The Jewish Star - Creative Circle Media Solutions
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The Jewish Star - Creative Circle Media Solutions
The Jewish Star Independent and original reporting from the Orthodox communities of Long Island VOL. 8, NO. 10 MARCH 5, 2009 | 10 ADAR 5769 CLOWNING AROUND Turn your clocks forward this Sunday and change your smoke detector batteries Lev Leytzan honors local volunteers Page 3 W W See VIEW, Page 5 David Seidemann is a partner with the law firm of Seidemann & Mermelstein. He can be reached at (718) 692-1013 and at [email protected]. Inside Eliezer Project expanding Fund raising planned for West Hempstead and Oceanside BY YA F F I S P O D E K With the recession deepening and a seemingly ever-increasing number of jobs being lost, the Cedarhurst-based Eliezer Project –– a not-for profit that is helping families weather the economic crisis –– is expanding to meet requests for help from people in nearby communities who are also struggling to make ends meet. Since its inception several months ago, The Eliezer Project has grown from an ambitious idea into a professional organization servicing close to 80 clients, unemployed heads of household throughout the Five Towns and Far Rockaway. At a parlor meeting later this month, members of The Eliezer Project will visit West Hempstead to explain their mission and outline the different services that they provide. There are plans to host a similar meeting in Oceanside in the coming weeks. “We’ve had numerous clients from West Hempstead come to us for help and we are already servicing them,” said Ellen Aronovitz, the project’s director of employ- ment, “so we are reaching out to explain what kinds of things we do and to try to raise money from community members there.” Volunteers from the Five Towns and Far Rockaway offer professional, financial and legal advice to clients of The Eliezer Project. Aronovitz hopes that people from West Hempstead and other communities will follow suit. Over the weekend of March 6-7, shuls in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway plan to conduct appeals for The Eliezer Project. Flu was the apparent cause of death BY M AY E R F E R T I G — to a new generation: “Eilecho,” “Pischu Li,” “Ura Kevodi,” “Tzion Tzion,” “Ani Ma’amin,” “Toras Hashem Temimah,” which is familiar to many as a Simchat Torah standby, and a few more. In dark pants and white shirts, the choir looked like the spitting image of what you’d imagine a Pirchei choir might look like. A man sitting next to me with binoculars turned out to be Jay See EVENT, Page 10 See COPING, Page 9 See ELIEZER, Page 7 The Event really was big BY M AY E R F E RT I G Only Simchas......................................................................2 Opinion .................................................................................4 Helping classmates cope with tragedy When word got out Saturday night of the shocking loss of Levi Yitzchok Wolowick, administrators of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, where he was a fourth grader, had to prepare their staff and their students to deal with his death. Rabbi Dovid Morgenstern, the menahel of the fourth and fifth grades, himself a trained grief counselor, said the yeshiva immediately sought guidance from Chai Lifeline’s bereavement and crisis intervention team, led by Dr. Norman Blumenthal and Mrs. Zahava Farbman. Blumenthal met that night with administrators and teachers, Rabbi Morgenstern said. The next night “we had a meeting...in the yeshiva for parents specifically of the fourth grade,” though it was open for all who wished to attend. When school resumed on Tuesday followPhoto courtesy Chabad.org ing the snow storm, Dr. Blumenthal, a psychologist, Levi Yitzchok Wolowick a”h and Mrs. Farbman, a licensed clinical social worker, planned to spend the day at Darchei offering counseling. Parents of children who don’t attend that yeshiva but who knew Levi or otherwise learn of his passing should “not fish” for a reaction, Dr. Blumenthal advised. “Don’t ask kids aggressively ‘are you sure you’re not upset.’ Don’t tell your child how to respond. Respect who your child is and how your child copes, like we would with adults,” he said. Also, he advised, “don’t give your child more information than they need. Don’t try to explain [Levi’s death] theologically or medically if they’re not asking.” “There is no normal reaction to an abnormal situation,” Mrs. Farbman said. “Kids, like adults, will react differently. How children will react will also depend, in large part, on their age.” Preschoolers often act out their feelings in their play. “After the Chanukah Wonderland accident we had kids playing crashes,” she said, “while “school-aged kids are very focused on the facts, the details, what happened, how it happened. They’ll listen to every rumor possible. You want to be as clear as you can on their age level. In their REVIEW The people who tried and failed to ruin the Lipa Schmeltzer concert billed as “The Event” weren’t missed at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night — but they missed some show. Producer Sheya Mendlowitz orchestrated a nearly seamless blend of live performance, clever video clips, and surprise guests — including Mordechai Ben David and Far Rockaway’s own Rabbi Boruch Chait — plus multiple costume changes — all presented without benefit of a live master of ceremonies, usually an omission that invites disaster, at least in my opinion, but certainly not in this case. (Note to concert promoters: if your name isn’t Sheya Mendlowitz you probably can’t pull that off; get an M.C). The Event was billed as a tribute to the late Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum a”h and it was a nice one. Among his many accomplishments Rabbi Teitelbaum produced the very successful Pirchei Boys Choir albums of the 1960s, and the show opened with the “new” Pirchei choir (actually the Yeshiva Boys Choir enthusiastically led by Yossi Newman) reintroducing Pirchei classics — as Pirchei songs See GRIEVING, Page 9 Photo by Shimon Gifter Lipa Schmeltzer, joined by Mordechai Ben David, onstage at the WaMu Theater at MSG Sunday night. Calendar...............................................................................6 Classified .............................................................................8 Shabbat Candlelighting: 5:34 p.m. ■ Shabbat ends: 6:35 p.m. Torah reading: Parshat Tetzaveh, Shabbat Zachor CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED e sat around the table, the rabbis, three of them, the maybe soon to be ex-husband, the maybe soon to be ex-wife, myself and a few other family members and friends there to lend support. Could this marriage be saved, the relationship repaired? At one point during the dialogue, the wife remarked, “We are at this point because you constantly have been asking me to be someone I am not.” “Not true,” said the husband. “All I have been doing over the last few years was to ask you to be the ” hen person I know you could be.” G-d takes a Silence perchild, that child meated the room. one spoke, no would not have No one moved. All of us, as I discovered been taken in subsequent unless that conversations, felt an immediate child has rush of guilt and unequivocally shame about missing the mark, completed his as Rabbis, husor her task on lawyers, bands, fathers, sons and friends. this Earth.“ The meeting actually ended after that remark because no one knew what to say afterwards. Sunday morning, a bris. Sunday afternoon, a funeral for a nine-year-old boy. So which runs deeper, the joy of new life or the pain of the loss of a life? There is no answer for one who doesn’t believe in the potential of man, the concept of a Creator and the concept of an afterlife. Life is measured in fulfillment of potential, not in the counting of birthdays celebrated. The bris of an eight-day-old can be more depressing than the funeral of a nine-year-old if we hold out little or no hope of that eight-day-old being nurtured in an environment that will develop his potential. I am willing to listen to any dissenting opinion from any Torah scholar but I believe as follows: G-d takes people who are in their sixties, seventies and eighties More than 500 people packed the banquet hall of the Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst for the annual dinner of the Chabad of the Five Towns, but the couple who has worked tirelessly for almost 15 years to strengthen Jewish life in Nassau County, Rabbi Zalman and Chanie Wolowik, was noticeably missing. The Wolowiks were observing shiva for their nine-year-old son Levi, who had Photo by Yosef Lewis tragically passed away just two nights Just hours after the burial of nine-year-old Levi Yitzchak Wolowik, stunned supporters before. If the March 1 dinner’s organizers of Chabad of the Five Towns entered a banquet hall for the center’s 14th-annual dinner and honorees had had their way, there to honor the wishes of their beloved rabbi and rebbetzin. might have been no event at all. Some wanted to cancel, while others spoke of postponing the affair to some time after Shloshim, the traditional 30-day mourning period. But the Wolowiks would have none of it, and sent a note to the community urging everyone’s participation. “I did not feel I would be able to celebrate,” related Tamar Pewzner, one of the evening’s honorees. “We were all trying to push it off or to cancel it,” echoed Debbie Werner, another honoree. “People were saying they weren’t in the mood, that they PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301 BY DAV I D S E I D E M A N N BY DOVID ZAKLIKOWSKI 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530 Perceiving our potential Grieving community transforms dinner into joyous honoring of boy’s life 266824 FROM THE OTH E R SI DE OF THE BENCH HAPPY PURIM! TIME TO SPRING AHEAD The Jewish Star March 6, 2009 Singing for Israel’s solidarity The Jewish Star offers heartfelt condolences to Rabbi Zalman and Rebbetzin Chanie Wolowick and their family High school girls’ choirs compete for tzedaka BY MALKA EISENBERG Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central) may have won first place in the Second Annual Girls’ Choir Competition at HAFTR High School on Feb. 23, but the joy and camaraderie of all five participating schools raising money for charity eclipsed any feelings of rivalry. Close to 400 women and girls filled HAFTR’s auditorium, raising over $3,500 in ticket sales for this year’s charity, the Israel Solidarity Fund of America (ISFA). Choirs from Central, HAFTR, HANC, Shalhevet and SKA took their turns on stage; some sang a cappella, others with musical or rhythmic