14 May SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER
HAMAS
Dear Vues Master:
Hamas is holding American hostages (likely in
Rafah) and rather than telling Israel, do whatever
it takes, we will give you whatever you need to
get the hostages home, President Joe Biden has
essentially told Hamas, no need to compromise
or make a deal, I am withholding what Israel
needs to come get you and to put pressure on you
to release our citizens. I’m outraged tonight for
Israel. I am outraged also as an American. My
brothers and sisters in Israel deserve better. My
fellow citizens in America deserve more.
Rabbi Efrem Goldberg
Vues Master’s Note: Democrat Socialist
Communist!
MOTHERS DAY
Dear Vues Master:
This past Sunday was the first year that my wife
& I have a child on Mothers Day. I did not get
my wife a Mothers Day card & she was very
upset. I grew up in a house where we said every
day is Mothers Day. My wife grew up in a house
where they always made a big deal on Mothers
Day. I believe that I should get my mother a card
if I’m going to get a card at all, not my wife. On
my anniversary & Erev Yom Tov I get my wife a
card & a gift. Now, I’m in the dog house. Help!
PK
Vues Master’s Note: Ah! Get used to it! My
doghouse has a mezuzah as it is a diras keva!
HALLEL
Dear Vues Master:
Outside of Shulamith, Yeshiva of Flatbush,
Magen David & some of the Syrian yeshivas,
how many yeshivas in Brooklyn celebrate Yom
Haatzmaut? How many say hallel? Just curious.
PN
Vues Master’s Note: There are many people
that say hallel in Brooklyn on Yom Haatzmaut.
I honestly do not know who does & doesn’t. All
I could say is that the geulah should come very
soon so that we can ALL agree to say hallel with
a bracha together!
CHINUCH
Dear Vues Master:
My son just informed me that he wants to stay in
Eretz Yisrael to learn for a third year. I’m having
a very hard time with that. I want him to go to
college & get a degree & move on with his life.
I don’t think he wants to go into chinuch & I’m
pretty sure he’s not learning in the Beis Medrash
full time. What should I do?
JN
Vues Master’s Note: Nothing! He probably won’t
listen to you. So let him figure it out on his own!
SHABBOS LUNCH COMPANY
Dear Vues Master
If my shul on Shabbos morning ends at
10:45/11am & we invite company over for
lunch, is it wrong to tell the company that we
are starting lunch at noon? This past Shabbos we
had to wait for our company to arrive until 1pm.
I really wanted to take a shluf & by the time the
meal was over it was after 5pm. I promised my
son I would learn with him on Shabbos afternoon
and I got no shluf because the meal ended so
late. When I get no sleep Shabbos afternoon I’m
wiped the entire week. I told my wife that I don’t
want to invite anyone for lunch anymore & she’s
not happy with me. What should I do?
GT
Vues Master’s Note: There has to be some sort of
compromise. There are therapists out there that
deal with this!
MITZVAH PROTECTION
Dear Vues Master:
Rav Boruch Brull writes a story. Louis
Herman was a young Jew who lived
in Canada during World War II. After
hearing about the terrible things that
were happening to the Jews in Europe, he
decided to enlist in the army to fight against
the Germans. When he finished his training,
young Louis was transferred to Italy. As a
sergeant in the army, he was assigned to
the front, in the midst of heavy fighting.
