By Malka Eisenberg

In the shadow of U.S. President Barak Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel, feelings of tension and unified purpose filled the room at the Gush Katif Museum Dinner in Crown Heights Saturday night, as speaker after speaker, recalling the pain of the expulsion of 10,000 Jews from their homes and the destruction of their communities, demanded that it not happen again.

Calling on Americans to send a message to Obama, keynote speaker former Arkansas Governor and 2008 G.O.P. presidential can-didate Mike Huckabee declared that they should say, “Mr. President, Americans stand with Israel because they are a mirror image of our freedom and our democracy in this country. And, we suggest that before you make any demands of the Israelis to give anything, you sit down and look the Pales-tinians in the face and ask them ‘What have they given up?”

He continued, “Rather than say to the Is-raelis, “Stop building in Judea and Samaria,” I would suggest that you build as rapidly as you can, and as much as you can, and as many houses as you can! And tell the Pales-tinians that if they don’t like that, the way they can fix it is to sit at the peace table and sign an agreement that they recognize Isra-

el’s right to exist, within the borders that G-d gave them and to exist with safety and se-curity! That, my friends, will probably never happen! So I say, pour the concrete, build the houses and let Israel be strong! That is the message we need to give to the world!”

Close to 500 participants joined at the sec-ond annual dinner to support the museum established five years ago by Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo to remember and support the ex-pellees from Gush Katif in Gaza and educate visitors to prevent further destruction of Jew-

ish homes. Organizers of the dinner includ-ed the International Committee for the Land of Israel, founded by Dr. Joseph Frager, Dr. Paul Brody, Rabbi David Algaze and Odeleya Jacobs, and Helen Freedman, Executive Di-rector of Americans For a Safe Israel (AFSI).

Other speakers included Rabbi Yosef Y. Jacobson, representing the Rabbis of CrownHeights Synagogues, and Mrs. Rivka Gold-schmidt, a refugee from Gush Katif. RabbiSholom Ber Drizin, philanthropist, Assembly-man Dov Hikind, Rabbi Algaze, Rav of Con-gregation Havurat Yisrael in Forest Hills, and Helen Freedman were the guests of honor.

In a personal interview and in a speech,Rivka Goldschmidt, recounted meeting and marrying her South African husband Michaeland their decision to leave their apartment in the center of Israel for a tiny house in thebarren sands of the Gaza Strip.

They took up agriculture and, after varioustries, began cultivating and ultimately sell-ing amaryllis bulbs to America. They raiseda family, building a comfortable home anda successful business in the tight-knit com-munity of Ganei Tal, in spite of random acts of terrorism by the Arabs in the Gaza Strip.After 28 years of growth, then Prime Min-ister Ariel Sharon ordered the evacuation ofthe 10,000 Jews in Gaza and the destruction

By Malka Eisenberg

Twelve years ago, Alan Hirsch saw the intense poverty and the inability of ten families in Maaleh Amos and 12 families in Hevron, to pay their Passover expenses.

“The following year there were twice as many and it grew to Gush Etzion,” he said. “The first year or two it was my money, then I was going to people to ask.”

Most years, Hirsch, president of Bnai Israel Matzoh Fund, and his associates, Jerry Pasternak, and his son Ari Hirsch, begin collecting from Rosh Chodesh Adar. This year they started collecting Rosh Ch-odesh Shvat. “Yontif (the holiday) is ei-ther early or late, it’s never on time,” said Hirsch, paraphrasing comedian Jackie Mason. “This year it’s very early.” He said they concentrate on collecting funds on Purim. “It’s a long day—20 hours,” he said. Rabbi Hershel Schachter of Yeshiva University recommends the Fund in his class in the Young Israel of Midwood. He explains “what good work we do, that we go to places nobody else goes to and that it is a tzedokoh worthy of helping.”

A completely voluntary organization, the Matzoh Fund provides over-the-top

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Number Six School vote this Wednesday

Fund brings Pesach to

Israel

Continued on page 3

Photo courtesy of Bnai Israel Matzoh fund

Matzoh Fund food distribution.

By Malka Eisenberg

As the March 20th referendum on the sale of the Number Six School approaches, com-munity efforts to halt the development are intensifying along with acrimony, arguments and advertising campaigns.

Local community members formed a co-alition to stop the sale and are coordinating door–to door and phone campaigns as well as mailed fliers and advertisements in all the local newspapers. A debate is scheduled at the Peninsula Public Library on March 12 comparing Simone development’s positions to those of the CC5T, the Community Coali-tion of the Five Towns.

Rumors have been circulating about Mt. Sinai’s and Simone’s pulling out of the deal. “There are a lot of rumors about people pul-ing out,” said Joshua Lewin-Jacus, a cam-paign organizer for the CC5T. “They are not true and we still have to vote.” “There is no truth to the rumors,” said Benjamin Wein-stock, attorney for Simone Development. “They are not withdrawing. We are continu-ing to the end of the referendum—the pub-lic vote; it will either be voted up or voted down.”

The 6.7-acre site with an 80,170 square foot building stands on the corner of Branch and Peninsula boulevards in Woodmere. The elementary school building was built in 1953

and was closed due to declining enrollmentand has been vacant since it closed in March2009. The sprawling, tan, L-shaped two-story structure abuts its paddle ball courts, agrassy baseball field and a park with climb-ing structures for children.

The Lawrence Board of Education weighed bids for the property from Sh-ulamith school, the Jewish CommunityCenter, the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach and others, ultimately accepting the high-est offer from Simone Development. Based in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., Simone is a commer-cial and residential real estate investment and development company. The company

Continued on page 4

Huckabee:

“Pour the concrete, build the houses”

Photo courtesy of Gush Katif Museum Dinner committee

Former Governor Mike Huckabee

Continued on page 3

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Converting the Number Six School to a mega-medical center is a bad idea for our communities.

We all care about our Five Towns community. We value our families’ safety and our peaceful quality of life.

That’s why we’re very concerned about the proposal to put a mega-medical center on the Number Six School property, converting a quiet residential neighborhood into a healthcare complex open 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

FOR OUR FAMILIES’ SAFETY AND QUALITY OF LIFE, VOTE NO ON MARCH 20.

OUR CHILDREN’S SAFETY FIRSTThe mega-medical center will attract thousands of out-of-town patients, employees, delivery drivers, repair teams and sales people from very early in the morning until late at night. How safe can our families be in their midst?

NOISE AND GRIDLOCK Our community already has traffi c problems. The addition of the center its thousands of visitors will cause major disruptions, noise and frustrating gridlock on Peninsula Boulevard, Branch Boulevard and Rockaway Turnpike. How low will our property values sink while we save $35 a year in taxes?

PARKS TO PARKING LOTSThe project will take valued open space—safe places where our kids play—and turn them into a parking lot to accommodate the mega-center’s thousands of visitors.

THINK TRAFFIC IS BAD NOW ON ROCKAWAY TURNPIKE? YOU MUST VOTE NO ON THE MEGA-MEDICAL CENTER.

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of the Jewish towns there. “If that was said about any other area (no Jews) the country would be shocked,” said Goldschmidt. “We protested, we prayed, we made a human chain from Gush Katif to the Kotel. It didn’t help. Eventually the day came.” They were told not to raise a hand to the soldiers by the Rabbi of their town, that they are “our broth-ers and sons, victims of the system.” The day of the evacuation, a group of soldiers ma-terialized between two majestic eucalyptus trees Rivka had planted in her front yard 28 years before. “I was in shock, speechless, I had soft knees. It was frightening. Instead of protecting us it looked like a duel. I thought that the IDF was a symbol of the unity of the people of Israel and their being used to expel us; that is a very bitter feeling.” She pointed to the Second Lebanon War in 2006 as di-rectly connected to the pull out from Gaza in 2005. “When the Arabs see weakness,” she said, “they attack.”

