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THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN in this issue . . . I 0021-6615) is published monthly, except July and August, by the Agudath Israel of America, 5 Beek­ man Street, New York, N. Y. 10038. Second class postage paid I at New York, N.Y. Subscription $15.00 per year; two years, $27.00; three years, $36.00. Outside of 1, the United States (US funds only) $20.00 in Europe and Israel. $25.00 in So. Africa and Australia. Single copy: $2.00; foreign: $2.50. send address changes to The Jewish Observer, 5 Beekman St., N.Y., N.Y. 10038. Printed in the U.S.A. RABBI NISSON WOLPIN Dialogues in Judaism, Rabbi David Gottlieb ., . . . ••• . .. . . ••••••..... ••• . . . .. 6 E.ditor Schwester Selma, Ruth Steinberg . •• • • • . . •• • • • . . . •• • • • • . . •• • • • • . . . . •• • • • . . . . . • 12 Editorial Board DR. ERNST BODENHEIMER The Essence of Yerushalayim, Rabbi Zev Leff....•••....••••. ,...... 18 Chairman RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS Next Year in "America,'' Rabbi Hanoch Teller ...... 20 JOSEPH FRIEDENSON RABBI NOSSON SCHERMAN Your Honors:, Professor Aaron Twerski ...... 22 RABBI MOSHE SHERER More Letters Re: Coverage of Eretz Yisroel.. .. , ...... , ...... ,. 26 Management Board NAFTOLI HIRSCH ... and an Editorial Response ...... 27 ISAAC KIR2NER RABBI SHLOMO LESIN Shadchanim - Matchmakers, Chaim Shapiro . . •• . •• ...... •• • . . . . . •• . . . . . 31 NACHUM STEIN Letters to the Editor...... 39 1 Business Manager RABBI YOSEF C. GOLDING

THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not assume responsibility for the Kashrus of any product or service advertised in its pages, The Cover photo shows Schwester Selma with Dr. Moshe Wallach, Principal Medical officer, in Shaare :l.tdek Hospital in Jerusalem arQund 1917. "Copyright 1985 Photographs of Shaare Zedek Hospital in "Schwester Selma", courtesy of Orthodox Jewish Archives, Agudath Israel of America. TAMMUZ, 57 45/SUMMER, 1985 JUNE, 1985, VOL. XVIII, NO. 7 May '85 Co1)1!r photo courtesy of American FrienJs of Ohr Somayach.

4 '

~ .. Dialogues, discussions and debates ... conversations and kibbitzing-we fre­ quently face off with others, challenging their opinions, defending our own views from their verbal assaults. Sometimes a heated argument can center on an abstract principle or an element in national policy that is beyond the reach of our influence and, at the same time, has little or no bearing on our personal lives. Other times, the exchange may be soft-spoken and almost casual, but could affect a person for his entire lifetime, and then some. A master teacher-formerly an associate professor of philosophy in Johns Hop­ kins University, currently a member of the faculty of Yeshiva Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem-Rabbi David Gottlieb examines various approaches employed in help­ ing people who are estranged from Judaism make the transition from skeptic to believer.

t .t l)IALOGUES f Two Levels Dialogue #1-A In any discussion, two different levels of interaction take place. t One is logical: evidence is cited, arguments are formulated, conclu­ Inquiring Person: "It seems to me that you Orthodox sions drawn, positions modified or abandoned. The other is psycho­ Jews are not open-minded enough about other religions logical: each discussant has goals for himself and for his partner-to and philosophies. You think that only your way oflife is enjoy himself, to learn, to develop debating skills, lo deflate his objectively right and only your values represent real moral­ partner's ego, etc. The two levels can often interfere with each other, as ity. Why don't you appreciate the right of other peoples when one uses an unnecessarily complex argument in order to practice to live as they choose?" logic. The point is made, but the argument is lost. When entering a Orthodox Jew:" And you, what is your position concern­ discussion with those who do not share our weltanschauung, it is ing people whose values differ from yours?" crucial that we clarify for ourselves our psychological goals. Only by J.P.: "Each society, and eyen each individual, chooses a taking account of those goals and their implications for the logic of the system of values, and that choice is irrelevant to other discussion can we plan our part of the discussion intelligently, and societies and individuals. No one should impose his hope for some measure of success. Not to do so can result in a loss, values on anyone else." when the stakes are very, very high. O.}.: "Tell me, do you believe in democracy and uni­ In the case of a challenge based upon axioms different from ours, versal human rights? For example, is it appropriate for a there are two ways in which we may respond: (A} We may answer dictator to execute and imprison people at will, to take the challenger in terms of his own axioms, showing him that his logic their property, to torture them, etc. for the sake of his is incorrect, that he has misunderstood the principle or case at hand, own pleasure and power?" or that his axioms themselves are unacceptable in some way. This type J.P.: "Of course 1 support universal human rights. of response may be termed L'devarecha: ii addresses the challenger Since 1want people to determine their own lives wholly, from his own point of view. Or(B), we may choose to simply point out even their own values. I certainly want them to be free that the critique is based upon axioms different from ours and hence of tyrannical oppression." irrelevant to us. This type of response may be called L'shitaseinu: O.}.: "So you would condemn a social system like that address the challenger from our point of view. of Nazi Germany?" The two types of responses have supplementary strengths and J.P.: "Of course." weaknesses, as will be illustrated in the dialogues that follow. In each 0.}.:"Well, what if the Nazi repeated your own words series, those that are presented in a L'devarecha format are indi­ back to you: 'Each society ... makes its own choice of its cated with a letter "A"; those employing the L'shitaseinu approach system of values .... No one should impose his values are lettered "B." on anyone else.' Suppose he accused you of imposing

6 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 Photo' 011rtf'.IJ! of American fri<>nds. of Ohr Somoymb IN UDAISM 1 your liberal values upon him? He has chosen the value of ().].:"I would like to try a thought-experiment with Aryan supremacy through conquest and terror. Why you. Are you prepared to test your imagination?" isn't his choice as valid as anyone else's?" J.P.: "Sure." 1 J.P.: "Because by making that choice the Nazi denies O.].: "I assume you don't believe in G-d. Can you the same right to others. I believe that everyone should imagine believing in Him?" have an equal right to self-determination." J.P.: "I guess so." O.].: "So your deepest value is the universal right to O.].: "I mean the Jewish G-d. He is creator and sus­ self-determination. But the Nazi doesn't share that tainer of the universe. He is omnipotent and omnis­ ' value. You are simply asserting your deepest value cient. Furthermore, He is wholly good. Arc you with I against his and overruling his choice-just what you said me?" I we do in our 'closed-mindedness.' It turns out that you J.P.: 'Tm with you." I too have certain values you believe to be objectively O.].: "Now reflect: if He created and sustains the ' right and therefore binding upon everyone." universe, he is its owner. Doesn't that mean that He has J.P.: "I'll have to think that over. But even if I do have some right to dictate how it shall be used? Since He is 1 some universal values, they certainly aren't the same as wholly good, He wishes only the greatest happiness for yours. And you have given me no reason to believe that us, His creatures. Since He is omnipotent, all power is your values are correct and that all others are not." dependent upon His will. In addition, He set a purpose to the creation and to human history; surely that pur­ Dialogue #1-B pose determines whether my life in meaningful or not. Now you are imagining that you believe in this G-d. If J.P.: "It seems to me that you Orthodox Jews are not you are going to choose your values, and you are gener­ open-minded enough ... (as above in Dialogue #l-A)." ally impressed with happiness, meaning, justice and 0.).: "How do you think people decide upon their way power, could you justify choosing anything other than of life-their ultimate values?" His will as your ultimate value?" J.P.: "Well, it is somewhat subjective. They look at the J.P.: "I see what you mean. G-d, as you understand world and its needs, at themselves and their opportuni­ Him, determines all these things which make people ties and capacities and decide what is most important. choose those values that they choose. But what about Things like happiness, meaning, justice and power natu­ the other people who don't believe in the Jewish G-d?" rally impress people as important and their values O.].: "Let's continue the experiment. You are imag­ reflect those impressions." inging that you believe in Him. You believe that He is

The Jewish ()bsrnJcr/Summrr, 7q35 7 the order illustrated above, the result is a very powerful challenge to the Inquiring Person's position. He has been shown that he needs to revise his thinking, and real, a part of the objective world in which we all live, that our beliefs are well-founded, at least from our even those who don't believe in Him. When they make perspective. This technique has been very effective in their different value choices, how do they appear to opening Inquiring People to our point of view. Let's see you?" how it is applied to another common question-the J.P.: "I see-they look uninformed. As I said, they look at roles of men and women in society. the world and its needs, and at their own opportunities Dialogue #2-A I and capacities, but they have not really done that accu­ rately since they do not have a true picture of the world J.P.: "I see that Judaism makes a sharp distinction and themselves." between the roles of men and women. It seems to me O.].: "So you can understand how someone who that this is unfair: all positions in society ought to be believes in the Jewish G-d can see His will as an objec­ open to all. Your policy denies women in particular the tively correct moral system which is universally binding?" ability to fulfill themselves." ' J.P.: "Yes-if he has that belief. But now, I must stop O.].: "Do you think that it is specifically the Jewish imagining and come back to reality. Since I don't believe system of male-female role distribution which is unfair in G-d, I certainly have no reason to think that Jewish and limiting, or would any non-identical distribution be Law, or any system of values, is universally binding." unfair and limiting?" J.P.: "I think any enforced distinction between men's "Short" on One Vs. and women's roles in society is unfair and limiting, Iffy on the Other though some will be more so than others." O.J.:"Doyou think it is ever possible to have different These two dialogues illustrate two different ap­ roles which are nevertheless equal in all important proaches to the open-minded, serious Inquiring Person. respects-equal in value, impact, meaningfulness, self­ The first approach-an example of the L'devarecha ap­ expression etc.? Or is all distinction inherently unequal?" proach-is to attack the Inquiring Person's assumption J.P.:" All distinction is inherently unequal." that his beliefs are different from, and more justified O.].: "What about the distinction between the violin­ than ours. We may argue, as in Dialogue #1-A, that his ist and pianist playing a Beethoven sonata? Or the for­ beliefs are really similar to ours (he too believes in some wards and guards on a basketball team? Or a Senator universal values). Or we may show him that his beliefs and a member of the Supreme Court? Or submarine are not as well-founded as he thinks (see Dialogue #2-A commander vs. an Army Lt.-General? They have very below). In either case, we blunt his attack, reduce his different roles in their various activities-is it obvious self-assuredness, and thus hopefully open him up to a whose role is the greater?" serious consideration of our position. Nevertheless, this J.P.: "No, I admit that in those cases different roles approach has one serious shortcoming: it does not might be equal in all important respects. But the case of explain our position at all. It leaves open the response: men and woman is somehow different, I think." "You have not justified your position-I do not under­ O.].: "Is that because you think that there are no stand why you hold those beliefs." The Inquiring Person systematic differences between men and women which has learned something about the shortcomings of his would justify treating them differently in society?" position, but nothing of the strength of a Torah J.P.: "That's right. The differences we see between approach. men and woman are just a reflection of arbitrary social The second approach, illustrated by Dialogue #1-B, is distinction: men and women are taught to be different. an example of L'shilaseinu and rectifies this omission. The Inherently they have the same range of capacities and Inquiring Person is led to admit that if he shared our therefore they should receive the same training, and all assumptions, then he would hold the same position we roles in society should be equally open to both." do. He understands why we hold the particular position O.].:"I suppose that you would admit important physi­ he questioned, and that we are justified in holding it­ cal differences between men and women-overall size, given our basic assumptions. The shortcoming of this reproductive structure, hormones, etc.?" approach is that it leaves open the response: "But I, who J.P.: "Of course." have a completely different set of assumptions, need not O.].: "Do you think that these physical differences­ revise my position." The Inquiring Person is left with a hormones in particular-have no connection to psy­ greater understanding of Orthodox Judaism, but is not chology, e.g. to emotions?" personally challenged to re-examine his beliefs. J.P.: "No, it is well known that hormones effect The shortcomings and strengths of the two ap­ emotions." proaches are complementary. When used together in O.].: "Are you aware that there are characteristic

~ 8 The Jewish Obseroer/Summer, 1985 I differences between men's and women's brains? The chological differences. The matching of roles and tasks corpus collosum connecting the right and left hemis­ has two crucial consequences: (1) G-d is available to each pheres is larger in women than in men.1 Can you prove and every person-everyone has the ability to achieve that this has no general differential effect on men's and Judaism's supreme value of closeness to G-d. (2) He is women's psychology?" available only via the specific modes of access relevant to a person's J.P.: "I guess not." group and individual abilities. I cannot reach G-d by partici­ O.].: "And then there is the case of 38 children in the pating in the Temple rites, holy as they are, since I am Dominican Republic. At birth they all appeared to be not a Priest. Nor can a Jewish farmer in Kansas reach normal females and were raised as girls. At puberty G-d by tithing his produce: that mifzva is not addressed they all became unambiguous males. What do you think to him. The upshot for the question of men's and the psychological effect of switching gender roles was?" women's roles is this: each is given an opportunity to J.P.: "It must have been very traumatic. To undo draw close to G-d and thus have supremely successful twelve years of programming and replace it with oppo­ lives by responding to the unique challenge posed to site programming ... !" each. Do you see anything unfair in this?" O.].: "But the fact is that all 38 made this transition J.P.:"] see that, within the context of its own values, within a year or two without psychological complica­ the distinction between men's and women's roles is not tions.I Doesn't this cast at least some doubt on your unfair. But of course, I have not admitted that there are thesis that sex roles are due to socialization?" systematic differences between men and women, and J.P.: "I guess so. I see that the issue is much more my values are not yours, so I have no reason to change complex than I thought." my personal approach to men's and women's social O.}.: "So the mere fact that men's and women's roles roles." are distinguished in a society does not immediately The final response of the Inquiring Person in each of brand that society as unfair and limiting?" these dialogues illustrates the incompleteness of each J.P.: "I agree. Of course this does not justify your approach taken on its own and their complementary particular type of distinction. To do that you need to nature. Together, in the order given, they first show the show that the differences between men and women are Inquiring Person that his policy of apportioning social accurately reflected in the social roles they assigned, and roles to men and women is based on premises which are you haven't demonstrated that." questionable (to say the least), and that our position is a j coherent alternative. Notice in particular that his chal­ Dialogue #2-B lenge at the end of Dialoge #2-B ("I have no reason to change my personal approach ...") is not available lo him if he has J.P.:"] see that Judaism makes a sharp distinction (etc. already experienced Dialogue #2~A. as in Dialogue #2-A)." This combinaiton of approaches, as powerful as it is, has one O.].: "Do you think that social roles ought to reflect important limitation. For certain issues, the confrontational apprach people's real capabilities?" of Dialogues #1-A and #2-A fails because the Inquiring Person's J.P.: "Of course." position is well-founded, given his assumptions. In such cases, O.].: "Another preliminary point: do you expect the it is best to admit this explicitly at the outset and then to Jewish description of social roles-or any other aspect of explain our position as a coherent alternative given different Jewish practice, for that matter-to reflect the basic assumptions. We may then go on to argue that our values of the contemporary West, or the basic values of assumptions are at least as well justified as his. Judaism?" J.P.:"] understand that Jewish practice is designed to Dialogue #3-B reflect Jewish values. It would be philosophically irrele­ vant to criticize Jewish practice for not implementing J.P.: "The story of Abraham's near-sacrifice oflsaac is Western values! Although J might choose to reject both very troubling to me. The fact that he was stopped at Jewish values and practice because they disagree with the end is no comfort: G-d rewards him for his willing­ my admittedly Western values." ness to kill Isaac, not for agreeing to stop. How can O.].: "Very good. Now the short answer to your Judaism allow the acceptability of murder in G-d's question is this: The supreme value of Judaism is close­ name?" ness to G-d and fulfilling His will. He creates people O.].: "]assume that from your point of view, the right with a variety of different abilities to reach Him and do to life is the most important of human rights. There­ His will, and then assigns them their roles and tasks fore, in your view, nothing could justify premeditated, accordingly. This includes group distinctions (Priests, unprovoked killing of a person." Levites, Jews, Non-Jews, men/women, etc.) and indi­ J.P.:"That is correct. And I thought that it was part of vidual distinctions based on individual physical and psy- Judaism's mission to teach values like these." 1. Science Digest. Sep/. 1983, pp. 86-R_ 0.}.: "It is, in a way, but those values have to be

