See Pages 52-53 See Page 5 $1.00 See Page 7 WWW.5TJT.COM VOL. 11 NO.12 26 KISLEV 5771 .en ,arp DECEMBER 3, 2010 INSIDE A COURAGEOUS CHANUKAH CELEBRATION FROM THE EDITOR !vfubj igfhkhhrp t Fasten Your Seatbelts B Y LARRY GORDON Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow 65 Crossed An Eternal Gift Rabbi Aryeh Z. Ginzberg 75 Messages Losing Your Marbles This year, Chanukah comes Mordechai Schmutter 86 smack dab in the middle of what has become gift-giving sea- Thoughts of the Admurim son for just about the entire Victor Cohen 88 world. In fact, thanks to our Mental Stealth inordinate reliance on so many Rochelle Maruch Miller 93 forms of media for everything we do, it’s pretty easy for the messages we receive and process to become quite a mix Hundreds attended the Kids of Courage Chanukah party on Monday evening at Pomegranate in Brooklyn. Lipa Schmeltzer (center, in blue shirt) was the featured entertainer. Continued on Page 4 U.S.: ISRAEL OFFERED GAZA TO EGYPT HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE BY SAMUEL SOKOL to Israel’s 2008 invasion of Gaza. MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT A cable dated June 2009, Having A Party summarizing discussions Among the hundreds of thou- between Defense Minister BY LARRY GORDON The cliché is that “everyone sands of American diplomatic Ehud Barak and two separate loves a party,” and that’s no dif- An Achiezer benefit. cables published this week by Congressional delegations, It used to be that when the ferent in our lives today and See Page 70 the online whistle-blowing serv- quoted Barak as saying that the occasion arose and it was time within our line of sight over ice WikiLeaks are several mes- government of Israel “had con- for a party—Chanukah or oth- the next few weeks. sages from the American sulted with Egypt and Fatah erwise—all you had to do was Making a party today is not as embassy in Tel Aviv, one of prior to Operation Cast Lead, make sure there was plenty of easy as it once was, and when which describes former prime asking if they were willing to cake and a few other accouter- you need to preside over at least minister Ehud Olmert’s efforts assume control of Gaza once ments and you were ready to three parties or similar events to reach out to both Egypt and go. Well, it looks like parties the Palestinian Authority prior Continued on Page 26 just aren’t the same anymore. Continued on Page 18 A Library For Levi Fighting Fire HALACHOS OF With Water CHANUKAH Freeze on ice in Itamar. B Y RABBI AVI SHAFRAN See Page 4 BY RABBI YAIR HOFFMAN Maybe you received it too. The e-mail was forwarded to me History And Background by no fewer than three people, The events of Chanukah and in each case I was among occurred during the time of the P h o t o hundreds of recipients. The pho- second Beis HaMikdash, in the B y J o tographs in the communication year 3621 (140 BCE). The Seleucid s h J u s were prefaced by the all-caps Greeks (or Syrian Greeks) ruled, t i c Rabbi Zalman and Mrs. Chanie Wolowik at the opening of the Levi pronouncement “THIS MUST and they enacted decrees Yitzchak Library at 564 Central Avenue in Cedarhurst this past Sunday. The library is dedicated in memory of Levi Yitzchak Wolowik. See Page 47 Continued on Page 20 Continued on Page 21 Akiva Goldstein and Shelley Serber at Meadow Park. See Page 64 CANDLE LIGHTING Dec. 3 – 4:10 PM Dec. 10 – 4:09 PM P.O. BOX 690 LAWRENCE, NY 11559 516-984-0079 [email protected] [email protected] LARRY GORDON ESTA J. GORDON Publisher/Editor Managing Editor YOSSI GORDON, YOCHANAN GORDON Sales Managers CHANA ROCHEL ROSS Editorial Assistant SIDI BARON DOV GORDON YAKOV SERLE Sales Representatives SHMUEL GERBER MICHELE JUSTIC Chief Copy Editor Copy Editor CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Hannah Reich Berman, Anessa V. Cohen Rabbi Aryeh Z. Ginzberg, Yoni Glatt Toby Klein Greenwald, Rabbi Yair Hoffman, Ron Jager Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky, Shmuel Katz Phyllis J. Lubin, Esther Mann, Rochelle Miller Elke Probkevitz, Dr. Rachael Schindler Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow, Rabbi Avi Shafran Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier, Rabbi Meir Orlian Eli Shapiro, Dr. Ari Sher, Samuel Sokol ELISHEVA ELEFANT Staff Graphic Artist IVAN NORMAN, IRA THOMAS Staff Photographers FRANKEL & CO. Design & Production TALIYE CORLEY Art Director The Five Towns Jewish Times is an independent weekly news- paper. Opinions expressed by writers and columnists are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. We are not responsible for the kashrus or hashgachah of any product or establishment advertised in the Five Towns Jewish Times. FEATURES Around The Five Towns 54 Classified