After the evacuation, although her son had declared to the soldiers who came that he would no longer be a part of the reserves, when he was called up for Operation Cast Lead, he went. “I begged him not to go,” said Rivka. “We were human shields to the south-ern border, why endanger yourself now?” “Someone has to do the job,” he replied, “and we might get home.”

The community of Ganei Tal has stayed together even after the evacuation, during its stay in the guesthouse of Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim and in temporary homes in Yad Bin-yamin. They are building once again, a new Ganei Tal, in spite of many setbacks, in what were once cotton fields by Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim near Gedara some 20 miles northeast of Gaza. “When a crisis comes along and a family is strong, they overcome it despite dif-ferences,” explained Rivka. “We had argu-ments but we dealt with the crisis.”

When asked before his speech about his

support for Israel, Huckabee said that people wonder why he supports Israel as an evangel-ical. “People can be Jewish without having a relationship with Christianity but people can’t be Christians without a connection to Judaism,” he stressed. “Our spiritual roots” are in the Bible, in Judaism. “Every Christian believes and every Christian understands—that Israel is G-d’s Chosen Land, and we rec-ognize that and respect it and understand that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed.”

Huckabee pointed out that his first visit to Israel was in 1973 after the Yom Kippur War. He has visited many times since, including to the Gush Katif Museum in 2009 and recent-ly to Yad Vashem, calling them vital places for all government leaders to visit and learn from. He questioned why America is giving $250,000,000 and weapons to Egypt, a coun-try rife with anti-Semitism, the judgment of leaders who make decisions against the good of Israel, the Arabs not acknowledging Isra-el’s right to exist and the importance of Isra-el’s true borders. “If our President makes the absurd suggestion that Israel should go back to the Pre ‘67 borders, I’m thinking “Well, if they are going to roll back, let’s just roll all the way back to Abraham and let’s let the borders be the borders that originally were established which goes as far back as we can go!”

He also condemned the president for de-manding that Israel stop building bedrooms for their children in their own land instead of demanding that the “Iranians stop build-ing bombs pointing at Israel and the rest of the free world!” He noted that Israel wants true peace and built the security wall to suc-cessfully protect its people from those who “strap bombs to their bellies and board a bus and kill innocent children and citizens.” No one would tolerate even one rocket fired into their communities, he said, yet Israel was expected to accept thousands of Katyushas

shot into their schools, homes, hospitals, and synagogues.

Other speakers included Rabbi Jacob-son, who emphasized that “the world will only come to respect the Jewish people if the Jewish people respect themselves, only when Israel cherishes itself, believes in it-self and respects itself….(they) uprooted its most idealistic men, women and children”…that “Jews can live anywhere except in Eretz

Yisrael” and that “the Oslo agreement madepeace synonymous with death.”

Rabbi Algaze recalled that “Gush Katif was a Gan Eden (paradise) that was de-stroyed’ because of a “virus, the apathy of theJewish people.” “People who loved the Land were not there for Gush Katif,” said Hikind. “Does anyone not realize today what a terri-ble tragedy that was? You gotta be involved, you gotta do the right thing.”

kimcha d’pischa, food and funds for Pesach for those struggling financially in Yehuda and Shomron, in Israel. This year, said Hirsch, there have been “crazy price in-creases on foods. Chickens are up 60%; we spent $15,000 more than last year. From 1 AM to 6 AM I do stuff that has to be done in Israel. I’m usually finished by Purim with purchasing, but this year it lingered on because it was hard to find chickens and meat. Matzoh is up 10% and grape juice 8%. The budget is much higher than be-fore.” He pointed out that requests for as-sistance are up 10%. Last year, they helped about 1,500 families, but this year they will be helping about 1,650. Last year ex-penses were $190,000; this year $220,000. “There’s less than two weeks to go,” he said. “We are less than halfway there. We really have to pull from all over.”

The four distribution sites are Kiryat Arba, Itamar, Ebay Hanachal and Beitar Il-lit. The yishuvim and the chesed organiza-tions come and collect the food from the distribution sites. “Everything is done by volunteers,” Hirsch emphasized. Most of the time, the packages are delivered to the door at night, secretly, with an envelope with a check inside with a note in Hebrew that says “chazak vamatz meachaichem b’america,” “stay strong from your broth-ers in America.” The yishuvim that draw from the fund include Bat Ayin, Elon Shvut, Chavat Gilaad, Elon Moreh, Maaleh Amos, Maaleh Chever, Maaleh Levona, Nokdim, Shilo, Sussya, Tapuach, Yitzhar, Shvut Ra-chel, Adiya, Aday Ad, Eli, Karnei Tzur.

Most of the recipients work, he said, but they can’t afford the “crazy costs of Yom Tov.” Some of them are widows, orphans, victims of terror, or are ill. The communi-ties send a brief history of the family so the fund is aware of their status and writes a check for them. “Each is checked out by the rav or representative of the rav of the yishuv before they are put on the list. No other organization helps in this area, plenty help in Yerushalyim, Bnei Brak, Tel Aviv, but in these areas nothing.”

“Seven years ago we started giving out meat besides chicken, grape juice and matza,” he added. “About half the people never had meat on Yom Tov before.”

He said that most of the money comes from America with “a little” coming from Israel. Hirsch spoke in West Hempstead last week; his son Ari Hirsch lives there and helps the organization “a lot.”

“We deal with more than 1,000 fami-lies,” explained Yisrael Bramson, the Man-cal (director) of Hachnasat Orchim Hev-ron and a member of the Moaytza Mekomit Kiryat Arba. “And we distribute more than $250,000 in difficult places, the hilltops. He (Hirsch) is a tzadik (a righteous per-son), he works for the sake of Heaven. He gathers $36, $50, $100, not like he has one big donor. Next week we distribute super-market coupons, meat, chicken, produce, grape juice, matza, and closed packages of cookies for Pesach. There are people who call up, they wait all year for this. It’s not just the money it’s an issue of the connec-tion, the caring. I am always surprised anew. So much difficulty. Olim from Bnai Menashe from India, from South America. Many widows are without income and are embarrassed to ask for help. (This way) they will have for the Seder. They are given with a gracious hand; 90% of what we give out is from the Matzoh Fund. Alan sacri-fices, he neglects his business, working on this even 2 AM. He waits for the morning to deal with all this. Kol hakavod, kol ha-kavod. He worries about the money--I buy and distribute the food.”

As far as the Bnai Israel Matzoh Fund, Hirsch explained, “We never say no to any-body. ‘Kol dichphin yasay vyaychol’ ‘who-ever needs, come and get.’ You want to be yotzay every year. You are supposed to pre-pare 30 days before the chag. You want to sit at your table and know that you fulfilled that, know that every dollar you give will be used to help a family make Pesach.”

To donate, mail checks to: Matzoh Fund, Congregation Bnai Israel, 3190 Bedford Av-enue, Brooklyn, NY 11210. For more infor-mation call: 718 377-8016.

