By Sergey Kadinsky

Amid the cacophony of drumbeats, rhym-ing protest chants and spirited debates, an outspoken activist blogger vows to keep the Jewish presence in downtown Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park beyond its highly publicized Sukkot. “We have a traditional egalitarian minyan and we will continue with Shabbat dinners as long as we can,” said Daniel Si-eradski, 32, a self-described “Orthodox an-archist,” with a long resume of social causes and online campaigns.

The Brooklyn resident catapulted into national headlines on Sept. 30, a week into the Occupy Wall Street protest, by organiz-ing an outdoor Shabbat potluck dinner, which was then followed a week later by Kol Nidrei where the reddish-bearded Sieradski donned the kittel, amid a crowd of 1,000 pro-tester worshippers. Sieradski’s wife Morissa brought vegetarian cholent and his mother Jennette Friedman supplied challah for the praying protesters. “My mother and father in Teaneck are going through foreclosure and I am going to bat for my parents,” Sieradski said. “This is what it means to be an eved Hashem.”

Chabad of Wall Street donated the initial pop-up sukkah as a non-political gesture to promote religious observance, but with a growing crowd, Sieradski later brought in a larger sukkah, complete with a portrait of legendary Jewish anarchist Emma Goldman. “If I can’t dance with a Torah, it’s not my rev-olution,” Sieradski writes on his Facebook, paraphrasing Goldman.

Jews Racial and Economic Justice, the

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HAFTR pair named Siemens semifi nalists

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By Jeff Bessen and Sergey Kadinsky

A pair of HAFTR seniors was among the semifi nalists in the 2011 Siemens Competi-tion in Math, Science & Technology held on Oct. 21. Wade Miller and Erich Hirsch studied the use of graphene and graphene oxide as a potential substitute for stem cells in replacing body tissue.

Their source for the material is a body part that is often removed and discarded by dentists. “When you have it as simple as having a wisdom tooth removed, it is less pain and less risk of injury and infection,” Hirsch said. Currently, stem cells are taken from the patient’s body, which is an expen-sive and invasive procedure.

“The two components graphene and graphene oxide are very interesting, and putting them together is the per-fect opportunity for research,” Miller said. His project with Hirsch is titled, “The Growth and Differentiation of Dental Pulp Stem Cells Plated on Polymer Scaffolds Containing Gra-phene and Graphene Oxide.”

Former Lawrence High School student Paul Masih Das, who dis-covered a new method of making graphene, inspired their study topic. Das was a 2010 Intel Sci-ence Competition fi nalist, is in the process of getting a patent on his research.

Both groups of students worked under the guidance of

Rebecca Isseroff, the science re-

Photo by courtesy of HAFTR

HAFTR seniors Wade Miller and Erich Hirsch.

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search coordinator for both high schools, and were directed in their research by Dr. Miriam Rafailovich of Stony Brook University.

The students con-ducted experiments this past summer with other local high school and college students as well as with scientists, on the campus of Stony Brook. The stu-dents worked from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, living in dorms with their colleagues. “It was good to be among the like-minded, where everyone is involved in the re-search,” Miller said.

An interest in bio-medicine prompted Hirsch’s involvement, and as he moves on to college, his curiosity about research and medicine could combine into a future career. “Research is very diffi cult, but very reward-ing,” he said. “It is a very collaborative effort with different people in different areas of sci-ence.” Hirsch has yet to narrow down his col-lege choices. Miller has chosen University of Pennsylvania as his college.

The Siemens Competition is a nationwide annual research competition in math, science and technology for high school students, ad-ministered by the College Board. The top par-ticipants receive college scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 in individual and team categories. This year, an all-time record of 2,436 students registered for the compe-tition, submitting an unprecedented 1,541 projects.

Though the HAFTR students were not among the four fi nalists from Long Island, they learned much from the experience, and Isseroff noted that this is just the beginning. “There are a lot of exciting applications to their research,” she said. One other local resident, Daniel Goldsmith of North Shore Hebrew Academy, also secured a fi nalist spot for his topic, A Novel Search for Topologi-cal Charge Fluctuations in the Quark Gluon. Plasma

HAFTR pair’sstem cell project

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I can still see his eyes and his twin-kling smile as I walked him to the bus, with his rucksack over his

back and a pair of ‘kafkafi m’ (show-er shoes) tied on and dangling from a piece of string.

It was Sunday night, the fi rst week of June 1982 and once again Israel was at war. After incessant shelling from the PLO in Lebanon forcing the people in northern Is-rael into their bomb shelters all weekend, Israel had fi nally had enough. At 5 a.m. on June 5, IDF forces crossed the border into Leba-non. That evening, Rav Amital z”l, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion strode into the study hall at the beginning of the evening study session, banged on the lectern, an-nouncing, “All fourth and fi fth year students should head back to their rooms and pack their gear. In half an hour buses will be coming to take you north.“

The silence in the study hall was palpable; our friends and com-rades were going to war. I was still a greenhorn American, barely a year in the country and a full year away from my own IDF service. I walked back to the dorms to say goodbye to a few of my Israeli friends.

Twenty minutes lat-er, Zack Baumel came out of his room with his rucksack and shower shoes, and the incon-gruity of it puzzled me. I asked him, “Why do you need those if you’re going to war?” Zack re-sponded,“ Are you kid-ding? These are the most important things you can take to the army!”

That was the last time I saw Zack Bau-mel. I distinctly remem-ber walking him to the bus; remember waving goodbye and seeing his grin fl ash one more time from the bus window, and re-member wondering what was really waiting for him.

A few days later, Zack’s tank was hit in a battle with Syrian tanks and commando forces near Sultan Ya’koub, and although we know he escaped the tank alive, along with Tzvi Feldman, neither of them have been seen or heard from since.

They, along with Israel’s other MIA, Yehuda Katz, who also went missing in the same battle; Ron Arad, an air force navigator shot down over Lebanon in 1986; Guy Hever who went missing on the Go-lan heights nearly 15 years ago; and Omar Souad, taken in 2001, are the forgotten Israeli soldiers who are very much on my mind this week.

G-d willing, this week, in the midst of the festival of Sukkot, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, held captive by Hamas since his brazen abduction in 2006, will fi nally come home. There is not be a Jew anywhere on earth who does not smile and even hold back

a tear at the thought that the an-guish and suffering of this family, who have become the family of an entire people, will fi nally end.

But this poignant moment is coming with a terrible price. No less than a thousand terrorist prisoners, many with blood on their hands, will be released. And the atrocities they collectively perpetrated are some of the most horrifi c terrorist actions in the history of Israel.

These are the men who helped plan and execute the Sbarro’s piz-zeria bombing murdering 15 in-nocent civilians and wounding an additional 130. They blew up buses and university cafeterias, murder-ing children and grandparents with not a second thought, killing hun-dreds, wounding thousands and leaving tens of thousands of parents siblings, children, wives and close friends behind to mourn the loss of their loved ones, and contemplate a life forever changed by the refusal of a fanatical band of murderers to accept even the possibility of living in peace with a people that have never wanted anything more than to bring light into the world and

live in peace with their neighbors.

This is not the fi rst time Israel has released a large and dispropor-tionate number of terror-ists in order to bring our boys home. We did it to get back what turned out to be the bodies of Eldad Regev and Ehud Gold-wasser in the aftermath of the Second Lebanon War, as well as much earlier in exchange for kidnapped Israeli citizen Elchanan Tannenbaum. But the fi rst instance of such an exchange actu-ally took place in 1984 in

what was known as the ‘Jibril deal’. In exchange for bringing home

a few live Israeli soldiers and bod-ies, including Hezi Shai, who was Zack Baumel’s tank commander, Israel for the fi rst time negoti-ated, through intermediaries, with Ahmed Jibril’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, releas-ing 1,050 prisoners. Among the re-leased was unrepentant Lod Airport Massacre perpetrator Kozo Oka-moto, and future Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin.

I still remember the late Yonah Baumel’s stance on that deal. Even though his son was still held prison-er, he was vehemently against the deal, believing that it would open up a Pandora’s Box that would give terrorists free license to kidnap Is-raelis in general, and Israeli soldiers in particular.