The Jewish Oberver!Summer, 1985 9 been fought in the name of religion-each group says it is doing 'G-d's will.' Wouldn't the world be better off without such violent fanatacism?" understood within a total Jewish world-view. Given a O.].: "It certainly would. But Judaism does not endorse secular-humanist perspective, I cannot dispell your dis­ the'convert or die' posture which produces the violence. comfort at the thought of what you call'murder in G-d's Remember, we are analyzing Abraham's experience. He name.' But let's try to understand the event from Abra­ directly heard G-d's command to sacrifice Isaac. Have you ham's perspective and see whether it still merits that any objections left to that specific act?" appellation." J.P.: "No-I see that given the assumption of G-d's J.P.:" All right." continuous free gift of life, He has the moral authority 0.}.: "The crucial assumption underlying your pers­ to end life in any manner He pleases, even by decreeing pective is that a person's life belongs to that person. His life is on sacrifice." a par with his possessions. Therefore killing him O.}.: "One final thought: our belief in G-d as creator is deprives him of what is his and thus violates his rights. not arbitrary. In scientific terms, the origin of the uni­ Abraham's assumption-the Jewish assumption-is verse as a whole, and of life in the universe, is a matter quite different: a person's life is not his possession in any sense of tremendous controversy and rapidly changing opin­ whatsoever. Remember, Judaism sees G-d as creator and ions. Judaism's position (with which science is beginning continuous sustainer of the universe. Only His continu­ to agree at important points'), originating in prophecy, ous creative will gives the world, and us in particular, its is a logica1ly coherent alternative with a continuous continued existence. Life, in particular, is doled out history of more than three thousand years. Such a posi­ instant by instant to each of us. Thus life is a moment by tion deserves to be given serious consideration." moment free gift from G-d. It is in no sense man's possession. Now when G-d decides to terminate the grant, no violation of "Coherent, But Not For Me"? man's rights occurs, since man has no right to the con­ tinuation of G-d's free gift." The upshot of Dialogue #3-B is that the Inquiring J.P.: "You're evading the question. Of course I agree Person agrees that our position is coherent and based that G-d has the right to terminate life, since it is His gift. upon a non-arbitrary premise. But nothing has been I was objecting to the idea of human beings killing in the said to lead him to accept that premise. Hopefully, he name of religion." has been stimulated enough to want to take the further O.J.:"And what if G-dcommands the killing? Does it step of investigating the deeper issues. When the dia­ make any difference whether G-d causes Isaac to have a logues are conducted in a personally friendly and accept­ heart attack, be bitten by a snake, or die as a sacrifice by ing atmosphere, many do continue their investigations. Abraham's hand? In any case, it is the Giver of life who The result, at the very least, is a new-found respect for decrees its end. In such a case, does the killing deserve to logical soundness of classical Judaism, and in many cases be called 'murder'?" a change in personal philosophy that can ultimately J.P.: "I see what you mean. The word 'murder' implies result in teshuva. lWI that the killing was wrong, and I agreed that its 2. Many physicists and cosmo/ogisls accepl creation ex'nihilo, including /he wrongness is due to violating the right to life. But creation of time and spaa; at the earlies/ ins/ants of creation the continuous annihila­ vis-a-vis G-d there is no right to life. Perhaps your word tion and creation of all types of particles and energy suggest.> tohu vavohu; the 'sacrifice' is more appropriate. But so many wars have broad outlines of the appearance of life have been confirmed by evolution. Notjust a cheese, a t1·aClition ••• '1 Haolam, the most rrusted name in Cholov Yisroel Kosher Cheese. A reputation earned rhrough 25 years of scrupulous devotion to quality and kashruth.With 12 delicious varieties. Under the strict Rabbinical supervision ofK'hal Adas Je~hurun, N. Y. H~>bm. atradition you'll:::::::: I Iao TltUJlM BRO:.. WORLD CHEESE CO.. INC. NEW YORJC N Y. .._.... _

10 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 While Syria and Lebanon capture the headlines, enormous, far reaching and far more important changes are occurring across the length and breadth of Israel.

Twenty years ago it was a struggle to the face of ever larger expenses, combined bring each child from non-religious parents with massive cutbacks in aid from the into a Chinuch Atzmai school. Today we government due to the austerity program. are overwhelmed with hundreds of letters Our summer programs- the cornerstone from parents. even whole municipalities, of the Chinuch system which has taken begging us to open up a school in their area. countless children off the crime filled streets Their words are heart rending. "Help us­ and into Torah-filled environments-is save our children, give us a true Jewish life." without any budget this year.

Not just the large cities You have to decide now! From Chatzor in the North Galil to No G-d fearing Jew can stand on the Yerucham in the South Negev, there is a sideline. Today we have to decide whether new spirit sweeping the land-a spirit of not hundreds, but hundreds of thousands of Teshuva. But there are no classrooms, no Jews in the future will grow up to be strong teachers, no books, and no shuls. G-d fearing leaders of tomorrow or G-d forbid, the opposite. Our Enormous Burden Chinuch Atzmai is today struggling in Join the quiet revolution today!

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Front !'ieu' of !-i'baare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, 1925. A heroine of the building of Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem

LATE one evening in December, 1916, a lone donkey that evening, she met Dr. Moshe Wallach 7"~1, the cart lurched toward Jaffa Gate in the Old City. Its pas­ director of the hospital. She recalls that he was very senger was a slight young lady, dressed in prim German kind, but she soon had her first encounter with the style and clutching an old-fashioned suitcase. When she special spirit Dr. Wallach maintained in his hospital. As arrived at the Hotel Amdursky, a Mr. Porush came to she tells it: greet her on behalf of Shaare Zedek Hospital. "]first asked for a cup of coffee since I was very tired from "Would you rather spend your first night at the hotel, the trip. He asked me at once when I had last eaten meat, or come directly to the hospital?" Mr. Porush asked. because of the milk in the coffee." Nurse Selma Mayer, who had come to work for Schwester (nurse) Selma spent a memorable night in Shaare Zedek, chose to go straight to the hospital. What that "brand new" bed, getting acquainted with the bed­ she found when she again got off the donkey cart may bugs. She opened her window the next morning to an have been rather more than she had bargained for. exotic Middle Eastern donkey-and-camel scene, and She was shown to a small, stark room in the hospital, prepared for her first day on the job. But the real sur­ with a "brand new" bed, a tiny table, and only a bit of prise was waiting for her when she reported for duty-a hanging space for clothing-nothing for linens. Refined, typhoid epidemic! German-born Selma was amazed at the enormous diffi­ culties caused by her simple request for a bath. Later SHAARE ZEDEK had opened its doors in 1902 with forty beds as the only modern Jewish hospital in the New City Mrs. Steinberg, born in America, lives in Jerusalem with her husband who studies of Jerusalem. Misgav Ladach and Bikur Cholim in the in a Kole/ there. Old City were inadequate to meet the needs of the

12 The Jewish Obsen,er!Summer, 1985 Ruth Steinberg

' j growing population, and the threat of missionary influ­ ence from professionally staffed and well equipped I Christian hospitals was a real danger. Dr. Wallach, an intimate of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld and Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, joined this hospital which was founded in answer to this problem. "Wallach Hospital" was meticulous in its observance of Shabbos and Kashrus. Dr. Wallach even posted a sign in the clinic waiting room insisting on separate seating, a ruJe that he per­ sonally enforced. Dr. Moshe Wallach (1866-1957) was the son of an Orthodox German-Jewish family from Cologne. He completed his medical training in 1889. From the time of his arrival in Eretz Yisroel two years later, this tzaddik devoted his life, day and night, weekday and Shabbos, to the well-being of his fellow Jews. In the terrible sanitary conditions of old Jeruslaem, Dr. Wallach sought out people who needed his help, regardless of their ability to Next question: pay. Many times, rather than take a fee, he pressed "Do you know that you have to be home (at the money on very poor patients. hospital) by eight o'clock in the evening? Will you keep Yet Dr. Wallach, the hospital's only physician, was this rule?" 'not an easy man to work for. He was known for his "Yes, of course," the candidate would reply. strict religious standards, and a vehement displeasure "No, you will come in late and climb over the wall!" for anything short of perfection-which was balanced (No nurse could leave the premises without written by a lively sense of humor. The combination of the first permission from Dr. Wallach, and then only until 8:00. two qualities was enough to scare away prospective He made a practice of standing at the hospital's small personnel. Before a nurse was hired in Shaare Zedek, gate with the gatekeeper to be sure they really all were she was first thoroughly tested on the laws of Kashrus. back on time.) Then came what Schwester Selma called "general ques­ And woe to the staff member who fell asleep on the tions." For example: job! In her memoirs, Schwester Selma recalls: "What would you do if you saw some cotton lying on "When Dr. Wallach was tired, he went to sleep at four the floor?" Dr. Wallach would ask. o'clock in the afteroon and slept until about ten o'clock at night. "I would pick it up," the girls answered. Then he came ... and superrised the night help . ... He used "Oh no, you would walk by quickly and think: let the to shout so much that first of all the patients awoke, but also the next one pick it up." fired nurses and warders. . . . Once he found a warder

The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 13 streaming to the hospital in desperate need of treat­ ment. With little food and water available, Jerusalemites were easy prey not only to the typhoid epidemic, but sleeping on a stretcher. He look off the man's slippers and look also to typhus and meningitis. Another hundred beds them lo his room." Confused and barefoot, the warder searched were crammed in. After that the practical nurses were the entire building for the missing slippers. moved from their quarters down to the basement to make room for still more paitents. Schwester Selma Then there was "an elderly woman helper who did night dressed her untrained helpers in overalls and hoods in duty. She was silting on a chair and had fallen asleep. He look an effort to protect them from infection, and they went off her earrings without her noticing it." to work. When she awoke the next morning, the poor lady was "With their lice-infested clothes, the people were stuck into shocked al the idea of an earring thief in Shaare Zedek! the bathtub," she recalled. "Then lheclothes were cul open, the If a baby cried al night, Dr. Wallach "came running. patients undressed and shaved all over." 'Nurse! Have a look al what's going on' Maybe the baby is The epidemic lasted over a year. To further compli­ sore, or thirsty, or has a stomach ache!' " cate matters, the Turks frequently checked the building Another evening, Dr. Wallach found a strange woman for illegal (and useful) items. The hospital had many lingering al the gale. bandages, sent from Germany, but they had to be "Please," she begged. "Let me in for just five minutes lo see buried to keep them safe from the Turks. my husband. He had an operation yesterday. But let me in Dr. Wallach and Schwester Selma visited every quick, before that crazy Wallach comes by." patient morning and night. For the first four weeks, she ''I'll take you up," said Dr. Wallach. "Bui really only for took along a notebook and marked down whatever five minutes. I'll wail for you al the door." needed improvement. Gradually, in spite of the lack of He called the woman out uJhen her five minutes were up, skilled workers, she introduced European-style order to and she thanked him again and again. the wards. She showed the girls how to make up a "What is your name? You're such a kind person." hospital bed, and taught some of the more capable ones 'Tm that crazy Wallach," he replied. to bandage and give injections. There was a nightmarish day of heavy bombing in ~ DR. WALLACH threw all his soul into this work, and he 1918-a Shabbos-when the staff and patients had to be I expected the hospital staff to do the same. There had moved to the basement which had no toilet. Then peace been a Dutch-trained head nurse-briefly-but she was declared, and "slowly work became more normal." found the pimitive conditions unbearable and left. The term "normal" was only relative. There was no ' Then, in 1916,during the First World War, Dr. Wallach electricity, no running water, and certianly no ambulan­ travelled to Europe to search for urgently needed per­ ces. In that pre-automobile era, the only way to get a ' sonnel. When he discovered thirty-two year old patient to the hospital was by hand-borne stretcher. Schwester Selma Mayer of the Salomon Heine Hospital in Hamburg, Germany, he finally met his professional match. It took her four long weeks by train via Central Europe, Turkey, and Damascus to reach Erelz Yisroel, and when she finally arrived, the welcome was not inviting. But Schwester Selma was not one to be scared away. Selma Mayer was born in the small town of Hanau, Germany, on February 3, 1884, one of five children. Selma's mother passed away when she was five. When she read about Florence Nightingale's work in the Cri­ mean War as the first nurse, Selma found the answer to her wish to "give to others that which I had missed so much: mother-love and the love of human beings." She began her nursing career in the Heine Hospital in 1906. In 1913, she was one of the first two Jewish nurses to be certified in Germany. In later years she would be known as the "Jewish Florence Nightingale" for her many years of selfless work at Shaare Zedek. Opportunities for dedication presented themselves at once.

WHEN Schwester Selma reported for work, she found only fifty hospital beds, but thousands of patients

14

---· In the nu1tert1ity ward

With no staff available to carry the stretcher, it was up to the patient's family to either carry it themselves or hire porters. Dr. Wallach went on foot to all parts of the Old City and the New, both to decide if hospitalization was needed, and to treat patients in case immediate In addition to its regular wards, Shaare Zedek had a treatment was called for. For severe hemorrhage cases, tiny laboratory, a clinic and, for a time, the only isolation Schwester Selma came along, carrying the sterile ward in Jerusalem. In the clinic, Dr. Wallach and an equipment and bandages. assistant painted everyone's throats as the cure for all She never forgot one very hot Shahbos when Dr. Wal­ ills; but the isolation ward, which was even cruder than lach was called to the Old City. From the family's des­ the main building, was meticulously run. It was not cription, he suspected that patient might need imme­ easy. diate surgery. There was neither heating nor plumbing. A tin bath­ tub was rolled into the room, filled with water heated "He accompanied the people lo the Old City and took along on the ubiquitous kerosene heater. When food was the necessary instruments. He returned walking next to the brought in from the hospital kitchen, it was imme­ stretcher with an injection in case the patient collapsed on the diately re-heated in the isolation ward's own pots. way. He had, however, sen! a young man ahead so that Laundry was soaked in lysol for twenty-four hours everything could be prepared for an operation. A young Arab before being sent to the main laundry shed. Every nurse then did this {sterilized the equipment] on a Prhnus [kerosene had to serve a full month in the isolation ward; during healer]." this period they were not allowed to go out or have visitors, and, except during the polio epidemic, slept in DR. WALLACH was often summoned for happier occa­ the ward. But Schwester Selma writes that while it sions as well. A very popular mohel, he performed count­ demanded great efforts, it was "well worth it in every less bris milas, keeping an exact record of the names and respect." dates. Sch wester Selma personally designed and always prepared a sterile tray of equipment, including small ScHWESTER SELMA served as head nurse, operating rolls of gauze and dermatol powder, for every circumci­ room nurse, and pinch-hitter nurse, she still did deliver­ sion. One bris was scheduled for a day struck by a ies and taught the sketchily-trained midwives basic devastating snowstorm. Never one to be deterred by skills. Until 1930, "every spiderweb on the ceiling, every circumstances-after all, a bris must be held on time-Dr. drop of water, every piece of cotton on the floor. , . and Wallach was brought to Mea Shearim by four men. This the kashrus in the tea kitchen" were her exclusive was more complicated than it sounds, since the men had responsibility. During Dr. Wallach's absences to attend to tie ropes around the doctor to lead him through the Agudath Israel meetings, Schwester Selma was left in snowdrifts! full command of the entire hospital. When Schwester Selma came to Jerusalem, she brought along a copy of an Indian poem by Tagore, which she hung in her room as her motto: "I slept and dreamt/ that life was joy./ I awoke and saw/ that life was duty./ I acted and behold,/ duty was joy."/ Yet duty was not always joy; sometimes it was stark courage. In 1929, the Arabs attacked the Jews of Hebron in the infamous Hebron Massacre. The victims, among them many students of the Chevron Yeshiva, were literally cut to pieces with knives. Hebron was barricaded, but a rescue crew managed to get through and pull out many of the wounded, who were rushed to Shaare Zedek and Hadassah Hospitals. Specialists from all over the city assembled in the operating room, but there was no team of surgical nurses to assist them. There was only Schwester Selma. Alone, she prepared the operating room and all the necessary instruments. For twenty­ three hours without a break she stood, handing instru­ ments to the surgeons as patient after patient was wheeled in. She could not wipe away her tears for fear of contaminating her sterile gloves.

In the operating r

16 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 - Children i11 tbe bospital garden

WITH THE PASSAGE of years, Shaare Zedek developed and expanded. Electricity, running water, central heat­ ing, gas cooking stoves, and eventually an elevator were de of admirers. In 1974, she was named a "Worthy of installed. New departments were opened, new doctors Jerusalem" and "Schwester Selma Day" was announced. and nurses were added to the staff. Yet Schwester In 1975, she was included in a Time Magazine cover Selma's greatest challenge came long after the demise of story on Living Saints. She was honored by statesmen the paraffin lamp which had illuminated the operating and rabbis, and once, by the sister of a Holocaust victim. room. A woman who was about to be deported left her In the early l 950's Israel was stricken by an epidemic: large, valuable diamond ring with her sister, whose infantile paralysis (polio). Shaare Zedek's isolation ward, chances of survival were better than her own. the only one in Jerusalem, was full of victims, mostly "Here," the woman said, "take my diamond ring, and little children, who needed round-the-clock care. At if I do not return, give it to a human being who has first, young nurses were forbidden by the Ministry of never married and has devoted her life to helping other Health to work in polio wards. Schwester Selma and Dr. people." Adolf Fraenkel had to search for people to operate the The sister survived. When she read about Schwester old-fashioned iron lungs, since the on-duty nurse could Selma in foreign newspapers, even as far away as not leave the machine until her replacement stood at Vienna, she chose her as the recipient of the ring. her side, ready to take over. The untrained people they Schwester Selma passed away on February 5, 1984; were able to recruit needed constant supervision, but two days after her one hundredth birthday. In her last when the assistants saw how hard Schwester Selma years, she said, "I am afraid Hashem has forgotten me (i.e. herself worked, they too did their best. After the epi­ to take my soul)." demic, in 1958, Dr. Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio We hardly think so. vaccine, visited Shaare Zedek. "He looked at our polio ward and was astounded how so much could be done under such primitive conditions." A women's U!Urd f RoM THE TIME she arrived in Ere/z Yisroel, Shaare Zedek Hospital was Selma Mayer's only home. So absorbed was she in the" duty that took up all my time" that she never married. Her contract entitled her to a three months' vacation in Germany every three years, but she went only twice, in 1922andin 1925. Both times she was tempted to stay; she was even offered the directorship of the Eidingen Stift institution in Leipzig. But by 1922, Schwester Selma had adopted the first of three 'daughters", babies who had been abandoned in the hospital. She returned to Jerusalem for, as she wrote, "How could I desert the Child Zamura!" It is certainly possible that this mesiras nefesh paid its own dividends. Had Sch wester Selma stayed on in Germany, what would have been her fate in the Holocaust? A student recalls Schwester Selma: "She was up every morning at five thirty, and never went to bed without touring the entire hospital to make sure every­ thing and everyone was all right." In spite of her profes­ sionalism, she never forgot to make a special cup of tea for a patient who refused the hospital brew, or to offer a cup of wine to a sleepless patient. Her unique qualities of dedication and selflessness attracted a very wide cir-

*One daughter was killed by a born Ii on Ben Yehuda Street in J 948_ The other fwo were trained as a nurse and a denial technician. One, even as a grandmolher, saw Schwesler Selma as the head of her family. The nurse was one of three who sat with Schwesfer Selma in day-and-night shifts after her stroke.