Remembering Gush KatifContinued from page 1

Continued from page 1

Matzoh Fund goes where no charity has gone before

Inside

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Photo courtesy of Gush Katif Museum dinner committee

At the Gush Katif Museum dinner, Gov. Mike Huckabee, fifth from left, the fea-tured speaker, received a Baruch Nachshon painting. On his right is Rabbi Sho-lom Dov Wolpo, and on his left is Dr. Paul Brody. From left are Dr. Joe Frager, Riv-ka Goldshchmidt, Gush Katif evacuee, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Rabbi Wolpo, Huckabee, Brody, Helen Freedman, Odeleya Jacobs and Rabbi David Algaze.

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By Joshua Schein

On March 20, Lawrence School District 15 residents will be asked if the Number Six School in Woodmere should be sold to Sim-one Healthcare Development. Unlike most elections, in which the outcome can be re-versed in two or four years, the results of this referendum could damage our community forever.

The first point to understand is what the community is actually voting for. The refer-endum is for a sale, free and clear, to a de-veloper of mega-medical centers, who is then free to maximize the value of that property. There are no restrictions on the number of doctors, the hours of operation or the size and height of the facility.

Voters should base their decision on the reasonable expectation that Simone will do everything it can to maximize profits by max-imizing the number of patients. That is Sim-one’s right, but it is at direct odds with the interests of this community. Their full page color ads with architectural renderings and flowery descriptions (which keep changing) are meaningless, because the developer is in no way bound by them.

So how busy will this mega-clinic and ur-gent care center be? Let’s say the clinic has one hundred physicians, though this 6.7 acre property could incorporate several times that. If each physician treats five patients an hour, that’s 500 patients an hour. Fourteen hours a day would make 7,000 patients a day!

You don’t have to be a traffic engineer to see that 7,000 additional vehicles - plus em-ployees, delivery trucks, laboratory pick-ups, service teams and salesmen – would create gridlock on Peninsula and Branch Boule-vards and on Rockaway Turnpike. And these vehicles would seek alternate routes, spill-ing onto residential streets, endangering our children.

Importantly, this will be a large, regional clinic, drawing patients from all over. We will have thousands of strangers in our com-munity, every day, from early in the morn-ing until late at night – patients, employees, service workers – on our streets and around our schools.

This is the wrong location for a mega-medical center. It is the height of

insensitivity, in an area just devastated by Sandy, to drop this seven-day-a-week mega-clinic into the middle of a quiet residentialneighborhood. That may not be something the school board chose to consider, but thecommunity certainly should. At a time whenso much commercial real estate is available, is there any reason this facility has to be here?

As a parent, it pains me to see a plan that calls for blacktopping the ball fields and turn-ing them into parking lots. When so manyof our children attend schools with no rec-reational fields and when open spaces areso scarce, should we really be turning our schools and fields over to a commercial de-veloper?

Shouldn’t this school and these ball fields be used for the benefit of our children? Let it be a community center, or another school, or a library, but please don’t squander this pub-lic space, permanently robbing our children of a precious asset and ruining a neighbor-hood in the process.

We know what we would lose. But, what would we gain? Additional taxes to the dis-trict would amount to about $35 per family per year. That’s it. And in a district that spends $250,000 a day, the entire annual tax payment would last just 36 hours. We wouldbe giving this property away, and that does not include any offset for the cost of extra municipal services – police, traffic enforce-ment, sewage treatment, medical waste, road repairs – for which property owners willeventually have to pay.

What if the developer one day sells this fa-cility to Mount Sinai Hospital? As a not-for-profit, Mount Sinai would pay no taxes what-soever! Property taxes could actually go up,while property values will certainly go down.

These issues strike at our quality of life – traffic, crime, property values, taxes, and the safety of our families and children. But thereis another, more historic point. The name“Five Towns” dates back to the Great Depres-sion, when our neighborhoods banded to-gether to support one another.

We have come together many times over the years, most recently following Super-storm Sandy. On March 20, let’s do it again. Please take the time to vote NO - for ourfamilies, our friends, our children and ourcommunity.

has plans to lease the building to Mount Sinai Hospital for use as a multi-specialty medical practice.

Four members of the school board, termed the real estate committee, reviewed the bids and then brought their analysis of the bids to the rest of the seven-member board. On January 14th, the board voted 4 to 2, with one member absent, to sell the property, to Simone, subject to a public referendum to be held on March 20th. If the sale is rejected, the process starts all over again and bids have to be resubmitted; new bids can be sub-mitted as well.

The current disagreement weighs the po-tential use of the property as a prime real estate space for development as a medical center providing the community with much needed tax funds on one side of the argu-ment. On the other hand, members of the community see this development as an in-fringement on the residential nature of the neighborhood, paving over green space and increasing traffic in an already congested area.

A local resident who chose not to be iden-tified called into question the wisdom of pav-ing a grassy zone in an area that had recently

been submerged under feet of water in Hur-ricane Sandy. She pointed out that further down Peninsula Boulevard the highway has open drainage that allows water to flow away from traffic and homes. The proposed pav-ing by the Number Six School could further exacerbate the flooding that is often a trade-mark of Peninsula Boulevard in Woodmere, she said.

Lewin-Jacus noted that the CC5T received a copy of the agreement signed by Joseph Simone, of Simone Development, and Dr. Asher Mansdorf. president of the Lawrence Board of Education. Lewin-Jacus said the agreement indicated that “Simone is going to apply for an abatement to be done on or before 60 days following the Referendum Notice, so they won’t have to pay the full amount of the taxes.” He also pointed out that Mount Sinai Hospital is not mentioned in the agreement.

As for their phone and door-to-door can-vassing, stressed Lewin-Jacus, “We are see-ing the tides change. More than that, that people are against it, especially after we ex-plain the downside. They are changing from being unaware to aware and mobilized. (We are) making sure they are going to go vote.”

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#6 School vote Wednesday

Number Six-Jeffrey Bessen/Herald, Medical center-Newman Design

Lawrence School District residents will vote on a public referendum on March 20 to sell or not sell the Number Six School, left, that could be turned into a medical center, right.

Continued from page 1

By Joseph SimoneSimone Healthcare Development Group

Simone Healthcare Development and Mount Sinai remain firmly committed to the plan to provide the highest level of compre-hensive and coordinated outpatient care to the residents of the Five Towns community.

We have listened very carefully to the con-cerns expressed at community forums and in the press over the past several weeks and we are seeking to better address the planning is-sues that have been raised by residents in the immediate vicinity of the site about potential traffic and the loss of open space.

We are very encouraged by the positive feedback the medical facility has received. We continue to believe that the proposed medical center will provide enormous bene-fits to the community by providing enhanced, quality medical care, job opportunities, im-mediate and ongoing tax benefits, and an at-tractive adaptive re-use of the School 6 prop-erty that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. We believe the benefits to the community far outweigh any potential nega-tive impact.

Contrary to persistent rumors, the project is not and will not be a “hospital” or “mega-

medical center.” In fact, the current build-ing will not be enlarged under our propos-al. Instead, it will be transformed from an abandoned school that drains public money through ongoing maintenance and insurance costs into a comprehensive outpatient medi-cal office and urgent care center to be op-erated by the world renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. There will be a total of 60 physicians with about 100 support staff, offering patients better coordination of primary and specialty care, all in one conve-nient location.

Simone Healthcare Development Group and Mount Sinai remain dedicated to part-nering with the community to create a top quality medical office practice that welcomes the participation of local physicians, reduces medical costs by eliminating hundreds of ER visits and significantly reduces the time it takes to receive quality medical attention, all under one roof. Instead of burdening tax-payers, our project reduces taxes. It provides millions of dollars to the school district in the short term and saves taxpayers millions more in the long term.

I thank you for allowing me to clear up some misconceptions about our project.

