14 Jan SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER
NEW AIRLINE FLYING TO ERETZ YISRAEL
Dear Vues Master
It’s about time! Baruch Hashem, the airline Arkia announced
tahis past Monday that it has launched a new flight route be-
tween Tel Aviv and New York. According to the announcement,
there will be three weekly flights, which will operate using the
Airbus 330-900NEO planes. The flights will operate between
JFK in New York and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International
Airport, beginning on February 8, 2025. The planes offer per-
sonal screens and two kosher meals. Prices start at $1,199 for
a round-trip ticket including one checked back weighing up to
20 kg. Flights from Tel Aviv to New York will take off Saturday
nights at 11:30 p.m., and Monday and Wednesday at 12:00 p.m.
Flights from New York to Tel Aviv will depart on Sunday and
Tuesday at 3:00 p.m., and on Thursdays at 4:00 p.m. LP
Vues Master’s Note: It’s about time EL AL has a competition.
Maybe they will lower their prices a little.
PARENTS SHOULD NOT MEET IN PERSON
WITH TUITION COMMITTEE
Dear Vues Master
Rabbi Yaakov Bender, Rosh Yeshiva of Darchei Torah in Far
Rockaway, has written part 2 of a column addressing the ex-
tremely challenging tuition crisis. Writing in the Monsey Mev-
aser, Rabbi Bender responded to a parent who described a
highly unpleasant experience, begging for a tuition break. The
parent wrote the following: “We have the unfortunate pleasure
of having to expose our private financial situation and we also
get to undergo a humiliating and degrading process and beg
for scholarships with five different administrations and tuition
committees. None of them seem to care about how or what we
arrange with the others, each of them wants only for themselves.
“For instance, when I tell them that the total dollars I can pay
for all of my tuitions is x and I would like to divide that equally
per child, I am told “no way” and that they can only worry about
their bottom line and I will have to deal with the other schools
however I’d like to. (Does my obligation of Talmud Torah for
my boys means yeshivos deserve more than Bais Yaakovs?)
At one point the parent also wrote: “One board member of a
school (who serves on the board of another school as well) ac-
tually told us that choosing their school is like buying a Lexus
and if you want the best, you will have to “One school set up
appointments for all those who wanted scholarships to come
the same night, causing the parents to be embarrassed sitting
together in a waiting room. Sadly, there are more stories like
these. “What should the schools do? Is there an answer? Who
can parents go to if they feel hurt by how the school treats
them? Please help. Please offer ideas and suggestions on what
can be done on a community level and what can or should be
done on a personal level.” Again, Rabbi Bender responded with
great empathy, and emphasized that in his yeshiva and his com-
munity, parents are treated with respect, dignity, and a great
deal of compassion.
The Rosh Yeshiva’s response read, in part: There is no excuse
for some of the horror stories mentioned. In our neighbor-
hood, the schools compete for students and dollars just like
everywhere else, but the directors of all the schools meet every
once in a while. There are not usually major policy issues to
be ironed out. That’s not the point-though the give and take is
often enlightening. The point is that the directors are on a first
name, cordial basis with each other; and it often happens that
one will pick up the phone and call his counterpart to work out
jointly a tuition package for the needy family.
The Rosh Yeshiva also wrote: “Allowing applicants to meet
each other should be anathema to any school administration
with a modicum of decency. Best would be not having to meet
at all. There is bound to be embarrassment in the presence of the
committee members, irrespective of other applicants. We have
found it more productive at first with specific questions posed
over the phone. A meeting is a last resort…”
BG
Vues Master’s Note: People should not be embarrassed if they
need to ask for financial aid. Unfortunately many of the yeshi-
vas make the entire process very difficult & embarrassing.
WHY PRESIDENT TRUMP NEEDS TO PUNCH
BACK
Dear Vues Master Nations are formed and sustained through
shared values, cultures, and a vision for the future. Citizens re-
main connected with each other because of the shared value
of living on the land called home, a place where people raise
and nurture a family, the only really meaningful thing in this
world. The dream of law-abiding citizens is when people can
work day in and day out, and come back at the end of the day
to a home and a happy family, unburdened by bureaucratic ty-
rants. Such a societal dream, however, can only be maintained
if its people are willing to unite behind the values that their
community was founded upon; if they abandon it, their identity
is bound to change. When outsiders start invading and dictat-
ing what people should value, the entire society is inevitably
threatened. Disunity and chaos ensue while the society’s very
existence remains on the brink of dissolution. A society can get
through such challenges if the people are strong and resilient,
but those that fail to stay strong, cease to exist. In societies
that do survive, the vanquished outsiders are taught to never
threaten the society’s ideals again with a constant threat that
more intense consequences could ensue. With-
out this response, bad influences will continue to
make communities vulnerable, because without
accountability for bad people, chaos and doom
take over.
