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THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN) 0021-6615 is published monthly except July and August by I i.he Remembrance of Rosh Hashana the Agudath Israel of America, 84 William Street, : Rabbi A. Sheinman New York, N.Y.10038. Second class postage paid in New York, N.Y. 8 Subscription $22.00 per year; two years, $36.00; three years, $48.00. Outside of the United States Rabbi Yisroel Zev Gustman i1:J1:J7 i''~ i:it-a Tribute (US funds drawn on a US bank only) $10.00 Yonason Rosenblum surcharge per year. Single copy $3.00; foreign I $4.00. Send address changes to The Jewish Two on Teji.lla Observer, 84 William Street, N.Y., N.Y. 10038. 15 Tel: (212) 797-9000. Alone Among the Multitudes-in Jerusalem Printed in the U.S.A. I Hillel Goldberg RABBI NISSON WOLPIN, EDITOR 17

EDITORIAL BOARD The Insomniac's Minyan DR. ERNST BODENHEIMER Yaakov Lavon Chairman RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS I 20 JOSEPH FRIEDENSON Readers Respond to RABBI NOSSON SCHERMAN "YESHNOS--0NLY FOR THE CHOSEN OF OUR PEOPLE?" MANAGEMENT BOARD NAFTOLI HIRSCH ISAAC KIRZNER I 31 RABBI SHLOMO LESIN Illness, Denial, and Acceptance NACHUM STEIN I ! Rabbi Myer Schecter RABBI YOSEF C. GOLDING Business Manager I ' 37 Poetry Published by A Private Waterloo Libby Lazewnik Agudath Israel of America 1 I RABBI MOSHE SHERER 38 PRESIDENT I I THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not ",,."(with and without comment) assume responsibility for the Kashrus I i of any product, publication, or service 39 Books in Review advertised in its pages PATHWAYS ro TusHUVAH/T!m NEW ROSH HASHANAH ANrnoLOGY/ © Copyright 1991 I [ ...AND NOTHING Bur TifE TRUTH/A TOUCH OF WISDOM, A TOUCH OF WIT/ SEPTEMBER 1991 GOLDEN APPLES/THE YoM KlPPUR AVODAH/AN ILLUSTRATED GumE... ro VOLUME XXIV I NO. 6 KoRBoNos AND MENOCHos/THE ABARBANEL ON nm YoM KlPPUR SERVICE I, I ' LC 41 Letters to the Editor A.Sheinman

The Remembrance of Rosh Hashana

I. are generally not considered days of judgment, why is "remembrance" a n our tefillos, we refer to Rosh key element of G-d's Providence on Hashana as "Yom Hazi­ Yom Tov and Rosh Chodesh? We I karon, the Day of Remem­ must delve into the meaning of brance." This phrase is un­ time to better appreciate the derstood as a synonym for significance of zikamn. Judgment Day; that is, it is the day when, in the process of II. judgment, G-d recalls all of our past deeds so as to anive at a henwespeakofthe proper verdict. This seems odd, \w ultimate unity repre­ for if so, we should refer in our sented by G-d, it is gen- prayers to the day as Yom erally vis-a-vis the dispar- Hadin, for the main ele­ 111111.111111 ate elements in creation. ment is the judgment, Thus, we say "Hashem with the act of recollec­ echod-G-d is one," after tion merely a means to­ observing in one of the ward aniving at that end. berachos prior to "Shema": Yet the essence of the day is de­ "How manifold are Your deeds, O' scribed as Yom Hazikaron. Memory G-d." We marvel at the rich variety of must somehow be central to the day. creation, and note how plants are That "memory" is a dynamic unto distinct from animals and animals itself strikes home even more sharply from man, and how each person pos­ with the request in our prayers to G-d sesses a unique and distinct that He "remember us with a good re­ deeds, then let us ask that G-d grant neshoma; and G-d is the unity that membrance," and similar petitions us life, or bestow blessings on us. Why encompasses all. throughout the day. But this, in tum, this strange formulation of requesting Similarly, we look at the various arouses further questions: Is G-d's that He remember us for life? means (midas/ attributes) that G-d memory selective? Isn't memory sim­ If we analyze the special Yom Tov reveals in His guiding of the world ply an undiscriminating accumula­ prayers, we are struck by a similar toward its destiny, and we are struck tion of impressions of events that have point. In every Yom Tov Shemone by the diametric variances. There is occurred? If, on the other hand, we Esre~ as well as on Rosh Chodesh, we an attribute ofjustice competing with are simply requesting that G-d be say "Ya'aleh VeYavo." The climax of the attribute of mercy. The hanhaga merciful towards us and grant us a life this prayer is "that (we] be considered (mode of Divine conduct) of revelation of happiness despite our past mis- and remembered ... for goodness, for clashes with the concept of the "dig­ grace .... for good life, and for peace .... " nity of G-d," which finds expression Rabbi A. Shelnman, who studies in a Kollel in Thus every Yom Tov and Rosh through hiding-"The honor of G-d Jerusalem. is a frequent contributor to these Chodesh, in some measure, is a day is through concealment," and so on. pages, most recently, with "Pesach: A Trilogy of when we are "remembered"-hope­ After perceiving this overwhelming Shira.~ which appeared in The Jewish Observer, March '91. fully for the good. Since these days

4 'The Jewish Observer. September 1991 divergence of Providence, we delve the faculty with which we were en­ die ... and all his sins will not be re­ more deeply and come to appreciate dowed to make the past a part of the membered.... " The person has done the unity that binds together and di­ present, and to ensure that the all that he can to excise that swatch rects this Providence. And again we present does not die moment by mo­ of corruption from his total "self'; G-d proclaim: "Hashem echod." ment in the rush toward the future. in turn will expunge it from His But there is one more fragmenta­ And when G-d makes use of this at- memory. from history. tion in creation that runs as deep as-if not more deeply than-those described above, and that is the frag­ mentation of time. The existence of In our prayers to G-d, we request that He the universe, and indeed every person's life, is not one constant flow, "remember us with a good remembrance." Is G-d's forming a single unit unto itself; it Is memory selective? Isn't memory simply an a series consisting of an overwhelm­ ing multitude of milli-second-long undiscriminating accumulation of impressions of episodes. Indeed, time is the means of recording change, and as each seg­ events that have occurred? ment of time ls different from its pre­ decessor, so is it fragmented-like a motion picture film that consists of thousands of frozen stills, almost tribute of zikaron, it means that He IV. identical, yet ever-so-slightly differ­ is not simply viewing man and the ent from one another... like a three­ world in terms of the "here and now," his approach to time is not dimensional organ that has been but within the continuity of time. He only limited to aveiros in the sliced into sheer two-dimensional is viewing man as a four-dimensional T context of teshuva. but It ac­ sections for microscope-examina­ being, a composite of all the Indi­ tually comprises the essential differ­ tion, so too does each person exist vidual three-dimensional men that ence between the perspective of the moment by moment...yesterday and the individual has been, through the material world and the larger spiri­ today discontinuous, today and to­ progression of time, the fourth di­ tual reality. Thus, an adam gadol morrow not bound together. When mension; but there is an extraordi­ once explained: It is inaccurate to we try to grasp the elementary mean­ nary characteristic to this midda: it translate OlamHazehas "this world"; ing of the Divine Name "Havaya," we is selective. Just as a person can ex­ rather, it is "the World of This." It is explain the appellation as referring cise unwanted growths from his the world where everything exists to: "Haya lwveh veyihiy'eh---He was, three-dimensional self, so, too, can only in the here and now. Olam He is, He will be"-for that is our ini­ he excise unwanted time segments Habba is "the World of To-Come"; it tial understanding of the Divine, in from his four-dimensional self, as we is the perspective of seeing everything Laslwn HaKodesh, our sacred lan­ will see. In this way, we can better as part of a continuum, extending on guage. Correspondingly, we say: understand how G-d employs the at­ into the future. "Hashem melech, Hashem moloch, tribute of zikaron to rid the uni­ Thus, we count the days of the Hashem yimloch---G-d rules, G-d verse-in its full, timeless sense-of week as "this is the first/second/ ruled, G-d will rule" ... viewing the way undesirable elements. Thus Shlomo third/ etc. day toward Shabbos," for in He rules creation through our frag­ Hamelech declares regarding the Shabbos-which is a miniature Olam mented perspective of time and its wicked (Kohel/es I.II): "Ein zikaron Habba-the days join together to take tenses: present, past, and future. larislwnim-there is no memory of their place within a continuity. And G-d, in His one-ness, transcends the previous (wicked] generations." The wicked person, on the other time to unite it all into one continu­ Similarly, we pray that G-d wipe out hand, philosophizes: "Eat and drink, ous entity, over which He presides. the memory of Amaleik, the nation for tomorrow we die" (Yeshayahu "AniHashem v'lo shanisi-I am G-d, that epitomized evil. True, at acer­ 22, 13). The father of this perspective not subject to change." tain time and place, Amaleik did ex­ is Eisav, who declared, "I will even­ ist, but in the wholeness of creation, tually die; of what use to me is the m. in Its four-dimensional sense, that beclwm (rights of the first born)?" nation Is gone; the destiny of the There is a Chassidic vertel along -d acts as the unifier of all world at its perfect state will have these very lines, which unfortunately these fragments; by what expunged Amaleik from the past. has been widely misinterpreted. The G distinctive attribute does He On the other hand, the person saying goes, "Yesterday is gone, to­ bind them together? who has done teshuva is considered morrow is not yet here, and the And what is the midda that we a "newborn child," and it is with re­ present is a fleeting instant; why mortals employ to overcome the gard to this facet of teshuva that the worry?" If this saying is applied to splintering of our lives? It is called Prophet exclaims, "and on the day he Olam Hazeh concerns, then it ex­ zikaron-remembrance. Memory is does teshuva... he will live and not presses a proper prescription for pro-

'The Jewish Obseroer. September 1991 5 for it marks the initial reduction of VI. the moon-the primal act for which G-d, so to speak, asks for forgiveness, here is an instrument designed prompting G-d, in turn, to grant us to arouse this attribute of forgiveness for our diminution of our T Zikaron-the shofar. spiritual selves. e The Gemora in Rosh Hashana Through our commemoration and cites the Divine directive. "Say fine-tuned awareness of those seminal 'Zichronos' before Me so that you be experiences, we provide the continu­ remembered favorably before ity between our glorious past and the Me .... Through what means? present; and we petition G-d that He. Through the shofar." too, relate to us through zikaron; not Gt Regarding the halacha prohib­ simply for what we are now, but to con­ iting the use of a kateigor(an instru­ sider us as a composite of our past ment of prosecution) for purposes of selves and our present state of being. saneigor(defense), the Gemora(Rosh But one Yorn Tov is the essence of Hashana 26a) states that this is only zikaron, and that is Rosh Hashana. in the context of p'nim-the inner ductivity and happiness. But if one The Gemora (R"H Sa) explains that sanctum of the Holy of Holies, where uses this aphorism to loosen one's Rosh Hashana is alluded to in the for example the kohein gadol did not sense of obligation toward Olam verse "that G-d's eyes are there, from wear any gold vestments, which Habba affairs, then one is totally the beginning (reishis) of the year would recall the Golden Calf-an in­ voiding the essence of the timeless­ until its conclusion." This reference dictment, for sure. ness of Olam Habba. seems to offer nothing more than the By the same token, we are taught As Kohel/es says: 'There is a time philological similarity between the that a shofar fashioned from a calfs for everything... under the sun" (3,1). words "Rosh" and "reishis," with little horn should not be used on Rosh Explains the Akeida, a classic com­ essential connection to Rosh Hashana, since it too recalls the mentary on Scripture: those ele­ Hashana. One meaning implicit in Golden Calf. Now, the shojaris used ments that are "under the sun,"i.e. this similarity, however, may be that in any setting, and not in the Holy of mundane affairs, are fragmented into this verse informs us that the "year" Holies. But since the shojar is a units of time; those elements of time is not a stream of fragments follow­ means of zikaron, it too is considered that are "above the sun" are not ing one another in an erratic, aimless "p'nim" Using the shofarto summon splintered by time. fashion. Rather, the year has a begin­ up the memory of earlier events and ning and an end-meaning that the integrating them into the present for v. sum total of the particles converge to G-d's consideration is an intimate form one unit, the shana. Rosh and holy act. We must be wary of ref­ et us now return to our dis­ Hashana is the head of the year, its erences to terrible sins, during sho­ cussion of zikaron in regard to beginning, which gives unity, form, Jar-blowing. L Yorn Tov and Ya'aleh VeYavo. and purpose to the entire year. • We quote the verse regarding Every Yorn Tov, the present becomes the sounding of chatzotzros (the sil­ linked to the past. On the day that ver trumpets used on fast days and Yetzias Mitzraim (the Exodus) is be­ festivals in the Temple service) in the ing celebrated, or the giving of the The existence of the "Sha.fros" section of Mussaj of Rosh Torah is being marked, we see our­ Hashana: "With trumpets and sho­ selves as one with the people who universe, and indeed jar-sound call out before the King. actually were there. We sit in succos every person's life, is not Hashem "(TehiUim47,6). to commemorate the ananei We see that the shofaras well as the hakavod-the Clouds of Glory that one constant flow, act of teki'a, even when produced on accompanied the Jews through their a chatzotzra, are means for arousing forty years of wandering in the wil­ forming a single unit the attribute of zikaron within G-d. derness-and the festival of Succos e In a parallel comment, the falls during the joyous period when unto itself; it is a series Rambam explains that one of the the Clouds were restored in celebra­ messages inherent in the blowing of tion of the acceptance of the full re­ consisting of an the shofar is that those who forget turn of Kial Yisroel on Yorn Kippur, their purpose in life because of havlei when their teshuva for sinning with overwhelming multitude haz'man-the distractions of the Golden Calf was accepted. (See "time"-should be aroused to re­ Gaon ofVilna on Shir Hashirim 1.2.) of milli-second-long member their Creator. Thus, just as Rosh Chodesh, too, is a day of the shofar is the means to evoke zikaron: a monthly reminder of G-d's episodes. "memory" in G-d, so too is it the introduction of teshuva to Creation, means for arousing within us our

6 TheJewishObserver. September 1991 memory of G-d, which has been ness that brings teshuva. The person dimmed by the passage of time. is linked through his past to Kial Yis­ AGUDATH ISRAEL OF How does the shofar work to roet· G-d does not create new Jews. arouse this zikaron? Rabbi Yitzchok He reveals that which was always CLEVELAND Hutner ?";n in a profound ma'amar there waiting to be awakened by the on the subject (Pachad Yitzchok, shofar, lying dormant, covered by RoshHashana. 25) explains the sho­ time with layer upon layer of dust LECTURE SERIES far as being an echo of the initial and decay. nefichn; that very first breath of G-d ON TAPE kaveyachol, which infused life into VII. Series #1: the world. The mere sound serves as HALACHA L'MAASEH - (20 tape series) n the "Malchios" section of the Based on SUGYOS IN DAF YOMI By: Rabbi Boruch Hirschfeld Mussafprayer, we proclaim G-d's unity, climaxing our sense of His TOPICS: G-d, in His one-ness, I • KIDDUSH majesty with the declaration of • SHIUR K'DAY ACHILAS PRAS "Shema Ylsroel." In "Zichronos", we • MUSAF transcends time to unite it recount how G-d focuses the Divine • TZURAS HAPESACH • MAYIM ACHARONIM attribute of memory on creation: "For • B'DIKAS CHOMETZ all into one continuous You bring about a decreed time of re­ • KOSHERING THE KITCHEN membrance for every spirit and soul • HAND vs. MACHINE MATZAH enti1y, over which He • CENSUS TAKING IN ISRAEL to be recalled, to remember a multi­ • METHODS IN TALMUD TORAH tude of deeds and an infinite num­ • KORBAN PESACH B'ZMAN HAZEH presides. "Ani Hashem ber of creatures." And in "Shofros." • MINHAGIM we invoke the power of the shofar as • THE USE OF KETANIM FOR ISURIM v'/o shanisi-1 am the instrument for arousing memory. Series #2: G-d, By: Rabbi Moshe Aharon Stern (4 tape set) But memory is a selective process. Rosh Yeshiva Kamenitz, Eretz Yisrael G-d can remember our faults and not subject to change." TOPICS: misdeeds, and as a result, these be­ • SHOLOM BAYIS come a permanent part of our four­ • CHINUCH HABONIM dimensional selves. But if we dis­ •SUCCESSFUL FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS the reverberation of that Divine claim the excesses and wrongs that • THE PERSIAN GULF WAR AND US neficha. and when the awareness of we had perpetrated throughout the Series #3: HOW TO GET THE BIGGEST BANG FROM that awesome moment is impressed year, if we reconfirm the goals of pur­ MY TZEDAKA (7 tape set) upon us, we experience an "awaken­ suing closeness to G-d, and relink By: Rabbi Chaim Twerski, Rabbi Moshe C. ing." The remembrance that we ex­ ourselves with our great forefathers. Einstader, Rabbi Boruch Hirschfeld, perience from hearing the blowing of then we stand before G-d together TOPICS: the shofar is the vehicle by which we with our mighty heritage. In • WHY SHULD I GIVE? • HOW MUCH SHOULD I GIVE? are once again connected to our very "Zichronos... we tie ourselves to • IS IT EVER TOO LATE TO GIVE? roots of existence. Avrohom and the Akeida. We declare • TO WHOM SHOULD I GIVE? The Rambarn points this out most that the heritage of Mesiras Nefesh­ • YISSACHOR - Z'VULUN precisely: It is the process of "time" where a father can give away his most Series #4: that brings on shikcha-forgetting, precious possession for G-d-still DENTISTRY AND HALACHA (4 tape set) and shofarrolls back time and brings throbs somewhere deep within us. us to the starting point of existence. We have awakened that zikaron ORDER FORM Similarly, our act of blowing sho­ within us. INDIVIDUAL TAPES ARE $6.00 each. A faris an attempt on our part to undo And G-d, in turn, views us complete series is $5.00 per tape. Postage and handling are included. Send order form the corruption that has seeped into through His attribute of zikaron, and and payment to: Agudath Israel of Cleveland, our neshamos and has settled in sees in our worn and haggard coun­ P.O. Box 504, Wickliffe, Ohio 44092 through the passage of time: so we tenances, the lines of the youthful endeavor to speak to G-d with the bride that so faithfully followed sounds of the shofar. Him ... . e We also associate the shofar " ... Thus has proclaimed G-d: I re- with Ge'ula-Redemption, and in­ member the kindness of your youth, deed, the Prophet says: "It will be on your love in betrothal; that you fol­ that day, the great shofar will blow lowed Me in the wilderness. in an PLEASE SEND ME THE and those lost in Ashurwill come ... " unsown land" (Y"irmiyahu 2,2). "... I FOLLOWING TAPES ______(Yeshayahu27, 13). Thatis, when the will, indeed, remember the covenant shofarwtll blow, the people will come made with you in your youth, and I on their own, for the shofar arouses will establish an eternal bond!" in everyone that fine point of aware- (Yechezkel 16,60). •

