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    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.

     

    PIZZA
    Dear Vues Master:
    I love pizza. It’s my favorite food in the world. It’s very hard
    for me to go an entire Pesach without real pizza but I actually
    do enjoy matzah pizza as well. A lot of people have been giving
    me a hard time when I run to the pizza store as soon as Pesach is
    over. I understand what they are thinking. You can’t go another
    day with pizza. You have to run out right away. I hear ya, but I
    can’t disagree more!!! We are not allowed to have chametz for 8
    days and as difficult as that is, I understand it’s a halacha & I do
    it happily. But when it’s ok to have chometz, zirizim makdimim
    l’mitzvos. I can’t wait to make that hamotzi!!! For all you nonepizza lovers out there, do me a favor and don’t go to the pizza
    store Motzei Pesach, I would appreciate having a shorter line!!
    SW
    Vues Master’s Note: There is a Targum Yonasan that says that one
    should eat chametz the day after Pesach. Also the Gaon would
    make havdalah on beer. Of course this year one can’t change the
    minhag of eating Pizza for Melave Malka which I do every week!
    PESACH PROGRAMS
    Dear Vues Master:
    I can not believe the prices a Pesach program was advertising in
    Florida this past Yom Tov. This is insane!!! Lunches: tax and gratuity included $207.54 Per Adult per lunch $136.20 Per Child (age 3
    -12) per lunch Dinners: tax and gratuity included $324.28 Per Adult
    per dinner $220.51 Per Child (age 3 -12) per dinner What is this
    world coming to? Is this the way we should be celebrating Pesach?
    JC
    Vues Master’s Note: Staying home is not cheap either! I took out a
    mortgage just to buy eggs!
    EREV PESACH MATZAH
    Dear Vues Master:
    My family has been going to get Matzos mitzvah, erev Pesach matzos my entire life. This year I wired online erev yom tov for almost
    two hours and I was shocked that they raised the price to $15 a slice
    of matzah. I understand the concept of supply & demand, but isn’t
    this geneiva?
    GW
    Vues Master’s Note: If there are customers willing to pay for it then
    it is not geneiva it is called supply and demand.
    COMPLAINTS
    Dear Vues Master:
    A shul President in Skokie, Illinois, after many years of faithful
    service, was betrayed by a close friend whom he had assisted in
    many ways. This “friend” badmouthed him to the congregation
    and persuaded the members to fire the President and appoint him in
    his place. The congregation, however, made a big mistake. They
    threw a farewell dinner for the departing President at which he took
    the opportunity to tell the following story: Three characters complained to Hashem. Aleinu said “It’s not right. I’m at the end of the
    Tefilla, when everyone is already removing their talleisim, talking
    and getting ready to leave the shul.” Hashem said: “You’re right.
    As compensation, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, I’ll
    place you right at the heart of the davening.” Similarly, Asher Yatzar complained that it was unseemly to be recited after use of the
    bathroom. Hashem said you’re right as well. As compensation, I
    will give you a lead role under the Chuppa, the happiest time of a
    person’s life. Finally, the Mamzer complained “It’s not fair. What
    did I do wrong? Why should I be made to suffer because of something my parents did?” Hashem answered: “You too are right. As
    compensation, I will make you the new President of the shul.”
    GA
    Vues Master’s Note: I like his response!
    CHOCOLATE
    Dear Vues Master:
    I would like to share a hair raising story that occurred to my
    family this year on Pesach. My wife received a very generous large chocolate platter from her boss as a gift before the
    holiday. There was a sticker that show the hashgacha on it and
    a separate sticker that stated kosher for Passover. One of my
    children looked at the mouth watering treats and wondered
    aloud whether it could be true that the platter was kosher for
    Passover. We waited to open the delectable platter and called
    the rabbi from the hashgacha just to make sure that it is actually kosher for Passover. To our dismay, we were told that
    the chocolate platter actually may have contained kitniyos. We
    were not able to eat it on Pesach! Luckily we chose to wait and
    ask before enjoying. The store owners were unaware of the
    fact that the stuff contained kitniyos and that the Ashkenazi
    customers could not partake of it over Yom Tov. I am sharing
    this story so other people check their purchases and do not fall
    into such a scenario in the future.
    WA
    Vues Master’s Note: Well you need to check the Hashgacha and
    stick to the basics! It would be nuts to eat it.
