05 Nov SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER

MAMA
Dear Vues Master:
This coming Tuesday is the yahrzeit of Rachel
Imanu. Mama Rachel was the quintessential
mother. Mama Rachel was the mother of all Jews.
Her life was one of hardship, yet she rose above
it all. A true Jewish woman. Mama Rachel was
the mother of us all. Do you think that she was
the most beloved woman in tanach? It always
bothered me that she wasn’t buried with Yakov
at Maarat Hamachpela? Being buried by herself,
everyone goes out of their way to visit her
specifically.
FR
Vues Master’s Note: A mother knows best! And
helps the most!

FINAL ELECTION RESULTS
REVEALED!
Dear Vues Master
After intense examination of the relevant polling
data and in depth analysis of the voter registration
maps combined with abstract algorithms of
previous voting trends, professional political
pundits have determined that the results of the
next presidential election will be determined by
the results in only seven swing states! However,
upon further examination they have subsequently
narrowed it down to only one state-Pennsylvania!
Incredibly, using more focused scrutiny they have
narrowed it down even further to a single county
in Wilkes Barre – Crawford County! But now,
utilizing state of the art Artificial Intelligence
they have been able to narrow the field down even
further and identify the swing neighborhood, the
very block and indeed, unbelievably, even zero
in on the one person whose singular vote will
determine the next president of the United States!
His name is Chaim Yonkle Stupechefski an
Orthodox Jew living in a predominantly Hasidic
enclave in western Pennsylvania! Thousands of
reporters from assorted media around the world
have descended upon and surrounded his modest

one family home and he has suddenly become
the focal point of world attention! Who will he
vote for? He wouldn’t reveal! Having correctly
decided the last ten presidential elections with his
vote he was being closely monitored yesterday
morning when he quickly left his home and
headed briskly to a building which reporters
assumed was an early voting location. The by
now frantic media mob followed him in a frenzy.
Pushing and shoving they waited anxiously for
his return, breathlessly waiting to learn how he
voted. When he emerged somberly sometime
later he was promptly surrounded and pressed
for whom he voted for, knowing full well that
his choice would be the leader of the free world
and,indeed, the entire planet! In response Chaim
Yonkel triumphantly held up his blue velvet bag
and with a wink and a smile said “I voted for
G-D!” Country Yossi Toiv
Vues Master’s Note: Love it!

CHUCK THE FRAUD
Dear Vues Master:
Sad to see what has happened to Chuck Schumer
and so much of the Democratic party. He has
come a long way from being a “Shomeir Yisrael”..
Yasher koach to Shabbos Kestenbaum for his
moral clarity and leadership..
RRT
Vues Master’s Note: A self hating Jew, a Drek!

CHUCK HIM
Dear Vues Master:
How can anyone vote for Charles Schumer? I
never understood it. He claims he’s a “shomer
yisrael” but he does nothing for Klal Yisrael. He
loves the squad & never helps the Jewish people
in a time of need.
AE
Vues Master’s Note: Remember he voted for the
Iran Nuclear deal so much for him liking Israel
and Jews!

TICKET
Dear Vues Master:
I just saw this online on one of the
Jewish websites.
With many airlines canceling their
flights to Israel, and ticket prices for

flights between the US and Israeli sky-
high, some Israeli hi-tech companies

are conducting advanced negotiations to
bring about affordable flights between
Israel and the United States from January
to March 2025. The plan would see
tickets become available to the public
at prices similar to those as before the
war, and revenues would be donated
to non-profit organizations working to
rehabilitate the country. I really hope
this works out! The prices to go to Eretz
Yisrael right now are insane. I have 2
children learning in Eretz Yisrael right
now & I really would like to visit them
at some point this year & when I go to
the El Al website the prices are insane.
PK
Vues Master’s Note: EL AL is now
profitable!

CUTTING
Dear Vues Master:
Regarding the question of letting
someone cut into a line, way back, when
I was in Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in
Queens, we discussed a similar question
with the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Henoch
Leibowitz ZTL. The question was
about a line waiting to get on a bus, and
someone asked you to let him in front of
you. The Rosh Yeshiva said that you are
not allowed to let him in without asking
everyone behind you. But, what you can
do, if you really want to help, is to let
him take your place in line and you go
to the back of the line. In the case under
discussion, buying bags of kettle corn, I
do not see why you can’t simply take his
money, buy 2 extra bags and give them
to him.
ZF
Vues Master’s Note: Chillul Hashem
comes into play here!

