07 Jun SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER

SHOMER YISHMAEL
Dear Vues Master
Everyone noticed that Schumer didn’t march this
year at the Israeli Day Parade. He was booed at
the Met Council breakfast before the parade. The
best sign at the parade was Schumer is SHOMER
YISHMAEL. Clearly no one believes Schumer is a
Shomer Yisrael anymore!
HT
Vues Master’s Note: Was he ever a Shomer Yisrael?
He continues to betray Israel & the Jewish people
every day. It’s sad.

SAFETY ESCORTS FOR COLUMBIA
STUDENTS
Dear Vues Master
Columbia University has reached a settlement with
a Jewish student who requested a court order that
would have required the school to provide safe
access to the campus for Jewish students who feel
threatened by violent protesters. Under the deal,
the students who filed the lawsuit will be offered
“walking escorts” for their safety on campus, and
the school has agreed to create a new point of
contact — a Safe Passage Liaison — for students
worried for their safety. The liaison will handle
student safety concerns and coordinate requests for
escorts, which must remain available 24/7 through
at least December 31. What took them so long to do
something?
PS
Vues Master’s Note: It’s about time they did
something, but definitely still not enough.

BIDEN KILLING CIVILIANS
Dear Vues Master:
President Biden is planning to provide offensive
weapons to a Middle Eastern regime that has been
massacring innocent civilians, according to news
reports. Yet no protest tents have been set up on
college campuses, no members of the congressional
“Squad” are making angry speeches, and no hecklers
are calling him “Genocide Joe.” How can this be?
Aren’t the protesters who have captured our nation’s

attention motivated by humanitarian principles,
which apply no matter who the offender is? Aren’t
they concerned about all human suffering? Don’t
they want America to hold back weapons from
every regime that might kill civilians? Apparently
not. According to news media reports, the Biden
administration plans to resume providing offensive
weapons to Saudi Arabia, after a four year-ban that
the president imposed because the Saudis used
American munitions in airstrikes that killed some
Yemeni civilians. While campaigning for the
presidency in 2018, Joe Biden vowed he would
treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” because of its many
human rights violations, including dismembering
one of the regime’s prominent critics. And last year,
the Saudis gave the United Stated additional reason
to hold back weapons: human rights groups revealed
that Saudi Arabian border guards had slaughtered
“hundreds, perhaps thousands” of unarmed African
civilians. The migrants had approached the Saudi
border in the hope of finding work or receiving
asylum from persecution. The Saudis responded
with gunfire, mutilations, and sexual atrocities.
Yet the Biden administration has been looking
for ways to improve its relations with Riyadh. As
early as the autumn of 2022, “American diplomats
received grim news that border guards in Saudi
Arabia, a close U.S. partner in the Middle East, were
using lethal force against African migrants,” the
Times revealed—yet throughout the entire year to
follow, the Biden administration never criticized the
Saudi massacres. The most any U.S. official said,
according to the Times, was “an oblique reference” to
the issue: the deputy American representative to the
United Nations said during a UN briefing in January
2023 that the Biden administration was “concerned”
by “alleged abuses against migrants on the border
with Saudi Arabia.” He called on “all parties” to
permit an outside investigation. That was it. It gets
worse. During the past year, the Saudis have openly
strengthened their relations with two of America’s
worst enemies—yet the Biden administration has
remained silent. In March 2023, Saudi Arabia
renewed diplomatic relations with Iran, after a seven

year rift. Ambassadors were exchanged,

embassies were re-opened, and then-
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi visited

