CitySpirit September 2010

CitySpiritVolume 3 Issue 1

September2010 | Tishrei 5771

west coast Jewish Living

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CitySpirit is published five times a year and distributed free to area locations. The pub-lisher reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertisement material.CitySpirit accepts no responsibility for ty-pographical errors or reliability of Kashrus of any advertisements. All submissions become the property of CitySpirit and may be shortened and/or edited for length and clarity. Articles and letters published in CitySpirit express the views of the individ-ual writers and may not necessarily repre-sent the views of CitySpirit. No artwork or any part of this magazine may be reprinted or otherwise duplicated without the written permission of the publisher.

CitySpirit

get into the spirit get into the spirit

Dear Readers,Here we are again with another school

year ready to begin; behind us are summer vacations, camp experiences, children coming home from yeshivas/seminaries, and married children coming with their little ones for us to shep nachas.

Nothing is more enjoyable than spending time with our loved ones. Even for those working throughout this peri-od, there is a certain relaxed aura to this time. In the midst of this, not by accident, comes Tisha B’av, a sobering time remind-ing us of who we are and what we need to aspire to. This past Tisha B’av many of us had seen the video produced by Proj-ect Inspire. I was strongly moved by it. It showed how easy it is for anyone to be like Avraham Avinu, bringing our fellow Jews closer to yiddishkeit through simple acts of kindness and caring. In actuality this is where our preparation for the Yomim No-raim begins. When you open your heart in one way, it can help you open it in yet an-other; preparing yourself for repentence (teshuva).

Our timely feature article (page 19) is based on the newly released book A Touch of Purity by Rabbi Yechiel Spero (Artscroll Publications). Through stories and reflec-tions, Rabbi Spero gently but firmly leads us on the path of teshuva (repentance).

During the awesome days of Elul, we need to remember to ask our fellow Jews for forgiveness as well. If we judge our friends and family favorably - then, so Hashem will judge us favorably. The Col-or Black (page 30) is touching story that demonstates how we sometimes judge a book by its cover. We must overcome

our prejudices and accept people for their unique special qualities.

Last week my father-in-law was ad-mitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center– where he is baruch Hashem doing much better. I spent a lot of my time running between taking my mother-in-law for hospital visits and trying to put together this issue of CitySpirit. Getting desper-ate, I decided to try and combine the two tasks. I approached Rabbi Jason Weiner, Jewish Chaplain, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and he has graciously taken time out of his busy schedule to write a dvar To-rah (page 33).

Thanks to Faigy Grossman we put to-gether a delicious menu for a Yom Tov seu-da using the recipes from her book Dining In Again (page 40).

Once again, Manny Saltiel, Pharm.D. walks us through more cases of common pharmacy dilemmas (page 38).

Kids - we didn’t forget you. Esti and Bluma are back in Running The Show writ-ten by Rebecca Klempner and illustrated by Fraydee Mozes - wouldn’t it be cool if Rebecca and Fraydee put together a whole book about Esti and Bluma?

Also in KidSpirit (page 46) is a really fun puzzle - and the winner will get a $25 gift certificate to spend at Chabad Atara. But hurry - because you have to be the first to solve the puzzle to win.

Enjoy all our columnists and check our advertisers for lots of Yom Tov specials.

Kisiva v’chasima tovah - wishes for a happy and healthy new year.

Tova

Editortova Klein

Contributing WritErstama beck

rabbi gershon bessrabbi Aryeh Carmell

rabbi Eliyahu desslerrebecca Klempner

Edith H. KrohnHershel Lieber

Jonathan d. Pivo, d.d.s.Manny saltiel, Pharm. d.

PubLisHErMati Jacobovits

stAFF WritErEsti drebin

Food Faigy grossman

Kids sPirit Fraydee Mozes

nEXt issuEAdvertising deadline nov. 1

Publication date nov. [email protected]

www.cityspiritmagazine.com

LA: 445 n. Mansfield Ave.Los Angeles, CA 90036

Phone: 323-974-6084

nY: 1588 East 27th street brooklyn, nY 11229

Phone: 917-771-6996

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contentsfeatures 19 A sampling of inspiring stories from the new book ATouchofPurity: Theperfectcompanion duringtheawesomedays ofElul,RoshHaShanah, andYomKippur30 TheColorBlack: A young woman converts to Judiasm and learns to deal with an intolerant mother- in-law

42 Our holiday meal menu taken fromrecipes from the popular book DiningInAgain

community spirit

8 Letters

10 JewishWomen’s RepertoryCompany

16 AleinuFamily ResourceCenter

kid spirit

44 Puzzles&More Fraydee Mozes

44 RunningTheShow Rebecca Klempner

46 BennyP.I. Ari Guidry

in this issue

26 PointofView Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler Rabbi Aryeh Carmell

28 DvarHalachah Rabbi Gershon Bess 33 DvarTorah RabbiJasonWeiner

34 TheWanderingJew Hershel Lieber

36 AdvicefromOver-the-Counter Manny Saltiel, Pharm.D.

40 DentalHealth Jonathan D. Pivo, D.D.S.

42 DiningInAgain Faigy Grossman

51 TamaTellsAll Tama Beck

september 2010

About the CoverThe image on the cover was designed in Adobe Illustrator. Each object was drawn individually in black and white (A) and then colorized (B). All the images were then placed on the teal background to create the finished product (C).

contents

A B C

lettersDear Editor,

We just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate the diversity of your articles.

In your recent edition Rabbi Bess, Shlita addressed the cus-tom of lighting a yahrzeit candle for departed family members on the Yomim Tovim on which Yizkor is recited. We never real-ized that lighting this candle on the second night of Yom Tov is a halachic problem. We greatly appreciated Rabbi Bess’ theo-retical dissertation on this topic and his PRACTICAL advice in purchasing a 48- hour- candle which would satisfy all halachic opinions. We didn’t even know that such an item was available on the market. Never too old to learn something new.

Thank you again and keep up the good work of spreading Torah and ahavas Yisroel in our city and beyond.

Hatzlachah Rabbah,A fan

Dear Editor,What a beautiful magazine! Great layout.

All the best!Gavriel Sanders,

Artscroll Mesorah Publications

Dear CitySpirit,I really enjoy waiting for each issue of City Spirit. It always

looks so attractive and peeks my interest to see what inter-esting articles will be in each issue. I always need to just go through it quickly the first time to see what it looks like, and then, I can read it carefully from cover to cover. The cover of this past issue had a very artistic look and when I saw how it was actually done, step by step it amazed me. Keep up the great work!

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As I went to the audition for Guys and Dolls, I was so excited by the potential opportunity to perform again. Way before I had become Torah observant, I was a

drama major at NYU and afterwards, for a while, my whole life was about acting and directing. After college, my focus moved more toward directing, and when I became Orthodox, I just assumed my performance days were pretty much over. I mean, where would I get the chance to sing, dance and act in a professional type setting? As it turns out, right here in Los Angeles.

I was so grateful to Margy Horowitz, the founder of the Jewish Women’s Repertory Company, for creating a platform for Torah observant women to per-form. I just assumed, as I went to my first rehearsal, that all the women in the company were of a similar Jewish observance level as me, since we only perform for women. However, the most wonderful surprise of all was discover-ing that the JWRC attracts women from the whole spectrum of Jewish observance. As I looked around, I didn’t know any-one. But soon enough, through our hard work, mutual joy of creativity, and passion for performing, we all became friends.

Margy first founded the company six years ago with the goal of bringing quality theatre experiences to the women of the Los Angeles Jewish community. For the first production, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado, Margy worried that perhaps no one would audition. When the auditions brought out many wonderful, talented women, Margy then worried that no one

would come see the show that they had all worked so hard for. To everyone’s great joy, women did show up for sold-out shows.

The next year’s production, Once Upon a Mattress, moved to a bigger theater space. More women auditioned and more women attended. In fact, each year a larger number of women audition and the audiences continue to grow.

The company’s third production, Guys and Dolls, was my first show with the JWRC and also my first opportunity to play a man! I probably bonded the most with the other “guys” in the show that year.

The next year, I watched an amazing production of The Pi-rates of Penzance (yes, Margy loves Gilbert & Sullivan) from

the audience. I was lucky enough to at-tend some rehearsals as well, and what I noticed most was the wonderful re-lationships of women from different parts of the Jewish community. There were yeshivish, modern Orthodox, and Conservative women in the company,

and they were all friends. I saw so many wonderful new faces there; I knew that next year I would have to be back!

Last year’s auditions for Annie Get Your Gun brought out a record number of women. Once again, a diverse cast put to-gether a terrific show, and we all made great new friends and continued to grow closer to older ones. As a group we’ve been able to celebrate each others’ simchas as well – including many new babies and a couple of weddings!

This year’s upcoming production of Joseph and the Amaz-ing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be filled with new, incredibly talented women as well as some old favorites. Friendships are already blooming and barriers are being broken down. Most importantly, get ready for a great show!

There is something amazing that happens when Jewish women get together in the JWRC. All of our outward differ-ences melt away, political differences are never discussed, and everyone is respectful of the diversity of Jewish practice. Un-fortunately, there are not many places in any Jewish commu-nity around the world where so many different kinds of Jews can get together, create together, bond together, and grow to-gether. The Jewish Women’s Repertory Company is rare proof that by enjoying what unites us, and not dwelling on what di-vides us, we can truly achieve ahavat Yisrael (the mitzvah of loving our fellow Jews).

By Batsheva Hirschman Frankel

Jewish Women’s repertory CompanyBringing quality theatre experiences to the women of the Los Angeles Jewish community

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Congratulations to Los Angeles Civil Trial Attorney

Baruch C. Cohen on his recent admission to practice

before the Supreme Court of the United States of America

Congratulations to trial attorney Baruch C. Cohen for being recently admitted to SCOTUS: the United States Supreme Court, and for recently being inducted in the

Million Dollar Trial Attorney’s group, a prestigious association of trial lawyers who have recovered at least $1,000,000 for cli-ents in a settlement or judgment.

Mr. Cohen represents clients in the areas of corporate chapter 7 bankruptcies, bankruptcy litigation, business litiga-tion, bais din litigation, serious and complex personal injury or wrongful death.

Mr. Cohen is the founder of American Trial Attorneys in Defense of Israel.

CITY spIrIT sepTember 2010

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communITy SpIRIT

rabbi Nachum Shifren for California State Senate, District 26

Why am I, an orthodox Jew, running for California State Senate, District 26?

Simple enough: years ago, while working in Sheriff Peter Pitchess Wayside Ranch (L.A. County’s biggest jail, located in Valencia) as a rehab teacher to hardened in-mates, I met a former student of mine. This student had been in my Spanish class while I had taught at Dorsey High School, in South L.A. A large Black man, I approached the prison bars where he was being incarcerated and he yelled over to me, “Hey Mr. Shifren!”

I was startled. How is this felon, presumably a danger to the public, beknownst to me, I asked myself in amazement.

Sure enough, he told me from behind the bars that he was a former student. Then tears welled up in his eyes.

“They didn’t teach me anything! They just kept passing me along. When I graduated, I couldn’t read or write, and had no way to get a job. So I became a hoodlum.”

And so started an amazing relationship. Through this prison, I met others who were students. Same story. No homework, late to class, no parents around to monitor what the kids are doing, drugs, gangs, etc.

I decided to make a difference. Af-ter 22 years of being a veteran teacher for LAUSD, I have seen enough racism, corruption, and waste to fill volumes. I knew it was time to act. If not for my former students (each one of them costs us (YOU, THE TAX-PAYER) $50,000 to feed, clothe, and supervise with L.A. Co. Sheriff ’s deputies), then for my own peace of mind.

We have a 50% drop out rate in our high schools. We have

spent billions on education, mainly benefitting the unions and bureaucrats. A recent study at UC Santa Barbara conclud-ed that the cost of drop outs to our state is FORTY FIVE BIL-LION DOLLARS A YEAR! This is twice our deficit....

My support comes from hard working Californians that are sick to death of a dysfunctional Sac-ramento which seems to view the tax payers as walking ATM machines, rais-ing taxes and spending in a never-end-ing frenzy. The supporters themselves come from as far away as Alabama and Minnesota. I have received campaign contributions from people throughout this Union. Why? Because my candi-

dacy is bigger than just California. It represents a philosophy, a movement of bringing government back to the people, with accountability and integrity.

It is my hope to be California’s next State Senator. I know that this race is truly symbolic of everything that American stands for, and the core values that have made it the greatest nation on Earth.

Rabbi Nachum ShifrenYour Educational Candidate

Lecturer and Author, Candidate for California State Senate, District #26

www.RabbiForSenate.com

Rabbi Nachum Shifren needs your help, please contribute any amount large or small to support his candidacy for State Senate, helping take back our neighborhoods, state and country. To contrib-ute to this cause click on the following link: http://www.pleasecon-tribute.com/8723

“If we had ten more teachers like

Rabbi Shifren, we could turn

around America tomorrow.”

