Alan Mendelsohn, M.D. Nathan Klein, O.D. 954.894.1500 Welcome to Eye Surgeons and Consultants! WE USE THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND CUSTOMIZE OUR SERVICE TO YOUR EYES! SERVICES For your convenience, we also have a full service optical dispensary Laser Cataract Surgery with the highest quality and huge selection of the latest styles of Laser Vision Correction eyeglasses and sunglasses, including: Glaucoma Laser Surgery Comprehensive Eye Exams Oliver Peoples • Michael Kors • Barton Perreira • Tom Ford • Burberry Macular Degeneration Marc Jacobs • Lily Pulitzer • Mont Blanc • Nike Flexon • Silhouette Diabetic Eye Exams Glaucoma Exams We provide personalized, professional care using Red Eye Evaluations a state-of-the-art computerized in-house laboratory. Dry Eye EXTENDED HOURS: MON: 7:30AM – 8:00PM Contact Lens Exams TUE – FRI: 7:30AM – 4:30PM • SUN: 7:30AM – 11:30AM Scleral Contact Lenses 4651 Sheridan Street, Suite 100, Hollywood, FL 33021 • 954.894.1500 PLEASE SEE OUR WEBSITE: www.myeyesurgeons.com for sight-saving suggestions! YOUNG ISRAEL OF HOLLYWOOD-FT. LAUDERDALE APRIL 2021 PAGE 3 RABBI’S MESSAGE MEDINAT YISRAEL- THE GIFT AND THE CHALLENGE When World War II ended, Zalman Koifman, a Czech Jew liberated from the Bergan-Belsen concentration camp, discovered that he was the only one of his family left alive. In September 1945 Koifman decided to go to Palestine. He settled in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion and became a baker. Esther Dreisiger’s family was wiped out in the Holocaust. Dreisiger, the survivor of several Nazi camps, tried repeatedly to get to Palestine, and eventually, in 1946, she succeeded. In Kfar Etzion she and Koifman met, and the two subsequently married. A short time later, on May 13, 1948, one day before Israel's Declaration of Independence, the two were killed when the soldiers of the Jordan Legion overran Kfar Etzion. The Koifmans, together with 275 other Holocaust survivors killed in Israel's wars who were the sole survivors of their families, are being commemorated by a special monument at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The Jewish national calendar of Israel is populated by new holidays that Israel has placed at the center of our national and Jewish consciousness and which define and set aside the most significant time of the year in Israeli society. These holidays – bunched together within one week – are Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers), and Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day). It would not be an exaggeration to say these three days together constitute a “High Holidays” season of Israeli life. The proximity of Yom Hashoah and Yom Haatzmaut is an opportunity to consider ways in which the former informs our understanding of the latter. How does the Holocaust shape our understanding of the modern State of Israel? A very loaded question with many answers. (Politicians at times get into trouble when they justify Israel’s existence on the horrors of the Holocaust. It may be the historical impetus for the events surrounding Hakamat Hamedina, but we know the Jewish claim to Israel goes back not eight decades, but four millennia.) I’d like us to consider two ways the Holocaust should inform our appreciation of Medinat Yisrael: one that emphasizes the gift that is Israel and one that notes the new challenge that Israel presents us. First: the proximity of Yom Hashoah to Yom Haatzmaut reminds us of the gift that is our national homeland: namely, Jews cannot live fully free lives nor lives to the fullest anywhere but Israel. There’s a saying that has become popular on the internet: Yom Hazikaron is a reminder of the cost of having a Jewish State; Yom Hashoah is a reminder of the cost of not having one. Anti-Semitism in the 21st century is unfortunately alive and well. Only in the State of Israel can all Jews find refuge. Only in Medinat Yisrael are Jews responsible for their own safety and welfare. And only in Eretz Ysirael can Jews live their lives to the fullest. This finds expression in mitzvot that only apply in Israel. This also finds expression in that fact that Israel’s calendar is the Jewish calendar, and Israel’s atmosphere is a Jewish one. The Ramban goes so far as to suggest that only mitzvot performed in the Land of Israel are truly authentic, and mitzvoth observed in the Diaspora are only for practice. There’s an intrinsic value added to Jewish observance and Jewish life in the Land of Israel. This is the gift that is the State of Israel, magnified through the prism of Yom Hashoah At the same time, Yom Hashoah reminds us of the unity of the Jewish People; a concept that needs to be reinforced in the Jewish community today, especially in Israel. Rav Amital once said, “In