The Cost Of A Consultant:

Sometimes The Way To Save Money

Dear Editor,

In the March 15 issue, Stuart Issac-son discussed the major focus of the FONSI conference and how it was making an important contribution to the development and sustainabili-ty of nonprofi t organizations in Israel (“Nonprofi t Conference Launched for Israeli Amutot”). Overall, it was a posi-tive and complimentary article in rec-ognizing the value of these kinds of events for those involved in the “third sector.”

However, there was one statement that caught my eye and I thought demonstrated a lack of understand-ing: “Without having to hire outside consultants or spending large sums of money on identifying ways to

keep up with the pace of the modern world, the FONSI conference was cer-tainly a boon to many mid-to-small size nonprofi ts, in addition to the large organizations.” In writing this, the author demonstrates that in spite of his “having worked for a decade in the nonprofi t world,” he does not ful-ly understand the difference between attending a one-day conference and utilizing the expertise of a profession-al consultant.

Yes, I am a consultant, and one could argue that my writing about consul-tants is self-serving; however, at the same time I have a broader view of the professional roles in the third sector. My purpose is neither to defend my role as a consultant nor to lessen the importance of conferences. The con-tribution that an outside expert makes to the effective and effi cient running of an organization can only be deter-mined by the person providing the ser-vice and the recipients of the service.

MAKING FRIENDS AMONG

THE NATIONSShmu’s Shmooze

B Y S H M U E L K A T Z

I was in Ashkelon being me-

nachem avel one of my neigh-bors when one of his cousins, a member of ZAKA, looked up from his cell phone with a gri-mace on his face. “There has

been a pigua with a bus in Yerushalayim,” he said. We all hung our heads for a moment. Instinctively came our next re-fl ex, checking to see that every-thing was still attached, so to speak.

Continued on Page 10

Continued on Page 15

כ״ג אדר ב׳ תשע״א פרשת תזריע (החודש)

Kineret Kineret

water levelwater level

-212.72 m-212.72 m +26 cm+26 cm

INSIDE

What the Rabbis Weren’t

Thinking

By Rabbi Shalom Hammer . . . . 2

Hockey in the Holy Land

By Paul Shindman . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Value Investing

By Aaron Katsman . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Modest Ways

By Zahava Pinsker. . . . . . . . . . . 5

Spring Fashion

By Miri Couture . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chadshei Chashmo . . . . 6

MA Chadash

By Tuvia Brodie . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Under the Sun

By Rabbi Dov Lipman . . . . . . . . 8

Modi’ei Modi’in. . . . . . . . 8

The Oleh Chronicle

By Sima Schloss. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Purim Photos . . . . . . . . . 11

Rain Man

By Steve Plaut . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chelm-on-the-Med

By Daniella Ashkenazi. . . . . . . 14

iTalmud Review . . . . . . . 16

WWW.KOLEINU.CO.IL VOLUME I ISSUE 4 MARCH 29, 2011

A member of the 5 Towns Jewish Times Family of Newspapers

FREEFREE

SHANI’S SHAITEL GEMACH IN YERUSHALAYIM

SHANI’S SHAITEL GEMACH IN YERUSHALAYIM

THE COST OF BEING

STRONG: SELF-DEFEATING

RESILIENCYB Y R O N J A G E R

Words fail to convey the sav-agery and blind hatred harbored by the Palestinian Arab terror-ists that entered Itamar. The vic-tims were Rabbi Udi and Mrs. Ruth Fogel and three of their young children, Yoav, Elad, and

Hadas (only four months old). What was the terrorist thinking as he slit the throat of a baby? What were the feelings of the 12-year-old daughter who ar-rived home around midnight to fi nd her family slaughtered?

Continued on Page 15

UK Citizen Mary Jane Gardner,

who was killed in last week’s

Jerusalem bus bombing.

Young Israel and ZOA deliver 5,000

Mishloach Manot to our Chayalim,

story and more photos page 14

B Y S A M U E L S O K O LNEWS DIRECTOR

Egypt Warns Against

Gaza IncursionFollowing statements by

Israeli fi gures that could in-dicate a possible upcoming

Gaza incursion as well as airstrikes against Hamas rocket launch sites, Egypt’s foreign minister has called upon both sides to exercise restraint.

A spokesman for the foreign ministry said that “the minister [Dr. Nabil el-Arabi] emphasize[d] the need to not give a pretext for Israel to exer-cise violence.”

Four Gazans were killed when Israel attacked a Hamas rocket-launching site adjacent to a res-idential building.

Following Wednesday afternoon’s bomb at-tack in Jerusalem, many Hamas offi cials vacated government and military buildings in the Gaza Strip and shut off cellular telephones in an at-tempt to hide from expected Israeli retaliato-ry strikes.

MIDDLE EAST

WRAPUP

Continued on Page 12

2 March 29, 2011

052.952.7500

editor@koleinu.co.il

Published by: Shmu Media, Ltd.

Editor: Shmuel Katz

Associate Editor:

Larry Gordon

Managing Editor: Goldie Katz

News Director: Samuel Sokol

Copy Editor: Michele Justic

Copy Editor: Shmuel Gerber

Contributing Editors:

Aron Katsman, Rabbi Dov Lipman,

Rabbi Shalom Hammer,

Paul Shindman

Staff Photographer:

Yissachar Ruas

News Intern: Zahava Pinsker

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What The Rabbis Weren’t Thinking!B Y R A B B I S H A L O M H A M M E R

Prior to the recent sentencing of for-mer president Moshe Katsav, a letter pro-

claiming his innocence was written and signed by a number of Religious Zionist rabbis and spearheaded by Rabbi Shlo-mo Aviner and Rabbi Tau, two renowned leaders and personalities within the Re-ligious Zionist world. Attempts were made by various rabbinic authorities to understand the premise for such a let-ter. Regrettably, I am confused as to why so many have taken so much time to analyze the basis of rabbinical actions, which, considering the religious society in which we exist, are disturbingly obvi-ous and visibly alarming.

Yet again rabbis failed to consider pub-lic perception, demonstrating lack of re-spect towards our courts of law and to the society they govern, and lack of con-sideration to the unfortunate victims of Katsav’s crimes. For those who are hav-ing diffi culty understanding what the rabbis were thinking, here are some re-cent events to help facilitate clarifi ca-tion.

Two weeks ago, a rabbi offi ciating at the wedding of one of his students in-structed the groom immediately after the chupah to take his bride into the cheder yichud (a private room which the bride and groom enter after the chupah accord-ing to Ashkenazic law but not according to Sephardic law). The groom explained to his rabbi that he is of Sephardic de-scent (ironically, it is believed that the of-fi ciating rabbi was also of Sephardic de-scent) and according to Sephardic law the marriage ceremony does not include nor allow entering the cheder yichud. The rabbi insisted that the groom must lis-ten to him and if he would not do as in-structed, the rabbi threatened to leave the wedding immediately and to instruct all of his students from the yeshiva, the groom’s friends attending the wedding, to leave as well. The parents of both the bride and the groom, aware of the rab-

bi’s threats, refused to yield and defy their tradition. The rabbi and all of the groom’s friends left the wedding imme-diately. The groom’s uncle described the morose sadness inscribed on the groom’s face when all this transpired seconds af-ter his chupah, an occasion typically cele-brated with exuberant joyousness.

A few days later, another Sephard-ic rosh yeshiva offi ciating at a wedding of a student began to inquire as to the kosher certifi cation of the food being served at the wedding prior to the chu-

pah. After learning that the food being served was under the kosher certifi ca-tion of Beit Yosef (Sephardic kosher su-pervision of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef) he in-formed those present (he did not inform the groom directly as he was immersed in his evening prayers) that he would not perform the marriage because the stan-dards of kashrut were not to his satisfac-tion. As he was leaving the hall, the rabbi explained, “I will not perform a chupah ceremony for someone who serves this standard of kosher certifi cation at his wedding. This demonstrates that the groom is not a G-d fearing individual.”

What were these rabbis thinking? They were thinking of themselves. So engrossed were they in their self-righ-teousness and pompous miscalculations which they disguise as “frumkeit” that they were willing to uproot their tradi-tions, embarrass and cause anguish to human beings, and ultimately disgrace G-d’s name. These rabbis were not think-ing about their fellow man’s sensitivi-ties, nor were they thinking about the poor refl ection their behavior would have upon the religiously observant Jew-ish community. Perhaps it would be ben-efi cial for us to identify the source and beginnings of this impudent and callous behavior.

The other night, I was meeting with someone when his son, who attends the eighth grade in what is considered to be one of the best schools in Bet Shemesh, walked in to show his father the 95 he received on his Laws of Shabbat exam. With a proud smile on his face, the fa-ther asked me to look at the exam and when I did, I could not help but notice the one question marked wrong, which read as follows:

“Which book is one not allowed to read from on Shabbat during the rabbi’s sermon in the synagogue?”

The question was followed by a mul-tiple choice of answers, each one with a different source and explanation. The “correct” answer read:

“The weekly Shabbat sheets given out in the synagogues are forbidden to read during the rabbi’s sermon because they contain within them advertisements per-taining to the weekday” (and on Shabbat one should refrain from contemplating or planning weekday activities).