accompaniment. Each group was announced and then greeted with raucous cheers from the audience as well as from opposing schools. Competitors called out to each other, offering moral support and highlighting friendships. The concert competition was organized by Rachel Gerstley, a Judaic Studies teacher and student activities coordinator at HAFTR. She gave an opening speech and dvar Torah in front of a video screen with a picture of the Kotel (Western Wall) and the words “Shirei Shalom” (songs of peace). She spoke of Esther finding her hidden potential, gather- Levi Yitzchok Wolowick a”h Hamakom Yenachem Etchem B'toch Sha'ar Aveilei Tzion V'Yerushalayim Cliff Richner Stuart Richner Richner Communications 266852 Mayer Fertig Publisher & Editor in chief Engagements ■ Engagement of Miriam Eyal (Brooklyn, NY) & Sruly Osherovitz (Monsey, NY) — Feb. 26, 2009 ■ Engagement of Devora Jacobowitz (Staten Island, NY) & Yoni Cohen (Staten Island, NY) — Feb. 15, 2009 Girls from five yeshiva high schools sang in a choir competition on Feb. 23 to raise money for the Israel Solidarity Fund of America, which distributes money to victims of terrorism and their families. ing all Jews together in achdut (unity) –– “Different schools, different backgrounds raising money for Israel, revealing their hidden potential, their individual and global potential and seeing the hidden hand of G-d as in the Megillah... The message behind Purim is to be able to experience the hand of G-d on a global level,” Gerstley said. Yudi Zuller spoke about ISFA, the organization he established in 2002 on Staten Island, and screened a video about his efforts. Through barbecues and concerts, he has successfully raised money to help victims of terrorism and their families, traveling to Israel several times a year to distribute the funds, most recently last week. “Follow your dreams, pursue your passions and never for- ■ Birth get your fellow Jews,” he said. “We can all make a difference. By being here, you have.” Gerstley modeled the competition after a similar event held for seminaries in Israel. She noted the success of last year’s inaugural competition, when the choirs raised money for the Koby Mandell Foundation. “Girls who went to Camp Koby spoke,” said Gerstley. “Koby’s father came and spoke when we gave him the check. It was very moving... One of the things I wanted the girls to see this year was this speaker, to see what one person can do, running concerts, raising money and bringing it to Israel.” “Everybody always likes to hear singing,” she continued. “It was a way to bring the community together, the different schools. It was packed last year and this year we had the same” number of people, she observed. Student coordinators led some choirs while teachers led others. Each choir appeared onstage two times to sing. The concert ended with all the choirs on stage together, singing L’shana Haba b’Yerushalayim and Acheinu. SKA won second place at the event while HAFTR won third. “It was a great event, everyone was thrilled and we want to continue next year,” Gerstley said to sum up. “The girls have a wonderful way of expressing their talent for a good cause. They work hard, spend time and it’s all worth it when they see the auditorium jam-packed and it’s all for tzedaka. It’s a nice feeling for them.” Miriam Eyal & Sruly Osherovitz Baby Boy Berger Births of a baby boy to David & Paula Berger (Flushing, NY) — Feb. 25, 2009 ■ Birth of baby girl to Shmaya & Hindy Modes — Feb. 19, 2009 ■ Birth of Basya Rochail to Rabbi Menachem & Elke Weiss (Far Rockaway, NY) — Feb. 18, 2009 266851 To view entire galleries, please visit www.onlysimchas.com 516-569-2662 Ask For Mario Or Judy At The Fish Counter THIS WEEK’S SPECIALS BABY SALMON STEAKS $ 99 8 LB. SALMON BURGERS $ 99 8 LB. BREADED TILAPIA FILLET $ 99 Ready To Heat & Eat 5 LB. FREE GRILLING Sun. – Tues. (only on fish sold at the counter, loose, not pre-packaged items or specials) Sale Dates: Mar. 8-13 137 Spruce St., Cedarhurst TO ADVERTISE IN THE JEWISH STAR CALL 516-632-5205 EXT. 4 266826 Located in Gourmet Glatt Emporium 265961 2 The Jewish Star March 6, 2009 3 When your nose is that red, it’s Purim all year Lev Leytzan honors local volunteers who clown around for a good cause troupe that creates performances to teach safety education to younger audiences and has been adapted for children with disabilities. “I joined the program when it was just starting, as a way to do something extra, and I haven’t looked back since,” recalled Aron Martin, who will receive the Golden Nose Award for Dedication and Leadership. The 21-year-old from Far Rockaway has moved up the ranks over the years and now supervises the training sessions and performances of those just beginning their clowning careers at Lev Leytzan. “It’s not a skill set I had before I joined,” Martin told The Jewish Star, describing his clowning experience. “Clowning is a very serious business, as Neal [Goldberg] likes to say. It takes a lot of focus and dedication to learn the skills and apply them.” One aspect of clowning that he enjoys is the camaraderie between the volunteers. “It is definitely a great bonding experience,” Martin says, “and we all respect each other for our skills. It’s also a very gratifying experience.” Asher Mechanic, a fellow honoree, expressed similar feelings. “It’s just a great environment to be in, the idea of making people happy,” said Mechanic, who will receive the Golden Nose award for Achievement in Clowning. A senior at Queens College who lives in West Hempstead, Mechanic, like Martin, has been clowning since the organization began when he was 16 years old. “I am going to continue clowning for as long as I can,” he pledged. Two other honorees, Yosef Dov Kopelowitz and Meir Dovid Weinberg, seniors at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov, will receive the Red Nose Award for Outstanding Who needs stodgy old awards like Guest of Honor and Parent of the Year when you can confer deserving honorees with a distinction known as the Golden Nose? While that might be a bit of a bold step for more traditional charities, it’s a perfect fit for the Woodmere-based medical clowning troupe called Lev Leytzan, the Compassionate Clown Alley, Inc. Lev Leytzan is a not-for-profit organization that trains volunteers to visit hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities to perform, entertain and bring laughter to patients through therapeutic clowning. The organization will hold its annual dinner on Sunday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Cong. Beth Sholom in Lawrence, honoring four local volunteers who have been active in the unique chesed organization since its launch in 2004. Other highlights of the evening will include a comedy performance featuring Chicago City Limits, refreshments, and a Chinese and silent auction. “The dinner is our event where we try to be really different and the program is all about being mesame’ach people (making them happy) and allowing them to enjoy,” said Dr. Neal Goldberg, a psychologist and Lev Leytzan’s founder. “These boys are really the pillars of the program and we want to honor them for their tremendous dedication and the countless hours of time and effort that they have put into it.” The “Clowns on Call” –– as the program is named –– act out improvisational skits while using various tools of the trade such as balloons and juggling balls to enhance the experience. Lev Leytzan also has a “Clowns for Safety Squad,” a 516-596-9205 New Hyde Park Sarah’s Quilt Shop 18 Jericho Tpke. FREE IN STOCK FABRIC m • Custoes Cornic rds boa • H e a d ws • Pillo *Fabric FREE 15 Y E H U DA & S H O M RO N P O P U L AT I O N R E AC H E S 300,000 C I T I Z E N S M O N DAY E V E N I N G , M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 0 9 OF F RONT AND B EEKMAN S TREETS ) NEW YORK CITY COUVERT $600 PER COUPLE Cotton • Poly Cotton • Satin Linings • Select Fabrics 1 $ 99 Expires 4/6/09 Basic Seat Upholstery YO U T O J O I N U S F O R O U R L AV I S H B U F F E T D I N N E R QUILTING & DRESS FABRICS On All Custom Jobs 516-327-5565 Photo courtesy of Lev Leytzan (From left) Oooshie the Clown (Asher Mechanic), Schmeggles the Clown (Shlomo Dov Kopelowitz), Timmy the Clown (Meir Dovid Weinberg), and Marlin the Clown (Aron Martin) in blue hat at right during a “Learn, Don’t Burn” fire safety show. G A L A A N N I V E R S A RY D I N N E R SOUTH STREET SEAPORT • Upholstery & Drapery Fabric • Custom Reupholstery & Drapery • Trims & Vinyl Foam Tulle • Slip Covers • Wood Finishings & Repair • Everything For Do-It-Yourself Per yard Expires 4/6/09 4 OFF $ 35* $2000 OFF $ 00 $25 - Your Fabric Expires 4/6/09 $20 Purchase GUESTS $100 Purchase Not to be combined with other coupons. Expires 4/6/09 266858 Lynbrook 393 Sunrise Hwy. INVITES 11 F U LT O N S T R E E T (C ORNER The Recession Stops Here! Two Locations with a lot of Jewish families and others, including victims of terror.” “People often focus on the patients and the sick kids, but I’m in awe of our volunteers as clowns –– their growth and development in their creativity, and how they learn how to be more compassionate and sensitive in their interaction with the people they perform for,” Dr. Goldberg explained. “We have become like a family over the years. It is really an amazing thing and I take a tremendous amount of pride in what these kids have accomplished.” The annual dinner is a major component of Lev Leytzan’s fund-raising. For more information about the event or to make a donation, please call (516) 612-3264 or e-mail Purim [email protected]. B R I D G E WAT E R S Designer Discount Fabrics g Sewin l o Scho zed i m Custo es Class Community Service. “These are boys who have used their unique skills and personalities to demonstrate their commitment to doing chesed,” commented Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe, the menahel of Ateres Yaakov. “We support our students in this program because it facilitates their learning and teaches them how to think of others. Our yeshiva is extremely proud that two such fine future leaders have been selected to be honored and their honor is our honor as well.” Dr. Goldberg noted that Lev Leytzan’s annual trip to Israel with the Ossie Schonfeld Memorial Toy Fund, to deliver toys to sick children, is a highlight among the organization’s programs. It gives the clowns the opportunity to perform for “a multicultural audience...working OF HONOR Livia Mark Rottenberg H A K A R AT H AT O V AWA R D Eddie Wunsch A N D T H E M E M B E R S H I P O F Congregation Anshei Chesed of Hewlett, New York PUBLIC SKATING SAT. NIGHTS: 7:45-9:15PM SUNDAYS: 2:15-4:15PM R A B B I N I C AWA R D Rabbi Moshe Snow, Book Your Y O U N G L E A D E R S H I P AWA R D Talya Moshe Kohn BIRTHDAY PARTY With Us! 