Israel's 'peace' partner

Arutz Sheva:

Norwegian poll, which was not published in Israeli media, reveals that two-thirds of Palestinian Authority (PA) Arabs support Al Qaeda terrorist attacks and 50 percent back suicide bombings.
The poll was carried out by Fafo, an independent Norwegian research foundation that receives donations for Norway's trade union and Norwegian corporations.
Fafo headlined its press release by stating that "Palestinians support the cease-fire, but actions against Israel [are] still seen as legitimate." However, the survey results buried toward the bottom of the release state, "Sixty-nine percent of Palestinians see violent action as a legitimate means in the current political situation and half of them believe that suicide attacks are necessary to force Israel to make political concessions.
"The last survey figure shows that 65 percent of the respondents support Al Qaeda terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States, both of which recently have increased financial aid to the PA.
The respondents, while supporting the terrorist attacks, contradicted themselves, with 57 percent believing the Intifada should stop. In addition, 83 percent stated it is in their best interest to keep the "cease fire," referring to the February Sharm el-Sheik agreement...

Letter in the Jewish Week

This is how the vast majority of non-orthodox Jews look (or don't look) at the Torah:

Jewish Week:

Concerning the discussion among Conservative rabbis at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s biennial regarding halacha and how it affects gay and lesbian rabbinical students (“Conservative Leaders Call for New Openness,” Dec. 9), you should be aware that this discrimination is directed toward congregants as well. My partner and I have been refused a family membership at our local Conservative synagogue.
Conservative Jews who are not religious fundamentalists, who are politically liberal in terms of civil rights for others but have a problem with gays and lesbians, are being permitted to use the Torah for political purposes.
These Conservative Jews who are not influenced in their daily lives by halacha are now quoting Leviticus. To quote Leviticus as a reason to discriminate is simply abuse of the Torah.
No one should be allowed to wrap themselves in the Torah in order to justify discrimination.
My suggestion to the Conservative movement is to put away the Torah and start to have a serious discussion about what it means to be created in God’s image.
As Oscar Wilde said, “Morality is simply the attitude we adopt toward people we personally dislike.”
Claire Eisenstadt

Peres criticizes Sharon

Jerusalem Post

Kadima Knesset candidate Shimon Peres criticized Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Saturday night when he told Channel 2 that he would have drawn the Kadima list differently. He declined to mention names of people in Kadima that he would rather see in a different party.
Sharon will decide on Sunday when to appoint new ministers to his cabinet.
He is considering appointing Peres foreign minister until the March 28 election if Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom resigns along with other Likud ministers.

Lakewood discussion group

To be a fly on that wall!

APP

LAKEWOOD: An informal group of Lakewood residents will meet Jan. 11 at the municipal building for a monthly "Let's Talk" meeting to discuss issues vital to the community. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.
Now in its third year, "Let's Talk" is comprised of residents of different ethnic, racial and religious traditions. Its members focus on diversity.
Moderator Michael R. Bateman calls "Let's Talk" a unique opportunity for neighbors to express themselves about their goals and frustrations.
For more information about the group, call (732) 364-2500, Ext. 5200.

Lakewood 'Castles' razed

APP

Work crews this week began to raze the abandoned apartment buildings in Lakewood, known as "The Castles'' because of their striking resemblances to medieval fortresses complete with turrets and battlements.
The buildings are listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and were first erected around the turn of the 20th century.
"I'm sorry to see them go,'' said Sheldon Wolpin, a township historian and chairman of the Lakewood Heritage Commission. "What can I tell you? It's just part of history.''
The complex, just blocks from the Lake Carasaljo, had fallen into serious disrepair in recent years. Neighbors have complained the buildings had become home to vagrants, prostitutes and drug dealers.
A developer will build 10 town houses on the site.

"I hate Jew"

Benjamin Kirsch, 50, the son of a Holocaust survivor, was outraged Friday to find an anti-Semitic slur written across the front fender of one of his company's trucks...
Township police said they are vowing to find the author of the slur."What makes this more outrageous is the fact that our victim is the son of a Holocaust survivor," Police Capt. David Newman said. "The full resources of the Jackson Police Department and the law enforcement community will be utilized to ensure that those responsible for this display of hatred are apprehended and brought to justice."
The words "I hate Jew" and a swastika were painted with pink spray paint on the passenger-side bumper of Kirsch's white 1993 Ford F150 pickup...
On Friday afternoon, police collected evidence and canvassed the neighborhood of Kirsch's real estate company, Friendship Inc., on Hyson Road. The evidence collected was not being disclosed, Newman said.The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office is assisting Jackson police in the investigation, said Capt. Robert Urie of the Prosecutor's Office. Urie said the crime could be indictable under certain circumstances...
"Kirsch also called his rabbi, Shmuel M. Tendler of the Congregation Sons of Israel in Lakewood.
"It is very sad," Tendler said. "In our state and our country, we cannot tolerate any prejudice to any religion, and the fire has to be extinguished."Tendler, who called the situation unfortunate, said, "We realize it is an isolated incident and must be dealt with not only for our religion but every religion."

Diverei Torah

Better impress your in-laws this shabbos chanukkah.

For a davar torah go to parshapotpourri.blogspot.com/

Questions for Malcolm Hoenline

Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz's Chief U.S. Correspondent has a Q & A with Malcolm Hoenlein.

Click here

Kollel crisis?

The Kollel system has unquestionably, largely built American Yiddishkeit.

Is it- in its current form- kaput?

Is the opportunity for- a majority of newlyweds affording a number of years of immersion in the yeshiva world, been fatally hit by the financial crunch?

Has insurance, housing, large families, marrying off children (especially daughters), etc., made the privilege of kollel drastically less feasible for today's yungerman?

Take a look at (a part of) the metamorphosis going on in Eretz Yisroel:

Haaretz:

Yisrael Reinhold describes himself as a modern Lithuanian (non-hassidic Orthodox). He works in student registration and public relations at the Or Hadash school in the Krayot suburbs of Haifa, helps raise his three small children, tries to study Gemara or Torah for an hour or two in the evening, volunteers with Magen David Adom once every week or two and does reserve duty following an abridged military service.
Reinhold, 30, says he has many friends from yeshiva with similar lifestyles. Some are studying a profession, like a close friend who is in law school and wants to be a lawyer.
"There is a major development in recent years of going out to work, of Phase B military service [shortened service for men - R.S.] and of doing reserve duty. There are more workplaces that are suitable for our public. The most important thing is to combine work with Torah studies," Reinhold says. He does not attribute the change to the child allowance cutbacks that began two and a half years ago. "Needs keep growing, and there is more interest in earning an honest living," he says.
Opinion is split over the extent to which the cutbacks forced avrechim (married yeshiva students) to abandon the world of Torah altogether or partially. It is clear that the process of participating in professional studies and the workforce began more than a decade ago and developed gradually, but the cutbacks in allowances and other stipends from the state will speed up the process in coming years. The cutbacks are slated to continue until 2009, reducing child allowances by tens of percentage points.
In 2003, more than 35 percent of ultra-Orthodox men said they worked, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data. Surprisingly, the rate of working women was not much higher - 39 percent. Some 5.6 percent of men and women reported they were seeking jobs, which brought the rate of participation in the workforce to nearly 41 percent among men and 45 percent among women.
Workforce participation rates among secular and traditional Israelis are 77 percent for men and 69 percent for women..
There is a lot of prejudice and fears - the sector is not a uniform group. There are differences between the courts [of various rabbis] regarding openness to work," says a senior official from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Company, which began developing training programs for Haredim a decade ago. About a quarter of the students in these courses are Chabad, Gur and Belz Hassidim. Some 17 percent belong to the Lithuanian stream, and the rest are Sephardic or self-described "national" Haredim."
Hassidim are less choosy. It's easier to find a Hassidic plumber than a Lithuanian plumber," jokes Efraim Reich, owner of ImageStore, which provides a digital documenting service that employs hundreds of Haredi women in Modi'in Illit, thanks to an incentive of NIS 1,000 per month, per worker, courtesy of the Industry, Trade and Employment Ministry.
Reich says that those who truly prefers to study do so regardless of financial plight. "But there is tremendous demand for work. It's a quiet revolution. The men are slowly, slowly going out to work after spending a few months in the army. There's no talk of this in the media, but there are quite a few. Our parents could still support the children, help with marriages. The new generation won't be able to, so there's no choice," he says.

Largest Chaukkah candle

Epoch Times:

The Jerusalem municipality is building the world's largest Hanukkah candle.
The candle, built from 5,000 individual candles (3.5 tons of wax), in 8 different colors, is placed at the "Pisga" mall, in Jerusalem. It will be 8.5 meters high and 85 cm. wide.
The world's largest candle, which will be entered in the "Guinness Book of World Records," will be lit on Sunday, January 1, 2006 in a festive ceremony. The individual candles may be purchased at the mall for 5NIS each, and all proceeds are donated to "Education for the Blind House" in Jerusalem. The candles are placed one on top of each other using a special lift....

Safire Israeli prediction

The brilliant William Safire in the NYTimes predicts in '06:

Israel-Palestine affected by: (a) political split in successful Hamas; (b) Mahmoud Abbas naming jailed Marwan Barghouti his Fatah successor; (c) dieter Arik Sharon's centrist Kadima party winning big in March and forming coalition with Labor.