Rev JeSSe Lee PeTeRSen

RABBi NAChUm ShifREN CATChiNg ThE wAvES iN mALiBU

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rabbi arye GreenesJance Weberman, Cantor

andrew Friedman, President

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Yamim NoraimHigh Holiday Services

rabbi arye GreenesJance Weberman, Cantor

andrew Friedman, President

Please call (323) 931-2476for your seat reservations for

rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur

wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy

New Year


15

The family knew they n e e d e d

help. Things had been difficult for so long they didn’t know how to cope or where to turn.

Did you know that there is a c o m p r e he n s i v e Family Resource Center on Pico Boulevard serving

the frum community? Although Aleinu, a program of Jew-ish Family Service of Los Angeles, has become recognized for crisis intervention and safety awareness in the community, many are not as aware that Aleinu provides a wide-range of programming for children and families. At Aleinu the motto is “Come inside…Aleinu has a place for you.” The aim at Aleinu is to serve families in many different ways. Aleinu has worked hard to get a feel for the unique needs of the Orthodox com-munity and to provide specialized programs and services to meet them.

The Aleinu Family Resource Center is staffed with profes-sional credentialed therapists available to provide individual counseling, group, and couples therapy. All clinical services are provided with a clear and perceptive understanding of the

parameters and goals of the orthodox Jewish community. The following is a small snapshot of services currently be-

ing offered: • A mentoring program designed to forge meaningful

relationships between devoted volunteers and community youth who need a stable committed presence in their lives.

• Play therapy and social skills groups for children. • New Moms Connect; a comprehensive program for

mothers with post-partum challenges. • Men’s group; a place to talk about the issues men face

today.• Older adult services to support our senior family

members and educate families about resources that are available.

• Couples counseling to provide couples an opportunity to work out marital difficulties in a positive way.

• Café Mom; a group to help mothers connect with other mothers and to develop and improve parenting skills.

Aleinu is nationally recognized for its innovative prevention programs; these include Safety Kid, Marital Satisfaction Survey, and Conduct for Policy to Prevent Abuse in Schools.

To find out more information about Aleinu Groups & Services, call (310)247-0534 or check out the Aleinu website at www.Aleinu.net. The website provides valuable resources and information for par-ents and families. Aleinu is here to help.

Aleinu Family resource CenterOffering a wide-range of services for children and families

Standing l-r: Councilman Tom LaBonge, Honoree Rabbi Chaim Friedman, Councilman Paul Koretz,

Honoree Dr. Gabriel Rubanenko, Controller Wendy Greuel, Fire Commissioner Andrew Friedman, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich

Sitting l-r: Sheriff Lee Baca, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, District Attorney Steve Cooley

not pictured: State Assembly Speaker John Perez, Supervisor Mike Antonovich,

Fire Chief Millage Peaks


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17

bookS, muSIc, AudIo, dVd

How Can I Change For Heaven’s Sake?A Practical 10-Step Plan to Improve the ABC’s (Attitude, Behavior, and Character) of Your Life. Hard CoverAuthor: Rabbi Doniel Frank Publisher: Felheim

We’ve all made kabbalos, commit-ments, mostly during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But how many of those are we still keeping a year--or

even a week--later? In this down-to-earth, excellent book, the author, a well-known therapist, shares insight and professional advice that will work for you, outlining a practical, 10-step plan to achieving doable, lasting change. From discovering what, ex-actly, to change, to designing an individually-tailored program and removing the roadblocks that stand in the way of effective growth, this book is really heavensent!

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Machzor InsightsFor the Yamim noraimAudio CdAuthor: Rabbi Yisroel ReismanPublisher: Shiure Agudath Israel of Madison

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - the Days of Awe, the days of teshu-vah - will soon be here. As we gather in our shuls, our strength is in prayer; the Machzor is our tool. How can they

penetrate our hearts? How can we soak up their message and prepare ourselves to stand before the Heavenly Court?

Rabbi Yisroel Reisman - master teacher and thinker - shows us how in this collection of his magnificent shiurim on the Machzor. Part of the V’ani Tefilah Series, it illuminates the major themes and prayers of these holy days. These Machzor insights will bring unprecedented meaning and inspiration to your Yamim Noraim.

The Complete Asian Kosher CookbookGive your family the gift of Asian cuisine. Hard CoverAuthor: Shifrah Devorah Witt and Zipporah Malka HellerPublisher: Targum Press

In this first of its kind cookbook, Asian cooking goes kosher--in a marvelously simple way! Featuring a spectacular showcase of delectable dishes from a variety of Asian countries, including China, Japan, India, Thailand, and the Philippines, this beau-tifully designed collection shows how all-time Asian favorites can be transformed into easy-to-make household foods, from the spicy to the subtle, the savory to the sweet.

One Small Deed Can Change The WorldTrue stories of everyday encounters with extraordinary resultsHard CoverAuthor: Nachman SeltzerPublisher: Shaar Press

A wonderful combination of great true stories with a vital and inspira-tional message for today. Here are sto-ries of both the amazing and the ev-eryday miracles that a few small words

or actions can bring about. We read how a man’s daily greeting to a factory guard saves four lives and how a badly-pronounced “’allo” brings a young man back to his Jewish roots. A Jewish grocer extends credit to a poor Irish family and four decades lat-er the Jewish world reaps the benefits; a businessman is saved from financial ruin by a casual twenty-dollar donation to an annoying old man. All these acts were “one small deed.”

Yiddish World RememberedThe Story Of Jewish Life In easteDVD - Aderet Music Corp.

A look back at the all but van-ished Jewish way of life that existed in Eastern Europe before World War II. Through never-before-seen archi-val films, vintage photographs, tra-ditional cantorial and Klezmer mu-sic, and personal recollections, once vibrant cities and shtetls come alive

again. The few remaining eyewitnesses share their compelling stories about life in the poor but close-knit communities where rabbis settled disputes, yentas gossiped, boys dedicated them-selves to learning and humor pervaded every aspect of life. Nar-rated by Elliot Gould, the film explores everything from the fascinating language of Yiddish, the traditional foods, style of dress, and the vibrant cultural, religious and political life that in Poland alone could support 24 Yiddish language dailies.

Yaakov ShwekeyLibi BamizrachCD - Aderet Music Corp.

Yaakov Shwekey is less than one year removed from the re-lease of his last album, Ad Bli Dai, but that didn’t stop him from re-leasing a brand new album. Yochi Briskman presents an all new CD

from Yaakov Shwekey titled, Libi Bmizrach, My Heart is in the East. This CD will be a Sephardic style album with all new ma-terial.

While Shwekey used some of his well known past compos-ers, he also went to many of the composers and arrangers who have become mainstays working with the current Sephardic genre in Israel.

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In the newly released book

A Touch of Purity (published

by Artscroll/Mesorah),

Rabbi Yechiel Spero, author of

the bestselling Touched by a Story

series, gently but firmly leads us

on the path of repentance– teshuvah. With his

trademark blend of stories that open our hearts and Torah insights that

reach our souls, A Touch of Purity is the perfect companion during the

awesome days of Elul, Rosh HaShanah, and Yom Kippur.

As we are inspired by the wonderful and unusual stories of this master

storyteller, we also gain a new understanding of Selichos, the penitential

prayers; learn techniques of introspection; explore ways of enhancing

our connection to Hashem; discover the secrets of cheshbon hanefesh -

spiritual reckonings - the tried and true method to attain forgiveness.

In this issue of CitySpirit we bring a sampling of stories from A Touch

of Purity that are sure to touch us, amaze us and, of course, inspire us

to try a little harder, to push a little further - and to reach a place of

teshuvah that we never believed possible.

AREVEREDROSHYESHIVAH

STRuggLESTOATOnEFORAWROngHE’DDOnEYEARS

BEFORE...

ADEVOTEDCHASSID

OFFERSTOgIVEuPHIS

LIFE’SDREAMRATHERTHAn

EMBARRASSHISREBBE...

ASTARVIngYOungMAn

LIgHTSACAnDLEIn

THEWORSTDARKnESSOFTHEWARSAW

gHETTO...

AYOungCOuPLEFInDABABYATTHEIR

DOORSTEP,AnDTHEIRLIVES

WILLnEVERBETHESAME...

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Used with permission. ArtScroll Mesorah Publications.

With the ominous clouds of anti-Semitism hov-ering in the skies, the great Torah leaders of Europe gathered with the distinguished lay-

men of the era in the city of Marienbad to discuss what needed to be done. The year was 1938, and the hatred enveloping the Jewish people created an ever-increasing sense of impending doom. For a number of days, the illus-trious rabbanim, Admorim, and Roshei Yeshivah spoke about making improvements and strengthening their communi-ties, as a means of fending off calamity. Some focused on the strengthening of Torah learning and observance, while others suggested improvements in the realm of prayer. Some recommended that communities at large needed to pay more attention to the poor and unfortunate. Though each speaker’s point was legitimate and well founded, it was the last speaker who made the greatest impact.

Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the Ponovezher Rav, was the last to address the gathering. He ascended the po-dium and looked over the audience. In a loud, clear voice, he began. “A fire once broke out inside Reb Yoel’s home. The townspeople gathered outside the house and watched in awe as the blaze raged on, towering high above the roof.

Suddenly, one of those present noticed that Reb Yoel was nowhere to be seen. It dawned upon the man that Reb Yoel may very well be inside his home, still sleeping.

“All at once, the townspeople began deliberating how to save Reb Yoel. One suggested climbing up the ladder in the back of the house, another proposed going through the front, and a third advocated going up the side. Finally, a wise man stepped forward and with great impatience asked, ‘Why are you people wasting such precious time? Scream at the top of your lungs and wake him up. Then he’ll be able to save himself.’ ”

The Ponovezher Rav gazed at the crowd for a mo-ment, to see if they understood the message. Then, in a booming voice, he screamed, “Meine ti’ere brider, my dear brothers, the very ground we stand on is giving way be-neath our feet! Our neighbors detest us and are threat-ening to destroy us. Flames of revulsion and billows of hatred surround us. And we are all standing around searching for ways to save a nation that is steeped in slumber. We must scream from the depths of our hearts and souls, ‘Yiddishe folk, Jewish nation!! Vekt zich oif, You must wake up!!’ Nothing will be able to save us if we do not listen to that cry.”

This is the mezuzah.And this is the month of Elul. The shofar calls out to us and we must hear, really what it is

trying to say. Or soon it will be too late late.

Rav Yisrael Salanter, the great father of the mus-sar (ethics) movement, was once eating supper with his wife when an almanah (widow) came to

the door. They invited her in and she told them her story. Her husband had died, and now her son was going to be drafted into the army. She had heard, though, that if a cer-tain member of the community — someone she did not know — would be approached, this man would be able to gain an exemption for her son. Since she did not know this man, she asked Rav Yisrael to do her a favor and speak to the man on her behalf.

Rav Yisrael and his wife reassured her that it would be taken care of the very next morning. The woman left and Rav Yisrael and his wife sat back down to continue their meal. Before they began eating once again, however, he shook his head, as if shocked at himself. He then turned to his wife and said, “What would we have done if it were

our own son? Would we have sat down to eat, or would we have run to take care of it immediately?” Without further ado, Rav Yisrael left the house and searched all over town, to find the man who would be able to help the almanah’s young son acquire the exemption he needed.

“What would I do it if it were my child?”Those penetrating words are the key to improving how we

perform our acts of chesed. Rav Yisrael heard the plight of the woman, and immediately

was me’mashmeish (checked through even positive actions) his commitment to help her.

He understood clearly that there is the chesed one performs for others, and then there is the chesed one performs for his own child.

Elul Themonthofteshuvah,themonthofintrospection,themonthleadinguptoRoshHashanah—thegreatYomHaDin—theDayofJudgment

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Rosh hashanah WeareplacedinthisworldtoemulatethemiddosoftheRibbonoShelOlam.—Ourg-d

Nachman Kahn grew up in the Williamsburg sec-tion of Brooklyn.

One time, he was playing with a group of boys when the great tzaddik, Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, walked by.

The boys stopped and waited for Rav Shraga Feivel to go by. Yet he stood there, watching the boys run around; he even offered a candy to each of them. The boys ran over and thankfully accepted the sweets. However, Nachman was the last to come running over for the treat. By the time his turn came, Rav Shraga Feivel had run out of can-dies. Disappointed, he turned away. But Rav Shraga Feivel called out to him and said to him, “I promise I will make it up to you, O.K.?”

Nachman smiled, as he was pleased that Rav Shraga Feivel had made the commitment. But a few weeks later, this tzaddik passed away, and the story was all but forgot-ten.

Fifty years passed and Reb Nachman, who by now was one of the community leaders in Detroit, was gravely ill. He had lapsed into a state of semiconsciousness and the prognosis looked grim. After a few days, though, Reb Nachman woke up. At first he was unable to talk, but as soon as he was able to, he asked for paper and wrote a

note. He asked that the note be placed on the kever (grave)of Reb Shraga Feivel. It seemed like a strange request, but one that they hurried to fulfill.

