At this Bais Medrash, not only will you find minyanim for :J"1J1m ,;-rmr.i ,n,1nru, but also shiurim, learning b' chavrusa throughout the day, and a mikvah on premises. This isn't a Bais Medrash in Boro Park, Lakewood or Monsey~ This is the Bais Medrash at Empire Kosher Poultry, intown, PA@ At Empire, this is an essential part of the daily routine. Our Bais Medrash resounds with a ;nm 71p nearly around the clock, whether it's review in Hilchos Shechita, a shiur in Daf Yomi, a masechta h'iyun or in Shmiras Haloshon. What does all of this have to do with kosher chicken? Everything. 10UGH KASHRUS, 1ENDER P0Ul1RY TOLL-FREE CONSUMER HOTLINE: (800) EMPIRE-4 o are observing tz Yisroel this year. be able to sell his lemons this year. He ha§ .. (aith an age. of rapidly e that, like 7 years ago, he ~e •.... <.:r ''i't>i~arket opp~1~~~!~es, the . ~gain. be able tC\ ..%~µ · '· ~~ ~t;aJrigh~rt~ ~te ma~!~P,~C?:n1pes;~trifice to ob~~~ < price next year. But ow doeshelivethis Shmitah:cc~~~f ne,~~ your support,;;• .year? Thanks to the worldwid~. ~upporters encci.)!rrgementand hel~.. :.o make it through · · ofKeren Hashviis, the Centetfor Shmitah the Yt,~t.~ecome~partllet·~: nritzvah which Obs;~~~ Farmers, Ovadi' '' still have a com~~,~~H~.d ?~Y once'lW ~~rs: Answer goo · . · his year. He a~ ~anrily will the~{~f~.. l~~~~~~,e!.:f~ < Torah. ew hardships are as tough to handle as a breadwinner's unemployment. But few hardships are as quickly resolved. FAll it takes is one job to turn a family's worry and strain into peace and security. With unemployment at a rate unprecedented in recent times. many frum families are suffering. ''Sometimes We are using this opportunity to urge everyone to comb his or her own resources for any and all job openings. Ask the person­ nel director at your job. Ask friends and relatives, especially those who own businesses. with very If you know of openings, call (718) 436-1900. With very little effort on your part, you can relieve a family of its heaviest burden. little effort Please take ti moment to review this list. If you know of an opening, or you can ask the Personnel Director in your company, you could truly be helping a familg. you can Account Executives Information Systems Managers Accountants Law Associates Actuaries Legal Editors Administrative Assistants Litigators make a Advertising Executives Marketing Executives Banking Officers Mechanical Engineers Benefits Consultants Non-Profit Administrators Bookkeepers Office Managers tremendous Business Managers Paralegals Buyers Pharmacists Chief Financial Officers Plant Managers Civil Engineers Personnel Directors difference:' Commodities Traders Portfolio Analysts Communications Production Planners Community Affairs Program Directors/Social Services Coordinators Programmers Computer Graphics Project Managers Computer Technicians Psychologists Construction Supervisors Public Relations Consultants Purchasing Agents Controllers Quality Assurance Corporate Account Managers Real Estate Managers Professional & Management Credit & Collection Managers Researchers Employment Services Customer Service Representatives Sales Representatives Directors of Operations Senior Systems Engineers A Division of Agudath Israel of America Economists Staff Attorneys Jerry Schiffman, Director Electrical Engineers Stockbrokers 620 Coney Island Avenue Food Service Managers Supervisors Brooklyn, NY 11218 Financial Analysts Tax Auditors Phone (718) 436-1900 Fund Managers Traffic Managers Fax(718)633-6113 Industrial Engineers THE,EWISH OBSERVER THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN) 0021-6615 is published monthly except July and August by the Agudath Israel of America, 84 William Street, New York, N.Y. 10038. Second class postage paid in New York, N. Y. Subscription $22.00 per year; two years, $36.00; three years, $48.00. Outside of the United States (US funds drawn IS DERECH ERETZ IN TROUBLE? on a US bank only) $12.00 surcharge per year. Single copy$3.00; foreign$4.00. Send address changes to: The Jewish Observer, 84 William 6 Street, N.Y., N.Y.10038. Tel: (212) 797-9000. Confronting a Derech Eretz Crisis Printed in the U.S.A. Dr. Jacob Mermelstein RABBI NISSON WOLPIN, EDITOR 12 EDITORIAL BOARD Derech Eretz and Common Sense: A Lost Art? DA. ERNST L BODENHEIMER Cha.Jrman Rabbi Yitzchak Feigenbaum RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS 18 JOSEPH FRIEDENSON RABBI NOSSON SCHERMAN Instilling Middos Tovos In Our Children Rabbi Yitzchok Kirzner, ?":it MANAGEMENT BOARD AVIFISHOF NAFTOLI HIRSCH 24 ISAAC KIRZNER RABBI SHLOMO LESIN Introducing DqfHayomi to Klal Y'tSroel NACHUM STEIN from a biography of Rabbi Meir Shapiro, ?":it, by Rabbi Yehoshua Baumol, "T">;J, translated by Rabbi Charles Wengrov and Martin H. Stem RABBI YOSEF C. GOLDING Buslrutss Managior Published by RABBI DOVID LIFSHITZ, ?