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5 Prepare For the Future∙ Psychology∙ Business∙ Jewish Education∙ Health Science∙ Israel Option∙ High School Dual Enrollment

Touro College Los Angeles is a division of Touro University Worldwide, which is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC): 985 Atlantic Ave. #100, Alameda, CA 94501-6444: Tel. 510-748-9001.

Touro College Los Angeles is an Equal Opportunity Institution.

Separate Men’s and Women’s Divisions

Fall Registration Now in Progress For more information please call 323-822-9700 x 85155 or email tourola.admissions@touro.edu

THE JEWISH HOM

E AUGUST 27, 20153

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THE JEWISH HOM

E AUGUST 27, 20155CONTENTS

The Jewish Home is an independent bi-weekly newspaper. Opinions expressed by writers are not neces sarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The Jewish Home contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.

Dear Readers,

Being prepared for the coming of the Moshiach.

The mere thought overwhelms us. When mentioned to us it either feels sur-real or makes us feel like we’re negating our real emotions.

Yet, when it comes to preparing for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we don’t feel that way. Getting ready for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is viewed as a refresher’s course of who we really are. Our souls have gotten dusty and tired in the past year and we look forward to shaking it off and becoming revitalized.

What’s needed then is an attitude change in how we view ourselves and the world in its perfected state. Think of our-selves at kol Nidrei or Neilah. Our souls shining bright as it’s crystal clear who we are and our eternal connection to the creator. This is the state of redemption. The outer layers fall away and the inner dimensions of ourselves come tangibly out in the open.

The truth though is that the coming of Moshiach is a mixture of the solemnness of the Yamim Noraim, the high holidays and the extreme joy of Purim. The depth of the spirit, and the physical expression of joy. Fasting like angels and celebrating as humans. For the times of Moshiach is the realization of the original intent in the world being created: the truth of G-ds

existence being realized and experienced in the most physical of worlds.

Sounds out of the box? It’s happening already. The “outer shell” is falling away with it becoming ever clear of the perils in living a G-dless life. And the inner dimensions are becoming more revealed by the day with individuals in all societies acting in more charitable ways and pro-moting understanding amongst people.

Here in America one need only look at the, until recently, two unknown political figures who are drawing tens of thousands of people to their events. We should know better than to support a campaign just because it promises change… but our fellow citizens can’t help it as they’re fed up with the dishonesty and selfishly motivated political class.

We all are. We want authentic human-ity not a plastic cover. Not even if it feels good. Truth is what we’re after and we won’t settle until we have it.

Having it means the world has shaken off its cover, its self-created image, re-vealing the G-dly energy inside and G-d himself.

Let’s reveal our inner soul and the cre-ator will surely reveal his.

Wishing you a relaxing and inspiring Shabbos,

Shalom

COMMUNITYCommunity Happenings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

JEWISH THOUGHTLiving with Introspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

The Curious Tale Of Lord George Gordon . . . . . . . . 20

Lessons in Chinuch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

FEATUREIslamists Rampage Against Christians.Why are we Standing Idle? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

HUMOR & ENTERTAINMENTQuotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

LIFESTYLESYosi Piamenta: The Man and His Music . . . . . . . . . . 36

Travel Guide: Utah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Back to School, Back To Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

JWI Cookbook – A Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

NEWSGlobal News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Israel News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

National News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

That’s Odd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

T H E P R E M I E R J E W I S H N E W S PA P E R H I G H L I G H T I N G L A’ S O R T H O D OX C O M M U N I T Y

FOR HOME DELIVERY, OR TO HAVE THE LATEST ISSUE EMAILED TO YOU FREE OF CHARGE, SEND A MESSAGE TO EDITOR@JEWISHHOMELA.COM

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The ever-growing Jewish communi-ty has reached another milestone with the opening of the Valley Mishmar, a neigh-borhood watch that can be called out to help with an unusual, unsafe or unpredict-able situation. For any crime that has oc-curred, looks like it’s about to happen or has happened 911 should be called. For any non-emergency situation, call LAPD dis-patch at 1-877-ASK-LAPD. After this, the Mishmar can be contacted and they can help substantially.

One of the boy’s yeshivas reported a case last year of a man who was standing at car pick-up and would not leave. The year be-fore there was a case of an old lady who was screaming epithets at drivers in the orthodox community of Detroit Ave in LA. This is when the Mishmar springs in to action and quickly reaches the scene where they help to keep the peace, until the LAPD arrives.

Originally, it was because of hold-ups, home robberies and property theft that the Mishmar was called. Time can pass before

911 arrive, especially when it is a non-emer-gency situation and police time is limited so they have to prioritize. The Mishmar are pleased to fill that window of time with their visit. These volunteers are not trained to car-ry firearms but they are ready to solve con-flict and document the events that transpire.

Chaim Friedman is one of the Valley Mishmar founders and he explained that the number of emergency phone calls received are not such a burden because our communi-ties have become safer over the years, how-ever, he was clear that, “This still means we could avoid certain incidents of petty theft if we were to be more responsible at keep-ing valuables out of our cars, keeping our doors locked and turning on an outside light at nighttime. Until we face the reality of a break-in, we don’t believe it ever will ever happen to us.”

The Mishmar crew are focused on help-ing with two kinds of crime; anti-Semitic and property. Fortunately, the amount of anti-Semitic crime is small but we live in a

city where the number of legal and illegal firearms is extremely high and this leads to property crime.

The Valley Mishmar will smooth the flow of information at the scene of the in-

cident to the LAPD, who are overwhelmed with cases and appreciate the help. Addi-tionally, the group offer a service where they will arrange for an escort for someone walk-ing home alone at night.

This is no crime busting group, no vig-ilante brigade. The 20 Mishmar volunteers are mostly men over the age of 20 who are pleased to respond to calls at a moment’s no-tice. Once on duty, they communicate with each other by text and work to get the best description of the event so they are able to liaise professionally with the police when they arrive.

Traditionally, a mishmar is a place of confinement be it a prison or a guard. It is also the name for a place where we place guards to watch or observe the happenings in our community. For more information, or to volunteer, call Chaim Friedman at 323 868 8484 . Visit the website at www.valleymish-mar.com or email beverlypatrol@gmail.com To call for help, call 424 29 GUARD

Valley Mishmar Returns, Bigger and Better.

Touro College Los Angeles Appoints Rabbi Dr. David Jacobson as Director of College Affairs

On August 10th The Touro College and University System announced that Rabbi David Jacobson, Ph.D., has been appointed director of college affairs for Touro College Los Angeles (TCLA). Late last year Dr. Esther Lowy, the founding dean of TCLA, passed away. A dedicated scholar, educator and mother, Dr. Lowy was the guiding light of TCLA since its inception.

“We are very excited that Rabbi Ja-cobson has decided to join our team,” said Dr. Alan Kadish, President and CEO of TCUS. “I’m looking forward to working with Rabbi Jacobson and to seeing his vi-sion for TCLA come to fruition.”

Rabbi Jacobson explained that, “TC-LA’s commitment to educational excel-lence, without compromising the Jewish values parents and schools have worked so hard to maintain through high school, reflects my own personal and profession-al ethics of high standards for both Judaic and general learning.”

Among his responsibilities, Rabbi Jacobson will now take an active role in recruitment, increasing program offer-ings and further heightening community engagement. Jacobson was drawn to the school “because of its dedication to both academic pursuits and the Jewish tradi-tion.” Rabbi Jacobson will work closely with Dr. Michael Hamlin, TCLA’s recent-ly appointed academic dean, who assisted Dr. Lowy since TCLA opened its doors and led the Psychology division, as well as

TCLA’s accreditation activities. Rabbi Jacobson, who earned both a

doctorate and a master’s degree in educa-tion from the University of California, Los Angeles, and has over 30 years of expe-rience in all aspects of Jewish education, is the founder and executive director of Yeshiva Educational Services, Inc., which strives to improve the quality of student learning of both Jewish and secular stud-ies in Jewish day schools. He has worked with most of the Jewish elementary and high schools in the Los Angeles area and has taught college courses on Jewish stud-ies and education over the past 15 years. He received rabbinic ordination from the esteemed Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Gold-berg, Shlita, in Jerusalem.

Founded in 2005, TCLA offers bacca-laureate degree programs in psychology, business management and Judaic studies, and additional core courses in health sci-ences. TCLA’s programs have been bol-stered as a division of Touro University

Worldwide, which is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Col-leges (WASC), and also provides online degree programs in psychology; business administration; industrial psychology; and marriage and family therapy, as well as an online doctoral program in human and or-ganizational psychology.

Touro College and University System is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approx-imately 18,000 students are currently en-rolled in its various schools and divisions.

Touro College has branch campus-es, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campus-es and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem and Moscow. New York Medical College, Tou-ro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro Univer-sity Worldwide (which includes an online

division and Touro College Los Angeles) are separately accredited institutions with-in the Touro College and University Sys-tem.

For further information on Touro Col-lege, please visit www.touro.edu.

Rabbi Dr. David Jacobson (left), newly appoint-ed director of college affairs for Touro College Los Angeles, with recently appointed dean Dr. Michael Hamlin

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On Monday evening, August 17th the inaugural opening of the Los Angeles Teacher Learning Center of Torah Ume-sorah occurred. While its opening was without fanfare, the impact on the teach-ers and administrators attending their first visit and learning session was profoundly positive and warmly received. On hand was Rabbi Yisroel Meir Rubinfeld, Torah Umesorah’s Executive School Consultant.

Located at 1030 South Robertson Blvd, mechanchim and mechanhos were taken on a tour of the facilities which start-ed at the computer lab and library before moving to the networking room, and final-ly to the amazing arts and crafts room. It is here that visiting teachers avail themselves of the Make-It-And-Take-It craft rooms state-of-the-art technology which includes die-cut machines, poster printers, comput-ers (linked to chinuch.org) and more.

It is obvious that the center was care-fully thought out and arranged to meet its optimum potential. The source of guidance and direction for this and other Teacher Centers, came from Torah Umesorah, an organization that is constantly looking for ways to improve Torah education and pro-vide the tools to enhance the profession-alism and success of administrators and mechanchim.

Looking around the new Learning Center one can see the signs of innovative curricula. The center will provide unlim-

ited resources to preschools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools – yeshivos, community and day schools, Girls High Schools and others.

Rav Yaakov Krause, Dean Yeshiva Rav Isacsohn -Toras Emes Academy, gave the opening remarks. Rav Krause related that after seeing the various Torah Umesorah Teacher Centers around the country, he had been anxiously waited for the estab-lishment of a Center in Los Angeles. He then introduced the Director, Mrs. Libby Engel, a long time mechaneches at Yeshiva Rav Isacsohn and a most talented individ-ual.

The first 3 hour session was given by Rabbi Dr. Herschel Fried on the top-

ic, “Raising Spiritually Charged Students”. Rabbi Dr. Fried was introduced by Rabbi Shlomo Goldberg, Menahel of Yeshiva Aharon Yaakov - Ohr Eliyahu. Teachers and administrators from a number of local schools attended this first session. Three additional sessions were given on Tuesday. Two of the packed sessions were called, “Resilient Preschool-ers” and “Wholesome Children” and these were given by Dr. Rona Novick. In the evening, Rabbi Dr. Fried’s presentation, “Promoting Self-Control in Our Students” was also a topic of great interest.

Thanks to Torah Umesorah, Los Ange-les was honored by the presence of Harav Yaakov Perlow, shlita, the Novominsker

Rebbe who came to show his support and encourage the teachers of Los Angeles to make use of this innovative Center. Rab-bi Perlow presented two sessions, one on “Instilling Kedushas Yisroel into the Next Generation.”

Similar Torah Umesorah Teacher Cen-ters around the country also provide coach-ing and mentoring for faculty growth, for-mulating school-wide goal setting, assist in strategic planning for Principals, and coaching and mentoring for top school personnel.

For details on other sessions, call the LA Teacher Center at 323 475 9777.

Torah Umesorah opens LA Teacher Center Rabbi Arye D. Gordon

Chabad of the Conejo will be hold-ing its High Holiday Services at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza Hotel, one of the finest ho-tels in the Conejo region. Fifteen hundred adults and children are anticipated to join Chabad over the High Holidays for the ser-vices, turning the hotel into a “little Jeru-salem”.

To accommodate those who do not live in the immediate area and wish to join Chabad for the services as well as enjoy a most delightful, inspiring and relax-ing Rosh Hashanah and/or Yom Kippur, Chabad and the Hyatt have been offering a program that allows you to enjoy an inspir-ing synthesis of delights for body and soul. The atmosphere is as physically comfort-able as it is spiritually warm and inviting. Services are not only about prayers and rituals, but moreover about celebrating one’s Judaism as a dynamic and enriching community experience; an experience har-moniously shared by Jews of any and all backgrounds.

All meals will be catered by Embas-sy Caterers of Los Angeles and served in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt. In true Embassy style, meals will be sumptuous,

plentiful and elegantly prepared for full course lunches and dinners. Light break-fasts will also be served at the hotel.

The Hyatt also offers a special reduced

rate for those joining the retreat as well as a special late check-out fee. The special room rates are only as long as supplies last, so you are encouraged to book early.

Participating in the Chabad Retreat will add a whole new dimension and flavor to your holiday experience.

Whether you’ve joined Chabad at the Westlake Hyatt for High Holidays past or whether this would be your first time, you and your family can look forward to ushering in the New Year enveloped by the uplifting spirit of joy, discovery and sol-idarity that is the hallmark of this unique program.

The hotel is also in walking distance to the Westlake Lake allowing for an inspir-ing Tashlich Walk on the first day of Rosh Hashanah.

Services are led by Rabbi Moshe Brys-ki, the executive Director of Chabad of the Conejo and a world renowned orator. He will be accompanied by Rabbis Yisroel Levine, Yitzchak Sapochkinsky, Laibel Kahanov and Mnedy Friedman. A full staff of youth leaders will be conducting Junior Congregation and youth activities.

For further information about the High Holiday Retreat, or to make your reser-vations, please visit www.chabadconejo.com/hyatt or call 818-991-0991.

Chabad of the Conejo To Hold High Holiday Services And Retreat

State of the Art Make-It-And-Take-It craft room At the opening session

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With the start of the new school year, Los Angeles is benefitting from expand-ed facilities at several of the city Jewish schools. Greater enrollment has resulted in millions of dollars in new building invest-ments. Among the schools with new facil-ities is Maimonides Academy, Shalhevet High School, Darko Learning Academy and Harkham Gaon (previously Yeshiva High Tech).

Details of the new expanded facilities

are discretely shared as the schools look to start the new year with well-organized systems for their students. Maimonides’ Principal, Rabbi Aharon Wilk, is pleased with their new facility which has grown to a 50,000 square foot space on La Ciene-ga Blvd at a cost of $20million. The new school will grow to enrollment of more than 350 children from Grades 3 through 8 which will fit comfortably in the new building that has light classrooms, new sci-

ence labs and a gymnasium. Wilk believes the new space, which opened earlier this year, has created a vibrant school which benefits everyone. He noted, “If the teach-ers are inspired, they will inspire the kids.”

Shalhevet boasts an impressive new facility as well. The old building was 50,000-square-foot which had originally been built as a hospital. The school de-cided to sell the original building to Alli-ance Residential developers, with some of

the land, for approximately $14 million. Shalhevet had to temporarily relocate to the Westside Jewish Community Center but they are now relocating back to their impressive new facility at Olympic and Fairfax. The newly constructed school

is housed in a state-of-the-art three-story building on the north side of the original property and it boasts a broad range of fa-cilities including an outdoor artificial turf field on the roof. Perfect for recess.

Darko Learning Academy is the only Jewish elementary and middle school that models the Montessori approach to learning. The school has approximately 50 students with children from pre-school to middle school. Classrooms are multi-age which works for the Montessori cur-riculum which teaches children according to their interest and ability, regardless of age. Darko had been in a smaller space, but it has now moved to a beautiful space vacated by Yeshiva High Tech. After some improvements are completed, this will provide additional smaller classrooms for specialized learning, as well as large main classrooms. The school prides itself on providing individualized education, but Founder and Executive Director Shimon Shain said, “The larger space we are about to move to will also mean that we can take more students and stay true to Montessori techniques. With the additional space we can comfortably design independent learn-ing styles for each of our students so they can own what they’re learning and pursue their studies in a unique way.””

Miriam Dayan, Office Administra-tor of Harkham Gaon, formerly Yeshiva High Tech, explained that their facilities expanded when they moved to the JCC. They are now able to take advantage of the JCC facility which includes basket-ball courts, swimming pool, auditorium, as well as many more classrooms for the school’s growing number of staff and stu-dents. Harkham Gaon is the only Jewish school that offers Torah learning with a blended learning program that includes on-line learning programs. Perhaps even bet-ter than the new facility is the affordable tuition the High School can offer, probably the most affordable in the city.

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ישיבת קול תורה עיה”ק ירושלים תובב”א

לידידנו הדגול, ידיד עולם התורה בכלל וישיבתינו הק’ בפרט, גדול מחזיקי התורה בדורינו, הנגיד הנדיב הנכבד, לומד תורה ומוקיר תורה, איש חיל רב פעלים לתורה ולתעודה

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The North American Montessori Teach-ers Association (NAMTA) estimates that there are about 4,500 Montessori schools in the United States and about 20,000 world-wide. Ami Petter-Lipstein is the director of the Jewish Montessori Society, based in Highland Park, New Jersey. She has tracked more than 40 Jewish Montessoris in North America and about 30 in Israel.

A 2014 New York Times article noted the existence of a growing number of Mon-tessori schools, “In Boca Raton, Fla., there are centrist Orthodox, Chabad Orthodox, Reform and Conservative Montessori pre-schools; Orthodox day schools have started Montessori programs in Houston and Cin-cinnati; and several New Jersey towns with large Jewish populations now have Montes-sori schools.”

In Los Angeles the only Jewish Montes-sori school is Darko Academy which was opened by Executive Director Shimon Shain in 2012. Shain explained that the purpose of the school was to provide a traditional Mon-tessori education taught by teachers who were well trained in the discipline. Mon-tessori learning is different from traditional methods. It emphasizes learning through all five senses, not just through listening, watch-ing, or reading.

School Principal, Rabbi Aaron Parry

explains the learning process at the school, “During the school year I picture our stu-dents experiencing everything from students sitting in a circle, playing a game to learning one another’s names and special qualities, to standing in line at a homeless shelter in Santa Monica dishing out nutritious food they’ve made for the homeless clients on Thanksgiv-ing.”

The North American Montessori Teach-ing Academy, NAMTA, explains that Mon-tessori creates a school where children, “Learn at their own, individual pace and ac-cording to their own choice of activities from hundreds of possibilities. Montessori classes place children in three-year age groups (3-6, 6-9, 9-12, and so on), forming communities in which the older children spontaneous-ly share their knowledge with the younger

ones. Montessori represents an entirely dif-ferent approach to education.”

The century-old pedagogical method was developed by an Italian Catholic, Maria Montessori at the turn of the century. She developed the learning style to provide a well-rounded education to low income chil-dren living in the poorest homes in Rome, Italy. Today, the tenets have been adapted for the learning of Jewish knowledge.

Many teachers have found the pedagog-ical style of teaching at a traditional Jewish day-school is overly streamlined and un-creative compared with the vibrant nature of 21st-century Judaism. The reality is that most pre-schools now include elements of Montessori learning with wooden bricks and shapes, with the hands-on games that teach letters, with student-led learning styles and innovative classes.