Giant Lego menorah at Palisades Mall

The Journal News:

WEST NYACK — Building a giant menorah at the Palisades Center mall yesterday took coordination, teamwork and a whole lot of Legos.
More than a hundred children and parents crouched on the ground floor of the mall to put together Lego pieces for what would eventually become a 6-foot-high menorah. The event was the centerpiece of a two-hour Hanukkah celebration sponsored by Chabad of Rockland and Chabad Jewish Enrichment Center of Chestnut Ridge....
Between 5,000 and 7,000 Lego pieces were used in building the menorah, said Lee Magpili, a supervisor at the Palisades Center's Lego store, which lent the pieces for the event.
Not everyone who helped build the menorah was Jewish...
Sylvia Morsellino of Buffalo, N.Y., and her two sons were shopping at the Palisades Center when they saw the celebration and decided to join in. Morsellino, who is Catholic, said she wanted to expose her sons to different cultures.
"I want to make sure they get a little bit of everything growing up," she said...

Venezuela president's obsevation

I guess he got Lakewood's auction booklet! :

JTA:

Venezuela’s president said in his Christmas speech that “the descendants of those who crucified Christ” own the riches of the world.
“The world offers riches to all. However, minorities such as the descendants of those who crucified Christ” have become “the owners of the riches of the world,”...

Video seforim damaged by Katrina.

Jewish papers summing up '05

Jewish Ledger has their choice for the, 'Top ( Jewish) Stories in the World' for 2005.

Jonathan Mark in The Jewish Week chronicles: "The Year In Grief Portraits of Israelis killed in 2005."

Some Jewish papers evidently can't afford a Jewish calender.

Lakewood auction books on Ebay

At least someone's making money off Lakewood's cancelled auction:

Someone emailed me this from Ebay:

TEN THOUSAND (10.000) CHINESE AUCTION CATALOGS

Description
From the famous auctioneers who brought you the indian-hair shaitels, we now bring you our latest and greatest auction;

Attention modern orthodox fundraisers: Do you have a yeshiva that is trying to raise money? Well, if you are thinking of making a Chinese auction, we have a great opportunity for you. Due to an embarrassing mistake by an overzealous chairlady, 10,000 beautiful, glossy catalogues with pictures of the most ostentatious prizes you can imagine are available for sale. These are sure to be a big hit with your kind of people. Inside are countless over-the-top prizes that modern orthodox people will embrace. There are also many pictures of yeshiva students that can easily be edited to depict colored shirts and smaller yarmulkes that can pass for members of your yeshiva. For a small fee, we will remove the front cover and replace it with your logo (provided that it makes no mention of Torah uMada).

Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Scientologist, Atheist and Agnostic charities also welcome to bid

Starting bid:
US $6.13
Time left:
6 days 23 hours7-day listing, Ends Jan-05-06 10:04:30 PST
Start time:
Dec-29-05 10:04:30 PST
History:
0 bids

Seller information
fakewoodchumrahclub ( 0 )

MAYOR Lichtenstein birthday party

(Prior Post
on Lakewood's new frum Mayor's birthday party)

The last time (for a while) he'll be smiling?

Lakewood township meeting

MEETING LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE: Noon on Sunday, municipal building, 213 Third St., (732) 364-2500.

Bobover Rebbe Visits Lakewood

Click Here to view a slide show of 37 pictures of the Bobover Rebbe visiting Lakewood at the home of Reb Daniel Rottenberg.

Chatzar Hakodesh:

The connection between the Rottenberg family and Bobov goes as far back to Reb Daniels great-grandfather Reb Mordechai Rottenberg, who was the Ruv of Antwerp and a Talmud of the first Bobover Ruv - Reb. Shloma Zt”l.
The Ruv Shlita arrived to the home of Reb Daniel Sunday afternoon. After Mincha, the Ruv Shlita paid a visit to the Rosh-Yeshiva of Lakewood, Reb Malkiel Kotler Shlita. After a royal welcome, Reb Malkiel and the Ruv Shlita conversed in Divrei Torah and parted with words of encouragement while Reb Malkiel escorted the Ruv Shlita back to the his car.
Afterwards, the Ruv Shlita visited the home of Reb Yakkov Tzudok Schonberger, a long time supporter of the Bobover Mosdos and a major contributor at the luncheon. His son Reb Hershel Schonberger was one of the key individuals that helped to the enormous success of the event in Lakewood.
Then, the Ruv Shlita made his way to the home of the Satmerer Dayan, Reb Mordechai Bezalel Klein Shlita. The Dayan Shlita spoke of the enormous strides in Chinuch of children within Lakewood.
Back at the home of Reb Daniel Rottenberg, a lavish lunch was prepared in honor of the supporters of the Kollel. Among the guests, were the Rosh Hakollel Reb Yonoson Binyumin Goldberger Shlita, Reb Mordechai Bezalel Klein – Dayan of Satmer Lakewood, Reb Avrom Spitzer – Skverer Dayan of Lakewood, Harav Eichenstein – Rosh Hayashiva in Edison, NJ, Harav Yitzchok Halbersatm a great grandson of the “Kedishas Tzion”.
The master of ceremonies was the esteemed Reb Menashe Frankel Shlita, a son of the world renowned activist Reb Hertz Frankel Shlita. In an eloquent speech, Reb Menashe told the crowd about the extraordinary efforts the Ruv Shlita takes to assure the Hatzlacha of the Kollel. Reb Menashe also presented the host Reb Daniel Rottenberg with a plaque, commemorating the luncheon and his support of the Kollel.
The gathered also heard from Reb Moshe Yosef Wolf Shlita, one of the Ramim in the Bobover Mesivta, who gave an eyewitness report about the Hasmadah and level of Mesiras Nefesh of the Kollel Yingeleit in the Bobover Kollel.
The highpoint of the event was when the guest had the Zechiya to hear Divrei Kodesh from the Ruv Shlita. The Ruv Shlita began by pointing out Reb Deniel Rottenberg’s dedication to Bobov, which still goes back to his holy father the Ruv Zt”l. The Ruv Shlita went on with a beautiful thought on a Mesorah of the word “Harimosi”. He completed by telling the crowd, that this event is special because those gathered to be “Machzikei Torah” are a group of people who spend a great deal of time learning the Torah and understand the concept of “Mesiras Nefesh” to the Torah. The Ruv Shlita then asked Reb Mordechai Labin who was very instrumental to the success of the event, to sing Shir Hamalos.
After Birchas Hamuzon, the Ruv Shlita took Kvitlech from the crowd of donors and Bobover Chasidim of Lakewood. After Maariv the Ruv Shlita spoke to a gathering of Bobover Yingeleit who live in Lakewood and gave them Divrei Chizik Ibrucha.
The Ruv Shlita’s visit was hailed as an enormous success for the Kollel and left an everlasting memory for the Lakewood community.

Bobover Rebbe Lighting Chanukah Menorah

Click Here to view a video of the Bobover Rebbe lighting Menorah on the first night of Chanukah.

Fire in Passaic

Record: PASSAIC - A couple known for reaching out to others were in need of help themselves Wednesday after a fierce blaze gutted the Passaic Park home where they lived with their 11 children.
More than 50 firefighters battled the flames, which started on the first floor of the Harding Court house and eventually destroyed much of its interior and roof. Officials called it one of the biggest fires in the city this year.
When it started sometime after 6 p.m. Tuesday on the third night of Hanukkah, Elli and Lara Schulman and their children were visiting nearby at her parents' home. Neighbors said the family, known in the city's Orthodox Jewish community for their humility and generosity, had plans to stay there for the immediate future....
(see: Hayom)

Dreidels for Bowling Balls?

Daily Herald:

Bowl a perfect 300, then light the menorah.
That was kind of the concept Tuesday as members of Lubavitch Chabad of Naperville prepared to roll a few games while celebrating Hanukkah during a gathering at the Brunswick Zone.
For Rob Williamson of Naperville, going bowling during Hanukkah is just one more way Lubavitch Chabad proves that “when they say celebrate, they really mean it.”
Along with the menorah lighting and bowling matches, members said they planned to munch on latkes and jelly doughnuts.
Williamson said he learned about Lubavitch Chabad, an organization that teaches and supports “a traditional Jewish experience,” in 2002.
Through study groups and other gatherings, he said he found warmth...
....Goldstein said a big part of his mission is to reach out to Jews who are unaffiliated.
Within Judaism, Lubavitch Chabad has been called an Ultra-Orthodox movement.
Goldstein said he rejects that description.
“Labels are for pants and shorts,” he said....

'Survivors', barely surviving Israel

JTA

Almost half of Holocaust survivors in Israel live below the poverty line, a welfare group said. Zeev Factor, chairman of the Fund for the Welfare of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, said Thursday that 40 percent of those he represents must live on only $450 a month. He blamed the statistic on the recent immigration of some 170 survivors from the former Soviet Union. "These people are not eligible for any German reparations or an Israeli government pension," he said. Factor called on the Justice Ministry to speed the release of private Holocaust-era accounts found to have been held over in Israeli banks, so that the money can be used for survivors´ welfare.

