01 Mar 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.

UKRAINE

Dear Vues Master:

The situation in Ukraine is putting me on edge.

I’m having a hard time. I’m constantly thinking

about my brothers & sisters that are suffering.

Putin really doesn’t care about murdering innocent

people. There are so many yidden that are

scared for their lives. My daughter asked me over

the weekend if we were heading toward another

Holocaust. I tried to calm her but I really don’t

know how to answer her properly.

DG

Vues Master’s Note: Lev Melachim VeSarim

B’Yad Hashem. This is the beginning of the Geula.

Let us not squander the opportunity!

CONCERT

Dear Vues Master:

My family went to the Makor concert this past

Sunday & I just want to tell you how great the

concert was. Sheya Mendlowitz did a fantastic

job. The place was packed. It was great to see

MBD. I was a little upset that Avraham Fried was

not there but it was still an awesome concert. I really

enjoyed listening to the classic Jewish music

songs. Country Yossi was great & funny. I really

loved it when Joey Newcomb sang Thank You

Hashem to end the concert.

BF

Vues Master’s Note:It is always amazing to see

the hard work that comes to fruition at these concerts!

There must be a lot of practice! Hence the

line Practice makes Perfect!

HALL OF FAME

Dear Vues Master:

Your last edition, the JV Jewish Music Hall of

Fame Edition, was great!! My entire family loves

the Jewish Vues every week, but last week’s edition

was really fantastic. We all sent in our 10

HOF nominees & played the Wheel of Mazel.

The Fun Questions that Ari Hirsch did on Avraham

Fried & MBD was a lot of fun. Keep up the

good work!!!

SS

Vues Master’s Note: I was thinking which issue

of ours would be in the hall of fame? We appreciate

all the hall of fame work that goes into each

and every issue!

ADAR

Dear Vues Master:

This Thursday & Friday is Adar Beis. We say

Mishenichnas Adar Marbim B’Simcha. When

the month of Adar approaches we should be happy.

How can we be happy this year when there is

a war going on? We have brothers & sisters in the

Ukraine fighting for their lives. People are dying

every day.

SH

Vues Master’s Note: We should be happy that

we are able to daven and help them! The letters

of the month of Av is Alef Bais which stands for

ani be’simcha. In the toughest of times one needs

to be besimcha that they can do mitzvos even in

aveilus. Let us hope we hear good news!

VACCINES

Dear Vues Master:

This past Monday, I couldn’t believe what I

read when it was determined that two doses of

the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine offer almost

no protection against coronavirus infection

in kids ages 5 to 11. Researchers from the New

York State Department of Health found that the

vaccine’s effectiveness dropped to 12 percent

from 68 percent in the age group in December

and January, when the omicron variant of the

coronavirus began circulating widely in the United

States. This is crazy news.

YM

Vues Master’s Note: I would not call it news. This

was the story from the beginning! Mandates and

other nonsense. Just understand this a vaccine

where it was not tested enough, The makers are

not able to be sued. Get the picture?

VODKA

Dear Vues Master:

A few months ago we were told that Grey Goose

Vodka might not be kosher. Now people are

throwing out Russian Vodka because they are

upset with Russia & Putin. People always say not

to buy a BMW because it’s made in Germany. I

don’t believe in this garbage. Enjoy your vodka

& buy your BMW. You’re not a bad Jew when

doing that.

GY

Vues Master’s Note:Remember the freedom fries!

Everyone goes through

their phases! You might not be a bad Jew if you

buy a BMW but are you a good Jew?

THEMES

Dear Vues Master:

Here we go again! Everyone is trying to outdo

the next with their Mishloach Manos. Why can’t

people just give to a few people that really need it

& just enjoy the day in other ways. I walked into

a store last week & I saw a beautiful Mishloach

Manot for sale for $250. Why should anyone

spend that type of money on Mishloach Manos?

Give the money instead to Matanos Levyonim & make someone happy that really needs help.

BT

Vues Master’s Note: I like getting these mishloach manos and trying to

figure what the theme was but I sure am not interested in creating a theme!

