VOL 11, NO 36 ■ SEPTEMBER 14, 2012 / 27 ELUL 5772 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM

Bookworm on readings for Rosh Hashanah Page 7 Rosh Hashanah story from the Labovitzs’ Page 11Who’s in the kitchen uses a pomegranate glaze Page 13 More school updates Page 21

THE JEWISH STAR

Shabbat Candlelighting: 6:46 p.m. Shabbat ends 7:55 p.m. 72 minute zman 8:17 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Nitzavim. Rosh Hashanah Monday, Tuesday. Tzom Gedaliah Wednesday.

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By Malka Eisenberg

The repercussions of the devastation of the terrorist at-tack on the World Trade Center continue to reverberate on its eleventh anniversary, not only in the raw, searing, emotional pain of those who witnessed its horror, but in those who went to help or breathed in the toxins of that day and the days following.

Many developed illnesses ranging from gastrointestinal refl ux disease, to sleep apnea, respiratory illness and now, the federal government acknowledges, fi fty forms of cancer. This supplements the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Com-pensation Act of 2010 and will expand the free coverage of these and the previously covered illnesses. It covers medica-tions, the co-pay, surgeries, CAT scans, breathing tests and sleep apnea in personnel and workers who can prove that

they were involved in the rescue, recovery and cleanup in the sites of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City, the Penta-gon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

“The original Zadroga Bill did not cover any cancers,” said Dr. Marc Wilkenfeld, Chief of the Division of Occupa-tional and Environmental Medicine at Winthrop University Hospital in Garden City, the clinic there that treats patients under the Zadroga Bill. “We do know that the workers and survivors had exposure to carcinogens in the World Trade Center debris. Developing cancer takes a number of years after exposure to carcinogens. Recently, studies of the WTC exposed populations have suggested an increased incidence of cancer.”

Wilkenfeld noted that some cancer patients are unable to afford treatment and that “doctors, responders, and sur-

By Malka Eisenberg

In the 1960s, the Board of Education barred Stanley Smith, a 27 year old industri-ous electrical contractor, from bidding for electrical work, implying that Smith was “too young and didn’t know what to do.” His mentor told him to go “right to the mayor” even though Smith said that he didn’t know him. When he was stopped by a police offi cer for lack of an appoint-ment at City Hall, Smith took down the offi cer’s badge and name saying that he was there to report corruption in the Board of Education, a front-page story in the New York Post that day. The offi cer then ushered Smith in to see Mayor Robert Wagner who was at a meeting with Abe Beame.

“There was nothing stopping me,” ex-plained Smith. “I go right to the front door. Rabbi Kalmanowitz gave me the chutzpah.”

Stanley Smith, aged 80, president of Mo-

rales Electrical Contractors in Valley Stream,divides his time between Manhattan andLido Beach. He has many interconnected sto-ries to tell, his eyes piercing and direct under

a head of thick white hair. Smith is chairman of the Mir-rer Yeshiva Archives Commit-tee, and he holds out letters from Simon Weisenthal and Hubert Humphrey, spreadingout photos of himself, ubiq-uitously Zelig-like, but withmore of a pivotal role, withactors, politicians and inter-national fi gures from over 60 years of networking.

But above all, he creditshis success and his outlook on life to a man he calls his

mentor, Rabbi Avrohom Kalmanowitz, zt”l,who was instrumental in saving the MirrerYeshiva in its entirety from the fl ames ofWorld War II, and worked to save Jews fromHungary and Egypt as well. “He was like Mo-ses of our generation,” said Smith. “I was

Photo by Howard Wechsler

Cedarhurst IDF soldier welcomed at FIDF galaFIDF New York Real Estate Division Chairman Ofer Yardeni welcomes Cpl. Zev Simcha Grushka, 19, from Cedarhurst, who made Aliyah to serve in the IDF where he is now a tank commander. The event raised a whopping $250,000 to support Israel’s troops.

Story by Karen C. Green page 12.

Stanley Smith:

Inspired by a Rabbi

Continued on page 11

Winthrop hospital gears up for Zadroga Bill additions

Continued on page 3

Alfonso Mar-tinez, fi rst responder on 9/11 stares up at the tow-ers during the Town of H e m p s te a d 9/11 memorial ceremony

Photo by Penny Frondelli

With the conventions behind us and about 50 days left, the candidates are looking to garner whatever swing voters they can to fi rm up the election. Not surprising, Flori-da is a swing state, and appealing to Jewish voters there is pivotal to an election victory. Yet, even with the Republican Party claiming that it may gain as much as 30 percent of the so-called Jewish vote this year, the majority of voting Jews still seem to migrate to the Democrats. It begs the question of why; why

do Jews seem more com-fortable within the Demo-cratic party and what is it about the changing times that has some fearing a slow migration away to-ward the right?

I have heard an argu-ment from people who are fairly smart, well studied and truly committed to the Jewish religion that “the GOP of the last 20 years is evil incarnate. No

question about it!” I was shocked that anyone who disavows racism, embraces the doctrine of open-mindedness that is often associated to the liberalism that most Democrats cham-pion, could generalize like that about a party of people in a manner they would abhor if it were aimed at other groups of people.

Yet, the fear and apprehension toward Re-publicans for Jews runs deep, even to people who seem reasonable in any other instance. So rampant is this fear that when a Jewish philanthropist and businessman named Shel-don Adelson openly supports the Republi-cans, he gets vilifi ed even by Jews. Notwith-standing the unpleasant characterizations, Mr. Adelson and his wife are quite charitable people.

They give signifi cant sums of money to champion many causes related to Israel, edu-

cation and medical research. They sponsor drug rehabilitation centers, award grants for cancer research and are deeply involved in Jewish continuity through programs such as Birthright Israel and others. Far from evil in-carnate, their benevolence represents the best of both Jewish and American values. How-ever, given the criticism of Adelson, it would appear that some very smart people would abandon reason for madness when it comes to the Republican Party, feeling that Jews can fi nd refuge only among the Democrats.

Oddly enough, the Democrats are not tra-ditionally the party of inclusion. There was a time not so long ago when the Democratic Party held what was called “The Solid South.” Their platform included enforcing segrega-tion, maintaining Jim Crow laws and pushing for more racial divides. Democratic President Harry S. Truman’s support of the civil rights movement began the change in the party’s thinking, and it was not until 1964 and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the Democrats started to come around.

Jews advanced the civil rights movement that was championed by Republicans, which had been the party that most black people be-longed to back then. So the notion of natural seems a bit precarious – convenient, maybe, not inherent.

Every party has its fringes; the GOP is known to attract the likes of white suprema-cists, or the separatists, while the Democrats attract groups with seemingly counterintui-tive platforms like “Queers for Palestine,” and those who managed to get the issue of Jeru-salem removed from the National platform before the national convention last week. Neither is very friendly to the Jewish cause and neither party can claim complete harmo-ny with its platform.

There is the school of thought that be-lieves Republicans of today are more aligned

Inside

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Opinion

Is any party truly the party of the Jewish people?

Juda Engelmayer

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By Karen C. Green

As Rosh Hashanah approaches, greetings of good health for the coming year are ex-changed with family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors. At Jandi’s, the Chasner family has been not only wishing good health for their customers, but promoting healthy lifestyles for over 26 years. Howard Chasner, Jandi’s owner, grew up working in the store which bears the condensed version of his parents names, Judy and Irving , J and I, hence JAN-DIS. What started in 1976 as a small 900 foot store in the Lincoln Shopping Center in Oceanside has morphed a few times over the years both in size, and customer base, result-ing in a 6,000 foot modern, impeccably clean upscale market, complete with a Kosher eat-ery under rabbinical supervision.

“We were one of the three health food stores on Long Island. We sold granola, sup-plements, and tofu scooped out of a bucket. We had a two door refrigerator, and a two door freezer back then. We were the fi rst store on Long Island to serve wheat grass. Now we are the largest user on Long Island, perhaps even on the east coast, “ says How-ard Chasner.

In 1986, they moved to a second location in the Lincoln Shopping Center, 1700 square feet, complete with a full kitchen which en-abled the chef to create unique dishes in addition to the soups and sandwiches that were the staple of Jandis prepared foods in its earlier years. On a personal note, that newer location was where Howard formed a bond with one of his loyal customers, a frum woman from Long Beach, who years later would become Howard’s mother in law. “ My mother-in-law was a customer for years and years before introducing me to her daughter in 2002.

“I came onboard in 1992 full time to help my mother Judy who was carrying the store with my younger brother Myles. My father passed shortly after the fi rst store opened. My mother wanted to serve healthy food but was clueless about the business side. A store that was in business 16 years wasn’t running effi ciently. We were struggling.”

With an accounting degree from the Uni-versity of Albany, Howard did a line-by-line analysis of the business. “We had loyal cus-tomers, they loved our food, but we were los-ing money. It was a pivotal time. We had to raise prices in the prepared foods depart-ment. It was a risk that we had to take. We explained it to customers, we raised prices, many understood and stayed loyal, some were upset.”

Jandi’s is coming up on its 10th year at its current 6000 square foot location on Long Beach Road. “‘It was a ‘build it and they will come’ dynamic,” noted Howard. “The new

location echoed a huge shift in the dynamic of the industry,” said Howard. “There were big food and drug players that bought small-er companies. Healthy eating was becoming mainstream. Shoppers had different expecta-tions. They wanted a cleaner, larger, more upscale shopping experience.”

The large eatery which for years sold prepared vegetarian food became kosher in 2008, when Rabbi Levy Gurkow, of the Chabad of Oceanside came on board as mas-giach. “It was my commitment to develop-ing a great connection to yiddishkeit that spawned the new direction of my store. It was an outgrowth of a personal decision,” said Howard who together with wife Ela-na and two children are residents of West Hempstead. The Chasners are HANC parents and active members of Anshei Sholom.

Through the growth of the business, Howard noted, “Jandi’s is not just a place to shop, but is a whole experience. We have always been committed to the personal and friendly relationships that we have with our customers. People walk out of here feeling good on multiple levels, sometimes not even aware of why.”

Loyal customers are singing the praises of Jandi’s.

“I’ve been shopping at Jandi’s since they were in the Lincoln shopping center,” said Kati Lismore of Long Beach who works lo-cally in Oceanside. “Jandi’s saved my life. I couldn’t continue eating the food that they were serving in the school where I work. I’m more health conscious. I’m constantly evolv-ing and upping my game. I became aware of the food that I used to buy, all because of the store. It’s a blessing that the store is

here.”Samuel Ben Zev of Long Beach is “buy-ing here a long time but started eating here because the food is kosher. Jandi’s makes the soup with bottled water. They are very reli-able and honest.”

Leah Colish, a Certifi ed Health Coach, (www.LeahColish.com ) considers Jandi’s, ”my home away from home. Anyone that walks in here feels like they’re welcome. They serve quality food. My kids love this place. As a health coach, I support my clients in reaching their health goals, by teaching them how to make better diet and lifestyle choices. I come here with my clients. Jandi’s is a hidden secret.”

Customers like Gail Levi of Long Beach are so appreciative of the staff’s knowledge and enthusiasm. “They (the staff) love what they do and it comes across.

Howard Chasner looks towards the future and the store’s growth. He is currently look-ing to market the prepared food to increase the customer base. He’s most proud of the effect that his mother Judy (a”h), who passed away in 2008, had on her customers. Analo-gous to the adage, “give a man a fi sh, he can eat for a day, teach him to fi sh he can eat for a lifetime,” Judy didn’t just give customers stuff to get better, she taught them how to get better. “A year after her passing, every single day, customers came up to me saying what a huge difference your mom made in my life.”