Nazi Concentration Camp Guard, deported

Mazel Tov!
Jpost:

An immigration judge Wednesday ordered John Demjanjuk, a retired autoworker accused of being a Nazi concentration camp guard, deported to his native Ukraine.
Demjanjuk, 85, has been fighting for nearly 30 years to stay in this country. During the long legal battle, he was suspected for a time of being the notoriously brutal guard known as Ivan the Terrible and was nearly executed in Israel.
Chief US Immigration Judge Michael Creppy ruled that there was no evidence to substantiate Demjanjuk's claim that he would be tortured if deported to his homeland...
The United States first tried to deport Demjanjuk in 1977, accusing him of being Ivan the Terrible at the Treblinka concentration camp in Poland. Demjanjuk was extradited to Israel, convicted and sentenced to hang, but the Israeli Supreme Court found that someone else apparently was Ivan...

Captain Jack

.."Everybody lost their minds," recalled a former congressional staffer who lobbied with Abramoff at Preston Gates. "Jack was cutting deals all over town. Staffers lost their loyalty to members -- they were loyal to money."
A senior Preston Gates partner warned him to slow down or he would be "dead, disgraced or in jail." Those within Abramoff's circle also saw the danger signs. Their boss had become increasingly frenzied about money and flouted the rules. "I'm sensing shadiness. I'll stop asking," one associate, Todd Boulanger, e-mailed a colleague...

MSNBC has a very lengthy article on uber lobbyist, frum yid, Jack Abramof, "The Fast Rise and Steep Fall of Jack Abramoff. How a Well-Connected Lobbyist Became the Center of a Far-Reaching Corruption Scandal".

State of Journalism:

Jerusalem Post:

A quote in a fake news release that was intended as a joke ended up in a front-page story in the Los Angeles Times.
The story in Tuesday's editions of the LA Times noted how successful the reintroduction of wolves had been 10 years ago, but said the predators remained controversial.
"In Wyoming, for example, Gov. Dave Freudenthal last April decreed that the Endangered Species Act is no longer in force and that the state 'now considers the wolf as a federal dog,' unworthy of protection," the story read.
The Times printed a correction Wednesday, acknowledging that the news release was a hoax. "The reporter saw it on the Internet and had talked with the governor in the past, so she was familiar enough with the way he talks and writes that she thought it sounded authentic, and she didn't check, which she should have," Times Deputy Metro Editor David Lauter told the Casper Star Tribune.

Thatcher, prisoner of Zionists?

Trying to twist, the iron fisted Lady:

Evening Standard:

(British) Foreign Office officials were so concerned about Margaret Thatcher's pro-Israeli sympathies when she became Tory leader they wanted her to break off links with local Jewish groups, according to newly-released official papers.
Files released to the National Archives in Kew, west London, under the 30 year rule reveal that diplomats feared she would be seen by Arab countries as a "prisoner of the Zionists".
One official even suggested that she should give up her Finchley parliamentary seat in north London - with its large Jewish community - for somewhere more palatable to Arab opinion.
The issue of Thatcher's membership of groups such as the Anglo-Israel Friendship League of Finchley and Conservative Friends of Israel was raised during a visit by shadow foreign secretary Lord Carrington to Jordan in 1975.
"He asked the ambassador's advice on this and was assured that such a connection, which would inevitably do much harm in the Arab world, should if at all practicable be severed," noted Michael Tait, an official in the British embassy.
"Carrington agreed that Mrs Thatcher might most painlessly and with some justification get herself off the hook by resigning from all constituency obligations of this sort on the grounds of the rather wider obligations she has now to assume.
"Such a stratagem might resolve the problem in Finchley but if Mrs Thatcher is indeed a prime mover in a wider parliamentary grouping of pro-Israeli MPs then the difficulty would be trickier to bypass...

Chanukah miracle in Kew Gardens

Daily News:

A jaw-dropping chain-reaction crash in Queens yesterday hurled a toddler out of his car seat and through a window, cut three pedestrians down and left three vehicles in shambles - but miraculously took no lives, police said.
"It is the time of Chanukah, the time of miracles, and this was a miracle," declared Eliseva Gazal, 34, whose minivan started the spectacular smashup, witnesses said.
Five people were injured in the Kew Gardens Hills accident - including Gazal's 2-year-old son - but none suffered more than bumps, bruises and bad scrapes, police said.
Investigators said it all started about 2 p.m. when Gazal's Honda minivan, headed east on Jewel Ave., broadsided a Mercury Grand Marquis, injuring its driver, at Kissena Blvd.
Gazal, who was bringing her son and two young nieces back from school, said she had the light, but witnesses said she didn't.
The two girls weren't hurt, but the impact hurled the boy from the vehicle's center row through a side window and onto the street.
The Mercury was propelled over a center median and into a Saab stopped for the light on the south side of Kissena Blvd.
Gazal's minivan careened about 80 feet through the glass-strewn intersection, knocking down an elderly man before finally stopping with a woman and her young daughter pinned underneath...

Get out of the way for charedim

We needed a study to tell us this?!

Business Day:

..The New Scientist magazine recently reported a study conducted by Tova Rosenbloom of Bar-Ilan University that suggests devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to be risk-taking pedestrians than their neighbours in secular communities.
According to the magazine, Rosenbloom began to suspect that religious beliefs might play a role after hearing complaints about pedestrian behaviour in the ultraorthodox community of Bnei-Brak. To find out more, she and her colleagues watched more than1000 pedestrians at two busy intersections, one in Bnei-Brak and the other in a largely secular city. They totted up the number of times a pedestrian either jaywalked, walked on the road as opposed to the footpath, crossed without looking for traffic or crossed without holding an accompanying child’s hand.
They found the inhabitants of Bnei-Brak were three times more likely than the others to break these rules.
Rossenbloom thinks an ultraorthodox faith might contribute to this cavalier behaviour by making people respect religious more than state-law. However, she did not rule out the possibility, that religious people might simply have less fear of death....

Knesset poll

Jerusalem Post

According to a poll published in Makor Rishon, if Knesset elections were held today, Labor would only win 18 mandates, Army Radio reported.
Kadima, on the other hand, would win 38 mandates, and the Likud would take 14.
The poll showed a slight increase in support for Shas, Yahadut Hatorah, and Meretz, but Shinui received only four mandates.

Simcha Felder watch

Jewish Week:

The City Council’s only Orthodox member, who has opposed gay rights legislation, says he has no problem backing an openly gay colleague, Christine Quinn, in the upcoming vote for speaker. “She is certainly the most competent and qualified candidate and a pleasure to work with,” said Simcha Felder, an ordained but non-practicing rabbi who represents the city’s largest concentration of politically conservative Orthodox Jews in Borough Park, as well as some heavily Republican non-Jewish areas in Brooklyn.
He said he would vote in favor of the candidate selected by Brooklyn’s Democratic chair, Assemblyman Vito Lopez....
Felder, who has voted against equal benefits for gay partners of city employees and against recognition of gay unions formed elsewhere, measures sponsored by Quinn, said he believed she would be no more of an advocate for legislation that he opposes — on grounds that Orthodox Jewish law prohibits homosexuality — than other candidates.
He said Quinn, who represents areas of Lower Manhattan, has been an ally in his efforts to provide city-funded nurses in private schools and on other issues. “She’s been unbelievable,” Felder said. “She and her office have been extraordinarily helpful to this community.”
Some Borough Park observers see the fact that Felder has not supported Quinn’s closest rival in the speaker race, Bill de Blasio — whose district adjoins Felder — as part of a widening rift between Felder and his mentor, Borough Park Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is backing de Blasio for the job. When asked to assess de Blasio’s qualifications, Felder said simply “I don’t know.”
Backing a gay candidate may raise some eyebrows in Borough Park. But it would also bolster Felder’s reputation for independence and maintaining affable relationships with colleagues with whom he disagrees...
Amid recent speculation that he would be offered a post in the second Bloomberg administration after co-chairing the mayor’s re-election campaign, Felder says he’ll keep his seat. He has been mentioned as a likely candidate for Brooklyn Borough President in 2009, when Marty Markowitz will be forced out by term limits.