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Page Rabbi & Mrs. Steven Pruzansky Neil & Susan Rosen Rabbi & Mrs. Herschel Schacter David & Harriet Schimel Jack & Doris Schmidt Jonathan & Shana Schoenfeld Alan & Sharon Schulman Shlomo & Mindy Spetner Justin & Melinda Strauss Rabbi & Mrs. Moshe Teitelbaum Rabbi Dr. Moshe Tendler Simeon & Sharona Thall Eli & Chani Weisfeld Bernard & Bashie Weiss Rabbi & Mrs. Benjamin Yudin 1175 W EST B ROADWAY, S UITE 10 H EWLETT, N EW Y ORK 11557 P HONE : 516-239-9202 F AX : 516-239-9203 E MAIL : DINNER @ ONEISRAELFUND . ORG 266857 All Certified Instructors – Day • Evening • Summer Sessions Director - Diana Resnick Nahoum M.S. In Reading, English & Education S P E C I A L M U S I C A L P R E S E N TAT I O N Shmuel Lowinger www.oneisraelfund.org 265158 BY YA F F I S P O D E K 4 The Jewish Star March 6, 2009 OPINION Sure there’s a cycle of violence MAYER FERTIG Publisher, Editor-in-Chief YAFFI SPODEK Assistant Editor MALKA EISENBERG, MICHAEL ORBACH Reporters HELENE PARSONS AND RACHEL WEINBERG Account Executives RABBI AVI BILLET, AYALA COHEN, ALAN JAY GERBER, RABBI YAKOV HOROWITZ, ADAM NEUSTADTER, SARI NOSSBAUM, LISA SCHIFFMAN, RABBI AVI SHAFRAN, DAVID SEIDEMANN, MIRIAM L. WALLACH, CHANANYA WEISSMAN Contributors ALYSON GOODMAN Editorial Designer ■ The Jewish Star is an independent community newspaper. All opinions expressed are solely those of The Jewish Star’s editorial staff or contributing writers. ■ 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530 (516) 569-4000 E-mail: [email protected] fax: (516) 569-4942 The Jewish Star is published weekly by the The Jewish Star LLC, 2 Endo Boulevard, Garden City, NY 11530. Postmaster send address changes to The Jewish Star, 2 Endo Boulevard, Garden City, NY 11530. Subscription rates: $36 for 1 year, $60 for 2 years, $72 for 3 years within Nassau County. All other subscriptions $54 per year. Newsstand price: $1 . Major Credit Cards accepted. Copyright © 2009 The Jewish Star LLC. All rights reserved. Letters Bnei Akiva rides again To the Editor: Kudos to the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst and to Rabbi Teitelbaum on opening a Snif (what’s a branch?) of Bnei Akiva (Bnei Akiva Zionist youth movement opens LawrenceCedahurst Branch; Feb. 27, 2009). Will you allow some old Bnei Akivaniks to stop by and join in Mifkad and to sing Yad Achim? The article brought back wonderful memories of Bnei Akiva in Borough Park and at the Ave N Jewish Center in Flatbush more than 40 years ago. I am sure that the teaching of Bnei Akiva will also last a lifetime with this generation of kids. JACK RUBIN Cedarhurst or years, Mideast watchers have objected to the term “cycle of violence,” a media favorite, on the grounds that it morally equivocates between Arab belligerence and Israeli self-defense. The phrase neatly ignores the fact that if the Arabs would just stop shooting, the violence would end at once. However, there certainly is a cycle of something going on there, so far as U.S. policy is concerned — actually several cycles. The first is somewhat newly revealed. Back when she was merely the First Lady, Hillary Clinton made a lot of people angry by kissing Suha Arafat after Suha had just launched a modern blood libel, accusing Israel of poisoning the Arabs’ water. Suha’s important job at the time was to prop up the French economy. She did that by spending U.S. taxpayer dollars in Paris almost as fast as her late husband, Yasser, could steal them from aid intended for his impoverished constituents. When Hillary decided that she would make a crackerjack U.S. Senator from New York, the wheel began to turn. She suddenly discovered within herself a passionate well of support for Israel's security and a deep, abiding love for its people. F Editorial Who knew? Not everyone believed her, of course, but most did, and soon we were calling her Senator. For the record, we at The Jewish Star didn’t believe her. Now Senator Clinton is Secretary Clinton, the wheel has turned again and it seems the cycle has revealed itself in full. Secretary of State Clinton is in the Mideast this week proposing to give the Arabs of the Gaza Strip $300 million, with another $600 million to go to the West Bank. She insists the money will not go to Hamas, but to the Palestinian Authority, which likes to think it's in charge, and that safeguards are in place to prevent the money from being misused. And that's another Mideast cycle. The U.S. sends piles of cash to the Arabs there and then finds itself disappointed when the dollars are neatly divvied up between corrupt officials and terrorists shooting at Israel’s civilian population. Israel has also gotten plenty of cash from the U.S. and uses it to build and defend a modern, flowering society where none stood before, and to build schools, hospitals and sewers for the aforementioned Arabs who choose to shoot at Israel rather than building schools, hospitals and sewers for themselves. Now that much of the Gaza infrastructure must be rebuilt on account of said Arab shooting, Secretary Clinton and President Obama seem to believe that it's the United State's turn once again to pony up. And the Arabs are still shooting. Over 100 rockets have been fired into Sderot and nearby cities since the Jan. 18 ceasefire. Over the weekend an upgraded type of missile landed in an empty schoolyard. And that seems likely to become a Mideast cycle too. Arabs shoot missiles over the border, Israel pacifies them for a while and then it all starts up again. Doesn’t anyone in Washington see it coming? It seems clear that Israel is going to have to go back into Gaza again, perhaps to finish what it started late in 2008, or perhaps just to make some more noise and again leave undone the job of finally restoring peace and quiet. Spending $300 million right now to rebuild Gaza is probably not such a great idea. If the President wants to throw money down a rat hole he might as well give it to AIG or Citibank. At least no one there is shooting at Israel. Star online To the Editor: It's about time you guys got yourself a real Web site. I’ve been trying to magnify your PDFs for way too long. You are finally getting the recognition you deserve in the way yeshivish websites pick up your news pieces. I for one am grateful that the caliber of the writing on The Yeshiva World and VosIzNeias has been improved through their posting of your articles. Especially with the billboard updates. Shkoiach! REB NOACH Meadowmere Park The L word To the Editor: What does the L in MLW stand for? Bernie Bernowitzman Lawrence ABOUT LETTERS The Jewish Star welcomes Letters to the Editor of no more than 250 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for style, content and space. Deadline is Monday at noon; we cannot guarantee placement. Letters must include the name of the writer, current address and daytime telephone number and may be mailed to The Jewish Star, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530; faxed to (516) 569-4942; or e-mailed to [email protected]. RIGHT ANGLE Purim present n the first day of the the likely culprit, they say, Jewish month Adar, was Lavrenti P. Beria, the the Talmud enjoins us chief of the Soviet secret to “increase happipolice. ness.” It is, after all, The book also the month that holds Purim, recounts the story of the when we express our gratiinfamous “Doctors’ Plot,” a tude to G-d for delivering the fabricated collusion by Jews in ancient Persia from Kremlin doctors to kill top their enemies, and when we Communist leaders. Rabbi Avi Shafran give alms to the poor and “By the time Stalin gifts of food to one another. disclosed the plot to a In 2003, the first day of Adar stunned Soviet populace in January brought us an early Purim present. It 1953,” the article noted, “he had spun it wasn’t food, but rather food for into a vast conspiracy, led by Jews thought. under the United States’ secret direcThe previous day had been the tion, to kill him and destroy the Soviet 50th anniversary of the death of Iosef Union itself.” Vissarionovich Dzugashvili, better The article went on to relate someknown as Joseph Stalin. A new book on thing less widely known. “That Februthe Soviet dictator and mass murderer, ary,” it states, “the Kremlin ordered the “Stalin’s Last Crime,” was about to be construction of four giant prison camps published, and The New York Times ran in Kazakhstan, Siberia and the Arctic a lengthy article that day about the north, apparently in preparation for a book, including its suggestion that Stalsecond great terror –– this time directed in may have been poisoned. The Soviet at the millions of Soviet citizens of Jewleader had collapsed after an all-night ish descent.” dinner with four members of his PolitThat terror, however, thankfully buro at Blizhnaya, a north Moscow never unfolded. Two weeks after the dacha, and he languished for several camps were ordered built, Stalin attenddays before dying. If indeed he was ed the Blizhnaya dinner and, four days done in, as the book’s authors suspect, later, was dead at the age of 73. O The gift that Adar in 2003 brought was the knowledge of that theretofore unrecognized salvation, of what the killer of millions of his countrymen had apparently planned for the Jews under his control but which never came to pass. That Stalin met his fate (however that may have happened) just as he was poised to launch a post-Holocaust holocaust of his own, is something we might well add to our thoughts of gratitude at our own Purim celebrations today, more than a half century later. And we might note something else as well, especially during this season of meaningful ironies, when G-d’s hand is evident “between the lines” of history to all who are sufficiently sensitive to see it. During the feast at which Stalin collapsed, according to his successor Nikita Khrushchev, who was present, the dictator had become thoroughly drunk. And the party, he testified, ended in the early hours of March 1. Which, in 1953, corresponded to the 14th day of Adar, otherwise known as Purim. Rabbi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America. Friends don’t let friends drink irresponsibly on Purim. 