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    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.

     

    KOF-K
    Dear Vues Master:
    Kof-K Kosher Certification, will you do
    the right thing and pull your Kosher Supervision from Ben & Jerry? On Monday, as
    soon as Ben & Jerrys said that they were
    not Moishas Discount Supermarket, Glatt
    Mart on Ave. M, Gourmet Glatt, Aaron
    Kissena,Cedar Market & Seasons all announced that they will no longer be selling
    Ben & Jerry products.
    YF
    Vues Master’s Note: First of all give them
    a chance to do their research. Second of all
    if one American Jew eats this thinking it is
    Kosher and meanwhile the Kof K removes
    it for political reasons and the company
    makes it treife, the Kof K will have this
    aveira of causing people to eat trife thinking it is Kosher.
    BASEBALL PLAYERS
    Dear Vues Master:
    I’ve been absolutely disgusted by some of
    the discussions surrounding two Orthodox
    Jewish baseball stars drafted to the Major
    Leagues this week. Jews are commemorating the three weeks of mourning over the
    destruction of our Temples and the state of
    exile we’ve been in for 2,000 years. The
    exile was largely brought on by divisions
    among our people and needless hatred felt
    and expressed towards other Jews. It hasn’t
    been long since we commemorated the
    mourning of Rebbe Akiva’s students who
    died for not showing each other respect.
    This is to add to our recent catastrophes of
    COVID, Meron, Surfside, and a war with
    Hamas. Stop judging other Jews. You have
    no right to discuss other Jews’ observance
    of mitzvot. Even if the public nature of
    these people’s statement and observance
    doesn’t meet the technical criteria of violating Loshon Hara, it is division without
    purpose. It is an expression of golus and
    sin. But, they’re setting a horrible example
    for our children! We must speak out and
    protest their actions! No, they’re not and
    no, you don’t. If you want to have a private talk with your child about your family’s values and how modern culture and
    Shabbat observance balances with your
    family’s Torah philosophy and practice,
    that is your right. It is NOT your obligation, right or prerogative to discuss other
    people’s observance publicly. I’m an educator of teenagers and everyone is so worried about going “off the derech” because a
    baseball prospect was drafted. If you think
    for ONE second a Jewish teenager is going to look at these kids and decide to go
    off the derech because they MIGHT play
    professional baseball on Shabbat, you have
    no idea how teenager’s think. Teenagers go
    off the derech, or never get on it (that’s a
    MUCH more accurate description) because
    they aren’t inspired by Judaism, Torah and
    our community’s values. Do you know
    what turns teenagers off to halacha and
    Judaism more than anything? Cynicism
    and negativity. Do you know what turns
    them on to Judaism? Jewish pride. As we
    know, an entire generation of Jews went
    off the derecho because we made the tragic
    mistake of putting Sandy Koufax in the
    spotlight because he “just” observed Yom
    Kippur. Can you even imagine how many
    Jews keep Yom Kippur because – subconsciously – Yom Kippur became important
    to them because it was important to Sandy
    Koufax? That’s what these kids are about
    to do with Torah observance like davening,
    kashrus, tefillin, etc. Stop focusing on the
    halachos they might not keep (in the future) and highlight the mitzvos they ARE
    keeping. When we are proud of Jews – for
    WHATEVER reason – it makes our teenagers want to draw close to Judaism. It’s
    then that they’re willing to listen to adults
    about Torah, halacha and hashkafat HaTorah. When parents denigrate other Jews,
    it makes teenagers not want to be Jewish.
    This is simple and TRUE.
    RUP
    Vues Master’s Note: You hit it out of the
    park with your essay. We should not judge
    others because they sin differently than
    yourself!

     

    REACTION
    Dear Vues Master:
    How we react in tough situations
    can be compared to carrots, eggs
    and coffee. They all react differently when placed in hot water.