If anyone had the right to an opinion, it was certainly Yonah Baumel. And yet, one wonders if his position against negotiating with terrorists (or at least agreeing to completely lopsided exchanges) lest

a line be crossed, might well be the reason that his opposition no lon-ger applies. After a number of such prisoner exchanges, the deterrence no longer exists.

Yet, we have crossed a new line this time, as the nature of the ter-rorists we are releasing includes a large number of murderers with ac-tual blood on the their hands, and suggests that we may be releasing individuals who will absolutely kill again. And of course, there is the fact that leaders of Hamas have al-ready declared that they absolutely plan to kidnap more soldiers seeing that Gilad Shalit’s kidnapping pro-duced such wonderful results from their perspective.

Some suggest that it is impor-tant to bring Gilad back home as IDF soldiers need to know that no matter what, the State of Israel will do everything to bring them home safely, and that this is important as it affects the morale of the soldiers. And yet, my son-in-law, currently a sergeant and headed for offi cer’s course in the elite reconnaissance unit of the Israeli paratroopers, upon hearing this suggestion at our Shabbat table this week, asked in-dignantly in whose name this argu-ment was offered. After all, over the past 5 years, while Shalit has been in captivity, the percentage of re-cruits signing up for combat units in the IDF has actually gone up. And he remarked that he knows of not a single soldier who decided not to join a combat unit due to the story of Gilad Shalit. If anything, the op-posite is true.

And just to complicate things even further, there are the theologi-cal questions. It is interesting that the large majority of the religious right wing in Israel is vehemently against this exchange for reasons expressed above (though they will be as happy as everyone else for the Shalit family). And yet, specifi cally from the religious perspective, one might contemplate an entirely dif-ferent position. After all, it seems this exchange will happen, so it

must be G-d’s will. And in the end whatever tragedy may, G-d forbid, occur at the hands of these terror-ists in the future, must also be the will of G-d, or else it would not hap-pen.

And of course, there is the fact that a Jewish soldier being held cap-tive for fi ve years is a terrible hillul Hashem, in which case freeing that soldier must be a kiddush Hashem. Unless of course one considers the fact that Hamas held out and got what Israel said it would never give, which is itself a huge hillul Hash-em, demonstrated by the huge cel-ebrations in Gaza, and the various despots lining up to congratulate Hamas on bringing Israel to sub-mission, all of which of course is a tremendous hillul Hashem.

In short, one does not envy the Prime Minister who has to make such decisions, and I envy those who can say with absolutely cer-tainty that they know what the right decision is in this case.

There is one more thing worth considering, which for some reason we seem to be missing, and that is, especially going forward, the way Hamas and our enemies perceive our actions, and what can and should be done as a deterrent, to ensure these scenarios do not con-tinue to plague us in the future.

Unfortunately, we have been dealing with our enemies based on the way we see things. But that just does not match up with the way they see the world.

In many Jews’ and Israelis’ per-spective, the fact that we are willing to release 1,000 prisoners just to get one man, demonstrates our value of life as paramount and above all else, and the fact that we are will-ing to cross our own red lines, be-speaks a genuine desire for peace and compromise, and a love for each individual soldier as if he were our own. What strength of charac-ter we have!

But that is just not the way they see it. In the Arab worldview, Hamas held out and got us to capit-

ulate, demonstrating our weakness.It is not accidental that the fi rst In-tifada started after Ehud Barak of-fered the most far reaching conces-sions any Israeli Prime minister hadever offered, as well as unilaterallypulling out of Lebanon, and themost intense and protracted missilebarrage from Gaza came after wepulled out of Gush Katif.

Going forward, perhaps anotherpiece of wisdom shared with me byYonah Baumel is worth contemplat-ing:

In the 1980s there were numer-ous kidnappings of foreign citizensin Lebanon. Most notable amongstthem was the Rev. Terry Anderson,an American held in captivity foreight years; three of them with asack over his head and chained to awall in a shed like an animal.

Yonah shared with me thataround the same time; the AmalMilitia in Lebanon kidnapped twoSoviet diplomats. But the Russiansdo not think like Westerners. Thevery next day, the Russians kid-napped two Amal commanders,and sent a box to Amal headquar-ters in Beirut with two index fi ngersand two ears, and a message say-ing the Amal militia would receivetwo new body parts every day untilthey ran out of body parts, and thenthey would kidnap two new Amalcommanders and start over again.The two Russian diplomats were re-leased the very next day.

Makes me wonder whether weneed to re-think the box we haveopened, and at least going forward,start to deal with our enemies inways they can understand.

Rav Binny Freedman, Rosh Yeshi-vat Orayta in Jerusalem’s Old City isa Company Commander in the IDFreserves, and lives in Efrat with hiswife Doreet and their four children.He is a survivor of the Sbarro’s pizze-ria bombing in Aug. 2001. His week-ly Internet ‘Parsha Bytes’ can befound at www.orayta.org

Opinion

FROM THE HEART OF JERUSALEM

Rabbi Binny Freedman

Rethinking the Shalit exchange

Photo by Frash90

Released Israeli Sgt. Gilad Shalit is welcomed home by Defense Min. Ehud Barak, Prime Min.Benjamin Netanyahu, and his father Noam Shalit.

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H ow do individuals appearing com-mitted to Torah learning and tradi-tion, fi nd justifi cation to fi rebomb

a private residence in New Square, smash bookstore windows in Jerusalem, and van-dalize a girls’ yeshiva in Ramat Beit Shem-esh? In a recent Ami Magazine interview, former Edah HaCharedit spokesman Rabbi Shmuel Pappenheim, described these zeal-ots as inspired by Pinchas, the biblical hero who massacred a Jewish prince for having an affair with a gentile woman. The sages praised his act, in restoring honor to the na-tion.

But these days, honor killings are more likely to appear among isolated Pashtun tribes in Waziristan rather than the heart of Jerusalem. Likewise, the Torah allows for numerous other harsh punishments, and brings down numerous plagues, famines, sieges, and natural disasters on the sinful. Throughout the centuries, Torah scholars understood that these punishments came not from human hands, but from a Creator who outlined in detail the principle of mid-dah k’neged middah.

In the absence of prophets, the sages codifi ed the Oral Law, which takes a merci-ful direction. Sanhedrin 41a states that the death penalty was taken away from Jewish courts by the Romans, and without a San-hedrin, rabbinic courts lack the authority to impose capital punishment. Likewise, the written order for parents to execute a re-bellious son is tempered in Sanhedrin 71a, “There never was, nor will there ever be, a child who meets all of the legal qualifi ca-tions of the ‘wayward and rebellious son.’” If you are looking to exterminate the rem-nant of Amalek, Berakhot 28a states that the clear identities of descendants of an-cient biblical nations have been lost over

time. Considering the leniencies prescribed in

the oral tradition against violence, where do the modern-day zealots fi nd their jus-tifi cation? Less than an hour from Meah Shearim, Arab neighborhoods of eastern Jerusalem have secured their de facto in-dependence through years of successful ri-oting. The Israeli police do not dare enter these areas. In exchange for tire burning, rock throwing, carjacking, kidnapping, bus bombings, and massacres, the Palestin-ian Arabs have secured an Olympic team, an observer status at the United Nations, a police force, an internet domain, and other trappings of statehood, all with the implicit consent of Israel.

Feeling ignored by the state, the extrem-ist minority that was outvoted in a democra-cy, they burn trash bins, vandalize mosques with “price tags,” smash windows of mod-ern Orthodox businesses, force women to cover up, sit in the back of buses, and banish them from public life. They curse, impose, intimidate and traumatize. In short, they witnessed the rise of Hamas as it developed from a small cell of zealots into the govern-ment of Gaza. Soon enough, entire sections of Israel could become autonomous areas ruled by the modern-day Sicarii. It is clear that for Jewish vigilantes, the Palestinians are their leading inspiration. Lost in their zeal are the words of Yirmeyahu. “Do not go in the way of the nations.”

Letters to the editorOn the Shalit release

The return of Gilad Shalit after 5 1/2 years of incarceration in a Hamas dungeon in Gaza is some-thing we have been praying for since the day he was brutally kidnapped.

