B’Lev Ari . See Page 28 Acu-Zen . .See Page 41 Gurwin . See Page 42 Our Place . See Page 49 Yaffa Wigs . See Page 53 I-4 Tours . See Page 63 See Page 23 See Pages 3-5 Serving Nassau County, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, and Staten Island JANUARY 3, 2014 פרשת בא WWW.5TJT.COM VOL. 14 NO. 17 2 SHEVAT 5774 $1.00 White House: No On Pollard FROM THE EDITOR See Page 71 BY LARRY GORDON Values And Justice From here it looks like offi- cial Israel has gone mad. The release of 26 more convicted See Page 39 Arab terrorists this week has reopened wounds, which had never really closed, for Haim Tzah, GPO GPO Tzah, Haim Tzah, bereaved families who live with the awful pain of their MKs Nachman Shai, Ayelet Shaked, and Efi Lahav presented President Shimon Peres with a petition signed by 106 members of Knesset calling on President Obama to release Jonathan Pollard. See Page 22 Continued on Page 14 See Page 14 Tekhelet Conference: HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE A Royal Blue Event With BY LARRY GORDON A New Discovery The Protest That Wasn’t Segal Eli Segal See Page 9 BY TOBY KLEIN Frankly I don’t get it. Plane- GREENWALD loads of chareidim who reside mostly in Jerusalem planned on The exploration to fi nd the arriving in New York this week genuine hilazon—the snail to demonstrate against the gov- that produces the tekhelet ernment of Israel for wanting to that was worn by the Kohen institute some drastic changes. Gadol and that we are com- Amongst those changes are See Page 6 manded to wear on tzitziot— has triggered the imaginations Continued on Page 16 Continued on Page 9 MK Meir Porush A CELEBRATION OF ACCOMPLISHMENT A LESSON TO CORRECT OR FROM LIMMUD NOT TO CORRECT BY RABBI AVI Halachic Musings See Page 2 SHAFRAN BY RABBI YAIR HOFFMAN Even now that the recent much-celebrated Limmud “Er zogt!” gathering in the historic cathe- “No he didn’t. I was listen- Tsemach Glenn Glenn Tsemach dral town of Coventry, West ing!” Midlands, England has con- “Whaddya talking about? It’s cluded, the celebration con- fi ne.” tinues, at least in many Jewish “It’s not fi ne. Why are con- Yeshiva Darchei Torah held its 41st anniversary dinner on Sunday, media. stantly sticking your nose in?” December 29. (L–R): R’ Shlomo Avigdor Altusky, Menachem Marx, R’ Yaakov Bender, Lloyd Keilson, and R’ Moshe Bender. See Page 24 Continued on Page 6 Continued on Page 19 January 3 – 4:22 PM January 10 – 4:29 PM See Luach, Page 10 Features Index, See Page 8 2 January 3, 2014 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES January 3, 2014 3 4 January 3, 2014 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES January 3, 2014 5 A LESSON FROM LIMMUD gesting it was acceptable for observant inational” panels, rosters, and such, “fully respected the decision,” he said, Continued from Front Cover Jews to associate with less or non-obser- derives from their feeling that being although, he contended, “it would have vant Jews.” part of such events perforce promotes brought great value to the event if par- The popular Jewish event, which After being called to task for not real- the notion that all “rabbis are rab- ticipants were given the choice to learn attracts people from all segments of izing the absurdity of the notion that bis,” equals in belief and scholarship, and debate with us.” the Jewish universe (and some—like charedim—with their innumerable (and and that all self-defi ned “Judaisms” are Another reaction reported in the the Reverend Patrick Morrow, who rabbinically-endorsed) outreach orga- legitimate forms of the Judaism of our newspaper was that of London-born, led a Limmud session this year—from nizations and efforts, personal friend- ancestors. Many Jews may believe those now Denver-based, Rabbi Levi Brack- the non-Jewish one), is always loudly ships, and study-partnerships with “less things, but, in the eyes of charedi lead- man. He accused Limmud of having lauded as an opportunity to access a or non-observant Jews”—somehow con- ers, not only are those Jews wrong but “caved in” to pressure and, with its broad gamut of theologies and practices sider it unacceptable to associate with it is wrong to do anything that could declining to allow those attending the that have Jewish devotees. Jews different from them, the news be construed as an endorsement of the event to hear Mr. Weston’s views, being But this year’s Limmud conference, agency, to its credit, quickly changed error. “unfaithful to its own mission.” at least to the media, was particularly That mission does in fact include the exultation-worthy, as one of the attend- conviction that “‘arguments for the sake ees was Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the cur- of heaven’ can make a positive contri- rent chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, “Everyone can be a teacher and bution to furthering our education and the fi rst person holding that position understanding,” and that “everyone can to grace the proceedings with his pres- everyone should be a student.” be a teacher and everyone should be a ence. student.” Limmud, further, according Much, unsurprisingly, was made of to its literature, “does not participate in that fi rst. Rabbi Mirvis was warmly wel- legitimising or de-legitimising any reli- comed by those in attendance, and his the version of its report and notifi ed What’s interesting is something that gious or political position found in the speech was parsed by the press with its clients of the change (for what that somehow wasn’t widely reported about worldwide Jewish community.” the determination of high-school teach- was worth; the amendment was largely this year’s Limmud event. It seems Apparently, though, Limmud’s leader- ers seeking puns in Shakespeare, in a ignored). that its organizers has originally sched- ship felt that a particular brand of Jew- quest to fi nd hints of disdain on the rab- The replacement line read: “The crit- uled two talks by one Marcus Weston, ish expression had misled Jews and, if bi’s part for the religious leaders of the ics had said the conference, which a trustee of the London branch of the granted legitimacy by being included in more traditional Orthodox British com- draws thousands of participants from Kabbalah Center, the Los Angeles-based the event program, would be empow- munity, who made it clear that the rab- all walks of Jewish life, represented a purveyor of what it claims is a form of ered to further do so. bi’s attendance at Limmud was ill-ad- danger to British Jewry because of its Jewish mysticism. However, after objec- An entirely defensible—indeed, vised. inclusion of non-Orthodox religious tions were raised—the Kabbalah Cen- proper and principled—position. In Aside from celebrating and parsing, perspectives.” ter has been accused of using mystical fact, although Limmud may draw its however, the media also grossly misrep- Closer but also misleading, as the claims and promises to mislead peo- lines in a different place, it is the very resented the reasons for the charedi rab- charedi rabbis hadn’t issued any blanket ple into supporting the group—Mr. position of the much-maligned charedi binic leadership’s opposition to Rabbi condemnation of Limmud, but rather Weston’s addresses were summarily leadership. Mirvis’s participation. simply disapproved of a chief rabbi’s cancelled. One news service initially attributed participation in it. According to the British newspaper © 2013 Rabbi Avi Shafran. the charedi objection to the belief that Those religious leaders’ longstanding The Jewish Chronicle, after the cancel- “It’s All in the Angle” (Torah Temimah the chief rabbi’s appearance “repre- and principled opposition to Orthodox lations, the Kabbalah Center represen- Publications), a collection of selected essays by sented a danger to British Jewry by sug- rabbis participating in “multi-denom- tative was impressively sanguine. He Rabbi Shafran, is available from Judaica Press. 6 January 3, 2014 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES January 3, 2014 7 FEATURES Auto Section 31 Business Halacha R’ Meir Orlian 46 Classified Ads 72 A Clever Title Goes Here Mordechai Schmutter 33 Community News Around The Five Towns 54 Around The World 63 Daf Yomi Insights R’ Avrohom Sebrow 62 Dating Forum Baila Sebrow 35 Dieting Tips Dr. Bo Rosenblat 43 Insights on the Torah Five Towns Marriage Initiative 30 R’ Yitzchok D. Frankel 42 The Job Hunter R’ Mordechai Kruger 37 Letters to the Editor 20 Luach/Calendar 10 Machberes R’ Gershon Tannenbaum 49 Middle East News Samuel Sokol 76 MindBiz Esther Mann, LCSW 38 Mother’s Musings Phyllis J. Lubin 48 News from the Hills Chanita Teitz 26 Other Side of the Bench David J. Seidemann, Esq. 57 Photo Prose Gary Rabenko 31 Puzzle Yoni Glatt 40 Real Estate Anessa V. Cohen 51 That’s The Way It Is! Hannah Reich Berman 28 Travel Section 59 Become a Facebook fan of 5 Towns Jewish Times. RECEIVE DAILY MESSAGES WITH NEWS, EVENTS, DEALS, AND MORE! Participate in discussions and contests. facebook.com/ 5TownsJewishTimes 8 January 3, 2014 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES BAGEL STORE the close proximity to the Brooklyn per month; that’s $2,142 per week by the Continued from Front Cover event and the ease with which I could American standard. These are just their have had access to the site. I can tell salaries; most of their offi ce expenses, introducing the teaching of English and you with certainty that I was not going cars, phones, and so on are also paid for P.O.