23 May SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER
MDY
Dear Vues Master
Last Wednesday I went to the R’ Eli Steansky MDY live
shiur in Boro Park. I was blown away at how nice it was.
All different types of yidden were there. There were chas-
sidim, litvaks, syrians, Bucharians, modern yeshivish-all
learning torah together! Yasher Koach to R’ Eli & to all
those that made this tour possible!
Vues Master’s Note: What a great way to go into Shavuos-
”K’ish Echad B’lev Echad.”
CHEESECAKE
Dear Vues Master
My biggest yetzer hara nosh is cheese cake! All year long
I try my best to stay away from it, but on Shavuos I can’t
control myself! What should I do?
Vues Master’s Note: Enjoy yourself! It’s Yom Tov! Worry
about the calories after Yom Tov!
SHALOM BAYIS
Dear Vues Master:
A Jewish woman & man had been married for 64 years.
They kept no secrets from each other, except that the wom-
an had a tin box in her closet that she had asked her husband
never to open. For all of those years, he never thought about
the box, but one day she got very sick and the doctor said
she might not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the
man took down the tin box and took it to his wife’s bedside.
She agreed that it was time that he should know what was
in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls
and a stack of money totaling $60,000 dollars. He asked
her to explain where all the money came from. “When we
got engaged,”she said, “my grandmother told me the secret
of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that
if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and
crochet a doll.” The little old man was so moved; he had to
fight back tears. She had only been angry with him twice in
all those years of living together? ‘Sweetie ,’ he said, “that
explains the dolls, but what about all of this money? Where
did it come from?” “Oh,’ that’s the money I made from sell-
ing the dolls.”
KP
Vues Master’s Note: I was wondering where my wife has so
much cash!
INSTRUCTIONS
Dear Vues Master:
A wealthy Jewish man buys a fabulous home in Beverly
Hills. He brings in a local workman to decorate the place.
When the job is finished, the homeowner is delighted but re-
alizes that he’s forgotten to put mezuzahs on the doors. He
goes out and buys 50 mezuzahs and asks the decorator to
place them on the right side of each door except bathrooms
and kitchens. He’s really worried that the decorator will
chip the paint work or won’t put them up correctly. How-
ever, when he comes back a few hours later, he sees that the
job has been carried out to his complete satisfaction. He’s so
pleased that he gives the decorator a bonus. As the decorator
is walking out of the door he says, “Glad you’re happy with
the job. By the way, I took out all the warranties in the little
boxes and left them on the table for you.”
JM
Vues Master’s Note: Oy! This makes me want to read Shema!
CHOMESH
Dear Vues Master:
The US State Department criticized Israel this past week-
end for allowing Jews to enter the community of Chomesh
in Samaria, claiming that this was a “violation of commit-
ments.” In his statement, State Department spokesperson
Matthew Miller also criticized National Security Minister
Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount this past Sun-
day morning on Rosh Chodesh. “We are deeply troubled
by the Israeli government’s order that allows its citizens
to establish a permanent presence in the Homesh outpost
in the northern West Bank, which according to Israeli law
was illegally built on private Palestinian land,” said Miller.
“This order is inconsistent with both former Prime Minister
Sharon’s written commitment to the Bush Administration
in 2004 and the current Israeli government’s commitments
to the Biden Administration. Advancing Israeli settlements
in the West Bank is an obstacle to the achievement of a
two-state solution,” he added. “We are also concerned by
today’s provocative visit to the Temple Mount/Haram al
Sharif in Jerusalem and the accompanying inflammatory
rhetoric. This holy space should not be used for political
purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity,”
continued Miller. “More broadly, we reaffirm the long-
standing US position in support of the historic status quo at
Jerusalem’s holy sites and underline Jordan’s special role as
custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem,” the statement
concluded. Why does America do this? Israel doesn’t say
what America should do.
LP
Vues Master’s Note: This is the meaning of Baal Hameah is
the Baal Hadeah! Money talks!
POLITICS
Dear Vues Master:
A golden escalator once changed a politi-
cal system. A political system that was tried
and failed. Many stairways leading to a
stage have been the root of failures. All it
took was for one man and one movement
to descend a golden escalator to change
the course of history. The age of a political
creature ascending a pair of stairs to reach
a stage where they would announce four
more years of defending a failed system has
ended. The age of a golden escalator has be-
gun. Donald John Trump was and is a hero.