No one with a heart of fl esh can deny being moved to tears of joy for Gilad Shalit and his family. But there is another perspective on this both qualitatively and quantitatively dis-proportionate prisoner exchange.

It can be asked to any opponent of this exchange, “what would you do if you were Gilad Shalit’s par-ents”? One has to be grateful not go through this ordeal.

But perhaps, there are some like Roi Klein who have the greatness of soul to put the nation’s interests above their personal interest. Or perhaps there are some who would lobby hard for their son’s release and hope (knowing in their heart of hearts) that the answer will, and should be, “NO.”

The PM of Israel contradicted his own writings when he agreed to this deal. He suddenly found religion and quoted the Gemara that one soul in Israel is the equivalent of the world and the mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim. Perhaps Ehud Olmert was a stron-ger leader when he refused to make such a deal because the price was too high? The Supreme Court refused to consider the appeal of the families of the victims of terror (“not our business”). But apparently approv-ing the Gaza disengagement and the destruction of Jewish (not illegal) homes in Migron was their business to uphold?

In the end we do see the great-ness of Am Yisrael. We celebrated the life of a kidnapped soldier. The people in Gaza celebrate the return of murderers. Perhaps the Gilad Sha-lit return was too loudly celebrated in Israel. Perhaps it should have been muted in light of all the counter con-cerns? In the end it was appropriate for Succot. It was a Kohelet day: a

time to rejoice and a time to cry.

Rabbi Heshie BilletWoodmere

“Occupy” rallies per-vert Jewish values

It is true that Judaism encour-ages giving and care for the needyand holds charitable practices in thehighest esteem, but primarily as it remains a social responsibility in thehands of the individual, as opposed to the government. As majority lead-er Eric Cantor told a Jewish audiencerecently at an Upper West Side syna-gogue, “a bureaucrat in Washington can’t make as effective a decision about charity, as you can.”

The most productive, Jewish and impactful path that authentic activ-ists with charitable concerns cantake, is in the private sector. Perhapsall this energy and exertion should be directed towards the establish-ment for example, of a grassrootssupport organization that grants fi nancial aid to struggling artists orwriters like Jeanette Friedman, orpartners corporate giving programs within large pharmaceutical compa-nies with those that are in the great-est need of medical aid. Additionally,initiatives of this innovative nature are effective, pro-active and cut outthe waste and red tape associatedwith the federal charity of Washing-ton that is being called for.

The Jewish solution is certainly not government imposed. It callsfor activists to encourage “genuinewillingness on the part of those who gain to ensure that the losers alsobenefi t,” and to appeal to and inspirethe spirit of charity as a personalobligation through effective and cre-ative private sector programs.

Dovid EfuneDirector, Algemeiner Journal

Brooklyn

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Editorial

What inspires Jewish violence?

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It is clear that for Jewish

vigilantes, the Palestinians are

their leading inspiration.

ADL and AJC put progressive politics before Israel

“I f you don’t support Barack Obama, shut the heck up!” That appears to be the message of the

leading secular Jewish organizations, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in a joint statement released on Tuesday asking Jews not to make Israel a political Issue:

The Anti-Defama-tion League and the American Jewish Com-mittee have joined to-gether in an effort to encourage other na-tional organizations, elected offi cials, re-ligious leaders, com-munity groups and individuals to rally around bipartisan sup-port for Israel while preventing the Jewish State from becoming a wedge issue in the up-coming campaign sea-son. Join the ADL and AJC in taking the “Na-tional Pledge for Unity

on Israel” -- and sign our pledge.Israel is at a crucial point in her history,

surrounded by terrorists who are appeased by most of the world, and a president who, because of incompetence or intention, is

throwing the Jewish state to the wolves. Many Americans feel this is the most anti-Israel administration in the 63-year history of the Jewish State.

Although the prose in their pledge is tame, its purpose is to isolate Jewish groups who wish to point out the failings of Presi-dent Barack Obama’s policy towards Israel. These organizations have a vested interest in ensuring that the Jews continue to vote Democratic and re-elect this president. They fear losing access to he White House.

These two groups never opened their mouths when Jewish groups disinvited Sarah Palin from an anti-Ahmadinejad rally in 2008, fearing that she will divert many Jewish votes away from Obama. When Obama invited the anti-Israel group J Street to presidential meetings, the Zionist Orga-nization of America was disinvited because unlike the rest of the leading secular Jew-ish organizations, the ZOA is conservative. The ADL and AJC stood silent, rather than for bipartisanship, as an important organi-zation was thrown out of the White House.

Perhaps the AJC doesn’t really believe in the progressive politics it eschews and simply wants to “go with the fl ow,” their history is marked with a desire to stay un-der the radar.

When European Jews were dying at the hands of the Nazis, the AJC discouraged open talk of the Holocaust, fearing that ac-

tivism would create an anti-Semitic back-lash. This was documented in Naomi Wie-ner Cohen’s book Not Free to Desist: The American Jewish Committee, 1906-1966, published in 1972.

From 1949 to the Six Day War of 1967, the AJC described itself as “non-Zionist,” fearing in supporting the newborn Jewish state; it would inspire charges of dual loy-alty in the United States.

As for Abraham Foxman and the ADL, they have never shied away from politics before, as long as it is progressive politics. In recent years the ADL has:

■ Supported partial birth abortion. In 2008, urging both parties to adopt a pro-choice stance in their presidential plat-forms. Does Abe Foxman realize that not all Jews hold pro-choice views?

■ Condemned pro-Israel Dutch law-maker Geert Wilders as an extremist for advancing a conspiratorial anti-Muslim agenda.”

■ Issued a “White Paper” promoting the progressive on the Tea Party movement.

■ Refused to recognize the anti-Semi-tism present within Occupy Wall Street, un-til Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com embarrassed it into recognizing this fact.

The ADL and the AJC have interesting ideas about bi-partisanship. If it supports their leadership’s goals of maintaining their prominent position in the American

progressive movement, it’s just fi ne. For Foxman and other leaders of major Jew-ish organizations, a progressive domestic agenda is a higher priority than the safety of Israel.

Matt Brooks of the Republican Jewish Coalition put it well: “An open and vigor-ous debate on the questions confronting our country is the cornerstone of the Amer-ican electoral process. Allowing the Ameri-can people to see where candidates stand, pro and con on critical issues, is the hall-mark of our free and democratic political system. For this reason, the RJC will not be a signer to this pledge…This effort to stifl e debate on U.S. policy toward Israel runs counter to this American tradition. Accord-ingly, the RJC will not be silenced on this or any issue.”

Jewish Americans, indeed all Americans are not as stupid as these groups think, they will see through the ADL and AJC at-tempts at stifl ing debate. Soon enough, big-tent groups created a century ago to rep-resent all American Jews will be reduced to mere shadows, fi nanced by secular phi-lanthropists, but will little popular support.

Jeff Dunetz is the Editor/Publisher of the political blog “The Lid” (www.jeffdunetz.com). Jeff lives on Long Island.

Opinion

POLITICO TO GO

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The Tower of Babel story teaches many lessons. Arguably the most blatant problem in the story is that the goal of

the people involved was to “make for our-selves a name.” (Bereishit 11:4)

Unifi ed they were, but to what end? Hillel said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” (Avot 1:14) Avot D’Rabi Natan explains this to mean “I am my own best advocate.”

For a person to be suc-cessful, the initiative to make a good name must come from within and must be followed with precise actions that will help achieve such a goal. How could this be a problematic aim for the builders of the tower?

The answer lies in its purported intent. It is one thing to stand up for oneself and to make a personal growth chart guided by distinct

benchmarks of “what I need to achieve to be the best I can be.” It is an entirely different matter to put the vital interests of our com-munity above those of other individuals and the world as a whole.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes, “The community complements the individ-ual, but only if the community assumes the same attitude toward G-d as the individual should; that is, if it subordinates its will to G-d.

“If the community declares, ‘We want to demonstrate the powers inherent in the com-munity’ without calling in G-d’s name; if the individual is called upon to be a servant of the community, but not to serve G-d; if the community presents itself as an end instead of as a means to an end– then mankind’s whole moral fi xture is lost.”