His children and grandchildren asked Reb Nachman why he had written a note to Rav Shraga Feivel. He re-sponded with an incredible answer.

“As you know, I was very, very sick and nearly passed away. As I was preparing to leave this world, Rav Shraga Feivel came by. He walked over to me and kissed me on the forehead. And then he told me, ‘I told you I would make it up to you.’”

Reb Nachman then recounted the story from his youth; the children listened intently, realizing how important it is to keep one’s word.

We are placed in this world to emulate the middos of the Ribbono Shel Olam. One of those is the middah of emes. When we hear these stories, we must work on ourselves to be more truthful in all areas of our lives. We must be more honest in our business dealings and our relationships.

And as mentioned, we must work on being honest with our-selves. Only we know who we really are. Others may see us in one light — but we know the truth.

And so does HaKadosh Baruch Hu …

There was once a very difficult man who made him-self comfortable in the home of the Chortkover Rebbe. He was a wretched person, who behaved

reprehensibly, and whose mouth spewed forth inappropri-ate language.

The Rebbe was not home that often, and the rebbetzin took care of the people who passed through. There were many other unfortunate individuals who came to the Rebbe’s home, but they were thankful for the treatment they received. However, this man would act in a despicable manner toward the rebbetzin. He would demand food and then insult her cooking. She tried to ignore his insults and did her utmost to still treat him with respect, but the ob-noxious man made it quite challenging.

One day, things turned violent.The man threw a glass at the rebbetzin, cutting her on

her head. Others who heard what was going on helped her. For some reason, though, the man kept yelling at the reb-

betzin, asking why she had not served him his meal yet!The Rebbe ran in when he heard what happened. His

wife explained that this man’s behavior had always been horrific, but this day it had become violent. He asked her, “So what did you say to him?”

“Nothing,” she responded.“Even after he hurt you, you did not scream at him?”“No,” she said calmly, “I just tried to be dan him le’chaf

zechus. I tried to find some merit …”In utter disbelief, the Rebbe told his rebbetzin, “Oy …

ich bin dir mekaneh. Oy … ich bin dir mekaneh. [I am jealous of you … I am jealous of you.]”

The Days of Judgment are upon us.Why wait to be judged when we can help to control our fu-

ture?Let it go …And so will He …

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asEREs yEmEi tEshuva Wemusttakesmallstepstochangeourselvesintobetterpeople.

Most of the elderly people in the San Francisco Bay area are retired. They have either lived there for a long time or have moved there to live out the

rest of their lives in a pleasant and relaxed environment. The last thing they are looking for is a major transforma-tion in their lifestyle. But the silver-haired gentleman in his mid-70’s had done just that. He had just become a baal teshuvah.

His story began in 1938. It was two days before Yom Kip-pur, the day that the Thirteen Attributes of Hashem are read aloud in a distinct paragraph during Selichos and invoked in a special prayer. This solemn occasion is viewed as somewhat of a prelude to Yom Kippur.

On this significant day, it was customary for the Belzer Rebbe and his rebbetzin to prepare special candles for various members of their European community. The preparation of these candles was regarded as a sacred, hallowed custom, as the ceremony of lighting the candles symbolized that the ohr haganuz, the veiled radiance inside one’s neshamah, was simi-larly illuminated.

Only a few privileged individuals were allowed into the Rebbe’s private chamber when these candles were ignited. One of those was Meir the shochet. He had come to the Rebbe with Baruch, his 6-yearold son, to spend some time in close proximity of the Rebbe. And now, in the Rebbe’s inner sanc-tum, Baruch innocently began to ask for whom each candle was lit. Although the Rebbe answered patiently, those who were gathered around were shocked at the impudence of this youngster. But when one of the Rebbe’s attendants attempted to quiet the young boy, the Rebbe cautioned him to be patient.

“And whom is this candle meant for?” Baruch pointed to one specific candle.

This time, the Rebbe held onto the young boy’s finger as he smiled warmly at the inquisitive child. “There is a city in America that you have never heard of. It is called San Francis-co. This candle is predestined even for a Yid in a faraway place like San Francisco, who may be lost and looking to find him-self, searching to find his neshamah. This candle is for him.”

The vicious Nazi war machine destroyed all that Baruch held dear. He survived the war: a young man without a fam-ily, a body without a soul. He eventually made his way to the shores of America, where he met a young woman. And al-though she was not Jewish, it no longer mattered to him. He married her. And for 50 years, Judaism did not exist in his life.

One evening, Baruch, now a distinguished silver-haired

gentleman in his mid-70’s, was walking down the streets of San Francisco when he found himself standing in front of a synagogue. Something pushed him toward the building. He tried to fight the urge to go inside, but he felt strangely com-pelled to inch closer, until finally, cautiously, he walked into the building. He peeked inside and saw a sea of white.

He remembered … though the memories were dim with age. Then the sounds of men praying came rushing through his memory in a flash. His head began to ache and his eyes filled with tears. His soul was touched. It yearned and thirst-ed for what once was, and his heart began to pound wildly. He heard a cynical voice inside his head urging him to ignore the feelings and thoughts that threatened his dormant soul. But he couldn’t stop what was happening. He needed to come closer, to feel the locked-away emotions once again. And then he opened a book, a siddur, and he cried and cried and cried.

He did not know if he would ever be welcome again. He had, after all, long ago abandoned Judaism and married a non-Jew. He was as lost as a Jew had ever been. He was sure it was too late. Perhaps 20 or 30 years ago he could have started over, but not now. Not when he was past 70.

He was about to walk out, about to turn his back on all this forever. And then he saw lit candles in glass cups, and he re-membered the candle from so many years ago. There is a can-dle for me, too. I remember the Rebbe’s words. He was talk-ing about me! He picked up the siddur once again. The words called out to him from the distant past. It was late, the sun was setting, and it was time for the Ne’ilah service to begin.

It was time for those who had waited to do teshuvah. It was late … but there was still time …Hashem wanted him back …

There is one more lesson to be learned from the word ad. Ad can represent an adi (jewel). The Sfas Emes explains

that this teaches us that Shuvah Yisrael — If Israel will return, then: Ad (Adi) Hashem Elokecha — We will merit to be a jewel of the Almighty.

If a person thanks Hashem for all He has done for him, and re-quests from Hashem even his most minuscule needs, through that he merits that his whole being is a constant testimony to the existence of Hashem. In this way, he will become an ornament of Hashem.

It is true — teshuvah is not an easy thing. But we have a plan: We must take small steps to change ourselves into better people. And bear witness to the Al-mighty’s existence and greatness through our behavior. Knowing that He holds us so dear and precious makes the job that much easier. Shuvah Yisrael ad Hashem Elokecha.CI

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yom kippuR TheAlmightyhasgivenusthegreatestgiftonecanhave:thegiftofstartingover,thegiftofteshuvah.

Mrs. Gittel Taubchingel, a young mother in her early 30’s, had not felt well for quite a while. She went from one doctor to another, and went

through many tests. And eventually, the dreaded diagnosis came: she had cancer. This devastating piece of news shat-tered everyone in her family. Everyone, that is, except Gittel. She met the news with strength and a strong sense of perse-verance.

Gittel was immediately admitted to a hospital in Tel Aviv, near her home in Bnei Brak. She hoped and prayed that the hospital staff, with the Ribbono Shel Olam’s help, would be able to provide her with the necessary treatment so that she could survive this harrowing ordeal.

Weeks passed and Gittel’s frail body was wracked with pain, but her cheerful disposition was a source of strength to her nurses and doctors. An older woman, a fellow patient whom she had befriended, was particularly buoyed by Gittel’s demeanor. Although it took great effort, Gittel prepared a cup of coffee every morning for her new friend. It was not just the coffee that Esther, her new older friend, appreciated; it was the thought behind it. Esther marveled that Gittel continued to do this small task for her long after she told Gittel that it was unnecessary.

After a number of weeks, Gittel was told that the cancer had gone into remission and that she could go home. Hardly able to walk on her own, and a mere shadow of her former self, Gittel said goodbye to Esther. Esther was overjoyed about Git-

tel’s good news, but was saddened that the pleasant mornings with those special cups of coffee were coming to an end.

Tragically, though, Gittel’s remission would not last long.A few short weeks later, Gittel turned very ill and was

rushed to the doctor. After he took some tests, their fears were confirmed. The cancer was back with a vengeance. Git-tel’s husband tried to hold in his emotions, but broke down at hearing the news. Gittel, though, displayed unusual self-control. She listened as the doctor told them that not much could be done. They were to return to Sheba Hospital, where Gittel would undergo some more treatment, but the prognosis looked grim. Gittel and her husband thanked the doctor as they stood up to leave. However, as they headed out the door, Gittel’s husband noticed what appeared to be a smile on his wife’s face. He asked her why she was smiling.

“I am just thinking of the look on Esther’s face when I bring her a cup of coffee tomorrow morning. She is going to be so happy …”

This magnificent response is the ultimate in hisbatlus. You see, hisbatlus does not only mean to nullify oneself before the Al-mighty. Rather, hisbatlus means that we nullify ourselves before our fellow man, as well. And Gittel Taubchingel had reached one of highest levels of hisbatlus ever known to man.

It was not Yom Kippur.But she had immersed herself in the Embrace of the Almighty.

Hisbatlus is a recurring theme throughout Yom Kippur.

A number of years ago, I was privileged to spend part of my summer with a very special group of young men. It was a camp that was established

for autistic children. There are over 700 forms of autism; I could see quite quickly that each of these children had his own unique issues. Some had problems speaking and communicat-ing; others had social issues. But one boy in particular taught the entire camp a lesson in our approach to eating.

This one boy, Eli, had something called Strikers Syndrome. With this affliction, the child did not just eat food: he attacked it. He would scrounge on the floor and devour any crumb of food he saw. If a boy was eating a cupcake in front of him, he would rip it out of his hands and shove the entire cupcake into his mouth. It was heartbreaking.

This handsome child was unable to control his urges. He could not sit down and enjoy a meal one bite at a time. He

needed all of the food in his mouth, immediately.At the end of the summer, it was time to say goodbye to

these children. At the lovely banquet that was held in their honor, we spoke about all the lessons we had learned from these heilige neshamos (holy souls). We thanked each of them for all they had taught us. When it was Eli’s turn, we thanked him for showing us how much we must appreciate the gift of eating a normal meal, and how fortunate we are to be able to eat one bite of food at a time. And that we can feel satisfied:

“Ve’achalta ve’savata.” Indeed, there is a blessing to be found in feeling full and satiated. It was difficult to express how much rachmanus (pity) we had for him, and how truly blessed we felt.

Sometimes, it takes a moment of reflection to appreciate the gifts we always take for granted.

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hoshanah Rabbah Atlast,itisHoshanaRabbah,thefinaldaythatwecanreceiveforgiveness.

At last, it is Hoshana Rabbah, the final day that we can receive forgiveness. The Al-mighty is ready to count to 10. He has waited and waited and waited.

After stalling time and time again, we are at the end of the line.

This is Hoshana Rabbah — our last chance.But it is also the chance we have for a hoshana rabbah — a

great salvation.There have been many who have made the most of that

last moment.“Yeish koneh olamo be’sha’ah achas — There are those who

acquire their portion in the World to Come in a moment” Sha’ah means a moment, but it also has the same root as

the word sha’ah, wanted, as in “Ve’el Kayin ve’el minchaso lo sha’ah — But to Kayin and to his offering He did not turn” (Bereishis 4:5).

According to Targum, this means that Hashem did not want the korban (sacrifice) of Kayin.

The Sfas Emes notes that this is the secret of Hoshana Rabbah. At the root of hosha na is sha’ah. All we have to do is want. If we really want to change, then even at this final mo-ment we can change. Through that change, we can acquire a share in the World to Come.

We will cry out “Hoshana” 44 times throughout the tefillah (prayer) of Hoshanos on Hoshana Rabbah. We hope that those 44 cries will enable us to achieve the verdict of “Life!”

Rav Tzvi Meir Silverberg finds an allusion to this in the words “Be’damayich chayi — In your blood, live!”

The word dam (blood) has the numerical value of 44. The 44 cries of Hoshana Rabbah will help to give us life. With each cry, we will search deeper and deeper within. We will find the sha’ah, the will, that we need to change and ask our Father for forgiveness.

We must not worry. We should feel happy and confident. Because there is another name for Hoshana Rabbah — Yom HaAravah.

It is the day when we take the aravah, the willow branch that has neither taste nor smell — alluding to our lack of mitzvos and Torah learning — and we hold it in our hands and walk around the bimah. We march proudly. It is all that we have.

The Maggid of Chernobyl once commented that there is a minhag on Hoshana Rabbah to remove the taba’os (rings) from the lulav and walk around the bimah. The Jewish nation can be compared to a young maiden, with no taba’as (ring)

yet. And nebach, we have nothing: no dress for the wedding, no money for our dowry, no food, no caterer. We are poor and desperate.

And so, we turn to Hashem and say, “Ribbono Shel Olam, how can You possibly say no to someone as desperate as we are?”