74,223,975 Americans are heroes for voting
to end a system that claimed to be on their
side for decades. Ronald Dion DeSantis is a
trailblazer of the new movement. The 2024
Republican Primary is about to begin. The
fireworks are about to explode. The golden
escalator that once changed the political
system of the United States of America es-
calated its fight seven years ago. The man
that descended that escalator made a lot of
promises and though uncharacteristically
for a politician, kept many of them. Don-
ald Trump argued that a system that failed
a diverse amount of individuals means that
loyalty wasn’t owed. The pattern of voting
for failure didn’t have to continue. On No-
vember 8th, 2016, America discontinued an
entire system of despair and elected a gov-
ernment of hope and promise. The actual
change in government occurred on January
20th, 2017 at noon. The next four years were
unusual, but in this context, unusual was
good. Despite the unusualness of a politician
fighting for his voters, every moment was
met with resistance by the lies of the former
power class; from politicians, journalists,
and bureaucrats, to “non-partisan” individu-
als. They coordinated an investigation on
President Donald Trump based on a lie, but
the president plowed on for the change that
he promised. On November 7th, 2020, the
same power-hungry creatures “elected” a
new president. Whether it was due to fraud,
election rigging, or lies, Joseph Robinette
Biden Jr. currently occupies the Oval Office.
The age of the political creature ascending a
stage to announce four more years of failure
is back. Four years after the very same coun-
try discontinued a pattern of voting for fail-
ure, the country “elects” the person who rep-
resented the past but is now the present. The
problems of the past are back in their own
2023 form, but stronger than ever. The age of
inflation, wars, drugs, crime, open borders,
race wars, and the age of false being labeled
true has arrived. The problems came back so
quickly, it makes one wonder, was the elec-
tion of Donald Trump an actual response to
the systematic problems? If it was, shouldn’t
there be some resistance in the system that
we all were led to believe changed? What if
this political game is bigger than the Presi-
dent, Vice President, Speaker, or Majority
Leader? Is it perhaps the political creatures
that affect us the most, the ones that we focus
on the least? The local school boards, town
boards, state legislatures, and governors
have more say in our lives than an 80- year-
old confused man. Recent data has revealed
that only approximately 15-27% of voters
vote in the local elections that affect them
the most. The lowest a presidential election
on the other hand has received was 49%.
The golden escalator, the stairs to the stage
and the 80-year-old man are entertaining,
but what actually matters? How many can-
didates are debating in the upcoming Repub-
lican primary or if children will be educated
and not indoctrinated in schools? The shiny
objects of the presidency, congress, and the
like are the cream on top of the cake. The
cake though first must be baked.
DSG
Vues Master’s Note: My prediction is four
more years of fraud and lies if it worked once
it will work again. Then we get Kamela!
ASTRONOMICAL COUNTING
Dear Vues Master:
As we continue counting up and get closer
to Shavous, we have reached the seventh
Sephira of Malchus. But are seven Sephiras
all there is? For those who say Keil Mistater
during the Shalosh Seudas Zemiras, we dis-
cover that there are another three Sephiras
for a total of ten. Keil Mistater was composed
by a kabbalist Avrohom Meemin which is
the acronym of the various stanzas. In those
stanzas, there are references to the standard
Sephiras ie. Chesed, Gevura, Tiferes, Net-
zach, Hoid, Yesoid and Malchus. Each of
those symbolize steps in the elevation of
spiritual growth of a person. In addition, he
adds another three Sephiras – Keser, Choch-
ma, and Bina. These three are more spiritual
and a higher level then the standard seven
which are more in the physical world. These
are more hidden from us. So we should
perhaps count to 100 days (10 squared) in-
stead of our usual 49 days(7 squared). So
why seven instead of ten? Typically, we
think of the word Sephira as count. Well,
we could also interpret the word Sephira as
Spheres or the Heavenly bodies. The seven
Sephiras we count could be a reference to the
five planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn – we could see with our eyes plus the
Sun and Moon. Then the additional three
Sephiras mentioned in Keil Mistater could
be the three additional planets we can only
see with a telescope: Uranus, Neptune and
Pluto. Now what’s interesting is that the first
emanation mentioned is Keser while the last
one is Malchus. We can question that Ke-
ser really should go next to Malchus. Why
are they on the opposite ends? However,
once we think of Sephiras as Spheres then it
makes sense. Since a sphere is a round circle
there is no beginning or end. Keser, which
is spiritual, is next to the physical emanation
of Malchus. But the three additional ones are
hidden from us; so we don’t count on them.