While Rabbi Hirsch may have been ad-dressing the dangers of communism (he lived at the same time as Karl Marx), I think we can springboard off his division between the community and the individual to create a new paradigm for what individual growth can look like.

Over the course of many travels and shab-bats spent in different cities and towns, I have found many people quite dedicated to their communities. Many talk about how “ev-eryone here is so nice.” They’ll talk about the distinguishing character of their shul, or the “chevra” they have, or how people look out

for one another, in good times and especially in bad times.

They’ll talk about how the community is a “makom Torah,” and a model of chesed. “I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,” they say. Some might even express where they’d never want to live because, “We don’t want to be like those people.”

But the story of the Tower of Babel is meant to tell us that it’s not about what your community can accomplish. Many communi-ties, in fact, do a lot of good. Each commu-nity looks out for its own.

The downside of the Tower of Babel group is emphasized particularly in contrast to an individual named Abraham, who chose to make a name for G-d, instead of making a name for his community. He worked on him-self in order to sanctify G-d’s name, rather than focus his attention on the trimmings of his neighborhood.

Now that the holidays are behind us, let us ask ourselves in what way we are working to sanctify G-d’s name – both as communi-ties, and even more as individuals. It’s nice that we have shalom zachars. But why are rabbis the only ones who prepare the divrei Torah to share?

It’s nice that we have long shabbos meals, but why do spend the entire time chatting, perhaps remembering to say a “quick dvar” right before bentching, in place of fi lling our shabbos tables with songs and a vibrant dis-cussion of the parsha?

It’s nice that our children speak at their bar and bat mitzvahs. But why does half the speech need to contain a gratuitous “roast” of siblings instead of a sophisticated thought that parent and child worked on together that shares a powerful message for speaker and participants? Let us aim to bring our children into adulthood, rather than encour-aging them to demonstrate how childish they can be.

It’s nice that the communities we live in support causes, Torah, chesed. But wouldn’t it be even greater if every individual par-ticipated in these support efforts, not just by saying “I’m a fan,” but also by showing up, rolling up sleeves, and getting involved?

Our communities can have whatever rep-utations they’ve developed or will develop. But our goals as individuals should always be, as Hillel said, “To look out for myself.” If I don’t make the effort to break away from the coattails of others to create my own good name, to sanctify G-d’s name myself, and to continue to grow in a spiritual way, “Who will be for me?”

Parshat Noach

Looking Out For Myself

Rabbi Avi Billet

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A Jewish news-paper should have a Hebrew column. So here it is.

We will try to maintain a level of vocabulary so that it will be easy enough for students to read and inter-esting enough for those more fl uent to enjoy.

Hebrew only please!

Mitzpe Hila 2011: rejoicing with trembling

Rabbi Noam Himelstein studied in Yeshivat Har Etzion and served in the Tanks Corps of the IDF. He has taught in yeshiva high schools, post-high school women’s seminaries, and headed the Torah MiTzion Kollel in Melbourne, Australia. He currently teaches at Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem, and lives with his wife and six children in Neve Daniel, Gush Etzion.

By Rabbi Noam Himelstein

The Jewish Star newspaper

(Long Island, NY)

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Re-ElectLEGISLATOR HOWARD J. KOPEL

Re-Elect Legislator Howard J. KopelPromises Made…Promises Kept

Republican, Independence, Conservative, Tax Revoltwww.howardkopel.com

PAID FOR BY HOWARD KOPEL FOR LEGISLATURE

Supported two consecutive no tax increase budgetsCut county spending over $170 millionTurned a $134 million defi cit inherited from the previousadministration into a $26.6 million surplus in his fi rst year in offi ce.Worked to eliminate the unfair 2.5% tax on home energy and electricityEliminated unnecessary patronage jobs and cut the size of the countyworkforce to its lowest levels since the 1950sStopped annual reassessments and made it easier for residentsto grieve unfair and incorrect property value assessments

Howard Kopel isn’t a professional politician. He’s a local businessmanwho ran for the County Legislature two years ago, promising to make

the tough decisions necessary to cut spending, reform Nassau’sassessment system, and reverse the habit of endless tax hikes that

were making Nassau unaffordable for our working families and seniors. Here’s what Legislator Howard J. Kopel, our community advocate, has

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Park Slope-based Kolot Chayeinu, and the gay synagogue Beth Simchat Torah cosponsored the sukkah project. Among the few Orthodox speakers speaking at the sukkah was Uri L’Tzedek Director Rabbi Ari Weiss, who spoke on the Jewish commitment to social justice. “One can be Orthodox and en-gaged in social justice. We should not penalize the wealthy, but the poor are getting poorer and this is something that we have to protest,” said founder Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz.

As Sieradski promotes the message of economic equality, he is also shaking off allegations that the protest movement contains anti-Semitism. “There is this shmendrick who runs around with a sign ‘Zionists control Wall Street.’ We chase him around but the police said that he also has a right to be here.”

The image of this protester has been circulating around the internet, boosted by politically conservative groups op-posing the protest movement. “This is not a group rooted in anti-Semitism, but whenever you have group envy, discon-tent and scapegoating, it often lends itself to anger at Jews,” said Rabbi Aryeh Spero. “We’ve seen historically that with class warfare, they look at Israel, see a successful country and feel envy.”

Taking the political opposite of Sieradski, the Great Neck resident founded Caucus For America, which seeks to combat what it perceives as growing secularism and socialism in the administration of President Barack Obama. “There is a cer-tain selfi shness here. They want guaranteed jobs and wages, it’s a romantic anarchy,” Rabbi Spero said.

On the last of the Chol Hamoed days, Sieradski welcomed Brooklyn City Councilman Brad Lander to the sukkah, where he spoke on affordable housing. Unable to secure a loud-speaker permit from the police, the demonstrators repeated each of Lander’s sentences in unison. Amid the speech, Rev. Jesse Jackson strolled by, clasping hands with Lander. “We have the power to make this a better world,” said Rev. Jack-son, who has his own past of troublesome remarks about Jews. At the rally however, he spoke of the Jewish role in the

civil rights movement, including New Yorkers Andrew Good-man and Michael Schwerner, who were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964 while registering southern blacks to vote.

Looking into his own community, Sieradski called on sup-porters to take hold of their local Jewish organizations. With

their leaders often being those with the deepest pockets,Sieradski argues that many Jewish organizations lack de-mocracy. “We have to ‘Occupy Judaism’ and hold our Jewishleaders accountable,” Sieradski said. “The greatest tzedakah comes with no strings attached.”

Jewish protesters dismiss anti-Semitism chargesContinued from page 1

Photo courtesy of Occupy Judaism Facebook page

Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander shares common cause with Rev. Jesse Jackson at the protesters’ Sukkot gathering.

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Mensch on the street By Ariel Rosenbloom

What does the homecoming of Sgt. Gilad Shalit mean to you?

“The release is a won-derful thing. It has been a long fi ve years. I will continue to daven for the remaining people still held in captivity and that Gilad will be able to make a full physical and mental recovery from his experience”

KEVIN SEIDLER TeacherPlainview

“It shows me how loyal the Jewish people are to one another and how important a Jewish soldier is.”

STEPHANIE WEPRINStudentQueens College Jamaica Estates

“I’m relieved that he’s home, yet I feel that his freedom came at too high of a price. 1,027 terrorists are too many to be released for one Jewish Israeli soldier.”

MICHAEL ARYEHStudent Queens College Cedarhurst

“It’s a very big tragedy. They could have gotten him out without letting loose a thousand mur-derers. The rebbe said you shouldn’t give back one inch of land. This is just piling one tragedy on top of another.”

RAANAN ISSEROFF Offi ce managerBrooklyn

“I think it’s great that one of our brethren is back home and I pray that those that were traded for him live out peaceful lives.”

MICHAEL ROZENTALPhotographer assistant “Picture This” Cedarhurst

“It shows how much a Jew is worth versus a Palestinian.”