Jandi’s looks forward to welcoming new customers for lunch, dinner or take out. The prepared food department is over sixty linear feet, and boasts an allergy, color-coded menu with four different colored carrots indicating soy-free, gluten–free, nut-free, and vegan. Delivery is made within a fi ve mile radius,

with a $25 minimum, with free delivery over $100 order. Jandi’s is located at 3000 LongBeach Road, Oceanside. 516 536-5535.

Ensuring the new year gets off to a healthy start

vivors have been advocating for addition of cancers to the list,” of ailments covered by the bill. “In March, a Federal Advisory Pan-el recommended that a number of cancers, lung, blood, GI, rare and childhood cancers amongst others be added to the list,” he ex-plained. “Yesterday the additions became of-fi cial and will go into effect thirty days from tomorrow.”

He pointed out that, “anyone who quali-fi es for Zadroga bill coverage by having

worked in the recovery effort or who lived, studied or worked close to ground zero can now have coverage for the cancers as long as a doctor states that it is related to their expo-sure. This is excellent news. The only issue is fi nancial. The same amount of money put aside for health care and benefi ts must now also pay for cancer treatment and compensa-tion. The worry is that the program may run out of money and we have to go back to Con-gress to obtain additional funds. We expect the number of patients seen at our clinical

center to rise signifi cantly.”He noted, as an example of a patient who

would benefi t from this change, an esopha-geal cancer case who had diffi culty getting treatment for fi nancial reasons. Until now they were told they had to get treatment on their own, stressed Wilkenfeld. Now they can get treatment through the program. Some lost their jobs and their insurance be-cause they are disabled from their exposure to the toxins at the WTC site. Wilkenfeld emphasized that Winthrop Hospital’s Oncol-

ogy Department is “among the fi nest in the nation. Winthrop has an excellent oncology department, cutting edge in terms of cancercare.”

The 9/11 Act was named after DetectiveJames Zadroga of the New York City Police Department. He was onsite following theattack and spent over 470 hours diggingthrough the debris. He died on January 6,2006 of respiratory disease directly related to his work following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Winthrop hospital gears up for Zadroga Bill additionsContinued from page 1

Rabbi Gurkow provides supervision forthe extensive kosher/parve deli

Photos by courtesy of Jandi’s

Jandi’s owner Howard Chasner is happy to provide quality foods to his loyal cus-tomers and looks forward to welcoming new customers into the Jandis family

Leah Colish, and Gail Levi love thestore that has a huge impact on theirdiet and lifestyle.

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R ecently, major Republican donor Sheldon Adel-son and his wife, each gave $250,000 to a new independent super PAC, called the Patriot Pros-

perity PAC, created to help elect New Jersey Rabbi Shmuley Boteach to Congress.

A half-million dollars is a huge sum to donate to a congressional campaign. It not only refl ects Adelson’s confi dence in the Rabbi as a future congressman but also his confi dence in the Republican’s ability to win the election.

In contrast, NORPAC, whose mission is to elect pro-Israel candidates, has refused to endorse the Rabbi and even tried to convince him to stay away from one of their events -- not because of anything the Rabbi said

or did, but because, unlike Shel-don Adelson, they aren’t sure Boteach can win and they don’t want Israel to become an issue in the campaign. And AIPAC is join-ing them in hoping the Rabbi just shuts up about Israel.

Perhaps they want to be on good terms with the incumbent following a primary where they offered strong support for his op-ponent, or are afraid that, in re-sponse to a pro-Israel campaign, the area’s Arab community will fi ght back with anti-Semitic smears the way they did in the primary.

Because of redistricting, the NJ-9 Democratic Party primary pitted two incumbents against

each other, Bill Pascrell vs. Steven Rothman.In an interview with New Jersey Jewish News, NOR-

PAC President Ben Chouake talked about the group’s endorsement of Rothman, saying in essence that Pas-crell, who has received NORPAC contributions in the recent past, may be supportive on matters concerning the Middle East — but Rothman is better.

The primary campaign got ugly in the middle of February when Aref Assaf, president of the American Arab Forum, published a column in the Newark Star Ledger that questioned Rothman’s loyalty to America, and that of the Jews who backed him. The article, ti-tled “Rothman is Israel’s Man in District 9,” used that age-old anti-Semitic meme of dual loyalty.

As total and blind support becomes the only rea-son for choosing Rothman, voters who do not view the elections in this prism will need to take notice. Loyalty to a foreign fl ag is not loyalty to America’s.

This started a political battle between the district’s Jews and Arabs. NORPAC redoubled their efforts to support Rothman, especially because Pascrell has re-mained silent, refusing to condemn the charges of dual loyalty. The primary campaign ended up as a proxy war with NORPAC leading the Jewish forces against the Arab favorite, Pascrell.

In the end, Pascrell won the primary by a 20% mar-gin, and NORPAC became convinced Rabbi Boteach had no chance. They have decided to sit out a crucial

election even though its mission is to elect pro-Israel candidates.

Bill Pascrell ‘s 14-year Congressional record does not illustrate a friendly attitude toward the Jewish State, and some of his best “friends” are linked to ter-rorism.

For example, in March 2007 he reserved a confer-ence room in the Capital to be used by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim organi-zation formed by the Muslim Brotherhood and criti-cized by the FBI for its links to Hamas. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, vice chairman of the party’s Senate confer-ence, stated, “We know (CAIR) has ties to terrorism,” then criticized the group for having “intimate links with Hamas.”

Rep. Pascrell was also one of the 54 signatories (all are Democrats) to a January 21, 2010 letter to the Pres-ident asking him to address the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, forcing the end to what they called a “block-ade” of Gaza by Israel. The letter said nothing about the danger that action might have on Israeli security.

Speaking at a Pascrell fundraiser in 2002, Lebanese-American businessman Sami Merhi likened then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Adolf Hitler and said he “can’t see the comparison” between the 9/11 hijackers and Palestinian suicide bombers. When Mr. Merhi ran for a seat as Passaic County freeholder in 2006, senior New Jersey Democrats, including Sen. Robert Menen-dez, repudiated his remarks and said they could not support his candidacy. Mr. Pascrell called Mr. Merhi’s comments a “mistake” but refused to abandon him as a candidate.

With a track record such as this, NORPAC should be chomping at the bit to support Rabbi Shmuley in the general election. Instead, the pro-Israel organization is treating the Rabbi as if he had a contagious fatal disease.

On June 13th, Speaker of the House John Boeh-ner came to New Jersey and spoke at a small NORPAC gathering. Rabbi Boteach purchased a ticket for the event -- after all, he is a GOP candidate for Congress, and he is one of the area’s most prominent clergymen. But a source within the Rabbi’s campaign has told me NORPAC tried to stop the Rabbi from attending the event.

The campaign insider played me a voice message, received the Friday afternoon before the Boehner event. The message was from Dr. Mort Fridman, NOR-PAC’s vice president. Fridman requested that the Rabbi not attend the event “because of the situation.” Frid-man never described what the situation was, but the campaign assumes it had to do with the Democratic Party primary battle.

Ironically, Fridman ended his phone call by wishing the Rabbi a “Good Shabbos.” When I fi rst head the tape, his “Good Shabbos” reminded me of the south-erner who slanders a friend behind his back and “then makes it all better” by fi nishing the slander with, “but bless his heart.”

Rabbi Boteach attended the event anyway, as he

A new home for the JCC at #6 School

To the Editor:After reading article after article

in the local papers about the JCC’s attempt to purchase the #6 School from District 15, I feel it is time to set the record straight.

On November 1, 2011, the JCC of the Greater Five Towns submit-ted a bid to purchase the school for $7.750 million. On February 8, 2012 we increased our bid to $9.1 million, each time submitting all the necessary paperwork and fi -nancial documents. We had hoped the school board would consider all that a full-service community cen-ter brings to the entire community and not just the actual purchase price. Again, on May 4, 2012 the JCC increased their offer to $10.1 million and then again on June 1, 2012. Our offer to purchase the #6 School now stands at $10.5 million.

We were requested to provide the school board with a one million dollar deposit as a show of good faith, which we did in the form of a certifi ed check, and recently the one million dollars was returned to us. We were told that the school board was putting the sale on hold for the time being.

A full-service community cen-ter would enhance the lives of the residents of the Five Towns and surrounding communities by al-lowing the JCC to expand their much needed programs and ser-vices, bringing additional jobs into the neighborhood, housing many local organizations all under one roof, and act as a central meeting place for large scale events or cel-ebrations.

We met during July with the real estate committee of the School District 15 School Board and had fruitful discussions.

It is our hope that a fi nal de-cision will be forthcoming in the near future.

Dr. Kenneth L. BermanLawrence

Immediate Past President and Current Chairman of the Board

JCC of the Greater Five Towns

Questioning DunetzTo the Editor:In the 60’s, objectors to the Viet-

nam war were told “America: love it or leave it.” It was sad to see Jeff Dunetz utilizing the same line of logic in his opinion piece from last week (“Why does President Obama have anti-Israel activists”).

The Jewish tradition has long understood that criticism is not in confl ict with loving my neighbor, it’s an expression of it. If I love my neighbor, I want the best for them, including for them to be the best person they can be.

Jewish Voices for Peace is an un-derstandable response to AIPAC’s long standing attitude that our obligation as international Jews is to support Israel’s existence, not to criticize her policies. AIPAC’s neutral approach left many feeling that their voice was not expressed,

and wanting an organization that would support Israel’s safety andexistence while also supporting theright of Palestinians to live in safetyand dignity.

You might disagree with JVP’sstances (frankly, I disagree withthem, too), but that does not makethem anti-Israel. I know Lynn Got-tlieb, I know Lynda Holtzman, I know Arthur Waskow, and I can tellyou, they are not anti-Israel. Theylove Israel, and they want her tolive up to the values preached byour Jewish tradition.

I was troubled by Mr. Dunetz’signorant critique of Rabbis for Hu-man Rights. Take a look at their annual human rights report. RHR conducts balanced inquiries into events and assigns blame with alevel hand to Israelis and Palestin-ians alike. They do not shy away from criticizing Hamas for fi ringrockets at Israeli civilian areas, orfrom using their own citizens ashuman shields. In terms of “investi-gating” a barrage of 5,000 rockets,there’s not much to investigate, butit was condemned by RHR alongwith all human rights violations from both sides.

Mr. Dunetz quotes a passage inwhich Rabbi Brant Rosen questions Israel’s massive reaction to the barrage of rockets from Gaza. Mr. Dunetz doesn’t even bother com-menting on the passage, as if ques-tioning Israel’s motives is obviously anti-Israeli. Is someone anti-Amer-ican who questions George Bush’smotives for invading Iraq, or foropposing the war in the fi rst place?Is someone anti-American who dis-agrees with Obama’s health-carelegislation (as I would guess Mr.Dunetz does)? Is it really a matter of “Israel: love it or leave it?”

I was also troubled by Mr. Du-netz’s off-topic, ad hominum attackon Rabbi Waskow. The fact that Mr. Dunetz does not know the name of the Hasidic rabbi who ordained Rabbi Waskow does not make himan ‘unnamed’ rabbi, or inherentlyput Rabbi Waskow’s credentialsinto doubt such that his is merelya “Rabbi” with quotes. If you wantto know who the “unnamed Has-sidic rabbi” is, just ask him! (FYI, It is Zalman Schachter Shalomi, whohas Chabad smicha) Many rabbis,especially Orthodox ones, havesmicha conferred on them private-ly. Does Mr. Dunetz also questionthe legitimacy of all those “rabbis”?