The Jewish Observer. September 1991 7 Rabbi Yisroel Zev Gustman ~7V>~~ ------A 1Hbute------on his passing 28 Sivan, 5751/June 10, 1991

''The only thing I ever one of perfect faith could have rah-and poverty. His father, Reh wanted to be was a gado! emerged with the Torah Intact after Avraham Tzvi, a talmidof the Chofetz b'Torah," Rabbi Yisroel more than four years without seeing Chaim, supported his family as a Zev Gustman once said of himself. a sefer and after having witnessed none-too-successful business man. And nothing ever deterred him the cruelest murders Imaginable of The young Yisroel anived In Grodno from that goal-not even five years of Jewish babies. just short of his twelfth birthday. Be­ hell, first In the V"tlna ghetto, and later Rabbi Gustman said of himself fore his bar mitzva, he was already fleeing the Nazis and then the Rus­ that Hashem granted him the hearing shiur from Reb Shimon sians. Just past the age ofbar mitzva, strength of five men-the strength to Shkop. Everything he would ever try he was the apple of Rabbi Shimon do without sleep, without food. And to impart to his talmidim about the Shkop's eye, In Grodno; sill! In his that great physical strength mirrored love of Torah and the meaning of a twenties, he was a full-fledged mem­ a fierce Inner resolve, an indomitable yeshiva was based on what he im­ ber of Rabbi Chaim Ozer will. Amanofimmensevitality, he was bibed In his ten years In Grodno. ·As Grodzensky's beis din in Vilna. To a living embodiment of Chazals ad­ you breathe air, so we breathed To­ Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky, he was vice: Ifyou meet the yeiizer, drag him rah in Grodno," was a frequent re­ "the only Rosh Yeshiva of our genera­ Into the beis midrash. He completely frain. tion"; and to Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, subjugated all his energy and appe­ "The difference between you and "the Iyov of Roshei Yeshivos"-only tites to coming yet closer to his Cre­ me," Rabbi Gustman told his stu­ ator through the study of His Torah. dents, "is that when you have a diffi­ Rabbi Rosenblum, a member of a Kolle} in culty you look around a little to see Jerusalem. is a frequent contributor to these I.GRODNO­ if the Acharonim (later commentar­ pages, most recently with "The New Ethiopian Aliya, ~ in June. '91. The author wishes to thank THE LOVE OF TORAH ies, post-15th century) speak about the following talmidim and friends of Rav It. If not, you go off to eat, to sleep. If Gustman for sharing their memories and im­ isroel Zev Gustrnan was born I have a difficulty, there's no eating, pressions: Rabbi Aharon Feldman, Rabbi Yis­ In 5669 (1908), in Vizhen, a there's no sleeping, until I have a so­ roel Katzenstein. Dr. Shmuel Kessner, Rabbi small town near Suvalk, lution," So it was in Grodno, where Moshe Llpka, Rabbi Asher Margoliot, Rabbi and Y Mrs. Shlomo Rihner, and Rabbi TZVi Weinstein. Llthuania, to a family steeped In To- even the weakest bachw- studied fif-

8 The Jewish Observer. September 1991 teen hours a day. of the town heard about him and II. VILNA Rabbi Gustman never forgot the started sending food. When he -REB CHAIM OZER'S PROTEGE sight as a young boy of seeing his wanted to learn with someone, this great Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Shimon, ci:y­ otherwise gentlest of souls, would fter a decade in Grodno, ing over the statement "and some ac­ grab his prospective chavrusa by the Rabbi Gustman was chosen quire the World-to-Come in an in­ lapels and lead him to the seat next A to mari:y the daughter of Rabbi stant," asking himself: "And what to him. Even such a prodigious Meir Bassin, the Rav of have I acquired?" In Grodno, what­ masmid as Rabbi Gustman was to Schnippershok,asuburbofV'tlna,and ever one had achieved in Torah was him the "shlojfer (sleepy head)." At one of the dayanim of Vilna. Rabbi never enough. Had you finished Bavli the end of the year, Reb Shimon Bassin was vei:y ill at the time and it and Yerushalmi at 16, Bavli with asked him for mechila (forgiveness) was understood that his son-in-law Rishonim (earlier commentartes, ll- for having rejected him. would succeed him as rav and dayan. 15th centuries) three times by 18- so what. The Torah demanded noth­ 11 ing less. There are very fine distinctions," he would add after The boys in yeshiva ketana were told that if they too learned with the his explanation, "but by such fine hairsbreadths is the incredible hasmada of the young Yis­ World-to-Come separated from Gehinnom." roel, they might aspire to be like him. Rabbi Shmuel Rozowsky ?"lit, later Ponevezh Rosh Yeshiva. remembered Decades later, Rabbi Gustman Final approval of the match was there­ that one needed almost as much and Rabbi Shmuel Rozowsky remi­ fore contingent on the determination chutzpah to approach Yisroel to nisced about Grodno. As they re­ of Reb Chaim Ozer Grodzensky, the speak to him in learning as to ap­ called who had occupied evei:y seat gadol hador, that the chassan was proach Reb Shimon himself. Both in the beis midrash, they concluded worthy to serve as a dayan on his beis Reb Shmuel's father and Rabbi that those who had achieved great­ din. The young yeshiva bachur spent Elchonon Wasserman engaged the ness were those who had both been a full day discussing Torah subjects reluctant Yisroel to learn with their the greatest masmidim and had with Reb Chaim Ozer. The next day sons. Yet when he heard that he was bound themselves to Reb Shimon was spent defending his chiddushim being described as an illuy (genius), completely. That is, to never miss a before the dayanimofVilna, including he grew furious: 'This is illuyishkeit?" shiurno matter how sick, and to fol­ such luminartes as the Marcheshes he protested, pointing at himself. low the Rosh Yeshiva wherever he (Rabbi Henoch Eigish), and Rabbi 'This is my life blood!" At that time, spoke, whether in the yeshiva or to Shiomo Heiman. When Rabbi Meir he and Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz, baalebattim in town. Once Yisroel Bassin passed away prior to the wed­ who had been his first rebbe in ye­ hired a driver to take him to shiur ding, his future son-in-law became, at shiva ketana and remained his life­ when he was burning with a fever of 22, by far the youngest dayan on the long friend, used to take a brief nap over 104°. Before the shiur, Reb Vtlna beis din. after midnight and then learn from Shimon-who had heard from other The young dayan soon became a two in the morning until eight. talmidim how sick his favortte was­ yeled sha'ashuim ("favorite child") to To convey the animating spirit of came over and jokingly remarked Reb Chaim Ozer, who entrusted him Grodno to his talmidim, Rabbi that he had seen better looking faces with ever increasing responsibility. Gustman would tell them about in the zoo. Yisroel was afraid that he Still in his early twenties, he was an­ Rabbi Moshe Zaretsky, who ariived would be sent home, but to his relief, swering she'eilos sent to Reb Chaim as an untutored 19-year-old in Reb Reb Shimon simply said, "Ti:y and Ozer from such Torah giants as Shimon's shiur one day and began concentrate. Maybe you TI feel better." Rabbi Menachem Ziemba, Rabbi peppering the Rosh Yeshiva with As soon as Reb Shimon began, Yis­ Chaim Heller, Rabbi Yechezkel questions. Reb Shimon quickly real­ roel felt his fever break, and when the Abramsky, the Satmar Rebbe, the ized that he was not up to the stan­ shiur was over it was completely Gerrer Rebbe, and the Tchebiner dard of Grodno and politely sug­ gone. Rav. (Many years later, when he vis­ gested that he seek another yeshiva. As a young bachur, Reb Yitzchok ited the Tchebiner Rav in Eretz Yzs­ To evei:yone's amazement, the young Bernstein was once assigned to Yis­ roel the Tchebiner Rav asked him if man refused to leave. "Does he [Reb roel to be tutored, for Yisroel to ex­ he was the son of the Vilna dayan. Shimon] think I need him for a room plain Reb Shimon's shiurto him. Reb When he learned that the still-young to sleep or for food?" he cried. Reb Shimon then asked Yitzchok to re­ man before him was himself "Reb Moshe planted himself in the beis peat what he had heard. When he Chaim Ozer's Gustman," the midrash, which he did not leave for had finished, Reb Shimon went over Tchebiner Rav put on his coat and a year. Duling that time he was never to Yisroel and kissed him on the fore­ hat to pronounce the beracha "Who seen to sleep, drank from the negal head, saying, "I have a continuation, shares His wisdom with those who vasser pitcher, ate from other who loses not a drop from me." And fear Him" with Shem u'Malchus­ bachwim's leftovers, until the women his disciple cried. G-d's Name.)

The Jewish Observer, September 1991 9 Rameilles Yeshiva. seeched the soldiers to at least have In later years, Rabbi Gustman's the mercy to send the mothers away, sense of himself as the last remnant he was beaten senseless with iron of the Vilna rabbonus gave litigants bars .... He said later that the Biblical the confidence that he could not be curse that parents would come to eat intimidated by the prestige of the the flesh of their children had been parties before him. r'or this reason, fulfilled in him when the Nazis took he was always sought out to serve on his infant son, Meir, from his arms the beis din in cases concerning a and killed him in front of his eyes, yeshiva or other public institution, and he then took the boy's shoes and despite his abhorrence of participat­ exchanged them for a slice of bread ing in such dinei Torah for his wife and daughter. Vilna also left Rabbi Gustman be­ More than one hundred times yond any considerations of honor: during the war. Rabbi Gustman re­ Once he came late to a gathering of cited Vidui (the confessional prayer), rabbonim at which Reb Chaim Ozer certain that his final moments had and the Chafetz Chaim were presid­ arrived. On more than one occasioh, ing. Not wishing to call attention to bullets creased his scalp. Once he Right to Left: The 7"Yr '"'""' WN1, Rabbi himself, Rabbi Gustman attempted was placed before a frring squad. He Nachman Mandel, Rabbi Zeidel Epstein to enter unobtrusively. But when Reb later crawled out from underneath Chaim Ozer noticed his presence, he the dead bodies. and it took him sev­ He found it extremely difficult to stood up for him, and when Reb eral moments to realize that he was adhere to the command given by Reb Chaim Ozer arose, the Chafetz still alive. On several occasions, Nazi Chaim Ozer, after he became a Chaim followed suit, and with him soldiers looking straight at him ap­ dayan: "Don't treat me with excessive the entire delegation. After having parently did not see him; on another respect or I'll have nothing to do with received the greatest honor any hu­ occasion, Nazi attack dogs sniffed at you." The awe of Reb Chaim Ozer re­ man being could imagine, he would him and his wife and daughter, as mained undiminished by the years. say later, he was forevermore ren­ they were fleeing in the forest, and Once a question in tre(fos arose, and dered immune to considerations of walked away. Reb Chaim Ozer said, "Let's see what honor. (Rabbi Gustman was quick to He and his wife and young daugh­ the Rishonim say about this." The add that when he told Reb Chaim ter crouched under the pig sty of a first place he turned to was a teshuva Ozer how embarrassed he had been Polish farmer for six months, subsist­ of the Rashba dealing with the by the honor shown him, Reb Chaim ing on nothing but potato peels. Later korbanPesach, which mentioned the Ozer reprimanded him sharply: "You he fought with the partisans in the issue in a brief aside. For every ques­ think they stood up out ofrespectfor forest and had, as he said later, the tion that arose, Reb Chaim Ozer you?They stood out of respect for the opportunity to fuJfllJ the mitzva of wip­ would cite some ten equally obscure rabbonus ofVilnal") ing out Amaleik with his bare hands. sources in the Rishonim. Nearly six years after the Nazis Reb Chaim Ozer taught him that a lll.THEWAR­ entered Vilna, Rabbi Gustman and dayan must have the courage to de­ FIVE YEARS IN HELL his family returned, barely clothed, cide even the most difficult questions. just ahead of the advancing Soviet Shortly after assuming his duties, an f what he had witnessed army. Of the 80,000 inhabitants of extremely complex question came to during the War. he said, the Vilna ghetto, they were among Rabbi Gustman, which he referred to 0 much could only be revealed the 800 to survive the war. "It was not Reb Chaim Ozer. Reb Chaim Ozer in the World ofTruth .... and there to a miracle," he said later of his sur­ sent back a message: Ifyou expect to be offered as a prayer on behalf of vival, "but a decree from Heaven. receive a salary as a rav, you must Kial Yisroel. The mind shudders to Just as there were those decreed for pasken all she'eilos. In the same vein, contemplate what was left hidden. He death, so were there those decreed Rabbi Gustman liked to quote a rav, was witness to the Nazis, 1!1"' taking for life." And Reb Chaim Ozer seemed who when asked how he dared to per­ babies from the arms of their moth­ to have foretold it all when he told his mit a certain cut of beef even though ers and using them as targets before beloved disciple that he alone of the the Raavadforbade it, responded: "In their mothers' eyes. When he be- dayanim ofVilna would escape from olam ha'emes. I'd rather answer to the Raavad than to the bull-at least with respect to the Raavad, I'll have the He used to say that everyone has ruach hakodesh, Rambamatmyside." During his years in Vilna, Rabbi for do we not say in our prayers, "Don't take Your Gustman learned with both the Chazon!shand his brother Reb Meir ruach hakodesh from me"? Karelitz, and said shiur in the

