29 Jun 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
PARKING
Dear Vues Master:
There is no parking in South Fallsburg & Woodbourne
this summer. They are giving tickets if
you stop for 20 seconds. What are customers supposed
to do? In South Fallsburg there are 10 stores
& 10 spots in the entire town. Yes, there are spots
by Landau, but that’s a nice walk. What are the elderly
supposed to do? In Woodbourne they are doing
construction in the parking lot next to Gombo’s
bakery, that’s a loss of twenty parking spots. When
the Woodbourne shul is busy & on Motzei Shabbos
it’s a really long walk. HELP!!!
BH
Vues Master’s Note: Stay in the city. There are a
bunch of parking spaces available!
WOODBOURNE SHUL
Dear Vues Master:
I just want to say how lucky we are to have Rabbi
Jungreis in Woodbourne. There are very few people
that have true Ahavas Yisroel & the Rebbe is
definitely one of them. The Rebbe should live & be
well for many years to come!
YJ
Vues Master’s Note: Yes! Every Yid is a big Tzaddik!
PICTURES
Dear Vues Master:
We all love Inspector Richie Taylor but why do you
have so many pictures of him in the Jewish Vues
every week?
IH
Vues Master’s Note: Well if you would send us your
picture maybe we would put it in too!
FAVORITE
Dear Vues Master:
I would like to tell you what my favorite 5 parts of
The Jewish & Country Vues are. 1) The jokes 2)
The Fun Questions 3)The Wheel of Mazel 4) Torah
IQ 5) Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss articles. Keep up
the great work! You guys have the best papers out
there!!!
JL
Vues Master’s Note: We appreciate the feedback
please continue enjoying!
JEWISH
Dear Vues Master:
Isn’t this sad? According to a new study, only onethird
of Jewish people under the age of 30 in the
United States find it very important for their grandchildren
to be Jewish?
BN
Vues Master’s Note: Lo aleinu this is the problem
with all the Toeiva laws which causes a Rifyon in
Yiddishkeit!
PLEASURE
Dear Vues Master:
Jack was all smiles. “You look happy,” his friend
remarked. “Yes,” Jack said. “I just came back from
a pleasure trip. I took my mother-in-law to the airport.”
BM
Vues Master’s Note: This trip requires a Birchas
HaGomel!
SPEECHES
Dear Vues Master:
Thank you so much for your informative and enjoyable
newspaper, written with sensitivity and respect.
Every week we look forward to it and you
never fail to put together a wonderful publication.
I think it appropriate to mention, however, that we
were somewhat surprised by the ‘Fun Question’
and the responses you chose to publicize. Our rabbis
speak on Shabbos morning to guide, inform,
inspire, uplift, chide, and/or direct us. When else
can they do this? When else do we have the time
to listen? Are we not striving to grow and better
ourselves? If it was meant in jest, it would appear
to be inappropriate leitzanus. Please accept this as
intended, a constructive critique of a respected publication
which our community benefits from on a
weekly basis. With all due respect,
DY
Vues Master’s Note: If they would give the speech
after davening then it would be a true testament if
people stay. Not everyone needs to get all of their
ruchniyus for the week on Shabbos morning. Some
people learn on their own!
CRAZY
Dear Vues Master:
There is a new frightening statistic: 25 percent of the women in this country are on medication for mental illness. That’s scary. It means 75 percent are running around untreated.
MB
Vues Master’s Note: Sounds like, YOU the letter writer forgot your
meds! Not everyone is crazy! Some hide it better!
BIAS
Dear Vues Master:
The media is so biased against Israel. I just saw this joke and I had to share it with your readers. An Israeli on vacation in NY is visiting the Bronx Zoo on a rainy day when he sees a little boy slip & fall into the lion’s den. Suddenly, the lion charges the boy and is about to maul him, right under the eyes of his screaming parents. The Israeli leaps into the den and hits the lion right on the nose with a powerful Krav Maga punch. Whimpering, the stunned lion jumps back, and the Israeli carries the terrified child to his parents, who thank him profusely. A New York Times reporter happened to be watching the whole event. The reporter says to the Israeli: “Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I’ve ever seen anyone do in my life.” The Israeli replies, “Thank you very much but it was my duty. I saw that little boy in terrible danger and I had to do something.” The reporter says, ‘Well, I’ll make sure this doesn’t go unnoticed. I’m a reporter, and tomorrow’s paper will have this on the front page. So, what country are you from anyway? and what do you do for a living?” The Israeli replies, “oh, I’m from Israel and serve in the IDF. The next morning the Israeli buys the NY Times to check out the article on the front page, and the headline reads: “ISRAELI SOLDIER ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH.”