Mr. Dunetz in the next breathdisparages Rabbi Waskow’s work as “unusual.” Were Martin LutherKing and Mohatma Ghandi ille-gitimate because their work was unusual? Should all rabbis just say the same thing, do the same thing,wave fl ags nicely at Israel ralliesand strive to be ‘usual’? How about David Saperstein at the RAC, orAri Weiss at Uri L’Tzedek, or DavidRosenn, the founder of Avodah—should they try to just fi t in instead, pursue a more normal rabbinate? The Jewish world would be muchpoorer without trail-blazers likeRabbi Waskow.

The truth is, if you asked the right questions, you would fi nd that

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POLITICO TO GO

Jeff Dunetz

OpinionWhy do pro-Israel NORPAC and AIPAC want a Rabbi running for Congress to stop talking about Israel?

Letters to the editor

Publisher and Editor Karen C. Green Assistant Editor Malka Eisenberg Account Executives Helene Parsons Charles Slamowitz Contributors Miriam Bradman Abrahams Rabbi Avi Billet Jeff Dunetz Juda Engelmayer Rabbi Binny Freedman Alan Jay Gerber Rabbi Noam Himelstein Judy Joszef Editorial Designers Kristen Edelman Alyson Goodman Photo Editor Christina Daly

Continued on page 24

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Mincha minyan services are held in the hospital chapel, Monday through Thursday at 1:30 pm.

Siddurim and benchers are available in the chapel.

A shabbos elevator is located in the North Pavilion of the hospital.

Rabbi A. Perl of Congregation Beth Sholom Chabad is available to meet any religious needs patients and their families may have. He may be contacted at 516-739-3636. The Synagogue is located

0.57 miles from the hospital within the eruv.

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The Mechilta (and many other Midrashic passages) utilize the phrase “Imo Anokhi B’tzara” (Tehillim 91:15) to prove that

G-d is not only pained by diffi culties which affect the community (based on Yeshayahu 63:9), but is feeling the pain of the individual as well, as he or she is faced with personal

trials and diffi cult times in life.

The concept that G-d is everywhere is not only made famous by the Uncle Moishy song, “Hashem is here, Hashem is there, Hashem is truly every-where.” We say it daily in “Kedushah” – “The world is fi lled with His glory.” (Yeshayahu 6:3)

As Rosh Hashanah comes upon us, those who are most con-

cerned about what the outcome of the Day of Judgment will be may carry both of these notions in their own defense. If G-d is every-where, I cannot hide. Nothing I do is really a secret and so my every deed can be scruti-

nized. And if G-d knows how I am suffering on this day, maybe He can fulfi ll His promise of being with me in my diffi cult hour.

After all, He made me, He gave me my yetzer hara (evil inclination), and He is con-stantly tempting me. And while I do make good choices much of the time, I am an im-perfect human and I make mistakes.

Or, to put it a different way, sometimes things go well for me. But I’ve also had set-backs during the year. Family issues, fi nan-cial setbacks, health problems, a loss in the family. The world is fi lled with Your glory! You know what I’ve been through! Can’t You use that as part of my defense this year?

We certainly hope that this will be taken into consideration.

But there is another way to look at our re-lationship with G-d, and the role these kinds of arguments can play.

In the fi rst verses of Devarim Chapter 30, we are told, “There shall come a time when you shall experience all the words of bless-ing and curse that I have presented to you. There, among the nations where G-d will have banished you, you will refl ect on the situation and return to your G-d…” (transla-tion of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan).

The phrase Rabbi Kaplan translates as “you will refl ect on the situation, etc.” can more literally be said to mean, “You will take it to your heart, among all the nations that you were dispersed [to] by G-d, to there.”

The Dubno Maggid looked at the literal meaning of the words and explained, moving around punctuation in his inimitable style, “Take to your heart the understanding that in all the nations to which you are dispersed…” – G-d is there. Instead of “to where G-d dis-persed you,” he says, “To where you were dis-persed – Hashem Elokekha Shamah.”

In other words, don’t despair on G-d! G-d literally is everywhere, even in the darkest places and in the most diffi cult moments of life – G-d is alongside us. He knows what we are going through. This feeling is how I understand Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s statement describing the great lesson he learned from his mother, “to feel the pres-ence of the Almighty and the gentle pressure of His hand resting upon my frail shoulders.” (“A Tribute to the Rebbetzin of Talne”)

A Chassidic tale places one of the Great Masters in a prison, put there by local au-thorities who had it in for the rabbi. He start-ed to say Tehillim 23, and when he got to the

popular verse “Even as I walk in the shadowof the valley of death, I shall not fear badbecause You are with me” he read it differ-ently. “Even as I walk in the shadow of thevalley of death, I shall not fear” the prison.A prison is created by Man, and it is a merecombination of stones, cement, bricks, andmetal. They can lock me up, but they can’tlock up my mind.

“It is bad that you are with me” becausehere I am in prison, and I am further painedby the fact that you, Master of the World,need to also be found in this place.

Everything is relative. As much as G-dmight see or notice the things we hope He’dmiss, G-d also sees all the little good thingswe’ve done. As much as we might have notput too much thought into some of thesedeeds, they do count in our defense, and mayplay a signifi cant role in getting us over theproverbial hump of the Day of Judgment.

To wherever G-d may have banished us,if we can bear in mind that He is there withus, feeling our pain with us, we can have amore confi dent outlook that He is front andcenter pulling for us to make it through thisRosh Hashanah, to be positively inscribed inthe Book of Life.

Parshat Nitzavim: Where G-d is found

Rabbi Avi Billet

To redefi ne who we are and who we choose to be.I hadn’t planned on stopping to watch, but

something about him caught my atten-tion. Maybe it was his eyes, which was

where his smile began; before it spread to the rest of his face; you could see it coming in the twinkle in his eyes.

Or maybe it was the fact that, knowing his history as a Holocaust survivor, it seemed so powerful that on a day such as this, he could tell his story, with such a smile.

It was Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, the anniversary of the day our Temples were destroyed, the city of Jerusalem ransacked and hundreds of thou-sands of Jews mur-dered or sold into slav-ery, and he was being interviewed on Israeli television. A day full of painful memories for the Jewish people and yet here he was, smiling; so I stopped to hear his story.

“How old are you?”The question hung

in the air as the Kapo in concentration camp uniform with the au-thority over life and death stared down at the frail little boy in front of him.

Normally, an innocent question, yet in the camps, it was a question that could get you killed.

“Fifteen,” answered the boy, who could not have been more than eight. There was no room for little Jewish boys in the Nazi world of death camps, and his older brother Naftali had warned little Srulli to lie….

The Kapo glanced down at the boy with a skeptical look and asked again: “How old are you?!”

And again, little Srulli answered: “Fif-teen.”

At which point he asked the fellow behind the boy: “Is he your son or your brother?”

“My brother,” answered Naftali.“Well, how old is he?” asked the Kapo

again.

“He already told you, he’s fi fteen,” an-swered Naftali, trying to stay calm.

At which point the Kapo looked around and, lowering his voice and motioning to-wards the syringe in his left hand, said:

“Look, this is a typhus vaccine, and it’s based on weight which I fi gure out according to age. If he’s really eight years old and I give him the vaccine of a fi fteen year old, it will kill him. But if he’s really fi fteen and I give him the vaccine of a ten year old, he’ll prob-ably get typhus and die, so I ask you again: how old is he?”

Naftali thought for a moment and, in a voice barely above a whisper answered:

“He is seven.”At which point, the Kapo looked around

and squirted half of the injection onto the ground before giving young Yisrael (Srulli) Lau the typhus injection that ultimately saved his life….

And sixty years later, on Israeli National Television, the young child, saved from the Holocaust, now famous around the world as Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, the Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, smiled his signature broad smile and commented: ‘There were many an-gels that conspired to allow me to sit here today, and that Kapo was one of them….

So what do you do with a story like that?It’s true there are many angels in life and

they can often take the most mundane forms, from the simple traffi c light that keeps you from being in the wrong place at the wrong time; to the little girl whose temper tantrum sends you to the back of a pizza store saving your life from a suicide bomber….

But there are just as many angels who don’t seem to make it, and there are no shortage of families this year that were torn apart whether by seemingly random Kassam rockets that killed so many people, a terrorist bomb in Bulgaria, or even a car accident….

So what do we do with this?There are those who will say that we must

repent; that there are lessons to be learned; and that the books of life and death, sickness and health, joy and sadness will once again be open, and we must return from our evil ways in order to hope for a good, and even a safe, year. They will preach it from their pulpits, write it in their newsletters and even

tuck their children to sleep at night secure in the knowledge that if we fast on Yom Kip-pur and give tzedakah (charity), pray every day with our tefi llin and even learn to love one another and be more tolerant towards one another, that we will, please G-d, have a better year.

And yet, deep down, that theory just does not seem to hold a lot of water, does it?

Do we really think that everyone who fasts and prays with all their heart is guar-anteed a good year? Are we convinced that any person who truly loves his fellow human being and can somehow succeed in remov-ing judgment and hatred of others from his thoughts, is guaranteed a good year?

And what of all the pain and heartache, the love lost and people broken this year? Was it all simply because some people didn’t pray hard enough?

Is there a recipe for ensuring there will be peace and no more bloodshed this year at last?

That prospect is certainly not looking too good, as a glance at the front page headlines of any recent newspaper will demonstrate….

So what is it we are trying to do?These past weeks, as we do every year in

the weeks and Shabbatot leading up to Rosh Hashanah, (the Jewish new Year) we read the portions of Ki-Tavoh, Nitzavim and Vay-elech, which seem to repeat again and again the idea that the day will come when tremen-dous calamities will surely befall the Jewish people. Indeed one need not be a scholar to see in Jewish history a pattern of exile and pain that seems to follow us wherever we go.

But then what is the point of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, which seem to suggest that we are not doomed by the inevitable? Juda-ism believes we can change things, but how?

It seems that this week’s portion contains a new covenant:

“ Atem Nitzavim hayom… le’ovrecha’ be-brit Hashem Elokecha’, asher Hashem Eloke-cha’ koret imcha hayom.”

“You are standing here today … to pass into the covenant of (with) Hashem your G-d… which Hashem your G-d seals with you today.” (29: 11)

But what exactly is this covenant all about? Forty years after the covenant the

Jewish people entered into at Sinai--whatcovenant is necessary on the last day ofMoshe’s life?

A careful look at these portions actuallymakes clear what this new and fi nal covenant is all about: this is the covenant of Teshuvah(Repentance).

The day will come, says the Torah, when all the blessings and curses have come to pass when “Ve’shavta’ ad Hashem Elokecha’”: when we will return. (See Devarim 30:1-6)

We will return from all the far-fl ung plac-es where we have wandered and from all the lost paths to which we have strayed.

Many translate Teshuvah as ‘repentance,’ but that is not really accurate.

Repentance in the dictionary means re-gret or feeling sorry, but regret alone is sim-ply about guilt, and that is not what Judaismwants, despite all the jokes to the contrary.

This does not mean to say regret is neces-sarily a bad thing, because regret is the fi rststage towards teshuva, and involves recog-nizing the fact that there is something wrong I would like to fi x.

Regret on its own suggests that we cannotundo the past; but Judaism believes we canhope to change the future.

Teshuvah, from the word ‘shuv’ or ‘return’is an attempt to go back to who I could havebeen before all the mistakes I have made.

Teshuvah is about creating a whole newreality, by tracing history back to the precisepoint where the present reality we strugglewith began to go astray.

