בס״ד Vol. 2 Issue No. 62 january 2019 HOW SAFE IS THAT TAXI? GUILTFREE SWEET TREATS ETERNAL LESSONS IN EVERYDAY LIFE The+ State of Our Schools AN INTERVIEW with RABBI CHAIM DOVID ZWEIBEL A Project of: Jewish Echo | 1 Jewish Community Council of Marine Park 2 | Jewish Echo New from Rabbi Gil Student! Search Engine: Finding Meaning in Jewish Texts: Jewish Leadership Topics include: • Authority and leadership • Limits of a rabbi’s authority • Requirements of followership • Nature of community • Profiles of Jewish leadership • Torah values “Rabbi Gil Student is one of the most engaging of contemporary rabbinic scholars, bringing the vast resources of halakhah and Jewish ethics to bear on a formidable range of contemporary issues” — Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Available on Amazon and KodeshPress.com Jewish Echo | 3 THE JEWISH ECHO Contents 2076 Flatbush Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11234 (718) 407-1832 6 | Editorial FAX: (718) 228-8508 [email protected] 8 | Letters to the Editor RAYLE RUBENSTEIN 12 | Community Highlights Editor in Chief MENDY RINKOFF 20 | Word on the Street Managing Editor ITA YANKOVICH 22 | World News Proofreader 24 | The State of NAOMI HAZAN Food Editor Our Schools PENINAH BAUMGARTEN 30 | How Safe is that Taxi Art Director PHIL BRACH 38 | Operation Inspiration Account Executive 42 | Halacha 48 | Recipe CONTRIBUTORS Yitti Berkovic • Rabbi Jonathan 44 | Choose to Shine 52 | Joining the Marine Gewirtz • Naomi Hazan • [Park] Core Devorah Hirsch • Hillel Kapnick 46 | Ask the Therapist • Daniel Keren • Alexander Rand 54 | • Rabbi Pinchos Shine • Rabbi Gil Kid� Pa�e� Student • Ita Yankovich • Rabbi • Mini Echo Hillel Yarmove • Teen Story 58 | JM 101 © The Jewish Echo Published by the JCC of Marine Park. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form 60 | Musings without prior written permission from the publisher is prohibited. The publisher reserves the right to edit all articles for clarity, space 62 | Mazel Tov! and editorial sensitivities. The Jewish Echo assumes no responsibility | Zmanim for the content of articles or advertisements 64 in this publication, nor for the contents of books that are referred to or excerpted herein. 67 | Echoes The Jewish Echo is a monthly publication that is mailed to homes the fi rst week of every month. January 2019 - Volume 2 Issue 62- The Jewish Echo is published monthly by the JCC of Marine Park whose offi ces are situated at 2076 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11234. Postage Paid in Brooklyn, NY Post Offi ces. To advertise in this publication, please call 718.407.1832 To receive this magazine by mail please email [email protected] 4 | Jewish Echo Jewish Echo | 5 EDITORIAL Dear Reader, In the past few weeks Klal Yisrael banded together as YAFFED, a nonprofi t advocacy group made up of former chassidishe yeshivah students, felt compelled to push the city and state into regulating the secular studies offered in our yeshivos. Is that the right approach to facilitate change? When do freedom of religion and freedom of speech intersect to dictate how and what we teach in religious schools? Taking you back a few weeks, I had the honor and privilege of attending President Trump’s Chanukah party at the White House with my teenage son, where we met Secretary of Education Betsy Devos. My son shared with Ms. Davos a bit about what he was learning in school aand plans for his future and career . Was she impressed with what he had to say? Did their short conversation about his education and aspirations make an impression on her? Did his off-the-cuff words help build the case for allowing our yeshivos to oversee their own curricula? I have no idea, but I can’t help hoping that my son, in his yarmulke, white shirt, black pants, and the ideas he conveyed in his articulate and polite English, gave her food for thought. Our children are the future of our nation. It’s why their education is so important to us, and why, as Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zweibel pointed out in the interview you will read in this issue, we spend so much of our hard-earned money on it. A solid education should undoubtedly include science, math, English, and history. But those are icing on the cake. Our focus has always been – and will always be – our Torah and mesorah. We will remain united as a nation to ensure that these ideals remain at the core of our curriculum. Warm regards, Shea Rubenstein [email protected] Shea Rubenstein is a co-founder of the Jewish Community Council of Marine Park and serves as its executive vice president. The JCCMP offers many programs to Marine Park and its surrounding communities, including youth programs, social services, and job initiatives. 