Speaking of Malchus, we have during that
week Rosh Chodesh which could be trans-
lated as a new head or King. The next day
is the Yoim Hameyuchois which is called
that because it gets it’s yechus between Rosh
Chodesh and the Sheloshet Yemei Hagbalah.
Malchus is usually transmitted via yechus
from father to son. As for the next few days,
we find in Megillas Esther that King Achash-
verosh would do almost anything for Queen
Esther. Esther, not very happy to be living
with the non-Jewish King, was subtly try-
ing to get him to convert to Judaism. That’s
why he said he would do anything for her
“ad chatzi hamalchus”. The reference is
to half the week of Malchus which are the
Sheloshet Yemei Hagbalah. He would not
be mekabel the Torah. Coming full circle,
we however will proudly be makabel mah
sha’kimu l’osid.
DF
Vues Master’s Note: I see stars after trying
to figure this out!
COAST
Dear Vues Master:
Meir and his wife were sound asleep one
night, when they were awakened by the ring-
ing of the telephone. The wife picked up the
phone, listened for a moment, and then said
to the caller “How should I know? It’s 30
miles away.” After she hung up, Meir asked
her “Who called?” “Some nutty woman,”
his wife replied. “She wanted to know if the
coast was clear.”
FD
Vues Master’s Note: Clearly the coast was
full of booze!
UP FOR INTERPRETATION
Dear Vues Master:
The Alexander Rebbe zt”l is quoted as hav-
ing said there were two groups at the levaya
of Boaz, one saying to look at the lifetime
of צדקות and even he was נכשל at the end
by marrying a Moabite. The second group
says to note the Hashgacha that he was kept
alive to a very ripe old age in order to marry
Rus and bring forth the progeny that would
result in Dovid Hamelech and Moshiach.
Who was right? Said the Rebbe, We cannot
use the Hashgacha to interpret the Halacha,
what we must do is use the Halacha to in-
terpret the Hashgacha and as the Beis Din
of Shmuel decided “מואבי and not מואבית “
then we understand that Hashgacha kept
Boaz alive to fulfill that Mitzvah and linkage
to Moshiach.
MF
Vues Master’s Note: It’s all how you look at
things!
MACHMIR
Dear Vues Master:
“Someone asked Reb Shlome Miller a ques-
tion and he answered to the שואל) question-
er) to be meikel. The person that asked the
question wasn’t satisfied with the answer.
He felt that to be machmir (stringent) would
be more appropriate. He tried to convince
Reb Shlome Miller to change his mind and
agree to be machmir. Reb Shlome Miller told
him, “(טוב (אלמוני פלוני because he wanted
to be machmir not to marry Rus missed the
opportunity of becoming the grandfather of
Dovid Hamelech and Melech HaMoshiach.
There are times when being stringent is not
the most appropriate thing to do.”
LH
Vues Master’s Note: Machmir Dos un Mach-
mir dat! No kutz to be machmir!
LEGIBLE
Dear Vues Master:
Granted I am not a youngster but I am hav-
ing trouble reading your paper and quite
a few of the advertisements. Dark back-
grounds and tiny print makes it very hard
to read. I realize you don’t have control of
the advertisements but if they can’t be read
what good are they? I understand all the vol-
unteers like to see their names in print but I
am more concerned when the hashgacha is
next to impossible to read. Can something be
done about this? I’m sure I’m not the only
one. Thank you
E.S. W.
Vues Master’s Note: I had a very hard time
reading your letter!
CAN AND CAN’T
Dear Vues Master:
There was an outstanding chazan in Pono-
vitz, whose מארצנו גלינו חטאינו ומפני was
so moving and powerful that his voice was
compared to the voice of the Kohen Gadol.
When he passed away, his position was in-
herited by his son, who unfortunately did
not inherit his father’s voice. One of the
מתפללים observed that his חטאנו מפני is in-
deed his father’s, but his יכולים אנחנו ואין is
all his own.
CF
Vues Master’s Note: I can’t stop laughing!