10 The Jewish Observer. September 1991 the bear of the West and the wolf of the East. On a walk in the forest prior His davening was itself a commentary on the words. to the war, Reb Chaim Ozer had pointed to various grasses, noting Talmidim listened attentively to learn from his which were edible and which were not-information that proved life­ prayers, and even circulated tape recordings of his saving. (Rabbi Gustman used to per­ sonally water the garden tn the ye­ private tefillos. shiva in Rechavia out of gratitude to the grasses and shrubs which had sustained him during the war.) The decree that he should live, he felt, gladly gives his bed to a royal guest The years of living an almost ani­ was only so that he might bring more and sleeps on the ground tn antici­ mal existence and witnessing incred­ Torah into the world through the tal­ pation of the reward he will reap. ible atrocities left his humanity un­ midim he molded in 40years as Rosh Ever the Grodno bachur he would touched. In the ghetto, he marched Yeshivas Netzach Yisroel-Rameilles tolerate no limit to the striving for per­ into Nazi headquarters to secure the (from 1950 to 1971 in Brooklyn, fection in Torah. One who does not release of a Jewish prisoner after no thereafter in the Rechavia neighbor­ know the entirety of Torah is not flt one else would do so for fear of being hood of Jerusalem) and illrough his to answer the simplest question tn the arrested themselves. Characteristi­ writings and shiurim. Jaws of netillas yadayim, he would cally, he did so after having learned Above all, he conveyed to his tal­ say. through the relevant sugya (topic in midim a boundless love for learntng That striving for perfection was the Talmud) the night before to de­ Torah. While sitting shiva for his wife, evident in every word of his shiurim termine ifhe was obligated to risk his he explained the Yerushalmithat per­ and writing. He reformulated each life on the chance of saving another's. mits studying Torah during the shiva shiur over and over until each indi­ On the verge of starvation in the DP period: Even when all physical de­ vidual part, as well as the overall camps after the war, he refused an sires have ceased due to grief, the structure. was so clear that "even a Allied soldier's offer of an extra por­ desire for Torah still remains. Learn­ child could understand it." (One time tion of food for fear that he might ing Torah, he always said, is a mat­ Rabbi Gustman heard about a ten­ thereby deprive another. And when ter of pikuach nefesh. preserving year-old boy struck with a fatal dis­ a woman waiting to be reunited with one's life. When Torah is thus per­ ease. He spent hours with the boy her husband, offered his family her ceived. the student realizes that there teaching him a complicated shiur in visa to Eretz YisroeL he refused when is no place for shyness, and the Bava Kamma so that the boy would she acknowledged that she would be teacher, no place for strictness. have a "shtickel Torah" to say in the more at ease waiting for her husband Never was hisjoytn learning more World of Truth.) 'There are very fme with a visa in hand. evident than when he delivered a distinctions," he would add, "but by Most amazingly, his Torah re­ shiur No matter that he had reviewed such fine hairsbreadths is the World­ mained intact, despite the physical each shiur dozens of times in ad­ to-Come separated from Gehinnom." destruction of the manuscripts he vance. It was still delivered with Rabbi Gustman's published had prepared for print and the years infectuous enthusiasm. shiurim on Kiddu.shin and Bava without a moment to study. Weeks The black maintenance man in Metzia-both considered classics­ afterleavingtheDPcamp, hewasal­ the yeshiva, when it was tn Brooklyn, have been out of print for years. He ready giving shiurim to eager young would pause in his work to watch the refused to reprint them until he could men in France. Rosh Yeshiva deliver his shiur. "I rewrite them, but time for that would And through it all, he testified don't understand a word," he once come only when his chiddushim on later, he did not question Divine jus­ explained. "but the Rabbi is more the rest of Shas had been printed. tice for even a moment. exciting to watch than any movie I've His Jove of Torah was unadulter­ seen." ated by any consideration of fame or IV. REBUILDING IN THE ASHES Every worldly pleasure was gladly honor. On the way home one bein foregone for Torah. When his stu­ hazemanim (intersession), he was ''HelovedJewsandheloved dents wondered how he and his wife sent by Reb Shimon to an isolated Torah. And that Jove of could choose to live in a former shiur hamlet to see an unknown Jew. He Jews was reflected in his room in the yeshiva in Brooklyn, he finally located the man. learning in determination to bring them to the answered with a mashal from the a dirt-floor hovel, wearing a tom gar­ deepest possible appreciation of To­ Chafetz Chaim. When the Mishna ment. The young bachur said Reb rah," was the way one long-time tells us that the way of Torah is "dry Shimon had sent him, and the old talmidcharactertzed Rabbi Gustman. bread with salt, a flask of water, and Jew asked him to repeat somethtng After the war, he who had been hand­ sleeptng on the earth," this does not that Reb Shimon had said that picked by Reb Chaim Ozer to serve mean that one should live with a zeman in the yeshiva. When Yisroel as a leader of world Jewry shunned sense of privation. Rather one should answered, the old man shook his every proffered position ofleadership. view himself like an innkeeper who head and said, 'Tm surprised at Reb

1he Jewish Observer, September 1991 11 Shimon. What he said is explicit in larly with Rashi. Nowhere was his deep under­ four places in Teshuvos HaRashba." Rabbi Gustman emphasized to his standing of people more evident than "He knew Teshuvos HaRashba students the importance of order, in his ability to console those in sor­ like 'Ashree' Rabbi Gustman would and imparted an appreciation of un­ row. Once he was menachem oveil recall. And the lesson that greatness derstanding every aspect of Torah in the family of a nij!ar who had died in Torah has nothing to do with pub­ relation to every other. He used toil­ shortly after he had been taken home lic acclaim was not forgotten. lustrate this approach with a com­ from the hospital by his children. The Some maggidei shiur (lecturers) parison of two types of housewives: children were consumed by guilt as are disappointed if one of their in­ one simply throws everything not a consequence of their decision. sights is later found in an earlier immediately in use into the closet. Rabbi Gustman stressed the great commentator. But for Rabbi The other takes time to put every­ merit of the nifl:ar; that Hashem had Gustman the pursuit of truth left no thing away in a predetermined order. arranged matters so that he could room for either false pride or false She can always find what she needs pass away in the peace of his own modesty. He was delighted when stu­ when the occasion arises. home rather than in the hospital. dents pointed out that a certain Budding scholars, full of them­ That ended the recriminations withtn chiddush of his could be found else­ selves and their prowess in learning. the family. To the father of a fallen where: "When you travel in a straight would often come to Rabbi Gustman Israeli soldier he said: "I too had a son path. you meet many friends," he to present him with their bombe who died al Kiddush Hashem but, would respond. At the same time, he kashas on Reb Chaim Brisker or unlike your son, he did not have the could say. "My solution is better than some other great authority. Rabbi merit of choosing his fate of his own the Avnei Milluim's. and I say this Gustman would respond, "Wait a free will." The grieving father stood up without any pride." And no one second, I'm not as quick as you. Let's and said, "You've consoled me, rebbe, doubted that was true. just learn the Gemora that Reb you've consoled me." As great a teacher as he was, one Chaim is dealing with." After the As great as was his love of every of the important lessons he conveyed Gemora, came the Rambam. then Jew, his students were to him like was that true understanding of the Reb Chaim himself. At the end of the family. He expressed amazement Torah can never be obtained pas­ process, he would turn to the young when he learned that there were sively, but only through one's own man and ask. "Now. what's your those who were insulted for not hav­ labor. When a student would ask him problem with Reb Chaim?" Almost ing been invited to a granddaughter's a question, or even for a psak, he invariably, the reply was. "I have no wedding: "Does a person send his would give him a list of references more problem." brother an invitation?" he asked. As and later ask him what he had found. immersed as he was in learning, he One day in shiur, he told his stu­ still had time to discuss shidduchim dents: "l had many great teachers or any other personal problems with whom I asked to explain this sugya a student. and often initiated the dis­ to me, but they never could. Until 1 cussion himself. Late at night he was worked it out for myself. I could not often in the beis midrash patiently grasp it." (The unwillingness to ac­ reviewing the Gemora with RashL as cept anything on hearsay until he many as seven or eight times, with a had seen it or understood it himself student having difficulties. He re­ was apparently an ingrained trait. viewed the list of talmidim at least Taken by his father as a little boy to twice a week to see if there was some­ visit the Chafetz Chaim, he searched one that needed his attention. And through the house for the suit of former students were surprised to clothes the Chafetz Chaim was said receive condolence letters from the to have prepared to greet Moshiach.) Rosh Yeshiva on the death of a loved His method of learning. which he Rabbi Gustman and Rabbi Hutner '"Yr one or maza! tov letters congratulat­ had adopted as a young bachur, was ing them on a simcha. based on thinking for oneself: when V. THE TORAH MIND AND THE he learned a Mishna, he would at­ COMPASSIONATE HEART VI. THE SERVANT OF HASHEM tempt to anticipate the points upon which the Gemora would focus, and he same analytic cast of mind s total, single-minded devo­ when he learned the Gemora, he that he applied to the Gemora tion to Torah was a reflection would write his own commentary T was also used in understand­ H fhis complete submission to before consulting RashL The result ing others. People came to him from his Creator. He described himself as was a phenomenal ability to detect far and wide for advice. He had a living with Hashem and it was evi­ every nuance in the Gemora or RashL shrewd, down-to-earth sense of dentin everything that he did. When as he sought to understand why the people. "You have to first pasken the he prayed, it was like hearing a son Gemora asked questions he did not, person before you can pasken the talking to his father. His davening or ignored ones he asked, and simi- she'eila," was his credo. was itself a commentary on the

12 The Jewish Observer, September 1991 words. Talmidim listened attentively suited with him about an important to learn from his prayers. and even People came to him upcoming meeting. Rabbi Gustman circulated tape recordings of his pri­ proceeded to tell him everything that vate tefillos. from far and wide for the other party would say and what He used to say that we must know he would respond. When everything how to talk to Hashem. Who else advice. He had a occurred just as predicted, the as­ could have conversed with Hashem as tounded friend came back to Rabbi he did when trying to decide whether shrewd, down-to-earth Gustman. With a twinkle in his eye, to purchase a building in Rechavia for he told him, "Ruach hakodesh, but $150,000 or one in Geula for sense of people. "You don't tell anyone. I want to keep $40,000? At the Koset he addressed learning." He used to brush away Hashem: "The Rambam begins his have to first pasken the questions as to how he knew certain commentary on the Mis/ma; 'Hashem things by saying that everyone has said.' This means that whatever he person before you can ruach hakodesh, for do we not say in writes, You said. And we know that our prayers, "Don't take Your ruach Yiftach in his generation Is like pasken the she'eila," hakodesh from me"? Shmuel in his generation. The Rabbi Gustman used to tell his stu­ Tchebiner Rav says I should buy In was his credo. dents that both the pre-War genera­ Rechavia. You know better than I tion and our own are orphaned. But what's in the bank. So I want to insight came through other than con­ the difference between them is that know-is $150,000 any more difficult ventional channels. Once he was re­ the pre-War generation was like an than $40,000 for You?-because I citing TehUlim for someone undergo­ orphan who had seen the father while don't want to be a schnorrer for You." ing an operation. Suddenly he ours Is like one who never saw the fa­ After waiting a moment, he continued, rushed to the aron hakodosh and ther. The normal rate of decline from "Silence is agreement," and followed thrust his head Inside while he con­ one generation to the next, based on the advice ofTchebiner Rav. Miracu­ tinued to recite TehUlim. The next day the greater distance from Sinai, was lously, the full $150,000 was raised they learned that at the precise mo­ increased fifty-fold by the War. by his son-in-law In two days. ment he ran to the aron, the patient's But the students never completely Those close to him did not doubt blood pressure had plummeted to believed him. For as long as he dwelt for a moment that his prayers had a zero. The man is alive and well today. among us, they too felt they had seen special power and that frequently his Another time, a close friend con- the father. •

TheJewishObserver. September 1991 13 · ·9uai1cy>k:~· ··.··· ...... · ... >··· ...... selectioris, Barten11r1'!:; Gam!a: and Baron Herzogwines have all been awarded gold medals and have been rated and recommended by America's most revered wine critics. And, of course, Kedem's New York State Concord is the .. · wine that's not just special. .. but a LIVING TRADITION. So take a few minutes. Visit your local wine merchant, and get to know the Herzog Family. After all, you couldn't pick a better time-or wine. BARON HERZOG/CALIFORNIA. BARTENURA/ITALY. M&G SELECTIONS/FRANCE. GAMLA/GOLAN HEIGHTS, ISRAEL, ANO NEW YORK'S OWN, KEDEM SELECTIONS. i;:Jr.:;,r. :i:;ic :i:i01 'IWo on Tefilla Hillel Goldberg

few Jews to distract me, but in Jerusalem's busiest. It is no syna­ gogue in the normal sense, but a whole complex of synagogues-four separate shuls under a single roof swarming with Jews: Zichron Moshe. housands pray in Zichron Moshe daily. The earliest min­ T yan begins a few moments before sunlise. Then, every 15 min­ utes or so, another minyan forms in one of Zichron Moshe's other shuls, continuing in this fashion to 11 a.m. or so. Shortly thereafter the after­ noon service begins, and again there is a new minyan every few minutes until day's end. As night falls, the same rotation continues with the evening service. Come to Zichron Moshe in the winter at 5:45p.m., 9:30p.m., or even long after mid­ night, and there is a minyan. For a variety of unexpected rea­ sons, I found myself in Zichron Moshe almost every morning, after­ Alone noon, and evening last week. I found myself initially attracted to the place because of its convenience: whenever l arrived, I was assured a minyan. Among the Multitudes But soon I noticed something else: Though Jews crowd into Zichron Moshe and though minyanim crowd -in Jerusalem each other, one beginning the mo­ ment another finishes, the prayer it­ self is not overcrowded. The prayer is serious. Concentrated. Even, I never thought it would happen, opportunity or contemplating a holy found, sublime. For no sooner had I certainly not this way. book, I would be apart; associated noticed the concentration in Zichron I You see, for some years now with people in the synagogue only in Moshe did I notice its anonymity: I I have fantasized that one day I would the sense that they and I both ad­ knew no one and no one knew me. I turn up in a strange city. in a syna­ dressed the Almighty. Our respective prayed without expectation of hu­ gogue where I knew no one and no thoughts, sacred or profane, would man relationship. I was free of con­ one knew me. In this imaginazy syna­ be joined ifat all only in the Mind of cern about what I would say and gogue, I would pray without expec­ the Creator. I would be as alone as whom I would meet upon prayer's tation of hearing the latest news or the day I came into this world and the conclusion. of socializing after services, without day of departure from it. I could look at these Jews along­ expectation of serving as a teacher, Alone In the presence of G-d. side me in Zichron Moshe and know role model, or friend, without expec­ The lure in this fantasy was its them purely as people intent upon tation of any human relationship, purity, its assurance of sacred expe­ discourse with the Creator-upon express or implied, of any kind. No Iience uncontaminated by any per­ feeling the gamut of sacred emotions Jewish geography, no inquiring sonal interest (negiah). The lure was enunciated in the daily Psalms, upon about the community, no talk before, the chance to escape even the sub­ accepting the Yoke of Heaven enun­ during, or after the services. Just tlest exploitations in human en­ ciated In the Blessings of the Shema, prayer. As everyone else set about his deavor, to be at one with G-d. upon stepping into His Presence by business, rushing to leave shulor lin­ It happened. enunciating the Eighteen Benedic­ gertng therein, analyzing a business Not, paradoxically, in a strange tions, upon loweling their faces out city, butinJerusalem. Not, strangely, of fear of His power and fear of hu­ Hillel Goldberg, editor of Denver's in some unfamiliar synagogue, but in man inadequacy, intent upon listen­ IntermountainJewish News, is author of several works on mussar, including The Pire Within. one whose ways are well known to me. ing to the priestly blessing (recited published by ArtScroll/Mesorah. Not in a small synagogue, with but a daily in the Land of Israel) and the

The Jewish Obseroer. September 1991 15 first section of the weekly Torah por­ Not, paradoxically, in solitude; tion (on Mondays and Thursdays). I alongside mountain streams or ~ THE could look at these Jews whom I did ocean shores. not know and rejoice in my fantasy But together with other Jews, in VISUAL come true. I could pray in knowledge a minyan, concentrating, paradoxi­ IMAGE that my anonymity freed me of every cally, not on those Jews. The finest in negiah linked to the synagogue. I Concentrating on Heaven alone. ~ Video Production could look at Jews looking only Heav­ Thus was I alone. ~L:. DNl Flsctlman enward and thus look only Heaven­ In Jerusalem I found purity. ~- ward myself. Among the multitudes I found Thus is the Jew alone. anonymity. • DISCREET CONflDENTJAL RABBIAVROHOM GoLDBERG, M.S.,M.Ed. PINCHAS MANDEL UNIVERSI1Y CERTU-'Jt:D l'A.!\11LY COUNSELOR Counseling: Over 40 Years Experience in Kvura in Eretz Yisrael D Marriage D Individual •Dedicated to Kavod Haniftar with personal D Family D Child responsibility throughout service D Pre-Marital •Highly recommended by Gedolai Hadar (Help yourself make a decision -Here and in Eretz Yisrael- and commitment) 1569 - 47th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11219 For an appointment call: (718) 338-2170 Day & Night Phone (718) 855-5121 EMPATHETJC CARING Honesty - Integrity - Reliability CHESED SHEL EMES a<. under\!ood and pactiled by one active in the industry mon> than h,ilf a century. Taharas Haniftar Should Never Be Commercialized Rabbi Aryeh Schechter SOFER S"TAM

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16 The Jewish Obseroer, September 1991 'IWo on TefiUa Yaakov Lavon

fact, it would have been hard to do anything else. What was the secret? I rather think it was the people. They were serious daveners, who knew just what they were about. You might even call them professional daveners. Prayer is called "umnasam shel Y'israel-the craft oflsrael," and it seems that they saw it just that way. They understood that simple fact that always seems to elude us: that it was time to talk with the Boss, and this was what they had come for. It didn't need to be said that there was no time to talk to flesh and blood, or even to think about mundane mat­ ters. Talking to the Boss is a serious business and needs all one's atten­ tion. When you walked into the Batei Neitin shul. you knew you were in a busy place. The atmosphere of quiet concentration soaked right into ev­ eryone there and picked them up on a wave of d'veikus. Don't think I'm referring to ecstatic mystical experi­ ences and the like; this was a Litvishe shuL It was just that the whole time you were there, you didn't think about anything but Hakadosh The Insomniac's Minyan Baruch Hu and the words in front of you on the page.

