15 Mar SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER
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.
SENSITIVITY
Dear Vues Master:
A group of prominent organizations have put
out a call for sensitivity to be used over the
course of Purim this year, following a number
of disturbing incidents in past years. Askanim
from Agudah, the UJO, Lakewood Vaad, Anti-
Defamation League, BPJCC, and Oizrim
Jewish Council warns people not to dress in
blackface, hang Haman effigies, or wear any
costume that stereotypes specific communities.
FS
Vues Master’s Note: If we need to advise these
things, we are in bad shape!
HAPPY
Dear Vues Master:
I know it’s the month of Adar & I’m supposed
to be happy, but I’m having a very hard time.
With everything going on in the Ukraine, I’m
having a hard time being happy. I have many
family members that are running for their
lives. How do I enjoy Purim this year?
RDF
Vues Master’s Note:I would be happy to show
you how. Happiness is something that comes
from within. An avel could be happy that he is
able to be mekayem aveilus. Just think about
the good things and be happy!
PUTIN
Dear Vues Master:
This past Shabbos I listened to Parshas Zachor
& I couldn’t help thinking that Putin is becoming
the Amalek of 2022. Do you agree with
what I’m thinking? Is it a mitzvah to kill Putin?
EG
Vues Master’s Note:I would ask a gadol this
shailoh. I don’t think the average American can
even think about killing Putin!
COVID
Dear Vues Master:
I’ve been noticing all of the great Purim parties
from all the great organizations we have in
Brooklyn. It seems like we are done with Covid.
I know that Jewish Brooklyn has been done
for a while, but it really feels like we are on
the verge of going back to normal. I think we
should all have a tremendous Hakaras Hatov
to Hakadosh Baruch Hu that we are going to
be able to celebrate Purim this year without the
Covid fear we had the last two years. Thank
you Hashem.
RG
Vues Master’s Note: Covid is over for a while.
It is TYH that our politicians are busy with
Ukraine and now Covid is really over even in
Political Science!
GOVERNMENT
Dear Vues Master:
I can’t believe we are going back to the government
wanting to control what our Yeshivas
are teaching. I thought this was history. This is
clearly another form of antisemitism. I hope
that the Agudah & their legal team can handle
this again. We are living in scary times!
SH
Vues Master’s Note: The problem is that from
within the Jewish Community you have terrible
people undermining our Yeshivah system.
INFLATION
Dear Vues Master:
Did you know that Scoops on Ave L and Nostrand
Avenue recently closed down? Did you
know that Linicks Toys in Boro Park recently
closed down? It seems that since inflation is
going up so quickly many businesses are going
out of business these days. I hope things get
better soon.
KM
Vues Master’s Note:That is thanks to Biden!
Who claims it is thanks to Putin. I say the squad
is guilty. They trapped the Democratic party to
be busy with environmental control meanwhile
it is a problem that they have no mental control
at all!
GAS
Dear Vues Master:
The price of gas is driving me crazy. It seems
that everything is going up in price these days
& a lot of it has to do with inflation & the price
of gas. I’m really worried about my gas bill this
coming summer. I go upstate every weekend to
be with my family & last summer I averaged
it costing me over $100 for gas & tolls every
week. My guess is that it will be double that
this summer. I hope oil starts to come down in
the near future.
DF
Vues Master’s Note: Are you kidding? Oil
came down but gas prices did not. The President
is sleeping!
TZORUS
Dear Vues Master:
Leon complained: “I’ve had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me and the second didn’t.”
MB
Vues Master’s Note: It is called a WIFI problem!
BRACHA
Dear Vues Master:
A pair of Amei Horatzim were visiting the zoo. As they were passing the lions, one of the men asked the other “What Bracha do we say when we see a lion?” “Simple,” said his friend, “רשא†Asher Kideshanu Bemitzvosav vetzivanu al HoArayos.”
Vues Master’s Note: Eh! A Lyin lion!
SWEET
Dear Vues Master:
It’s a myth that non-nutritive sweeteners are worse than sugar, one spread as propaganda by the Domino sugar company. The truth is that replacing sugar with allulose, erythritol and/or luo han guo extract is tremendously beneficial for your health and has no known negative effects. Even artificial sweeteners are not as bad as sugar. Diet soda is not healthy, but regular soda is still much, much worse. Don’t buy the sugar and corn syrup industries’ lies.