JOKE

Dear Vues Master:

Chaim was in the supermarket when he saw a man who seemed normal, except that he was talking to himself and laughing out loud. Every so often, the man would raise his hand, stop talking and then start all over again. Chaim had seen many strange things, but he was curious at what was going on. “I hope you don’t mind my asking,” he said, “but what are you laughing at?” “Oh,” the man responded, “To keep myself amused, I tell myself jokes.” “But why do you keep raising your hand?” Chaim asked. “Oh,” the man responded, “That’s to stop me from telling myself a joke I’ve heard before.”

MB

Vues Master’s Note: What number joke is this?

GATEKEEPERS

Dear Vues Master:

In response to Gatekeepers. I don’t think lay people who disseminate Torah are pretending. I think you are confusing them with people who give opinions without solid evidence or reliable sources; however, anyone who can give proof and/or sources from the Torah are being transparent and welcome feedback especially from scholars.

DG

Vues Master’s Note: Hey! Sometimes I find a piece of Gemara easier than your letters. I don’t know what you are referring to!

ROV

Dear Vues Master:

When a community near Prague was looking for a new Rav, a wealthy and powerful boor, who considered himself a Talmid Chacham, sought to be appointed to the position. The man was summoned by Rav Yechezkel Landau, who straightforwardly asked him “Do you think it’s proper that an Am Haaretz should be appointed Rov?” “Me an Am Haaretz?” the man replied. “Why many of the important members of the community will testify that I’m a Talmid Chacham.” The Noda BiYehuda responded: “The Gemara itself testifies that you are an Am Haaretz.” Stunned, the man asked “Which Gemara?” “The Rov answered: “Every Gemara in Shas from Berachos to Niddah.”

BM

Vues Master’s Note:The person was probably referring to the Rav es Riveinu!

EULOGY

Dear Vues Master:

In a community where it was the custom not to bury anyone without first saying some praise about him, no matter how sinful he had been, those present for the burial of a lifelong Ganev were stumped. They had nothing good to say. The niftar was lying before them and they needed to come up with some praise so he should have some merit in the Bais Din Shel Maaleh. Finally, one man said: “I got it. He never walked Daled amos without netilas yodayim!”

KN

Vues Master’s Note:Oy! With friends like these…!.

PRAYER

Dear Vues Master:

Shoshana’s 5 year old son was building a sandcastle at the beach when suddenly, to Shoshana’s horror, a monster wave pulled the little boy into the sea. Naturally, Shoshana became hysterical and screamed “Ribbono She Olam please, return him to me!” Miraculously, the little boy was returned to the beach by another enormous wave. After confirming that her son was fine, Shoshana looked up to Heaven and said “He was wearing a hat!”

JO

Vues Master’s Note:You hate to say that punch line?

BUSINESS

Dear Vues Master:

The unfortunate truth of owning and running a business. Running a business is really hard. What they don’t tell you is that it can cause severe stress and anxiety, and drains you mentally to the point of depression in even the most laid-back people. People will talk about you, compare you to others, use you, they will view you as a service and not a person anymore. Friends and Mishpacha will expect discounts and people will value you and your hard work less than a big chain store. You have to worry about if you forget to email/message someone back, are they going to think it was on purpose? Did you disappoint them? Will they hold that against you? When in reality you just can’t get to everyone’s messages and emails. Starting up and running a successful business puts incredible strain on personal lives and relationships, many of which fail because there is just often no work life balance. You need to be the director, the worker, the admin, the marketing team, the accountant, the cleaner….. All whilst being a parent, a husband or a wife, family support, friend… There’s a reason you don’t see many people succeed in small businesses after 5-10 years. If they are successful they are overwhelmed. It takes a toll. It’s exhausting. Especially the past couple of years when so much has been out of our control. Here’s a small reminder that we are just normal people with hectic lives. Say Baruch Hashem for everything you have. Be kind, be patient, support small businesses…….and hopefully more of us will stick around!

JR

Vues Master’s Note: Hey! All this was none of my business! Just kidding! Thanks for the chizuk so I can make Chozek!