Riyadh. Iran is not the only anti-
American regime that Saudi Arabia is

embracing. Earlier this year, the Syrian
embassy was reopened in Riyadh; and
last week, the Saudis sent an ambassador
to Syria after a twelve year-break in
relations with the Assad regime. The
Syrian regime is not just anti-American
in its rhetoric—it is still actively trying
to kill Americans. There are at least
900 U.S. soldiers in Syria, fighting
against terrorist groups that are backed
by Iran and the Syrian government. So
while Syrian-supported terrorists are
trying to murder Americans, Riyadh is
embracing the Syrians. Yet neither
Saudi massacres of black Africans nor
Saudi friendliness toward Iran and Syria
has moved the Biden administration to
even verbally challenge Riyadh. The
only time President Biden has publicly
criticized Saudi Arabia was in 2022—
for cutting oil production. The president
was worried that—as the New York
Times put it—such cuts might “lead
to a rise in global oil prices before
the midterm elections.” The president
even threatened there would be
“consequences” for oil cuts. Apparently
there are no consequences for mass
murder, or for embracing regimes that
murder Americans. As for the critics of
Israel on campus and in Congress, their
hypocrisy could not be more blatant.
They say they care about the deaths of
civilians—but only when Israel can be
blamed. They say they want America
to refrain from sending weapons to
countries engaged in Mideast wars—
but only when the country is Israel and
the war is against Hamas terrorists.
And, of course, they say “black lives
matter”—but not when blacks are being
slaughtered by the Saudis.
Rafael Medoff
Vues Master’s Note: Biden looking for
Arab votes!

HANDOUTS
Dear Vues Master:
Walking through the streets of the city,
a man came upon a poor person with
an outstretched hand. He immediately
recognized him as a man who had been
wealthy. Stunned, he asked how the man
had sunk so low. “What happened to me,”
he responded, “is like what Chazal say:
תחילה ימלא אדם כרסו
.בש״ס ופוסקים ואחר כך ילמד קבלה

That’s what I did. In the beginning, as I
was going downhill, I sold my ש״ס and
פוסקים and filled my hungry stomach.
And now, I’m at the stage of קבלה.“
DS
Vues Master’s Note: Let’s hope he gets all
he needs so he can go shopping for a new
Shas!

FISH
Dear Vues Master:
A Talmid Chacham was asked why we
have the minhag to drink alcohol after
eating fish, which we don’t do after
eating meat. He explained: the fish once
came with a complaint to the bais din
shel maaloh. “It’s not fair,” they said.
“The last time a fish swallowed a man,
namely Yonah Hanavi, he prayed until
the fish spit him out. We too should be
able to pray when men swallow us and
they should be required to spit us out.”
The bais din shel maaloh agreed that this
was a reasonable request and granted
them permission to pray that they be spit
out. Therefore, we drink alcohol, so that
the fish get drunk and, as is known, a
drunk is not permitted to daven.
MB
Vues Master’s Note: This story sounds
way to fishy to me. But I’ll drink to that.

DECIDE ON SIDE
Dear Vues Master:
A woman who was a regular customer
at Cafe Aroma in Yerushalayim started
going to Cafe Cafe on the other side of
the street. When the Cafe Aroma manager
saw her, he asked what happened? Was
there a problem with the food or the
service? “No,” she responded. “I had
some dental work done and the dentist
told me to eat on the other side for a
while.”
LK
Vues Master’s Note:I’m sure the café
owner was besides herself!

BABYSITTING
Dear Vues Master:
B”H the month after Lag Baomer my
wife & I are invited to five different
simchas. B”H, we have five children.
Three of them are under the age of 8.
My children were not invited to any of
the simchas. Is it ok for me to bring them
along? I really dont have anyone to watch
them & if I find a babysitter, it’s going to
cost me more than $100 per simcha, just
for babysitting. That’s not even including
the gift. The average simcha these days is
about 5 hours between going & coming

& the average babysitter is $15-$20/hr.
I’m really in a bind. I appreciate being
invited, but I really can’t afford it. What
should I do?
LK
Vues Master’s Note: It is definitely better
than paying a babysitter in order for one
to go be Menachem Avel! Be thankful for
Smachos!

