cy family mag #189

Listen to the Country Yossi Radio Show, Tuesday Evenings, 7 - 8PM on WSNR 620 AMFor Magazine or Radio Advertising Call: (718) 851-2010

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014 s"ga, yca

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Hi Everybody,When he won the Jewish Star

Competition a few years backeveryone knew this kid was goingplaces! His sweet, soaring voicefilled the hall and penetrated theheart. His innate sense of rhythmand dynamic stage presence com-plement a heightened musical sensi-tivity that captures the essence of amelody and intuitively interprets it.Not only that - but this kid can real-ly sing!! Thus it wasn’t a question of“if” but “when” he would release hisfirst CD. Happily for us, that magicmoment has arrived and DovidMoskovits has become a bright newstar in the stellar constellation ofJewish musical talent. His ground-breaking new album “Shalom”spans the gamut of musical stylesand arrangements. Produced by themulti-talented Zvika Bornstein, whoalso wrote almost all of the songs,the CD excels on many levels. Readall about this young “phenom” inour exclusive cover story this issue.

Our sizzling mid-winter issue isliterally smoking with hot topicsthat will pique your interest and willcomfort you through those longfrigid nights. Our Health and Ad-vice section, for example, will getyour blood boiling with an insight-

ful and helpful piece by RifkaSchonfeld, about bullying. She callsit “Taking the Bully by the Horns”and you’d be wise to take her pro-fessional advice. Rochelle Elbogentackles the intriguing question: IsExercise the Fountain of Youth? Youmay be very surprised by her con-clusion!

In a major scoop we finally re-veal what the Gemara has statedthousands of years ago - Men andWomen do Have Different Brains!Science has finally caught up!

Speaking of science, they’ve al-so just discovered that laughter“takeh” is the best medicine! Thequestion is, however, is it coveredby Obamacare? Read our interestingpiece on that humorous topic aswell.

Joel M. Hoffman pens a fasci-nating in-depth explanation on Howthe Secular Date of 12/5 Got Intothe Jewish Calendar. You’ll beamazed at what he has to say.

Don’t forget my radio show hasmoved to Tuesday nights 7-8pm onWSNR 620am.

Enjoy, keep warm and I’ll seeya on the radio!

Your friend,

Country Yossi

Message From the Publisher

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s"xc“New York’s Premier Jewish Magazine”ISSUE189

“Apparently all a misunderstanding - All Christie really said was ‘Close the Fridge!’” – CY

January/February 2014 / s"ga, yca Table of Contents Volume 26 Number 7

COUNTRY YOSSI FAMILY MAGAZINE • 1310 48th Street, Suite 304 • Brooklyn, New York 11219

Telephone: (718) 851-2010 • Email Address: [email protected] © 2014 - Country Yossi Family Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Country Yossi Family Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited submissions. Unsolicitedmanuscripts, photographs, and other submitted materials must be accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope. We reserve the right to print all letters inpart or in full unless specifically requested otherwise. No articles, photographs, artwork or other material in this magazine may be reproduced in any manner what-soever, without prior written permission of the publisher. Country Yossi Family Magazine will not be responsible for typographical errors or advertisers’ claims.

Cover Design: R.A. Stone website: www.countryyossi.com Interior Layout: H. Walfish

LET’S SHMOOZE ...................................................................................................................................................................................23

COVER STORY

• “Shalom:” Dovid Moskovits, by Chaya Sara Schlussel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

SPOTLIGHT

• Mega Health Immune Booster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

OPINION

• The Banality of Robbing the Jews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

• Never Again? by Charles Krauthammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

INSPIRATION.........................................................................................................................................................................................42

TORAH

• The Truth of Satire, by Rabbi Berel Wein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

• Mishnayos Protection, by Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

• How the Secular Date of Dec. 5 Made Its Way Into the Jewish Calendar, by Joel M. Hoffman . . . . . . . . . 50

TIMELINE ................................................................................................................................................................................................54

REAL LIFE

• Her Own Child, by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

• ‘Snow Joke: A Pictorial Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

HEALTH AND ADVICE

• Dr. D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

• Dear Bubby. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

• Is Exercise the Fountain of Youth? by Rochelle Elbogen, cspn, cft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

• Taking the Bully by the Horns, by Rifka Schonfeld, Director of S.O.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

• Men and Women Have Different Brains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

• Laughter Actually Is The Best Medicine, by Therese Borchard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

ISRAEL

• Understanding the Magnificent Name of Hashem, by Dov Shurin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

• Yadlin: Scope of Iranian Retaliation to Potential Strike is Exaggerated, by Yaakov Lappin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

CONTROVERSY

• YWN Coffee Room: Are We Traumatizing Our Children with Horrific Tales? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

JEWISH BOOKS

• Top 10 in Jewish Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

• Book Excerpt: Still Waters, by Devora Weiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

• Book Excerpt: From East to West, by Sarah Zwiebel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

• Book Excerpt: When the Clouds Part, by Yehudit Schreiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

JEWISH MUSIC

• CY Songbook: Proud to Be a Part of Am Yisroel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

• Top 3 in Jewish Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

• The “Z” Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

HUMOR

• Snow Job, by Chaptzem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

• Can’t You Just Plotz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

• Older But No Wiser, by Kayla Kuchleffel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

AROUND TOWN

• Kosher Foodie: Chagall Bistro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

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ASHERYATZAR

Dear Country Yossi,Hi, love your show and mag-

azine. I just want to reiterate that Ihave complete empathy with Dr.Prager. We went through a verysimilar situation. There was spinalbrain trauma to a member of myimmediate family. It took almosttwo years until bladder functionreturned. As the doctor indicat-ed, there are many com-plications involved.B’chasdei Hashem a neshappened. The ASHERYATZAR that is said eachtime takes at least 3 minuteswith tremendous kavanah. On-ly being in that situation canyou fully appreciate your bodilyfunctions. Just had to get it offmy chest.

Received via email

TELL ME THE TRUTHDear Country Yossi,

I need to ask you somethingand I want you to be totally honestwith me. It might be awkward be-tween us after this but I have toknow how you feel. I have kept itin for a while but I think it’s final-ly time I be straight up and justconfront you. I hope this doesn’truin the relationship we alreadyhave. I just need to know, and Idon’t see any other way I couldget over this. It just doesn’t seemfair to me if I don’t get an answer.I want you to tell me truthfully, nomatter how harsh it is. I just wantyour honest opinion... Do you pre-fer Coca-Cola or Pepsi?

Tzivia Kaufman

HALACHOS

Dear Country Yossi,The Cohen family was on

very good terms with their RomanCatholic neighbors, the O’Briens.In fact, little Yaakov Cohen andChristopher O’Brian from nextdoor would play together fromtime to time. Or at least they usedto.

Well, one late December’sday, Duncan O’Brien, the non-Jewish father, came storming into the Cohen’s house holdingpoor Yaakov by the ear. “Yourson is not going near my Chrisagain; he just has no respectfor us and our religion!”

“What’s the matter;what did he do?” inquiredMr. Cohen. “I’ll tell you,”said Duncan in a rage. “Hesaw our Xmas tree andstarted making fun.”“Really, what did hesay?” continued Mr.Cohen.

Duncan said, “Hesaw our tree and started ask-

ing all sorts of ridiculous ques-tions - which kinds of pine treescan be used for an Xmas tree?What’s the minimum requiredheight? How close to the windowdoes it need to be? Do too manydecorations render it unfit? Whatif it’s under a neighbor’s bal-cony?!”

H.R.Flatbush

VACCINATIONWARNING

Dear Country Yossi,Thank you for your great

Dear Tzivia,This is not the proper forum

for this type of conversation!However just this once I will

allow it!Pepsi!There, I’ve said it!

CY

I’D RATHERWORKDear Country Yossi,

A melamed in Yerushalayimreceived a call from his menahelthis past Sunday. He told theRebbe not to bother coming in asonly 6 kids showed up due to thesnow.

The Rebbe responded thathe’s coming in anyway; “‘cause athome I have 15!”

Received via email



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magazine. Whenever I see a pile of yourlatest edition I take a few for all my sis-ters before it gets tzichapt! What I likebest about Country Yossi Magazine isthe Let’s Shmooze section. Thank youfor giving us a place to post our opin-ions, ideas, thoughts and stories.

Now here’s my latest finding:I recently saw a video (and any-

one who wants to see it too can do soonline) of Bill Gates speaking at aTED conference. On the video one canhear Bill Gates talking about DEPOP-ULATION. He says “The world todayhas 6.8 billion people. That’s headingup to about 9 billion. Now if we do areally great job on new vaccines,health care, reproductive health servic-es, etc. we could lower that by perhaps10 or 15 percent.”

(Do the math, it’s shocking!)After watching my friend’s

healthy baby falling into severe autismstarting from the day that he received adose of shots at the age of eightmonths, as a responsible and con-cerned parent, on a recent well visit tomy pediatrician, I had questioned herabout the theory of vaccines causingautism. She simply said “it’s not true.”Being that she had no way of provingthat to me, I went on doing my own re-search.

I read through some vaccine in-serts and I was horrified and shocked toread what the doctors never tell us. Forexample, this is what it says in the Tri-pedia vaccine insert: “Adverse eventsreported during post-approval use ofTripedia vaccine include... SIDS...autism.” Events were included in thislist because of the seriousness or fre-quency of reporting. Anyone can viewthis online, or ask your pediatrician forit at your child’s next visit. (Why dothey tell us, ‘Oh, just some fever andswelling at the injection spot?’)

Why doesn’t my pediatricianknow this? Didn’t she study in medicalschool? And we as parents, shouldn’twe be made aware about this? We asparents should have the right to makean educated decision about vaccinatingour children.

So, dear Country Yossi and fans,check this out and let me know whatyou think!

A horrified motherBoro Park



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THE FINAL EXAM

Dear Country Yossi,At Penn State University, there

were four sophomores taking chem-istry and all of them had an ‘A’ so far.These four friends were so confidentthat the weekend before finals they de-cided to visit some friends and have abig party. They had a great time but,after all the hearty partying they sleptall day Sunday and didn’t make it backto Penn State until early Mondaymorning.

Rather than taking the final then,they decided that after the final theywould explain to their professor whythey missed it. They said that theyvisited friends but on the way back

they had a flat tire. As a result, theymissed the final. The professor agreedthey could make up the final the nextday. The guys were excited and re-lieved. They studied that night for theexam.

The next day the Professor placedthem in separate rooms and gave thema test booklet. They quickly answeredthe first problem worth 5 points. Cool,they thought!

Each one in separate roomsthought this was going to be easy... butthen they turned the page.

On the second page was written...For 95 points:

Which Tire?R. D.

Flatbush

THE TEN BEST EVENTSOF 2013

Dear Country Yossi,Today is the last day of the secu-

lar year.All over the media there are arti-

cles touting: “The Ten Most Memo-rable Events of 2013” or “The TenMost Important New stories of theYear.”

Therefore, as the year comes to aconclusion I present to you my versionof: The Ten Best Events of 2013.

1. Every day the sun rose - nomatter how difficult yesterday was, thesun rose the next day.

2. I opened my eyes every morn-ing and they worked. This is no small



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feat as it is estimated that somewherein the world, someone goes blind everyfive seconds. It is estimated that atleast 7 million people go blind everyyear.

3. My ears continued to functionevery day of the year. And since any-where from 37 to 140 out of every1,000 people in the United States havesome kind of hearing loss - that is verymeaningful!

4. I was not enslaved this year.Once again this is nothing to laughabout. After all, in its inaugural Global

Slavery Index, released Thursday, theWalk Free Foundation revealed thatmore than 29 million people aroundthe world are living in slavery.

5. I was able to walk on my ownevery day of the year - even the day af-ter I had my gall bladder removed.Here again, this is a major accomplish-ment as every year 250,000 Americansare spinal cord injured.

6. I entered the year as a Jew andI am still a Jew. Big deal, you say?Well listen to this: Overall, the inter-marriage rate is at 58 percent, up from

43 percent in 1990 and 17 percent in1970. Among non-Orthodox Jews, theintermarriage rate is 71 percent.

7. The land remained firm underme and the Passaic River never sweptme or anyone I know away. Here againdo not minimize this fact as just re-member what happened nine years agoat this time of the year: The 2004 Indi-an Ocean earthquake was an underseaearthquake that occurred on Sunday,26 December 2004. The earthquaketriggered a series of devastatingtsunamis, killing over 230,000 peoplein fourteen countries, and inundatingcoastal communities with waves up to30 meters (98 ft.) high.

8. I had clothes to wear and wasnever cold because of lack of clothes.

9. I had a home to sleep in everynight of the year. In the great city ofNew York, which is just minutes fromwhere I sit, each night as many as60,000 people - including more than22,000 children - experience home-lessness.

10. I am alive. There are an esti-mated 146,357 deaths each day, with6098 people dying each hour, accord-ing to the World Fact Book and theWorld Almanac and Book of Facts.Therefore, the fact that you and I areNOT among those 146,357 makes mevery, very happy and that is a big, bigevent!

And there you have it: My list ofthe ten Best Things of 2013.

I hope we can share this list to-gether with each other for many, manymore years.

Ron Yitzchok Eisenman,Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel,

Passaic, NJ

Dear Rabbi Ron,Thanks for sharing that with us!

CY

4 SIMPLE QUESTIONS FROM

A REPUTABLE ATTORNEYDear Country Yossi,

This really should get your “graymatter” churning, even if you are anObama fan. I wouldn’t want my heroto be made out to be a liar, would you?

For all you “anti-Fox News”folks, none of this information camefrom Fox. All of it can be verified from



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legitimate sources (Wikipedia, the Ka-piolani hospital website itself, and agood history book, as noted herein). Itis very easy for anyone to check out.

4 Simple Questions:1. Back in 1961 people of color

were called ‘Negroes.’ So how can theObama ‘birth certificate’ state he is“African-American” when the termwasn’t even used at that time?

2. The birth certificate that theWhite House released lists Obama’sbirth as August 4, 1961 and listsBarack Hussein Obama as his father.No big deal, right? At the time of Oba-ma’s birth, it also shows that his fatheris aged 25 years old, and that Obama’sfather was born in “Kenya, EastAfrica.”

This wouldn’t seem like anythingof concern, except for the fact thatKenya did not even exist until 1963,two whole years after Obama’s birth,and 27 years after his father’s birth.How could Obama’s father have beenborn in a country that did not yet exist?Up and until Kenya was formed in1963, it was known as the “British EastAfrica Protectorate.” (Check it at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya)

3. On the birth certificate releasedby the White House, the listed place ofbirth is “Kapi’olani Maternity and Gy-necological Hospital.”

This cannot be, because the hospi-tal(s) in question in 1961 were called“KauiKeolani Children’s Hospital”and “Kapi’olani Maternity Home,” re-spectively.

The name did not change toKapi’olani Maternity and Gynecologi-cal Hospital until 1978, when thesetwo hospitals merged.

How can this particular name ofthe hospital be on a birth certificatedated 1961 if this name had not yetbeen applied to it until 1978? (Check itat: http://http/http/www.kapiolani.org/women-and-children/about-us/de-fault.aspx)

Why hasn’t this been discussed inthe major media?

4. Perhaps a clue comes fromObama’s book on his father. He stateshow proud he is of his father fightingin WWII. I’m not a math genius, so Imay need some help from you.

Barack Obama’s “birth certifi-cate” says his father was 25 years old



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in 1961 when Obama was born. Thatshould have put his father’s date ofbirth approximately 1936 - if my mathholds (Honest! I did that without a cal-culator!!!). Now we need a non-re-vised history book - one that hasn’tbeen altered to satisfy the author’sgoals - to verify that WWII was basi-cally between 1939 and 1945.

Just how many 3-year-olds fightin wars? Even in the latest stages ofWWII his father wouldn’t have beenmore than 9 years old.

Does that mean that Mr. Obama is

a liar, or simply chooses to alter thefacts to satisfy his imagination or po-litical purposes (still Obama, our pres-ident qualifies as a “liar”)?

“Rich” Richard R. Silverlieb

Dear Rich,You still hung up on this issue?

You sound like Donald Trump! Ithought this was put to rest a long timeago. Hey, a little respect for the officeis in order! But, you do raise some in-teresting questions!!!

CY

A CHANUKAH MIRACLE

Dear Country Yossi,I read this letter/article on Face-

book. I contacted the family and gotpermission to submit it to various pub-lications.

CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING -SPREAD THEWORD

Dear Community Members,We the K family from Far Rock-

away would like to share our personalChanukah miracle with you. Some ofyou may know who we are, and somemay not, but our identity is not impor-tant because this story could be aboutyou. All last Friday, my wife and Iwalked around complaining aboutheadaches and feeling quite tired. Wemade no big deal of it, as we areblessed with a 3-month-old who likesto keep us up at night. Friday night wethought to ourselves, wow our littlemunchkin must be growing, as shewas waking up more than usual, mak-ing sure we didn’t sleep much. Atabout 6am, during our infant feedinghour, our 5-year-old let out a wildscream. We ran into her room to seewhat was wrong. As we approachedher, she looked at us with crazed eyesand screamed again as her body wentlimp. We took her to the bathroomwhere she began to retch and aftervomiting she was slowly able to standand move her body. She then com-plained of a headache, so naturallylike any Jewish parent, we gave her awet shamata for her head and took hertemperature. As we were about to callHatzalah, our very calm and loving 8-year-old screamed on the top of hislungs “I CAN’T TAKE THE CRY-ING!!” (He was referring, of course,to our baby whom we’d left to fend forherself and she was letting us knowthat she was not happy about it.) Weran into his room, and found himdrenched in sweat, unable to stand,and retching. Naturally, we ran him tothe bathroom. Our 5-year-old wantedto see what was happening, so she gotoff the couch, and as soon as she gotto the bathroom, vomited again,passed out, and was unable to moveher body. We called Hatzalah, who weare so grateful to, and within minutesthey were in our house measuring the



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oxygen saturation in our children.Suddenly, the paramedic yelled“Everyone out of the house and intothe ambulance now!!” We had carbonmonoxide poisoning!

