April 26> 1990/Madison Square Carden/New York City: 20,000 celebrants at the 9th Siyum HaShas of Oaf Yomi, sponsored by Agudath Israel of America. ust a few short decades ago, Millions of dollars in aid But there is still so much JTorah Judaism's demise was have been won for yeshiva more to do. taken as a given. Its principles students. Laws have been Assaults on Torah's integrity were ridiculed. Its spokesmen passed protecting Sabbath grow more acute each day. were shunned. And how many observers, kosher consumers, Changes in the social fabric people had even heard of Daf and others with religious needs. pose new challenges to our Yomi? And tens of thousands of Jews religious freedoms. Millions of have made Torah-learning part But some had the courage American Jews - and Soviet of their daily routine. to dream, to work, to do. And, immigrants, too - need to Since 1922, Agudath Israel uniting under the banner of hear Torah's message. of America has been at the Torah, they persevered. forefront of this vision and And we need you to help. Today, there is a new pride agenda, uniting Orthodox Jews By becoming a member in in Torah, a strong voice from all walks of life towards Agudath Israel of America, you articulating its outlook, a the kind of meaningful, real, make us that much stronger. confident forcefulness accomplishment that can only For in numbers there is strength. exposing the scandalous be achieved through a And with this strength, just distortions of Judaism foisted coalition of sincere Jews think how much further our on an uneducated public. working together. dreams could take us ... Join us and help turn today's dreams into tomorrow's reality. 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Send address changes to The Jewish Observer, 84 William Street, N.Y., N.Y. 10038. 20 Tel: (212) 797-9000. Printed in the U.S.A. Parenting a Troubled Adolescent in a Torah Home Dr. Meir Wikler RABBI NISSON WOLPIN, eorroR 26 EDITORIAL BOARD OR. ERNST BODENHEIMER One Day on a Hill Chairman Yaakov Lavon RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS JOSEPH FRIEDENSON 29 RABBI NOSSON SCHERMAN Books in Review: MANAGEMENT BOARD EXAMINING CHURBAN EuROPE:ONE JEw's POWER, ONE JEw's GLORY/ NAFTOLI HIRSCH LEST WE FoRGET/SHOAH/0NE, BY ONE, BY ONE/THE ITALIANS AND ISAAC KIRZNER RABBI SHLOMO LESIN THE JEws/P'ETAIN's CRIME/SCROLL OF AGONY /FINAL LETIERs/THE NACHUM STEIN HOLOCAUST IN HISTORY RABBI YOSEF C. GOLDING Business Manager 32 Published by Second Looks on the Jewish Scene Agudath Israel of America "If You Can't Beat Them ... " RABBI MOSHE SHERER In the Wake of the Thomas Hearings PRESIDENT THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not 37 assume responsibility for the Kashrus Letters to the Editor of any product, publication, or service advertised in its pages © Copyright 1991 NOVEMBER 1991 Credit: The photograph illustrating the Second Looks article, "And Now, Crown VOLUME XXIV I NO. 8 Heights" (Oct. '91. p.28). was reprtnted courtesy RNSPlwto/Reuters. Yonason Rosenblum I. THE RUSH OF EVENTS not hard to cortjure up a scenario in thrall for seventy years was rendered which a major civil war would break impotent, its property confiscated, his past EluL the world first out, with horrendous misuse of the and statues of its heroes cast uncer­ gasped at the news of a coup vast nuclear arsenal bringing de­ emoniously from their pedestals. T ln the Soviet Union and then struction lo lens of millions of inno­ Like all such dramatic events in heaved a collective sigh ofrelief upon cent people. world history, those in the Soviet learning that the coup had failed. The Barely had we begun to contem­ Union simultaneously served to bring possibility of nuclear war had nol plate the dangers inherent in the in­ closer G-d's ultimate revelation to the seemed so real at any time since the stability in the Soviet Union than the entire world and lo hlnt to the Jewish Cuban Missile Crisis 30 years earlier. coup was over. Whal began as an at­ People what they must do lo play No one even knew for sure who con­ tempt to restore the former Commu­ their central role in thal drama. "No trolled lhe Soviet nuclear arsenal, nist dictatorship turned out to be the punishment comes to the world other with its capacity to destroy the world fmal nail ln the coffin of Communism. than for Israel" (Yevamos 63a): "Jn or­ more than 2,000 times. And it was De facto leadership of the country der to frighten them and cause them passed from the ambivalent Commu­ to do leshuva" (RashQ. Rabbi Rosenblum, amemberofaKollel in Jerusa­ nist reformer Gorbachev to the Rus­ With respect to the workings of the lem, is a regular contributor to these pages. n1ost sian populist Boris Yeltsin, the Com­ Divine scenario. our speculation is recently with his ~Kulturkampf in the Holy Land,~ in the Oct. '91 issue. He also serves as an editor for munist Party which had terrorized pointless since the ultimate import of the Art.Scroll Mishnah Series. the Soviet people and held them in these events will only be revealed 4 The Jewish Obseruer, November 1991 clearly some day in the future. But THE CHOFETZ CHAIM'S with respect to our role in response, Like all such dramatic PERSPECTIVE we are obligated to make every effort to discern the message for us inher­ events in world history, bserving the rapid upheavals ent in recent events. of his own time, the Chafetz Once again the failed coup in the those in the Soviet Union 0 Chaim was convinced more Soviet Union left the experts with egg than seventy years ago that Ikvesa on their faces. Though Eduard simultaneously served to d'Meshicha - the footsteps of Shevardnadze had warned darkly of Moshiach - could already be heard. an impending takeover by right wing bring closer G-d's And he explained with one of his un­ forces when he resigned as Soviet forgettable homilies the turbulence of Foreign Minister last year, none of the ultimate revelation to the that penultimate stage of human his­ so-called experts dared to say in ret­ tory: A grocery store owner who had rospect that they had seen the coup entire world and to hint been cheerfully extending credit to coming. And once the coup had taken his fellow townspeople for years and place, all projections were ofa lengthy to the Jewish People years decides to retire, and informs civil war with casualties in the thou­ his customers that the time has come sands, if not hundreds of thousands. what they must do to to pay their long due balances. How (Similarly, military experts were al­ play their central role in frantic would people be, how much most unanimous in predicting tens of turmoil would result from their scur­ thousands of allied casualties in the that drama. rying about to find the cash to pay Gulf War.) No one imagined that the their debts. So, too, says the Chafetz coup leaders could be so inept or have Chaim, is Ikvesa d'Meshicha a time of so poorly judged the possible contin­ settling accounts, with all the con­ gencies that within days they would Jews, among whom all trace of Jew­ comitant turmoil.