After reading the Q&A, I was terribly distraught. I informed the father that his son should not have been penal-ized, because the entire question was in-appropriate, offensive, and misguiding.

It fosters the child with the insolence that while one should not read materi-al on Shabbat concerning weekday mat-ters, all other materials can be read dur-ing the rabbi’s sermon in the synagogue! Yet another example within the reli-gious community of teaching our young-sters to embrace Jewish law even when it is at the expense of ignoring and per-haps compromising the most fundamen-tal concept in Judaism, “Derech eretz kad-

ma—respect of and sensitivity towards

the individual comes fi rst.” This eighth-grade rabbi may have successfully taught what it means to be “frum,” but he failed to teach what it means to be religious! The students of such a class may very well understand the intricate and fi ne details of the laws of Shabbat, but they are not being reared towards appreciat-ing the decency, sensitivities, and spirit upon which the Shabbat and all Jewish law is based. These are the concepts that unfortunately some of our rabbis from a young age do not think about and it comes to fruition as they grow in stat-ure and as they become more infl uential.

Unfortunately, many yeshivot and re-ligious institutions in all streams of Or-thodoxy, be it chareidi or Religious Zion-ist, do not invest enough time and effort to teach, nurture, and demonstrate the basics of derech eretz and human digni-ty. When these are overlooked, even the greatest of individuals, politicians, and leaders are prone to reveal their fallacies and subject to criticism.

Rabbi Aviner explained his spearhead-ing the efforts to release the letter pub-licly declaring his unquestioned support for Katsav by stating, “The press had in-fl uenced the court and its gentile judge, who convicted Katsav without adequate evidence.”

Perhaps it is time we start asking who infl uences whom and how we can be more positively infl uential, particular-ly regarding matters which affect our children, communities, and society at large. 

Rabbi Shalom Hammer teaches at Yeshivat

Hesder Derech Chaim in Kiryat Gat and serves

under the Harel Division of the IDF as one of

eight selected lecturers for the “Jewish awareness

and enrichment” branch of the IDF Rabbinate.

He is also an author and lecturer on Israel,

Religious Zionism, and Jewish education. For

more information, visit www.rabbihammer.com.

Phot

o: E

UTi

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.net

AFP/

Get

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ages

Former President Moshe Katsav, who was

sentenced last week to seven years in prison.

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner

3March 29, 2011

4 March 29, 2011

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Hockey In The Holy Land?B Y P A U L S H I N D M A N

Jerusalem. You’re walking down Jaf-fa Street in Jerusalem, and a couple of kids pass you on the sidewalk carrying hockey sticks and big bags that look like they might have hockey gear in-side. Then an older guy runs after them shouting, “Wait up, guys, my skates were in the trunk!” If you’re a Jewish hockey nut, then you won’t be sur-prised at all, but other mere mortals are always amazed to learn that ice hock-ey is alive and thriving in Aretz Kodesh.

Aside from the Olympic rink in Met-ulla and smaller ice rinks in Ma’alot and Tel Aviv, Israel’s latest rink is in the heart of Jerusalem, right outside of City Hall. The municipality installed a temporary ice rink—powered by a generator and lo-cated inside a large tent—for the Purim holiday and is keeping the ice for a few weeks afterward. Jerusalemites and tour-ists are spinning around the rink and saving the three-hour drive (each way!) to the large ice rink in Metulla. The Israel Recreational Hockey Association is run-ning pickup hockey games three times a week, and IRHA president Danny Spodek says the response has been great.

“It’s just amazing how many peo-ple not only want to skate, but want to try hockey too,” Spodek said. “Aside from our league, we’ve also been run-

ning kids’ clinics at the Canada Centre (in Metulla) during the holidays and we have so many kids we’re running short on equipment to loan them.”

Thanks to olim from North America, ice hockey, fi gure skating, baseball, soft-ball, and even tackle football have taken root in Israel and Israeli sabras are start-ing to dominate these sports. The soft-ball and baseball seasons are just getting

under way, but Israel’s tackle football league just held its fourth annual version of the Super Bowl. American oleh Steve Liebowitz, known in Israel as one of the news anchors for Channel-1 TV news in English, built Israeli fl ag football into a thriving sport, and added what is now an eight-team tackle football league. The Judean Rebels claimed this year’s crown on an artifi cial-turf stadium in Jerusalem

sponsored by New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft.

Israel’s fi rst ice rink opened in 1986, and a combined hockey and fi gure-skating association was launched two years later. Israel’s fi rst international hockey game was held in 1990 against a team of UN peacekeepers from Canada, and the success of that game—despite los-ing 20–2 to the Canadians—pro-pelled Israel into international hockey, where Team Israel has been competing ever since.

There are full-contact and recre-ational leagues, and dozens of inline hockey teams as well. There’s even a fl oor-hockey league in Jerusalem that attracts dozens of yeshiva students every year. In the past year, kids’ teams from Israel have won tourna-ments and were invited to Quebec,

Windsor, and Columbus, Ohio.Frum hockey players also have lots

to look forward to in Israel. Floor hock-ey is almost entirely composed of ye-shiva students, and the IRHA’s annual tournament has so many religious play-ers that there is a morning minyan and daf yomi. Want to play hockey in Israel? Send an e-mail to irha@liva.ca or visit www.israelhockeyassociation.org. Next year’s tournament dates have already been set for February 6–10, 2012.

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Players from Israel and the USA at the annual international hockey tournament in Israel.

5March 29, 2011

Wave Of Acquisitions Brings Value Investing Back Into Fashion

B Y A A R O N K A T S M A N

With a growing number of corpo-rations sitting on piles and piles of cash, and a feeling that many compa-nies are undervalued, the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market has start-ed to heat up. With unemployment in the U.S. hovering around 10%, one would think that the state of corpo-rate America is weak. Nothing could be further from the truth. Corpora-tions are profitable but have shown an unwillingness to reinvest profits directly into their businesses by hir-ing workers.

Due to uncertainty over tax pol-icy, a steady stream of new regula-tions, and the implementation of the Obama healthcare bill, companies have hunkered down to wait out this storm until they can get more clarity about the cost of doing business. As such, they have been hoarding cash. Some recent developments now in-dicate that companies are starting to put their cash to work, but have de-cided to use their money to purchase other companies and grow through acquisition, instead of hiring work-ers in order to grow organically. Rob-ert Kapito, president of BlackRock, basically proved this thesis last week when he said, “Companies today have

more cash on their balance sheets than ever before. They’re looking to invest their cash, and M&A would be the obvious choice.”

How can investors profit off this re-newed wave of M&A?

Bargain HuntingAccording to a recent article in Bar-

ron’s, “From 2003 through 2007, an active cycle for M&A and private eq-uity, the S&P 500 Value index outper-formed the growth index by 30 per-centage points.” For an investor, this correlation between M&A activity and value investing is certainly something to investigate and potentially even profit from. But what does it really mean? Value investing can be broadly defined as buying securities that ap-pear underpriced based on some form of fundamental analysis. The most fa-mous of all value investors is Warren Buffett. He believes that you should invest in outstanding companies with sensible prices.

Take for example the recent deal by the drug giant Pfizer. Pfizer, like oth-er large pharmaceuticals, has been a victim of the rise in generic drugs (can you say “Teva”!). They have a huge problem replacing lost reve-nue from drugs that go off-patent. Ac-cording to the Dow Jones Investment

Banker newsletter, “In the latest sign of corporate bargain hunting, drug gi-ant Pfizer last week agreed to acquire Bristol, Tenn.-based King Pharmaceu-ticals for $3.6 billion in cash—a deal that values King at just two times trailing revenues, which despite the 40% deal premium, is even lower than Pfizer’s 2.7 times. Acquirers like Pfiz-er are taking advantage of such prices to boost revenues in the face of a flag-ging economy and other problems. Pfizer, for example, will see its block-buster anticholesterol drug, Lipitor, go off-patent in 2011.”

How To Invest?Some investors have already board-

ed the “value train.” According to fig-ures from EPFR Global, a research firm that tracks investor money flows into funds, “flows into value-based exchange-traded funds are strongly positive this year while growth ETFs have experienced outflows.”

How can investors gain exposure to value stocks?

Invest directly in value stocks. Inves-tors can sit down and do the research needed to make sensible investments in undervalued companies and/or in-dustries that have been beaten up over the last few years. There are plenty of tools online that you can use to help

you with search criteria and making decisions.

ETFs and Mutual Funds. There are plenty of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds whose spe-cific mandate is to solely invest in value stocks or indices which track value stocks.

There appears to be evidence of a correlation between increased M&A activity and the relative outperfor-mance of value investing. Still, it’s im-portant to note that past results are no indication of future returns. Be-fore trying to become the next War-ren Buffett, it’s important to do the necessary research that will help you discover undervalued companies. If this task seems impossible for you to do by yourself, but you would still like to make investments using this strategy, speak with a financial pro-fessional who can help you find the investments that make sense as part of your portfolio.

Aaron Katsman is a licensed fi nancial

professional both in the United States and

Israel, and helps people who open investment

accounts in the United States. Securities are

offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc.,

a registered broker dealer, member FINRA, SIPC,

MSRB, NFA, SIFMA. For more information, call

(02) 624-0995, visit www.aaronkatsman.com, or

e-mail aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il.

