Earthquake in Chile, aftershock in Woodmere Page 2 5 Towns teens in Kansas Page 14 This little piggy went to shul Page 16 From Carlos and Gabby’s to G-d, part two Page 4 THE JEWISH STAR VOL 9, NO 9 ■ MARCH 5, 2010 / 20 ADAR, 5770 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM Purim intox Alcohol emergencies everywhere By Michael Orbach For one Hatzalah paramedic, Purim be- gan not with hearing the Megillah but hours later, when the fi rst call came. It was an 18-year-old. He was uncon- scious, the caller said; he drank too much at a shul party and was breathing very slowly. Past the edge of Orthodoxy? The paramedic, the fi rst on the scene, con- centrated on keeping the patient’s airway open, provided oxygen and started an IV to administer fl uids. Other Hatzalah members arrived with an ambulance, and prepared to transport their patient to a hospital. Midway through the ride, the boy regained conscious- ness and started fi ghting with the ambulance crew, even managing to bite one man. The team was forced to tie him down until they arrived at the hospital. That was the fi rst call; dozens more, many just like that one, kept the paramedic and his Photo illustration by Christina Daly fellow volunteers out until nearly sunrise. Top row, l-r: Rabbi Avi Shafran, Rabbi Avi Weiss, and Rabbi Marc Angel. One case was almost fatal, but the patient Bottom: Rabbi Reuven Feinstein, Rabba Sara Hurwitz, Rabbi Basil Herring, and Rabbi Avi Weiss was resuscitated successfully. “Anyone in EMS (emergency medical ser- Any congregation By Michael Orbach staff.” vices) will tell you that Purim is just a night The notion of a Mahara”t was appar- of excessive inebriation and a huge Chilul Shakespeare’s dictum only applies to ently accepted in the Bronx, if barely tol- Hashem (desecration of G-d’s name),” said with a woman in a roses; a rabbi by any other name is not erated elsewhere, but the new title has the paramedic, who declined to be identi- a rabbi. sparked outrage even among some in fi ed in keeping with Hatzalah policy against rabbinical position Or so it would seem from the furious Riverdale and raises the question: has speaking with the media. “You know it’s go- response from virtually all corners of Rabbi Weiss fi nally gone too far? ing to be a long one. You expect no sleep and of any sort cannot be Orthodox Judaism to Rabbi Avi Weiss’s Agudath Israel fi rst called the venture not much time with your family. You wind up announced ordination of Sara Hurwitz of ordaining women to the Orthodox dealing with the Purim casualties.” considered Orthodox, with the new title of Rabba. Hurwitz, 33, clergy an “essential break with the me- Several other calls brought him back to is a graduate of Rabbi Weiss’s Yeshivat sorah (tradition) of klal yisroel” — in the the same hospital, where a nurse pulled him Agudath Israel says. Mahara”t and served this past year at words of a spokesman, Rabbi Avi Shafran aside to talk about the holiday. his shul, the Hebrew Institute of River- — but a Feb. 25 statement signed by the “She told me, ‘I’ve got fi ve [alcohol-re- Has Rabbi Avi Weiss dale, under the title Mahara”t. The up- members of Agudah’s Moetzet Gedolei lated] cases in pediatrics. One of them is 9 graded title was necessary, Rabbi Weiss HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages), was years old,’” he said. fi nally gone too far? explained, to “make it clear that Sara even more pointed. Despite a steady stream of commentary Hurwitz is a full member of our rabbinic against heavy drinking — particularly un- Continued on page 3 Continued on page 3 Shabbat Candlelighting: 5:32 p.m. Shabbat ends 6:33 p.m. 72 minute zman 7:04 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Ki Tisa Zman Kriat Shma 8:34 (Magen Avrohom) and 9:14 (GRA and Ba’al Tanya) PERMIT NO 301 NO PERMIT 11530 GARDEN CITY, NY CITY, GARDEN US POSTAGE PAID POSTAGE US PRST STD PRST 354596 2 Inside The Jewish Star Shaken up Classified Ads 24 Crossword 23 Earthquake in Chile, aftershock in Woodmere Editorial 20 By Michael Orbach They found out about the 8.8 magnitude worrisome part of the disaster for the Nud- THE JEWISH STAR THE JEWISH I’m Thinking 18 earthquake that struck Chile late Shabbat mans. Buildings in Chile are made to with- morning when a non-observant friend left a stand seismic shocks; both Nudmans were in Is the Wine Worth the Money? 22 For Jessica and Ephraim Nudman, the earthquake in Chile reverberated in Wood- message on the family’s answering machine. Chile in 1985 when a 7.4 earthquake hit the 5770 5770 Kosher Bookworm 22 mere. “I was having my coffee and there was country with relatively little damage. Their AR Letters to the Editor 20 The family emigrated to the United States an earthquake, [one of] the biggest in his- greater worry was over the health of elderly D A On the Calendar 8-10 from Chile eleven years ago when Ephraim tory and there was no communication to see family members. Opinion 16-21 was doing his residency at Cornell University. what happened. I didn’t hear until Shabbos “The concern for my parents was not the With an assimilation rate of close to 75% in was off. I was miserable,” Jessica related. earthquake, it’s their reaction. My father has Parsha 21 Chile, the Nudmans feared for the religious It was hours later, after Shabbat ended, high blood pressure; a scare could be danger- Sports 11 future of their two children and decided to that she learned that her family was okay. ous,” said Jessica. “My Shabbos was a little 5, 2010 20 20 2010 5, That’s Life 26 permanently relocate to New York. Both visit “Thank G-d for text messages and e-mail,” stressful,” Ephraim said. Chile regularly to see their parents and sib- she said, explaining that phone lines in Chile Their family in Chile heard the megillah How to reach us: lings who live in Santiago, where most of the were down until Monday. late Saturday night. Severe aftershocks inter- March Our offices at 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530 are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday, with early closing as necessary on religious community is settled. The earthquake itself wasn’t the most rupted the reading, the Nudmans were told. Erev Shabbat. 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STAR THE JEWISH Continued from page 1 women in the community regarding taharat “These developments represent a radical mishpacha (laws of family purity) and a vari- and dangerous departure from Jewish tradi- ety of other issues, but she does not occupy a tion and the mesoras haTorah, and must be public rabbinical position.