Parents and educators choose Darko Montessori because it is a specialty school that offers a more personalized learning sys-tem. Shain explains, “We are used to learn-ing everything with a front of class teacher and we rely on that teacher for knowledge. Montessori encourages students to find the knowledge for themselves. We teach Inde-pendence of learning and as stated in Pirkei Avot, we teach kids according to their way. We set quarterly and end of year goals,

but within that framework, there is a large amount of flexibility in the curriculum”

Shain acknowledges that many schools use the Montessori label even though they may adhere to the tenets of the learning pro-gram in a vague and unstructured way. In or-der to see what is going on in different Amer-ican Montessori schools, Shain spent some of the summer vacation on a cross country trip with his family. He visited as many Montessori schools as he could and found a large spread of styles and levels of authen-ticity, from Houston to the Amish schools of Pennsylvania.

“The Amish community had one of the most successful schools because they have a tradition of teaching multi-age children in a single school room. They understand the benefit of letting kids learn at their own pace. Montessori works very well for them.”

As Shain’s family made their way to Mount Rushmore, he knew his school was on the right track. “My children attend Dar-ko and they were so excited to visit Mount Rushmore. They had learned about it at a deep level and their exuberance on reaching the National Memorial was sincere and vali-dated everything I believe in.”

For more information about Darko Acad-emy visit DarkoLA.org or call 323-244-4136

Jewish Montessori School Offers Meaningful Learning

#524

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EVERY MIDNIGHT the distinguished talmidei chachomim of Kollel Chatzos gather in locations across the globe.

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YESHUA

After a week away on vacation, my wife and I were looking forward to getting back home to New York. Just as we were leaving the airport, my wife’s cell phone rang; we got nervous when we saw it was our neighbor calling.

“I am so sorry to do this to you,” she said. “But I wanted to warn you. The entire neighborhood has been without power for hours.”

My wife and I looked at each other. Now what? Should we go home or straight to her parents? Then my wife started panicking. What about everything in the fridge and freezer?!

A feeling came over me. I just knew that as a Kollel Chatzos partner, I have light in my life no matter what. “Let’s go home,” I said. “It will be fine.”

As we pulled up to our house, an amazing sight greeted u s . Everything was dark. Except for two apartments, one of which was ours! We were able to store our neighbors’ food and run extension cords so they could have some light.

The zechus of bringing the light of Torah into our lives had taken on a whole new meaning.As told to Shoshana Bernstein

GET READY FORROSH HASHANAwith the tremendous zechus of aKOLLEL CHATZOSPARTNERSHIP.

THE JEWISH HOM

E AUGUST 27, 201517

“Please daven for me at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim too! Please daven that I should be able to be mizakeh the rabbim.” Those were the emotional, heartfelt words of the venerated senior Rosh Yeshiva of our generation, HaGaon HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, shlita, when a close talmid asked if he should join the historic Dir-shu delegation of Rabbanim on a tefillah journey to the kever of the Chofetz Chaim on the yahrtzeit of the Chofetz Chaim this coming 24 Elul/September 8.

The Dirshu special tefillah journey to the kever of the Chofetz Chaim will be unprecedented in the size, scope and depth of its mission. Numerous senior Roshei Yeshiva will be joining including such figures as HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Kiryas Melech in Bnei Brak, HaGaon HaRav Shimon Baadani, shlita, Rosh Kollel Torat Chaim and a member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah, HaGaon HaRav Yechiel Mechel Steinmetz, shli-ta, Skverer Dayan of Boro Park, HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Eliezer Stern, shlita, Rav of Western Bnei Brak and talmid muvhak of HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Wosner, zt”l, and HaGaon HaRav Simcha Hakohen Kook, shlita, Chief Rabbi of Rechovot.

One Trip, Two PurposesWhat is the purpose of the trip wherein

some fifty leading Roshei Yeshiva, Rab-bonim and Poskim will come to pour out their hearts in tefillah at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim? Rabbi Avigdor Beren-stein, a senior member of Dirshu’s han-halah, explains that the purpose of the trip is twofold. “We know that Klal Yisrael today is living in truly precarious times. From within and without there are serious issues that could threaten our very viabil-ity, r”l. We need tremendous zechusim as we enter the Yom Hadin this year.”

Dirshu has therefore organized a unique, unprecedented journey of Gedolei Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva to travel to the kever of the Chofetz Chaim. The first and foremost zechus that Klal Yisrael can invoke at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim is the fact that tens of thousands of lom-dei Dirshu are participating daily in learn-ing the sefarim of the Chofetz Chaim: his Mishnah Berurah, his Sefer Chofetz Chaim and his other mussar sefarim in Dirshu’s popular Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program. It is a profound zechus to be able to learn the sefarim of the Chofetz Chaim daily and it empowers the lomdim of Dirshu to approach the Chofetz Chaim and daven to Hashem that in that zechus all of Klal Yis-rael - both the tzibbur as a whole and every individual - should experience yeshuos.

Another primary purpose of the trip is to encourage many more thousands of Yidden the world over to join the tens of thousands whose spiritual lives have been

transformed through their learning the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program. The delega-tion will daven for all current Daf HaYomi B’Halacha learners, as well as any person who accepts upon himself to learn daily halacha with Daf HaYomi B’Halacha and mussar.

The Slonimer Rebbe, Shlita: The Chofetz Chaim: The Last Rabban Shel Yisrael

One of the prominent Rabbanim who will be making the journey is Rav Yisroel

Luria, a son-in-law of the famed Nesivos Shalom, zt”l, of Slonim and a brother-in-law of the present Slonimer Rebbe, shlita. The Slonimer Rebbe was very enthusiastic about the journey and the bracha it will undoubtedly bring for Klal Yisrael. The Rebbe related, “The Chofetz Chaim had the unique zechus to be the last leader of Klal Yisrael whom every sector of Jewry viewed as the Rabban Shel Yisrael.” …The Chofetz Chaim wanted to write a sefer that Yidden the world over would find us-er-friendly. Those undertaking the journey to the kever of the Chofetz Chaim must come before the heiligeh Chofetz Chaim

and tell him that he succeeded in his under-taking! The vast majority of Klal Yisrael are very particular about halacha, thanks to him.”

Joining the Spiritual JourneyRabbi Ahron Gobioff, Dirshu’s Ameri-

can Director explains that, “Every Yid, no matter who he is, has benefitted from the Chofetz Chaim in so many ways. Perhaps this coming yahrtzeit, Tuesday, 24 Elul/September 8, every Yid wherever he is should stop for a few minutes and offer a

tefillah in memory of the Chofetz Chaim and as a zechus for all of Klal Yisrael. In addition,” Rav Gobioff relates, “the gedo-lim in Eretz Yisrael have asked everyone to learn the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha limud of halacha and mussar on the auspicious day of the Chofetz Chaim’s yahrtzeit. Begin-ning with Siman 37 of Mishnah Berurah on the halachos devoted to ascertaining the time when one should put on tefil-lin every day and continuing with Sefer Chofetz Chaim where the program will learn hilchos rechilus from Chapter 9 until the end of hilchos rechilus.”

“Many Yeshivos and Kollelim have al-

ready pledged to join Klal Yisrael on the yahrzeit by learning the Chofetz Chaim’s sefarim and reciting special tefillos on be-half of Klal Yisrael on that day.”

“The Nazis are Gone, the Commu-nists are Gone, but the Chofetz Chaim and His Mishnah Berurah are Eternal!”

As the delegation of Gedolei Rabbanim prepare to leave for Radin the words said at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim a couple of years ago, by Dirshu’s Nasi, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, take on additional meaning,

“Hitler destroyed so much of European Jewry. He thought he could wipe them out, but he didn’t. The Communists tried to destroy the Jewish religion, they caused a tremendous churban, but they still did not succeed. The Nazis are gone, the Commu-nists are gone, but the Chofetz Chaim and his Mishnah Berurah are eternal!”

To join Daf HaYomi B’Halacha or to access a shiur near you please call 888 5 Dirshu. To have your name included in the tefillos at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim please fax to 732-987-3949 or e-mail, info@kolleldirshu.org

Gedolei Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbanim to Daven at Kever of the Chofetz Chaim on Yahrzeit Chaim Gold

Kriyas HaTorah in the former Yeshivas Radin building, on a previous Dirshu mission to Radin

18TH

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5

Living with Introspection

The theme of war is everywhere at this time of year.

Twice each day, we recite the chapter of Tehillim referred to as “L’Dovid,” in which we proclaim that we feel no fear from ene-mies and traps that abound. Im tokum olay milchomah, even if there is a war threaten-ing to engulf me, bezos ani votei’ach, our faith in Hashem remains rock solid.

This week’s parshah, Ki Seitzei, de-scribes going to war against our enemies. Battle has been part and parcel of life since the days of Kayin and Hevel, and it will remain that way until we arrive at the tik-kun hasholeim with Moshiach’s redemp-tion. However, when it comes to actually fighting, we are squeamish. Nobody wants to raise hackles being the one to confront evil.

It is uncomfortable to face the con-cept of war, to see ourselves as warriors. Everyone wants to be able to get along, even if that means not being honest with themselves and playing along with social convention. Under the guise of peace, lies are permitted to fester and gain credibility, abusers aren’t confronted, ruptures aren’t repaired, and huge vacuums are created and filled by unworthy people.

A few months ago, I had the privilege of visiting Rav Chaim Kanievsky. Among other things, I asked for a brochah for sha-lom. I was feeling overwhelmed and the prospect of harmony seemed attractive. Rav Chaim raised his eyes and looked at me. “Who says that’s a brochah? Ah mohl, sometimes, one has to wage wars. Milcho-mah lesheim Shomayim is a mitzvah.”

The Sar HaTorah perceives and appre-

ciates that every tool a Jew has in his arse-nal has a use and a function. Eis milcho-mah ve’eis shalom.

The theme of milchomah in this week’s parshah continues from the end of last week’s parshah. After the pesukim detail-ing Klal Yisroel’s foray into battle, there is a brief interlude to discuss the halachos of eglah arufah, when a body is found out-side a town and the assailant is unknown. The last posuk of Parshas Shoftim (21:9) states, “Ve’atoh teva’eir dom noki mikirbe-cha ki saaseh hayoshor be’einei Hashem - And you shall remove innocent blood from your midst, for you shall do what is upright in Hashem’s eyes.”

Rashi quotes the Gemara in Maseches Kesubos (37b) which states that the posuk teaches us that if the murderer is found fol-lowing the eglah arufah ceremony, he is put to death.

This, explains the Baal Haturim, is essentially an introduction to Parshas Ki Seitzei, because before we go to war to make the world a better and safer place, we have to ensure that the murderers in our midst are removed. If our own evil-doers are dealt with, our nation will emerge vic-torious in battle.

In order to win battles, we must be firm, honest and righteous. If there is a murderer among us, we do not cover for him and we don’t say that we have mercy on his family. We don’t claim that since the eglah arufah was already offered, the stat-ute of limitations has run out.

We are charged with eradicating evil. It is a mission, and we turn inward before setting our sights outwards.

Sometimes, waging war is the great-est sign of love. The posuk says, “Ohavei Hashem sinu ra - One who loves Hashem abhors evil” (Tehillim 97).

Rav Binyomin Mendelsohn was the rov of the Israeli city of Kfar Ata before assuming the rabbonus of Komemius,

where he became the father of modern-day Shmittah observance. Kfar Ata was pop-ulated by a mixed group of bnei yeshiva, Chassidim, Mizrachi Jews and irreligious residents. All of them respected the rov, who was blessed with the ability to effec-tively relate to all types.

A leading political activist once visited the town for Shabbos and asked to address the kehillah from the shul pulpit. Rav Bin-yomin noticed that the man had shaved and taken a haircut lekavod Shabbos de-spite the fact that it was during the period of Sefiras Ha’omer. The rov explained to his visitor that he could not allow someone who transgressed an explicit halachah in Shulchan Aruch to speak in his shul.

The community erupted. Many mem-bers were upset that the rov embarrassed a respected figure. They said that what he did was much worse than shaving during Sefirah. Rav Binyomin held firm and re-fused to back down.

At the next opportunity, the rov shared this incident with his mentor, the Chazon Ish, who assured him that by standing up for principle even in the face of pressure, he had acted properly.

The Chazon Ish related that the Kovna

Rov, Rav Yitzchok Elchonon Spector, was asked to serve as the mesader kiddushin at a local wedding. The rov agreed, but when he arrived at the wedding, he saw that the chupah was being held indoors, rather than outside, which is the view of the Rama and was the prevalent custom.

The rov informed the young couple that he would be unable to officiate. A fu-ror ensued, with many people feeling that the rov was being too rigid. The people claimed that the rov’s action embarrassed the chosson and kallah publicly and ruined their big day.

A spokesman for the aggrieved ap-proached the rov and asked how he was permitted to cause the baalei simchah

shame and aggravation, “The Krukeh Rov (the rov of Krakow,

the Rama) is a good friend of mine,” said Rav Yitzchok Elchonon, “and I think it’s wrong to get into a fight with him.”

The Chazon Ish indicated that the proper approach is not to submit to public pressure under the guise of peace. Rather, peace means existing in harmony with the ratzon haTorah.

Now that we are in the month of Elul, the call of these days is to be honest with ourselves, looking inward, seeing our im-perfections, and addressing them on com-munal and individual levels.

Following the Second World War, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein made his way to Yerushalayim. He did not occupy a posi-tion, and although his reputation preceded him, he was basically unknown to the local Yerushalmis.

One Friday, Avrohom Ravitz, a talmid in Yeshivas Chevron, was walking down a street when he came upon a strange sight. On one side of the street, a man was stand-ing next to his car, which had broken down. He was checking under the hood, pulling and prodding in different directions. When that didn’t help, he got under the car and tried tinkering from there.

A group of children gathered to watch the man pull and test every plug, connec-tion and wire in an attempt to get his car going. Avrohom saw that across the street, a very dignified man stood watching, en-grossed in the scene. As he got closer, he recognized the man as the newly-arrived Rav Yechezkel Levenstein.

The yeshiva bochur was surprised to see the man he had heard described as a great tzaddik standing and watching the person trying to fix his stalled car. It seemed like such a childish thing to do and a waste of time. Could it be that this man was indeed so great? He asked around and found out the Rav Levenstein delivered a mussar shmuess every Friday night. He decided to attend that week’s shmuess and see for himself what the man was all about.

That evening, Rav Levenstein spoke about tikkun hamiddos. To demonstrate his point, he compared a person to a car. When a vehicle stalls, its owner makes it a priority to locate the problem and fix it. So too, he said, when man “breaks down,”

THESE ARE THE DAYS WHEN WE CAN LOOK INWARD AND CHART A COURSE OF ACTION

THE JEWISH HOM

E AUGUST 27, 201519

he needs to be repaired. Just as repairing a car requires close scrutiny of every part that makes the car work, when a person’s neshomah is ailing, we must dig inside it to find what is broken and repair it.

Avrohom then understood that while the others were looking on with childish curiosity, the mashgiach was learning les-sons to apply to matters of cardinal impor-tance.

Elul is a time when we should exam-ine what’s going on inside our neshamos, inspecting and taking inventory of our ac-tions throughout the year.

The Vilna Gaon, at the beginning of his sefer Even Sheleimah, states, “All avodas Hashem depends on tikkun hamiddos… Bad middos are at the root of all sin. The main task of man is to strengthen himself to break his bad middos, and if he doesn’t, for what purpose does he live?”

The Gaon continues by stating that a person who wishes to do teshuvah must begin by pondering his negative middos and recognizing his situation. Then he must begin the process of rectifying him-self, slowly, step by step, until he trains himself to act properly.

It is a difficult, time-consuming task that requires honest, painful probing, but it is the first step in improving our lives. If we cannot be honest about our failings, then we cannot correct them. If we remain mired in our gaavah and selfishness, there is no way we can rise to do teshuvah and act the way we are expected to. If our mid-dos are faulty, then our mitzvos are as well.

Living with introspection and honesty means living with harmony - not war, not peace; just the Torah’s will.

One can be humble, yet firm and un-yielding, self-aware enough to laugh, yet responsible enough to speak up.

Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld once ar-rived to officiate at a wedding and noticed that another rov had been honored with siddur kiddushin. Many of the wedding guests were upset at the slight to the senior rov of Yerushalayim, but Rav Yosef Chaim waved away their concerns with a wink.

He sensed that people were becom-ing agitated about the perceived lack of respect, saying that the baalei simchah should reconsider their decision about who should serve as the mesader kiddushin. The wise old Yerushalayimer rov removed a paper from his pocket, wrote a few words on it, and then presented it to one of the young agitators.

Rav Yosef Chaim had written a letter of resignation. “This should end the prob-

lem,” he told the young man. “You can no longer stir up trouble, saying that you are doing so because of the respect of my po-sition.”

Another story is told regarding Rav Yo-sef Chaim and his rabbinic position.

A speaker was holding forth in a sec-ular kibbutz, delivering a familiar speech targeting the religious community. As he railed on, he began referring to his antago-nists, mocking them by calling them “Son-nenfeldim.” A man stood up and protested. “Listen,” he said, “I have no more love for those religious people than anyone else in this room, but I nevertheless resent the term you just coined.”

He told the group why he was opposed to the term.

“Let me tell you about my relative, a well-known, prominent Zionist leader, who became sick,” the man said. “Believ-ing that the religious Dr. Wallach at Shaa-rei Tzedek Hospital would refuse to treat him, he sought treatment at the Missionary Hospital. The doctors there were not able to help him and his condition rapidly de-teriorated, until, in desperation, his family brought him to Dr. Wallach.

“They knocked on the door. The doc-tor looked at them suspiciously. They ex-plained the nature of his illness. ‘Where was he until now?’ he asked. “‘In the mis-sion hospital,’ the said.

“Dr. Wallach slammed the door in their faces.

“The family had only one option left. It was definitely a last resort. They hurried to the home of Rav Sonnenfeld and plead-ed that he write a letter to the doctor. They said that in a situation of pikuach nefesh, differences should be set aside.

“Rav Sonnenfeld responded to them, ‘I can write the letter, but Dr. Wallach won’t believe you that I actually wrote it.’ The rov put on his hat and said to them, ‘Follow me.’

“They went to Shaarei Tzedek, where Dr. Wallach welcomed the rov with re-spect. Rav Sonnenfeld asked him to treat the patient. ‘I cannot do that,’ said Dr. Wal-lach. ‘He is a rosha.’

“Rav Sonnenfeld stood up straight. ‘I command you, with my authority as the

rov of this city, to admit this patient and do your best to heal him.’

“Indeed, Dr. Wallach did, and under his care my relative recuperated and his life was saved.”

A person who lives his life with respon-sibility and introspection is not impressed by outward challenges of war and peace, but rather seeks to live in perfect harmony with creation and the will of the Creator. Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld knew when to forfeit his title for the sake of peace and when to use it as a means of enforcing what he believed to be Hashem’s will.

He knew himself and understood what was expected of him.

These are the days when we can look inward and chart a course of action - firm enough to lead, strong enough to fight evil, and soft enough to ensure that our own honor is not what motivates us.

Then we will triumph, winning both the battle and the war.