Comment on comments

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Yated Lakewood news

FROM TODAY'S YATED:

• HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAYOR MEIR!
  This atmosphere at this past Thursday night's township meeting was a bit different than usual. The mood was celebratory, with Deputy Mayor Meir Lichtenstein's birthday being recognized with a beautiful cake from The Lakewood Shopper.
  The mayor's birthday was a wonderful opportunity to pay tribute to him for his service on behalf of the community. The Lakewood Shopper did just that by presenting Lichtenstein with a gargantuan birthday cake from Gelbstein's bakery. The cake, which was designed with blue flowers and green petals, said, "Happy Birthday Meir The Mayor from the Lakewood Shopper." Lichtenstein was also presented with a collage of pictures on a beautiful plaque that stated, "With much appreciation for all that Meir the Mayor has accomplished on our behalf, we take this moment to wish him a Happy Birthday."
  Lichtenstein will be accepting the mantle of mayor at a ceremony this coming Monday, January 1 st. The Township Committee Reorganizational Meeting and Mayor's Inauguration will take place at 12:00 noon in Town Hall. The outgoing mayor and current committeeman Charles Cunliffe delivered some parting comments at the township meeting and expressed what a wonderful opportunity it has been to serve as mayor of Lakewood and that he feels confident handing over the role to Meir Lichtenstein.
  Lichtenstein will become the first frum mayor of Lakewood. Other frum committeemen like him have held the post of deputy mayor but never the job of mayor.
  frum committeeman and deputy mayor of Lakewood. Lichtenstein accepted the birthday cake just hours after he was on the scene of a fire that broke out at Shloimy\'s Kosher World on Kennedy Blvd. Each year, a township committee member is selected by the committee to serve as mayor for one year. The mayor presides at meetings and performs other such duties as the township committee may prescribe. The mayor has the power to appoint subcommittees with the consent of the committee, and when authorized, he executes documents on behalf of the township, makes proclamations concerning holidays and events of interest, and exercises ceremonial power of the township and other powers conferred upon him by law. P.G. Waxman was the first ever frum committeeman and deputy mayor of Lakewood.
  Lichtenstein accepted the birthday cake just hours after he was on the scene of a fire that broke out at Shloimy's Kosher World on Kennedy Blvd.
  Each year, a township committee member is selected by the committee to serve as mayor for one year. The mayor presides at meetings and performs other such duties as the township committee may prescribe. The mayor has the power to appoint subcommittees with the consent of the committee, and when authorized, he executes documents on behalf of the township, makes proclamations concerning holidays and events of interest, and exercises ceremonial power of the township and other powers conferred upon him by law.
  We wish Mayor Lichtenstein much success in this new endeavor.

• BURGLARS HIT SPRUCE ST. AREA
  On Monday afternoon, Committeeman Menashe Miller informed the Yated that there has been a rash of robberies on the south side of town, especially in the Spruce Street area. The burglars have hit spots including Forest Park, Carol Street and the surrounding neighborhoods.
  Among the items stolen were laptop computers, jewelry and passports.
  Strangely, on Tuesday morning, one of the homeowners on Carol Street who was robbed found a bag on their porch full of the stolen articles. Inside the bag, there was a piece of paper that said, ""I do not like what I have done. G-d does not either. Please forgive."
  It is unknown who returned the articles or who scribbled the note, but it is assumed that the thieves broke into the houses through locked patio doors. Police are still searching for the perpetrators.
  Committeeman Miller advised residents to make sure that their houses are well lit when no one is home. The houses should appear to be "lived in," with lights left on in some of the rooms. In addition, double-lock all doors and make sure that all windows are locked.

Mayor Meir, Lakewood frum mayor

APP:

Whether one agrees with Hobday or not, Cunliffe has followed through on nearly all of the pledges he made when he was named mayor at the 2005 organization meeting.
Cunliffe said back then that he wanted to revamp and improve the township's Web site, start a quality of life task force to address neighborhood issues, provide land for the construction of private schools, and resolve lingering construction issues with the $4 million John F. Patrick Sports Recreational Facility off Oak Street."...
In Lakewood, the mayor is chosen by the committee from its five members, instead of the public directly electing him. So at Sunday's organization meeting, Cunliffe will hand off the mayor's gavel to Deputy Mayor Meir Lichtenstein.
But first, Cunliffe was publicly congratulated by fellow committee members for his year in office. For his part, Cunliffe said he was most proud of:Starting a quality of life task force, which mandates the heads of the Police, Engineering, Public Works and Code Enforcement departments attend public meetings to address resident complaints. The township also started a hot line — (732) 942-5003 — for residents to call in and log complaints with the township.
Rebuilding the township's Web site, which now includes schedules of meetings, a detailed township history and contact information for municipal department directors.
Auctioning off 41 acres for private schools. The auctions fulfilled a 2002 campaign pledge made by Cunliffe and Committeeman Raymond G. Coles to help provide land needed to build more schools for the growing Orthodox Jewish population.
Resolving outstanding issues with the Patrick sports complex. Though all the fields won't open until spring 2006, Cunliffe said the facility will be a hallmark of pride once it opens."I think we did some amazing things in 2005," he said.
Cunliffe acknowledged the township has its critics who say Lakewood does not do enough to control growth or complain about tensions between different ethnic communities. He said township officials have worked hard to address problems, but more needs to be done."Yes, we're growing," Cunliffe said. "Our demographics are changing. It does pose a lot of challenges, but I think myself as mayor and the committee have risen to meet those challenges."

To maximize accountability there should be a direct election for Mayor.

Around the world with Chabad

To see over 100 pictures of Chabad's Menorahs around the world click Shmais.com

Or just look out your window.

Monsey Hannukah parade

Journal News:

MONSEY — More than 55 cars bedecked with large, handmade menorahs departed from Langeris Drive last night for the first-ever Hanukkah parade in Rockland County.
The procession was beginning a trip through Monsey, Viola and New Hempstead before heading south on the Palisades Interstate Parkway, and continuing on Route 303 in Orangeburg and Tappan. It ended at Closter Borough Hall in Closter, N.J., with a public menorah lighting.
"We're going out to celebrate the idea of good prevailing over evil — of Hanukkah," Levi Fuss, outreach coordinator at Yeshiva Menachem Mendel Lubavitch in Monsey, said. "We want to be able to invite everybody together in this happy celebration."...

Christians, the last Zionists

JTA:

The Christian Coalition announced plans to start showing legislators’ votes for Israel as part of the group’s biennial voters guide.
The Christian advocacy organization told the Jerusalem Post it would include foreign affairs in its Christian Voters Guide, which highlights how members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted on key pieces of legislation...

Have you seen this man?

Arutz Sheva:

An international manhunt is underway for the most wanted Nazi war criminal, Alois Brunner, Adolf Eichmann's top aide - Y'mach Sh'mom.


Israel Police sources said the manhunt was focused on Brazil, where authorities believed Brunner might have recently entered to hide.
Despite recent media reports that a Brazilian investigation was closed four months ago, Israel Police sources confirmed to the Post that police in Brazil and other South American countries were in the midst of a concentrated investigation after receiving intelligence information that Brunner may be hiding in Brazil..............." Dep.-Cmdr. Asher Ben-Artzi, the head of Israel's Interpol and Foreign Liaison Section, told the Post. "If you ask me, there is a good chance that Brunner is really hiding in Brazil."
At the beginning of the month, Ha'aretz reported that Brazilian police suspected that a man traveling under the name Alois Brunner was the Nazi war criminal, despite his claims that he was Swiss and more than 20 years younger than the real Brunner who, if alive today, would be 95...
A deputy to Eichmann, Brunner assisted in implementing the Final Solution and is held directly responsible for the deaths of at least 130,000 Jews. He is believed to have spent the last 40 years hiding in Syria under the assumed name of Dr. Georg Fischer.

Menorah of Mortars

Arutz Sheva:

Gush Katif refugees, many of whom are still dwelling in hotels awaiting permanent housing, lit a unique menorah tonight, one made of mortar shells fired by Arab terrorists into the heart of N’vei Dekalim, the largest community of Gush Katif.

Auction aftershock

As far as the auction cancellation fiasco:

Lakewood's-

• image suffered considerably
• its credibility diminished
• its 'capital' with the public decreased.

The next apology will be taken that much less seriously.

It has a taken a big hit. You don't fully recover from such a significant faux pas(?) for a long time.

You hear people asking, quite understandably, "Whose running the 'Home' ''?

Whenever in any way I critique something to do with the Yeshiva, I feel an achrayus to point out: the unbelievable wellspring of Torah that gushes out of there in abundance daily. Which makes the Yeshiva unique, special and irreplaceable.

Roshei Yeshiva Issue Chanukkah Letter

In a letter sent out before Chanukka to yeshivos and Kollelim in Eretz Yisroel, R' Aaron Leib Shteinman, R' Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz and R' Gershon Eidelstein, urged all Bnei Yeshiva to strengthen their Limud Hatorah during the days of Chanukkah and to utilize all spare time learning.

"We should all try not to squander these special days on things which further us from Torah."

No longer 'Frum'-ster

JTA:

The Frumster.com dating Web site says it is now open to all marriage-minded Jewish singles”
Frumster, which says it has married off 250 Jewish couples, had been open only to Orthodox Jewish singles.
Officials with the site say it has 20,000 active members worldwide.

From anecdotal evidence, it seems to me that on-line dating in the charedi community is becoming increasingly acceptable. People are no longer embarrassed to admit they're using it. I keep hearing of shidduchim resulting from: Frumster or Saw You At Sinai.
To do a little good, I'm thinking of occasionally putting up an anonymous profile and have people email me possible prospectives, which I'll then pass on. Think it would work?

O.U.: Alito not extreme

Get ready for the Alito confirmation fight, it will get ugly, fast.

JTA:

The Orthodox Union expressed support for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito’s record on church-state relations.
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leaders, the Orthodox group came out against liberal organizations, who suggest Alito’s rulings would hurt protections of religious liberty.
The letter, signed by Mark Bane, chairman of the O.U.’s Institute for Public Affairs, and Nathan Diament, the institute’s director, said it’s impossible to view Alito’s positions on the separation of church and state as out of the mainstream. “Only those who would advocate the most extreme views of religion-state relations in America — either total separation or total integration — could assert as much,” the letter said.
The Orthodox Union did not specifically endorse Alito. Another Orthodox group, Agudath Israel of America, announced its support for Alito last month; the Union for Reform Judaism announced its opposition to him last month.