The Jewish ()bserver!Summer, 1985 17 The Essence of Jerusalem

The Name With Two Authors equal, but what necessitated the deviation from the exact name given by Avraham? Third, Shem referred to the city The Jew's eyes look toward Yerushalayim. His heart as "Sha/em," yet we add a Yud and call it "Yerushalayim." yearns for Yerushalayim. And - as once his feet took him By the same token, Yerushalayim is written in Tanach there, three times a year - today his knees bend toward predominantly without the Yud, but the pronunciation is the Holy City, during prayer three times a day. nevertheless "Yerushalayim," as if the Yud were there. Like all words and names in Lashon Hakodesh (the Holy Here, too, we must understand the change from the name tongue), the essence of this city is conveyed by the very let­ given by Shem. ters that make up its name: Yeru - Shalayim. The Midrash relates the origin of each of the two parts of the city's name. Two Views of Perfection After the Akeida, when Avraham Avinu was told that he should not sacrifice his son, he named that spot - the fu­ When each of these two men - Shem and Avraham - ture Temple Mount, the focal point of the city - "Hashem endowed the world's holiest spot with a name of his own Yireh: G-d will see" (Bereishis 14, 18). "Yireh" derives from choosing, he selected a name to convey his own vision of this. However, prior to Avraham, the city had already perfection. These names thus express a fundamental been given a name. Shem, the son of Noach, who was difference in their respective understanding of the world King of the City, referred to it as "Shalem" - complete, and nature. Shem, representing the perspective of the perfect (Bereishis 22, 14). non-Jew, functions within nature. His seven mitzvos are G-d, relates the Midrash, did not wish to slight either of precepts that preserve the natural order in the world. The these two great 171lddikim by giving His Divine endorse­ Jew, however, must transcend the natural world, elevate ment to either name exclusively, so he combined them and it to greater spiritual heights, and in that manner bring it called the city Yeru-shalem. to ultimate perfection. The mitzua of mila (circumcision) Before we can fully appreciate the intent of the Midrash, represents this striving for perfection beyond nature. we must attempt to resolve three difficulties. First, Shem Shem ben Noach perceived the great characteristics with preceded Avraham chronologically and he originally which the Holy City was invested. He saw the perfection named the spot. Why did Hashem put Avraham' s desig­ it possessed, and he called it "Shalem" - complete and nation first? Would it have not been more proper to call the perfect. Avraham Avinu, however, looked at this city city "Shalem-Yireh"? Second, why did G-d refer to Avra­ through Jewish eyes and saw these characteristics and at­ ham' s designation as "Yiru" as opposed to the actual tributes as mere starting points; not ends in themselves, name give by Avraham - Yireh? Yes, the commentaries but rather means to be used to achieve a perfection that point out that the numerical value of Yireh and Yiru are transcended the seeming perfection that the city was in­ vested with at creation. Avraham therefore called the place Rabbi Zev Leff, a musmach ofTelshe Yeshiva, fonnerly Rav of the Young "Yireh," a spot where G-d and man meet, where G-d Israel of North Miami, Florida, is now Mara D'Asra of Moshav Matityahu. scrutinizes the service of man in endeavoring to perfect

18 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985

______...... _ ~· _._. Rabbi Zev Leff himself and the world beyond the natural, to reach the The Key to Serenity realm of Holiness. (Refer to Targum Onkelos on Bereishis 22,14.) "Shaalu Shalom Yerushalayim - Seek this perfection of When G-d combined the names, He designated the Yerushalayim," King David exhorts us in Tehil­ Jewish essence of the city as the opening segment. True, lim ... ''Yishlayu Ohavayich - those who love you will be se­ it was "Shalem," the place of perfection, but only after rene" - for the tranquility and perfection of the Jewish "Yireh" - only after the Jewish people utilized all that the people depend on the peace and perfection of city had to offer to truly develop this supernatural perfec­ Yerushalayim. The Gemora explains that the phrase "the tion. Shalem must follow Yireh natives of Yerushalayim'' encompasses both those born there and those who aspire to be there (Kesubos 75a). We Two Aspects of Divine Encounter are all "Yerushalmi' s." We must neverlose sight of the per­ fection that we can achieve only there, and that can never But there is more to the "Yireh" concept. The word Yireh be achieved in any other city no matter how lofty our com­ conveys that Yerushalayim is the place where G-d munity achievement may seem to be. This aspiration and scrutinizes man and demands of him service, striving to­ deep appreciation for the future of Yerushalayim must in­ wards perfection. The Vilna Gaon explains that A vraham still within us a deep mourning for the loss of this perfec­ felt that he could only be certain of G-d' s cognizance of his tion, which occurred when the first Beis Hamikdash was de­ l descendants, but felt inadequate to guarantee his descen­ stroyed and which was never regained fully, even in the l dants' awareness of G-d. So he named the city "Yireh - time of the second Beis Hamikdash. "Kol hamisabel al 1 G-d will see." G-d, however, dispelled Avraham's fears Yerushalayim :wche v'roeh b'simchaso - He who mourns for (as is written in the end of the verse) - "As will be Yerushalayim merits to witness its joy." Notice that this recorded throughout history, the mountain on which G­ is not expressed in the future - will merit to witness its joy d will be seen (Yeira'eh)." G-d assured Avraham that this l - but employs the present: "merits .... " He who truly city would be a place where the Jewish people would not mourns Yerushalayim and realizes the full impact of its only be scrutinized by G-d, but where He would also be loss to us is he who can perceive and appreciate even the His seen by them. Divine presence would dwell there eter­ small steps taken in regaining this perfection. "Boneh nally, and a Jew would be awakened to G-d's presence Yerushalayim Hashem - G-d builds Yerushalayim'' - once and would be inspired with His Holiness in this city. again, not in the future, but rather in the present: To preserve the dual pronunciation and dual connota­ "builds." From the moment Yerushalayim was destroyed tion of the letters Yud-Reish-Aleph-Heh, as in Yireh and G-d began to rebuild it. Yeira'eh, G-d called the City "Yiru," which numerically equals those same letters without committing to writing either set of vowels, thus preserving the dual intention Tears Within the Joy these letters convey. Yerushalayim is not complete, however, until it achieves We, in our days, have merited to see great progress in that status described by the words of King David "as a city this Divine process, but we must face this progress with united together," which refers to the union of the physi­ mixed emotions. On the one hand, we must be thankful cal city and its spiritual counterpart in the ethereal realms. and rejoice for what G-d has given us, appreciating very For Yerushalayim is a dual city, with a spiritual twin that keenly the Chasdei Hashem involved. But at the same time, will one day merge with the earthly city to form one un­ having tasted the limited kedusha, the limited restoration severable entity. Today we have "Yerushalayim" with the of Yerushalayim, a yearning must be awakened within us Yud omitted, for the Yud represents the spiritual for the full kedusha, the restoration of Yerushalayim in its Yerushalayim which is not yet completely realized. So the fullest sense. This taste must leave us with a keen sense of name is read Yerushalayim - with a Yud - in anticipation appreciation for the vastness of what we are yet missing, of the future - but when written it does not reflect its fu­ and a deep and intense mourning for what we lost and ture greatness, in recognition of its present limited status. have not regained. Thus, the Yud signifies the duality of the city's perfection: As we approach the Three Weeks, let us, the generation Shalayim connotes a plural perfection (as kapayim and of lkvisa D'Mishicha, which hears the footfalls of Moshiach apayim are plural constructions). echoing down the corridor of history, develop the emo­ Through its name we have discovered a window to the tions to mourn and yearn and appreciate, to realize that in essence of the city of beauty and perfection, and its sig­ our days, more than ever, the mourning of Tisha B' Av and nificnce to its sons and daughters, the Jewish people. It is the words of the '' Nachem'' prayer are truly significant, for the place with the potential for service to G-d to reach the we have a taste of what was lost and a deep thirst for that zenith of perfection - where the Jew comes face to face which we yearn. Let us pray that this Tisha B'Avwill be with G-d and is stirred within the deepest recesses of his a day for rejoicing in the rebuilt, perfect Yerushalayim, to­ soul, to reach for the abiity to unite heaven and earth. gether with Moshiach Tzidkeinu. llll

The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 19 ----~- -

by Hanoch Teller ------

NEXT YEAR IN '~RICA''

A Great Place for Learning, Plus If Eretz Yisroel is viewed simply as one more venue for learning - "I have to decide between learning in New York, TorontoorEretzYisroel" - it may make good sense in terms of one's yeshiva career, but a singular opportunity to be koneh this land might be missed, for simple lack of awareness. Moreover, a shortage of that crucial element - sacrifice - could be costly to both Torah and Eretz Yisroel, each of which is acquired through yesurim. It's difficult to experience the elu­ survival conceivable without the sive kedushas ha' aretz when the moti­ "Eretz Yisroel differs from other plethora of goodies and toiletries so vation for coming is "to ... for a year" lands .. _ much a part of the American lifestyle? (alternate versions: " ... for their first in that even after the L-rd has brought Would one wither away in yeshiva year,'' '' ... to 'do 1 a year''). Other us to the land and it fiows with milk without a steady lifeline of catsup, weighty factors that sometimes and honey - we will still need His American tunafish (white chunk prompt the decision to come "for a blessing, only, please), peanut butter and year" are the fact that friends are here; that it should not become corrupt .... '' sugar-coated cereals? it's a chance for the Mrs. to relive her Netziv. Bamidbar 14,8 Q. What's the difference between seminary days; the house purchased the American dream and everybody in Brooklyn isn't ready yet. These Something to Leave Behind else's dream? mundane motives do not necessarily A. Everybody else's dream is to form an insurmountable barrier to "The land of Israel is acquired come to America. kedusha - somehow the sanctity through suffering'' used to be an ex­ Secular Israelis may be receiving seeps in; but they do contribute to the pression to which American yeshiva succor from religious Americans for wholesale importation of American bachurim, seminary students and mar­ bringing the American dream or at values and extravagance to the Holy ried couples had little trouble relating. least dreamy America to Israel. Cer­ Land, items alien to most reverential • It wasn't merely the long waits in line, tain things indigenous to America - experiences. the watery milk, or trying to find a such as free enterprise, efficiency, The Rambam describes a talmid r public telephone that worked. It was sayings like "the customer is always chacham as one distinguished from associated with the culture shock and right" - would be welcome addi­ others in several ways, including his lifestyle, which varied so sharply from tions to Israel; but other aspects, par­ manner of eating. Current norms are l the taken-for-granted comforts of ticularly the frills, are anathema to rapidly incuding eating out regularly America. Eretz Yisroel. Should't a home estab­ at the Sheraton Hotel (or at least lick­ Will today's arrivals ever know lished on holy soil reflect a little of that ing ice cream cones on Jerusalem's what I am referring to? On that sanctity - for the sake of the people torrid streets) .... Can a meaningful memorable night of packing for the living in that home, as well as for the visit to the Kosel really be topped off big trip, perhaps the greatest concern neighbors? Aren't American luxuries with a pizza and Coke in Geula? How should not be, "What did I forget?" incongruous to a land acquired desperately do seminary students - but rather "What should I forget?" Is through a modicum of sacrifice? Con­ who expect to return to America for temporary Americana (large cars, Pesach, anyway - need replenishing Rabbi Teller, author of Once Upon a Soul and sophisticated stereophonic systems, of dwindling supplies of chocolate, the recently published Soul Survivors, studies and ostentatious furnishings, trendy peanut butter and tuna fish from their teaches in Jerusalem. He is a frequent contributor to clothing) doesn't just inhabit Israel's visiting parents during the waning /0. living space, it conquers it. winter months?

20 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985

- -- Don't Let the Meshugassim In! alone recognize kedushas Eretz Yisroel. one to gain more participation and It used to be that when you came to Parents sometimes feel self-conscious greater attention. Sitting up front, Eretz Yisroe/ you half-welcomed the es­ about pushing kedusha, but this is a however, has its demands: You can­ cape from the meshugassin of America. big investment with enormous divi­ not doze off or allow your mind to If current trends continue, however, dends. They should put hesitation wander. the most religious neighborhoods of aside and stress that the Land of Israel These demands are especially rele­ Jerusalem might well be burgeoning embodies the very ideals of Torah liv­ vant to mundane activities. One can with boutiques, icecream parlors, ing: how one dresses oneself, learn in a beis mid rash anywhere on the pizza shops, record and cassette decorates one's home, and eats meals globe, but how one conducts oneself stores. Could streets teeming with and snacks. Parents should alert their outside of the beis midrash is the young students, religious as they may children to the demands ofliving in a barometer of a true Eretz Yisroel exis­ be, be reconciled with norms of mod­ sacred atmosphere and help them tence. Is the behavior in consonance esty? When this happens, r"l, it will recognize what appeals to Jewish sen­ with the demands of a land constantly indicate that none of the meshugassin sitivity and what revolts Jewish sen­ under the scrutiny of G-d'seyes - or have been left behind. To put it more sitivity. more appropriate to lands marked by succinctly, if religious life in New York This is not to say that spiritual exis­ other types of awareness? would deteriorate to the point where tence and Jewish mores and values If one wishes to come to Eretz Yisroel it would be typified by the frivolities of are to be restricted to the Holy Land. yet live as he does in America, the er­ "13th Avenue" without the Kosel, Throughout our history, anyone who ror is twofold. He has denied himself then its Jerusalem counterpart for an had the will-power and fortitude to an enviable opportunity to experience American - even with a Kosel, thank live under the Providence of G-d with the Land; but far worse, he has you - could not be much different. full trust and faith was allotted a share detracted from the Land's kedusha for Perhaps the parents should take the of avira d'Eretz Yisroe/, no matter others, and focussed their eyes and initiative in educating their children as where he happened to be. It was just hearts on what might better have to the spiritual dimensions of Eretz that living in Eretz Yisroel has always been left behind. Yisroel. Concomitantly, they should been analogous to sitting in the front Speaking to G-d from Eretz Yisroel, gauge their children's maturity to see row of the classroom. It is a choice the quip goes, is a local call; why pay if they are at all ready to imbibe, let made on one's own volition to enable out-of-town rates? 1!1J

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The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 21 Your Honors:

Albany) "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" was still engraved in the The fallowing remarks were prepared by Tablets of Stone. No constitutional amendment will wash it away, nor Professor Aaron Twerski, will a temporary erosion of moral Chairman of the Agudath Israel Commission on Legislation and values blunt the ultimate truths it represents. Civic Action as part of the Oral Argument in the Court of Appeals To say, as the Appellate Division of New York on June 4, 1985. Agudath Israel's appeal challenged has, that a religious institution can­ the N. Y. State Supreme Court's Appelate Division's decision back­ not discriminate if the state may not do so is to say that from this day ing the City of New York's Executive Order 50, which bars forward no government funding may religious organizations from discriminating against hiring "gay" go to any religious organization that takes the Ten Commandments seri­ employees. Because the court asked questions of Professor T werski, ously and is committed to enlisting there was insufficient time to present the entirety of his prepared employees for sensitive positions ~ argument. We reprint it here in full. who are faithful to its dictates. Turning to Executive Order 50, we now must say that if a city body Address to the Judges of the Court of Appeals with valid law-making authority was Albany, June 4, 1985 to explicitly provide for a religious I exemption so that religious com­ munities might, consistent with Your Honors: kind. Therein lies the tension in this proper public policy, remain faithful case. No legal legerdemain-no cit­ to the Ten Commandments and I rise not to clarify or argue the other religious tenets-which is law in this case. The Director of ation to authority-can upset this underlying reality. precisely what the New York City Governmental Affairs of Agudath and State legislatures have done­ Israel, David Zwiebel, has fulfilled A Homespun Example that the Mayor, by simple fiat, could that task in a superb fashion. In­ arrogate to himself the decision to stead, my goal is, in one sense, more If you will permit me a homespun deny that right. That is plainly and modest and in another, more ambi­ example: Put, if you please, gay simply wrong. It is a monstrous tious. I should like to reflect with rights to one side. What if Agudath interpretation of executive power, you on the serious implications for Israel were to make a rule that it and even if such authority were would refuse to hire a man or woman numerous religious communities present, would constitute an en­ should the Appellate Division deci­ who lived in an openly adulterous or croachment on religious practice that sion be upheld. promiscuous relationship, for a posi­ would be shocking to the conscience. At bottom, this case raises the tion as a youth counsellor. In most To elevate the newly found egalitar­ question of the rights of religious states, fornication and adultery are ian rights of the gay community to communities whose views are in noi crimes. Could a city or state supremacy over the oldest value discord with egalitarian values that agency refuse to hire a prospective system known to man takes some are presently in vogue. It is not sur­ employee on the grounds that the doing. prising that such conflict exists. Re­ person was an adulterer or lived in a ligion extols aspirational goals. Right non-marital relationship with a mate The Ten Commandments-or Lunch and wrong are not minimal defini­ of the opposite sex? I believe that if tions. G-d has arrogated to Himself the conduct was not criminal and The bottom line would be just the right to ask man to withstand perhaps even protected under the that. Religious parochial schools, for temptation, to be selfless, to deny broad penumbra of privacy rights, example, that refuse to submit to greed. No government operates by such discrimination would be un­ violation of a value system almost as that set of values. It cannot do so. It lawful. Are we then to say today old as civilized man, could be shorn dare not do so. But from time im­ that a religious institution that pro­ of funds for mandated services, lunch memorial, government has seen fit fesses belief in the Ten Command­ programs and textbooks, and the to encourage religious communities, ments is to be barred from participa­ manifold benefits which have been to permit and to foster the very tion in city or state contracts? The declared to be constitutionally valid. goals which society, acting through last time I looked (and I made a spe­ Theoretically, the tax exemption, government, cannot dictate to man- cial point of it before coming up to which is the lifeblood of religious

22 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 institutions as we know them today, to tell him of a terrible tragedy. The that man walks upright and that would also be threatened. In an age wheat that had grown that season light is preferably to darkness. I when government involvement in was inflicted with a terrible plague. appoint you to be those who will the delivery of social services is all All those who would eat of it would carry the memory for society of pervasive-the decision to c1ose out see an inverted world. "Up" would what sanity is all about." religious organizations from partic­ be "down" and "down" would be I make no apologies for my faith. I ipation in governmental programs is "up". Men would walk on their take a back seat to no one in cham­ tantamount to the decision to close hands rather than their feet. They pioning the values of equality which them down. Members of religious would work in the darkness rather are central to our great constitution. communities who seek these servi­ than the light. But they said, "Your Precisely because human behavior ces in a setting which is sensitive to Majesty, there is one field of unin­ was subject to the great whirlwinds their history and culture will be fected wheat. We assume that your of the times, our forefathers built a seriously hurt. majesty will wish to eat from it and "Free Exercise" clause into the Bill of This is not an isolated case. It is, be spared the curse of insanity." Rights. I believe that if they read the for those such as myself, who seek The King pondered and said, "No. Appellate Division decision, they to raise our children and conduct A King must be one with his people. would be shocked. They understood our lives, marching to the beat of a If my flock eats the wheat which well the need to protect and nurture different drummer, a life and death changes their perspective of the the ten wise men. They were not to issue. world, so must I. However, I enjoin be put to a Hobson's choice-your you, my ten wise men." faith or your community. It is that The Keepers of Sanity "Why should we be different?" horrible choice which we face today. The King answered,"Don't you see, I pray that this court will spare us Many years ago, there lived a my children, the plague will not last that confrontation. ll!ll great Chassidic saint, Rabbi Nach­ forever. In time uninfected wheat man of Bratzlav. He was a teller of will grow normally throughout the (EDITOR'S NOTE: The New York tales. He told the story of a King land once again. But, there will be no Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Aqu­ whose servants came to him one day one remaining who will remember dath Israel on June 28, 1985.)

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The Jewish Obsrn)tr!Summer, 1985 23

:1%: "'~ DON'T THESE CHILDREN DE: 11 Hello. We are the girls of the Bais Yaakov of Lakewood. You know us. We are the children of your family, your friends and your neighbors. Our parents have come to learn in the Lakewood Yeshiva from all over America, from Israel and Europe, and from as far away as Argentina and South Africa. Many of our fathers will become rabbonim and mechanchim. "We are proud of the kind of life our parents have chosen for us. They put the emphasis on ruchnius, teaching us that Torah and mitzvos are the most important things in life. "The chinuch in our school is excellent. Our teachers and principals are very dedicated, and school spirit is really great. But the big problem is that we don't have a school building. There are n"Y7::i close to five hundred of us in a school without a building. We have our classes in many different places in Lakewood, and until just recently, many classes were held in basements. And, as you can understand, this is not a gashmius problem. It is a ruchnius problem. "Our parents, together with our relatives and friends of the school, have started working on a new building that would give our school a true home. For the very first time. They've made a lot of progress, but there is still a very long way to go. It can only be done with your help ' and the help of all the other friends of the school. ' "Won't you help us give our school a building?"

I I

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CALL OR WRITE TO: BAIS YAAKOV OF LAKEWOOD, 120 MADISON ERVE ASCHOOL BUILDING? e)c5t (2-0 ais Yaakov of ' Lakewood was it B Dedication ,,• established in 1973, along Opportunities ii with the Lakewood Cheder ..• School for Boys, by a g group of parents who were • ! members of the Kolle! of 3 DEDICATION: ..• Beth Medrash Govoha. • Name of Building $ 360,000 2 From a very small ~ Multi-purpose Room $ 200,000 .. beginning, it has grown into a Floor !> $ 150,000 a major school with close to five Playground $ 75,000 ..,,.c hundred girls m:11n p. Most of Cornerstones $ 54,000 !> Main lobby • the parents are of limited $ 75,000.

!, LAKEWOOD, N.J. 08701 •TEL: (201) 370·2190 Letters on Eretz Yisroel

Imagine my surprise to find in the your stand: "Even demonstrable very next issue of JO an article entitled documentable defamation cannot be ''Time for Re-examination,'' men­ published." Bravo! tioning none other than the Chafetz (DR.) PAULE. SLATER Chaim in the role of censor for a Arzei Habira, Jerusalem The Chofetz Chaim and Criticizing Torah- guided publication! "Even • Israel demonstrably documentable defama­ tion cannot be spoken, let alone pub­ Radiowaves in Israel To the Editor: lished." The Chafetz Chaim would In the January issue of the JO, I read be quick to remind us of the Gemora in To the Editor: the Jetter from Eretz Yisroel by Shifra Erchin which proves that this applies Mrs. Slater is inspired by the Slater with interest. When the to situations in Eretz Yisroel. Mishna she hears daily on Israeli radio editorial response seemed to miss her JO - may your editorial heart heed (Letter in Jan., '85). point completely, I concluded that what your press prints! Israel Broadcasting, or Kol Yisrael as Mrs. Slater had not gone far enough. D. WEISMAN it is again called, was not set up to The Gemora in Erchin (15a) says, "The Jerusalem spread the wisdom of Torah. In addi­ verdict that our forefathers be forbid­ tion to its general negative effects the den entry into Eretz Yisroel was passed Bravo for a "New" JO Policy Israeli media, over the years, have only because of lashon hara." The la­ successfully managed to incite and shon hara mentioned was dibas ha 'aretz To the Editor: spread hatred against the religious - accurate reporting of the difficult Maze! Tov, maze! tov, maze! tov ! community to such an extent that the situation in Eretz Yisroel. It was their The Jewish Observer has come of age! In contents of some 'masterpieces' "goal to present all sides of the pic­ a courageous reexamination of would have merited an honourable ture ... both the delights and the prob­ editorial principles ("Time for a Re­ column in Der Stuermer. lems." "Light and darkness (were) in examination," JO, Feb. 85, p. 39), you a constant interplay in Eretz Yisroel, have publicly wrenched yourself free If Mrs. Slater gets a spiritual uplift­ and it (was their) task to make (the of the ignominious tradition of dis­ ing from a Mishna on RESHET 2, the people) aware of both." regard of the laws of lashon hara and Shabbos Zmiros on RESHET 1 (or is it on the anti-Semitic GALE! ZAHAL?) JO' s problem, I realized, was that pledged yourself to adhere faithfully every morning would truly the Chafetz Chaim never wrote a sefer to these tenets as interpreted by the Shabbos cause an uplifting, albeit of a different on dibas ha'aretz. Who is there today to Chafetz Chaim. nature. Medinat Yisrael may have laud­ decide for such as the JO what is per­ The road ahead is not an easy one, able rings, despite the long chain of missible to say about Eretz Yisroel for I warn you. The temptation to back­ controversial issues and blatant viola­ "to'eles" and what is not? (For exam­ slide to the old pseudo-Torah policy tions of the Torah, but airing Torah on ple, can it be that the story about of presenting ''all sides of the picture'' the odd occasion isn't one of them. It Teddy Kollek will encourage JO (JO, Feb.85, p. 32) will be great. The is a cover-up ploy to camouflage 99 readers to make aliya in such numbers pressures to criticize openly with measures of sand with one pearl, in that we will be in a proper position to broad strokes the Jewish leaders of this way trying to lend the radio or Zi­ influence the municipalities in the the Jewish State, even to slander in onism as a whole a fragrance of Tor ah Holy Land? That would be to' eles. Or print Torah-observant Jews (ibid., p. and authenticity. is Mrs. Slater's observation that we 33) will be powerful. You will want to will shake our heads over Kollek and convince yourself tr at you are shed­ A pity on those who get their Torah "curl up complacently in renewed ding light on truth, telling your from people who have got nothing to self-righteousness," rejecting Eretz readers in whom to place their trust, do with it and who, like the Mera glim Yisroel as a dangerous place to live, the all for the sake of Heaven and for (her parallel), as Rashi explains - are ' more likely outcome? That would good purpose. The American credo of trying to cover up the Sheker with a bit ' make it just plain lashon hara like the "all the news that's fit to print," on of Emes. kind the meraglim spoke - true, ac­ which we were all weaned, will be SHIA EDELSTEIN curate, l'shem Shomayim .... hard to overcome. But you have taken London, England

26 The Jewish Observer!S~mmer, 1985 with (yes, even in Israel), by simply merely cursing Kollek and his crew, voting them out. So it is in Jerusalem, but instead, take the step that, more in Petach Tikva, and in the Knesset as than any other, will help restore To­ well. Of course, for religious parties to rah to its proper place in Israeli life. govern in Israel, there must be more SURIE ACKERMAN religious people to vote for them .... Brooklyn, New York i Isn't it time for us to consider leav­ I "Some Chutzpah of My Own" ing Boro Park for Bnei Brak ... ? While religious aliya may not be the only so­ Letter to Yirmiyahu Hanavi lution to the problems in Eretz Yisroel, To the Editor: it is certainly one that should be exam­ Dear Yirmiyahu Hanavi: I must congratulate Shifra Slater on ined by each and every frum Jew as a I was very concerned about the the chutzpah exhibited in her letter and possible course for himself. Regretta­ negative aspects of the Jewish peo­ also to acknowledge with anticipation bly, this option is one that the ple that you convey in your recent ' Rabbi Wolpin's acceptance of her Agudah/Yeshiva establishment has book. While it is admirable to make challenge to present a more balanced rarely even discussed, let alone en­ people strive for greater heights, outlook on the realities of life in Eretz couraged. you have gone overboard in your Yisroel. I hope you will allow me to ex­ Perhaps The Jewish Observer, by portraying Eretz Yisroe} in an un­ hibit some chutzpah of my own as I presenting life in Eretz Yisroel in a more favorable light. Making people do comment. positive light, will be doing its part to Teshuva is a worthy enterprise, but Perhaps we all need to be reminded create a climate in which the average at least let them rest on their glory a that though it may seem as if Kollek Yeshiva person will not feel that his little bit. After all, isn't this what this and his ilk have been in power for­ frnmkeit may be threatened by a move world is all about. ever, they are, in fact, merely elected to Eretz Yisroel. Perhaps, then, more of A GREATTZADDICK officials. Elected officials can be dealt us will stop beating our breasts and lln my own eyes} 1 Editorial Response

Three of the above letters share one ous misconceptions of our general mous letters on the subject of object­ or more of the following reactions to 11ashkafa, specific aims, and the intent ing publicly to the wrong-doings of The Jewish Observer's current editorial of editorial statements published in Jewish leaders (This threatens to be­ policy: 1) JO has an "ignominious tra­ the magazine, but also are a misin­ come a regular feature in The Jewish dition [of] disregard of the laws of la­ terpretation of ha lac ha. Observer. See "The Chafetz Chaim shon hara," as interpreted by the We did express regret for not suffi­ and Compromise on the Great Di­ Chafetz Chaim. 2) It is only by a ciently "portraying the Torah accom­ vide," Mar. '84.) The first of his two pseudo-Torah rationale that we can plishments of Torah life in Eretz Yis­ letters, entitled "Elbono Shel Torah," justify criticizing leaders of the State. roel" Gan. 85, pp. 32-33), and - yes - was published in the winter of 1928. In fact, it constitutes "lashon hara in a subsequent issue, we also pub­ Vilna at that time was "led" by two against Eretz Yisroel," which must be lished an article that decried lashon rabbonim: Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grod­ avoided, even if as a result the situa­ hara in the media (Feb. 85, p. 39). But zenski, universally recognized as the tion in Israel is misrepresented. 3) The in no way did these articles indicate most authoritative Torah voice of his determining factor for whether or not that exposing and criticizing those time, and a Rabbi Rubinstein, whose comments on Israel should be pub­ who are doing harm to Torah and its sole function was to occupy the office l lished is - will it promote aliya? 4) adherents is forbidden - just because of "Rabbi of Vilna" to satisfy the Pol­ One of the reasons for promoting aliya they happen to be religious or reside ish government's requirement that is that it will solve most of the prob­ in Eretz Yisroel the official rabbi of every city possess lems plaguing the religious Yishuv by the qualifying secular degree, which giving Israel a Dali majority, which The Limits of Forbidden Speech, as Reb Chaim Ozer lacked. When Rabbi will oust anti-religious leaders from per the Chofetz Chaim Rubinstein was misled, and began to office. To explain our approach, we will assert his authority, to the detriment These reactions not only reflect seri- again quote the Chafetz Chaim's fa- of Reh Chaim Ozer' s role, the Chafetz

The Jewish Observtr!Summer, 1985 27 , the Faith, it is a mitzva - a sacred It would seem safe to say that even