Modest WaysB Y Z A H A V A P I N S K E RNEWS INTERN

I’ve been told, more than once, the story of two Holocaust survi-vors, one very religious

and one not at all. The latter said to his friend, “We went through the same hell, you saw the same horrors that I did, yet you somehow remain faithful to G-d. I knew a man in the camp who had a sid-

dur and every day he made people forfeit their small portions of bread to simply read from his siddur and talk to G-d for a few minutes. After that, I could no lon-ger believe.” The religious man respond-ed, “You see this one nasty man, but you overlook the countless Jews willing to sacrifi ce the little sustenance they had in order to speak with Hashem.”

I was recently in an Orthodox neigh-borhood, sitting on a curb and enjoying the sun while my friend ran into a store to make a few copies. I was in high spir-its as I watched little children proudly donning colorful Purim costumes. That’s when a man, who appeared to be cha-

reidi, approached me. Without looking

at me, he began yelling at me in Hebrew. I’m not stupid. I know he was upset with my clothing. But after glancing down and confi rming that neither my knee-length denim skirt nor my three-quar-ter sleeved shirt had undergone any sur-gical operations and that both were still fully intact, I was satisfi ed with simply responding “Ani lo midaberet Ivrit.” The man, however, either did not hear me or chose to ignore our language barrier and continued to scream at me while look-ing intently at the ground. I repeated sev-eral times that I did not understand He-brew, and fi nally the man decided to say something that was understood in all countries: he spat at my feet.

As the color fl ooded through my cheeks, an entire essay of four-letter words raced from my brain to my throat. But, staring disgustedly at the glob of sun-tinted sali-va at my shoe, I pressed my lips together, swallowed my pointless words, stood up, and purposefully crossed the street. The man remained standing next to his own spit, either contemplating following me or unaware that I had left due to his insis-tence on looking at everyone and every-thing except for me. A young woman ap-proached me.

I braced myself for more rebuke or perhaps even more sputum, but when her lips parted, a kind, concerned voice seeped out from between them. In bro-ken English, she asked if I was okay and began explaining that many closed-minded residents had migrated to this neighborhood in search of more living space and had brought their corrupt and highly questionable methodology with them. She apologized profusely on be-half of the neighborhood and proceeded to tell me a story about a home that was broken into and trashed simply because its inhabitants owned a television.

Then she asked me about myself. I told her that a religious thirst had brought me to Neve Yerushalayim, where I began working on a number of mitzvot, a specifi c one being mod-esty. Compassion fi lled her eyes as she looked me up and down and said, “It must be so discouraging. You’re wear-ing a skirt and long sleeves. You prob-ably felt so good and then a man spits on you!” I smiled and told her that we all have areas in which we could use improvement, that man’s clearly being vi’ahavta lireacha kamocha.

While in no way do I intend to under-

mine modesty, I must point out that the mitzvah of tzniut is only hinted to in the written Torah, yet the commandment to love your fellow man is explicitly stated.

She shook her head in shame and dis-appointment, made sure I was all right a couple of dozen times, and then ex-plained to me that these extremists are a minority and I should not let them get me down. She wished me a happy Purim and walked, with a sympathetic smile, out of my life.

As I began searching for my friend, ea-ger to avoid another amateur mussar ses-sion, I thought about the two ways in which I could walk away from this expe-rience. I could concentrate on the man who spat on me, the man who made people give up their food for a few min-utes with his siddur, or I could focus on the woman, the stranger, who, despite having no obligations towards me, took 20 minutes out of her busy erev Shabbat to soothe and comfort me.

For every one man demanding bread from the hungry, perverting the mitzvot with his narrow mind, there will always be a line of people, willing to go hungry for a little longer, just to have a moment with Hashem.

6 March 29, 2011

Step Into Spring With Miri CoutureThe latest in New York high fashion

has crossed the Atlantic and landed in Israel. Miri’s boutique is at the cutting edge in bringing couture designs from the runway to your wardrobe, helping you interpret the latest trends with ease. Now Miri is going one step fur-ther in the pursuit to bring you to the forefront, asking readers to send in your queries and let Miri guide you through the fashion currents.

Q. I’m tired of wearing the same

short dress to every wedding. Is there a

way to mix it up without looking like

I’m trying too hard?

A. Wedding guests have traditional-ly felt the restriction that if they are not in the wedding party, then they can’t wear long gowns. Americans are throwing out that rule and opting for whatever dress they like best in-stead of being limited by length. Long evening gowns do not only belong to the sister of the bride! The latest in formalwear is classy long dresses with elegant designs and rich fabrics. Leave the head-to-toe beading to the groom’s mother, but try a long chif-fon gown with delicate pleating and just a hint of crystals. The right bead-ed detail can replace a heavy piece of jewelry.

Q. What are the latest colors from

the Milan spring runways? And what

is the best way to try incorporating

a bold color into an otherwise “safe”

wardrobe?

A. Spring has brought with it new colors to our wardrobe palette. Bright and vibrant cobalt blues, fun and

breezy yellows, soft and demure lav-ender and rose, and punches of sun-kissed orange. Play with the new col-ors like a painter experiments on a canvas. For just a pop of color, try to

brighten an outfi t with a bright acces-sory such as an orange clutch or a piece of statement jewelry like a bright blue cuff. If you want to wear all one col-or, break it up with different shades or even a pattern, but stick to one design. Break out of your black and gray uni-form and have fun with color.

Q. I have been seeing a lot of differ-

ent looks in the fashion magazines; is

there one main trend for this Spring

season?

A. Personality is in. Looking back on fashion through the years, we see trends and fads that move people through the fashion waters. Now a new trend is emerging: Be different. Fashion has evolved and it’s become more about personal style than the latest runway looks. Defining your own look has become the next ad-venture in the fashion world. Wheth-er you try classic cuts, bold colors and patterns, or new accessories, the point is to experiment and indulge in indecision. Be a chameleon or a bohe-mian; ladylike or avant-garde. Now is the time to try new things, and make them your own.

Miri has three locations in Israel: Jerusalem

boutique (026502352), Ramat Gan boutique

(036186231), and the Jerusalem bridal salon

(026525638). For more information, visit

www.miricouture.com or e-mail

info@miricouture.com.

Chadshei Chashmo

B Y K O L E I N U S T A F F

New Chiburim Program For

Chashmonaim OlimAs more than half of Chashmonaim’s

residents are English-speakers, it is temptingly easy for olim to move to the yishuv and join an “American bub-ble,” in which they most likely will nei-ther improve their Hebrew nor form many ties outside the olim community. The need to provide a forum for their integration into a more Israeli life led to Chashmonaim’s newly founded Chi-

burim (Connections) program, which provides the olim of Chashmonaim with opportunities to mix and mingle with their Hebrew-speaking neighbors.

Chana Schuster, the rakezet klitah, di-rector of absorption, says that the pro-gram has two aims. Firstly, it will offer olim assistance with their immediate needs, answers to their various ques-tions, and a more comfortable transi-tion into their new lives. Secondly, the absorption committee intends to assist newcomers in the integration process, erasing the undesirable wall that so of-ten stands between olim and the rest of

the community.Chana identifi ed a number of program

branches. “Thrive” was created for teen-age olim, and presents American youth with a series of eight workshops, focus-ing on increasing their confi dence, iden-tifying goals and dreams, and working to accomplishing them. Another branch, an adult kitah Ivrit ta’asukatit meets twice a week. It was designed for adults who have already taken an ulpan course or have been in the country for a num-ber years, yet still feel a need to improve their Hebrew skills. Peleh is an informal, afterschool activity that meets twice a week, in which children play games and are given opportunities to express them-selves, all in Hebrew.

In addition to the formal programs, Chana is arranging a tiyul in Yerushalay-im for olim. Joining forces with a local theater group, the tiyul will feature ac-tors who will perform pieces relevant to the topics that will arise along the trip.

Through the continuation of these programs, Chana hopes that Chash-monaim can continue to grow as a unit-ed community with a strong Israeli identity.

7March 29, 2011

MA Chadash: News From Maale AdumimB Y T U V I A B R O D I E

The city of Maale Adu-mim has just announced that it is taking steps to en-sure that teen olim have the opportunity to develop lan-guage tools they need for an enhanced aliyah experi-ence.

Using the example of an already-existing program for girls at the city’s Ulpa-na Tzvia for Girls, the edu-cation department, along with the absorption depart-ment of the Maale Adumim municipality have joined together to create a new one-year program at the city’s yeshiva junior high school.

Beginning August 2011, young Eng-lish speakers can receive special as-sistance transitioning into the Israel school system, through this language-centered educational track. Boys will take a specially designed ulpan fi ve hours a day, along with preselected regular classes.

According to Shelley Brinn, project manager for community aliyah, Maale

Adumim, “this option has been creat-ed because we believe it is the only way students can successfully tran-sition from an Anglo to a Hebrew-speaking school environment.” She explains that this program recogniz-es that “junior-high boys who are new olim can fi nd a new culture, with its faster-paced language environment, to be intimidating.” Even when boys

have learned in Hebrew before mak-ing aliyah, they can discover that the language environment here is more challenging than they had thought. Therefore, she adds, the city has de-signed this program to help students start the process of becoming profi -cient enough in Hebrew that they can feel successful in a Hebrew-oriented world.