4 YatedNe’eman 13 Elul 5775 | August 28, 2015

shalom.The theme of milchomah in this week’s

parshah continues from the end of last week’s parshah. After the pesukim detailing Klal Yis-roel’s foray into battle, there is a brief inter-lude to discuss the halachos of eglah arufah, when a body is found outside a town and the assailant is unknown. The last posuk of Par-shas Shoftim (21:9) states, “Ve’atoh teva’eirdom noki mikirbecha ki saaseh hayoshor be’einei Hashem - And you shall remove in-nocent blood from your midst, for you shall do what is upright in Hashem’s eyes.”

Rashi quotes the Gemara in Maseches Ke-subos (37b) which states that the posuk teach-es us that if the murderer is found following the eglah arufah ceremony, he is put to death.

This, explains the Baal Haturim, is essen-tially an introduction to Parshas Ki Seitzei, be-cause before we go to war to make the world a better and safer place, we have to ensure that the murderers in our midst are removed. If our own evil-doers are dealt with, our nation will emerge victorious in battle.

In order to win battles, we must be firm, honest and righteous. If there is a murderer among us, we do not cover for him and we don’t say that we have mercy on his family. We don’t claim that since the eglah arufahwas already offered, the statute of limitations has run out.

We are charged with eradicating evil. It is a mission, and we turn inward before setting our sights outward.

Sometimes, waging war is the greatest sign of love. The posuk says, “Ohavei Hashem sinu ra - One who loves Hashem abhors evil”(Tehillim 97).

Rav Binyomin Mendelsohn was the rov of the Israeli city of Kfar Ata before assuming the rabbonus of Komemius, where he became the father of modern-day Shmittah observance.Kfar Ata was populated by a mixed group of bnei yeshiva, Chassidim, Mizrachi Jews and irreligious residents. All of them respected the rov, who was blessed with the ability to effec-tively relate to all types.

A leading political activist once visited the town for Shabbos and asked to address the kehillah from the shul pulpit. Rav Binyomin noticed that the man had shaved and taken a haircut lekavod Shabbos despite the fact that it was during the period of Sefiras Ha’omer. Therov explained to his visitor that he could not allow someone who transgressed an explicit halachah in Shulchan Aruch to speak in his shul.

The community erupted. Many members were upset that the rov embarrassed a re-spected figure. They said that what he did was much worse than shaving during Sefirah. Rav Binyomin held firm and refused to back down.

At the next opportunity, the rov shared this incident with his mentor, the Chazon Ish, who assured him that by standing up for principle even in the face of pressure, he had acted properly.

The Chazon Ish related that the Kovna Rov, Rav Yitzchok Elchonon Spector, was asked to serve as the mesader kiddushin at a local wedding. The rov agreed, but when he arrived at the wedding, he saw that the chupahwas being held indoors, rather than outside, which is the view of the Rama and was the prevalent custom.

The rov informed the young couple that he would be unable to officiate. A furor ensued, with many people feeling that the rov was be-ing too rigid. The people claimed that the rov’s action embarrassed the chosson and kallahpublicly and ruined their big day.

A spokesman for the aggrieved approached the rov and asked how he was permitted to cause the baalei simchah shame and aggrava-

tion,“The Krukeh Rov (the rov of Krakow, the

Rama) is a good friend of mine,” said Rav Yitzchok Elchonon, “and I think it’s wrong to get into a fight with him.”

The Chazon Ish indicated that the proper approach is not to submit to public pressure under the guise of peace. Rather, peace means existing in harmony with the ratzon haTorah.

Now that we are in the month of Elul, the call of these days is to be honest with our-selves, looking inward, seeing our imperfec-tions, and addressing them on communal and individual levels.

Following the Second World War, Rav Ye-chezkel Levenstein made his way to Yerusha-layim. He did not occupy a position, and al-though his reputation preceded him, he was basically unknown to the local Yerushalmis.

One Friday, Avrohom Ravitz, a talmid in Yeshivas Chevron, was walking down a street when he came upon a strange sight. On one side of the street, a man was standing next to his car, which had broken down. He was checking under the hood, pulling and prod-ding in different directions. When that didn’t help, he got under the car and tried tinkering from there.

A group of children gathered to watch the man pull and test every plug, connection and wire in an attempt to get his car going. Avro-hom saw that across the street, a very dignified man stood watching, engrossed in the scene. As he got closer, he recognized the man as the newly-arrived Rav Yechezkel Levenstein.

The yeshiva bochur was surprised to see the man he had heard described as a great tzaddik standing and watching the person try-ing to fix his stalled car. It seemed like such a childish thing to do and a waste of time. Could it be that this man was indeed so great? He asked around and found out the Rav Leven-stein delivered a mussar shmuess every Friday night. He decided to attend that week’s shm-uess and see for himself what the man was all about.

That evening, Rav Levenstein spoke about tikkun hamiddos. To demonstrate his point, he compared a person to a car. When a vehicle stalls, its owner expends much effort to locate the problem and fix it. So too, he said, when man “breaks down,” he needs to be repaired. Just as repairing a car requires close scrutiny of every part that makes the car work, when a person’s neshomah is ailing, we must dig in-side it to find what is broken and repair it.

Avrohom then understood that while the

others were looking on with childish curiosity, the mashgiach was learning lessons to apply to matters of cardinal importance.

Elul is a time when we should examine what’s going on inside our neshamos, in-specting and taking inventory of our actions throughout the year.

The Vilna Gaon, at the beginning of his sefer Even Sheleimah, states, “All avodasHashem depends on tikkun hamiddos… Badmiddos are at the root of all sin… The main task of man is to always strengthen himself to

break his bad middos, and if he doesn’t, for what purpose does he live?”

The Gaon continues by stating that a per-son who wishes to do teshuvah must begin by pondering his negative middos and recogniz-ing his situation. Then he must begin the pro-cess of rectifying himself, slowly, step by step, until he trains himself to act properly.

It is a difficult, time-consuming task that requires honest, painful probing, but it is the first step in improving our lives. If we cannot be honest about our failings, then we cannot correct them. If we remain mired in our gaa-vah and selfishness, there is no way we can rise to do teshuvah and act the way we are ex-pected to. If our middos are faulty, then our mitzvos are as well.

Living with introspection and honesty means living with harmony - not war, not peace; just the Torah’s will.

One can be humble, yet firm and unyield-ing, self-aware enough to laugh, yet respon-sible enough to speak up.

Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld once arrived to officiate at a wedding and noticed that an-other rov had been honored with siddur kiddu-shin. Many of the wedding guests were upset at the slight to the senior rov of Yerushalayim,

but Rav Yosef Chaim waved away their con-cerns with a wink.

He sensed that people were becoming agi-tated about the perceived lack of respect, say-ing that the baalei simchah should reconsider their decision about who should serve as the mesader kiddushin. The wise old Yerushalay-imer rov removed a paper from his pocket, wrote a few words on it, and then presented it to one of the young agitators.

Rav Yosef Chaim had written a letter of resignation. “This should end the problem,” he told the young man. “You can no longer stir up trouble, saying that you are doing so because of the respect of my position.”

Another story is told regarding Rav Yosef Chaim and his rabbinic position.

A speaker was holding forth in a secular kibbutz, delivering a familiar speech targeting the religious community. As he railed on, he began referring to his antagonists, mocking them by calling them “Sonnenfeldim.” A man stood up and protested. “Listen,” he said, “I have no more love for those religious people than anyone else in this room, but I neverthe-less resent the term you just coined.”

He told the group why he was opposed to the term.

“Let me tell you about my relative, a well-known, prominent Zionist leader, who became sick,” the man said. “Believing that the reli-gious Dr. Wallach at Shaarei Tzedek Hospital would refuse to treat him, he sought treatment at the Missionary Hospital. The doctors there were not able to help him and his condition rapidly deteriorated, until, in desperation, his family brought him to Dr. Wallach.

“They knocked on the door. The doctor looked at them suspiciously. They explained the nature of his illness. ‘Where was he until now?’ he asked.

“‘In the mission hospital,’ the said.“Dr. Wallach slammed the door in their

faces.“The family had only one option left. It

was definitely a last resort. They hurried to the home of Rav Sonnenfeld and pleaded that he write a letter to the doctor. They said that in a situation of pikuach nefesh, differences should be set aside.

“Rav Sonnenfeld responded to them, ‘I can write the letter, but Dr. Wallach won’t be-lieve you that I actually wrote it.’ The rov put on his hat and said to them, ‘Follow me.’

“They went to Shaarei Tzedek, where Dr. Wallach welcomed the rov with respect. Rav Sonnenfeld asked him to treat the patient. ‘I cannot do that,’ said Dr. Wallach. ‘He is a ro-sha.’

“Rav Sonnenfeld stood up straight. ‘I com-mand you, with my authority as the rov of this city, to admit this patient and do your best to heal him.’

“Indeed, Dr. Wallach did, and under his care my relative recuperated and his life was saved.”

A person who lives his life with respon-sibility and introspection is not impressed by outward challenges of war and peace, but rather seeks to live in perfect harmony with creation and the will of the Creator. Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld knew when to forfeit his title for the sake of peace and when to use it as a means of enforcing what he believed to be Hashem’s will.

He knew himself and understood what was expected of him.

These are the days when we can look inward and chart a course of action - firm enough to lead, strong enough to fight evil, and soft enough to ensure that our own honor is not what motivates us.

Then we will triumph, winning both the battle and the war.

Editor’s View continued

One can be humble, yet firm and unyielding, self-aware enough to laugh, yet responsible enough to speak up.

AVI YISHAI

The distinguished rov watched as the man

prodded and tinkered.

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PART TWO

In Part One of this series we were introduced to Lord George Gordon, a British aristocrat and member of parlia-ment who was a radical republican, an-ti-establishment anarchist. After becom-ing embroiled in anti-Catholic activism, he spearheaded a campaign to undo a new law that relaxed restrictions against Catholics. This led to some of the worst riots ever seen in London, that became known as the Gordon Riots. Accused of instigating the riots, he was arrested for High Treason, a crime that carried the death penalty.

The trial began on February 5, 1781. Gordon was accused of ‘maliciously, trai-torously and unlawfully planning to exe-cute a war against the King’, and of then personally launching that war with a mob of armed men on June 2, 1780. Both sides presented their evidence, and the wit-nesses were cross-examined. The princi-pal defense lawyer was Thomas Erskine, a brilliant trial performer, and later Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom. Er-skine’s closing speech is purported to have been the best of his career. He argued that Gordon’s intentions had been peaceful, and he could not be held responsible for the actions of rioters, many of whom were not even members of the Protestant Asso-ciation. Ideology was not treason, nor was advocacy for the repeal of a pro-Catholic law. The fact that there were those who had resorted to violence was not his crime, even if they had committed crimes. There was no evidence he had incited them, or encouraged them, and he had even made efforts to disperse them. Perhaps he was guilty of a lack of foresight, or of gross naiveté, but that is hardly High Treason.

The jury was mesmerized.Despite a highly biased summing

up by the judge, who tried to undermine Erskine’s arguments, the Jury returned a unanimous verdict of ‘not guilty’, and Gordon was released. He did not seem eu-phoric. Nine months in the Tower of Lon-don had changed him profoundly. He had become deeply attached to religion and to the Bible. His previous life of wild parties and loose women was abandoned for one of introspection and prayer. Although he was still outspoken and extreme, he was somehow more reflective and serious. He made a couple of attempts to rejoin the political world, but was quietly prevented from doing so by others. Eventually the world moved on, and he disappeared from sight. Then, in 1786, he was arrested on two charges. An investigation into a cou-ple of anonymously published incendiary republican pamphlets concluded that he was their author. One of them had libeled the French queen, Marie Antoinette, as well as the French Ambassador to Great Britain. The second had attacked the ju-diciary.

This time around there was no sup-port from family and friends, and Gordon was forced to undertake his own defense at two separate trials. His handling of the cases was a farce, and in June 1787 he was found guilty of all the charges. The judge retired to consider the sentences over-night, and Gordon, who had been bailed until sentencing, left the court that eve-ning and disappeared without trace. The next day the court reconvened, but Gor-don was nowhere to be found. Sightings were reported in multiple locations, but each time the trail went cold.

Seven months later, in January 1788, he was finally located in Birmingham, and arrested. Except that this wasn’t the Lord George Gordon of the House of Com-mons, and the Gordon Riots. What the po-lice found in the shabby rented room was a bearded orthodox Jew dressed in a Pol-ish kaftan and black broad-brimmed hat, who gave his name as Yisrael bar Avra-ham. At first he refused to accompany the policeman back to London because it was on Shabbat, but a magistrate was hauled in to rule that he must be compelled to travel, and so, with a package of kosher food sup-plied by his landlady, he was unceremoni-ously transported to London.

It didn’t take long for the whole strange story to emerge. On the fateful

night he had disappeared, he fled for Hol-land, but upon his arrival, the Amsterdam authorities had immediately repatriated him. When he arrived back in England he seems to have slipped into the country and vanished. This was because a year earlier he had converted to Judaism, and he now began to wear Jewish clothes and grew a beard, and in this guise became unrecog-nizable. It seems that this metamorphosis had been going on for some time. Some years earlier Gordon had come to see Christianity’s rejection of the Old Testa-ment as hypocrisy and sacrilege. Someone fatefully introduced him to the Jews, and he suddenly saw them as the only people who ‘literally adhered to the Laws of Mo-

ses’, and began to keep kosher and study Torah with Jewish commentaries.

His actual conversion was not easily achieved. When he first became interest-ed in Judaism he approached the distin-guished and widely respected Chief Rab-bi of London, David Tevele Schiff, who turned him away and refused to consider the conversion under any circumstanc-es. Gordon was far too high profile and controversial, and welcoming him into the Jewish community might result in ex-tremely negative repercussions. So Gor-don went instead to Aaron Barnett, the learned chazan of the Hambro Synagogue breakaway community. Barnett sent him to the spiritual leader of Birmingham, a man called Rabbi Jacob, who arranged for his circumcision and mikvah immersion, and also taught him Hebrew. After the

conversion was done, Gordon returned to London and was called up to the Torah at the Hambro Synagogue. In gratitude he presented the synagogue with a generous donation.

It quickly became evident that Gor-don’s Judaism was extremely sincere. He sat for much of the day in tefillin, pray-ing, studying the Hebrew language and learning mishnayot. But the conversion had been kept a total secret. His family was completely unaware of it, as were his political acquaintances. After his arrest, however, hos conversion to Judaism and his new appearance emerged into the pub-lic eye, and Gordon became the focus of ridicule and scorn.

His escape and disappearance, and perhaps his conversion to Judaism, re-sulted in the full weight of the law being brought to bear against him. The court handed down a sentence of five years in jail, and he was fined an astronomical sum of money, well beyond his means. He was brought to Newgate prison and – with in-tervention from his family – given a pri-vate cell in a more salubrious part of the prison facility.

Gordon soon became a celebrity pris-oner, and he entertained a constant stream of visitors. He held regular dinner par-ties, and even full-scale balls, at which he played the bagpipes. One regular vis-itor was Prince Frederick, Duke of York, second son of King George III. The Duke even lent his chamber orchestra to Gordon for prison parties, which, by all accounts, were the hottest ticket in town.

His prison suite was strictly kosher and he had both a Jewish and non-Jewish maid to cook and clean for him. He was allowed to hold a minyan on Shabbat and festivals, and he arranged for Polish Jew-ish immigrants who were also imprisoned to make up the minyan together with him. His tolerance for people of all pursuasions was incredible, except if someone was a lapsed Jew. On one occasion a Jewish beggar in need arrived at the jail to see if he could visit the famous prisoner to ask for financial help. As instructed by Gor-don, the guards refused the man entry, as he did not have the traditional Jewish beard or head covering. The man in ques-tion, Angel Lyon, was deeply hurt, and wrote Gordon a letter to express his dis-appointment. In the letter he cited God’s statement to the biblical prophet Samuel in which He said that He judged people by

The Curious Tale Of Lord George Gordon Modern History’s Most Unlikely Convert To Judaism Rabbi Pini Dunner, Rav of Young Israel North Beverly Hills

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what was in their their hearts, not by their appearance.

Gordon replied at length, and his letter was later published in a celebrated pam-phlet. He argued that God had not suggest-ed that appearance was immaterial, only that ultimately it was not an indicator of what was in someone’s heart – even if they appeared devout. The statement to Samuel was ‘not intended to abolish or contradict

the laws of outward appearance among the Jews, but to teach that God sees through all outward appearances’. On the importance of retaining the appearance of a devout Jew if one was Jewish, he wrote that those Jews who shaved and dressed like Gentiles were ‘ashamed of the outward and visible signs, given unto them by God himself, and commanded to be preserved by Mo-ses, because it distinguishes them as Jews, in public, from the nobility and gentry of these lands. But this is serving man and despising God.’

When Gordon’s mandated sentence was over in early 1793 he was brought be-fore the court. The judge demanded that he pay the fines, which remained unpaid, otherwise he would have to continue his incarceration. Gordon was unfazed and ac-cused the court of using the astronomical fines as a ruse to ensure his imprisonment for life. During the entire proceedings he refused to acknowledge that the court had any jurisdiction over him now that he had served his sentence, and on a number of occasions his acerbic wit, mainly directed at the judge, saw the gathered spectators reduced to fits of helpless laughter. His brother, the Duke, had indicated the fam-ily’s willingness to pay the fines, but Gor-don refused on principle, and in the end he was sent back to Newgate Prison.

As it turned out this was a fateful deci-sion. The prison was in the midst of a dan-gerous outbreak of typhus, and prisoners were dying on a daily basis. Despite his isolation from the other prisoners, in Oc-tober he contracted the deadly disease and began to sink rapidly. He was visited by hundreds of well-wishers, but was soon on his deathbed. On 1 November 1793 – 26 Cheshvan – Yisrael bar Avraham Gordon, Ger Tzedek, died at the age of 42, whilst

singing Adon Olam with his last breath. As a final indignity, despite his desire to be buried in the Jewish cemetery of Lon-don, his family had him buried in a Chris-tian burial ground at St James’ Church on Hampstead Road, in Euston, Central Lon-don.

For some time after his death Gordon retained a certain notoriety, particularly because his extreme views on liberty and

democracy had become mainstream in America and France, and he was viewed as a pioneer champion of the libertarian ideology.

In 1795 a book was written and pub-lished by the fierce anti-Catholic Gordon acolyte Robert Watson, called ‘The Life of Lord George Gordon’. Watson was a Scot by birth, slightly older than Gordon, and had served in Washington’s army against the British. From 1780 he was Gordon’s secretary. The book was an apologetic work, extremely sympathetic in its por-trayal of Gordon, although its author was clearly not a lover of Jews, and he wrote that had Gordon been released he would have given up Judaism and returned to Christianity.

Shortly after Gordon died a one penny token was issued depicting his profile. In the 1790s the lack of copper coins in Brit-ain and the need for small change because of the Industrial Revolution led to numer-ous private token issues. Some used these coins to praise the achievements of the In-dustrial Revolution; others used them for political propaganda, such as those issued by the left-wing publicist Thomas Spence. The Gordon penny was one of those issued by Spence. What is fascinating is that it de-picts Gordon as he looked as a Jew, with a hat and beard.

