THE THE Sivan 5763 • May 2003 JJewishewish U.S.A. $3.50/Foreign $4.50 • VOL XXXVI/NO. 5 OOBSERBSERVERVER EconomicEconomic AssaultAssault onon thethe TorahTorah SuperstructureSuperstructure Also in this Issue: Teaching Churban Europa to our Children CLICK HERE FOR TABLE OF CONTENTS THEJJewishewish Sivan 5763 • May 2003 OOBSERBSERVERVER U.S.A.$3.50/Foreign $4.50 • VOL XXXVI/NO. 5 THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN) 0021-6615 is published monthly except July and August by the Agudath Israel This is the full Table of Contents of the print edition of the of America, 42 Broadway, New York, NY10004. Periodicals postage paid in New Jewish Observer. The web edition contains only a selection of Yo r k, NY.Subscription $24.00 per year; articles (indicated in color). Click on the title to go to the two years, $44.00; three years, $60.00. Outside of the United States (US funds beginning of that article. Navigate using your browser’s menu drawn on a US bank only) $12.00 sur- charge per year. Single copy $3.50; for- and other options. eign $4.50. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Observer, 42 Broadway, NY., NY. 10004. Tel: 212-797-9000, Fax: 646-254-1600.Printed in the U.S.A. FACING THE CURRENT CHALLENGES IN ISRAEL RABBI NISSON WOLPIN, EDITOR 4 A Spiritual Perspective, Rabbi Nisson Wolpin EDITORIAL BOARD RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS 6 Economic Assault on the Torah Superstructure, Chairman Rabbi Moshe Schapiro RABBI ABBA BRUDNY JOSEPH FRIEDENSON 10 Teaching Churban Europa to our Children, RABBI YISROEL MEIR KIRZNER RABBI NOSSON SCHERMAN Rabbi Yaakov Feitman PROF. AARON TWERSKI 15 Survivors, Debby Friedman DR. ERNST L. BODENHEIMER Z”L RABBI MOSHE SHERER Z”L 17 Shavuos and the Megilla of Chessed, Rabbi Ahron Rapps Founders MANAGEMENT BOARD AVI FISHOF, NAFTOLI HIRSCH ISAAC KIRZNER, RABBI SHLOMO LESIN FOCUS ON TEFILLA NACHUM STEIN 21 Chazoras HaShatz – When the Chazan Repeats the RABBI YOSEF C. GOLDING Managing Editor Shemoneh Esrei:An Invaluable Opportunity, Rabbi Moshe Halberstadt Published by Agudath Israel of America 26 To r ah in Germany? Rabbi Moshe M. Eisemann U.S. TRADE DISTRIBUTOR ISRAELI REPRESENTATIVE Feldheim Publishers Intnl. Media Placement 28 Something to Think About, 200 Airport Executive Park POB 7195 / 97 Jaffa Road Nanuet, NY 10954 Jerusalem 94340, ISRAEL Rabbi Yisroel Rutman BRITISH REPRESENTATIVE BELGIAN REPRESENTATIVE M.T. Bibelman Mr. E. Apter Grosvenor Works Lange Kievitstr. 29 READER’S FORUM Mount Pleasant Hill 2018 Antwerp London E5 9NE, ENGLAND BELGIUM 32 Te rrorism, Sugar Cubes… and Sharing the Pain FRENCH REPRESENTATIVE SOUTH AFRICAN Rabbi Bamberger REPRESENTATIVE 21 Boulevard Paixhans Mr. V. Taback 57000 Metz PO Box 51552, BOOKS-IN-REVIEW FRANCE Raedene, Johannesburg 2124 SOUTH AFRICA SWISS REPRESENTATIVE 38 A Torah Perspective for Our Challenging Times, Mr. S. Feldinger Leimanstrasse 36 by Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss, reviewed by Rabbi Labish Becker 4051 Basel, SWITZERLAND THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not assume responsibility for the Kashrus 40 Letters-to-the-Editor of any product, publication, or service advertised in its pages © Copyright 2003 46 Triple Pain,Triple Gain, a poem by Chana Rochel Stern May 2003 VOLUME XXXVI/NO. 5 SUBSCRIBE TO THE JEWISH OBSERVER. CLICK HERE. FACING THE CURRENT CHALLENGES IN ISRAEL Nisson Wolpin t is almost a cliché, but it must be The Holocaust as a point of reference that the yishuv in Eretz Yisroel con- said anyway: We are living for this admonition is, of course, tinues to survive, surrounded as it is Ithrough extraordinary times. On ridiculous. Was Jewish military by a hundred million hostile, hate- just about every front, the Jews in strength, or lack thereof, a factor in filled enemies? Shouldn’t we focus on Eretz Yisroel are beset with crises: In the source of this miracle and rein- the area of diplomacy – yes, one does force it, if feasible, instead of glory- endeavor to make peace with adver- ing in our military strength? saries, but after Oslo and Camp David, followed by vicious attacks of e have an THE RUCHNIYUS FACTOR terror and suicide bombings, is there any basis to trusting Arab declara- Woverriding hirty years ago, after the outbreak tions, agreements and assurances, or obligation to avoid of the Yom Kippur War (Sep- political roadmaps proposed by “dis- Ttember ’73), Rabbi Moshe Fein- interested” world powers? the pitfall of taking stein l”xz addressed the national con- Yes, the workforce in Israel is vention of Agudath Israel of America. intelligent, sophisticated, and reliable credit for our He emphasized: … but tourism is moribund, the “Especially in this era of Ikvasa economy is ailing, unemployment is successes… diMoshicha,when we are on the very at an all-time high, and the shekel is threshold of Moshiach’s arrival, we have near its all-time low. an overriding obligation to avoid the As for security, the army is well- pitfall of taking credit for our success- equipped, vigilantly on the guard, es, attributing them to ‘kochi ve’otzem quick to retaliate with precision. But the annihilation of six million Jews? yadi – my might and my power.’ The it is made up primarily of reservists Germany was defeated by the com- final Mishna in Sota describes this era – their stamina is not limitless. bined strength of the Allied powers – as a time when the honor of Torah will What can keep us going? America, the USSR and Great Britain suffer, many economic and material According to Prime Minister – after some five years of desperate, problems will beset us, the young will Sharon, in a speech he delivered on relentless struggle, painfully costly in not respect elders, and there will be no Martyrs’ Memorial Day, one of the les- lives, exorbitantly expensive in dollars. one to rely upon except our Father in sons of Holocaust is that “security and Could any degree of strength had Heaven.That is, after suffering mate- peace can only be achieved for the made a difference to the Jews of rial and spiritual deprivation, we will Jews through Europe, reducing their loss of lives at come to realize that all the underpin- strength.” the hands of the Germans? nings that appear to support our many Apply this meaningless message to endeavors – ranging from basic human our current situation, and one won- decency and the reliability of govern- ders how we are to find guidance in ments, to general sobriety and the sol- Sharon’s words. We certainly owe a vency of the national currency – these boundless debt of gratitude to the will prove to be totally unreliable, members of Tzahal for risking life and simply worthless. limb to protect us over the decades. “So, then,on whom can we depend? We But is it anything less than a miracle can only rely on Avinu she’ba’Shamayim – 4 The Jewish Observer, May 2003 our heavenly Father. miyahu 9, 11-12) growth is the product of many factors “All the suffering we endure is Rabbi Yehuda the Nasi sent Rav – among them, financial support from designed to bring us to this ultimate Chiya, Rav Assi, and Rav Ami to trav- the Israeli government. The fact that realization, and the sooner we fathom el through the cities of the Land of Israel this support is going to be radically it, the sooner will we be spared further [to establish teachers of Scripture and reduced may at first be shocking. Con- suffering. On the other hand, if we do Mishna for the children there]. They sidering, however, that the Chareidi not grasp this concept, Hashem may entered a particular city and found no community is but a minority, and tak- well find it necessary to repeat the mes- teachers at all. ing into account the virulently hostile sage with increased severity, stressing They said [to the leaders of the city]: attitude toward Torah and mitzva the futility of relying on diplomacy, on “Bring before us the guardians of the observance harbored by the secular the basic decency of other nations, or city.” They brought the centurions parties in control of the government, on our military might. And then, per- (armed guards). this shock may simply be a jolt that haps we will recognize the import of the Said the rabbis: “These are the wakes us up to a long-standing reality events. After all, [Reb Moshe pointed guardians of the city? They are noth- (as has been discussed at length in out,] during the War of ’67, we were ing but the destroyers of the city!” recent issues of JO). The government’s exposed to the Hand of G-d. Had we all The leaders asked, “Then who are long-term support of Torah over the been fully aware of what we had wit- the guardians of the city? years may have had its political moti- nessed and the impact of all the stories They replied, “The teachers of vations, but their largesse cannot be we had heard, we would not have need- guaranteed forever. ed this more recent war to awaken us.” Our purpose in spelling this out once Once again, we are being called again, then, is to sound an alarm, and upon to study our current situation…. f we do – at the same time – to wake us up to a Must the futility of relying on the decen- deeper reality. The details in the article cy of others and on our own military …Inot grasp that follows will make it apparent that prowess be exposed further? “We have both the neshama and the body of Klal no one to rely on but our Father in this concept, Yisroel – its spiritual status and its phys- Heaven.” Isn’t it obvious? Hashem may well ical security – are under enormous threat.