THE MOTTO: SLOW AND STEADY DIFFICULT TIME, EASY PLACE things were done, and always had been done. You got up at the crack of ike all real professionals, the omehow I ended up davening dawn and went off to daven. "regulars" at Batei Neitin at the "sunrise minyan" in the I don't think they'd ever heard L didn't hurry over their work. S Batei Neitin shul. which I about lazy Americans who found it Slow and steady, is the motto of the promptly nicknamed ''The lnsom­ hard to get up at 6;30. If they had, true craftsman, and they knew it well niac's Minyan." You see, it wasn't a they probably would have been sym­ as they went about "the craft of Is­ matter of tzidkus as far as I was con­ pathetic, and offered encourage­ rael." From the Morning Blessings to cerned; it was a matter of giving up ment. They weren't stuck up; it's just the last Kaddish. every word was said the hopeless fight for sleep when the that they lived in a different world. clearly, with not the slightest hurry. dawn's light started to show. No use Almost all the people were middle­ at the same tempo as you would nor­ by now, I figured, so I might as well aged or older, but no one was sur­ mally talk. With the utmost simplic­ go daven. For all the other people prised to see a young fellow with a ity, the people of Batei Neitin spoke there, it certainly was tzidkus, of a short beard and bags under his eyes out their conversation with their Fa­ quiet and unassuming kind. This was coming in. Who has time to notice ther and King. Who would be so fool­ the last of the old Yerushaimi shuls, people when it's time for Shacharis? ish as to hurry such a vital confer­ where there was only one time for It's time to talk with the Boss, and ence? You couldn't point to one word Shachmis; dawn. They didn't boast that takes up all one's attention. as more important than any other; about it, that was simply the way Batei Neitin was the easiest place and so the tempo never varied from to daven that I have ever found. No, beginning to end. There were no long Yaakov Lavon studied in Yeshivos Ohr not the easiest to get to; that was the drawn-out tunes, no chazzanus, no Somayach and Netzach Yisroel in Jerusalem, hard part.... Usually it was a matter wasted time; just plain straightfor­ and currently serves as the sofer STaM for the of making a virtue of insomnia. ward prayer, simply and clearly sung Yeshiva community of Yeroham, in Israel's Once you got there, though, noth­ out with no unseemly hurry or mum­ Negev. His article, ~A Question by the Waterfall,~ was featured in JO, October, 1990. ing could be easier than to daven. In bling. And each word came out with

The Jewish Observer. September 1991 17 ness. And I would think: This is what the Sages meant when they said, "Happy is the King Wlwse servants pralseHimsd'-notonlybecausethey are obliged to, but because they love Him, because they long to be near Him. What king could ask for more? lnJawi~h;fe'rri{~(,.~ Every day it was the same; I never once saw that man daven without simplici~reeas greaf\l::s.s. that beautiful smile and little tune of joyful closeness. What greater The rest of thetc;rld ~~n't . .: achievement Is there than this, to maintain such a level of love and always see it that way, but f"5Ys theirl'fol:> longing day in and day out, never wavering from his steadfast love? Another inan sat just in front of a clear knowledge of Whom it was greatness that I was lucky enough to where I usually sat. He seemed just addressed to and how much hung on witness. I suppose they would be an ordinary little man; but every day it. Isn't that, after all, the chief thing shocked if they heatd me speaking when we got to "Ahava Rabba," arid about davening? Nowhere else could this way about them. "Great? Us? asked for wisdom to understand the I get it so clear in my head just what We're just daventng Shacharis!" Well, Torah, he would burst into teats. By daventngwas all about. Such simple that's just what I mean. the time we got to "Shema," he Would ideas; so far from our minds today. There was the old man who always have calmed down somewhat, but In the Batei Neittn shullt was all part sat Immediately in front of the bima, then when we came to "Ezras of one's everyday awareness. and was always the first to anive. He Avoseinu," he would be sobbing from In Jewish terms, simplicity breeds would sit there with a sweet smile on the bottom of his heart, and so it greatness. The rest of the world his face, saying Pesukei D'zimra out would go all the way through doesn't always see it that way, but loud with, oh, just a little nigwi. noth­ "Shemone EsreL" He wept with abso­ that's their problem. We know better. ing to speak of-yet a whole book lute simplicity, like a child who is It's the man with the simple, straight­ could not tell all of the joyful d'veikus begging his father for something he forward way about him that is going that went Into that little tune. He said desperately wants. Nobody who had to go far in the world of Torah-the Pesukei D'zimra by heart, his face seen him would dare to suggest that world of truth. So it was that out of turned up, looking toward Heaven; he was showing off or putting on airs. the unassuming simplicity of the every now and then he would stop for This was just the way he davened Batei Neitin people arose flashes of a second and sigh from sheer happi- Shacharis: with complete sincerity and simplicity; with all his heart. Once when talking with a talmid chacham, I mentioned this man and the way he davened. At first the Rav didn't want to believe me: "What? In this generation?" When I finally man­ aged to convince him, he just said, "Baruch Hashem that there are still Large Selection Of such people in the world." • BORSALINO Simplicity breeds greatness. •BILTMORE •STETSON SOMETHING REMA:RKABLE • PANIZZA ABOUT EACH • RAFFAELLI • SCHIAPARELLI very one of the "regulars" at Batel Neitin had something E remarkable about him. There WE ALSO DRY CLEAN & BLOCK HATS was the ba'al koreL who read out ev­ ery letter, every vowel, every dageish Large Selection Of Chassanim Ties of the Parsha with devoted care. DAILY 11:30-7, Sun.10:30-6, Tues. 2:30-7 463 East 9th Street Never have I heard anyone who could (block of Torah Vodaath) match him. Every slight sign or mark (718) 469-7420 in the Torah was precious to him, not cm:=ffi Eve. Hours Available. to be rushed over or slurred or mumbled. It certainly took him a

18 111e Jewish Observer. September 1991 good while to read the Parsha, but you could see that it was because he could not conceive of hurrying through the Torah reading. How could anyone claim that he was too Subscribe now to busy to read the Torah carefully, when the whole world and eveiything The Jewish Observer in it lsn't worth as much as one word of the Torah? Simple, isn't it? Obvious, too. So and$AVE tell me, how many people manage to cany out this "simple idea" in prac­ tice? Become a monthly subscriber Then there was the shaliach to The Jewish Observer and tzibbur, who said out every word of save up to 47% off the single· the Repetition loud and clear, never once rushing or mumbling. That you copy price (a savings of over already could guess, of course; but $40.). The longer you sub­ who could guess this: that his rep­ scribe for, the more you save. etition had just as much sincerity in it as the first time through? It was not And this introductory offer is fully guaranteed. You have but to ask and you will receive merely a public recitation of what a prompt refund on any undelivered issues should you decide to cancel at any time, everyone already knew; it was a for any reason. prayer, praising the Master of the Universe and asking Him for all that Each month, The Jewish Observer will be delivered directly to your door, filled we need, as a child asks his father. with the views of leading Torah thinkers on current issues ... comments on the "Naturally," you may say. 'That's strengths and foibles within the Jewish community ... analysis of contemporary what it says In Gemara Berachos. Jewish events ... inside reporting, interpretive commentary, inspiring biographies, that the Repetition is also a prayer." infuriating letters and illuminating responses-all within the covers of one magaiine, Good. and how many people actually The Jewish Observer. manage to do it? I learned from the So don't delay. Check the money-saving terms below and send in your order right Batei Neitln shul that simple ideas away. We'll try to get your order filled in time for our very next issue. are not enough; the heart has to be simple also. :------· SUBSCRIPTION SAVINGS CERTIFICATE 1 I NEVER LEARNED THEIR I I I THE~ Suite 1200 • 84 William Street I NAMES I BSERVER New York, N.Y. 10038 I I I 1 never learned who most of the I 0 YES! Please enter my subscription for: USA 'OUTSIDE I ONLY USA 1 people In that minyan were. In I I fact, I never even learned their D 3 years-at 47% off the cover price $48 D $78 names; there were other things on 0 2 years-at 40% off the cover price $36 D $56 my mind while I was in shul. I spot­ 0 1 year- at 27% off the cover price $22 D $32 ted some of the "regulars" around *Price reflects $10 extra per year to defray air shipping costs. Foreign Me'ah She'arim running stores or payment must be made in U.S. dollars, either by check drawn on a bank practicing crafts; others maybe were in the U.S.A. or by Visa or MasterCard. too old to work; as I said, I never NAME (Please print) ______learned who they were. Certainly ADDRESS ______none of them were famous Rabbis whose faces you would recognize. It CITY, STATE ______ZIP---- was just a minyan of plain and simple 0 Enclosed: $ 0 Charge my 0 MasterCard D VISA Jews who tried to serve their G-d with all their hearts. ~~c· 1used to wonder why I had to suf­ [[J]TT-T I I I 11 I I I 1--1 fer insomnia, but nowadays it's per­ fectly obvious. How else could I have Expiration date: [IJ (month) [IJ (year) gotten out of bed so early? And If I Signature ______hadn't, how would I have found out The Jewi5h Ob1erver ;, publi5hed moothly excep1 July and August. P!ea1e allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. the value of simplicity and a pure heart? • ------·

'The Jewish Observer, September 1991 19 Rabbi Yaakov Bender's article, ''Yeshivas-Only for the Chosen ofOur People?" featured in the May, '91 issue ofThe Jewish Observer, inspired an unusually large volume ofletters. While the overwhelming majority ofthe correspondents concurred with his point ofview, letters for publication were selected to represent the fullest range ofopinions expressed.

rabbeim YESIUVOS, CHESSEDAND THE child and hired to learn To­ Avraham. Avraham Avinu provided to everyone; no one was ex­ WAYS OF THE AVOS rah with him. The child absorbed his chessed lessons rapidly, and the Maggidwas cluded. Indeed, AvrahamAvinu was soon forced to hire even greater privileged to have even Malochim visit To the Editor: talmidei chachomim to teach him. him because he took everyone in. The article by Rabbi Yaakov Bender The child had an exceptional mind Rav Pam went on to explain that brtngs vividly to mtnd a true incident and he soon needed more than any AvrahamAvinu's approach was ac­ that I heard from Rav Avraham Pam local rebbecould provide. The Dubner tually an emulation of one of the N"1'"'1!1 on a taped shmuess. Let me Maggid made arrangements for the darkei Hashem-to provide chessed share it with your readers. child to study in one of the great ye­ to everyone, not only to those whose It was close to dark in the shtetl shivas of the time. The child grew in personal characteristics seemed fa­ and an old blind man and his five­ Torah and grew and grew-until he vorable. year-old grandson straggled in to the became one of the gedolei hador. The greatest chessed that we can center of town. All their belongings The child's name was Shlomo provide any Jew is to give him Torah. were contained in a small satchel Kluger. Any exclusionary practice seems to that the man carried. They needed a Rav Pam pointed out: If the resi­ contradict the prtnciples of Avraham place to stay for the night and the dents of the shtetl would have known Avinu. Let us note that, directly or man asked the townsfolk if someone at the time that this five-year-old indirectly, Hashem taught the Torah would take them in. No one would. child would later become a gado! to all of Kial Yisroel (see Eruvin 54). The man was tired and hungry, hador, they would have jumped at the There were no exceptions. Every­ and in his misery he began to cry. opportunity to bring him into their one was admitted to Hashem's ye­ The Dubner Maggid ':>"lit happened houses. They did not take him in be­ shiva. to be staying in that shtetlat the time, cause he was just a poor little The Dubner Maggid was a follower and when he saw the plight of the old stranger. The Dubner Maggid was of the ways of AvrahamAvinu man and the child, he immediately privileged to raise a gado! hador be­ What about us and our yeshivas? took them to his quarters to stay. cause he took everyone in. The Rabbi Bender's questions deserve Shortly afterward the old man died, Maggid's derech did not originate some good answers. and the Dubner Maggid was left with with him. He was only following in FEIVEL K!RSHENBAUM a yossom to care for. He raised the the footsteps of his ancestor Monsey, N. Y.

20 The Jewish Observer, September 1991 SADDENED BUT NOT SHOCKED without stopping to wrtte this letter. Of course, these problems run The article, "Yeshivas-Only For the much deeper than our school sys­ Chosen ... ,"by Rabbi Yaakov Bender, tems-matertalism, favorttism, clos­ To the Editor: disturbed me to the extent of block­ ing the doors on certain children or I am a parent. a teacher and an ing my concentration level, leaving families. These attitudes run deep in involved community person. I have, me unable to complete the magazine. the veins of our communities. Our therefore, had many opportunities to The voices of dozens of frtends and values seem to have been stained by listen to the heart-breaking expert­ relatives echoed in my mind: "As the views of the outside world. Kial ences of other parents in their soon as I receive a letter or dinner Yisroel has to rid itself of mindless, children's yeshivas. The examples invitation from That Yeshiva, I imme­ materialistic values and return to our that Rabbi Bender wrote of saddened diately throw it out!" true Torah values, in order to change me greatly; however, none of them "We were put on a waiting list... .If the tide of education, as well as all surprtsed me. Yeshivas are compet­ she does not get in .. .I don't know community activities and functions. ing for recognition as "the best." What what we'll do!" (Now maybe 1 will be able to com­ constitutes being 'the best yeshiva­ All this deep anger and painful plete the other articles in the J.O.) the one that boasts of catertng to the anguish were caused by rejection let­ LoRNA LEVITIN top 5% of the student population, or ters sent to sons or daughters offrum West Side MW1hattan (N. Y.) that which tries to help all of its stu­ families. The livid feelings of the in­ dents achieve to the maximum of divlduals involved in these situations ARE WE AN ELITIST their ability? wili not easily be extinguished. COMMUNITY OUTSIDE OF It is a myth that any one yeshiva One of the main problems in our SCHOOL, TOO? has only excellent students, though yeshivas system which was not that is what they would have us be­ touched upon by your article is lieve. The truth is that the majortty of "M-0-N-E-Y." To the Editor: children fall into the bell-shaped "Best boys" and "supertor boys" are Rabbi Bender's article, "Yeshi· curve; i.e., most children are in the not only our brightest or smartest, but vos-Only For the Chosen of Our average range. Whathappens, unfor­ just as often they can be the sons of People," alludes to a much broader tunately, is that many yeshivas ignore our rtchest or most powerful in the problem in the Orthodox Jewish the children who need extra help and community. In other words, a child Community. concentrate on the few "top" children. whose parents support the yeshiva We tend to have an elitist attitude, In fact. the opposite should be true. would have the advantage over the focusing on, and catertng to the "per­ A very blight student wili thrtve even child whose parents are not "that im­ fect" members of our community, let­ without the extra attention, whereas portant." An average child whose par­ ting those who are somewhat less the others can achieve unbelievable ents may have financial difficulties or than perfect fall by the wayside. heights, if only they had the proper don't have the rtght "connections" lit­ One need not look into our yeshi­ help and cartng. As a teacher. I do erally becomes a handicapped child vas to observe this problem. know that putting extra effort and in our yeshivas. Why must yeshivas Why is it that so few Orthodox time in to one child is very difficult. and Day Schools pretend to be shuls and mikvaos have made pro­ Yes, we are all incredibly busy. Yes, we Harvard and Yale? Picking and choos­ visions for physically-handicapped are wiped out at the end of the day. ing, rejecting and throwing out appli­ people? Are these unfortunate indi­ Yes, money is very tight and there is cations that don't live up to their stan­ viduals any less entitled to daven, or little space for extra classes. No one dards, whatever they may be.... A re­ to practice the laws of family purtty than we are? ever claimed that being a mechanech jection letter in kindergarten or el- 1 was easy. But what is our job if not to ementary school could only tarnish a Why is it that a frtend of mine, af­ reach out to those children who are young child's self-esteem, or worse, flicted with cerebral palsy, was forced having problems, whether they be taint the level offrumkeit for the en­ to turn to a Catholic Church for com­ academic, social, economic, emo­ tire family. Money, snobbery, rejec­ panionship after numerous inquiries tional or physical? tions .... Are these the values we aspire and calls to local Rabbis and Jewish A VERY CONCERNED PARENT for our children? Are these the goals organizations proved to be an exer­ Brooklyn, N. Y. we wish for our communities to at­ cise in futility? tain? I think not! And, why ls it that thefrum shuls and organizations have OTHER EXCLUSIONARY done so little to or­ FACTORS ganize programs and social activi- To the Editor: ties for the handi­ Reading The Jewish Observer capped? from cover to cover is a usual activ­ Are these ity in our home. However, I was un­ Individuals able to complete this month's issue any less a