NOISY CHILDREN
Dear Vues Master:
I’m getting really frustrated about this
young man that is davening in my shul.
He brings his 2 year old to davening &
the child is very disturbing. I understand
people wanting to bring their children
to shul, but they really shouldn’t until
they are at least 6 or 7 years old. This
particular child makes a lot of noise &
runs all over the shul. The father sees
nothing wrong with it & just follows him
all over the shul.
KJ
Vues Master’s Note: Why don’t you
discuss with the Rav and let him decide.
There may be rules in your Shul!

FATHER’S DAY
Dear Vues Master:
Why does Mothers Day get so much
more attention than Father’s Day?
SD
Vues Master’s Note: Maybe because
fathers have to thank mothers a lot more
than mothers have to thank fathers!

PSICHA
Dear Vues Master:
FULL DISCLOSURE: The following
story is 100% true (except for some minor
exaggerations, literary embellishments,
and factual amplifications!)
The P’sicha Fiasco
Last week I was approached by a Gabbai
before the Torah reading, and was kindly
offered to do P’sicha. I didn’t have to
think for even a moment before politely
declining the honor. He looked at me
strangely, like, what chutzpah, but then
shrugged and turned and offered it to
somebody else. It might have been the
first time in his 30 year “Gabbaihood”
that somebody turned him down! I saw
him whisper something to the Rabbi,
who gave me a dirty look, but I didn’t
care. Little did he know there was a
good reason for my seeming disrespect!
You see, last year I was davening in a
crowded Young Israel minyan with over
800 mispallelim in Florida one Shabbos

when I was approached by a well-
meaning Gabbai asking me to do P’sicha.

Naturally, I was honored and quickly
agreed. Then, at the proper time, I strode
up to the Aron Kodesh, stood on the right
side of the huge, embroidered, velvet
curtain, and looked for the cord to pull
on, and thereby slide the “Paroches” to
the side. But to my chagrin there was no
cord to pull! I quickly looked behind the
curtain, but no luck. I thought, perhaps
it was on the other side for some reason,
so I walked quickly to the left side of
the curtain and searched – to no avail!
NO CORD! A murmur went up from the
crowd. I was holding up the Davening!
The Chazzan was already standing there
nervously tapping his foot, waiting for
me to give him the Sefer Torah. He was
staring daggers at me! My face started to
turn a bright crimson just like the velvet
curtain that was giving me such problems.
I turned around, looking for help, but no
one was coming to my aid. Then I had a
brilliant idea! I recalled that in some shuls
the Aron didn’t have any cords to pull.
You had to slide the curtain to the side
with your hand. Sheepishly smiling, but
now, with a growing confidence that I had
solved the problem, I tried pushing the
curtain to the side. But it wouldn’t budge!
It was big and heavy, and hardly moved.
Aha, I thought to myself, I probably have
to push it not from left to right but from
right to left. Beaming at my brilliance, I
quickly jumped to the other side and tried
pushing it that way. But again it wouldn’t
budge an inch! By now the murmuring
had turned into angry shouts, hooting and
laughter! “NEEE, NUUU, SHOITEH
EFFIN SHOIN!” I started to panic! The
blood drained from my face! For a brief
second, I thought of bolting off the stage,
out of the Shul and running home. But
then I had a brilliant idea. I turned and
picked up the curtain from the bottom
and raised it over my head and dropped
it behind me. So now I was invisible to
the deafening crowd and had access to the
Aron. I thought, perhaps, this was a new
security feature to protect against anyone
seeing the combination used to open the
Aron. At this point, the agitated shouting
and insults ( Meshugeneh, Shlimazel”)
were mostly muffled, but now I could
hear footsteps approaching me. The
Gabbai had finally come to my rescue.
He lifted the curtain and guided me back
to the proper position on the right side
of the curtain. Now, utterly mortified,
I half turned to see the devastation I
had unleashed.To my horror there was
utter chaos in the shul. 800 exceedingly