Chabad grad, NFL pro

Ynet:

At 6"6 and more than 300 pounds, Igor Olshansky is among the NFL's strongest players. He also went to a Chabad high school, doesn't eat pork, and wants to visit Israel after the current season ends. Not your typical nice Jewish boy...
..Igor Olshansky, another lesser known Jewish hero, also charges elephants… human elephants. It may not be the most American name you'll find on an NFL roster, but the San-Diego Chargers' defensive lineman has made a name for himself as one of the NFL's leading lights...
Olshansky was born in 1982 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, to a hard-working Jewish family. After the fall of the Iron Curtain the family tried its luck in the United States, settling in San Francisco where Igor was exposed to traditional immigrant hardships.
"It is not easy to relocate from a place like the Ukraine to the United States. My parents did not know any English and had a hard time settling in financially and culturally. Personally, I remember kids putting me down because I didn't know the language, but that quickly came to a stop. Since I was bigger and stronger than most of the kids, they had no choice so they quit harassing me," he says.
The Jewish community in San Francisco assisted the family, helping it adapt to a new life. He attended the local Chabad-run Hebrew Academy, where he says he developed a strong Jewish identity.
"I learned a great deal about myself and about what it means to be a Jew. My identity has come together as a man of faith. I have learned to read and write in Hebrew, I learned Torah and prayed two or three times a day. It unveiled a new world to me, some of which I still keep until today.
"I am not really a religious man, but I believe in God, and it is important for me to lead a Jewish life and build a Jewish home. I married a Jewish girl, I celebrate the holidays, and although I don't keep kosher, I would never eat pork," he says...

Organization for chasidic dropouts

Some of these ex-chassidim became so secular they started on shabbos- carrying in Boro Park!

JTA:

...Footsteps, a 2-year-old Manhattan-based nonprofit group that helps dropouts from the haredi world transition into secular society.
No one knows how many American Jews have left the fervently Orthodox fold, although most are believed to have come from the New York area. There are no statistics, and, until Footsteps was created, no organization to help them learn how to make it on the outside.
While the organized Jewish world doesn't usually think of Chasidic dropouts as "Jews in need," outsiders can't begin to imagine how frightening and complicated the everyday world can seem to a person who only knows the carefully controlled cocoon of Satmar, Skver or Bobov.
Particularly for a young person, whose departure can be hasty and unplanned, the road out of the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg or Crown Heights is fraught with confusion and loneliness -- and sometimes drug abuse.
"People who have decided to make this transition don't have a place to go," says Hella Winston, the author of "Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels."..
...late February he met the founding director of Footsteps, 24-year-old Malkie Schwartz, an ex-Lubavitcher.
She introduced him to the few dozen other ex-Chasidim in her organization, and he enrolled in the GED class.
Winston recently heard from a young man who spent six months sleeping in New York City parks and subways after he left his Chasidic community.
"He had nowhere to go," Winston says. "America is a very individualistic society, and for people leaving a community it's important to have one to move into. Otherwise they run the risk of becoming lost."
Samuel Heilman, a professor of sociology and Jewish studies at the City University of New York, agrees.
"Missing their families" is a major problem, says Heilman, the author of "Defenders of the Faith: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewry." "For most people in the haredi world, the single biggest part of their lives, and the part that outsiders are often envious of, is connection to family and community."...
A support system like Footsteps didn't exist when Schwartz left Crown Heights five years ago.
She was 19, and knew she would be expected to marry soon. That's often the point at which young Chasidim who are unsure about their faith or their lifestyle make the move to leave, Winston writes, before their decision will impact their future families.
"I felt I couldn't make this decision for myself and for the large number of kids that would follow," Schwartz says. "I wanted an education."
She moved out, enrolled in Hunter College with financial aid and got her bachelor's degree.
But it was tough to go it alone. In December 2003, she organized a meeting for what she hoped would become a support group for former Chasidim. Twenty people showed up, and Footsteps was born.
Schwartz runs everything out of her apartment. GED classes, support groups, art and writing therapy groups, and discussions on health, sex and relationships are held at ad-hoc spaces around the city. Once a month there are sessions on life skills.
Footsteps has received grants from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Alan B. Slivka Foundation, the Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women and an anonymous donor, and in early December was accepted into Bikkurim, a program that provides office space and technical support for Jewish start-ups in New York City.
More than 200 former Chasidim have passed through Footsteps; about 40 are currently active, mostly young Jews in their 20s. One thing Schwartz would like to offer is a halfway house, a temporary safe space for those just leaving their communities...

Traffic light on 14th St.

APP

The township's engineering department will look into whether the blinking traffic light at Forest Avenue and 14th Street can be replaced with a full traffic light.
Deputy Mayor Meir Lichtenstein, who lives on 14th Street, said at last week's Township Committee meeting that he recently received a letter from a resident about the issue. He also said he has seen traffic in that neighborhood increase in recent years.

Chanuka Gelt for Yeshiva Bochrim!!

Haaretz:

Knesset Finance Committee Chair Yaakov Litzman (Agudath Israel) obtained an expensive Hanukkah gift for yeshiva students yesterday - but the state will pick up the NIS 44 million tab.The gift consists of a one-time state grant of NIS 330 for every unmarried yeshiva student and NIS 600 for every married yeshiva student, to be distributed over the next few days. The money will be on top of the normal monthly stipend received by yeshiva students - NIS 720 for married men and NIS 400 for single men.
The NIS 44 million in grants is on top of the extra NIS 290 million for ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) educational institutions that Litzman's party was promised in exchange for joining the coalition at the start of the year.Litzman vigorously defended the Hanukkah grant yesterday. "I worked to increase support for yeshiva students in light of budget cuts of the last few years, including cuts in child allowances," he said. "I'm happy that the Finance Ministry met me halfway and understood the distress of the Haredi public. I hope that this sum will make things a little easier for families. The money will be distributed according to the Education Ministry's criteria."
Haredi MK Moshe Gafni (Degel Hatorah) also defended the grants. "These are surplus funds from the yeshiva budget that were unutilized," he said. "When there's a surplus in the yeshiva budget, they increase the per-student allocation to institutions."
But MK Ronnie Brizon (Shinui) was outraged. "With regard to Litzman, the Haredim and the cooperation they receive from the treasury, things have gone beyond shame and beyond swinishness. It seems that all the dams have been burst, and the Haredim only have to demand something in order for [the government] to bow to their whims and disburse public funds like hot potato pancakes on Hanukkah. This is merely a frightening omen of what is liable to happen in the 17th [i.e. next] Knesset: The public will be exposed to the unbridled money lust of those people, who contribute almost nothing to society, but receive almost everything from it."...

A columnist with Yedioth Ahronoth wrote:

Truth be told, it's not really accurate to call this windfall "Hanukkah gelt." Much more appropriate would be the phrase "strangulation
gelt." After all, it's only due to Litzman's strong hands, softly patting the finance minister's throat that the yeshiva guys are getting this money.
Of course, there is no reason to get too upset about this latest performance. After 50-odd years of bilking the public purse, it is hard to get upset about one more show of ham-fisted pressure. But there are several points that bear mentioning.
First of all, why, exactly, do single yeshiva bachurim (students) need NIS 330 shekels? At least the married guys who have wives and children (one for each year they've been married) to provide for. No question, a few extra shekels will help out.
But the single guys? Guys who spend their days bent over ancient parchments and debate the meaning of life? Most of their expenses are covered by the yeshiva. Latkes and jelly donuts he can get at home. Gambling games like dreidel are prohibited. They've got no kids to feed. So what do they need a holiday bonus for?...
Thousands of Israeli poor forego medicines for just one more slice of bread, while these yeshiva saints, whose only livelihood comes from public money, who pay no tax whatsoever to contribute to the national good, who create nothing except dime-a-dozen, unfounded theories and complaints, need more? ...

Lakewood Yeshiva's mea culpa

The text of Lakewood Yeshiva's ad that will be apearing in some newspapers:

On behalf of Beth Medrash Govoha, we apologize to the Tzibbur for the Ladies Auxiliary "Home" auction book that was mailed out this past week.

Beth Medrash Govoha, with over 4,500 talmidim who are moser nefesh for Torah each day, epitomizes the very essence of ruchnios. The "Home" book clearly sent the wrong message about who we are, what we represent, and our standards.

We erred by allowing it to go out.

We thank all our yedidim who took the time to communicate with us on this important issue. We also thank the partners of House and Home, as well as the auction sponsors; their intentions to help the Yeshiva are sincerely appreciated.

We have canceled the auction and are refunding all those who already participated.

Thank you,

Rabbi Aaron Kotler

Myths no longer

I'd like to dispel of a few myths people seem to believe in:

• Myth 1: I am Aaron Kotler.

I'm not; though I wish I had his salary.

• Myth 2: For all the hard earned tax dollars that the Lakewood Township collects from its frustrated tax payers, the citizens get back zilch, nothing.

An insidious lie. The hardworking, aggressive Township has given a great deal. It has given the community: red colored, painted boxes on street corners.

• Myth 3: Lakewood Yeshiva is now taking the 'shidduch crisis' thing seriously, and determined not to make it worse.

