15 Jun SPEAK YOUR VUES
SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER
Please note that the author of Speak Your Vues is in no way affiliated with the publisher of this paper. The author of this column is an independent third party contributor. The views and opinions expressed by this author may not reflect the views and opinions of the publishers. If one has any issues with any of the views, please write a letter to the Vues Master.
STORY
Dear Vues Master:
Reb Meilich Biderman said this story. The Chofetz Chaim zt’l told the following story: The Dubno Magid zt’l once met a blind widower walking with his son in the streets of Vilna. Most people didn’t pay much attention to them, but the Dubno Magid greeted them, and spoke with them. They told him about their great poverty, how their home wasn’t heated, and that they didn’t have food. The Dubno Magid took them into his home so they could warm up, and to eat dinner. The Dubno Magid noticed that the son was very wise, so he hired a melamed to teach him Torah. From that day on they became part of the Dubno Magid’s household. Even after the blind father was niftar, the Dubno Magid continued paying for the child’s tutor. This child became Reb Shlomo Kluger zt’l, one of the gedolei hador, whose Torah illuminates the world until today. The Chofetz Chaim would say: Many people saw the blind pauper with his son walking around the streets of Vilna. They shook their heads, said ‘nebach! What a rachmanus!’ and that’s about all. But the Dubno Magid took action. He showed concern, fed them, and paid for a tutor for the child. If the Dubno Magid hadn’t helped them out, the Jewish nation would have lost a gadol b’Yisrael. Let’s learn from this to grasp opportunities to do chesed, because you can never know what you will accomplish…
KO
Vues Master’s Note: Thank you for taking action and sending this inspiring story. May we all be inspired.
BOYCOTT
Dear Vues Master:
I think it’s time to boycott products that have the approval of a third party, other than a hechsher. For example, the Heart-Check certification, which is supposed to mark heart healthy foods. It can be spotted on foods that are full of sugar and other junk, as long as it gets sneaked in through devious means such as “natural” sugars from fruits. The same with any other such stamp of approval, especially those that are designed to make money for the proprietors.
JD
Vues Master’s Note:Well! I think you are right. Imagine our foods now having the approval of Dr. Fauci. Do you think anyone would trust his hashgacha? I think this boycott sounds Chinese to me!
NYC IS THE WILD, WILD WEST!
Dear Vues Master:
Senator Simcha Felder introduced a package of legislation in the NYS Senate today to improve safety on New York City streets through education and regulation of bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters. “The streets of NYC have become the wild, wild west,” said Senator Felder. “The deBlasio administration has allowed a growing number of completely unregulated bicycles, ebikes, electric scooters and dirt bikes/ATV’s on our city streets and the results are proving deadly! Vision Zero has become Zero Vision. New York has a process in place to earn the privilege and responsibility of operating a motor vehicle on our streets. It includes education, licensure, registration and enforceable safety regulations. These bills expand the system currently in place to provide education, responsibility and accountability for everyone using NYC streets.” The Vision 2.0 package of bills includes the following: (S7203) Requires every person operating a bicycle, electric bicycle or electric scooter in NYC to wear a helmet. (S7204) Establishes a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Bicycle and Electric Scooter Education Course that leads to licensure. (S7205) Requires DMV to add bicycle and scooter awareness to Driver’s Education and the pre-licensing exam (S7206) Requires bicycle, e-bicycle and e-scooter owners to register their vehicle and conspicuously display a DMV license plate.
ST
Vues Master’s Note: uh! That is exactly what we need is waiting in line in the DMV to register my 3-year-old’s bike and paying for it. We pay enough taxes here! Enough Government we are able to live ourselves!