    The carrot becomes soft, the egg
    becomes tougher, and the coffee
    chooses to embitter the water
    around it. When faced with hot
    water, it’s best to be like the pot,
    which faces the problem head on
    and boils the water away.
    MM
    Vues Master’s Note: Best is if one
    anticipates and does not need to
    react!
    SOCIAL MEDIA
    Dear Vues Master:
    Will the new conservative “free
    speech” platform Gettr be the
    next Parler? One thing’s for certain: It’s glitchy and full of white
    supremacists.
    AN
    Vues Master’s Note: I believe
    that all Social media have all
    kinds of people on it. Unless of
    course you censor it!
    MAOS CHITTIN
    Dear Vues Master:
    A Rov was asked why חטין מעות
    are given for פסח and not for
    סוכות .The Rov explained: “With
    respect to פסח ,the תורה says
    food and שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו
    costs money. But with respect to
    סוכות ,all the תורה demands is
    תשבו בסוכות and sitting is free.”
    MF
    Master’s Note: This sounds like
    another Cheesed fund solicitation.
    OTD
    Dear Vues Master:
    Another OTD documentary is
    coming out now. It’s getting ridiculous. The OTD community
    is getting to define Judaism to
    the outside world. It’s time we
    make our own documentaries,
    perhaps centered on baalei teshuva and prominent members of
    the frum community, to portray
    us as we are.
    CK
    Vues Master’s Note: They will
    only make stuff that sells. Good
    news does not sell. Therefore
    they produce negative stuff.
    Don’t hold your
    breath on a documentary depicting us in a good light.
    DONKEYS
    Dear Vues Master:
    קינות לתשעה באב in פייטן The
    #37 writes,
    בך כל בהמה ועוף חכמו עדי”
    כחמור היה לפנים לבן
    “יאיר חמוריך
    “Within you (Zion) every animal
    & bird grew wise to the point
    where even the donkeys were
    as intelligent as the donkey of
    (Pinchas) Ben Yair”. (ie: Animals in Eretz Yisroel are smarter
    than Chutz La’aretz animals) It
    is claimed that the most intelligent Arabs are the Palestinians.
    Perhaps, the reason for it is, because if ישראל דארץ אוירא has
    an effect on the חמורים it surely
    must also have an effect on the
    we, However עם הדומה לחמור
    must apply the Talmudic rule of
    a In. דיו לבא מן הדין להיות כנדון
    וחומר קל we limit the חומר to the
    same measure as the קל .Therefore theוחומר קל teaches us that
    the ישמעאלי has as much intelligence as the Israeli חמור but not
    more.
    FM
    Vues Master’s Note: These Arabs are dumber than dumb that
    is why they kill themselves and
    have no drive but follow their
    leaders!!
    WHY ASK WHY
    Dear Vues Master:
    A גוי once asked
    why רבי צבי הירש לוין
    ,פסח on asked is מה נשתנה
    rather than on סוכות when Jews
    leave their homes and go out in
    the cold into temporary shelters.
    s’It: “responded רבי צבי הירש
    natural. We’re in exile and when
    children see us sitting around the
    פסח table as free men, dressed
    for the holiday, they are surprised
    and naturally ask נשתנה מה .But
    on סוכות ,they see what Jewish
    children have seen throughout
    the generations of exile: Jews
    having to leave their homes and
    live out in the cold. It does not
    occur to them to ask נשתנה מה “.
    MV
    Vues Master’s Note: No question
    about it!
    CTV COLOR WARS
    Dear Vues Master:
    I went to the Camp Expo recently
    held in the Palace and it got me
    thinking again about the good
    ole days back in Camp Torah
    Vodaath CTV. I was reminiscing
    about the Color War breakouts
    with Rabbi Heshy A. upset about
    campers breaking into his bungalow to find the Color War Teams.