Regret and repentance is what feeds pro-grams like Alcoholics Anonymous, wherein aperson needs to accept they will always be an alcoholic, so that they can begin the long road to modifying how they respond to thatneed and behave in its presence.

Teshuvah however, is the ability to createa whole new person who is not and neverwas and never could be an alcoholic.

Every year on Rosh Hashanah as we begina new year, we have the capacity yet again, toredefi ne who we are and who we choose to be.

Best wishes for a Shanah Tovah full of love and joy, purpose and peace,

Ktivah ve’Chatimah Tovah,Rav Binny Freedman

FROM THE HEART OF JERUSALEM

Rabbi Binny Freedman

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Y es indeed, it is Rosh Hashanah once again, and there are some really fi ne, high quality books for your continued

learning pleasure.To really understand the true meaning and

feeling for the upcoming “Yimei Ratzon,” a close reading of some of the most authorita-tive teachings concerning this holy season is always in order. This year is no different, and by the time you fi nish with this essay, you will be inspired to read some of the selections sug-gested or revisit previous Kosher Bookworm reviews for even more choices.

Once again “The Commentator” strikes: Rabbi Yitzchak Send-er’s latest work, “The Commentators’ Rosh Hashanah: Prayers and Torah Reading” [Feld-heim, 2012] brings to our readers a 317 page anthology of original essays on the most im-portant liturgical works found in the machzor, spanning the entire rep-

ertoire of the sacred writ of this season. Start-ing with the selichos prayers and spanning the entire liturgy, both the halachos as well as the deeper meanings of the text are subject-ed to the classic “Commentators” treatment. Through humor, anecdotes, and homiletics, we are brought face to face with the wisdom, inspiration, and profound ethical teachings whose purpose it is to bring us to appreciate the true logic and purpose of the concept and

practice of real, heartfelt teshuvah.Dr. Erica Brown, that educator of educa-

tors, has once again brought to our homes a unique, and quite original work entitled, “Re-turn: Daily Inspiration For The Days Of Awe” [OU Press/Maggid, 2012] wherein, by using the calendar based technique of the ten days of repentance, presents for our use a daily discipline of readings based upon a series of Al Chet selections, with each day headed by a differing ethical theme. These themes include faith, destiny, humility, compassion, anger, honesty, and holiness.

Drawing upon a plethora of literary sourc-es, her multi-cultural presentment gives our time honored themes of teshuva a unique and most relevant meaning for all Jews seriously interested in the deeper theological, as well as practical meanings, of what the concept of repentance should mean to all of us. This work is a true supplement to that great work by Rabbi Ezra Bick, “In His Mercy: Under-standing the Thirteen Midot” [Maggid/Yeshi-vat Har Etzion, 2010]. Also, to be referenced from a previous review, is Dr. Louis Newman’s work, “Repentance: The Meaning and Prac-tice of Teshuvah,” [Jewish Lights, 2010]. Also it should be noted within this same literary genre, is Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski’s now classic “Twerski on Machzor: Rosh Hashanah” [Artscroll, 2011, 2012], a supplement now in its second printing, and most deservedly so.

In addition, we have a second volume of Rabbi Moshe Weinberger’s excellent com-mentary on Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook’s “Orot Teshuvah,” “Song of Teshuvah” [Urim/ Penina Press, 2012]. This year’s work

continues with chapter eight, “The pains of sin, the sufferings of teshu-vah, and the healings of its light.” It then continues with chapter nine, entitled, “The quality of willpower that is revealed through teshuvah,” and ends with chapter ten, “The need of teshuvah and Torah for each other – in their totality and in their su-pernal qualities.”

Last week I cited a very well received story as told by Rabbi Levi Cooper concern-ing the Choseh of Lublin. This week, the Chozeh of Lublin [spelling different], is cited in Rabbi Weinberger’s commentary concerning how the righteous do their repen-tance. For the sake of continuity I will quote this story in its entirety for you to get the full fl avor of Rabbi Weinberger’s teachings featur-ing the Chozeh of Lublin as an example.

“Here the Meor Eynaim adds that for a per-son to be illuminated by that light, he must believe in the tzaddik and be connected to him – and certainly not opposed to him.”

“There is a famous story about R. Yaakov Yitzchak, the Chozeh of Lublin. The Chozeh’s shalosh seudos meal on Shabbos afternoon used to last late into the night, long after Shabbos was over by the clock. There was a man whom this bothered very much, and so every Saturday night he would walk by and yell. ‘Gut voch ! ’ But the Chassidim ignored him. Once this man grew so enraged that he

threw a rock through the window. The Chas-sidim wanted to react, but the Chozeh toldthem not to. Instead, he went to the windowand called out, ‘Gut voch, gut voch !’

“A few days later, the man died and hissoul was sent to gehinnom. On the com-ing Shabbos, his soul – like that of all soulsin gehinnom – rested from his suffering. As

soon as Shabbos was over by the clock, an angel came to take him away. However, the other souls remained at rest, for they were allowed to remain as long as the Chozeh was still keeping Shabbos. And when this man protested, the angel responded, ‘Gut voch, gut voch!’”

According to Rabbi Wein-berger, Rav Kook teaches that when tzaddikim do teshuvah, when they struggle to correct their own sins and failings, this causes a great light to shine upon others and pull them, too, out of the darkness of despair.

This is the light that will be refl ected in the ac-tions and activities detailed in the above story.

I end this week’s essay with the followingrather sharp worded teaching from Reb Zal-man Schachter who stated: “Our prayers don’talways ‘make sense’ because making senseis not what we are here for. Our journeysthrough life are more complex than that. Andso our duty to the Days of Awe and to our-selves, doesn’t end with procuring our tickets.We need more than just assigned seats and re-ceipts that our shul dues are paid up. We wanta ticket to transformation, a pass to the pos-sibility that something in us feels genuinelymoved. As our shuls open their doors to us, somay we open our own doors to multidimen-sional experiences. As the gabbais show usto our seats, so let us fi nd a seat for prayer inour hearts.”

Alan Jay Gerber

The Kosher Bookworm

Yes, it’s Rosh Hashanah, again

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with Jewish ideals. Some, maybe, but not all, for sure. The alignment between the religious right and the GOP is not necessarily a Jewish interest. The support for Israel by the GOP is often a result of a deeply rooted belief in Dispensationalist Christianity, where the es-tablishment of Israel in 1948 was seen as the beginning of the return of Jesus. With Jews back in their homeland, all Jews can now re-turn to Israel. Then, as the Book of Revelation predicts, there will be an epic battle that will take place in Israel, commonly referred to as Armageddon, in which good triumphs evil, two-thirds of the Jews in Israel die, the other third converts to Christianity, and then Jesus rules for 1,000 years as king.

That very reason frightens some Jews, and hence, the relationship becomes more terrify-ing than anything else. If history is any in-dication of what the future holds, Jews have been persecuted under the pretext of Christi-anity more than for any other reason. That is what sticks in the craws of those intellectu-als who would paint every Republican with one big brush. Notwithstanding, some of the broadest support for Israel today comes from evangelical Christians such as Pastor John Hagee and his 70,000 strong, Christians United for Israel.

As for the issues that often mire these rac-es, like abortion rights or marriage equality, Jews usually align themselves with the Dem-ocrats even though personally, most would not support either. These issues do not rank so high for Jews, and one possible answer is that Jews employ a “live and let live” attitude toward politics; believing that, for them to enjoy their rights, they have to fi ght for every other as well. Another answer, is that issues like those are usually not widespread with-

in Jewish communities, and, when they do come up, are simply dealt with without too much community involvement.

As for Israel and this President, on pa-per and by all practical measures, President Obama certainly has done right by Israel. Yet he and his aides have managed to say and do things that cause serious doubt even among those who want to believe him. The latest is his refusal to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu, even after the Jerusalem fi asco at the Demo-cratic Convention last week, and the apparent apology on Wednesday to the Muslim com-munity after a Libyan mob killed U.S. Ambas-sador Chris Stevens over a Youtube movie ap-peared mocking Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.

There is this rampant gut feeling going around certain circles that Obama is not a true supporter, and in fact, an apologist for Islamic outrage, and that he just did what was politi-cally expedient. If so, and assuming Obama is re-elected in November, he will be free of ever again having to face Jewish voters. That means that he will be freer than he is now to follow his heart rather than his politics — and if his heart is in a different place from where his politics have been, a second Obama term could be a very bad time for Israel.

The notion that Jews have a party is er-roneous. The old-time fear of who and what the Republicans might be is an American, not a worldwide, phenomenon, rooted deeper in many years of political associations than reli-gious dogma – which can be readily aligned with either party, depending on the issue. The attachment to Democrats may be lost if President Obama is seen as a hindrance for Is-rael and Jews. But in the end, Jews will vote for who they feel can serve their community’s needs better, and also who will act on Israel as they hope.

Hebrew only please!

On Rosh Hashanah night, the family discussion revolved around the “simanim”--the special foods we eat on that night. How do they work? Why aren`t they prohibited as false superstitions? The Maha-ral suggests that our actions actually create good, because whenever we see the good in our family, our friends, in any situation - that is where we meet G-d, and that is how we actually bring good into the world ...

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

Apples and fi sh heads: Do they really make all the difference?

By Rabbi Noam Himelstein

There is no Jewish political partyContinued from page 2

However, in November 2001 my wife Robin and I were told that our son Jonah, who was then eight years old, had cancer. Through the grace of Hashem, and with the help of our doctors, and support of family and friends, our son was cured.

During that time, Chai Lifeline, a not for profi t organization dedicated to helping children suffering from serious illnesses, as well as their family members, stood by our side helping Jonah and us tremendously. This wonderful organization provided our children with big brothers and big sisters, brought us home cooked meals in the hos-pital, and sent Jonah to Camp Simcha, in the mountains, where he always had a blast. Chai Lifeline has also provided important emotional support to the entire family, and continues to be a part of our lives.

As the father of a child who had cancer, I can never do enough to help the organization that was by our side during the entire ordeal. Chai Lifeline addresses the full spectrum of needs, from logistical to social, recreational to psychological. Chai Lifeline reaches out not only to patients, but also to parents, siblings, classmates, school faculty, and the community as well.

Jonah is now a healthy 19 year old at-tending Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim. He plans to attend Yeshiva University in Janu-ary. This summer, nine years after Jonah was last there as a camper, he worked at Camp Simcha, giving back to the organization that did so much for him and the entire family.

As a means of thankfulness and apprecia-tion, I will be participating in the ING-Miami Mini-Marathon on Sunday, January 27, 2013 to raise money for Chai Lifeline. We hope to raise $30,000.00 for this wonderful organi-zation to help with its important work.

As we enter the yom noraim and we ask Hashem to grant our requests it is also in-cumbant upon us to do teshuva, tefi llah and tzedukah. Kindly consider contribut-ing to this worthy organization. Please help us reach our goal by going to our website, http://tiny-url.org/JonahAdelsberg and con-tribute, or please mail your checks payable to: Chai Lifeline c/o. Adelsberg, 309 Barr Av-enue, Woodmere, New York 11598.

Thank You,Howard M. Adelsberg

Cancer is an illness that affects people in other families, not ours

Jonah today

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BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS IN THE NEW YEAR.SHANA TOVA! Take off to Israel with the national airlineand EL AL Vacations.