HATRED
Dear Vues Master:
Sinat Chinam, baseless hatred, which
caused the destruction of the Beit
Hamikdash and also, as documented,
gave Hamas the feeling they can
attack, is alive and kicking today. And
it’s not reserved for one side. It’s not a
challenge to love someone you agree
with. The challenge is to avoid hatred
even when you disagree with them. It

doesn’t matter what issue we’re talking
about whether it’s a judicial reform, a
military draft, public prayer, or any other
complex issue that we are dealing with.
Disagreeing is one thing, but hating and/
or trashing a huge part of the population?
That is tragic and it causes the Jewish
people massive damage. It always has.
Just saying.
Hillel Fuld
Vues Master’s Note: You keep on writing
and just stoking the flames!

NACHAS
Dear Vues Master:
A man asked his friend: “I know
that you’re going through hard times
financially, but do you at least have
נחת from your children?” The friend
responded that he indeed had nachas
כולם אהובים, כולם ” .children his from
.ברורים, כולם גיבורים, וכולם עושים רצוני
The only problem is that
“כולם גם פותחים את פיהם.
DS
Vues Master’s Note: Oy! With kids like
these?

GIFT
Dear Vues Master:
Abe went to a department store, walked
over to the perfume department and said
to the saleswoman: “Today is my wife’s
birthday. I’d like to buy her a nice
bottle of French perfume.” “That will
be a nice surprise for her,” the woman
responded. “It sure will,” Abe agreed.
“She’s expecting a diamond necklace.”
JH
Vues Master’s Note: I wonder if in the
present time he is still alive!
PSYCHO
Dear Vues Master:
A man went to a psychologist and
complained that he talks to himself.
“Don’t worry,” the psychologist said.
“Many people talk to themselves.” “But
Doctor,” the man replied, “you don’t
know what a nudnik I am.”
HU
Vues Master’s Note: Someone should get
him a Dr.!

IN GOOD HANDS
Dear Vues Master:
The Vilna Gaon and זלמן רבי of Volozhin,
his מובהק תלמיד, were learning together
late one night, when זלמן רבי dozed off.
The גר״א rose from his seat and gently
placed his hands around his student’s
head to guide it to the table. Just then,

the door to the מדרש בית opened and a
man entered. The גר״א whispered to him
to be quiet and said: “כולה התורה כל is
now resting in my hands.”
JN
Vues Master’s Note: Hand in Hand Head
to Head what a Pair!!

WRONG GUY
Dear Vues Master:
A professor who says anti-Zionism is
not necessarily antisemitic has been
hired by a prominent New York City
synagogue to teach a course on the
question of whether or not anti-Zionism
is antisemitic. Talk about getting the
wrong guy for a job! The biased
lecturer in question is Dr. David E.
Kaufman, who for many years taught
at the Los Angeles branch of Reform
Judaism’s Hebrew Union College.
His latest gig is teaching a course for
Temple Emanu-El, in Manhattan. The
six-part series started on October 29th
and is called “Antisemitism, Zionism,
and Anti-Zionism.” According to the
official description, its focus is on “the
question of whether anti-Zionism is
inherently antisemitic.” But don’t

be fooled by the fact that the Emanu-
El catalog makes it sound as if the

course will be an honest exploration
of “whether” it’s antisemitic, because
Dr. Kaufman has made it clear that
he has already made up his mind.
Speaking on this very same subject
for the online “Community Scholar
Program” earlier this year, Kaufman
said that it was “mistaken” to say
“that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitic, end
of story.” Dr. Kaufman happens to
be the kind of person who has strong
political views, and he wears them
on his sleeve. On his Facebook page,
he constantly reposts messages with
which he obviously sympathizes. And
they are very consistently at one far
end of the political spectrum. On
September 25, for example, Kaufman
reposted a demand for Israel to grant
the Arabs of Gaza “real independence
and sovereignty over their territorial
waters, airspace, and border with
neighboring Egypt.” Can you imagine
what that would mean? Just one year
after they massacred 1,200 Israelis,
Gazans would have control of waters
and airspace, so they could freely
import whatever weapons they want,
not to mention concrete to rebuild
their terror tunnels. On October
11, Kaufman reposted a colleague’s

message referring to “the Israeli
atrocities in Gaza.” On October 13,
it was a homemade leaflet that read
“Save Israel From Netanyahu.” Ten
days later, he reposted somebody’s
assertion that “both Palestinians and
Israelis can engage in the same kind of