Auschwitz, they did not check people’s tzitzis before sending them to the gas chambers; should we check tzitzis before regarding someone as a brother?” In the Diaspora, the Jews’ minority status has historically forced us to stick together, even when we profoundly disagreed. In the Jewish State (and even in some places in the Diaspora where Jews feel confident and protected) there is a danger that we start to think of the “us and them” paradigm – even among Jews. A weakening of our shared identity occurs which is the antithesis of the unity that Am Yisrael is supposed to reflect. Ahavat Ha’aretz and Ahavat Yisrael are the tasks for these days. These are the tasks that we bring as we count Sefira in the 21st century. When we accept Torah anew again this Shavuot, let us do so with a fresh and deeper appreciation for the gift of Medinat Yisrael, Land of Israel, and the challenge of maintaining the Achdut of Am Yisrael, People of Israel. RABBI YOSEF WEINSTOCK ® Martine Newman REALTOR Call/Text (954) 536-2424 FOR SALE The Fairways 2 bed/2 bath asking $235,000. Grandview 2 bed/2.5 bath asking $220,000. Lakes of Emerald Hills 4,000 sq.ft. pool home. SOLD Emerald Hills Lakefront home SOLD Arapahoe Farms SOLD FOR RENT The Fairways 2 bed/2 bath $1,850. Emerald Hills 3 bed/2 bath pool home asking $3700. Emerald Hills 4 bed/2 bath home. Emerald Hills PENDING, The Fairways PEND- ING, Forest View PENDING, The Preserve PENDING, Vacant Land PENDING, The Lakes of Emerald Hills PENDING, Arapahoe Farms PENDING. Call to hear about my other listings in Aventura, Bal Harbour and Surfside . …...AND MANY MORE L ISTED AND UNLISTED The Newman Group, LLC ◊ 3284 N. 29th Ct. ◊ Hollywood ◊ Florida ◊ 33020 OGoldberg_HalfPage_([email protected] Edited)_ad#1_press_Layout 1 8/13/2020 –A portion 9:12 AM Page of 1each sale goes to Young Israel מעוניין לעלות לארץ? קיבלת ירושה בארץ ואינך יודע מה לעשות? מעוניין לרכוש נכס בארץ? עו"ד יובל קוצר, מוסמך לעריכת דין בישראל. 954-665-7442 Yuval Kotzer, LLB. FBI Criminal Background Checks Assistance for Aliyah, Positions or Licenses. While we request that our community and friends patronize the businesses advertised in our bulletin, we do not endorse the Kashrus reliability of any establishment or product. Please consult our Rabbi. YOUNG ISRAEL OF HOLLYWOOD-FT. LAUDERDALE APRIL 2021 PAGE 5 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE As so many of you know, our shul has embarked and Frieberg (and Rabbi Davis back when he on a search for a third full-time Rabbi to add to was solely an Ashkenazic Rabbi) have done a our already dynamic team. Our first candidate tremendous job tending to this massively visit was a smashing success, and by the time expanding flock. But the needs of a community you read this, our second candidate may approaching 700 families are simply too great already have visited as well. for two talented people - even with the able assistance of Rabbis who devote part of their professional time and talents to the shul as well. The shul lay leadership identified our burgeoning “community within a community” of young families as a particular area of Rabbinic need. We are blessed to have one of the largest, most diverse groups of young families of any shul in the orthodox Jewish world here at our Young Israel. The challenges of raising modern Orthodox Jewish families today are different than even a decade ago, and the need to establish and maintain connections with this key demographic grows greater every year. Therefore, we determined that our new Rabbinic hire should have already demonstrated expertise in this area, and should devote most of his efforts there. In addition, this should obviously free up our current team to expand their bandwidth and relationships across the entire kehilla. We are tremendously excited about the possibilities such a qualified, dedicated new hire can bring to the entire community. Please come out to meet the candidates and help us to show them what a tremendous opportunity they are The search itself is a testament to the explosive pursuing. growth with which our Young Israel of Hollywood community has been privileged. For more than a decade we have grown at a rate of DAVID LASKO, President about 40 families per year, and this is the first attempt in recent years to address that growth at a full-time rabbinic level. Rabbis Weinstock Board Certied Pediatric Dentist CAROL CARMEL Comprehensive and preventive dental Broker-Associate 954-802-5426 care for infants, children, adolescents and [email protected] those with special needs. Over 25 Years of Great Experience and Success Selling Homes in the Community. Member HOLLYWOOD OAKS: NEW LISTING: Gorgeous East Side 4 BR + playroom & Office. Brand new roof, marble & wood floors, numerous upgrades! Offered at $1,475,000.