agitated, starving men were calling for
my head. I thought at any moment I
would be rushed, bound and quartered by
the crazed crowd already salivating from
the scent of pickled herring, Cholent and
Kishkeh wafting in from the lobby. The
rabbi’s face had turned a deep, royal
purple with embarrassment! The aging
president was apoplectic, his whole
body was twitching uncontrollably and
his mouth was convoluted and twisted
with an expression I’d never seen on a
living person before. The Gabbai looked
up and gently lifted my hand above my
head. Perplexed I too looked way up
and lo and behold I couldn’t believe
my eyes! There, hanging about three
feet above my head was the beautiful,
blessed, triple braided, tasseled cord!
I’d have to have been 8 feet tall to
have seen it- but there it was. I quickly
pulled it down and the curtain smoothly
slid to the side. The cacophony quickly
subsided and I handed the Torah to the
Chazzan. I then followed closely behind
him for protection as he carried it to
the Bimah and to the audible sound of
snickering laughter I quickly left the
Shul. I haven’t gone back there since!
End of story? Hardly! A year later I was
davening in a Shteeble this time when
once again I was approached by a well
meaning Gabbai offering me… P’sicha.
What it is about my face that makes me
the perfect candidate for P’sicha I’ll
never know. By this time the pain and
anguish of the first sordid affair had
somewhat dissipated and I figured what
can possibly go wrong? I reluctantly
accepted! As I approached the curtain I
was horrified once again to see there was
no cord! I don’t know who designs these
things, but they should be shot! Horrible
memories flooded my mind nearly
paralyzing my muscles! I ran to the
other side- still no cord! Remembering

the last time, I looked up to the ceiling-
but this time still no blessed cord!

Nervous murmurs and giggles rose
from the congregation. I began to sweat
profusely! Thankfully the rabbi saw my
predicament and made a swiping motion
with his hand. I quickly got the message
and swiped the curtain. It slid easily
to the side. Whew! Now I only had to
open the two heavy, gray metal doors.
Should be easy shmeazy, right? But as
hard as I tried I couldn’t get them to
swing open! Each door must’ve weighed
100 pounds! I couldn’t even turn the
handles! Some men started yelling out
instructions from the back of the shul.

Turn them to the left, turn them to the
right, pull, push – nothing worked! The
room began spinning! Pandemonium
broke out as my heart started palpitating
and I felt a dizzying nausea rise from
my bowels! My nightmare scenario was
coming true… once again! I swooned
and collapsed to the floor! A Hatzolah
member jumped out of his seat, pulled
out his walkie-talkie and proceeded to
rip open my shirt! But before he could
reach for the defibrillator, someone
shouted, “it’s open!” I looked up from
the floor and the two iron doors were
wide open, and the beautiful Torahs
stood majestically within, waiting to be
taken out. I immediately felt better, got
up and handed the Torah to the Chazzan.
As I slowly made my way back to my
seat people were patting my back and
wishing me well but right then and
there I made a solemn vow – never to
accept P’sicha again! So all you Gabbies
reading this out there. If you see me
in shul be forewarned: I’ll accept any
Aliyah, Hagbah, Glilah or even Maftir
but please, please no P’sicha!!!
Country Yossi
Vues Master’s Note: I hope you open
up! Don’t pull the curtain on your act?
It seems like the Gabai is pulling some
strings!

THE CHECK
Dear Vues Master
Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein related a
story that a man from Boro Park shared
with him. The man said: One night, I
went to daven Maariv at the Shomrei
Shabbos Shul in Boro Park, when a man
approached me and introduced himself
as a visitor from Eretz Yisroel. He
showed me a check that had been made
out for a very large sum, and he asked if
I knew the person who had written the
check. I told him that I knew the man.
He is a wealthy individual who lives
near the shul, but I also knew that he
was not in the habit of giving out such
large donations. I asked him , “How did
you get that check?” The man told me
a story that was completely incredible.
He said, “I live in Eretz Yisroel and I
have fallen into terrible debt. After being
pursued continually by my creditors, I
realized that I had no choice but to come
to America to collect money, simply
so that I could have a way to feed my
family and to pay off my debts. I have
been here for two weeks already, and I
barely managed to cover the cost of my
airfare. Today was a particularly hard

