$1.00 WWW.5TJT.COM VOL. 8 NO. 1 ROSH HASHANAH 5768 ubhztv ,arp SEPTEMBER 14, 2007 INSIDE vcuy vnh,ju vch,f Heard In The Bagel Store Larry Gordon 12 Wishing you a happy and healthy sweet new year. MindBiz Esther Mann, LMSW 34 A Brand New Day Hannah Reich Berman 36 Head Of The Year Rabbi Yoni Posnick 39 Universal Introspection Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz 43 Bar Mitzvah of Jesse Gordon. See Page 71 “Tashlich.” Oil on canvas, by Miriam Michaelov. Available exclusively from Avi Polinsky/Your Art’s Desire, www.yourarts.com. Preparing for Rosh Hashanah at Woodmere Rehab. MISSED FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK A SWEET, See Page 66 OPPORTUNITY BY LARRY GORDON SWEET YEAR A Rosh Hashanah Message The Big Meeting BY RABBI DR. TZVI For 5768 HERSH WEINREB I have a meeting with the have the ability to figure out EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT, B Y RAV ARYEH Z. King later this week, and I’ve the way in which He runs His ORTHODOX UNION GINZBERG got to try to get myself ready. enterprise—which just so CHOFETZ CHAIM TORAH CENTER This is not our first meeting. happens to be the entire world In these days of the month Actually, it’s somewhat of an that we inhabit? Still, I believe of Elul, we are already wish- As rabbis the world over are annual event and, while I look it’s my natural inclination to ing each other “Shanah tovah busy putting the final touches forward to it with anticipation, want to know. In fact, I think u’mesukah,” a “good and on their derashos for the the whole thing also makes me that this is all we do—spend sweet new year.” To many, this Rabbi Shlomo Bochner upcoming yamim nora’im, kind of nervous. I’m not sure time trying to know things. may seem like just a trivial, of Bonei Olam. they are sure to touch upon what it is exactly, but some- Not that this is a bad thing, perhaps even empty, greeting. See Page 76 many of the important and times I feel like I know this considering that this is the But obviously it has a deeper pressing issues facing the King and sometimes I just nature of who we are and our and more profound meaning, CANDLE LIGHTING Jewish community today. can’t figure Him out. function in this world. expressing the wish of each of Sept. 12 – 6:51 PM We live in troubling times. Then again, if I am really So, He’s the King and I’m us that others—individually, Sept. 14 – 6:48 PM His subject, where do I get Continued on Page 16 the idea that it’s my role to Continued on Page 3 Continued on Page 10 2 September 14, 2007 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES FROM THE EDITOR holiday spirit that has always warmth to mark a holiday Continued from Front Cover left me troubled. And the focused on goodness and thing that troubles me most thanksgiving, if only half a day just one of His many billions about this scenario is that later everything reverted to a of subjects. Okay, I accept despite all the good cheer and state as though nothing of the that; but why do I have to care extended to the less for- sort ever existed? have a special and particular tunate, the next day they are As Jews the world over time of year during which to back on the street in the stand together on Rosh take a couple of days and November cold, maybe in the Hashanah, no matter our focus on and contemplate this freezing rain or quite possibly level of observance, the goal fact and coronate Him as even snow. The next day they is always to sustain that King? Does He need me to do are once again sleeping on which we can incorporate that? And if He does, the subway grates to keep warm, into our lives as part of the question is Why? For me, this lying stretched out in door- arrival of our New Year. In is evidence of the fabric and ways or tucked away inside fact, some commentators substance of the relationship. old refrigerator boxes that observe that this is the rea- It’s not just something that they call home. son why, traditionally, the speeds by us like so many What was the purpose of Torah portion that precedes other things in our lives. this wonderful holiday display Rosh Hashanah is the sec- Among the myriad experi- if there was no lasting effect? tion of Nitzavim. At the out- ences in a lifetime, how often Where was the people’s con- set of that sidrah, it is stated can you actually take two days science and what was the and devote them entirely to value of a few hours of Continued on Page 9 cerebral contemplation of our existence and the essence of feeling our contiguity to Hashem? This is the Jewish New Year. This is Rosh Hashanah, the meeting with our King. Living in the times and days that we do, I believe that it is equally important to