The Jewish Observer, September 1991 21 part of Klal Ytsrael than we are, and if not, is it not then our responsibil­ ity to show our love for them by ac­ the hat rack tively helping to bring them into the mainstream? 5416 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. By doing such acts of chessed for the handicapped, we would be teach­ --1'(718) 871-2278 ing an invaluable lesson to the next r: generation. for how can we expect our children to have true Ahavas Yis­ ~·, roel for all of Klal Yisroel. including ( · .~· · '~:) I""'!s""'1E""'r""'so""'N"""J] the handicapped. if we ourselves shun them? ·.. ~-;;J?;'.f'.'.3:'· ~ • HABIG SHIRA M. JACOBSON Brooklyn, N. Y. ~ I\ '~ KANGOL•LONDONFOG ' " DEFENSE OF YESHIVOS' CAPS• TIES POLICIES: SPECIALIZATION­ ,,) NOT DISCRIMINATION

To the Editor: Our yeshivas led by their respec­ tive menahelim and rebbeim, are an example of true devotion and selfless­ ness. and absolute mesiras nefesh to FORYOO. ~ - educate our youth. More than pro­ ducing students who excel in their Your donation to Ozer Dalim in Israel becomes a Gemach Torah studies, they also educate and loan, help with dignity, providing Yom Tov aid or crisis support for inspire our youth to adopt a beauti­ ful Torah life-one from which the *Kolle! families "The unemployed *Recent Russian immigrants *Large families *The working poor. secular world is far removed. 1 therefore find it veiy disappoint­ It is loaned and reloaned, working again and again without end. ing that Rabbi Bender should portray the menaheUm as lacking in selfless­ = ness in his article. He conveys the BUT. FOR US 1+1 STILL 2 idea that principals are only inter­ Our 7 branches, staffed only by volunteers, are now swamped with ested in survival of the fittest and TWICE as many loan applications as last year at this time. limit their devotion to what is easy to achieve. This accusation is com­ pletely unfounded. While it is true Help Os Help Them This Yom Tov! that many yeshivos don·t have the Send your tax deductible donation, today! facilities needed to provide an edu­ cation for the various types of disad­ Harav Chaim P. Scheinberg vantaged children his article refers Honorary President to. we must not belittle the tremen­ • Harav M. Gifter • Harav A. Pam • Harav Y. Rosenblum dous task that the yeshivas under­ • Harav D. Singer • Harav M. Stern • Harav N. Weinberg take for the majority of our children. • Harav Ovadia Yosef • Not eveiy school must accommodate 0 1'71 1TllJ all children of eveiy level. .------While the article does arouse an 1 YES, I will sponsor a Yorn Tov loan for: awareness of the many types of dis­ I advantaged children, the finger I 0 $1000. (large family) D $300. (a couple) I D $500. (small family) D $100. (1 person) should not be pointed to our I D $ __(co-sponsor a loan) mechanchim who are moser nefesh I for Yiddtshkeit. Perhaps a unified ef­ I OZER DAUM fort of public leaders, askonim, I 45 West Seventeenth St. • New York, N.Y. 10011 mechanchim, and laymen can ease OzerDalim I <212> 924-0023 some of the problems. RABBI HERSHEL BERGER Brooklyn, N. Y.

22 The Jewish Obseroer. September 1991 FINGER POINTING OF THE moods. Please accept him into your In a word, the finger is pointed in SECOND KIND school. arrange for transportation, the wrong direction. If there is a lack for lunch, and for his education. I will of space, if there are no facilities, if pay you a tuition which will cover there is no choice, it is we, the lay To the Editor: roughly half of what it costs to edu­ public, who are at fault, not the Last summer a friend decided to cate him, so that I would appreciate handful of mechanchim who are move his fourth grader to a more your going around to raise money to plugging the holes in the dike at great challenging Yeshiva. He was given help educate my son. In seven or personal sacrifice. We need more ye­ little hope at the beginning of the eight years. if you do your job cor­ shivas-and we are the ones who summer ('your son is on the list'). rectly. he will graduate and then I will must act. even less at tl)e end ('nobody dropped probably send him to someone else's Rabbi Bender has done an impor­ out'). By registration tiµle, he and his high school, The chances are that af­ tant public service bringing to the Wife gntsped at one last straw: some­ ter he gets out into the real world, open a problem causing hurt and times, shoWing up at registration neither he nor I will ever think to send pain to many Jewish families. What's ma)

The Jewish Observer, September 1991 23 PLEASE HELP SUSTAIN THOSE WHO HELP SUSTAIN US.

spiritual sustenance for the Jewish people comes through the learning of Torah. And those who have chosen to make Torah study their life's devotion help give the world the sustenance it needs to come closer to G-d. Unfortunately, in these hard For over 76 years, Ezras Torah free loans, funds for en1ergency economic rimes in Israel, hundreds has been there to help. We provide medical needs, hachnosas kallah of devoted ralmedai chachomim families with Yo1n 1~ov stipends, assistance, aid for new-born 77Je fbunders OfEzms lbrah children, help for Olim from Russia and other countries, free loans here in America ... and the needs go on. 1~his New Year, please give as much as you can so that we may continue to help those who give 01'1'/'Cl'O//'(/i.y/ co11ditio11.1· ill a l!Jrab schof:1r's home ill }er11safem. us so much.

sE\iEN:fvslxj11 I[ IEZIRAS llOIRAHI II ANNIVERSARY

THE HUMAN SIDE ()f TC)RAfi Pl·/ILANTHRCJPY and their families are unable to I c.:J" I \\'Ol;ike to~r:edyTorah Scholars.~::1ccepl;. ~ deductihl;:ntribt::n:.: -- afford the barest necessities of I O $ 36 O s 72 O $ 2ill O s 51111 O s I physical life. They struggle every 0 I Ple:L\e send me an EznL\ Tora:1 Pocket Lu'ach. ~ly contribution is enclosed. day to pay for food, clothing and 0 I would like to pledge S to Ezras Torah. I housing. There are those in need I Name of expensive medical treatment. Make check payable to: I Others need to help a young Ezras Torah Address woman become a bride. Or send 235 East Broadway c· z· I New York, NY 10002 Ity State 1P I '--a_n_o_r_p_h_an_ro_s_ch_o_o_l_. ------'-(~2~27-896'.'._ __ _:1i'.'.'.'._e ______=='-__ _LO~ seriousness of the problem. The ye· sion, or difficulty making friends. hat In hand and literally be chozer al shivos and day schools of America Often when I request parents' per· hapesachim, knock on door after educate about one hundred thou­ mission to contact their child's Rebbe door, often to no avail. sand children. How many children or teacher so that we can coordinate "Why not send him out of town?" are having this problem? The ad our efforts, the parents refuse. such parents are often advised by homtnum examples are heartbreak­ "We don't want the Rebbe to know well meaning menahelim But should ing-but will not suffice to induce he's seeing you." they insist. parents be forced to send a 13 or 14 change. It will take solid estimates "Why not? What are you con· year-old boy away from home simply before action will take place. cerned about?" I ask. because he cannot meet the fashion· One last point. Our children are "He might let the menahel know." ably high standards oflocal mosdos being served by people who do un· they whisper. hachinuch? derstand the problem. Just one ex­ "So what if the menahel knows," I ample: there are schools which don•t probe. "I'm sure he'll keep the infor­ A Separate Attempt admit solely on the basis of entrance mation confidential." 'We're not war· examinations. The thinking here is rled about other people finding out," Not too long ago, one of the undis· that "the girl who doesn·t excel on an they explain. "We just don't want the puted Gedolim of our generation examination also has a right to a menahel to know. Ifhe hears our son made a desperate attempt to reverse place in a classroom. She also has to is in therapy that mtght be just the the trend toward elitism In some ye· learn what it means to be a Jewish excuse he's looking for not to accept shivos. In a closed-door session he daughter and a Jewish mother.·· him back next year. And If that hap· sat down with about ten mehahelim Our mechnnchim must deal with pens, wewouldn'tknowwheretogo. who did not know the purpose of the inadequate physical plants, under­ We simply cannot take the chance.... " meeting, nor did they care. The prlvi· paid teachers. overcrowded class­ Yes, parents of weaker students lege of meeting with this Torah per· rooms, and underfunded budgets. are intimidated and frightened. sonality was reason enough to at· They must provide a first-class edu­ When a child is, in fact, kicked out tend. cation and make life and death deci­ of (excuse me, "asked not to return After pleasantries were ex· sions with wisdom and impartiality. to") a yeshiva, then they must take changed, the problem was laid out on If one had to judge, one would have to say that our mechanchim (Rabbi Bender among them) are car. ~~l!I rylng out their responsibilities far From Rosh Hashana to 1§1 more effectively than are we. the lay Shavuoth, special holiday public. foods grace the Jewish ~ DR. BERNARD FRYSHMAN table. The centuries-old Brooklyn, N. Y. 1§1 secrets of these delicious dishes are revealed in these THE SECRET SHAME OF entertaining and informative LOWER-ACHIEVING STUDENTS INYESHIVOS pages-a year-round delight of 220 fully indexed recipes, 20 menus, and fascinating To the Editor: stories pertaining to the cer­ Rabbi Yaakov Bender is to be con· emonial foods served during gratulated for his bold, impassioned the Jewish festival days. and urgently needed article, "Yeshi· vos-Only for the Chosen of Our Every kitchen should have People?" The ink is barely dry and this distinctive easy to use mJ already his article is stirring heated cookbook-for Jewish cook- jg! debate at all levels of the Torah world. ing is a treat for everyone 1§1 Let me first add some anecdotal who enjoys a delicious meal ~ evidence in support of Rabbi prepared with love, served ~ Bender's long overdue, bull's-eye di· with beautiful presentation. agnosis of a very real problem. 162 pages, 8112 x 11. During the past 20 years, I have counseled hundreds of the academi· CALL 1-800-247-6553 Visa/MC or send $12.95* plus $3 S/H check or callyweaker students and their par· money order to BookMasters Inc. 1444 US Rt. 42 Rd. 11, Mansfield, ents whom Rabbi Bender so vividly described. They were not destructive Ohio 44903. 30 DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. or disturbed but may have suffered *Ohio residents please add state sales tax. from low self-esteem, mild depres· l!I ~ il!l8IE!ffil ~ il!l8IE!ffil efil!fl!!

The Jewish Obseroer, September 1991 25 the table. The Rosh Yeshiva then took !em has been hidden from public Goldberg are told that they must ftnd out a list of names. ''These are all view for so long is because the victims another yeshiva for Mendy, the last good boys from good homes who are too embarrassed to organize and thing they want to do is publicize want to learn Torah but cannot get openly advocate for their needs. their ordeal. But if they did, they accepted to a mesivta high school. Children who are, ?"1, physically or would discover they are not alone There are 50 names here. We are not developmentally disabled cannot and the community would then leaving this room until you each hide their disabilities. Everyone can grasp the full extent of this problem. agree to accept 5 boys from this list." see them. Their parents, therefore, Rabbi Bender made a heartfelt In less than 15 minutes. all 50 are often willing to organize into grass plea for us to adjust our attitudes boys were placed. But must we bur­ roots, self-help groups to appeal to more in line with our calling to be den our Gedolim with such unpleas­ existing agencies and institutions, or rachmonim, byshonim, v'gomlei ant tasks? Should we expect them to to create new ones to provide the chassodim As a clinician, however, repeat this procedure every year? special needs their children require. I prefer a more pragmatic approach. Some readers may scoff at anec­ In fact, it is just such efforts which Geological formations shift faster dotal evidence. "A few isolated cases," helped to create H.A.S.C., H.l.D., than community attitudes. To be they will say. "How many students Otzar. Chush, Mishkon, etc. sure, Rabbi Bender's excellent article are really affected? If this were really But no one can tell that Dovi is an will go a long way towards changing such a large problem. how come I've underachiever, Ruehle has a mild the attitudes and expectations of never heard about it before?" learning disability. or Yoss! has a parents and mechanchim But I be­ short attention span. So in our lieve much more is needed. Hiding From the Public achievement-oriented, competitive Rabbi Bender believes, ''The yeshi­ society. the parents of these children vas are communal institutions, and These questions are not rhetorical often feel too ashamed to admit that generally are responsive to commu­ and therefore deserve to be an­ their children are less than top stu­ nal expectations." I disagree. Yeshi­ swered. The main reason this prob- dents. Therefore, when Mr. and Mrs. vas should be communal institu­ tions; but for the most part, they are private institutions which are only responsive to their individual con­ -- '"<;y,-- stituencies. /:_;}S{\-{ ::_- .'?-\_i <>- \:-x_:r---_-/-_; _: -_><:: ~:- :_ -__ -/-> >-/;_ ·::_::-, :-->·:--}~ .._:,_<;: :---:-_:>:- ;_:_ >-_,_ ,-:_- __: _>--_ ·:-: :-: ____ -':- There are, of course, some notable exceptions. The yeshivas that serve some of the larger Chassidic commu­ nities, for example, do accept a broader communal responsibility. A 1~;, {~-.1i"·) ·i'' Satmar couple whose son has a hard time keeping up with the rest of his class is never told, "Why not try the . ·•;'~l~fflE5tfff9;ft9A0.'51AGEl5. Lubavitcher Yeshiva?" The rest of the yeshivas in our community see their responsibility as limited to only the parents of their students and potential students. That's why "maintaining standards" -~~iil~il'~~:~G~~~~ll~ can sometimes take priority over finding a place for Shimmy or 'r1•§F;;~ ,,~,;Jf;~if~~t,~(~I; ~;·~'.~..... ·.~ Chante. 2 1 A Rosh Hayeshiva 's Plan m~i!~ ~~i ;~il~;~~~;~~;~;:~;~.e~~~;~~/' .. lj So what can be done? Recently, I ;1·.M·~~ '.·~~ci·.~t:J'X~~j.iri~-~~ijti'~)~.B buttonholed a leading Rosh Hayeshiva and posed this question ~~·;•'.(!m iji~~J~.€i~j:~.lf~l€~.i·~~l~'~;~.·...... to him. In response, he outlined an entirely workable plan. "Why not implement it?" I urged. .. "How?" he countered. "Why do '~·(.~;f\f;)!~J~ ~-z~.~9•t1••···· •;•'::;~:~~;~~~1~9~~ people always assume that all com­ munal needs must be taken care of by RosheiHayeshiva?You're a writer. Why don't you send it in to The Jew-

26 The Jewish Obseroer. September 1991 ish Obseroer?" RABBI BENDER RESPONDS: chimand laymen" that I have person­ So I am. And here's the Rosh ally attempted to galvanize for a num­ Hayeshiva's plan. What is needed is ber of years-unfortunately to no a local Vaad Hayeshivos which I am sorry that Rabbi Berger found avail. Sadly, there is no basis to would function similarly to the Vaad my article to be an attack on Rabbi Berger's Implication that there Ha'arbaAratzos during the 16th and menahelim. Nowhere in the article are yeshivas with facilities to teach 17th Centuries in Poland. Each did I belittle menahelim. I would cer­ various types of disadvantaged chil­ chinuchinstltutlon would send a rep­ tainly be the first to agree that most dren. In truth, there are almost none! resentative to the Vaad which would mechanchim ;ire maser nefesh for Recently, a parent of a child in have jurisdiction over chinuch-re­ Yiddishkeit need of special education ap­ lated issues that affect the commu­ Rabbi Berger fails to address the proached one of the foremost yeshi­ nity as a whole. tremendous predicament that so vas in Brooklyn with a request that Each institution could still retain many parents and children encoun.­ it open a self-contained class. The complete autonomy. With full partici­ ter. It is exactly the "unified efforts of gentleman is of substantial means pation, however, broader communal public leaders, askonim, mechan- and offered to fund the entire class. issues could be addressed, such as increased teacher salaries, life insur­ ance coverage for all Rebbes, im­ proved health and safety standards, as well as accommodating even stu­ ..._,,,,,,,"-"MY... CLIENTS---­ ARE AMAZED dents with mild learning disabilities. AT THE SERVICE AND If the Vaadwere to decide, for ex­ SAVINBS ON THEIR ample, to adopt any one of Rabbi Bender's administrative proposals, INSURANCE-BUSINESS INSURANCE no institution would have to worry DR PERSONAL" One Slue HUI Plaza, Sutte 1024 Pearl RM>r. NY 10965 about risking its reputation. Ifall ye­ /RV/NB SAFRIN Toi, (914) 620-1800 shivos adopt the same policy at the same time, no one can suffer. Sounds like a pipe dream? There are precedents already. Some com­ munities, for example. have adopted spending limits for simchas. No 'When Natalie became an member of those communities now has to worry about "looking cheap." orthodox Jew, her mother thought Since It has become an across-the­ board policy, every individual is pro­ she had lost her tected. Another example closer to home Is only daughter ... AARTS. When it comes to govern­ ment funding and regulations, yeshi­ vos have already demonstrated their 1t'ere is a fascinating book willingness to meet and work with that captures perfectly each other in spite of subtle differ­ the dilemma of parents ences in hashkaja. whose best laid plans seem Certainly, kol has'chalos kashos, all beginnings are difficult. Consid­ foiled when their daughter erable effort would be needed to es­ leaves home in search of tablish such a Vaad. But once in 'spiritual fulfillment.' place, it could be used to receive many complex communal concerns 'J?trs. Bauer's account is an that affect and are effected by invaluable guide that can mosdos hachinuch. After hearing the Rosh Ha­ help bridge the gap between yeshivas proposal, I was convinced parents and their 'newly that it will be adopted sooner or later. observant' offspring. For the sake of hundreds of would­ be bneiTorahand their parents-I do hope it's sooner. DR. MEIR WIKLER Brooklyn. N. Y.

