20 Apr 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.

AN OPEN LETTER FROM A FRUSTRATED SHADCHAN:

It’s so hard to please anyone these days!!! Here is a partial list of my clients …. I couldn’t even get them one date, and that is why I am finally quitting and going into the pickle business. Avraham Avinu: How can you recommend him to my daughter? Wasn’t he involved in a family feud with his father over some idols? Then he left home without a GPS or a viable business plan! Yitzchak Avinu: His brother is an Arab terrorist!!! Rivka Imeinu: Sorry, she seems nice but did you hear about her mishpucha??? Her father’s a murderer and her brother’s a ponzi scam artist… . Yaakov Avinu: Okay, he sits and learns all day… but his brother is a no-goodnik. And anyway, we heard he has a limp….. . Leah Imeinu: Her father’s a con artist, and she has ophthalmological problems. Maybe it’s genetic? Moshe Rabbeinu: Are you kidding? His parents are divorced! And worse.. they remarried! And we hear he’s in speech therapy…. King David: How dare you suggest him to our yichusdike family? Our neighbor Yenti told us that his great-grandmother was a giyoret!!! Chava: Do you know anything about her family? We never heard of them. No one knows where she came from and she can’t come up with any referrals! (Please chevra, judge the person for him/herself – you’re going to marry the person, not the family as much. You’re getting married to build your home, not to please your neighbors. And finally, remember that if you are in this world, you are not perfect and neither is your spouse)

AA

Vues Master’s Note: Ha Ha very funny but still serious problem.

TACHNUN

Dear Vues Master: Do you get a little happy when the shul skips Tachanun? I kind of missed it during the month of Nissan. I know that there are many shuls that skip tachanun all the time because of yahrtzeits. I believe that it’s an important tefilah & there is no reason to find excuses to skip it.

BS

Vues Master’s Note: This is one of the things that a Yid can’t explain to a Goy the pleasure he has when he gets to skip tachnun.

LEFTIES

Dear Vues Master: Why are lefties so discriminated against!?! Examples Lefties are always “left” out Righties are “right” while lefties aren’t right Whenever one writes in English a lefty smudges the ink while a righty doesn’t (because he’s going in the right direction) We make up 11% of the world population so that makes us a minority! We want equal rights! GAAAA! You even call it “rights”

Lefty Schwartz

Vues Master’s Note: They say driving three lefts are a right turn!

AUTISM

Dear Vues Master: Before I start this letter I would like to say the yom hashoah section in the April 7th paper was great. It had heartfelt articles. I respect the views for only putting ads that are for charities. However in the headlines section (page 20) of the Jewish Vues it accidentally said something very ableist. “To mark world autism awareness day which fell last Friday …” Autism Awareness Day, is a phrase coined by the organization Autism Speaks. Founded in 2005 Autism speaks is one of the largest organizations that address Autism. In 2008 they released a video called getting the word out saying “living with autism can be a very cold and lonely life. Not to mention challenging for the whole family . One day a child with Autism Will become an adult with autism.” This paints the picture that Autism is bad and just causes children to become sad. That we must work to cure Autism. The statement “Not to mention challenging for the whole family ,” Implies that Autistic kids should repress their true selves. Albert Einstein, Issac Newton, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs (all of whom were on the spectrum) didn’t become famous through repressing their Autism and hoping for a cure they embraced it. Many Autistic people were upset with this. In 2009 Autism Speaks released a short film called I am Autism. “And if you’re happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails. Your money will fall into my hands, and I will bankrupt you for my own self-gain.” This statement implies that Autistic people shouldn’t be allowed to have money or get married. It scares Autistic people from living their life. It paints Autism as a destroyer rather than the fuel of the greatest minds. Many Autistic people would agree that Autism Speaks is horrible and would rather celebrate Autism acceptance day.

DM

Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

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Dear Vues Master: Each week I look forward to Wednesdays because that is the day I get the Jewish Vues magazine. I put the magazine away and save it for shabbos .I enjoy it very much. However, I must say every day that I get older and older ,The print in your paper Gets smaller and smaller is it me or is it you ? I would very much like to be able to continue enjoying your paper while at the same time keeping my eyesight in check I look forward to this Wednesday’s edition of the jewish views for I am sure I will SEE a much LARGER improvement thank you

Devorah Leitner

Vues Master’s Note: This letter arrived to me in a very small font I had to strain to zoom in with my magnifying glass.