con- trast this New Year opportuni- ty with similar themes that exist in the society at large that surrounds us today. Our concept of celebrating a New Year is markedly different as compared to other, similar observances. Sure, in a sense there is a countdown, but it’s not of the fleeting 60-second variety that is televised around the world, culminating with the explosion of fireworks. Our countdown begins with solemn contemplation at the outset of the month of Elul, 30 days prior to our New Year. For us, Rosh Hashanah is a celebration of another year that has passed along with the anticipation, hopes, and wishes for the year ahead. More than the conventional New Year’s celebration, it’s more like a personal and introspective April 15—a time for balancing the books and making an accounting, so to speak. Another great day on the calendar that is celebrated in this country with superficial overtures and demonstrations is Thanksgiving. I’ve always been enamored with the out- reach and brotherly love that is extended particularly to the indigent and homeless on Thanksgiving Day. On this day, no matter how desperate a person’s life may be, in many locales around the country one can be assured that he will be given an opportunity to come inside and be served a warm dinner featuring turkey, sweet pota- to, cranberry sauce, and all the holiday fixings. It’s a wonderful display of a 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES September 14, 2007 3 4 September 14, 2007 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES September 14, 2007 5 6 September 14, 2007 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES September 14, 2007 7 FEATURES Around The Five Towns 54 P.O. BOX 690 LAWRENCE, NY 11559 516-984-0079 [email protected] Our Aliyah Chronicle [email protected] Shmuel Katz 24 LARRY GORDON ESTA J. GORDON Publisher/Editor Managing Editor Bagel Store YOSSI GORDON Larry Gordon 12 Director of Sales CHANA ROCHEL ROSS Classified Ads 84 Editorial Assistant Cooking Concepts SIDI BARON YAKOV SERLE Naomi Ross 50 JERRY MARKOVITZ Sales Representatives Daf Yomi Insights SHMUEL GERBER MICHELE JUSTIC Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow 49 Chief Copy Editor Copy Editor CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Halachic Musings Howard M. Adelsberg, Irwin H. Benjamin Rabbi Yair Hoffman 14 Hannah Reich Berman, Anessa V. Cohen Danny Block, Rabbi Aryeh Z. Ginzberg Hock Of The Rock Yochanan Gordon, Michele Herenstein Eli Shapiro 78 Rabbi Yair Hoffman, Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky Shmuel Katz, Esther Mann, Rochelle Miller Rabbi Yoni Posnick, Naomi Ross Insights On The Torah Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow, Eli Shapiro Rabbi Yoni Posnick 39 MICHAL WEINSTEIN, ROB FILONUK Rabbi Naftali Silberberg 53 Staff Graphic Artists IVAN NORMAN, IRA THOMAS Letters To The Editor 28 Staff Photographers FRANKEL & CO., CREATIVE DESIGN LLC Luach 17 Design & Production TALIYE CORLEY MindBiz Art Director Esther Mann, LMSW 34 SUZETTE LEE Assistant Art Director Real Estate Anessa V. Cohen 32 The Five Towns Jewish Times is an independent weekly news- paper. Opinions expressed by writers and columnists are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. We are not That’s The Way It Is! responsible for the kashrus or hashgachah of any product or Hannah Reich Berman 36 establishment advertised in the Five Towns Jewish Times. 8 September 14, 2007 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES FROM THE EDITOR Continued from Page 3 that “You are standing firmly today, all of you together, before Hashem, your G-d.” This, they say, refers to Rosh Hashanah, our New Year, when all of us stand in judg- ment before the Heavenly courts. But then, the next verse goes on to enumerate the different categories of peo- ple who constitute the People of Israel, not unlike any people or nation: “The heads of your tribes, your elders, your police officers, your young children, the women, the converts to Judaism, your woodcutters and water drawers…” To some, these two juxtaposed pronouncements can be per- ceived as contradictory. In the first we are all not simply standing, but standing firmly and collectively as one unit before Hashem as Rosh Hashanah approaches. In the next pasuk, we are enu- merated and divided into dif- ferent classes and levels of life. So, which one is it? Are we one before Hashem, or are we all in fact individuals and on our own as Yom Tov approaches? I think the answer is that both are accurate. It’s true that we are all individuals with different lifestyles filled with triumphs and disap- pointments, with ups and downs, winning and some- times the opposite.