Carbon monoxide is a deadly, col-orless, odorless and tasteless poison-ous gas which many people never sur-vive to talk about. We did not havefunctional carbon monoxide detectorsat the time, Hashem was truly watch-ing over our family. When someonegoes through such a situation, you areleft with the feeling – what am I sup-posed to do with this? Where do Ichannel this? We have decided to takeit upon ourselves to share our story andeducate the public to ensure that thiswill never happen to you.

We therefore ask you to check tomake sure you have working, non-ex-pired, carbon monoxide detectors withbackup batteries. Call your alarm com-pany to make sure you are covered forcarbon monoxide - and of course passthis lesson along to family and friends.As we lit the candles Motzei Shabboswe had tears in our eyes and thankful-ness in our hearts, as we were trulycelebrating and understanding themeaning of a “Nais Gadol” (a BIGmiracle).

Please share this message withyour family and friends – you can savea life!!

Wishing you hatzlacha, andthanking you for all you do for KlalYisroel,

F.E.M.



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The recent discovery ofmore than 1,400 prizedpaintings in the Munichresidence of CorneliusGurlitt, an art collector

whose father collaborated with theNazis, has brought the pillage of theJews back into the limelight. Yet thebulk of anti-Semitic looting duringWorld War II was at once much morebanal and more wide-spread.

In Paris, the plunder of Jewishpossessions began with the arrival ofGerman troops in June 1940. At first, itapplied only to art collections, but assoon as the Final Solution was devisedin January 1942, the confiscationsspread to the entire Jewish population,most of which comprised poor immi-grants from Eastern Europe. StrippingJews of their belongings was part andparcel of the effort to destroy them;pillage was an essential tool of exter-mination.

But what would be done withthese items? Could they be reused, orwere they too Jewish for that? Werethe dishes and the blankets that hadbeen touched by Jews fit for use byAryans?

In Berlin in February 1942, Hitlerhimself ordered Alfred Rosenberg,who had been overseeing the lootingof artworks throughout Western Eu-rope, to entirely empty the apartmentsof Jews who had been deported or ar-rested, or had fled. The spoils wouldthen be sent back to the Reich.

This widespread plunder, knownas Mobel Aktion, occurred in France,Belgium and the Netherlands. From1942-1944, at least 70,000 dwellingswere emptied; in Paris 38,000 apart-ments were stripped bare by Frenchmoving companies at the request of the

German authorities. It took 674 trainsto transport the loot to Germany. Some2,700 train cars supplied Hamburgalone.

Everything was taken: toys, dish-es, family photos, tools, light bulbs.The goods were placed in crates andtaken to warehouses and sorting cen-ters specifically established for thispurpose in the heart of Paris. Pianoswere stored in the cellars of the Palaisde Tokyo in the 16th arrondissement.Porcelains and fabrics went nearby, toRue de Bassano. Books and musicalscores were gathered at 104 Rue deRichelieu, furniture at the Quai de laGare. The plunder of the Jews spreadfar beyond the famous Jeu de Paumeand Louvre museums, the main gather-ing sites for looted art.

With German soldiers busy fight-ing on the Eastern Front, the Nazis inParis were short staffed for the sortingand crating required for Mobel Aktion.So they turned three warehouses intowork camps. And they resorted to Jew-ish prisoners from the Drancy intern-ment camp, a vast cluster of lodgingsunder construction just outside thecity, and an antechamber toAuschwitz.

From 1943 to 1944, nearly 800Jewish men and women worked, ate,slept and lived among these objects.Some saw their own possessions orthose of family members pass beforetheir eyes, and at that moment under-stood that they, too, had been slated forinternment or deportation.

The contents of each apartmentwere divided into two groups. Dam-aged objects or personal ones, like pa-pers or family photos, were burned al-most daily in a bonfire at the Quai dela Gare. The other items were sorted

and classified by category, rather thansource. A saucepan taken from onefamily would be added to a stack ofother saucepans rather than kept in theoriginal set. Stripped of their prove-nance, items lost their identity. Be-longings became goods.

The supervisors of Mobel Aktionset aside the most appealing items –porcelain, fine linens, fur coats – forthemselves and their friends. Formerprisoners from the sorting work campslater described regular inspections byGerman soldiers; they would come toshop “just like at the GaleriesLafayette,” the Parisian departmentstore. Detainees who had been tailors,cobblers or leather workers beforetheir arrest were forced to make luxu-ry clothes for the Nazi dignitaries andtheir wives.

Shipments of spoons, dishes,clothes and other items were regularlysent on to Germany. They were distrib-uted to German civilians as compensa-tion for losses caused by the Alliedbombings or to support their immigra-tion eastward, where they were sent topopulate newly conquered territories.

But the systematic looting and re-distribution of everyday goods of littlevalue and often in poor condition sug-gests a motivation that goes well be-yond economic calculation in a time ofhardship. Indeed, several Nazi servic-es, including those of Hermann Gor-ing, regularly questioned the financialrationale of Mobel Aktion. If the proj-ect endured nonetheless it’s becauseone of its fundamental objectives wasto destroy all trace of the Jews’ veryexistence.

Since the end of the war, theFrench and German governments haveoffered some indemnities, though oftenpartial, to the small number of lootedowners or their descendants who haveasked for compensation. The goodsthemselves could not be retrieved.

Unlike stolen works of art – someof which were preserved and continueto resurface – the colossal spoils ofthat other, mundane looting have van-ished. Either they have been destroyed,or they remain with German families,who to this day probably have no ideawhere they came from.This article was translated by Edward Gau-

vin from the French.

THE BANALITY OF

ROBBING THE JEWS

O P I N I O N



37

When something hap-pens for the firsttime in 1,871 years,it is worth noting.In A.D. 70, and

again in 135, the Roman Empire bru-tally put down Jewish revolts inJudea, destroying Jerusalem, killinghundreds of thousands of Jews andsending hundreds of thousands moreinto slavery and exile. For nearly twomillennia, the Jews wandered theworld. And now, in 2006, for the firsttime since then, there are once againmore Jews living in Israel - the suc-cessor state to Judea - than in any oth-er place on Earth.

Israel’s Jewish population has justpassed 5.6 million. America’s Jewishpopulation was about 5.5 million in1990, dropped to about 5.2 million 10years later and is in a precipitous de-cline that, because of low fertility ratesand high levels of assimilation, will cutthat number in half by mid-century.

When 6 million European Jewswere killed in the Holocaust, only twomain centers of Jewish life remained:America and Israel. That binary starsystem remains today, but a tippingpoint has just been reached. With everyyear, as the Jewish population contin-ues to rise in Israel and decline inAmerica (and in the rest of the Diaspo-ra), Israel increasingly becomes thecenter of the Jewish world.

An epic restoration, and one ofthe most improbable. To take just oneof the remarkable achievements of thereturn: Hebrew is the only “dead” lan-guage in recorded history to havebeen brought back to daily use as theliving language of a nation. But thereis a price and a danger to this trans-formation. It radically alters the

prospects for Jewish survival.For 2,000 years, Jews found pro-

tection in dispersion - protection notfor individual communities, whichwere routinely persecuted and massa-cred, but protection for the Jewish peo-ple as a whole. Decimated here, theycould survive there. They could be per-secuted in Spain and find refuge inConstantinople. They could be massa-cred in the Rhineland during the Cru-sades or in the Ukraine during theKhmelnytsky Insurrection of 1648-49and yet survive in the rest of Europe.

Hitler put an end to that illusion.He demonstrated that modern anti-Semitism married to modern technolo-gy - railroads, disciplined bureaucra-cies, gas chambers that kill with indus-trial efficiency - could take a scatteredpeople and “concentrate” them for an-nihilation.

The establishment of Israel was aJewish declaration to a world that hadallowed the Holocaust to happen - af-ter Hitler had made his intentions per-fectly clear - that the Jews wouldhenceforth resort to self-protection andself-reliance. And so they have, build-ing a Jewish army, the first in 2,000years, that prevailed in three great warsof survival (1948-49, 1967 and 1973).

But in a cruel historical irony, do-ing so required concentration - puttingall the eggs back in one basket, a tinyterritory hard by the Mediterranean,eight miles wide at its waist. A tempt-ing target for those who would finishHitler’s work.

His successors now reside inTehran. The world has paid ample at-tention to President Mahmoud Ah-madinejad’s declaration that Israelmust be destroyed. Less attention hasbeen paid to Iranian leaders’ pro-

nouncements on exactly how Israelwould be “eliminated by one storm,”as Ahmadinejad has promised.

Former president Ali AkbarHashemi Rafsanjani, the presumedmoderate of this gang, has explainedthat “the use of a nuclear bomb in Is-rael will leave nothing on the ground,whereas it will only damage the worldof Islam.” The logic is impeccable, theintention clear: A nuclear attackwould effectively destroy tiny Israel,while any retaliation launched by adying Israel would have no major ef-fect on an Islamic civilization of a bil-lion people stretching from Maurita-nia to Indonesia.

As it races to acquire nuclearweapons, Iran makes clear that if thereis any trouble, the Jews will be the firstto suffer. “We have announced thatwherever [in Iran] America does makeany mischief, the first place we targetwill be Israel,” said Gen. MohammadEbrahim Dehghani, a top Revolution-ary Guards commander. Hitler was on-ly slightly more direct when he an-nounced seven months before invadingPoland that, if there was another war,“the result will be the annihilation ofthe Jewish race in Europe.”

Last week Bernard Lewis, Ameri-ca’s dean of Islamic studies, who justturned 90 and remembers the 20th cen-tury well, confessed that for the firsttime he feels it is 1938 again. He didnot need to add that in 1938, in the faceof the gathering storm - a fanatical, ag-gressive, openly declared enemy of theWest, and most determinedly of theJews - the world did nothing.

When Iran’s mullahs acquire theircoveted nukes in the next few years, thenumber of Jews in Israel will just bereaching 6 million. Never again?

NEVER AGAIN?BY CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

O P I N I O N



42

Inspiration

Afour-year-old child was the next door neighbor

of an elderly gentleman who had recently lost

his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into

the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and

just sat there.

When his mother asked him what he had said to

the neighbor, the little boy answered, ‘Nothing. I just

helped him cry.’

Agroup of first graders were discussing a picture

of a family. One little boy in the picture had a

different hair color than the other members.

One of the students suggested that he was adopted.

A little girl said, ‘I know all about adoption, I was

adopted.’

‘What does it mean to be adopted?’ asked another

child.

‘It means,’ said the girl, ‘that you grew in your

mommy’s heart instead of her tummy!’

On my way home one day, I stopped to watch a

Little League baseball game that was being

played in a park near my home.

As I sat down behind the bench on the first-base

line, I asked one of the boys what the score was.

‘We’re behind 14 to nothing,’ he answered with a

smile.

‘Really?’ I said. ‘I have to say you don’t look very

discouraged.’

‘Discouraged?’ the boy asked with a puzzled look

on his face. ‘Why should we be discouraged? We

haven’t been up to bat yet.’

Whenever I’m disappointed with my spot in

life, I stop and think about little David

Gold.

David was trying out for a part in the school play.

His mother told me that he’d set his heart on being in

it, though she feared he would not be chosen.

On the day the parts were awarded, I went with her

to collect him after school.

David rushed up to her, eyes shining with pride

and excitement.

‘Guess what, Mom,’ he shouted. ‘I got a role!’

‘Which role did you get?’ she asked breathlessly.

Then he said those words that will remain a les-

son to me forever... ‘I’ve been chosen to clap and

cheer.’

An eye witness account from New York City, on

a cold day in December some years ago: A lit-

tle boy, about 10-years-old, was standing be-

fore a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering

through the window and shivering with cold.

A lady approached the young boy and said, ‘My,

but you’re in such deep thought staring in that win-

dow!’

‘I was asking Hashem to give me a pair of shoes,’

was the boy’s reply.

The lady took him by the hand, went into the

store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of

socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her

a basin of water and a towel.

He quickly brought them to her.

She took the little fellow to the back part of the

store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed

his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

By this time, the clerk had returned with the

socks. Placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she pur-

chased for him a pair of shoes.

She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave

them to him. She patted him on the head and said, ‘No

doubt, you will be more comfortable now.’

As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her

by the hand, and looking up into her face with tears in

his eyes, asked her:

‘Are you Hashem’s wife?’

She hesitated for a moment, wiped a tear from her

eye and whispered, ‘No, just His messenger.’

THE INNOCENCE OF CHILDREN



48

There is a wickedly funnyand enormously sad pieceof satire making therounds about a “Lithuan-ian” Charedi father at-

tempting to explain to his inquisitivechild the story of the Chashmonaimand their triumph over the Greeks. Onthe one hand the Chashmonaim werestaunch “Lithuanian Charedim” wholearned all day, while on the otherhand they apparently had weapons,and organized an army that they them-selves led in actual warfare against theGreeks.

They also engaged in commerceand agriculture, albeit always wearingonly white shirts. And, apparently,they wanted to establish an independ-ent Jewish state in the Land of Israel.The child realizes the enormous dis-connect between the traditional storyof Chanuka and the Chashmonaim andwhat he has been taught at home, inschool and amongst his peers about thecountry and society he currently livesin.

The father admits to himself theexistence of this savage disconnectwith reality and the Chanuka story, butsays one may not state so publicly lestone be accused of being a Zionist.

Here, as in all good satire, thereexists more than a bit of exaggeration.But, there is no doubt that more than akernel of truth also exists in this ficti-tious conversation. The Charedi worldin the main, especially the “Lithuan-ian” branch (with whom I identify my-self as belonging to) has yet to come togrips with the realities of today. It isstill fighting the battle of the nine-teenth century against secular Zion-

ism, a battle long ago ended and notrelevant any longer in today’s Jewishworld.

Part of the problem is changingthis mindset of complete disconnectwith reality. We have grown so com-fortable over the past centuries of Jew-ish life as being the persecuted victim,that we are frightened to shuck off thatprotective mantle. We see the world inblack and white colors only - the goodguys and the villains. There is no roomfor nuance or moderation in such aworldview.

If we are involved in rabbinicscandal, financial misdeeds, abusivebehavior, violence against police, cor-rupt elections (and those elected there-by) and are caught by the authoritiesfor so doing, the immediate knee-jerkreaction is that we are being persecut-ed because of our religious practices,different dress, traditional lifestyle anddistinct societal mores.

Somehow we have forgotten thatidleness, poverty and a persecutioncomplex all are, in the long run, self-destructive conditions. These were theconditions that secularized much ofAshkenazic Jewry over the past threecenturies. Eventually a system built ondeclining governmental welfare allot-ments and unending charity from oth-ers - a system decried by Maimonidesand other great rabbinic sages and reli-gious leaders throughout the ages - is aPonzi scheme that inexorably will col-lapse of its own weight.

And we are ill served by religiouspolitical leaders and the handlers ofold and revered great Torah scholarswho, for purposes I have never reallyunderstood, oppose any change of the

current miserable status quo. And,there is never any plan advanced tohelp rescue their adherents from thedeepening abyss of poverty and per-sonal despair.

So, a little clever satire can be agood thing for us. A good look at theabsurdity of some of our societal prac-tices, at the disconnect with reality, atan educational system that impoverish-es its students for life and stifles cre-ativity and different opinions can onlyhelp us in the long run to advance thecause of Torah in Israel and in the Di-aspora!

A middle-aged person recentlycame to see me before embarking on atrip to the United States to raise mon-ey to pay for his crushing debts accu-mulated over the years that he has notworked. The irony is that he graduateduniversity and is a qualified engineerand is easily employable. So when Iasked him why he doesn’t go to workinstead of undergoing the humiliationof canvassing door to door in theAmerican winter for a month to re-ceive charity, much of it given be-grudgingly, I sighed deeply at his an-swer: “I have daughters to marry offand the husbands they want to marrywill not accept daughters of someonewho is working!”

I wanted to answer him harshly:“But they will accept daughters ofsomeone who begs others for charity!”However, I bit my tongue and wishedhim success (?) on his journey. I wasimpotently outraged all day at how thistype of mindset has corrupted such awonderful people. Perhaps we needmore satire to have the truth of the sit-uation sink into our society.

THE TRUTHOF SATIRE

BY RABBI BEREL WEIN

T O R A H



49

Iwould like to take the opportu-nity to share with my dear read-ership the following crucialMedrash Talpios. The Medrashreveals that Asher, the son of

Yaakov, stands by the doorway ofGehinom and will not allow in anyonewho regularly studies Mishnayos. TheMedrash derives this from the verse,“Mai’asher shmeina lachmo.” TheHebrew letters of the word shmeinaare the same as the letters of the wordmishna, linking Asher as the champi-on of the Mishna. The Medrash thencontinues that after saving the Mishnastudent from Gehinom, Asher willthen bring him to enjoy the delights ofGan Eden. This is based on the con-clusion of the aforementioned verse,“V’hu yitein madanei melech” - AndHe will grant royal delights - a hint tothe pleasures of paradise. The Chidaalso says the same thing, namely thatAsher affords eternal protection forthose who learn Mishnayos.

We spend so much money on avariety of insurances: Medical insur-ance, home-owners insurance, fire in-surance, auto insurance, contents in-surance, long-term care insurance,and the list goes on. Shouldn’t we in-vest in the fire protection against thefiery wrath of Gehinom? After all, theMishna teaches us that Gehinom issixty times hotter than any fire onearth. Any smart person knows that heor she is not lily white, and we haveour share of sins. Wouldn’t it be pru-dent to protect our future and enlistthe help of Asher with a daily regimenof Mishnayos?

One way we can start such acourse of action is by listening to mydaily Mishna Yomis on the phone. It’sa free service. Just call 718-906-6471.

(Dedications are always welcome. Foradditional information, please contactme at [email protected].) It’s a greattime to start as we are presently learn-ing the very exciting and life-chang-ing Mishnayos of Pirkei Avos.

When the great Rabbenu HaKo-dosh started Mishnayos, he opened upwith the word, “Mei’eimasai” - Fromwhat time? Now, we know that theMishna is always crafted b’loshonktzara, in the shortest form possible.This is because, originally, the Mish-na was studied by heart and because itwas written as precisely as possible.Thus, it is strange that RabbenuHaKodosh would choose to use thelong form mei’eimasai instead of themuch shorter masai, or at least themiddle of the road eimasai.