It duty, to do all that one can, and there though the Chafetz Chaim never is not the slightest fear of violation [of penned a Shulchan Aruch on dibas ' the laws of lashon hara] .... " ha'aretz as he did on slandering peo­ The Chafetz Chaim's statement ple, there are Gedolei Torah today who sets a halachic ruling in regard to la­ are eminently qualified to chart the shon hora, which certainly has a direct limits of permissible speech for us, Chaim issued a public statement, bearing on our situation. and to take into account any halachic which minced no words. Among factors as to how it may affect the deci­ other things, he said that: " ... the Sat­ Guidelines For Discussing Eretz sons of potential olim. And their ac­ tan has brought about that the Kehilla Yisroel tions serve as a firm, reliable guide. has decided, by majority vote, to set Here we refer to outcries against dis­ aside the authority of the Rabbonim in Dibas ha 'aretz, slandering Eretz Yis­ tortion ofTorah or infringement of the matters of our Faith, and to subject rael, is certainly a grave matter and rights of the religious community, them to the authority of one who is deserves to be considered seriously, when such occurs, by the Torah unworthy. How great is the misfor­ but to suggest that outrages against leadership of Eretz Yisrael. Whether it tune that has befallen us, that the To­ Tor ah are immune to exposure sim­ be the Steipler (Rabbi Yisroel Yaakov rah is torn into factions by enemies ply because they are taking place in Is­ Kanievsky), the Ponovezher Rosh from within and without, who sub­ rael is absurd. Do the writers suggest HaYeshiva (Rabbi Elazar Schach), the vert our people and seek to separate that the Hellenists should not have Gerer Rebbe (Rabbi Simcha Bunim the People of G-d from His Torah and been criticized for their evil simply be­ Alter), or others of stature, no one im­ mitzvos. They have now declared cause they perpetrated it in Eretz Yis­ putes their vigilance in avoiding slan­ open rebellion, undermining our sa­ roel? How is one to battle those who der or their love for Eretz Yisrael, yet cred Faith, with the clear intent of would undermine Torah and put a they do protest wrong-doing, when it profaning all that is Holy, and des­ stop to their activity, if they are not occurs - even in Eretz Yisroel. To the troying the Rabbinate which is the identified? contrary, their outcries are motivated fount of Torah." (for the full text, see Our correspondents equate an ob­ by love of Torah, love of Jews, love of JO, April 68) jective appraisal of the situation in Eretz Yisroel and respect for its The terms he used were far from Eretz Yisroel with the "balanced sanctity. complimentary, yet essential to pro­ reports'' of the meraglim, the spies dis­ • tect ''the Rabbinate which is the fount patched by Moshe, who discouraged Will "Aliya" Really Suffer? , of Torah." Just as we have well­ the Jews from entering Eretz Yisroel. meaning people today who fault criti­ Such parallels are superficial and even The writers fear that aliya from cism of "Jewish leaders of the Jewish fallacious. There are no prophets to­ Agudah/Yeshiva circles will be ad­ [community]" ... objecting to what day telling us that it is G-d' swill that versely affected by JO criticisms. JO they call ''slander in print [of] Torah­ every Jew enter Israel today at all has been reporting and commenting observant Jews," regardless of the costs, and that there can be no other on Eretz Yisroel for the last 23 years, a context, so too did some find even the considerations, as was the situation in period that has witnessed a steady in­ saintly Chafetz Chaim's printed ob­ the time of Moshe. crease in aliya from Agudah/Yeshiva jections to Rabbi Rubenstein' s con­ A little over a hundred years ago, circles, to the extent where they rep­ duct out of bounds. Their critique Reb Yisroel Salanter cautioned people resent a significant group among all prompted him to write in Teves of who had no assured means of earning American olim. It is essential, how­ that same year: a livelihood in Eretz Yisrael to stay ever, that when people make their r "I have been told that the newspa­ home in Europe. This is no less a con­ choice to live in the Holy Land, that per Moment has published a letter to sideration today. they do so with their eyes open, and the editor, in which the writer ex­ Enhanced spirituality is the stron­ be prepared to join in the battle for To­ pressed surprise that in my protest gest motive for aliya, but it can also be rah supremacy, instead of opting for concerning the Vilna Rabbinate, I did a legitimate reason to remain in the the sheltering shade of the most con­ not exercise care in the matter of la­ Gola, in terms of education for chil­ venient grape vine and fig tree. shon hara, machlokes, and publicly em­ dren and finding a community. This We also believe that those who re­ barrassing a person - matters which kind of consideration takes careful spond to their yearnings to live in I have, with the help of G-d, con­ thought and analysis, and calls for Eretz Yisroel should do so with a full cerned myself all my life, and which consultation with genuine Torah awareness of the difficulty they will must surely still be of concern to authorities, and the answer is not al­ encounter there, along with the un­ me ... .I therefore publicly declare that ways a predictable, unequivocal rivaled rewards. The delights of living in matters involving the guarding of "Yes!" in Eretz Yisroel are sufficiently real and

28 Thr Jewish Obsrrver/Summrr, 1985 do exist in Israel? Under such circum­ In spite of the flourishing of Torah stances, would it not be halachically centers in Eretz Yisroel, and the wrong to go on aliya? streaming of tens of thousands of Living in Eretz Yisroel is a compelling non- religious Israelis toward religious and rewarding opportunity. Now life and values, a polarization is taking that it can be achieved with relative place. Every individual who joins the ease - after so many centuries of battle for religious values - or compelling to assert their attraction on prayer and yearning, when it was not reaches out to bridge the gap between their own terms, without necessity of easily realized - it may be puzzling the religious and not-yet-religious - hiding the problems from public why more people do not take advan­ can make a difference, and we hope view, lest a potential oleh be dis­ tage of the open opportunities to to inspire all new olim to involve suaded from making aliya. And move to Eretz Yisroel and settle there. themselves in this struggle. should he and she decide that they Many who have done so seem dis­ At the same time, we must recog­ are not ready to weather the storms mayed - even hostile toward those nize that even if 20,000 Jews leave that await them, isn't it wiser to let who have not joined them. True, Brooklyn for Eretz Yisroel during the them make that decision in America those in the Gola may not be as aware next five years - what a wilclly op­ before embarking on an abortive aliya, of the attractions and rewards of liv­ timistic prospect! - they will not tilt instead of waiting until they make the ing in Eretz Yisroel as they should be. the political balance in Israel. Or­ move to experience the other side of Here JO has a job to do.... By the same thodoxy will still be a minority. Let the coin fhere, and then have them token, those who are in Eretz Yisroel our judgment be fired with idealism join the ranks of yordim - or even must also accept that not everyone is - but it must be a clear-sighted ideal­ worse yet, firid that they or their chil­ as well-equipped to manage as they ism, not overstated hyperbole. dren fall victim to various pitfalls that are. NW

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The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 29 From left to right: f)"om left to right: Yehudii> Klein (4th place), Ruchy Bcrkovits (4th place). Uri Langner (4th place), f.loror fisch (4th place). Di ZUima Daft,llo (Isl place). Kaye Thomas (4th place). with AbramowiU (2nd place). Moshe Ciutman (3rd place).. Nachum John J. Amodio, f're">idenl. Hirsch (4th place), with John J. Amodio. President. Not pictured aboYe: Doreen Cionnan (4th place), Rachel Not pictured abo\/e: Vincent Jl'lagenli (4th platt). Heilpem (4th place). stephanie t'isdotto (4th place). These children put the ~ride we !'finning Essay all feel about WHATlllAKES Horo Park into OFBORoi~~~~~~BORHooo words. IAL? The Boro Park community congratulates the winners of CNB's Student Contest. The pride we feel in our community. lt"s not easy to put into words, but hundreds of Boro Park children did in 50 words or less during CNB's "Born Park is Special" Student Contest. ~ On the right is the winning essay, written by !:~!!S!:cir:~:/:i!2hl~ " L" Zulma Daiello. Zulma was the recipient of ~~- ~~ $1,000 for her first prize entry, with a matching ~y.ao.iahl'·.:·~~:,;;. ~~~~~ amount awarded to her school · Holy Spirit. All 2nd, 3rd and 4th prize winners were presented at the "Boro Park is Special" event. _lh,..h~:~rt~~~~ .... r1;kc. I· · • - Congratulations to Zulma and all the other - F 'Y•n3 •n 'Bo'Y".o finalists. We'd also like to thank everyone in the - community for making our "Boro Park is Special" event a success! As your "Neighborhood Bank"', CNB is com­ mitted to working with you and your children to keep Boro Park a special community.

CftXa/rA£~!V~tYtkd8a;ri" Gl lltf:1118ER FDIC/EQUALOf'f"ORTUNITY LEl"IDER -- Located in the heart of Boro P'ark at 5005 13th Avenue, (718) 436·6900 LENDER Chaim Shapiro

l\ A master raconteur takes us back to the courtship patterns of pre-War Eastern Europe, describing the role of the shadchan .... No town could be without one. i 1 Shadchanim-Matchmakers j I Sources for the Profession was the shadchan between Yisroel and Hakadosh Baruch ~ Hu." (Yalkut Shimoni, Yisro 1, 279). "Since Creation, G-d has engaged in making matches, Every town in Eastern Europe had a shadchan, while big­ i a task as difficult as splitting the Yam Suf (Red Sea)" ger cities had two or more who plied the trade. While they (Bereishis Rabba, 68,4). were poor, they were held in great esteem for the impor­ The word shadchan, for matchmaker, is related to shid­ tant position they occupied in the community. They were duch, match, which literally means (believe it or not) peace not just brokers who brought together two parties, as in (of mind?) or rest (assured?). According to the Ran (Rab­ a business deal. They were agents of Heaven, fulfilling a beinu Nissim): "It stems from the word shekel and menucha, Divine mission, as Talmudic literature declares: "A per­ I which a woman finds in her husband's house, as the Tar­ son's mate is designated by the Holy One" (Bereishis Rabba gum translates the passage (in Shoftim 5, 31), And the land 68,3); "Heaven mates a man and his wife in accordance ~ was tranquil for forty years ('Vatishkot ha' aretz arbaim with his merits"; and "Mating a couple is as difficult as shana): veshiduchas ara' (Shabbos 12 a)." splitting the Yam Suf" (Sota 2). i When the late Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Avraharn Mordechai Hence they were G-d' s "messengers," bringing mates Alter, 7"~' was approached by his brother regarding a shid­ together on His behalf. So they were respected and ho­ duch between their respective children, the Rebbe said, nored - after all, the fate of the town's children rested in "Go get a shadchan !" their hands. And ultimately, they were loved - or hated The brother was shocked. "! can't talk to my own - depending on the outcome of the individual shidduch .... brother about a shidduch for our own chidren? I, of all peo­ ple, need a shadchan?" The Pre-requisites of an Effective Shadchan Replied the Rebbe: "Hashem offered His Torah to all the nations of the world, yet they refused to accept his offer. A shadchan could never lie, or he would lose his credi­ No deal! When He turned to the Jews, however, they did bility. "Trust" was the foundation of his mission. Butthat accept. Why? - because He offered the Torah through a didn't prevent him from being a thorough experts onguz­ shadchan, Moshe Rabbeinu. And a shidduch was made!" ma' as (exaggeration) - expert on stretching the positive or Indeed, the Midrash is the source for this relationship: minimizing a negative factor - and above all, an expert in "Why did Moshe merit that his face glowed? Because he the art of persuasion. People know how to distinguish between hard facts and guzma. They could tell where the core of truth ended and Rabbi Shapiro, a frequent contributor to these pages, recently brought his son the embroidery began. If they did accept everything said to the chupa - introduced to his bride by a shadchan, of course. at face value, it was only because they wanted to hear and

The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 31 lady is the daughter or niece of so-and- so, it is just as im­ pressive as when the young man is the offspring of so-and-so. Traditionally, yichus has figured in marriage, as is recorded in the Mishna: "Twice yearly the daughters ofls­

I rael would go out in borrowed white garments and dance I in the vineyards. Unmarried men would also go there. The accept the exaggerations. The shadchan, then, was clearly beautiful maidens would say, 'Lift up your eyes to beauty, blameless for later disappointments and complaints. for a wife is primarily for beauty.' The Meyuchasos (daugh­ To ply their profession, the shadchanim stored "com­ ters of distinguished families) would say, 'Fix your eyes on puter files" of information regarding some hundred fam­ family, for a woman is primarily for child-bearing'" (Taanis ilies in various cities. Sifting through his memory, a shad­ 31a). chan had to come up with a suggestion that would work! And so every shadchan knew, or made it his business to Matching the boy and girl, their looks and personalities, know, the yzchus - in terms of the Torah-, chassidus- or their levels of intelligence and commitment to Yiddishkeit, tzidkus-stature - of the families involved. was only half the mission; matching the families was just as important. This meant dealing with the families' stat­ The Shadchan of Tiktin. ure in the community, their Torah level, their charity ac­ In Poland, almost every city had a nickname, which tivities, economic status, and above all, their yichus. described the inhabitants of the town. Certainly it was not A shadchan thus had to be something of a Ben Torah to foolproof in its description, but it did reflect the type of the be able to evaluate Torah levels or yichus. As a matter of people who lived there to quite a degree. For instance, one fact, some highly-regarded rabbinical figures engaged in large city in Poland was famous as the home of Ganovim. making shidduchim on a strictly non- professional basis. For Of course, all of its people were not thieves, but the city example, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the revered" Alterof gained notoriety for the pick-pockets, flim-flam operators ! Slobodke," arranged matches between his top students and common thieves that preyed on its visitors. and the daughters of prominent Roshei Yeshiva - fre­ Tiktin (Tykacin) was known for its "Tiktiner Yachso­ I quently the very men who opposed his system of teach­ nim, ''a title that speaks for itself. Each baalhabayis consid­ I ing Mussar, winning over their yeshivas to his ideology ered himself a yachson, measuring his family against the through infiltration by marriage! (See "Torah Pioneers," others', to his own advantage. One can imagine the diffi­ JO June '74, for some of the Alter's more eminent cult job of the local shadchan, Reb Chone (brother of my shidduchim.) Bubbie Faigel). This Thing Called Yichus Reb Chone worked very diligently at his trade. He car­ ried the names of hundreds of clients in his memory bank. The term yichus - its meaning and connotations - can He knew people in neighboring towns, all the way to Bi­ never be translated into another language. Pedigree? alystock. Sometimes he would even wander off as far Genealogy? Breeding? These terms are suitable when buy­ away as Warsaw for a shidduch! ing a dog or a horse! No wonder the rabbis stated "Ein As a rule, he would never shadchen together two fami­ yichus lo'akum"; the concept does not even have a coun­ lies from the same street or village: they knew too much terpart in their tongue! about one another. He preferred out-of-towners for Tik­ Indeed, the Jews pride themselves on tracing their yichus tiners. To justify this, Reb Chone would quote a Tiktiner to Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaacov, all the way to Adam Vari:* "Why did the Jews make the Golden Calf? True, Harishon, directly to the Creator (in contrast to the atheists they thought that Moshe Rabbeinu had died and they who trace their ancestry to the apes). And converts to needed another leader. But why didn't they pick Aaron, Judaism become attached directly to Avraham, joining the Elazar or Chur for a leader? Why a calf?" And Anshei Tik­ same chain of aristocracy. Actually, there are two kinds of tin would reply: "Letit be a calf, as long as it's a stranger, yichus: the halachic one (the legal term), and the popular from out-of-town." expression of deep respect for a family's lineage. In halacha, yichus amongst Jews follows the father" ... by their *A Vo rt usually refers to an idea or statement of wisdom originated by families, by their fathers' houses" (Bamidbar 1,2). Hence a Gaon, Rosh Yeshiva orChassidicRebbe. Did you ever hear of a Vort if the father is a Kohein or Levi, so are his children. attributed to a town? In Poland and Lithuania one could hear a ''Tiktiner Yichus in our discussion is in terms of the popular usage Vort" making the rounds! Another Tiktiner Vort took people to task for only considering the fa­ in admiration for distinguished families of Torah, referring ther of the bride's financial sttus when contemplating a shidduch. As to an aristocracy of Torah. With the birth of the Chassidic ''proof" they cite the placing of the account of the birth of Er and Onan movement, the term was widened to include chassidus and just after their mother's yichus: "the daughter of Shua the merchant." tzidkus as well. And these types of yichus apply to the When there is no other distinction in a person's family, an Er and Onan mother's lineage as well as the father's. When a young result.

32 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 He would occasionally drop into the house of my Zeide 1 - Reb Shmuel Leib Shapiro - to consult on a shidduch he I was contemplating. Tall, thin, gray - Reb Chone would Analyzes. Reports. ' stand and shoklc zid1 as if standing Shmonc Esrei, listening to the opinions. Seeing him leave once, I heard him whis­ Evaluates. Reviews. per a prayer: "Ribono Shel Olam, I know I can't split the ' Sea, but I'm doing Your work. Zci mir matz/iach!" Comments. Reflects. I Unlike other professionals, who were finished with a Inspires. Projects. shidduch once they received payment for their efforts, he would become emotionally involved in his clients' lives, and would worry about his couples for years to come. When he would silently pace the kitchen, with a pensive expression on his face, the family knew that he was either worrying about a shidduch that wasn't working out, or !HE about one that was going well, but perhaps shouldn't .... Once at a wedding, when he was congratu­ lated by everyone about "the perfect match" he had ar­ JEWISH ranged, he repeated the old shadchanim 's Vo rt: "Kinderlach (children), whatever you are wishing me today, let it hap­ pen to me. Whatever you will be wishing me five years OBSERVER from today, may it happen to you!" As a rule, shadchanim prefer to work with young Wedo more prospects, rather than with widowed or divorced people. Yet they kept lists ofonce-marrrieds, too, and neverlet a good idea pass. The personal gratification of helping an than just observe. older person find a match far surpassed the joys of help­ ing a younger couple. ••••••••••••••••••• When a match was successful, the shadchan would re­ =Subscribe, Renew or Give I ceive the couple's thanks and appreciation for the rest of their lives! But if it turned out tragic, then both sides would I The Jewish Observer I spell out his title SH-D-CH-N, as the initials of a deroga­ I now an. d save.. I tory message: SHeker Dover Kessef Note! (Speaks false, takes 1 1 money - i.e., his matchmaking fee). I O One Year/$15.00 (for ten issues) I A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Yichus 1 O Two Years/$27.00 (a $40 value) 1 And what of those not born into distinguished Torah­ 1 O Three Years/$36.00 (a $60 value) 1 Chassidus-Tzidkus families? They can start a yichus of their I O Israel and all Europe -$20.00. I own! As the old saying goes: "Yichus is admirable where I o Australia & So. Africa- $25.00. I it begins, not where it ends.'' In many families the yichus I U.S. FU'NDS-DltAWN ON' A.'U.S. BAN'lC ONLY • ended when the children went astray; the next generation did not appreciate the treasure that it had inherited. These I T~EWISH I children might boast about their yichus, but its value = BSERVER : dropped to nil with their appearance. As someone once Beekman Street/New York, N.YJ10038/ retorted to a person who had belittled a great talmid Is I chacham who happened not to stem from a well-known I_, . I I Scnu magazine to: • "yichus family": "He is the pride of his parents, while you are the shame of yours!" IN,me • The Rambam actual! y prescribes a course for fashioning • Address ------I one's own yichus, based on a passage in Avos: "The Jews • CitY State Zip ---­ I were crowned with three crowns. The crown of Kehuna I went to Aaron and his offspring. The crown of royalty =Cl Enclose gift c"d Cl Mast« card Cl Vi" went to David. And the crown of Torah is ready and wait­ I ing for everyone to come and claim it. ... Perhaps you think I Account No. 0000000000000000 those two crowns are greater than the crown of To­ I Expiration date OD (month) DO (year) •I rah ... [but] the Torah crown is greaterthan those two" (Hil­ B C)ignarure ______chos Talmud Torah 3.1). •••••••••••••••••••• The ]ewislz Observer/Summer, 1985 33 I f I The chachamim advise us: "A person should sell all of his Obadiah the Proselyte, the Rambam writes: "Proselytes, do possessions in order to marry the daughter of a talmid not underestimate your lineage! If we trace ours to Abra­ chacham. And he should marry his daughter to a talmid ham, Isaac, and Jacob, you trace yours to the Creator." chacham; it can be compared to clusters from a grapevine They too can begin to build a yichus family of great no­ with clusters from a grapevine, a thing both pleasant and bility, as we find in regard to Pinchas: one of his grand­ well- received" (Pesachim 49a). The Maharsha explains, fathers was Aaron the Kohein Gadol, while his other grand­ "He too will be well-received, for she will bear him fine father had once fattened calves to be sacrificed to idols children - just as the grapevine does not accept a graft (Bamidbar 25, 1 - see Rashi). from ,~ny other tree, so too will your children be without flaw. A Shadchan in Lomza If one finds it impossible to become a master of Torah, one can still build a house of Yiddishkeit and tzeddaka, for the Since I was blessed with two hometowns, Lomza and "Crown of a good name is above them all." If one raises Tiktin, I am able to share with the readers information children, imbuing them with values that they will remem­ about the King of the shadchanim of the entire vicinity of ber and cherish, it provides them with a yichus for gener­ Lomza, Reb Ever Frankel. He even wrote a a book Nistorei ations to come. It is the greatest inheritance one can leave Nechbados (Secrets of Shadchanim), a veritable handbook to his children, something to recall with pride, to boast for the trade. He claimed that shadchanus is a profession, about and to hand over to the future generations. Yichus and one must study its myriad rules to become a master is admirable at that point where it begins, and lasts as long shadchan. as the beauty it embodies is maintained. In that pretelephone era, the most impressive tool at the And what about the ger, the convert? ln his letter to disposal of shadchanim was the telegram. Its impact was

