07 Dec 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.

HISTORY

Dear Vues Master:

Some men were debating how far back in

history have there been חזנים†. Finally, one

man settled the debate by proving that חזנים

date back to before the מבול†. “The proof,” he

said, “is that when נח†went into the תיבה†and

the מבול†began coming down, everyone gathered

around ”.וירדו†לפני†התיבה

MB

Vues Master’s Note:I guess that is the reason

the mabull took so long the Chazzan

needed to gorgel and schlepp!

STEPS

Dear Vues Master:

Did you know? (198)

The ( דרכי†משה†©או”ח†צ”ה†quotes from the ,רוקח

the reason we step forward 3 steps before starting

the שמונה†עשרה†is because we find the word

ויגש†for תפלה†in תנ”ך†three times.

ויגש†אברהם†≠†בראשית†יח†כג†( 1

ויגש†אליו†יהודה†≠בראשית†מד†יח†( 2

יגש†אליהו†≠מלכים†א†יח†לוו†( 3

Before starting the שמונה†עשרה†you need

to step forward 3 steps and when concluding

the שמונה†עשרה†you need to step back 3 steps.

There is no Halachik reason to step back 3

steps before starting the שמונה†עשרה†or stepping

forward 3 steps at the end of .שמונה†עשרה

It is done for practical reason to end up at your

original spot. Artscroll Siddurim are probably

incorrect by instructing to step forward 3 steps

before חזרת†הש”ץØקדושה†Stepping forward (at

end of the שמונה†עשרה†) is optional. Therefore

may be done in as few or as many steps one

desires.

MF

Vues Master’s Note:I guess you don’t want to

take any missteps. Just daven!

TRANSGRESS

Dear Vues Master:

R’ מנדלי†מקוצק†was walking with his colleagues

to the edge of town to greet their רבי†. As they

were on the road, it began raining. The rain

turned into a downpour, making travel very

difficult. The רב†said נתפלל†שיפסיק†הגשם†. His

colleagues responded: but the גמרא†tells us that

the כהן†גדול†prayed ואל†תיכנס†לפניך†תפילת†עוברי

דרכים†Æ†The קוצקר†רב†replied: “It says ¨עוברי†דרכים

referring to people who go in sinful ways, not

those who go on the road to do a ”.מצוה

PC

Vues Master’s Note:But remember according

to the Kotzker you don’t eat lkovod Shabbos

you eat lkovod your stomach!

COPY

Dear Vues Master:

It is often the case that Jews will accept

something only after the גויים†do. As

one דרשן†observed: בשוב†ה׳†את†שיבת†ציון

– When ה׳†said that we should return to

ציון†, we were כחולמים†. We dismissed it as

a fantasy. אבל†עז†יאמרו†בגויים†, but when the

גויים†began saying it, הגדיל†ה׳†לעשות†, we

also began to believe.

LD

Vues Master’s Note: Who says we copy

them? Maybe they are copying us?

EMPOWER

Dear Vues Master:

Be wary of taking the “empower the victim”

approach when a child is being bullied.

Empowering the victim is important,

but it is not a substitute for stepping in

to protect the child. Imagine if you were

chas v’shalom assaulted, and you called

the police, but instead of coming to help

you, they gave you advice about self defense.

That is what children experience

all the time when parents and teachers

choose to “empower” them instead of

protecting them from bullies. Not to mention

the victim blaming aspect.

RF

Vues Master’s Note: It really would depend

on the circumstance. There are times when

we got to empower our children especially

when they are bullied and other parents

and teachers are ignoring the situation!

 

RAIN

Dear Vues Master:

In רדח, the boys were learning יתוקוחב†תשרפ. They learned that י״שר†says on that ׳ה†gave the rain ינב†ךרד†ןיאש†העשב

תותבש†ילילבו†תיעיבר†ילילב†ןוגכ†¨תאצל†םדאƆOne of the boys asked why isn’t it the custom of people to go out on those nights? The דמלמ†gave him a dirty look and said: “Its obvious, people don’t want to go outside when it’s raining.”

PC

Vues Master’s Note:I guess he should have asked his Rebbe what came first the chicken or the egg?