SHTADLANIT

Dear Vues Master:

“Irish, sympathetic, hates British, will definitely help.” So read an entry in the diary of Brooklyn housewife Esther Kaplan, after meeting with Rep. John J. Rooney, an Irish-American congressman from New York City, seventy-five years ago this week. Mrs. Kaplan had no background in lobbying or political activism, but when her son David was arrested by the British for trying to smuggle Holocaust survivors into Palestine in 1947, she reinvented herself as a Zionist lobbyist and took her case straight to Capitol Hill. The arrest of David Kaplan and other crew members of the S.S. Ben Hecht, and the protests that ensued in the United States, comprise a fascinating but little-known chapter in the history of the campaign by Americans to help create the State of Israel. * * * On a chilly morning in late February 1947, six hundred Holocaust survivors trudged up the gangplank of the S.S. Ben Hecht in the French harbor of Port de Bouc. The ship was sponsored by the activist Bergson Group, and named in honor of the journalist and Hollywood screenwriter who authored the group’s most controversial newspaper ads denouncing British rule in Palestine. The ship’s captain was Robert Levitan, a burly six-foot-four former Merchant Marine who said he “jumped at the chance” to participate in the mission because he had “felt impotent in the 1930s and early 1940s, hearing about Hitler’s persecution of the Jews and not being able to do anything about it.” “We had twenty men, with twenty different reasons for joining up,” Levitan remembered. “We had some very young boys who were reared in Zionistic homes and were gung-ho Zionists. We had an Irishman who hated the British, and he volunteered just because it was against the British. Our cook was a black man, one of the gentlest men you could ever meet, and he just liked helping out the underdog.” SALAMI, AND MORE SALAMI On March 1, the Ben Hecht departed from the French harbor. As the ship traversed the Mediterranean, one of the engines repeatedly broke down, a water tank leaked, and rough weather wreaked havoc. The food supply, however, held steady, thanks to a Bergson supporter in New York who had donated two thousand pounds of kosher salami. “We had salami soup, salami and eggs, everything you can think of with salami,” Captain Levitan recalled. Despite the near-starvation many had only recently endured as prisoners in Nazi concentration camps, “they refused to eat until they confirmed that the salami was kosher.” “The refugees covered every inch of space,” recalled crew member Robert O’Donnell Nicolai, of Illinois. “Sleeping quarters were any place they could find that was long enough to lie down on … [yet] there was very little complaining. You can’t help admiring people like that. They wanted water, and couldn’t get it; they wanted the sunny side of the deck, couldn’t get that because it was jammed. There were many professional men in the party: doctors, dentists, engineers. In [postwar] Europe all they had to look forward to was digging ditches or building roads. In Palestine, they were going to begin life all over again.” At first, Nicolai said, “the refugees were inclined to be suspicious of us non-Jews; they couldn’t understand why we had volunteered for the trip. But after they got the idea, which was that we [were] angry at the way the Jews of Europe had been treated, they thawed. From then on, we were buddies.” On March 8, 1947, just ten miles from the Tel Aviv shore, three British destroyers confronted the Ben Hecht. The flag of Honduras was flying from the ship’s mast, but the British were not fooled by the disguise. “Two of the destroyers slammed into the side of our ship,” Captain Levitan recalled. “You could hear the steel rails crunching and the side of the ship denting.” The crew hastily raised a homemade Zionist flag to replace the Honduran one. Everyone aboard was arrested. The passengers were taken by the British to a detention camp in Cyprus, where they would remain until the establishment of Israel the following year. The captain and crew, however, as American citizens, were jailed at the Acre Prison fortress, north of Haifa, alongside imprisoned members of Menachem Begin’s underground militia, the Irgun Zvai Leumi. For some months, the Irgun had been planning an attack on the Acre prison to free its fighters. The plan had stalled because the escapees would need identification papers, with current photographs, to avoid being arrested at British roadblocks. The prisoners had no