The Jewish Observer, September 1991 27 setup. It would seem that our yeshi­ The Yeshivos are meant to service Kial Yisroel and all vos deliberately avoid this system, except at the very upper levels of el­ its components. We must find within our hearts and ementary school. Obviously, It is our responsibility souls the ability to make room for every Jewish to support all mosdos HaTorah. But isn't Dr. Fryshman's "Ferdinand" ex­ child-boy or girl-in our mosdos Ha Torah. ample far less than typical? Yes, there are many mechanchtm who are plug­ ging the holes in the dike at great per­ The yeshiva has empty classrooms. special children, but they have also sonal sacrifice. But are we doing all However, they refused his request for elevated the mtddos of the children that should be done when the case they, too, apparently felt that they are with whom they mingle. histories I reported are still occur­ geared for the "highly motivated, As to Dr. Fryshman's comments: ring? In the month and a half since brighter student." And I am sure that One simply cannot equate the hor­ my article appeared in The Jewish they do not want to be known as a rors of the average and less-than- av­ Obseroer, I have been inundated with school for "shvache" kids. erage child who can't find a decent dozens of phone calls from broken­ Our summer camps, such as yeshiva with the quandary of blight hearted parents who cannot fmd ye­ Camps Bnos, Agudah, Mogen and sometimes brtlliant children who shivos for their children-both on the Avrohom, Sternberg, and Heller, must wait a year because he or she elementary-school level and on the have set an admirable example by was born after the cutoff date. Dr. high-school level___,,alling, if not for establishing programs for the learn­ Fryshman also finds fault with those solutions, then at least to confirm ing disabled children and even for ?··i yeshivos where there are no A and B and commiserate. Down Syndrome children. They bear levels. I would suggest that we search Why is there not one single ye­ witness that these programs have not for Dans Torah on the approprtate­ shiva among the mainstream yeshi­ only been heaven-sent for these ness of this type of homogeneous vas in Brooklyn with a bona fide Re­ source Room program? Can it be, as they say, that they do not have any problem children? Can it be only a EXTRA! EXTRA! shortage of finances and space? I continue to maintain that if we opened our hearts and neshamos, we Read all about it! would somehow manage to fmd the material means to save so many of The Bloomfield girls are back in these children. What is most troublesome and irk­ B.Y. Times #3 some is how we call Rav Shach. N"P•?v and Rav Elyashiv, N"P•?v, about the most minute details of chinuch-and correctly so. And yet, when it comes to nefashos, where they have clearly stated their opin­ ions, not only do we not ask, but we also manage to ignore their dicta. The derech Yisroel sabbah from our gedolimofyesteryear defined for us, as well. when a bachurshould be accepted into a yeshiva: Did Rabbi Aharon Kotler, ?"YT, ever reject a Chinky and Pinky face off in bachurwho wanted to learn in Lake­ wood? Twins in Trouble About 40 years ago, a father of two day school children brought one of A TARGUM PRESS BOOK them to the late Rosh Hayeshiva Distributed by FELDHEIM PUBLISHERS Rabbi Ruderman, ?"ll!, at Ner Israel­ 200 Airport Executive Park, Spring Valley, N.Y. 10977 Baltimore for a bechina. After the boy Tel. (914) 356-2282 I Toll free (800) 237-7149 failed to explain the Gemora, Rabbi Ruderman turned to the father and said: "How can l accept him into the yeshiva?"

28 The Jewish Obseroer, September 1991 The father responded: "Ober ehr vill lemeTL (But the boy wants to learn.)" THE YITTI· LEIBEL Replied Rabbi Ruderman: "You say that he wants to learn; you must leave him here. He cannot go any­ HELPLINE where else." Today, that bachuris a prominent A Free Service of the Yitti Leibel Chesed Fund maggid shiur in Ner Israel. No problem is too big ••• No problem is too small••• When four boys from a modern ..•• Is there some terrible thing happening in your family that you are afraid day school in Flatbush applied to or ashamed to tell anyone?? Mesivta Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, the .... Are you a teen-ager or young adult having problems that are question was brought before Rabbi too difficult for you to handle?? Yitzchok Hutner, "":IT. He too re­ ....Are you single or married, and experiencing personal or inter-personal sponded that the sole criterion ~onflicts?? should be whether or not they ....Are you a patentor grandparent suffering from stress?? wanted to learn. One of these four is .-..Areyou simply confronted with a situation that requires you to find an now one of the preeminent mesivta objective li~tener?? ...... • Some of the Torah community's highly skilled therapists are available to rabbeim in the New York metropoli­ talk to you on the phone, withtotal anonymity. Many people have already tan area. been helped by them - they want to help you as well!. Rabbi Yaakov Kopel Brailofsky re­ lated a story to me about the menahel H o 0 o U o R o S Daytime: Monday thru Friday 8:00 AM-12:00 Noon of the then-famous and highly suc­ Sunday 9:00 AM-12:00 Noon cessful Yeshiva of Eastern Parkway, Evenings: Monday thru Thursday 8:00 PM-11:00 PM Rabbi Melech Silber "'':IT. He was Sundav 9,00 PM ·II ,QQ PM once approached as to why his ye­ Dial (718) HELP-NOW (435-7669) shiva did not practice the highly ex­ In NJ, calf (908) 363-1010 This prQje<;t hM been app'l'OVl)d by_ ltiading:Torah authorities: clusionary tactics of another mosad. For tapes ofpast Kinusim contact Mrs: Berl at (7181435-5793 His response was simple: "When I come before the Ki.sei Hakavod, l know that l will be rewarded for the children of the 200 families from weak backgrounds, whom I accepted 1i into the yeshiva. Other children­ with solid backgrounds-we all can educate rather easily." Legacy of Contrast this attitude with that of some high schools today who will not grant an interview to a boy coming from a "Bei.s" class. An elementary Inspi1fation ... school principal recently told me that before he submits high-school appli­ cations for his students, he omits the Elisheva Shechter: Wife ... name of the eighth-grade rebbewhen Mother ... Teacher. Her 30 years he knows that the mesivta will not were a beacon of light to all who even look at the application if the knew her. And now-her family, rebbe was that of the "Bei.s" class. Perhaps the parent who refuses to friends, neighbors, and students­ allow his child to go into the Bei.s have gathered stories, quotes, and class for fear of stigmatizing him is anecdotes, to create a portrait of right after all! her brief but dedicated life. In summary, everyone has the right to make his shop as exclusive Anyone who reads this book will surely become a kinder, wiser, as he chooses. Yeshivas are not our and more compassionate person. H.C $14.95 own. The yeshivas are meant to ser­ vice Kial Yi.sroel and all its compo­ nents. We must find within our hearts and souls the ability to make room for every Jewish child-boy or girl-in our mosdos HaTorah. RABBI YAAKOV BENDER

The Jewish Obseroer. September 1991 29 THIS YEAR IN ISRAEL OVER 95,000 CHILDREN WILL BE BORN.

It's difficult to believe, but the sad fact is that cost ofJust One Life's assistance is just $1,800 per twenty five percent oflsrael's mothers will opt to child, a multiple of chai for a child who can mul­ end their pregnancies. The short term economic tiply the Jewish presence in Israel a hundredfold. disruption and family pressures that giving birth Just One Life will bring, especially in a country where fathers spend a month or more each year in the armed Nurturing Jewish families. Encouraging Jewish forces, are too much to bear. Most ofthese women childbirth. Helping the Jewish state to grow child desperately want to have their babies, but they feel by child. too overwhelmed to bear a child. For more information contact: Rabbi Martin Katz, E.xecutive Vice President UntiltheyhearofJustOneLife. 1 E. 33rd St., Suite 700, New York, ~'Y 10016 Just One Llfe provides the simple resources they 212-689-3508 •FAX# 212-725-7204 need to continue their pregnancies. Help with "One who saves Just One other children in the household. A stipend to Lile is as one who has saved • I.I,, replace lost income. Emo­ an entire WOflU. (Sanhedrin JlAJ tional support through the aches, the exhaustion, the Yes, I \Vould like to assist your \vork by contributing: I Shimon Glick, MD ups and downs of preg­ D $1,800 [] $360 r-1 $50 I Dean, Faculty of Medicine nancy. All this without lec­ D $1,000 D $180 L:J $25 I Ben Gurion University tures, without coercion, D $720 D $100 D $18 I Abraham Steinberg, MD D Other __ without politics. D $500 D $72 I Chairman, Medical Ethics, I Hebrew University Thanks to the relief that Senior Pediatric Neurologist Just One Life, brings to I Israeli families, hundreds Address______I I of babies have been born City;jState/Zip I in the last three years. But Horav Avraham Pam we can save thousands more I Kindly make your tax-deductible contribution to: : Rabbinical Advisor L]ust One Life'_}_ East 33rd St., Suite 700, NYC 1001~ _J with your help. The total Just One Life is dedicated to the enc'Ouragement and support of Jewish childbirth Rabbi Myer Schecter

1;.\'

i; " II ~'-~ i ~)~·~.. . I , ILLNESS, DENIAL, AND ACCEPTANCE

THE HOSPITAL AS A PLACE so associate their identity \\1th their cautionary measure" - all these OF"EMES" physical weli-being, that upon enter­ statements add to our own half­ ing they begin a process of denial truths, building a false barrter of fter a season that saw na­ which belies their mortality. Together hope around the patient and shield­ tional elections in the United with their families. they weave a net­ ing him from a moment of truth, A States, Israel. and Canada, work of untruths, often blaming their which we all need to face. And, G-d one of our hospital's frtendly visitors woes on a doctor or the hospital's forbid, if the patient is dying, I still told me, "Rabbi, the world is kulo treatment... as if the patient could not often hear, "Rabbi, I have bitachon. sheker - totally false. Politics is a become ill on his own. It's always he will make it. G-d is good. You will dirty business - nothing but power seen as someone else's fault - and see. He'll pull through." Needless to plays and corruption. One of the only so the emes becomes distorted. say, this ls not bitachon. It Is a tragic places you can find emes is in a hos­ Of course. a patient may have form of hope and denial that forgets pital. Here, people are faced with the many personal fears, which should that true bitachon is "kol ma d'ovid ultimate emes: that they are mortal be acknowledged. From the moment Rachmono l'tav avid-All that G-d beings with physical and spirttual he enters the hospital's admitting does is for the best." frailties. It's in the hospital that area, awaits test results, or under­ Recently, a school of thought has people learn to face themselves." goes surgery, the patient is often artsen that advocates telling the pa­ I shared my friend's disenchant­ paralyzed with dread. I often hear: tient everything, immediately, all at ment with politicians, but his ideali­ "Rabbi, if you have your health, you once. I find this approach brutal. zation of the hospital as the setting have everything." And, of course, even harmful; yet. at the same time, of emeswas an unfortunate miscon­ good health is prtmary to a quality of we should leave an opening for the ception. Every patient ls different, life we all seek. But as the patient's patient to perceive the truth himself. and one simply cannot generalize. attitude seems to cross over into the There are moments in which he or Furthermore, far from facing the "ul­ unreal. we begin to wonder if our she may want to talk and communi­ timate truth," most hospital patients usual approach to him is still proper. cate - especially to a wife, husband, When the Rabbi ls about to visit a or child. Unfortunately, In so many Rabbi Myer Schecter. a musmach of Yeshiva patient. the family pleads, "Rabbi, cases, the families have already tele­ Nerlsrael, Baltimore. is Director of Pastoral Ser­ when you go into the room, cheer him graphed their feelings of denial and vices in the Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish Gen­ up. Don't let him know how sick he the perceptive patient is worried eral Hospital of Montreal. His article, "The Art is"; or, "Rabbi. tell him that the about upsetting thefamily! Thus, the of Bikur Cholim, tt appeared in The Jewish Ob­ server, October 1988. chemo- (or radio-)therapy is a pre- patientis denied his moment of truth

TheJewishObseroer. September 1991 31 and honesty, and many feelings re­ ''.Al tiftach peh - Do not open the way main unexpressed. for a calamity to occur." Heaven for­ The idealization of the bid, should someone have "the WHY DENIAL? Machia," we don't mention its name; hospital as the setting of we hardly whisper it even in family here are many reasons why circles. Referring openly to a malig­ emes is an unfortunate people tend to employ this nancy creates a readiness for the T psychological mechanism of worst, and can destroy any sense of misconception. Far from denial. First, society places great hope, so necessary for genuine stress on youth and youthful appear­ prayer and recovery. facing the "ultimate ance. We are inundated with prod­ Finally, we may keep quiet simply ucts that promise us wrinkle-free because we are sensitive people. truth," most hospital faces, trim figures, and robust con­ Chas vesholom that we should hurt stitutions; illness itself, of course, can our dear ones; often we go out of our patients so associate only be perceived as a failure to way not to bruise any soul, and we achieve this "youth." Second, when certainly endeavor to spare our fam­ their identity with their we Jews become ill, we may ignore ily in our efforts at consideration. physical well-being, that the reality because of the halacha of The Gemora teaches that "In three TORAH PERSONALITIES, INC. upon entering they begin wishes to express its appreciation to a process of denial HaRav Yisroel Belsky, HaRav Moshe Heinemann, which belies their and Rabbi David Y ankelewitz for their assistance in the making of Series 4 - mortality. l 950's Collectors Series & Holiday Quiz Cards. ways do we discern a man's person­ Laminated Posters and Series 4 now available ality- bekiso, bekaaso, bekoso-in his purse, his anger, and his drunk­ enness" (En.win 65). Since the Tanna is referring to those situations where Yeshiva of the Telshe Alumni a person has dropped his guard, to cordially invites Telshe alumni, parents, friends reveal his true self, we might add to and the interested public the list: "becholyo" - when a man to a becomes ill. Here, too, a man can be judged, for the stress and threat of Day of n?:n NY.lP illness provoke moments of emes. n'll~Y.l? n:J?n1 And yet, what is revealed is often related to O'NIU O'Y.l' sadly disappointing. To take a com­ mon example: Mr. Schwartz, when in Sunday, 'il!ll1 'l September 15, 1991 good health, is a very sincere, .frum Sessions from 10:30 a.m.-3:30 pm. man; he has sedorim in learning, never misses minyan and is highly Yeshiva Campus: 4904 Independence Ave. Riverdale, N.Y. respected in his community. But in the hospital, after his surgery, he lies 10:30-11:15 ..... Rabbi Elimelech Kohn ...... n:min1 miir.i in bed, so frightened that he Is almost 11:30-12:15 ..... Rabbi Moshe Frey ...... O"lll' nl!lr.in )'ll':l paralyzed. The words in his sejerare 12:15-1:00 .... Rabbi Yehuda Fischer ...... ,,,,,, blurred and he can hardly daven. 1:00-2:15 ...... Lunch And when the doctor enters the Afternoon Session: 450 West 250th Street, Riverdale, N.Y. room, the process of denial begins - often made worse by a desire to pla­ 2:20-3:25 ...... HoRav Avrohom Ausband, cate his family as well. Mr. Schwartz Rosh HaYeshiva ...... n1lN1 n:i~m blurts out, "Doctor, I hope everything 3:30 ...... Mincha went O.K.": or, "BaruchHashem, it's all over. I heard from the family that YESHIVA OF THE all is well." The doctor in his wisdom TELSHE ALUMNI will usually say, "Mr. Schwartz, it 4904 Independence Avenue I Riverdale, New York 10471 I (212) 601-3523 wentfine. ltwill beO.K." For the doc­ tor, too, is a sensitive person.