265592 Safe Homes, Safe Shuls, Safe Schools The Jewish Star March 6, 2009 5 TH E KOSH E R BOOKWORM “Remember Amalek!” by Dr. Louis H. Feldman A review of a nation we are commanded to hate Rav Kook in his “Midwould appear to be cruel bar Shiur” teaches that the and primitive. Jewish people have two In his introduction, missions, one as a mamDr. Feldman details the orilechet kohanim (a kingdom gins of Amalek, and the of priests) and the other as precedents and parallels a goy kadosh (a holy among the ancients that nation). The first mission warranted such actions. refers to the aspiration to Cited among Jewish histouplift the entire world to rians are the views of Philo recognize G-d. The second and Josephus. The conmission is designed for trasts between each are Alan Jay Gerber Israel to achieve its full detailed and analyzed. spiritual potential. One is Motivations behind these universal in its goal and the second, differences are speculated upon and it parochial. According to Rav Kook, is ultimately left to the reader to decide Amalek’s goal was to negate and refute on the “correct” version of these early both missions. G-d’s command for the historians’ views of this tragic event. total elimination of Amalek is couched In detailing Josephus’s account, by the phrase, “macho emcheh,” a dou- Feldman relates the historian’s full verble expression indicating that Amalek’s sion of the importance of Amalek’s punishment is reflective of its two attack. The account of King Saul’s failgoals: targeting Israel’s dual mission ure to exterminate Amalek, which cost and thus preventing its fulfillment. him his crown at the word of the Amalek, on its own initiative, took prophet Samuel, is brought into the litupon itself to reject Israel’s sacred mis- erary fray. Also enumerated is David’s sion. Unprovoked, Amalek acted as the campaign against Amalek and its impliclassic bully, attacking the Jews at their cations in the scheme of history. most vulnerable, thus earning our At the center of the book is a enmity for eternity. The Amalek scholarly yet brief chapter entitled, episode has come to us as a legacy “Amalek in Rabbinic Literature,” which from which we learn. Thus, we have brings the topic of its relationship to Shabbat Zachor this coming Shabbat, Jewish religious observance into before the feast of Purim. The historical greater focus and justification as a reliunderpinnings of this Amalek story are gious mandate. the subject of this week’s essay. Another interesting facet that FeldAmong the most learned studies man treats with even greater depth is a on the topic is “Remember Amalek!,” a topic that has bedeviled the Jewish book by Dr. Louis Feldman (Hebrew people through the ages, “The Alleged Union College Press, 2004). This study Jewish Hatred of Gentiles.” This chapof 272 pages encompasses the vast ter provides powerful historical insight gamut of the study, not only of the concerning a canard that has cost the Amalek encounter, but also of the com- lives of thousands of our people. The mand by G-d to destroy other people as examples of events related by Feldman part of a religious obligation. The moti- of people whose racist behavior vating factors are discussed, as are the betrayed their prominent place in historeligious and political forces that bring ry will surprise many. forth what to the “modern” mindset The author concludes this study by placing the Amalek mandate into its historic perspective by expounding upon other incidents in both biblical and ancient history that parallel the command to wipe out Amalek. First we are led through the entire flood episode and the attempt by G-d to get humanity to repent. We have a justification for the saving of Noach and his family. The tradition of the Noachian Covenant and its implications are given their due, especially of G-d’s expectation of its observance by all nations, including Amalek. Other incidents are detailed as well, such as the revenge of the rape of Dina, the annihilation of the nations of Sichon and Og, and the extermination of the priests of Nob and the people of Jericho. The book concludes with a detailed discussion of the action of Pinchas Hacohen and the sages’ justification of his zealotry, a chapter that warrants careful reading. Each chapter in the book is completely footnoted, and the study provides an index of citations, a complete and comprehensive bibliography, and index. Dr. Feldman has been a professor of classics and literature at Yeshiva University for over 40 years. He has authored 11 books and over 160 articles. Currently, he is engaged in a groundbreaking project, editing a publication entitled “The Lost Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Relating to Scripture.” He will be working with a team of two other scholars, Dr. Lawrence Schiffman and Dr. James Kugel in an enterprising effort at restoring Second Temple literature to its original Jewish character and context. Amalek, the historical prototype for the anti-Semite, has been associated with the festival of Purim since its inception. With so joyous, and yes, so riotous a holiday, it is indeed an irony that we give pause on the Shabbat before Purim to ponder the role of the Amalek legacy in both our history and its tragedies. What follows is intended to continue that somber theme. In concluding this essay, the following incident was brought to my attention from Philip Goodman’s classic, “The Purim Anthology” (The Jewish Publication Society). “When Hitler was delivering one of his infamous speeches in a large hall in Munich at the start of the Nazi ascent to power, he could not help but notice that a man in the front row was making facial contortions of derision and joy marked with an occasional outburst of laughter. The man’s behavior resulted in bringing confusion to Hitler midst his anti-Semitic invectives and causing annoyance to the Fuhrer. When the speech was concluded, Hitler in great ire sent for the one who disturbed him and indignantly inquired who he was. ‘I am a Jew,’ he said innocently. ‘Then you should be taking my address more seriously,’ warned Hitler. ‘Do you not believe that I will fulfill my threats to bring about the destruction of the Jews?’ ‘You should be aware,’ the Jew replied, ‘that you are not the first antiSemite who sought to destroy us. You may recall that the great Pharaoh of Egypt sought to enslave the Jews. To commemorate his defeat and our redemption, we eat tasty Matzos and observe the festival of Passover. Haman was another enemy of ours who brought about his own downfall. The delicious Hamantashen we eat and the jolly festival of Purim recall our deliverance from him. While listening to your venomous diatribe, I wondered what kind of delicacy would the Jews invent and what kind of holiday they would establish to celebrate your downfall.” I looked back at this incident and pondered its innocence until I gathered its full meaning and implication for us today. We survived the plots of Haman and we celebrate, as we should. However, we have yet to recover from the results of the plots of Hitler and we have yet to have a holiday established to celebrate his demise. This is the reason that makes the commandment of “Remember Amalek” even more relevant today. Do not forget that for us, Amalek lives in the atomic might of Iran, and we too will have to await the day to celebrate the demise of that tyranny. The lesson of Purim is that the struggle never ends. I wish all my readers a meaningful Purim, filled with joy and most importantly, with prayer. FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BENCH: PERCEIVING OUR POTENTIAL who for some reason or another have not reached their potential. But I am equally convinced that when G-d takes a child, that child would not have been taken unless that child has unequivocally completed his or her task on this Earth. So the parents of the newborn shed tears at the bris of their newborn after their tremendous joy at bringing another Jewish soul into the world. Their joy is tempered by the worry and fear of perhaps having a child who won’t reach his potential. And the parents of a nineyear-old cry bitter tears as they return their son to his Creator. But hopefully, over the years, those tears will be sweetened with the knowledge that no nine-year-old boy leaves this world unless he has fulfilled his potential, concluded his task and made his mark. Most of us spend the first third of our lives fulfilling someone else’s perception of our potential. The next third is spent identifying our potential and only the last third, trying to reach it. But G-d is brilliant. He devised measurements of time, by which we can measure ourselves. There are seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years and decades. True potential seekers take stock at least every day, others at the end of a week before each Shabbat, and still others only once a year, before Yom Kippur. Why in the world would Gd, through the rabbis, institute Bircat Hachama, the blessing over the sun that we recite once every 28 years? (This year it For All Your Lighting Needs 1 STOP Revitalize Your Body and Mind (516) 569-0353 $195 Follow Ups $35 Each “ 266154 • Pediatric Conditions • Gynecological Problems • Skin Care • Pain Management • Weight Management • Stress Reduction • Exp. Treating Tourette's Syndrome $2oo OFF ” Surprise her with a gift of love and appreciation. Gourmet Gift and Godiva Chocolates Baskets 260243 Initial 5 Session Plan Vconnection ARIETY S accumulated (and wasted foolishly to impress our friends who might only be our friends because of our lavish spending); if we measure success by the fulfillment of potential, then the hearts of parents, grieving over the loss of their son, can somewhat be comforted with the knowledge that their son, Levi Yitzchok Wolowik, was one of the wealthiest among us. SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE HOPPING HOMER SHABBOS Makeup Masks Costumes Crowns/Tiaras Wands Promote Wellness of The Body & Spirit AREAS OF SPECIALTY that like the rise and the setting of the sun, which appears to be the same and needs to be evaluated anew. There are subtle changes, subtle differences that require one to challenge himself at the very least once very 28 years and ask the painful question, “Can I be better?” If we begin to measure success not by the money we have Make Us Your First Stop For All Your Purim Needs 1298 Chestnut Dr., Hewlett Weight Management For those of us who have squandered our opportunities to evaluate our potential every week, or even once a year, we are being afforded the opportunity to evaluate our lives at a 28-year mark. We don’t have to wait for illness, infirmity, or impending death to ask ourselves the painful question “Were we the best we could have been?” The “Blessing of the sun” instructs us that even when it appears that everything is the same today as it was yesterday, that today is an affirmation that my actions yesterday were fine, after all I am still here. The blessing, every 28 years, instructs us to stop and take stock of a life Everything For Purim Except The Hamentashen! Licensed Acupuncturist Natural Face Lift Using Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Mask occurs on Wednesday April 8). I can understand the blessing on the new moon which we say once a month. Just look at the moon as it changes its shape every day of every month. It is clear to the naked eye that a renewal is occurring. But a blessing over the sun? The sun as it will appear on April 8, 2009 looks the same as it will have looked on April 7, 2009. It will appear on April 8, 2009, the same way it appeared in April of 1981, the last time we made the blessing. And with all deference to Al Gore, it will appear this year as it will on Wednesday, April 8, 2037, the next time we can make the blessing. Novelty Hats Purim Bags 50’ Rolls Cello Curling Ribbon Gift Labels $5oo OFF ANY PURCHASE OF $20 OR MORE ANY PURCHASE OF $50 OR MORE With coupon. Exp. 3/31/09. Not to be combined with any other offers. Excludes tobacco, window treatments, electrical appliances, hot plates and hot pots. One coupon per store visit. With coupon. Exp. 3/31/09. Not to be combined with any other offers. Excludes tobacco, window treatments, electrical appliances, hot plates and hot pots. One coupon per store visit. 