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Sept 13 - 14Bake Sale

EMUNAH’s Annual Rosh Hashanah Bake Sale & Gift Boutique! We are hoping we can count on you, as an amazing baker, friend, and supporter of EMUNAH, to bake 2 items for this event. We are also including kugels and muffi ns this year !! The bake sale is on Thursday, September 13th, from 1:00pm - 7:00 pm, and Friday Septem-ber 14th, from 9:00am to 1:00pm at the home of Nicole Spivak, 801 Keene Lane in Woodsburgh!

Sept 16 - 18Rosh Hashanah

Come to Chabad and pick up your Holiday Guide

All are welcome regardless of background or affi liation. There will be a Youth Services & program for all children at the Chabad Center, 74 Maple Avenue, Cedarhurst.

Place: Services will be held at HAFTR High School, 635 Central Avenue, Cedarhurst

Fee: Suggested donation of $120.00 per adult & $50 per child joining the youth services & program (lunch & snack included) for the High Holidays. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

Time: For a complete schedule and times of services please refer to the Holiday Guide

Info: 516-295-2478 or www.chabad-5towns.com/seats

Sept 14 – Oct.12The Chabad Center for Jewish Life of Merrick/Bellmore/Wantagh presents Tots ‘N Challah:

An exciting Mommy & me program for children ages 0-3 !

Join with your child and other moms/dads in celebrating Shabbat through Challah baking, story, song and art activities! · Knead the dough, Braid the Challah, Judaic Craft, Music and Song Fridays 10:30-11:30 A.M.

Complimentary First Class! Cost is $25 for 5 week session or $8.00 per class. Includes snack and craft supplies.

Sept 23Spread the Word!

CHAZAQ & The Shmuz Present The Annual Teshuva Shmuz

“Looking back at another year Passed” with R’ Benzion Shafi er Men & Women are Welcome to Attend!

Admission is Free! Sunday Night, September 23rd, 2012

Lecture Scheduled for 8:30 PMLocation: Young Israel of Kew

Gardens Hills7011 150th St, Flushing, NY 11367Participating organizations: Young

Israel of Kew Gardens Hills,The Shmuz, CHAZAQ, QJCC, Tora-

hAnytime.com and the Isaac Sasson Charitable Foundation.

For More Info Call 866-613-TorahEmail: Info@Chazaq.org

OngoingJCC of the Greater Five Towns’ Rus-sian Division offers math tutoring and/or logic/reasoning

classes for kids ages 6-7 and 8-9 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays. Please call Yulia Gross, (516) 569-6733x214 or e-mail yulia.gross@fi ve-townsjcc.org for further information.

The JCC of the Greater Five Towns hosts every Tues-day a Parkinson’s Support Group from 11am-2:00pm at the JCC, 207 Grove Avenue, Cedarhurst. The purpose of this group is to bring together Parkinsonians, spouses and their caregivers. For further information, please contact Cathy Byrne at (516) 569-6733x220.

The JCC of the Greater Five Towns Russian Division of-fers a Chess Club for all children ages 7+

Wednesdays from 3:45-4:45pm and 6:30pm-7:30pm at Temple Israel, 140 Central Avenue, Law-rence. This class, instructed by a chess Senior Master, will teach the basic principles of Chess and improve analytical skills while allowing students to compete and have fun. New semester begins again on September 12th. Call the JCC at (516) 569-6733 x214 or e-mail yulia.gross@fi vetownsjcc.org for further information.

Calling all Senior Song Birds THE JCC OF THE GREATER FIVE TOWNS, located at 270 Grove Avenue in Cedarhurst, hosts a choir for seniors every Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. for a joyful hour of singing with choir master Zvi Klein.We sing songs in all languages and we perform for local venues. There is a $5.00 optional contribution requested per session. For information please call Sheryl at 516-569-6733 x222.

Support group THE JCC OF THE GREATER FIVE TOWNS will sponsor a new support group for the economically chal-lenged as a result of the economic

downturn. Key themes will include unemployment, fi nancial issues, empowerment and support. Please join us on Thursday mornings at 10:15 a.m. at Temple Israel, 140 Central Ave, Lawrence until January 20th. This group is part of Connect to Care, an initiative funded by UJA-Federation of NY. For further information and to pre-register, please contact Talia Rapps, L.M.S.W. at 516-569-6733 x213.

Movement class for special needs THE JCC OF THE GREATER FIVE TOWNS offers “Movement with Mary Moshos,” a class for children with special needs ages 5 and up, de-signed to enhance interaction with the environment through work with music, bubbles, and various tex-tures. Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30pm at the JCC, 207 Grove Avenue, Cedar-hurst. 12 sessions/$240. Please call Sharona Arbeit at 516-569-6733 x218 for more information.

Parkinson’s Support Group THE JCC OF THE GREATER FIVE TOWNS, located at 207 Grove Avenue in Cedarhurst, hosts every Tuesday a Parkinson’s Support Group from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The purpose of this group is to bring together Parkinsonians, spouses and their families in order to help them better understand the na-ture of the condition, gain confi dence and join in community activities. For further information, please contact Cathy Byrne at 516-569-6733 x220.

Recession impact group JCC OF THE GREATER FIVE TOWNS is sponsoring a support group for those affected by the recession. The group meets on Thursday mornings at 10:15 a.m. at Temple Israel, located at 140 Central Avenue in Lawrence. This group is part of the UJA-Federation’s Connect to Care initiative. For more information call Talia Rapps at 516-569-6733 x213.

Photo by Monica Rzewski

Members of local fi re depts attend the Village of Cedarhurst 9/11 Memorial (l to r) Lawrence-Cedar-hurst Ex-Chief Donovan Wright, Inwood F.D. Ex-Chief Frank Parise, Woodmere F.D. 2nd Asst. Chief Benji Horowitz, 1st Asst. Chief Lenny Cherson, Ex- Chief Jim Boozin, Lt. Allen Sauer, Lt. Marc Deutsch.

ON THE

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

Deadline is Wednesday of the week prior to publication.

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Submit your shul or organiza-tion’s events or shiurim to

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Reproduced with the permission of the au-thors Rabbi Eugene and Dr. Annette Labovitz from their fi rst book “Time For My Soul: A Treasury of Jewish Stories for Our Holy Days.”

By Rabbi Eugene and Dr. Annette Labovitz

Imagine the shul in Sanz on Rosh Ha-shanah! Worshipers, wrapped in oversized talitot, standing shoulder to shoulder, led in prayer by Rebbe Chayim Halberstam, the Sanzer rebbe. No sound audible, except for the chanting of prayers ascending to the Throne of Glory.

Afterwards, a few of the rebbe’s dis-ciples ask him to teach them the secret of prayer. “Why do you think I am the expert on prayer?” he responds. “Let me tell you a short story about Maxele from St. Petersburg,

who was an expert on prayer.”You know that St. Petersburg was off lim-

its to Jews, unless they had business con-sidered necessary for the economic welfare of the Russian government. Very few Jews qualifi ed. Maxele’s father was one of the ex-ceptions. The life that he lived in St. Peters-burg was totally compatible with the non-Jewish world, for he assimilated rapidly into Russian society.

Many years passed, and Maxele’s father aged. When he realized that his time was approaching to leave this world, he called his son and said to him: “Maxele, it is almost time for me to leave this world. Before I die, I want you to swear to me that you will always remember that you are a Jew.”

Maxele turned to his father and said: “I will swear to you that I will always remember

that I am a Jew...but please, tell me, what is a Jew supposed to do?”

Maxele’s father answered: “If I could re-live my life, I would give anything to fi nd out what a Jew is, what a Jew is supposed to do. The truth is, I don’t know. When I was twelve years old, I was kidnapped to serve in the Tzar’s army. I spent twenty-fi ve years in the army and was never permitted a furlough to see my family. By the time I was released, I had forgotten my Jewish heritage almost entirely. Since I had excelled in the army, I was permitted to settle in St. Petersburg. I only know that I was born a Jew, and I re-member that on Rosh Hashanah a Jew goes to shul.

Maxele’s father passed away soon af-ter. The following Rosh Hashanah Maxele searched for a shul in order to fulfi ll the oath

he had made to his dying father. He did not know what to do, but he entered a shul andsat down in the rear. No one paid any at-tention to him. He sat for a while, unable toparticipate, not understanding anything that was happening. He just sat and watched.

After a while, Maxele stood up. He liftedhis eyes heavenward and prayed. G-d in Heav-en! Until this moment, I have forgotten that Iam a Jew. I am illiterate because I was nevergiven the opportunity to study your Torah orto fi nd out what is expected of me. I make avow to You that from this moment on, I willtry to fi nd out what a Jew is supposed to knowand do. In spite of my lack of knowledge, Ihave always recognized that You are One andYour Glory fi lls the whole world. I love Yourwill with all my heart, so please don’t forgetme, Maxele from St. Petersburg.”

The Sanzer rebbe’s voice trailed off. Hisdisciples noticed that he was crying. He saidto them: ‘You wanted me to teach you thesecret of prayer. I want you to know that Iwould like to be able to pray once in my lifelike Maxele from St. Petersburg.”

If only I could pray

privy to a lot of his works.” Holding a black and white photograph of himself as a young man with Rabbi Kalmanowitz, Smith said, “I was touched by an angel, here’s my buddy, I revered this man.”

“He gives more than most people (to the Mirrer Yeshiva), “ said Rabbi Pinchos Hecht, of Far Rockaway, Executive Director of Mir-rer Yeshiva, of Smith. “He’s on the Board of Trustees. He cares about the Jewish people; he cares about others. He met Rabbi Kal-manowitz as a young man and was inspired to think and do for others.”

Stanley Smith’s father, born Abraham Isaac Kuznitzoff, meaning blacksmith, came to the U.S. from Belaruss at age 11. He worked with his brother, an electrician, open-ing his own business, A.I. Smith, in Brooklyn in 1933 when Stanley was born. Stanley ac-companied his father to work from age six and met Rabbi Kalmanowitz in 1954 when they did the electrical work for the Mir Ye-shiva building in Brooklyn. Stanley was very impressed by the rov. “He was phenomenal,” Smith said. Smith’s father died in 1956 when Stanley was 23; his 30-year-old brother died a week later. Stanley took over the business.

Rabbi Kalmanowitz was a rosh yeshiva and president of the yeshiva in Mir, Poland before WWII, explained Hecht. A student of the Chofetz Chaim and close to Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski, Kalmanowitz helped the Mirrer Yeshiva in Europe. After all the ye-shivas fl ed to briefl y independent Vilna in Lithuania, Kalmanowitz secured visas from Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat serv-ing in Kovno, and funding for the trip across Russia to Vladivostok and Kobe, Japan. Rab-bi Kalmanowitz was able to get a visa to the United States in 1940 and arranged support for the entire yeshiva, and other Jews who fl ed with the yeshiva, while in Kobe and for the six years after its transfer by Japan to Shanghai.

Following the war, the yeshiva left Shang-hai and formed three institutions: the Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn, Yeshivas Mir in Jerusa-lem and Bais Hatalmud, also in Brooklyn.

Rabbi Kalmanowitz also helped found the War Refugee Board and worked with Rudolf Kastner to help free 1,355 Hungarian Jews from Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp in 1944. “He tried to save the leadership

so there would be a future,” stressed Rabbi Hecht. He also saved 20 Jewish men from Egypt.

Smith recounted that at the end of WWII, General Eisenhower telegrammed Rabbi Kal-manowitz that he was “coming close to the camps” anticipating fi nding survivors and asked “what do I do?’ “Send them Bibles and blankets,” wrote back Kalmanowitz. “Con-fi rmed,” noted Eisenhower, “800 Bibles and 150,000 blankets.” Smith noted that they remained close from then on. He also relat-ed that Rabbi Kalmanowitz was sent by the State Department to warn the King of Mo-rocco of an assassination and coup attempt. The king thanked the rabbi.