    GREAT ADVENTURES
    Dear Vues Master:
    My family went this year to Great Adventurers over Chol Hamoed.
    We went to the kosher stand and spent almost $200 on a few hot
    dogs & drinks for everyone. When I got up to the front of the line
    to pay, the non jewish person taking the money said that if we were
    interested we could go to McDonalds and get everything we just
    ordered for about $30. I just laughed at him but after I left the stand
    I was thinking about what he said. Of course I would never think
    for a second about eating treif, but why should kosher food be that
    expensive? I get it should be more. I get that it should be even more
    expensive for Pesach. But that much more? Really?????
    SA
    Vues Master’s Note: Ashreinu Ma Tov… We are zocheh to be moser
    nefesh to eat kosher. It is still way easier than in Europe or other
    places far out in the US where one can’t get kosher food easily.
    Based on inflation that is not even so expensive!

    TEFILLIN
    Dear Vues Master:
    Forget chametz, 8 days without tefillin was the
    real loss, happy to wear these signs of the Exodus
    from Egypt and G-d’s unique providential relationship with the Jewish people again!
    RUP
    Vues Master’s Note: What do you mean, we put
    Tefillin on, on Chol Hamoed!
    JOURNEYS 5
    Dear Vues Master:
    Thank you guys for the most interesting and
    entertaining newspaper! “I personally think
    that Journeys might be the highest level Jewish
    Album ever made,” said Doni Gross, the producer and arranger in an interview with the JV
    Ari Hirsch together with songwriter and singer
    Abie Rottenberg, for the special Pesach issue.
    “Doni and I have been working on this album
    for 2 years, said Abie. Doni continues that I don’t
    believe that I ever spent so much time on any individual album, Mon-Thurs, sometimes 15 hrs.
    with a break only for Mincha/Maariv and to eat
    a little bit! These albums are going to be around
    a long time because it’s real music. It’s inspiring.
    It’s not just music. It’s hashkafa. Abie is giving
    over part of his neshama in such a high level way,
    continues Doni. RMS- I love Journeys. Just Like
    Aish {Rachmana] got me through Coved being
    locked down in my car, so too Journeys 5 gets me
    through these trying times, [War, Rav Chaim’s
    petirah, tragedies in Meron, Karlin Stolin, Terrorist in Eretz Yisroel]. This album is absolutely
    unequivocally gorgeous, stunning, beautiful,
    amazing, entertaining, fabulous. From the get go,
    Benny Friedman belts out Chaverim Kol Yisroel
    to a Bovover March. And for the first time My
    oh My-since long ago at Har Sinai-Chaverim Kol
    Yisroel. It speaks of Achdus in Moshiach times.
    It is such a catchy tune and song, my eineklach
    sang it at the Yom Tov seuda. Doni is so good at
    matching the music to the song that it becomes
    part of the tune and melody that you sing it as
    well. Then comes From the Ashes, about Holocaust survivors who lift themselves up from the
    dust. Featuring the Maccabeats who have such
    harmonious voices sing, They rose from the ashes
    -and relit their matches-To kindle a fire that somehow grows stronger. This song was composed by
    Abie’s daughter, Shiffy [Rotenberg] Ochs. The
    Flame that defines us will never go out! What
    a Masterpiece! B”H It’s Shabbos-sung by Shloime Gertner and accompanied by the Gross and
    Rottenberg children. [My eineklach changed the
    words heyliger and tayerer Shabbos to Zeidy!
    LOL] Of course Abie and Doni sing and arrange
    the music together. What a Team! And there’s one
    more plus our Parents spend more time with us
    B”H its Shabbos! I believe everyone’s favorite
    comes next in Journey at Sea, sung by Lev Tahor.
    Composed by Abie’s son Chananya. It was arranged by Leib Yaakov Rigler, [Avraham Fried’s
    arranger]. First of all, we all learned a new word
    FORTITUDE. And who doesn’t try to imitate
    the ending sung by Eli Schwebel; It’s Our Life
    A Journey At Sea-A Voyage Of Fate And Destiny. The Waters Will Challenge -The Fortitude
    And Courage Of Every Man. What A Classic!
    My eineklach love to count out loud every time
    Mordechai Shapiro sings There’s Nothing In
    Your Life. [22 times-now that’s SIGNIFICANT!]
