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MindBizEsther Mann, LMSW 30

Please, Not HimHannah Reich Berman 35

The Candle WithinRabbi Avi Shafran 38

No Recess!Elisheva Liss 61

Chanukah 1917Larry Domnitch 62

Flying Singers

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand looks on as the menorah is lit at Sundaynights NORPAC dinner. NORPAC is the largest American multi-candidate

political action committee. Mr. Stanley Stern is president of theLong Island Chapter, and, together with his family, hosted Senator

Gillibrand at his home in Lawrence. See Page 72

An Enlightening Evening

Jerusalem Municipality

Distributing X-Mas Trees

B Y S A M U E L S O K O L

The municipality of the city

of Jerusalem announced Tues-

day that it will be distributing

free Christmas trees to the citys

Christian population.

For a period of three hours

next Wednesday morning, city

officials will run a tree distribu-

tion center at the entrance to

the Old City at the Jaffa Gate.

The Jaffa Gate is the endpoint of

FREETREES

Continued on Page 18

RUNNINGON EMPTY

MEDIA AND LASHON HARA

Another Mothers Musings

B Y P H Y L L I S J . L U B I N

Its 2:53 a.m. Tuesday morn-

ing. Its certainly quiet as I sit in

front of the computer screen

with the comfort ofThe $25,000

Pyramid (yes, its not even The

$100,000 Pyramid ) playing on

the television to keep me com-

pany. As I glance over at the

couch, I see the megaphone.

My Uncle Arthur had called

me up earlier in the week: Im

warning you, its loud. But I saw

Continued on Page 19

B Y L A R R Y G O R D O N

Moshe Goldsmith is the

mayor of Itamar, a city that sits

on one of the highest moun-

tainous perches and provides a

stunning panoramic view of

much of the land of Israel. With

a simple turn of the head, on a

very clear day you can see forev-er and even catch a glimpse of

that which lies slightly beyond.

Its mid-morning on Monday,

and my friend Ophir wants to

know which route I want to

take to get to Itamar. He says we

can take the safer route and cir-

cumvent the road that passes by

the Arab town of Ramallah

(which Israelis are forbidden to

enter). Or, its completely okay

with him to go straight up Okef

Ramallah, the road that heads

past a number of significant

and glorious settlement com-

munities, including Ofra, Eli,and Shiloh, among others.

Its fear of past incidents of

stones being thrown at passing

cars and even shots being fired

resulting in fatalities that keeps

people away not only from this

B Y R A B B I Y A I R

H O F F M A N

Part 1

In its latest issue, theJewish

Week reported on a growing

scandal involving the head of a

yeshiva for baalei teshuvah who

also runs an organization

involved in promoting conver-

sions among intermarried cou-

ples. The person has ostensibly

resigned his position as leader

of that organization. The allega-

tions are based upon tapes that

have been anonymously re-

leased. Some supporters of the

organization maintain that the

tapes are forgeries; others are

not sure.

In this article, an attempt willbe made to explore some of the

halachic issues involved, with

an application to this develop-

ing story,as well as the reactions

of contemporarygedolim.

Serious And Complex Laws

The laws of lashon hara are

quite serious and complex.

Much has been written about

this category of Jewish law. The

B Y L A R R Y G O R D O N

We are in the upper deck of a

747400, flying to Israel on a

Saturday night and a rapidly

evaporating Sunday. We sleep a

few hours, consume several

meals at the oddest of times,

and then we are there. We arrive

in the everyday precious Israel

that no one has any time to real-

ly understand or report about.

Flying with a little more

legroom costs a lot more

moneymuch more than the$25 extra per seat that it costs

on JetBlue for those additional

nine inches that allow you to

stretch out more than the pas-

sengers seated behind you. Up

here on the top deck of the El Al

jet, theres significantly more

than a few inches of extra room

in front and back of you as well

as on either side.

A treat up here on this second

Continued on Page 16Continued on Page 12

CANDLE LIGHTING

Dec. 18 4:11 PM

Dec. 25 4:15 PM

The Hills Are Alive In The Shomron

YU Chanukah Dinner.See Page 43

Miracle On Ice.See Page 46

Aleh 5T honorees.