The shape of the aravah is reminiscent of lips. This, says Rav Shimshon Pincus, symbolizes the Kiss we receive from the Almighty. No, we are not tzaddikim. We are merely baalei teshuvah, with a minimal amount of mitzvos and maasim tovim. But we also know that “Makom she’baalei teshuvah omdin tzad-dikim gemurim einam omdin — [In] the place where baalei teshu-vah stand, complete tzaddikim do not stand” (Berachos 34b).

We ask the Al-mighty for a Kiss, in the tefillah we re-cite when we hold onto the aravah branch: “U’senashkeinu mi’Neshikos Picha — And kiss us with the Kisses of Your Mouth.”

Although it is impossible for us to fully comprehend what this Kiss is, one thing is very clear: Hashem loves us.

During World War II, the Nazis stormed through Poland and murdered nearly three million Jews. One story in particu-lar encapsulates the bravery and beauty of the Jewish people.

As an elderly Jew stood with his tallis and tefillin and davened, he couldn’t help but hear the loud screams of Nazi soldiers ordering the helpless Jews to evacuate the Warsaw Ghetto. Suddenly, the door to his apartment burst open and the Nazi guards grabbed the frail old man. They ripped off his tallis and beat him with his tefillin.

Next, they grabbed him by the head and ripped out his beard!

This heilige Yid lay in a pool of blood as they kicked him with their metal-tipped boots and trampled on his broken body. Then they laughed and left him for dead.

Somehow, he managed to scrape together some of the hairsthat were scattered over the floor. He gathered them and

lifted them up. And in one of the most touching prayers ever recited, he began to cry, “Hosha na, merutas lechi, hosha na! — Please save, plucked of cheek, please save!”

We are battered, beaten, and weak.And we are running out of time.But, Ribbono Shel Olam, we are Yours.And we love You.And we want to come home.As the moments tick away and the door is closing …Please take us back … Please …CI

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The Rosh Hashana service revolves around three central themes, one of which is “remembrance.” What is the meaning of this idea?

The following talk was delivered by Rabbi Dessler in the Poneve-zh Yeshiva in Israel, in the days preceding Rosh Hashana 1953.

We mistakenly think that when we forget an idea, the idea no longer exists. Actually its impression still exists in our brain, but it is no longer close to

consciousness. When we concentrate on recalling a forgotten idea, it may return to consciousness.

Subconscious forces are at work in bringing an idea some-times to the foreground, sometimes to the background of our mind. Knowing nothing of these mechanisms, we just call the process “forgetfulness.”

Sometimes an idea is sent off to the background of our

mind because it holds no importance for us. Our character traits may have led us to attribute little importance to the idea and thus relegate it to the background. A fact may be pres-ent to our conscious mind, though we are no longer aware of the steps which led up to its being there. We know immedi-ately that “two times two equals four,” and do not need to go through the steps by which we teach children this elementary fact: “Here are two apples; now if we add two more apples, how many are there,” and so on.

Similarly, when we read a book, we do not need to identify first the consonants, the vowels etc. The word, or sometimes even the sentence, registers in our brain as a whole. This is be-cause the habit of reading has so engrained itself on our mind that we do not consciously have to go through the particular steps in the process.

FOrGeTFULNessIn the course of time we forget our troubles. “Time heals

all.” This is because in his heart of hearts a person knows that his material problems are not all that important. They may have loomed very large at the time, but once the heat of the moment is over, one is prepared to be comforted.

The death of a loved one is different: Love is a spiritual matter and one would think that no consolation would help. This is why our Sages tell us that it is only by divine decree that the dead one is forgotten by the heart.

One of the subconscious activities of the Yetzer Hara (the self-destructive force that draws us away from God) is to hide from us the gravity of our sins and so prevent us from re-gretting them, and so possibly coming to repentance. People tend to forget their sins, but God will remind us of them soon enough. Even the smallest of sins are still there within us. We direct our attention away from them and this is what we know as “forgetting.” Happy is the one who is aware of the gravity of his sins and the extent of his liabilities so that forgetfulness has no power over him.

mICrOsCOpIC sCrUTINYAn idea may be composed of many tiny parts, each of

which is indiscernible on its own, just as in physical percep-tion we see a hand, but in reality we are faced with innumer-

No Forgetting Before G-d | rabbIs eLIYahU DessLer aND arYeh CarmeLL

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able microscopic cells. A person’s motivation in doing a certain mitzvah may be almost perfect, but there may be a tiny ad-mixture of an unworthy motive. This may be almost indis-cernible, but it still forms part of the motivation of the act, and will one day be revealed by God, and for this too every person will be held to account.

Why? Because we could have discerned it. Had he only learned character development properly and set himself to acquire the “sense of-truth,” had he worked hard to improve his character, he would have succeeded in creating in himself the “microscope” which would have enabled him to discern anything unworthy or corrupt, even to the tiniest degree. A person can sanctify God’s name not only in his actions but also in every portion of his actions, even those not normally accessible to observation.

[On Rosh Hashana], when we say “There is no forgetful-ness before Your heavenly throne,” we mean that God’s judg-ment will bring into account even those infinitesimal por-tions of our motives in which we are expected to sanctify God’s name.

“...And nothing is hidden from Your eyes:” these are the eyes of God which “survey the whole earth.” As the Zohar says, these are the “witnesses” which testify to human deeds. God’s eyes testify to the smallest and least obvious.

“Human beings see by the eyes,” and for human scrutiny

it is difficult to discern that small admixture of evil. But “God sees by the heart,” and to this scrutiny even the smallest point is visible.

spIrITUaL VIsIONSince our spiritual vision has such difficulty in perceiving

the ultra-small, God gave us the Torah, which can aid us to discern what would otherwise be beyond our reach. Torah is the absolute truth and its judgments penetrate to the ultimate verity.

[On Rosh Hashana we say]: “Who recalls good remem-brances for those who bring Him to mind.” That is, God is pre-pared to remember for a person even an infinitesimal amount of good that he may have done. But only for “those who bring Him to mind.” That is, who try to remember Him, and who try to recognize the smallest points within their own soul and to bring them out into the light - which is what we mean by “remembering.”

One who does this to the best of his ability, and brings even the smallest point before God, attempting to rectify it as part of his service of God, is in effect “remembering” God - and in return God will “remember” him.

Excerpted from “STRIVE FOR TRUTH!” by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler and Rabbi Aryeh Carmell. Published by Feldheim Publishers.

Regarding Canvas Sukkahs|rabbI GershON bess

dVAR hAlAchAh

The Gemara states that a wall that cannot withstand a “ruach metzuya” [a normal wind] is not considered a ko-sher mechitzah. Therefore, writes the Shulchan Aruch,

one cannot use a wall made of fabric for a Sukkah, since the fabric will move with the wind. One should not use fabric for Sukkah walls even if one were to tie down the material such that it would not move in the wind, out of concern that it become untied and become an invalid Sukkah. [Rav Moshe Feinstein states that fabric should not be used even if one would tie it “very tightly”, since the Acharonim do not make a distinction between tied tightly and not tied tightly, and one should therefore follow the Shulchan Aruch and not use such a Sukkah.]

However, the question that must be addressed is “What is meant by “moving” in a ruach metzuya?” The Chazon Ish

understands that a wall is only invalid if the wind would lift the wall 3 tefachim [approximately 9 inches] off the ground. The Shulchan Aruch is referring to a case where the mate-rial would be lifted off the ground if the material became un-tied. If, even if it became untied, it would still not lift off the ground, a cloth Sukkah can be used.

The Mishkenos Yaakov, however, holds that even if the material does not lift up, but just moves or flaps in the wind, it is still not a valid wall. According to the Mishkenos Yaakov, if the wall moves even after being tied, the Sukkah is com-pletely invalid. The Shulchan Aruch then advises us not to use a Sukkah even if tied extremely taut, since if it might become untied and flap in the wind and become invalid. According to the Mishkenos Yaakov, such a wall is not valid as a mechitzah for Hilchos Shabbos as well.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt”l is of the opinion that for a Mechitzah for Shabbos, even if it flaps it is still considered a valid Mechitzah as long as it does not lift off the ground three tefachim [like the opinion of the Chazon Ish]. However, the walls of a Sukkah cannot flap in the wind even if they do not lift off the ground [like the opinion of the Mishkenos Yaakov].

Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l also is of the opinion that if the wall flaps it is invalid for a Sukkah. He discusses how much it is permitted to move and still be considered a “solid” wall. While he initially holds that the wall cannot move at all, he does consider the possibility that it may be able to move up to 9 inches. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt”l opines that it may move up to nine inches.

Therefore, according to Rav Feinstein zt”l, if the material wall flaps from side to side nine inches, even when it is tied down, the Sukkah is invalid. If the material does not move nine inches even before it is tied down, and tying it makes it taut, the Sukkah can be used lechatchilah [since even if it would untie it is still valid]. If, however, the wall moves nine inches before it is tied down, despite the fact that tying it makes it taut, it should not be used, according to the advice of the Shul-chan Aruch.

When questioned about the prevalence of material Succos in the market, Rav Feinstein zt”l writes that it is clear this did not occur based on consultation or approval of Rabbonim.

The Shulchan Aruch recommends that if one wishes to use

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material for the walls of a Sukkah, he should place poles in the place of the walls, with a distance not greater than nine inches between the poles, around the Succah. In this way, the Succah will be halachically valid even without the material, min haTorah, because of the principal of Lavud, [and, therefore, we are not Gozer that it may become untied].

Practically speaking, one can tie a set of parallel, horizon-tal strings around the Sukkah, at Lavud intervals to create a Halachic Mechitzah, as long as they are taut and do not move in the wind. This can be done by tying the first string eight inches above the ground. The next four strings should be tied at eight inch intervals with the final string at the forty inch height level. If necessary, one may tie four strings with a nine inch space with the top string at the thirty six inch level.

Rabbi Gershon Bess is Rav of Congregation Kehillas Yaakov and serves as the Halachic authority for the Los Angeles Kollel and Yeshiva communities. He gives a slate of highly regarded lectures on Talmud and Halacha and is the Rosh HaVaad of Vaad L’Maan Yahadus which has published Halachic bulletins for many years. He is a graduate of the yeshivos of Philadelphia, Ponovez, Lakewood and the Kollel of Los Angeles and serves on the Bais Din of the Rab-binical Council of California.

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29

Mrs. Tolman gave the pretty tablecloth a small pat. The table

was set so nicely – just sweets and something to drink. Simon was coming in an hour or so, at six o’clock, bringing his wife, he said. Simon had been living in Califor-nia for five years now. He was “in computers,” he told his mother, and “doing all right.” He talked to her at least once a week and made it a point to come home for the High Holy Days every year. He was a good son. They had a good rela-tionship, caring but not effusive. Most of all, Mrs. Tolman was grateful that Simon had kept the Jewish faith. It was her solace and her pride.

Mrs. Tolman sat down in her favorite rocking chair. She was enjoying the anticipation as she rocked gently. She had waited for Simon to get married for a long time now. His fa-ther had passed away when he was fifteen, and he had become restless and difficult, finishing high school almost under du-ress.

Simon loved his mother, but he wanted out. Out of the house, out of school, out of the city. He tried an out-of-town college for a year and deliberately flunked out. He wandered from one job to another until suddenly he told his mother that a friend had offered to teach him computers if he would go to California with him. What did he have to lose?

When Simon left, Mrs. Tolman went through a period of rejection, guilt, and anger. She didn’t go for therapy – she still thought psychology as something a little creepy. As an aide in a day-care center, she lived a simple, religious life, had friends much like herself, and wanted to see Simon married. A grand-child would be so nice.

The bell tinkled. She hurried to the door. There was Si-mon, and with him a pretty black woman.

“Come in. Come in. Excuse me, but where is your wife?” “Carla is my wife, Mother,” he said as they entered. For a full ten seconds, Mrs. Tolman could not speak. She

just stared at them. Words would not come. This was his wife?

Simon bent and kissed her cheek. “Let’s sit down,” he said, gently

and firmly. Mrs. Tolman let him guide her to a chair, without taking her eyes off the woman. Somehow she couldn’t grasp the situation.

Simon took over as they sat around the table. “Mother, I know this is quite a surprise, maybe even a shock. But I knew I could never explain anything on the phone, or by letter. I wanted you to meet Carla first...”

Mrs. Tolman and Carla stared at each other. Carla offered a small smile, but Mrs. Tolman seemed

somehow unable to react. Simon thought, a little belatedly, that perhaps he should have prepared his mother a little bet-ter.

“Carla and I met at the company where I work. She is a fine computer analyst. She comes from Raleigh, Mother, and she became Jewish four years ago... We worked in the same department, and I got to know her. When I saw that she didn’t eat with the other workers and heard that she didn’t come in on Shabbos, I realized she was different and we became friends. Many times she worked overtime to make up hours. She was so gentle and kind and so very intelligent that we be-came more than friends...”

“Could you tell me a little about yourself?” Mrs. Tolman asked hesitantly.