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34 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 -· much greater than that of a letter or an oral communica­ ran to Chevron. There the shidduch went smoothly be­ tion. Since telegrams were charged by the word, the trick cause the mechutan Avrohom Avinu did not ask for any was to say the most with the least number of words. nadan (dowry) from the kalla's side. In our day, however, Descriptions, propositions and plans had to be condensed they sing a different tune. Every mechutan is from the Asara into just a few words, so the shadchanim were experts in Yuchsin, *and the wealth ofKorach is not enough for these sending telegrams. The two parties would study every Bnei Heichala Dichsifin!"* word for what it said and what it did not say, and every Then he gives a sample of one of his greatest achieve­ possible meaning of the word was discussed and inter­ ments, a sh idduch that he brought to a happy conclusion, preted. In absence of commas, periods and exclamation where all other shadchanim had tried and failed: It meant marks (there was no punctuation in a telegram) the word dealing with" ... the famous, highly educated lady Sarah stop was strategically inserted. It was also designed to give Mintzevitz from Bialystok, granddaughter of Horav Ye­ the recipient a chance to digest the meaning of each word, hoshua Leib Diskin, Rav of Lomza (later Brisk and and let him catch his breath. The telegram's impact was Yerushalayirn). She spoke 70 languages; she was a Bas Co­ such, however, that people would read it quickly to its hen and carried her yichus with pride, and she writes a conclusion, without catching their breath. literate Hebrew which flows like a swift river. She offered Now we can understand the writing of Ever Frankel, her only son with 10,000 rubles nadan, but demanded who knew all Jewish families - their yichus and their 25,000 from the kalla' s side in return. All shadchanim in the secrets - "from Dan to Beer Sheva." He writes: "Do not country were out looking for a suitable kalla, but could find tell me of the first shadchan in history, Eliezer, who con­ none.'' cluded the shidduch of Yitzchok and Rivka without a hitch l - no difficulties, no arguments, no telegrams from Cha- *Talmudic and Midrashic references that defy translation. ~ I I B£-NN¥1S--~Gi~;(~~l j (718) 853-8888 I Soro Park, B'klyn. East Side, N.Y.C. " The respected Feingold Association 4717 13th Avenue 51 Canal St. has given its approval to Freeda Vitamins. This coveted recognition means that Freeda Lowest Prices! Big Savings! has successfully eliminated extraneous ingredients such as sugar, starch, artificial colorings and synthetic flavorings which COME IN and $AVE can often be harmful to hyperactive and WE CARRY A FULL LINE of food-sensitive children and adults." • CAMERAS • RADIOS • TVs • Dr. Phillip Zimmerman, Ph.D. STEREOS• VIDEOS• TELEPHONES Chief Chemist •GIFTS• WATCHES• WALL CLOCKS FEINGOLD ASSOCIATION APPROVED AUTHORIZED SEIKO, PULSAR, BULOVA, NO SALT FILLER NO SUGAR DEALER NO ANIMAL DERIVATIVES WE HAVE A FULL LINE OF NO STARCH I NO COAL TAR DYES ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES NO SULFATES for EXPORT 220 V Call or send for free brochure. Manufacturers of a complete line of Kosher vitamins since 1928. RECORDS• TAPES 7HOUR DEVELOPING SERVICE 50°/o OFF

TJir Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 35 Frankel found a kalla in Riga, Latvia (in those days the negotiations. One must bear in mind that the telegrams three Baltic States were part of the Czarist Russian empire). and the haggling about money were done without the He sent a telegram: MATZA SI (I FOUND) STOP MIS HOMA YIM knowledge of the children. If the chemistry was positive HITZLICHA (HEAVEN HELPED ME) STOP KALLA NA' AH VA CH­ when they met - the parents could do nothing to derail SUDO (A GRACIOUS PIOUS BRIDE) STOP A PERFECT MATCH the match. And if the principals were not interested, the STOP TWENTY THOUSAND TOP MAZEL TOV STOP parents were helpless to bring them together. The pre­ And what was Sarah Nimtzevitz' s reply? HAVE SPOKEN meeting haggling was merely a matter of planning to se­ STOP I GIVE MY SON STOP AS MUCH AS BEN HAMDOSO STOP cure a financial future for the young couple. GA VE FOR ALL THE JEWS STOP IN THE KINGDOM OF ACHASH­ P'gam: A Blemish In The Family VEROSH STOP\'JE THE CHILDREN OF AARON HAKOHEIN STOP WILL BLESS THE SHIDDUCH STOP ONLY WITH TWENTY FIVE A shadchan not only had to be familiar with each family's STOP yichus, but also with any p'gam in the family, a significant It took the wisdom, experience and the powers of per­ factor in the matching process. The following were consid­ suasion of the King of the Shadchanim, Reb Ever Frankel ered blemishes (in order of severity): - plus another exchange of telegrams - to conclude the 1) A meshumad, someone who converted to another faith

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36 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 (a rarity). 2) A mosser, an informer against fellow Jews. 3) are guilty in this matter, and they should be punished" A Communist. 4) A Bundist-Socialist. It was the shadchan' s (Maharsha, Kiddushin 71a). duty to uncover the entire story, and in such cases, to re­ A Shadchan' s Shad ch anus port whatever was relevant to the interested parties. A shadchan' s commission was protected by the halacha, Remarkable are the words of the Maharsha, who was which in tum brings to the fore a number of questions: Rav in Tiktin (1620). (I can visualize him in the old Beis-Din Who is required to pay the shadchanus, the bride and Shtub - still extant before the war - writing these words groom or their parents? (The young couple, as the main in his famous commentary on Shas.) "In our generation beneficiaries, but it's customary for the parents to pay.) most questions regarding yichus are not based on When is payment due - at the engagement or after the documented fact. Thus, if one casts aspersions on some­ wedding? If one does not pay on time does one violate the one else's yichus to his friends he is nothing less than a Torah prohibitions against holding back a worker's slanderer, seeking glory by shaming others. Whoever wages? What if one shadchan introduced the couple and points out a p'gam in someone else is merely covering up another one steered the shidduch to its conclusion? What his own shortcomings. They should be chastised and if the couple broke off, and another person renewed the warned to correct their ways. The shadchanim, especially, effort and brought it to its completion? Responsa are full ATT•UYA,

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The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 37 of such problems, mainly geared to protect the shadchan. process in Baltimore I can testify that, in the hundreds or Community discipline was strict on the subject. Woe to perhaps thousands of divorces that I've witnessed, there those who failed to pay the shadchan! In fact, some people were hardly two dozen divorces from the yeshiva commu­ are meticulous in giving a gift of some sort to everyone in­ nity. Why such an excellent record? Of course, a Torah life volved in bringing a couple together, to free the match offers the best antidote against the plague, with its built­ from any misgivings on anyone's part. Some people take in patterns of renewal. But, in my opinion, shadchanim are advantage of this tendency, as they tell about a shadchan also a contributing factor, by bringing an objective third who approached one of the fathers after the wedding and party into the selection process, and serving as a buffer be­ i demanded payment. Said the father, "I'm astonished at tween the parties, who may be too eager, too reluctant, or your nerve to ask for payment. It was Reb Dovid the shad­ too inexperienced for a smooth courtship. By contrast, chan who made the shidduch, not you! You never even when a boy meets a girl casually, Jewish patterns of mod­ spoke one word about us!" esty are violated from the start, the young man and "Indeed," replied the shadchan, "had I said but one wo1nan are unduly impatient and can't wait to get mar­ word about you, there never would have been a ried. Six months later, they can't wait to get divorced. Not wedding." so when dealing with a shadchan, who sees the entire pic­ He got the message, and paid the shadchan .... ture from the start. In conclusion, shadchanim are a Maze[ Bracha in a commu­ As the Gerrer Rebbe put it: "Go get a shadchan! Maze! nity. For the thirty years that I'm involved in the gittin Tov1" 1111

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38 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985

------. • in the controversies they stir up amongst Jews, pitting one group Letters against another, provoking baseless to the Pincus Mandel hatred in our midst. This animosity Cemetery Consultant was the cause of the Churban of the Representative of Chevres Editor Second Beis Hamikdash, and prevents Kadisha in Jerusalem the rebuilding of the Third. Let us not with karka on Har Hazaitim, San­ Keeping the Spiritual Heritage involve ourselves in the differences hedria and Har Hamnuchot; also Alive between great men, who give their sole agent for the "ADMAT KO­ To the Editor: very lives for Kial and whose disputes DESH" Cemetery in SEFAT, near are surely for the sake of Heaven. By the " TZIYON" of R'PINCHAS With so much attention being Ben YAIR and MERON Cemetery, focussed on the 40th anniversary of contrast, small people who enjoy a good argument, have no business in the vicinity of the ."OHEL" of the end of World War!!, we are anx­ R'SHIMON BAR YOCHAI. Karka taking sides in the disagreements of ious that the world not forget Jewish also available on all other COM­ giants. suffering. It may be even more Impor­ MUNITY-OWNED Cemeteries in Unfortunately, many brothers and tant that we not forget. Eretz Yisrael, controlled and main­ If we truly remembered the terrible sisters do not even speak with one an­ tained by the CHEYRA KAD!SHA tragedies endured by our people - other, and only attend one anothers' of the COMMUNITY ... Not a simchas (or other type gatherings) for PRIVATELY-OWNED BUSI­ near and dear to us - at the hands of NESS. the murderous Nazis, and other appearances' sake. Isn't it time we ac­ cepted "Ve'ohavta-loveyourfellow 1569 4 7th Street "neighbors," then we would cherish Brooklyn, N.Y. 11219 each and every Jew, with a genuine as yourself" as the great Torah prin­ ciple 1t 1s! Treatmg others with the Day and Night Phone Ahavas Yisroel, just as a parent has love (718) 855-5121 for his own child. same respect, honesty and consider­ ation that you'd like for yourself is the Honesty - Integrity - If a fellow Jew is in pain, take his Responsibility suffering to heart; if he has a simcha, very core of Jewish thought. As Hillel said, the rest is commentary. Over 30 Years of Dedicated Serv10: to rejoice wi.th him; in general, not say a the Orthodox Jewish Community I The greatest scholars and tzaddikim word agamst any other Jew, even if he is a Chassid of a different Rebbe, a fol­ did not hesitate to show concern and lower of a different minhag, or comes love for every other Jew regardless of 1 from a different community, from class or station in life, whether he was some other part of the world; in wealthy or poor, powerful or humble. HOME general, judge him favorably. As This cannot help but bring us closer stated, treat him as you would your to eachother, closer to teshuva, and ATTENDANTS own child. closer to the corning of Moshiach. Let us serve notice to the SAMP!NSKER needed for newspapers that we are not interested Brookline, HOUSEKEEPING AND ;' PERSONAL CARE 1 for the DISABLED AND HOMEBOUND good pay and benefits Bero Park. Bensonhurst and Flatbush Area full-time live in positions only

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Rabbi Mordechai Gifter addressing the annual dinner of Agudath Israel.

AGUDATH ISRAEL DINNER HEARS CALL Rabbi A. Sd1«hltr, Rabbi B. P11/tr FOR PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT IN KLAL 1 A compelling address by Telshe Rosh or unworthy to cany the burdens of communal HaYeshiva Rabbi Mordechai Gifter, em­ endeavor is the source of destruction in the phasizing the imperative of individual respon­ community and the world which he finds him­ sibility for the welfare of the community, was self," while "those individuals who do not the highlight of an evening of tribute, merely perform mitzvos and meritorious acts, memorial, and solidarity at the 63rd annual but who do them through an acceptance of the dinner of Agudath Israel of America, held Sun­ communal responsibility of an entire commu­ day, March 19, at the New York Hilton. A nity, are partners in the very building of crowd of close to 1500 guests, including Roshei Creation." R~bbi E. Fislur, Rirbbi I. Pi nki Yeshiva, Chassidic rebbes and rabbonim, as Humanitarian Award well as prominent public officials and civic Feted at the Agudath Israel was Dr. Gordon leaders, heard the revered member of the Ambach, Commissioner of Education of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah articulate the credo: State of New York, who was presented the ''I, the individual, carry the responsibility of the 1985 Humanitarian Award by Rabbi Moshe entire community! And to the extent I am able Sherer, president of Agudath Israel of America, to fulfill that responsibility, am I one who helps in tribute to his role as ''an articulate voice for the Almighty with his work.'' all the children of the state, whose leadership In the course of his remarks, Rabbi Gifter in building bridges between the various sectors related his personal recollections of the infancy of education has created a better understand­ of Agudath Israel in the United States, and ing for the needs of non-public school children, traced its development from a small group of thus giving new meaning and added hope to young men meeting on the Lower East Side of the concept of freedom of choice in education." New York into a broad scale coalition move­ In accepting the award, Dr. Ambach praised ment of Torah activism spanning the entire the leadership of Agudath Israel for its''excep­ continent. He emphasized the uniqueness of tional counsel, foresight, energy, and ad­ an organization that looks to Torah "as the vocacy'' in contributing to education policy­ moving and guiding force in all facets of life, not making and cooperation in the State. ''The merely within the yeshiva world, but in all that careful and constructive attention you have 11 is of importance to Jewish living. given,'' he said, ''allhave been a great source of strength to me. What a pleasure it is to build Underscoring the crucial principle of com­ bridges with such a friend." munity responsibility as the very essence of the Agudath Israel idea, the esteemed Rosh The potential of an individual's contribu­ Yeshiva, citing Talmudic sources, avowed that tion to the Klal was a dominant theme the en­ "that person who holds himself insignificant tire evening at the Agudath Israel dinner. Ma-