Throughout the difficult months of the war,
Louis kept as many Mitzvos as he possibly
could. On the day of his mother’s Yahrtzeit,
despite being many miles away from any
Shul, Louis wanted to say Kaddish for
her. This prayer, however, would require a
Minyan, and finding ten Jews in the middle
of a battlefield in Italy was not going to be
easy. Louis knew of only five other Jewish
soldiers in his unit. Louis approached
the army chaplain, who was a priest, and
explained his predicament. Louis asked the
chaplain if he knew of any other Jewish
soldiers in the area. To Louis’s surprise,
the chaplain not only knew where he could
find other Jewish soldiers, but he also
understood the meaning of a Minyan. “See
that area over there?” The chaplain pointed
to a tall observation tower. “That is where
our soldiers guard our unit and watch for
advancing German soldiers. When they
see any activity, they radio the information
back to the artillery unit to help us aim our
bombs more precisely. There are four Jews
who occupy positions in the observation
tower. If you’d like, I can put in a call
to them and ask that they come over to
our area for your Minyan.” Louis was
overjoyed. He would have exactly the ten
men required to make up a Minyan! And to
his great relief, the soldiers were happy to
oblige. Louis was able to say Kaddish on
his mother’s Yartzeit with a Minyan. After
they finished Davening. Louis thanked
everyone for joining him and enabling
him to fulfill this meaningful personal
obligation. As the four soldiers turned to
walk back to the observation tower, they
suddenly heard a loud explosion and saw a
most startling sight. The entire observation
tower and its contents had just been blown
up! Only the four Jewish soldiers, who had
just ‘happened’ to be busy doing a very
important Mitzvah, had escaped certain
death! Rav Brull adds, “The Gemara
teaches us (Pesachim 8b) that messengers
who go to do a Mitzvah are saved from
harm. Not only do acts of Chesed help
others, but those very acts can also save
us!”
TUT
Vues Master’s Note: What a Maaseh!
ALMANA AND ORPHANS
Dear Vues Master:
Shortly after the 1948 War of Independence,
a few days before the holiday of Pesach,
a young fellow was tragically killed in
Jerusalem in an artillery barrage launched
by the Jordanian legion on the holy city of
Jerusalem. His distraught widow was left to
look after her three young children alone. R’
Yehoshua Heschel Brim zt”l, the venerable
Rosh Yeshivah of the Bohush Chassidus
in Jerusalem, assumed responsibility for
the family’s welfare. He asked a talmid of
his to come to the bereaved home on the
night of Pesach to conduct the seder for
the widow and her young children. After
Maariv, R’ Yehoshua Heschel walked from
the shul to the home of the family to ensure
that the young fellow had arrived and that
their needs were well taken care of. To his
dismay, he saw that the bochur had failed
to show up. After waiting a short while, he
stood up, made Kiddush for the family and
proceeded to conduct a beautiful seder for
them. To the widow’s joy, he shared with the
children the story of the Yetzias Mitzrayim
and delighted them with a reenactment of
the ten makkos. It was late at night when the
children finally fell asleep around the seder
table, at which point he left the widow’s
home to take care of his own family. He
entered his home, greeted his family and
began once again conducting the seder
and fulfilling the mitzvah of Sipur Yetzias
Mitzrayim. His Rebbetzin and children,
however, were agitated over his long
absence and the anxious and frustrating
wait they had endured. After the meal,
when emotions were calmer, he explained
to them the reason for his extended delay.
His Rebbetzin, still troubled, remarked, “It
was very nice that you performed such a
mitzvah, but what about the family waiting
at home? Doesn’t chessed begin at home?”
The Rosh Yeshivah sighed and responded
by relating a story about a time, two years
earlier, when he had visited the great
Chazon Ish zt”l, who exhorted him to find
a suitable mate for a friend of his, an older
bochur who had still not found his bashert.
R’ Yehoshua Heschel introduced his friend
to a wonderful young girl from Tel Aviv
and the two scheduled their engagement
party. To the delight of the young man, the
Chazon Ish promised to attend the party.
When R’ Yehoshua Heschel arrived at the
Chazon Ish’s home to accompany him
to the party, the elderly sage was sitting
with a young couple engaged in earnest
conversation. The Rav continued to talk
with this couple for over an hour while R’
Yehoshua Heschel fidgeted and agitated
outside the room. Finally, the Chazon Ish
concluded his discussion with the young
couple and escorted them to the door.
He explained to R’ Yehoshua Heschel as
they left for the engagement party that the
young couple with whom he had spent so
much time were Holocaust survivors who
had married in a DP camp and just recently
arrived in the Holy Land. They had very
little money and needed advice on how
to establish themselves in business. They
were about to open a haberdashery store
and detailed to the Chazon Ish each and
every purchase that they were about to
make to stock their new store. The Rav told
R’ Yehoshua Heschel that he understood
that he was keeping many people waiting
by spending so much time with the couple.