    Mordechai is a Star. A close second favorite is My
    Little Town sung by the great Shulem Lemmer.
    There were 600 people in my little town-but I,
    only I, would survive. Once again Leib Yaakov
    Rigler arranges a musical sensation! This was
    also composed by Chananya Rottenberg. {Talent runs in the Family]. Like Father Like Son
    & Daughters]. The Secret was performed by
    the 8thb Day, and composed by Abie’s daughter, Bella [Rottenberg] Levine with her husband
    Nochum. Al Hatzaddikim sung by the great super
    star Avraham Fried. It’s a beautiful story about
    the Sukelener and Vitzchinitzer Rebbes after the
    war. How they do for each other, and how they
    each care for the other one. Piano by the greatest Yaron Gershovsky. [Avremel; When are you
    coming out with your amazing Album[s] can’t
    wait! RMS] B”H -You Can’t Say It Enough, performed by the upcoming super star Joey [Yossi]
    Newcomb. [BTW-I bought my 3yr old einekel a
    yarmulke and had the words on it that say Thank
    You Hashem!] Words by Henya Meyer& Abie.
    My 2 yr. old einekel Rachel loves to sing Lucky
    Fingers Max, sung by Jewish [Rock] Star Gershon Veroba, and arranged by Yaron Gershovsky.
    But Lucky Lucky Fingers Max-got lucky and
    found out-he has a Jewish Soul. The Ring song
    that is sung by Abie and composed by his daughter, Shiffy [Rottenberg] Ochs. Arranged by Leib
    Yaakov Rigler, and piano by Yaron Gershovsky.
    [I love watching his fingers move on the piano
    like a drummer drums that fast AMAZING!]
    Not only was I blessed by the kindness that you
    had shown. If what I’d lost had not been found-I
    never would have known. The kids favorite [and
    my wife] There A’int No Bishul In A Kli Shlishi. {My einekel pronounces it Kli SHISHI!}.
    This was composed by the one and only Moshe
    Yess A”H [Megama -When Zeidy made us laugh.
    When Zeidy made a Kiddush Fri Night] Tali Yess
    his son sings it so KOOL! Together with AbieWhat a Duo. Try singing so deep as Tali at the
    end. Important note this only with liquids, since
    solids like meat from the hot chulent retains its
    heat even on your Kli Shlishi plate. The Halacha books warn you not to put coleslaw juice
    on your hot chulent. {Perhaps my Einekel was
    right You need a KLI SHISHI! } Kli Rishon Kli
    Sheini that’s a different Kup Of Tea! Ushpizin by
    Chaim Dovid and sung by R’ Baruch Levine and
    Shlomo Simcha & Of Course Abie Rottenberg.
    Achron Achron Chaviv-We’ve Got The Music
    II-featuring Shmuel Burstein, Eli Kranzler, Rivie
    Schwebel, & the all-time Pirchei best soloist Yussi Sonnenblick with Abie Rottenberg [Dveikus
    Reunion]. [PS- In case you’re looking for MBD,
    he was on the first We’ve Got The Music I- MBD
    MBD MBD ty Shimon Lefkowits for pointing
    that out to me.] Now For My Afikomen PresentMBD & Avraham Fried singing and harmonizing on an Album together with Doni Gross- Arranger, and Abie Rottenberg composer. L’shana
    Haba B’Yerushalayim im Moshiach Tzidkeinu
    B’Binyan Beis Hamikdash B’mhera B’yameinu.
    Thank you Ari & Allan Hirsch for a great interview with Journeys!
    RMS- RLL
    Vues Master’s Note: We aim to please!
    YICHUS
    Dear Vues Master:
    An Am Haaretz boasted that he has a Megillas
    Yuchsin that goes back all the way to Adam Harishon. A man who knew his true character said:
    “I’m surprised that you don’t have a Megillas
    Yuchsin going back further than that.” The Am
    Haaretz asked how could anyone have a Megillas
    Yuchsin going back further than Adam Harishon?
    The man responded: “Perhaps you have forgotten, before Hashem created Adam, he created the
    Beheimos.“
    MB
    Vues Master’s Note: I guess he did not have
    yichus atzmo!