It was a strange and curious story. Carla was born and bred in poverty in a small town in the South. She was a quiet child, not given much to roughhouse playing. Her father was a truck driver, and her mother “did houses.” There was nev-er any money for books, and Carla’s greatest joy was Sunday school because there Miz Rosa gave out books about the Bible with beautiful pictures and stories. Although she didn’t really understand it at all, the Bible stories of the Old Testament worked a curious magic on her mind. She believed them, and she daydreamed about them.

As she got older and began reading fluently, she would go to the library and find books to satisfy her mind. Not being a

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sociable child, she became even more introspective as she got older. She went to church regularly, together with her mother and sisters, her brothers having dropped out as early as pos-sible. And while she listened attentively and sang in the choir, she felt a sense of not belonging.

In the town, there was a small grocery store run by a Jew-ish man named Moshe, who seemed very old to Carla. On the High Holy Days, the grocery store was closed. Carla liked to come to the store to do a little shopping and talk to Moshe, es-pecially as she grew older. He always had time and stories for her. One day, she asked him, “How do you like being a Jew?”

Moshe was not surprised. Carla was not one of your run-of-the-mill kids; she was a thought-ful girl, interested in the world. “It don’t make much difference what I like, Carla. I was born a Jew and I’ll die a Jew. That’s what the good Lord wants from me, I guess.” He stopped a moment. “Not everybody

likes Jews, you know, but this town’s been pretty nice to me. I got no complaints.” Looking at her earnest face, he added hon-estly, “I’m not very learned or smart, never went to yeshivah.”

“What’s a yeshivah?” “It’s where boys go to study Talmud and become rabbis and

teachers. Some boys go just to get educated in Jewish stuff.” “Why didn’t you go?” Carla prodded. “I went to work.” He seemed to want to close her out. One day, when she was already in high school, Carla came

in with a new question. “Moshe, could I become a Jewish per-son? I read a lot about Jews and conversion and that sort of thing. I think I would like to be Jewish.”

Moshe was surprised this time, and he was a little afraid for her. She really didn’t understand what it meant to be a Jew in the outside world. He said, “This town’s been good to me, Carla. But not every town and not all people care too much about Jews. Being born a Jew is the first strike against you. Today it’s much better, but there was a time when a Jew couldn’t get into the best schools or get the best jobs. Besides, a Jew has to live by a lot of rules and regulations that you don’t even know about.”

“I could learn,” she said. “What would your folks say?” Moshe could envision the

tragedy she was heading into. “They maybe wouldn’t even want you around if you tried to convert. They’re good Chris-tians. Stay the way you are.”

Carla smiled a small smile. She picked up the bag of grocer-ies she had come for and put some coins on the counter. “Pray for me, Moshe. I’m not coming back.”

The town buzzed when Carla left. It buzzed even louder,

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several years later, when it heard she had converted to Juda-ism. Even the deacon fretted about it in his sermon on Sunday.

Carla was proud to be a Jew, but she could not hide her color. One Shabbos she went to a synagogue for services. The men at the door asked her if she was the new cleaning lady.

The rabbi with whom she studied got her a job and rec-ommended a business school where she could learn computer programming. As it happened, she was a natural in this field.

With all its declarations of equality, the South is not too kindly disposed toward black people. Carla found it hard to get a job, even an entry one. Weeping one day to her mentor, she asked, “Where do I go from here?”

The rabbi, a kindly and understanding man, said, “I have a friend in Los Angeles. People out there are not thrown by skin color. I’ll speak to him. Would you be ready to try your luck there?”

“Tell me where to go. I’ll leave tomorrow. I’m ready to try anything now.”

The rabbi was right. The lady who interviewed her on her first try at a new job was not particularly interested in color or gender. She wanted someone efficient and smart who could manage the company’s computer programs. Carla got the job. Simon worked in another depart-ment. God moves His people on His giant chessboard, in His own mysterious ways.

Now Simon and Carla sat at Simon’s mother’s table, ill at ease, trying to make conversation. Mrs. Tolman had listened to Carla’s story without comment. Now she asked tentatively, “Would you like tea?”

“Don’t bother, Mother,” Simon answered. “Let me show you some pictures of our apartment in LA.”

Carla opened her bag and took out an envelope, but the picture showing wasn’t very successful. The conversation lagged, and the three uneasy people tried to make something better of the unsatisfactory party. It didn’t work too well.

When Simon and Carla were leaving, Simon began to put his arms around his mother. Almost instinctively, she drew back. She caught herself, but the gesture had made a state-ment. There was no kissing or hugging in the goodbyes. Out-side, Carla wept.

Back home, in their Los Angeles apartment, they confront-ed each other in ultimate sadness. “Do you think your mother will ever accept me?” Carla asked.

“Isn’t it enough that I accept you?” Simon asked angrily. And so anger crept into their otherwise happy relation-

ship. And fear crept into Carla’s heart. Where were they going? What was going to happen?

Carla had made friends with a friendly woman, Dina, who sat next to her in shul on Shabbos. The Shabbos after Carla’s visit to New York and her mother-in-law, Dina asked, “How was your trip?”

Carla looked her full in the face... “Dreadful.” “Was she pleasant to you?” Dina asked. “She tried to be, but I think she was just too shocked. I told

Simon he should tell his mother about me before we came, but he said it was better his way. It wasn’t. It was awful.”

Dina took her hand. “Carla, when Simon goes to the rabbi’s class this afternoon, come visit me. We’ll talk.”

Shabbos afternoon. The most relaxed hours of the week. Dina and Carla were companionably engrossed with Dina’s baby, the third in Dina’s home. Dina brought up Carla’s situa-tion abruptly.

“I thought of something, Carla. It might not work, but then again, it just might. No harm in trying.”

“What is it?” “Simple. Every Friday, around nine or ten in the morning,

about noon in New York, call up your mother-in-law and sim-ply wish her good Shabbos. Just a pleasant, non-threatening call. You can add regards from Simon. That’s all.”

Carla looked at her friend gratefully. “Sounds simple, not very brilliant, but I will cer-tainly try. Nothing to lose.”

The first Friday Carla made the call, Mrs. Tolman recog-nized her voice and hung up the receiver, quietly but definite-ly. On the next two Fridays, it was the same. On the fourth Friday, Mrs. Tolman asked, “Why are you calling me?”

Carla caught her breath at Mrs. Tolman’s voice, but she an-swered pleasantly, “Just called to say good Shabbos and have a very nice day.”

There was a five-second silence. Then Mrs. Tolman said, “Thank you,” and hung up.

Friday by Friday, for four long months, Carla called and Mrs. Tolman answered briefly and hung up. It was well into the fifth month when Carla called as usual and received no an-swer. She tried again, letting the phone ring for a while, and a third time half an hour later. No answer. She would ask Simon if his mother had been in touch with him at the office or if perhaps she had gone away for Shabbos. But she didn’t usually.

By two o’clock, she knew it was almost Shabbos in New York, and Carla tried once more. She dialed without much en-thusiasm. Then the doorbell rang. Putting the phone down, she hurried to the door.

Mrs. Tolman said simply, “Good Shabbos, my child.” Carla flew into her arms. Excerpted from The Eternal Thread with permission of Targum Press.

CARLAWASPROuDTOBEAJEW,BuT

SHECOuLDnOTHIDEHERCOLOR.

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There are many profound and important lessons of the High Holiday period. For me, one of the most inspir-ing – and challenging – can be gleaned from the Yom

Kippur Torah reading. The Torah tells us, “Do not perform the practice of the land of Egypt in which you dwelled; and do not perform the practice of the land of Canaan to which I bring you, and do not follow their traditions. (Vayikra 18:3)” At first glance this doesn’t seem to have much to do with Yom Kippur, but upon further reflection it has everything to do with this awesome day!

The Kli Yakar is of the opinion that Yosef must have cho-sen places for the Jews to dwell that were not too immoral, so that we would not learn from their bad ways. The Torah is thus telling us that we should not even follow these places de-spite the fact that they are only mildly immoral. Rashi, how-ever, argues that the people of Egypt and Canaan were the “mekulkalim mikol haumos - the most degenerate of all nations.” By placing us there, Hashem was teaching us how extremely dangerous it can be to follow outside influences and how hard we must work to maintain Torah standards. The Torah con-cludes this verse by warning us not to “follow their traditions.” The Ibn Ezra asks why we are first warned not to follow their maasim and then it switches to chukoseihem? He argues that the Torah is warning us not to allow their ways to become our norms, which is what will happen if we are not vigilant.

We can learn from this analysis that there is a difference between being “average” and being “normal.” Although we usually conflate the two, this can be deceptive. Torah norms are our ideal, whereas average is simply a mathematical equa-

tion of what is generally accepted. Average is only normal in an ideal world, but in reality we must strive to rise above the “average” of our society and achieve the exalted “norms” of the Torah. The practice of the Egyptians or the Canaanites, was the “average” of the societies which we had departed from or to which we were approaching, but the “normal,” that which we were taught at Sinai, must continue unaffected and undi-minished for all time. For a Torah observant Jew average isn’t good enough, we can be satisfied with nothing less than what the Torah prescribes as normal.

It is now clear why this, the Parshas Arayos, is read on Yom Kippur. On the most exalted day of the year we read the To-rah’s moral code, and we pause to take stock and realize that we must apologize for being average, and strive to be normal!

Strive for a Normal High Holiday Season!rabbI JasON WeINer, Jewish Chaplain, Cedars-sinai medical Center

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I was inspired to write this article by two recent events. First, from a long conversation I had with my dear friend Matys Weiser, and viewing his album of gorgeous photo-

graphs. Second, from this summer’s trip with my wife Pesi in which we toured a large part of Colorado. America has a lot to offer travelers and it is a shame we don’t take advantage of the wealth of interesting sights we have right at home.

I will be focusing this article on the Great National Parks whose indescribable beauty is impossible to convey. Although there are National Parks throughout the United States the ma-jor ones and the most unusual ones are in the Western States. My first experience was in Acadia National Park in Maine fol-lowed soon afterwards with an expedition to the Grand Can-yon National Park in Arizona and to the Zion National Park in Utah. Our appetite was whetted, and this summer’s trip to Colorado allowed us to enjoy and behold the grandeur of the Rocky Mountain NP, Colorado National Monument, Mesa Verde NP, Great Sand Dunes NP and the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park.

The Great National Parks present a plethora of spectacu-lar natural views such as majestic mountains, deep canyons, expansive plateaus, dense forests, extraordinary rock forma-tions, winding rivers, caves and much more. Activities range from hiking, horse or mule riding, white river rafting, swim-

TheWanderingJewHErsHEL LiEBEr

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ming, picnicking and for those who like photography a feast for your eyes and cameras.

Let me get back to my friend Matys who lives in Monsey, New York and has a passion for traveling and an infatuation with the National Parks. Matys and his wife Esther have travelled with their three children to the Western National Parks over seven times in eight years. They would travel by car across America and would enjoy the rugged adventures and thrills that the parks offer. Over the years, by word of mouth, Matys built up a following - enthusiasts that would join him in these escapades.

After making his living as a contractor for over ten years he left his field and pursued his true passion as a guide and lecturer about the Great Parks. He organizes tours to the Parks and accompanies them in visiting what he calls the Cre-ator’s fingerprints.

He has created a beautiful website at www.creatorsfinger-prints.com which describes the fascinating sights along with stunning photographs which entice the viewer to visit in per-son.

I can write about the individual Parks and point out their

Grand StaircaSe - eScalante national MonUMent, Utah

northern caScadeS national Park, WaShinGton State


major attractions but I truly would never get finished. I choose rather to present a sampling of his photographs; each picture is more than a thousand words. Matys does his tours through-out the year and each season presents its own sense of natu-ral beauty and excitement. Yet, the most comfortable times, weather wise, to travel, are still during autumn and spring. Matys provides transportation and kosher meals and above all he is so likable and knowledgeable that a trip with him is a genuine pleasure by itself.

Bon Voyage - vcuy vghxb, Hershel

Do you have a group of friends or belong to an organization that dreams of traveling to foreign destinations together? Hershel has organized and personally guided groups of friends, school classes, and organization members (Gateways & Aish Hatorah) over the past few years on unusual and inspiring journeys. He can do the same for your group personalized to your interests. Contact Hershel Lieber ‘The Wandering Jew’ at 718-256-8156 [email protected]

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AdVIcE FRom oVER-ThE-counTER

Think Out of the Box | maNNY saLTIeL, pharm.D., Fashp, FCCp

YaaKOV’s ChOLesTerOLHow Yaakov dreaded going to the doctor’s office for his an-

nual physical. It wasn’t that his doctor was an achzar (cruel person). To the contrary, Dr. Forrester was a malach min ha-shamayim (angel from heaven. Kind, caring, always smiling. It’s just that…well…why is it that the doctor always found something negative to say about Yaakov. “You know, Yaakov, you really should exercise regularly,” or “You can go ahead and have meat on your Sabbath, but lay off the red meat the rest of the week,” or “Tell me again, how much salt do you add to your wife’s food?” Why couldn’t Dr. Forrester, just once, say “Yaa-kov, you’re perfect; I can’t find anything negative to say. Just keep doing whatever it is you’re doing!” No, thought Yaakov, I don’t think it’s going to be like that this year. Or next year.