Despite the American people being barely two
months after a historic election that has redefined
the political landscape for a generation, vital
events about the past four years are being dis-
missed. Four years ago, the media and the estab-
lishment tarred Donald Trump and his movement
with allegations about January 6th, COVID-19,
and the 2020 election. Their allegations were
false and exaggerated but were stated out of a
sense of hate to disqualify Trump and his move-
ment from legitimacy. Months of endless propa-
ganda on news stations and social media weren’t
enough however, as censorship became the next
weapon they would activate. Their first step was
banning Donald Trump from talking to his 90
million supporters on Twitter, then they created
rules against conservatives with a risk of being
suspended from the site. MAGA was on retreat,
but the other side was only beginning their wave
of persecution.
Next, they got district attorneys to investigate
Trump and his political allies for “crimes”. Co-
incidentally, criminal indictments started pouring
into the headlines. First, they locked up former
Trump White House advisors Steve Bannon and
Peter Navarro, then they indicted dozens of asso-
ciates of Trump for promoting the MAGA move-
ment. Then they used January 6th as an excuse to
lock up hundreds of innocent people who had a
connection with that day, while labeling MAGA
supporters as “domestic terrorists.” The prosecu-
tors claimed they released these indictments be-
cause “no one is above the law”, while willfully
ignoring the crimes of murderers, robbers, and
druggies looting the streets of cities and com-
munities. Criminal justice meant to them that
crime was legal, but supporting Trump wasn’t.
The story of these political witch hunts don’t end
there, however, because they finally launched the
movement to take down the man himself.
It was April of 2023 when phones around the
world buzzed with the notification, “Former
President Donald Trump indicted by a NYC
Grand Jury.” “It is over for Donald Trump and
the MAGA movement,” the other side declared
with gleeful hatred. “The man responsible for
January 6th has had justice finally been brought
to him”, they lectured for months on end. Coin-
cidentally, three more criminal indictments were
handed down to Trump months apart from each
other. Of course, to the rational person, these in-
dictments had nothing to do with justice; it was
banana-republic business. But the other side
needed reasonable people to be convinced oth-
erwise, so they dragged Trump down to Atlanta,
took his mugshot like a murderer once would
have gotten, and labeled him a “convicted felon.”
Simultaneously, other upstanding prosecutors
fined Trump hundreds of millions of dollars for
made-up laws all in the name of defeating Or-
ange Hitler! The legal cases weren’t working,
however, as Donald Trump surged in the polls.
Consequently, the other side had no choice but
for the sake of democracy, to resort to the only
remaining solution: assassination.
We all remember where we were on July 13th,
2024. We heard that Trump got shot by an assas-
sin and heroically responded with a fist, defiantly
in the air, shouting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” The
famous picture of a blood-stained, fist-pumping
Trump will go down in history as heroic, but the
other side wanted it to go down in infamy for
different reasons than you and I. A month later,
we got another notification on our phones, “2nd
Assassination Attempt at Donald Trump Fails.”
They tried to do it again, but thank G-d they
failed miserably because two months later, the
man they tried to kill was elected the 47th Presi-
dent of the United States of America.
The election of Donald Trump in 2024 is not
only a remarkable political comeback, it is the
American people’s response to the unprecedent-
ed persecution that occurred over the past few
years. There are no excuses for what the other
side did to the American people, and no Repub-
lican should accept the calls for unity we hear
from “our friends, on the other side of the aisle”;
these people are not our friends, they are our en-
emies. A few years ago, such rhetoric would have
rightfully been considered extreme, because in
politics, there were no enemies, there were only
opponents. “Our enemies are those that want to
destroy the United States like China or Russia,”
rational people once said, but tragically, not any-
more. The other side persecuted not only Trump
but hundreds of his supporters for made-up in-
fractions, putting an overhanging threat to the
millions of other MAGA “domestic terrorists.”
The correct reaction to the results of an election
is for both sides to come together, but not when
one side tries to destroy the other outside the po-
litical arena. Saying to “rise above it” is naive
to what the other side has done to the American
people. President-elect Trump and his adminis-
tration must resist the natural impulse of unifying
with people who cannot be trusted because as in
a fistfight, one shouldn’t tolerate getting punched
repeatedly while refusing to fight back unless
they want to get beaten again. The consequences
of uprooting the lives of millions of Americans
must be made clear!