STEPHANIE JERETChefLawrence

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By Sergey Kadinsky

The Great Neck Synagogue had a color-ful Simchat Torah this year, with a huge tallit cloth held up by six poles in the main sanc-tuary, the work of local couple Ina and Isaac Greszes, in memory of Ina’s father Charles Frankel. “My wife is a graphic designer and I’ve worked with fabrics all my life,” Isaac Greszes said. “We combined out know-how.”

The holiday of Simchat Torah was always special for Frankel, who bought the Kol Ha-nearim aliyah each year at his Chicago syna-gogue. In the decade since his passing, Gresz-es, a gabbai at the synagogue’s beit medrash minyan, has purchased the aliyah for himself, in memory of Frankel.

About fi ve years ago, the shul came to Ina and Isaac, asking them to purchase a gi-ant tallis, in lieu of their usual donation, to enhance the young children’s Simchat Torah experience. “In the past, members would tie their talleisim together to create a large tal-lis,” Greszes said. “In this two year process, we reached out to 25 shuls between New York and Los Angeles, but their designs did not really encompass what we and our shul are about.”

Ina drafted a design centered on the Beit Hamikdash with a colorful set of buildings facing it. “For us, Jerusalem is our central fo-cus and from there you see different neigh-borhoods,” Greszes said. Once the design, manufacturer, and size were fi nalized, the tal-lit project was announced to the congregation at the shul’s annual dinner.

The project proved successful, contribut-ing to one of the highest-grossing fundrais-ers in the shul’s history. “Over 120 different

families are named in the dedication, that’s over 600 names on the tallit,” Greszes said. Donations for the project ranged from $50 to $36,000. The donors’ names seamlessly wrap around the central image, imposed on an arch brick design that frames the image on the gi-ant tallit. “It was a joint project of so many in the shul, spearheaded by Isaac and Ina,” said Rabbi Dale Polakoff.

Further boosting the connection to ancient Jerusalem, the 18 by 18 foot tallit has techelet fringes hanging from each of its four corners, covering dozens of excited children during the holiday service. “It was a wonderful service. The children were looking up, searching for their family names,” Rabbi Polakoff said.

The strong sense of family unity for Gresz-es is also evident in his family fi rm’s name,

Charles G. Bailey, the Midtown Manhattanfashion design showroom. “Charles is myfather-in-law, and also the name of my son,”Greszes said. “Bailey is the bechor, he had thealiyah this year. And the G is our last name.”

Rabbi Polakoff said that the tallit enhancedthe service, fostering unity among the partici-pating members. “Just as the tallit envelopsthe wearer, this tallit connects all of us.”

Creative tallit covers Simchat Torah in Great Neck

Photo by Emma Greszes

The enormous Kol Hanearim tallit honors a family’s patriarch while uniting numerous donors who made it possible.

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By Sergey Kadinsky

The stage is askew and sounds of seagulls squawk at the off-Broadway Castillo Theatre, where Dan Friedman’s “The Learning Play of Rabbi Levi-Yitzhak, Son of Sara, of Berdi-chev,” takes the setting of a deck aboard a late 19th century steamer heading to America, with four Russian Jews repre-senting the religious spectrum between socialism and Ortho-doxy. In the play, the four characters act out stories related to the famed rabbi in resolving confl icts between the Jewish responsibility to other people and the commitment to reli-gious observance.

In one such story, a teamster seeks advice from the rabbi on balancing work and religion. “My need to earn a living gets in the way of my service to G-d,” the teamster says, to which Rabbi Levi-Yitzhak replies, “You serve the Lord with your wagon just as good as you learning the Talmud.” At this point, the socialist, portrayed by Ben Prayz, triumphantly concludes that ritual is not the main point of serving G-d. Sean Singer, who depicts an Orthodox baker, rebuts the so-cialist’s conclusion, leading into another story play from the rabbi’s life where a drunk water carrier appears in the rabbi’s dream, receiving a greater blessing for his Passover obser-vance than the great rabbi. Seeking to fi nd out why, he sum-mons the wasserman to his home for a conversation.

Throughout the story sketches, a silent fi fth character played by Belarus native Dmitri “Zisl” Slepovitch, weaves through the background. An apparent counterpart to the unseen fi ddler from the universally renowned Fiddler on the Roof, Slepovitch gyrates with his clarinet, conveying the mood of the debate among the four passengers. Slepovitch is the musical director of the Folksbiene Troupe, the remaining Yiddish language theater group in New York. Moshe Yassur, who also hails from the alte heim, directs the play. Born in Iasi, Romania, Yassur began his career as a Yiddish actor be-fore making aliyah. He currently splits his time between New York, Israel and Romania in his role as a theater director.

Respected by religious and secular Jews alike, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak was best known for expressing the positive aspects of even the least religious Jews. An example cited by Chabad’s brief online description speaks of the rabbi encountering a Jew smoking in public on Shabbat. When the rabbi asked the smoker whether he was aware that he was committing a sin, the smoker answered that he was aware of this fact. “Lord of the universe, see the holiness of your people,” Rabbi Levi

Yitzhak declared. “They’d rather declare themselves sinnersthan utter a lie!”

The play can be seen on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. until Nov. 10 at Castillo Theatre located at 543 W. 42 Street in MidtownManhattan. Tickets are $35 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. Group rates are available. Tickets can be purchased through the box offi ce at 212-941-1234 or at www.castillo.org.

The Berdichever goes Off-Broadway

Photo courtesy of All Stars Project/Castillo Theatre

A full spectrum of Jewish views rock the boat in “The Learning Play of Rabbi Levi-Yitzhak, Son of Sara of Berdichev”

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R abbi Shlomo of Kartin said: “If you want to raise a man from mud and fi lth, do not think it is enough to keep standing

on top and reaching down to him a helping hand. You must go all the way down your-self, down into mud and fi lth. Then take hold of him with strong hands, and pull him and yourself out into the light.” Here’s another one, “When you tell stories about holy peo-

ple, and you tell other people there are holy people in the world, it fi lls you with joy.”

Elie Wiesel, the Nobel literature lau-reate also has a word on this week’s author. “He would suffer with those who suffered. A lover of loving, he would never offend the person to whom he was speaking. Where others might use argumenta-tion and recrimination,

he preferred praise. I never once heard him speak ill of another, even of those who cared a little less for him.”

These words refl ect upon one of the most charismatic personalities of previous century in Judaism. A rabbi, whose unique manner and method help save Judaism from the de-cay of a decadent civilization that surround-ed us. Now, once more, the treasure that is Reb Shlomo’s legacy is to be found in a new work, “The Torah Commentary of Rabbi Sh-lomo Carlebach” by Urim Publications. The fi rst volume of the upcoming series has Rabbi

Shlomo Carlebach’s commentary on the fi rst six parshiot of Sefer Bereishis contain per-haps among the most human and humane oriented takes upon the sacred divine text, thus truly enhancing its meaning and teach-ings. In his foreword to this work, Rabbi Shmuel Intrator notes the infl uences of the following rabbinic fi gures behind Rabbi Car-lebach’s work.

“His teachings hold a depth that weave eternally through a tapestry of multi-layered interpretations and applications. This perspec-tive to Torah study he inher-ited from his great master, Rav Aharon Kotler, the founder of the Lakewood Yeshiva, whose brilliant lectures are world re-nowned for their highly devel-oped detailed Talmudic pilpul study.

“Reb Shlomo’s breadth of Torah and life scope, evident in many of his teachings, are an approach to Torah study that he learned from Rav Shlomo Heiman, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Torah Vadaath who pre-ferred a broader, more inclusive approach to a more detailed, developed one.

“Reb Shlomo’s application of sophisti-cated Talmudic and Halachic approaches to spiritual Chassidic and Kabbalistic concepts are clearly infl uences of his close apprentice-ship with the last Lubavitcher Rebbe.”

These infl uences coupled with the teach-ings of Ishbitz and Breslov, all came together and are refl ected in the Torah teachings that are to be found in this newly issued work of

Reb Shlomo’s Torah teachings.As an example of these teachings con-

sider the following sampling from this week’s Parshat Noach. “Reb Nachman and all the Rebbes say that G-d never said, ‘Let there be water,’ so where did the water come from? The truth is that the water is the one thing, which is between before and after creation...”