“…and since you can’t seem to be able to control your cho-lesterol values with diet and exercise, I’m going to write you a prescription for some medicine. It’s very safe; it’s been studied in hundreds of thousands of patients with high cholesterol, and it’s been around for almost 20 years. You’ll just need to take one every day, and please make an appointment to see my nurse in six weeks, so we can take some blood and see how well the medicine is working.”

Yaakov gave the prescription to the pharmacist on the first floor of the doctors’ office building, and waited. And waited. And waited some more. How long does it take to remove some pills from one bottle and put them in another bottle? After what seemed like ten hours (okay, 15 minutes), the pharma-cist presented Yaakov with his new medicine. “Sorry it took a while, but your insurance doesn’t cover the cholesterol medi-cine that Dr. Forrester wrote for you. So I called him up and asked if he wouldn’t mind switching to a generic medicine in the same class. It’s a different medicine, so I needed his ap-proval. Anyways, the doctor said ‘sure,’ so here you go.”

On the way home, Yaakov heard a commercial on the ra-dio. It was a commercial by the manufacturer of Lipitor, a medicine used for high cholesterol. Normally, Yaakov would have ignored the commercial entirely, but given his busy morning with the doctor and the pharmacist, he thought this was hashgacha pratis, and so he listened very carefully. The announcer said there is no generic equivalent for Lipitor (just like there was no generic for the medicine his doctor ordered). “…and why would you switch to another medicine?” asked the commercial announcer. Good question, thought Yaakov. May-

be this is the wrong medicine for me.An hour later, Yaakov was on the phone with Baruch, his

friend and confidante. Baruch seemed to know everything about everything, so Yaakov told him about his discussions with the doctor and pharmacist, and about the commercial. “It was mamash hashgacha pratis,” he added, in case Baruch didn’t chop. “Taka,” agreed Baruch, and added: “You know what I think? I think you should take Lipitor. I read an article that it’s the most prescribed cholesterol medicine in the world, and that it works better than any other. Yes, you should defi-nitely take it. Your insurance company doesn’t want to pay for it, ‘cause it’s more expensive. You should get the best.” Yaakov was convinced, but where to get Lipitor?

Two days later, Yaakov and his wife were at a chasuna, and Yaakov found his friend, Simcha at the smorgasbord. “Here’s my chance,” he thought. “Hey Simcha; how you doin’?” Simcha quickly finished a frank-in-a-blanket and responded, “Baruch Hashem, Yaakov; it’s good to see you. Simchos!” Yaakov made his move. “I’d love to have one of those yummy little things, but I just got started on medicine for my cholesterol.” Simcha was intrigued. “Which one?” he asked. “Well, I was supposed to get some brand named medicine; I don’t know that name. You know doctors’ writing! Anyway, my insurance didn’t cover it, so I got a generic medicine. Simva-something, I think.” Yaa-kov had known Simcha for 20 years, and in addition to being a brilliant salesman, Simcha was arguably the most curious per-son he knew. Simcha would keep asking questions, no doubt. “Hey, you know, I’ve got some Lipitor in the house. My wife used to take it, but she decided to stop. She’s on some homeo-pathic stuff now. Plus, she’s into yoga. Why don’t I bring it to you in shul tomorrow?” Yaakov thanked Simcha and walked away, making sure that his friend couldn’t see him congratu-lating himself for his cleverness.

hOW CLeVer Was YaaKOV?Not very. Prescriptions should not be shared. There are

often sound reasons for giving one medication to one patient and another medication to another patient. In this case, we don’t know which cholesterol medication and what dose Yaa-kov was prescribed by his physician. It may have been Lipitor, or it may have been another medicine. There may be a reason that Dr. Forrester felt that Lipitor is not best suited for Yaakov. Secondly, simvastatin (which is also known as Zocor) is a fine

More Common Pharmacy Dilemmas

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medication, with tens of thousands of patients studied. Dr. Forrester agreed to the switch, and that’s what Yaakov should be taking. Just because the patent runs out on a brand-named product (generally, 17 years after its manufacturer first files for licensure, plus additional years granted for label exten-sion), does not mean that the chemical stops working. Most medications are not particularly difficult to manufacture once its chemical structure is known, and therefore generic drugs are just as good as their brand-named equivalents.

raIzI’s ear INFeCTIONShprintza’s 13-month old girl woke up screaming at 5am.

This time it was different. The sound shook the walls of the house. Poor little Raizi wouldn’t stop screaming, as tears flowed down her cheeks. Aha! There it was – Raizi pulled on her left ear, and Shprintza – having read every childcare book in the library – knew that this must be Raizi’s first ear infec-tion. Sure enough, Shprintza insisted that her husband take them to the Emergency Room. Maybe the ER doc would be moved and prescribe some antibiotics.

The wait at the local ER seemed interminable, the torture exacerbated by Raizi’s continued screams. Finally, the doctor was ready to see them. He seemed kind enough, and when he looked through his otoscope into the child’s ear, he ascer-tained that Shprintza was correct. “Otitis media,” he replied and launched into a lengthy dissertation about the pathophys-iology, epidemiology, and microbiology of this common child-hood infection. Why is it that doctors have to talk so much, thought Shprintza. Just give me the prescription and let’s get on with the cure.

“Here’s a prescription for some liquid ibuprofen for the pain; that should help her out, and even get you some needed sleep,” said the doctor. Shprintza couldn’t believe it! She was too stunned to even argue, and besides, the doctor quickly left the bedside after dropping the prescription onto her lap. He was gone. And she was left alone wondering if perhaps she should have gone to the other hospital in town.

Later that day, after a three–hour nap, Shprintza was awakened by her daughter’s screams. She grabbed the ibu-profen and stared at the label – every six hours as needed for pain. Looking at her watch and making a quick calculation, she realized that she had to wait another two hours. Just then, the phone rang. It was Shprintza’s best friend, Ariella. Perfect timing: Shprintza needed to vent, and Ariella always had a kind, listening ear (or two). “No antibiotics?” Ariella was also puzzled. “My pediatrician always gives us antibiotics for our children. You know, I think that doctor in the ER was just too tired and forgot about the antibiotics. Why don’t I come over and bring you some. I’m pretty sure I have some left over. It’s still in the fridge from just a month ago.”

Shprintza just held Raizi tightly and awaited what she was certain would be relief in the form of her friend and her anti-biotics.

are shprINTza aND arIeLLa COrreCT? The answer is NO! First – antibiotics, like all prescriptions,

should not be shared, as we discussed above. Second, the anti-biotic – if it’s in a suspension formulation (which is likely) – is almost assuredly expired. And in this case, “expired” means useless. Most antibiotics in suspension are very labile and will only be active for a couple of weeks. Third, the ER doctor is probably right, and Ariella’s children’s pediatrician is possi-bly practicing outdated medicine. Research shows that eight out of nine cases of otitis media resolve without the use of antibiotics. And since antibiotics can lead to the development of bacterial resistance (especially when used repeatedly), it is often best to avoid them when clinically reasonable to do so. Antibiotics can also cause side effects, like diarrhea or rash. Hmmmm, maybe the ER doctor wasn’t so tired after all.

Dr. Manny Saltiel received his doctorate in Pharmacy at the Univer-sity of California in San Francisco , following undergraduate work at UCLA. He completed a residency in Clinical Pharmacy Practice at the University of Illinois in Chicago . He worked at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for 25 years , serving in various ca-pacities, including Clinical Coordinator and Drug Information Spe-cialist. Dr. Saltiel also holds a faculty appointment with the Univer-sity of Southern California. He has received Honorary Fellowships with the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and the American Society of Health-system Pharmacy. Dr. Saltiel has published over 20 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, and has lectured before local and national audiences. He currently serves as a Regional Clinical Director for Comprehensive Pharmacy Services. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children.


39

Are Silver Fillings Safe?| JONaThaN D. pIVO, D.D.s.

dEnTAl hEAlTh

One of the most common questions patients ask me related to dentistry is: ‘Are Silver Fillings Safe?’ The concern centers on the fact that mercury is incorpo-

rated in the “silver” fillings, otherwise known as amalgam fill-ings. The debate over whether this common dental material is safe is not a new one and the emotions on both sides run high. However, due to various public policy advocate groups and public concern at large over the potential links between mer-cury and various medical conditions reported in the media, amalgam fillings have been increasingly targeted as a source of concern.

Mercury-based fillings offer the benefit of a long-lasting, yet inexpensive, filling material with well over one hundred years of use in the dental profession. Mercury is mixed with various metals prior to placement in the mouth. In its amal-gam form, the mercury remains in an inorganic state, although minute amounts of mercury vapor may leach out during initial placement and over time. Opponents cite the theory of long-term exposure to mercury vapor as a cause of concern. With the development of modern composite (“white”) fillings and the concern over the use of mercury-based fillings in recent decades, amalgam use among dentists has gradually declined and some have called for an outright ban.

Silver-mercury fillings were first used in France in the 1830’s. In the 1850’s, American dentists using amalgam were even threatened with malpractice by dentists not using amal-

gam in what became known as the “amalgam wars”. Public concern was again raised in 1926 by a German chemist and in the 1970’s by an American doctor over the potential toxic-ity of mercury in the material. While the anti-amalgamists’ claims certainly get much media attention, the scientific basis for their claims has consistently been questioned by many in the dental community. The official position of the American Dental Association remains that dental amalgam is safe and does not expose patients to greater risk of mercury toxicity.

Some in the medical and dental community still advo-cate the removal of all existing amalgam fillings. Even if one accepts the arguments of the amalgam opponents, consid-eration should be given to the fact that removal of existing amalgam fillings may expose a patient to more vapors than leaving the fillings undisturbed in the mouth. Many dentists choose not to place amalgam fillings, but not out of concern for mercury toxicity; rather, today’s white composite fillings have many more advantages than amalgam. Those concerned are encouraged to research both sides of the debate and dis-cuss the issue with those you trust with your health care.

Shana Tova!

Dr. Jonathan Pivo is a cosmetic and general dentist for adults and children in Culver City, CA. This article is meant for informa-tional purposes only and is not a substitute for regular dental care by a licensed dentist.

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Dining In Again: | WITh FaIGY GrOssmaN

Food

The High Holidays are upon us - where did the time go - it seems just yesterday we were making sum-mer plans. As we prepare ourselves spiritually to ask Hashem for forgiveness and to find us worthy of a healthy and fruitful year, we also start to think about the many things that need to get done so that our

families and guests will enjoy Yom Tov. Dining In Again, is filled with delectable recipes, many of which are geared for holiday meals. We have created

a wonderful menu for one seuda - deliciously festive and surprisingly easy to prepare. Try one or all of these recipes and pick up your own copy of Dining In Again for over 550 recipes that are sure to delight your family and friends.

Wishing all my readers a happy, healthy and sweet New Year.

ZESTY MUSTARD-HERB SALADThe tangy dressing for this salad is excel-lent with other salads too, but is especially helpful with “bland” veggies like cucumbers and hearts of palm, which soak up the fla-vor and become suddenly delicious!SALAD:1- 16 oz. pkg. Romaine lettuce1 large cucumber, diced½ red pepper, thinly sliced½ orange pepper, thinly sliced1- 15 oz. can hearts of palm, drained and sliced½ c. salad croutons, plain or garlic-flavored

DRESSING:4 tsp. mustard¼ c. pareve milk1 T. honey2 T. red wine vinegar1 tsp. dried basil1 tsp. parsley flakes1 tsp. garlic powder¼ c. olive oil¼ tsp. saltYIELD: 12 servings

Tear lettuce into bite-size pieces. Place in a large salad bowl and combine with remaining salad ingredients. In a sepa-

rate bowl, stir together all dressing in-gredients. Pour desired amount over salad and toss to coat evenly. Reserve remaining dressing for another use. If you make the salad more than half-an-hour before serving, hold back the crou-tons until just before you bring the salad to the table.

SPINACH MUSHROOM SOUP2 garlic cloves, crushed2 tsp. margarine or oil1 lb. frozen spinach4 c. chicken stock1 c. sliced, canned mushrooms, rinsed and drained¼ tsp. black pepperPinch of saltYIELD: 4-6 servings

Sauté garlic in margarine or oil in a large saucepan, over low heat, for 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach, stock, mush-rooms, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover pot, reduce heat to low, and sim-mer 8-10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Puree this soup with an immersion blender if you prefer a smoother texture for easier eating!

GLAZED CHICKEN CUTLETSThis recipe also works very well on a grill, and they taste and smell heavenly!6 T. apricot preserves4 T. red wine vinegar3 T. olive oilCI

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Yes, the creators of Dining In have done it again with their latest cookbook, Dining In Again!

With over 550 tantalizing new dishes, this marvelous book is simply bursting with fresh ideas.