KA-EILAH REVISITED

Dear Vues Master: Regarding the letter about Ka’eleh, JF writes that it is new. I don’t know how old it is, but I definitely remember it from the 70’s and 80’s; perhaps it has become more popular than it used to be. As a Baal Kriah, I am generally very strict about talking when I lain. The lone exception I make is for Ka’eleh. I have been asked how come I allow it. My answer is: I feel that one week a year I cooperate with them and they cooperate with me the other 51. It works.

ABK

Vues Master’s Note: We are not dealing with talking but rather the tzibbur singing along!.

CAFFEINE SELTZER

Dear Vues Master: I heard you can buy seltzer with caffeine in it. Are any of these seltzers kosher?

RE

Vues Master’s Note: We don’t know of any yet but things are constantly changing. There are alcoholic Seltzers that are certified.

BLINKEN’S HOLOCAUST GAFFE

Dear Vues Master: As published in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles – April 11, 2021 https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/ 335405/blinkens-holocaustgaffe/ Was Breckinridge Long our 32nd president, rather than Franklin Roosevelt? From Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent remarks, one could erroneously conclude that it was actually Assistant Secretary of State Long, not President Roosevelt, who decided American immigration policy in the 1930s and 1940s, and Long, not Roosevelt, who decided that the U.S. should refrain from intervening to aid European Jewry. Long, a campaign contributor and personal friend of the president, was FDR’s first ambassador to Italy. One of the first to praise Mussolini for making the trains run on time, Long was promoted by FDR to assistant secretary of state, putting him in charge of 23 of the State Department’s 42 divisions, including the crucial Visa Division. Speaking at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on April 8, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Secretary Blinken described how Long “had immense power to help those being persecuted,” yet “made it harder and harder for Jews to be granted refuge in the United States.” That’s correct, but misleading. It wasn’t as if Long conducted some kind of rogue operation. Numerous documents, including Long’s posthumously published diaries, recount how he regularly briefed President Roosevelt on his efforts to keep the Jews out. In one diary entry from 1940, Long wrote that in a discussion at the White House on ways to curtail immigration, he “found that [FDR] was 100% in accord with my ideas,” and “expressed himself as in entire accord” and “wholeheartedly in support” of what Long was doing. Blinken recalled Long’s infamous advice to his State Department colleagues “to resort to various administrative devices which would postpone and postpone and postpone the granting of the visas.” True—but the president was fully aware that these tactics were successfully suppressing immigration far below what the law allowed. In a 1935 letter concerning visa applicants from Germany, FDR wrote: “I am informed that nearly all immigration quotas have been considerably under-issued during the past four years.” He even cited the year-by-year statistics. According to Secretary Blinken, Long “established onerous security checks, claiming they were necessary to prevent enemy spies from infiltrating the U.S., even though there was no evidence that refugees posed that risk.” But it was President Roosevelt who falsely claimed at a June 1940 press conference that some refugees, “especially Jewish refugees,” had agreed to spy for the Nazis for fear that their relatives back in Germany “would be taken out and shot.” That became a stock excuse for shutting America’s doors even tighter. “Assistant Secretary Long did still worse,” Blinken continued. “He blocked cables with reports of the mass killing, which would have increased pressure for America to take in more Jews.” That’s correct. But the president, too, often ignored or downplayed news of Nazi persecution. In 430 press conferences from 1933 until late 1938, FDR never once mentioned the plight of the Jews in Nazi Germany. This policy of minimizing the focus on the Jews continued into the 1940s, even after the administration itself had verified, in late 1942, that mass murder was underway. At his August 21, 1942, press conference, for example, FDR referred to “barbaric crimes against civilian populations,” without mentioning Jews. On October 7, 1942, and again on July 30, 1943, the president declared that war criminals would be punished, but failed to explain what war crimes were being perpetrated, or against whom. In 1944, the White House issued a statement commemorating the anniversary of the Jewish revolt against the Nazis in Warsaw— without mentioning Jews. Secretary Blinken continued: “And [Long] lied to Congress. He told them the State Department was doing everything in its power to rescue Jews from Europe…” That’s right. But the reason Long was testifying to Congress (in November 1943) was that the Roosevelt administration was trying to block a resolution urging the president to create a refugee rescue agency. FDR didn’t want to create the agency—since he opposed using even minimal government resources to aid Europe’s Jews—so Long was sent to Capitol Hill to shoot down the proposal. Finally, near the end of his remarks, Blinken mentioned President Roosevelt— in order to portray him as a savior of the Jews. According to Blinken, the Treasury Department brought the president documentation of Long’s obstructionism and “six days later, Roosevelt announced the creation of the War Refugee Board.” What really happened was quite different. Long’s lies to Congress were exposed by the news media and rescue advocates. The administration was subjected to withering public criticism. The resolution that Roosevelt tried to block was adopted unanimously by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was heading to the full Senate for a vote. With Congressional pressure mounting, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. and two aides met with the president to discuss the rescue resolution, which Morgenthau called “a boiling pot on Capitol Hill.” When they began to describe Long’s obstructionist actions, FDR vigorously defended his old friend “Breck.” He claimed Long “soured on the [refugee] problem when Rabbi [Stephen] Wise got Long to approve a long list of people being brought into this country many of whom turned out to be bad people.” Still, FDR could read the political writing on the wall. It was January 1944—an election year had begun. Not a good time for FDR to be quarreling with Congress, the Jewish community, and the many prominent liberal voices that were criticizing him over his refugee policy, such as The New Republic and The Nation. So the president reluctantly created the rescue agency that the Congressional resolution was demanding, and which he had unsuccessfully tried to block. In other words, Roosevelt was against the War Refugee Board before he was for it. On the surface, it appeared to be a belated reversal of the administration’s no-rescue policy. In practice, however, the president’s treatment of the War Refugee Board was tepid or worse. He gave the new Board only token funding; 90% of its funds were supplied by private Jewish organizations. He seldom adopted its proposals; for example, the Board wanted Roosevelt to grant temporary haven to hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees, but he admitted only 982 (not all of them Jews), who were held in a detention facility in upstate New York. Roosevelt’s decisions throughout this period—from keeping quiet about the Nazis singling out Jews to admitting only a handful of refugees— were made by Roosevelt. Because government policy is decided by the president. Secretary Blinken should know that better than anyone. After all, Blinken doesn’t make up his own policies. He implements the policies that are decided by the president. Which is exactly what Long did. Undoubtedly, Blinken offers advice, like Long did; but the president decides. Likewise, one may assume Blinken doesn’t keep the president in the dark about how the policies are being implemented; surely he briefs the president on how he is implementing them. So did Long. When a Secretary of State prepares to speak publicly on any subject, he trusts the people around him to make sure his remarks are historically accurate. All the more so when the speech is going to be delivered at an institution that focuses on a sensitive historical subject. Whomever among Secretary Blinken’s aides or the Holocaust Museum staff helped prepare these remarks did him a significant disservice.