means of supplying such photos to their comrades on the outside–until Captain Levitan presented them with a small camera that he had managed to bring with him into the prison. On May 4, an Irgun force blew a hole in the southern wall of the fortress from the outside, while prisoners used smuggled explosives to destroy cell doors and internal walls. Forty-one Jewish fighters escaped in the daring raid, which the international media described as the most spectacular prison break of modern times—and a major blow to British prestige. The operation was later immortalized in the film “Exodus.” LOBBYING FOR FREEDOM Word soon reached Mrs. Esther Kaplan, in Brooklyn, that her son David, the ship’s radio operator, was behind bars. The plight of her son and his comrades transformed the demure housewife into a political dynamo. “Our home was converted into a beehive of activity,” she wrote. “We borrowed typewriters, and friends came and worked assisting in sending out petitions. Aunt Pearl came, made pots of vegetable soup and sandwiches to feed the helpers.” The newly-enlisted activists wrote letters, organized rallies, and contacted politicians to relate the story of the Ben Hecht. On March 19, Mrs. Kaplan headed for Washingon. With the aid of the Bergson Group and the American Zionist Emergency Council, she met with numerous leading members of Congress or their staff. Some were sympathetic to the Jewish cause because of what the Jews had suffered in the Holocaust; others had their own particular reasons—such as the aforementioned Congressman Rooney, who resented British rule in Ireland and felt a kinship with Jews opposing British rule in Palestine. Sometimes Mrs. Kaplan’s reputation preceded her; when she met with Rep. Leo Rayfiel (D-NY), she was told that his office had already received petitions bearing hundreds of signatures from Mrs. Kaplan’s supporters back home. Congressman Hugh Scott of Philadelphia delivered a speech on the House floor about the imprisonment of the Ben Hecht crew after hearing from Mrs. Kaplan about her son’s ordeal. The lobbying had its share of trying moments. Late on Friday afternoon of the first week, Mrs. Kaplan arrived at the home of a local family with whom she would be spending Shabbat. She was emotionally and physically exhausted. Her diary reads: “Rainstorm, windy, miserable cough and chills … Entered Rabbi’s home late, tired, wet from rain and greatly discouraged. Greeted at door with friendly welcome by [Rebbetzin] Esther Pruzansky and Deborah, 5 years old. ‘Gut Shabbos, please come in and join us.’ What a welcome, warm, genuinely sincere! I could see the candles burning in the dining room, white Shabbos tablecloth gleaming, the challahs covered, the wine decanter … Deborah already made a prayer for me over the candles–a ‘Come Sabbath Queen, bless our guest Mrs. Kaplan’ … I’m crying as I write this …” Reinvigorated by her Shabbat with the Pruzansky family, Mrs. Kaplan set out for another round of meetings with members of Congress and Truman administration officials. The lobbying, public protests, and negative publicity took their toll. By the end of March, the British government announced that the Ben Hecht crew members would be deported to the United States. U.S. Attorney General Tom Clark assured the prisoners that no criminal charges would be brought against them when they returned home. The Truman administration did not want to be seen as persecuting young men who were regarded as heroes by American Jewish voters. The crew of the Ben Hecht arrived in New York City on April 16, where they were given red carpet treatment at a City Hall reception hosted by Acting Mayor Vincent Impellitteri. Five days later, they were feted at a gala dinner in their honor, hosted by a very proud Ben Hecht, with comedian Milton Berle among its headliners. Although the ship did not succeed in bringing its passengers to the Holy Land, the voyage of the Ben Hecht generated important international publicity about the plight of the Holocaust survivors in Europe. The unexpected role of the crew members in facilitating the Acre prison break contributed to another blow at the British ruling authorities. And the efforts by grassroots Zionist activists on behalf of the imprisoned crew helped inform the American public about the Palestine crisis. Mrs. Esther Kaplan never set out to be a lobbyist in Washington. But events thrust that fate upon her, and she rose to the challenge, playing a small but vital part in the historic struggle for Jewish statehood.