AvAilAble At bookstores or Direct from: Yeshiva masoras Avos23 congress street, lakewood, NJ 08701732-942-7522 • [email protected]

New Twists on Popular Favorites!

PubliShed by JudAiCA PreSS, by The lAdieS AuxiliAry of yeShivA MASorAS AvoS

2 garlic cloves, minced4 chicken breasts1 tsp. salt¼ tsp. black pepperYIELD: 4 servings

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Pound chicken cutlets un-til thin, and sprinkle with salt and pep-per. Spread half of apricot mixture overeach chicken cutlet. Place in 9x13-inch baking pan, over, and bake for 15 min-utes at 400°. Turn cutlets over, spread with remaining apricot mixture. Cover and bake another 15 minutes. Uncover and bake 5 additional minutes.

CINNAMON-APPLE TZIMMESVery nice for Rosh Hashanah or any Shab-bos Seudah. Serve warm.3 T. margarine½ tsp. cinnamon2 c. carrots, thinly sliced2 large golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch-thick slices1 c. water2 T. sugar, or to taste1 T. cornstarch mixed into ¼ c. waterYIELD: 4 servings

Melt margarine in a wide, frying pan over medium-high heat. Add cinna-mon, carrots, apples, and water. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender when pierced (about 5 minutes). Add sugar and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add corn-starch-water mixture and continue to boil, stirring, until sauce thickens and carrots and apples are glazed (about one more minute).

RICE WITH PASTRAMIThis is a great recipe for using up your extra deli after Shabbos… or your extra rice.2 c. uncooked rice2 T. oil1 scallion, chopped2 cloves garlic, chopped4 eggs (lightly beaten)1 T. soy sauceSalt & pepper, to taste12 slices pastrami, diced6 slices turkey roll, dicedYIELD: 6-8 servings

Cook the rice according to package di-rections. Heat the oil in a frying pan; sauté the scallion and garlic. Add the

eggs and mix well. Add the soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Mix pastrami and tur-key roll into mixture. Combine with rice. 2 cups of uncooked rice equals four cups of cooked rice.

PEANUT BUTTERSCOTCH PIESimple recipe, terrific dessert!2 eggs, separated½ c. sugar1 c. peanut butter1 T. vanilla extract¼ c. honey½ c. pareve milk1 c. butterscotch chips1 graham cracker crust½ c. crushed peanutsYIELD: 8 servings

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Separately beat together egg yolks and sugar. Mix in peanut butter, vanilla, honey, and pareve milk. Fold in the egg whites. Evenly distribute the but-terscotch chips on the bottom of the graham cracker crust. Pour filling into crust and sprinkle chopped peanuts on top. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Serve chilled.


43

by Fraydee Mozes

“How many guests are you expecting on the first night of yom tov?” Bluma asked Esti. They sat in the school cafeteria eating lunch three days before Rosh Hashanah.

Esti counted in her head. “Five…no, six…well, I guess the number keeps changing! My mother is so organized that I’m sure she’ll have it all figured out by the time I get home. How about you?”

Bluma said, “We’re just having three. Mommy wanted to keep it small, since we have the new baby.”

With that, the conversation moved from Rosh Hashanah plans to how cute Leah, Bluma’s baby sister, was. Soon the girls bentched, the lunch bell rang, and then they went back to class.

A few hours later, Esti walked into her house. She headed for the kitchen to find a snack before starting her homework. Her mother sat at the kitchen table, looking very tired.

“Ima, what’s wrong?” asked Esti.“In one day we’ve gone from having six guests coming for

dinner on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, to eight, to ten!” Mrs. Tehrani smiled weakly.

“Wow, Ima! Your head must be spinning!” Esti poured herself a glass of milk and grabbed a peach. “Can I get you something?”

“Thanks, sweetheart. I could use a glass of water. I’ve spent half of the day on the phone. You know I love having guests, but I hate answering the phone when I have other things to do.”

Just then, the phone rang again. Mother and daughter both groaned. Esti answered.

“Shalom, Tehrani residence…yes…I’m not sure. Let me ask my mother.” Esti covered the receiver with her hand. “Ima, it’s Mrs. Gabbay. Her eldest son surprised her and flew in. Can you fit one

more around the table?”“Sure,” said Mrs. Tehrani. “O.K., Mrs. Gabbay…Ktav v’ chatima tova…We’ll see you then.”

Esti hung up the phone and poured her mother’s glass of water.Just after dinner, the phone rang again. Another guest, Miss

Hahamzadeh, called to ask if she could bring a friend. Esti’s mother said, “Of course.”

When she had hung up the phone, Mr. Tehrani asked, “You look stressed out.”

“How am I going to prepare for Rosh Hashanah when I don’t even know how many guests are coming!” said Esti’s mother. “How do I know how much food to cook?”

“Why don’t you just say, ‘no,’ when people ask to come from now on?” suggested her father.

Mrs. Tehrani looked shocked. “I can’t do that! If someone doesn’t have their plans settled so close to yom tov, they’re probably desperate. I have to help them out!”

Esti thought for a minute. “Why don’t you cook for a lot of people and freeze whatever doesn’t get eaten?”

“Good idea, Ester. I’m starting to lose count of the guests, and who knows what will happen by yom tov…I just need to relax, and everything will work out fine.”

After school the next day, Esti entered the house and saw her mother reading a story to Yosef Chaim.

“What’s the latest count?” Esti asked.“We’re still holding at twelve,” said her mother, with a wink.Two more busy days passed. Esti helped her mother peel carrots,

boil beets, fry fish cakes, bake challot…not to mention roasting four chickens. In between, she managed to run to the store several times for items that had been unexpectedly needed (Esti’s mother could

Running The ShowWritten by Rebecca Klempner, Illustrated by Fraydee Mozes

KidSpiritRosh Hashanah marks the start of a brand new year. This is the time we

can start fresh, improve ourselves, and be the best Jews we can be. Hashem has given us the opportunity of Aseres Yomei Tshuva, when

we can apologize for anything we are sorry for, and focus on improving our behavior. Whether you want to try to treat your siblings with extra kavod

and love this year, do your homework every night, or respond immediately when a parent asks for a favor, this is the time to think about what we want to be better at, and work on it.

It is also important to focus on others this time of year. On Rosh Hashanah we can ask Hashem for a great year full of simcha, brocha, and hatzlacha, but keep your family and friends in mind, too. While it’s good to daven for yourself, try to think of others that need your tefillos this year as well. It is also a big zechus to give tzedakah during this time of year.

To your right is some writing space just for you, to write down what you would like to daven for. After you have finished writing, cut out this page and keep it in your machzor. This can be helpful in allowing you to have extra kavanah while you daven in shul this Rosh Hashanah. May all your tefillos be answered, and may we celebrate the next new year in Yerushalyim!

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not understand how they ran out of both dried lemons and turmeric on erev yom tov!). After many hours of cooking and cleaning, the Tehrani home looked--and smelled--ready for the coronation of a King. Just before hadlikat nerot, the phone rang again. Esti’s father walked into the dining room, where his wife and mother were setting the table.

“Ladies,” he said. “That was Cousin Miriam. The baby just came down with a fever! She and Cousin Shimon think they should stay home.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone rang again. Her father ran to answer it. When he returned, he said, “That was Mrs. Gabbay. Her son’s old rebbe invited them to spend the holiday with his family, and her son accepted without thinking. She apologized.”

Esti and her mother laughed.“I thought you’d be angry that

you’ve just lost five guests in five minutes,” said Mr. Tehrani.

“Oh, Abba, if we didn’t laugh, we’d cry,” said Esti.

Esti, dressed in her best clothes, went to synagogue with her father and Yosef Chaim. Her mother had sent her with instructions to come home as soon as Yosef Chaim got antsy. “There’s only so long you can expect a three-year-old to sit still,” Mrs. Tehrani had said.

When they came home, her grandmother and aunt had already arrived. They waited for her father and the other guests to come home. At eight o’clock, Mr. Tehrani entered with his father, his brother and his nephew. Then they waited…and waited…and waited. Thirty minutes passed, and the rest of the invited guests had not shown up!

“I’m sure that Miss Hahamzadeh and her friend have a good reason for being late,” said Esti’s mother.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Mr. Tehrani answered.It was their friend, Dr. Rabinowitz. He looked embarrassed as

he scratched his white beard and started to speak. “Ksav v’ chasima

toiva! I accidentally left the directions to where I was supposed to eat tonight at home. I got lost on the way, and I’m already half an hour late. Finally, I recognized your street. I hate to ask, but is there room at your table for me? And can you help me find my way home when we’re done?”

Before Mr. Tehrani had time to answer, Mrs. Tehrani smiled from ear to ear and said, “We have plenty of room…and plenty of food. Come in! It will be a pleasure to have you join us.”

After a pleasant, tasty meal, complete with all the simanim and many divrei torah, the guests were ready to leave. The Tehranis very carefully explained how Dr. Rabinowitz should get home…

then at the last minute, Mr. Tehrani decided he’d better walk with the elderly doctor part of the way. “I wouldn’t want you to get lost again!” exclaimed Esti’s father.

Dr. Rabinowitz thanked them again and again. “I particularly enjoyed the Persian-style tongue and black-eyed peas! Though I think I prefer honey with my apples over sugar,” he added with a grin.

Mr. Tehrani escorted the other guests out, then left with his old friend. Exhausted, Esti walked with her mother up the stairs towards their bedrooms.

At school after the holiday, Esti told Bluma. “I’ve been thinking about the topsy-turvy week Ima and I had. We kept trying to be organized, to

make plans and be in control of the situation, but Hashem had other ideas.”

Bluma laughed, “Yeah, He really showed you Who’s the Boss around here! But seriously, what did happen to Miss Hahamzadeh and her friend?”

“You wouldn’t believe it! On the way down the stairwell, Miss Hahamzadeh’s friend slipped and twisted her ankle! It happened on their way to our house, after candlelighting, so they couldn’t phone us. They sat at home with an ice pack and ibuprofen all evening. I’m hoping she has a refuah shleimah.”

1. PALEP2. OYHEN3. SSUOCC4. LUHS5. REONEPGAATM

6. AUVLL7. ESWTE8. SNHIPUIZ9. FTAINGS10. ERGOS

Fill In the Blanks Rosh Hashanah falls out on the date of ___1___ of the month of ___2___

which marks the beginning of the new Jewish year. On this holiday, we blow the ___3__ which is compared to an alarm clock, because it “wakes us up” to do ___4___. There are customary foods that we eat on Rosh Hashanah. One of the is a head of a __5__, to symbolize the “head” of the year. We also dip __6___ in ___7__ to symbolize a sweet new year. We eat challah in the shape of a __8___ which represents the cycle of the year. And we also eat a very fun

fruit, a ___9____, because contains lots of seeds just like the many mitzvos we are privileged to have. After Rosh Hashanah, Aseres Yomei Tshuvah follows which leads into the holiday known as _____ ___10___. That is when we fast and ask Hashem for forgiveness for anything we might have done wrong. May all your

tefilos be answered and have a chasiva v’chasima ___11___!

Answers: 1. Aleph, 2. Tishrei, 3. Shofar, 4. Teshuvah, 5. Fish, 6. Apples, 7. Honey, 8. Circle, 9. Pomegranate, 10. Yom Kippur, 11. Tovah

Answers: 1. Apple, 2. Honey, 3. Succos, 4, Shul,

5. Pomegranate, 6. Lulav, 7. Sweet,

8. Ushpizin, 9. Fasting, 10. Esrog

Unscramble the following words below that are associated with the new year:


45

Please send comments to: [email protected]

42

StorybyAriGuidryContinued from last issue...

40 41

Benny P.I.

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young.israel.of.century.city... 310-273-69549315.W..Pico.blvd.

calaBasasthe.calabasas.shul............... 818-725-3118

(at.bay.laurel.elem..school).calabasas.Pkwy..at.Paseo.Primero

coneJo valleychabad.of.conejo/Agoura.Hills.818-991-0991. 5998.conife.streetcorona Del mar chabad.of.newport.beach..... 949-721-9800

4720.cortland.dr.lomItachabad.of.Palos.verdes........310-544-5544

28041.s..Hawthorne.blvd.chabad.of.south.bay............ 310-326-8234

24412.narbonne.Ave.nortH HollywooDAdat.yeshurun............818-766-4682.12405.. 12405.sylvan.streetem.Habanim.cong.................818-762-7779. 5850.laurel.canyon.blvd.shaarey.zedek.cong............. 818-763-0560

12800.chandler.blvd.ohr.simcha...........................818-760-2189

12430.oxnard

west coast directory

If you want to be added to the shul listing send an e-mail to [email protected]


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nortHrIDgeyoung.israel.of.northridge..... 818-368-222117511.devonshire.street

santa monIcachabad.of.marina.del.rey......310-301-9770

2929.Washington.blvd.

venIcePacific.Jewish.center.............310-392-8749

505.ocean.Front.Walkyoung.israel.of.venice........... 310-450-7541

1014.vernon.Ave.

westwooDWestwood.kehilla..................310-441-5288

10537.santa.monica.blvd.