SONG

To the person that wrote a letter about singing maoz tzur the correct way we paid close attention to what you wrote ,we sang it the Correct Way, Karas kamas brosh bekeish ( coma) then Agagi Ben Hamdasah It made a lot of sense and we actually enjoyed it. Thank you!

Devora Leitner

Vues Master’s Note:Glad that you put the right emphasis on the

correct syllable!

SPORTS

Dear Vues Master:

Regarding the sports-related letter titled “Do You Believe In

Miracles?” in the last issue of the JV, you write that “Mymashigiach used to tell me Sports is an Avoda Zora!” Perhaps, but what occurred on 22 February 1980 (5 Adar 5740) was the closest thing to Such when as the final seconds of The Game ticked away on the game clock game-announcer Al Michaels exclaimed “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” (This is considered by many to be the top sports moment of the 20th century.) [If you don’t recall it, then just google this quotation…]

DB

Vues Master’s Note:I guess my Rebbe never met Al Michaels. I think miracles are what is mentioned in the Torah and we don’t say Al Hanissim on sports! At least I hope not!

CONGRESSMAN SAYS JEWS ARE CRAZY

Dear Vues Master:

Maybe he didn’t mean it the way it sounded, but a United States Congressman this week insinuated that Israeli Jews are all mentally unbalanced. If he had said that about another national or ethnic group, he would have been widely denounced as a bigot.

Following a visit to Israel, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) said on November 29: “I felt a tension in Israel, from the Jewish community, the psychology of occupation impacted the Jews who live there who are free….there’s a history of complex trauma that people are living with everyday. Yad Vashem brought that home to me.”

Congressman Bowman is not the first observer to make the insulting and false claim that Israeli Jews are mentally disturbed as a result of the Holocaust, and that they are therefore incapable of making rational decisions about government policy. In fact, that allegation has become almost standard fare among armchair psychiatrists looking for ways to deride the Jewish state.

One of the first to level that charge was New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman. In his 1989 book, From Beirut to Jerusalem, Friedman wrote at length about what he called “the Holocausting of the Israeli psyche,” that is, an excessive interest in the Nazi genocide of six million Jews.

“Israel today is becoming Yad Vashem with an air force,” Friedman asserted. He alleged that Israelis’ memories of the Holocaust were to blame for, among other things, their impatient driving habits, unethical business dealings, meek acceptance of high taxes, and reluctance to make more concessions to the Arabs.

Many others picked up on that theme in the years to follow. Clinical psychologist Alon Gratch, writing in USA Today in 2015, asserted that “the trauma of the Holocaust has penetrated every aspect of Israeli life,” filling Israelis with “anxiety and rage” over Jewish helplessness. This supposedly has created a “psychological burden” that shapes their attitude toward Iran and influences them to vote for nationalistic political parties.

University of Pennsylvania professor Ian Lustick wrote an entire book in 2019 about the problems supposedly caused by what he dubbed “Holocaustia,” the mental illness that he said results from Israelis paying too much attention to the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis.

Lustick’s harsh perspective sometimes led him into very questionable territory. He wrote, for example, that Israel put Adolf Eichmann on trial “so as to extend the period of usable gentile sympathy and guilt.” Invoking Holocaust-related language, Lustick charged that Israel is engaged in “the continuous mass shooting of Palestinian civilians [in Gaza]…murder[ing] and maim[ing] so many men, women and children trying to escape from the ghetto within which they have been concentrated.”

The Israeli author Yishai Sarid last year wrote a novel about an

Israeli tour guide whose frequent visits to the sites of former death

camps lead him to the conclusion that “we need to be a little bit Nazi, too.” It received a very positive review in the New York Times. Perhaps it is fitting that Sarid’s book is a work of fiction, since that is the only genre in which one could seriously argue that the tour guide’s remark represents how Israelis actually think.

As for Congressman Bowman, it is difficult to know how carefully he considered the implications of his remarks before he made them. Public figures sometimes simply recite the cliches that their speechwriters recommend. And speechwriters on deadline may find themselves tempted by pop psychology theories which purport to “explain” the inexplicable

Israeli-Arab conflict.