RM

Vues Master’s Note: As always thanks for the History lesson!!.

GATHER

Dear Vues Master:

This week’s parsha, Vayakhel, and Kedoshim have a similar opening. In Shemos Moshe assembled the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and said to them: “These are the things that Hashem commanded, to do them: “On six days, work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem; whoever does work on it shall be put to death. In Vayikra Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and say to them; You shall be holy, for holy am I, Hashem, your G-d. Every man: Your father and mother shall you revere and My Sabbaths shall you observe – I am Hashem, your G-d. ArtScroll’s commentary at the beginning of Vayakhel: Despite the transcendent importance of the Mishkan it may not be built on the Sabbath (Rashi), because the day that testifies to the existence of G-d supersedes the Mishkan, where He is served. Acknowledgment of G-d must precede service. I would like to parallel this to Kedoshim: Despite the transcendent importance of honoring one’s parents it cannot interfere with keeping Shabbos. Because honoring one’s parents is the paradigm to Honoring G-d and the paradigm can’t supersede what it is being compared to.

DG

Vues Master’s Note:Kibbud Av is your Meis Mitzvah?

FATHER

Dear Vues Master:

םיִׁשֹודְק†אֵרֹוּב†ּונֵֽלֲאֹוגְו†ּונֵּֽכְלַמ†ּונֵֽרּוצ†ְךַרָּבְתִּת

The above liturgy, from Shacharis, is directed to our Father in Heaven; however, it also serves as a model for our father on Earth. The Artscroll translation is: “May You be blessed, our Rock, our King and our Redeemer, Creator of holy ones”. Who is blessed? Someone who is a rock, king, redeemer and creates holy ones – this is a father. He’s a rock when his actions are based on Torah. He’s a king, to his household, when esteemed based on the Torah. He’s the redeemer when his children are kidnapped. A father like this can raise holy children because he’s following after his Father.

DG

Vues Master’s Note: You know what I told my father? “You Rock!”

MBD

Dear Vues Master:

MBD Music Fever! I went to visit my friend Berel in Mostly Music to tell him that I have MBD music fever! I used to own a collection of MBD records and tapes, and now I started buying up cd’s. [No, I’m not into downloading or buying flash drives -sorry I’m not that sophisticated]. I still like cd’s not mp3’s. I couldn’t believe it when Berel told me that there are no more of the double album Daagah Minayin by Shea Mendlowitz. There were still a few copies of such classics as Hineni and Neshama my favorite album. My favorite song Neshama-Soul. It was arranged by Moshe [Mona] Rosenblum back in 73-74, and it is just as nice back then as Yoeli Dickman’s music on Shloime Daskal’s Hartzig 3, where he sings V’ani Tefilasi from that album opening song on Neshama arranged with a 56 piece Israel’s Philharmonic orchestra. I have been following MBD for a Yovel Shonim ad Meah V’esrim Shonim. I saw there such classics as; I’d Rather Pray and Sing, Hold On, Let My People Go, Tamid B’Simcha, Jerusalem Not For Sale, Maaminim Bnei Maaminim, English Classics, Moshiach, Kumzits Album and Video, Memories, & his latest album Tzaaka. Mordechai Ben David and Avraham Fried are the Kings of Jewish Music in my eyes [ears]. Although, there are other great singers; Yaakov Schweky, Simcha Leiner, Baruch Levine, Benny Friedman, Shloime Daskal, Ohad, Shloimy Gertner, Shlomo Simcha, etc. I feel MBD and Avraham Fried are the Twin Towers [Freedom Towers!]. During the Summer, I had AF Music Fever with Yochi Briskman Project Relax, and can’t wait for AF new CD to come out. Right now, I have MBD Music fever! I once wrote into the JO that if not for MBD we would be into MTV! So in case you see me drumming on my dash board waiting for traffic in BP with all the honking horns, I’m for sure listening to Neshama [words by RNS]. Thank you to all the music arrangers; Moshe Mona Rosenblum, Yisroel Lamm, Moshe Laufer, Eli Laufer, and producers Yeedle & Sheya Mendlowitz. I can’t leave out the MC and Radio Host Nachum Segal JM in the AM! NESHAMA-A stranger adrift in an unfriendly land of mountains, tundras and sand. To enrich and enliven that wasteland is his goal. His name is Neshama- Soul. From a mountain came a gift of the only true life. Sinai now stands for bloodshed and strife. When rifles fall silent and tanks cease to roll. The victor will then be the Soul. Blackened and charred like a synagogue burnt-lies a tank lifeless and over turned. Four heroes within snuffed out like a coal- but forever and ever and ever alive is their Soul!

RMS

Vues Master’s Note:I got one word for MBD! The King!