THROW
Dear Vues Master:
A man came to a Rav and said he wants a
get. “For the past three years,” he said, “my
wife has been throwing dishes at me.” “If
she’s been doing it for three years, why are
you coming to me for a get now?” the Rav
asked. “Her aim has gotten better,” the man
replied.
BG
Vues Master’s Note: I say stay married til
her aim is 100 percent then you wont need
a get anymore!
BIDEN
Dear Vues Master:
It’s not easy for a politician to criticize a
popular ex-president from his own party.
That’s why it is significant that President
Joe Biden this week strongly criticized the
refusal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
to bomb the railways leading to Auschwitz
in 1944. Biden has spoken of his admira-
tion for FDR’s leadership during the De-
pression and World War II; but it’s impor-
tant to be equally frank about a president’s
failures. President Biden spoke on May 16
at a White House event celebrating Jew-
ish American Heritage Month. He said he
first learned about the Holocaust when his
father, a World War II veteran, spoke at the
dinner table “about how outraged he was
about why we didn’t bomb the railroad
tracks into the concentration camps, why
we didn’t let the ship in with Jewish [refu-
gees], and he talked about the need to make
sure every generation understood.” As a
result, Biden later took his own children to
visit the former site of the Dachau concen-
tration camp. “I want[ed] them to see how
no one could pretend they didn’t know,”
the president explained. “I wanted them to
bear witness to the perils of indifference.”
Biden is not the first president to publicly
acknowledge FDR’s abandonment of the
Jews. At the opening of the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum, on April 22, 1993,
President Bill Clinton said that even after
America’s “awareness of [Nazi] crimes
grew into indisputable facts, far too little
was done” to help the Jews. “Before the
war even started,” Clinton emphasized,
“doors to liberty were shut and even after
the United States and the Allies attacked
Germany, rail lines in the camps within
miles of militarily significant targets were
left undisturbed.” President George W.
Bush, viewing an aerial reconnaissance
photo of Auschwitz at Yad Vashem on
January 11, 2008, remarked, “We should
have bombed it.” And President Barack
Obama said on April 23, 2012, that the Na-
zis were able to carry out the Holocaust in
part “because so many others stood silent.”
In the spring of 1944, American Jewish
organizations received definitive informa-
tion about Auschwitz and repeatedly urged
Roosevelt administration officials to bomb
the railway tracks and bridges over which
hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews
were being deported to the gas chambers.
U.S. officials responded by bombing the
railways because it would require “divert-
ing” planes from elsewhere in Europe.
Even when Jewish leaders pointed out that
the same railways over which Jews were
deported were also being used for German
military purposes, they still received the
same answer: No. Recently, some apolo-
gists for FDR’s Holocaust record have ar-
gued that there was no point in bombing the
railways, because the Germans sometimes
could repair railway lines fairly quickly.
That Monday-morning-quarterback ex-
cuse ignores two crucial facts: the bridges
along the railway routes were much more
difficult to repair; and even though railroad
tracks were sometimes repairable, that did
not stop the Allies from making railways
prime targets in their air war against the
Germans. No less than 32% of the bomb
tonnage utilized in the Allies’ entire strate-
gic air campaign in Europe was devoted to
attacking railway routes. The impact was
significant. The Nazis were compelled to
divert tens of thousands of laborers from
military construction in order to repair
damaged railroads. Trains carrying mili-
tary supplies were stranded, and war ma-
terials remained in warehouses because
there was no way to get them to the front.
Hitler’s Ardennes offensive (better known
as the Battle of the Bulge) was repeatedly
postponed because the damage inflicted
on transportation routes prevented resup-
plying German troops there. The bombing
of rail marshaling yards destroyed freight
cars, locomotives, and military goods
awaiting shipment. The Allies’ destruction
of rail centers, bridges, and railroad cars in
Germany’s key coal-producing region, the
Ruhr, drastically reduced coal production
and stockpiles, which in turn crippled oth-
er industries. The U.S. government’s Stra-
tegic Bombing Survey found the destruc-
tion of the transportation routes “was the
most important single cause of Germany’s
ultimate economic collapse.” The fact that
American bombers were already attacking
railways throughout Europe makes it clear
why President Biden’s father was so “out-
raged” over the question of “why we didn’t
bomb the railroad tracks into the concen-
tration camps.” The heart of the problem
was that the Roosevelt administration was
committed to the principle that military re-
sources should never be used to assist Jew-
ish refugees. President Biden, by contrast,
appears to embrace the principle that the
U.S. should use its military power to save
lives when it can: recall that the Obama-
Biden administration bombed Libya when
Muammar Qadaffi was preparing to mas-
sacre civilian in 2011, and sent U.S. planes
to break the ISIS siege of the Yazidi refu-
gees in the mountains of Iraq in 2014. With
his remarks this week, President Biden in
effect reaffirmed that he is determined not
to repeat Roosevelt’s mistakes.