Still, that’s no excuse for Rep. Bowman’s offensive and baseless

allegation. A little background reading and some thoughtful contemplation by his staff could have spared the congressman from embarrassing himself with the suggestion that his visit to Yad Vashem revealed to him the roots of Israel’s psychological problems.

The false diagnosis of “Israeli Holocaust trauma” ultimately stems from implicit bigotry. It’s rooted in the assumption that all Jews think alike and act alike. It posits that since many Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and there are many Jews living in Israel today, therefore these Jews must be reacting to what happened to those other Jews.

The absurdity of that argument should be obvious. The Holocaust happened more than seventy years ago, primarily to European Jews. Most Israelis today are not old enough to be Holocaust survivors. And most of them are not children or grandchildren of survivors, because their parents and grandparents did not come from Europe. The majority of Israelis are immigrants, or the descendants of immigrants, from Arab or African countries. Their relatives were not gassed in Auschwitz. The notion that today’s Israelis are somehow “traumatized” by the Holocaust is baseless.

Israelis, of course, are deeply interested in the history of the

Holocaust. And they may view aspects of the Nazi genocide, and the world’s reaction to it, as a kind of cautionary tale, in the same way that many contemporary Western policymakers regard the failed appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s as a lesson in how to deal with dictators today. But that is a far cry from being traumatised or mentally unbalanced as a result of what happened to that genertion.

RM

Vues Master’s Note: Yes! Anti Semitism is alive and thriving! With the leaders the cursed NY Times!

SURGERY

Dear Vues Master:

Molly’s husband was standing in a corridor in the hospital as his wife was wheeled into the operating room. After a few minutes she came rushing out of the room, frantic and with tears streaming down her face. “What happened?” her husband asked her. “Why did you run out of the room? Why are you crying?” Molly responded: “I heard the nurse say ‘Don’t worry. It’s a very simple operation. You’ll be fine.’” Her husband looked at her in wonder. “So, why all the excitement? Its normal for her to provide words of assurance to comfort you,” he said. Molly responded: “She wasn’t talking to me. She was talking to the surgeon!”

DR

Vues Master’s Note: Oh! Cut it out! Surgery is cutting and the Dr. will do whats right. Just like the politician forcing vaccines on little children!

HONOR

Dear Vues Master:

Taanis 20a: Nakdimon ben Guryon said before God: Master of the Universe, it is revealed and known before You that I did not act for my own honor, nor did I act for the honor of my father’s house. Rather, I acted for Your honor, so that there should be water for the Festival pilgrims. Immediately the sky became overcast and rain fell until the twelve cisterns were filled with water. – Sefaria

This episode reveals the proper course of a successful life. Nakdimon ben Guryon, whom the sun stood still, could have done this for his own honor and that would have been acceptable but not worthy of a miracle. The next highest level would be to do it for the honor of his father

which is a mitzvah; however, the principle reward is given in the next world so he couldn’t use that to cash in. Instead he did it on the highest level which is for His sake alone and is deserving of a miracle.

In order to get to the highest level of lishma, for the sake of G-d alone, one has to first go through steps one and two. It’s perfectly fine to serve G-d for personal benefits and one should never regret doing so. If you can’t love yourself then how can you come to love your father and then G-d?

The most revealing part is the middle step which is to bring honor to your father’s house. Sometimes it’s difficult to know if someone really loves themself; however, a good litmus test is how the person is vis-à-vis their father. Also, you can talk about fathers in general and see where they stand on the subject.

SNH

Vues Master’s Note: As Rav Shach always said, “The hardest thing to do is to LIVE al kiddush Hashem!”

AGUDAH CONVENTION KEYNOTE SESSION PART 1

Dear Vues Master:

R’ Yeruchem Silber- Director of Govt. Affairs introduced R’ Srully Orzel as Co-Chair of the Motzai Shabbos Keynote session. Srully remembered how he first attended a convention in 1967 in the Pioneer Country club as a young teenager of 16 yrs. old. It’s in his DNA from his father who attended the first convention in Katowitz in 1912. Srully recalled how both Rav Gifter ztl and the Bostoner Rebbe ztl spoke all about tzneyos in English. Rav Itchie Meir Levin ztl, a guest from Eretz Yisroel, spoke about the miracles of the 6 day war. There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience. Mesores Avoseinu B’Yadeinu-an everlasting heritage. Horav Elya Brudny shlita Rosh Hayeshivas Mir, and Chevra Moetzes Gedolei torah addressed the crowd with such heartz how we lost the Novominsker Rebbe ztl and other Admorim Gedolim Tzaddikim and Kedoshim during this magefa. On the positive side, we

are graced at this dais of other gedolim who have been matriarch to join us at this convention. There are new rabbonim gedolim joining the Moetzes and new askonim led by my yedid, R’ Shlomo Werdyger and my baliebta R’ Chaim Dovid Zwiebel-new Gedolim and new Askonim joining the leadership. Aguda wants to be led by our gedolim and daas torah. Rav Elimelech Tress zl always was mevatel himself to Rav Elchonon HYD and Rav Ahron ztl. Rav Moshe Sherer zl always showed hisbatlus and hachnaah to the gedolim even those who were his colleagues or younger than him. He could have been their father but was a talmid to a rebbe. Same Hisbatlus and Hachnaah. Aguda has the gedolim lead us pasken and advise us-the Eiyne Ha’eda. The Kesser Torah and Malchus. This should be in all yeshivas and shuls. Hisbatlus to the Gedolim. My first experience at a convention in Atlantic City was seeing and hearing Rav

Moshe Ztl. He spoke in Yiddish and everyone was listening attentively. Rav Moshe said how all shaylos come to him except on priorities in Tzeddaka and shaylos in chinuch. Rav Brudny went on to say how our baalei batim are tremendous bale tzedakah, but what about the inyan of giving more to the salaries of Moros in Chinuch Habanos. They can’t

support their husbands in kollel, and some therefore leave to the professional world. Perhaps Rav Moshe would have told that parnosei hatzibur to focus more their attention towards the Moros in the girls’ schools and we wouldn’t have such a crisis. There are many many children out of yeshivas because they find it too difficult. Perhaps Rav Moshe would have told the parents who would ask him shaylos in chinuch that your child may belong in an easier yeshiva. Are we making our own decisions? Are we following Daas Torah or do we have our own negios? Rav Brudny also protested against the new Israeli Govt who Anti Torah. They are anti-kashrus, Shabbos, geirus k’halacha. The reform are the churban of Klal Yisroel! They are the avi avos hatumah. They want to disgrace the Kosel which is the makom hateffilla of klal Yisroel. What should we do? A cry has to come out. Es Tut Vey! U’fartzu Chomos Migdalei. They want to be metameh klal Yisroel. Harachamon Hu Yeasa Lanu Nisim Kmo Sh’asa L’avoseinu Bayamim Hahem B’zman Hazeh-Haromos Keren HaTorah. R’ Shlomo Werdyger, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, was maspid his very close friend and askan, R’ Yechiel Ben Zion [Benny] Fishoff zl. He was a chosid yashar. A Gerer Chossid and Agudist. He was a major baal tzeddaka who gave out 200 checks to people before they came to him. Rav Shimshy Sherer shlita said over, from his father, that he was a maalachei shares and a malachei Sholom. R’ Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Executive Vice President, said over how he had so much chein and got along with everyone. Yhei Zichro Baruch. Rav Shmuel Bloom, past President Agudath Yisroel, and head of Keren Hashviis, introduced the Gibbor Koach, an Israeli Farmer who is keeping Shmitta, Doron Zweig. He gave up a million shekalim contract and whatever he was able to give away to aniyim, he distributed, and the rest he destroyed with poison. Rav Gershon Miller shlita, from Gatseshead, spoke so gracefully with his British accent how Klal Yisroel is unbreakable. But perhaps yechidim are losing the passion to fight. We have it too easy-no reason to fight. Every child is essential and beloved to HKBH. We persevere because we have so much to fight for. Rav Leible Kutner was asked by the Natzi guard YMSVZ to fix his radio. He told him if you’re a Jew then you can fix it. He stayed up all night taking the radio apart and fixing it. Hashem sent a message that if you’re a yid then you can fix it. A yid never breaks. V’yaasu Kulam Aguda Achas Laasos R’tzoncha B’levav Shalem. K’ish Echad B’lev Echad. Al Tirah Avdi Yaakov. Tzavei Yeshuyos Yaakov. R’ Chaim Dovid Zwiebel spoke how excited we are to have a new C.O.O R’ Yitzchok Ehrman formerly chief exec officer Chic Ill. Yhe Rat6zon Sh’tishra Shchnenaso Aleycha. R’ Dovid mentioned in sorrow the loss of the Rosh Hayeshiva of MLB Horav Yitzchok Feiglestock ztl, chevra Moetzes .He was a close talmid of Rav Ahron ztl and was marbitz torah to thousands of talmidim who have an impact on the entire globe. He always greeted people with a sever ponim yafos. Even when he disagreed, he gave me a hug and a kiss with a smile with love and