In addition to the ulpan that has been developed for their classroom needs, the boys will be fully integrat-ed into social activities and regular sports, to help with socialization and

language acquisition in non-threat-ening environments. Boys will also be assigned volunteer situations that will further help language acquisition skill-development.

Pre-registration will be required. For further information, contact Shelley Brinn at klita_ma@mam.org.il.

Tuvia Brodie has a PhD from the University of

Pittsburgh. He has worked at the University

of Pittsburgh and at American Express. Before

moving to Pittsburgh, he lived for seven years

in Manhattan. He and his wife, Shaina, made

aliyah in August 2010 and currently live in

Maale Adumim.

Tel:02-6247333E-mail: kiel@el-ad.co.il

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8 March 29, 2011

Modi’ei Modi’inB Y K O L E I N U S T A F F

Road Work And

Construction Closes RoadsResidents and visitors in Modiin, a

growing and developing city, are accus-tomed to expecting changes in traffi c patterns and road confi gurations based upon the construction and develop-ment of the city. The city announced last week that due to the cleaning of HaIrusim and Eshel streets in Reut and Yovalim Street in Maccabim, as well as

the installation of speed bumps next to the schools on Sderot HaOranim and road work on Emek HaEleh, all of those streets will have temporary traf-fi c closures.

The municipality reminded drivers to pay attention to the new traffi c and detour signs. The city also announced that in addition to the road closures, some parking lots and streetside park-ing spaces will be closed due to con-struction as well.

Modiin Chabad Benefit

At The Diamond ExchangeIn an effort to raise money towards the

construction of a new building in Modi-in, Chabad held a benefi t at the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange recently. The Mo-diin Chabad Appreciation Evening drew approximately 500 attendees, amongst whom were several Knesset members and Mayor Haim Bibas, who gave a speech at the event. The turnout exceeded the ex-pectations of the event’s orchestrators who expected no more than 300 guests.

Replacing the current Chabad House, located at the caravan complex at the entrance to Modiin, the new building will be complete with a mikveh, syna-gogue, and event halls. The thousands

of shekels that were raised at the ben-efi t will help make this dream a reality and, along with the 500 guests, attest to both the appreciation and necessity of Modiin’s Chabad.

Under The Sun: A Survey Of Bet Shemesh News

B Y R A B B I D O V L I P M A N

Bet Shemesh

is one of the

safest cities in

Israel

The chief of the Bet Shemesh police station, Koby Cohen, held his annual news conference to report on the state of crime in Bet Shemesh. The report demonstrated a signifi cant reduction in crime and that Bet Shemesh is well be-low the national average of crimes per capita. Some of the important results in his report include:

1) The number of arrests went down from 428 in 2009 to 392 in 2010.

2) Crimes related to property de-creased by 19.4%.

3) Only two reports of attacks on peo-ple for robbery (5 in 2009).

4) Zero complaints of pickpocketing.5) Car thefts decreased from 101 in

2009 to 82 in 2010.In addition, Bet Shemesh ranked

number one among midsized cities in

overall police service, based on a poll of residents. Cohen praised the civilian patrols and parent volunteers that have played a major role in curbing violence and crime in the city. He also pointed to the “City Without Violence” program, run by the municipality, which has had a positive effect.

The Bet Shemesh station has re-ceived further praise for addressing specifi c concerns raised by citizen leaders. A petition signed by 1,500 res-idents, as well as a number of letters from citizens groups, was sent to the minister of internal security, Yitzchak Aharonich. His offi ce responded imme-diately and arranged a meeting with community representatives and Chief Cohen in the presence of Cohen’s su-perior, Bruno Stein, who oversees nu-merous cities in the region. At that meeting, Cohen and Stein promised to address the problem of illegal Arab workers in the city as well as youth-re-lated violence.

Cohen explained to the group that his hands are somewhat tied with regard to the illegal Arab workers since the law directs the police to simply drop the workers off back at the Green Line and, in rare circumstances, they can arrest

them for a period of time. He said that he is working with the municipality to make sure the city fi nes contractors who hire illegal workers and that this is the ultimate solution to the problem. Residents have already noted the more aggressive police actions to check the paperwork of Arab workers and clear-ing the illegal workers out of the resi-dential areas.

Gan subsidies

to remain in placeMayor Moshe Abutbol and Educa-

tion Minister Gideon Saar announced that all of Bet Shemesh would con-tinue to receive the complete sub-sidy for children in gan chova. A few months ago, a decision was an-nounced to gradually wean all of Ra-mat Bet Shemesh and parts of Bet Sh-emesh off the subsidy, with the result leading to parents paying NIS 800 per month in a few years. The decision had been reached since Bet Shemesh has emerged from its status as more of a development town into a main-stream city.

Municipal leaders made waves about the decision since many res-idents struggle to pay the current charge of NIS 160 per month and certainly cannot afford to pay more. Pressure was put on Knesset mem-bers representing many different populations to have the decision rescinded. That pressure, togeth-er with the presence of Bet Shem-esh resident Keti Sheetrit as the new chief of staff for the education minister, made a difference and the original fee of NIS 160 per month will remain in effect for all city res-idents.

Dov Lipman teaches at Reishit Yerushalayim

and Machon Maayan in Bet Shemesh. He has

semichah from Ner Yisroel and a master’s degree

in education from Johns Hopkins University and

is also the author of three popular books geared

to teenagers and their parents. In recent years,

Dov has become a community activist in Bet

Shemesh. He can be reached at

ddlipman@gmail.com.

9March 29, 2011

The Oleh Chronicle Personal Stories Of Aliyah From Our ReadersThis new series, suggested by a Koleinu reader, will chronicle the motivation and

inspiration that led different olim to their aliyah.

Life In The Negev And

Building Air Bases For PeaceB Y S I M A S C H L O S S

Sometimes circumstances of your life all fall into place. You realize that it must be more than a series of coin-cidences occurring, but a guiding force that is directing your life. When I look back at the circumstances that led to our arrival in Israel in the summer of 1980, I know that we were being drawn back to the country that would even-tually become our home.

I was here for the fi rst time only for six weeks following my graduation from college in the summer of 1977. Only back in America for a short time, I met my husband, Bob, who had par-ticipated in the year course at Hebrew University in 1970–1971. We had been married for a little over a year when he showed me an employment ad in the Wall Street Journal—building airbas-es for peace as part of the Camp David Agreement. [The fi rst peace agreement with Egypt was based on Israel giv-

ing back the Sinai and America build-ing two airbases in the desert]. Should he apply? We both agreed. Nobody gets jobs from newspaper advertise-ments! He applied anyway. Two days later, I was notifi ed that my teaching contract was not going to be renewed for the following year. He was noti-fi ed that he was hired. His status was “ unaccompanied.” Unlike a few of the top executives, he was not provided

with family housing. It was an opportunity to spend two years in Israel. We decided we would fi gure it out when we got there. A few weeks later, we were off to the Arava, in the southern part of the Negev, just a bit north of Eilat, in a place called Ovda.

Bob had a trailer to live in, which they called a hootch, at the airbase. I fi rst lived in a small hotel in Eilat and later found an apartment there for a month. Despite the long work-days, Bob was fascinated by the interaction between the mili-tary and the construction con-tractors. He especially enjoyed traveling to and from Tel Aviv in old and interesting aircraft (such as a C-47 or an Islander).

Eilat was different back then. Many of the women went north for the summer and the city was fi lled with many unsavory characters. Our apartment had an old air condi-tioner which broke and a desert cool-er—a system of cooling the air by a

fan which blows over water. I thought I was okay until Bob came home one night and asked, “How was your day?” Then I broke down and cried.

Often a negative turns out to be a positive. In desperation, I got on the lo-cal bus and decided to go from kibbutz to kibbutz until I would fi nd one that would take us in. I went fi rst to the big-gest kibbutz in the area, Kibbutz Yotva-ta. I was unable to speak Hebrew and

really explain our situation. They told me to come back the following week and speak to the person in charge of volunteers. I got back on the bus and then off at Kibbutz Grofi t. I looked up the mountain to where the kibbutz was situated and decided there was no way I was going up and down that moun-tain. The next stop was Kibbutz Ketu-ra. There was no mountain to climb, 80 percent of the members came from America, and they were excited that I could give piano lessons. I was accept-ed on a two-month trial basis and then for as long as needed. I was given a lovely one-bedroom apartment. Some people were allowed to have dogs and I was allowed to have a visiting spouse.

I worked for the kibbutz and they even contracted me out for two days to give piano lessons to the children at Kibbutz Yotvata.

Living in the desert is something you have to experience to appreci-ate. To the outsider, it looks desolate. When Bob would get off the bus from the airbase, the other workers, most of whom were from Thailand, would ask, “Where are you going? You want to get off here in the middle of nowhere?”

The desert grows on you—the ma-jestic mountains, the clean air, being able to see for miles, amazing sunris-es and sunsets, and thousands of stars shining out at night. On some nights, we could see the Milky Way. Some-times in the winter it would rain in biblical proportions and the Arava road was closed to all traffi c. The hye-nas would come down from the moun-tains and when Bob would set out to the road for the bus to the airbase,

people would say, “Where are you going? The road is closed!” He would answer that the bus from the base would come, and it always did.