Ads 80 Daf Yomi Insights Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow 65 The Dish Elke Probkevitz 35 Insights On The Torah R’ Ben Tzion Shafier 40 Letters To The Editor 28 Luach 69 MindBiz Esther Mann, LCSW 38 Mother’s Musings Phyllis J. Lubin 46 Puzzle Yoni Glatt 78 Real Estate Anessa V. Cohen 40 That’s The Way It Is! Hannah Reich Berman 36 Tidbits From Israel Ron Jager 42 Travel 83 2 December 3, 2010 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES December 3, 2010 3 FROM THE EDITOR Jewish tradition. of our and other countries’ economies. Continued from Front Cover The institution of Chanukah gelt was our Society has turned into collective masses sages’ way of injecting into a mundane that camp outside of stores and then about the simultaneous holiday seasons. action a level of mitzvah laced with uncontrollably stampede inside at the Because so much of the world observes kedushah, holiness. After all, in the time of crack of dawn on what is wildly celebrat- the Christian holidays, the messages that the Chashmona’im, over 2,000 years ago, ed as “Black Friday,” referred to as such dominate and that are just about every- the goal of our enemies was not decimation because the activity of the day deter- where at this time of year are nothing short or destruction of the Jewish people as was mines whether retailers will exist in the of overwhelming. In the majority of the the case in more modern times. Rather, the black or the red. secular Jewish world, which is unlearned objective was to extract the holiness and Sure, it’s easy to get caught up in that and lacks education on subjects pertinent meaning from aspects of life that infused frenzy, but it would certainly be a blun- to Jewish life, the occurrence of Chanukah the Jewish people with a spiritual high and der of sorts to think that one act of gift- in the season adjacent to Christmas is an connected us to our Creator in heaven. giving has been influenced by or is an extremely confusing one. It was based on this policy that secular emulation of the other. Chanukah is It would not be surprising if you found leaders at the time sought to maintain about the triumph of the spirit with heav- that a great many observant Jews believe the existence and even the buoyancy of enly assistance, the transformation of the that the sales in the Judaica stores at this Jewish liturgy and learning, with the commonplace into something sanctified. Mayor Moshe Goldsmith and his wife, Leah, time of year are just a poor imitation of intent of turning them into academic Confusing the season would amount to lighting the first Chanukah candle on the significant emphasis on gift-giving endeavors that titillated the intellect nothing more than just crossing and con- Wednesday night. during the non-Jewish holiday season. based solely on the level of their educa- fusing messages. Happy Chanukah to all. But that would miss the mark completely tional value and challenge. and be wholly inaccurate. The concept of Chanukah gelt, accord- Freezing The Freeze Next week, Moshe and Leah will be in For us, the giving of gifts—frequently ing our commentators, developed from The good news in Israel is that the freeze New York and they will be spending in the form of “Chanukah gelt”—is one of the idea of taking the most simple and on building for Jews in their communities Shabbos in the Five Towns. Amongst the things that we focus on at this time of mundane of transactions—that is, the has for now been put on ice. In the after- other things, the two—who were born year. Only by exploring the history of handling of currency—and injecting a math of the expiration of the ten-month and grew up in Brooklyn—will be here how the observance of Chanukah was holy flair into it by encouraging those on freeze on building in Judea and Samaria, raising funds for the construction of the established and has evolved can one gain the receiving end of the connection to followed by the Palestinian rejection to main shul building in Itamar, which after a finer understanding of the disparate indulge in an act of tzedakah with their return to negotiations and coupled with all these years is still a rather unsteady nature of the two seasons. newfound earnings. And that’s the basic their rejection of Israel as a Jewish State, and temporary-looking edifice. Giving gifts or money on Chanukah explanation of the Chanukah gift-giving things have gotten back to as normal as Itamar, as I described a few weeks ago has no relationship to, nor has it been his- phenomenon. possible. That is, building has been restart- in another piece, is located high atop a torically influenced by, the concept of If you need a clue as to how such a cus- ed with renewed vigor and exuberance.