As the years went by Gordon was more-or-less forgotten, remembered only for his role in the Gordon Riots, and as a political sideshow of the late eighteenth century. But for Jews he remains one of the most enigmatic converts to our faith of the early modern era – a true revolutionary, and at the same time a mitzvah observant Jew who was willing to sacrifice every-thing for his newfound faith. Tehi Zichro Baruch.

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Chinuch, training and educating our children, especially in today’s times, pos-es many challenges for Rebbeim, teachers and parents. Often, a decision needs to be made as to whether a pro-active approach is necessary. Each situation should be judged separately and the specific needs, abilities and personalities of each child must also be considered. However, it is important to clarify some fundamental ideas, as a greater level of understanding will, b’ezras Heshem, lead our children and students to attain fine middos.

Often we hear a common statement about a student; “Don’t worry; he’ll grow out of it.” While it is true, that as we ma-ture, there are certain bad habits that we grow out of naturally with time, this isn’t the case when it comes to core middos.

There is a seemingly insignificant ep-isode in the Torah which teaches us an important lesson regarding growth in mid-dos. The Torah, in Parshas Vayeshev, tells us that Reuven found dudaim (mandrakes) and brought them to his mother, Leah. The Midrash asks us to question the message of the Torah. What is the story trying to impart by mentioning that Reuven found flowers in the field which is a seemingly

trivial piece of information? The answer of the Midrash is eye opening.

Rashi explains that Reuven’s act of picking dudaim was done in haste, as they were the easiest flowers to find. This hasty act had an impact on Shevet Reuven’s quick decision to choose the land on the other side of the Yarden, outside of Eretz Yisrael. If Reuven made a more thoughtful calculation, he would have chosen Eretz Yisrael, despite the Yarden’s vast lands which was suitable for livestock. It was this same midda of haste that Reuven ex-hibited by choosing the most available du-daim and this impacted Shevet Reuven’s incorrect decision of choosing the other side of the Yarden over Eretz Yisrael.

This answer is complex. Firstly, the decision to make a choice of Eretz Yisra-el was a monumental decision which has great ramifications. Surely, Shevet Reu-

ven understood the value of Eretz Yisra-el. How could this hasty, but still minor

decision of the dudaim have an effect and influence on such great people regarding the very major decision to choose to live outside Eretz Yisrael. Secondly, this de-cision took place hundreds of years later. How can Reuven’s act of hastily choosing dudaim have a bearing on his descendants so many years later?

The Midrash is teaching two profound lessons regarding middos. A midda or character trait, can be so ingrained in a person that it can impact even the great-est individual’s most important decisions. Secondly, a midda becomes so much a part of a person’s makeup that it is trans-mitted to one’s children and continues to impact and influence the thoughts and character of descendant’s generations lat-er. This implies that bad middos are not something which a person grows out of and good middos aren’t something that

one grows into. Middos are developed over time. Once they are ingrained they are difficult to change. Neither time, nor maturity changes character.

Good middos are acquired through a focused effort to improve. There are no quick fixes. The “mun” that the Jews ate in the desert was a test for 40 years. One would think that one year of “mun” would be a lasting inspiration and realization that sustenance comes from Hashem. Obvi-ously, we see otherwise. Each day of ev-ery year, for 40 years, instilled in them a bit more bitachon, faith in Hashem.

In Hallel we say “Hayam ra’ah vaya-nos - the sea saw and fled.” During the splitting of the sea, the sea receded and fled backward as the Bnei Yisrael moved forward. As the Bnei Yisrael walked, they saw the water before them. Rabbeinu B’chai, one of the early commentators,

explains that this was to root and deep-en their bitachon in Hashem. Rabbeinu Moshe Chaim Luzatto writes in his sefer, Mesillas Yesharim, regarding the trait of laziness, that since laziness is ingrained in one’s nature, one must energize and strengthen himself to overcome it. One who is lazy, easy to anger, arrogant, selfish or jealous will stay that way unless there is a real focus and strategy to improve. It is precisely because middos are developed and internalized that makes it so difficult to change.

There is a story of a great Talmid Cha-cham who was traveling on a ship. Being that he was not a man of means, his sleep-ing quarters were on the bottom level of the ship where the garbage was placed. One of the passengers took a bucket of waste and poured it on this great sage. He didn’t respond nor show any hint of anger.

He said that that moment of self-control was the happiest moment of his life. Hard to imagine, but when one masters a midda, it is an unbelievable accomplishment and feeling.

As Rebbeim, educators and parents, we have a great privilege to be mechanech to our talmidim and children. It is neces-sary to differentiate between a maturity issue which may pass with time, or a core middos issue, which won’t. As Chazal say, “Chanoch lena’ar al pi darko gam ki yazkin lo yasur mimenu - the chinuch that we give our children does not leave in old age”. May Hashem give all of us the strength, wisdom and sensitivity to prop-erly guide and proactively be mechanech to our children and students so that they develop refined middos and strong char-acter.

Lessons in Chinuch Rabbi Yochanan Weiner, Menahel of Yeshivas Ner Aryeh

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5 HEED THE CALL OF OUR GEDOLIM…

JOIN DAF HAYOMI B’HALACHA

HaGaon HaRav Asher Anshel Katz, shlita The Vienner Rav

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A mere 7 years ago, Daf HaYomi B’Halacha started a movement, embarking on a journey to know the Halachos of everyday living. To date, tens of thousands worldwide have benefitted and are joined together by the daily limud of Mishnah Berurah and Mussar from Sifrei Chofetz Chaim. Gedolei Yisrael have endorsed and encouraged Dirshu’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program’s unique retention and accountability methods, as a way to master Halacha.

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HAGAON HARAV CHAIM KANIVESKY, SHLITASar HaTorahWhen visited by Hanhalas Dirshu, Harav Kanivesky was very gratified to hear about the success of the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program and the fact that new learners were joining every day. “Wonderful, wonderful,” he exclaimed, saying it was a “mitzvah gedolah, a great mitzvah” to engage in daily learning of Mishnah Berurah. In his understated way, Rav Chaim also acknowledged that daily learning of Mishnah Berurah has the power to bring the geulah.

HAGAON HARAV AHARON LEIB SHTEINMAN, SHLITAMaran, Rosh HaYeshiva, Orchos Torah“Do you know that when Rav Meir Shapiro first instituted the Daf Yomi many felt that it would not be successful over the long run, and after the easier masechtos were done, the whole program would just fizzle out. Look now at how many tens of thousands are finishing Shas with every machzor. The Daf Yomi ensured that so many people who would otherwise never finish Shas have become Shas Yidden. The same will transpire with the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha!”

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Harav Binyomin Finkel, Mashgiach Mir Yeshiva, davening at the Chofetz Chaim's kever during a previous Dirshu mission to Radin

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Ever since the birth of Islam, Christians and Jews have been relatively well-toler-ated in the Middle East. Certainly, some Muslim regimes were not kindly disposed towards their religious minorities, but for the most part Christians and Jews living in Muslim countries could live in comfort and safety so long as they paid a special tax and showed deference towards Muslim

custom. For the Jews, this arrangement began

to change in 1918 with the fall of the Ot-toman Empire and the rise of Arab nation-alism. Suddenly, the millennia-old com-munity faced pogroms in Iraq and Iran, causing Jews to live in constant fear. Jews left their Arab homelands en masse in the late forties and fifties, looking for a safer life in the newly established state of Israel. Meanwhile, Christians stayed behind and faced relatively little intolerance...until now.

In a throwback to the early Islamic em-pire of 500 – 900 CE (the time of the Euro-pean Middle Ages,) there is now a revival of violence against Christian communities that is fanatical. The multinational terrorist group ISIS has been destroying Christian lives and culture, simply because they re-fuse to convert to Islam. Some of the old-est Christian communities in the world are being threatened with annihilation, and thousands have been forced to flee for

their lives. Ancient churches are being de-stroyed and converted into mosques.

For those Christians who manage to es-cape, it is very difficult to find a new place to call home. While Jews will always find a home in Israel, Christians have histori-cally lived in isolated pockets throughout the Middle East and they have no central Christian homeland in the region where

they can find refuge. One of the most numerous and ancient

Christian communities until a year ago, was Iraq. Iraq’s Christian community dates

back almost to the founding of the religion and it existed centuries before Islam came about. Most Iraqi Christians are Assyrian Chaldean Catholics and speak a dialect of Aramaic. They have historically made im-portant contributions to world culture such as their translation and preservation of Ar-istotle’s works.

Last July, thousands of Christians fled

the city of Mosul after an ISIS ultimatum threatening execution if they refused to ei-ther convert or pay the extortionate jizya tax (a tax historically imposed by Mus-

lim regimes upon non-Muslim minori-ties.) ISIS went around the city painting the Arabic letter nun on Christian homes and churches to mark them as Nasrani (an Arabic term for Christian). They then cap-tured the city and have there has been mass destruction and looting. Unsurprisingly, thousands of Christians fled the city with little more than the clothes on their backs.

ISIS has destroyed Christian graves amidst report of the rape and sale of women into slavery. Mosul, like all other places ISIS have captured, is now under a draconian regime that seeks to erase Iraq’s non-Muslim past and punish those who oppose them with an iron fist. Qa-raqosh, once Iraq’s Christian capital, fell to ISIS after Kurdish forces defending the town withdrew. As in Mosul, thousands of Christians fled there as well, leaving everything behind. ISIS destroyed many churches, including the famous Mar Beh-nam Monastery, which was built in the 4th century C.E. and had been visited by thou-sands of Christians and Muslims alike.

Some Christians have fled to Jordan or Lebanon, some even to Europe. However, most refugees sit in camps in the Kurdish city of Erbil, living in makeshift tents and living on the streets as they wait for Western countries to either grant them visas or help them take back their home-land. With scarce resources and unem-

Islamists Rampage Against Christians. Why are we Standing Idle?The Persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa Aaron Feigenbaum

A refugee camp in Syria Al-shabab militants

Blowing up a Church Iraqi Christian Refugees ISIS on the way to invade Iraq

A former Marine and his two sons who will be fighting along Kurdistan forces in Iraq. Photo - Fox News Corp

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ployment high in the camps, many of them feel abandoned and forgotten.

Syria’s Christians can also count them-selves among the oldest of Christian com-munities in the world, and they too have been decimated by ISIS’ merciless on-slaught and have been forced to flee their homes. Reportedly, entire Syrian Christian villages have been wiped out and count-less churches and other Christian monu-ments have been destroyed. Christians liv-ing in the capital, Damascus, are relatively more secure but still face the stigma of being seen as government supporters. The reality is that many Syrian Christians did not want to take sides when the civil war started but felt that the government would offer them protection from ISIS. Electric-ity blackouts, food shortages and poverty are daily challenges for Christians along with all Syrians.

As terrible as remains the Syrian gov-ernment, the Assad regime and Baath party have previously protected Christians, even offering them positions of power. Now, in the lawless parts of Syria, such protections seem a distant memory. Just two months ago, almost 4,000 Christian families were forced to flee the Syrian town of Hasakah after 200 Christians were taken hostage in the same town earlier this year.

ISIS have targeted churches and other Christian monuments in Syria as well. Just last week, ISIS ransacked and destroyed Qaryatain’s ancient Mar Elian monas-tery, parts of which date back 1,500 years. In ISIS’ self-proclaimed capital city of Al-Raqqah, an ancient Armenian Catho-lic church was converted into one of the group’s headquarters. The Krak des Che-valiers, a hilltop fortress that was once a symbol of Crusader power, has now been severely damaged in fighting between the government and ISIS forces. As in Iraq, the future of Syria’s Christians is very un-certain.

Egyptian Christian Copts are also be-ing harassed and terrorized simply for pro-fessing their faith, but not only by ISIS. They have also had to deal with the fun-damentalist Muslim Brotherhood (linked to Hamas) as well as the corruption and apathy of their own government. The rev-olution of 2011 and the Morsi government essentially gave Islamic radicalism free reign to slander and persecute Copts. Since 2013, the Sisi regime has tried to calm ten-sions but much of the old anti-Copt senti-ment remains. Copts are blamed by many Egyptian Muslims for social and economic ills, and Copt stores are often looted with impunity. Coptic leaders are routinely ig-

nored by the government and they were recently pelted with stones and Molotov cocktails by Muslim mobs when they asked to build a new church.

Rather than upholding the freedom of religion clause in the Egyptian constitu-tion, the police and courts often side with the mobs and force the Copts to compro-mise their requests. Even when Copts are allowed to build churches, they must agree not to have any outer symbol of Christi-anity and the building must be situated on a side street. Bishops report being kid-napped and held for ransom. Five Cop-tic children were recently charged with “blasphemy” and “insulting Islam.” When Copts are attacked by Muslims, rather than carrying out justice, police arrest both perpetrator and victim and force them to attend a “reconciliation session” in which, many times, the perpetrator gets off free or gets a slap on the wrist. Violent clashes in recent years between Muslims and Copts

have left hundreds dead. Although the po-sition of the Egyptian Copts isn’t nearly as dire as in Iraq and Syria, the rise of ISIS and the destabilization of Egypt since the Arab Spring has left them Copts in a very precarious position.

Highlighting the danger the Copts face, 21 Coptic migrant workers in neigh-boring Libya were kidnapped and execut-ed earlier this year in a broadly publicized tragedy that was filmed and distributed on the internet. The Egyptian government carried out airstrikes against ISIS in Libya but it has done little to reassure Copts in Egypt that they will be safe from persecu-tion. The Libyan government states that all Libyans are Sunni Muslims and thereby forbids Arabic-language Christian Bibles from being imported to the country. One

government official considers Christians a “threat to national security,” and in the more rural parts of the country, Christians are often killed with impunity.

The situation for Christians in Yemen is like that in Egypt except more restric-tive. Although the Yemeni constitution of-ficially allows for freedom of religion, the actual situation is, according to one Chris-tian Yemeni, a “farce.” They must pray in private homes and are not allowed to build churches or own Christian Bibles. The fall of the old Saleh regime and its replace-ment with Islamism and sectarian conflict has made the practice of Christianity in Yemen a more dangerous proposition than ever.

In Saudi Arabia, the heart of Islam, the restrictions against Christians are among the Middle East’s harshest. There are cur-rently around 2 million Christians in the country, the vast majority of whom are foreign workers. However, even for for-

eigners, the apartheid Saudi government imposes its laws with the same severity it does for citizens. In fact, non-Muslims cannot be Saudi citizens and cannot enter the revered Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina. There are zero official churches in the entire country. Private house church-es are often raided and shut down by po-lice. Christians who pray publicly and/or missionize risk imprisonment, torture and deportation. Non-Muslim religious items are not allowed in the country. To convert from Islam is to risk losing one’s family, losing one’s job and even being executed. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in the land, called on all churches in the Arabian Peninsula to be destroyed.

Even in more stable Muslim countries

such as Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bah-rain, Kuwait, Pakistan and Qatar, there is a great deal of hostility towards Christians. Conversion from Islam to another religion is often treated as a capital offense, and those who missionize or criticize Islam are severely punished or killed. The exception to this is Oman, where conversion from Is-lam is not itself criminalized but can have secondary legal ramifications such as los-ing custody of one’s children. And even then, converts still face enormous stigma from their family and society, leading to many of them being harassed, threatened and even killed.

Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco are the best Middle East options for Christians, although these countries deny Christians the right to worship publicly and punish Muslims for converting, but there is little threat to Christian lives.

Things are also better for Christians in Iran, where churches can be built and where the government doesn’t interfere too often in Christian religious activi-ties. However, this only applies to Arme-nians and Assyrians. Persians, the major-ity ethnic group in Iran, are forbidden to convert from Islam under penalty of death. Persian language Christian Bibles and Per-sian language preaching are also illegal.

Turkey is often seen as one of the most progressive and democratic countries in the Muslim world. Certainly, Christians fare much better there than in neighboring Iraq or Syria, and Turkey has even taken in Christian refugees. However, Christians still face general intolerance and suspi-cion from the Muslim populace. More and more old churches are being converted into mosques, and Christians often have to deal with job restrictions and harass-ment. That said, the Turkish government recently approved the first new church in 92 years, thus giving some hope that Tur-key can once again live up to its secular, democratic principles.

In Gaza, Hamas has made life extreme-ly difficult for the 1,300 or so Palestinian Christians that live there. Hamas’ Islami-fication of Gaza has made apostasy pun-ishable by death, and the open display of Christian symbols illegal. In one incident, Hamas operatives kidnapped five children and forced them to convert to Islam. Chris-tians reportedly have to smuggle in grapes from Israel to make wine in defiance of Hamas’ ban on alcohol.

The situation in Muslim Africa is equal-ly perilous and the persecution of Chris-tians, rivals the Middle East. Somalia, for instance, is one of the least tolerant when

IsraAID supplies for the Yazidi refugees

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it comes to non-Muslim faiths. The pri-mary Islamist terrorist group, al-Shabaab, has publicly called for the removal of all Christians from Somalia. Those suspect-ed of professing Christianity are instant-ly killed, often being accused of working for Ethiopian intelligence. There are no churches, and any Christian meetings are done in the utmost secrecy. Al-Shabaab routinely monitors phone conversations and web traffic for Christian messages. Christian graves have been desecrated and looted. Even the weak government, which has been struggling for survival against al-Shabaab and tribal separatism, effectively encourages this anti-Christian sentiment.

Kenya has Christians in the Mus-lim-dominated north-east and they too live in constant fear. In April, 147 Christians were killed in an al-Shabaab massacre at Garissa University College in Kenya. Since then, Christians have been forced to set up metal detectors at churches and hire security guards for services.

In one of the world’s most egregious examples of anti-Christian persecution, thousands have been killed in the de facto terrorist state of northern Nigeria. Boko Haram, the group that established a so-called ‘caliphate’ in the north and has pledged its allegiance to ISIS, has carried out countless attacks. 4,000 deaths were reported last year alone. Christian girls, often the target of kidnappings, have to dress like Muslims for their own safety. Christian villages in the north often lack basic necessities such as clean water and hospitals, and access to education is rou-tinely denied.

Contrast the stifling restrictions and violence practiced against Christians in Muslim countries with the way they’re treated in Israel. Christianity in Israel is an officially recognized religion, and Chris-tian Arabs are one of the most well-inte-grated and successful non-Jewish groups. They have served in the government and military, and are allowed to practice their religion without restriction. Some, such as Father Gabriel Naddaf, have openly called for Christian Arab participation in the military and civil service. For this stance, he’s faced death threats and accusations of “helping the enemy of the Palestinian peo-ple.” In his words though, “Clearly, these [pro-Palestinian] NGOs have no interest in seeing Christian Arabs become part of Is-raeli society. Much like the Arab countries that have used Palestinians in various ref-ugee camps as pawns in fighting the State of Israel, these NGOs are content to reduce my community to cannon fodder in their efforts to de-legitimize Israel.”

In stark difference to its neighbors, Is-

rael sees Arab Christians as full citizens deserving of full and equal rights as well as opportunities for advancement in soci-ety. As Father Naddaf tells it, “As Chris-tians in Israel survey the situation of our brethren in the wider Middle East, we are appalled by the persecution that so many have experienced in Egypt, Syria and Iraq, among others. Truly, it has only been in Israel where Christians can fully practice our faith and can be productive members of society.”

Israel has not only helped its own Christian citizens live better lives, but has also helped Christian refugees from Syria and Iraq. For example, the relief agency IsrsAID has sent volunteers into refugee camps to deliver desperately needed food, clothing and medical supplies.