I believe the answer lies in thegematria of the word mei’eimasaiwhich is 501, the same numerical val-ue as the word Asher. Rabbenu HaKo-dosh wanted to hint to us, at the verybeginning of the Mishnayos, that onewho learns it gains a great protector,namely the venerable Asher whostands by Gehinom and doesn’t letanyone in who regularly learns Mish-nayos.

The Bnei Yissoschar says thatthere are 538 chapters in Mishnayos.The gematria of the word maftei’ach,a key, is also 538. He explains thatthis is because the study of Mish-nayos is a key to the Geula, the re-demption, as the Yalkut Shimoni in-forms us that the ingathering of theexiles will happen in the merit of thestudy of Mishnayos. The KitzurShulchan Orach, when discussing thepractice of Tikun Chatzos, the specialprayer said after midnight in mourn-ing over the Temple, recommends

that after reciting the prayer, oneshould learn a little bit - and heprefers the study of Mishnayos overany other learning. The reason hegives is because Mishna is the sameletters as neshama, the soul.

Now we can suggest another rea-son. After mourning for the Temple,we learn Mishnayos which, as we justmentioned, will help bring the re-demption and the rebuilding of theTemple. So let’s start a daily regimenof Mishnayos to protect ourselvesfrom Gehinom, to better our soulsand to bring the Geula, and in thatmerit may Hashem bless us with longlife, good health, and everythingwonderful.Sheldon Zeitlin transcribes Rabbi Weiss’ ar-

ticles.

Mishnayos Protectionby

Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss

T O R A H

To receive a weekly cassette tape

or CD directly from Rabbi Weiss, please

write to Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss, P.O.

Box 140726, Staten Island, NY 10314

or contact him at [email protected].

Now available in a pocket-sized

edition, order Rabbi Weiss’ sefer, Pow-

er Bentching, by calling at 718-916-

3100.

Attend Rabbi Weiss’ weekly shiur

at the Landau Shul, Avenue L and East

9th in Flatbush, Tuesday nights at 9:30

p.m.

Rabbi Weiss’ Daf Yomi and Mish-

na Yomis shiurim can be heard LIVE on

Kol Haloshon at (718) 906-6400. Write

to [email protected] for details.

==NEW==Visit Rabbi Weiss’s website at

www.RabbiMWeiss.com



50

December 5 may be themost arcane date of im-portance in the Jewishcalendar. It’s when westart saying the winter

prayer for rain.Right off the bat, a question pres-

ents itself: Why do we use a seculardate to delineate this Jewish custom,when all of the others are based on theJewish calendar? And secondly, what’sthe magic behind December 5? Theanswers take us on a fascinating jour-ney through Jewish text, nature, as-tronomy, history, infrastructure, andpolitics.

There are in fact two times we adda mention of rain to our service. Thefirst, more familiar now, is the short in-sertion in the Amida prayer about G-d’s power: Mashiv haru’ach umoridhagashem. Hashem makes the windblow and the rain fall. The second is anaddition to the prayer petitioning G-dfor bountiful produce: Ten tal umatarlivracha. Grant us the blessing of dewand rain.

The 1800-year-old Mishnah - theinitial compilation of Jewish law andpractice - discusses both of these in thechapter called Ta’anit (“fasting”),starting with the first one.

There was general agreement thatthe insertion should commence duringthe rainy season, roughly Sukkos. TheMishnah records a disagreement aboutthe details. Rabbi Eliezer consideredthe first day of Sukkos a good time tostart praying for rain, but RabbiYehoshua countered that no one wantsrain on Sukkos, so it would be better towait until the end of the holiday.

But Sukkos is a pilgrimage holi-day, when it was common to ascend to

Jerusalem by foot. If we start prayingfor rain right after Sukkos, it mightrain on those who are walking home.

So regarding the second insertion,Rabbi Gamaliel says that we shouldwait until 15 days after Sukkos to startpraying for rain, that half-month beinga reasonable amount of time to walkback to the farthest extent of the Landof Israel.

The Talmud - the great codifica-tion of Jewish law and practice thatcontains the Mishnah and meanderingcommentary on it - expands on theMishnah and explains that in Babylo-nia they didn’t start saying the prayerfor rain until 60 days into the rainyseason of fall.

Jewish geography is exceedinglysimple. There are essentially onlythree places: Jerusalem, the rest of Is-rael, and the rest of the world. There-fore, we in New York live in the sameplace (“the rest of the world”) as theBabylonians, so we follow their cus-tom. We start saying the prayer for rain60 days after the equinox.

The equinox is either September22 or September 23.

But the careful reader may noticethat 60 days after September 22 or 23is November 21 or 22, not December5. So we keep digging.

Shmuel, in the Talmud sectionknown as Eruvin, calculates the fourseasons as each lasting 91 days and 7.5hours, and assigns September 23 as thestart of fall. Because his became theofficial Jewish secular calendar, theJewish equinox is always September23. But we still wonder why we don’tstart praying for rain on November 22.

Shmuel’s year of four seasonslasted 364 days and 30 hours, or

365.25 days. The solar year, though, isactually 11 minutes and 14 secondsshorter. Because of this discrepancy,the Jewish equinox has slowly movedforward compared to the solar equi-nox, at the rate of approximately oneday every 128 years.

The Catholic church (by coinci-dence) also used Shmuel’s calendar,but unlike in Judaism, most of theChristian holidays are based on the so-lar date. By 1582, the official and solarcalendars were 10 days out of sync,one result of which was that thespringtime holiday of Easter wasmarching forward into summer.

So Pope Gregory fixed the calen-dar by doing two things. He dropped10 days in October (the day after Oc-tober 4 was October 15 that year), and,moving forward, he dropped 3 leapyears every 400 years: years that aredivisible by 100 would no longer beleap years unless they were also divis-ible by 400. (That’s why 2000 was aleap year even though 1900 wasn’t,and 2100 won’t be.)

In America and elsewhere in theworld we use the Gregorian calendar.

The Jews, though, didn’t careabout Pope Gregory. So in 1582, theJewish equinox moved ahead 10 daysto October 3, the Gregorian equivalentof the Shmuelian September 23. Sincethen, 1700, 1800, and 1900 have beenShmuelian leap years but not Gregori-an leap years. So now the Shmuelianequinox is the Gregorian October 6.

Sixty days after October 6 is De-cember 5. And there you have it.

But don’t get too used to that date.In the year 2100 (a Shmuelian leapyear) the day moves ahead to Decem-ber 6.

HOW THE SECULAR DATE OF

DEC. 5 MADE ITS WAY

INTO THE JEWISH CALENDARBY JOEL M. HOFFMAN

T O R A H



51

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Listen to the Country Yossi Radio Show, Tuesday Evenings, 7 - 8PM on WSNR 620 AM.For Magazine or Radio Advertising Call: (718) 851-2010 53



54

AN ECLECTIC COLLECTION OF NEWS ITEMS,FEATURES AND HUMOR WE JUST COULDN’T

FIT ANYWHERE ELSE!

EL AL AND JETBLUE

You may know that El Al (Israel’s Na-tional Airline) and JetBlue recently signedan agreement to provide connecting optionsfor customers flying between the UnitedStates and Israel.

You don’t have to be Jewish to under-stand all of these… but it helps.

COPY OF A LEAKED MEMO FROM

EL AL TO JETBLUE EMPLOYEES

Subject: Unique aspects of flying to Israel

Dear JetBlue employees,Welcome to the El Al family - or as we

say in Hebrew, Bruchim haba’im!We’re so excited about our new partner-

ship. We here at Israel’s national air carrierare eager to make this transition as smoothas possible and thought it would be helpfulto sensitize you to some of the cultural dif-ferences you may encounter with your newcustomer base.

Security lines: Passengers are instruct-ed to arrive at the airport six hours before aflight. This may seem excessive, but Israel’scrack security service demands it on the the-

ory that no terrorist would be dedicatedenough to spend six hours in a crowd ofJews.

The six-hour time period allows our se-curity team to ask essential questions of ourpassengers, including “Do you have familyin Israel? Where do they live? What is thepurpose of your visit?”

It also allows time for the person behindyou in line to ask the very same questions, ineven greater detail. What you might call “in-trusive rudeness” is merely what our peoplecall “Jewish geography.”

Luggage: We allow each passenger tostow luggage weighing up to 6,000 pounds.Again, this may seem generous by Americanstandards, but it is in response to our pas-sengers’ need to bring books for theircousins in B’nei Brak, appliances for theirneighbors’ in-laws in French Hill, and in-dustrial-size boxes of M & M’s for Israelisoldiers.

Boarding: We board our flights formaximum efficiency, in the following order:

Families with young children, familieswith six or more young children, familieswith eight or more young children, individ-uals with physical limitations, individualswith aches and pains that may be somethingbut they won’t know until they see a special-

ist, individuals who cut inline.

Carry-on luggage:

You may not think a doublestroller, six Borsalino hatboxes and a Samsung flat-screen television are able tofit in an overhead bin, butplease don’t underestimateour passengers.

During this portion ofthe flight it might be a goodidea for flight attendants toretreat to the galley andhave a beer. Or two.

Safety instructions:

Hebrew is written fromright to left. Similarly, in or-der to accommodate ourpassengers’ unique sensibil-ities, our instructions aredelivered backward.

When we say, “Pleasedo NOT stow items underthe seat in front of you,” ourpassengers think, “I’ll stowmy items anywhere I wantto,” before stowing themunder the seat.

When we say, “Pleasemove freely about the cab-in,” our passengers respond,“If they think I am budgingfrom this seat, they have an-other think coming.” Itworks like a charm.

In-flight behavior: Atsome point during thelengthy overseas flight,bearded men will crowd theaisle, wrapped in leatherstraps and white shawls. Donot be alarmed. They willnot ask you to join them!

Food service: As aJewish airline, we serveclientele with unique di-etary needs. Our choices in-clude kosher, glatt kosher,kosher dairy, kosher meat,kosher pareve, glatt kosherdairy, gluten-free koshermeat, lactose-free kosherwith nuts, lactose-freekosher without nuts, low-salt kosher pareve, high-saltgluten-free kosher meat and“just bring me a box of ce-real and some milk.”

T I M E L I N E



55

Remain calm and do not reach for the emergency chute.Landing: Passengers will often burst into applause

when the plane touches down in Israel.This is becausea) They are deeply moved by the thought of arriving

in the Land of their Ancestors;b) They are still surprised, even after 60 years, that a

Jew can safely pilot an airplane.

REDNECK MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY

Rednecks have the lowest stress rate because they do notunderstand the seriousness of most medical terminology.

Artery: The study of paintingsBacteria: Back door to cafeteriaBarium: What doctors do when patients dieBenign: What you be, after you be eightCaesarean Section: A neighborhood in RomeCat Scan: Searching for KittyCauterize: Made eye contact with herColic: A sheep dogComa: A punctuation markDilate: To live long

Enema: Not a friendFester: Quicker than someone elseFibula: A small lieImpotent: Distinguished, well knownLabor Pain: Getting hurt at workMedical Staff: A Doctor’s caneMorbid: A higher offerNitrates: Rates of pay for working at night, normally

more money than daysNode: I knew itOutpatient: A person who has faintedPelvis: Second cousin to ElvisPost Operative: A letter carrierRecovery Room: Place to do upholsteryRectum: Nearly killed himSecretion: Hiding somethingSeizure: Roman EmperorTablet: A small tableTerminal Illness: Getting sick at the airportTumor: One plus one moreUrine: Opposite of you’re out

So what’s new? Well let’s see. New York Cityhas a new mayor. Just when you think thingscouldn’t possibly get any worse, Mayor NannyBloomberg marches off the public stage and incomes the living embodiment of one of the, if

not the most bankrupt political philosophies on the plan-et, Mayor Bill DeBlasio. As if it weren’t enough that wehave a diabolical Socialist in charge of the country, wenow have a far-out leftist running the biggest city in thecountry.

Here is a man wholly dedi-cated to the Marxist principle of“from each according to his abil-ity to each according to hisneeds.” This corrupt credo hasunderscored the deaths of untoldmillions under various Commu-nist regimes during the twenti-eth century, and now we have itwrit large in the person of new-ly-elected Mayor Bill DeBlasio.

Has our education system sodegraded and our population become so ill-informedthat they cannot even remember the lessons of recenthistory?!

What made America great, and what, if given half achance, will continue to make it great, is the respect giv-en to the rights of the individual. This is diametricallyopposite to the Marxist philosophy of the collective.

When individuals are given the freedom to exer-cise their G-d-given abilities in pursuit of their ownagenda, the resulting advancements in all areas of life,while perhaps enriching their creators, devolve to thebenefit of the entire population as a whole. This iscalled equality of opportunity, or more commonly,Capitalism.

On the other hand, when policy is set such that theoverriding goal is “fairness” - where one person or seg-

ment of society should not be somuch better off than another - theincentive for the individual toproduce is removed and the re-sult is a reduced standard of liv-ing for all, albeit more evenlydistributed. This is called equali-ty of outcome, or more common-ly, Communism.

Please educate yourselves.Both of these systems have beentried. Their records of successand failure are emblazoned

across the pages of history. Capitalism has given us theUnited States, a world power of unprecedented stature;a record of accomplishment that is the envy of theworld. Communism, on the other hand, has given usthe likes of Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot andcountless other murderous dictators.

Under which system would you rather live?

EEQQUUAALLIITTYY



56

Even before war cloudsthickened over Eastern Eu-rope in the pre-Nazi years,it became common forJews in the besieged coun-

tries - tired of pogroms, poverty anddespair - to send children to the UnitedStates, where opportunities for a betterlife beckoned.

From the early1900s on, parentsscrimped theirrubles to pay for thelong and arduousvoyage of their sonsand daughters, whotraveled aloneaboard unseaworthyvessels that offeredinhuman conditionsand an uncertainfate. Since tickets foreach treacherousjourney cost a smallfortune and exacteda heavy toll on thedestitute families, parents often choseto ship their children to America oneby one rather than sending them all atonce. But it was always their hope anddream that all the children would even-tually reach the American haven,where they would be joined later bytheir parents. In the interim, theywould stay with relatives who wouldcare for them and help them wait,sometimes for months or years. Andsometimes the longed-for reunionsnever took place at all.

Anya Gold was the chosen one inher family. She was the eldest of eight,and in 1930 her Polish parents told herit was time to go. They had saved justenough money for one ticket, and haddecided that Anya would be the firstchild to leave. They would all soon

join her, they said.Growing up in Baltimore under

the sheltering wing of an affectionateaunt, Anya waited for her family to ar-rive. But they never did.

It took years for the family to ac-cumulate enough money for anotherfare, and by then they had been caught

in Hitler’s web. InBaltimore, over theyears, Anya had re-ceived the occasionalletter from Polandrecounting familynews and milestones- her siblings’ barmitzvahs, their mar-riages, the births ofgrandchildren. Sheawaited these letterseagerly and savoredeach one. And thenthe letters came nomore.

Anya feared theworst, but it was on-

ly after the war that she was able toconclusively determine her family’sfate. A few stray survivors from herhometown in Poland who trickled intoBaltimore in the late 1940s brought thenews she had both known and dreadedto hear: Her entire family had beenwiped out. They had all perished in thecamps.

It was hard to go on afterwards,but even the survivors began to rebuildtheir lives. Her family’s memoryburned in her mind, heart and soul, butAnya knew that the best way for her tocommemorate their legacy was by cre-ating one herself. She would marry andhave many children, she vowed. Andeach would carry one of her siblings’names.

Anya did indeed marry a wonder-

ful man named Sol, and their life to-gether was almost idyllic. They weretruly soulmates, and their love randeep. They longed for children - fleshof their flesh, blood of their blood - butin this one area they were thwarted. Itwas the only thorn in their otherwiseperfect union. They were childless.

After many years of trying, ofseeking help from specialists the worldover, Anya and Sol confronted the re-ality of their situation. “Would youwant to adopt?” Anya asked Sol oneday in a tentative voice.

Anya had considered this optionfor a long time, but inwardly she hadrebelled. She didn’t want to raisesomeone else’s children. She wantedto cradle her own newborn in her arms.She couldn’t imagine that she wouldfeel the same way about an adoptedchild. Still, there seemed no other re-course. They were never going to havechildren of their own, the doctors hadpronounced - a death knell to theirhopes and dreams.

Her husband was more certain.“Yes, let’s adopt,” he urged.

They contacted a Jewish agencyin New York, and were told that an in-fant had just been given up for adop-tion by its teenage mother. They trav-eled to New York with growing excite-ment, but when they arrived, theirhopes were dashed. The flusteredagency official stammered an apology.“I’m so sorry,” she said, “but thegrandmother has decided to raise thebaby after all.”

Had their trip to New York been atotal waste? “You know,” the agencyofficial remarked, “I do have a won-derful little girl named Miriam who isin desperate need of a home.”

Miriam was adorable and endear-ing, but she was already eight yearsold. Although Anya and Sol reluctant-ly agreed to meet the child, and werecaptivated by her sweet appeal, theycouldn’t quite come to terms with herage. “I really wanted a child youngenough to know me as its only moth-er,” Anya explained. “I want a newbornto cradle in my arms.”

“I understand,” the agency officialsaid. “But Miriam has really beenthrough a lot in her short lifetime, andcould really use a loving home.”

“Sorry, but no,” Anya said, with regret.

HER OWN CHILDBY YITTA HALBERSTAM

AND

JUDITH LEVENTHAL

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A year passed with no prospects.Anya had contacted many agenciesacross the United States, but an infantwas increasingly difficult to find. Allthe while, Anya’s intense longing for achild consumed her being - a hungryand hollow ache.

“You know,” she mused to herhusband one day, “maybe we were tooquick to dismiss adopting Miriam. Shewas really an exceptionally appealingchild. Something about her actuallytugged at my heartstrings in a specialway.”

Sol looked at her thoughtfully.“It’s been a full year,” he said. “Do youthink she’s still available?”

She was, the agency official toldthem over the phone. “Not too manypeople want a nine-year-old,” she ex-plained mournfully, “So, yes, she’sstill available.

“But there’s a complication,” sheadded. “Her little brother has beenfound in Europe and has joined her inour home for war orphans. The sib-lings are inseparable, and we’ve prom-ised them that they’ll be adopted to-gether. Would you consider two?”