MACHLOKES
Dear Vues Master:
THE BEAUTY OF תקולחמ The Chasam Sofer in the תושרד – ןכ ה”ד ג”פק א”ח explains the Chazal of “םלועב םולש םיברמ ח”ת” Hashem created the תודמ. תקולחמ-םולש -הונע- הואג -תוזע-השוב, The world is in need of all of them and cannot exist without them. However, all these תודמ can be used for the good or ו”ח for the bad. תקולחמ in הרות learning is a beautiful thing. It forces the true טשפ/הכלה to come out. םימכח ידימלת by arguing in Torah reduces the bad תקולחמ & the need for it. Hence “םלועב- םולש םיברמ- םימכח ידימלת” MF Vues Master’s Note: TI would fight you on this but I am afraid I would beat you. Just kidding! PARROT Dear Vues Master: Walking down the street one day, a man heard someone calling him. “Reb Yid, can you get me a minyan?” He turned around to see who was speaking and to his amazement, he saw it was a parrot in a pet store. Not believing that he heard correctly, he went into the store and asked the parrot to repeat what he just said. The parrot told him that he davens every day and would like to live in a Jewish home. Fascinated, the man bought the parrot and took him home. Sure enough, the parrot davened three times a day. As the Yomim Noraim were approaching, the parrot said “I would like you to take me to shul on הנשה שאר.” The man said “I can’t take you to shul. People will think I’m nuts.” However, the parrot would not take no for an answer. “I know the tefillah. I know niggunim. I deserve to be able to daven with a minyan.” Notwithstanding his misgivings, the Yid took his parrot to shul on הנשה שאר. You can imagine the stir it caused in the congregation. He was told to leave immediately and take his bird with him. “But you don’t understand,” he said. “This is a highly intelligent parrot. He knows how to daven better than many of the םיללפתמ here.” When he heard the scoffing, he said he’s willing to take bets that his parrot davened beautifully. The congregation accepted his challenge and, shortly before the tefillos were to begin, made their bets. The man then instructed his parrot: “daven.” The parrot was silent. He didn’t utter a sound, ignoring his owner’s repeated pleas. Both of them were thrown out of the shul. “How could you do this to me? On הנשה שאר?” the dejected and embarrassed man asked. “Don’t be a fool,” the parrot responded, “wait till you see the odds we’ll get on רופיכ םוי.”
MB
Vues Master’s Note: Sounds like you are parroting a joke. I am willing to bet that I have heard this joke before.
TISCHLER
Dear Vues Master:
Please watch this video and rethink and retract your endorsement of this egomaniac. I hope that you will come to the realization that we do not want somebody like him in government. He is the evil person, he is the Rodeph. He will be a Rodeph of all us Jews if, chas v’shalom, he gets elected, since we will all be in big trouble because of the chilul Hashem he will surely make. I cannot understand how you do not realize that the other frum candidate, Binyomin Bendet, is somebody who will represent us so much better. He is a real mentch and will be a source of a kidush hashem.. https://thejewishvoice.com/2020/10/heshy-tischler-the-meaning-of-rodef-boro-park-protests/
GA
Vues Master’s Note: Did you speak to him personally? We did not endorse anybody. We are open to discuss with any candidate.
WOMAN CANDIDATE
Dear Vues Master:
I really think it is unfair that if you have a woman running for office that she has an unfair advantage of not having her face shown in your paper.
EA
Vues Master’s Note: It is true. But policy is policy when the Rabbonim on the Editorial board tell us not to put in pictures of women we listen to that would fall under the guise of our name of publication The “Jewish” Vues. There may be Rabbonim and others who disagree but as the Mishna in Avos says Asseh lecha Rav one has a Rav and sticks with the Rav whether he is stringent or lenient. We follow our Rabbis!
ELECTION
Dear Vues Master:
Who should we vote for, for Mayor?
MM
Vues Master’s Note: I personally would vote with a write in for Mr. Potato Head to protest the cancel culture today. I think all candidates in the Democratic Party are tripping all over each other to be more progressive and to defund the Police. I say keep the Police and when he or she comes not “it” comes they will protect us.
BAD TASTE
Dear Vues Master:
A joke is a joke, but as we all know, they can be ugly and untruthful as well. Last week, the fun pages featured a picture of Naftoli Benett and Yair Lapid, with the caption: Hamelech veHaman yashvu lishtos, vehair Shushan navocha. How one can compare an orthodox jewish politician to one of the worst figures in history–who desired the total genocide of the Jewish people–is beyond my comprehension. Politics can be politics, but slander is slander. Listen, none of us are experts in Israeli politics, but not everything is black and white. To condemn any party, even non Jewish, is foolish. But certainly so in the case of Israel. As humans, we all try to do the right thing. There are almost no “bad guys” in politics; or, more accurately, everyone is a “bad guy” in politics. From reading the paper one would believe that Bennett is evil, seeking our destruction. Surely, the opposite is true: Bennett works hard to ensure a safe state. He allies himself with others because it is the only way he can get what he wants. I’m not saying we should vote for him, and yet … and yet when Trump or someone else is compared to Hitler we get enraged, and rightfully so. Can we not say with certainty that Haman was at least as bad as Hitler (and our sages tell us that Achasverosh was worse than him)? How then, can we compare any of our own people–even Lapid–to one who sought our genocide with a vengeance? Of course, this is made all the more true because Naftoli Bennett is an orthodox Jew. This is more than can be said for Netanyahu, who–facts must be faced–is not. To polarize politics to such a degree of slander I think, goes beyond any pretended “chiyuv” of knowing the news. I understand how such a mistake can be made, but my opinion is: it is not a “joke”; it is lashon hara, leading without cause to sinas chinam. Do you agree?