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) represents millions of Christians and churches. In October 2014,

ICEJ held an event which was attended by The World Jewish Congress President, Ron Lauder. Typically Lauder advocates for Jewish people in need, but he has now teamed up with ICEJ and with other or-ganizations to fight the persecution of Christians. Speaking at the Feast of Tab-ernacles in Jerusalem, Lauder said, “When hundreds of thousands of Christians - men, women and children - are killed, this isn’t a war, this is genocide. And Jews know what happens when the world is silent to genocide.” In March, Lauder spoke with passion at Georgetown University, Wash-ington DC, “We’ve both been targeted be-fore, often by the same enemy. But today’s rampage against both religions at the same time is a direct attack on Western civili-zation. It’s an attack on Judeo-Christian values: the fundamental building blocks of almost everything mankind has achieved over the last 2,000 years,”

And it’s not just organization, but there are incidents of individuals who have committed to helping imperiled Middle Eastern Christians. In one instance, Jew-ish-Canadian businessman Steve Maman is being called the “Jewish Schindler” for raising thousands of dollars from Jewish organizations to rescue kidnapped Chris-tian and Yazidi children. In his words, “I said to myself: ‘I cannot, and will not stand idle. I will not look at the daily reports and stay passive’.”

Another notable example of Jewish generosity is the successful work of Ho-locaust survivor Lord George Weidenfeld. So far, he has managed to help relocate 42 Syrian Christian families (149 people in all) to Warsaw, Poland with 200 more arriving soon. For Weidenfeld, the issue is very personal: “In the 1930s thousands of Jews, mainly women and children, were helped by Christians who took enormous personal risks to save them from certain death. We owe a debt of gratitude.”

So what’s being done on a govern-mental level to address the situation? The answer is: not much at all. The U.S. gov-ernment doesn’t endorse the actions of in-dividuals who are flying to join the Kurds in distant lands to fight ISIS, but so far it doesn’t forbid it either. Many individuals have been reported to leave the safety of the USA and relocate with the Kurds in mountainous regions where ISIS and Ira-nian shells have caused death and destruc-tion in Christian villages.

Meanwhile, President Obama con-demned the massacres of Christians in Libya and Kenya but notably did not men-tion that the victims were killed simply for being Christian or that the perpetrators were Muslim. At the same time, he had no qualms mentioning the ethnic identity of Syrian Alawites and Ismailis who were killed. Responses by European leaders have been similar. The notion that there is a genocide against Christians in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere is never discussed in gov-ernment circles, much less the possibility of taking concerted action to stop it.

But perhaps what’s needed now even more than military action against ISIS is relief for the hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees, whether Christian or otherwise. True, Jews have often suffered on account of Christian anti-Semitism but now is the time to see our common hu-manity. As Jews, we are a light not only to our fellow Jews, but also to the whole world. We can make a difference right now in the lives of people sitting in camps half a world away with no hope and few basic necessities. This is the time to donate and show support.

Steve Maman with Canadien Prime Minister Stephen Harper

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What goes around, comes around. And so it is with the persecution of world re-ligions since days of yore. Today, we are facing a world where Christians now face discrimination more acutely than Jews; Religious oppression is alive and well. The persecution of Jews, well document-ed and discussed, is an acute dilemma that needs our focus and fighting spirit. At the same time, the last years have seen a steep increase in the persecution of Christian populations. The diverse arena of Chris-tians includes Evangelicals, Protestants, Catholics, Coptics, Pentecostal and many more. This year, the charity Open Doors, reported than an average of 180 Christians around the world are killed each month for their faith. Of the ten nations who are on the 2014 World Watch List because of their extreme persecution of Christians, nine of them are Muslim countries. The more things change, the more they stay the same

Rabbi Adlerstein is Director of Inter-faith Affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Cen-ter and teaches Jewish Law and Ethics at Loyola Law School as well as high school girls at Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles. Immersed in teaching updat-ed opinions to the Jewish community and in the broader American psyche, Rabbi Adlerstein has also developed a meaning-ful voice in the media arena.

Rabbi Adlerstein spoke to The Jewish Home and explained, “The countries who are most intensely persecuting Christians include North Korea and the countries of the Middle East, excluding Israel. These events have left many Christians with a new awareness that they have become a beleaguered group. This is hard for Jews to process, given the long history of con-flict between the two religions. Jews with memory and knowledge of history have a disconnect with the new reality that we are on the same side as Christians today and in the longer run, the greater threat to our existence is not religious oppression but atheism and social chaos.”

Now we have a world that has legal-ized same-sex marriage with its promise of moral superiority and easier happiness for atheists over G-d fearing people. A Pew Report shows that the number of Ameri-cans who align themselves with Christian-ity is down this year to 70%. That’s 14

points lower than in 1990. Is this because of the liberal Christian inclination to meet culture and fashion half way, whereas tra-ditionalists refuse to do so?

Rabbi Adlerstein clarified the status quo, “The media is playing out religious negativity and presents mainstream Amer-ica as being hostile to religion. Most re-cently, the decision by the Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage has left Chris-tians, for the first time since white people arrived in America, on the opposite side of the cultural norm. The WASP was the quintessential American but a majority of Supreme Court justices dismissed the cen-trality of the nuclear family in his heritage.

“Several thousand years of culture and the American religious experience was transformed. Protestants woke up to a new world where their value system was labeled as primitive. They are suddenly presented as a throwback to cave people who lack the maturity to change with the times.

“You can’t talk about Christians in one voice because there are so many different denominations but there has been a split where some have gone the way of Judaism and have embraced the oldest traditions and religion has become a central core of their beliefs. Then there are others, per-haps Episcopalians and Congregational-ists, who have very little left of the reli-gion of their grandparents, perhaps a few hymns and slogans. The ones who take the Bible seriously are the ones whose church-es are full and growing – the evangelicals specifically - and they don’t feel under

attack. Still, even the more traditional de-nominations are feeling the sting of rejec-tion as activists target their congregations and values. This pattern is bad for religion and it’s very bad for Western civilization.

“It’s hard to think in those terms, but in today’s complex world, this is the sta-tus quo. There is a generational gap where young people are eagerly becoming part of US mainstream and picking up liberal talk. Without religious education they are articulating misinformed opinions. The Simon Wiesenthal Center is working with Christian schools who are training the new generation of pastors and in speaking at these learning academies, there is a greater and more accurate understanding of what we have in common and what we can do for each other.

“So many young Christian leaders have no knowledge of the politics of re-ligion and they need to be informed in the right way. A large Christian conservative college was recently invited to a model Seder where the liberal Jewish Rabbi ex-plained that Jews don’t really believe the Exodus happened. For liberal Episcopa-lians this cool talk could work but it left bible-knowledgeable Pentecostals heavy with confusion and alienated by this very liberal opinion. The challenge is that it takes the best of our Jewish leaders to build bridges to tomorrow’s world.”

Coptic Christians in the Middle East are struggling to cope with persecution, fear-mongering, torture and ISIS killings on the rise. In fact, Christians were in the region before the Arabs took pow-er and for many years they have lived with the painful subjugation of their re-ligious freedom. Now, their voice was represented until 2012 by an appar-ently anti-Semitic Pope Shenouda III, who was vicious in his condemnation of all things Jewish. Should this limit our ability to support the Coptic need for help and survival?

Again, Rabbi Adlerstein elucidat-ed the reality, “We should understand that when religious leaders are held on a shoestring by their puppet masters, their words are often a presentation of the law of their masters. The Chief Rabbis during the time of the old So-viet regime were sent to America to laud the success of communist policies

and it was only behind closed doors, far from microphones and media,that the truth came out. A leader will take on painful and lonely acts in order to safeguard the well-being of his community. Today there are many Coptics who are looking forward to a relationship with the Jewish Commu-nity. It is important as Jews that we stand up for people whose lives are in danger.

“The Jewish family teaches their kids about the painful rejection Jews faced by the baseless behavior of the global powers during the years of the holocaust. Where was world support? Today, the Christian groups are also facing a crisis of surviv-al. It is crucial that Jewish organizations choose to be morally responsible and show their support and meaningful concern for those persecuted. Securing the goodwill of Christian groups is also goodwill for Israel.”

Simon Wiesenthal’s Rabbi Cooper visited the White House several years ago and surprised the politicians with his guests who were two Christians. They went to plead for help for the Christians who have been dying in droves and grad-ually the government is acknowledging the situation of religious minorities. There is now an office at the State Department which looks into the affairs of persecuted religious groups. Rabbi Adlerstein added, “They do not have much clout yet, but this is just the start.”

Jews and Christians vs Atheism and Social ChaosSimon Wiesenthal Center’s Rabbi Yitzchok AdlersteinDiscusses the Jewish Responsibility to Religious Persecution Ruth Judah

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“Say What?”Compiled by Nate Davis

Notable Quotes

It’s better to die like a lion than be slaughtered like sheep. And this terrorist coward deserved what he got, and the PC crowd needs to recognize terrorism for what it is. - Emanuel Skarlatos on MSNBC, after his son and two other Americans tackled a Muslim gunman on a Paris-bound train last Friday, preventing a massacre

A study found that many types of head lice have mutated and now have become resistant to over-the-counter treatments. The problem has scientists scratching their heads. – Conan O’Brien

The White House is worried about Joe Biden’s potential run for president, and a source says they fear that it wouldn’t have the right outcome. That’s right, they think he might win. – Jimmy Fallon

When people say “all lives matter,” it’s a violent statement, because the only time that people say “all lives matter” is in opposition to “black lives matter.”- Black Lives Matter activist Julius Jonas on CNN

A man set a new world record after kicking himself in the head 134 times in one minute. He broke the previous record of zero. – Conan O’Brien

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More quotes

I’m going Trump here. Build the wall. It’s not that hard. If you don’t have a border, you don’t have a country. You’re not a country without a border, right? – Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh randomly entering the foray of politics at a press conference about his team

We wouldn’t be here today if the employee had followed government policy. – Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during a Freedom of Information Act Hearing against the State Department

How would you like to be Israel right now? They relied on us. They’re a voice of sanity. They’re great people. And we have a deal that is so incompetent, so bad. Think of the deal. We make a deal, our chief negotiator goes into a bicycle race at 73 years old, he falls, he breaks his leg. That was the good part of our deal. That was the only good thing that happened.– Donald Trump at a rally of 40,000 people in Alabama

Google has announced that the next version of its Android phone software will be called Marshmallow. It’ll be similar to the last version but with s’more features. – Seth Myers

The sensor may detect that the person is slouching in a seated position based on detection of the relatively high pressure. In accordance with this embodiment, the one or more electrical stimuli indicate that the person is to sit upright. - From a Microsoft patent application for computerized clothes that would prompt the wearer to sit up straight

Big hug. - Russian President Vladimir Putin signing off on a radio chat with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev

Donald Trump was photographed at the Iowa State Fair eating a pork chop on a stick. That’s what I love about America. You can fly on a private jet and eat at five-star restaurants. But if you want to be president, when they hand you a pork chop on a stick in Iowa, you have to eat it. – Jimmy Fallon

Compiled by Nate Davis

Notable Quotes

“Say What?”

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Mr. Trump, are you Batman? – A little child to Donald Trump while being given a ride on Trump’s helicopter at the Iowa State Fair

I am Batman.- Trump in response

You do a beautiful, nice pre-cast plank, with beautiful everything, just perfect. I want it to be so beautiful, because maybe someday they’re going to call it The Trump Wall. - GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, in a town hall meeting in Derry, N.H., on the wall he wants to build on the Mexican border

Donald Trump is the grandson of German immigrants. Don’t worry. The last time a German guy with crazy hair took over a country, everything turned out fine. – Conan O’Brien It has come out

that implementing Donald Trump’s immigration policy would cost taxpayers $166 billion. Today Trump said, “So what? You spend the money, you declare bankruptcy, and then you start a new country.”– Conan O’Brien

This weekend many of the Republican candidates said they used a Fitbit. In fact, Jeb Bush uses his to see how much distance he can put between himself and his last name. – Conan O’Brien

This week the Obama administration warned China to remove its secret agents from the U.S. Then in the middle of Obama’s announcement, a plant behind him got up and walked away. – Jimmy Fallon

A man was arrested at Denver International Airport yesterday for running onto the tarmac to try and stop a plane after he missed his flight on the way to his high school reunion. He was heard screaming after the plane, “But I lost all the weight!” – Seth Myers

Starbucks announced that their pumpkin spice latte will now be made with a little bit of pumpkin. Also, their Frappuccino will now be made with a little bit of Al Pacino. – Conan O’Brien

There are reports that if Joe Biden runs for president, he would promise to serve for only one term — because nothing says confidence like promising your presidency would be over quickly. – Jimmy Fallon

A five-thirds compromise would imbue African-Americans with a larger political voice that could be used to fight the structural discrimination expressed in housing, education, criminal justice and employment. Allowing black votes to count for 167 percent of everyone else’s would mean that 30 million African-American votes would count as 50 million. - Former White House fellow Theodore R. Johnson in a Washington Post Op-ed arguing that African-American votes should count more than white votes

In an interview this week, Jeb Bush said that if he had a magic wand, there are at least ten things that he would like change about the Constitution. Then Jeb Bush was given the prize for “lamest use of a magic wand.” – Jimmy Fallon

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just signed a bill that bans powdered alcohol from the state. So if you live in New York and you’re consuming powdered alcohol, your life just somehow got even worse. – Jimmy Fallon

In lieu of flowers, please do not vote for Hillary Clinton.- From Elaine Fydrych’s obituary (the 63-year-old New Jersey woman was a registered Democrat)

A company is developing an elevator that can take you into space. Don’t you hate it when you’re going to Jupiter and someone gets on the elevator and presses “Mars”? – Conan O’Brien

I expected people to be hostile, and not to want to associate with an Egyptian. But I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that just the opposite was true. I was invited to all sorts of events, to Shabbat dinners and end of Ramadan fast “iftar” dinners… On my very first day here at the university, I saw men in kippas, women in hijabs. I saw soldiers walking peacefully among crowds of lively students. I learned there were people of every kind in the university, and the university had a place for all of them—Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouins, and even international students… Being here in Israel has taught me that life is full of paradoxes and complexities—that nothing is straightforward, and that things are often not as they are made to seem.- Haisam Hassanein, an Egyptian student who completed his master’s degree studies at Tel Aviv University, speaking at his graduation

A New Jersey restaurant is offering a special menu this month that doesn’t list prices, but instead asks customers to pay what they think is fair. According to the sign in the window, the restaurant is called “This Space for Rent.” – Seth Myers

A new study claims that first grade students are getting three times more homework than they should be doing. This is coming from the lead researcher, “Timmy.” – Conan O’Brien

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Jewish music lovers worldwide are mourn-ing the loss of guitarist Yosi Pia-

menta who passed away this week at the age of 64 after losing a protracted battle with cancer. Piamenta was born a fourteenth generation Yerushal-mi in 1951, moving to Tel Aviv at age 12. According to his Facebook biography, Piamenta’s music career began at age 13, when his uncle, a well-known Israeli bandleader, gifted him with an acoustic guitar for his bar mitzvah.

Piamenta dove into guitar playing headfirst and became so enamored with music that his schoolwork began suffering. In attempt to set him back on the path to this studies, Yehuda Piamenta broke his son’s gui-tar, but two months later, after seeing how crestfallen young Yosi was, the elder Piamenta relented and pur-chased a replacement guitar.

A self-taught musician, Piamenta honed his craft by accompanying songs on Israeli radio. He began performing in public, investing his earnings in better equipment, music magazines and albums, enabling him to further broaden both his musical horizons and his skill set. After serving in the Israeli army, where he performed in the army band, Piamenta became a full time musician.

It was during the 1973 Yom Kippur War that Pia-menta first performed with his younger brother Avi, who accompanied him on the flute, as the two played for Israeli soldiers.

The brothers went on to perform as The Piamenta Band and were discovered in 1976 by saxophonist Stan Getz. Getz brought Yosi Piamenta to America to collaborate on an album and although the album was successful, Piamenta quickly saw that the secular mu-sic world was not a positive environment and he fully embraced his Jewish roots, entering the world of Or-thodox Judaism and becoming closely affiliated with the Chabad movement.

In a 2012 interview with Arutz Sheva, Piamenta spoke of the intricately woven relationship between the Jewish religion and music.

“When you read the Torah in the shul, you read it with the notes, with ta’amim,” said Piamenta. “That’s the notes of the Bible. It’s all being sung. And when there’s prayer, the hazan never talks, he always sings. In the Beit Hamikdash when they do the korbanot, then it has to come from the heart. It can’t be done as just an act, because you have to mean what you do. The Leviim used to sing and play on the stages

above the mizbeiach. The people who would perform the korbanot would hear the music and cry. And since they cried, their korbanot would be accepted because it came with tears.”

Piamenta, who played concerts, the club scene and countless Jewish weddings and bar mitzvahs, is one of the few Jewish musicians whose talents brought him accolades both in the Jewish community and beyond.

Described by some in the secular world as the “Ha-sidic Hendrix,” a New York Times article observed that Piamenta was regarded by many in the secular world as a guitar virtuoso, albeit one who sang in Hebrew.

Piamenta, who was recognized by Billboard mag-azine as the number eight guitarist in the world, re-turned to his homeland several years ago, according to Israeli news site Kikar HaShabbat, in order to care for his elderly father who died in 2011.

“My home was always in Israel,” said Piamenta. “I just rented an apartment in New York, but I was really just living out of my suitcase.”

Piamenta’s Facebook page bears many requests for the public for tefilos on his be-half. A post dated April 2014 introduced a new song, produced by Yosi’s son Moni and featuring both Piamenta brothers, written as a zechus for Piamenta’s recovery.

“For those of you unaware, Yosi is battling cancer. Naftali Kalfa, a dear friend of the Pia-menta family, composed the song ‘Yaancha,’ based on the 20th Psalm of David, which asks G-d to provide help in times of trouble. A re-cent visit to New York by Mr. Kalfa led to a day at Atlantic Studios, on the Brooklyn waterfront, where this emotional dedication to Yosi’s recovery was ar-ranged and recorded…Please keep Yoseph ben Genia in your prayers…”

While he may have been known for his incred-ible prowess on the guitar as his fingers flew across the frets of his Fender Stratocaster at many prominent music venues, Piamenta always wore his Jewish iden-tity with pride, appearing in his large yarmulka, his tzitzis flying as he sang in Hebrew. Yet for members of the Jewish music, Piamenta’s greatest accomplish-ments were not his music but the way he lived his life.

“I’ve had the opportunity to use him many times as a featured guitarist at concerts or at chasunas,” singer Srully Williger told VIN News. “You would think someone with such talent would be difficult to get to or a baal geiva. But Yossi was never like that. You

were always able to get to him in a second. He was always so nice and always did whatever you wanted, when it came to the music, the price, or everything else. It was all about helping people and being able to bring simcha into their lives. He was wonderfully sweet, the sweetest guy you could ever meet.”

“I worked with him for many years and at dozens of wedding,” added Shlomie Friedman of the Shlo-mie Friedman Orchestra. “Besides the chesed that everyone knows of running to play for sick people who would appreciate it, the thing I remember about Yosi zichrono l’vracha was that he wanted to make the chosson, kallah and the guests happy. Obviously it was parnassah and he was paid, but if for some reason he felt that on a particular night he wasn’t able to bring joy to the people, he was disappointed. That was Yosi: a true person of simcha who exuded simcha and just wanted everyone to be happy. Yehi zichro boruch.”

