A Looming Challenge in Hilchos Shabbos
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See Page 48 See Page 6 Serving Nassau County, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, and Staten Island OCTOBER 25, 2013 פרשת חיי שרה See Pages 3-5 $1.00 WWW.5TJT.COM VOL. 14 NO. 7 21 CHESHVAN 5774 County Executive Hopefuls Focus On 5T’s FROM THE EDITOR BY LARRY GORDON Not Your See Page 75 Ordinary Joe Joe Lhota, the Republi- can candidate for Mayor of New York City, is not doing well in the opinion polls. His Democratic opponent, Bill de Blasio, is scoring much Tom Suozzi and Ed Mangano have both been spending much time campaigning in the Five Towns, whose voters higher in those polls, though See Page 70 they believe will tip the balance in the November 5 race. Above, at an event held this week at the home anything can still occur. The of Mr. and Mrs. Mordechai Jacobs (L–R): Moshe Ratner, Yoel Goldfeder, Mordechai Jacobs, Tom Suozzi, Abel Feldhamer, Heshy Blachorsky, and Gershy Silberman. See also Page 89 Continued on Page 20 A Looming Challenge HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE In Hilchos Shabbos BY LARRY GORDON Sandy, One Year Later See Page 30 Halachic Musings The hope is that Sunday’s BY RABBI YAIR HOFFMAN communal gathering spon- sored by Achiezer and taking Fifth-grade Bais Yaakov place at Yeshiva Sh’or Yoshuv girls and gedolei ha’poskim in Lawrence will be a sort of in hilchos Shabbos finally going-away party for Hurricane have something in common. Sandy. As we approach the fi rst Both are very much excited anniversary of the storm that Images LifeCapture Images See Page 64 about the popular Rain- changed so many lives on the bow Loom bands—albeit for quite different reasons. Continued on Page 17 Continued on Page 8 Rabbi Boruch B. Bender WORLD-CLASS RECEPTION ED MANGANO’S IN OUR BONES BY RABBI AVI RECORD OF SHAFRAN See Page 36 SUCCESS We cannot see the tens BY ROCHELLE of thousands of mazikin, or MARUCH MILLER “harmers” (often translated as “demons”), that the Talmud When Ed Mangano came teaches surround us always into offi ce as Nassau County (Berachos 6a). Were they visi- Executive in January 2010, ble, says Abba Binyamin, they he caught everyone by sur- would utterly terrify us. The prise with his dedication to same, of course, is true about Lawrence mayor Martin Oliner with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the residents and his passion the tens of thousands of at last week’s Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations’ 50th-anniversary gala. See Page 69 Continued on Page 28 Continued on Page 66 October 25 – 5:42 PM November 1 – 5:33 PM See Luach, Page 19 Features Index, See Page 8 2 October 25, 2013 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES October 25, 2013 3 4 October 25, 2013 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES October 25, 2013 5 6 October 25, 2013 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES October 25, 2013 7 BAGEL STORE Continued from Front Cover FEATURES Aliyah Chronicle East Coast, especially on the Rockaway Shmuel Katz 84 Peninsula and the South Shore of Long Island, there is much to refl ect upon. Business Halacha “We learned a great deal from the R’ Meir Orlian 56 experience about emergency prepared- Classified Ads 76 ness,” says Rabbi Boruch Ber Bender, founder and director of Achiezer. But, A Clever Title Goes Here he adds, he is not so sure that we are Mordechai Schmutter 36 suffi ciently equipped to do what needs to be done to keep everyone safe the Community News next time around. Around The Five Towns 59 Most of the physical and even the Around The World 86 emotional damage has been largely Daf Yomi Insights repaired. FEMA, the Federal Emergency R’ Avrohom Sebrow 49 Management Agency, which descended on the community with scores of per- The Dish sonnel, was a disappointment in the Elke Probkevitz 48 end and made a lot of promises that it Insights on the Torah could not fulfi ll. Rabbi Boruch B. Bender meeting with Councilman Gregory Meeks, Assemblyman Phil For way too many days, there was a Goldfeder, and FEMA representatives R’ Yitzchok D. Frankel 32 managed chaos here in the Five Towns The Job Hunter and Far Rockaway, with Achiezer mak- the infrastructure could be put in place grants for people to begin the process R’ Mordechai Kruger 39 ing a yeoman’s effort to keep the com- to begin rebuilding. Achiezer, along to get back into their homes without munity functioning—to maintain san- with the Community Assistance Fund having to endure the frustrating delays Luach/Calendar 19 ity in families, look after the elderly, and the Davis Memorial Fund, raised MindBiz and fi nd places for people to live until $10 million, which it distributed as Continued on Page 13 Esther Mann, LCSW 50 