RM

‘Vues Master’s Note: Get used to it everything Biden’s cabinet does will be Anti Israel Anti Semitic but Pro Arab Pro Terrorist etc. The man is just demented. What a lousy choice of all those dead voters who voted!

MARXIST

Dear Vues Master: I’ve written to you previously about the new edition of the Jewish Question: A Marxist Interpretation by Abram Leon. Leon was killed in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. The new edition by Pathfinder Press includes an improved translation of Leon’s work and; a new introduction by Dave Prince, which I think you would also find of interest as it includes answering the so-called BDS movement, explaining that it is anti-Semitic.. I would be willing to come by your office to talk about why you could find it useful to review the book. You may not agree with all the book’s views, but I believe it is an important contribution to a challenge we will be facing more and more: the rise in acts of Jew-hatred. Hoping to hear back from you.

Best regards, S G

Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for the offer but as it is we have enough articles on this subject. We need some positive outlook of how we can feel more secure!

SYEP

Dear Vues Master: Great News SYEP is back and the deadline for applying is Apr 23 Finally a program to keep our children off the streets for the summer.

GD

Vues Master’s Note: Yes! Some positive news after they had originally cut it due to Covid!

REB SHAYA

Dear Vues Master: What was this week that everyone was busy with Rav Shayeles Yahrzeit? Who was he? What is the significance?

ML

Vues Master’s Note: Reb Shaya was a Hungarian Rebbe that helped out the poor and his yahrzeit is celebrated by people giving free food to others.