BF
Vues Master’s Note:Oy!
SHIDDUCH
Dear Vues Master:
Michael was at a Sheva Brachos when a friend pointed out a girl to him and offered to introduce him. “No thanks,” he said. “She’s way overweight, has crooked teeth, and looks far older than me.” “You don’t have to whisper,” his friend said. “She’s also hard of hearing.”
NJ
Vues Master’s Note: I never heard such a Joke!
BENNETT
Dear Vues Master:
As Israel heads into their fifth Knesset election in just three years, there’s one person whose political future is at stake more than anyone else’s, now Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Bennett has led this failed unity government and placed Israel into political chaos: politicians on opposite sides of the political spectrum try to negotiate vital issues with each other was never going to work. Add to this having an Arab party that arguably supports terrorism in the coalition that he designed, shows just how far Bennett has travelled from the positions his voters thought he held. It may be bold to state, but this is not the biggest of Bennett’s mistakes, in fact if you would have paid attention to all of his bad decisions from even before he was prime minister, you’d see a continuous pattern of greed and betrayal. It all dates back to the first election in April 2019. Both Bennett and the Zehut party, cocky as ever refused to join a block with three other religious parties that would have potentially created the strongest Religious Zionist faction in Israel ever and ushered in a new era Religious Zionist success. But Bennet couldn’t let his “precious” reputation be ruined by Itamar Ben Gvir. Ben Gvir is the man who is now about to steal Bennett’s crown as the leading Religious Zionist in the Knesset. As a result of Bennett’s egotistic and foolish decisions his party failed to pass the election threshold and wasted over a hundred thousand rightwing votes. This sunk any chance Netanyahu had at creating an historically unprecedent religious / rightist government which would have brought with it the best opportunity to transform Israel into a religious state — which is what you’d assume a Religious Zionist leader would want. This epic failure and embarrassment must have hit Bennet hard considering the election before he had proved himself to be a powerful force in Israeli politics. So, any normal person would assume he’d humble up and not make a similar mistake again. Before the second election started, the occurrence of which was partially his fault, Bennett did the right thing and ran with other religious parties. Good job you overcame your ego and paved the best path for a dominate religious / rightist government which shares ideas, hopes and dreams. Or did he? Bennett and his trusty sidekick Matan Kahana (ironically, he has a similar last name to Rabbi Meir Kahane) refused to sit in a block with Itamar Ben Gvir and selfishly prevented him from joining a combined list. So, Ben Gvir had a choice, either run on his own and potentially waste votes or sit out this election and watch their over 50,000 hardcore supporters refuse to vote. So, obviously Ben Gvir ran and lost and wasted a valuable 80,000 votes which buried the chances Netanyahu had to form a government. You didn’t need to be a prophet to predict that once again Bennett and Kahana would refuse to sit with Ben Gvir for the third time in a row in the 2020 election. Refusing to sit with them angered even people who didn’t support Ben Gvir and held the Religious Zionist camp from reaching its full potential. Earning Bennett’s faction seven seats instead of the likely eight or nine if they had accepted Ben Gvir into their block. But Bennett got his wish and actually got a taste of power by being part of the Gantz-Netanyahu government and being appointed as defense minister. Then that terrible government did what it was destined to do and… fell apart. Next Bennett refused to be part of a Religious Zionist block. This united Religious Zionist effort would have been even stronger than the one he refused to join in 2019. But this time Bennett did not regret his gamble and passed the threshold and somehow managed to manipulate his way into power. After the embarrassment of his historic government falling apart and many of his longtime political friends abandoning him, it is being reported that he might not run in the next election at all. If he does decide to take some time off then his name would almost certainly be forgotten by future voters. Netanyahu’s likely rise to power together with Bennett’s rightwing rival Ben Gvir potentially getting an important political post will set Bennett’s failures in the minds of the public. Any attempt by Bennett to reenter politics would be futile considering most of his allies in his party that could still have bright futures in politics will not sit out this election and will most likely forge new relationships that will actually make a difference. One person who has the potential to do this is Ayelet Shaked. She could join the Religious Zionist party or Likud if Naftali will step down from Yamina. What would actually be interesting to watch is Bennett running again and failing to cross the threshold. After being the first incumbent prime minister to not pass the threshold Bennett will have no choice but to stop effecting Israel with his ego and deception. His record of going back on everything he professed to believe in coupled with the desertion of so many of his one-time allies is a shameful thing. Too many good politicians were tricked into believing Bennett actually had morals and this led to this nightmare of five elections in three years. Let us pray that the next election produces conclusive results and a true Zionist government with the nation’s best interests at heart.