    PRETZELS
    Dear Vues Master:
    Someone sent a letter last week speaking against
    the Kasher l’Pesach pretzels. He said that if those
    pretzels would have been around at ‘the time the
    chachomim issued the issur on kitniyos, they
    too would have been banned. Then he says that
    for the chinuch of our children we have to teach
    them that we don’t need to buy everything with
    the KFP label. Excuse me. Who are you to argue with the rabbonim of the hashgacha?- (and
    you said it’s a good hashgacha) do you think
    you know better. Of course it is always good to
    machmir and not buy these things. But who are
    you speaking against it. There are better things to
    teach the children. And know not everyone was
    brought up the same way as you. So you want
    to be machmir, good for you. But don’t start telling people what they could or can’t or should or
    shouldn’t eat or buy. Keep it to yourself and let
    everyone up their own judgment based on where
    they are holding and if they have questions they
    can go to THEIR rov.
    TT
    Vues Master’s Note: Hey what happened not to
    mish? I guess he meant don’t mish into my business!
    TRUST
    Dear Vues Master:
    Rav Chaim Kanievsky trusted his father and so
    did Rav Avraham Mordechai. They trusted them
    because they were their father not because they
    were great Torah scholars. The Sefas Emes did
    not have the local melamed teach his son the Mah
    Nishtanah, but rather, he hoped that young Avraham Mordechai would himself notice the many
    changes and interesting costumes of the night and
    ask the questions spontaneously, as described by
    Chazal. Each and every part of the Seder was
    unique, different from a regular Shabbos or Yom
    Tov meal, yet the boy asked no questions. The
    Sefas Emes was puzzled by his son’s silence,
    and finally asked the child if he noticed anything
    different from the usual. “Yes,” replied the boy,
    “everything was different from the usual.” “So
    why didn’t you ask me about it?” the Sefas Emes
    wondered. “Because I know,” the child replied,
    “that whatever the Tatte does, he does with good
    reason, whether I understand it or not. Why, then,
    would I ask questions?” (Gerrer Dynasty)
    DG
    Vues Master’s Note: What about the 5th son,
    the one who is not even at the Seder how does
    he learn?
    CHOL HAMOED SAGA
    Dear Vues Master:
    Where are we going? Are we there yet? Traffic,
    kids kvetching, matzah soggy tuna sandwiches,
    potato chips & potato sticks, more eggs & potatoes.Don’t forget the pickles! Need quarters
    for the meters. Pass the chocolate please. Lines,
    lines, and & more lines. Kids pushing & cutting
    the line. Baby (lady) fingers, macaroons, Geffen,
    Liebers, Haadar, Pashkez, Oberlanders. I need
    a drink, a bathroom, I’m hungry, I’m cold, I’m
    tired, I’m bored, I’m hot. All in all, I had a great
    time at Keansburg Amusement Park sponsored
    by Chasdei Lev, taking my Eineklach. There
    were plenty of rides & shows with juggling plus
    Rabbi Hill, a famous story teller. Everything was
    organized and ehrlich with music & fun. This was
    hakaras Hatov to the Rebbeim @ MechanchimMenahelim. I would only recommend that at the
    big tent, there should have been separate entrances & seating for men & women. I can’t wait to go
    see Desperate Measures 2
    RMS-RLL
    Vues Master’s Note: Awesome rides! I am confused trying to keep up with your letter!
    HUSBAND
    Dear Vues Master:
    A elderly Rav who was never at a loss for words,
    stood silent before his congregation. He motioned to a young boy to approach and told him
    that he had forgotten his teeth at home. “Please go
    to my house and bring me my teeth,” he said. After the boy returned with the teeth, the rav spoke
    and spoke with no end. He just couldn’t stop
    speaking. Finally, the gabbai approached him and
    said the hour was growing late. The Rav apologized. “He brought me my wife’s teeth.”
    BM
    Vues Master’s Note: That is why it says “at psach
    lo” Lashon nekeiva!
    RIDDLE
    Dear Vues Master:
    3 people standing next to each other (same place
    same time) 1 says the complete Hallel 2 says
    short Hallel (no Lo Lanu & Ahavti) 3 says Hallel with Lo Lanu but skips Ahavti Answer: On
    the second day of Yom Tov Pesach – the first
    day Chol Hamoed in Eretz Yisroel 1: Visiting
    E.Y. from Chutz La’aretz (second day Yom Tov
    Pesach – complete Hallel) 2: Israeli (first day
    Chol Hamoed- short Hallel) 3: Visiting E.Y. from
    Chutz La’aretz & decides in the middle of Hallel between Lo Lanu & Ahavti to become a ben
    Eretz Yisroel.