Water is very pure; water is absolutely very pure which means in a certain deep way,

water is untouched by creation. It’s created and yet it’s not created. So the thing is that obviously, the way the world was evolving ‘after cre-ation’ was absolutely polluted, so G-d began pulling back. He didn’t destroy all creation but He went back half a step.”

In another teaching this in re-gard to prayer we learn the follow-ing, “You know why Noach didn’t pray for the world? Noach be-lieved in G-d. He understood that G-d created the world, and now

G-d wants to destroy it. So people are bad and there is nothing to do about it, they have to be wiped out. If someone is evil, then you got to destroy them.

“You know friends, if someone says to me, ‘I bought ice-cream for twenty-fi ve cents and I don’t like it, I want to throw it out,’ I‘m not crying over it.

“If someone says to me, ‘ I bought some-thing for a hundred million dollars and I want to throw it away,’ I say, ‘please don’t do this.’

“See what it is… Noach didn’t know what the world is, he did not know how precious

the world is. Yes, he knew that it was abeautiful world. He knew there is one G-d,but, mamesh knowing what the world is allabout, how deep the world is, how deep ev-ery human being is? This he didn’t know.”

I conclude this essay with the followingobservation by Rabbi Intrator. “The teach-ings in this book are not just meant to beread, but they are intended to be enjoyed andexperienced as ‘holy music’. Ultimately theyare intended as a lesson to live a ‘holy life.’”

Indeed, for those of us who enjoyed RebShlomo in life, these pages of learning willbring us back to the memories of the cadenceof his voice in both prose and song. To thoseof you who never experienced him on thepulpit or stage kindly please obtain this work in the month to come and learn the fi rst halfof Sefer Bereishis as you never learned it be-fore. For more information on this and futurepublications in this series you may want tocheck out www.CarlebachLegacy.com

Alan Jay Gerber

The Kosher BookwormReb Shlomo’s Torah legacy

Songwriter Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

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Photos of the week

Photo courtesy of Chabad Center for Jewish Life

Merrick Chabad “occupies” fall street fairCoinciding with Chol Hamoed Sukkot, the village of Merrick had a street fair on Oct. 16. With tempera-tures cooling and leaf colors changing, Rabbi Shi-mon Kramer wore a sweater, handing out calendars, brochures and literature to nearly 200 passersby. Unlike the Wall Street protesters, Chabad’s “occu-pation” of Merrick Avenue ended on the same day.

Photo courtesy of Misaskim

Misaskim entertains 600 local orphansOn the breezy shore of Manhattan Beach, bus loads of local children who have suffered the loss of a parent, were entertained by athletic acrobats from Flippenout Productions. The show was part of a day fi lled withactivities, including a tour of a Coca-Cola bottling plant, kiddie rides, and a concert by the Ari Teitelbaum and the Shira Choir, alongside Shloime Daskal. Misaskim provided transportation and logistics of the event.

Photo courtesy of HAFTR

HAFTR students celebrate Gilad Shalit’s release through songHAFTR Middle School students gath-ered to watch a slide show and were read one of Gilad’s letters to his par-ents while in captivity. The seventh grade girls sang Arik Einstein’s “Now That You Are Here,” a song written spe-cially for Sgt. Shalit upon his release. The Middle School assembly concluded with the Israeli national anthem.

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Oct. 30Shul honors its namesakeCONGREGATION AISH KODESH of Woodmere is holding its annual Hilula for the Yahrzeit its namesake, Rabbi Kalonimus Kalmish Shapira, known as the Aish Kodesh. The event will feature the music of Yosef Karduner and the Divrei Torah of Rabbi Moshe Weinberger. The event will be at Bnos Bais Yaakov, located at 613 Beach 9 Street in Far Rockaway. The event begins at 9:00 p.m. For more information and sponsorships, contact Elliot Blumenthal at elliot.blumenthal@bipc.com or (516) 457-7893.

Nov. 1Food & Wine for RenewalGOURMET GLATT EMPORIUM, the kosher super-market located at 137 Spruce Street in Cedar-hurst, is hosting a food & wine tasting event to benefi t Renewal, the Brooklyn-based nonprofi t that coordinates kidney donations in the greater Orthodox community. The event runs from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Funds raised at the event will be used to provide fi nancial assistance to kidney donors and education programs on kidney dona-tions. For reservations, contact 347-228-1281 or renewal@gourmetglatt.com

Nov. 2On Jewish humorELMONT JEWISH CENTER, located at 500 Elmont

Road in Elmont is hosting author Prof. Kenneth Libo, who will be speaking on the topic “From Tummler to Top Banana,” on the role of Jewish humor in American culture. The free event is co-sponsored by New York council for the Humani-ties. Dr. Libo is an adjunct history professor at Hunter College. The program begins at 8 p.m. For more information, contact 516-488-1616.

Nov. 6Martial arts for KulanuKULANU, the nonprofi t serving special-needs children in the Five Towns community, is hosting a Punch and Kick-A-Thon fundraiser where chil-dren and adults may participate in an hour-long session of punches and kicks guided by Warren Levi Martial Arts and Fitness. The cost is $18 per person. The event begins at 11 a.m. at 620 Central Avenue in Cedarhurst. For more information, contact 516-569-3083.

Nov. 12Jews in the Civil WarYOUNG ISRAEL OF HILLCREST, located at 169-07 Jewel Avenue in Hillcrest, is showing the fi lm “Jew-ish soldiers in Blue & Gray” by the National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis Univ. The fi lm presents the stories of the 10,000 Jewish soldiers who fought in the American Civil War. The free event is co-sponsored by State Assemblyman Rory Lanc-man and Queens Jewish Community Council. The free event begins at 8 p.m. For more information, contact 718-969-2990 or 718-544-9033.

Photo by Isabel Slepoy

Yocheved Hess, 11, and Shmoul Hess, 10, participate on stage in a performance by ventriloquist Jonathan Geffner at Yeshiva Daschei Torah in Far Rockaway.

ON THE

CalendarSubmit your shul or organization’s events or shiurim to jscalendar@thejewishstar.com.

Deadline is Wednesday of the week prior to publication.

Gourmet Glatt to host benefi t for kidney donors

The gift of saving a life through a safe sur-gery at no cost has been the task of Renewal since 2006, with 127 transplants to the credit of the Brooklyn-based nonprofi t. To pay for the cost of the operation for donors, the Gourmet Glatt supermarket in Cedarhurst is holding a food and wine tasting event on Nov. 1, where supporters can taste a variety of creative kosher products while learning about the valuable work of Renewal. “It is a gift that gives life and the procedure is safer than a hernia surgery,” said Renewal founder Mendel Reiner. “There are absolutely no fi -nancial reimbursements, it is done in total altruism through newspaper ads.”

Renewal posts the age and blood type requirements in Jewish community newspa-pers, and pays for the donor’s lost wages and out of pocket expenses related to the surgery. Insurance covers the surgery of kidney re-cipients. For more information on this event, contact 347-228-1281 or renewal@gourmet-glatt.com

“Rebbetzin Kanievsky inspired our local women to say amen”

On Oct. 15, a renowned inspirational fi g-ure in the Orthodox world died. Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky, 79, was known for welcoming countless women into her home seeking blessing and advice. The Bnei Brak resident was related to leading Orthodox rabbinic fi gures of recent times, a daughter of Rabbi Shalom Elyashiv and wife of Rab-

bi Chaim Kanievsky. For women in the Five Towns, she was the inspiration behind theOhel Sara Amen Group. “There were lines of people outside her door and she welcomed them with compassion, taking down theirnames for tehilim,” said Rabbi Dovid Wein-berger of Lawrence, the spiritual advisor for the Amen Group. “She davened vasikin early every morning with a group that respondedin amen to each other’s brachos and some of our local women brought this concept home.”

Rabbi Weinberger spoke with RabbiElyashiv on the merits of this concept, whichhe strongly endorsed. Though Rebbetzin Kanievsky never visited Lawrence, she wasfamiliar with its Amen Group. “She knew them all by name and always asked me howthey are doing.”