VOTE ‘NO’: ‘Mega-medical center’ would destroy our community

Voting places and hours

Voting on March 20th is from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and the four voting sites are Law-rence Middle School (195 Broadway, Lawrence), Number 2 School (1 Donahue Av-enue, Inwood), Atlantic Beach Village Hall (The Plaza, Atlantic Beach) and Lawrence High School (2 Reilly Road, Cedarhurst). If you have any questions regarding where to vote, please call the Lawrence School District Clerk at (516) 295-7032.

Registered voters unable to vote in person on March 20 can appear in person at Lawrence Middle School on any school day prior to March 20 between 8 AM and 4 PM, and go to the District Clerk’s office (first office on the right, when entering the building), where one can fill out the absentee ballot request form, and vote by absentee ballot on the spot. The Board of Election’s official deadline for registrations for this election was March 11.

VOTE ‘YES’: Medical facility would provide enormous benefits

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The Pesach seder is a ritual based upon questions. The evening’s proceedings begin with questions--four of them.

And, even before the holiday, the teachings leading up to the holiday are enveloped with questions concerning observance, ritual, diet, and other cognate matters that make this season a rabbi’s delight at being the one most sought after for the correct answers.

This question and answer methodology as taught in the classroom of Nechama Leibow-itz, a”h, whose 16th yahrtzeit is this week, can now be found in print in a unique Hag-

gadah entitled, “Stud-ies on the Haggadah from the Teachings of Nechama Leibowitz” edited by Yitzhak Rein-er and Shmuel Peerless [Urim Publications].

Within this work is a carefully gleaned collection of supple-mentary sources taken from the teachings of Nechama Leibowitz, who was among the most distinguished To-rah scholars of our era

and whose instructional methods are still uti-lized by many Torah teachers. According to the book’s editors, “The cornerstone of her approach is the presentation of questions on the biblical text and relevant commentaries that require the learner to independently an-alyze and draw conclusions…that presented textual comparisons, stylistic literary analy-

ses and commentaries with probing ques-tions are designed to foster in-depth study of the sources. Nechama’s approach to Torah study is thus very compatible with the meth-odology reflected in the Haggadah.”

With that as prologue, this work utilizes Leibowitz’s works that relate to the Pesach story and the seder narrative and main-stream these readings and writings to fit in as a running commentary to the basic Hag-gadah text. This is especially germane to the Torah text and commentaries by Leibowitz from her commentary on the Book of She-mot, bringing together her question and an-swer method on Chumash to blend with the Haggadah narrative.

It should be noted that in just about each part of the section of Maggid, which is at the heart of this work, there is framed a “ques-tion” and “suggested answer” motif. That is what gives this work its uniqueness.

Special textual attention is given to the introduction dealing with “A Night of Vigil,” the four cups, the four children, especially that section dealing with the pedagogical principle as defined by Leibowitz. This sec-tion’s commentary leads to a detailed the-matic treatment of “Pesach, Matzah, and Marror” from both a historical and ritual point of view.

The Leibowitz method is most evident and appreciated by this writer when used in interpreting the sections with biblical texts.

Utilizing her many famed gilyonot and her interpretive method surely helps enhance the texts’ purpose and meaning. This to me goes to the very heart of the importance and

religious worth of this work. If studied care-fully prior to the seder, this section, contain-ing over 100 analytical questions, can lend the seder much in terms of gaining for all in attendance a better under-standing of the Exodus nar-rative.

Another work reflecting upon the teachings of an-other great master is entitled, “Vision and Leadership” ed-ited by Rabbi Reuven Ziegler, Dr. David Shatz, and Dr. Joel Wolowelsky [KTAV Publish-ing, 2013] and based upon the teachings on Moses by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

In their introductory re-marks, the editors cite a quote from the Rav that, in my opinion, just about sets the tone for the basic value of this work going right to the heart of the basic theme of the Pesach observance.

As the recently liberated Jewish people is about to enter the Land of Israel, the Rav gives its historic mission its purpose. He is quoted as follows:

“From the viewpoint of human reason, the redemption in Egypt should have been the only one in Jewish history. The messianic era should have commenced with the Exodus…. Yet we believe that, at some point in time, all contradictions will be resolved and that the Almighty will purge the historical order of contradictions and antithetic elements….The Exodus will finally be completely real-ized; the eschatological era will begin; only

then will the redemption from Egypt be en-dowed with its final meaning.”

There is one essay further on in this work where the Rav, in dealing with Moses’ rela-tionship with Pharaoh, cites a very interest-ing observation by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch “that it was only after the plague of darkness that Pharaoh and his people began to respect Moses. That was the critical mo-ment, the turning point in the relationship

of Moses and Pharaoh and the entire land of Egypt. In the his-tory of wars, we have not comeacross a situation where one partyis completely enveloped in dark-ness and the second enjoys light.During the three dark days, the Jews could have exterminated the population, plundered the land, and departed from Egypt. The old Pharaoh had argued that if Egypt should get involved in a war, the Jews would sup-port its enemy. The three daysof darkness proved this charge

to be completely false. Suddenly, Moses ap-peared as a charismatic leader, a great man who actually wanted to reform his people and liberate them from slavery. He became great in their eyes.”

Consider this observation carefully, andlearn from this the greatness of our heritage as taught to us by Moses, for that was andstill is the basic lesson that we must learn from the Exodus, the triumph of light over darkness.

To learn more consider:“Studies in the Weekly Parashah” by Dr. Moshe Sokolow;“Torah Conversations” by Rabbi Benjamin S. Yasgur; “To Study and to Teach by ShmuelPeerless; and two stellar biographies, “Ne-chama Leibowitz: Teacher and Bible Scholar” by Yael Unterman; and, “Tales of Nechama” by Leah Abramowiz.

Alan Jay Gerber

The Kosher Bookworm

Nechama Leibowitz Haggadah and the Rav’s legacy

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I might as well start getting ready for Shavuot. It seems Chanukah was just yesterday. How is it possible it’s almost

Pesach??? Here we go again….the shop-ping, cleaning, preparing, cooking, serving and not to mention another Pesach article I have to come up with. Last year I came up with two really funny ones, not sure I can top those. I suggest you look them up on the In-

ternet, seriously.Those first feelings

of panic started about two weeks ago when I was shopping at Gour-met Glatt. Whatever I looked for was in an-other aisle, due to all the Pesach items arriv-ing. Not that I was in any way ready to start shopping, but I decided to stroll through the aisles to have a look. Not expecting anything to shout out to me, as I

thought I had seen everything possible last year….but there it was, how was it we were able to do without it in the past? There in front of me, was marshmallow filled, choco-late covered “locusts.” Why is it no one ever thought of it before? What’s next, flavored ices in the shape of boils? Oy, I sound like those people who think having anything ex-cept the basics, as we had fifty years ago, is sacrilegious. Truth is, with the influx of in-

novative Passover products in the market today, it’s safe to say that we don’t have to subsist on just matzah, gefite fish, borsht, eggs, macaroons and potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes. I know I tend to make fun of all the newfangled products. But I have to admit, I also end up buying some of them in the end. When my kids were younger and the Pesach version of the cold breakfast cereals were unveiled, I thought “I can’t believe they have this for Pesach! It’s ridiculous.” Then I proceeded to place seven boxes into my shop-ping cart (hey they only contained about five ounces of cereal each). Good thing, as that first year they were sold out the week before the yom tov even started. At $5.89 a box it killed me to throw out six boxes after the chag. They did look like the real thing…un-til the milk hit the bowl. So, you’d think I’d learned my lesson, right? Um, no. Every year I fall for some new enticing item, and every year I say to myself “not going to fall for this next year.” And so it goes…..