The door to my apartment was never locked. Friends were like family. Four o’clock was aruchat arba, and everyone was out on the lawn having a late-afternoon snack. No one had televisions or phones in their homes. Enter-tainment meant socializing with your neighbors, or a movie on the lawn. Children roamed the kibbutz in the afternoon and at that time still slept in the chil-dren’s house instead of at home. I got to do guard duty and car-ry an Uzi.

History was unfolding. On a Sunday afternoon, June 7, 1981, we watched a jet fi ghter squad-ron fl y overhead connected to

the mission of bombing Iraq’s nucle-ar reactor. We saw the trucks bringing up remaining salvageable materials as the Israeli presence in Sinai was be-ing dismantled. Bob was on the con-struction site of the Ovda airbase and present when Menachem Begin and General David Ivri visited the base. President Navon actually came to vis-it the kibbutz and came to the home of our next-door neighbor, who couldn’t be present when he spoke because she was home with a new baby. We also witnessed some of the military activi-ty at the start of the fi rst Lebanon War.

After this project, it took us 15 years to return to Israel. We visited every few years, always making sure to make a stop at the kibbutz. My daughter came to Israel in 2006 with the inten-tion of getting married and making ali-

yah. When our fi rst granddaughter was born in the spring of 2008, we knew that it was time to fi nally come home. This was our second opportunity to move to Israel, and we didn’t know if there would be a third. In the mid-dle of the real-estate market crash in America, we sold our house and made aliyah in the spring of 2009. We live in Ramat Bet Shemesh, near enough to be the meddling Saba and Savta in the lives of our daughter, Ilana Gamliel (a third-degree black belt who teach-es Jiu Jitsu to girls and women), our son-in-law, Chaim Gamliel (of Made in the Shade Window Tinting), and two amazing grandchildren. Our Father has been calling us and we have fi nal-ly come home.

That’s the Schloss family’s aliyah story.

We’d love to share yours.

Cour

tesy

of t

he S

chlo

ss fa

mily

Cour

tesy

of t

he S

chlo

ss fa

mily

Sima Schloss on guard duty in Kibbutz Ketura

Bob Schloss in the Negev Desert

10 March 29, 2011

Making Friends Among the NationsShmu’s Shmooze

“There was a bus bomb in Yerushalay-im,” I told Goldie as I called to check in. “I know,” she said, “I have spoken to Chaya (our daughter) and Yitzy (our nephew who is in shanah gimmel at Netiv Aryeh in the Old City) and I know where everyone is.” And the phone be-gan to ring like crazy.

The fi rst call was from Samuel Sokol, our news director. “I was worried about you,” he told me. “I wasn’t sure if you said you were going to Jerusalem today and you weren’t answering the phone!” I reassured him that I was indeed fi ne and he headed off to the scene of the bombing, where he was able to fi nd an eyewitness and fi le a report for our sis-ter paper (the Five Towns Jewish Times) last week.

What really struck me, although I didn’t mention it, was the difference between the reactions I have here in Is-rael in contrast to 9/11. I was a school administrator in New York on that day, and I remember the absolute chaos that reigned. Parents streaming to the school to snatch their kids home. The phones ringing off the hook. It took us over an hour to think of checking our records to see if any of the students’ parents worked in the WTC (we quick-ly located the two who did). I remember standing outside the building that day with a couple of the other administra-tors, as if we were going to be an early-warning system. We simply had no idea what to do. Unfortunately, here in Isra-el we do know.

The next call was from my neighbor Jason Schwartz, who is also one of my best friends. “Have you touched base with everyone?” he wanted to know. And we spent a minute taking mutual inventory and then bemoaning the fact that we had to do it. How horrid is it that we have developed this refl ex and have a familiar pattern of how to react to such an event?

I had barely hung up when the phone

rang again. It was our daughter Cha-ya, who was with several of her sherut leumi friends and had just gotten to Yerushalayim. She was calling to tell me she was OK and asked if she should leave the city. I thought for a second and told her that she should not feel obligated to; in fact, that she should not let this deter her from living her life. Avoid the bus sta-tion and other open areas like Ben Yehu-dah, but have a good time. Five minutes later she called back. There was another scare and they were too spooked to stay.

Having spoken to my daughter, I thought for a second and put a call in to our intern, Zahava Pinsker, who is also a student in Yerusha-layim. “Call your par-ents,” I told her. “I am a father too and they want to hear from you.” She told me that she had been desperately try-ing to but the lines were jammed and she couldn’t get through.

I don’t know about you, but I am sad-dened not just by events, but also by the fact that we are able to lower our heads for a second, cry for our losses, and then pick ourselves up and move forward resolutely, even defi antly. What happened to the stunned shock? What happened to overwhelming an-ger and grief?

We had it after Itamar. The attack was so overwhelmingly inhuman that we were shocked to the very core. But a bus bombing? It reminded us of days of old and we squared our shoulders and put our noses to the grindstone.

We have spent the past few weeks in an onslaught of emotion. Brutal, inhu-man actions. Images that have shocked

to the core. And we can’t forget the rhetoric.

We claim that the world ignores our pain. We try to show the world the truth, the brutality—and they ignore us. The Itamar massacre got almost no worldwide coverage. Goldie was watch-ing the funerals on TV when her moth-

er called. “Funerals? What funerals?” she asked. The news outlets in the U.S. were not carrying the story.

The earthquake and tsunami in Ja-pan were certainly bigger stories in the world scope. I get that. It makes sense that the focus of the world would be on this story as well as the various revolu-tions and military actions going on in undemocratic countries in our region. But, Glenn Beck notwithstanding, no coverage at all?

This wouldn’t have been so bad if the next piece of news from Israel had been ignored at the same level as the attack itself. The government approves the building of 500 apartments (not buildings—apartments) and the world is in an uproar.

So we prepared ourselves for more of the same. We cheer on the IDF attack-ing terror sites and cells and prepare for another war, hoping that we will fi nal-ly be able to deliver a crushing blow to the terrorists. And the terrorists ratch-et up their attacks. Rockets. A bombing. And the cycle continues.

In the fi ve years we have been here, we have lived through two wars, rock-ets by the thousands, bus bombings, bulldozer attacks, shootings, and bar-baric slaughter.

Yet, it feels a bit different this time. Not that I am a seasoned veteran of how the country is supposed to feel after terror attacks. However, as we have seen throughout our region, so-cial networking has passed the tip-ping point and is no longer just a place to find information. It has be-

come a catalyst for change. It was not always so.

In the past, my Facebook feed would be fi lled with outrage at the media’s fl agrant bias and the world’s lack of re-gard for Israeli lives and Israeli values. I would see things like:

“BREAKING NEWS: Family in Lare-do, Texas massacred in their sleep, bomb hits bus #74 outside Wash-ington D.C. convention center injuring dozens and killing at least one; over 50 rockets and mis-siles continue falling in Fairfax, Virginia.

“Do I have your atten-tion? Is this completely insane and farfetched? Then why is it allowed to be commonplace in Israel? If you agree, post as your status.”

And I would wonder who they could possi-bly be talking to. Their friends? Their friends al-ready agree with them! Did they really think that the news media or the

world would notice?No one seemed to notice. Until now.

I may be wrong, but just like the sweep-ing movements that have fomented revolutions this winter, the same voic-es, saying the same things, are fi nding new ears.

Suddenly, news networks and pol-iticians are reacting to the reaction. We see stories about the BBC’s indif-ference to the Itamar massacre. We see stories condemning Reuters for saying that Israel “calls” a Palestinian strike a “terrorist attack” as if we should call it a training exercise instead. We see the glimmer of outrage on the part of peo-ple who never spoke out on our side before, questioning why the interna-tional reaction to this violence is so muted.

It seems as if the world might be get-ting it. Maybe, just maybe, the appara-tus which is being used more and more to promote justice and decry falsehood worldwide, might actually help us out. It could just be that the decentraliza-tion of media, the phenomenon that has led ordinary people to become on-the-spot reporters, will lead, howev-er unintentionally, to the revelation of who is utilizing misinformation, who are the true oppressors of the Arabs, and who are the people who simply don’t want to have to inventory their chil-dren to make sure they are all still there.

Will they or won’t they? I have no clue. We hold on to the hope that if we can only show the world the truth and the facts, and make them sympathetic to our cause, then maybe . . .

Phot

o: E

UTi

mes

.net

Posted on the kiosk that was the site of last week’s lethal bomb attack in

Yerushalayim on the day after the bombing.

Continued from Page 1

11March 29, 2011

שמחת פוריםWe are happy to share some of the Purim pictures that were submitted to us this year.

We hope you had as wonderful a Purim as did these treasures!