Back in New York, Anya and Solmet the siblings, and once again Anyafelt drawn to Miriam’s sweet de-meanor. Her six-year-old brotherMoishe was adorable, too.

Anya and Sol looked at each oth-er silently, telegraphing their mentalagreement. Let’s do it! their eyes said.

Back in Baltimore, Anya shep-herded the two children across thethreshold into their new home, andthey glanced at the furnishings witheyes of wonder. Little Moishe was shyand restrained, but Miriam was adven-turous and curious, and she movedaround the living room excitedly,touching the knickknacks and curiosthat adorned the mantels and tables.Suddenly, she stopped short in front ofthe piano, and her face went white. Shepointed to a photograph. In a tight andstrained voice, Miriam asked, “Whydo you have a picture of my bubbe(grandmother) on your piano?”

“What?” Anya asked, confused.“My bubbe. Why is my bubbe’s

picture on your piano?”Anya stared at the portrait of her

deceased mother. What in heaven’s

name was the little girl talking about?Miriam ran to the lone piece of

luggage she had brought with her fromthe orphanage. From a battered pouch,she retrieved a faded photo andbrought it to Anya’s side. “See,” shesaid, pointing. “I have the same pic-ture, too. My bubbe.”

“My mother,” Anya whispered al-most inaudibly.

“Do you want to see a picture ofmy mommy?” Miriam asked. Sheraced to the luggage to retrieve anoth-er photograph. “Do you want to seewhat she looked like?” She handedAnya a picture of someone she knewvery well.

“Sarah!” Anya screamed, as herknees buckled beneath her.

“How do you know my mother’sname?” the child asked in confusion.

Unknowingly, Anya had adoptedthe two orphaned children of her deadsister Sarah.

They were flesh of her flesh,blood of her blood. They were… herown.Excerpted from the book Small Miracles for

the Jewish Heart

Dear Dr. Steven D,I am very unhappy with my crooked smile and I would

love to have my teeth straightened in time for my son’s BarMitzvah in 6 months. I am very embarrassed by my frontteeth and I try not to smile widely in public and find myselfoften smiling with my lips closed. I was told I am a goodcandidate for Invisalign to straighten my teeth but that itwould take about one year. Is there any way of speeding upthe Invisalign treatment?

- Crooked Grin

Dear Crooked Grin,Being self-conscious about how

your smile appears is a very com-mon problem. According to a studyin the American Association of Or-thodontists, 50 percent of adultshave at least a few crooked orcrowded teeth and more than one-third of American adults surveyedare ashamed of the appearance oftheir teeth.

Invisalign takes a modern ap-proach to straightening teeth, usinga series of custom-made aligners.These are created by having yourdentist take a 3D digital scan of yourteeth and then treatment planning your tooth movementthrough comprehensive computer program technology.These aligner trays are made of smooth, comfortable plasticthat you wear over your teeth. Wearing the aligners willgradually and gently shift your teeth into place, based on theexact movements your dentist plans out for you. There areno metal brackets to attach and no wires to tighten, howev-er, there are small white attachments that are bonded tosome teeth for proper aligner fit and tooth movement.

Traditionally, you would just pop in a new set of align-ers approximately every two weeks, until your treatment is

complete. However, recently an FDA-approved medical de-vice, the AcceleDent Aura, has become available. This de-vice increases the speed of “Bone remodeling,” the physio-logic way that teeth are safely moved orthodontically. Stud-ies have shown orthodontic treatment time can be shortenedsignificantly when using this device.

Mechanical stimulation (vibration) of bone has beenstudied since the mid-1980s to heal bone fractures and totreat osteoporosis. Studies have shown that this stimulationof bone can increase the rate of fracture healing and bonedensity in long bones. Vibraory plates are very common insports medicine. They are used by many professional sportteam physicians in the USA to speed the healing process intheir athletes.

The AcceleDent Aura is an exciting new product thathas been approved by the FDA as a Class II medical devisefor use in accelerated tooth movement. The AcceleDent Au-ra builds on the clinical benefits of vibration and appliesSoftPulse Technology to help safely speed the rate of toothmovement during Invisalign treatment.

AcceleDent Aura’s SoftPulse Technology releases asafe and effective light force pulse that transmits through theroots of your teeth to the surrounding bone socket. This

helps accelerate the cellular response andspeeds the rate with which your teeth canmove. When used in conjunction with In-visalign, AcceleDent Aura has been clin-ically proven to move teeth up to 50%faster.

AcceleDent Aura is cleared by theFDA and has been demonstrated safe andreliable in U.S. clinical trials. AcceleDentAura’s vibration is a reasonable and safeapproach for accelerating tooth move-ment. In fact, the force applied to teethduring ordinary chewing is at least 200xgreater than the force applied with Ac-celeDent Aura (5000g chewing vs. 25gAcceleDent Aura). Also, many of my pa-tients have reported that AcceleDent re-

duces discomfort associated with tooth movement during In-visalign treatment.

I have seen great ‘accelerated-Invisalign’ results utiliz-ing this new adjunctive technology. Of course, proper com-pliance is needed. Patients need to be sure they are wearingtheir aligners for the prescribed period of time and that theyuse the AcceleDent Aura for 20 minutes each day duringtreatment.

So, in conclusion, Yes! There is a way of speeding upyour tooth alignment and hopefully you can feel free tosmile wide in time for your family simcha. Mazal Tov!



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Dear Bubby,I have wanted to write to you for

a while because like so many others Ihave been dealing with the shidduchcrisis. Ironically, I am in a relationshipand this letter is about something dif-ferent. I am 29 years old and havebeen dating for what feels like forever.I have gone out with so many differentguys over the years and have neverbeen compatible with anyone. Well,about a month ago I was set up with aguy who, I was told, works and learns.We started dating and really hit it off;he’s funny, interesting and kind. Theproblem is that as it turns out, he real-ly doesn’t have an official job. Heworks odd jobs here and there. I am aspeech therapist and work for theboard of Ed, so baruch Hashem Imake a nice living and have saved upsome money. My family is advisingme to consider breaking up with thisguy because he won’t be able to sup-port us. It does make me feel kind offunny to be making more money thanmy husband. I worry that he will nev-er have a steady job and bring in thenecessary income. In his defense, hehas a degree in business, but in thiseconomy he has been unable to find adecent job. He has been working forvarious people doing odd jobs hereand there to bring in something. I haveexpressed these concerns to him andhe has assured me that he wants noth-ing more than to find something morelucrative and permanent, but my par-ents feel that at age 30, if he hasn’tfound something substantial yet, Imay be wasting my time. I know thatthey want what’s best for me but I’mjust not sure what to do. It is so hard tofind a guy that you actually like thesedays, so I don’t want to end things too

quickly. On the other hand, I worrythat I will eventually lose respect forhim.

Please help me,Confused

Dearest Confused,So you finally think you may have

found Mr. Right, but he isn’t actuallyperfect. Well, that is certainly not un-usual. Most often when we choose tosettle down we are willing to acceptthe good with the bad. No one is per-fect and no one ever meets every singleitem on our checklist. Usually when wemeet a potential partner we revise ourpriorities and adjust our “must haves.”In this instance it sounds as thoughthis guy meets many of your require-ments. Let’s not undermine how rareand difficult that could be in today’sday and age. Granted, he doesn’t cur-rently hold a position that is providingsufficient funds. Realistically it’s im-portant to keep in mind that you couldmarry a professional with a great joband he could lose that job tomorrow.Then what are you left with? Ask your-self this: Is this guy motivated? Is hesincerely making every effort to make aparnasa? Is he smart? Is he capable?Does he have a degree or experience?If the answer to all these questions isyes, than you really need to considerall of his attributes before making anyrash decisions that you may eventuallyregret.

It is highly common these days tofind that wives are making more mon-ey than their husbands. It is not some-thing to be looked down upon; it is justa reality of our society. Nonetheless, itis crucial that your future husband hasa parnasa so that the two of you canbuild a life together. From the conver-

sations you’ve had with him it soundsas though he has the necessary back-ground and drive to hold a stable job.Sometimes all it takes is a little mazaland everything can improve in a mo-ment. Like Country Yossi sings: “In theBlink of an Eye.” Fortunately, you dohave a wonderful job and lucrative in-come. You can help get things startedin the hope that he finds somethingsoon. You can finally begin the nextchapter of your life with a man thatyou are compatible with.

You expressed a fear that you willeventually lose respect for him. You arewise to think of the future, but also beaware that we don’t know what the fu-ture holds and more often than not weneed to rely on bitachon. If Hashemhas sent this guy your way and you be-lieve that he is marriage material andcould be a good husband and futurefather, then that needs to be seriouslyconsidered. Do your due diligence.Look into his background; make surehe is in fact what he is presenting toyou. Speak to his friends, his rebbe,and his chavrusa. Find out what typeof character he has. Make sure he isn’ta slacker or someone who is lazy or ataker. Once you have ascertained thathe has the foundation to be a go-getterand that he is indeed bright and capa-ble, you will feel more confident inmoving forward.

Making this most important andpivotal decision can be daunting andscary to say the least. Keep in mindthough, that as time goes by the leapdoesn’t get any easier. Sometimes inlife we’ve got to jump in even when thewater is a little cold. Wishing you hat-zlacha!

Love,Bubby

Dear BubbyIf you would like advice from Bubby send your letters to:

Bubby, c/o Country Yossi Family Magazine, 1310 48th Street, Suite 304, Brooklyn, New York 11219 or Fax to (718) 851-2510

HEALTH & ADVICE



There seems to be an end-less supply of ground-breaking discoveries thatare bound to keep youlooking younger. All too

often, these discoveries prove to bedisappointing. But if there is a secret tostaying young, it may be as simple asputting on your walking shoes.

Here’s a look at the benefits of ex-ercise:

INCREASES ENERGY

Lack of energy is largely a resultof inactivity. Endurance exercises suchas walking, swimming, jogging, andbiking improve stamina and energy.After just a few weeks in a walkingprogram, for instance, most peoplefind they have more energy to do sim-ple, necessary things such as walkingup stairs and getting in and out of cars.

ENCOURAGES WELLBEING

Remember, “You’re only as old asyou feel.” There is considerable evi-dence that regular physical activity canhelp reduce stress, manage mild tomoderate depression and anxiety, im-prove sleep, boost your mood, and en-hance your self-image and overallsense of wellbeing.

HELPS TAKE POUNDS OFFAND KEEP THEM OFF

Exercise burns calories. Whenyou burn more calories than you takein, you reduce body fat. Exercise alsoraises your metabolic rate, not just dur-ing the activity but following it as well,and increases lean muscle tissue. In thelong term, both of these factors help tomaintain weight loss. Combine ahealthy diet with regular exercise, andyou’ll be more likely to take weight offand keep it off.

KEEPS YOUR BODY FIRM

Muscles naturally lose their toneand texture (elasticity) with time. Asyour muscles become stiff and sagfrom the constant pull of gravity, yourbody begins to show signs of aging. Byengaging in a regular strength trainingprogram, you can maintain your mus-cle mass and tone which will counter-act the effects of gravity and help pre-serve your youthful appearance.

BOOSTS YOUR

IMMUNE SYSTEMResearchers have found a link be-

tween regular physical activity and im-proved immune function. During mod-erate exercise, immune cells circulatemore quickly through your body andare more effective at destroying virus-es and bacteria.

PREVENTS DISEASE

Regular aerobic exercise reducesyour risk of heart disease by reducingbody fat, lowering blood pressure, andraising “good” cholesterol levels. Ex-ercise also improves your utilization ofblood sugar (glucose) and your sensi-tivity to insulin, which helps preventdiabetes.

Regular strength training increas-es muscle mass, preserves bone, andimproves strength and balance. Thisimproves your ability to perform dailyactivities and helps prevent falls andosteoporosis, and consequently re-duces your risk of fractures. Evidencealso suggests that regular exercise mayhelp prevent certain cancers, includingcancers of the colon, uterine lining andbreast.

IMPROVES MENTAL FUNCTION

A number of studies have foundthat women who are physically active

score better on mental function teststhan do sedentary women. They alsoexperienced less mental decline. Regu-lar exercise may help preserve the in-tegrity of brain cells and promote brainplasticity, the ability of the brain toadapt to experience and change. Regu-lar activity may also improve cerebralblood flow and the delivery of oxygento the brain.

INCREASES OVERALLLIFE EXPECTANCY

A number of studies have foundthat women who participated in regu-lar physical activity live longer than dotheir more sedentary peers. And physi-cal activity doesn’t have to mean a for-mal exercise routine. Engaging in pur-poseful physical activities as part ofyour daily routine from cleaning tovacuuming to walking has been shownto lengthen life.

How much exercise is enough?Whatever exercise you choose - andyour choice may vary from day to day- aim for at least 30 minutes of aerobicexercise or 60 minutes of accumulatedphysical activity, walking up stairs ordancing, for example, most days of theweek. The more active you are themore you will benefit, especially ifyour goal is to lose weight or maintainweight loss.

As a certified nutritionist and fit-ness trainer, Rochelle’s unique ap-proach to weight management com-bines diet, exercise and behavior mod-ification in a warm, understanding,and relaxed environment. Recognizingthat people gain weight for differentreasons, she tailors personalized nu-tritional and fitness plans suitable tothe individual. She educates her clientson the importance of eating healthyand regular physical activity, andworks with each client on a personallevel towards effective solutions for at-taining a healthy lifestyle.

Rochelle’s practice is an innova-tive blend of nutrition, health, and fit-ness, with her sincere personality andintegrity, using proven methods thataddress the multi-faceted needs of ourcommunity. For more information onthis vital health issue, contact RochelleCSPN, CFT, at 718.438.1632.

IS EXERCISE THE

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH?BY ROCHELLE ELBOGEN CSPN, CFT

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Two months into the schoolyear, Shonnie’s enthusiasmfor school inexplicablytook a nose dive. Hermorning routines seemed

to take her forever. The 7 year-old re-acted to her mother’s exasperation byturning sulky and tearful. With in-creasing frequency she missed the busand needed to be driven to school.

When Shonnie began feigning ill-ness in order to stay home, her baffledparents contacted the teacher. Shon-nie’s teacher confirmed that theirdaughter’s zest for learning had wanedand she was not finishing class assign-ments. Once a top student, she hadnow been grouped with a lower-levelreading group.

Her parents met with the schoolpsychologist who had several ses-sions with Shonnie. Gradually, themystery unraveled. It turned out thatShonnie was being consistently ha-rassed on the school bus by a girlfrom an older class. The girl wouldtease her, call her names and blockher from getting off the bus at herstop. She threatened to “teach her alesson” if Shonnie “tattled.”

A timid child by nature, Shonnie’s“escape tactic” was to avoid the schoolbus, and eventually, to avoid school it-self. She was too afraid of retaliation todivulge the true source of her trouble.

Unlike many cases of school-re-lated bullying whereby the perpetratorsucceeds in drawing in other childrenwho continue the harassment even af-ter the ringleader is stopped, Shonnie’s“tormentor” was acting alone. As soonas this girl’s abusive behavior was ex-posed and she was disciplined, the bul-lying ended, and Shonnie’s life re-turned to normal.

“I felt as if we’d awakened from abad dream,” her mother said. “Now Iunderstand how important it is to teachquiet children better communicationskills and the importance of trustingadults.”

Unfortunately, for many victimsof bullying, the matter is not so simple.

Bullying Leaves ScarsSchool bullying involves the psy-

chological, emotional, social or physi-cal harassment of one student by an-other. It takes the form of name-call-ing, taunts, slandering, shunning andphysical abuse. Victims of bullyingcan suffer lowered self-esteem, physi-cal health difficulties, anxiety disor-ders and/or depression.

Bullying can lead to excessiveshyness, social isolation or a socialphobia. Children who are victims ofbullying may become school“avoiders” and later, drop-outs.

Which children are most likely tobe the victims of a bully? Experts pointto children who are perceived as dif-ferent; shy, sensitive children; thosewith poor social skills and childrenwho are learning disabled and standout as scholastically below par.

Sometimes parents may not knowif their child is being bullied. Somechildren, like Shonnie, are intimidatedinto secrecy. They may also keep quietbecause they feel ashamed that theyhave allowed this to happen. They mayfear that the parents will either criti-cize them or will intervene in a waythat will make everything worse.

Be Alert For Telltale SignsIf you suspect your child might be

the victim of bullying, look first forgeneral signs of school distress. These

might include falling grades, physicalcomplaints on school days, and lack ofinterest in school work or after-schoolactivities.

More specific signs would be un-explained injuries or torn clothes,missing belongings or money, or re-peated requests for money. (Bullies of-ten coerce children into giving themmoney or other valuables.) If someoneis taking your child’s lunch, he or shemay come home hungry even thoughhe took an adequate lunch to school.

You need to know how to get yourchild talking about his concerns. It isbest to broach the subject at a calm,neutral time. Ask general questionsabout whether something is botheringyour child. Get as detailed a narrativeas possible. Avoid interrupting or judg-ing. Try to stay calm and do not makeoutraged statements while your childis telling his tale.

Avoid offering premature solu-tions. You may not get the entire storyon the first telling. Be patient andbring up the topic again later. Finally,if you feel that something is going onand suspect that your child is with-holding information, call his or herteacher.

No one needs to put up with a bul-ly’s outrageous behavior.

How Parents Can HelpHow can you help your child deal

with the bullying? First, teach him toavoid being an easy target. A bully of-ten surrounds himself with a group ofpeers. He consciously picks weaker,more vulnerable victims, and repeated-ly bothers the same people. He tends todo his bullying when authorities arenot around.

In dealing with a bully, teach yourchild that posture, voice and eye con-tact are important. These telegraphmessages about whether you are vul-nerable.

• Act brave. Sometimes wearing themask of courage is enough to stopa bully. If you walk by as thoughyou’re not afraid and hold yourhead high, a bully may be lesslikely to give you trouble.

• Ignore a bully. Simply ignoring abully’s threats and walking awayrobs the bully of his or her fun.Bullies want a big reaction to their

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teasing and meanness. Acting as ifyou don’t notice and don’t caremight weaken a bully’s incentiveand bring his harassment to an end.