AVRAHAM FRIED

Dear Vues Master:

Avraham Fried “Brings The House Down”! I’ve been listening to Avraham Fried singing his heart & Neshama out all my life. He is the hardest working professional singer amongst the Jewish performers. He is a real perfectionist. Some albums that come out from other wannabees. I call them microwave cds! They’re produced in 24 hrs. or so it seems [sounds]. I once spoke to someone who mixes the music in Systems 2 studio, and he told me how Avremel will record over & over all day long on one song until he feels that he got it perfect-every note and harmony. The first song that I ever heard from Avraham was Aruchah Me’eretz Midai. He was very young then and it sounded beautiful. The first big hit was on Sheya Mendlowitz produced album; “No Jew Will Be Left Behind” arranged by Marty Lewinter. I remember my friends in camp driving around the mountains all day long on our off day and playing the first song [Kel Hadoas from Rabbi Baruch Chait] over a d over. We loved it and couldn’t wait until the end of the song when Avremel gives out a heartziger krechts Umaniach BeKedushah! I would love going to his concert just to watch him flip up in the air his mic and catch it very cool. He is very graceful on stage with a lot of stage presence throughout the show. I couldn’t wait until his amazing videos came out from Hasc concerts and concerts from Israel. The whole crowd sings along with such Yossi Green mega hits as Tanya, Adaraba, and Nisht Gedeigert Yidden. Who wouldn’t shed tears when he sang Tiher Rav Yishmuel another classic from the Meistro Yossi Green. We would dance up a storm to such hits like Hafachta Mispedi Lmachal Li etc. My claim to fame came when my close friend Shloimy Dachs gave me free tickets to the Ohel Concert that featured 2 superstars MBD & Avrohom Fried. I was sitting up front and the person shooting the video noticed me making all kind of hand motions that he seem to enjoy to the music beat. It was like I was swimming using all kinds of hand motions to get the videographer’s attention which I did. I became a permanent fixture on Avrohom Fried’s tremendous hit Nisht Gedigert Yidden. [Let’s go to the Video] Both MBD & Avremel gave me credit for helping to make the American concert crowds lebedik. Avremel once told me that he wants to make a cd of all my complimentary messages that I leave him on his voicemail. The best line that Avrohom said at a concert was to MBD; “Mordechai; B”H you were blessed with a gorgeous voice, and you have such tremendous talent, but one question I have; “Why In My LIFETIME?!? It received a huge applause from the crowd. If MBD is King of Jewish Music, then Avrohom Fried is the Prince of Jewish Music. Thanks to Yossi Green for such stunning compositions. Yossi told me that Tanya took 6 months to sell. Avremel has such a great ear for music what’s going to be a hit. One good singer was offered a song, but he turned it down, since he felt that it had too many words. Well, Avrohom Fried took the song and made it the hit song that it became; Ribon Kol Haolamim Yaddati Yadaati Yadati His latest album Project Relax by Yochi Briskman together with child soloist Shulem Brodt is a Mega Hit! I love the hit song Aba Aba Aba and of course Vemen Zul Mer Freigen Vemen. I left Yochi & Avremel a VM with that song playing in the background; Vemen’s Cd Zul Mer Herren-My Avremel! Avraham Fried emailed me “Vintage RMS”! The problem is that I can’t listen to anything else. Where ever you go that’s what’s playing. I sent all my married kids a cd, since Rav Yaakov once told me in COS that you have to buy a tape even if you bought a record. Why should the singer lose out? Rav Belsky held that if you bought a cd, then you alone can copy or download if it’s scratched or lost. I hope Yochi comes out with MBD Project Relax together with Avrohom Fried. Perhaps a Kumzitz cd or a Simchas Beis Hashoeva cd? I would love MBD to do an album with his family Yeedle, Mendy, Srully singing the old Skulener Niggunim that his father Chazzen Duvid sang. {Nafsheinu Chiksa L’Hashem, Veinenu Sirena, Yivada Bagoyim}I wish Avremelk would put out an English Classics like MBD once did, [Forever One, No Jew will be Left Behind,. Good Bye Golus, Bring the House Down]. MBD & AF singing Tanya, Aderaba, Shofer Shel Moshiach.

RMS

Vues Master’s Note:One word here too “The sweetest of the sweetest!