    He tore up the booklets in front
    of everyone including the staff
    who were shocked to see their
    color war dreams going out the
    window together with the torn to
    shred booklet. He said until the
    campers admit who they are who
    had the nerve to break into his
    bungalow there will not be color
    war this summer. Of course it
    was a fake out but everyone fell
    for it and even the staff didn’t
    know and were fooled. We ended
    up all coming down to the recreation hall [shul with tallis on the
    Aron] and were told that the 2
    campers [in my bunk] were being thrown out of camp. “Campers Counselors have no fear there
    will be a Color War this year”!
    [B’H] I can still hear Rabbi Shmuel D. announcing; “Attention all
    campers & Counselors, Learning
    never ends, but Learning Groups
    are now over”. I remember when
    they called all the bunks down to
    the baseball field, since the camp
    was on fire. Now why do we
    have to sit nicely on the bleachers and be told to watch the
    camp burn down? Shouldn’t we
    be running for our lives? When
    we arrived, the [man made] fire
    was dying down, so we noticed
    Moshe H. adding to the fire for
    those bunks who arrived unfortunately late and didn’t yet get to
    see the whole fire [genius]. Then
    there was the serious play about
    the Nazis and the Jews escaping,
    so we were asked again to see the
    end of the play outdoors on the
    Baseball field. We were treated
    to a parachute jumper. The only
    problem was that everyone was
    running around to see if the
    paratrooper can possibly land
    on them. The Boss Mr. N. was
    running around in a panic with a
    stick shooting the campers away
    from the landing. [Catastrophe].
    COLOR WAR! [Yea]. I remember back in my younger days in
    Camp Shalom being told that our
    bunk was chosen to break out
    the Color war, and that our bunk
    was to fall down by lunch when
    we got the signal from the Head
    Counselor, and faint from the
    food. Well you guessed correctly
    -everyone in the entire camp fell
    down all at once. [Coincidence?]
    Remember the Camp Bloopers?
    Mutty K. picking up a beer bottle instead of a phone in a grand
    play in Color War [Now what
    was he th[dr]inking?]. Or Heshy
    S. kept on hanging up the phone
    even though the phone somehow miraculously [or broken?]
    kept on ringing]. Can’t forget the
    Generals landing on the Baseball
    Diamond in a Helicopter, but
    this time the campers weren’t
    running around the field [Boss
    with a big stick]. [BTW- I had to
    run for my life around the Dining
    Room and escape, when I told
    the Camp Director that I didn’t
    like the “Horsemeat” [Slabs] or
    the BOMBS!]. Shimon L. announcing the “Russians are coming” [No! it’s the Romans], or
    Danny S. calling out during a
    grand play; “The Slides -where
    are the Slides”? [Slide projector broken-so what’s new?] I
    can still hear the Boss saying
    each & every summer that this
    was the best Color War ever in
    CTV history.[Nu] Who can forget the drama when by a Bris in
    Camp, the Mohel dropped the
    BABY[doll- whew!] and broke
    out in a Color war! [Mazel Tov!]
    [I was more worried about what
    happens now to the Bagels &
    Lox?] My memories go back
    to Team Time before the Grand
    sing on the slap ball court with
    Moish S. or Chaim S. our Color
    war Grand sing leaders. We were
    once told not to laugh at the other team’s comedy skit, but we
    couldn’t help it I got a stomach
    ache from holding in the laughter
    until we even noticed the judges crying from laughter. Or the
    Judges Entrance with Nicky G.
    the Color war banners with Nutty G. & Yitzy E. and the Grand
    plays with Jackie S. & Heshy A.
    or the great comedy skits about
    the Boss with Hersh C. [Don’t
    leave out Yaakov Ginza!] I now
    remember the Halacha skit when
    two good friends help each other
    cheat throughout medical school,
    and the play ends when one of
    the friends who was helping him
    all along to get by and pass his
    exams now turns out to be his Dr
    when he has a heart attack, and
    he sees his friend who he had helped get by is now his Dr! [Uh
    Oh]. Now, If you want to hear
    the great Grand sing Color War
    songs, you have to buy the old
    JEP records [sorry, I mean cds]
    Vol. 1 & 2. “CTV We Miss You”!