day, and I didn’t manage to collect even
one penny. At the end of the day, I felt
that I had reached the edge of despair,
and I began to lose hope. However, I
knew that I couldn’t go home without
having collected a decent amount. On
the other hand, I couldn’t simply stay
here forever. My family is waiting for me
in Eretz Yisroel. For a while, I walked
around in a state of depression, and I
couldn’t imagine how I would be able to
help myself and my situation. Suddenly,
a thought came to me. ‘Am I alone in the
world? I know that I have a great Father
in Shamayim, and He can do anything!’
I decided that I would simply pour
out my heart before Hashem. I came
to this shul and I began to prepare for
Maariv. When I began davening, I felt a
sense of elevation, the sort of feeling I
experience only during Maariv on Yom
Kippur. When I was in the middle of
the Brachos of Krias Shema, someone
tapped me on the shoulder. I didn’t even
look around to see who it was. I was
completely immersed in my davening.
I davened Shemoneh Esrei with more
feeling and enthusiasm than I have ever
felt before. I cried to Hashem that only
He can save me, and that there is no
true power in the world other than Him.
When I finished Davening, I felt as if a
great weight had been lifted from my
heart. The next thing I did was to rub my
eyes in astonishment. Right next to my
Siddur was this check, which was made
out for the exact amount of money that I
had hoped to collect throughout my stay
in America!” I said to him, “I know the
man who wrote that check very well,
but this is totally uncharacteristic for
him. He is generous and he gives a lot of
Tzedakah, but he would never normally
do something like this.” I decided to
make my way to this donor’s house and
to find out the real story. I mentioned
about the visitor from Eretz Yisroel,
and asked if he knew the man, and he
replied that he didn’t. I told him, “I saw
this man with a check from you that
was made out for a very large amount
of money, and I wanted to find out if
you really wrote that check.” When the
man heard my question, he paled and
his hands began to tremble. I asked him
what had happened? In response, he told
me this story. “I went to daven Maariv
in Shomrei Shabbos and I saw a man
standing off to the side and davening. It
immediately occurred to me that he must
be a visitor from Eretz Yisroel who had
come to raise money. I presumed that he

had probably left a family with children
behind in Eretz Yisroel, and I imagined
that he longed to be with his family, but
his financial situation left him no choice
but to remain here. It also seemed, based
on his appearance, that he couldn’t have
been very successful in collecting more
than a small sum. I assumed that he was
probably disappointed and dejected over
not being able to raise more money, and
I imagined his wife’s reaction when
he returned home with only a small
amount. I found myself overflowing
with compassion for this person, and I
tapped him on the shoulder and asked if
he had come from Eretz Yisroel, but he
didn’t answer me. I decided to write a
check and leave it on the table in front of
him, and I left. After I wrote the check,”
he continued, “I started thinking about
what I had done, and I began wondering
if I had made a mistake. Maybe this
man wasn’t from Eretz Yisroel? Why
did I assume that he was poor? What if
he didn’t even have a family? I began
having some feelings of regret for what
I did, and I went somewhere else to
Daven Maariv. Even now, I am surprised
at myself when I think about it.” I
quickly corrected his bad feelings and
reassured him, and I said, “Don’t worry,
the situation is exactly as you thought it
was before you wrote that check. This is
just like the story in the Gemara of the
man who gave his friend the benefit of
the doubt, and it turned out to be correct
in every detail. The man you saw in shul
is indeed a Talmid Chacham who has
many debts to many creditors, but he
was very ineffective in raising money.
It’s true that he was feeling broken, and
your check came at precisely the right
time. That check saved him, and as soon
as he received it, he began preparing to
return to his family in Eretz Yisroel.”
This made the wealthy man very happy,
and he acknowledged that it could only
be Hashem who had guided the events in
this, and in every situation!
TUT
Vues Master’s Note: Great story. Thanks
for sharing!