The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 41 jor honors were awarded to three outstanding Moshiach that was frequently the last utterance In addition, Mr. Eli Basch, Mr. Mendel Berg, figures in the leadership of the Torah commu­ of those who perished at the hands of the Mr. Dovid Klein, Mr. Benjamin Fishoff, Mr. nity in the United States, each of whom recon­ Nazis, and which is now being sung in the Eugene Fixler, Mr. Jacob I. Friedman, Rabbi structed his own shattered personal life after recreated Torah world. Avrohom Fruchthandler, Mr. AvrohomHal­ the Holocaust, while at the same time carrying In addition to those pictured at the Dinner, pern, Mr. Chaim Hertz, Mr. Julius Klugman, on the concern for Jewish welfare and the sup­ the dais was graced by: Rabbi Meir Bergman, Rabbi Menachem Lubinsky, Mr. Mordechai port for Torah-learning embodied in the Rabbi Yekusiel Bitersfeld, Dr. Enmst L. Boden­ Neustadt, E.abbi Shlomo Oppenheimer, Mr. Al noblest traditions of the pre-war European To­ heimer, Rabbi Boruch Borchardt, Rabbi Chaim Rieder, Mr. Henry A. Roth, Mr. Shmuel Roth, rah world: Shlomo Rieder, who received the Y. Davis (of Agudath Israel of Great Britain), Mr. Zev Schlesinger, Mr. Avrohom Schon­ Rav Aharon Kotler Memorial Award; Louis Rabbi Akiva Ehrenfeld, Rabbi Simcha B. berger, Rabbi Menachem Shayovich, Mr. Glueck, presented with the Reb Elimelech Ehrenfeld, Mr. Joseph Friedenson, Rabbi Tu­ David Singer, and Mr. David Turkel. Tress Memorial Award; and Leo Blumen­ via Goldstein, Rabbi Naftali Halberstam, Rabbi PIRCHEI AGUDATH ISRAEL frucht, v.1ho was cited with the Moreinu Shraga M. Kalmanowitz, Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel CITES 600 YOUNGSTERS Yaakov Rosenheim Meworial Award. Kofler, Rabbi Naftali Neuberger, Rabbi Binyo­ FOR EXEMPLARY PURSUIT Also cited were seven Orthodox Jewish ac­ min Paler, Rabbi Yisroel Perkowski, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, Rabbi Israel Piekarski, Mr. OF TORAH tivists whose community service efforts span In a series of separate events held recently Shlomo Rieder, Rabbi Simcha Schustal, Rabbi such diverse areas as legal aid, medical volun­ in New York, Baltimore, and Lakewood, Dovid Steinwurzel. And also: RabbiNisson teer organizations, adult Tor ah education, and New Jersey, some 600 boys aged 8 to 15 were Alpert, Rabbi Avrohom Ausband, Rabbi support of the full range of institutions of To­ cited with honors and prizes for "exemplary Naftali H. Basch, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, Rabbi r ah life: Dr. Erich Erlbach, David M. Grun­ dedication to the pursuit of Torah-learning," Chaim Benoliel, Rabbi Aba Brudny, Rabbi blatt, Esq., Hershel Lowy, Shmuel Prager, demonstrated through their attainments in Shlomo Carlebach, Rabbi David Cohen, Rabbi Esq., Charles R. Sultan, Shaya Eluzer Wol­ the national Hasmodo Contest of Pirchei Henoch Cohen, Rabbi Oscar Ehremeich, Rabbi cowitz, and Dr. Hirsch J. Ziegler (William K. Agudath Israel of America. Pesachia Fried, Rabbi Jospeh Frankel, Rabbi Frie'dman Memorial Award). The presenta­ The contest rewards youngsters who de­ Avrohom Greenberg, Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein, tions were made by Rabbi Shmuel Bloom, ad­ vote a minimum number of hours to inde­ Rabbi David Greenzweig, Rabbi Shlomo ministrative director of Agudath Israel of pendent study of Tor ah during their yeshiva Grunbaum, Rabbi Joseph Grunblatt, Rabbi America. vacation time, with top prizes going this year Eliezer Horowitz, Rabbi Avraham Kellman, to eight members of the "One Hundred The evening, opened by dinner chairman Rabbi Leib Kellman, Rabbi Yoel Kramer, Rabbi Club"-each of whom learned for at least Willy Wiesner and chaired by David Zweibel, Dovid Kviat, Rabbi Israel Leiter, Rabbi Avro­ one hundred hours over the span of the 11- Esq., Director of Government Affairs of hom Marmorstein, Rabbi David Olewski, day Pesach recess. Agudath Israel, also featured an audio-visual Rabbi Moishe Pekier, Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag, Also honored at the Pirchei Agudath Isreal presentation on the rebuilding of Torah life af­ Rabbi Shlome Rotenberg, Rabbi Meyer Schein­ ceremonies were winners in the youth move­ ter the inferno of the Holocaust. The produc­ berg, Rabbi Eliezer Shedrowitzky, Rabbi Tibor ment's "Know Your Gedo!im" contest, in tion was accompanied by a moving rendition Stern, Rabbi Shlomo Teichman, Rabbi Joseph which participants collect pictures apd biog­ by Abish Brodt, member of the Administrative Weber, Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss, Rabbi Mor­ raphies of the great Torah scholars of cur­ Cabinet of Agudath Israel, of the hallowed dechai Willig, Rabbi Jacob Zakheim, Rabbi Aa­ rent and past generations. "Ani Ma'amin" song of belief in G-d and ron Zuckerman. According to Rabbi Joshua Silhermintz, director of Pirchei Agudath Israel, thousands of children have participated in the Has­ If YOU ARE modo, Know Your Gedolim and other con­ tests initiated by Pirchei Augudath Israel a serious Mesivta tligh School graduate, then over the years, with pronounced effect on 11 generations of children of the Torah com­ a n •iuw nJ•w• munity. The award gathering in New York was YESHIVA SHAARt: CHAIM addressed by Rabbi Moshe Neuman, Mena­ is for you. hel of Bais Yaakov of Queens, who extolled Highly recommended by: We Feature: the virtues of Torah dedication, and intro­ duced the honorees of the Hasmodo One The Steipler Ri!V • Personal attention Hundred Club: Abba Zwiatycki (134 hours), Rav C.P. S<:heinberg • Small shiurim Avrohom Wajsbort (108), Binyomin Gross­ Rav s.z. Auerbach • lyun, Bekius, Halacha, man (107), Rany Israel (106), Avrohom Yitz­ Chumash, and Mussar chok Yaffe (106), Moshe Frankel (100), Mordechai Ross (100), and Yerachmiel Send for our brochure: Scheiner (100). Each of the awardees was presented with a 7 tlarav Sorotzkin St., P.O.B. 15078, Jerusalem, Israel Sha> or equivalent prize, with lesser awar­ Tel. (02) 521490 dees receiving prizes of >eforim and other American Office: Torah literature. 385 Donmoor f\d., Lawrence, N.Y. 11559 Co-Chairman of the contests on behalf of Tel. (516) 569-0632 Pirchei Agudath Israel were Rabbi Eliyahu Steger and EH David.

42 The Jewish Obseroer!Summer, 1985 on activities of the various divisions of the Eisen, director of the Beis Medrash High organization over the past year were also School Program, Efraim Hettleman, head of DATELINE ..• presented at the gathering, which was ad­ the Chaim Yitzchok Menachem T opola To­ POLAND dressed by Rabbi Asher Rubenstein, Mash­ r ah Partnership Program, and Aviesri Wag­ giach of Yeshivas Mishkan Ha Torah of Jer­ schal, chairman of TAP, the Tzeddaka arm NEW BOOK BY usalem, and Rabbi Yaakov Dombroff, Di­ of the movement. DR. ISAAC LEWIN: rector of Agudath Israel of New Jersey. "THE JEWISH COMMUNITY The newly elected officers are: Yisroel IN POLAND" Greenwald, President; Yehoshua Mehlman, Vibrant Torah institution in Chairman of the Executive Board; Avrohom A new book of Rabbi Dr. Isaac Lewin, frum out-of-town community Biderman, Yussie Kirsch and Zev Sanders, Member of Presidium of the Agudah Israel seeks well-rounded Ben Torah Vice Presidents; Moshe Usher Reinitz, Sec­ i World Organization, The ]ewisli Community in for director of development retary; Asher Lang, Treasurer; and Heshy ·~ Poland, was recently published by The Philo­ and educational services. Friedman, Comptroller. sophical Liberty in New York. Delivering updates on Zeirei Agudath Is­ Call 312-262-7151 The Jewish Community in Pa/and contains six­ rael projects at the meeting were: Yussie or 718-788-6700. teen chapters covering various aspects of Jewish life in Poland during a thousand years of history, from the eleventh century until the outbreak of World War IJ. I The book deals with the legal status of Jews A COPE diploma in old Poland, describes the position of Jews in g the Polish kingdom, and depicts Jewish self­ can lead to government and organization from the 16th New Classes Start to the 18th centuries. It tells how Jews influ­ great things enced public life in the country, revealing September 3, 1985 heretofore unknown facts of their appear­ like a job. Llte enrollment through July ance in courts as lawyers and of their position as beneficiaries of Polish kings. • a.ASIC, COBOL, JCL &. BAL The spiritual trends within the Jewish community in Poland come to light. In partic­ • Extensive, hands-on includes IBM main-· ular, the growth of rabbinic scholarship which frame, supennirtl and ISM PC experience. led to the spiritual supremacy of the Polish • Program exten!don ·options include TSO, community in European Jewry is described. CICS, dSasell, LOtus 1-2·3. The SJtulchan Aruch was universally accepted only due to the comments of Rabbi Moshe • Comprehensive program recognized tor its Isserles, a Cracow rabbi and the commenta­ quality by the industry it serves. ries of Polish rabbis. The greatest luminary of the 18th century, Rabbi Elijah of Wilna, and • Professional ~ptitude testing and career the creator of Hassldism, Rabbi Israel Baal­ counseling recommendations with a pl'OVen l reputation for integrity. Shem-Tov, are described in the book. Also included is a bibliography of Talmudic litera­ • Effective plaeemen.t assistanc.e refers the ture in Poland in the post-partition period "tOPE GRADUATE" with pride. (1795-1918). A special chapter ls devoted to the history • Full tuition scholarships through JTPA in of Jews in Galicia. Two chapters deal with the conjunction with other federal financial aid interbellum period, 1918-1939, and describe for eligible participants with limited family the origins of the powerful movement of income or those recently laid off or employed Agudath Israel in Poland and of the policy and In a declining industry. activities of its parliamentary representation. The book ends with a survey of the attitude • Financial aid including grants and loans can of al! of the Polish governments on the Jewish provide full tuition assistanee for eligible question during the period 1918-1939. applicants. For lnfonn<1tion and Enrollment Procedures Call YOUTH COPE INSTITUTE ZEIREI AGUDATH ISRAEL rhe Computer Programrriirig· Tr'aining ELECTS NATIONAL OFFICERS Center to Business and lridustry 441918th Avenue At its annual midwinter Melave Malke Brooklyn, N.v. 11204 held recently in Brooklyn, Zeirei Agudath (718) 436-1700 Israel, the young men's movement of Agu­ ~dlttdbjllhl.A"°"iaflcrnal'l~/ldOlll~t&Sth<>Cb. :l.loe!IMdl>\'lho New 'l'ilrlt,StlfeEdue.tfo1>11JbtfliU~111•lll' dath Israel of America, elected its new na­ A DM•IOl>l>I Agudltllil... r<>f Amotlca tional officers for the coming year. Reports

The Jewish Obsrrver!Summer, 1985 43 -

set them conspicuously apart from the ma­ jority and frequently make them easy targets " Dat~tme :Oatellrte for discrimination-are particularly sensitive .AlbartY. Wa,sh., o.c. to the evils of quotas."He noted that "educa­ ' I tion and employment opportunities histori­ • AGUDATH ISRAEL URGES cally were denied to Jews because religious AGUDATH ISRAEL stereotypes replaced merit-based selection CUOMO TO ENACT LASHES OUT criteria." ANTI-PORN LEGISLATION AT QUOTAS BEFORE The Agudath Israel attorney acknowledged "Society is entitled to draw the line some­ U.S. SENATE that, whereas "quotas against Jews histori­ where," a spokesman for Agudath Israel of COMMITTEE cally have been an outgrowth of the malig­ America told Governor Mario Cuomo this nant disease of anti-semitism," those who week in urging the Governor to sign a bill In an appearance last week before the U.S. support quotas today seek merely to better that would curtail the display of pornogra­ Senate Judiciary Committee, a spokesman the lot of certain groups that have been vic­ phic materials throughout New York State. for Agudath Israel of Ameria took sharp timized by discrimination. "The results, how­ • The bill, sponsored by State Senator Wal­ issue with those who advocate educational ever, are equally pernicious," argues Mr . ter Floss and Assemblymen Daniel Feldman and employment quotas as a means of im­ Zwiebel. "The quotas of the 1980's unfairly and Frederick Schmidt, would make it a plementing civil rights. discriminate against our children no less crime to display "offensive sexual material" Testifying in support of the nomination of than the quotas of the 1930's and 1940's , in stationery stores, supermarkets, drug William Bradford Reynolds for the position unfairly discriminated against our parents." stores and other places accessible to the of Associate Attorney General of the U.S. r general public without restriction. The legis­ Department of Justice, David Zwiebel, Agu­ lation would thus go beyond existing New dath Israel's Director of Government Affairs, York law, which prohibits such display only told the members of the Judiciary Commit­ in locations where the pornographic mate­ tee that "society should measure progress ORTHODOX DELEGATION rials would be easily visible from public based on individual talent and worth, not on MEETS WITH streets or transportation facilities. membership in some 'preferred' group or CZECH AMBASSADOR Agudath Israel communicated its strong 'protected class'." The Agudath Israel spokes­ ON PRESERVING CEMETERIES support of the anti-smut legislation in a let­ man stated that civil rights should mean ter written by David Zweibel, Esq., the rights to "equal opportunity, not equal re­ Washington, D.C.-Ambassador Stanislav organization's Director of Government Af­ sults." Suja of Czechoslovakia was asked to inter­ fairs: "Pornography is pernicious. It incites Mr. Zwiebel pointed out that "Jews­ vene with local authorities in his country to men, debases women, and-perhaps worst especially Orthodox Jews, whose dress, diet of all-corrupts children." and strict Sabbath and holiday observance assure the preservation of the Jewish ceme­ teries in that country, by an Orthodox Jew­ ish delegation which visited him in the ·weaselidWOrtc• Embassy. The delegation was headed by Rabbi Moshe Sherer, chairman of the Agu­ G"lt.I•..- ...... '_,:,~::._,,• .,...... :ii11t,,, -···~...... dath Israel World Organization and presi­ TO JERUSALEM ...... dent of Agudath Israel of America, and con­ In time of illness, surgery or ..... ~ ...... ,.. .. sisted of representatives of the Committee crisis, speciol prayen will be Av1 Shtdti·M ,,, to Preserve the Jewish Cemeteries of Slova­ recited ot the Western Woll ond ,~,,HOWro:use,,tt,-:_ kia, Rabbi Zev Vorhand and Mr. Charles at our Yeshiva in Jerusalem. •:l"lcM,fto cons:eNe'it Richter of New York. W:-rfrrie:~, ide~: ,_-; _:>: ,<- :-," ,; r CALL 24 HOURS •, !40WtOPfeventott:iers lrotrittiritititiltil1 -. The delegation was accompanied by the (718)871-4111 ,::~Urtitne:: , '"::,, ,,' ,_' ;:/--/:_,_(, '-:,_->:--'/:'>; distinguished member of the House Foreign A FREE PUBLIC SERVICE OF ..•.Uriimtahding Ottime- the.hidden-- _,_, __ mes-··',, Affairs Committee, Congressman Stephen The American Rabbi Meir Solarz of Brooklyn, who has for years dis­ ,~~~L~-~-~,-~·-,-:, played a keen interest in the situation about Baal Haness Charity • Hgw ro-~qua1ay11me,Wltf:1 the decaying conditions of many Jewish KOLEL AMERICA yaur ,ctlildrefJ cemeteries in small towns throughout Cze­ 'AV~nabfe-_at Het>reWboOk st~'-bi'.thi009h, choslovakia, many of which urgently need :':\_'<:':~,-'ii:' .. :,,', ,'fti )f_l~~:--,-~:,_'\,:::~ restoration and preservation work. They ,~:~Jlll,ltl,l)'tnl',.._,_ appealed to the Czech Ambassador to impress upon his government that the cemeteries are """'~·-·l!!f~;· a legacy of Czechoslovakian Jewry, the bulk of whom were slaughtered by the Nazis dur­ ing the Holocaust. MONUMENTS Ambassador Suja received the delegation From Factory Rep warmly, and stated that he will transmit this SAVE Ill request to his government, emphasizing that Czecholovakia traditionally sought to 132 Nassau St.• N.Y., N.Y.10038 Call (718) 851-1314 preserve and protect the numerous impor­ tant historical sites throughout the country.