•;:n Agudath Israel of America RABBI MOSHE SHERER 28 PRESIDENT An Appreciation SOLE U.S. TRADE DISTRIBUTOR EUROPEAN REPRESENTATIVE 30 feldhelm Publishers M.T. Blbelman A Talmid Recalls His Rebbe 200 Airport Executive Park Grosvenor Works Sprlng Valley, N.Y. 10977 Mount Pleasant Hill Rabbi Chaim Dov Keller London ES 9NE, ENGLAND ISRAELI DISTRIBUTOR AUSmAUAN DISTRIBUTOR Nechemla Rosenberg Gold's Book & Gitt Co. 26 Kiryat Te!slle Stone, 108A 36 William Street Poetry: The Mirror, Yisrael Kashkin D.N. Hare! Yetwda, ISRAEL Balaclava 3183, Vk:., AUSTRALIA THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not 42 assume responsibility for the Kashrus of any product, publication, or service advertised in its pages l1 :-:n:~~~:.=-JEW>SB SCENE ©Copyright 1993 NOVEMBER 1993 VOLUME XXVI I NO. 8 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Symposium on "Derech Eretz" Dr. Jacob Mermelstein '--~~~~~~~___Jir---~~~~~~~~~~~~~':'.':'..':~':.'..!_I_~~ Is DERECH ERETZ INCms1s? erech eretzseems to be .disappearing; at least Dsuch is the claim. More than niceties ofinterpersonal relations, derech eretz is a founda­ tion ofTorah life. Ifthere is such a problem, we would do well to examine it and see how to amelio­ NO if any­ thing, rate the situation. LAUGJUNG needs to be MATTER In the articles that follow, three done. and how one goes about it. nlachtfim distinguished writers address this Admittedly, dem naar, ober there are individuals who theme. Dr. Jacob Mermelstein, a der naar iz meiner- M study Torah. observe the mitzvos, One pokes fun at the fool. but if! am practicing psychologist in the New give charity and are honest': yet the fool---0r my relative is-then the their general demeanor is somehow York area, focuses on the discrep­ joke is on me, and the pain is my own. unpleasant. They are impatient, We strtve to be frum and the word ancy between strict fidelity to the curt with their fellowman, simply needs no explanation. Yet we chuckle "not nice." In addition, there is a letter ofhalacha and an "unpleas­ and nod our heads in a kind of reluc­ kind of "uptightness," a blend of tant acknowledgment when one re­ ant demeanor" that sometimes anxiety and depression-not exactly peats once more the sad joke: "What in a clinical. pathological way. yet reside within the same person, and is the acronym of F-R-U-M? Feit lacking in calm confidence inherent Rishus Und Meshugaas. Much evil offers strategies to correct it. in emuna and bitachon-faith and and insanity.'• trust. A lack in being a mensch and Yet one of the prtmary goals of the RabbiYitzchok Feigenbaum, an a Yid, the Torah way. Torah Jew is to be a mensch. an indi­ outreach professional in Toronto, vidual free of moral depravity and full 1 'Tomim ti'hiyeh im Hashem Elokecho (Devarim engages the reader in pursuit of of goodness ... his life governed by 18, 14) Be whole heartedly (1.Justing) in Hashem .. bitachon. trust and faith, and devoid See Rashi Walk with Him with simple faith. De­ that elusive quality, yashrus pend on Him. Do not speculate (and overly wony) of superstitious, unreasonable fears about the future. 1 (uprightness), which crowned the and meshugaas • those subtle quirks 2 In spite of recent "exposures"---even by our own of behavior that are wrong. irrational well-meaning but, in my opinion. misguided stature ofour Patriarchs, and and simply not Jewish. friends. Jews, even Orthodox ones, unfortunately have their share of mental ills and emotional mal­ should be prominent among each So let us define the accusations. in­ adjustments. But: Torah Jews who beat their wives spect them for accuracy, and see what, are still rare. Those who do drugs or take to drink Jew's goals. He searches for meth­ are still few and far between. The divorce rate is still Dr. Mermelstein, a psychologist in private prac­ ods ofachieving it. tice, is certified in his field by the States of New York relatively low, and the same holds true for stealing and New Jersey. and is a diplomate of the Ameri­ and cheating. Yes, when such perpetrators are ex­ posed, it unfortunately makes headlines and "good can Board of Professional Psychology. A musmach An article based on a lecture by the of Mesivta Torah Vodaath, Dr. Mermelstein leads copy," and ChillulHashem And it should not be. "Figures do not lie, but one can lie with figures." late Robbi Yitzchok Kirzner, 7"~, his local Daf Yomi shiw· in Agudath Israel of Long Island. Well known as a lecturer and author, sev­ My Torah colleagues and I, who probably see more religious patients in a week than outsiders see in a eral of his articles have been featured in The Jew" one ofthe outstanding teachers of year. will attest to that. ish Obseroer. recent times, offers insights in how to instill middos tovo&-sterling The Jewish Observer. November 1993 character traits-in our children. Thefocus, then, shouldbeonacer­ us and show us how to reach our guidelines toward the solution. tain group of middos, inherent traits, children and guide them. The same Speaking of our unpleasant and that make the man; his deep inner applies to any concerned adult, and unhappy fellow, Chazal6 describe feelings which govern his disposition, indeed, much of what is being srud him as one for whom there is no hope and consequently his behavior toward here is applicable to any endeavor of forgiveness, neither ln genuine re­ his fellow man.