AG
Vues Master’s Note: Look when you put yourself in the Company of Lapid you are judged that way. Whether it is right or not is not the point. You are judged based on the company you keep. Time may show us that we are wrong but for the meanwhile the Meme certainly looks like it is funny and maybe true. But I do agree with you that it is sinas chinam since they have not harmed Israel as of yet.
COLOR
Dear Vues Master:
We find in the Torah and Chazal, the color “םודא” can be translated a) the actual red color (red wine) b) the red family color (brown, orange etc.) (Bereishis 25 : 30) הזה םודאה- םודאה ןמ -אנ ינטיעלה It is called red lentils, but its colour is brown. (Zecharya 1:8) – םודא סוס לע- בכור שיא – םימודא םיסוס (A man riding on a red horse-red horses) There are no red horses. There are brown horses. s(Succah 35b) An Esrog that was peeled and looks like a red date. Rashi explains, “All peeled fruits תומימדאל ךפהנ” (turn red). Peeled or cut fruits turn brown not red. (Bechoros 6a Rashi) םימודא םיסוס םתס (horses are usually red) Never heard of red horses There are no red wine coloured cows and probably never was. Probably the colour of a המודא הרפ was not red but it was brown. The uniqueness of theהמודא הרפ was not that it was red. It was unique by being completely brown, not having two strands of hair in a different colour other than brown.(white-black) One might argue and claim it still needs to be a certain shade of brown (orange or light brown etc,) However, we don’t find it in the Rambam etc. qualifying what shade of םודא is רשכ. If we assume המודא is brown there is no reason to insist it to be a specific shade. Perhaps we can assume it wasn’t a “red heifer” but a “brown cow” FM Vues Master’s Note: I believe the cow had a color not colour.I will say that being I am color blind it would not affect me. I say let us see the parah aduma already and we should all be zocheh to be purified. BET Dear Vues Master: Fred and Frank both owned racehorses. One day, Fred, desperate for money, offered to sell a prize horse to Frank for $50,000. Frank took him up on the offer, but when the van arrived at the stable the horse was dead. Frank immediately tried to reach Fred, but he was not to be found. When they finally did meet up a few months later, Frank actually thanked Fred for the horse. Stunned, Fred said “But I heard the horse died.” “Yes, it did” responded Frank, “but I made a lot of money with it.” A quizzical look on his face, Fred asked “How did you make money off of a dead horse?” “I raffled it off. I sold 10,000 raffles for $25 each, with the horse as the prize,” he answered. “Wasn’t the winner upset?” asked Fred. “Sure,” said Frank. “So I refunded his $25.”
BM
Vues Master’s Note: Sounds like the horse died because it’s owners were horsing around.
TZEDAKA
Dear Vues Master:
A wealthy miser, who consistently refused to give money for הקדצ, died and was immediately grabbed by the הלבח יכאלמ, who pushed him to the opening of םונהיג. The miser screamed: “There must be a mistake. I’m supposed to go to ןדע ןג. Forty years ago I gave a dollar to a famished ינע to buy food and thereby saved a life. The הלבח יכאלמ checked the records and confirmed that he was speaking the truth. Immediately, one of them ran off to the דובכה אסיכ and asked the םלוע לש ונובר what to do with this man. םשה replied: “Give him back his dollar לזאזעל ךליו.”
DM
Vues Master’s Note: I don’t know about this guy at least he should have given one time a big nesina. I guess it is good to invest early and often for reward in the world to come.
COUNTRY
Dear Vues Master:
I hope that we don’t end up making a chilul Hashem despite the fact that we have not practiced Covid restrictions for months but when we get up there we need to be sensitive to the local folks who may still be restricted in themselves.
AH
Vues Master’s Note: I think at this point one does not need to be stricter than the NYS law Cuomo said that one 70 percent are vaccinated no more restrictions we are there already. Stay safe and healthy.
ISRAELI GOVERNMENT
Dear Vues Master:
How long do you think this Government will last? I say less than three months.
IJ
Vues Master’s Note:Don’t worry the Arabs will use extreme pressure that the Arabs in the Government don’t support it for too long.
MEDICINE OR SPANKING
Dear Vues Master:
I argued that spanking is not usually necessary. But, maybe it is sometimes a lesser evil. Some schools suggest or insist on medicating children that the school is not able to control. Spanking would be a better option. Maybe even now, schools that think spanking is more appropriate, do not medicate (as much)?
AA
Vues Master’s Note: I believe that you should do neither. Hope the child matures and learns from life’s experiences. Just kidding, each child is different, some need spanking, some need medicine and some don’t need anything. May Hashem give all parents the right daas as to how to raise their children.