    MF
    Vues Master’s Note: I don’t believe you can make
    a decision in the middle of Hallel and cause Halachos to change!
    HOLOCAUST
    Dear Vues Master:
    With the approach of Holocaust Memorial Day
    (Yom HaShoah) comes yet another wave of attempts to distort the Holocaust in order to advance
    various political or social agendas. The tensions
    surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic have become a breeding ground for wildly inappropriate
    Holocaust-related analogies. U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has taken
    to calling advocates of Covid-19 immunizations
    “vaccine Nazis.” Her colleague Lauren Bobert
    (R-Colorado) has denounced vaccine supporters as “needle Nazis.” Some protesters against
    Covid-related restrictions have been wearing yellow stars of David intended to resemble those
    that the Nazis forced Jews to wear. Top-rated Fox
    television host Tucker Carlson has compared the vaccine to Nazi medical experiments. Although
    many of these offensive and inaccurate analogies
    emanate from one side of the political spectrum,
    they are by no means exclusive to that camp. On
    the left, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. recently claimed
    that public health measures to combat Covid are
    even more onerous than what the victims of the
    Nazis endured. “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you
    could cross the Alps into Switzerland,” he said.
    “You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.”
    Kennedy later apologized; but the damage—in
    terms of his impact on the public—was already
    done. A different kind of Holocaust distortion
    will soon be coming to America’s television
    screens, courtesy of noted filmmaker Ken Burns.
    He says his forthcoming documentary is intended
    to “dispel the myth” that during the Holocaust,
    “Americans looked on with callous indifference.”
    When Burns tackled this subject previously, it was
    obvious that his lens was distorted by a narrow
    partisan perspective. His 2014 PBS series, “The
    Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” dealt in part
    with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s response
    to the Holocaust. It badly misrepresented the historical record. Burns blamed America’s harsh
    immigration restrictions on Congress and public
    opinion, failing to note that FDR suppressed immigration far below what the law allowed (in most
    years from 1933-1945, the quota for immigrants
    from Germany was less than 25% filled). Burns
    also falsely credited Roosevelt with creating and
    funding the War Refugee Board, when FDR actually tried to prevent its creation and gave it only
    token funding (90% of its budget was provided by
    American Jewish organizations). Burns’s 2014
    film did not mention any of FDR’s fifteen hostile statements about Jews, which historians have
    amply documented. Ironically, the scriptwriter
    for that film was Geoffrey C. Ward, a Roosevelt
    biographer who was one of the first to document
    the president’s anti-Jewish “humor.” In his 1989
    book, Ward revealed that on multiple occasions,
    Roosevelt told “mildly anti-Semitic stories in
    the White House,” in which “the protagonists
    were always Lower East Side Jews with heavy
    accents…” Ward also documented additional
    examples of FDR’s “jokes” about Jews. Yet he
    omitted them from the 2014 film. Subsequently,
    other historians revealed remarks by Roosevelt in
    which he spoke disdainfully of “Jewish blood”;
    asserted that antisemitism in Poland was caused
    by the practices of Jewish businessmen; advocated quotas to restrict the admission of Jews to
    Harvard; and said (in 1943!) that antisemitism
    in Nazi Germany was “understandable” because
    there had been too many Jews in various German
    professions. It will be interesting to see if any
    of Roosevelt’s statements about Jews make it into
    Burns’ forthcoming documentary, because according to the advance publicity, Geoffrey Ward
    has written the script for that one, too. A director
    with a partisan agenda and a scriptwriter who has
    withheld evidence that he himself uncovered—
    that’s quite a combination. Meanwhile, another
    type of distortion is rearing its ugly head, this in
    time in connection with the Russian invasion of
    Ukraine. Whether Russia’s slaughter of civilians in Ukraine will reach the level of genocide
    remains to be determined, but there is no doubt
    that widespread atrocities have occurred—no
    doubt, that is, except among a handful of extremists with loud megaphones in the American
    media. Widely-published leftwing journalist
    Glenn Greenwald recently charged that “Twitter experts eager to start WW3 [are] emotionally
    demanding that the US go to war with Russia
    due to horrifying yet context-and-evidence-free
    photos and videos posted by Ukrainian officials.”