32 The Jewish Obseroer, September 1991 Perhaps the Tanna did not add the "Many have said Viduy and have word "beclwlyo" to his list because not died," we explain in advance, hospitalization is too powerful an ex­ "and many have not said Viduy and perience in which to judge someone. have died, but all who say Viduy have Distinctions between thefrumand the a share in the World-to-Come" (as per non-frum often blur in the hospital. nally ill, we tell him to say Viduy"""" (the We all share human frailties, and the classical confessional): "May it be Your situation for some can be understand­ will that You heal me completely, lbutj ably overwhelming. So the Tanna left if! die, may my passing be an atone­ for YOUR it out. Instead we can refer to: "Do not ment for all my sins that I am guilty FUNDRAISING or judge your fiiend until you are in his of transgressing before You .... Make PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN makom (position)" (Avos 2,5}, and my portion in Gan Eden and [allow CONSIDER a there is scarcely a makom more deli­ me] to merit the World-to-Come that CUSTOM DESIGNED cate than a hospital bed. is in store for the righteous." (A loose LUACH or DIARY translation of Yoreh De'ah, 330,2.) (7 l 8) 85 l - l 3 l 4 THE ROLE OF THE VISITOR And if he wishes, he may recite the long Viduy ofYom K.ippur. o often, we bystanders - rab­ bis, families and friends - S stand in awe of the whole situ­ Considering a move ation. Goodassomereasonsforshield­ ing the patient from the severity of his toMOJVSEY? illness may be, they create a delicate situation, which is like a double-edged sword. Our hearts reach out to help for careful attention to your and to understand the patient's pain, individual needs, call us today! and G-d forbid that we should do any­ thing to make the patient feel further (914) 354·8445 pain. Yet, it would be tragic if the per­ son were not guided to reassess his life .... What should we say? JO At the outset, we should say very A NEW TORAH TAPE SERIES little. Sometimes our silence is elo­ by quent. We may hold a hand and al­ low the patient to lead the conversa­ RABBI RALPH PELCOVITZ tion. Sometimes the patient will be­ of Congregation Kneseth Israel gin to talk. We listen. We don't inter­ (The White Shul, Far Rockaway, N.Y.) rupt. If he expresses hope, we too encourage hope. If he changes the Noted Rabbi Lecturer &.. Author subject, we go along. But sometimes as he talks, we realize that he knows "SOUL SEARCHING &. SIMCHA" more than we had thought. We rec­ A Series of Torah Tapes on the Yomlm Norolm &. Succos ognize it in his anger, his questions. _I. Elul - ''The Month of Reconciliation" And we go along with him. He knows _2. Rosh Hashonah - "Judging and Being judged" we're there. He knows we feel with _ 3. Shabbos Shuvah-''Teshuvah &. Taharah-The forces that lnftuence Us" him. He knows we care. He may be _4. Yorn Klppur - "Purging and Purifying" frustrated, or he may have come to _ 5. Succos - "Simcha &. Security" peace with himself. Whichever is the Please send me the following: case, we must bear in mind the patient's feelings; and his moments 0 Complete Set ...... $30.00 0 Individual Tape ...... $7.50 of courage and truth, even if only {Indicate Above) short-lived, place him In consonance Prices include Postage &. Handling with our Chazal's sensitive and hon­ Name ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~­ est approach to the clwleh. Address -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He may exhibit a maturity and a readiness to deal with the underlying message of his illness: mortality and Make checks payable to: Kneseth Israel Hdlbotus Torah fund the need for teshuva So we follow the Send your order to: Shulchan Aruch's instruction that Kneseth Israel Harbotus Torah Fund, P.O. Box 263, Lawrence, N.Y. 11559 when a clwleh is diagnosed as termi-

The Jewish Observer, September 1991 33 Yoreh De'ah 338, 1). In this halachic prescrtption, we see a sense of open­ Our hearts reach out to help and to understand the ness. Man doesn't live forever, it tells us, and a man has to face his mor­ patient's pain, and G-d forbid that we should do tality as a fact of life. And yet the Shulchan Aruch continues, "These anything to make the patient feel further pain. Yet, it words [of suggesting Viduyl should not be said to unlearned men, would be tragic if the person were not guided to women or children lest they cry and become dejected." Clearly, the reassess his life. halacha does not disregard the "hu-

man element." It is tempting to think Uncle Moishy, that the reason this directive is fre­ Mordechai Ben David, quently not followed today is because _Hll so many are in the category of am and other Top-Of-The-Line IEllY! ha'aretz-frightened at the mention Jewish Entertainers of Viduy; there are not many to whom the halacha therefore seems appli­ are available Now is the cable. But when the opening is dis­ to visit time to ioin the cerned, it should not be ignored. Seriously Ill We may also note that even Al II ?KW' milK ?\!l :m:i ,.,nu mln tijtach peh may only apply when one Children U\AgLldlst Benevolent Society, Inc. does not know the illness with cer­

thanks to • Full Bur.al Benel1ls i( 1 r rhp Fomrly tainty; but when the diagnosis is nm nnr.iw (Ch1l6ren up lo the oge ol 20 yfors, clear, we have a duty to be realistic, • Blood Bonk Bener1t\ lor lhe Fom1ly • Everylh>ng COttred our"' occordanre wilh !-Jah)[ho facing the situation in a most posi­ ll~1'Nl :ip~' ,, ro nin tive and sensitive manner for the pa­ A New Ches.sed Project Run Bv {718) 436-1458 Agucbth bnel of Ameriei tient and family. in conjunction with Suki & Ding Produrnon. AgucUst ..newol•nt Society To set up an apPOimmem, call, 14 Wllllam Str.. t TWO BEDS, TWO ATTITUDES (212) 797-900J eKt.1157, M-F. 9"5 N- Tork, NY 10038 recall a visit to a semi-prtvate room, which seems to sum up I just how relative the power of ARE YOU MOVING? emes in these situations can be. In one bed lay a gentleman who had just IS YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS PRINTED had a hernia operation. His hospital­ INCORRECTLY ON THE JO MAILING LABEL? ization was to be for two days. He We need your help to ensure proper delivery of the 10 to your home. Please complained to me bitterly, "Rabbi, attach current mailing label in the space below, or print clearly your address this hospital is terrtble. The doctors and computer processing numbers that are printed above your name on the don't talk to you, the nurses are too busy, the food is awful, and I'm in address label. constant pain. Never again will I ADDRESS CHANGE FORM come back here!" (Affix label here) In the next bed lay a cancer patient - a Sephardi, born in Morocco. He was diabetic, a double-leg amputee, and he had been hospitalized for six months. With his constant sever panim yafos (pleasant facial expres­ Name ______sion), he said, "Rabbi, don't listen to him. Baruch Hashem. everyone Is so Mdress ______nice, and even the food is not so bad. And Rabbi, I thank Hashemyom yom City, State, Zip------­ - for each day. Today, 1 was able to Date Effective------pray another Shacharit and Mincha. I cannot thank Hashem enough." Please allow 6-8 weeks for all changes to be reflected on your mailing label. VVE V\llll NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR BACK ISSUES MISSED unless you notify us 8 weeks prior to your move. What could I do but hug this man and leave his room with tears? •

34 The Jewish Observer, September 1991 Our Entire Family at

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36 The Jewish Obseroer. September 1991 Libby Lazewnik

A Private Waterloo

I First blood. My sword proved the Into a huge plastic bag swifter. Oh, I could bite my tongue! Sealed tight, tight; A triumph. That treacherous double-edged And I'd hurl that bag sword And now I bury my burning face Up to the voiceless In Has, in a single unmeditated Vacuum of space: sweep, The Victor's wreath: Silvery fairy bubble, Altered the course of my history. A malodorous bouquet of To toss in their own midnight I should have detoured 'round the Regrets. ocean. battlefield. That's what I'd do, if only (Whoever really desires life II I had them back: Ought to know that!) Instead What wouldn't I give to have Those nasty, over-hasty I sought the glory of confrontation: Those five miserable words Words Unwittingly stalwart in the service Back again! That made you go. of If only for the space of a minute Life's enemy. I had them in my grasp, III The skirmish was short but sav­ Here's what I'd do: age. (sigh) Ruthlessly stamp them down, Instead, they live on, Among the casualties: Syllable on ugly syllable, till Echoing in your memory Your sensibilities wounded The whole dismal sentence re- And my conscience. My happiness killed sembled Only forgiveness will bury them, Our friendship, reeling One tiny, twisted comma; one day. from a mortal blow. And I'd lodge that deformed thing There's no doubt how the history My swordsman ship was dazzling. books In a casket all of lead Yes, in this particular battle I may Will record this one. count With a dozen shiny seals, The sword's snug in the scabbard. Myself (though sprawled among Three on every side; Vigilant, I guard the gates the slain) And I'd ride with that casket A victor of sorts. And gird my loins for the next Far out to sea, battle. Flinging wide the heedless gates, I Fling it into the deepest, struck Blackest pit there- Mr. l!t Mrs. Israel Dembitzer Sword a-glint in the simmering sun of your wrath. A watery grave. wish Kial Yisroel a You cowered; I pressed my advan­ Then I'd plant my feet on the tage, drew shore, and n:nP n~'nm i1l'l1:> Drain away the sea Mr. lit Mrs. Chaim J. Banker Libby Lazewnik, a published poet and author (With that evil leaden mass at its wish one and all a of stories for youth, lives in the Har Nof section heart) rt~'e MO'l"iin n.'l"li!:;I of Jerusalem.

The Jewish Observer. September 1991 37 " • • • " (with and without comment) TO AGUDATH ISRAEL he Neiv York Post carried a MEMBERS controversy between former T Mayor Ed Koch and Henry 4916 i3thAve,B'klyn,NY. li219 Siegman. the executive director of the COMPREHENSIVE American Jewish Congress. When (718)854-2911 Koch had faulted Siegman's philoso­ MAJOR MEDICAL phy. Siegman responded that as an or­ dained rabbi. he has his well-honed perspective. And as far as his opponent HEALTH INSURANCE GIT READY 10 GO! is concerned-let us quote Siegman's letter to The New YorkPost(Aug. 5, '91): PROGRAM FOR THE NEWYEAR Ed Koch ... continues to say outra­ geous things even when he has no idea Available to New York State residents on!'y :l"l\Vl1 what he is talking about. When the ancient Israelites were of­ For Information Call: The new Luach for MishrwHalacha fered the Torah at Sinai, they re­ 212-797-7'388 Yomit.is ready! sponded: "We will observe the Torah, • and we will hear what it has to say." Our Ask for it and we will _send. it to you sages observed that our forefathers Between FREE! actedfoolishly [italics ours] in speaking 9:30 AM and 12:30 PM • before listening and learning the facts. Start aprogram of learning In this respect, at least, Ed Koch can Mishna & Halacha claim that he is tOlloWingJewish tradi­ • tion . Join the thousands _who follow the (sfgned)Henry Siegman. National Executive Director daily Luach American Jewish Corigress/Manllatta11 • Now, did our sages actually criticize lou will have the satisfaction and fay our ancestors for proclaiming "Na'aseh AUTHORS & ~RTISTS of learning Torah every day ve'nishmah-we will observe and we will .. hear" on the slopes of Sinai? Let's see Write or can:. what the Talmud says on the topic: C.l.S. Publishers invites RABBI ELIAS ry\RP A certain Sadducee [for the sake of authors and artists to submit 1880 47th Street,' . l:lrooklyn; NY 11204 "ordained rabbis" who may have forgot­ manuscripts and artwork for ·... ··... ·• 718-8$.1,-0770 •. '• •>.Y_ ten, the Sadducees were members of a evaluation. We seek manu· sect of heretics who rejected the divinity scripts in all areas of Judaica 'f'•mq'?%~ifltiJ:~~it.CC~~r/e:ll~!~. of the Oral Law! saw Rava so engrossed in his studies that he inadvertently fJ publishing with originality, ,_ crushed his own fingers under his boot creativity and high literary .w until blood oozed forth from his finger. standard. Our editors develop ~ Said the Sadducee, "Impulsive people, and highlight the Individuality that put your mouths before your ears! ~ ofthe author and our graphics Urgent Message! You persist in your impulsiveness! First ri you should have listened {to the sub­ t I department gtves each book rJ A widowed mother of three stance ofG-d'scommands]. If you liked its own identity. ' t became religious two years ago. them. you could have accepted them; fj We welcome the opportu· I• To her great distress, one child and ifnot, you could have rejected them." nity to work with you. Rava replied: "We act in tn1st. As the is learning disabled. The passage (in Proverbs 11,3] says, The in­ ~ mother lacks the funds to fulfill tegrity of the upright guides them.' while her deep desire to educate her those who rely on excuses fulfill the (con­ clusion of the] passage, The deviousness child in the roots of her Jewish of the treacherous leads to ruin."' heritage. -Shabbos 68 a, b i'nYom • LiJntfm ·.ferrwkm., If the AJC leadership would devote Please sent you tax deductible wnlribu!ion lo: 180 Park Avenue• Lakewood, ti)' 08701 Jess energy to waging implacable LIMUDEI HASHEM battles against government aid to ye­ In UK 01809-3723 shivas, and spend a little more time on .,; Jn lsr11el 02 53&935 Mr. & Mrs. Kops • HCR 148 milchamtashel Turah (the salvos ofTal­ Fallsbu,gh, N. Y. 12733 mudic "warfare") it would know its ~.-;:~.;: ~ Sages from its Sadducees. II

38 The Jewish Obseroer, September 1991 Touch of Wisdom, a Touch ofWit. by ShmuelHimeistein A (Mesorah Pub!.. Brooklyn. Books 1991. $16.95). a sparkling treasury of Jewish anecdotes, ideas and ad­ vice, seeks to present the record of Judaism as it has been lived, in practice, through the ages. To this end the author has chosen from the vast pool of stories that have come down to us, picking those that are not only interesting but teach us a Torah perspective. They are orga­ nized into four major topics-Man and G-d, Man and His Fellow Man, the Community, and Holy Days. The central figures in these anecdotes are Mithnagdim and Chassidim. Rabbis and Roshei Yeshivos, com­ munity leaders and just plain folk (indeed, it would have been useful athways to Teshuvah rich collection of stories, parables. to include an index of the personali­ (Feldheim Jerusalem-N.Y. and anecdotes pertaining to this time ties represented in this volume). P 1991. $6.95) contains the of the Jewish year is included, as well Each in his way reflects a funda­ "Gate ofTeshuvah," from the classic as selected texts in Hebrew and En­ mental truth; Judaism is not a reli­ "Orchos Tzaddikim" translated by glish (such as Hatoras Nedorim and gion in the common sense of the Shraga Silverstein. together with an Mishnayos Rosh Hashanah). The full word. limited to houses of worship essay. 'The Reach of Teshuvah." by annotations provide additional infor­ and special observances. but has Rabbi Chaim Friedlander':>"ll!. which mation as well as detalled references embraced, molded, and put its is based on the opening passage of to the sources. All in all, this is a very stamp on all aspects oflife. Who, we the "Gate of Teshuvah. .. and which useful volume indeed. may say. is like Your people Israel, was rendered into English by Yaakov a unique nation on earth?! Lavon. The Gate of Teshuvah offers nd Nothing But the a penetrating and systematic analy­ Truth. by Rabbi Ephmim olden Apples, Parables of sis of the mitzva of teshuvah which •••A Omtz(JudaicaPress. N.Y., the Ben Ish Chai, by Yaakov will be of great help to anyone seri­ 1990. $.12.75). is a collection of in­ G Kahn. translated by ous about wanting to mend his ways sights, stories, and anecdotes about Shaindel Weinbach (Mesorah Pub!.. (though the list of afflictions to be Rabbi MenachemMendelofKotzk, with Brooklyn, 1991, $13.95). The name imposed on sinners is not applicable sensitive illustrations by Sigmund Forst of this book is drawn from Mishlei in our times). Rabbi Friedlander·s There is a brtef introduction to the life 25.11, as explained by the Rambam: essay adds a further dimension; not and system of thought of"the Kotzker," the golden apples are the profound only does it provide an object lesson which does not aspire to break new lessons hidden in masterfully in grasping the deeper meaning of ground in interpreting this complex crafted parables that represent the complex Midrashic statements. but personality and his unusual life, but silver settings of the golden apples. profoundly illuminates the concept of provides the background for the three The Ben Ish Chai. the preeminent teshuvah and inspires the reader to sections ofthe book which deal with the Sephardic Torah personality of his pursue it. iruth between Man and G-d. Man and time and a dominant halachic sage. Himself. and Man and the World. The was at the same time a master heNewRoshHashanahAn­ many stories and interpretations in preacher who, every Shabbos after­ thology. by Rabbi Aaron each section wonderfully reflect the noon, held the Jews of Baghdad in T Levine (Zichron Meir Pub!.. Kotzker's uncompromising pursuit of his spell-and he used parables as Toronto. 1990. $17.95,h.c., $14.95 the iruth, unvarnished and undiluted. one of his main devices to convey his p.b., $4.95, booklet) is another work As he used to emphasize, we can ratio­ teachings to his listeners. In this designed to help us prepare for the nalize for ourselves or our fellow-be­ volume many of his parables are Days of Awe. The author systemati­ ings-but G-d knows what we really presented, together with the lessons cally presents the laws and customs are. The YomimNom'imare a time that that they were meant to teach. By of the month of Ellul and of Rosh calls for honest introspection and self­ themselves they make good reading Hashanah. together with explana­ judgment. and there could hardly be a (the translation Is excellent)-and tions gathered from the whole array better textbook for teaching us how to they leave the reader thoughtful and of Rabbinic literature. In addition. a go about this self-evaluation. elevated.