OK, enough about shopping. Let’s figure out a good soup to make for one of your dairy lunches. I decided to add a soup that’s different from the usual French onion or the trusty potato soup I usually make. This year carrot ginger soup made it onto my menu. Besides being healthy and delicious, carrots have a rather amazing history.

In ancient times, the root part of the car-rot plant that we eat today was not typically used. The carrot plant however was highly valued due to the medicinal value of its seeds

and leaves. The Romans believed carrots and their

seeds were aphrodisiacs. As such, carrots were a common plant found in Roman gar-dens.

Before the 17th century, almost all car-rots cultivated were purple. The modern day orange carrot wasn’t cultivated until Dutch growers in the late 16th century took mutant strains and gradually developed them into the sweet, plump, orange variety we have today.

English women in the 1600’s often wore carrot leaves in their hats in place of flowers or feathers.

The Anglo-Saxons included carrots as an ingredient in a medicinal drink against the devil and insanity. (I can think of a few lead-ers in the Middle East who might want to try it.)

Researchers at the USDA found that study participants who consumed two car-rots a day were able to lower their choles-terol levels about 20 percent (Jerry, ignore this since you’re diet is already filled with oat bran for your heart, blueberries and a ridicu-lous amount of cinnamon for your brain and memory).

The average person will eat 10,866 car-rots in their lifetime.

Howard Hughes always measured every carrot he ate.

Eating three carrots gives you the strength to walk three miles (actually seeing a picture of myself in a bathing suit gives me more strength to walk those miles)

Carrots are one of the rare vegetables that are more nutritious cooked than raw.

One person not thrilled with carrots was Mae West. She was known to say, “I never worry about diets. The only carrots that in-terest me are the number you get in a dia-mond.”

Oh, and wild rabbits don’t eat carrots--

you’ve been watching too much Bugs bunny!

Carrot and Ginger Soup■ Serves 12■ 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil■ 1 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion■ Kosher salt■ 1 1/2 T minced garlic■ 1 1/2 T minced peeled ginger■ 3 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped■ 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped■ 9 cups parve chicken or vegetable stock,

broth or flavor cubes and water to equal thatamount

A dollop of vanilla yogurt and a sprig of parsley or rosemary for each serving, op-tional.

Combine the olive oil and onion in heavy pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle with3/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, 10 min-utes, until just starting to caramelize. Addthe garlic and ginger, stirring, 2 more min-utes. Stir in the carrots, potatoes and the parve chicken or vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the carrotsand potato are very tender, approximately 20 minutes. Keep warm.

Puree the soup with an immersion blend-er until very smooth. Top with yogurt and garnish if you wish. Enjoy!

Who’s in the kitchen

Hey, what’s up Doc?

Judy Joszef

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The Five Towns Community Chest is once again planning its annual Youth Board bas-ketball tournament. Lawrence High School has proudly hosted this great event for the past 15 years. Unfortunately the Lawrence

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art sports complex. This new gym features equipment and authentic wood floors used by NBA teams for players comfort, safety and enjoyment. Teams are already forming and are anxiously awaiting the 9:00 AM tip-off

on March 17th. The competition for trophies and bragging rights is sure to be strong. Please join us for a day of fun! A portion of the proceeds will provide funding for theAdam Barsel Memorial Scholarship and forthe general Community Chest fund. Tick-ets and refreshments are free. Sponsorship opportunities are still available and 3 on 3teams are currently forming. Please call 374-5800 for more information.

HAFTR extends HospitalityPhoto courtesy Five Towns Community Chest

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From March 7-11, 20 yeshiva high school basketball teams from across the U.S. and Canada met at the Max Stern Athletic Cen-ter on Yeshiva University’s Wilf Campus in Washington Heights to battle it out for the top spot in the University’s 22nd Annual Red Sarachek Invitational Basketball Tourna-ment. When the buzzer sounded, the Shal-hevet High School Firehawks of Los Angeles, CA were crowned the tournament’s Tier I champions.

In a thrilling championship bout, the Fire-hawks defeated the Frisch School Cougars of Paramus, NJ by the score of 62-53. Play-ing before a packed crowd and a broadcast audience in the thousands, Shalhevet shoot-ing guard and Sarachek MVP Joseph Fallas held off a determined Frisch squad with an impressive 25 points. Cougar guard Judah Cohen kept the contest close by putting up 21 points of his own.

The tournament, named for legendary former YU Maccabees coach Bernard “Red” Sarachek, was established in 1992 to honor Sarachek’s contributions to the sport of bas-ketball and his dedication to the Jewish com-munity. In addition to basketball, the long weekend included several off-court activities, including a lively Shabbaton and tours of the University’s ever-expanding campus, to help the young all-stars gain an early appreciation for YU’s unique educational environment and culture.

In addition to Shalhevet and Frisch, this year’s field included: Magen David (Brook-lyn, NY); North Shore Hebrew Academy (Great Neck, NY); Davis Renov Stahler Ye-shiva High School (Woodmere, NY); RASG Hebrew Academy (Miami, FL); YULA High School for Boys (Los Angeles, CA); Wein-baum Yeshiva High School (Boca Raton, FL); Cooper Yeshiva (Memphis, TN); Valley Torah (Valley Village, CA); Beren Academy (Hous-ton, TX); Maimonides School (Brookline, MA); Ida Crown Jewish Academy (Chicago, IL); Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy (Rockville, MD); Bnei Akiva Schools – Or Chaim (Toronto, ON); Fuchs Mizrachi School (Beachwood, OH); Columbus Torah Acad-emy (Columbus, OH); Akiva Hebrew Day School (Southfield, MO); Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA) and Yeshiva Uni-versity High School for Boys/Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (New York, NY).

The Yeshiva University High School Li-ons claimed the Tier II title with a decisive 53-27 win over the Melvin J. Berman He-brew Academy Cougars. The Lions retained

a commanding lead throughout the game thanks to a collaborative effort by forward Ezra Teichman (14 points), guard Zak Lenik (10 points), and forward Ben Zion Feld (10 points).

“Yeshiva University’s Red Saracheck Tour-nament is a top notch event comprised of many of the finest Jewish High School Var-sity Basketball programs from across North America and an annual highlight for all who participate,” said YUHSB coach Daniel Gib-ber. “We are proud of the fact that for the second consecutive season our MTA team held its opponents to the lowest points per game average of all teams in the tournament. Following a narrow loss to Beren-Houston,

we are pleased to have regrouped to win the tournament’s Tier 2 Championship.”

Shai Kaminetzky, YUHSB Senior Point Guard said that, “While our initial goal was to win Tier 1, bouncing back to win three consecutive games convincingly and securing the Tier 2 Championship was a great way to end our season.”

Tier III went to Weinbaum Yeshiva High School and Tier IV to Fuchs Mizrachi School.

For the second straight year, the tourna-ment was broadcast in high-definition video provided by MacsLive. The broadcast was made possible with the support of Yeshiva University’s Office of Undergraduate Admis-sions and Center for the Jewish Future.