But the many individuals at the party were
equally responsible for this young couple’s
welfare, he said. By waiting patiently, they
too were sharing in the mitzvah of ensuring
the financial security of these two battered
survivors who were alone in the world. R’
Yehoshua Heschel explained to his family
that upon entering the widow’s house and
grasping the situation, he knew that he had
to take care of their needs by conducting
their seder. It wasn’t his responsibility
alone, he said, but rather the shared
responsibility of his family. By keeping
their own seder on hold until the bereaved
woman and her orphans were taken care
of, the entire family played an important
role in bringing the joy of Yom Tov to the
grieving family.
TT
Vues Master’s Note: The zchus should be a
meilitz Yosher!
RAISE
Dear Vues Master:
Tom walks into his boss’ office and tells
him, “Sir, I know things aren’t going the
best around here but I have three companies
that have contacted me recently. I would
like a raise.” His boss agrees and after
debating the amount for a while they agree
on a 5 percent raise. When Tom gets up to
leave his boss asks him, “What companies
contacted you?” Tom smiles and says, “The
cable, electric, and water companies.”
PO
Vues Master’s Note: Good for him!
JEWISH STATE
Dear Vues Master:
During the Knessia Gedola (Agudah) in
1936, there was a heated debate among
the Gedolim about accepting the Peel
Commission for the partition of Palestine.
The Polish (Chasidic) Gedolim supported
the חלוקה, thus advocating for a Jewish
state in part of Palestine. However, the
Litvishe and Hungarian Gedolim opposed
the הארץ חלוקת proposal. R. M. Sternbuch
that noted) תשובות והנהגות ב‘: ק“מ) Shlita
he heard this from R. Y.B. Soloveichik zt”l
(Yerushalayim) and recorded it as told. R.
Elchonon Wasserman and R. Ahron Kotler
zt”l were deeply upset and considered
leaving the Knessia & Agudah, but
R.Chaim Ozer zt”l persuaded them to stay.
The Brisker Rav zt”l was also irate about
even discussing the issue, arguing that
establishing a State could lead to bloodshed.
R.A. Kalmenowitz zt”l questioned him
about his strong reaction, pointing out that
the British Government was indifferent
to the Rabonim’s decision at the Knessia
and couldn’t care less. The Brisker Rav
responded, stating that according to the
gemara, the Ribono Shel Olam governs
the world based on the psak of the רוב.
At the Knessia, רוב of the הדור גדולי were
gathered & debated whether to accept part
or to insist on the entirety of Eretz Yisroel,
but all concurred on the establishment of
a Jewish State. The Brisker Rav feared
that the Ribono Shel Olam would make it
happen, resulting in the birth of a Jewish
State.
MF
Vues Master’s Note: Look at the far-
reaching vision of these Gedolim!
SHABBOS
Dear Vues Master:
I think I’ve already said it here many times
but sometimes people have to read the
message more than once for it to sink in.
The more I learn the halachos, the more
I start to notice the mistakes we are all
making. For example, many people think
that tearing and breaking is automatically
allowed for food as long as the letters are
avoided. However, the type of tearing/
breaking that is permitted is only the type
that will destroy the packaging. Because
we are not allowed to tear for a constructive
purpose. So for example with many types
of containers, if you break the corner piece
that allows the cover to be taken off, you
are going to use this dip or herring in the
container until it’s finished. That wouldn’t
be considered destructive. There is also
another melacha called “makeh bepatish”
that is also very frequent when it comes to
these things. It means putting the finishing
touch on something for it to be ready for use.
That is why some people still don’t open
new soda bottles because of that problem,
it creates a functioning cap. Although there
are authorities that have allowed this, most
recommend being strict when it comes to
metal caps and rings as that is not getting
the same leniency. Therefore if you see
those Pellegrino, Saratoga, and often some
sparkling grape juice bottles you should
be extra careful that those are pre-opened.
Orange juice containers as well contain a
plastic pull ring that should not be pulled
off on Shabbos. This creates a fashioned
opening which is not allowed under
Boneh, makeh bepatish, and korayah.
Many types of pastry, candy, kichel
containers have this plastic strip that is
ripped off first in order to access the plastic
tabs to open the container. Since your plan
is generally to use the container, this is
also not considered destructive tearing.