See Page 41

PhotoByJoshJustic

VOL. 10 NO. 12 1 TEVES 5770 .en ,arp DECEMBER 18, 2009$1.00 WWW.5TJT.COM

See Page 79

INSIDE FROM THE EDITORS DESK

HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE

Leading the Minchah prayers on a mountaintop in Itamar,overlooking the city of Shechem.

PhotoB

yEliezerFranklin

Continued on Page 10

!vfubj igfhkhhrp t

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2/218 December 18, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

Jaffa Road, one of Jerusalems main thor-

oughfares, and is among the more popu-

lar tourist destinations in the city.

According to the municipality, this ges-

ture has been taking place yearly since

the time of Teddy Kollek, who served as

mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 until 1993,

when he was unseated by Ehud Olmert.

The International Christian Embassy

in Jerusalem, a Protestant Zionist organi-

zation, lauded the practice. A spokesmanfor the group called it a lovely gesture.

However, there is some controversy

surrounding the citys actions, which are

funded by taxpayer money. The distribu-

tion of trees by a Jewish government is

seen by some as an unacceptable promo-

tion of religion.

Jonathan Rosenblum, the director of

Jewish Media Resources and a popular

chareidi columnist for theJerusalem Post,

expressed his disappointment with the

Jerusalem city government.

Rosenblum told theFive Towns Jewish

Times that Israel is the only country in

the world where Jews are not constantly

reminded of their minority status andwhere the nature of the public square is

Jewish.

The columnist stated that this initia-

tive is just another way of conveying the

message to Jewish youth in Israel that

there is nothing to take pride in, there is

no reason to be jealous of the public

square in any way, and calling it anoth-

er blow to Jewish identity.

While Rosenblum objects strongly to

the measure, he was emphatic that the

State of Israel should not impede the

Christians in Israel.

However, he contends, for the city gov-

ernment to simply make no distinction

or go out of its way to make a public mes-

sage to bring Christmas into equalityis a

disaster. Rosenblum claims that

Jerusalems leaders are in no way try[ing]

to preserve the Jewish nature of the pub-

lic square.

Interest will be among non-religious

Jews, Rosenblum warned.

The Municipality defended the prac-

tice, explaining that it engages in activi-

ties for the benefit of all three major

monotheistic faiths. A city spokesman explained that by

distributing trees at one central location

for free, the city has prevented Christians

from opening disruptive Christmas tree

markets.

Michael Ben-Ari, a freshman Knesset

member from the right-wing National

Union party disagrees strongly. Ben-Ari

told theFive Towns Jewish Times that the

municipalitys explanation is stupid.

The fiery legislator stated that the city

of Jerusalem is going out of its way to be

cordial regarding the Christian holidays.

The distribution of trees is an appropriate

response to the religion of grace, which

in the past, distributed hanging trees [to

the Jews] and which brought Jews to the

auto-da-f.

Religious opposition in this matter

stems from the way in which

Christianity as a religion is classified in

traditional Jewish legal sources. Since

Christianity believes that God is made

up of a trinity of beings, rabbinical codi-

fiers such as Maimonides have described

the religion as avodah zarah, a Hebrew

term whose nearest English equivalentis idol worship. Under Jewish law, it is

forbidden to financially support such

worship. As such, observant Jews are

opposed to the use of their tax dollars

for the purpose of aiding in the celebra-

tion of a Christian holiday.

The liberal and secular Meretz party,

however, disagrees with the Orthodox

position. The Meretz platform calls for

separation of religion from the state

and separation of religious institutions

from political institutions. The party

is generally considered at the forefront

of the battle for separation of church

and state.

A Meretz spokesman explained that so

long as the city of Jerusalem is support-

ing Judaism, Islam, and Christianity in

the same way, the party has no objec-

tions to the practice of distributing

Christmas trees.

She explained that such a view does

not contradict the partys platform

regarding the mixture of church and

state. The partys main objection, sheoffered, is the power of the Israeli

Rabbinate and the role of Jewish law in

such matters as marriage and divorce.

According to the 2006 Israeli census,

Christians make up only two percent of

Jerusalems population.O

Free TreesContinued from Front Cover

Jerusalems leaders are in no way

try[ing] to preserve the Jewish

nature of the public square.Submit your photo to the

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