Vues Master’s Note: Oy! All politicians are the same!
APPLE DOESN’T FALL FAR FROM ITS TREE
Dear Vues Master:
Here’s a synopsis of “Going Off My Derech” by Rabbi Ari Wasserman:
Rabbi Dovid Kaplan: There are no leniencies when it comes to kibud av v’eim and you can’t cut parents off. There has to be communication and hopefully one side isn’t shutting down. Regarding not going to college, we don’t want him to fight with his parents, so the boy has to be ready to do it alone without support from his parents. Usually, parents don’t have a problem, when their kids become more religious, unless they become nutty about it. Rabbi Yitzchok Berkowitz: The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch says the greatest way to fulfill kibud av v’eim is to learn Torah and do good deeds. The mitzvah of kibud av v’eim is rooted in Hakaras HaTov (being gracious) for giving you life. We show Hakaras HaTov, for a gift, by using it so be sure to use the good values they gave you; make the most out of your life. Even if a parent doesn’t appreciate their religiosity, a child should not write them off and think they deserve less; just the opposite, appreciate them for the good. Shlomo Zalman Arbuch says children shouldn’t keep chumros at the expense of keeping peace with their family. Rabbi Moshe Elefant: The mitzvah of kibud av v’eim is d’oraisa and many laws of kashrus are chumros. Children are accorded special rules when it comes to eating at their parent’s home; Rav Moshe says a BT can rely on their non-kosher parents to keep kosher for them. When picking a rav, for the matters of kashrus, one should look for three qualifications: He needs to know the halachos, is familiar with the different hashgacha and most importantly has common sense. Rabbi Yitzchok Lobenstein: The rule of thumbs is, children want to follow their parents. When a child steps, a little more to the right, he has to be concerned about not stepping over their parents. Change falls under one of three categories: Being Jewish, Yiddishkeit (following the Shulchan Aruch) and minhag. Once a child dissociates from a minhag it will end up affecting him or his children’s Yiddishkeit. The one changing is usually not inquiring about it. Rav Moshe Soloveichik says the “Why” is more important than the “What” so it is important to address that when dealing with change. For the unedited version go to http://podcast.headlinesbook.com
DG
Vues Master’s Note: It is a shame, Parents who knock their children’s Rebbeim and scholls end up just losing their children!
BEHAVE
Dear Vues Master:
Rabbi Lobenstein’s three categories can be understood as existence from higher to lower: Being Jewish – what you think, Yiddishkeit – how you behave, and minhag – when, where and who you associate. The inquiry of “Why” is in the category of “Being Jewish” and a healthy relationship should be able to go there; however, a nutty child is someone who shuts down and doesn’t talk about his minhag with his father. I think “minhag” is the “heel” that Rashi is referring to when he says, “If you will hear (Eikev – heel) even the lighter commands which a person usually treads on with his heels…” If minhag is the heel then “Yiddishkeit” is the body and “Being Jewish” is the head. The heel is what supports the body and the body holds up the head so it makes sense what Rabbi Lobenstein says, “That once a child dissociates from a minhag it will end up affecting him or his children’s Yiddishkeit.” and that can, in turn, affect their very being.
DG
Vues Master’s Note: My minhag is not to do your minhag!