Words also have to avoid being ripped
on any labels. It is highly recommended
that you spend a little time Friday making
sure your Shabbos things are opened and
that you can know with a clear head that
there aren’t any questions with halacha.
Unfortunately at kiddushes if there isn’t
non-jewish staff dealing with this, it is
very likely that many things aren’t being
opened properly and it is time that we start
to learn the laws carefully and make sure
that our events are being done k’halacha.
To show I’m leading by example, I often
waiter a small kiddush here and there, and
I make it my business to show up for a
few minutes late Friday to make sure that
questionable things are pre-opened, as
well as the obligation of doing something
prior to Shabbos in order to make payment
acceptable. Any Jewish waiter must
do something before or after Shabbos
connected to the job they are doing or
the payment is invalid! (unless they also
worked Fri night starting before shabbos
began). If anyone is interested in learning
how to become a true knowledgeable
Shomer Shabbos, free books are available
one at a time on www.shabbosdaily.org on
condition you complete the book.
RK
Vues Master’s Note: One of the most
important topics to learn!
PYRAMID
Dear Vues Master:
On the outskirts of Cairo, on a blistering
hot afternoon in May 1942, British Army
chaplain Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz ordered
the driver of his military transport truck to
pull over for a group of uniformed women
who were hitchhiking. “We want to go
as far as the Pyramids,” one of the women
explained. The rabbi later recalled: “Her
accent betrays that she is not English,
and instantly I realize that they are the
Jewish Palestinian A.T.S. [volunteers in
the British armed forces], the first Jewish
Amazons in history! With a grin, I lapse
into Hebrew.” (Imagine the woman’s
surprise.) “ ‘I shall be very glad indeed to
take you,’ I say.” It would be the most
remarkable Lag B’Omer he would ever
experience. Some 30,000 Jewish men
and 4,350 Jewish women from Mandatory
Palestine volunteered to serve in the British
Army during World War II. Although
horrified by the British White Paper that
cut off most Jewish immigration to the
Holy Land, they were anxious to take part
in the Allies’ war effort against the Nazis.
The women served in units known as the
Palestine Auxiliary Territorial Service
(A.T.S.). Some were assigned to British
positions in Egypt where, along with
their male comrades, they played an
important role in bolstering the British
fight to halt the German advance across
North Africa. One of the most famous
missions carried out by these Palestinian
Jewish soldiers was described in the 1943
book The Forgotten Ally, by the renowned
journalist (and Christian Zionist) Pierre
van Paassen. Twenty soldiers who were
German Jewish refugees donned German
military uniforms and, with their flawless
accents, managed to infiltrate Nazi lines in
western Egypt. When their true identities
were discovered, the saboteurs opened
fire on the enemy and—according to the
sole survivor—managed to kill more than
one hundred Germans. The women
hitchhikers for whom Rabbi Rabinowitz
stopped were on their way to meet up
with comrades at the pyramids for a
Lag B’Omer celebration. “The Galilean
village of Meron [site of the most famous
Lag B’Omer festivities] transported to
Gizeh [in Egypt],” the rabbi marveled,
“and Palestinian songs and dances in the
shades of the Pyramids.” They arrived
to find dozens of young Jewish soldiers
igniting a huge bonfire. “Round and round
they danced the Horah with increasing
enthusiasm and tempo,” the rabbi recalled.
“ ‘Ben Yohai!,’ ‘El Yivne Hagalil!’, ‘Anu
Olim Artzah!’ The flames throw the eager,
laughing, joyous faces into vivid relief.
From time to time, a figure would detach
itself from the whirling circle, and with
an ecstatic cry of triumph would leap
high over the burning pile, to land safely
and triumphantly on the other side.”