Impossible: By going ahead and forbidding yungerleit from possessing at home internet, with parnasah the single exception, now the stereotypical Lakewood boy in addition to asking for: "looks", "money", "respectable family", will demand- "a girl whose job requires at home the internet." Furthering the crisis!

What happened to the 10 lost tribes?

Arutz Sheva:

Could it be that there are lost Jews all over the world waiting to find their way home? Perhaps there are Gentiles living today that are curious to know what their roots may have been? Is there a danger that gentiles who believe they stem from the lost tribes may try to use this as replacement theology? ...Or, is it a good thing to bring others closer to G-d and the Jewish People today?
Tamar interviews Yair Davidi (author of half a dozen books on the subject: www.BritAm.org ) and Rabbi Avraham Feld (Co-Founder of Brit-Am, and co-founder of the Maccabee Institute www.MaccabeeInstitute.org and 'Cult Buster' -(getting Jews out of cults).

The radio show will be on tonight 12 midnight EST .

Live from the kosel, Menorah lighting

Chanukkah Menorah lighting live from the kosel plaza today at 9:40 a.m (EST)

Can't avoid him: Mattisyahu

Auction: breaking news

In the next issue of some charedi papers, Lakewood Yeshiva apologizes for the auction and announces its cancelation. I'll put up the text of the ad shortly.

Lakewood menorah stolen

There's a thief in Lakewood! A Menorah that was on top of a car with a sign that accompanied it reading "Chabad wishes you a happy Chanukah", was stolen while parked near Bais Sholom on Clifton Ave. I hope the Menorah's bulbs didn't serve as head lights, and the car doesn't need an oil change.

Somerset Wood-Ridge project

GlobeSt

WOOD-RIDGE, NJ-In what Mayor Paul A. Sarlo terms “the most historic vote in our history,” the borough council here has approved a plan to turn much of a former industrial site into a mixed-use development. Carrying an estimated price tag of $500 million, Westmont Station will rise on 80 acres within the 154-acre former Curtiss-Wright manufacturing complex.
The Lakewood-based Somerset Development is behind the project which, when completed, will include 737 residential units, approximately 100,000 sf of retail space, a middle school, ballfields, public space and a new train station. Somerset is managed by president Ralph Zucker, and for Westmont Station has the financial support of the New York-based investment firm, Rubin Schron.
The project has been in the works since late 2001 when Somerset bought the site from Curtiss-Wright for a reported $51 million. Curtiss-Wright had used the site and its 2.5 million sf of industrial space for many years to build and test jet engines. At its peak during World War II, the complex employed more than 15,000. Curtiss-Wright shut the operation down in the early 1980s, but continued to own and operate it as a multi-tenant W/D complex.
According to Zucker, Westmont Station will rise on 80 acres currently underutilized as a parking lot. An existing industrial building of two million sf will remain in use as W/D space behind the project. Portions of the site, which has suffered from contamination, have been remediated, and Somerset will spend an estimated $6 million to complete that process. The new train station will be operated as part of NJ Transit’s Bergen Line...

Chanukkah Shiur R' Moshe Shapiro

A shiur from HaRav Moshe Shapiro on Chanukah and beurim from HaRav Yisroel Elya Weintraub on mahral Chanukah,
is available from
http://shiurim.blogsite.org

Chanukka Web Concert

Tomorrow on Jewish World Review Nachum Segal will be hosting a three hour Chanukkah concert.

Belzer Rebbe video,lighting Menorah

video of Belzer Rebbe lighting the Menorah on the first night of Chanukah.

Home, at last

Everyone is in an uproar (prior post) over the Lakewood Yeshiva's recent Chinese Auction brochure which conveys a message contrary to what a yiddishe home should value.

Their message was extravagant, showy - certainly not the message they preach daily.

The Yeshiva ia now admitting they erred, and seeks to make amends.

This is a golden opportunity.

They should send out another mailing, a letter taking an opposite stance, an entirely different message. One that explains what truly a yiddishe home is.

They should write about the inappropriateness of ostentatious homes that more and more (Lakewooders!) live in. They should talk about the flaunting of designer clothing, marble flooring, and all the other luxuries that are prevalent in our communities. They should vociferously speak out about the "keeping up with the Jonses" mentality plaguing our midst.

Then Lakewood Yeshiva would be reinforcing their values and at the same time be doing a great public service.

Reading list for Lakewood's Gesher event

The upcoming event Jewish Unity Live hosted in part by Lakewood's Gesher organization put up A Reading List for all the participants.

Insubordination kosher?

Jerusalem Post:

Not enough has been done by some Hesder Yeshiva heads to champion the cause of IDF soldiers found guilty of insubordination, according to a petition signed by 1,196 Hesder Yeshiva students. The caustic petition demanded more aggressive action against the IDF on the part of Hesder Yeshiva representatives.
"The Union of Hesder Yeshivot and yeshiva heads should take a more aggressive stand," said the petition. "Continuing the arrangement between the IDF and the yeshivot should be conditional upon the reinstating of all 24 students who were kicked out of Hesder Yeshivot [as punishment for refusing orders before and during disengagement].
"We feel that refraining from taking a more aggressive stand is a blow to our trust and faith. This trust and faith were instilled in us by our rabbis and teachers who taught us that to serve in the IDF is a holy mission aimed at spreading His commandments and teachings.
"The brunt of the endeavor to oppose disengagement fell on the shoulders of youth, who were only carrying out rabbis' directives."
The petition warned that giving in to IDF pressure on the issue of insubordination would lead to further capitulations regarding religious stringencies such as separating men and women for modesty, kosher food and Shabbat adherence. ...

Jerusalem Post:

In a burgeoning scandal, Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski is reportedly facing questioning by the Environment Ministry's 'green police' for ignoring directives to clean public sites in the city.
Earlier this year, the Environment Ministry opened a criminal investigation against Lupolianski for failing to properly clean the city, in the wake of an amalgamation of waste and garbage at five city sites, which include the city's main Givat Shaul cemetery.
The investigation was launched after the mayor ignored five clean-up orders signed by the Environment Ministry's Jerusalem district director Shoni Goldberger.

Dreidel in space

Fascinating video of a dreidel being spun in outer space.

Happy Channukah from the White House

Presidential Message: Hanukkah 2005

I send greetings to all those celebrating Hanukkah, the festival of lights.

More than 2,000 years ago, the Jewish people led a revolt against oppressors who forbade them to pray, study the Torah, or observe their religious customs. Led by Judah Maccabee and fueled by their faith, their small army triumphed over tyranny. When they reclaimed the desecrated Temple and prepared it to be purified and re-dedicated, the holy oil that should have lasted only one day instead burned for eight days. During Hanukkah, Jews around the world honor this miracle by lighting the menorah, a symbol of hope shining through darkness.

As Jewish Americans prepare to light the Hanukkah candles this year, we give thanks for God's many blessings and His watch and care over our Nation. We remember our many military families and ask God's special blessing on those who have lost loved ones in freedom's cause. We are grateful for the courage and commitment of America's men and women in uniform and pray for their safety as they serve around the world to spread peace and liberty.

Laura and I send our best wishes for a joyful Hanukkah.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Video, frum workers in Modiin Illit

CNN video how A job program in a Jewish settlement (Modiin Illit) uses cheap, efficient and divinely inspired labor as big corporations are outsourcing to Israel benefiting frum people.

Comments will be moderated

Due to repeated abuse by a few commenters and complaints by many more, all comments will now be reviewed before being published. This is not an attempt to censor anyone's opinion, your comment will be published if it is decently presented. Let's try to keep out the name-calling and other sorts of vulgarity.

Gesher's work

APP:

For the past 1 1/2 years, Adam, his 7-year-old sister Emily and his parents Beth and Alan, have been members of Torah Links, a family-oriented Jewish studies group with a contemporary twist.
"We were looking for a way to educate our children," Beth Troshane said after the event. "I had no idea of what we were in for once we joined."
What Troshane found was a personal connection to Judaism.
"I wasn't raised religiously," she said. "I'd previously been a member of a synagogue, but I had a problem with the fact that you have to pay to go somewhere to pray."
While her children attend their class on Sundays, Troshane participates in the organization's Woman's Group, led by Tobi Bergman.
"Through studying the different parshas (chapters), she gives us the foundation of what Judaism is," Troshane said. "We talk about things that are so intense, it's unbelievable. We discuss in a forum-like manner God's plan — that nothing is random. We go back to life's origin."
Established in 1995, Torah Links is headquartered in Lakewood, with learning centers in Marlboro, Ocean Township, East Brunswick and Cherry Hill. Classes are periodically held at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Monmouth County in Deal. The forums not only include discussions on the history of Judaism but also the concepts and philosophy behind the faith.
"Our mission is to educate Jews of all backgrounds in a comfortable environment," said Rabbi Moishe Lichtenstein, who heads the program. "Our doors are not closed to anyone. We are very nonjudgmental. Our goal is to teach people in a nonthreatening manner."
Led by Rabbi Abraham Neuhaus of Lakewood, the Hanukkah party for the children and their parents began with Friedman explaining the ancient story of the victory of the Maccabee, Jewish patriots, over the Syrian King Antiochus, whose soldiers had defiled the Jewish temple...