450 Central Avenue • Cedarhurst • (516) 374-9546 Sun. 10-5; Mon. & Tues. 9-6; Wed. & Thurs. 9-7; Fri. 9-3 265772 Continued from Page One The Jewish Star March 6, 2009 ON THE Jewish Center is located at 400 Old Westbury Road in East Meadow. Reserve your space by March 17 by calling (516) 796-8833. Calendar For a complete listing of upcoming community events, including items that didn’t make it into the print edition, go to www.thejewishstar.com. Cedarhurst - Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst and Bnei Akiva North America are happy to announce the launching of a new Bnei Akiva chapter in the Five Towns. The chapter will be open for 4th and 5th grade boys and girls of the entire community. Activities for boys and girls will be separate and will be led by our Bat Ami girls, Alona and Nofar. YILC is located at 8 Spruce Street in Cedarhurst. For more information, please call (516) 569-3324. Cedarhurst - The Beis Medrash of Cedarhurst is introducing a Flexible Morning Learning Program, which will take place every Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. There are shiurim and chavrusas in Chumash, Gemara, Halacha and Chovos Halevavos. Learners can come and go as they please The Beis Medrash of Cedarhurst is located at 504 W. Broadway (off the corner of W. Broadway and Cedarhurst Ave.) For more information, please contact Rabbi Moshe Kaufman at (718) 4712780 or moshehkaufman @gmail.com. Cedarhurst - The JCC of the Greater Five Towns will host an evening of music with Israeli entertainer and songwriter Yoram Teharlev on Saturday night, March 7 at 8:00 p.m. at Temple Israel, 140 Central Avenue. Tickets are $25 per person. For tickets and more information, please call (516) 569-6733. Cedarhurst - The JCC of the Greater Five Towns will host a Purim Costume Party for its LIFE members on Sunday, March 8, from 3-5 p.m. The LIFE program is for single adults with disabilities. For more information, please call (516) 5696733. Merrick - Purim in India is Chabad of Merrick’s exotic theme this year for their annual Purim party to be held at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10. The event will feature Master Hypnotist Ronnie Baras, Purim activities with an Indian twist, and more! The program will be held at the Norman J. Levy Lakeside School, 21 Babylon Road in Merrick. Visit www.ChabadJewish Life.org for more details. Long Beach - The Friedberg JCC Long Beach Branch is hosting a parenting workshop series, “Discipline is NOT a Dirty Word,” with sessions on three conescutive Thursdays, March 12, 19 and 26, beginning at 7:00 p.m. and ending at 9:00 p.m. Topics include: parenting styles, punishment vs. discipline and developing self-discipline. The sessions will take place at 310 National Blvd. in Long Beach. The cost is $35. For more information, please call (516) 766-4341, ext. 162 or e-mail [email protected]. Oceanside - The Friedberg JCC is hosting a Purim carnival on Sunday March 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Come in costume and enjoy rides and food. In the spirit of mishloach manot, please bring in non-perishable items for those in need. Admission is free. The JCC is located at 15 Neil Court in Oceanside. For more information, please call (516) 766-4341. Long Beach - The Sephardic Congregation of Long Beach is hosting a casino night on Saturday, March 14 from 9 p.m. until midnight. Admission is $25 per single and $40 per couple. There will be 4 tables of blackjack, roulette and poker with prizes at the end of the night. Light refreshments will be served. The shul is located at 401 W Penn. St NW Corner of Lafayette Blvd in Long Beach. For more information, please call Roni Shetrit (516) 432-1806 or Hindy Mizrahi at (516) 431-8664. East Meadow - The Suburban Park Jewish Center invites the community to experience Shabbat Across America on Friday night, March 20 beginning with a full course Glatt Kosher dinner at 6:30 p.m. with all the rituals explained. A donation of $15 for adults and $5 for children under age 12 is requested. The Cedarhurst - The JCC of the Greater Five Towns has scheduled their seventh annual fundraising dinner for Wednesday, March 25, to be held at The Sephardic Temple, 775 Branch Boulevard at 6:30 p.m. For more information and/or reservations, please call the JCC office at (516) 569-6733. Oceanside - The Friedberg JCC is hosting Author Talk with Haggai Carmon on Thursday, March 26 from 7:30-8:30 p.m. Hear the Israeli American author and international lawyer discuss his 20 years of adventures working undercover for the U.S. government, which inspired his latest intelligence thriller, “The Chameleon Conspiracy.” Cost is $6. The JCC is located at 15 Neil Court in Oceanside. For more information, please call (516) 766-4341. ONGOING EVENTS Cedarhurst - The “Sunday Night Torah Lecture Series” in memory of Shari Siman-Tov z”l is held weekly at 8:00 p.m. at Congregation Shaare Emunah, the Sephardic Congregation of the Five Towns, 539 Oakland Avenue (Corner Oakland Ave. & Peninsula Blvd). Both men and women are invited. Ner Sarah is a network of Torah and chesed Projects in memory of Shari SimanTov z”l. For more information, please e-mail [email protected] or visit www.nersarahproject.com. Hewlett - 1 in 9’s Hewlett House is offering a wide array of ongoing classes and support groups at the Hewlett House is a community Tomchei Shabbos offers Purim cards Because our neighbors need us, Tomchei Shabbos Yad Yeshaya is offering Purim Cards to help cover the costs of meals for families in need in our community. Four packages are available: 10 cards for $36, 36 cards for $100, 50 cards for $136, 200 cards for $360. In Cedarhurst call Marilyn resource center for all cancer concerns, located at 86 East Rockaway Road. A new class, held on Tuesdays, from 10-11 a.m., is a “Mind Body Spiritual Healing Journey” for cancer patients looking to connect to their inner sanctuary. Please call (516) 374-3190 to register. Woodmere - The Young Israel of Woodmere hosts a Torah Conference Call (TCC) program every Monday through Thursday from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m., and Sundays from 10:00 to 10:30 a.m., sponsored by IDT. The schedule is as follows: Sundays, Rabbi Binny Freedman: tastings on the parsha; Mondays, Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman: contemporary hashkafic topics; Tuesdays, Rabbi Kalman Topp: halachic topics of daily life; Wednesdays, Rabbi Aaron Glatt, MD: Bentching and halachos relating to benching; and Thursdays, Rabbi Yisrael Kamintesky: hashkafa from the parsha. To participate, dial (718) 7326924 or (973) 409-3117. Enter the conference ID#: 516 295 0950 and enter the password: 613613#. Cedarhurst - The JCC of the Greater Five Towns offers a variety of Hebrew classes. The Conversational Hebrew Intermediate meets Mondays from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. The Nussbaum at (516) 569-0451. In Far Rockaway call Sima Krischer (718) 471-8974. In Lawrence call Joy Paley at (516) 603-2531. In Woodmere call Marilyn Blau at (516) 295-1175. In West Hempstead call Shira Beer at (516) 485-1426. In Bayswater call Judy Merlis at (718) 327-5294. Conversational Hebrew Beginner class meets Mondays from 11:50 to 1:05 p.m. The Learn How to Read Hebrew day class meets Mondays from 1:10 to 2:25 p.m. The Conversational Hebrew Beginner night class meets Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. The Conversational Hebrew Intermediate night class meets Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. The Learn How to Read Hebrew night class meets Mondays beginning 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. Each class meets 12 times and costs $200. Hewlett - The 1 in 9 Hewlett House offers support groups at 86 East Rockaway Road. The groups include: yoga and stress reduction, meets Mondays from 1-2 p.m.; breast cancer support for those undergoing treatment meets Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, and on Wednesdays from 1-2 p.m.; knitting circle meets on Tuesdays from 10-11 a.m.; the writer’s roundtable meets Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 noon; Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer group meets Tuesdays from 12:151:15 p.m. for 8 sessions, facilitated by Jill Alper, MSW, CSW; breast cancer group for the working woman meets Tuesdays at 6 p.m. and is facilitated by Sue Champlin, CSW. All classes and support groups are a free service. Please call Christine (516) 374-3190 to register. Now Offering rentals to Europe, India, China, & other Worldwide locations! $ 100 REBATE ) ( PER WINDOW 10 MAX SILHOUETTE® WINDOW SHADINGS DISCOVER WINDOW FASHIONS THAT CAN PROTECT YOUR DECOR. Silhouette® window shadings are constructed with soft fabric vanes suspended between two sheer fabric facings. 