Piamenta recorded 14 albums in his lifetime. His last performance took place this past winter at The Zone in Tel Aviv on February 23rd, where he took the stage with his brother Avi, his son Moni, Ephraim Shamir and Albert Piamenta.

Music legend Sheya Mendlowitz described Pia-menta, the father of six, as one of his closest friends and a true tzaddik.

“He was a person that went through the whole Se-fer Tehillim twice a day,” said Mendlowitz. “A true baal teshuva who would forfeit nothing—I mean nothing—when it came to keeping Shabbos.”

“Klal Yisroel lost a diamond, a precious diamond,” added Mendlowitz.

The levaya for Piamenta was held on Sunday night at the Shomrei Hachomos Chapels in Borough Park, and the procession passed by World Lubavitch Head-quarters at 770 Eastern Parkway on its way to John F. Kennedy airport, with burial taking place in Israel.

“That was Yosi: a true person of simcha who exuded simcha and just

wanted everyone to be happy.”

Sandy Eller VosIzNeias.com (VINnews.com)

Yosi P iamenta: The Man and His Music

THE JEWISH HOM

E AUGUST 27, 201537

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Prices Effective August 27 thru September 29, 2015 No Rain Checks. Items not available in all stores. AVAILABILITY: Each of these advertised items is readily available for sale at or below the advertised price at most Vons/Pavilions stores while supplies last. Some items may not be available at all stores. We reserve the right to limit quantities. No Sales to Dealers. Savings may vary. Check price tag for details. Prices for limited hour or limited day sales are effective in-store only and are not available for online shopping.

499lb

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Kosher Whole Turkey14-15 lbs. avg. weight, Frozen

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Streit’sMatzo Crackers11 oz., Selected varieties

2$for6

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399Club Price

ManischewitzMatzo Ball or Soup Mix4.5-5 oz.Selected varieties

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399eaClub Price

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KedemSparkling Juice24.4 oz.Selected varieties

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Utah is most often associated with Mormonism, which forms a large part of the state’s history and identity. However, Mormon temples aren’t Utah’s sole claim to fame. In fact, there is so much more to see that people of all backgrounds can en-joy. Utah holds some of the West’s most scenic natural wonders and best outdoor activities. With five national parks, seven national monuments and even more state parks, much of Utah can be considered an outdoor playground. From world-class skiing in the Wasatch Mountains to the surreal canyons of Zion National Park to ancient rock art and much more, Utah is a land of exploration, beauty and mystery. If you’re interested in culture, Utah boasts some of the world’s best film festivals, as well as surprisingly diverse and thriving cultural scenes in Salt Lake City and Park City. Utah may not have a lot of big-city attractions, but it more than makes up for that with the beauty of its natural features as well as with the friendliness of its peo-ple. For an unforgettable Wild West expe-rience, consider Utah as your next travel

destination.HistoryArchaeological records, such as the

Fremont petroglyphs, show that Native American have inhabited Utah for thou-sands of years. Ancient Utah cultures such as the Anasazi and Athabaskans made im-portant advances in everything from irri-gation and agriculture to architecture and pottery.

The first Europeans to have set foot in Utah were the Dominguez-Escalante Ex-pedition, a group of priests who left Santa Fe in 1776 to find a route to the west coast. Following them were various fur trappers and migrants including the infamous Don-ner party.

The major turning point for Utah came in 1847 when the first Mormon pioneers arrived in Salt Lake Valley after their lead-er, Joseph Smith, was assassinated in Chi-cago in 1844. Led by Brigham Young, the pioneers faced a tough fight for survival in the unforgiving landscape. However, in a few years they were able to develop the infrastructure sufficiently to make per-

manent settlements. Towns such as Provo, Ogden and Farmington sprang up as Mor-mon immigrants from around the world poured in. The leadership in these commu-nities was chosen by church authorities, making Utah, at this time, more or less a theocracy. Mormons built 500 communi-ties by 1900 and they continued to expand through their vigorous international mis-sionary programs.

At the same time, the Mormons faced tensions with Native American tribes, who wanted compensation for their land, and with the federal government which op-posed the Mormons’ polygamist practic-es. The feds sided with the Mormons in refusing the Native Americans land com-pensation, but went into open conflict over the issue of polygamy. Polygamists were arrested and church lands were seized. When the Mormon President officially for-bade polygamy in 1890, Utah was finally allowed to become a state.

Economically, Utah in the late 1800’s was a major hub for mining and railroads. Starting in the early 20th century, nation-al parks such as Bryce Canyon and Zion made known the states rugged scenery. It’s little wonder that southern Utah became a popular filming site. The state also pros-pered with the development of its skiing industry. In fact, the Wasatch Mountains are considered to be one of the world’s best skiing areas. Further adding to Utah’s skiing credentials, Salt Lake City famous-ly hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. To-day, tens of millions visit Utah annually to experience the Beehive State’s unique culture, history and scenery.

AttractionsPark City: Set high in the mountains,

Park City is renowned for its alpine beau-ty, excellent skiing and the Sundance Film Festival.

If you decide to come in the winter, check out Deer Valley Resort. Routine-ly named Ski Magazine’s best ski resort in North America, Deer Valley offers upscale amenities and top-notch skiing. Deer Valley is famous for hosting some of the Winter Olympic events. The resort is well-maintained and greatly restricts the amount of skiers on the slopes at any giv-en time in order to prevent overcrowding. Note that Deer Valley has a strict policy against snowboarding. During the summer months, the resort hosts free concerts by the Utah Symphony and opens up the gor-geous hiking trails to hikers and bikers.

The Main Street Historic District is the heart of Park City itself. It has many excellent boutique shops selling unusual items as well as Bistro at Canyons, which is Utah’s only full-service kosher restau-rant. A free trolley runs through the 8 or so blocks that make up the Historic Dis-trict. Every winter, the Historic District

plays host to the Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the U.S. and a draw for movie-lovers around the world. The festival attracts some 50,000 people and includes special cultur-al events and live music.

Visit the Park City Museum to learn about the area’s transformation from a silver mining town in the 1860’s to a ski resort. The museum displays restored min-ers’ cabins and offers a walk, through a replica silver mine.

For a fun excursion, hop on the Alpine Coaster, which winds through 4,000 feet of bends, loops and curves in the snowy mountains around Park City.

Salt Lake City: Utah’s capital is best known as the location of Temple Square, the international headquarters of Mormon-ism and the most popular attraction in the whole state. The building has impressive architecture and well-manicured gardens. Salt Lake City’s Mormons are friendly and have historically had excellent relations with the city’s small Jewish community. (Brigham Young allowed Jews to use one of Temple Square’s halls to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in 1866.) If you’re in the mood, you can debate with the missionaries walking the grounds. The massive temple complex houses the Church History Museum and the Church History Library, both of which can be toured for free.

The Natural History Museum of Utah has over 5,000 artifacts on display that detail the science behind Utah’s unique landscape. These include fossils, gems and interactive displays on earthquakes, ani-mal life and more. There is also a special exhibit geared towards young kids called Our Backyard. The Museum Store carries unusual, nature-inspired jewelry. Step out onto the observation deck for sweeping views of the city and beyond. The museum is surrounded by the Red Butte Gardens, which contain a highly diverse array of flora and are the perfect place to do some easy hiking, sit down for a picnic or listen to a free concert.

The Utah Capitol Building looks re-markably like its counterpart in Wash-ington, D.C. What sets it apart from other capitol buildings is its beautiful, round ex-terior fountain and intricately detailed ro-tunda depicting the Mormon pioneer days. Tours are free.

For a pleasant day trip from Salt Lake City, either head to Big Cottonwood

Canyon or to Great Salt Lake. The pic-turesque alpine setting of Big Cottonwood Canyon is great for summer hiking, win-ter sports, mountain climbing, boating and more. Great Salt Lake is a popular site for boating and is home to one of the West’s largest bird refuges. Antelope Island, lo-cated on the lake, has one of America’s

Travel Guide: Utah Aaron Feigenbaum

THE JEWISH HOM

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largest free-roaming bison populations and is a favored spot by locals for swimming, hiking and bird-watching.

Provo: Located against the backdrop of the towering Wasatch Mountains, Provo is home to Brigham Young University and is among the most conservative cities in the country. BYU is church-owned and almost 100% Mormon. Most businesses in Provo are closed on Sundays.

Most of Provo’s attractions, namely some of Utah’s most interesting museums, lie within BYU. The Life Science Museum has an extensive collection of taxidermied animals including lions, tigers and a griz-zly bear. If you’d rather see live animals, public shows are offered on weekday eve-nings.

The Crandall Printing Museum has a replica of the world’s oldest printing shop, as well as a replica of Benjamin Franklin’s printing press.

The Provo Pioneer Museum and Vil-lage give an in-depth look at what life was like for the thousands of Mormon immigrants who settled in Utah in the late 1800’s. The village is staffed by volun-teers who dress in period clothing and host demonstrations and classes on traditional skills such as blacksmithing, bonnet weav-ing and woodworking.

A big hit with the kids is the BYU Pa-leontology Museum, where you can see a complete T-Rex skeleton.

For Provo daytrips, try hiking through the forests of Provo Canyon and/or taking a dip at Bridal Veil Falls.

Moab: Located near the border with Colorado, Moab is the jumping-off point into scenic southern Utah and a popular destination for outdoors sports enthusiasts.

The bizarre landscape of Arches Na-tional Park, situated just 6 miles from Moab, is one of the American West’s most interesting natural features. There are over 2,000 stone arches and many different ani-mals and plants, some of which are entirely unique to the park. The most famous spot in the park is the Delicate Arch, which is featured on Utah license plates and stamps.

For some of the most magnificent views in the West, Dead Horse Point State Park provides amazing photo ops every-where you look. The deep red canyons can easily conjure up images of the surface of Mars, (in fact, this part of Utah is actually being used to train future Mars astronauts). If you want an experience similar to the Grand Canyon but even more scenic and without the huge crowds, then this is defi-nitely the place to go.

Dead Horse Point’s dark night skies also make it one of the country’s top-rated places for stargazing. For a fee, RedRock Astronomy will guide you to the obser-vation spot and let you look through their high-end telescope, as well as provide in-formation about the area’s history and an-swer general astronomy questions. Be sure to dress warm and bring bug spray.

If you’re driving through the Moab area, keep a lookout for the ancient rock art on Scenic Byway 279. For its age, the artwork is very well preserved. Nearby are real dinosaur tracks.

Bryce Canyon National Park: Despite its name, this high-elevation park is not actually a canyon but a huge natural am-phitheater carved out by rainwater erosion. The red limestone spires (also known as “hoodoos”) that stick out of the ground make Bryce Canyon both an unforgettable place to visit and a photographer’s dream.

There are many trails that run the length of the park, the most popular of these be-ing the Rim Trail. Rim Trail is a fairly easy hike and provides the best views of the hoodoos. However, most visitors take the scenic drive, from which 13 viewpoints are accessible. Come at sunrise or sunset, where the sunlight reflects majestically off the red rocks. Although most winter sports are prohibited in Bryce Canyon, it’s still very impressive see the stark contrast of the red rocks and white snow. Like Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon also has some of the darkest skies in North Ameri-ca, allowing stargazers to see thousands of times more than can be seen in L.A.

Zion National Park: One of the most visited national parks in the country (2.7 million tourists per year), Zion is an in-credibly diverse land of sandstone cliffs, arches, rivers, caves and more. The park’s abundance of vegetation and low elevation set it apart from other more barren parks in the east. Zion needs ample time to explore because with such a dynamic landscape and thriving ecosystem, there’s a surprise around every corner.

One of the best things to do here is take the 2.4 mile long trail to the huge rock for-mation known as Angels Landing, which provides an excellent view of Zion Can-yon. One of the toughest, yet most reward-ing of the park’s countless trails is the 9.5 mile hike/rappel down into the Subway, a uniquely shaped slot canyon that contains many beautiful grottoes.

If bird-watching piques your interest, Zion is one of the best places to do it. Zion has been a sanctuary for over 200 bird spe-

cies including the California condor, bald eagle and peregrine falcon.

Other activities include biking along the scenic Pa’rus Trail, camping in any of three large campgrounds, horseback riding (March-October), rafting through the dra-matic Narrows and rock climbing up 2,000 feet sandstone walls.

Daven and EatThere is Chabad Lubavitch of Utah in

Salt Lake City. It is located at 1760 S. 1100 E. and can be reached at (801) 467-7777 or at jewishutah.com

The recently opened Chabad Lubavitch of Park City is located at 1327 Park Ave. at the Jewish Community Center. It can be reached at (435) 714-8590.

SLC has a kosher takeout deli called Kosher on the Go, located at 1575 1100 E.

(801-463-1786/kosheronthegoutah.com) You can also find kosher food at Smith’s Marketplace locations throughout the city or purchase takeout directly from Chabad.

For Park City, Bistro at Canyons Vil-lage is Utah’s only kosher restaurant. Its menu features innovative twists on tradi-tional dishes. As in SLC, takeout food can be purchased through Chabad.

Getting ThereRound trip flights from LAX to Salt

Lake City currently range from $180-$250 per person. Amtrak prices start at around $150 per person while Greyhound starts at $260 per person. Driving from L.A. to SLC takes approximately 9.5 hours.

If Park City is your destination, then it’s an easy 45-minute drive from the SLC airport.

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GlobalMysterious Nazi Train Discovered in Poland

Two individuals in Poland claim to have discovered a mysterious Nazi train. This train was rumored to have gone miss-ing in 1945 close to the end of World War II just before the advancing Soviet Red Army forces came to town. It was carrying loot from the war with gems and ammunition onboard.

Radio Wroclaw cited local folklore as saying the train entered a tunnel near Ksiaz Castle in the mountainous Lower Silesian region of Poland and never emerged. Ac-cording to that theory, the tunnel was later closed and its location long forgotten.

“A handful of people have already looked for the train, damaging the line in the process, but nothing was ever found,” Radio Wroclaw quoted Joanna Lamparska as saying, describing her as a connoisseur of the region’s history.

“But the legend has captured imagina-tions.”

Local authorities in Poland’s south-western district of Walbrzych said they had been contacted by a law firm representing a Pole and a German who said they had lo-cated the train and were seeking 10 percent of the value of the findings.

“Lawyers, the army, the police and the fire brigade are dealing with this,” Marika Tokarska, an official at the Walbrzych dis-

trict council, told the media. “The area has never been excavated before and we don’t know what we might find.”

There has not been a final decision as to how this case will proceed.

Americans Thwart Terrorist in France

On Monday, Americans Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos received the Legion of Honor, the highest recognition in France. Chris Norman, an English man, also received the honor at a ceremony at the Élysée Palace.

“By their courage, they saved lives,” President François Hollande said. “They gave us an example of what is possible to do in these kinds of situations.”

The four men were honored for subdu-ing an armed terrorist on a French train on Friday. Another man, Mark Moogalian, a French-American academic, will be receiv-ing the award as well after he recovers from a gunshot wound to the neck inflicted upon him by the terrorist as Moogalian endeav-ored to take him down.

Moroccan national Ayoub El Khazzani, 25, carried an AK-47 assault weapon with nine magazines of ammunition, a Luger pistol with extra ammo and a box cutter onto a high-speed Thylas train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris last Friday. Four people were injured in the attack, which could have turned into a massacre if not for the heroics of the men onboard the speed-ing train.

Moogalian’s wife told the media that her husband became suspicious of the at-tacker when he went into the bathroom with a suitcase and stayed there for a long time. When he exited the restroom, Moo-galian saw the weapon and then he ran to him to try to subdue him. At that point, the terrorist shot him in the neck. Stone helped stop the bleeding by applying pressure to Moogalian’s neck.

“My brother may not still be here if it weren’t for him,” Julia Moogalian, his sis-ter, said. “He was selfless in staying there with my brother. Our family is very appre-ciative.”

Sadler, Stone and Skarlatos met in mid-dle school in California and planned on spending the summer sightseeing togeth-er. It was Sadler’s first trip to Europe, and National Guardsman Skarlatos was on a month-long break after serving in Afghani-stan. Stone is an Air Force serviceman.

The three men, plus Norman, were in the same train car when gunfire erupted. Shortly afterward, a shirtless man appeared with a gun slung over his shoulder.

The three knew they had to do some-thing. “He never said a word,” said Sadler, a student at California State University in Sacramento. “At that time, it was either do something or die.”

They charged the gunman and a fierce struggle ensued.

“He kept pulling more weapons left and right,” recalled Stone, his arm in a sling from injuries suffered in the struggle. “He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end. So were we.”

They punched the terrorist, choked him and hit him with his own weapons. They fi-nally restrained him before the train pulled up in Arras in northern France.

“It is clear that their heroic actions may have prevented a far worse tragedy,” said President Barack Obama, who phoned the three American heroes.

Norman, the Briton, said he was hon-ored to receive the medal.

“I am happy that no one got hurt,” he said. “Spence and Alek are the two guys who we should really thank the most be-cause they were the first ones who actually got up and did it.”

Iran to Inspect Its Own Nuclear Facilities

According to a document that has re-portedly been released by U.N.’s Interna-tional Atomic Energy Agency, Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to inves-tigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms. The IAEA, a U.N. agency that normally investigates such matters, has secretly made an agreement to allow Iran to self-regulate.

The revelation of such an agreement newly riled Republican lawmakers in the U.S. who have been severely critical of a broader agreement to limit Iran’s future nuclear programs, signed by the Obama administration, Iran and five world powers in July. Those critics have complained that the wider deal is unwisely built on trust of the Iranians, while the administration has insisted it depends on reliable inspections.

A skeptical House Speaker John Boeh-ner said, “President Obama boasts his deal includes ‘unprecedented verification.’ He claims it’s not built on trust. But the ad-ministration’s briefings on these side deals have been totally insufficient – and it still isn’t clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce pointed out, “Interna-tional inspections should be done by inter-national inspectors. Period.”

Evidence of the inspections concession is sure to increase pressure from U.S. con-gressional opponents before a Senate vote of disapproval on the overall agreement in early September. If the resolution passes and President Barack Obama vetoes it, op-ponents would need a two-thirds majority to override it. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has sug-gested opponents will likely lose a veto fight.

John Cornyn of Texas, the second-rank-ing Republican senator, said, “Trusting Iran to inspect its own nuclear site and report to the U.N. in an open and transparent way is remarkably naive and incredibly reck-less. This revelation only reinforces the deep-seated concerns the American people have about the agreement.”

Thousands of Migrants Rescued from the Mediterranean

As Europe struggles to cope with a re-cord influx of refugees as people flee from war-torn countries, there has been many overcrowded boats and inflatable dinghies carrying migrants calling out for help. Many are fleeing from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries plagued by war, while

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others are escaping poverty or repression in Africa.

The U.N. refugee agency, the UNHCR, said that as of mid-August some 264,500 refugees and migrants had crossed the Mediterranean this year, making the Med-iterranean Sea the world’s most deadly crossing point for migrants. More than 2,300 people have died since January in desperate attempts to reach Europe by boat, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The Italian navy organized the rescue of around 4,400 migrants in waters off the Libyan coast on Saturday, prompted by re-quests for help received from nearly two dozen boats, in one of the biggest multi-na-tional operations so far.