chibah. He played a major role in diplomacy behind the scenes making sure that everyone was on the same page. Mi yiten lanu tmeraso Yhei Zichro Baruch. He mentioned others who were niftar such as Horav Elya Fisher ztl, Rosh Kollel Ger as a tremendous loss. Rav Sheftel Neuberger ztl from Ner Yisroel Balt. Rav Asher Lemel Eherenreich zl, Menahel Beis Yaakov BP. He was a leader in Chinuch habanos. He was close to RAV Moshe Sherrer and a pioneer in establishing Ichud Mosdos Chinuch habanos. R’ Heshy Hirth zl, from Passaic Agudas Yisroel NJ. R’ Mechel Shiffenbauer Z’L beloved daf yomi maggid shiur Agudas Yisroel. Rav Baruch Sachs Ztl, Rav of Zeirei Agudas Yisroel. Rav Mendel Berg zl Holocaust survivor. R’ Avraham Wolfson zl son of R’ Zev Wolfson major contributors to tzarchei Tzibbur. Rebbitezen Miriam Dessler AH-Chinuch

habanos Cleveland. The 3rd yartzheit of Mrs Shoshana Lefkowitz ah, wife of Reb Yisroel Lefkowitz zl. Rav Avraham Yosef Leizersohn zl showed us achrayis to our brethren in Eretz Yisroel. Rav Meir Scheinberger zl Chaim Aruchim. Rav Yosef Meir Kantor zl Rav Aguda Monsey. Rav Moshe Sherrer would combat the Reform with the establishment of Am Echad. They are against kashrus, Shabbos, Geiros K’halacha, for giyus habanos. They want to make the Kossel Hamaravi into a Reform temple R”L. When the new Israeli government speaks about the American Jewry, they don’t take the orthodox into account only the secular Jewry. We are once again going to reestablish the Am Echad Mission going to Eretz Yisrael showing that THE ORTDOX DOES EXIST. It will be led by R’ Shlomo Werdyger, Mrs Leah Zaigelbaum, Communications, Dr Lebovic. We have become an easy target. They mock us. They attack our Bris Milah, Shechita

RMS

Vues Master’s Note:I fell asleep reading this letter. I guess now I know why some people don’t go to speeches. Some do go for the very same reason to catch a good nap!

MARRIAGE

Dear Vues Master:

A woman complained to her friend that the romance has gone out of her marriage. “When we were dating,” she said, “my husband used to treat me so well. He would always bring me presents, chocolate and candy. Since we’ve been married, that stopped.” Seeking to comfort her, the friend said: “Does it make sense that a man should give bait to a fish after he catches it?”

TS

Vues Master’s Note: That answer sounds fishy to me. I think the answer was given by a guy with his head under water! What kind of marriage did that guy have??

FOOD

Dear Vues Master:

Chickens are the only animal we eat before they are born and after

they are dead.

PA

Vues Master’s Note: But what came first, the chicken or the egg?

LAST NAME

Dear Vues Master:

So I don’t have any brothers, and my parents don’t want our family name to disappear when I get married, so they’re wondering if I could keep my last name, or at least do the double last name thingy. I’m curious what the frum perspective on this is.

BTW my last name is somewhat unique, not like Friedman or something.

YR

Vues Master’s Note: Try to find a cousin of yours with the last name like yours and then you won’t have any questions. Otherwise I guess you could be like Hillary Rodham Clinton!