Tier II for MTA at YU’s Sarachek bball invitational

Photo by Yeshiva University

The YUHS Lions claimed the Tier II title with a 53-27 win over the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars

Photo by Yeshiva University

Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars defend against the YUHS Lions

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Some of the Midreshet Shalhe-vet students currently in Midrashot in Israel met with Shalhevet Mena-helet Mrs. Esther Eisenman (second from right, seated) in Yerushalayim one evening this past week. “It was wonderful to see the girls and see that even after close to a year after graduation they are still close as a group,” said Mrs. Eisenman upon her return to New York. “They’ve been seeing each other all year and even though only a few of them are in the same seminary, they were all sharing their experiences of the year in Israel together: you could tell by the way they were answer-ing questions for one another! Each of them has grown so much and it was gratifying to see how much each of them is learning during this special year. They’ve each come to appreciate Torat Yisrael, Am Yisrael and Medinat Yisrael on a deeper level and have spent time incor-porating these values personally. The level of introspection I heard about was impressive. As a group and as individuals, they continue to impress me, and I look forward to continuing to hear about their deci-sions and their spiritual growth in the years to come.”

Shalhevet alumni in Israel meet menahelet

Shalhevet alumni in schools in Israel met with principal Mrs. Esther Eisenman for milk-shakes in Jerusalem. Photo by Courtesy Midreshet Shalhevet

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Mar.17Chabad of the Five Towns

On Sunday, March 17 at 11 a.m., the Hebrew School will conduct a model Seder. Call Rabbi Meir Geisinsky at (516) 295-2478 x19.

On Sunday, March 17 at noon, after Hebrew school, a family trip to the Ohel for personal prayer and marking the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s birthday. Call Rabbi Meir Geisinsky at (516) 295-2478.

From Sunday, March 17 to Friday, March 22, meet the rabbi to sell your chometz. Call Rabbi Schneur Wolowik at (516) 295-2478 x11 for an appointment.

Mar. 19Haggadah Shiur for Menby Rav Yitzchok Knobel, Shlita

Tuesday, March 19, 8:30 PM - 9:45 PMat the Yeshiva Gedolah of the Five Towns846 West Broadway, Woodmere

Chabad of the Five TownsOn Tuesday, March 19 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.,

Friendship Circle Passover program. Children with special needs with take part in a model Seder. $10 per child not in the Judaica Circle pro-gram. Contact (516) 295-2478 x13 or batsheva@chabad5towns.com

Mar. 24PASSOVER BULLETIN:

OU KOSHER ANNOUNCES SPECIAL EXTEND-ED HOTLINE HOURS BEFORE PASSOVER: SUNDAY, MARCH 24 (10 A.M.-NOON), AND MONDAY, MARCH 25 (10 A.M.-1P.M.)

OU Kosher announces special extended hours of the OU Kosher Hotline to assist with Passover preparations—from 10:00 a.m-12 noon on Sunday, March 24 and from 10:00 a.m-1:00p.m on Monday, March 25 (the night of the first seder.)

The OU Kosher Hotline is 212-613-8241.

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Hamoed TripIn the footsteps of the pastKfar Adumim and the snail secret of the

Tchelet dye, resurfacing after 1500 years. Kasr al Yahud, where we crossed the Jordan river with Yehoshua into Israel on Pesach over 3,000 years ago, on to a ‘Regel’ from our earliest days in the Promised Land. Up to Shilo to workshops of ancient weaving and dyeing and the new Seer’s Tower sound and light show. Tour the Tel where the Mishkan stood during the Shoftim and then end at the award winning Shilo Winery.

Cost for the day-8:30 am—6:30 pm: $55/adult $45/student in Israel or child under 12. Bring your own Pesach lunch and snacks. Water is provided.

Reservations or info in U.S. Ruthie Kohn 516 239-9202 x10

In Israel Zahava Englard 052-484-6034

April 3One Israel Fund Isru Chag trip

Blooming in the Western NegevNetiv A’asara: a view into northern Gaza.

Café Cafe in Sderot for a dairy lunch, then to the Black Arrow Memorial, symbol of the region’s vast ‘battle heritage.’ Spring flowers, the fifth century synagogue mosaic at Hurvat Maon. South to the Steel Tower in Kerem Shalom, then to Holot Halutza’s Gush Katif replants, Nave, Bnai Netzarim. Chemdat olive oil, pomegranates and tomatoes in the sand.

Cost for the day-8:15 am—7:00 pm, including lunch: $65/adult, $55/student in Israel or child under 12.

Reservations or info in U.S. Ruthie Kohn 516 239-9202 x10

In Israel Zahava Englard 052-484-6034

Apr 14Hebrew Academy of Nas-sau County

60th Anniversary DinnerCrest Hollow Country ClubReservations or information 516-565-5640

x232Email: dinner@hanc.orgWebsite: www.hanc.org

Photo courtesy of HAFTR

HAFTR celebrated their 35th Annual Dinner on Sunday night, March 10th, at Citi Field: (right to left) Laaura & Yaron Kornblum –Guests of Honor, Executive Director Reuben Maron, Cal & Janine Nathan-Yachad Awardees.

ON THE

CalendarSubmit your shul or organization’s events or shiurim to jscalendar@thejewishstar.com. Deadline is Wednesday of the week prior to publication.

A number of Midrashim pose the ques-tion (ascribed either to Rabbi Yoseh, Yosi, or Dosa), “Why do children be-

gin learning the [Chumash] from the section about korbanot [offerings]?” And the answer is, “Because just as the korbanot are pure, so are the children pure.”

In recording the question at the beginning of Vayikra, Kli Yakar quotes the Yalkut Shimo-ni (Pinchas 786), who uses a play on words

to demonstrate that one year old “k’vasim” (sheep) are used as ko-rbanot, because they are “m’khabsim” (they launder or wash away) the sins of a person, making the person as clean (or pure) as a one-year old.

While there are many suggestions as to why the alef in “VAYI-KRa” is small (Kli Yakar begins his commentary on the parsha with his own interpretation),

the call to attention brought on by the alef in this first word of the book is a reminder that this is where children, who are small and who begin their learning with alef, should begin their Chumash studies.

Kli Yakar quotes another opinion, that the word “Alef” comes from a root which means to study, as in the verse in Iyov (33:33), when his friend Elihu tells him, “Va’Alefkha

Hokhma,” – “If you have words, answer me… but if you don’t, then listen to me; be silent as I will teach you wisdom.” The point taken from there is that learning is only fulfilling when a person lowers himself, and accepts the role of student, like a child learning in a classroom.

Moshe indeed merited to be called in this manner – Vayikra El Moshe – because he had done this when G-d first called upon him. He belittled himself saying, “I am not a man of words” (Shmot 4:10), and he merited to be-come the epitome of being a man of words, the quintessential teacher of Torah.

Not only was he the greatest teacher, but he rose above everyone else of his time. Cer-tainly G-d spoke to Adam, Noach, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. But there was no one else in their time worthy of being any kind of competition. But in Moshe’s day, there were 70 elders, Bezalel, Aharon and his sons, the princes, etc. and only Moshe merited to have the relationship with G-d he enjoyed.

And so the lesson is twofold: We learn from Moshe that one who never thinks “I have arrived” and who always thinks, “I have so much more to learn” is a person who will have much more success in learning.

Having played the role of instructor for advanced teacher education and training, I have found the most productive classes were those in which the teachers in the room played the role of students. Those who feel the need to reverse the roles in that context end up learning nothing themselves and ruin the class for everyone else.

On the other hand, playing the role of stu-dent is something I cherish as well. It is a blessing to hear new ideas, see new things, be presented with different perspectives on things I don’t know well or even know very well. And the reminder of how much there is still to learn is ever humbling.