Yoav Milikow of Eshta’ol in a costume made by his mother

Nechama Miriam Storch of

Ramat Bet Shemesh

Yisrael Simcha Lipkin of

Bet Shemesh

Moshe Katz of Bet Shemesh

Liat, Tali, and Shani Jack of Mizkeret Batya in

bear costumes made by their Saba

Batya Katz of Bet Shemesh

Eitan and Amichai Lavi of Neve Daniel

Mordechai Katz of Bet Shemesh

Dr. Zlotnick (Jr.) of Neve Daniel

חג פורים, חג פורים,

מסכות, רעשנים,

עשנים.. הבה נרעישה: רש רש רש - ברעשניםהבה נרעישה: רש רש רש -

הבה נרעישה: רש רש רשEtelle Emunah Meyer and Naava Rones of Neve Daniel

12 March 29, 2011

Middle East WrapupTerror Attack In

Jerusalem Receives

Limited Media CoverageIsraelis were outraged when a

bomb attack that killed one and wounded dozens went under-report-ed in the media last week. Following the news that wire service Reuters whitewashed the attack by alleged-ly redefi ning the word “terrorism,” many Israelis went online to vent their frustration.

“Police said it was a ‘terrorist at-tack’—Israel’s term for a Palestinian strike. It was the fi rst time Jerusalem had been hit by such a bomb since 2004,” the Reuters story reported, prompting an angry reaction from Israeli advocacy organization and media watchdog Honest Reporting.

“Reuters appears to be attributing the term ‘terrorism’ as something solely in the minds of Israelis,” the organization’s website claimed, shortly after the attack.

Over Quarter Of A Million

Social Networkers Call For

Terror War Against IsraelMinister of Public Diplomacy and

Diaspora Affairs MK Yuli Edelstein sent a stern letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week, decrying the existence of a Facebook group calling for the launching of a new In-tifada against Israel on May 15.

The page in question, entitled Third Palestinian Intifada, calls for the “libera-tion of Palestine” and has, in less than a month, reached 287,878 members.

According to the group’s organizers, they are in contact with the “directors of Arabic pages that have large numbers of participants and [they have] said they will help us in the dissemination of this page.”

The page’s creators are apparently at-tempting to capitalize on the success of other social-network-driven uprisings, such as the recent revolution that oust-ed Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak. In that vein, they have called on Arabs from neighboring states to march on Is-rael.

Israeli analysts have speculated that the success of the grassroots protests in ousting several entrenched dicta-tors will cause Palestinians to try and swamp Israeli checkpoints, guard-posts, and towns with large crowds of demon-strators.

Writing to Zuckerberg, Edelstein com-mented that the potential of Facebook to drive democracy also “comes hand-in-hand with the ability to cause great

harm such as in the case of the wild in-citement displayed on the above-men-tioned page.”

“I turn to you with the request that you order the immediate removal of this Facebook page,” the minister re-quested. “I write to you not only in my capacity as Israel’s minister of public diplomacy and diaspora affairs who is charged with monitoring and combat-ing anti-Semitism, but as someone who believes in the values of free speech, and knows that there is a difference be-tween freedom of expression and in-citement.”

Lebanese Apartheid

Receives Little AttentionDespite rallying behind the Pales-

tinian cause during “Israel Apartheid Week,” American student activists paid scant attention to the very real discrimination which Palestinian ref-ugees in Lebanon are forced to deal with on a daily basis.

According to a recent report in the New York Times, “six months ago, the

Lebanese government was interna-tionally applauded for passing legis-lation granting the Palestinian pop-ulation the right to work. But real changes remain to be seen.”

According to regional expert Daniel Pipes, “the 400,000 stateless Palestin-ians living in Lebanon live with many restrictions, not being allowed to at-tend public school, own property, or even improve their housing stock—regulations that exist to remind Pal-estinians that they are refugees and should one day return whence they came. In 1994, under Syrian infl uence, the Lebanese government relented a bit and distributed citizenship to tens of thousands of Palestinians.”

Amnesty International released a re-port in 2007 stating that Palestinians “remain subject to various restrictions in the host country, Lebanon, which places them in a situation akin to that of second-class citizens and denies them access to their full range of hu-man rights, even though most of them were born and raised in Lebanon. .  .  . Just over half—some 53 percent—of Palestinian refugees who live in Leba-non reside in war-torn, decaying, and poverty-stricken camps. The conditions for those living outside the camps in towns, ‘gatherings,’ villages, and rural areas, are also poor.”

The pervasive discrimination suf-fered by Palestinians in Arab countries, many Israeli pundits have claimed, stems from the desire to use this state-less population as a demographic weap-on against the Jewish state under what Palestinians term the “right of return.”

Israel Erased From

Egyptian MapIn what may be a bellwether indi-

cating Egypt’s changing stance to-

wards Israel, Egypt Air, the country’s leading airline, erased Israel from a regional map on its website, Ynet re-ported.

According to the revised map, Jor-dan reached west until it reaches the Mediterranean Sea.

Al Aqsa Brigades Warned

Of Possible Resumption Of

Terror Prior To Attacks

In a statement quoted on the Ara-bic news website Qudsnet in Novem-ber, Abu Udai, a “leading figure in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,” assert-ed that unless Israel accepted Pales-tinian demands, restored the “rights of return” [sic] and ceased “Judaiz-ing Jerusalem,” then the Palestinians would be forced to “resume armed at-tacks against Israeli targets in the oc-cupied Palestinian territories.”

Israel understood, Abu Udai con-tended, “only the language of force.”

The brigades spokesman claimed that his organization was only hold-ing back from carrying out attacks due to a willingness to give President Mahmoud Abbas a chance to progress on bringing pressure to bear on Israel in the international arena.

He explained that the brigades had “stopped the armed struggle against the occupation” in response to the “request of the Palestinian leadership, headed by Abu Mazen, to give the opportunity for the political process.” However, the ter-rorist warned that if Israel does not re-spond “to the demands of our people,” the Arabs will “return to armed opera-tions against the occupation.”

The brigades initially took cred-it for the recent Itamar massacre but later retracted their claim.

In response to questions regarding the Qudsnet statement, General Ad-nan Damiri, political commissioner and general spokesman for the secu-rity forces of the Palestinian Authori-ty, denied that there are any indepen-dent militias operating outside of PA control in the West Bank.

“We have one force, one arm. We don’t have militias in the West Bank. We don’t have any groups, military groups or weapon groups, in the West Bank, and I don’t know if there is one whose name is Abu Udai or not,” he stated.

Continued from Page 1

13March 29, 2011

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Rain ManB Y S T E V E P L A U T

Israelis invented the disk-on-key (memory stick); they invent cures for cancer; and Israeli components were on the rocket that landed on the moon. But Israelis simply do not understand rain.

I suppose it is all pretty understand-able. After all, rain is a very unusu-al event in Israel, so Israelis have nev-er quite fi gured out how to cope with it. In the monsoons, it may rain in an hour in East Asia more than it rains in Israel in a year.

First of all, Israelis are convinced that going out in the rain is lethal. Hu-mans melt in the rain. Especially chil-dren. And it does not have to be very hard rain. It is highly common to hear Israelis saying things like, “I need to go to the post offi ce but I can’t go because it is drizzling.” Katyusha rockets just make loud noises, but a bit of precip-itation will kill you for sure.

At the fi rst drops of rain, Israeli streets empty out. Thunder is so un-usual that Judaism has invented a spe-cial blessing one says when one hears it. Winters in Israel are so mild that typical daytime temps in January and February are in the 60s and 70s (Fahr-enheit). When the wind blows togeth-er with rain, Israelis are convinced that the Angel of Death is stalking the coun-

try. I once left my building on campus up in the Carmel hills when the tem-perature was 50°F and the wind was blowing. While waiting for the bus, all the Israelis around me were com-plaining and screaming that Israel had morphed into Siberia. A couple of Russian Israelis from Siberia who had heard this fell on the fl oor laughing.

Because rain is so unusual, Israelis do not know how to drive in it. If a

car’s wheels spin when the traffi c light turns green because the street is wet, Israelis believe that you have to gun the gas pedal to make them spin fast-er until they move you out of the spot with poor traction. Israelis have no ex-perience with ice on roads and do not recognize the feeling of a car skidding. So on the occasion when they come across a slippery road, they do not even notice the car skidding about.

Israelis also have never fi gured out that hats keep light rain off your face and head. Their major fear in rain seems to be that the hat could get wet. Religious Israelis always wear hats, but they cover their hats with plastic covers in the rain so the hat will not get wet and so the rain fl ows down the plastic onto their faces. For ultra-Orthodox Is-raelis, defying the weather is an article of piety and pride. That is why, when it is 112°F outside in the shade in August, they will show their contempt for me-teorology by wearing winter coats.

Part of the Israeli problem with rain is manifested also in the Israeli dread of eating ice cream in winter. Israelis are universally and passionately convinced that if you eat ice cream in the winter, you will get a throat infection and die a

horrible death. The infec-tion, by the way, is caused by the calendar month, so you will get it if you eat ice cream in January even if it is 80°F outside. I once sat on a bench in winter eating ice cream, and the people walking by kept coming up to me to ask if I had gotten a special inoculation that winter against throat infections. Israelis who own dogs al-ways make the dog wear wool sweaters when they go out into the rain in 50°F evenings, so the dog will not freeze to death.

Every Israeli believes it is the case that winter ice cream will kill you. Bibi Netanyahu probably eats

ice cream in winter, but that is because he spent part of his youth living in the U.S. No other Israeli cabinet minister has ever endangered himself and tempt-ed fate by eating ice cream in the winter.