    RMS
    Vues Master’s Note: Yea I miss
    those days wish I can be in camp
    again!

     

    JEWISH?
    Dear Vues Master:
    A new book claims that Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury
    secretary credited with setting
    the US on a sound footing, was
    born and raised Jewish. Why do
    people need to make up that every famous person is Jewish?! It
    just leads to antisemitism and aivah and should be stopped.
    MD
    Vues Master’s Note: It is a coping mechanism. People love to be
    with
    a front runner!
    BARBER
    Dear Vues Master:
    I was always curious what Cuomo did besides all the crimes
    and other disgusting stuff we’ve
    heard about recently. Now I’ve
    found out: A century-old Blue
    Law banning barbers from working Sundays in NY was repealed
    by Cuomo’s signature, though it
    hasn’t been enforced in decades.
    Very important I must say. Although while he’s actually signing it he can’t make any trouble
    because he’s busy.
    GB
    Vues Master’s Note: Oh cut it out.
    It got to a hair raising situation!
    DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS? LAW BREAKERS
    Dear Vues Master:
    I was delighted by the news that
    Texas Gov. Abbott ordered the
    arrest of more than 50 Texas
    Democrats who fled to Washington DC, thus denying a Republican-led bill on new sweeping
    election reforms. Enough with
    the democrats tyranny and crybabying. You lose, you lose. If
    you want to change the laws, be
    good politicians and make a difference. That’s what elections
    are for. Just walking out time
    after time because you’re upset
    about something is just childish
    and not Democratic
    DS
    Vues Master’s Note: Typical children leaving class. Politicians
    are pathetic!
    CHINUCH
    Dear Vues Master:
    I learned an amazing chinuch
    lesson this week when Five
    members of the same Texas family were charged for their alleged participation in the Capitol
    riot. That is what we call good
    chinuch.
    JE
    Vues Master’s Note: Or maybe
    stupidity. It would be smart to
    stay out
    of trouble!
    LATE
    Dear Vues Master:
    A למדן came to Shul for שחרית
    at 11:30 in the morning on
    was he When. חול המועד סוכות
    asked how he could come so late,
    he responded: “ בציבור תפילה is
    מדרבנן .But sleeping in the סוכה
    “.מדאורייתא is
    BR
    Vues Master’s Note: I would give
    that guy a huge knas!
    SELF DESTRUCTION
    Dear Vues Master:
    This country is being run to
    the ground. With Sen Majority Leader Schumer’s announcement of his draft of legislation
    to end the federal prohibition
    on cannabis and expunge some
    cannabis-related arrest records.
    We are really done.
    DA
    Vues Master’s Note: It took you
    so long to figure this out! If dead
    people can vote then this Country
    is being buried as we speak!!
    WHY DID IT HAPPEN?
    Dear Vues Master:
    My brother texted me; Meron,
    Karlin Stolin-Givat Ze’ev, Miami , Italy, all forms of Sekila.
    What is Hashem telling us? I
    texted him back that Totty A”H
    used to always look into the
    Haftorah of that week to figure
    out Current Events. I’m not a
    Navi or ben Navi and like Rabbi
    Berel Wein shlita quips that G-D
    has not spoken to me lately. I
    would only guess that if Hashem
    is upset and angry with us it has
    to be the nisyanos of this generation and that to me is V’lo Sasuru Acharei Eynechem Vacharei
    Levavchem. I find that to be the
    most difficult nisayon, especially
    in the city in the summer. People
    don’t dress appropriately and it
    feels like you’re on the beach.
    Rabbi Paysach Krohn says that
    the bus passed by with an indecent picture and you looked back
    after accidentally looking in the
    first place, then that’s your fault.