Donny Simcha Guttman
TRUMP PRESSURING ISRAEL
Dear Vues Master
As rumors are spreading of Trump pressuring Is-
rael to agree to a horrendous deal that allows our
Islamonazi enemies to believe kidnapping and
massacring innocent Jews is good business for
them, understand, deal or no deal is not the issue.
If Israel agrees to end this war without remaining
in full control of Gaza forever then we lost the
war with our Islamona*zi enemies knowing we
are not strong enough to stand up for ourselves
against the pressure, and they can continue to
live on and threaten us, murder us, and kidnap
us, with global support. Reconquering
Gaza and making Gaza Jewish again is
the only just, moral and correct way to
end this war. Otherwise all of our dead
and injured soldiers would have died in
vain, until the next round of Islamon*zi
terror rises up against us to kill and kid-
nap even more of us. And that is a hor-
rendous appeasement that endangers
freedom-loving people from genocidal
Islamic jihad all over the world. Re-
gardless of what happens with this deal,
the Jewish people in Israel are waking
up slowly and recognizing that our en-
emies only care about land and the only
way to protect ourselves is to liberate
and take away they lands they attacked
us from. Despite the world pressure,
we will be reconquering our Biblical
homeland and remaining there. Obvi-
ously, the sooner the better with the
least amount of losses. This isn’t just
about saving our hostages in Gaza today, this is
also about ensuring we never have massacres and
more hostages taken ever again! AA
Vues Master’s Note: I couldn’t have said it better
myself! Thanks for sharing.
HISTORIAN TRAMPLING HISTORY
IN GAZA
Dear Vues Master
Since there isn’t any evidence to prove Israel is
committing genocide in Gaza, what’s the next
best thing? Invent a new kind of “cide” and see
how many scholars are gullible enough, or ma-
levolent enough, to go along with it.
That, it seems, is the strategy of former PLO of-
ficial Karma Nabulsi, who recently invented the
term “scholasticide” to describe damage Israel
has caused to college campuses in Gaza. From
1977 to 1990, Nabulsi was an official represen-
tative of a terrorist organization that murdered
or maimed countless Israelis (and many Ameri-
cans), and sought Israel’s destruction. Now she
teaches at the University of Oxford.
Nabulsi’s strategy is working. By a vote of 428
to 88, members of the American Historical As-
sociation last week adopted a resolution accusing
Israel of committing “scholasticide” through an
“intentional effort” to damage universities and
other schools and thereby “obliterate Gaza’s edu-
cational system.”
There is not a stitch of evidence demonstrating
any such intent by the Israelis. Lack of evidence
ordinarily would stop an historian dead in his or
her tracks. But in this case, the facts, sources, and
standards upon which historians ordinarily rely
were thrown out the window. By a large majority,
those who are supposed to be the gatekeepers of
the historical record have embraced a libel.
The damage to college campuses in Gaza is
not the result of an Israeli plot. It’s the result of
Hamas using those campuses as operational cen-
ters for terrorism and storehouses for weapons.
In November 2023, Israeli soldiers found weap-
ons and other terrorist equipment in Gaza’s Al-
Quds University. The following month, Israeli
forces discovered explosives and rockets in Al-
Azhar University, in northern Gaza, as well as a
half mile-long tunnel under the university’s yard.
The site resembled “a military base,” a sergeant
told the New York Times; only “if you look
closely, you can see it’s a university.” In Janu-
ary, troops searching the campus of Islamic Uni-
versity, in Khan Younis, discovered hundreds of
mortars, explosive devices, grenades, AK-47 as-
sault rifles, ammunition, Hamas flags, and safes
stuffed with cash in the classrooms.
In February, Israeli troops found a tunnel un-
derneath Israa University, in Zahra City. In June,
they discovered quantities of weapons on the
campus of the University College of Applied Sci-
ences, in central Gaza; the army said Hamas used
the college “as a command and control center.”
Soon after that, terrorists in a building at Islamic
University launched anti-tank missiles at Israeli
forces.
None of that information is mentioned in the
AHA resolution. In fact, Hamas itself is never
mentioned. That’s like describing World War II
without mentioning Nazi Germany.
The hypocrisy of the accusers is egregious.
While these historians denounce Israel, they have
said nothing when Israeli universities have been
victimized by genocidal terrorists.
Sapir Academic College, the largest public col-
lege in Israel, is just a few miles from the Gaza
border. The only thing saving it from mass blood-
shed during the Hamas invasion of October 7,
2023, was that the campus was closed and nearly
empty because of the Simchat Torah holiday.