44 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 Rabbi Chaim Schnur, director of Agudath Israel of California, expressed optimism about the bill's prospects in the State Senate when it comes up before the body this c2J1ATANA summer. He pointed out that Senator Her­ KOSHER CONSUMER BILL schel Rosenthal, a long time advocate of yALLEJzy' kosher food laws, who has already spon­ Sacramento-By an overwhelming vote sored similar legislation, has agreed to guide 4906 18th Ave. of 65 to 4, the California State Assembly the measure through the Senate. Added approved a bill that provides legislative au­ Brooklyn, N.Y. (718) 851-4448 Rabbi Schnur, "With the type of united sup­ thority for state investigation into fraud and port the Jewish community has shown, we misrepresentation in the kosher food indus­ Jewish books, Judaica, Taleisim are confident the bill will be approved and Mezu.zos, personalized Tails bag;, try. An extensive campaign on behalf of the ultimately be signed into law." measure, which now goes before the State Telfilinbc@, Yarmulka.sandChalah Agudath Israel of California is a regional Senate, is being spearheaded by the Califor­ covers, records and tapes, Lucite, branch of Agudath Israel of America, a nia chapter of the Agudath Israel Commis­ silver, semi-preci.ousstones and.gold grass-roots movement of Jews from diverse sion on Legislation and Civic Action, which jewelry. segments of the Orthodox community, look­ worked to develop the legislation and has ing to the guidance of leading Torah authori­ organized a broad-based coalition of Jewish ALLATSUPERDISCOUNT ties in meeting the needs of contemporary groups in its support. PRICES! Jewry. Presidium members of the California According to Stanley Treitel, co-chairman Agudah are Stanley Diller, Rabbi Jacob Fried­ 1 of the Agudath Israel Commission, the im­ ' man, Jacob Goldenberg, Sol Kest, and Dr. petus for the bill grew out of investgations Irving Lebovics, co-chairman of the local by the State Attorney General's office work­ 1lm WORLD FAMOUS Agudath Israel Commission on Legislative DIGllsT OF MEFORSHIM ing in tandem with the Orthodox Rabbinical and Civic Action. Council of California. The probe revealed "toip'Ji "l.l'l!l 'to1P'Ji "case after case" where suppliers were sell­ WORLD AGUDAH EXECUTIVE -~_:tr "'11.i~~H i)ttl~wt ''l "l~MMIO ing non-kosher meats packaged under kosher MAPS EXPANSION Awiltb~at labeling. As a result of consultations with New York, N.Y.-The expansion of the Ll!RUTEI INC., c/o.I. Rosenberg Assistant Attorney General Herschel Elkins overseas rescue and rehabilitation projects 10 W.. t47thStreet, Room 702 and Rabbinical Council representatives. It of the Agudath Israel World Organization NYC 10036/(212} 719'1717 was concluded that legislation would be cru­ was mapped at a meeting held here of the 20 V<>luittn on Torah, cial in clarifying and enhancing the authority American members of its international exe­ Pertlk,_ Tehilllm, of state inspecters-working for the Food cutive (Vaad Hapoel Haolami). Rabbi Moshe Medruh, Megilos &. Talmud. and Agriculture Department-to investigate Sherer, chairman of the Aguda,th Israel ~ds-ol llltle5-disttlhitted among Kosher consumer fraud. Agudath Israel then World Organization, presided over the gath­ Yeahivos tnd tlsed- for teprittthig turned to Stae Assemblyman Tom Hayden ering, which deliberated on the movement's ()£ -VOlt1rtle$i _OUVof.-ptint (D-Santa Monica), who subsequently au­ discteet activities to help Jews globally in JiIUCEl$.oo PEJ.lVOLUMI! thored the current bill, which mandates the lands of oppression and spiritual deprivation. right of the state to require that kosher The plans were adopted after hearing a butchers maintain, and present on demand, confidential report from Mordechai Neu­ invoices and purchase records to substan­ stadt, chairman of the Vaad L'Hatzolas Nid­ RABBI ZALMAN ANDERSON tiate claims in their kosher advertising. chei Yisroel of the World Agudah Organiza­ 0"J1t1 .,l))t1 , The measure quickly won bi-partisan back­ tion. The meeting also discussed the plight of ing in the Assembly, with Republican minor­ Jewish refugees awaiting resettlement in ity leader Pat Nolan adding his support in a Vienna, where the Agudath Israel World speech before the body. The coalition of Jew­ Organization has established a kosher kit­ )>J>!lll • i111ll >1!l0 ish groups mobilized by Agudath Israel to chen and a Torah study program for the m7>m1 • rmrn:i promote the legislation includes the Ameri­ youngsters. can Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation Dr. Isaac Lewin, presidium-member of the Checked and sold­ League of Bnai Brith, the Jewish Community World Agudah, reported on the latest devel­ Same day service available Relations Council of Los Angeles, the Jewish opments in the activities of the Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (JPAC) of Califor­ Jewish committee to preserve Jewish ceme­ New Location- nia, represeriting local federations, the Na­ teries in Poland. Efforts are also underway to 1644 East 3rd St.­ tional Council of Young Israel, the Union of help preserve Jewish cemeteries in Czecho­ side entrance Orthodox Jewish Congregations, and Ye­ slovakia. shiva U.niversity. Rabbis Jack Simcha Cohen, The other subjects discussed at the meet­ (between Aves. 0 & P) Maurice Lamm, and Pinchas Gruman of Los ing were the outreach projects conducted by B'klyn, N.Y. 11230 Angeles, and Orthodox activist Howard the World Agudah for Baalei Teshuva 718/375-1793 Winkler, were particularly active in support through its "Chizuk Department" in the of the measure, with Rabbi Mendel Gold~ United States and its Torah Center in Co­ Recommended by the man representing the Rabbinical Council of penhagen, Denmark, for the Scandinavian Vaad Mlshmeres Stam California to the State Attorney General's countries, and the internal situation of the office. Agudist movement the world over.

The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985 45 AMERICAN CHINUCH ATZMAI shlita, joined in seeking measures to save the meeting of the Israeli hanhalah took place LEADERS MEET ON summer progran1s of Torah education de­ under the chairmanship of Hagaon Harav ISRAELI EDUCATION CRISIS signed to protect children from thP destruc­ Elazar Schach, shlila, and the Slonimer Rebbe, tive social environment of city streets and sh!ila. Among the participants was Rabbi Roshei Yeshivas Seek Measures secure next year's learning schedules at full Moshe Sherer, President of Agudath Israel to Save Summer Programs, strength and teaching staff. of America, who was on a visit to Israel. Secure Learning Schedules They reviewed with dismay the planned closings of schools in Adirim, Kfar Gvirol, In thE' wake of a drastic cutback of the and Te! Chanan, because the Education Min­ subsidy by the Israeli government for 4,000 istry decided that the sn1all enrollments did weekly teaching hours in the Chinuch Atz­ Dateline not justify the expense. Of special concern mai-Torah Schools network, even after an was the school in Adirim, in Emek Hayarden Youth increase in student enrollment which made because unlike the other schools, there is no 40 new dasses necessary, the American Sec­ nearby Torah School to which to bus the tion of the International Board of Governors children since it is located in a remote area, AM HATORAH JOURNAL held an emergency meeting on June 9, in the and this school has a notable history of pro­ FEATURES NEW WRITINGS OF Rosh Yeshiv<1 1s office of Mesivta Rabbi ducing a generation of kolle! members and CONTEMPORARY GEDOLIM Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn. The cutbacks, wives of bnei Torah. equivalent to 200 positions, would mean a The cutback in existing schedules means Two heretofore unpublished responsa of curtailment of the teaching program, a freeze that development needs cannot be met. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, foremost poseik in on hiring, and the reduction of the current These include opening 40 new classes to America, as well as new novellae from the staff. ab,;orb the new enrollment, resulting both eminent Talmudic sages Rabbi Yaakov Ka­ Harabonim Hagaonim Shmuel Beren­ from natural growth as well as from the menetzky and Rabbi Mordechai Gifter, are baum, Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, Shmuel expanding teshuvah movement; meeting the featured in the newly released edition of Am Avigdor faivelson, Levi Krupenia, Binyomin needs of communities which are pleading for HaTorah, the journal of Torah scholarship Paler, Avraham Pam, and Aaron Schechter, the establishment of Torah Schools and kin­ published by ZeireiAgudath Israel of America. dergartens; and opening new schools in The issue also includes original Talmudic MTS. (914) 292-7385 Arad, Maale Adumim (Jerusalem), and Nach­ interpretations by a number of prominent liel (Migdal Ha'emek), where registration Roshei Yeshiva and ~abbonim, and a section ZAVE has taken place and no facilities exisL devoted to essays onlgeneral Tor ah thought SHER UN Also reviewed was a cablegram from the and outlook, as well as a forum for the writ­ ORCHESTRA Israeli leadership, requesting an emergency ings of younger scholars from across the (718) 434-3540 grant of a minimum of $150,000 to save the country. Also Available As ONE MAN BAND additional summer month of school. After One of the responsa by Rabbi Moshe Fein­ FOR HOTELS-BUNGALOWS reviewing all the urgent current needs, the stein, regarding incidental transporting of Board members arrived at two decisions: to objects on Yorn T ov, includes a rare instance press for the immediate co!lection of all out­ when a Poseik has the opportunity to refute Young Yerushalmi had heart standing plf'dges, and to undertake personal an halachic inference commonly drawn from attack. His wife takes care of efforts to solicit individual major contribu­ his own previously published writings. The tions. They called on all supporters of Tor ah other feshuva concerns the proper reading of him and 8 children under 15. education to respond to these needs, to help Parshas Zachor and the milzva of remembering Need is great. Kindly send tax assure that tht' Chinuch Atzmai Torah Amalek. Rabbi Kamenetzky and Rabbi Gif­ deductible contribution to: Schools continue their historic mission in ter's chiddushim revolve around well-known Bikur Cholim, Inc., c/o full strength, to guarantee future genera­ sugyos in Tractates Kiddushin and Makkos. tions for Torah in Israel in the 205 schools Also included in the new Am Ha Torah is a and 235 kindf'rgartens. never-before-published manuscript left by RABBI AVROHOM The Board also designated Harabonim the late Rabbi Gershon Weisenfcld, BLUMENKRANTZ Hagaonlm Shmuel Kamenetsky and Aryeh Am HaTorah is distributed through the 814 Caffrey Ave., Malkie! Kotler, shlita, as members of the national offices of Zeirei Agudath Israel, Far Rockaway, N.Y. 11691 American Section of the Board of Governors. located at 5 Beekman Street, New York, During the same period, an emergecy New York.

Come To Formerly Kosher King

4916 13th Ave., B'klyn, N.Y. 11219 (718) 854-2911 Whitehead Hall, Brooklyn College @ glatt Supervised

46 The Jewish Observer/Summer, 1985

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Customer Servi<::e: 7J8-'J(,[1 7S26 lit Brooklyn: f,fth Avenue. 9th and 10th Streets. 718-%5-7500 • Church and McDonald Avenues, 718-435-4300 • l81h Avenue and East 2nd S1ree1. 718-435-4100 • S~venth Awnue ilnd PreS1dent S1reet, 718-789-4100 • Ba•, Pilrkway and 67th S1reet. 718·837-8400 • 13th Avenue Md 53rd Street_ 718-436-9505 • Nep1une Avenu~ and West [1th S1ree1. 718 9%-4100 • J(l45 Flatbush Avenue al Duryea Pia(e. 718-282-7500 • 1550 Flatb,osh Avenue al Nosttand Avenue. 718-859-5300 In Manhattan: Lexington Awnue and East 5151 Streel. 212-752-8282 •Broadway and Wesl 79th S1r.,.,1, 212-873-3730_ In Queens: Htll5'de Avenue at 179th Street. 718·291-3100 In Nassau: 222 Stai.on Plala Nor1h and 3rd Avenue. Mineola 510-747·6100 In Westchester: Caldois Shopplng Cemer. 535 Boston Post Road. Port Chester, Ny_ 914-937-6760 !"""'"''""' !homtn, ""'"' ...... OKJns• lho-of-t...,...... _ Whc i•titlin: upon• hifh•nd left) thtc,.r!• iv ptw Hr Whc cbid., fcttvrr, • •ultff ..,., ltoly is His N....., .• *'il'Mi:7 A,.d it is Wtit/t,., 'Si"t joyfully, 0 rithtrcu•, lncfott HA$/ftM; fot lht "P•i;fltt pt••Jr i• f/Hint.'> '.Klf~l ai KV~,,., :nrn• 8y th• mcuth cf tht uptitht• •hall Yo11 EH oa11difird; ,,.,.~ D"P""!f u~i ,:nil.fl 1,113~ IV1i?.'! 01,~ .,V ~VI by thr wotds cf tht •itltlro.,. •It.ill Yo11 b1 b/nnd; by lht ton:11• cf tht drwul •lut/I Yc11 bt rulttd; '·li'ern:i r'l)Jq D""l~ tmd ..,.;d th, holy 1lt.il/ Yc11 bt ki11dtd. .D~1"1J:'!n 't1'11V! ·~.;. 1'lt'lqm1 And in thr "'""'blin_ of tht "'ll•iads• of Yc11• proplt, tht Houu of /s.,..l with i<>y<>lff """t •Mil Yo11• M•m• .'"""'" "'P'"l:r .,.~. bt :lorifird, Cltl' Kint, thtcu:1tc111 rw•y gtn•...,lic11. 0>.z...,_ f:o, 011(!, .1111jlr)n 0'1'01:! ~""1;• i• lht d11ty of•// C>t•t1II• C..•d, C•d cf c•" fo;tf•lht,., to tlt•11k, i..ud, p..,;,,, tlctify, nolt, "'1cr<, bins,,,.;,, ·'>?""" "'''"i'! >ie:i• high, and •i"t "'•iH• - tt1rn lncyond 11// rxprtuio.. , cf /hr.,,,.,, 011d ;r,11q ,f!:'P:I~ "~i:;i .?in~ n•:;i. ;~.v ·n1~1 n1~~ "'";.,,,a,,,.,,,,-,.,1cr.,.urn....,,,,,.11,,.. of DcvUI• th• •on of ]•ur, Yo1" ,,...,,,,,.,, You• ""<>inltd. ~ n~1n PW-:- .,,'Tl ,,, ~~ u;i?o ~""" -·· ,.,...... ,.,...,. ·•~,.. ...r nnin? ,u•.put$ •"1"(1 u•1'~ .,,.,. _-:i·~? .,D""lt~ti '""'"'"""""'" .. "'"•"''""',,.n'"'"'"" r.. ~"-.:.~i.'::..iooioi:..':' .-::~~·='~ ~ op>. R.~.. ; Thuo ...... j .., tlK ... '°""'" ;, '» .o'>;t/l rf"!t? 11;? -.,"'1..,•i? ,~ o;o"'1 "'t>'1 «< v.,..,;,. !>od oi....1.. ,,...... ,...., 1ot.10.,.."' ""'"''-'ol""""' TM!lo....,.ld.-y.. ..,i.,,··~ ____ ....,, ... i.. • .,,.d.. o..o.c-;r1..,,,.1, ...... t;"""'""''""''"'"''">l""""Plooh '- .,,..~ - M<1~.. ...,,_...,._oldllo~i., """'" n.....,, """·'"'-'"''"''"'".... ,i,,i,.p..,...,"lti>oholyo..,TM '·'~· '"'-·--·houldi..,,,...... -~ ...... c;.1·...... , ...... h'10H\),,i...Jol11>t-.!i>o"""' ...... - "'""'• 1hcufhtof1koc'Rob>;~k"""...i ""'"'off•lth..,. •..,,.-,,.,,;..,CA 1 w., ..,,~,... Sio" f o..., th" C..i ~IMO., Wh.),.i,,.....,1,,p,..... c;,<1,.lh),,..,,.,,,, •. ..,,.,,,_ .. _..,llol;i..i.,.,..~- ood 0.1y k'"*· ooioy ~ .. J .., ,..., ,. H;., '"°"'""""'""'"'""'loW.,."-' TM._., """--...- ...1 ...... ,,,,,."'"'"" ,.,..,...... ,...... "'" .... h...... ,.,,...... _ ,.._ "' ,,...... """ ·~"'"'"· C.h 1..,.o..,.,.,,,,,,.n.""'11TMl,ol)- .....-. ·-,,,;,...,.,.of..,r.H~,....,__.. -bo<_tt...... '"'"'""'- 11.wi...w..,.,..., Aloi...p "'-•.p1..... c..r ...... ,_,,,.~- GxlH'"""''"""°fy.llt....,,""-..,l« l• ....Y ...... liH •bod•on "'"'- f., "0 on!y l>.t. - "'-fh •M""'1oo10M•IF>-•-ot..•Hn '"'"""'""""""- ...... ! ~-;S~!',! ~::=:::.:-:..": ,.,.,,,.~,. lnfu...,.1-.1,-,.,u.,...,., '°'""""""""" "" b< ""...! ... Th""""' --... ro.-tno,,,_,_ ...... _...... , ..... i...,,..,,,...... of ... - .. ...,.,,c;..i l0t<- .... ~ ...... r"" '"" •"'>- .,.c;.~· ...... ,... •"'«.,, -tt..<11m.. o1....-.-..-., ..... o11o1 I ""V'»-9"""'-·'"•l""'-"'f--. """""·'"'1...-...... ~. "-'"'oi .... p~ ... 1~ ...... c.. H,.,...... ,,l"""'""'""""""""'"'''..!ol>l.s' •I """"' Aw.,,.p o.. .i. !ht """' """ 0. ~ooh HHh,.,k '"" y.., "'Pl'•'- IM ~ ..... ,.,.,,,.11,,..1111.s-..r.,,..;, °""""'"""''bo<--...llfy ...... £...i...... - ,j '"' ...... 1 _,,,....of Cool'• ...... i..i-""--o1111o._..,_·n... ""'°'"''"'"'"'l'd""""""°'"""f"""K"""'...... Tht•K!ollho,...,,ti>ood<, "'""'"'"ld- ... ,1,.i.-. .. c..1...... - .... ""'*"'"'"'"'""'...... "..,,,.,, ....,.,, .,..,., """""'°" .01..,...i'"'""'' '"ri..m- "''"' -Ho"'"""'"''''"""'"' ""' - - ....,,,. -"""'*""""-"'Mli

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