• Stand up for others. If you stickup for others when they are pickedon you are sending a message tobullies that bullying won’t be tol-erated. Then when you stand upfor yourself, the bully knows youmean it.

• Be a buddy. Bullies are often cow-ards, afraid to stand alone. Twofriends facing a bully are often allit takes to force a bully to backdown. Make a plan with friends towalk shoulder to shoulder on theway to school or recess or lunchor wherever you think you mightmeet the bully.

• Tell an adult. If you are being bul-lied, it’s very important to tell anadult. Teachers, principals andparents can all help to stop bully-ing.

• Don’t bully back. Don’t hit, kick,or push back to deal with some-one bullying you or your friends.Fighting back just satisfies a bullyand sets the stage for further skir-mishes. It’s best to stay close toothers, stay safe, and get helpfrom an adult.

Teachers Hold the KeyHow can teachers and educators

work to eliminate bullying?The first imperative is to stop

looking the other way, experts say. Aslong as we ignore dysfunctional be-havior, we are giving it the green lightto continue.

The second step is to recognizethat adults must take charge to stop it.Kids can’t do it on their own. They of-ten don’t talk about it with adults be-cause they’re ashamed, embarrassed,or they’re afraid adults will only makeit worse. But deep down, they want totalk about it. They need to know thatevery adult at school will listen tothem and help if they report a problemwith bullying.

Here are some practical stepsteachers can take to address the prob-lem of bullying in their classroom:

Talk about it. Have class discus-sions about tolerance and respect forothers, as well as the fallout everyone

suffers when bullying is permitted. Inthe words of one expert, “Kids need toknow that it’s cool to stand up for oth-er kids.” Standing up for others takescourage, but when the values of aschool or community support this eth-ic, it goes a very long way toward re-ducing bullying in a school.

Students need to realize that theyhold a lot of power collectively. Whenthe peers say bullying is out, IT ISOUT. When a peer group says bullyingis OK either by condoning it or doingnothing, they risk becoming a target

themselves, exposing their friends toharassment and lowering the Torahvalues we hold dear.

Look for it and confront it whenyou witness it - every time. Too oftenwe minimize and normalize bullyingby saying things like “kids will bekids,” or “sticks and stones will breakyour bones, but words will never hurtyou.” Don’t allow these sayings tocover up malicious harassment. Makeit clear that if anyone’s having a prob-lem, they can talk with you, and makesure you follow through.



64

Teach bystanders how to safelyintervene. Most students are not chron-ic targets or chronic bullies. They’rebystanders. And as we all know, whatstudents typically do when they wit-ness bullying is stand around andwatch. Yet most students agree theydon’t like to see it happen, and thatthey often feel guilty or ashamed fornot stepping in and helping out.

What Happens To Bullies?Some children adopt bullying be-

havior to help mask their own feelings

of inadequacy. They may be learningdisabled or for various reasons failingscholastically or socially, and are des-perate to win respect from their peers.A bully may lack good adult role mod-els. If he sees parents bullying him oreach other, he may regard this type ofbehavior as simply the way one shouldact.

Some children fall in with a peergroup that uses bullying. They maylearn undesirable conduct from thesefriends. In some cases, the behaviorimproves when the child is separated

from that peer group, and makes newfriends.

In the end, most bullies wind upon the losing end. If they continue act-ing mean and hurtful, sooner or laterthey find themselves with very fewfriends left - usually other kids who arejust like them. The power they wantedslips away fast. School authoritiesmarginalize them. Other kids move onand leave bullies behind, dismissingthem as troublemaking losers.

Bullies can change if they absorbthe fact that their behavior is not onlywrong but destructive to themselves,and if they are willing to learn to usetheir power in positive ways.

In the case of class bullies who actaggressively to compensate for learn-ing or social disabilities, personalizedcoaching by teachers and parents oftenyields dramatic results both academi-cally and emotionally. Aggressive andobnoxious behavior may gradually bereplaced by decent and even-keeledsocial conduct.

In addition to the enormous in-fluence teachers and parents can ex-ert, other children who make a habitof treating others fairly and with re-spect set a very important tone in theclass.

Of course, some bullies neverlearn. But others respond to socialskills training, remediation, “toughlove” and positive role-modeling.Gradually they turn into cooperativeand likable kids who grow up to be-come responsible, ethical and produc-tive members of the community.

An acclaimed educator and edu-cation consultant, Mrs. Rifka Schon-feld has served the Jewish communityfor close to thirty years. She foundedand directs the widely acclaimed edu-cational program, SOS, servicing allgrade levels in secular as well as He-brew studies. A kriah and reading spe-cialist, she has given dynamic work-shops and has set up reading labs inmany schools. In addition, she offersevaluations G.E.D. preparation, socialskills training and shidduch coaching,focusing on building self-esteem andself-awareness. She can be reached at718-382-5437 or at [email protected]. You can view her websiteat www.rifkaschonfeldsos.com.

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Apioneering study hasshown for the first timethat the brains of menand women are wired updifferently - which could

explain some of the stereotypical dif-ferences in male and female behavior,scientists have said.

Researchers found that many ofthe connections in a typical male brainrun between the front and the back ofthe same side of the brain, whereas inwomen the connections are more like-ly to run from side to side between theleft and right hemispheres of thebrain.

This difference in the way thenerve connections in the brain are“hardwired” occurs during adoles-cence when many of the secondarycharacteristics such as facial hair inmen develop under the influence ofhormones, the study found.

The researchers believe the physi-cal differences between the two gen-ders in the way the brain is hardwiredcould play an important role in under-standing why men are in general betterat spatial tasks involving muscle con-trol while women are better at verbaltasks involving memory and intuition.

Psychological testing has consis-tently indicated a significant differencebetween the genders in the ability toperform various mental tasks, withmen outperforming women in sometests and women outperforming menin others. Now there seems to be aphysical explanation, scientists said.

“These maps show us a stark dif-ference - and complementarity - in thearchitecture of the human brain thathelps to provide a potential neural ba-sis as to why men excel at certaintasks, and women at others,” said

Ragini Verma, professor of radiologyat the University of Pennsylvania inPhiladelphia.

“What we’ve identified is that,when looked at in groups, there areconnections in the brain that are hard-wired differently in men and women.Functional tests have already shownthan when they carry out certain tasks,men and women engage different partsof the brain,” Professor Verma said.

The research was carried out on949 individuals - 521 females and 428males - aged between 8 and 22. Thebrain differences between the gendersonly became apparent after adoles-cence, the study found.

A special brain-scanning tech-nique called diffusion tensor imaging,which can measure the flow of wateralong a nerve pathway, established thelevel of connectivity between nearly100 regions of the brain, creating aneural map of the brain called the“connectome,” Professor Verma said.

“It tells you whether one region ofthe brain is physically connected to an-other part of the brain and you can getsignificant differences between twopopulations,” Professor Verma said.

“In women most of the connec-tions go between left and right acrossthe two hemispheres while in menmost of the connections go betweenthe front and the back of the brain,” shesaid.

Because the female connectionslink the left hemisphere, which is asso-ciated with logical thinking, with theright, which is linked with intuition,this could help to explain why womentend to do better than men at intuitivetasks, she added.

“Intuition is thinking withoutthinking. It’s what people call gut feel-

ings. Women tend to be better thanmen at these kinds of skill which arelinked with being good mothers,” Pro-fessor Verma said.

Many previous psychologicalstudies have revealed significant dif-ferences between the genders in theability to perform various cognitivetests.

Men tend to outperform womeninvolving spatial tasks and motor skills- such as map reading - while womentend to better in memory tests, such asremembering words and faces, and so-cial cognition tests, which try to meas-ure empathy and “emotional intelli-gence.”

A separate study published lastmonth found that the genes expressedin the human brain did so differently inmen and women. Post-mortem tests onthe brain and spinal cord of 100 indi-viduals showed significant genetic dif-ferences between the genders, whichcould account for the observed genderdifferences in neurological disorders,such as autism, according to scientistsfrom University College London.

For instance, one theory ofautism, which affects about five timesas many boys as girls, is that it is amanifestation of the “extreme malebrain,” which is denoted by a failure tobe able to show empathy towards oth-ers.

The latest study, published in theProceedings of the National Academyof Sciences, showed that the differ-ences in the male and female “connec-tomes” develop at the same age of on-set of the gender differences seen inpsychological tests.

The only part of the brain whereright-left connectivity was greater inmen than in women was in the cere-bellum, a part of the brain that islinked with motor control.

“It’s quite striking how comple-mentary the brains of women and menreally are,” said Rubin Gur of Pennsyl-vania University, a co-author of thestudy.

“Detailed connectome maps ofthe brain will not only help us betterunderstand the differences betweenhow men and women think, but it willalso give us more insight into the rootsof neurological disorders, which areoften gender related,” Dr Gur said.

HEALTH & ADVICE



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Humor, according to newresearch recently pub-lished in the journal“Nature Reviews Neuro-science,” plays a key role

in psychological health. In a study ledby Swiss neuroscientist Pascal Vrtickaalong with his US colleagues at Stan-ford University, adults with psycho-logical disorders such as autism or de-pression were shown to have a modi-fied capacity for processing humor andto respond less evidently to it than peo-ple who do not have these disorders.Vrticka believes that a better under-standing of how the brain processeshumor could lead to the developmentof new treatments.

This is not the first study to ex-plore the healing force of humor. In2006 researchers led by Lee Berk andStanley A. Tan at Loma Linda Univer-sity in Loma Linda, California, foundthat two hormones - beta-endorphins(which alleviate depression) and hu-man growth hormone (HGH, whichhelps with immunity) - increased by27 and 87 percent respectively whenvolunteers anticipated watching a hu-morous video. Simply anticipatinglaughter boosted health-protectinghormones and chemicals.

The same research team conduct-ed a similar study recently to see if theanticipation of laughter that wasshown to boost immune systems couldalso reduce the levels of three stresshormones: cortisol (“the stress hor-mone”), epinephrine (adrenaline), anddopac, a dopamine catabolite (brainchemical which helps produce epi-nephrine). They studied 16 fastingmales, who were assigned to either thecontrol group or the experiment group(those anticipating a humorous event).Blood levels showed that the stresshormones were reduced 39, 70, and 38

percent respectively. Meaning, antici-pating a positive event seems to actual-ly reduce detrimental stress hormones.

“Humor rooms,” which encouragepeople to use humor in their recoveryfrom any kind of illness, are now avail-able in some hospitals. And sciencebacks these efforts. In a study pub-lished in the Journal of Holistic Nurs-ing, humor seemed to significantly di-minish pain. Dave Traynor, M.Ed, di-rector of health education at NatchaugHospital in Mansfield Center, Con-necticut, writes: “After surgery, pa-tients were told one-liners prior to ad-ministration of potentially painfulmedication. The patients exposed to

humor perceived less pain as com-pared to patients who didn’t receivehumor stimuli.”

Traynor explains a separate studyat Arkansas Tech University, in whichconcentrations of immunoglobulin Awere increased after 21 fifth gradersparticipated in a humor program.Laughter was once again found to in-crease the ability to fight viruses andforeign cells.

American journalist NormanCousins is famous for using humor tocure himself from a painful kind ofarthritis then called Marie-Strumpell’sdisease. His recovery program, de-tailed in his book “Anatomy of An Ill-ness,” included massive doses of Vita-min C and laughter induced by theMarx Brothers films. “I made the joy-ous discovery that ten minutes of gen-uine belly laughter had an anestheticeffect and would give me at least twohours of pain-free sleep,” he reported.“When the pain-killing effect of thelaughter wore off, we would switch onthe motion picture projector again andnot infrequently, it would lead to an-other pain-free interval.”

HEALTH & ADVICE



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but they didn’t receive it in their life-times, and the name ‘Hashem’ is evi-dent ONLY when He has kept His wordand rewarded or punished. ThatHashem is ne’eman - faithful to keepHis word.

But the name - SHAKAI - is a BigName which only the Ovos were intro-duced to.

So that night, still feeling reallyhigh from the Torah I learnt, I went todaven Maariv. And in the ‘Al ken nika-va’ paragraph of the Alenu we say:“L’saken olam b’malchus Shakai” -May the world be fixed with the King-domship of Shakai, and all the peoplewill call Your name, and all the wickedwill turn to You and recognize that ON-LY to You do all knees bend.

Anyway, I turned to everyonearound me and said aloud in questionform, “L’saken olam b’malchus Shakai?Why not L’saken olam b’malchusHashem (Havaya)? Why MalchusShakai?” I demanded to know.

Standing there was a VERYchoshiva Yid, who reads the Torah eachShabbos for a number of minyanim. Helooked baffled, turning his hand, as if toask, “Nu takeh why?”

“Because, just like in this week’sparsha, Hashem appeared as Shakai be-cause, the Ovos didn’t see the actualityof receiving the land, here, in the ‘Alken’ prayer we end by declaring thatb’yom HAHU yihiyeh Hashem echodu’shmo echod.” On THAT (future) daywe will reach a time that Hashem isONE and His name is ONE. But untilthe fulfilment of that prophesy, the mostwe can achieve is ‘To fix the world tobe the kingdom of Shakai.’ Whichwould be also a great achievement!

Some Chosid came running afterme and asked me to tell it to him again,he missed some of what I said becausehe was still davening. I repeated it andbrought him to so much joy.

I was a Chumash and Rashi teacherfor one day!

All this is thanks to my belovedand holy zeideh, Reb Yaakov Kamenet-sky, who taught me how to perceive aRashi.

May his light, with the light of allthe Tzadikim shine down upon theworld so that we will live to see the daywhen Hashem is ONE and His Name isONE. Amen!

Understanding theMagnificent Shin DaledYud Name of Hashem

By Dov Shurin

with his two words - El Ha’ovos - issaying something important!”

“Nu what?” He asked.“I don’t know. You’re the one

teaching,” I answered, smiling. “Workon it. WHAT’S bothering Rashi?” Idropped him off and he thanked me.

As I continued driving, I looked uptowards my Rebbe, Hashem, and inno-cently asked Him, “Tatty, please giveme the answer.”

And immediately into my head,came the following: What’s botheringRashi is that our Holy Torah, whichdoesn’t have any extra words, or evenletters, writes El and El and again El.

It should have written “I appeared,El(to) Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov.Why was there an El before each name?To teach us that He appeared ONLY tothese three, only to OUR OVOS! Not toChaim Yankle, not to Nimrod and noteven to Noach, whom He appeared to asElokim. But, as Kel Shakai, He madeHimself know only, as Rashi says, “Tothe Ovos!” Only they recognized whatthe whole world should recognize, butdoesn’t! As the name Shakai implies:‘She’asah die,’ There is enough in thisworld to see that there is a Great Cre-ator! Wow!

I wanted to drive back to shul andtell this pshat to that Rav, but I arrivedat my home.

I went through my door and took aChumash, to now understand whyHashem didn’t appear to them asHavaya.

So I read that it says, “U’shmiHashem lo nodahti lahem - I didn’tmake known My Hashem name tothem.” Rashi says that the Torah doesn’tsay ‘lo ‘hodati’ but rather ‘lo nodati’ iswritten. Rashi so clearly explains thatthe Ovos were promised the Holy Land,

Every Mezuza, when rolledup, placed in a plastic wrapand slid into a canister tohang on the door post, stillhosts the three letter name

of Hashem on its outside.What does this Name mean to

you?I’m driving up Neviyim street and I

see a chashuve looking Yid. I slowdown and call to him in Yiddish, “Youneed a ride? I’ll be driving past theZichron Moshe shteeblach.”

He tells me that’s exactly wherehe’s going and he happily enters my car.

“You’re going to daven?” I ask.He says, “No. I give a shiur in Chu-

mash and Rashi. My father gave thisshiur and now I give it.”

“Chumash and Rashi?” I say. “Ok,in this week’s sedra we read, Voerah - Iappeared - to Avraham to Yitzchok andto Yaakov as Kel Shakai and My name -lo nodati lohem, I did not make knownto them.”

“Rashi says two words,” I contin-ued, “El haovos - to the forefathers. Butwhat is Rashi adding?” I ask. “It said;El Avraham el Yitzchok and el Yaakov,we know that they are our ovos!”

I, myself, didn’t have an answer,but I remembered being bothered bythis Rashi for a long time.

He answered, “Chasidim say thatthe word Ovos can be substituted forAvas, with a vav, meaning ‘to desire.’ SoRashi is hinting that G-d appears, asShakai, to those that desire him to ap-pear!”

I smiled and said to him, “Comeon, I was zoicheh to learn Chumashwith my holy grandfather, Reb YaakovKamenetsky, zecher tzadik l’vrocha andhe taught me how to learn a Rashi.Something is bothering Rashi. Rashi,

I S R A E L



An Iranian retaliation to amilitary strike on its nu-clear sites will likely belimited, and significant-ly smaller in scope than

commonly believed in the West, anew study published by the head ofthe Institute for National SecurityStudies (INSS), Maj.-Gen. AmosYadlin said on Wednesday.

Yadlin, formerly head of MilitaryIntelligence, and Avner Golov, a sen-ior INSS researcher, published, to-gether, a systematic overview ofIran’s military capabilities and as-sessed the likely Iranian strategic cal-culations when choosing a response.

They concluded that the night-mare scenario of regional full-scalewar is exaggerated and “serves Iran as

an excellent deterrence mechanism,since it weakens the credibility of themilitary option and decreases thechances of the Iranian regime agree-ing to a diplomatic solution.”

They said that “the option of anattack on Iran, as well as the threat ofit, is an important and central mecha-nism in the service of diplomacy.”

Iran’s main retaliatory strikeforce is composed of 300-400 sur-face-to-surface missiles, made up ofthe Shihab 3 with a range of 1,300km., and the Ghadir with a range ofover 1,600 km., the authors wrote.

“Both of these missiles do nothave high accuracy and do not allowfor the pinpoint striking of a target,”the paper said.

The Shihab’s Circular ErrorProbable (CEP), indicating its accura-cy, is over two kilometers, and theGhadir’s CEP is hundreds of meters.

A Shihab can carry a one-tonwarhead of conventional explosives,and the Ghadir can carry 750 kg.