For a while, Israel was unique in the world because Israeli supermarkets were marketing something they called “winter ice cream.” No one anywhere else on earth has heard of such a thing. Winter ice cream is slightly softer than regular ice cream, and the idea was to convince Israelis that it was not as cold as regular ice cream (never mind that it was stored in the same freezer), so they could eat it without risking im-mediate agonizing death. But it never caught on, I guess because Israelis pre-ferred not to tempt the Angel of Death.

No Israeli in history has ever written in his or her personal ad that he or she likes to go for long romantic walks in the rain. And if you want to date an Is-raeli, never write that in your own per-sonal ad. Israelis believe that walks in the rain will kill you. While we are at it, you should also never write that you eat ice cream in the winter.

Steven Plaut is a professor at the University

of Haifa. You can visit his blog at www.

stevenplaut.blogspot.com.

14 March 29, 2011

CHELM-ON-THE-MEDOOB Y D A N I E L L A A S H K E N A Z I

Stop The Music!Seeking to reduce noise pollution, the

Knesset passed a series of ordinances to reinstate the schlafstunde—Yiddish for midday siesta (although it remains a mys-tery who exactly can avail themselves of the right to rest in the afternoon with so many people working 10-to-14-hour days.)

Between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. (and af-ter 10:00 p.m.) it will be illegal to knock down walls to renovate an apartment, play a musical instrument, or “raise one’s voice in a manner that disturbs the neighbors” including “singing for prac-tice or pleasure”—even in the shower.

Furthermore, use of caps or fi re-works within a kilometer of a residen-tial neighborhood will be prohibited . . . except on Jerusalem Day, Independence Day, Lag B’Omer, Simchat Torah, and, of course, Purim.

Chalk It Up To ConnectionsRemember Harry Kemelman’s clas-

sic series of the rabbi-turned-detective

who used Jewish logic to solve crimes in mystery novels such as Friday the Rab-

bi Slept Late?When Rabbi David Shonak found

the exquisite ancient Torah orna-ments from the ark in his Milan syn-agogue had been swiped, he did the logical thing: the ex-Israeli paratroop-

er kept his cool and called in the Italian po-lice, but he also called a slew of leading Judaica dealers around the world.

Within ten minutes, Shon-ak got the lead he was waiting for: The price-

less hot merchandise had just been offered (over-the-counter!) to a lead-ing Jerusalem Judaica shop. Collared by the cops, it turned out the four young thieves had left their back-packs at the synagogue for safekeep-ing with the accommodating rabbi. When they went to pick up their gear the next day, the ungrateful nogood-niks decided to take some “souvenirs” with them.

Law And OrderWho says “What you don’t know

won’t hurt you”?! A labor court ordered an employer to pay a former employee NIS 26,000 ($7,222) in damages because the employer had sacked the plaintiff when she was one day pregnant.

The judge was unfazed by the fact that the medical secretary said she wasn’t pregnant when asked point blank by her employer in the course of fi ring her. Although she had gotten the news

earlier that very morning that she was preg-

nant, she only told her boss

days later that she was expect-

ing. But the judge was un-

moved. The law is the law: In Israel, a woman cannot legally be fi red when pregnant.

Stargazing On Mt. HermonMt. Hermon was dubbed “Israel’s

eyes” because it affords a clear view of any suspicious military activity in Syr-ia and other unfriendly neighbors to the east. But it turns out Mt. Hermon is also an ideal place to keep track of sus-picious activity in outer space.

For decades, four hale and hearty gray-bearded PhDs have been quietly man-ning an Israeli space lab on the peak. It’s the only observation point in the Middle East that studies cosmic radia-tion around-the-clock—part of a global network that “monitors changes in the weather in outer space and gives a time-ly warning when necessary.”

Warning about what? Extraordinary cosmic radiation can not only disrupt communications and affect cloud for-mation on earth with catastrophic ram-ifi cations; in the wake of serious mag-netic storms after a major sunburst, hospitals can expect a 30 percent in-crease in heart-attack and stroke pa-tients. Even birds stop migrating be-cause their internal navigation systems go temporarily bonkers.

How do the four scientists deal with winter temperatures that plummet to mi-nus 5°C. (–23°F) temperatures at 2,040 me-ters above sea level? All four are Russian immigrants. “This isn’t cold by my stan-dards,” explained 70-year-old Dr. Igor Tzukerman. “I grew up in Siberia at 40°C below zero (–40°F). Minus 5°C is summer.”

Of Mice And Men…

And MoleculesIsraelis have developed an airport

screening system that doesn’t strip peo-ple naked or pat their privates. It uses mice to sniff out explosives.

The specially trained rodents will be posted in a cage divided into two inter-connected sections at passenger securi-ty checkpoints. When the mice detect

the telltale smell of explosives on a pas-senger dressed to kill, they’ll hightail it into the second room for safety without so much as a squeak—mutely sounding an alarm.

Reprinted courtesy of www.chelm-on-the-med.com.

Chelm On The Med

Mishloach Manot For The I.D.F.B Y I Y I M – I S R A E L M E D I A D I V I S I O N

In a combined operation, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), American Friends of Yisrael Hatzair, Internation-al Young Israel Movement–Israel Region (IYIM), and the OU-Israel Center deliv-ered 5,000 Purim packages to army bas-es throughout the country. The mishloach

manot were packed and delivered by members and friends of the organizations in conjunction with the Aluma organiza-tion and schools in the Shomron region.

Led by Mr. Rubin Margulis (ZOA) and Mr. Ceec Harrishburg (IYIM) the buses traveled over four days to allow for this mass effort to be carried out. Bases vis-ited included Ofer, Tel Hashomer, Nach-shonim, Tzofi t, Karnei Shomron, Yakir, bases of Otef Azza, and many more. Ac-companying the delegation were groups of yeshiva and seminary students who are studying in Israel for the year, who

led joyous singing and dancing with the soldiers on the bases.

The soldiers received their visitors with big smiles. The highlight was the bonding between the soldiers and the participants. Letters written by stu-dents in numerous Jewish day schools throughout America were distributed, further emphasizing to the soldiers the concept of “Am Echad” and that their ef-forts in protecting Israel are appreciated by Jews throughout the world.

Mr. Rubin Margulies, ZOA national board

member, with chayalim.

L–R: Jeff Dabue, director, ZOA Israel; Daniel

M. Meyer, executive director, IYIM; and Mr.

Rubin Margulis.

Eilon Shemesh and Rav Chaim

Wasserman; Zev Brenner is in background.

Chayalot with (L–R) Mr. Ceec Harrishburg,

president, IYIM–Israel, Jerusalem; and Fran

Lashinsky and Jan Fenster of New York.

REMINDER: Spring forward means that

we set our clocks forward one hour on

Thursday night/Friday morning!

15March 29, 2011

The Cost Of Being Strong: Self-Defeating Resiliency

Now is the time for moral clarity. One need not be a supporter of settlements like Itamar to condemn these savage acts of terrorism without attempts at justifi ca-tion or equivocation. We must stand up and expose those that denigrate the mur-dered to justify the murderer. Now is the time to acknowledge that there is an in-ternational climate of primal hatred di-rected at Jewish settlers, and to recognize this massacre as a clear symptom of the need to end it. We must expose the “root cause” of terror: a culture of incitement pervading Palestinian Arab institutions that glorifi es violence and martyrdom and demonizes Israelis and Jews. This in-citement is modern-day socially accept-able anti-Semitism.

Much media attention has been given to the statement of the surviving 12-year-old daughter, Tamar, who was quoted as saying, “We must remain strong; I will be like a mother to my two siblings.” In many ways, Tamar was exhibiting the na-tional resiliency of all Israelis. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, we have had to endure terrible wars, peri-ods of intense terrorism, periods of mas-sive missile attacks on major civilian cen-ters, and isolated incomprehensible acts of wanton murder, such as the case of the Fogel family.

Tens of millions of dollars have been provided by the Federations of North America to create programs of trauma re-siliency and community preparedness in Israel, facilitating the inner strength and stamina that we have witnessed this past week. Now it is time to ask: what is the true cost that we as Jews, and we as Israe-lis, are paying for our Federation-funded resiliency, for the unwavering ability to get up the next day and go to work, as if nothing will stop us from getting on with our lives?

I would suggest that this resiliency has fos-tered and created a path-ological response of nor-malcy that projects the following message to our political leaders: “Despite the heavy price we pay for the continuing ‘peace pro-cess,’ continue the train-ing and arming of Pales-tinian Arabs, continue supporting the delusional concept of ‘land for peace,’ and ignore the daily con-demnation of Israel, while those who murder ruth-lessly are forgiven and for-gotten. We, the citizens of Israel, are strong; we have been trained to be resil-ient; we can take anything they throw at us.”

By being strong and re-silient, by not demanding real change, we are unintentionally perpetuating the current situation and political stalemate, letting our political leadership off the hook. Our lack of emotional crisis, our lack of weakness, enables political lead-ers to go about their business as usual. Those responsible for thought control in the print and broadcast media can con-tinue unabated to report about and sup-port peace initiatives, even though they have been proven repeatedly as baseless and built on false assumptions.