HISTORY OF YERUSHALAYIM

Dear Vues Master: אתלחתא-םירעש האמ & רייא ’ה הלואגד Only after the arrival of the ידימלת בוט םש לעב and תלמידי הגר”א were there Ashkenazi Yidden in Eretz Yisroel. Until then there were only a handful Ashkenazi Yidden in E.Yisroel. The vast majority were the Sefardim. The Sefardim felt threatened and intimidated with the arrival of the Ashkenazi Yidden. They were upset with the Ashkenazim for not willing to follow Minhag Eretz Yisroel and adopt the בית יוסף as the מרא דארעא ישראל (Rav of E.Yisroel) Ashkenazim continued with the פסקים of the רמ”א and kept up with their own Minhagim. As the Ashkenazi community kept growing, so too did the animosity between the Sefardim and Ashkenazim. Sefardim controlled the Tzedakos, Shechita, Mikvaos, Chevra Kadisha, etc. This created major difficulties for the Ashkenazim. They suffered tremendously being beholden & dependent on their Sefardic brethren. The Chasam Sofer even mentions this in the Teshuvos how one of his Talmidim described the suffering under the Sefardim. Harav Meir Auerbach Zt”l (1815- 1878) Mechaber of the אמרי בינה the רב ראשי לאשכנזים was the one who decided to brake away from the Sefardi Kehilla. He established a separate Ashkenazi Kehilla. The first thing he managed to do was a separate Ashkenazi .שחיטה He also managed to take control of the funds from Chutz Laaretz. This boosted the income for the Ashkenazim because they sent out their own שד”ר . (Meshulachim- ( שלוחי דרבנן R Meir died at a young age of 62 years old. He didn’t manage to complete the separation totally. They were still dependent on the Sefardim for the Chevra Kadisha. R Shmuel Salant Zt”l the successor of R. Meir was the one who established an Ashkenazi Chevra Kadisha. By having their own Chevra Kadisha, the total separation between the Sefardim & Ashkenazim was complete. The Ashkenazim termed this occasion as the אתחלתא דגאולה which started by R Meir Auerbach and completed by R Shmuel Salant. This was the beginning of the redemption of being dependent on the Sefardim. R Meir Auerbach was one of the founders of מאה שערים & The Bikur Cholim Hospital. מאה שערים was one of the first neighborhoods outside the walled city. R. Meir’s Yahrzeit is today ה’ אייר זי”ע Hence, the connection of , מאה שערים ה’ אייר & אתחלתא דגאולה

MF

Vues Master’s Note: Oh! Why can’t we get along?

TRIBUTE

Dear Vues Master: Reb Yisroel Meir Brill Z”L By:A Grateful Yeshiva Gedolah of Passaic Talmid As I reflect on the past, Being in Yeshiva for many a year, I am overcome with appreciation, For the opportunities so dear. Many friends to enjoy, From my Rabbeim I did grow, But there is a special feeling of gratitude, To have been in Yisroel Meir’s glow. There was so much he did, Performing his good deeds, So sincere about his Avodas Hashem, And looking to take care of everyone’s needs. The Bochurim need a drink, Was his concern during the summer time, Perfecting his ice lemonade, With his love and a bit of lime. He ran to the Seforim store daily, To get the new books that were sold, To please the boys in Yeshiva, Which to him was more precious than gold. When a new boy came to Yeshiva, He would ask ‘where do you live’, He would sort through the weekly newspapers, The boy’s hometown pictures he would give. ‘Why is it that you do this’, I once asked Yisroel Meir, ‘It takes so much time and effort, Yet every week you don’t tire’!? He said, ‘there is nothing in the world, That i enjoy more, Then to put a smile on another’s face, And to see their happiness soar. ‘When a boy hears a good tiding, Or sees a picture from his hometown, it brings them such joy, Setting a smile in place of a frown’. In the peak of the winter, When it was snowy and icy, He went out early in the morning, Despite the great adversity. What was the need, What was the urge, Why did he have to go out, During the wintery surge? He said ‘everyday i try my best, To serve Hashem with dedication, To the Mikvah i must go, Even though it’s beyond expectation. He went through the heavy rains, Schlepping back a big delivery, Providing the Bochurim with treats, The leftovers from the bakery. He informed us when Shiur starts, So that we can continue learning without worry, He gave us over the daily menus, To settle our curiosity. Yisroel Meir’s special way of life, Doing for others was his desire, Lessons that we all can learn from, To follow in his ways we aspire. Hamakom Yinacheim Eschem B’Soch Aveilei Tzion V’Yerushalayim

FD

Vues Master’s Note: It would even be greater if we all showed our appreciation and tributes when the person is still alive.