Missile strikes can be used to ter-rorize cities, rather than hitting targetsaccurately, Yadlin and Golov said.

YADLIN: SCOPE OF IRANIAN

RETALIATION TO POTENTIAL

STRIKE IS ‘EXAGGERATED’BY YAAKOV LAPPIN

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I S R A E L



71

Actual damage can be containedto a minimum, through early warningalerts for civilians, an efficient use ofthe Arrow 2 anti-missile shield, andan improvement in projectile defensefortifications for the general popula-tion.

Although suspicions exist thatIran can arm its missiles with chemi-cal and biological warheads, their lowaccuracy and ineffectiveness as un-conventional delivery systems, com-bined with Iran’s understanding thatsuch a move will provoke a massivemilitary response, will prevent such ascenario, said the authors.

An additional threat exists in theform of Iran’s extraterritorial terror-ism capabilities, embodied by theIRGC’s Quds Force.

Past Quds Force attempts to car-ry out attacks in revenge for covertstrikes on the Iranian nuclear programshow the limitations of this apparatus,the study said.

“These [Iranian] efforts failedand they point to a limited Iranianability to carry out wide-scale terrorattacks, and to a good ability to foilthem in the Western world,” the au-thors stated, before concluding thatthis threat can be contained.

Other potential threats includeIran’s air force and fleet of drones.

Iran’s fighter jets are inferior tothose of Israel, which enjoys two lay-ers of air defenses against hostile in-trusions: Interception aircraft and achain of anti-aircraft weapon sys-tems.

Iran’s most advanced jets, theSukhoi 24, cannot get to Israel andback without midair refueling andwould be vulnerable to air defenseradars.

Iran’s drones are also primitive incomparison with their Western coun-terparts, “and do not allow much op-erational flexibility after theirlaunch,” the study said.

The most realistic UAV threatconsists of “suicide drones fromLebanon or Syria” that could be de-ployed, and this scenario meritspreparations, but is “not the kind ofthreat that Israel can’t absorb,” the pa-per continued.

Iran’s long-range naval strike ca-pabilities are “very limited,” the paper

said, and consist mainly of Soviet-made submarines that operate in thePersian Gulf and Indian Ocean.

Ships that can reach Israelishores would have a hard time cross-ing the Suez Canal during a conflict,and would likely run into Israel Navyships armed with advanced sea-to-seamissiles.

An attack boat disguised as acivilian vessel might be used tolaunch sea-to-shore missiles and minisuicide submarines could be de-ployed, though this threat can becountered by Israel as well, accordingto the study.

There is no Iranian ground forceoption to speak of, due to the 1,200km. distance between the two coun-tries, Yadlin and Golov said.

Iran’s capabilities are far from“Gog and Magog” scenarios and arelimited to missile strikes and terror at-tacks, the effects of which will beprincipally psychological, they wrote.

If an initial attack on Iran is sur-gical and aimed only at nuclear sites,Iran, when weighing responses willwish to preserve its survival and deci-

sion makers in Tehran will likely seekto avoid a response that could suckthe US into a conflict with Iran.

Similarly, Tehran will likely seekto avoid provoking a large-scale sec-ond Israeli wave of attacks that couldbe used to cause more damage to nu-clear sites, as well as targeting regimeassets.

Yadlin and Golov set out a scaleof five possible Iranian responses,ranging from total restraint to a re-gional escalation.

One highly likely Iranian re-sponse is a “tit for tat” strategy, tar-geting Israeli nuclear reactors, theysaid.

This scenario would see “a sig-nificant number of missiles fired fromIran and Lebanon towards Dimona orany other target perceived as being‘nuclear-associated’ in Israel, in orderto send a message of parity betweenIran and Israel, and maybe even strikethe Israeli facilities.”

“There’s a high chance that thismethod of operation will be includedin the Iranian response, as a wider re-sponse, or a limited Iranian re-



72

sponse,” the authors said.Alternatively, Iran could widen

its response and include the activationof terrorism cells, while also firing offone or two missile barrages at Israelicities, and target Saudi and Westerntargets in the Gulf.

Suicide missions from the air andsea are also possible.

“We believe that the chance ofsuch an Iranian response is high if aWestern attack hits Iranian nuclear in-frastructure but does not harm otherregime assets,” the study said.

Such a response would enableIran to balance out its need to reply toan attack, but avoid an escalation thatwill threaten regime assets not direct-ly tied to the military nuclear project.

A more serious yet less likely po-tential response, according to thestudy, would be sparked by an Iraniandesire to avenge its national honor,punish Israel and isolate it from theUS.

This would entail a massivelaunch of dozens of missiles at Israelicities a day, paralyzing civilian life,and enlarging the psychological pres-sure against the Israeli population.

In this option, “The Iranians willtry to achieve maximum deterrenceagainst the Israeli government in a fu-ture conflict.

We assess that the regime inTehran assumes that such a responsewill provoke a significant Israeli re-sponse, that could lead to an escala-tion in the conflict between the twocountries.

This could enable an additionalstrike at nuclear infrastructure, and alarge-scale strike of Iranian economicinterests and regime assets.

This escalation could spin out ofcontrol and encourage US military in-volvement, which would threaten thesurvivability of the regime of the Ay-atollahs.

As a result, we assess that theIranian regime will refrain from sucha response against Israel, so long asthe Western attack focuses on nuclearinfrastructure,” Yadlin and Golovsaid.

Finally, Iran could go for a max-imal response aimed at regional esca-lation, attacking the US, Gulf statesand Israel.



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This would necessitate a US response, and Iran wouldonly pursue this course if it does not fear a significant at-tack on its regime assets, since it would already havesensed its survival to be in jeopardy.

In such an extreme scenario Iran would try to “setalight the region” and hope for Russia to achieve a cease-fire, before sustaining more damage.

The study concluded that such a retaliation is un-likely.

In examining potential responses by Iran’s proxiesand allies, the authors noted that Hezbollah’s rocket arse-nal has grown significantly since the Second Lebanon Warof 2006, but added that Israel’s defensive, offensive, andintelligence capabilities have increased significantly aswell.

Hezbollah is fighting for the Assad regime in Syria,and it remains unclear how this erosion on its capabilitieswill influence its readiness for a confrontation with Israel,Yadlin and Golov said.

Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria has undoubtedlyadded many new enemies against it, in Lebanon and out-side of it, they said.

“Since the organization was established by Iran, and ismanaged on the foundation of Iranian funding, arms andtraining, on the basis that it will act if ordered to do so byTehran, it may not be able to refrain from acting and the in-ternal-Lebanese pressure will mainly influence the scopeof the action, limiting it,” the study said.

Hezbollah will likely take part in an Iranian response,but its response might be relatively small in scale.

Syria’s rocket and missile arsenal poses a strategicthreat to Israel, but Syria is not an Iranian proxy and actsaccording to its own interests, the paper said.

The civil war has greatly reduced Assad’s willingnessto take part in an Iranian response against Israel, althoughgrowing dependence on the Iranian patron and Assad’swish to revenge attacks attributed to Israel could allow fora small response.

“Even if Assad responds, it will be symbolic andminimal, such as letting terrorists launch attacks fromSyria, and this won’t drag Israel into full-scale war,” theysaid.

Hamas is out of the Iranian orbit for now, though rela-tions are warming up again, and Islamic Jihad will appar-ently take part in Iranian response, the paper assessed.

“Israel knows how to deal with the threat to theSouth,” as Operations Cast Lead and Pillar of Defensehave demonstrated, wrote Yadlin and Golov.

They concluded by saying that a surgical strike onIranian nuclear sites will decrease the chances of regionalescalation, as would a message sent to Iran during an at-tack, that a massive retaliation on its part will provoke apowerful American- Israeli attack on regime assets, as wellas economic and military targets.

Israel should strengthen its already advanced missiledefenses; and those involved in planning a strike should al-so plan for the day after an attack as well as continue sanc-tions to pressure Iran to give up its nuclear program, thepaper said.



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C O N T R O V E R S Y

TODAY’S TOPIC: Are We Traumatizing Our Childen with Horrific Tales?

Rebyidd23:Henny Penny and her group get eaten by a fox. The oysters are eaten by thewalrus and the carpenter. In some versions, Goldilocks and Little Red RidingHood are eaten. Many children’s tales contain such details that are certainly no

help in preventing nightmares in children.

The Goq:Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood got eaten because they didn’t dresstznius. Even though she covered her hair she tempted the wolf with her basket

full of herring.

Live right:How about the song “Rock-a-by Baby?” It has a very cheerful ending. And backin the day when classic children’s stories were being written, it seems like there

was a very strong anti-wolf feeling amongst the populace.

Oyyoyyoy:The Hunchback of Notre Dame teaches you that if you’re ugly you shouldn’t ex-pect to marry whoever you want to. Scary.

Writersoul:The original Grimm fairytales are MUCH worse than the Disney ones (and I wasalready scared by the evil queen in Snow White when I was a kid). Just abouteveryone dies, and quite horribly too.

Shopping613:Hansel and Gretel came upon a house of candy. Inside lived a witch who pre-tended to be nice and fed them and gave them a home until she had fattened

them up, then she threw them into a fire and ate them. The end.

Streekgeek:I was always so scared of the Three Little Pigs and Beauty and the Beast. I didnot have a childhood because I watched this stuff.

Popa_bar_abba:My most tzanua wife points out that Little Red Riding Hood was not tznius be-cause she wore red. Also, she talked to the wolf, who was a man. It does NOTmatter that she thought it was her grandmother. First, because the wolf knew hewasn’t her grandmother. And second, because she should have been diligent

and investigated!

Rebyidd23:Beauty and the Beast teaches that it’s okay to imprison innocent people forone’s own benefit.

Torah613Torah:Now that I’m an adult, I often worry about being eaten. I never did get overlearning those frightening fairytales.The truth is, my family didn’t really have fairytales, and the ones I read werethe child-friendly versions.I read 2 Holocaust books when I was 7 (Sisters In the Storm and From Light toDarkness, or something like that), and had nightmares for a long time after-wards. Would I let my kids read them? I dunno. Somehow I’m glad that that’swhat scared me and not silly fairytales.

PBT:I’ve been to some homes where children are told about G-d getting angry at theJewish people and punishing us. Even though it’s true, I’ve often had the im-pression that it wasn’t handled as it should have been based on the ages of thechildren who were being told.

Rebyidd23:But did she deserve to die for wearing red?

Interjection:There’s a German bedtime story that goes something to the effect of, “Thereonce was a boy who sucked his thumb. His mother told him to stop but he would-n’t. So, she cut off his thumbs. Now he has no thumbs. The end.” It’s a littlelonger than that, but that’s the exact story line. Also, remember another Germanbedtime story Hansel and Gretel? They get put in an oven because they liked

candy.



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Oomis:I agree, and therefore re-wrote most of these tales when telling my grandchil-dren these fairytales. In it, Goldilocks apologizes to the Three Bears for enteringtheir home without permission and using their things, they invite her to jointhem for dinner, because it is a mitzvah to invite guests, and she apologizes toher mommy for leaving the house without her knowledge.Little Red Riding Hood gets a similar treatment, only she is bringing a Shabbostreat to her Bubby, and the wolf learns the meaning of sharing and apologizesfor trying to trick her and for hiding her Bubby in the closet. Of course, she in-vites him to join them for an Oneg Shabbos party.The Three Little Pigs end up telling the wolf that if he was so hungry, all he hadto do was ask nicely, and they invite him to share a meal also. (See my recur-ring theme of hachnossas orchim?) My very wise little granddaughter told metoday, “But Bubby, how could the three pigs do hachnossas orchim? They aren’teven KOSHER!”I never call Cinderella’s stepmother her wicked stepmother, either. I just call herthe Bossy Lady and her two daughters.For anyone who might think this is dumbing down the stories, or whatever, thereis enough ugliness in the world. I prefer to tell tales that have a good moral tothem.Apropos of Rock-a-bye Baby, many years ago I posted my own original alternateending to the song (and my granddaughter will insist that my version is THE ver-sion). “When the bough breaks, the cradle won’t fall, ki Hashem Elokeinu,

shomeir al ha-kol.”

Seeallsides:Isn’t the story of the Evil Serpent who made Chava eat the apple, Cain killingAbel, Kivshan Ha’Esh, Akeidas Yitzchok, Sodom, Tower of Babel, etc. scary? Itseems like kids have the ability to develop normally and handle graphic storieson their own levels without lifelong trauma. Don’t lose any sleep over it - golearn, do mitzvos, chesed, and develop sincere devotion to Hashem. Then maybewe will write the greatest story of them all with the coming of Mashiach.

Miritchka:“Tales with Taam,” hmmm…I think fantasy is a GOOD thing for children, it helps their imagination developand thrive, and the creativity within them can flourish. Tales of Tzaddikim arewonderful - for OLDER kids. Nursery-age kids want to hear about magic meno-rahs and dancing dreidels. But they can also find wonder in fairytales, and Idon’t think that’s a bad thing at all, if done right. Stories of our Tzaddikim alsohave scary elements at times. Anyone care to tell a youngster how Rabbi Akivadied? We don’t focus on inappropriate topics for children who are too young tohandle them. Many fairytales DO have inappropriate aspects. They were writtenin a different time and place. The idea for the adult is to know and be selective

of what you choose to read or tell to your children.

Abba bar Aristotle:I was very traumatized as a child, by some of the classic scary stories. At leastone of them still bothers me. Please do not read them or tell them to your chil-dren.Oomis, I love your versions, and agree with your granddaughter, that those AREthe real versions! Or they should be!whenever I tell people that my kids don’t know of Disney and all these fairy-tales, they look at me like I’m crazy for depriving my kids from this essential in-gredient to a healthy upbringing. I’d rather my kids be fluent in all the wonder-ful Jewish stories and Torah, and totally ignorant of these shtussim I grew upwith. But now I can use your versions and entertain them in a Yiddishe way.

Thanks!

Oomis:Fairytales were meant to be scary. Hansel and Gretel was meant to teach kidsnot to go candy hunting in the forest, etc.Right, so I ALWAYS work that lesson into my re-telling of these tales. I remindmy grandchildren that Little Red Riding Hood got into trouble because she did-n’t listen to her mommy, and that she was very sorry. And Goldilocks learnedthat she must NEVER walk out of her house when her mommy didn’t give herpermission, or take things that don’t belong to her, even from nice bears whoare happy to share their porridge.I haven’t told over Hansel and Gretel yet, because the story is really intrinsical-ly a HORROR (wicked stepmom throws her kids into the woods to let themstarve, they almost get eaten by a witch, and then they kill her by shoving heralive into a hot oven...OY!) But I am working on it… Until I get it right, I amnot telling such a story to anyone who is not an adult!

Hey, whether we like it or not, if we think about it, these goyishfairytales are flawed with characters, heroes/heroines with bad middos, andare full of narishkeit. Do you think I am depriving my kids by not showing them

Cinderella?

TinyTim:Fairytales were meant to be scary. Hansel and Gretel was meant to teach kidsnot to go candy-hunting in the forest. Little Red Riding Hood was meant to makethem stop daydreaming and wandering off the path, etc.

Writersoul:I did not mean to insult or even hint of any flaw to anyone’s healthy and cor-rect hashkofas. All I meant was that there are b”H so many stories that we areblessed with in our generation that we can share and give over to our kids. Whywould I want to prioritize any of Disney’s stories over any nice, cute, Jewish sto-ry with a nice (realistic) happy ending, with or without a lesson?

Reyidd23:Most of these ridiculous fairytales are just that – ridiculous – and unfit to beread to children. Someone is almost always killed or dies. Someone always doessomething wrong - but there’s no lesson involved.

HaLeiVi:The worst is Humpty Dumpty. After hearing that, I was so taken apart that allthe kings horses couldn’t put me back together again.

Oomis:Is there any way you can write a book of fairytales with a Yiddishe ta’am?! Al-though I do have a knack for telling stories, 1) I won’t bring fairytale books in-to my home because even if I wanted to change around the story, the picturestell otherwise. 2) I would rather tell a tale about tzaddikim/tzidkaniyos, middosbooks, stories with a lesson, etc.

Seeallsides:While the “stories” in the Torah are scary, they are taught to young children ina way that they can handle it. As they get older the “stories” are taught ingreater detail. For example: a child will learn about krias yam suf with theMitzriyim drowning. When he gets older, he learns how some drowned rightaway, some slowly, and some suffered tremendously before dying.

77

MOUNTAIN FAMILYTZIREL RUS BERGER, PNINA NEIMAN - ARTSCROLL

BAIS YAKOV COOKBOOK

FELDHEIM

MAGGID AT THE PODIUM

RABBI PAYSACH KROHN - ARTSCROLL

STORIES THAT LIGHT UP THE HEART

RABBI BINYOMIN PRUZANSKY - ARTSCROLL

KIDS SPEAK 7CHAIM WALDER - FELDHEIM

BALABUSTE'S CHOICE 2

TORAH, CHAZAL AND SCIENCE

RABBI MOSHE MEISELMAN - ISRAEL BOOKSHOP

THE RABBI AND THE NUNS

RABBI DR. ABRAHAM J. TWERSKI - TARGUM PRESS

GARDEN OF EMUNAR’ SHOLOM ARUSH AND R’ LAZER BRODY - FELDHEIM

EXPLORING THE WET AND WILD

EFRAIM HARARI - ISRAEL BOOKSHOP

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014Country Yossi Family Magazine



78

“Mommy, I want togo back, but I alsowant to stay here,”Tehilla’s sevenyear old said to

her as they scoured the aisles of the su-permarket for their favorite supplies thatthey couldn’t get in Eretz Yisrael.

Tehilla enjoyed the way he ex-pressed his feelings. She actually tooknote of that fact. She felt as if she was aflower in bloom, feeling the sun and thebreeze in a way she hadn’t in quite awhile. “I know what you mean,” she an-swered. “It’s called mixed emotions. Ifeel the same way.”

Her daughter asked, “I thought youdidn’t want to go back at all.”

Caught in the act, she blushed.“Honestly, at first I didn’t want to goback. I was used to my life here. That’swhy Tatty took me on the cruise. Hewanted us to think the issue through.” Shegrabbed three packages of her favoritesandwich cookies off the shelf and threwthem in the cart.