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The Eliezer Project relies on community members who volunteer time and expertise to help clients work out various financial struggles, including mortgage negotiations, foreclosures and pending evictions, credit card debt and other obstacles. “People in the community are so responsive,” said Aronovitz, noting that her periodic postings on the FiveTownsShuls Yahoo group are always answered. “The community has been so receptive and so helpful and we are so This Purim, in the midst of a financial crisis, the mitzvah of matanot l’evyonim — gifts to the poor —needs special emphasis, said Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Cong. Beth Sholom. “As a community we must take stock of the circumstances and react to new realities in a responsible way,” he wrote in a message. “The phenomenon of so many of our friends and neighbors experiencing hardship deserves our attention and consideration.” “We should fulfill mishloach manot — presents of food — in the simplest way, two food items to one friend,” Rabbi Hain recommended. “Instead of spending large sums of money on fancy mishloach manot packages, consider what you have budgeted to be given to our local tzedakot (charities) such as The Eliezer Project [and] Tomchei Shabbos.” Ask About Our Unique Return Reservations $1 99¢ BARON HERZOG COUPON CASE SALE Serving All Of Nassau $1 Exp. 3/10 Malvasia $ A I R P O RT T R A N S P O RTAT I O N CALL FOR PRICE QUOTE starting at COUPON CASE SALE BARTENURA 750ml Exp. 3/10 COUPON CASE SALE 750ml “It looks like every rabbi has signed on in support of the project,” said Dovid Friedman, a board member. “The money will be used to help run the operation, for staff, expenses and rent. We need to expand our services and the money will be used for that.” Friedman noted that this is the first major fund raiser; until now the organization “has been operating mostly from discretionary funds from a few individuals.” “We’ve been helped so far by large local shuls who have made contributions and a number of generous community members,” said Sam Bergman, the executive director. The organization also plans to augment its executive board with new members representing a broader spectrum of the community. Current board members include David Pollack, Jacob Weichholz, Joel Moskowitz, Jay Rabinowitz, Dovid Friedman and Mendy Weissman. Though a number of clients have already been placed in new positions, the staff acknowledges that the job search is often a long and harrowing process. “The job market is extremely difficult, and we celebrate each MINI BOTTLES All Specials Cash Only. With Coupon Only. ELIEZER PROJECT EXPANDING Continued from Page One GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE COHEN FAMILY 750ml Exp. 3/10 Haman’s advisors, who gave him what Rabbi Ashkenazi calls “foolish advice” when they suggested he build a 50-cubit tree (could he not hang Mordechai on a regular gallows to satisfy his desire to kill Mordechai?), told him he should give up the plan and take down the tree. He refused. They were still arguing about the tree when the officers of the king arrived to collect Haman for the party and overheard the conversation. Charvona was one of these officers, and he mentioned it to the king at the party, and personally hanged Haman on it as per the king’s command in 7:9-10. Sometimes those who love you need to take a step back from saying the things you “want” to hear, to tell you, with good counsel, the things you “need” to hear. Haman’s friends and advisors may have been fair weather fans. But they were appointed to their positions because they were bright. Hatred can consume a person to the point he can hear nothing else. Haman’s advisors were meant to be the voice of reason in his head. He turned to them, but they answered with “We love you, but we are putting our feelings for you aside so you understand the political and professional implications of the hatred you are looking to act upon. Give it up.” He couldn’t, so he didn’t. And indeed, he fell because of it. May we continue to celebrate Purim forever, and may we as per the Magen Avraham (on Shulchan Arukh - 686:5) find reasons to celebrate other Purims due to the miracles that may yet happen in our days. Exp. 3/10 There is a very subtle change in the way Megillat Esther refers to Haman’s family and advisors before he is disgraced leading Mordechai through the street on a horse, and how they are presented immediately after the episode. At the end of chapter 5, when Haman feels so confident of his success in the king’s court, he speaks to “Ohavav” (those who love him) and his wife Zeresh, who tell him his best move would be to suggest to the king that he hang Mordechai. (5:10,14) After the horse incident, Haman speaks once again to his wife Zeresh and to “Ohavav” about his woes with Mordechai, and the same people respond, but they are now called “Chakhamav” –– his wise advisors –– and they tell him since Mordechai is Jewish Haman will fail. (6:13) The simplest explanation for the difference in how they perceive themselves –– for Haman continues to perceive them as “those who love him –– is they are fair weather fans. When Haman is riding high, they love him. Being “in” with Haman is a great thing. But when Haman is disgraced and seems to be on a downward turn, they become “advisors,” wise people with a keen insight that says “Haman is no longer at the top of the world.” And they create distance from him. On a deeper level, let us examine the specific details of the words Haman’s “beloved advisors” use, to see if their advice was ever useful at all, and if not, how did Haman get duped by them in the first place? In 5:14, he is told “Make a tree (wood) 50 cubits high, and in the morning tell they king they should hang Mordechai on it, and then you’ll come joyfully with the king to [Esther’s] party.” Haman perceives the plan to be a good one, and he makes the tree. After the turn of events of the evening and early morning, and right before Haman is ushered to Esther’s second party, he is told (6:13) “If this Mordechai, in front of whom you have begun to fall, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not defeat him. You will fall before him.” As they are speaking with him, the officers of the king enter and rush to bring Haman to Esther’s party. (6:14) The commentary Yosef Lekach (Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi, 1512-1585) raises a number of questions to the lead up to 6:13 and the nature of the advice Haman received. Why are they called “Ohavav” and “Chakhamav?” Why do they change their opinion now based on information that Mordechai is Jewish? Haman told them he is Jewish back in 5:13! How do they conclude from one setback that Mordechai will defeat Haman? What kind of confidence boost do they give him with “you will not defeat him”? And why the premonition that Haman will fall? These are his friends? Apparently, Haman told over everything that had happened, from his excitement to build the tree to his rushing to the king’s palace, to his efforts to honor himself on the king’s horse, down to giving Mordechai the royal treatment with his own plan. Despite all this, Haman felt now that Mordechai had been repaid by the king, his later infractions and disobedience, namely through not bowing to Haman, would be enough to convince the king that Mordechai could still be eliminated, despite today’s royal treatment. 750ml BY R A B B I AV I B I L L E T 8 The Jewish Star March 6, 2009 Thinking of moving to Eretz Yisroel? Nefesh B’Nefesh pitches Aliyah to the Yeshiva world BY MICHAEL ORBACH Advertisements for several recent Nefesh B’Nefesh events didn’t actually contain the word aliyah. Instead, they delicately asked, ‘Are you thinking about moving to Eretz Yisroel? The locations –– Flatbush and Lakewood –– were not previously on the Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) schedule. Many of the men who attended wore black and white. The events were part of a new, coordinated effort by NBN to appeal to and capture one of the rarest animals of the Aliyah movement: the Yeshivish community. According to the founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, the project is part of the organization’s continued expansion. NBN works to encourage Aliyah among Jews in North America and the United Kingdom by providing financial assistance, streamlining the Israeli citizenship procedure and assisting in the absorption process inside Israel. “We are witnessing a significant interest in Aliyah from all sectors of American Jewry,” Fass told The Jewish Star, adding that NBN is working with all spectrums of Jewry, as well as targeting Jews based on work and age groups. Since 2002, Nefesh B’Nefesh has helped close to 19,000 people make Aliyah, Fass said. Many of those were Orthodox families from Nassau County, mostly of a more modern bent. In November, NBN hired Rabbi Yigal Segal to specifically work with the Yeshivish community. Segal, who describes himself as Yeshivish, made Aliyah in August of 2005, on the first day of the Gaza withdrawal. “I think that the yeshiva community never felt that someone understood them,” explained Segal during a brief recruiting tour to the United States. “It’s good for someone in our community to talk to some- one who understands where they’re coming from.” Close to 100 people attended an event in Brooklyn two weeks ago; 40 attended a similar event in Lakewood last Sunday, said Segal. While it would be wildly inaccurate to describe the yeshiva community in general as anti-Zionistic in the way that say, Neturei Karta is (small groups of picketers from that fringe Chassidic group were present outside both events), it is fair to say that a cultural chasm exists between the Aliyah experiences of the more right-wing Yeshiva community and other Orthodox Jews. “Rabbis in the shuls of the right-wing people are not pushing it,” Segal asserted. “The principals and the schools are not pushing it.” There are fears of army service and of cultural differences. But Segal believes members of the yeshivish community who might otherwise contemplate a Photos courtesy Nefesh B’Nefesh Rabbi Yigal Segal, the new Nefesh B’Nefesh ambassador to the yeshiva world, speaking in Brooklyn last month. move to Israel are also scared about what effect that might have on their children. “The Yeshivish community is afraid that if they move their children [to Israel], their children will become drug addicts, because the stories that they’re CLASSIFIEDS hearing are all horror stories,” said Segal bluntly. This problem, he maintains, isn’t specifically an Israeli problem. “There are kids here [in America] that are doing badly in school, who are dropping out and becoming kids at risk [of drug abuse and other negative aspects of the secular culture]. My message to people is you really need to know your issues and every kid is different.” When Segal and his family made Aliyah, many yeshivish people they encountered were not supportive, he added. “They thought we were crazy.” He hopes to help encourage a change in attitude. Most Yeshivish families who make the move, according to Segal, settle in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Har Nof and Beitar. In 2008, 3,150 people made Aliya from North America according to Israeli National News, almost double the number of North Americans who made Aliyah in 2000. To Advertise In This Section, Call 516-632-5205 Weightloss Medications Phentermine, Phendimetrazine, etc 2I¿FHYLVLWRQHPRQWKVXSSO\ for $80 www.MDThin.com C8903 (631) 462-6161 (516) 754-6001 Help Wanted Florida Real Estate /22.