    Technology doesn’t make it any
    easier. I remember as a young
    child waiting for the bus by a
    store that had magazines in their
    front window, and that picture
    remains with me till today vividly. R’ Avi Shulman used to say a
    child’s mind is like wet cement!
    He told parents who allow their
    children to watch shows that the
    super bowl wouldn’t charge millions of dollars for 30 second
    commercials if they didn’t feel
    that they were influencing your
    brain. I stay away from libraries
    and stores who sell inappropriate magazines or newspapers. I
    sometimes have to turn over the
    NY Post when buying the Hamodia on 13th ave corner 49th St.
    Now with smartphones, computers etc. you don’t have to go to
    these stores or libraries. I went
    to TAG to filter my phone. Of
    course there’s all types of nisyonos, Litzonos, Machlokes,
    Loshon Hara etc., but I feel the
    worst is Tzneyus. You can’t even
    walk in the streets these days or
    drive. I have to put the sun shield
    down. What really bothers me
    is how everyone became Daas
    Torah by mixing their views into
    their ban on Lace top Sheitels. If
    the Lakewood Roshei Yeshivas
    and Poskim asered it, then no
    one has the chutzpa to oppose!
    If Chazal says it’s Yom then its
    yom! I read that RMS quoted his
    Rav from Monsey; The Writers
    are the new Daas Torah! You’re
    not allowed to argue with your
    Daas Torah or even agree Who
    Are You? The VUES should not
    be putting in letters that oppose
    the Chassidesher Poskim and
    Litvish Rabbonim. I believe
    the Chofetz Chaim had to be
    taken from this world so as not
    to have to witness the What’s
    App, Twitter, Facebook, Google,
    Smart phones etc. [Of course
    there’s Kol Haloshon & Torah
    Anytime}.We daven every day
    Al Teveini Lydei Bizoyon V’lo
    Liydei Nisoyon Val Tashlet
    Banu Yetzher Hara. Harav Hagoan, Rav Dovid Schustal shlita,
    Rosh Hayeshiva BMG spoke in
    Toms River Parshas Korech, at
    a Oneg Shabbos where he was
    spending Shabbos. In the middle
    of speaking at 10:50 pm, he gave
    a loud klop on the table and said
    a premonition; “ Ut Ut Moshiach
    Ba’ah. The Matzav in Eretz
    Yisroel is the final straw. Start
    preparing yourselves, since you
    don’t want to be embarrassed!
    CHACHAM ADIF M’NAVI!
    RLL
    Vues Master’s Note: No one
    could tell you what to work on to
    figure it out yourself! Become a
    better person!!
    JUDGING
    Dear Vues Master:
    Re: the ad that seemed to be
    pro-gossip, it’s appropriate to be
    dan l’kaf zchus note that “gossip” and “lashon hara” are not
    perfect synonyms. “Gossip” is
    derived from “godsibb” meaning
    god sibling. It was then used to
    refer to the conversation around
    a child birthing woman, back
    when all the female neighbors
    would come over to help and
    converse. Even today, gossip
    can include talking about others in a neutral or positive way.
    Example: “Did you hear Chani
    Friedman opened a craft supply store in Boro Park right next
    door to her office supply store?”
    “No, I should go check it out. I
    was going to buy acrylic paint
    at Michaels. Now I’ll support
    a small business and a friend!”
    or “Malky’s son Duvi, the eight
    year old, you know how many
    salamanders he found? Thirtyseven! In one afternoon!” “Wow,
    that’s a lot of salamanders! If I
    were also eight years old, I’d be
    jealous! Maybe I’ll ask Malky
    how he did it so I can tell my
    kids.” Those are both not lashon
    hara. The latter would fall under
    excessive praise that can induce
    jealous criticism, except that a
    grown woman is not likely to be
    jealous of a child’s ability to find
    amphibians.
    JJ
    Vues Master’s Note: As I told
    the Judge when he charged me
    for my court case. I said to him I
    have plenty of people who judge
    me every day for free!!