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Soupy SalesDanny ODoul 22
Guilty As ChargedHannah Reich Berman 32
The Daily JewsRabbi Avi Shafran 36
MindBizEsther Mann, LMSW 37
Positive Parenting
Rochelle Miller 64
Light And Darkness
At the Ohel Child Safety Fair that took place this Sunday.See Page 54
Only For The Children
The Legacy Of Rav Henoch
Leibowitz, ztl
B Y R A V A R Y E H Z .
G I N Z B E R G
CHOFETZ CHAIM TORAH CENTER
Our Chazal tell us that when
a person passes away, its com-
parable to a sefer Torah that is
burnt. On a simple level, this
means that just as a persons
neshamah lives on even after it
departs from the physical body,
so too when a holysefer Torah is
burnt, only the physical parch-
LIVINGLETTERS
Continued on Page 17
MOMMYTIME
KIDS NOT AT RISK
Another Mothers Musings
B Y P H Y L L I S J .
L U B I N
As mothers, its sometimes
difficult for us to devote time
for ourselves. Aside from night
traffic-court appearances, it is
difficult for me to get away. I
must admit, though, that I am a
little spoiled. I happen to have a
few in-house babysitters (two in
high school and one in college)
that are available on occasion.
Still, I have to keep track of their
An artists rendition of the Kotel Plaza archaeological park beingdeveloped with excavations taking place at the Western Wall in
Jerusalem. A new area, at the level used in ancient times, is to be addedunder the existing plaza. See Page 26
Continued on Page 14
B Y L A R R Y G O R D O N
Those of you outside the Five
Towns area might feel a little
lost as we analyze and explore
what promises to be a hard-
fought race between the incum-
bent Nassau County Legislator
for the 7th District, Jeff Toback
of the Democratic Party, andthe Republican challenger,
Howard (Chaim) Kopel. What is
relevant to all our readers is the
electoral dynamics of the
Jewish community that is on
display in this race.
What also may be easy to
relate to regardless of where
one resides is how we are bom-
barded through the mail with
colorful oversized cards featur-
ing sensational accusations that
each candidate levels at the
other. Mired beneath some-
Surprising Reasons Why
Some Reject Yiddishkeit
B Y D R . Y A K O V
L O W I N G E R
He managed to stay under
the radar, despite having
become nonobservant when he
began elementary school. He
progressively cast off religious
obligations until he hit the radar
in a big way at 17, when he was
sent to the first of a series of
alternative yeshivos for drug and
alcohol users. Why did it come
to this? Why werent the risk
factors noticednot by a single
relative, educator, or friend?
What does this say about our
understanding of what drives
kids off the derech?
Two Questions
Every time a young person
from our community begins to
show obvious signs of a decline
in his Yiddishkeit, the experi-
ence is accompanied by under-
standable sadness and pain. But
it is often accompanied by
Continued on Page 8
B Y L A R R Y G O R D O N
Many of us are still basking in
the glow of the intense month
of holidays that recently con-
cluded. We go to shul on
Shabbos without a machzor, kit-
tel, or lulav and esrog, and it
feels like weve forgotten some-
thing. Now, as we float through
the celebrationless month of
Cheshvan, we naturally have no
choice but to instinctively set
our sights on the upcoming
month of Kislev and the celebra-
tion of Chanukah.
Chanukah, as you know,
marks the triumph of the few
over the many, the underdog
over the favorite. It celebrates
the destiny of the Jewish people
throughout the ages as well as
our imminent future. If youve
been following these columns
over the last decade, then you
may be somewhat acquainted
with what Chanukah has come
to mean to me over the last 20
Continued on Page 15Continued on Page 19
CANDLE LIGHTING
Oct. 30 5:35 PM
Nov. 6 4:27 PM
KOPEL VS. TOBACK
THE NEW AND IMPROVED KOTEL
In support ofYeshiva Bais Hillel.
See Page 56
Mosholu Rebbe in 5Tsthis Shabbos.
See Page 49
Who knows Y-Love?See Page 24
VOL. 10 NO. 5 12 CHESHVAN 5770 lk lk ,arp OCTOBER 30, 2009$1.00 WWW.5TJT.COM
See Page 80
INSIDE FROM THE EDITORS DESK
HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE
Jeff Toback and Howard Kopel Cou
rtesyofIsraeliAntiquitiesAuthority
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B Y S A M U E L S O K O L
The Israeli Government Press Office
took members of the foreign press corps
on a guided tour of the Western Wall tun-nels this past week, apparently in
response to recent claims by the
Palestinian Authority, Israeli-Arab law-
makers, and the Waqf administration.
Muslim and Arab figures in Israel have
been claiming that extremists, settlers,
and the Israeli government are colluding
to Judaize Jerusalem and are working to
undermine the foundations of the Al-Aqsa
mosque, located on the Temple Mount.