Nonetheless, terrorists cut through its fences and
shot at the guard booths and buildings.
Dozens of Sapir faculty members, students and
staff who reside near the campus were murdered,
wounded, or kidnapped. Some are still being held
hostage in Gaza. Yet the AHA has not protested.
More than 1,000 Sapir students and nearly 300
staff members and their families became refu-
gees. The AHA has said nothing about them.
That was not the first Pales-
tinian Arab violence against
Israeli universities. In 2002,
terrorists bombed the He-
brew University campus,
in Jerusalem, killing nine—
five of them Americans—
and wounding more than
100. A previous bombing
at Hebrew University, in
1969, left thirty-six stu-
dents injured. The AHA
said nothing about either of
those attacks.
History shows that victims
of aggression have some-
times damaged university
campuses in the course of
defending themselves, as
in World War II. The Al-
lies’ bombing of Hamburg
in July 1943 caused major
damage to the University of Hamburg. Allied
bombers destroyed the main building on the
campus of Munich’s Ludwig Maximillian Uni-
versity in July 1944. Allied strikes on Bonn in
October 1944 completely destroyed the main
building at the University of Bonn. More than
three-fourths of the buildings of the Techni-
cal University of Aachen were leveled in that
month’s bombings as well. The University of
Greifswald was so badly damaged by the Al-
lies that it had to be rebuilt on a different site.
The University of Rostock’s medical clinic, der-
matological clinic, and hygiene institute were
completely destroyed in Allied bombings, and
additional buildings were badly damaged.
The proceedings of the AHA’s annual meet-
ings during World War II do not mention any
resolutions condemning President Franklin D.
Roosevelt or Prime Minister Winston Churchill
for damaging German universities. One won-
ders if the current generation of AHA members
would have viewed those events differently.
Would they have pointed an accusing finger at
the Allies, just as they now unjustly heap blame
on Israel? Would they have branded FDR and
Churchill guilty of “scholasticide” ?
Unless the AHA leadership intervenes, the
“scholasticide” resolution will soon go to the
association’s full membership for ratification. If
adopted, the new official position of the AHA
would contravene its own mission statement.
Instead of “promoting historical work and his-
torical thinking in public life,” the AHA would
be on record as discarding historical thinking in
favor of extremist political posturing.
According to the AHA’s by-laws, however, its
leaders could step in and veto the resolution. To
preserve the association’s credibility and to re-
main true to its mission, they should do so.
Rafael Medoff
Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for the history les-
son!
THE P’SICHA FIASCO
Dear Vues Master:
FULL DISCLOSURE: The following story is
100% true (except for some minor exaggera-
tions, literary embellishments, and factual am-
plifications!)
Last week I was approached by a Gabbai be-
fore the Torah reading, and was kindly offered
to do P’sicha. I didn’t have to think for even a
moment before politely declining the honor. He
looked at me strangely, like, what chutzpah, but
then shrugged and turned and offered it to some-
body else. It might have been the first time in
his 30 year “Gabbaihood” that somebody turned
him down! I saw him whisper something to the
Rabbi, who gave me a dirty look, but I didn’t
care. Little did he know there was a good reason
for my seeming disrespect! You see, last year I
was davening in a crowded Young Israel minyan
with over 800 mispallelim in Florida one Shab-
bos when I was approached by a well-meaning
Gabbai asking me to do P’sicha. Naturally, I was
honored and quickly agreed. Then, at the proper
time, I strode up to the Aron Kodesh, stood on
the right side of the huge, embroidered, velvet
curtain, and looked for the cord to pull on, and
thereby slide the “Paroches” to the side. But to
my chagrin there was no cord to pull! I quickly
looked behind the curtain, but no luck. I thought,
perhaps it was on the other side for some reason,
so I walked quickly to the left side of the curtain
and searched – to no avail! NO CORD! A mur-
mur went up from the crowd. I was holding up
the Davening! The Chazzan was already stand-
ing there nervously tapping his foot, waiting for
me to give him the Sefer Torah. He was staring
daggers at me! My face started to turn a bright
crimson just like the velvet curtain that was giv-
ing me such problems. I turned around, looking
for help, but no one was coming to my aid. Then
I had a brilliant idea! I recalled that in some
shuls the Aron didn’t have any cords to pull.
You had to slide the curtain to the side
with your hand. Sheepishly smiling, but
now, with a growing confidence that I
had solved the problem, I tried pushing
the curtain to the side. But it wouldn’t
budge! It was big and heavy, and hard-
ly moved. Aha, I thought to myself, I
probably have to push it not from left to
right but from right to left. Beaming at
my brilliance, I quickly jumped to the
other side and tried pushing it that way.