Mother’s Musings Phyllis J. Lubin 46 News from the Hills Chanita Teitz 70 Photo Prose Gary Rabenko 45 Puzzle Yoni Glatt 42 Real Estate Anessa V. Cohen 40 That’s The Way It Is! Hannah Reich Berman 35 Travel Section 63 Year In Israel Max Fruchter 44 Become a Facebook fan of 5 Towns Jewish Times. RECEIVE DAILY MESSAGES WITH NEWS, EVENTS, DEALS, AND MORE! Participate in discussions and contests. facebook.com/ 5TownsJewishTimes 8 October 25, 2013 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES October 25, 2013 9 10 October 25, 2013 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES October 25, 2013 11 12 October 25, 2013 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES BAGEL STORE Continued from Page 8 that are inherent in the insur- ance companies’ processing, analyzing, and eventually pay- ing claims. They did more and did it better than government could ever do. The fund was fi nally closed this summer, but Rabbi Bender points out that on a weekly basis several fi rst-time calls are received at the Achiezer offi ce inquiring about applying for fi nancial assistance. “Far too many people are still living in partially restored homes,” he says. I observe that that’s puz- zling, considering we are deal- ing with a largely educated, learned, and professional pop- ulation. And the rabbi latches on to those exact comments and says that this very fact has meant for some that a year after Sandy landed here, not all lives have been suffi ciently restored. “People who were not accus- tomed to reaching out for help and not used to taking assistance from others pre- ferred waiting for the bureau- cratic process to run its course and for their insurance policy to pay their claims,” Boruch Bender says. But in far too many cases the insurance com- pany fought the claimants and left people in limbo, which translated into one year later still living somewhat in disre- pair, materially and otherwise. Sandy is a memory that we would like to park in the past. But it seems reluctant to go. How events unfolded on that Monday night one year ago is still chilling. Water that is so much a part of and a necessity in our lives was suddenly and uncontrollably everywhere. It knew no bounds, wantonly trespassing past all the natural boundaries that it once mirac- ulously respected. It was as if the natural order had been turned upside down. “Quite suddenly and surpris- ingly, people who were never needy in their lives were in a matter of hours transformed into people in desperate need,” Rabbi Bender says. In review- ing those events over a cup of coffee last week together with Achiezer’s affable Develop- ment Coordinator, Eli Weiss, the nature of the diffi culty and the myriad stressful situations that presented themselves over those few days becomes abundantly clear. There were elderly people trapped in the darkness in high-rise apartments, particu- larly along Seagirt Boulevard along the shore in Far Rocka- way. As people became aware that this was not going to be a matter of a few hours of incon- Continued on Page 15 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES October 25, 2013 13 A Lesson In Resilience extended power loss, and lack of gaso- line and other basic needs. For many, BY DR. ELI SHAPIRO toms, while individuals that had sim- the trauma-related symptoms were trig- ply lost power demonstrated symptoms gered by a daily routine of waking up I recently came across a jerry can ranging from minor anxiety to major in a cold, dark house and waiting on P.O. BOX 690 • LAWRENCE, NY 11559 of gasoline I had hid under my back depression. How people responded to gas lines to fi ll their generators—if they [email protected] ads@5T JT.com porch a year ago. It served as evidence traumatic events was more related to were even fortunate enough to have 516-569-0502 of the surreal period immediately fol- their internal resiliency than the events them. Few were prepared for this level LARRY GORDON ESTA J. GORDON lowing Hurricane Sandy, the storm that themselves. of communal despair. Publisher/Editor Managing Editor plunged much of coastal New York into YOSSY GORDON • YOCHANAN GORDON • DOVI GORDON cold darkness. As with many disasters, Sales Managers the effects of Sandy were varied from Individual outcomes were related home to home and individual to indi- CHANA ROCHEL ROSS Assistant Editor vidual. Some homes experienced exten- sive damage, but the owners were not to pre-trauma preparedness. SIDI BARON • DAVID FOX • YAAKOV SERLE forced to relocate; other homes had Sales Representatives less damage but residents did relocate. SHMUEL GERBER MICHELE JUSTIC Some had no damage but the residents Resiliency is defi ned as the ability to Others were completely displaced, as Chief Copy Editor Copy Editor were forced out by the lack of power.