Merrick Chabad’s festive Sukkot week

Rabbi Shimon Kramer’s Chabad Centerfor Jewish Life, which serves the commu-nities of Merrick, Bellmore and Wantagh, hosted local residents in its sukkah tent be-tween the holidays of Sukkot and SimchatTorah. Joining the festivities was comedianRichard Morris, entertaining the crowd as they noshed kosher pizza. On Simchat Torah,Chabad students seeking a career of shlichusare known for walking long distances to cele-brate with smaller Jewish communities. Thisyear, nine yeshiva students staying at theLubavitcher Rebbe’s ohel in eastern Queenswalked 12 miles to Merrick, visiting the localChabad and other nearby synagogues. “No matter their affi liation or lack thereof, any-one in our community is welcome and canfeel comfortable at Chabad programs,” RabbiKramer said.

Local news in brief

OngoingBat Mitzvah classesDRISHA INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH EDUCATION is now offering a Bat Mitzvah program at Congre-gation Beth Sholom, located at 390 Broadway in Lawrence. Titled “Our Mothers, Ourselves,” this fi ve-week class for mothers and daughters ages 11-13 will explore different personalities of women in the Tanakh from both pshat and drash perspectives. The class will also discuss the signifi cance of becoming a Bat Mitzvah and how it relates to these prominent women. The classes will take place on Sundays at 10:30 a.m.

starting on Nov. 13. For more information, contact inquiry@drisha.org

Exploring Haftarah for womenCONGREGATION KNESETH ISRAEL, located at 728 Empire Avenue in Far Rockaway, is hosting weekly haftarah lectures for women sponsored by Machon Basya Rochel Seminary, with Vivienne Chaya Frank. The classes take place every Tuesday at 1 p.m. starting Oct. 25, at the cost of $12 per class. For more information, contact 718-355-8900.

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Dear Aviva,My husband and I are in our late seventies

and are proud grandparents. Our fi rst grand-child just became engaged to a lovely young man. They are planning on marrying in Israel in a few months. I cannot attend, since I am responsible for taking my husband to dialysis and caring for him.

Our children or grandchildren help out the few times that I am not able to take him, but all of our family will be at the wedding and I do not feel that it would be right to leave him with someone who is unfamiliar with his situation.

I have been dreaming of my granddaugh-ter’s wedding from the time that she was a very young child and cannot come to terms with this concept of not attending.

-Caring Caregiver

Dear Caring Caregiver,First of all, Mazel Tov—the fi rst grand-

child’s wedding is a very exciting time!I think that it is very admirable that you

are not ready to give up your duties tempo-rarily. It is a testament to the fact that you deeply care for your husband. My concern is that you don’t end up resenting it afterwards. So in order to do that, we have to help you come to terms with it before it happens and help you own your decision.

First step: Rule out all other options. It’s time to get creative and fl exible. One idea that comes to mind is utilizing these few months until the wedding to fi nd someone whom you can train and trust to do the job. I personally benefi tted from this type of situ-ation after I had my youngest child. I never trusted anyone to care for my babies until they were old enough to go to playgroup and never dreamed of leaving someone else in charge even for an hour. Unfortunately, I was in a critical medical state while expect-ing my youngest and needed help with the baby after he was born. I was very present in the house, though physically not 100%. During those months, I showed the woman how I run things, how I parent, and she fol-lowed my lead. After some time, I trusted her enough to leave her in charge a few hours during the week and started working outside

of the home. Could I trust her completely? No. I couldn’t trust anyone in that position completely. But I defi nitely felt comfortable since we had a few months history: I could hear her when she thought I was napping, I would watch her from the window if she took my kids outside, etc.

So if you were able to fi nd someone now and train them, and have neighbors checking in on them while you are gone (in between the reminder phone calls that you are mak-ing,) would you feel comfortable leaving? If not, that’s fi ne. I just want you to realize that it would be you holding yourself back, not your husband holding you back. And that is fi ne as well.

If you decide not to go, you still need to actively do what you can to come to terms with things. Can you please read my fi rst sentence again? Notice that I did say that it is an exciting “event,” instead I framed it as an exciting time. This means that you can be part of this momentous occasion without at-tending the actual party. Get involved and tag along. (With the permission of the bride and her mother.)

Go with them to look at invitations, weave through Bed Bath and Beyond while clumsily scanning items for the bridal registry. Don’t offer your opinion unless asked, but be there. These memories cannot replace seeing your granddaughter under the chuppah. How-ever, shopping, planning and choosing with Babby over a span of a few months are far more valuable and cherished memories for a granddaughter than dancing with you at her wedding as her friends keep shoving in to show off the shtick. Not to mention the headpiece comb that’s digging into her scalp and the train she keeps tripping on. That is if she can even remember more than an eight of a second of her wedding.

And, the best part of being in your late seventies is living in the early 2010’s—get all dressed up and Skype will transport you!

-Aviva

Aviva Rizel is a licensed Marriage and Fam-ily Therapist in private practice that can be reached at 347-292-8482 or AvivaRizel.MFT@gmail.com. She is a resident of Far Rockaway.

Ask Aviva

Unable to attend this simcha

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By Corey Adwar

When a Muslim family in Yugoslavia pro-tected its Jewish neighbors during the Ho-locaust, the family had no idea that Israel would rescue them from genocide during the Bosnian War 50 years later. But that is ex-actly what happened for one Muslim family, and a descendant is now telling her remark-able story, on a visit on Oct. 16 to Glen Cove.

Sara Pechanec, the daughter of Muslim rescuers during the Nazi occupation of Yu-goslavia, spoke to a large crowd at the Ho-locaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in an event coinciding with the BESA: A Code of Honor special exhibit.

Although Pechanec was born after the war, she related the story of how her moth-er, father and grandfather sheltered a Jew-ish family, even though the headquarters of the German Gestapo was located across the street from their home. When her grandfa-ther obtained false documents for the Jew-ish family, they were able to leave Yugoslavia freely. After the Nazis learned that he had assisted Jews, Sara’s grandfather died in a concentration camp.

In the 1990’s, Pechanec lost her home and wealth during the brutal siege of Sarajevo. The Israeli government and Yad Vashem – Is-rael’s national Holocaust memorial – secured the transit of Sara’s family to the Jewish state in 1994, including her mother, husband, and young daughter. Israeli politicians Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres each delivered let-ters stating that the Muslim family could re-

main in Israel for the rest of their lives with-out conditions.

Now, Pechanec marvels at how kindness and sacrifi ce can be repaid in successive gen-erations.

“It’s our children and grandchildren that build the bridge of friend-ship and tolerance and help the people that need help,” she said.

Pechanec said it was hard at fi rst to come to a foreign country. Nev-ertheless, she wanted to make Israel her permanent home because its people were the only ones willing to help her family when she had no other friends left to turn to. She then made the surprise choice of converting to Judaism. “The rabbis asked me ‘Why do you want to become a Jew? You haven’t enough problems in your life?’” Pechanec said half-jokingly.

But she was passionate about the Jewish faith. “If you love something and you want to be a part of it, it’s not diffi cult,” Pechan-ec said of her desire to convert. In terms of how strict she is in her practice of Judaism, Pechanec describes herself as belonging to the middle of the spectrum – somewhat conservative but not as much one could be. She emphasized that a steadfast belief in G-d should matter more than the different ways

in which people express that belief.Pechanec currently works at Yad Vashem

in Jerusalem, and her daughter is an offi cer in the Israeli Air Force. Pechanec and her siblings represent three countries and three religions, with a Christian brother in Mexico

City, and a Muslim sister in Sarajevo.

But her family repre-sents only one of the many cases in which Muslims helped Jews during the Holocaust. Other speakers at the Holocaust Center on Sunday included Qemal Biçaku, a descendant of Albanian Muslim rescuers who saved 26 Jews. After the war, Biçaku’s grandfa-ther and uncle were jailed and tortured by Albania’s strict communist regime for maintaining contact

with those Jews who had since settled in other countries. Israel’s Yad Vashem awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations to both Pechanec’s and Biçaku’s families, which is an honor bestowed upon non-Jewish Holo-caust rescuers.