RUBBLE
Dear Vues Master
If you walk all the way to the eastern end of Manhattan’s 25th Street, you come upon a small plaque explaining why the site was given the name “Bristol Basin” in June 1942. What it does not explain is the fascinating connection between that story and the plight of Jewish refugees fleeing from the Nazis Throughout the Holocaust years, the Roosevelt administration insisted that it did not have any ships to bring Jewish refugees to the United States. “There just is not any transportation” available for refugees, Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long told a congressional committee in 1943. In his autobiography, Congressman Emanuel Celler (D-New York) likewise recalled how he was told by an administration official that in order to rescue Jews, the U.S. would need to “divert shipping for the transportation of war materials and troops for the refugees.” In reality, American troop-supply ships, known as Liberty ships, were returning to the United States empty after delivering their cargo to Europe. They had plenty of room to carry people on the return trip. Moreover, the ships needed something heavy on board—known as ballast—to keep them from capsizing. Jewish refugees could have served that purpose. Instead, the ballast was found in the English city of Bristol—or, more precisely, in the city’s remnants. Situated on the southwest coast of England, Bristol was heavily bombed by the Germans beginning in the summer of 1940. Some 85,000 homes and other buildings were destroyed. Liberty ships that off-loaded American men and weapons in the port of Bristol then loaded up on rubble from the bombed-out buildings in order to make the journey safely back across the Atlantic. Not only did the rubble keep the Liberty ships afloat, but it served a second important purpose. When the ships reached New York City, they dumped the debris in the East River, between 23rd Street and 34th Street. There it served as part of the foundation for a highway which was then under construction, known as the East River Drive. In June 1942, New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia headlined an event saluting the people of Bristol. La Guardia, British Consul-General Godfrey Haggard, and other dignitaries—including twenty-six Bristol-born British Royal Marines—gathered in the small promenade at the end of East 25th Street to install a plaque proclaiming the site “Bristol Basin.” “Brought here in ballast from overseas, these fragments that once were homes shall testify while men love freedom to the resolution and fortitude of the people of Britain,” the plaque declares. “They saw their homes struck down without warning. It was not their walls but their valor that kept them free.” Mayor La Guardia called the naming of the site “a reminder of the fury and cruelty of the Nazi forces.” Nazi cruelty was also of particular concern to Jewish rescue advocates in the United States, who noticed the irony in the Roosevelt administration’s choice of ballast. The “huge mounds of rubble” brought from Bristol to Manhattan demonstrated that bringing Jewish refugees to the United States would be “no problem at all,” the editors of The Answer (published by the rescue activists known as the Bergson Group) wrote. They argued: “It is as important to devote shipping space to help secure the foundations of humanity by saving lives as it is to bring rubble for filling in foundations for River driveways.” The editors of the Baltimore Jewish Times likewise cited the Bristol precedent. They pointed out that the Roosevelt administration’s claim that shipping “is not available” was disproven by the fact that U.S. ships were “going out of their way to find ballast on return trips” from England. Not only that, but the Allies recently had used supposedly “unavailable” ships to bring many thousands of Polish (non-Jewish) refugees to Mexico, the editors noted. Similar calls were made in the years to follow. When the Germans began the mass deportation of Hungary’s Jews to Auschwitz in 1944, Freda Kirchwey, editor of the political affairs journal The Nation, urged President Roosevelt to “immediately establish ports of asylum [for Jewish refugees]….Troopships which have delivered their loads at Mediterranean ports could be diverted for a single errand of mercy.” Ultimately, the real obstacle to rescue was not a lack of ships. It was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s opposition to bringing any significant number of European Jewish refugees to the United States. Late in the war, public and congressional pressure convinced the president to make one small election-year gesture on the issue: he authorized the temporary admission of one group of 982 refugees. There was no difficulty finding a ship for them. The final irony of this story has to do with the construction of the East River Drive, which was completed with the help of the rubble from Bristol—the rubble that was chosen to serve as ballast instead of Jewish refugees. Today known as the FDR Drive, it was renamed to honor a president who is deservedly revered for his many achievements, but whose legacy is tarnished by his tragic abandonment of the Jews.
RM
Vues Master’s Note: It is scary how many Jews we lost!
CONCERN
Dear Vues Master:
As they were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary, Yankel told his wife how much he loved her. “I want you to know that if, חלילה†, something
were to happen to one of us, I would rather it happen to me than to you,” he said. “For instance, if one of us were to be widowed, I’d rather it be me and not you.”
LD
Vues Master’s Note: This is what we call Love at first Fight!