RM
Vues Master’s Note: I think Biden has any
idea of what he’s doing anymore! It’s all
done by his handlers!
HORRIBLE
Dear Vues Master:
A little boy went to the mall with his moth-
er. She went to buy clothes, but he kept
nagging that he wanted a toy. “Not today,”
she told him. But he wouldn’t take no for
an answer. Notwithstanding his crying and
screaming, she refused to take him to the
toy store. “You’re the worst woman in the
world,” he cried. “I’ve never met anyone
more horrible.” Bending down to his level,
she looked him straight in the eye and said:
“One day you’ll get married and you will. I
promise you, you will.”
RD
Vues Master’s Note: A Lesson on Shalom
Bayis!
A TALE OF TWO WIVES
Dear Vues Master:
A man was married to a wonderful wife
named Chaya. Sadly, she passed away. The
man remarried. His new wife, Beracha,
made his life גהינום in this world. He said:
“עולם של רבונו, what have you done? First,
you gave me Chaya and brought Beracha
into my home. Now, you gave me Beracha
and brought a Chaya into my home.”
NS
Vues Master’s Note: I would rather read
about a Tale of Two Cities!
TORAH
Dear Vues Master:
The Wealth of Torah! My father Z”l was
driving his Rosh Hayeshiva, Moreinu
Horav Yisroel Zev Gustman ZTL, Rosh
Hayeshiva Netzach Yisroel Kuntras
Hashuirim, past the World Trade Cen-
ter buildings. He commented; “if Yid-
den would only know the Ashiris-wealth
that’s in this small tosphos that I’m learn-
ing now, they would run from the bin-
yanim-buildings to go learn Torah “! He
once told me; “Save the politics for the
old men on the street corner”! Wow!The
Chofetz Chaim stood up for Rav Gustman
even though he was very young at the
age of 21 when he served on Rav Chaim
Ozer’s Beis din in Ramayles Vilna. He
was Rav Chaim Schmulevits chavrusa
and learned with Rav Shmuel Rozovsky
by Rav Shimon Shkap. Yhei Zichronum
Bruchim.
RMS
Vues Master’s Note: Nice to hear from our
Gedolim! Thanks for sharing!
STARTING YESHIVAS EARLY
Dear Vues Master
Last week you had an article in the Jewish
Vues about Yeshivas and Bais Yaakov’s
in Brooklyn having reached an unprece-
dented consensus to begin the 2023-2024
school year around the start of Elul, rather
than with the secular start date of Labor
Day. Torah UMesorah also requested that
“other communities consider joining this
movement and working together on this
important chinuch issue.” Why are they
doing that? What about all the businesses
upstate that open up just for 10 weeks a
year? Are they supposed to close 2 weeks
early?
Vues Masters Note: They want children to
learn about the Yom Tovim. Clearly they
don’t care about summer businesses.
UPSTATE BUSINESS
Dear Vues Master
I heard that the grocery Mountain Food in
Monticello is going to be huge this sum-
mer! They took down the old building and
put up a brand new state of the art building
& will have parking supposedly for over
200 cars. It’s amazing how businesses up-
state do so well when they are open only ten
weeks a year.
Vues Masters Note: It’s going to be a great
summer upstate this year! There are more
people living upstate all year round now
than ever before!
FOOL
Dear Vues Master:
When חריף אייזל רבי was asked why the
חזן begins with עד שוכן, rather than at the
beginning of the תפילה, he replied: “Be-
cause chazzanim have a reputation of being
שוטים. And a שוטה is
“.נכנס באמצע דבריהם של אחרים
MB
Vues Master’s Note: Sad, but the truth. The
letters of the word chazzan are chazanim
zeinen naaronim!