Dr. Anna Kohen, the daughter of rescued Albanian Jews and the President of the Al-banian American Women’s Organization, also spoke at the event. Her parents fl ed to a nearby Muslim village, where they were shel-tered in a Muslim home and took on Muslim names until the end of the war. Even though

Dr. Kohen says everyone in the village knewher parents were Jewish, no one ever in-formed the Germans of their presence.

In Albania, the term for helping strangersin need, even at the risk of one’s own family,is known as Besa. In Albania, Besa is a tradi-tion and code of conduct that transcends dif-ferences such as religion and ethnicity.

Ferit Hoxha, the top Albanian diplomatat the United Nations, described the impor-tance of Besa in Albania’s culture. There wasno history of anti-Semitism in Albania beforethe war, and all of the Jews there survivedthe Holocaust. Albania was the only countryin Europe that had Jewish population growth during the war, as many Jews fl ed there in order to escape persecution.

Hoxha said that one reason why morepeople aren’t aware of the rescue of Jews isbecause Albanians who practice Besa don’t feel that they have done anything out of theordinary. “They were not looking for atten-tion, they just behaved as their code of con-duct, education, and humanity dictates.”Another reason cited by Hoxha is the longpost-war period of communist rule, which isolated Albania and forced its citizens to keep quiet about their past.

Dr. Faroque Khan, a founding member ofthe Islamic Center of Long Island, introducedsome of the Albanian Muslims at the event. He said the same principles of Besa also ex-ist throughout the Muslim world and havetheir origins in the Quran. “This is true jihad.They were practicing the tenets of the Mus-lim faith.”

Muslim shoah rescuers honored

Photo by Corey Adwar

Descendants of rescuers, local Muslim leaders, and top Albanian UN diplomat Ferit Hoxha, spoke on the rescue of Jews in the Balkans during the Holocaust.

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“The rabbis asked

me ‘Why do you

want to become a

Jew? You haven’t

enough problems in

your life?’”

By Rachel Blinick and Daniel Elefant

The fi erce debate between Rep. Michelle Bachmann and Texas Gov. Rick Perry over using executive power to require young girls to be vaccinated against Human Papilloma-virus (HPV) raises a very interesting ques-tion for all Americans to ponder. If state and federal governments use their power—not to mention the law—to intervene in public health related issues, is that a “violation of liberty interest” as Bachmann called it or do we view it as a necessary measure that would be considered public good?

This question runs deep through every demographic across the country. Indeed, can we draw a clear boundary where our lawmakers should not cross in the name of public health? On the one hand, most agree on the requirement for public school children to be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) and diphtheria, tetanus, per-tussis (DTP). However, there are many who question the extension of such requirements to HPV vaccines—those that protect women from certain cervical cancers—because of the social and moral impact such vaccina-tions might have on young teenage girls, as well as the potential destruction of parental choice to which this could lead.

There are serious public health risks that require immediate federal attention, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was established to address such risks. But, there are also those for which govern-mental intervention could qualify as “viola-tion of liberty interest.”

Obesity-related health conditions place a

fi nancial pressure on our healthcare system to the tune of over $150 billion dollars a year, more than all types of cancer combined ac-cording to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In an effort to ease this pressure, a number of elected offi cials have proposed a tax on sugary beverages. Republican Sen. Shane Cultra has even proposed a tax on parents with obese children, and suggested removing these children from their parents’ custody and placing them in healthier foster homes.

Have the skyrocketing rates of obesity and related diseases such as diabetes become so out-of-control that we must now revoke the freedom of some individuals to protect them-selves and their children? Among the states, the highest obesity fi gures in 1990 were less than 10 percent. By 2010, the lowest obesity rates jumped to 20-24 percent and the high-est rates topped 30 percent.

So, there is clearly cause for national alarm and action. Nevertheless, many would argue that any legislative measure infringes on the rights of the healthy. To be sure, must they be taxed on the occasional treats that they enjoy just because their obese neighbor might be a walking time bomb?

This obesity debate evokes vivid memo-ries of a time when there were smoking sec-tions on airplanes and tobacco companies ruled the billboards and television screens. Back then, and still to this day, there are on-going discussions about whether or not the government is getting too involved in trying to solve the problem, thereby crossing lines that step on “liberty interest.”

Recent studies testify to the tremendous decline in smoking across the country, seem-

ingly a direct result of increased taxes on cigarettes and the millions of dollars in an-ti-smoking advertising campaigns. But oth-ers argue that the drop in smoking rates is the result of education, which raised an in-creased awareness of the health risks.

The over arching question remains: when is it absolutely necessary for governmental intervention on behalf of the public good and when is it our duty to tell government to mind its own business? The only apparent distinction we can draw is that when a partic-ular group of people or organizations can be held responsible for a severe impediment on

public health, only then should we be willing to forgo carefully selected freedoms that willdirectly bring our health back to order.

Until further research is done and moreethical conversations are held, it is very dif-fi cult to justify the government’s “violation ofliberty interest.”

Rachel Blinick and Daniel Elefant are co-presidents of the Yeshiva University StudentMedical Ethics Society and will present a con-ference on Jewish Perspectives on Public Healthon Nov. 6th. For more information visit www.yumedicalethics.com.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of healthiness

RACHEL BLINICK DANIEL ELEFANT

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At NCSY, we understand Jewish teens bet-ter than anyone. Because we work with

them 365 days a year. And we’ve been doing it for 56 years.

One thing we’ve learned along the way: noth-ing inspires, motivates and builds teens like an NCSY summer. That’s because NCSY Summer is built on a simple mission - provide Jewish teens with a growth-oriented, meaningful and fun summer.

It starts with our staff and advisors. We have a simple philosophy: hire the best. That means positive and relatable role models who care about each teen and want to make a difference in their life. Those that can lead a learning group with teens in the morning, play sports

with them in the afternoon and hang out with them at night.

We view summer as the ultimate growth op-portunity. It’s when teens are free to make their own choices. And when you put them in a growth-oriented environment with positive reinforcement, they learn to make the right choices. In the summer, during the year and for the rest of their lives.

After a summer with NCSY, teens come back feeling more connected to their heritage, more appreciative of Shabbat, more committed to davening and more in love with Israel. Because when you take teens and give them a chance to run a camp for unaffiliated Jewish children in Austria on JOLT or learn in a beit medrash

with Rav Hershel Schachter on Kollel, they rarely ever see things the same. Years later, past participants look back on their summer as a turning point in their religious and spiritual growth. And quite often, the best summer of their lives.

Last summer, the parents and grandparents of 890 teens chose to send their kids on an NCSY Summer Program. This summer, let us show you what we can do for your child in 42 days or less. After all, you deserve it.

Learn more about NCSY’s nine unique sum-mer programs and register before 1/2/2012 at www.ncsysummer.com. To request a brochure, email summer@ncsy.org or call 212.613.8167.

How to inspire your teenager in 42 days or lessYou’ve invested time and money instilling Jewish values in your children.

But are they passionate about being Jewish? This summer, they just might be.

Teens on NCSY’s JOLT volunteering at a soup kitchen in Israel. JOLT is one of NCSY’s nine meaningful and fun summer programs.

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SOUTH NASSAU COMMUNITIES HOSPITAL | ONE HEALTHY WAY, OCEANSIDE, NY 11572 | 877-SOUTH-NASSAU | WWW.SOUTHNASSAU.ORG

“When I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at 27, Dr. Hodyl not only helped

save my life … she changed it forever.”Dr. Christine Hodyl’s caring approach to lifesaving breast cancer surgery had a life-changing impact on survivor

Kristine Smart, who is now studying to become a radiation oncology nurse because of her experience. A leading

breast surgeon, Dr. Hodyl removes the tumors alongside a team of plastic surgeons, conserving as much of the

breast as possible and providing immediate post-mastectomy reconstruction, giving patients hope and renewed

dignity with the utmost in personal, compassionate care.

Kristine SmartBreast cancer survivor & radiation oncology nursing student,West Hempstead

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Hodyl, call 877.SOUTH.NASSAU or visit www.southnassau.org for more information.

Christine Hodyl, DO, FACSDirector of Breast Services

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