“So that’s what we did. And youknow what I realized?”

She checked that she had their atten-tion, because what she was about to say

was very important to her. It was also im-portant for her children to hear. “I real-ized that the right decision is to go toEretz Yisrael for another year. I’m used tothings here more. But… I feel that beingthere for another year is important for mygrowth as a person and for our family aswell. I know that it’s good to give up mycomfort if it will make me a better personor help the family.”

Although she felt her eyes smarting,as the moment was so auspicious to herbecause it signified the change that hadbeen taking place slowly inside of her, thechildren seemed pretty unimpressed.“Can we get these fruit roll-ups, Mom-my?” her son asked. She took a few deepbreaths and nodded. Her personal devel-opment was not contingent on her chil-dren’s applause. That thought actuallymade her smile. Feeling magnanimous asher spirit soared, she threw an extra sixboxes into the cart and was amused whenher children’s applause finally came.

As she was checking out half anhour later, she relished the feeling thathad washed over her during their shop-ping spree. She tried to pinpoint what ex-actly that feeling was. The expansive su-permarket, the familiar… The feeling ofbeing free. It was a lightness unique to theUnited States of America. Try as she

might, she couldn’t pinpoint exactly whatit was about a trip to the supermarket inAmerica that elicited her good mood, butshe enjoyed the feeling nonetheless.

As she put her groceries on the con-veyor belt, she wondered if her frame ofmind was positive or negative. Eitherway, her mood was real. That was forsure. She made a mental note to discuss itwith her husband later. Besides all this in-trospection, the idea that she would dis-cuss such a thing with her husband wasnew, or rather, old. The new Tehilla wasstarting to look more and more like the in-spired newlywed she once was. And thatshe knew was positive.

Her phone rang as they walked to thecar. It was Mike Small calling to thankher and tell her that they had secured acourt date for the beginning of Septem-ber. He sounded euphoric and she washappy that she had been able to help. Itwas only after she hung up the phone thatshe wondered how that was going to af-fect her and her family. Clearly, she andEliezer were expected at the trial and thattrial was not taking place in Eretz Yisrael.

“Nu, so tell me everything!” Sarahtied her apron, ready to tackle the dishesas they spoke. Rikki had given her speechthat afternoon and she wanted both to

It was supposed to be the vacation of a lifetime – an unforgettable Pesach getaway aboarda luxurious cruise ship setting out for its maiden voyage off the coast of Central America.

For Avrummy and Raizy Friedman and Yoni and Chani Gelberfeld, it was an opportuni-ty to spend family time together amidst the glamour of a Pesach cruise, enjoying the sump-tuous meals and endless entertainment the cruise had to offer.

For Mike and Sheila Small, it was their chance to experience for the first time the “waythe other side lives.”

For Eliezer and Tehilla Goodman, it was time to enjoy the over- the-top luxury aboardthe cruise while they try to determine the future course of their life.

At the same time, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Sarah Feldman planned to use the time to rel-ish the peaceful break from routine while serving as the in-house rav and rebbetzin.

And Rikki and Levi were meant to use the time to recuperate from a recent traumaby relaxing away from everything familiar.

As these characters, as well as others, sailed along the peaceful, still waters, therewas no hint of the turbulence seething just below the surface. When an innocent boatride on chol hamoed turns into a disaster, the womenfolk are ensnared in an evil ex-tortion scheme.

And just when it seems the worst is past, Avrummy and Yoni and their families find them-selves trapped in a nightmare, with justice turned upside down and their lives along with it.

Still Waters is the true-to-life story of the struggle to find a spark of good even in the most difficult circumstances, and ofaccessing the courage to tap deep into one’s inner strength to triumph over injustice and adversity. It's also the story of each ofour lives as we identify with the characters' inner struggles as they work to become who they truly want to be.

BOOK EXCERPT

Reprinted and excerpted with permission ofShanky’s Publications © 2014.



79

convey how proud she was of her as wellas satisfy her own curiosity about how ithad gone.

Rikki, relaxing at home in her fa-vorite recliner, her feet up, was only toohappy to rehash the details. “From the mo-ment I woke up, I was a nervous wreck. Icouldn’t enjoy the luncheon at all; I wasjust dreading the moment I would becalled up to the podium. Finally, the greatmoment arrived.” Sarah added some back-ground side effects, much to Rikki’samusement. “I gracefully made my wayup to the front of the room, a fake smilepasted on my face. As I took out my notesto put on the podium, my biggest worrywas that everyone would notice that myhands were shaking like leaves. I was fur-ther mortified when my voice shook likemy hands for the first few minutes of myspeech. But as I went on, I forgot my nerv-ousness. I was even a little disappointedwhen I reached the end.”

“Great job! If it makes you feel anybetter, I still get butterflies in my stomachbefore I speak publicly. How did the au-dience react?” Sarah asked.

“They loved it! They asked lots ofquestions and I got quite a few compli-ments.”

“So I suppose this is the beginningof a new career, Rik, huh?”

“You know, the funny thing is…How shall I say it? I’m glad I did it. Iwould have wondered forever if I’d madethe wrong decision if I hadn’t agreed tospeak. It went over better than I everimagined it would.”

“Yes?” Sarah asked, truly interestedin what she was about to say.

“But in a way it was a letdown. Idon’t feel like some fancy speaker. I don’teven feel like I want to do it again. I’mglad I did it once, but I think I’m morecomfortable just being little ole me,homebody extraordinaire. I’m more com-fortable out of the limelight. And the sur-prising thing is that I’m happy being thatway.”

Sarah smiled. “Well said. I wish wewere all as intelligent as you are.”

“So I’m encouraging you to give upyour speaking career?” Rikki asked, notsure where Sarah was going with thatcomment. She sometimes found Sarah alittle confusing.

Sarah laughed aloud at her misun-derstanding. “No, my dear friend. I meantthat we would all be better off if we each

learned to appreciate our own strengthsand unique personalities and stopped see-ing the grass as greener on the other sideall the time.”

Generally, their relationship was onewhere Sarah served as Rikki’s friend andmentor and Rikki was Sarah’s friend andadvice-seeker. Rikki, though, turned thetables and asked Sarah, “Do you ever feelthe grass is greener on the other side?”

Sarah was suddenly uncomfortable.Indeed, Rikki had touched upon what sheconsidered her fatal flaw, a flaw that shehad been working on incessantly over the

years, with little progress, at least in hereyes. It was only fair that she share herweaknesses with her friend, when Rikkihad been so open and honest with herfrom the get-go. That’s what a real rela-tionship was about, she knew.

Still, she had no interest in baringher failings. She was always open andcandid with her husband, although shedidn’t feel he really understood the depthof her emotions. She had friends that sheshared her faults with, but it was alwayswith a laugh and a lightness that beliedwhat was really going on inside her.



80

The whispers continuedthrough the night, until theroosters began to crow inthe courtyard. Leah, theChacham’s wife, tossed

and turned in bed. Through the wall tothe other room she was able to hear theheated whispers, the arguments andthe tears. At nightfall her guests hadpersuaded the mashadi to wait forthem one more day before beginningto travel again. During that day, theywould decide what to do. Now almostthe entire night had passed, and it did-n’t seem like they had reached a deci-sion.

Yosef Chaim began to cry. Hewanted to eat. Baruch Hashem, his ap-petite had returned, but if they begantraveling again, who knew if he wouldnot suffer a relapse? Saada tried toblock out the memory of how he hadlooked, quiet and lifeless, just the nightbefore. She had spent the last fewhours trying to persuade Yichye to re-turn to Sana’a and leave Yosef Chaimwith her mother until they returnedfrom Switzerland.

Once again, Yichye refused tohear of it. He sat with his lips pressedtightly together as she sat and cried,talking mostly to herself: “We shouldnever have left, and certainly not withYosef Chaim! Why didn’t we leavehim in Sana’a? Women have more in-tuition than men. My heart tells methat this trip is dangerous for him.What will we do now? What?”

Yichye didn’t have any answers.

His wounded pride stilled his tongue -he knew his wife was right. But to re-turn to Sana’a was just too much.

There, in the middle of the night,Yichye sat and fixed his gaze on thehigh ceiling. He found himself prayingsilently: “I was confused, like a lostlamb, Your servant asks…” So weak,so lost, so helpless - that was how hefelt. From where would come their sal-vation?

Perhaps Saada was right? Perhapsthey should return to Sana’a and givethe child to their families to care for? Ifso, it would be better for him to staywith his own family. His pride wouldnot allow him to leave Yosef Chaimwith his mother-in-law. That wouldonly confirm how mistaken he hadbeen in his haste to leave with such asmall baby, despite all the warnings.Perhaps they could leave Yosef Chaimwith his mother? She was old, that wastrue, but her mind was still completelyclear and she ran her house like only aYemenite woman knew how.

Yichye looked at Saada. She sathunched over in a corner, her shoul-ders sunken from exhaustion andweeping, rocking the baby in her arms.Suddenly, he felt terribly for her. Shewas so young, so frightened, followinghim like this into the desert, to farawaySwitzerland that Reb Tzvi Ber had toldthem about. Who knew how muchmore they would have to endure untiltheir arrival?

Saada sighed and sighed again.Day would break shortly. The hot day-light hours would pass and the masha-di would make his preparations to re-

sume the trip to Aden. And what wouldbe with them? What would they dowith Yosef Chaim?

In the next room, Leah had justabout decided that the young couplehad finally reached a conclusion andwere allowing themselves to get somerest. But no… After a few minutes, thewhispers started up again. Yichye grit-ted his teeth and offered to return toSana’a to give Yosef Chaim to hismother, but Saada refused, insistingthat his mother was too old to take careof such a young baby properly. Shewould only feel confident leaving himwith her own mother.

Once again, the whispers grewheated and angry. What had happenedto Saada? Yichye wondered. She hadnever been in the habit of arguing withhim. Had the journey altered her per-sonality so much, that she had gonefrom being a calm, compliant womanto a cantankerous angry one?

As the skies turned grey, Yichyefell into an exhausted sleep, but not be-fore he was overcome with a bout ofcoughing. Saada remained sitting onher mat, her head resting in her hands,the picture of despair.

Quiet voices from the next roominformed them that the Chacham andhis wife were up already. Then theyheard the door close quietly, and sheknew that the Chacham had left for thebeit knesset to learn and pray, whilehis wife was probably preparing to godown to the grindstone room. Saadarose with a sudden decisiveness andshook off her robe. She looked at YosefChaim, asleep on the mat, glanced at

Open a window into the lives of Yichye and Saada, Yemenite Jews from a hundred

years ago, and travel with them from Sana’a in Yemen, across deserts and seas,

all the way to Switzerland…

Meet their daughter, Esther, who finds herself torn between her heritage and the en-

ticements of the modern world…

Enter the world of Salach, who struggles to feed his family both materially and spir-

itually…

From East to West is the story of our People, uprooted from our homes and forced to

wander, strangers in strange lands, guests of unwilling hosts. It is the story of Jews who

refused to succumb to despair and clung on to their faith despite trial and tribulation.

It is a glimpse into a world that was and yet the story of us all…

BOOK EXCERPT

Reprinted and excerpted with permission ofMachon Tfutza © 2014.



81

the three sleeping girls, wrapped in arug of woolly lambskin, and tiptoedout of the room.

She found Leah drinking from alarge cup of coffee. When she noticedSaada, her face softened and her heartwent out to this young, frightenedwoman. She hugged her and patted hergently, like a loving mother. Saadaswallowed the last of her tears and qui-etly told her about the reason for thestormy, night-long argument.

“Do you see?” Saada said. “Wemust travel to Switzerland; Yichye isgrowing weaker every day. But YosefChaim is in danger. Did you ever hearof a woman who has to choose be-tween her husband and her son?”

Leah did not reply. What kind ofanswer could she give this torturedwoman? She sat and listened to Saadapouring out her heart. If only Yichyehad not been so adamant while theywere still in Sana’a! Yosef Chaimwould have been in her mother’s capa-ble hands, and they would be well ontheir way to Aden.

Saada stopped weeping for a mo-ment and tiptoed back towards theroom where Yichye was sleeping. Shelistened until she heard his heavy, la-bored breathing and then went back tothe second room, wiping her red eyes.She explained to Leah that throughoutthe years, Yichye had been a good, de-voted husband who had respected andprotected her. She wanted to preservehis honor and dignity. She didn’t wantLeah to think he was a hard, heartlessperson. He wasn’t like that at all, butnow, his stubbornness was creating amajor stumbling block for them. Justhours remained for them to decide.What would they do?

Mrs. Chabshush’s large, stronghands stroked Saada’s tremblingshoulders. An idea had germinated inLeah’s mind with the rising sun. Shewaited for Saada to calm down some-what, and then whispered something inher ear. Saada listened and her eyeswidened. She looked at the womanwith a mixture of sudden joy and dis-belief.

“Yes,” Mrs. Chabshush smiled.“Yosef Chaim will stay here, in Al-chemim. I will take care of him likemy own son, even though it has beenseventeen years since I held my

youngest child, who already has hisown daughter. We will find a wet nurseeither here or in the next village.Everything will be fine and you cancontinue your journey in peace.”

Yosef Chaim suddenly began tocry. A sunbeam illuminated the roomand Saada, confused by the sudden rayof light after such a dark night, threwher arms around Leah, her savior, kiss-ing her warmly.

Then, she hurried back to the roomwhere her family slept. She had nodoubt Yichye would agree to the com-

promise. There was no better option.This way they would not lose time bybacktracking to Sana’a. They wouldleave Yosef Chaim with ChachamChabshush and his wife and wouldcontinue to Aden, from where theywould depart for Switzerland. Theywould remain there for as long as theyhad to, and would then return home.

The future suddenly looked muchmore promising to the young, innocentwoman who had no way of knowingthat life would yet extract from her avery high price.



82

Leah’s swift hands deftlychopped two large onionsfor the vegetable soup. Hereyes burned and then flood-ed with tears.

“You’re crying!” For Osnat, it wasanother cue to launch into a new topicof conversation. She started to tell Leahabout all the innovative ways the cookin her dormitory had stopped oniontears. “Put a match in your mouth. It re-ally helps. Do you want me to fry upsome extra onions and put them in thefridge? For the next time?”

Leah listened and replied patiently,asking questions and expressing inter-est. Osnat’s words filled the peace andquiet of the morning hours she’d oncehad – Leah had once basked in thosefew hours. But she’d made a choice, ex-changing giving for privacy, and shewas glad she had done so.

All the same, it was one of thethings she hadn’t taken into accountwhen Mira Kaniel had spoken to her attheir “chance” encounter in the grocerystory. Mira had been in a tizzy. Shewanted to know if Leah knew someonewho could host one of her students fortwo to three months. Surprised at her-self, Leah started to wonder if perhapsshe could be that someone. Mira was soanxious to get the girl settled, and thecircumstances were so urgent and unex-pected, that she found herself agreeingon the spur of the moment.

And why not? Osnat was pleasant,goodhearted, and easygoing. She’dquickly gone from being a guest to be-ing almost part of their family, and

sometimes, Leah felt that perhaps it hadgone too fast. But whenever she felt atinge of regret, she reminded herselfthat many people opened their homes toothers like this on a regular basis, andshe felt a wave of admiration combinedwith at least a drop of envy flood herheart.

“Three more days to Shabbos,” Os-nat said suddenly. “I might not be here.”

“Really? Why not?”“My grandmother invited me a few

times already and I haven’t been yet,though I’d like to. You really have tomeet my Savta Osnat,” her eyes glit-tered. “She’s-”

Leah didn’t notice Osnat’s shiningeyes. The words “Savta Osnat” poundedin her brain. “Savta Osnat?” she repeat-ed. As Osnat burst out laughing, Leahunderstood. “Oh, of course. I forgot fora minute,” she explained. “We just don’tname for people who are still alive, so Igot confused.” A shadow crossed herface. The baby was already sevenmonths old and she still couldn’t put itall behind her. She hadn’t gotten used toit yet, and she was starting to wonderwhether she ever would.

The baby hadn’t been released ontime, which had been expected. All herchildren had been yellow and had re-mained in hospital for a few extra days.She was used to it, to wiping away thetears and leaving her precious treasurewith the nursery staff, and then the daysof traveling there and back before shecould finally bring the child home. Shewas also resigned to the fact that the briswould not be on time – his bilirubin lev-el had been far too high the day beforethe bris was to have taken place.

It was a winter afternoon. She satnext to her baby, looking at his yellow-tinged face. “If not for the jaundice, youwould have had your bris today,” shetold him, looking into his blue eyes.“Now you’ll have to wait some more.Like Shloimy, your big brother.” Soon,the mohel would arrive, to check anoth-er baby that might be able to have hisbris the following day. They’d arrangedfor him to check their son as well andtry to estimate how many days they’dhave to wait.

Her husband Yitzchak and the mo-hel arrived at four. “The afternoonbilirubin test results should be readyany minute,” the mohel told her. “WhenI see them, I’ll have a better idea ofwhere we’re holding. Once the bris ispostponed,” he reminded them, “wewait for the numbers to go down signif-icantly.”

But the bris had not yet been de-layed. It was still the eighth day andoutside, the sky was still blue. The nursecame in, and handed Reb Chaim Wino-grad, the veteran mohel, a sheet of pa-per. He looked at the results, and excite-ment tinged his voice. “The jaundice isdown significantly,” he said. “And, thebaby really does look better to me. Youcan do the bris now!”

Now? Before shkiah? In the nexttwenty minutes?

Leah felt the room spin. She need-ed so many things. She had to tell herparents and the rest of the family, ordera hall and a menu, and delegate the bra-chos and kibbudim. They needed avacht nacht and to say Krias Shema thenight before; they needed a white brisoutfit, and of course, to pour out their

Each one of us is born under a different sky. Some skies are clear blue, while others aregrey with clouds that block the sun’s rays. Sometimes the clouds part swiftly, but atother times, years pass before the picture changes.A baby is born and a terrible secret accompanies him throughout his life.A lonely teenager desperately seeks acceptance from the family who has taken her in.A high school girl mistakenly gains a reputation for extraordinary middos only to

find her real self put to the test.When the Clouds Part tells the story of people whose lives collide with repercussions

that span the generations. When the missing pieces of the puzzle suddenly appear, whowill have the courage to face the truth?