But again it wouldn’t budge an inch!
By now the murmuring had turned into
angry shouts, hooting and laughter!
“NEEE, NUUU, SHOITEH EFFIN
SHOIN!” I started to panic! The blood
drained from my face! For a brief sec-
ond, I thought of bolting off the stage,
out of the Shul and running home. But
then I had a brilliant idea. I turned and
picked up the curtain from the bottom
and raised it over my head and dropped
it behind me. So now I was invisible to the
deafening crowd and had access to the Aron. I
thought, perhaps, this was a new security feature
to protect against anyone seeing the combina-
tion used to open the Aron. At this point, the agi-
tated shouting and insults ( Meshugeneh, Shli-
mazel”) were mostly muffled, but now I could
hear footsteps approaching me. The Gabbai had
finally come to my rescue. He lifted the curtain
and guided me back to the proper position on
the right side of the curtain. Now, utterly morti-
fied, I half turned to see the devastation I had
unleashed.To my horror there was utter chaos
in the shul. 800 exceedingly agitated, starving
men were calling for my head. I thought at any
moment I would be rushed, bound and quartered
by the crazed crowd already salivating from the
scent of pickled herring, Cholent and Kishkeh
wafting in from the lobby. The rabbi’s face had
turned a deep, royal purple with embarrass-
ment! The aging president was apoplectic, his
whole body was twitching uncontrollably and
his mouth was convoluted and twisted with an
expression I’d never seen on a living person
before. The Gabbai looked up and gently lifted
my hand above my head. Perplexed I too looked
way up and lo and behold I couldn’t believe my
eyes! There, hanging about three feet above my
head was the beautiful, blessed, triple braided,
tasseled cord! I’d have to have been 8 feet tall
to have seen it but there it was. I
quickly pulled it down and the cur-
tain smoothly slid to the side. The
cacophony quickly subsided and I
handed the Torah to the Chazzan.
I then followed closely behind him
for protection as he carried it to the
Bimah and to the audible sound of
snickering laughter I quickly left
the Shul. I haven’t gone back there
since! End of story? Hardly! A year
later I was davening in a Shteeble
this time when once again I was approached by
a well meaning Gabbai offering me… P’sicha.
What it is about my face that makes me the per-
fect candidate for P’sicha I’ll never know. By
this time the pain and anguish of the first sordid
affair had somewhat dissipated and I figured
what can possibly go wrong? I reluctantly ac-
cepted! As I approached the curtain I was hor-
rified once again to see there was no cord! I
don’t know who designs these things, but they
should be shot! Horrible memories flooded my
mind nearly paralyzing my muscles! I ran to the
other side- still no cord! Remembering the last
time, I looked up to the ceiling-but this time still
no blessed cord! Nervous murmurs and giggles
rose from the congregation. I began to sweat
profusely! Thankfully the rabbi saw my predica-
ment and made a swiping motion with his hand.
I quickly got the message and swiped the cur-
tain. It slid easily to the side. Whew! Now I only
had to open the two heavy, gray metal doors.
Should be easy shmeazy, right? But as hard as
I tried I couldn’t get them to swing open! Each
door must’ve weighed 100 pounds! I couldn’t
even turn the handles! Some men started yelling
out instructions from the back of the shul. Turn
them to the left, turn them to the right, pull, push
– nothing worked! The room began spinning!
Pandemonium broke out as my heart started
palpitating and I felt a dizzying nausea rise from
my bowels! My nightmare scenario was coming
true… once again! I swooned and collapsed to
the floor! A Hatzolah member jumped out of his
seat, pulled out his walkie-talkie and proceeded
to rip open my shirt! But before he could reach
for the defibrillator, someone shouted, “it’s
open!” I looked up from the floor and the two
iron doors were wide open, and the beautiful
Torahs stood majestically within, waiting to be
taken out. I immediately felt better, got up and
handed the Torah to the Chazzan. As I slowly
made my way back to my seat people were pat-
ting my back and wishing me well but right then
and there I made a solemn vow – never to accept
P’sicha again! So all you Gabbies reading this
out there. If you see me in shul be forewarned:
I’ll accept any Aliyah, Hagbah, Glilah or even
Maftir but please, please no P’sicha!!!
Country Yossi Toiv
Vues Master’s Note: I hope you open up! Don’t
pull the curtain on your act? It seems like the
Gabai is pulling some strings!