Such claims have been used as the pre-
text for violent clashes, rock-throwing
attacks, and firebombing throughout East
Jerusalem and the Old City.
At the beginning of the tour, GPO
director Danny Seaman denied that thetour had any connection to recent events:
We dont want to turn this into a politi-
cal tour. What is happening here by the
State of Israel is being done to uncover
the past. This area is important to the
three monotheistic religions. There is an
obligation for all of us to learn the past, to
understand what happened here.
He further stated that he did not want
to get involved in any discussion of the
current tensions or violence surrounding
the site.
However, the tenor of statements
made later in the tour indicated that the
chief reason for the tour was indeed set-
ting the record straight regarding Israeli
excavations on the mount.
Ofer Cohen, chief engineer of the Kotel
tunnels, explained that the work being
done was actually beneficial to the stabili-
ty of the area. In discussing the recent
work in the soon to be opened Hall of
Ages, which is located underneath a row of
Arab houses abutting the Wall, Cohen stat-
ed, Theres a lot of talk about instability
and the digging causing problems. Let me
reassure you that wherever we dig, or
wherever we are and we have access to, we
improve the structural stability tenfold.
When we put on this structural sys-
tem above us, we actually improved the
structural stability of this place. Thats
what we do everywhere in the tunnels.Our first priority is always safety, of both
visitors inside the tunnels and the inhab-
itants above us. Thats our top priority.
We take it very seriously and theres no
room for error in this aspect.
Since the Palestinian Authority was
given de facto control over the mount,
renovations aimed at destroying the
Jewish character of the site have taken
place and have seriously weakened the
structural integrity of the southern
retaining wall. In 2001, Israeli Antiquities
Authority head Shuka Dorfman warned
that the wall is in danger of collapse.
When the Waqf, the Islamic trust that
oversees civil administration of the
Mount, began excavation work in the
area known as Solomons Stables in 1997,
archaeologists offered to pay for the work
being done in exchange for the right to
examine the area and to salvage artifacts
26 October 30, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES
Israel Denies HarHaBayit Dig,Announces KotelPlaza Excavation
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unearthed in the course of the digging.
Former Waqf director Adnan Husseini
explained, Its a principle. The Waqf
works alone at the mosque.
Many archaeological treasures werefound in the rubble discarded by the
Muslim trust, including a coin dated to
the First Temple period.
Explaining the reasons for the current
riots, the Palestinian Authority Ministry
of Education stated that extremists had
announced plans to storm the mosque
in order to perform religious rites in the
occasion of the so-called Yom Kippur.
The PA called for the masses of Arab and
Islamic nations, and lovers of justice in
the world to protest the crime and to
refuse it by all legitimate means.
Shmuel Rabinovitch, the Kotel Rabbi,
spoke with reporters in the Hall of Ages.
The rabbi put the onus of responsibility
for controlling the violence on Muslim
religious leaders. The people who arecoming to pray with a bundle of stones
do not belong in such a holy place . . .
The police are not needed for that.
Every religious leader has to distance
such people from holy places, the
rabbi said.
The Jewish law forbids ascending
the Temple Mount. Any person who
says that Israel is excavating on the
5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES October 30, 2009 27
The Rabbi of the Western Wall,Shmuel Rabinovitch, spoke with reporters
in the Hall of Ages.
Excavations at the rear of the Kotel plaza.
Continued on Page 28
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Temple Mount, it is as if he is
saying that day is night and
that the night is day; it is a
complete lie. To my sorrow,
there are people who speak in
the name of G-d and even lie in
the name of G-d. Even those
who ascend to the Temple
Mount, and I am against
ascending to the Temple
Mount, they agree that it is for-
bidden to excavate on top of
the Temple Mount.
When asked to elaborate on
who was meant by his state-
ment that there are those who
lie in the name of G-d, the
rabbi demurred. When pressed
for an answer, he named
Sheikh Raed Salah. Salah, the
fiery leader of the Northern
Islamic Movement, has served
time in jail for funding the
Hamas terror organization and
has been detained on multiple
occasions for inciting Arab vio-
lence against Jews.
After exiting the tunnels, the
GPO showed journalists exca-
vations being conducting at
the rear of the Western Wallplaza. The Israeli Antiquities
Authority is currently excavat-
ing a Roman road from the
Second Temple period. An IAA
guide explained that the Israeli
government is planning to
excavate underneath the
Western Wall plaza.
The excavations will create
an archaeological park directly
underneath the area where wor-
shippers currently stand while
praying at the Kotel. The current
prayer area will remain open,
supported by pillars, while a
new area will be added under-neath, at the level at which wor-
shippers at the ancient Temple
stood in the past.
The dig may be met with
harsh reactions by Israels
Muslim population. The
Palestinian Authority has
stressed the danger of
describing Al-Boraq Wall as
Wailing Wall as it is the
western part of the Wall of
Al-Aqsa Mosque.O
Kotel ExcavationContinued from Page 27