BOOK EXCERPT

Reprinted and excerpted with permission ofMachon Tfutza © 2014.



83

hearts in tefillah. How could they do abris from one second to the next likethis?

Meanwhile Yitzchak, exhilaratedby the news, started to address the taskat hand with vigor. There was a smallhall on the top floor of the hospital, andthere were all sorts of people in thebuilding who could be co-opted into aminyan. Leah was still drafting the“things we need” list in her mind whenher tiny, yellowish son was taken frombefore her eyes to be circumcised. Allthat was needed right now was the babyand the mohel - and they had both. Howwonderful that they would be able tofulfill the mitzvah b’ito, at the righttime. An old, yellowed tallis procuredfrom who-knew-where wrapped thebeaming father, and an eclectic group ofpeople formed their minyan. They couldbegin.

One second. They needed some-thing else. “A name,” Yitzchak saidtightly. The sky was growing red on thehorizon. The eighth day was slippingaway. “We talked about it already,”Leah said. Mordechai. My grandfather.”

“We said we’d add a name,”

Yitzchak reminded her. Of course. Herfather was very particular about notnaming for someone who had passedaway at a young age. And his father,Reb Mottel, had died at the age of forty-two.

They had a few options. PerhapsChaim, a name commonly used in suchcased. Perhaps Shimon, Reb Mottel’sfather. Or they could use a name fromthe parashah. They’d thought they stillhad time and had pushed off the delib-erations. But now they didn’t have asecond to spare. Some of the membersof their minyan were getting impatient,and the mohel pointed to the windowwith urgency. The sun was the most im-patient of them all. “So, what should weadd?” Yitzchak repeated. “Whichname?”

Leah just looked at him blankly.“Maybe Yehudah?” her husband sud-denly suggested. “Yehudah, as an ex-pression of gratitude that we are able tohave the bris on time.”

So Yehudah it would be. It was alovely, Jewish name, she agreed. Lethim grow up to be a good Jew, and theyand Hashem should reap much nachas

form him. They would call him Mottyanyway. Her eyes clouded; the babywaited; words of prayer crossed her lipsas tears rolled down her cheeks.

Within a few minutes it was allover. The “guests” dispersed and shebent over her Motty, the latest additionto the Jewish nation, wearing his color-ful hospital pajamas. She continued towhisper prayers and brachos into hisear, words that emerged from the deep-est recesses of her heart.

“We have to call everyone to tellthem,” Yitzchak said, still feeling a bitdazed by the suddenness of it all. “Wehave to also organize some type of seu-dah.”

Leah was also a bit stunned. Every-thing had happened so quickly. Thiswas not how she’d envisioned her son’sbris, not at all. Despite all the joy, emo-tion, and gratitude, there was a thread ofsourness mingled in. Perhaps it waschildish to feel that way, but that wasthe reality. It had been a tiny, hurriedbris. No one close had been there. Nother father, not Yitzchak’s father, and nottheir own children, who would be sodisappointed.

88

IMPORTANT NOTEThese ratings are sup-

plied by the 7 major Jewishmusic outlets listed here,based on their actual salesover the last thirty days in theGreater New York area.

The list does not reflecttotal sales of any CD. It doesnot include sales in otherstores, cities or countries (Is-rael!).

The list is designed to bean indication of what’s cur-rently popular in New York.

Although every effort hasbeen made to ensure fairnessand accuracy, this list is pub-lished for entertainment pur-poses only and Country YossiFamily Magazine is not re-sponsible for any inaccuraciesor misrepresentations.

1. Kolot - Yakov Shwekey - Aderet2. Bnei Heichala - Benny Friedman - Aderet3. Hooleh - 8th Day - Aderet

1. Kolot - Yakov Shwekey - Aderet2. Bnei Heichala - Benny Friedman - Aderet3. Time to Dance 7 - L'Chaim

1. Kolot - Yakov Shwekey - Aderet2. Connections - Shalsheles - L'chaim3. Hooleh - 8th Day - Aderet

1. Bnei Heichala - Benny Friedman - Aderet2. Kolot - Yakov Shwekey - Aderet3. Ah Mechaya - Avraham Fried - Sameach

1. Bnei Heichala - Benny Friedman - Aderet2. Hooleh - 8th Day - Aderet3. Kolot - Yakov Shwekey - Aderet

1. Hooleh - 8th Day - Aderet2. Bnei Heichala - Benny Friedman - Aderet3. Imagine - Shloime Gertner - Nigun

1. Kolot - Yakov Shwekey - Aderet2. Hooleh - 8th Day - Aderet3. Bnei Heichala - Benny Friedman - Aderet

JAN./FEB. 2014

89

IMPORTANT NOTEThese ratings are sup-

plied by the 7 major Jewishmusic outlets listed here,based on their actual salesover the last thirty days in theGreater New York area.

The list does not reflecttotal sales of any DVD. It doesnot include sales in otherstores, cities or countries (Is-rael!).

The list is designed to bean indication of what’s cur-rently popular in New York.

Although every effort hasbeen made to ensure fairnessand accuracy, this list is pub-lished for entertainment pur-poses only and Country YossiFamily Magazine is not re-sponsible for any inaccuraciesor misrepresentations.

1. Mitzvah Blvd: Bella Bracha Goes to a Wedding - Aderet2. Power Hour Fitness with Ilana - Aderet3. Dance with Me - Aderet

1. Inter'n Shrift - Nigun2. Dance with Me - Aderet3. The Very Best of Uncle Moishy - Z. Berman

1. Mitzvah Boulevard: Shuey Learns His Brochos - Aderet2. Dance with Me - Aderet3. The Very Best of Uncle Moishy - Z. Berman

1. Inter'n Shrift - Nigun2. Shape Fitness for Girls & Teens - Aderet3. HASC 26: We're Back - MBD and Fried - Suki and Ding

1. Mitzvah Blvd: Bella Bracha Goes to a Wedding - Aderet2. Shira on the Road - Shira Girls Choir - Aderet3. Malkali 13: Alter Rebbe - Aderet

1. Shape Fitness for Girls & Teens - Aderet2. Inter'n Shrift - Nigun3. Social Smarts - Nigun

1. Shira on the Road - Shira Girls Choir - Aderet2. Power Hour Fitness with Ilana - Aderet3. Shwekey Live in Nokia - Yochi Briskman

JAN./FEB. 2014



92

Some things in life neverchange. On the other hand,many things do. One ofthose things, for instance, isthe climate of New York

City. As one of the busiest cities in theworld, New York has one of the broad-est temperature ranges of anywhereelse in the country. It is not very un-usual for temperatures to hit over onehundred degrees in the summer andthen reach below zero in the winter.Such temperature extremes are highlyunusual in almost any other region.

The same holds true for the waythe temperature itself can fluctuatequite severely within a matter of days.The city can have temperatures in thefifties one day and then snow the oth-er. On that note, it’s been quite a fewyears since the city has been blessedwith a substantial, splendid blanket ofsoft white snow. In winters past, whileliving in NYC, you could always counton at least two to three traffic-stop-ping, school-closing, life-alteringsnows. However, as the winters haveprogressed this is becoming more andmore of a rarity. The weather has be-come more erratic and the snows arenow less present than ever.

Don’t let this fool you, however.The mere fact that the city does not getsnow that often does not stop theweather forecasters from blowingeverything out of proportion eachtime. It seems like almost every weekthe weather people are alerting us tosome impending doom of white pow-dery horror that is guaranteed to muckeverything up and bring the city downto its knees.

It’s always interesting to hear thereports after the so-called storm-of-a-lifetime was expected to hit in its fullglory. It’s always the same excuse. Asneak wind gust from the west cameand blew the storm into the ocean.With all these snowstorms beingblown into the ocean it’s hard to un-derstand why we don’t have six feet ofice and snow and a sloth of polar bearsin the Atlantic.

Obviously, as part of the wholestorm-alert system, the radio is alwayswarning us to stock up on water andfrozen goods before such a storm. Thisis always the most puzzling warning.If you’re expecting four feet of snow,water and frozen vegetables are notsomething that will be that hard tocome by.

Another thing that the radio an-nouncers are always warning people todo is stock up on toilet paper. Howabout dishwashing soap? Or maybefoil pans? Are those really any less im-portant for survival? Why is it alwaysthe toilet paper that gets so much at-tention? Is a good shampoo and condi-tioner any less important?

Another completely unrelated yetfascinating thing about weather is howa person’s fascination with it com-pletely changes with age. At age twoyou are completely gripped by fearfrom the mere sight of snow. The cold,powdery substance makes little chil-dren scream in fear as they refuse towalk on or even touch the snow.

When the child gets a little bitolder, say age six or seven, snow istheir best friend. Snow means noschool, snow means snowmen and

igloos and snowball fights. Snow basi-cally means a lot of fun and freedom.

The ironic thing is that as the per-son gets a little older and their re-sponsibilities mount, their sensibili-ties towards the weather, and to snowin particular, seem to revert back totheir early childhood. Any grown per-son will react to snow just like a twoyear old. As soon as they hear theforecast of a snowstorm they begin tokick and scream and throw a tantrum.The only thing they can think about isthe trouble that all this snow willcause them. From shoveling the walkto digging out the car; from the closedbusinesses to the gummed up ship-ping, snow is a major hardship for theadult.

It’s always funny to hear themixed reactions when the report ar-rives in the morning that school is out.As soon as the announcement is madethe children start screeching in jubila-tion while the mothers sit quietly sob-bing in the corner and pulling out thehairs of their sheitlach.

The bottom line is that when itcomes to weather nobody can predictanything. Every day is a mystery andevery report is nothing more than a guess.So if you find yourself walking through apile of snow in the middle of July, re-member, you’ve been warned.

Chaptzem is a heimishe bloggerthat authors the Chaptzem Blog, themost popular heimishe web-site. TheChaptzem Blog has been quoted manytimes in the mainstream media and isviewed by thousands daily.

www.chaptzem.blogspot.com

H U M O R

SNOW JOB



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95

Exploring

I teach first grade. Oneday I asked a student, Miri-am, to go to the map andfind North America. Shepointed it out. I said, “Cor-rect. Now class, whodiscovered America?”The entire class an-swered, “Miriam.”

T.R.Boro Park

Spell CheckAs a teacher of third grade

boys, I once asked Moshe “How doyou spell ‘crocodile?’” He answered,‘K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L.’

“No,” I said, “that’s wrong.”Moshe then insisted,

“Maybe it’s wrong, but youasked me how I spell it.”

P.W.Flatbush

Alphabet FormulaTeacher: Chaim, what is

the chemical formula for water?Chaim: H I J K L M N O.Teacher: What are you

talking about?Chaim: Yesterday you said

it’s H to O.Y.R.

Boro Park

Something NewI asked my five year old

student Rifky: “Name one im-portant thing we have today thatwe didn’t have ten years ago.”

Rifky answered, “Me!”G.B.

Monsey

ChutzpahI’ve been teaching for ten years,

and unfortunately I’ve encounteredmany students who are chutzpahdig.But the one that sticks out most in mymind is Heshy. I once asked him,

“Heshy, what do you call a person whokeeps on talking when people are nolonger interested in listening?”

He answered, “A teacher.”M.B.

Boro Park

STICKY SITUATION

Last year my husbandand I took our 2-year-olddaughter, Bracha, to aPurim carnival. Brachagot tired of walking, somy husband let her rideon his shoulders.

As he walked,Bracha began pullinghis hair. Although heasked her to stop sev-eral times, she kept on

yanking away at hishair.

Getting annoyed, hescolded, "Bracha! Stop that!"

"But, Totty," she answered,"I'm just trying to get mygum back."

R.R.Boro Park

BUILT ON HONESTY

Building a house isalways a hassle, but it's es-pecially aggravating whenyour contractor is nothingmore than a smooth-talk-ing sneak, like mine.

He approached me acouple of weeks ago andheld up the check I'd giv-en him. "This is two hun-dred dollars less than weagreed on," he whined.

"I know," I told him."But last week I overpaidyou three hundred dollarsand you didn't complain."

The little sneakreplied, "Well, I don'tmind an occasional mis-take, but when it gets to bea habit, I feel I have tobring it to your attention."

I.T.Far Rockaway

H U M O R

Send your true anecdotes, embarrassing moments, bright say-ings, real life experiences, or any interesting incident relating toJewish life in America to: COUNTRY YOSSI MAGAZINE, 131048th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11219. All printed submissionswill receive free tapes or another valuable prize. Winners shouldbring legal I.D. PRIZES WILL NOT BE MAILED

e-mail: [email protected]

The Cat’s BackA man absolutely hated his wife’s cat and

decided to get rid of him one day by drivinghim 20 blocks from his home and leaving him.As he was getting home, there was the cat.

The next day he decided to drive the cat 40blocks away. He put the beast out and headedhome. When he got back home, there was thecat!

He kept taking the cat further and furtherand the cat would always beat him home. Atlast he decided to drive a few miles away, turnright, then left, past the bridge, then rightagain and another right until he reached whathe thought was a safe distance from his homeand left the cat there.

Hours later the man called home to hiswife: “Henny, is the cat there?”

“Yes,” the wife answers, “why do you ask?”Frustrated, the man answered, “Put that

pest on the phone. I’m lost and I need direc-tions.



97

Iknew it was bound to happensooner or later. I finally startedto sound like my mother! Ifound myself screaming, “Don’tsit like that, you’re gonna break

the chair!” or “Don’t keep the refriger-ator door open so long!” And the worstcurse of all, “I hopeyou have kids just likeyou!”

I find myself do-ing things I neverdreamed I’d do, likeeating the crust of thebread and challah. Myson sits at the Shab-bos table and digs atunnel through thechallah with his fin-gers, leaving a hollowshell behind. Both myhusband and I fightover the crust.

I find myself eat-ing leftovers that inmy single days Iwould have gaggedfrom just looking at. Ifind I like the cakepart of the cupcakebetter than the icing.This works out per-fectly with the kids,but not with my waistline.

I’ll never forget the first time Iwent to the country. The bakery truckcame and I bought six cupcakes withicing and multi-colored sprinkles. Sureenough, all the kids ate off the tops andthere I was with six soft fresh cupcakebottoms left over. To throw them outdidn’t even enter my mind. I mean,we’re talking here forty cents a piece. Ihad the perfect solution. I promptlywent to the fridge, took out an ice coldcontainer of milk and finished all sixcupcakes! This went on for one wholeweek, at which time I realized that thezipper on my skirt no longer closed. (Iguess they don’t make zippers likethey used to!)

I find that if I want to call onechild for something, I end up callingall the other five kids’ names first! Myhusband has yet to get a me-shabayrach right. What, with each

child having two names!I can no longer eat pizza after

midnight and I make sure to alwayshave Mylanta in the house.

And for some reason, I alwaysthought that when you married or be-came parents, you automatically be-

came smarter. I thought I would sud-denly know how to figure out percent-ages; I thought I would suddenly knowhow to solve math problems; I thoughtthat overnight my handwriting wouldbecome elegant and I would be able todo everything I hadn’t mastered up un-til then.

Well, my handwriting hasn’tchanged since sixth grade. (I gave upwriting script and now I only print.)When I think of all the time I wastedwith penmanship... No matter howhard I tried, my letters never lookedlike they did in the book. For threeyears my parents thought I was learn-ing Chinese!

Percent? If a sale isn’t fifty per-cent off, I don’t go! How should Iknow how much thirty-five percent of$42.50 is? So my husband starts ex-plaining. Ten percent of a hundred dol-lars is... and on and on he goes, un ich

kick em oon! He finally went out andbought me a calculator (which wasmarked down twenty-five percent),and I’ve got news for you. The saleshelp don’t know percent either! Theytell you the cashier will deduct it. Bigknocker! She looks it up on a printed

chart - ich ken oichazoy!

And the mathproblems! As soon asmy kids hit fifthgrade, I knew I was inbig trouble. That’swhen it starts - theword problems! Youknow which ones I’mtalking about. If oneplane is travelingfrom north to south at125,000 miles aminute and anotherplane is flying east towest at 117,000 milesan hour, how longwill it be before theyintersect? Now howam I supposed toknow that? What am I- a pilot? One thing Ido know - I’m not fly-ing on that plane!! Ifthey would ask rele-

vant questions, like how many chick-ens do you need for a sheva brachos offifty people? Then I could help themout!

Remember how our parents usedto peel an apple or orange in one longcircular motion and you wore the peelsfor bracelets? I still can’t do that ei-ther! By the time I finish peeling theapple, either it’s all brown and nobodywants to eat it, or I cut away so muchpeel, there is no apple left! Not to men-tion the peel that breaks in six differentplaces and my daughter is hystericalfor half an hour!

And sewing... The blind stitch onmy hems look like a blind personsewed it!

So as each day goes by, another ofmy illusions is shattered. But I try totake it in stride. I figure that as long asI don’t prefer boiled flanken andstewed prunes, I’m alright.

ANOTHER KAYLA CLASSIC

KaylaKuchle f fe lOLDER BUT

NO WISER

H U M O R



98



99

WHAT’S NEW

AROUND TOWNKOSHER FOODIE

Feeling like you want to try something different? Wantto “travel” a little beyond your good old steak or your sushitake-out?

As a kosher foodie, one can’t help but wonder why thekosher industry does not yet offer a larger variety of restau-rant options. Paris, for example, has a fare choice of Indian,Chinese or Thai places; just pick what you’re in the moodfor and you’ll find it under the supervision of the Frenchcapital’s Beth Din. We want to see those choices continuingto merge in Brooklyn, and talking about Paris, our latestpick is an authentic French restaurant which opened itsdoors a few months ago in Park Slope. No need to take a tun-nel or cross a bridge to actually travel. As soon as you enterChagall Bistro you feel that the “City of Lights” came to youwith its warm and romantic feel, and that’s before you eventry their renowned chef’s delights!

Chagall Bistro

330 5th Street

(at the corner of 5th Ave)

Brooklyn, New York 11215

Reservations : 718.832.9777

www.chagallbistro.com



100

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MEGA HEALTH ...............................................(845) 558-9386 ......Inside Front Cover

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