tragically disappearing. First hand accounts will soon no longer be available; it’s the last oppor-tunity for survivors to be interviewed, for their testimonies to be recorded and for the true sto-ry to be published. Future generations will learn about their own history through these detailed retellings. Hopefully the Holocaust deniers will be thwarted.
I had trouble completing a recent reading as-signment. It could be due to the writing style - narrators and time frames switching from chap-ter to chapter confuses me. I slogged through this otherwise fascinating account of the lives of Jewish anti-war activists in Berlin and Lon-don before and during WWII. When offered yet another story about Eastern Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, I hesitate for a moment and sigh, sensing the emotional and physical toll it will exact from me. I always say yes, though the books cause me nightmares and knots in my stomach. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to continue reading and promoting these manu-
scripts about our people’s recent past. We canalways fi nd time for a light book, but time isrunning out for these recountings of the era ourparents and grandparents lived through.
Memoirs about the Russian Jewish immi-grant experience are steadily rising as the chil-dren feel the freedom to tell their tales; perhapsthe next group to “come out” will be Cuban. Asa child of refugee parents, I’m in awe of theseaccomplished memoirists as I barely scratch thesurface researching my father’s history. I delay,not because it’s boring or irrelevant, quite theopposite – it’s a story worth telling. It’s aboutcircumstance and choices, overcoming hardshipthrough effort and luck and achieving success.
It’s tough for me to be unsentimental andobjective since it’s my grandparents’, parents’,and my children’s tale. It’s diffi cult to record thepast objectively while keeping it personal andheartfelt. However, I’m realistic about having toself-publish and about the result being simply alegacy for my kids.
In the meantime, I’m happily learning aboutwriting by reading. I’ve been reassured by myauthor friends that this is totally legitimate. In-stead of working on editing and adding to my70 pages, I feel justifi ed spending time devour-ing real author’s works. I’m delaying writing infavor of delving into everyone else’s, procrasti-nating until inspiration or a sense of urgencyappears. So if you happen to notice me comingup behind you, just show me the book you’rereading and I’ll smile and move along.
For Hadassah’s author event dates call theNassau Region offi ce 516-766-2725. For Jewishbook and author info go to www.jewishbook-council.org
Miriam Bradman Abrahams is Cuban born,Brooklyn bred and lives in Woodmere. She can bereached at [email protected]
MIRIAM’S MUSINGS
Miriam Bradman Abrahams
Reading, Writing, History
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