Kalmanowitz also corresponded with Si-mon Wiesenthal to attempt to capture and prosecute Adolf Eichmann. In a prophetic letter, Kalmanowitz wrote: “It is not only my desire to prosecute Eichmann, but to stop his diabolical acts against the free world. The acts of aggression on the part of the Arabi-an people and the infl ammatory statement made publicly by King Saudi, make it very evident that they are being infl uenced by the Nazis, as their tactics and language are simi-lar to those used by Goebbels and Hitler in their campaign to conquer the world.”

Smith also recalled helping procure pa-pers following Rabbi Kalmanowitz’s death in Florida, to bring the body back to New York and send it on to burial in Israel.

He read aloud from an entry written by Hubert H. Humphrey, President Lyndon Johnson’s Vice President, in a memorial jour-nal on Rabbi Kalmanowitz’s passing: “Until the end he was seeking refuge for the op-pressed and founding schools to keep the light of wisdom burning. It was a benedic-tion to have known him and because of men like him no oppressor will crush the spirit of men.”

Smith has many stories to tell of behind the scenes maneuvering, his ties and “rela-tionships,” a term he stresses, to infl uential people and events. He admits to ties with law enforcement, unions, his meeting fa-mous people and maintaining these relation-ships over time, introducing people from his different circles to each other, further grow-ing spheres of infl uence. He was invited to join the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce in 1968, arranging events and expanding it with a Welcome Back to Brooklyn and a Brooklyn Goes Global event, inviting in-ternational businessmen, celebrities, and politicians. He has “relationships” with di-

verse people including Chinese politiciansand CFOs, businessmen from the Ukraineand Russia, people from Cuba, and the U.S.government. He’s been photographed withMohammad Ali, Carl Bernstein, Joe Frasier,Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, Ruth Wes-theimer, Judd Hirsch, Chinese offi cials andbusinessmen, Cuban offi cials and many otherinfl uential people. He said his relationshipwith the Chinese helped him negotiate therelease of 23 Americans arrested on chargesof spying when their plane went down inChina in 2001.

“There is no ending to this,” said Smith.“I tie people together. We don’t need manypeople, but we need a few people who knowhow to handle things in the right direction.We can do anything; you have to respectthem.

“We’ve got to go ahead; the next genera-tion doesn’t know anything,” he continued.“They gave a $25 check to Mir. We gottawake them up, to raise their consciousnessto the eminent danger, not only of anti-Semi-tism and genocide in the Arab world and Eu-rope, but the Nazi infl uence. I contributedevery year. But nobody’s continuing (RabbiKalmanowitz’s work). We have to reach outto government leaders to stop the chaos inthe world for Jews and anti-Semitism. Youhave to promote and plant the seed. It’s likecarrying a torch.“ He attributes his successto his relationship with Rabbi Kalmonowitzand often asks himself “what would he do ifhe was in this problem. He showed me theway to penetrate bureaucracy, which I be-came an expert on,” he emphasized.

“I can’t wait to get up in the morning,” hesaid. “I have nachas every morning when Iwake up. G-d gives me the gift of this day.I’m going to make this day last forever.”

Stanley Smith: Inspired by a RabbiContinued from page 1

from left, Stanley Smith, unknown contributor to Mir, Rabbi Avrohom Kalmanow-itz, New York State Comptroller Arthur Levitt, Rabbi Moshe Handelsman from Mir, later Executive director, Harry Lefrak, founder of Lefrak Company and also a donor to Mir, Lefrak’s assistant, unknown contributor. Rabbi Kalmanowitz handing dinner invitation to Levitt. 1956.

Photo by Malka Eisenberg

Stanley Smith with a folder of the Mirarchives.

By Karen C. Green

Over 150 of New York’s prestigious real estate professionals came together for a day of golfi ng on Monday, September 10, 2012, for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) NY Real Estate Division Golf Outing at Glen Oaks Country Club in Old Westbury. Glorious weather set the stage for 18 holes by the day and cocktails and a dinner recep-tion in the evening, with a very poignant fi lm featuring IDF soldiers.

Chairman of the FIDF NY Real Estate Divi-sion, Ofer Yardeni, welcomed those in atten-dance and, on behalf of his event Co-Chairs, Joel Seiden and Jeffrey Mann, thanked par-ticipants for their support. “The FIDF plays a very important role in supporting the sol-diers of Israel“The Real Estate Division of the FIDF has built up a strong base of participa-tion over the last few years and is committed to creating impactful events for the organiza-tion. The turnout at the fi rst ever Golf Outing is another sign that the real estate industry in New York City is passionate about improving the lives of the Israeli soldiers.”

Ofer continued to deliver a powerful yet simple message in regard to his commitment to Israel and FIDF. “Israel is like the palm of your hand. Others countries are like the fi n-gers, who without the palm, are like sticks. Israel is what makes us alive. The palm is what connects the fi ngers. Without Israel we would get lost.”

Active duty IDF soldiers, who traveled to New York from Israel, were in attendance and shared their stories with FIDF support-ers. Cpt. Eliran Avnaim, a professional golfer who is also an operational offi cer for the 93rd

Battalion (Kfi r Brigade) and was a platoon commander in the Second Lebanon War said, “This event is so wonderful. It’s exciting to see such support for us here in New York. It’s amazing, and you can feel the energy. The support is so important to soldiers; it makes you feel better.”

Cpl. Zev Simcha Grushka, 19, a DRS alum from Cedarhurst, made Aliyah to Israel to

serve in the IDF, where he is now a tank com-mander. He followed his two older brothers to the IDF. “ My two older brothers are also in the Army, my oldest as a sniper and the other as a paratrooper. Our commitment comes from our parents’ strong Zionist up-bringing. They taught us what’s important. FIDF means a lot. My service would be so much harder without them. FIDF is like a

second family.” Two women soldiers there were Cpl. Ha-

dar Reisin Tzur, a Lone Soldier serving asa simulator instructor in the IDF and IM-PACT Scholarship recipient Lia Naidorf, whoserved as a combat soldier in the canine unitin the IDF and today is studying physical ed-ucation at Wingate University. Lia is also acompetitive bodybuilder who participates in competitions worldwide.

“It has been a pleasure to work on suchan inspiring event that attracted over 150 participants,” said event Co-Chair, Jeffrey Mann.“

Among the FIDF supporters in attendance included brothers Mitchell, Eddie and Ru-vane Vilinsky, from Brooklyn, Hewlett andGreat Neck, respectively, who along withfriend Howie Porat of Brooklyn enjoyed agreat day on the green. “FIDF is a greatcause. I fully support them. They’re pro-viding much needed support for the soldiers.It was a pleasure to be here. It was a veryenjoyable day, for an amazing cause. Person-ally, I was in Israel at one of the bases alongwith my family. They greeted us; it was fab-ulous,” noted Ruvane.

The FIDF NY Real Estate Division was started in 2006 by a group of successful busi-ness and philanthropic leaders who werepassionate about uniting members of the real estate community in support of Israel’ssoldiers. The division has supported severalcapital projects including a wellbeing center at Revaya Base for Battalion 71 of the 188thBrigade, as well as other FIDF wellbeing pro-grams to benefi t the soldiers, and is an inte-gral part of FIDF’s Tri-State Region.

FIDF NY real estate division turnout is up to par

Photos by Howard Wechsler

Golfers supporting the FIDF include Howard Porat of Brooklyn and brothers Ruvane, Eddie and Mitchell Vilinsky of Great Neck, Hewlett and Brooklyn, respectively.

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C amp is over, pools are being closed, fall clothing line the racks in stores, the football season has begun and there

are only 19 games left to be played in the MLB. Yes, sadly, summer is over and Rosh Hashanah is just a few days away. For the last few weeks the exchanges have been the same....”Shanna Tova,” “have a happy and healthy new year,” or my favorite, “gut g’benched yur,” as my grandparents used

to say. They were very good at “vinching oon” (“wishing upon you” as in “vinching oon a gut, g’benched yur.” Not many people I know use that last phrase, but one who did was my husband’s parrot. After graduating law school, Jerry headed to Boston to earn his LLM. His parrot moved into Jerry’s parent’s house, and in no time was fl u-ent in Yiddish. Not only

was Birdie, as his parents called the bird, able to memorize anything that was repeated often enough, he did it in the exact voice and accent of the person who spoke it. One day my mother in law’s sister stopped by. She rang the bell and heard “Who is it? Come in.” “It’s Ruchel,” her sister responded as she turned the knob, but the door was locked. Again she rang the bell and again heard, “Who is it? Come in.” Again, Ruchel tried to open the door. Exasperated she rang the

bell one more time and again heard “Who is it? Come in.” Ruchel wasn’t in the mood for games, “Mottle open the door now, I’m stand-ing outside and it’s locked.” That night, when my mother in law called her sister and got the cold shoulder, she asked her what was wrong. “Don’t play games with me, (macht nisht con choizic) you know what’s wrong. I stood out there ringing the bell and you kept telling me to come in, but it was locked.” Puzzled, my mother in law said she had no idea what she was talking about, as she was out for most of the day. Just as she was about to hang up, the bell rang and before she could get to the door, Birdie called out, “Who is it, come in.” Both sisters had a good laugh. Birdie could also be heard wishing everyone “a gut g’benched yur,” “a freilichin yom tov, and gut Shobbos.” He would have felt right at home in a “shteeble.”

Not only was Birdie fl uent in Yiddish, but he could also be heard inspiring us to be bet-ter Americans, when he would quote JFK with, “It’s not what your country can do for you, it’s what you can do for your country.” And when he wasn’t waxing presidential, he could be heard quoting lines from Jackie Gleason’s show, The Honeymooners. Jerry taught the bird to imitate Jackie Gleason’s mother-in-law, saying, “hey get a load of fat-so.” Problem was, it was a week before they had a houseguest over for Shabbos who was a bit on the heavy side. Yes, you guessed it, the bird’s cage was in the guest room and as soon as it got light in the morning Birdie, could be heard screaming, “heeeey, get a load of faaaaatsoooo.” Had I been around then, the

bird would have been doing “The Tomahawk Chop” chant of my beloved Atlanta Braves.

I’d like to be serious for a moment and thank all my readers who allow me into your homes each week to share a recipe, my mem-ories, and a laugh with you. And to those of you who take the time to email, or personally provide me with positive feedback, whether in the supermarket, gym, shul or anywhere in the neighborhood, it means the world to me. A special hakaras hatov to my editor, publish-er and good friend Karen Cohen Green who had way more faith in my writing abilities than I did, and insisted I give this column a try. I’d like to take this opportunity to “vinch you all oon, a gut g’benched yur” fi lled with health and happiness. Ahh… my grandpar-ents would proud.

Enjoy the following recipe for Rosh Ha-shanah. I’m certain Jerry’s parrot would have had some choice words regarding my selection of his relatives for this dish. Please accept my apologies Birdie.