Huntington BeAcH chabad.of.West.orange.county....................

714-846-2285.•.5052.Warner.Ave

irvinebeth.Jacob.of.irvine.............. 949-786-5230

3900.michelson.dr..chabad.of.irvine................... 949-786-5000

5010.barranca.Pkwyyoung.israel.of.orange.county..949-300-88995319.university.drive.(#122)

LA JoLLAcongregation.Adat.yeshurun.858-535-0343

8625.la.Jolla.scenic.dr..n.

LAgunA BeAcH chabad.of.laguna.beach......949-499-0770

30804.s..coast.Hwy.

LAgunA nigueLchabad.of.laguna.niguel...... 949-831-8475

27655.niguel.village.dr.

Long BeAcHcong..lubavitch.of.long.beach....................

562-426-5480.•.3981.Atlantic.Ave.young.israel.of.long.beach....562-427-3163

4134.Atlantic.Ave.

Mission vieJo chabad.of.mission.viejo.........949-770-1270

24041.marguerite.Pkwy.

PALM sPringschabad.of.Palm.springs........ 760-325-0774

425.Avenida.ortega

sAn Diegobeth.Jacob.of.san.diego........619-287-9890

4855.college.Ave.chabad.of.downtown.............619-702-8518

472.third.Avenue

YorBA LinDAnorth.county.chabad.center.714-693-0770

19045.yorba.linda.blvd.

Places of Interestcabrillo.marine.Aquarium.And.beach............

........................................ 310-548-75623720.stephen.m.White.drive,.san.Pedro

cAliForniA.science.center.................... ..........................................323-724-3623700.state.drive,.exposition.Park.interactive.science.museum.

GriFFitH.PArk.trAveltoWn.. museum.&.rAilroAd..... 323-662-5874los.AnGeles.zoo..............323-644-4200. observatory&Planetarium...323-664-1191. Pony.rides.......................323-664-3266. train.rides.......................323-664-6903. merry-Go-round............... 323-665-3051HuntinGton.librAry,.Art.collections,.

And.botAnicAl.GArdens..................... ..........................................818-405-21251151.oxford.rd..san.marino

J..PAul.Getty.museum..... 310-440-73001200.Getty.center.drive.collections.include.european.paintings,.drawings,.decorative.arts,.sculptures.and.illuminated.manuscripts.

lonG.beAcH.AquArium.oF.tHe.PAciFic... ......................................... 562-590-3100200.shoreline.drive,.long.beach

mArinA.del.rAy.boAt.rentAls............... ..........................................310-574-2822sailboat,.motorboat.and.kayak.rentals.

museum.oF.tolerAnce.... 310-553-84039786.West.Pico.blvd..Hands-on.experiential.museum.that.focuses..on.the.dynamics.of.racism.and.prejudice.in.America,.and.the.history.of.the.Holocaust.

noAH’s.Ark.for.children.at.skirball.museum. 2701.n..sepulveda.blvd....310-440-4500.

community & g'mach directoryBaBIes & cHIlDrenBaBy eqUIPment lA.bAby.G’mAcH................ lababygear.commiriAm.Hendeles............... 323-243-7116

Port-a-cribs,.pack.&.plays,.car.seats,.infant.bouncers,.strollers,.bassinettes,.booster.seats,.exer-saucers.for.short.term.loan.

BrIs oUtfItsdevorA.Wieder................. 323-939-9276DIaPersrivkA.dinkels..................... 323-932-1123PeninA.Frumit.APter.........310-557-9726dina.kramer..........................818-985-2493ezer layoleDesyossie.GreenField............ 323-934-0178

strollers,.play.pens,.high.chairs,.cribs,.car.seats.for.short.or.long.term.loan.

nUrsIng PUmPs Andi.sHocHet.....................818-753-9562dAssi.Weiner..................... 818-509-7791

UnIformsexchange.and/or.purchase.of.previously.

owned.school.uniformsemek:.. leah.roth..........................818-753-4242torAs.emes.And.bAis.yAAkov:

rochelle.Frankel................ 323-937-7111

clotHIngGlobAl.kindness.. yaelle.cohen..................... 310-286-0800

coUnselIng & HealtHAleinu/ortHodox.counselinG.ProGrAm24.Hour.Hotline............... 818-623-0300

bikur.cHolim.vcr.And.JeWisH.video. .........................................323-304-1359

(l’ilui.nishmas.israel,.Amelia,.and.ruth.Aftergut,.and.Abba.Avrutin)..vcr.with.video.moniter,.not.a.television..Jewish.videos.intended.only.for.those.confined.to.bed.for.medical.reasons................

cHAi.liFeline.West.coast.regional.office.310-274-6331non.profit.Jewish.organization.dedicated.to.providing.support.services.to.seriously.ill.children.and.their.families..

ettA.isrAel........................ 818-985-3882serving.the.special.needs.children.of.the.Jewish.community.

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FriendsHiP.circle.(310).277-FclA.(3252). 9581.W..Pico.blvd.,.#102... Providing.social,.recreational.and.Judaic.

programs.for.Jewish.children.who.have.special.needs.and.their.families

HosPItal gownssara.Pinter............................323-931-1598

tznuis.hospital.clothing.for.womenJeWisH.HeAltHcAre.FoundAtion.

BlooD DrIve

AvrAHAm.mosHe.bikur.cHolim.if.you.need.or.would.like.to.donate.blood.to.someone...........................323-852-1900

cHIlD safetysAFety.kid..........................323-761-8816

raising.child.safety.awareness.in.the.community

eDUcatIonHA’Azinu.HAsHAmAyim.cHildren.tAPe.(l’ilui.nishmas.shifra.miriam.and.yisroel.menachem.shedrowitsky).story.tapes.in.yiddish.and.in.english;.song.tapes.in.yiddish. 323-931-0306

fInancIal aID servIcesdAvid.Weiner.memoriAl.Free.loAnsociety.oF.tHe.vAlley.

JAck.AdAtto...................818-508-9114FinAnciAl.JeWisH.Free.loAnAssistAnce.small.interest.free.loans

city...................................323-761-8830valley.–.lindA.Gordon... 818-464-3331

HAcHnosAs.kAllAH.......... 323-938-8074Financial.assistance.and/.or.guidance.to.needy.kallahs.in.planning.their.wedding

tHe.tzedAkAH.Fund..........323-939-0862. small.interest.free.loans

fooDmAsbiA.l’ilui.nishas.chaim.yosef.ben.Aron.Aryeh.share.your.simcha.–.call.for.info.or.to.arrange.pickup.of.leftover.food.from.your.simchatomcHei.sHAbbos............. 323-939-5525

Provides.shabbos.food.packages.for.families.in.need..call.to.request.application.

fUrnItUre, Home, DIsHes2nD cHance. rivky.FArber................. 323-931-0224

folDIng BeDs

. esti.tendler...................310-203-0170mezUzaH g’macH . irWin.loWi.......................323-932-1025taBles anD cHaIrs. steven.oscHeroWitz.... 323-937-1194

keIlIm mIkvaH

AnsHe.emes.keilim.mikvA..1490.s..robertson........310-276-6617

sHAArAy.zedek.keilim.mikvA..12800.cHAndler............ 818-763-0560

younG.isrAel.keilim.mikvA..225.s..lAbreA.Ave......... 323-931-4030

younG.isrAel.oF.nortHridGe.mikvA..17511.devonshire.st......... 818-368-2221

legal servIces

bet.tzedek.legal.services......................323-939-0506

Free.legal.counsel.to.the.eligible.needy.and.Holocaust.reparations.assistance..

criminAl/Arrest.GuidAnce..lA.county.sheriff.department..sHirley.FreidmAn.(women)

. ........................................ 323-568-4703HoWArd.Winkler.(men)........................

. 323-939-9236.

sImcHasBencHers mrs..kest...........................323-937-7060

l’ilui.nishmas.Ahron.ben.yissacharcHUPaH canDle HolDers,

Poles, kallaH cHaIr mrs..lebovics................... 323-933-3377

clotHIng for relatIves of cHosson & kallaH

For.women.and.children.mrs..dena.Wolmark...........323-934-4151esther.Grama.................... 424-558-9673mandy.Adler......................818-766-5104

HacHnasas kallaH gIft g’macH

volume.donAtionslibby.lehman................... 323-935-3791

individuAl.GiFtsleba.Hertz........................ 323-246-9424

HacHnasas kallaH gownsmArylin.bArber................323-937-7982

estHer.brAun............... 323-933-2817AHuvA.Goldstein..........323-938-8660

mecHItzaH g’macH

rivkA.berkoWitz................818-331-3884sImcHa gemacH. ........................................ 323-931-0306

(l’ilui.nishmas.rebbetzin.bella.simcha)...48.mini.challah.covers,.2.large.challah.covers,.18.kiddush.cups.w/trays,.50.bentchers.

sPecIal occasIon flowers, centerPIeces & mIrrors

. AlonA.HoroWitz............ 310-551-1004sHosHy.klein................. 323-937-4954mrs..nieHAus................. 323-938-2406.micHAl.PorAti.-.yAd.simcAH...............310-525-7336

weDDIng sHtIck. bubby’s.sHtick/monA.riss. .........................................818-761-5077

rivky.FArber................. 323-997-5968.necHAmA.denbo.............310-788-3981

teen DeveloPmentFriendsHiP.circle... (310).277FclA(3252). enriches,.inspires.and.motivates.Jewish.

teens.through.sharing.of.themselves.with.children.who.have.special.needs...teens.volunteer.their.time.through.innovative.and.stimulating.programs.producing.a.sense.of.connection.and.responsibility.for.the.greater.Jewish.community.

COUNseLING & heaLThDr. Navideh Levy-Failer, PsY. D.Licensed Clinical psychologist psY 20781

323-653-5781

When In New York...

naomi scheierMake-up Artist & Hair Stylist

specializing in semi-permanent make-up for shabbos

(718)[email protected]


49

The Luncheon that I “Chaired” | Tama beCK

TAmA TEllS All

One day I received a phone call from a woman involved in an organization for helping Russian immigrants. She asked me to chair a women’s luncheon to raise

money for this worthy cause.I was tired and the last thing I needed was another project.

She insisted that I must do it to help the Russians. I told her that I had no time as I teach four days a week. I couldn’t work on arranging a caterer and forming a committee. I asked what happened to the other women who were originally supposed to help. She said that one woman was not well and the other woman was busy marrying off her son. She had no one else.

I felt pushed against the wall and I told her that I could not take this on, I will, however, bring as many people as I can to attend the luncheon. I continued, “If you can’t get anyone to do it, call me and I will do the best that I can.”

A few weeks later, I got an invitation to the luncheon. I felt much better knowing that someone did indeed take care of planning this event. I invited my sisters and friends to join me at the luncheon. Between my guests and I we occupied three tables. The luncheon was a success.

The rebbitzen who asked me to take on the chairmanship made a speech thanking everyone for coming. At the end of her speech, she said, “This luncheon was made possible by one woman - would Mrs. Beck please stand up?”

My sisters and friends were all surprised. I kept saying I didn’t do anything. I approached the rebbitzen to ask why she said this. She replied, “You don’t think you made this pos-sible? When you told me if I can’t find anyone else, you will do it, I realized one way or another I had to make this happen. Your words gave me the push I needed.

When I returned to my table, everyone said, “We didn’t know how much you did, how secretive you were.” I insisted that I hadn’t done anything. The rebbitzin realized I didn’t want to do a ‘halfway job’. It gave her the energy to go on and do it. The lesson we can learn from this, is to realize the effect our words can have.

Mrs. Beck is a beloved educator and lecturer and has been for over fifty years. She taught at Central and Shulamis high schools for girls and gave weekly shiurim in the Syrian community, often to three generations in the same class!

$10

10% Off

2 persOn $27

10% Off

4 persOn $50

10% Off

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The NexT geNerATiON OF CATeriNg

THE

PALACE7 8 0 M C d O n a l d a v e n u e

b r O O k l Y n , n e w Y O r k

7 1 8 - 8 7 1 - 1 7 7 0

t h e p a l a c e h a l l . c o mNiRB

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Touro College Los Angeles is accredited by wASC, the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges & Universities of the western Association of Schools and Colleges, 985 Atlantic Avenue, #100, Alameda, CA 94501, tel. 510-748-9001. Touro college is an equal-opportunity institution.

For more information, please call 323-822-9700 x 85155 or email [email protected]

1317 N. Crescent Heights Blvd., West Hollywood • 323 822 9700www.touro.edu/losangeles • email: [email protected]

Touro College Los AngeLes

JOIn US FOR A neW YeAR and A neW BeGInnInGFall 2010 SemesterBegins August 30th

WISHInG THe COMMUnITY A SHAnA TOvA

Touro College Los Angeles 2010 Candidates For Graduation. Pictured with Dean esther Lowy and Dr. Michael Hamlin

Congratulations

Class of 2010

Documents

CitySpirit September 2010