Editorial on stadium deal

APP editorial on the hockey stadium:

Before endorsing a plan for Lakewood to build a hockey arena next to FirstEnergy Park, township officials should carefully examine the financial risks involved. They would not only own the arena, which would house the New Jersey Devils' minor league hockey franchise, but would also guarantee the bonds to build it, a project estimated to cost $40 million to $50 million.
The park is the highly successful home of the Lakewood BlueClaws minor league baseball team. What works for baseball could be expected to work for hockey, especially in an area where the sport is growing in popularity from the youth level on up. The opportunity to see professional hockey at a fraction of the price of a Devils game and without the travel hassles is attractive.
The primary concern is the economic risk to taxpayers. State Sen. Robert W. Singer, R-Ocean, also a Lakewood Township Committee member, says the construction could be paid off if the 7 acres needed for the arena are designated as a Revenue Allocation District, a new designation for New Jersey. That would allow the district's tax revenue to pay off the bonds.
Singer and other proponents must justify using revenue generated in that district solely for the arena bonds rather than applying them to meet municipal needs. They also must provide more specifics about costs.
Another concern is the 7-acre parcel itself. It is township-owned land that is among 240 acres under contract to Cedarbridge Development Corp. Cedarbridge has an agreement with the township to create a high-tech office park and age-restricted housing on land next to the BlueClaws' stadium. Cedarbridge must relinquish its rights to the 7 acres. But at what cost to the township?
Among the selling points in building an arena in conjunction with the Devils are its multiple uses. In addition to the Devils' minor leaguers, the arena can host hockey leagues and tournaments plus concerts, the circus and other events booked for the Devils' new arena in Newark. Officials must determine whether shows at the 17,500-seat Newark arena can translate to the 7,000-seat Lakewood setting. They should also assess the strength of the market for entertainment given its proximity to the Strand Theater in Lakewood, the Ritacco Center in Dover Township and the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank.
Singer and others say the hurdles are not insurmountable. Give them credit for thinking big, buoyed by the success of the baseball stadium, in devising ways to bring tax ratables to the township. But a project of this kind demands careful scrutiny.

Channukah recipes

Celebrated jewish cook Joan Nathan's Channukah recipes for:

RED SNAPPER STUFFED WITH BRAISED FENNEL, LEEKS, ONIONS AND CELERY
5 tbsp. olive oil, divided use
1 fennel bulb, cut in 1-inch julienne strips
2 leeks, washed well, use white and light green parts cut in 1-inch julienne strips
1 yellow onion, cut in 1-inch julienne strips
4 stalks celery, cut in 1-inch julienne strips
½ cup white wine
Sea salt
2 to 3 whole snappers, about 2 ¾ lbs. each, gutted, but left whole
2 tbsp. lemon juice
A few grindings of black pepper
1 tsp. za'atar (see note)
1 tsp. ground sumac
1 diced preserved lemon (see note)
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat and saute fennel, leek, onion and celery strips until soft. Add wine, bring to a boil and reduce liquid for a minute or two. Add sea salt to taste.
Stuff snappers with sauteed vegetables and wrap each fish in jute or other twine. Place them side by side in a 9-by-12 inch baking pan and sprinkle with the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, ground pepper, za'atar and sumac, and toss the preserved lemon on top. Bake in preheated 425-degree oven about 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove jute or twine and transfer fish to a large platter for serving. Serves 6 to 8.
Note: Za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice combination of wild oregano or thyme, sesame seeds, salt and/or sumac, is available at many supermarkets and all Middle East grocery stores. A lemon can be substituted for preserved lemon.

ITALIAN FRIED ARTICHOKES
Juice of 1 lemon
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. sea salt, or to taste
Handful of peppercorns
3 large artichokes, about 1 lb. each
Grapeseed or canola oil for deep frying
Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large pot with lemon juice, bay leaves, a teaspoon or so of sea salt and peppercorns. Drop in the artichokes. If necessary, add more water to just cover them. Cook until they are tender but still a little firm to the touch when pierced with a fork at the stem end, about 15 minutes. Remove artichokes from heat with cooking tongs and let them cool slightly.
Remove outer leaves from artichokes, cut off ¼ inch from stem and tip ends, then cut each heart vertically into 4 pieces. Scoop out and discard the choke and the feathery fibers embedded in the center and refrigerate the pieces.
Fill a wok or deep pan with about 3 inches of oil and heat to sizzling. Deep-fry 2 to 3 artichoke pieces at a time for a few minutes. They will puff up as they cook. Serve hot, sprinkled with additional sea salt. Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish.

APPLE-APRICOT CROSTATA
3 Granny Smith or other good cooking apples (about 1 ½ lbs.)
½ cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
½ cup apricot preserves
---
Grease a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.
Peel, core and slice apples into crescents about ¼- to 1/8-inch thick. You should have about 24 pieces.
Put sugar, butter, egg yolks, flour and salt in a large bowl and rub everything together with your fingers or combine ingredients in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process in quick pulses until the dough forms a ball. Either way, do not overwork the dough.
Flouring your hands, shape ball of dough into a round and pat it into the tart pan. Working with your fingers and a cake knife or wide spatula, spread dough evenly around pan and up side. The dough should be about ½-inch thick up the side and spread evenly across the bottom of the pan. Trim and flatten edges with a knife. Starting on the outside and working toward the center, lay apple slices in an overlapping, concentric circle.
Heat apricot preserves in a saucepan over low heat until liquefied. Using a pastry brush, paint the apples and the visible crust with apricot glaze. Place tart pan on a cookie sheet and bake on center rack of preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is deep golden brown, about 45 minutes. Bring to room temperature, unmold and put on a platter or serving dish. Makes 1 tart; serves 10 to 12.

Downtown Lakewood

APP:

In a surprise twist, the Township Committee has dropped the idea of creating a downtown muster zone and instead may designate the downtown a "no-stopping zone" to make it illegal for contractors to pick up per-diem workers...
Cunliffe said the ordinance would be discussed sometime next month."If we cannot work on the situation with the muster zone, we work on the situation with the people who are attracting the people to the area," Cunliffe said...
In Lakewood, merchants have complained that men waiting for day-labor work can impede pedestrian traffic, intimidate customers and give the downtown a poor public image.
Cunliffe's answer to that had been to turn a parking lot between Clifton Avenue and Route 9 into a publicly funded muster zone by New Year's Day.
The township was to work with Charles Anthony, who runs the nonprofit Under His Wing Inc., to convert a portion of the parking lot just east of Taylor's Pharmacy at Second Street and Route 9 into a sanctioned gathering place for day laborers.
Anthony's plan would have security at the parking lot from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., two portable bathrooms and at least two employees to run the site's daily registration and traffic flow. The price tag is about $80,000.
That plan seems to have little support now.
Cunliffe's opinion changed after recent downtown shopping trips when he spoke with merchants who said they oppose any downtown muster zone. The zone, the merchants told Cunliffe, would take away needed parking spaces...
The township attorney will now draft an ordinance that makes the downtown area — Cunliffe wasn't specific, but that usually refers to the box of Route 9 to Lexington Avenue and First to Fourth streets — a "no-stopping zone."
The ordinance also would likely ban standing, cruising, double-parking or picking people up, Cunliffe said, adding that he wants a legal ruling on whether his idea can be implemented...

Lakewood public school mess

APP:

LAKEWOOD — The school district's interim business administrator — already the target of an Attorney General's Office investigation into billing issues during a recent stint in Asbury Park — is now being blamed for a nearly $2 million budget gaffe in Plainfield.
Edward D. Kent, who's worked in Lakewood since July, declined to address the issue during a brief interview in his office Thursday. "I haven't heard anything as far as that goes," Kent said.
The problem in Plainfield — where Kent worked as interim business administrator from January to May — is that $1.8 million in funding for a charter school was left out of the district's 2005-06 budget when it was drafted earlier this year.

Gelt from Arnold

CHABAD:Governor Schwarzenegger distributes Chanukah gifts to the children.

Aaron Kotler, dart board

Face it: Aaron Kotler got the most thankless, face in the bulls eye, job in the Diaspora's frum community.

Whatever he does- yeah, perplexing & infuriating at times- he's bound to be attacked.

If he's innovative and aggressive, he's attacked for being too business like. If he were to be conventional and un ambitious he'd be excoriated for not bringing in the money. He's in a lose, lose situation.

Has anyone ever thanked him for the good he does?

So please consider all this and stop harassing him with anonymous emails. Quit calling him silly names. Stop painting him out to be the devil.

If he's doing something you disagree with: make an appointment and have a discussion with him; or go talk to one of the countless rabbonim out there.

That's the yiddish way.

"It behooves the minor critic who hunts for blemishes to be a little distrustful of his own sagacity".

Israeli olive oil dispute

There is a tumult in Israel regarding a cheap brand of olive oil (under 20 shekel), that according to the Israeli Standard Institute, is not pure olive oil.
The Israeli Yated and Hamodia differ on its' possible kashrut.
The Yated saying it's kosher; while the Hamodia quotes rabbonim as removing the hechsher because there were high levels of soy oil mixed in.
The name of the company is Maagal Hashana.
The chain store Shefa Shouk has removed it from their shelves.
Some bottles were found to have on it 2 labels, the top one saying it came from a different place.
"It was all a plan to raise the price of oil", say some skeptics.