CORNISH HENS WITH POMEGRANATE GLAZE

■ 6 Cornish hens■ Garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste■ 1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (you can

purchase them by the container at Gourmet Glatt)

■ Pomegranate glaze (recipe below)■ Greens of your choice to garnish the

serving platter

Pomegranate glaze■ 2 1/2 cups bottled pomegranate juice

■ 2 1/2 cups sugar ■ 2 1/2 cups water

1. Bring the pomegranate juice, sugar andwater to a boil

2. Turn to medium low heat and sim-mer until mixture becomes like a thick glaze (about 20 minutes)

3. Set aside and cool. Glaze can be made up to three days before.

4. Wash and dry the Cornish hens. Sprin-kle inside cavity and outside with garlic pow-der. Salt and pepper to taste (I like to tie the legs together)

5. Place hens in a roasting pan and gener-ously brush on the pomegranate glaze

Place in an oven set at 375 F for 15 min-utes then baste and reduce temperature to350 F and bake for another 45 minutes or un-til clear juices run from thigh when pierced. Internal temperature should be at 170 F

6. Place hens on a platter of greens of your choice and scatter the fresh uncookedpomegranate seeds around the hens.

Note, if hens are larger than one portioneach I like to cut them in half before arrang-ing them on the platter.

Judy Joszef can be reached at judy.soiree@gmail.com

Who’s in the kitchen

A recipe worth crowing about

Judy Joszef

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Students in 4th -6th grade at HANC’s Samu-el & Elizabeth Bass Golding Elementary School, in West Hempstead, participated in a moving assembly to commemorate the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Although the 4th -6th grade students don’t personally remember the terrible events that took place that day, it is im-portant that they learn about and appreciate the many lessons we learned from that day.

The assembly was lead by Principal Rabbi Yaakov Sadigh and Social Studies teacher Mrs. Karen Spitalnik. Rabbi Sadigh explained that we all became soldiers on 9/11 in order to pro-

tect our liberty and freedom. And he noted thatwe need to be grateful to the United States forgranting us religious freedom to practice Juda-ism. The students raised an American fl ag thatMrs. Spitalnik generously lent to the school; thefl ag they raised is the very fl ag that fl ew overthe U.S. Capitol Building on September 11,2002.

The assembly ended with the singing of ourNational Anthem as well as recitation of a tefi l-lah for the safety of our country and its people.May our children merit to live in safety andsecurity.

HANC Commemorates 9/11

Photo courtesy of Hanc

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Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year

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9th Senatorial District

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Paid for by Becker for Congress

Francis X. BeckerRepublican Candidate for United States Congress

Warm wishes to you and your family for a healthy, happy and sweet Passover.

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most American Jews support the same things as Rabbis for Human Rights. Do you think Palestinians should fi re rockets at Jewish civil-ians? No. Do you think innocent Palestinians should be tortured or unjustly detained, or prevented from accessing their fi elds to pick tomatoes? No. Is it worth investi-gating alleged human rights viola-

tions to protect the human rights of all citizens of Israel and make sure she lives up to our tradition’s values? Yes. Oh, sorry, was I being anti-Israel?

Rabbi David B. SiffFlatbush Jewish Center

Brooklyn

Letters to the editorContinued from page 4

I t’s always exciting to receive a gift and pleasurable to procure something new. Whether it’s big or small, expensive or

reasonable, exotic, unique or even just a useful or attractive household item, ac-

quiring a fresh new object feels good. If getting things im-pacts one positively, then it could follow that losing things would only be nega-tive, but life’s more complicated than that.

I clearly remem-ber many objects, some quite signifi -cant and others of small value, that I’ve misplaced over the years. I forget about them for a while, until by some

association they pop up in my head and once again I search in my mind for how and where I could have lost them. Losing stuff drives me nuts. I blame myself for being distracted, unfocused and fl akey and it could haunt me even if the item has already been replaced. I agonize over its actual or sentimental value, which may rise simply due to the fact that it’s lost.

I try the virtual method of retracing my steps, which is kind of like a video game

with my starting point as the last time I saw the object. I commence moving like an avatar through the places I passed un-til the endpoint when I realized the item was gone.

If this imagery doesn’t work, then I am forced to do a physical backtrack, walk-ing backwards from my present location to where I believe I dropped that thing. I play this game daily (or more!) for such mundane but necessary items as my keys, glasses, cell phone or wallet. This is an oft repeated, exceptionally frustrating ritual, which I hate, but seem to be destined to continue forever. Those precious wasted moments from which I clearly learn noth-ing feel very long, too.

The only goodness to come out of this repetition is the delicious “aha” moment that comes with my discovery of the miss-ing culprit. Yes, I know that calling keys and glasses “culprits” implies that they somehow hid themselves away from view. It gives me a break from constantly impli-cating myself in this perpetual madness.

Most objects I’ve lost were never found again, but I still remember them clearly even thirty years later. I left a perfectly good point and shoot camera in a taxi cab I got into with my mom in front of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on our way to French Hill. I don’t know how many photos were left undeveloped in the fi lm. I lost a

MIRIAM’S MUSINGS

Miriam Bradman Abrahams

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

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Sincererly

Dr. Sergio Sokol MD, FACCCardiologist

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By Stew Greenberg

I hope that everyone reading this article had a peaceful transition between the calm of summer and the mad rush that started with shopping and culminated by saying good-bye to our children at the bus stop. While most of you have spent the last two weeks outfi tting your children with everything from clothing to knapsacks to protractors, there’s a group of professionals who have been hard at work to enhance the educational experience that our students will be immersed in for the coming year. Yes, the administrators have re-turned and the teachers have been oriented, but there’s yet another group. I’m referring to the Educational Technology Specialists.

As each school develops their vision for how to inculcate technology into the class-room, it is the educational technology spe-cialists who are crucial to the planning and implementation of these goals and aspira-tions. So you may ask….”What’s different this year? The school already has interactive white boards (aka IWBs or Smartboards©) in most of the classrooms…” While IWBs abound in many classrooms, with thanks in no small part to the angels at CIJE (The Gruss Foundation’s Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education), they function as an en-gaging delivery mechanism for information but they are only one component in the arse-nal available to educators.

In coming weeks, I intend to discuss dif-ferent tools and methodologies with real-life case studies to exhibit what your children

may have to look forward to. It’s important to remember that no one tool is viable in ev-ery school, in every class, in every subject, and with every teacher, rebbe, or morah. That is what makes the planning and devel-opment such a meticulous process. The tools chosen at any juncture need to complement the curriculum in any giving school, as well as the day-to-day lesson plans of each in-structor. My greatest joy is seeing that all of these tools can and do transcend the borders between secular studies and Limudei Kodesh (Hebrew/Judaic Studies). It’s important to mention that in many Yeshivos and Hebrew Day Schools, the Judaic studies staff is push-ing the envelope in Ed-tech usage since much of what the instructors draw on is developed by them for their own classes. This is in com-parison to General Studies subjects, where content and applications are much more readily available in the marketplace.

I hope to enlighten parents in coming weeks in concepts that they may be familiar with and others that they are just being in-troduced to, including Blended Learning, 1:1 Instruction/Learning, Interactive Response Systems, Learning Management Systems, and Web 2.0 tools for education.

Let me tempt you with a story and then a tip you can use with your own children in any grade in your own home to keep their minds active and engaged….

With permission of all parties involved, I’d like to share the highlight of last week (at least for me).

While working to deploy a new computer

lab in Shulamith School for Girls Middle Di-vision, I bumped into an old friend who is a parent of incoming 8th grader Arielle Lieber-man. It seems that, unfortunately, Arielle fell and badly fractured her ankle. When it became evident that Arielle needed to be im-mobilized for some time in the comfort of her home, both mother and student were devas-tated at the reality that the academically and socially crucial fi rst weeks of school would pass her by. We immediately swung into ac-tion to deploy a video conferencing system (actually Skype) to enable the home-bound 8th grader to participate in each and every class as necessary. I’m happy to report that the system is performing as intended and that Arielle is now an active participant in each of her classes from day one. Arielle’s mother Carolyn told me, “When I tell people she’s Skyping her classes they’re amazed.” Now, this wasn’t rocket science, or even that complicated at all. It was merely an effective unitization of resources that most schools al-ready possess. Aside from the human factor involving ed-tech specialists, administrators and parents, this accommodation cost the school nothing. And all of this was actually built on the idea that another concerned par-ent (and master educator) Elana Fertig began proposing last year when her daughter was recuperating from surgery. When I consulted Mrs. Fertig and told her that she paved the way for others in need, she said, “I’m thrilled that such good things have come out of my daughter’s recuperation. We hope it doesn’t need to be used often, but students can now

be part of school even if they unfortunatelycan’t be there physically.” I hope you’ll allagree that the outcome continues to be price-less. I’d hope that each and every school is proactively preparing systems like this to ac-commodate such cases which we hope never occur. Small, but well thought out, steps can yield long-lasting results for one or many stu-dents, effectively changing their outlook onschool.

As promised I’ll end with a tidbit for all of you to play with. Many of you and your children occasional utilize Dictionary.com or Thesaurus.com as a reference tool. What you never have seen is the tab on that site that reads “Word Dynamo.” It’s a word game that challenges students in all grades through col-lege and beyond and is available to adults as well. Word Dynamo uses algorithms to quiz the player and constantly challenge their vo-cabulary skills. There are sections for each grade level and some for subjects like sci-ence, history, current events, etc. I guarantee you’ll all feel challenged, but will have fun learning together. ENJOY!

Stew Greenberg lives in Woodmere and isan Educational Technology Consultant. He is the founder and president of EdknowlogyPartners, a company that collaborates with private schools around the country, helping their stakeholders develop an implementable and sustainable vision for deployment of educational technology into their every-dayclassrooms and curriculum. He can be con-tacted at StewG@Edknowlogy.com

Educational technology in and out of the classroomTH

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L’Shana Tova!

J. Mark Interiors

New York Custom Closets

Liebert’s Royal Green Appliance

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hand painted t-shirt my sister gave me the fi rst time I left home. I had asked her to make it for me, but left it on some train or youth hostel in Western Europe. I dropped a pair of big red prescription glasses while bicycling in Nahariya. I rode back to look for them, but since then they’ve only been seen in photos taken that day.

I lost my gold wedding band a few years ago. I had rarely removed it, keep-ing it on in my sleep, when I cooked and bathed, taking it off only when neces-sary. Partly sentiment and partly habit, its simplicity felt right on my fi nger, neither loose nor tight, it was just comfortable and I was accustomed to it, but I also must have fi gured that if I wore it I wouldn’t lose it. When I did remove it, I would place it carefully in a spot where it could be easily seen.

One day it was gone, off my ring fi n-ger, not on the tiny dish by the sink, nor in the pretty bowl on my nightstand. I frantically searched the sheets, the fl oor, the drawers by my bed. I shook out papers and books. Not once, but again and again every now and then. One day, two years later, the gold band appeared in a far cor-ner of my bedside drawer. Perhaps the contents had shifted, fi nally revealing the missing ring, but I was convinced this was nothing short of a miracle. It was a most welcome relief and resolution to my long

puzzlement over this mysterious loss. Recently I lost a pretty new pair of pur-

ple prescription glasses. It was a spontane-ous purchase; I already had two nice pairs, but I fell in love with these. I wore them ev-ery day for six weeks, keeping them clean and safe. Then I rode the train home late one night and tiredly stowed them away in my bag. I took a taxi from Valley Stream, walked in the door, emptied my bag and noticed they were gone. I searched my hallway, the train station, the taxi stand. Although I failed in my last ditch effort to reclaim my glasses, I felt much better after my inquiry at the LIRR lost and found of-fi ce by the entrance to track 13.

I riffl ed through boxes storing hun-dreds of lost glasses, which were kept by containers holding hundreds of keys, along with receptacles storing hundreds of cell phones. Though I had no luck, I felt at one with thousands of other com-muters, people like me, who lose stuff. I didn’t feel fl akey, distracted or unfocused anymore, only human.

May we all fi nd what we’re looking for!