The Jewish Obseroer, September 1991 39 he Yom Kippur Avodah, by tectural layout of the Beis English by Rabbi Elimelech Lepan, Rabbi Menachem Moshe Hamikdashand basic facts about the (Targum/Feldhe!m, Southfield, Ml. T Oppen (CIS Pub!. and M'chon vessels. garments. and procedures 1990, $6.95). This slim but valuable Harbotzas Hatorah. 1988, $11.00) is used in the Temple service; he has volume presents an outline of the the most ambitious of a series of ex­ also included a summary of the vari­ Avodah performed by the Kohein cellent publications ("The Pictorial ous steps of the Avodah and the fully Gadol on Yorn Kippur. as well as Avodah Series"), designed to explain explained text of the descriptions of twenty-one questions posed by the those sections of the Chumash that the Avodah included in the Sefardic Abarbanel to elucidate the meaning deal with the different sacrifices of­ and Ashkenazic versions of the of the Avodah and its various parts, fered in the Beis Hamikdash. and­ Mussafprayer of Yorn Kippur. It is and the answers given by him. Thus byvisual means, charts and illustra­ impossible in a review to do justice the reader gains a deeper under­ tions-help the reader form a clear to the many pedagogic features that standing of what the Avodah was all mental image and understanding of make this volume a pleasure to use about (the footnotes by Rabbi Lepon the subject. The Karban Olah (pub­ (such as the use of color for empha­ are of great value in further illumi­ lished in 1986) and The Karban sis, both in charts and illustrations). nating the theme of the book). This Mincha ( 1987) have gained wide­ Obviously this is a work of impor­ is a work that certainly makes a real spread acceptance in yeshivas be­ tance not only for school but for ev­ contribution to our appreciation of cause of the clear presentation and erybody concerned with understand­ the Temple service. fine illustrations (Hebrew source ref­ ing the tefillos he is reciting on Yam erences and further explanations, at Kippur. It is to be hoped that Rabbi • • • the end of each booklet, are of par­ Oppen will continue to give us the ticular value to the teacher or ad­ benefit of his expertise in many fur­ postscript to the review of A vanced students). In 1988 Rabbi ther publications. Parent's Guide by Rabbi S. Oppen applied the same approach to A Singer, in the last issue of The The Laws ajTzoraas which have al­ n illustrated Guide and Stu­ Jewish Observer: ways been considered to be among dents' Workbook to In my review I pointed out that the the most difficult halachic areas to A Korbonos and Menochos. by Chilla, in the passage referred to by grasp and to teach. The Yam Kippur Rabbi Sinai Malowicki (Torah Rabbi Singer. does not say what Avodahis a larger volume, as its sub­ Umesorah Pub!., Brooklyn, Rabbi Singer suggests-that it was ject matter is more comprehensive. 1991,$3.50 each). covering the permitted for women to be taught the The author has included an intro­ Sidros Vayikrah and Tzav, is an Oral Law. I was correct; however, I duction which describes the arch!- adaption of a Hebrew work by Rabbi have since found a passage in an­ Sholom Dov Steinberg. It. too, is an other work of the Chilla (Tov Ayin 4) excellent pedagogical tool for the where he does speak about teaching teaching of the sacrifices mentioned women. There he states that "if one in these Sillros. Sketches of the sec­ knows about a woman that her in­ MALOHN ond Beis Hamikdash and its altar tention is to learn with all her heart MIFAL and pictures of the animals used as and great intelligence, it is then per­ sacrifices are presented by way of in­ mitted to her father, and others, to VISITING NEW YORK?? troduction. This volume, of course, teach her." In the first place this is Beautiful rooms. with kitchen covers much more ground than each certainly not a general approval for facilities, in heart of Boro Park of Rabbi Oppen's presentations. introducing Gemorain girls' schools. by day or week. Near Shuls. Thus the text is more concise and the Moreover. Meshores Moshe raises the take-out foods. etc. Profits to illustrations less detailed; on the obvious objection that (quite apart Mifal Torah Vodaas. other hand. in keeping with its role from the fact that it is not the way of as a school text, it contains a full the Sages to issue such qualified rul­ Call (718) 851·2969 range of tests on the material covered ings) we surely cannot make deci­ (an answer sheet is available on re­ sions based on what is in the heart quest). This is indeed a fine work; it of a person. Tzitz Ellezer. vol. IX no. would appear to this reviewer to be 2, quotes this controversy as part of most useful for students somewhat a broad survey of the halachic litera­ older than those who are able use ture on the subject, and shows that Rabbi Oppen's work. No mention is the universal consensus of those per­ KABBIAVROHOMGoLDIUlRG, ! 01REC1'0R . made in this volume of any plans to mitting women to study Torah publish additional guides, but they Shebe'alPeh. limits this study to the BRACHA PERSONAL SERVICES I would certainly be welcomed. final halach!c conclusions of the Oral Offers ShiduchlrrtServiCes for:: Law. to the exclusion of the halachic .D.Single· ·o VVid9Wed D.Divrwtcd . , he Abarbanel on the Yom give-and-take that marks Talmudic I MODERATE ':;~ (718) ™:2170 ALLAGESJ Kippur Service in the Beis literature-which is the point that my T Hamikdosh, rendered into review was malting. • 40 The Jewish Observer. September 1991 Letters to the Editor

SCIENTIFIC QUESTS: A ROAD TO APPRECIATION OF THE INFINITE

To the Editor: [i] MAKE Even before I began pursuing a RESERVATIONS commitment to Yiddishkeit, I remem­ FOR ber being drawn to the study of sci­ (~ITOL YOMIM NOROIM ence. It seemed the most tangible and ANDSUCCOS "real" of the academic disciplines ... a HOTEL + MOTEL NOW! continuum of search and discovery, renewed by technology, that held in­ LAKEWOOD, NEW JERSEY finite promise of revelation of the Madison Avenue; Corner of lth Street GLATT KOSHER workings of the world, the ''what" and "how" of Rabbi Epstein's secular sci­ WEEKEND BAR MITZVAHS CHOLOV YISROEL entists ("Summertime-Opportunity SHEVA BROCHOS/SHABBATONSISEMINARS Under Strict for Contemplation of the Wonders of Rabbinical Creation," 'The Jewish Obseroer, May '91). (201) 363-5000 Supervision of Rabbi Epstein suggested that "the 1·800 CAPITOL (227-4865) Vaad HaKashrus greatest obstacle for scientists to overcome to achieve spirttual growth" Only 15 Minutes from Great Adventure of Lakewood is the dry and technical approach they take in their study of the world, which "sidesteps the why." Au contraire! I feel that the newest mi­ croscopes and most advanced tele­ scopes, which draw scientists in their headlong quest for truth, can be the very instruments that bring scien­ tists face-to-face with the Ultimate Truth. An electron microscope cannot resolve the G-dly spark in a living cell and a space telescope orbiting be­ yond the "blue sky" will not pierce the heavens to reveal Hashem on His Throne. But the scientific experience of the true infinity of such quests can bring a scientist to a sense of the in­ fmite. Each scientific theory tested and proposition proven uncovers a multiplicity of new questions to be studied, a quest which can never be realized in an individual scientist's lifetime. 'The Jewish Observer. September 1991 41 I was once asked by a rabbi if my A C /\ I; i"tr.l I nvolvement in science and medicine CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST made belief in G-d easier or more dif­ ficult. Easler for sure! A feeling ex­ DR.BENZION pressed by greater scientists tban I. SOROTZKIN The primary obstacle to this spiritual growtb is not technology and tbe sci­ N.Y. STATE LICENSED entific method. but the scientist's ADULTS own ego, which may make him feel TG AND CHILDREN he Is greater tban or creator/master witb tbe body, witb tbe cell?-in tbeir over tbe phenomena he studies. For quest for discipline and coordination (718) 219-3867 tbose of us who are not poets or mys­ in serving tbe gloiy of Creation and (Please note new number) tics, tbe best way to see "tbe universe its breatb-taking harmony? m a grain of sand and Heaven in a The "scientist's own ego, which flower," may be by looking through a makes him feel.. .master over the microscope witb bittuL phenomena... " is a parslw unto Itself; SUSAN L. PERLMAN, M.D. DIGEST OF MEFORSHIM while "technology and tbe scientific Los Angeles, CA. metbod" so attunes him to his rou­ ,tnpr, 1n:i ,~,pr, ttnes tbat he does not sense tbe Infi­ RABBI EPSTEIN REPLIES: nite, and tbe "G-dly spark in a living '7"lrT ,:VU'7K '7K1r.ll!I l";n;ir.i cell." are factors that cannot but be Available at overlooked. LEKUTEI I am grateful for tbe opportunity "Each scientific tbeoiy... uncovers to respond to tbe tbought-provoking a multiplicity of new questions ... a c/o Yitzchok Rosenberg letter from Dr. Perlman. Due to tbe 10 West 47th Street, Room 503 quest which can never be realized in New York, NY 10036 space limitations implicit in respond­ an individual scientist's lifetime" (212) 719-1717 ing to a letter. I will allow myself only (quoted from Dr. Perlman's letter). several brief observations. How enhanced these thoughtful 20 Volumes on Thrah, Perek, The words of Dr. Perlman, "An Medrash, Megilos and Talmud. words are by two articles in a more electron microscope cannot resolve recent issue of The N Y Times (July Proceeds of sales distributed the G-dly spark in a living cell ... ," 16), under tbe headlines: "Biologists among Yeshivos and used for brought to mind an article tbat I re­ Stumble Across New Pattern of In­ reprinting of volumes out-of-print cently read in The N. Y. Times (July 9, heritance." and "Explaining PRICE: $8.00 PER VOLUME Science Section), under tbe heading, Universe's Structure Gets Harder" "Biologists Seek tbe Words Hidden in (Science Section). DNA's Unbroken Text." How alive and compelling are tbe Scientists emphasize tbe genetic words of tbe Rambam:" ... How does "instructions Inscribed in eveiy cell one achieve love of the SINGLE & DOUBLE tbat tell a young body how to grow, Creator? ... When a person contem­ BREASTED MEN'S SUITS an older body how to survive. and a plates His great acts and wondrous fertile body how to reproduce... how creations.... "And tben he also loses to make proteins etc." And so tbey, his ego-as tbe Rwnbam continues: SILBIGER'S tbe scientists. are "in search of pat­ "And when he does contemplate ... he terns where to find the Words .... " retreats in fear, in awareness of his They "have gone so far as to give tbe •Slacks • All Wool Coats stature as a puny, sightless creature. language of tbe genes a name, and small-minded, standing In humility • Rainwear • Sports Jackets to write a DNA dictionary.... " before the all-comprehending, as I wonder: as scientific as tbe lan­ (King] David said (Tehillim 8, 4-5): SALE RACKS guage will appear to be, as system­ 'When I see Your heavens, tbe work FOR atic as tbe DNA dictionary will be in ofYour fingers,.. what is tbe frail hu­ BIG BARGAINS regard to genetic information. will it man tbat You should remember him. also reveal tbe "G-dly spark in a liv­ the son of mortal man that You 1769 51 St.. Brooklyn. NY ing cell" which animates tbe genes to should be mindful of him?"' (Hilclws "instruct," and tbe "body" or tbe pro­ (718) 854·1196 YesodeiHaTorah2,2). tein to listen to instructions, and to Viewing tbe marvels ofcreation does Daily 11:00 A.M.-9:00 P.M.. follow upon tbem?Wtll this language or by appointment indeed link a person witb infinity. and and this dictionary help us to grasp instill him with humility-providing he tbe autbority of tbe Omnipotent as doessoaspartoftbeRambam'squest Silbiger Suits You Best it directs tbe genes in tbeir search for for love of tbe Creator. mutuality and tbeir communication RABBI JOSEPH D. EPSTEIN

42 TheJewishObserver. September 1991 Ill~=====nt:ITl::'J Lin I t::Ufl lrtt::"84 ft:: The WilliamStreetlNYCNational Headquarters IOOJB'a::S:!:::!:l:======of Agudath Israel of America

Letter to the Leaders of the New York State Senate and Assembly from Agudath Israel of America's Commission on Government Affairs

July 3, 1991 children to an overtly gay couple, in pand the deflllition of marriage and the close setting of a three-family family to encompass "domestic part­ Honorable Ralph J. Martno house, would send mixed messages nerships" - as indeed another cur­ President Pro Tern that could be extremely harmful to rently pending bill, S.4333 /A. 7205, and Majortty Leader their children's religious and moral would in fact do - the first step down New York State Senate development. a slippery slope at the bottom of 330 State Capitol Building If the captioned bill becomes law, which lies the total abandonment of Albany, NY 12247 the couple will be faced with a the traditional conception of family Hobson's Choice: follow their reli­ and family values. Honorable Melvin H. Miller gious principles, and rtsk liability Consider that each of the other Speaker under the secular law; or follow the protected categortes in the Executive New York State Assembly secular law, and violate the tenets of Law - age, race, creed, color, na­ 932 Legislative Office Building their faith. It is wrong, in our view, tional ortgin, sex and martial status Albany, N.Y. 12248 for the law to impose that impossible - relates specifically to a person's dilemma upon citizens of the State. status. By adding sexual ortentation Re: S.2236B I A.3346B (the "Gay What is especially noteworthy in to this list, the law for the very first Rights" BilQ this regard is the fact that in the con­ time would be conferrtng protection text of religious organizations and on the basis of a person's conduct. Dear Senator Martno and schools, the law does recognize that We are concerned that this unprec­ Assemblyman Miller: prtnciples of religious freedom out­ edented expansion would convey the weigh the secular ideal of non-dis­ message that our society regards ho­ On behalf of Agudath Israel of crimination. See Executive Law sec­ mosexuality itself as a matter of un­ Amertca, I wrtte to express opposition tion 296(11); Education Law section controllable status rather than con­ to the captioned legislation, which 313(3)(a). Enactment of the proposed trollable conduct. Many New York­ would amend vartous sections of the gay rtghts legislation would starkly ers, we are confident, do not share Executive Law, the Civil Rights Law pose an unanswerable question: that perspective. and the Education Law to prohibit Why are religiously motivated per­ Thank you for considering our discrtmination on the basis of sexual sons entitled to any less protection views on this sensitive issue. ortentation. under the law than religiously moti­ Agudath Israel's opposition to the vated entities? Sincerely, bill is based on two concerns. 2. Passage ofgay rights legislation 1. Promotion of gay rights neces­ would send an implicit message of David Zwiebel, Esq. sarily entails diminution of certain endorsement of homosexuality as a Director of Government Affairs other.fimdamental rights - particu­ legitimate practice. As many jurts­ General Counsel larly religious rights. Consider, for prudential scholars have noted, the example, the following scenarto: A laws by which a society chooses to DZ/ks young couple, with children, owns a govern itself have, among other three-family house. They live in one things, an educational function; they of the apartments. One of the other establish norms of conduct deemed l,)i~:a,Daf !i'!)lal:a.,S}JllJ.r apartments becomes vacant. Two acceptable by the society. Laws that and men, living together in an openly ho­ single out sexual ortentation as a pro­ Oithoc!ox ~ollbudl mosexual relationship, seek to rent tected category serve to confer in WeStem NewYod! the apartment. The couple, adher­ society's imprimatur of approval ents of a faith that condemns homo­ upon a form of conduct that has long sexuality as sinful, discusses the been regarded - and continues in fi04 i;a'n~Hd 410 l'la/• .!ltre.l!Y. .~4'02 clergyman advises the couple that tirely inapproprtate. It is but a short 716.fl$.i251 71fJ.1!52•7587 exposing their impressionable young step from such laws to laws that ex-

The Jewtsh Observer, September 1991 43 /llr. If /llrs. Yossi stem and family Edison/Highland Park, New Jersey

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Deem ttomes and I.and nonsey, New Yorlc Best Wishes to all our 91.4425-7484 friends and relatives for a for all your real estate .needs. flappy, flealthy and Prosperous Your confidence in our integrity New Year makes us unique. Mr. 8t Mrs. Louis Glueck Sarah Schwab RiVka l'rankel Licensed Real Associate llstate Broker 914-425-7484 914-425-9165

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