    Greenwald’s claim echoes a recent assertion by a
    prominent voice at the other end of the political
    spectrum, Fox’s Greg Gutfeld, the most-watched
    host in late-night television. He claimed that news
    stories showing the suffering of Ukrainian civilians “have sped up and are accumulating to create
    a narrative — and they only go in one direction…
    an image is taken and then played over and over
    and over again to create some kind of emotional
    response out of you.” According to Gutfeld, that
    “narrative” may be “leading” America toward
    “World War III.” Isolationists, whether from
    the far left or far right, are understandably jittery
    about a world war. We all are. But to allege that
    the news reports of Russian atrocities are part of a
    conspiracy by the media to drag America into the
    Ukraine war is outrageous. And it’s eerily reminiscent of isolationists’ accusations in the 1930s
    that Jews were exaggerating Nazi atrocities in
    order to drag America into a war with Germany.
    Holocaust Memorial Day should an occasion for
    remembering the Holocaust and the lessons to
    be learned from it. Instead, sadly, we find our attention diverted by those who are exploiting or
    distorting that history—or even doubting atrocities that are taking place right now—in order to
    advance narrow partisan agendas.
    RM
    Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for the history lesson!
    STORY
    Dear Vues Master:
    A few weeks ago, your magazine included an
    article from one of your regular columnists sharing stories about HaRav Chaim Kanievsky ztz’’l
    for the goal of gaining inspiration and chizuk.
    However, I respectfully want to let the readership
    know that one of the stories therein only related
    half of the actual story, and thereby concluded the
    exact opposite of the true message of the story,
    which ends up being pogem on R’ Chaim’s kavod. The story that was published, in short, stated
    how a Rebbe came to ask R’ Chaim’s mechila
    for telling his students that R’ Chaim did not start
    out with any kishronos or specific intelligence,
    and it was only through his hasmadah and hard
    work that he became great in Torah. However,
    after telling his talmidim this, he felt bad about
    perhaps lacking in kavod for R’ Chaim, and therefore came to ask mechila. R’ Chaim responded by
    saying, “I didn’t have any kishron then, and I still
    don’t!” And the columnist in the aforementioned
    article thereby ended the story, and concluded
    that what the Rebbe had taught his talmidim was
    correct. Now, I am not one to disagree with the
    tremendous power of diligence and effort, even in
    the absence of talent, however, according to what
    i have heard in a few other places, the story as
    told in the article did NOT end there, and to try
    to repair a bit the pegam on R’ Chaim’s kavod,
    I want to relate the story as I read it on Matzav.
    com, written by R’ Pinchos Lipschutz. As R’
    Lipschutz relates the story in his opinion article
    titled “Watch What You Say,” the story actually
    begins with the Rebbe approaching R’ Elya Mann
    (R’ Chaim’s chavrusa) to have him ask mechila
    on his behalf, because of what he said to his
    talmidim. The reason he brought his request to R’
    Mann/R’ Chaim is because his son was suddenly
    beginning to exhibit signs of mental disturbance/
    illness, and he felt it was perhaps because of his
    lack of kavod to R’ Chaim. R’ Elya brought the
    request to R’ Chaim, who, out of his great HUMILITY, stated that the man doesn’t need mechila. R’ Elya felt that the man however really did
    need mechila because of what he said, and discussed the matter with R Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, who had taught R’ Chaim when the latter was
    a child. R’ Michel Yehuda replied that R’ Chaim
    was brilliant as a child, and the man definitely
    needed mechila. R’ Elya went to ask R’ Chaim
    again, beginning by saying that he had gone to R’
    Michel Yehuda about the question. R’ Chaim immediately understood where R’ Elya was heading
    and said “I am mochel the Rebbe completely.”
    Within a few days, his son’s mental health was
    restored. To conclude, your magazine always
    includes inspiration and chizuk, which I’m sure
    helps your readership tremendously. The only
    reason I interceded over here was because the
    story concluded with a lesson which was beneath
    the kavod of R’ Chaim, the same lesson which
    the Rebbe in the story was at fault for. A gut
    Shabbos,
    AL
    Vues Master’s Note: Thanks! Now we hear the
    rest of the story!