Miriam Bradman Abrahams is Cuban born, Brooklyn bred and lives in Woodmere. She organizes author events for Hadas-sah, reviews books for Jewish Book World and is very slowly writing her father’s im-migration story. She can be reached at mabraha1@optonline.net

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

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L’Shana Tova TikatevuA Happy and Sweet

New Yearto you and yours

Legislator Howard J. Kopel

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Supervisor Kate MurrayTown of Hempstead

Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year

5778

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May You and Your Family Have a Year Filled with

Joy and Good Health84 Years & Counting

3187 Long Beach Rd., Oceanside • 516-766-3855

Midreshet Shalhevet 5773School is off to a soaring start at Shalhe-

vet High School, now in its fi fth year. In ad-dition to their full slate of courses and APs (such as AP Chemistry, Psychology, Calculus AB and BC, European History and American History), new AP offerings this year include AP English Composition and AP Art. Other new course offerings include Sign Language (for grades 10, 11 and 12), Creative Writing, and Public Speaking. The school is proud to welcome many new teachers to their out-standing faculty, and especially to welcome Mrs. Shaindy Lisker to the role of Assistant Principal. Students are buzzing with the op-portunity to try out for the musical Newsies. The girls are looking forward to the chesed trips that have become a staple of the school; erev Rosh Hashana chesed programs include trips to Masbia and the Hebrew Free Burial Society. For further information call 516 224-0240 or email at info@midreshetshalhevet.org

Rambam Mesivta 5773Following last year’s 20th Anniversary cel-

ebration, Rambam Mesivta is poised to con-tinue its mission of molding the students of today into the leaders of tomorrow. One of the highlights of the year will be the school’s Night Torah Learning Program. Nearly ev-ery night, from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM, a Ram-bam Rebbe will be available to learn with talmidim who want to learn. There will be “open” learning, as well as pizza, in addi-tion to a shiur. Then, from 8:30PM-9:45Pm there will be a Rambam Kollel followed by a 9:45 PM Maariv. The Mesivta invites the

community to learn and daven by them and enhance this Makkom Torah. Additionally, a Rebbe will be available for optional lunch Learning. Also, under the guidance of Rabbi Avi Haar, Rambam Mesivta is bringing back its Limudei Kodesh Honor Society. Talmidim will qualify for the program by participating in optional learning, writing for Hamasmid, the school’s weekly Dvar Torah publication, doing chesed, and other Torah related activi-ties. Members of the Society will be treated to a special trip, become eligible for raffl es, and earn special recognition on their diplo-mas and at graduation.

Rambam Mesivta, long recognized for its commitment to activism, is planning a rally to protest Germany’s ruling that circumci-sion be made illegal. Rambam students will march on the German Consulate in an effort to raise awareness about this transparent act of discrimination.

On the General Studies side of things, having met Elie Wiesel, author of Night, and Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, last year, the school’s Meet The Au-thor Book Club plans on meeting Tom Wolfe, author of The Right Stuff as well as Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz. The school’s Cul-ture Club currently plans on seeing another Shakespearian play, following last year’s ex-clusive “Talk Back” with the cast and director of the Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice. The Culture Club also plans on ob-serving a lab at work at Brookhaven College and attending workshops at the Museum of Tolerance in conjunction with Rambam’s UN Watch Group.

Bringing learning to life, living Torah, engaging in chesed and viewing the world through a halachic framework are the hall-marks of a Rambam Mesivta education. This year looks to be another one for Rambam students to not only learn history, but also make history. For further information please contact Assistant Principal Hillel Goldman at hgoldman@rambam.org

To submit an update or news for your school, please call Malka Eisenberg at 516 622-7461 x240.

School updates

The Jewish Star newspaper

(Long Island, NY)

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496 Hempstead Tpke.,West Hempstead, NY 11552

(516) 292-2090

L’Shana Tova!Best Wishes For A Happy,

Healthy and Sweet New Year!

5779

13

Young Israel of HewlettWishes All Of Our Friends

A Happy & Sweet New Year

Rabbi Heshy BlumsteinPresident Stephen Krown

1 Piermont Ave. • HewlettP. O. Box 176 • Hewlett, NY 11557

(516) 295-2282www.yihewlett.org

Shanah Tovah Umetukah

Best Wishes for a Happy and Sweet New Year

CONGREGATION B’NAI SHOLOM-BETH DAVID

5784

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Daniel Mendelson, Cantor

Jeffrey Goodstein,

Don Schiller, Executive DirectorRichard Perlbinder, Ritual Director

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Have a Happy, Healthy and

Sweet New Year!

Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder718-945-9550

Goldfederp@assembly.state.ny.us

5765

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The Young Israel

Of OceansideWishes All of Our Friends

a Year of Peace,Good Health And Happiness

150 Waukena AvenueOceanside, New York 11572

(516) 764-1099 - www.yioceanside.orgRabbi Jonathan Muskat

Harley Greenbaum, President

On September 10, 2012, Neshama Car-lebach was honored with Israel Children’s Cancer Foundation’s “Ray of Hope” award for her efforts raising funds and awareness for Children of Israel stricken with all forms of pediatric cancers. This prestigious event took place at the annual dinner. Harold Blond, founder of the organization, was the presenter.

In addition to raising funds, Neshama was

credited with recording the song “TapuachZahav” through Pioneers for a Cure. Thesong is available for download throughits website with all proceeds going to theFoundation.

Ms. Carlebach performed three songs including “Tapuach Zahav,” with her band.

Neshama Carlebach is an internationallyknown songstress and the daughter of thelate Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

Neshama Carlebach Honored

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The Jewish Star staffwishes our readers a

Shana TovaMay you and yours be inscribed

in the Book of Life

Karen C. GreenPublisher and Editor

Malka EisenbergAssistant Editor

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L’Shana TovaWishing All Our

Friends And Clients A Healthy, Happy & Peaceful New Year

Your Agent for Life, HealthAnd Long Term CareWarren Kalmenson

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A Happy &

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Assemblyman David I. Weprin Wishes the readers of

the Jewish Star,K’tiva V’ Chatima Tovah

District Offi ce 56-21 Marathon Parkway Little Neck, NY 11362

(718) 428-7900

5792

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Shana Tova, Best Wishes for a

Happy Holiday and A Sweet New Year.

Hon. Andrew M. EngelJudge of the District Court, Second District

Town of Hempstead/City of Long Beach

5778

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Wishing our friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year!

L’Shana Tova

William Gaylor IIILynbrook Associate Justice

Candidate for District Court Judge 2012

5762

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The Woodmere Rehabilitation & Health Care Center

Wishes Our Friends & Neighbors a Sweet & Kosher New Year

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Ensign Laurence D. Solowey Post 652

Bernard HoffmanCommander

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Jewish War Veterans ofThe United States of America

Extends Our Best Wishes For A Happy, Healthy & Peaceful New Year

to All57

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LIDO BEACH SYNAGOGUE

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We Wish Everyone

L’SHANA TOVARabbi: Daniel MehlmanPresident: Fred Rusgo

Sisterhood Co-Presidents:Debbie Bachman • Toby Rusgo

should have, not merely because he is a GOP candidate for Congress, but because he is one of the areas most respected Rabbis. And as for NORPAC, they remain on the sidelines despite the fact that there is a clear differ-ence between the two candidates’ records with regards to the Jewish State, they are not sure Rabbi Shmuley will win, or perhaps are afraid that if he does, it will rile up the local Arab community the same way the primary did.

According to the campaign, the leadership of pro-Israel organizations does not want the Rabbi to even mention Israel in his campaign. NORPAC president Ben Chouake approached the Rabbi urging him not to mention Israel. In a very public confrontation at the AIPAC Young Leadership Dinner, AIPAC’s Northeast Regional Director Mike Sachs, practically or-dered Rabbi Boteach to avoid talking about Israel.

Note: After fi rst agreeing to provide Mr. Sachs/AIPAC’s side of the story, AIPAC’s com-munication department did not return phone calls or emails.

In the end this is a very strange race. NOR-PAC should be strongly behind Rabbi Bote-ach, a pro-Israel Rabbi whose daughter is in the IDF, who is opposing a congressman with a poor record on Israel. But they are sitting on the sidelines. AIPAC seems to be joining NORPAC in trying to convince the Rabbi not to make Israel an issue in the campaign. To paraphrase Shakespeare, “Things are rotten in the State of Jersey,” and NORPAC and AIPAC are disappointing their donors and disregard-ing their missions with their NY-9 actions.

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

Why do NORPAC and AIPAC want to stop acandidate from talking about Israel?

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We wish our friends a year filled with Happiness, Prosperity and Good Health

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CAHALThe Community-Wide

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a happy, healthy and prosperous new year

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Wishing all our

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“To A YearBACKED With Health And Happiness”

The Cedahurst Chiropractic CenterDr. Shimon Metz222 Rockaway TurnpikeCedahurst, NY 11516

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L’ Shana TovaThank you for welcoming us

and being part of our family.

Wishing you all the greatest of health and happiness.

Family Fitness Unlimited334 Hempstead Ave

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The HALB family would like to wish

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May the New YearBring You and Your Family

Health, Happiness and Prosperity.

207 Grove Ave., Cedarhurst 516-569-6733

www.fivetownsjcc.org

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Arnie WaldmanPresident

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L’Shana Tova

To All Our

Friends

Jerusalem Florist, LTD712 West Broadway

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Photo by Monica Rzewski

Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Congregation Beth Sholom delivers benediction at theVillage of Cedarhurst 9/11 Memorial at Andrew J. Parise Park. Present fromleft to right is NYS Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Village of CedarhurstMayor Andrew J. Parise and Monsignor Paul F. Rahilly, Pastor of St. Joachim

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We need someone with an entrepreneurial mindset to help us develop a viable business model that allows us to monetize our web presence while attracting and delighting readers and advertisers with compelling content and features, coordinate our social media presence and for-mulate and execute our mobile strategy. You will be building our digital department from the ground up.

• Qualifi ed candidates should have the following experience/skills:

• 2+ years of hands-on experience in online/interactive/digital media

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• Outstanding presentation and negotiation skills

• AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, an entrepreneurial, innovative mind set - a true self-started, who can take new online opportunities from concept to completion with an eye on the bottom line.

Richner Communications is a family-owned publisher of 28 weekly community newspapers, shopping guides and affi liated websites. We offer a friendly, informal environment in our state-of-the-art offi ces in Garden City, salary, paid time off, excellent health plan and 401(k).

Qualifi ed Candidates should email a cover letter, resume and salary requirements to careers.richner@gmail.com

DIRECTOR OF ONLINE MEDIA

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FREE 13 Day HHA Training Available in Nassau & Suffolk

Training classes in Nassau & Suffolkcoming soon!

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CERTIFIED HOME HEALTH AIDESin Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Nassau & Suffolk

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Run Your Ad in The Jewish Star

Just Call Our ClassifiedDepartment at516-632-5205

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“A KOSHER PICKLEBARREL OF LAUGHS!

Five terrifi c performers. Fiendishly Madcap”– New York Daily News

“HILARIOUS!”– New York Daily News – The Village Voice

– The New York Times – Backstage – Variety

”YOU’LL LAUGHYOUR TUCHUS OFF!This show could run forever.”

– Variety

The Westside Theatre, 407 West 43rd StreetTelecharge.com/212-239-6200

www.ojtjonstage.com

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LUNAPARKNYC.COM

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WAREHOUSEWAREHOUSELiquor & Wine

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We wish all of our friends a Very Happy and Healthy New Year! L’Shana Tova!L’Shana Tova!

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