<285%(67 SUNNY FLORIDA, Own or Rent Your Dream House, Price Reduced! Motivated Owner. Championship Golf Courses, Boca Raton Boca Woods Country Club. LOCATION...LOCATION...LOCATION! 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Rms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $765K CEDARHURST Hi-Ranch, 6BR, 3BRs, 1.5Bths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $584,9K * VALLEY STREAM Redone Split, **************** *RENTALS . . . . . . . . . . . $4,000 . . . . . . . . . . **************** . 4Bth . . . . . . N. WOODMERE Colonial 4BR,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,900 WOODMERE Col. 3BR, 3Bth Spacious Studio, Sep BR Area . . . . . . . $1,000 VALLEY STREAM Bldg Gibson r12946 The finest in luxury living For Confidential Interview Email Your Resume to: [email protected] ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE Richner Communications, Publisher of The Jewish Star, Seeks Advertising Sales Representatives for a Lucrative Territory in the Five Towns. Must Have a Car and Phone. Competitive Compensation Package Includes Salary, Commission, Bonus and Excellent Benefits. Qualified Candidates Should E-mail a Cover Letter with Salary Requirements and Resume to [email protected]. No Phone Calls, Please. Herald Community Newspapers, a 15-edition chain of local, community newspapers, seeks an experienced newspaper editor-reporter for one of its papers covering communities on the South Shore of Nassau County. We focus on community news, on the people in the neighborhoods we serve, covering the schools, events, crimes, celebrations, issues and happenings that affect our readership. Qualified applicants must have at least three years newspaper editing andreporting experience. Applicants must provide a salary range sought. Benefits, good salary. E-mail or fax resume to EDITOR, to B. Barkley, Human Resources. E-mail: [email protected] Fax: (516) 569-4942 Or mail to 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530 No phone calls, please. Careers Careers ADVERTISING PROFESSIONALS JOIN OUR TEAM! • • • • • BY MICHAEL ORBACH At least one local school reports tuition payments are down at least seven to 10 percent this year, according to Yeshiva University’s new National School Affordability Initiative. “Everyone is hurting, no one is unscathed,” Eli Shapiro, the regional coordinator for the Affordability Initiative, told The Jewish Star by phone on Friday. 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Call the USA Classified Network today! 1-800231-6152 265597 Health & Fitness EARLY DEADLINES for the issue of March 13, 2009 Reserve ads by 11:00 a.m. on Friday, March 6 *Art due by 1:00 p.m. on Friday, March 6 Also...don’t miss these upcoming specials: Purim publishing March 6 (reserve by Mon., March 2); Pesach Greetings publishing April 3 (reserve by Mon., March 30); and the Pesach Double Issue publishing April 10 (reserve by Fri., April 3). 264147 Health & Fitness The Jewish Star Continued from Page One would be going straight from the funeral to the dinner.” Community members, who all share an individual and personal relationship with the Wolowiks, she said, “wanted to mourn with them.” Nevertheless, the Wolowiks “felt that it was the right thing to go ahead with the Chabad dinner,” said Faivish Pewzner, a health executive, also an honoree. Rabbi Wolowick specifically asked Pewzner “not only to be happy,” but, in keeping with the joy inherent in the current Jewish month of Adar, “to increase in joy.” Hours before the dinner began, a funeral procession carried Levi Yitzchak Wolowik from a chapel in Borough Park to his resting place at the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Cambria Heights, Queens. It passed by Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights and Chabad of the Five Towns, where the Wolowiks serve. Thousands of people crowded the streets in each neighborhood, leaving cars double- and sometimes triple-parked. At the funeral chapel in Borough Park, police units blocked the road outside. Referring to the outpouring of grief, Tamar Pewzner said that the young boy was an emissary “just like his parents are. He sacrificed a lot, just like his parents do for this community.” Levi was warm “to everyone he met,” Pewzner added, and “he was always meticulous in following the Jewish customs.” “It was just a pleasure to see him in synagogue,” said Werner. “He was such a sweet boy. He was a good friend to all of our kids.” He “just had a very good nature,” offered Leibel Shmotkin, a bunkmate of Levi’s at the Camp Gan Israel summer camp in Kalkaska, Mich. He “was an example to the rest of us in the way he learned and [prayed].” “I can just see his smile,” said Leah Muller, who accompanied Levi on a trip to Israel in 2007. “He brought happiness to everybody.” “He was very mature,” related Shmulik Greenberg, 20, Levi’s camp counselor. Despite his young age, “I remember that he did not need any help packing or unpacking.” Dr. William Muller, a founding member of Chabad of the Five Towns, agreed, telling of an activity that he and Levi worked out on the Israel trip. Each day, the pair would decide on one Hebrew Tabledressings 445 Central Ave. at the Cedarhurst Center (516) 374-LINEN (5463) Beautify Your Table For Your PURIM SEUDAH and remember... is just around the corner! 265773 PESACH Shop Early For Best Selection Making a Simcha? No job too big o r small! PLATTERS •Fish •Deli • ruit •Vegetable F •Cake For all your Simcha needs! All Inclusive Packages Available For: •Weddings •Bar/Bas Mitzvahs •Bris •Sheva Brachos •Aufruf •Shabbos Kiddushim word to teach to their entire bus. “He was a very wise and serious student,” said Muller. Shortly after the funeral finished, the crowd began filling the Sephardic Temple for the Chabad dinner. Predictably, the event began with a somber air. “People were not sure how they were supposed to act,” said Werner. “We were just not sure whether we were really supposed to be happy or upset.” Many felt out of place, she added, without the Wolowiks being there. “A lot of people know the rabbi in a personal way. When he’s in a room, he’s very approachable and friendly. People attend because of Rebbetzin Chanie and Rabbi Zalman.” “I admire them,” said Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence. “I cherish them and the work they do. We have only the utmost admiration, both personally and communally.” “The Wolowiks are a role model for inspiration,” echoed William Muller, “for caring and love, and for the fulfillment of life to its greatest extent.” Behind the scenes, the couple “raised funds for people for their failing mortgages, and to provide for people’s basic needs when they lose their jobs,” he added. “It’s all done discreetly.” (The day before his son’s passing, Rabbi Wolowik organized a last-minute burial for a Jewish man who had died penniless. He spent the day raising the necessary funds, gathering a quorum for services, working through the legal requirements, and personally leading the burial ceremony. He returned home just moments before Shabbat.) In a letter they wrote to the dinner’s attendees, which was placed beside each table setting, the Wolowiks sought to encourage their community, referring to teachings of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, on dealing with tragedy. “The only way to confront tragedy,” they wrote, “is to persist with even more energy and more joy. “There could be no greater way to honor Levi,” the Wolowiks continued, than by each guest being there as an expression of Jewish unity. “[Levi] is no doubt looking on and having [pleasure] from this gathering tonight.” An hour into the evening, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Levi’s grandfather, took the microphone and spoke of his deep personal pain. “In my life I have never seen such an outpouring of love,” Kotlarsky said, his voice breaking. “You’ll never know what this means to us, because there are no words... This is not an easy day.” Yet, he announced, the resolve of his daughter and sonin-law to move forward is unshakable. “Tonight’s program should be full of happiness,” he emphasized, “the opposite of what we endured today. Everyone should be joyous. [As the Talmud says,] ‘Joy breaks through all boundaries.’” While attendees had originally feared that the dinner would serve as a painful reminder of a deep scar in the community, afterwards, recalled Leah Muller, “people said that this was the most wonderful experience. There was so much unity.” And instead of honoring the end of a young boy’s short life, said Faivish Pewzner, the dinner was “a means to continue his life.” During the dinner, attendees filled out cards with pledges of good deeds in memory of Levi. After the event, the honorees joined Rabbi Meir and Hadassah Geisinsky, the youth directors at Chabad of the Five Towns, to deliver the pledges to the Wolowiks. “The family appeared to derive comfort from it,” said Werner. “The dinner turned out to be a positive experience for everyone, instead of a depressing one.” “Levi was a gift to our community for these past 10 years,” added an emotional Werner. “This was a night to celebrate his short and special life.” Courtesy of chabad.org COPING WITH TRAGEDY Continued from Page One thinking, if they understand how it happened, why it happened, then it won’t happen to them.” Some children will have a delayed reaction, perhaps a week later. “Parents should validate whatever they’re seeing,” she said. “Whatever you’re seeing, especially in the first week, is fine and normal.” Parents often ask if it’s OK to cry in front of their children. Yes, Blumenthal and Farbman both said, but... “Make sure you as the parent are clear yourself about how you’re reacting,” said Blumenthal. “There’s nothing wrong with being sad or even crying in front of your child as long as you’re in control.” “A rule of thumb is...if you can cry for a minute and then stop, then it’s OK. It’s OK for children to see their parents cry but if you feel yourself getting hysterical, then walk away,” Farbman advised. “It’s scary for children to see their parents not in control.” Finally, if you are planning to bring a classmate for a shiva visit, “prepare your child,” said Dr. Blumenthal. “If they know what they’re going to see they handle it well. Try to paint a picture for them ahead of time. Often children’s fantasies are worse than reality.” A press release from the Nassau County Dept. of Health said the “presumptive cause of death in a 9-year-old student in Woodmere” is influenza A — the flu. A final confirmation from the medical examiner’s office is not expected before the end of the week, pending laboratory results. A spokeswoman for the health department, Cynthia Nixon, wouldn’t confirm that the press refers to Levi Yitzchok Wolowick, but no other similar cases are reported. Just two pediatric deaths have been blamed on the flu in Nassau County since such cases became reportable in 2004. The only other one occurred several weeks ago in Levittown, where a 10-year-old student died. “There have in the past been [cases of a] very ... rapid course of the disease reported to us but more often it takes a normal course where you come down first with a sniffle and runny nose, then you come down with a high fever and aches — and with children you can also have nausea, vomiting and diarrhea,” Nixon said. She recommended that anyone with symptoms of the flu contact their doctor since medications to treat the flu are available. Flu season runs through May, she noted, so there is still time to be vaccinated. Anyone who has not had a flu shot is advised to see their doctor. Doctors who do not have any more doses of the vaccine can call the Health Dept. she said; the vaccine is still available. While vaccination does not guarantee that someone will not contact the flu, Nixon said vaccination does offer the likelihood of a lighter dose of the flu and more rapid recuperation. 