    OP-ED- WHAT RUSSIAN TV
    WOULDN’T LET ME SAY (ABOUT
    PUTIN & THE HOLOCAUST)
    Dear Vues Master:
    I was watching a CNN report about Russian
    atrocities in Ukraine when the email arrived. It
    was from a producer for RT, the Russian government television network, asking to interview
    me about what she called “the American media’s
    collusion with the Third Reich.” Why is Russian Television suddenly interested in how U.S.
    journalists covered Hitler? Evidently it has to do
    with Vladimir Putin’s bizarre references to Nazis
    in his attempts to justify the Russian invasion of
    Ukraine. According to Putin, the Ukrainians—
    including their Jewish president—are actually
    Nazis and therefore the invasion constitutes “deNazification.” RT, Putin’s television network,
    promotes similar themes. On the day the RT producer’s email arrived, the RT website featured
    articles claiming that the Ukrainian army is filled
    with “neo-Nazis”; alleging that Russian citizens
    living in Ukraine are under attack from “neoNazi groups integrated into the government of
    Ukraine”; and asserting that the Biden administration is carrying out “genocide” against Native
    Americans in Nevada. RT.com also features wild
    accusations against the American news media,
    such as denouncing U.S. journalists for “vilifying” the January 6 rioters. Presumably such nonsense is a ham-handed attempt to undermine the
    credibility of media outlets that have been reporting about Russian atrocities in Ukraine. The RT
    producer’s claim that the U.S. media “colluded”
    with the Nazis in the 1930s is in line with the Putin regime’s contention that the Ukrainians and
    their American supporters are all Nazis or Nazisympathizers. It’s a classic propaganda device—
    take the kernel of truth within a known historical
    episode, tear it out of its original context, and then
    twist and magnify it to suit some contemporary
    political purpose. Yes, many major U.S. newspapers downplayed or ignored news about the
    Holocaust–but that was poor journalism (and,
    in some cases, a kind of antisemitism), not “collusion with Nazism.” Such anti-American propaganda is a staple of RT. Originally known by
    its full name, “Russia Today,” RT was created
    by the Putin regime in 2005. It is a propaganda
    agency, controlled and financed by the Russian
    government. Since 2017, its representatives in
    the United States have been required to register
    as foreign agents of the Russian government. I
    wouldn’t have known any of that from the producer’s email, however. She described RT as an
    “international TV channel,” with no clue as to
    its mission, financing, or governance. She never
    even used the word “Russia.” Obviously I have
    no interest in being used by Putin’s television network for his propaganda purposes; I replied that
    I would agree to an interview only on condition
    that my full comments be broadcast, including
    my thoughts on how the lessons of the 1930s are
    relevant today. I explained that I would point out,
    among other things, that: —Mainstream American newspapers in the 1930s were not pro-Nazi.
    Because of naïveté or ignorance, many major
    U.S. newspapers in the early 1930s failed to recognize that Adolf Hitler—like Vladimir Putin
    today—was an aggressive dictator who would
    threaten neighboring countries. —The Russian
    public today is at a great disadvantage as compared to the American public during the Nazi
    era. The American press is genuinely free and
    independent, and so the U.S. public had access
    to sources of information about the Nazi persecutions even when the Roosevelt administration
    would have preferred that the public not know.
    Thus while the New York Times downplayed
    Holocaust news, other publications, such as the
    weekly New Republic and the New York City
    daily newspaper PM, highlighted it. By contrast,
    the Russian people today are unable to freely
    access information about Russian atrocities in
    Ukraine because of the Putin government’s control of the Russian news media. — The fact that
    American journalists 80 years ago did a poor job
    of covering the Holocaust is no reason to doubt
    the accuracy of today’s American media coverage of Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Russia’s war
    crimes have been amply documented by U.S. media outlets from across the political and ideological spectrum. The RT producer’s reply was not
    unexpected, but it was loaded with irony. “We are
    not interested in airing propaganda, nor including
    analysis which are propaganda themselves,” she
    said of my intended remarks. Pretty funny coming from a full-time propagandist for the Putin
    regime! I guess I won’t be hearing from RT again.
    Rafael Medoff
    (Dr. Medoff is founding director of The David S.
    Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of more than 20 books about Jewish history
    and the Holocaust. His latest is America and the
    Holocaust: A Documentary History, published by
    the Jewish Publication Society & University of
    Nebraska Press.)