behavior.” Really? Do Israelis gang-
rape and mutilate Gazans? Do Israelis

kidnap hundreds of Gazans, and starve
and torture them? Do Israelis have a
law that mandates the death penalty
for selling land to an Arab, like the
Palestinian Arabs have for selling
land to a Jew? What do Kaufman’s
provocative Facebook posts have to do
with his Temple Emanu-El series of
anti-Zionism? Plenty. Critics of Israel
are desperate to deny that anti-Zionism
is antisemitic, in order to protect their
political strategy. Acknowledging
that anti-Zionism is antisemitic makes
anti-Zionism illegitimate, because
the widely recognized standard in
American society is that bigotry is
illegitimate. That’s not to say that
Kaufman is an anti-Zionist; there’s
no evidence of that. But his Facebook
posts show a pattern of harsh criticism
of Israel, and harsh critics of Israel are
on the same side of the fence as the
anti-Zionists. When anti-Zionists are
discredited, it makes everybody on that
side of the political fence look bad.
That’s why Kaufman is so insistent
that anti-Zionism is not antisemitic.
Kaufman’s perspective is very much
at odds with the mainstream Jewish
community as well as our elected
leaders. The Anti-Defamation League,
the American Jewish Committee,
and many other prominent Jewish
organizations all say anti-Zionism is
antisemitism. The IHRA definition
of antisemitism, which is used by the
U.S. State Department and 33 countries
around the world, states that “Denying

the Jewish people their right to self-
determination” is antisemitic. An

extraordinary bipartisan majority in
the U.S. House of Representatives—
311 to 14— voted in favor of a
December 2023 resolution stating
unequivocally that “anti-Zionism is
antisemitism.” And they were right.
To say that everybody in the world is
entitled to their own state, except one
particular ethnic group, is a blatant,
bigoted double standard. If somebody
said every group deserves a state
except blacks, that would be racist.
If they said every group should have

a state except Muslims, that would
be bigoted. And saying everyone
is entitled to a state except Jews, is
antisemitic. Obviously, David E.
Kaufman and other critics of Israel
have every right to their viewpoint,
no matter how extreme. But Temple
Emanu-El has no right to present
Kaufman’s course as an objective
examination of the issue, given the
fact that he reached his conclusions
before even asking the question. For
Emanu-El to pretend otherwise is
simply false advertising.
Moshe Phillips
Vues Master’s Note: Sounds like the
blind leading the blind! A Gazlan who
is a lamdan. Oy yoy yoy!

OUR PART
Dear Vues Master:
Last night I participated in a Tefillah/
Chizuk gathering at my shul. One Rav
offered the following message which
resonated with me. He said that while
many people have been drafted to the
army to defend Eretz Yisrael, in truth,
we have all been called up. We just
have to figure out which division we
belong to. Are we among those driving
tanks at the border of Gaza to protect
our people, or are we in the Prayer
division, focusing on the Koach of
Tefillah? There are so many divisions,
including the Ahavas Yisrael division,
the Tzedaka division, and the Torah
learning divisions, to name a few. I
encourage each of us to identify the
division in which we can be most useful
during this difficult time. Wishing us
all a smooth and successful week, and
davening for the peace and safety of
Am Yisrael.
RB
Vues Master’s Note: We all are part of
a whole!

SHIDDUCH
Dear Vues Master:
A shadchan was friendly with a Rosh
Yeshiva, who told him about a brilliant
boy who would make a great catch but
was having difficulty finding a shidduch
because he came from a poor family.
The shadchan contacted the boy’s
mother and said that he has the perfect
shidduch for her son: a wonderful girl
from London. The mother said that she
and her husband wanted someone local.
“But, the girl is the daughter of the
frum Rothschild heir,” he said. “Well in
that case, of course we would consider

it,” she responded. He then contacted
Rothschild, who said his daughter
wasn’t looking for a Yeshiva bachur
no matter how brilliant he may be.
“But,” the shadchan said, “he’s already
a vice-president of the World Bank.”
“Well in that case, you should arrange
the shidduch,” Rothschild answered.
Having persuaded the parents, the
shadchan used his connections to arrange
a meeting with the head of the World
Bank. “I have a brilliant young man
who would make a great vice-president
at the bank,” he said. “Thanks, but we
already have all the vice presidents we
need,” responded the banker. “But the

young man is Rothschild’s future son-
in- law,” said the shadchan. To which

the banker replied: “Well, of course, we

always have room for one more vice-
president.”

DF
Vues Master’s Note: Fairy tales can
come true, it could happen to you!

