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Week of December 15 – 22, 2017 • 27 Kislev – 4 Tevet, 5778 Vol. 11 • Issue 6 SERVING THE ENTIRE JEWISH COMMUNITY LEISURE TIME PAGE 19 30 60 TOURS www.leisurlel etimetours.com SIX FABULOUS PASSOVER RESOR6TS TO CHOOSE Page A3 37 RABBI DAVID YOSEF VISITS BUKHARIAN COMMUNITY 37 600,000 attend the Levaya of Harav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zt”l, who passed away at the age of 104. SEE PICTURES ON PAGE 38 Europe Violently Protests Jerusalem Changes As Netanyahu Visits The Continent ADAM ABRAMS Anti-Israel and anti-Semitic demon- European political establishment may The French demonstrators also called MAYOR BLOOMBERG BEING HONORED strations pervaded Europe last weekend serve to deepen the chasm between Israel for Palestinian terrorists Hassan Ham- as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- and Europe. ouri and Marwan Barghouti to be freed tanyahu visited the continent days after Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters from Israeli prisons. IN THIS the Trump administration’s Dec. 6 recog- convened at the Place de la République Anti-Israel protests also occurred ISSUE nition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. in central Paris Saturday ahead of Netan- in Sweden, Italy, Austria and Germany. The civilian protests as well as wide- yahu’s arrival in the French capital; they Demonstrations in southern Sweden Just A Thought on Divine spread opposition to the White House’s chanted “Netanyahu war criminal” and turned violent when a group of men Compromise Jerusalem policy changes within the called for the prime minister’s arrest. Rabbi Dr. Aharon E. Wexler...................3 CONT. ON P4 How to Pick the Best Produce at the Grocery Trump made ‘yuge’ changes on Thank You President Trump Dr. Joseph Mercola................................6 Jerusalem. What do the city’s RONN TOROSSIAN Yosef and Chanukah ADAM ABRAMS Roy Neuberger.......................................8 residents think about it? The words every supporter of Israel must say today to Miracles ELIANA RUDEE the President of the United States, Donald Trump is Thank Rabbi Eliyahu Safran..........................14 You. Thank You President Trump for your announcement CONT.ONMy Magic P39 Cookie Bars Jerusalemite opinions about President Donald Trump’s recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Thank you Levana..................................................22 landmark policy changes on their city run the gamut, re- for doing the right thing in announcing that the U.S. Em- flecting the diversity of the Israeli capital itself. bassy will – as it should be – relocated to Jerusalem. JNS NEWS..........................................30 In an effort to take the pulse of the holy city’s mood Thank you for saying as you did that “After more than following U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital two decades of waivers, we are no closer to a lasting peace as well as Trump’s announcement of plans to move the agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. It would be CONT. ON P5 CONT. ON P16 ,urb ,eksv 5 Questions to Ask for 5 Ways to Stop Your Kids Getting w a Happy Marriage Spoiled this Chanukah 27 KISLEV • ukxf z f Five conversations that should take place over the Ensuring Jewish values don’t get lost amidst all Parashat course of dating and even within marriage itself. the presents and parties. Mikeitz RABBI EFREM GOLDBERG RABBI ANTHONY KNOPF 4:10 P.M. FIVE TOWNS 4:12 P.M. STATEN ISLAND What are the critical things to look for in dating to Chanukah is a highlight of the year for the Jewish fam- 4:12 P.M. BROOKLYN determine if someone is suitable for marriage? ily! Delicious latkes, beautiful songs and unforgettable fam- 4:11 P.M. TEANECK, NJ Drs. John and Julie Gottman have been scientifically ily experiences. 5:14 P.M. MIAMI BEACH, FLA. studying healthy relationships for four decades and have But for most of us, these aren’t the only memories we 3:57 P.M. JERUSALEM CONT. ON P35 CONT. ON P14 12/15/17 2 To advertise in THE JEWISH CONNECTION call: 718.761.2626 • [email protected] 12/5/17 aimed too low, the Torah would us to bask in it daily.’ By constantly Just a Thought On the have failed to elevate us. G-d there- responding to the exigencies of the Divine Compromise fore precisely chose the exact words, time through regular system updates, stories and laws in order to best give they made Torah as relevant as the RABBI DR. AHARON E. WEXLER over the Divine directive. day it was given. But there is an inevitable prob- If there were even one generation As we read through the stories of and sought fellowship. Yes, “more lem. By taking the timeless eternal for whom the Torah was irrelevant Bereishis it would be wise to remem- than the calf wants to suckle, the cow word of God and inserting it into or ceased to speak to them, then the ber what it is we are experiencing. wants to nurse” (TB Pesachim 112a). the temporal confining language of Torah would have not been passed The Torah is not history, nor is it sci- G-d could not remain silent no Man, G-d froze the Torah into the to the next generation and would ence. The Torah is one thing and one more. Risking total failure, G-d broke set patriarchal, agrarian and primi- have been forgotten. The harsh price thing only; theology. into human history, appearing at tive language of the time. While it required to remain Jewish required Theology is a fancy word for how Sinai and introduced Himself to the is meaningful to those who stood at every generation to believe with all its we relate to G-d and how G-d relates only receptive audience He could the mount, it risks being irrelevant to heart and soul that the Torah was the to us. It is a theology that takes the find. It was a downtrodden rabble future generations. most important thing in the world. form of law, lore, narrative, history of former slaves, the very descend- To avoid this God gave the Oral The Jews had to believe that and poetry, but those genres are just ants of his old friend Abraham, who Law to accompany the frozen written it was their very life-blood. They the vehicle to convey eternal truths proved themselves not just worthy, one. Only the two together, working also needed to acutely feel that the about God. but eager to receive the Divine word. in tandem to complement each other, personal responsibility of transmit- At Mount Sinai, G-d had a By translating the Divine mes- yields a Judaism that has survived till ting the Torah fell upon their very choice. He could remain silent and sage into ideas that humans could this day. “Two are better than one, shoulders. Failure to give over the paralyzed by the prospect of commu- understand, G-d needed to speak because they have a good reward for Torah to the next generation meant nicating the sum total of all his glory Hebrew – the language His audience their labor. For if they fall, the one an irreparable severance of the chain and greatness to the minds of mere spoke. This was not an easy task. will lift up his fellow” (Ecc. 4:9-10). that linked us all the way to that mortal men, or He could compro- G-d needed to at once speak of the To understand this symbiotic re- encounter at Sinai. mise Himself and try to translate into loftiest of ideas, but use the patriar- lationship, think of the written Torah At the synagogue we gather to the roughest of terms His message chal, agrarian language of time to be as a great piece of hardware and the pray and talk to G-d. The centerpiece into words, ideas, images, stories, understood. Oral Law as the constant system up- of our experience during the service and laws to teach us about Him and G-d needed to strike a balance dates allowing the hardware to keep is the Torah reading. In other words, the relationship we should be having between communicating His message up with the times. we pause from talking to God in together. and not having that message lost in The Mishna, Talmud, and rab- order to hear what G-d has to say to This was not an easy choice for the noise of the primitive world that binic responsa served throughout us. With this better understanding of G-d. He waited millions of years till the Israelites lived in. If G-d aimed the millennia as the means with what Torah is, let’s try to pay better we evolved enough to even attempt too high, the Torah would have been which the Torah remained ‘our life attention to what it is that G-d is try- such a thing. But G-d was lonely irrelevant and meaningless. If G-d and the length of our days, allowing ing to say. 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