564 Central Avenue, Cedarhurst, NY 11516 Tel: 516 374 9200 Fax: 516 374 9202 Tea for Two is an Italian dairy restaurant offering contemporary dining as well as a delectable sushi bar Our culinary team prepares delicious antipasti, freshly made and hand-tossed salads, exceptional pizza and pasta, carefully prepared fish dishes, not to mention sinfully decadent desserts made daily by our renowned pastry chef Private party rooms perfect for: your bar mitzva, bat mitzva, pidyon haben, sheva brachot, wedding or any other occasion up to 150 guests. We are happy to host your seminar, conference or corporate meeting. 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Responses are the property of The Jewish Star and may be used for marketing or other purposes in print or online. 264150 265770 or via U.S. Mail: Why I Read c/o The Jewish Star 2 Endo Boulevard Garden City, NY 11530 10 The Jewish Star March 6, 2009 EVENT WAS BIG Continued from Page One Dolitsky of Cedarhurst, the father of a choir member — Jack Dolitsky, 9, of HAFTR. “So I assume he doesn’t usually wear his tzitzis out,” I asked. “No, but you can be taught anything,” he noted with a smile. I never saw Rabbi Teitelbaum’s Pirchei Choir perform but I’m guessing they never fronted a 22-piece orchestra. Lipa Schmeltzer made his entrance on the WaMu Theater stage a year later than planned, but it was worth the wait. He appeared in a spotlight from behind the orchestra riser at the top of a flight of stairs at center stage. He sang the title track of his last album, “A Poshiter Yid,” (a simple Jew), into the type of headset microphone common on secular performers but not generally seen in Jewish music (perhaps because few other Jewish singers would know what to do with two free hands, someone observed). He wore a cloth cap and a black velvet blazer — the first of at least a half dozen costumes he would wear through the course of the evening. Twice I looked up from taking notes and realized that I had missed a costume change. Immediately after the first song an assistant entered from stage left with a large briefcase so Lipa could exchange his glasses for a different pair. Next was a well-produced video prepared for last year’s concert. Set in an operating room, it turned out to be a commercial for an ink and toner Photo by Shimon Gifter The Pirchei Boys Choir (aka Yeshiva Boys Choir) onstage at “The Event” at the WaMu Theater Sunday. The choir includes a number of Long Island and Far Rockaway residents. company. Surgeons finishing an operation have trouble bringing the patient out from under anesthesia. “Let me see the EKG printout,” the lead surgeon orders. When the anesthesiologist tells him the printer on the electrocardiograph was out of ink, the surgeon reacts with anger, and the video cuts to a slide with the advertiser’s name and other information. Then, from behind the surgical drape, the “patient” sits up smiling: Lipa. Cut back to live action with Lipa striding onstage — this time in full Chassidishe levush (traditional Hasidic attire). Before singing another note Lipa turned the whole evening into a siyum (completion of study) — his first ever — on Masechet (tractate) Megillah, complete with everyone in the theater rising for Kaddish. Then he sang an ode to Torah study, a song from his last album with the chorus, “Torah sheh’bichsav (the written Torah), Torah she’ ba’al p’eh (the oral Torah). A guest appearance by Dedi was introduced with another video — a funny skit about Lipa and Dedi in the IDF; the choir sang several more Pirchei songs; and Rabbi Boruch Chait performed with Yisroel Williger and members of the group ‘Acheinu.’ Rabbi Chait took a moment to recall the joy that Rabbi Teitelbaum took in living life — “his simchas hachaim” — and in partaking of the permitted, rather than seeking to ban. A video tribute to Rabbi Teitelbaum was hosted by a young grandson; another tribute was also pre-recorded by composer Abie Rottenberg, who had a family obligation that didn’t let him attend in person. That turned out to be the most technically interesting part of the show — a virtual performance by Rottenberg, singing and playing piano, soon joined by a virtual Mordechai Ben David, who sat next to him on the piano bench, accompanied by the live orchestra onstage, by the choir, Acheinu, Sruli Williger and, finally, Lipa. Next, Lipa was back on stage by himself, at least for a CAPPING YESHIVA TUITION Continued from Page Eight gious] array from HAFTR to Darchei and TAG,” said Dr. Scott Goldberg, Director of the Institute for University School partnership at YU. Goldberg emphasized the holistic aspect of the project of making schools affordable, noting that despite what many consider to be high tuition, it still doesn’t cover the full cost of education. So far a number of local schools have taken advantage of the Initiative and participated in meetings focused on ways of reducing costs. After the first meeting in December, three areas were specified: increasing availability of cash infusions from foundations, a while. He seemed to dismiss his critics and the controversy that has surrounded him for more than a year, while discussing his frequent visits to the sick. “When I go to a hospital to lift them up it breaks my heart,” he said. “Not the other stuff — the other stuff is nonsense. THIS breaks my heart.” He sang a medley of songs from past albums, explaining that he would try to make everyone happy by singing their favorite song — and was soon wearing his most interesting costume yet, which seemed to incorporate the traditional garb of four or five different groups of Chassidim: pants with one dark leg, one light, with a white sock on one foot, and a long coat that seemed to be several garments stitched together. Possibly the best part of the show came when Lipa, now in brown slacks and long coat with a matching bowler hat, sang Mordechai Ben David’s “Just One Shabbos,” in Yiddish, after poking fun at himself and his Yiddish-inflected speech with a promise to also “try it in Ying- kehillah (congregation) model of contribution that stressed donations from individuals not related to the school that was used successfully in Chicago, and joint and discount purchasing plans for the schools. “We’re sort of a clearing house for opportunities to make schools more affordable,” Shapiro quipped. Shapiro stressed that the initiative is focused on “research-based data-driven practices,” be it hiring one full-time lish.” He didn’t have to make the attempt: Mordechai Ben David, in the flesh, this time, joined him halfway through to sing the chorus and the rest of the song. The crowd gave a huge roar as MBD made the same grand entrance from the top of the orchestra riser that Lipa had made earlier. Hundreds leaped (Lip’d?) to their feet. With tastes running more toward classic rock, my seatmate, Jay Dolitsky, has been to very few Jewish music concerts, he said. He had heard of MBD but didn’t recognize him when he appeared. Still, he quickly figured out what was what. “I can see why he’s so well liked,” he said. “He just has a very palatable voice. He’s got great presence. I get the impression that Lipa is more of an entertainer” than purely a singer. Got it in one. Seeing the two of them together on stage was a lot of fun — all the more so because it was Lipa’s show, and for all of Mordechai’s stage presence, it remained Lipa’s show. Maybe it was the headset mic that did it. teacher instead of multiple part-time teachers or working with community Rabbis to make yeshivas a communal fiscal priority. The Initiative worked alongside Teach NYS last week to set up a lobbying trip to Albany to urge elected officials to reinstate close to $1 million in funding to private schools that Governor Paterson cut out of this year’s budget. It seems that the old cheder model may be on its way out. Yeshiva day MBD sang past favorites including “Ki Lo Yitosh,” “Da’aga Minayin,” “Anachnu Ma’aminim” and “Yidden.” Lipa changed costumes again toward the end, this time into a large pair of black-striped tzitzis worn outside his shirt. His dancers (did I mention there were male dancers, as well as a trio of backup singers, who also changed costumes several times) — soon followed suit, wearing tzitzis over their ... track suits, while Lipa soon switched up again into a grey bekeshe (long coat). In most, if not all of the costume changes, he also switched his glasses. Toward the end, Lipa told the cheering crowd, “We will do this again and again and again. We will bring simcha!” Which is really what he’s all about. As someone who has found himself bored to distraction at more than one Jewish music concert in the last 10 years I will tell you that this show wasn’t one of them, and I’m looking forward to what Lipa and Sheya Mendlowitz will follow up with for next year. schools, after years of being unable to cope with rising cost, are slowly entering the 21st century. Part of the Federal government’s new stimulus package, Shapiro noted, is for energy conservation technologies in schools, which yeshivas may be able to take advantage of. “It’s the business of education,” he said. 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