6 | Jewish Echo Pedulla Ceramic Tile, Inc Better living RIGHT HERE in a Brooklyn patio like yours. Winter Sale 20% – 50% Off SELECTED ITEMS outdoor space too! Let us help you maximize your own PRODUCTS ARE DISPLAYED IN OUR STORE. Scan this code to view our TRY IT BEFORE4906 YOU 20th BUY IT Avenuefull catalog• Brooklyn collection. , NY • 718-377-7746 718.927.4300 | 2266 Nostrand Ave. Between Ave. H & I | Free Parking 251 Port Richmond Avenue • Staten Island, NY • 718-442-6469Jewish Echo | 7 www.pedullatiles.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, Thank you, Shea Rubenstein, for releasing Shirei Haplaita. I heard from my friends and coworkers each day of Chanukah know of no other musician that is producing songs from before was what gifts they were giving their kids. The next day, I the Holocaust. Now these tunes can be remembered and heard venting about how their kids wanted to know what gift cherished for generations to come. My grandfather is enjoying tomorrow will bring. How sad. Rabbi Gewirtz is right; the your songs so much! I gave him the CD as a Chanukah present, best gift you can give your child, or anyone for that matter, not knowing what else to get him, and he listens to it at least is your time and attention. They can get a toy from anywhere two times every day. or anyone, but your love is so much more precious and remembered. Try fi nding that on Amazon! Chanie J. Bracha G. Dear Editor, Dear Editor, Rizy Horowitz is an amazing individual who goes well beyond her duties to help Holocaust survivors through her organization, I read your latest Ask the Therapist column with much Nachas. I am glad she got the acknowledgment she deserves interest as our family will be celebrating our very fi rst bar in your feature. It is not easy to work with survivors and mitzvah in a few months. I was eager to read the response understand their trauma, but Rizy “gets” it. It is even harder as my husband and I also worry that our party will not meet dealing with the red tape of reparations, but Rizy rolls up her the expectations of the community. When our son was little, sleeves and always gets to work to get the monies owed to her we set aside money for this special occasion, but we doubt beloved ladies (and men). I met her once when I needed help it will be enough. However, we are also smart enough not to getting medical coverage for my mother and despite the packed succumb to the pressure and go into debt for this one-night offi ce and ringing phone, I will never forget the individualized affair. We will have a simple yet tasteful bar mitzvah with attention Rizy gave us. no DJ, fl owers, or sushi - just heaping spoonfuls of Yiddishe nachas. Hope our guests enjoy! Daughter of a Survivor The Shulman Family Dear Editor, I found Yankovich’s article on food-related anti-Semitism quite interesting. It is true that in today’s age, liberals especially will fi nd any means to attack Jews and Israel. Do you know that the week of Chanukah, the New York Times ran an article about how fried potatoes are bad for your health? Interesting timing, no? I also hear that Arnold’s Bread and Entenmann’s might be pulling their OU hashgacha. Why would such major brand We’d love to hear names not want Jews to buy their food? Stanley Green from you! Please end your le er and feedback to Dear Editor, I loved Rabbi Gewirtz’s Chanukah column last month. All I [email protected] 8 | Jewish Echo Hidden Wifi Video Cameras Jewish Echo | 9 SAVE THE DATE MR. AND MRS. DR. AND MRS. Benny Markovics Moishe Konig Royal Builders Parents of the Year – Mesivta Bais Aron Tzvi Grandparents of the Year MR. AND MRS. MR. AND MRS. Shia Steinberg Duvi Banda Parents of the Year – Yeshiva Ohr Shraga Amud Hachesed Award MR. AND MRS. MR. & MRS. Ari Binet Duvid Aryeh Obstfeld Kesser Shem Tov Award Young Leadership Award MR. & MRS. MR. Moishe Hirsch Tuvia Rosenfeld Alumnus of the Year Secular Studies Principal-Mesivta Bais Aron Tzvi Amud Hachinuch Award SAMUEL S. SONTAG, ESQ. SS SONTAG QI LLC MR. YOSSIE YUROWITZ CHAIRMAN HONORARY CHAIRMAN ט”ו שבט תשע”ט . 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