Israeli charedim going to work

Haaretz:

"Israel is not a state of parasites," shouted Labor's candidate for prime minister, Amir Peretz, at a businessmen's club last week.He said he was confident he could "reach agreements with leading rabbis that productive work, which provides a living and dignity, is not contradictory to Torah studies."
But the leading rabbis and ultra-Orthodox public are not waiting for Peretz. The issue of men going to work (ultra-Orthodox women have always worked outside the home) instead of remaining in the halls of study has risen to the top of the ultra-Orthodox agenda.
The growing poverty in this community as a result of the slashing of state allowances without any let up in the birth rate, the Tal Law enabling more flexibility in going to work and social changes in the ultra-Orthodox communities have created a new reality. More men are seeking jobs, even in areas once closed to them.
Colleges and ultra-Orthodox centers for vocational training, which were first set up in the `90s, are now thriving. No less important is the renewal of an ancient ideological argument about making a living and the proper proportion between Torah study and work.
The Belzer rebbe, Rabbi Issachar Dov Rokeach, gives his annual "political speech" at the end of Simhat Torah. His last speech to thousands of followers in Jerusalem's world Belzer center is still making waves two months later in both the hasidic and Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox communities, in Israel and overseas. The speech was partially devoted to going out to work.
"Long-term students in yeshivas who are talented and have the economic means, are fortunate," he began. "But students who after a year see their studies are not going well, whether because of their skills or their economic situation, must learn a profession that earns a living. I'm not talking about getting rich but earning a living, so that one does not fall into debt... One can prepare for this in the yeshiva and devote a few hours a week in the evening to studying a profession."...

R' Yosef Chaim Zonenfeld ZT"L

A video clip of R' Yosef Chaim Zonenfeld and R' Kook, zt'l .

Fire at shloimy's

APP:

Roofers working with torches on East County Line Road appear to have started a fire that caused heavy damage to a meat market and nearly closed Route 9, fire officials say.
The blaze, at Shloimy's Kosher World, 23 E. County Line Road, was called in to fire and police at 2:50 Thursday afternoon, Lakewood Fire Chief John Stillwell said. No one was injured in the blaze, which drew 75 firefighters from Lakewood, Brick and Dover Township. Lakewood first aid workers also responded.
Stillwell said roofers working on the building's flat-tar roof were using torches when they noticed a problem...

Times: Spielberg duel loyalties

I the NYTIMES' review on Spielberg's latest film "Munich", which the critic labeled a, "slammin' entertainment filled with dazzling set pieces and geometric camerawork", one sentence struck me:

..Nothing if not conversational, "Munich" is organized around three crucial dialogues: Meir's discussion of vengeance with her advisers, which ends with her declaration that every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values; a brief discussion between Avner and a Palestinian who predicts Israel's defeat; and, finally, a bitter encounter between two Israelis who fail to find common ground even in that multicultural utopia known as Brooklyn. With its dead-eye view of Lower Manhattan and the twin towers, this scene makes clear (as if there was any doubt) that Mr. Spielberg is as worried about this country as he is about Israel.

"is as-" ?! Can't he just be worried about both?

(Disclaimer: Viewing inappropriate movies is assur.)

Please Govoha, listen

An editor I'm told choose not to print the following letter that was eventually sent to me, about Lakewood's Chinese Auction.
Ehrlichly written with the beloved Yeshiva's welfare in mind, it eloquently states what people all over are saying:

December 21, 2005
21 Kislev, 5766
Dear Editor.
I write this letter with a sense of confusion. Indeed I have tremendous regard for the Mosad HaTorah whose name is synonymous with Torah and Mesiras Nefesh for learning. I know that everything the Roshei Yeshiva and the Mashgiach Shlit”a espouse, represents mesiras nefesh for Torah and the espousal of the words of Chazal, to live with meager means and realize that our existence in this world is only temporal.
But the mixed signals I am receiving after opening this morning’s mail leaves me with a desire to speak out.
Ah! But to who?
Gossiping in shul is clearly the wrong approach. I do not want to hear the feelings that I have expressed in a sarcastic manner, or in a way that may chas v’shalom denigrate out beloved Lakewood, but it may happen.
Unless someone speaks clearly and rationally and a definitive response is offered to the public, people will gripe in an inappropriate manner. I do not want to write this letter. I am too small to criticize anything that comes from the world’s greatest Mokom Torah and I say that in all sincerity. But if there is no one who writes a letter to, I do fear that this issue will simmer in the hearts and minds of many. And if the Yeshiva will not explain its position, it may lead to a confusion which may disillusion those who have not experienced the authentic Lakewood and what it truly represents.
The Yated Ne’eman has become a forum for serious reservations and questions, a place where one can say y‘lamdeinu Rabeinu, without the ramifications of being called a chutzpinhyak. You have an open ear to Gedolei Torah and if you feel my gripe is legitimate, please pass it on. If not crumple it up and send it to the wastebasket together with the letters of the naysayers and nudniks of the world.
I think your adroit editing and skillful scalpel has turned anger and frustration expressed by those who may not be so articulate or powerful, into the words they would like to share and the thoughts they would like to express. I hope my letter merits your attention. So here goes:
In today’s mail, I received one of the most beautiful brochures that I have ever seen. It was large and white with the majestic logo of Beth Medrash Govoah on the bottom and the word HOME elegantly printed toward the top.
I truly expected to open it and see beautiful pictures of the Ir HaTorah, the place that indeed is the HOME of Torah in America. I really looked forward to opening it and seeing how my once humble HOME has so greatly grown.
I thought I would see a HOME of a yungerman, a few children playing, others learning while, the kollel yungerman is depicted writing his chidushim.
I thought I would see the HOME of thousands of cheder children and Bais Yaakov girls, — thin institutions built for Tinokes Shel Bais Raban.
Those are the HOMES that befit the Lakewood logo.
What I saw was something that surprised — even shocked — me. I saw pictures that mirrored the most affluent homes, in the most expensive neighborhoods of Long Island and Westchester. I saw homes that, for the years that I spent in Lakewood I was told were the antithesis of the Kollel man’s ambitions and goals in life.
I make a nice living and have a nice home. But Ribono Shel Olam are you asking me that I give $50 to win $12,000 of living room furniture? Do you want me to put $7,500 moldings in fly Dining Room when my table (which seats many children) cost abit under $1000?
Why is the Mosad founded with the philosophy of minimalism encouraging extravagance?
Nice things are not the worst crime; I enjoy them as well. But they arc fitting for the type of people that need them. Was this brochure sent to me as a mistake? Was it meant for the wealthy individuals who have an important function to impress visitors because of the influence they must exhort?
This brochure was not geared for millionaires who would be living this way. These were prizes offered to the poor fellow who will spend 50-250 dollars for a chance to add a “million dollar look” to his life.. Why?
To win a room that will only contrast his current lifestyle and entice him to ‘do the rest of the house”? To have his or her spouse nag for new paintings that will match the $12,000 sofa they just won?
Recently I received a Chinese Auction Brochure from another organization. It contained elegant items as well. But they all had a place in a Jewish home. They all had a place in even a Ben Torah’s Home. There were Menoros, and Leichter and Silver Bechers. There were beautiful Meggilos and rare Kisvei Yad, and elegant Mezuza cases. Indeed they were out of my budget, but I would love to win one of those prizes and proudly display my zeh kaili v ‘anveihu, There were trips to Eretz Yisrael to meet Gedolim. I was waiting to see a chance to win summer camp or Yeshiva tuition or perhaps a year of rent in the Ir Hatorah, Lakewood.
Those were the types of items I expected from Lakewood.
Aesthetically, I must admit, the Lakewood brochure was indeed beautiful. But its main beauty was not the homes, gardens, sofas, silver vases or the state-of-the-art appliances it depicted.
It was the pictures that were interspersed between the luxurious banalities of gashmiyus, The most beautiful part of the brochure was the pictures of the Yungerlight who are moser nefesh to learn — b’dachkus that were interspersed within the world that they will never see. I was even heartened to seepictures of the regal buildings that indeed are worthy and fitting to house the Limud HaTorah through with their stately kovod HaTorah.
I surely hope that when flipping the pages of the next brochure — when prizes will be offered in an auction or as a promotion to donors — and those prizes will be interspersed with pictures of Limud Torah and Mekomos HaTorah. We will be able to say Kiyam Bazeh ma Shekasav Bazeh!
Please do not print my name.
Wth Ahavas haTorah,
I remain, A Former Lakewood Talmid, who has its welfare on his mind.

Decide: Kollel or Internet

Lakewood Yeshiva is taking a firm stance to firm up its' hallowed halls.

Every Lakewood kollel man was sent another letter (prior post) forbidding at home, with parnassah an exception, the internet.

This time it came with a disclosure form that must be checked off, if you have: a computer; the internet.

If you do have the internet and it's needed for parnasah an appointment must be made with one of Yeshiva's Dayonim.

The form must be mailed back by Jan. 3rd.

If the Yeshiva wants to maintain a strong, intense, pure, unadultrated makom torah, telling kollel guys "get off the internet" seems prudent and wise.

Cell phones with internet capabilities probably will be next.