This leaves us with the second lesson: re-garding children, of what and how they learn. We are living in a time when information is out there, available and so easily accessible. What is not out there, and what needs to be taught, learned and made available to chil-dren, is the ability to think. The answer to “what’s the answer?” is “I don’t know. Figure it out.” Or, “Perhaps if you use this rule or this information that you have, you may be able to come up with the answer.” “I am here to help, but not to show you or tell you.”

Of course there are things we must “tell” children. How to read, translation of words, and even some basic skills all come from a frontal sharing of “information you need to know.” But the book of Vayikra is a great place to start learning because the same words and shorashim (root words) appear over and over in the first seven chapters, cre-ating a built in review of language, syntax, vocabulary, and structure.

And even the message shared by Rabbi Yoseh, Yosi or Dosa is equally important tobear in mind. There is a purity that begin-ning learners have, a curiosity, along with adesire to learn and to please others.

Our challenge is to teach things correctly, to make good choices, and to give learners information, skills, and the wings to think for themselves.

Instead of creating “Yes”-men-and-womenand people who are afraid to get wrong an-swers, we must tap into the purity of Vayikra,combine it with the purity of the children, and promote an active kind of learning inwhich mistakes are encouraged, because wecatch them on our own, learn from them,and grow from them. We create an environ-ment in which those who have the drive, who have a similarly talented peer group (asdid Moshe), are able to rise above because they raise themselves above through their commitment and dedication to learning and growing.

Hanokh L’naar al pi darko – Teach the child according to how the child learns, so that even when he grows old, he will not turn away from what he has been taught. (Prov-erbs 22:6)

Parshat Vayikra

The beginning of learning

Rabbi Avi BilletCheck us out online at

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In 1941, the few children hiding in a cellar didn`t really know when Pesach occurred; they lost all touch of time after they lost their families....But when they saw a bit of green growing through the tiny window, they realized that spring was coming, and with it, Pesach. They asked the old man, who had agreed to look after them, to give them a bit of flour and water, matches and some paper. It was a very unusual Seder that year...

Pesach 1941

Rabbi Noam Himelstein studied in Yeshivat Har Etzion and served in the Tanks Corps of the IDF. He has taught in yeshiva high schools, post-high school women’s seminaries, and headed the Torah MiTzion Kollel in Melbourne, Australia. He currently teaches at Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusa-lem, and lives with his wife and six children in Neve Daniel, Gush Etzion.

By Rabbi Noam Himelstein

S ometimes, heroes are the most ordinary people, who rise to the most extraordi-nary occasions. Like Noam Apter.

Friday night: White tablecloths and china, the sweet light of the Shabbat candles, and the singing of Shalom Aleichem, a song of peace that begins every Shabbat dinner in ev-ery Jewish home. No matter where Jews have been, and how unwelcoming and challenging the world around them has been, they are still singing of peace on Friday nights. And this particular Friday night in the Yeshiva at Otniel was no different. Except that while the students of this yeshiva and their fami-lies were singing of peace, no one heard the silent click of wire cutters slicing through the security fence.

Smiling faces, Kiddush over wine, and the blessing of the children; every Friday night for thousands of years Jewish parents have

taken a moment to appreciate the gift of children sitting at the Shabbat table. It is a moment of dreams and joy, of potential and love. If we can bless the sweet delicious challot, and appreci-ate how blessed we are to have bread on our table when so many in the world can only imagine such a luxury, how can we not take a moment to appreciate what a blessing each child is, and how many dreams each of them represent? Except that

this Friday night, while parents were blessing their children with light, and seeing in them the majesty of creation, two other ‘children,’ armed with M-16 automatic assault rifles and grenades, were making their way into the same dining hall bringing only darkness and destruction.

Otniel, a town in the Hebron foothills south of Jerusalem, is also home to a very special yeshiva, where boys add two years to their army service in order to combine army service with Jewish studies. While students and families sang and danced to traditional Shabbat tunes in the dining hall, Noam, along with Gavriel, aged 17, Tzvika, aged 19, and Yehuda aged 20, were in the kitchen get-ting the first course on to the serving plates.

In the blink of an eye, light became dark-ness and the sweet sound of Shabbat melo-dies was lost in the horrible sounds of gunfire. Two terrorists, members of the Islamic Jihad organization, entered the kitchen wearing IDF army uniforms and began shooting im-mediately.

Under fire, Noam Apter ran towards the door separating the kitchen from the dining room where over a hundred unsuspecting people, young boys and families, were wel-coming Shabbat.

Wounded and bleeding profusely, with his last strength, he managed to lock both locks and throw the key away. He locked himself in with the terrorists, preventing them from entering the dining hall, and raining death and destruction on all those inside.

Noam Apter paid for this act of heroism with his life. The terrorists murdered him, and the other three boys with him. It is dif-ficult to imagine what pure terror such a moment must contain. To be at such close quarters, with no way of defending yourself,

facing evil in its purest form, the range ofemotions that must inevitably sweep over aperson is impossible to describe. Many ex-perience pure fear, the fear of the unknown.Some experience intense sadness, the sad-ness that comes with the awareness of end-ings; dreams that will never be realized,loved ones that will be left behind, goalsnever to be achieved.

And some, those rare few, experiencechallenge, the challenge that comes with the realization that life always means opportu-nity, and that we are always here for a pur-pose. How does a human being rise to such a level? How does one overcome every natural instinct of self-preservation, and so see his fellow human beings before him, that he is able to run towards danger, instead of awayfrom it? If I ever get the chance, I will askNoam Apter that question. There are those who, in a moment, achieve what most people strive for an entire lifetime to become.

This week’s portion, VaYikra, introduces what is essentially an entire book of the To-rah almost completely dedicated to the con-cept of sacrifices in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and later the Temple. Nearly a quarter of the Torah is dedicated, apparently to the how,when, where and what of animal offerings. It is interesting to note, therefore, that this topic is introduced with a rather unique oc-currence. We often find in the Torah, that G-d speaks to Moshe, telling him what to say and teach to the Jewish people. At the begin-ning of this week’s portion, however, before speaking to Moshe, G-d decides to call him:

“Vayikra el Moshe, va’yedaber elav me’Ohel Moed le’mor:

“Daber el B’nei Yisrael ve’amarta a’lehem:adam ki yakriv mekem Korban la’Hashem, min ha’be’hemah, min ha’bakar, u’minha’tzon takrivu et korbanchem.”

“And He called to Moshe, and He spoke to him from the tent of meeting (the Ohel Moed) saying:

“Speak to the children of Israel and sayto them: a man who offers up (brings close) from amongst you a sacrifice to G-d, from animals from the cattle or from the flock (sheep) offer up (bring close) your sacrifice (offering).” (Vayikra 1:1-2)

Why, here, does G-d suddenly decide to call Moshe before speaking to him? How of-ten have we read in the Torah “G-d speaks toMoshe saying…”? So why does G-d suddenly feel the need to call Moshe before speakingto him? In fact, what exactly is the difference between speaking to Moshe and calling him? After all, if G-d is calling Moshe, isn’t He bydefinition already speaking to him? Indeed,what is the purpose of G-d calling, or even speaking to Moshe at all? Can’t G-d simplychoose what to put into Moshe’s thoughts?

Further, why does G-d specifically chooseto call Moshe (as opposed to just speaking tohim) here, just as the Torah is introducing the concept of sacrifices? Is there some con-nection between the sacrifices and the call of G-d?