Italy’s coast guard said in a statement on Sunday that it had coordinated rescue efforts involving numerous vessels, includ-ing a Norwegian and an Irish ship, as part of the European Union’s Triton rescue mis-sion.

Humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors With-out Borders, said its own vessel, the Argos, had rescued 95 people from a very unstable rubber dinghy and taken on board another 206 rescued by the Italian navy.

Lindis Hurum, emergency coordinator on the Argos, said via Twitter that those rescued included many young people.

“I have never seen so many young peo-ple onboard the ship, and especially not so many children travelling alone,” she tweet-ed.

Japan is Home to 58,000 Centenarians

Next month, Japan will observe its annual Respect for the Aged Day. Since

1963, the country has been gifting new centenarians with a silver sakazuki, a sau-cer-like dish, to honor them. But this tra-dition is becoming expensive for a nation with so many people who are living to a ripe old age. In fact, when the tradition started, there were only 153 centenarians in Japan; now there are 58,000.

The silver sakazuki cost the country $260 million Yen last year—around $2 million—as each dish costs around $65. The government is looking for a cheaper way to honor their aged—either by using a less expensive material in the dish or by celebrating their 100th birthday with a con-gratulatory letter.

Seniors make up a significant portions of Japan’s population. According to the lat-est estimates from Statistics Japan, over a quarter of the population is over the age of 65 and nearly 13 percent are over 75. Japan has the highest life expectancy for women in the world, at 87, and falls in the top 10 for men, at 80. A UN projection estimates that by 2050, Japan will have around 1 mil-lion centenarians.

Jewish Man Works to Save Women from ISIS

He has earned the name “the Jewish Schindler” after establishing an organiza-tion that saves Christian and Yazidi-Kurd-ish women and girls in Iraq who were kid-napped by Islamic State.

Steve Maman, a Canadian Jewish busi-nessman, is behind the CYCI, Liberation of Christian and Yazidi Children of Iraq, a se-cret project that has so far led to the release of 128 young women and girls from ISIS captivity. The terror group has kidnapped

osh Hashanah 5776!osh Hashanah 5776!osh Hashanah 5776!osh Hashanah 5776!osh Hashanah 5776!osh Hashanah 5776!osh Hashanah 5776!Wishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & HealthyWishing you a Happy & Healthy

Prices Effective August 27 thru September 29, 2015 No Rain Checks. Items not available in all stores. AVAILABILITY: Each of these advertised items is readily available for sale at or below the advertised price at most Albertsons stores while supplies last. Some items may not be available at all stores. We reserve the right to limit quantities. No Sales to Dealers. Savings may vary. Check price tag for details. Prices for limited hour or limited day sales are effective in-store only and are not available for online shopping.

Kosher Whole Turkey12-22 lbs. avg. weightFrozen

Red Delicious Apples

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GefenMarble orHoney Cake15.89 oz.Selected varieties399

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Tabatchnick Soup14.5-15 oz.FrozenSelected varieties

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over 2,700 women and girls, torturing them and turning them into slaves.

For now, Maman does not give insight into how he helps release these women, but he insists they don’t just buy their freedom.

“We raise the funds...we have the team on the ground which is a trusted team... These people receive the funds that we send to them... They actually have made great connections throughout the last 15 years in the areas of Iraq,” he told Canada’s CBC Radio.

“There’s millions of inhabitants in Mo-sul and they’re not all ISIS, so we, within those millions of people, have found teams that were willing to work with us in order to get those girls out,” he added.

The CYCI funds all of the logistics and security expenses for the teams negotiating with ISIS, but Maman says the money is not transferred directly to the terror orga-nization.

“We don’t deal with ISIS and that’s enough for me... We deal with intermediar-ies that are willing to help and I’m willing to cover their cost in order to save a world,” he told CBC Radio.

Maman met with several of the wom-en he helped save and heard horror stories from them about their time in captivity.

“We hear about beatings, we hear about women being under fed, we hear about women actually being kept in cages, we hear about women that were actually threatened with being burnt...,” he said.

Some have expressed concern that paying ransom would encourage ISIS to hold more people captive. But Maman notes that “ISIS is worth today $4 billion. Do you think that my little meager two or 3,000 dollars per child is going to in any way or form help the power and might that ISIS may attain?”

“What motivated me is very simple...being Jewish, being part of a people that actually survived the Holocaust... We for six years waited for people to actually an-swer the call and come and help us,” he said.

“As a Moroccan Jew, I found this cause to engage in a true world responsibility. The Torah talks about two things: ‘Tikkun Olam,’ repairing the world, and ‘Kiddush Hashem,’ to make G-d’s presence respect-ed. As a Jew, it was a way to make this world better through actions of goodness and kindness,” he told Morocco World News. “The goal here is for children to come out alive from this horrible war.”

The Biggest IcebergOn Monday, the European Space Agen-

cy spotted one of the biggest icebergs ever seen. It is estimated to be nearly 5 square miles in size, which could cover Manhattan

with a layer of ice about 300 meters thick. “Icebergs are often so large that they

cannot float away easily,” said the Euro-pean Space Agency. “They remain, some-times for years, stuck on the bottom in shal-lower areas of the fjord until they finally melt enough to disperse, break into pieces or are pushed out by icebergs coming up from behind.”

Scientists have been interested in the Jakobshavn Glacier because it has become one of the fastest moving ice sheets in Greenland, and is reportedly getting even speedier. Researchers noticed earlier this month the glacier retreated several miles to its most easterly position since record-ing began in the 1880s, but it had pushed aggressively westward only a few weeks earlier.

Before reaching the Atlantic Ocean, icebergs from the Jakobshavn Glacier must travel down the Davis Strait, which is a fjord, a long, narrow and deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs. Massive icebergs are usually too big to travel down the fjord and have to wait until they melt a bit to continue their journey.

Although the iceberg recently spot-ted is one of the biggest, there have been even larger icebergs reported in the past. In 2011, an iceberg twice as big as the one that broke off the Jakobshavn Glacier broke off the Sulzberger Ice Shelf, and in 2013 an iceberg eight times the size of Manhattan broke off Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier.

Historians said the iceberg that sank the Titanic originated from the Jakobshavn Glacier.

North & South Korea Reach Pact to Prevent War

It’s no secret that North Korea and South Korea are less than friends and re-cently things seemed to start to simmer again.

On Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced that his frontline troops are in a “quasi-state of war.” He command-ed his army to gear up for battle a day after the most serious confrontation between the

rivals in years.On Thursday, South Korea’s military

fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border. North Korea said the shells landed near four military posts, although no injuries were reported. The shelling was in response to what Seoul said were North Korean artillery strikes meant to back up a threat to attack loudspeakers broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propagan-da. The loudspeaker broadcasts began after South Korea accused the North of planting landmines that maimed two South Korean soldiers earlier this month. North Korea denied the accusations.

Authoritarian North Korea is noto-riously sensitive to any criticism of its government, run by leader Kim Jong Un, whose family has ruled since the North was founded in 1948.

Kim Jong Un ordered his troops to “en-ter a wartime state” and be fully ready for any military operations starting Friday eve-ning, according to a report in Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency. The North had also given Seoul a deadline of Saturday evening to remove border loud-speakers that, after a lull of 11 years, have started broadcasting anti-Pyongyang pro-paganda. Failure, Pyongyang said, will result in further military action. Seoul had vowed to continue the broadcasts.

This isn’t the North’s first threat; in re-cent years they have threatened to reduce Seoul to a “sea of fire.” However, this time South Korea seemed to be more assertive than usual and had vowed to retaliate with overwhelming strength should North Ko-rea attack.

South Korea raised its military read-iness to its highest level. Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Jeon Ha-kyu told a tele-vised news conference that South Korea was ready to repel any additional provoca-tion. Reportedly hundreds were evacuated from frontline towns in the South.

But finally, after over 40 hours of talks, the North and South agreed to a truce on Tuesday. The rivals struck a deal to avoid violence and bloodshed.

In a strategic and heavily calculated statement, Pyongyang expressed “regret” over the two South Korean soldiers that were maimed in the landmine blast. How-ever, the acknowledgement was vague and

they did not formally take responsibility; even so, Seoul has received the apology it has demanded. South Korea, for its part, agreed to cease all anti-Pyongyang propa-ganda broadcasts.

The Koreas also struck an important humanitarian agreement by promising to resume in September the emotional re-unions of families separated by the Korea War. They said more reunions would fol-low, but there were no immediate details.

This agreement is a crucial first step in easing tensions.

The accord, though, does not propose any long-term solution to the neighbors’ disputes. The two sides agreed to conduct further talks, but the Koreas have a history of failing to follow up.

IsraelSuper-Spy Flipper Caught By Hamas

According to Israeli media reports, Hamas has detained a dolphin it claims was equipped with “spying” devices by the Israeli military. The reports cite a Palestin-ian newspaper, which quotes sources in the Gaza Strip claiming that Hamas comman-dos had noticed and later captured a “suspi-cious” dolphin. They claim to have found a camera attached to the dolphin, in addition to a weapon that could fire small arrows.

The claim has yet to be substantiated by Israeli authorities. The country has a fleet of Dolphin-class submarines, but the news reports made clear that the sources in Gaza were specifically referring to a ma-rine mammal.

The fear of special agent dolphins, while amusing, is not without basis. The U.S. Navy, for example, maintains a de-tachment of dolphins and sea lions trained for reconnaissance. After Russia unilateral-ly annexed Crimea last year from Ukraine, authorities in Kiev demanded the return of combat dolphins that had been trained and quartered on the coast of the Black Sea peninsula.

Israel has frequently been accused of using animals to carry out nefarious mis-sions abroad. Five years ago Egyptian au-thorities accused Israel of sending sharks to attack tourists off the Sinai beaches to harm Egypt’s tourism industry, and two

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years later Sudan reported it had caught another Mossad spy — an eagle that had been tagged in Israel. In 2013, the Leba-nese Shiite organization Hezbollah claimed it had captured another Israeli “spy-eagle,” and it broadcast images of supposed Israeli tags attached to the raptor.

Not to be outdone, in 2007, an Irani-an state news agency reported the sup-posed “arrest” of 14 squirrels on espionage charges.

Holocaust Trauma Genetically Inherited

According to a research group at Mount Sinai Hospital, Holocaust survivors may be passing down genetic changes stemming from their deep trauma to their children. Researchers said this is the first demonstra-tion of how psychological trauma endured by a person can have intergenerational ef-fects on his offspring. The research, which was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, included 32 test subjects, Jew-ish men and women who were in concen-tration camps during the Holocaust, wit-nessed or experienced torture, or had to hide from the Nazis during World War II.

Researchers also examined the genes of 22 of their adult offspring and compared them to Jewish families who did not live in Europe during the Nazis’ rule. Children of Holocaust survivors were found to be three times more likely to develop post-traumat-ic stress disorder if they were exposed to a traumatic event than demographically sim-ilar Jewish people whose parents did not survive the Holocaust.

Researchers noted that children of Holocaust survivors had the same neuro-endocrine or hormonal abnormalities that the Holocaust survivors and other people suffering from post-traumatic stress dis-order had. This led them to the conclu-sion that specific risk for certain things, like post-traumatic stress disorder, was associated with having a parent who had post-traumatic stress disorder. “The gene changes in the children could only be at-tributed to Holocaust exposure in the par-ents,” Dr. Rachel Yehuda, who led the study, determined.

While the scientific convention is that only genes that are included in one’s DNA could transmit biological information from

one generation to the next, genes do change based on the environment on a regular ba-sis through chemical marks that attach themselves onto one’s DNA. Past research shows that some of these chemical marks are passed onto the next generation, which shows that the environment can influence the health of the unborn child.

The Mount Sinai researchers focused their study on a gene associated with the regulation of stress hormones, which is known to be affected by trauma. They found epigenetic marks on the same part of that gene in both the survivors and their children, while a similar correlation was not found among Jewish families who did not live in Europe during World War II.

IDF Retaliates for Northern Rocket Fire

A new raid was carried out in Syria, tar-geting the cell that fired four rockets into northern Israel late last week. Syrian state television said six people were killed and seven wounded in the strike on a vehicle some 10 kilometers from the Syrian-Israeli border, in territory held by the Syrian army. An IDF source said that they had “targeted a vehicle this morning in which there were at least five people. We were monitoring this cell and it was attacked some 10-15 ki-lometers from the border, on territory firm-ly in the control of the Syrian military. This is an Islamic Jihad cell directed by Iran,” added the source.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that despite the strike, Israel had no in-terest in an escalation. “We have no inten-tion of ratcheting up this confrontation, but our policy [of retaliating for attacks against Israeli civilians] remains as it was,” he said. “Those who are quick to embrace Iran [fol-lowing the nuclear agreement on July 14] should know that an Iranian commander directed and backed this cell that attacked Israel,” he added, echoing comments made by senior military sources.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said the strike against the cell was proof that

28 27 23

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Israel will not tolerate efforts to harm the security of its citizens. “We have no inten-tion of compromising on this issue, and I suggest no one test our resolve on this mat-ter,” he warned.

The day after the rocket attack, a Syrian military source said that at least one person was killed in a series of airstrikes carried out by Israel. According to Israeli media at least two people were killed in the strikes, possibly two military officials close to Syr-ian President Bashar Assad. According to the report, the Israeli strikes included a raid on a target outside Damascus and one on a weapons depot belonging to the Syrian military.

The Israeli military said that it carried out strikes on 14 Syrian army positions in the Golan Heights. It was its largest as-sault on Syrian territory in decades. The Israeli government said it held the Syrian government responsible and indicated that Iran was directly behind the rocket fire on northern Israel.

Holocaust Trauma Genetically Inherited

According to a research group at Mount Sinai Hospital, Holocaust survivors may be passing down genetic changes stemming from their deep trauma to their children. Researchers said this is the first demonstra-tion of how psychological trauma endured by a person can have intergenerational ef-fects on his offspring. The research, which was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, included 32 test subjects, Jew-ish men and women who were in concen-tration camps during the Holocaust, wit-nessed or experienced torture, or had to hide from the Nazis during World War II.

Researchers also examined the genes of 22 of their adult offspring and compared them to Jewish families who did not live in Europe during the Nazis’ rule. Children of Holocaust survivors were found to be three times more likely to develop post-traumat-ic stress disorder if they were exposed to a traumatic event than demographically sim-ilar Jewish people whose parents did not survive the Holocaust.

Researchers noted that children of Holocaust survivors had the same neuro-endocrine or hormonal abnormalities that the Holocaust survivors and other people suffering from post-traumatic stress dis-order had. This led them to the conclu-sion that specific risk for certain things, like post-traumatic stress disorder, was associated with having a parent who had post-traumatic stress disorder. “The gene changes in the children could only be at-tributed to Holocaust exposure in the par-ents,” Dr. Rachel Yehuda, who led the study, determined.

While the scientific convention is that only genes that are included in one’s DNA could transmit biological information from

one generation to the next, genes do change based on the environment on a regular ba-sis through chemical marks that attach themselves onto one’s DNA. Past research shows that some of these chemical marks are passed onto the next generation, which shows that the environment can influence the health of the unborn child.

The Mount Sinai researchers focused their study on a gene associated with the regulation of stress hormones, which is known to be affected by trauma. They found epigenetic marks on the same part of that gene in both the survivors and their children, while a similar correlation was not found among Jewish families who did not live in Europe during World War II.

Barak in Hot Water over Leaked Iran Attack Plans

The leadership in Israel is reportedly furious with former defense minister Ehud Barak for having detailed on tape three oc-

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casions in 2010-2012 when Israel almost took out Iran’s nuclear facilities. According to the Israeli media outlets which played the tapes, the “anger” at Barak was wide-spread, and numerous senior political and security officials were also privately inti-mating that Barak’s version of events was not entirely accurate.

In the tapes, whose broadcast Barak fought unsuccessfully to block, he claims that he and Netanyahu wanted to attack Iran in 2010, but that then-chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi indicated that there was no viable plan for such an operation. They were also thwarted in 2011 by the opposition of fellow ministers Moshe Ya’alon and Yuval Steinitz. A planned 2012 strike was also aborted because it happened to coincide with a joint Isra-el-U.S. military exercise and Israel did not want to drag the U.S. into the fray.

In the aftermath of the broadcast of the tapes, various key Israeli figures indicated that Ashkenazi did not rule out the opera-tion as decisively as Barak suggested, and that a great deal of preparatory work had been done. Furthermore, reports say that Ashkenazi was by no means the only se-nior Israeli figure who was not decisively supportive of a strike at that time. Others included then-Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who later made public his opposition, and top ministers including Dan Meridor and Eli Yishai.

News outlets have suggested that Barak may be playing party politics with his com-ments. Ashkenazi is said to be considering entering politics, and Barak, who has now retired from politics, may be out to thwart him. The two became bitter rivals over the years, and Barak’s relationship with cur-rent defense minister Ya’alon has also been tempestuous.

The airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facili-ties were ostensibly planned to take place because Netanyahu and Barak anticipated that Iran would enter a “zone of immunity,” in which its facilities were so well-protect-ed or developed as to render an attack on them either a short-term solution or even futile. Netanyahu maintains to this day, however, that Israel will act alone if neces-sary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and has been a leading critic of the P5+1 deal with Iran that curbs but does not dismantle its nuclear program.

Attack on Joseph’s Tomb Thwarted

In information cleared for publication on Tuesday, the Shin Bet foiled a plot to at-tack Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus with a series of preemptive arrests.

“The agency, in cooperation with the IDF, has arrested a terror cell compromised of four Palestinian residents of the towns of Tulkarm, Nablus, and Kabatya,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

The cell was planning to execute an ambush against devout Jewish worshippers who often visit Joesph’s Tomb without co-ordinating with IDF forces. The ambush would have been conducted using a pre-placed bomb and assault rifle fire.

The West Bank cell was directed from Gaza by an Islamic Jihad member named Mohammed Darwish, who was tasked with providing arms and logistic support to the cell in the buildup to the attack. Some sus-pects were tasked with acquiring weapons. Others were involved in intelligence gath-ering and others were set to carry out the actual attack.

The suspects were identified as Na-sim Damiri, 30, of Tulkarm – a previously jailed Fatah member; his cousin Moham-med Damiri, 23, of Tulkarm – a Palestinian policeman; Yasser Tzarawi, 25, of Nablus – a known Hamas member; and Adwan Nizal, 24, of Kabatya – a known Islamic Jihad member.

In recent weeks, Shin Bet and security forces have been fighting a rising trend of sporadic terror attacks.

NationalThe Best Cities in America

America, the beautiful!Money magazine has ranked the best

place to live in America and small towns

seem to be the places to be. The magazine narrowed down the top

50 small towns from an original list featur-ing 3,625 municipalities with populations from 10,000 to 50,000 people. Factors like job growth, affordable housing, health care, safety, and the availability of good schools were all weighted.

So where are the best places to live in America? Consider these ten cities:

1. Apex, North Carolina 2. Papillion, Nebraska3. Sharon, Massachusetts4. Louisville, Colorado5. Snoqualmie, Washington6. Sherwood, Oregon7. Chanhassen, Minnesota8. Coppell, Texas9. Simsbury, Connecticut 10. Solon, Ohio

Judge Demands Release of Illegal Immigrants

A federal judge in California has de-manded that the government release immi-grant children who are being held at family detention centers with their mothers. The children and their mothers were held after being caught crossing the U.S.- Mexico border illegally .