Standing there in the silhouette of the
Pyramids, Rabbi Rabinowitz was moved
to offer a Dvar Torah with a message that
uniquely linked past to present: “I spoke
of Bar Kochba and of Rabbi Akiva, of
his disciple, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai,
who is so intimately connected with Lag
B’Omer; of [Bar Kochba’s] war for Jewish
independence; of the long and weary exile
of the Jewish people; of the significant fact
that from that time, we had not, until the
present day, seen Palestinian Jews enrolled
and organized to fight for the freedom of
humanity and their own future.” But
the connection to Pharaoh, builder of the
pyramids, was even more significant,
the rabbi emphasized. Pharaoh, after
all, had ordered the murder of all Jewish
male babies for fear they would grow up
to be soldiers who would turn against
him; but he let the Jewish female babies
live. “What possible military value could
there be in women?,” the Egyptian ruler
reasoned. Surely girls posed no threat of
becoming Jewish fighters. “And now,
4,000 years after,” Rabbi Rabinowitz
declared, “these Palestinian A.T.S. were
showing, in no uncertain way, within sight
of these Pyramids,” that they, too, could
fight for the Jewish nation. These “Jewish
Amazons,” as the rabbi proudly called
them, were living proof of the failure of the
enemies of the Jewish people. “As I left
them that evening,” he later wrote, “my
mind was filled with the vivid conviction-
-these mighty Pyramids will crumble to
dust before the Jewish people will perish.”
Rabinowitz was very much a part of the
Jewish national revival. An outspoken
Zionist, he publicly renounced his
wartime military decorations in 1947, as a
protest against Britain’s harsh anti-Jewish
policies in Palestine. That act may have
later cost him his chance at becoming chief
rabbi of the United Kingdom, although his
controversial opposition to South African
apartheid—when he was that country’s
chief rabbi—probably didn’t help, either.
In the 1970s, Rabbi Rabinowitz served
as deputy mayor of reunified Jerusalem.
The idea that he might become the deputy
mayor of the Jewish people’s 3,000 year-
old capital city must have seemed like a
distant dream for much of Rabinowitz’s
life. But his chance encounter with the
remarkable “Jewish Amazons” on Lag
B’Omer in 1942 offered a hopeful sign
that the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty was,
in fact, not so far off.
Rafael Medoff
Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for your
Jewish History lesson!
COLUMBIA
Dear Vues Master:
I went to Columbia and had to sign
a paper at registration in 1980 that I
wouldn’t participate in any subversive
activities! I was bewildered, as a young
woman from out of state! Then I learned
about what had happened in the 1960s
when students took faculty and staff as
hostages to protest the war in Vietnam,
necessitating this form to be signed. I
wonder if students are still required to
sign this declaration! Shame on them! On
Google, you can find Facebook groups
and organizations that fight and alert
people about campus antisemitism such
as https://notoleranceforantisemitism.adl.
org/.
SA
Vues Master’s Note: Anti-Semitism came
down on us at Mount Sinai!
BIDEN
Dear Vues Master:
I have a serious question. Call me a
conspiracy theorist, but doesn’t it strike
anyone else as strange that Biden is trying
so hard to prevent the IDF from going into
Rafah? First he tells Israel not to. Then
he threatens Israel that if they go in, he’ll
cut off aid. And now he is offering Israel
intel about where the Hamas leadership is
hiding in exchange for not going in. Why
is he trying so hard to stop this operation?
This pressure is unprecedented. There has
to be a reason beyond his regular charade
of worrying about innocent lives. What
am I missing? Why does he care so much?
Hillel Fuld
Vues Master’s Note: He wants to keep
some Hamas child alive so he can kill a
Jew when he grows up!
BETRAYED
Dear Vues Master
A new NY Times poll shows that 30% of
Biden supporters won’t be voting for him
again because of his treatment of Israel.
17% of those people said they won’t vote
for Biden because of his abandonment of
Israel. 13% of them said they won’t vote
for him because of his support of Israel.
(What is wrong with you people that you
think standing with pedos and rapists is
the moral thing to do? Who are you and
where did your moral compass disappear
to?) Looks like Joe backed the wrong
horse. As I’ve said a million times, those
who bless the Jews and stand with them in
their time of need will be blessed. Those
who curse the Jews and abandon them
in their time of need will be cursed. Mr.
Biden, you have made a historically bad
decision and now you’ll pay the price.
Enjoy your last few months in the White
House.
Hillel Fuld
Vues Mster’s Note: Biden & Schumer
continue to betray us…..