Perhaps one way of approaching this top-ic is to draw from an interesting peculiaritythat occurs at the beginning of the portion(Vayikra) in an actual Torah scroll: the word Vayikra is written with a small aleph. Jewish tradition explains this detail as the result of a fascinating dialogue between Moshe and G-d. It seems that Moshe, described in the Torah as “the most humble man on the face of the earth” (Bamidbar (Numbers) 12:3), was uncomfortable with the fact that G-d

FROM THE HEART OF JERUSALEM

Rabbi Binny Freedman

Living up to life’s challenges

Continued on page 17

the Omnipotent was calling him. After all, the nature of humility is that Moshe felt he was unworthy of the honor of being called by G-d, so he felt it more appropriate to write the word Vayaker, (without the aleph) mean-ing that G-d happened to appear to him, but G-d insisted on saying He called Moshe di-rectly. So Moshe wrote the word, but with a small aleph, indicating his discomfort with this honor.

In other words, the book of Vayikra which introduces the concept of sacrifice and opens with the phenomenon of Moshe being called by G-d , flows from the idea of humility as represented by Moshe, the most humble man to ever live.

Most people think that humility is to be-

lieve that I am nothing, but in truth, humility is much more about recognizing that Hash-em (G-d) is everything. As an example, one might think that if a great and yet humble artist was asked if he was great, he would answer that he was not because to be humble means to know you are nothing. But that is not true. To be humble is not to believe that you are not great; on the contrary, imagine that one night Leonard Bernstein falls ill and the New York Philharmonic is set for a performance in the White House. So Zubin Mehta is called to take his place because only a great conductor could fill such shoes. And imagine Zubin responds that he is not a great conductor at all, and declines. This is not hu-mility; it is stupidity.

If you are a great conductor, then you should know you are great; the essence of

humility is not believing that you are not great, or gifted, or talented, when you really are. Humility is recognizing that that great-ness has nothing to do with you, it is a gift from G-d, and your challenge is what to do with it.

Imagine, at the end of last week’s por-tion (Shemot (Exodus) 40:35) we read that Moshe is not allowed to enter the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and now he is being called by G-d! In fact, this is not something which is new to Moshe; the first time Moshe is called by G-d is way back at the burning bush (Sh-emot (Exodus) 3:4), when G-d calls Moshe forth to become the redeemer of the Jewish people, and ultimately of the world.

Vayikra is not just being called; it’s a call-ing.

Moshe, all alone, shepherding his flock in the deserts of Midian, sees a burning bush, but ultimately it is what he hears that is of paramount significance; he hears the voice of G-d, coming from deep within himself, call-ing him to stand up to the challenge of who he was meant to be.

In truth, the difference between a calling (Keriah) and a coincidence (Mikreh) is only in our minds; Everything that comes into our lives is a calling of one type or another.

Indeed, Moshe might easily have viewed the burning bush as a fascinating occur-rence; but he understood that it was a call-ing. Indeed a close look at the verses there reveals quite clearly that Hashem does not call Moshe until after he approaches the burning bush. Perhaps how often we feel we are ‘called upon’ by G-d is really a function of whether we are able to recognize every-thing around us as a calling emanating from Hashem’s voice.

So where does this ability to see the hid-den calling in everything around us comefrom? Maybe it stems from the trait of Ana-vah, humility.

Ever notice how sometimes people lose faith with G-d because they prayed for some-thing personal, and “it just didn’t happen; G-d wasn’t listening”? When was the last time you heard someone say: “I have been praying for world peace, and it just isn’t hap-pening so I don’t believe in G-d”? This personis only praying for himself, and if the center of your universe is yourself, then obviously there is little room for G-d….

What was so incredible about Moshe wasnot that he was an Anav (humble person) but that, with all that he did, he stayed an Anav.

Perhaps this is the hidden essence of what the Korbanot, the sacrifices, were all about:

Animal sacrifices represent the physical world and all that I am given in it, and tak-ing the animal, representing both the physi-cal world around me, as well as the role I am given in that physical world, is about how Isucceed in offering it back up to G-d.

There is nothing more powerful, and more meaningful than the gift of hearing that voice that calls us to who we are meant to be, and living up to its challenges; may weall be so blessed.

Shabbat Shalom, from JerusalemBinny Freedman

Rav Binny Freedman, Rosh Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem’s Old City is a Company Com-mander in the IDF reserves, and lives in Efratwith his wife Doreet and their four children. His weekly Internet ‘Parsha Bytes’ can be found at www.orayta.org

Living up to life’s challengesContinued from page 16

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By Andrew Hackmackahackmack@liherald.com

There may be court challenges of Nassau County’s new legislative map that was approved last week.

The County Legislature approved the controversial plan along party lines on March 5, with the 10 Republicans vot-ing in favor of the new map and the nine Democrats voting against it. Redistricting was required to balance out the size of the county’s 19 legislative districts following the 2010 cen-sus.

The new map plan drastically changes the look of most districts. Two Democrats would be merged into one district, and two Republicans would end up in another.

“The Legislature has fulfilled its obligations pursuant to the county charter,” said Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves, a Republican from East Meadow. “The Legislature must come together to work on the pressing government issues and fi-nances of the county. The focus now shifts from redistricting to those issues.”

However, Kevan Abrahams a Democrat from Hempstead who is the minority leader, said he does not believe this issue is settled. He said he expects the map to face several legal challenges. The nine Democratic legislators will likely file suit, Abrahams said, claiming that the process by which it was created did not follow the county charter.

The new map does a disservice to the residents of Nas-sau County, Abrahams said, noting that several communities would be divided among more than one district. “The split-ting of Hempstead, and Elmont and the Five Towns and Ros-lyn, among other areas, is wrong,” he said.

Several organizations have called for County Executive Ed Mangano, a Republican, to veto the map. Those groups in-clude the Nassau County League of Women Voters, Common Cause NY, the Nassau County chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Long Island Civic Engagement Table and New York Communities for Change, among others.

“We are disappointed but not surprised that the County

Legislature passed this gerrymandered map along party lines …,” Daniel Altschuler, coordinator of the Long Island Civic Engagement Table, said the day the plan was approved. “We have made our voices heard in the last weeks of community protest, but the map remains fundamentally flawed and the process is broken. County Executive Mangano must veto the map and demand a truly nonpartisan process for all future redistricting.”

Brian Nevin, a spokesman for the county executive, said that Mangano would review the plan, but did not say wheth-er he would consider vetoing it.

Last year, a Temporary Districting Advisory Commission was created to redraw the districts and send a proposal to the Legislature. The five Republican commissioners submit-ted one plan, and the five Democratic commissioners submit-ted another. Ultimately, a modified version of the Republican plan went to the Legislature for adoption.

The Nassau United Redistricting Coalition, a collection of several good-government groups, drafted its own plan. Nei-ther that plan nor the Democratic map were considered by the Legislature.

During several hours-long hearings hosted by both the commission and the Legislature, residents blasted the Repub-lican plan, saying that it divided communities and was de-signed to protect those in power. Frank Moroney, who chaired the commission, argued that the map upholds all constitu-tional requirements, is consistent with the “one person, one vote” principle and would survive any legal challenge.

Under the plan, Democratic Legislators Delia DeRiggi-Whitton and Wayne Wink would be merged into one district on the North Shore, and Republicans Joseph Belisi and Mi-chael Venditto would be combined in the southeast corner of the county. After much public outcry, Democrat David Denenberg, of Merrick, was restored to his district. He was initially to be merged into a district with Joseph Scannell.

Barring any successful legal challenges, the new map will be in effect for the November election, when all 19 seats on the Legislature are up for a vote.

Legislature map may be challenged

Courtesy Nassau County

Nassau County’s new legislative map could be thesubject of an upcoming court battle.

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