We the public do not demand of them to change or really be accountable for pro-moting peace initiatives that have enabled thousands of Jews and citizens of Israel to be murdered. We are strong, we will meet the challenges, we have undergone resil-iency training. We have been taught to suf-fer in silence and condone the continuing peace charade. We have been empowered.

This kind of self-defeating resiliency dis-torts thinking at all levels of diplomacy and

society. Oslo, Camp David, and the ensu-ing peace programs that have emerged out of these seemingly worthless agreements have always ended up with increased ter-ror and more Jews as victims. Yet, because of our pathological coping abilities, our pathological national resiliency, our politi-cal leaders are exempt from feeling any ur-gency to ask themselves, is this a normal situation, can the reality for the nation of Israel be different?

Would the people of Western nations allow their politicians to exhibit apathy regarding the suffering of their people for so long without taking strategic ac-tion to stop once and for all the wanton murder of their citizens?

On Shabbat Parashat Tzav, no fewer than 54 mortars were fi red on the com-munities surrounding the Gaza Strip. We hear of the need to better fortify build-ings, increase funding to resiliency cen-ters, and augment efforts in local schools to help pupils deal with their anxieties

so they can concentrate on their studies. We are shown media reports of how successful the res-idents of the area are in responding to these missile attacks; we cel-ebrated Purim; “No events will be canceled; we will not let Hamas dictate when we cele-brate,” and so forth.

In response to the un-precedented mortar at-tacks, we do not hear re-ports questioning how we got into this situ-ation or exposing the strategic blunder under-taken by Israel by evac-uating the Gaza Strip and relinquishing con-trol there. No need to be honest, no need to

take effective action to rectify this situ-ation, no need to admit that the peace policies promoted by the left and the Obama administration are worthless and cause more of Israel’s citizens to be sit-ting ducks.

We can handle it, we are strong and re-silient, we will continue to get up in the morning and continue on with our lives as if nothing really has happened. Our toughness, our resiliency, is being cyni-cally used to perpetuate the big lie that the Palestinian Arabs are interested in making peace and will recognize Israel as the home of the Jewish nation.

Ron Jager is a 25-year veteran of the Israel

Defense Forces, serving as a fi eld mental-health

offi cer. Prior to retiring in 2005, he served as the

commander of the central psychiatric military

clinic for reserve soldiers at Tel-Hashomer. Since

retiring from active duty, he has been providing

consultancy services to NGOs, implementing

psychological trauma treatment programs in

Israel. To contact him, e-mail

medconf@netvision.net.il.

It is not possible to generalize and state that when the staff of a nonprofi t or-ganization attends a conference it obvi-ates the need for a consultant to work with the agency.

At a conference, you learn about trends, ideas, and approaches that are general in nature. At the same time the presentations, discussions, and semi-nars can have implications for the or-ganizations they represent. Creative and thoughtful people make the effort to interpolate what they have heard and learned at a conference and glean specifi c implications for their own or-ganizations. Others leave the confer-ence with an understanding that per-haps they need outside expertise to deal with issues, challenges, and/or problems they have been thinking about throughout the conference or seminar.

Often a conference is the cata-lyst for the executive of an organi-zation to realize that what he or she has been struggling with warrants a professional response from some-one outside the organization. It does not mean that the existing staff lacks the ability to either diagnose the is-sue or to deal with the consequenc-es of not responding to the need. The role of the outside consultant is to create a non-threatening atmosphere that supports a process whereby the staff members can deal with the is-sues they are confronting and simul-taneously strengthen their ability to work together.

The terms of the working agreement between the nonprofi t and the orga-nization need to be clarifi ed prior to the formal engagement of the consul-tant. The initial discussions between the executive of the organization and the consultant should concentrate on the focus of the consultation, the staff

members who will receive the services of the consultant, and the cost of the service. There should be no surprises either for the client organization or for the consultant.

Prior to beginning to work with the organization, its staff, and, when ap-propriate, the volunteer leadership, there should be a discussion of the length of time the consultant will be engaged. It is not uncommon for there to be an initial six-month agreement between the nonprofi t and the con-sultant and to conduct a review after these fi rst months. This results in a fo-cused engagement that aims at reach-ing the agreed-upon goals in a timely manner.

It can be cost-effective to work with someone when there is an understand-ing between the agency and the con-sultant of what is to be accomplished within the timeframe. The focus of the work is agreed upon by both parties so there is no misunderstanding about

what the consultant is doing and the way he or she is using the agreed amount of time.

When the executive and the staff have someone they can share ideas with and ask questions of, they are able to clarify their understanding of the challenges as well as the solutions. This approach offers guidance that learning about general approaches and principles of practice at a confer-ence do not necessarily provide in an in-depth way. Thus, the choice is not either hiring a consultant or attending a conference and saving money. The question is when to engage a consul-tant to enable the organization to con-serve fi nancial resources by working effectively and effi ciently to meet spe-cifi c challenges in a creative way.

Stephen G. Donshik, D.S.W.

Lecturer

Hebrew University’s International

Leadership and Philanthropy

Program

Letters

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

The No. 74 bus damaged by a roadside bomb last week outside Binyanei Hauma.

The very next day, passers-by commented that it was diffi cult to fi nd evidence of

the prior day’s explosion.

16 March 29, 2011

Science & Technology

Bringing Jewish Learning Into The 21st Century: The Talmud Comes To The iPad

B Y K O L E I N U S T A F F

Several weeks ago, I entered the beit

midrash near my home for my eve-ning chavruta with an iPad instead of a Gemara. I was evidently a strange sight to many of the mostly ultra-Or-thodox attendees as I attracted many stares and several people wandered over to ask what precisely I was doing.

In response, I told these curious students of Jewish law that I was test-ing a new app by developer Crowded Road called iTalmud, which is billed as putting the entire Talmud, the writ-ten codifi cation of the Jewish oral tra-dition, which is as lengthy as the En-

cyclopedia Britannica, in your pocket.First developed for Apple Inc.’s pop-

ular iPhone, the iPad edition allows a user to view the original text of the Gemara in the popular “Vilna” layout, as well as in Aramaic plaintext and a somewhat stilted, if still useful, Eng-lish translation.

“In a nutshell, the real value of iTalmud is in being able to carry the equivalent of over 20 books of Tal-mud, or 5,894 folio pages, and hun-dreds of mp3 or audio CD, all from within your phone,” a representative of Crowded Road told Koleinu. “Un-til now, if you wanted to listen to a daf yomi lecture and follow along in the text, you would need an mp3 play-er and a heavy Talmud. Now all you need is your iPhone or iPad. iTalmud makes learning accessible anytime, anywhere, for an overall cost that is still less than a single volume of an ArtScroll Gemara.”

After several days of use, I discov-ered that despite some minor issues involving delay in the application of the pinch-to-zoom interface, the uni-versal search function and the inte-grated daf yomi audio classes won my approval.

Upon launching the app, which ren-ders beautifully on the iPad’s 9.7-inch (diag-onal) screen, you are greeted with Aramaic plaintext with hyper-links that bring up ex-cerpts from Rashi and other classic commen-taries.

Two clicks bring you to either the Eng-lish translation or the classic Vilna layout, though each “classic” page must be down-loaded over Wi-Fi and does not come preload-ed with the app, most likely to save space on the device’s limited SSD.

An audio button downloads audio shi-

urim by Rabbi David Grossman of Los Ange-les, one of the found-ing members of the local branch of the Lakewood Kollel. The

shiurim are high quality, although there are some frustrations with the quality of the recordings.

An added function which I found incredibly useful was the daf yomi shiur directory which uses your IP address to determine your location and provide a list of classes in your area according to language. Some of the information in this pro-gram is out of date. For instance,

it listed a shiur given in my neighborhood, which has since changed loca-tions. But the feature is still by and large of great utility.

Download manage-ment, universal search, and an optional ($5) Ara-maic-English dictionary round out the package, which, for all its rough edges, is still a very attrac-tive one.

For the price at which it is being offered, it alone can justify the expense of purchasing an iPad. The convenience of car-rying the entire Talmud in my messenger bag, with translations and a dictionary, largely over-comes any shortcomings

that this program may have. Tran-scending its limitations, the iTalmud truly brings Jewish learning into the 21st century.

As one yeshiva student from Ameri-ca commented online, “I use it on the bus on the way to yeshiva. The shi-

urim are great; not too fast and not too slow, great for chazaring a daf. You can go to whatever daf in Shas you want very quickly, and you can

fast-forward the au-dio. Also, the daf on the screen is great.”

Ironically, the pro-gram’s only shortcom-ings are unrelated to the text or translation itself, which is surprising as most of the development team were complete-ly unfamiliar with the Talmud. “The develop-ment was not as quick as planned, largely because most of our team is not Jewish and has no expe-rience with Jewish texts,” Crowded Road told Kole-

inu. “Some of our guys had a hard time, for ex-ample, dealing with the fact that each book of the Talmud starts at page two or that Hebrew is read backwards. Luckily, we have a couple of Ortho-dox team members who very often needed to step in and educate the rest of the crew.”

The iTalmud, developed by

Crowded Road, is available for

$29.99 on the iTunes store.