According to court papers, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee insisted in a filing on Fri-day that the release be done “without un-necessary delay.” She ordered that agency officials comply by no later than October 23.

Gee referred to the government’s latest arguments as “repackaged and reheated,” and said she found the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in breach of an on-go-ing legal agreement stipulating that immi-grant children cannot be held in unlicensed secured facilities.

Lawyers for Homeland Security had asked the judge to reconsider her ruling, arguing that the agency was already in the process of moving families through de-tention quickly and that the facilities had been converted into short-term processing centers. Attorneys for the government are reviewing the order, said Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for the Department of Jus-tice, on Friday night after the ruling.

Gee is an expert on this issue; this is the second time she has ruled that detaining children violates parts of a 1997 settlement.

The settlement requires minors to be placed with a relative or in appropriate non-secure custody within five days. If there is a large influx of minors, times may be longer, but children still must be released as expedi-tiously as possible, under the terms of the law.

Peter Schey, executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitu-tional Law, said that the court’s order “will protect refugee children and their mothers from lengthy and entirely senseless deten-tion.” But Homeland Security is concerned that Gee’s rulings could potentially cause a surge in illegal border crossings.

Between September 2013 and October 2014, roughly 68,000 family members — mostly mothers with children in tow — were caught at the border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Be-tween last October and July of this year, less than 30,000 have been apprehended, a drop authorities say is a result of better enforcement in both the U.S. and Mexico.

NRA Sues Seattle over Gun Violence Tax

On Monday, three gun rights groups, in-cluding the National Rifle Association, the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foun-dation and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, sued the city of Seattle over its “gun violence tax,” a tax on firearms and ammunition designed to help offset the fi-nancial toll of gun violence. Two gun own-ers and two gun shops joined in the suit.

The plaintiffs called the tax legally unenforceable because Washington state prohibits local governments from adopting laws related to firearms unless those local ordinances are specifically authorized by the state.

“The ordinance serves only as a piece of propaganda, because the ordinance’s mandates are legally unenforceable,” the lawsuit said. “The state of Washington has the exclusive right to regulate the sale of firearms in Washington, and cities may not enact local laws or regulations related to the sale of firearms.”

City Attorney Pete Holmes has argued that the gun-violence tax falls squarely under Seattle’s taxing authority, and City Council President Tim Burgess, who pro-

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posed the measure, reiterated that on Mon-day. He said the state Supreme Court has never interpreted whether the state’s gener-al pre-emption of local firearms ordinances includes taxing gun or ammunition sales.

“The NRA does this all across the coun-try whenever they feel that anyone is trying to regulate firearms, and that’s not what we’re doing here,” Burgess said. “We’re using the city’s taxing authority, which is granted to us by the Washington Constitu-tion and the Legislature.”

“We took a simple and commonsense measure to support gun safety research and prevention methods,” he added. “It’s not in any way an attempt to regulate the sale, use or possession of firearms.”

The Seattle City Council unanimously approved the tax this month, along with a companion measure requiring gun owners to file reports if their weapons are stolen or lost. The tax takes effect in January and would add $25 to the price of each firearm sold in the city, plus 2 or 5 cents per round of ammunition, depending on the type.

This isn’t the first time Seattle has imposed laws related to guns in recent years. In 2009, Seattle banned guns in city parks and community centers. The Second Amendment Foundation and the NRA suc-cessfully sued to block it.

“The city does not seem to understand that no matter how they wrap this package, it’s still a gun control law and it violates Washington’s long-standing pre-emption statute,” Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb said.

Biden May Be Entering the Race

With Hillary’s campaign sinking under mountains of emails, many are saying that the next Democrat on the presidential bal-lot will be none other than Vice President Joe Biden. In fact, a senior Democrat told CNN on Monday that President Obama has given Vice President Biden his “blessing” to launch a 2016 bid for the White House if he chooses to run.

Obama and Biden met for a private

lunch at the White House on Monday, where the president gave Biden the green light for launching a 2016 bid, according to CBS News.

Mr. Biden does not need Obama’s per-mission to run, although it is comforting to hear that the president won’t stand in his way or advise him against running.

But the Biden camp is still keeping their intentions under wraps—for now. “Sources continue to speculate about something they know nothing about,” Biden spokeswom-an Kendra Barkoff said. “This lunch was a private meeting between two people — the president and the vice president.”

Hillary Clinton, who left the State De-partment in 2013 after four years, has been the longtime frontrunner for the Democrat-ic nomination, but continues to battle ques-tions about her private email. As of now, Obama has yet to endorse someone in the 2016 Democratic primary.

Americans Agree: Too Much Focus on Standardized Tests

According to a national poll, teachers, parents, and students all agree that scores on standardized tests are not a true rep-resentation of a student’s growth or of a teacher’s ability. The results released on Sunday come from the 47th annual PDK/Gallup poll of attitudes toward public ed-ucation.

Since former President George. W. Bush passed the No Child Left Behind act in 2002, standardized testing became feder-al policy. No Child mandated annual tests in reading and math and required schools to raise scores every year or face penalties. Through its own policies and grant pro-grams, the Obama administration has fur-ther emphasized testing by requiring states to evaluate teachers based on test scores.

Sixty-four percent of respondents agreed that there is too much focus on test-ing, and a majority also said the best way to measure the success of a school is not through exams but by whether students are engaged and feel hopeful about the future.

“Too many kids in too many schools are

bored,” said Joshua P. Starr, a former su-perintendent of Montgomery County Pub-lic Schools in Maryland who is now chief executive of PDK International, a network of education professionals. “Parents maybe see that and they want their kids to be en-gaged in schools.”

Many Americans, both teachers and parents, proposed that students should be evaluated based on various measures, in-cluding student work, written teacher ob-servations, and grades. The polled also said that teacher quality is the best way to im-prove education, followed by high academ-ic standards and effective principals.

A majority of total respondents op-posed the concept of evaluating teachers based in part on test scores, an idea heavily endorsed by the Obama administration and fought by teachers unions.

While more than six out of 10 mothers agreed that the expectations for what stu-dents should learn is important to school improvement, only 54% are opposed to the Common Core State Standards, the K-12 academic benchmarks adopted by 43 states and the District of Columbia that have been under fire by critics on the left and right.

Despite all the negativity surrounding standardized tests, the public is pretty con-tent with local schools. Public school par-ents rated 57% of their local schools with an A or B in performance. However, only 19% had that opinion of public schools na-tionwide.

“Clearly, there is anxiety about what’s happening in teaching and learning,” said Andres Alonso, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a former chief executive of Baltimore City Public Schools.

Also included in the survey, respon-dents were asked their opinion on several highly debated topics like the use of tax dollars to pay for private school tuition, a policy increasingly promoted by Republi-can politicians. Several of the 2016 presi-dential hopefuls — Scott Walker, Jeb Bush and Bobby Jindal — support vouchers. Overall, 57 percent of respondents were opposed to vouchers and 31 percent were in favor. But by political party, Republicans were divided on vouchers, with 46 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed. Demo-crats were strongly opposed to vouchers, with 71 percent against and 16 percent in favor. Independents opposed vouchers by a margin of about 3 to 2.

Man Kills Security Guard in NYC Federal Building

Tragedy struck NYC on Friday when a man gunned down a security guard at a

federal building in Manhattan before kill-ing himself.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Con-gressman, is saying that the man responsi-ble for the murder-suicide, Kevin Downing, was a whistleblower who had been given “a raw deal” by the agency that fired him.

Pascrell said he did not know the mo-tive of the military veteran’s violence but he had previously been employed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Downing opened fire inside the building that houses an immigration court, passport processing center, and a regional office for the Depart-ment of Labor, which oversees the bureau for which Downing once worked.

As he approached a metal detector, Downing shot FJC Security Services guard Idrissa Camara in the head, police said. Tragically, the security company revealed that the guard’s official shift had been done for the day but he had agreed to stay on for an extra shift. Camara was armed but never had a chance to defend himself, the security company said.

“Camara ... was an extraordinary senior guard who was well trained, cared deeply about his job and knew that building better than anyone else,” said Michael McKeon, a company spokesman.

After shooting Camara, Downing ap-proached an elevator where he encountered another employee, and at that point took his own life.

It was later revealed that the gunman, 68, had recently suffered some personal hardships. His fiancé had died of breast cancer, his house went into foreclosure, and he had medical issues after a car accident.

Downing had been fired from a job at the New York City office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1999 and appealed the firing, claiming he had been targeted be-cause he was a whistleblower, according to federal documents.

Pascrell revealed that Downing had contacted his office in 2013. Pascrell said he spoke with Downing on the phone and several members of his staff had met with him over the last two years, most recently a few weeks ago.

“We felt that this person had been given a raw deal to put it mildly and that there was no excuse for it and he had been treat-ed very badly,” Pascrell said.

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That’s OddOldest Message in a Bottle

It was tossed into the sea over a hun-dred years ago – between 1904 and 1906 – and was only found a few months ago.

In April, a couple strolling on the German island of Amrum found a bot-tle washed ashore. Inside they found a postcard asking that it be sent to the Ma-rine Biological Association of the U.K. – which they did.

“We were very excited,” Guy Baker, a spokesman for the group, recently said. “We certainly weren’t expecting to receive any more of the postcards.”

The bottle was one of some 1,000 bot-tles released into the North Sea by research-er George Parker Bidder, who later became the association’s president. The bottles were weighed down to float just above the sea bed, and used as part of a study into the movement of sea currents.

Inside each bottle was a postcard prom-ising a “one shilling reward” to anyone who returned it to the association, along with information about where and when they found the bottle. Most bottles were found by fishermen and returned decades ago.

Now, the association is looking into having the bottle recognized by Guinness Book of Records as the oldest ever found. The current record-holder, released in 1914 for a scientific experiment, was found 99 years later.

The couple who found the oldest mes-sage in a bottle were sent the shilling that they were promised.

A promise is a promise, even if it’s a hundred years later.

Proposal by the Produce

“Attention shoppers! There’s an en-gagement in aisle 7.”

Whole Foods in Fort Lauderdale be-came the perfect place to propose on Sat-urday—between the grapes and the rasp-berries.

“Hello, welcome to Whole Foods,” Aaron Califf, 26, said. “Can I help you find anything?”

Aaron, though, didn’t really work at Whole Foods but he had one very import-ant question for one VIC—Very Important Customer—Jessica Shiekman.

Shiekman admits that she loves Whole Foods. In fact, she was heading into the store for a refreshing drink when she saw Aaron. “I was coming to get my sister a kalicious before we went to the mall,” she said, referring to the kale-spinach-ba-nana-lemon-apple juice smoothie.

But Shiekman soon forgot her kalicious when she saw Aaron in a Whole Foods apron and hat, standing behind a table cov-ered in red rose petals, quinoa salad and a ring-sized box.

He then got down on one knee and pro-posed to the surprised Shiekman, who said yes to his proposal.

A customer watched the whole thing unfold. “This is beautiful,” she said before finishing her shopping.

Family members who gathered seemed thrilled and maybe a little amused by the whole Whole Foods affair.

John Shiekman, Jessica’s father, sar-donically asked, “What’s a proposal with-out quinoa?”

The Solidarity FridgeHave leftovers? You may want to head

to Galdakao, a small town in Spain. There a lone refrigerator sits on a

sidewalk and operates by the goodness of strangers. When the hungry opens its door, there’s fresh, wholesome food for them to enjoy—all for free. And when they return the next day, the fridge is restocked, almost by magic, with delicious dishes. Residents

call the fridge the “Solidarity Fridge,” but it’s not little elves filling it; strangers quiet-ly leave their extra food for others to enjoy.

Everyone is welcome to give and to take—no strings attached.

Alvaro Saiz, the creative thinker be-hind Spain’s first community fridge, was inspired to find a way to cut down on food waste after seeing footage of his coun-try’s poor—their situations exacerbated by the recent economic crisis—having to dumpster dive for sustenance. He was also inspired by a German food-sharing web-site and, leaning on his experience running a local food bank, he made a proposal to

Galdakao Mayor Ibon Uribe that the politi-cian called “both crazy and brilliant.”

The town deliberated for a month be-fore approving an initial budget of 5000 euros (approximately $5,700) to purchase a fridge and keep it running in a public space, as well as wisely granting the fridge “a special independent legal status” to avoid liability for any potential food-borne ill-nesses.

To make sure the food is safe for con-sumption, there are a few rules: no raw meat, fish, or eggs; no expired goods; and all homemade items must be labeled with dates and thrown away after four days. Be-yond that, anything goes.

Saiz is adamant that his goal is to prevent waste. In fact, just a mere seven weeks after the fridge’s debut, he estimates that the city may have saved over 600 lbs. of good food from going to waste. Both pop star and pauper are free to partake in the goods.

Think these Spaniards would enjoy some good, heimish cholent?

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It’s back-to-school time for our com-munity! As preparations for school gear up and the summer winds down, now is a great time for parents and students to do a quick refresher on ways to increase safety and prevent accidents. Whether your chil-dren ride a school bus or their bicycles to school; or you participate in carpool, here are some general safety tips to keep in mind as the school year begins.

For Drivers

Put away your phone. As a remind-er, it’s illegal in California to use a hand-held device while driving (except to use navigation or GPS apps, like Waze). Tex-ting, writing emails, and talking on the cellphone are all dangerous distractions that cause unnecessary accidents on our roads.

Plan your route. Have an idea of the route you plan to take before getting in your car. Try to take into account road clo-sures or other delays that might negatively affect your stress levels as you drive.

Give yourself enough time. Nobody likes to rush, and rushing while behind the wheel can have tragic consequences. Traffic congestion can be very stressful in the morning, but don’t vent your frus-tration on the gas pedal. Give yourself enough time to get your children to school before the bell rings.

Shortcuts Can Be Dangerous. Many of our schools and yeshivas border resi-dential streets. Speeding down the ad-jacent residential street to beat the traf-fic jam ahead is a bad idea. It’s also the source of frequent complaints from neigh-bors. Alleys are not racetracks either, so please be very careful when entering or exiting an alley.

Follow Crossing Guards’ Instruc-tions and the School Zone Speed Limit. Be aware of the posted speed limit in the school zone. Be extra vigilant around the school campus, where children might be jaywalking. Always yield to a crossing guard or adult assisting students who are crossing the street.

Stop For the School Bus. The stop signs on the side of the bus are treated the same as a regular stop sign. If the bus is dropping off passengers, stop and wait for the bus to proceed. Do not attempt to pass the bus, and be extra careful for children who may dart out into traffic.

For Children/Students

Cross only at intersections. Do not jaywalk.

Do not ever run into the street. Not even for your basketball.

Exiting the School Bus. Children who exit the school bus to cross the street should do so in front of the bus, not behind it.

Bicycles and Scooters. Everyone un-der 18 must wear a helmet while riding a bike or scooter. If riding at night, the bicycle must have functioning lights that are in proper working order. Bicycle rid-ing on the sidewalk is controversial, and while it’s legal in some circumstances, it does lead to many accidents, R’L. Riders must also stop at stop signs and red lights.

For the Carpool Line

I would be remiss if I didn’t at least include a few courtesy tips for the parents in our community who participate in some form of carpool.

Put away your phone. In fact, keep it out of reach!

Do not park illegally! It can cause a domino effect of traffic hazards and frus-tration for other drivers. Please be con-siderate of adjacent neighbors and other parents. If you have retrieved your pas-sengers, please do not hold up the line un-necessarily.

Do not block alleys or driveways.

Do not blare your horn! It’s possible you may have successfully loaded your children in your car, but there may be cars ahead of you that haven’t. Honking is not going to make them fulfill their objective any faster.

Be extra vigilant. Children may run out unexpectedly from between parked cars. Make sure your children’s’ seat belts are fastened before you begin to drive away.

Wishing all the students in our com-munity a wonderfully successful year, and a Ksiva V’Chasima Tova to all!

Michael Rubinstein is a Los Angeles based personal injury and accident attor-ney. For more information call, 213-293-6075, or visit www.rabbilawyer.com.

Back to School, Back To Safety Michael Rubinstein Esq.

1,000 Dinner Companions

Some things are different overseas.Kim Sung-jin, who lives south of

Seoul, needed a dinner companion. He was living with his grandparents and since they ate early, the 14-year-old found him-self hungry late at night. So he’d order fried chicken, or pizza, or Chinese food. But who to eat it with?

Well, now he has thousands of people with whom to dine: he gorges on his din-ner every night in front of a live camera. Believe it or not, hundreds vie to watch him chomp on his chopsticks. Kim, better known to his viewers by the nickname Pa-too, is one of the youngest broadcasters on Afreeca TV, an app for live-broadcasting video online launched in 2006.

And Kim likes his audience. In his most successful episode, he earned 2 mil-lion won ($1,700).

Interestingly, Kim is still slim despite his late-night forays into the kitchen. He has been broadcasting himself eating al-most every night since he was 11. Usually he eats alone—with his audience—some-times he invites over friends.

In South Korea, Afreeca TV has be-come a big player in the Internet subcul-ture and a crucial part of social life for teens. Shows like Kim’s are known as “Meok Bang,” a mash-up Korean word of broadcast and eating. They are the most popular and often most profitable among some 5,000 live shows that are aired live at any given moment on Afreeca TV.

“I do what I want. That’s the perk of a personal broadcast,” Kim says. He has no problem leaving his audience to take a bathroom break and doesn’t necessarily have the best table manners.

“Even if it is online, when someone talks while eating, the same words feel much more intimate,” said Ahn Joon-soo, an executive at Afreeca TV. He noted South Koreans’ common habit of bidding farewell to friends by saying, “Let’s eat to-

gether next time,” even when they don’t literally mean it.

Ahn Won-jun, a 17-year-old high school student, said he prefers to eat din-ner in his room to watch Kim’s Meok Bang, rather than dining with his parents.

I wonder what’s for dinner tonight.

The Secret to a Good Marriage: A Bite of Cake

What’s the secret to a long, wonderful marriage?

Well, maybe the secret is in the reci-pe—of the wedding cake, that is.

Ann and Ken Fredericks of Satellite Beach, Florida, celebrated 60 years togeth-er last week and revealed an anniversary tradition: eating a bite from their wedding cake every year, which is kept covered in plastic wrap inside a metal coffee can. And no, the cake is not stored in the fridge or freezer—it’s just sitting there inside a closet awaiting its turn every year.

Ann, 81, said their children are “ap-palled” they’re still eating the decades-old dessert, but said the dark fruitcake will keep indefinitely. They pour brandy over the cake to moisten it before digging in and usually break open a bottle of cham-pagne to go with it.

“Believe me, it’s quite tasty, as long as it’s got enough brandy on it. And it’s never made us sick,” she said.

She admit, though, that “it’s a little dry.” Hence the deluge of brandy and the giant swigs of champagne.

“We just never thought of this as being unusual,” she added.

Ann is a former nurse and retired nursing supervisor and Ken is a retired music teacher. They met while attending Syracuse University in New York. Both are originally from The Big Apple, but they’ve called The Sunshine State home since 1968.

I like their secret for keeping their mar-riage from getting old: eating cake that’s almost as old as they are.

THE JEWISH HOM

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THE JEWISH HOM

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