LIARS
Dear Vues Master:
I never enjoyed politics. I honestly
believe all politicians are corrupt. They
all promise the world & rarely deliver.
I think the system is really the issue. If
someone gives a candidate money, isn’t
it obvious that the candidate, if elected,
will do everything to help that person
or business. What about the little guy
that can’t afford the donation to the
candidate?
BL
Vues Master’s Note: At least the little
guy is not disappointed when the
politician messes up the rich donors!
They never keep their word; they are
almost as bad as shadchanim!

COUNTDOWN
Dear Vues Master:
A critically ill patient asked the doctor
if he received the results of the tests.
When the doctor said yes, he asked how
much longer he had to live. “Ten,” the
doctor replied. “Ten what? Weeks or
months?” the patient asked. Without
a pause, the doctor said: “Nine, eight,
seven…”
GH
Vues Master’s Note: Don’t worry even
if a sword is on the neck of a person he
can still be saved!!

ADVOCACY
Dear Vues Master:
The Union of Orthodox

This damning report is based on the
Education Committee’s investigation
into certain universities, including
Harvard, Columbia, University of
Pennsylvania, and others, and the
Committee’s review of many thousands
of subpoenaed documents and emails.
The report underscores the need for a
comprehensive and concrete response
to antisemitism in higher education. OU
Advocacy has consistently advocated
for stronger accountability measures for
institutions that allow discrimination to
proliferate, endangering the safety and
rights of Jewish students and faculty.
Specifically, OU Advocacy is working
with Congress to pass the University
Accountability Act and the Civil Rights
Protection Act which would impose
serious financial penalties on schools
and make them ineligible for federal
funds when they violate Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act. “The Congressional
Education Committee’s findings make
clear that the problem on college
campuses goes beyond a handful of
hateful student activists. There is
an antisemitic rot deep in university
administrations, and it needs to be
cleaned out from top to bottom,” said
Nathan Diament, Executive Director for
Public Policy at the Orthodox Union.
“These universities are flagrantly
violating federal law and must be
held accountable. No more empty
promises, no more stall tactics, no more
bureaucratic stonewalling. Now is the
time for Congress and the White House
to act.” OU Advocacy will continue to
lead efforts that safeguard Jewish life
in the U.S. and ensure that all Jewish
students can pursue their education free
from discrimination and fear.
OU
Vues Master’s Note: Oy I wish we would
not need this!

HELP
Dear Vues Master:
Hoshana! I was online saying my
Hoshanas behind my son’s rav in
Manchester NJ. I asked him how
October 7th had happened when it was
the day after Hoshana Rabba? Didn’t
our Hoshanas help? He answered
of course it did! When I overheard
someone telling him that Sinwar was
killed, the head of Hammas, I told him
you’re right your Hashana helped!
Rav Reuvain Feinstein shlita spoke by
Chasdei Lev Chol Hamoed at Mincha
how when we believe in Hashem and

have emuna & bitochonin Hashem
then only the Arabs get killed. We are
protected in the Sukkah. When we have
Chas v’shalom kochi votzem yadi in
the Israeli army then we can lose our
protection shmira from Hashem! Hineh
Lo yanim vlo yishan Shomer Yisroel.
RMS
Vues Master’s Note: I have some good
news to tell you… Moshiach is coming
soon!

TACHANUN
Dear Vues Master:
It’s great to be able to say tachanun
again. The minyanim I follow the
custom of not reciting Tachanun during
most of the month of Tishrei. This is the
first week we began reciting tachanun
again. Days where we skip tachanun
can become almost celebratory in a
Shul (if they weren’t already). I think
people would be more reluctant to skip
tachanun if they understood what we
were saying. Tachanun is one of the
more meaningful tefillas in davening.
We begin davening by sitting, then move
to the modality of standing up straight
and talking to G-d, praising, requesting
and thanking G-d. There is arrogance
in standing straight before G-d; who
are we to stand before G-d? Tachanun
is then recited bent over in a sign of
humility. We demonstrate, physically,
our recognition of how small we are
before G-d. Tachanun pushes us to
recognize our modesty and how feeble
we are in this universe. This humility
pushes us towards introspection and
repentance. On Yom Tovim we are
charged to focus on an uplifting and
celebratory approach to G-d. Davening
in a modality of humility would take
away from the joyous approach, so
we skip the tefillah. After weeks of
celebrating, it’s time for some regular
humility.
RUP
Vues Master’s Note: I know a Litvak
who was so excited for tachanun that
a chassid next to him said you are so
besimcha we need to not say tachanun!