EQ
Vues Master’s Note:Nothing is as sweet as my smile. I always stick my finger in the coffee and then drink it!
CRYPTO
Dear Vues Master:
Thanks for another fantastic edition of The Jewish Vues!! My entire family looks forward to the paper every week. We absolutely loved Rabbi Gil Students’ article last week on whether one can use an NFT for Mishloach Manos. I was just wondering if one can use crypto currency for Matanos Levyonim? Can you please ask Rabbi Gil Student if he can write an article on that?
RBS
Vues Master’s Note: I believe your wish might have been fulfilled!
AMALEK
Dear Vues Master:
I was talking to my goy boss, Freddy McFredface (names changed to protect privacy), and he asked me, why are the Jews such vengeful people? We have to constantly remind ourselves that we hate and must destroy Amalek? I answered him, what do you mean by vengeful people? A vengeful person wouldn’t need to be reminded! We have to constantly reiterate it because otherwise we’d too easily forgive and forget! These are the ways of the Jewish people. When Hashem commands us to seek revenge, it is what we must do. But it is not in our nature. A Jew forgives and forgets. Does it not say in the Torah, “A debt forgiven is a heart freely given?” No, it does not! No matter how much you forgive, your heart still belongs to you! Stop letting this goyische kup get into you! Open your heart, but keep it for yourself. (I’m no doctor, but I’ve always believed that it is best for your health to retain your vital organs.)
CF
Vues Master’s Note: Oh! Forget about it. Can’t explain it to a goy! Try explaining to a Goy the simcha we have when we don’t say tachnun on Mon or Thursday!
WEIGHT
Dear Vues Master:
People who suffer from atypical anorexia can be at any weight, even what some people might categorize as obese or fat. Diet culture tells them that they have to lose weight. Others compliment them when they lose weight. It is a serious eating disorder, a form of anorexia. Yes, you can be fat and anorexic. Pursuing weight loss cannot support recovery. A plus sized sufferer of atypical anorexia was recently cyberbullied after sharing her diagnosis. Not only does this gatekeeping harm her, it reinforces the anti-fat-bias in the minds of all eating disorder sufferers. Your “classic” anorexic, the emaciated white teenage girl, hears this and becomes even more fearful of gaining weight and becoming fat. If you don’t want people to starve themselves, stop sending them the message that weight is inversely correlated with worth.
BP
Vues Master’s Note:I always say I am in shape! Round is a shape! I like fat as there is more to love!
CREDIT CARD
Dear Vues Master:
I see a lot of advice saying you should never use credit cards so that you don’t end up with credit card debt. This is nonsense. There are advantages to using a credit card. You just have to pay it off every month. You can get credit card points, build credit, and enjoy the safety of not walking around carrying cash. If you have difficulty budgeting and find it easier to use a cash envelope system, you can still use a credit card. Every time you make a credit card purchase, you physically move the corresponding amount of cash from your budget envelope into your credit card payment envelope. Then, as soon as the charge goes through, you immediately deposit it in your bank account and send a payment to your credit card. Credit cards don’t cause long-term debt – misuse of them does.
PB
Vues Master’s Note: Wait a second. Are you saying guns don’t kill people? That is not what the liberals want you to think!
FINE SMELL
Dear Vues Master:
In Vayikra 1:9 the pasuk says…an elevation-offering, a fire-offering, a satisfying aroma to Hashem. In order for the owner to discharge his obligation to bring the offering, the Kohen who performs the service must have in mind (so it’s a satisfying aroma to Hashem) that he is doing it for the purpose of an elevation-offering – Rashi; Sifra (ArtScroll, p. 547). Similarly, when a child offers something to his parents he must have in mind that he is doing it for the purpose of satisfying his parents. For example, A child rushes home from yeshiva and the amazed father inquires about his alacrity. If he says he did it because his rabbi told him to then this is like the husband who gives his wife flowers because the rabbi told him to. A satisfying aroma would be, “What’s the question, I want to!”
DG
Vues Master’s Note:You don’t come out smelling like roses when you attack Rabbis!
UKRAINE
Dear Vues Master:
I saw this letter printed elsewhere but needed to share it with you. Regarding “Ukraine Ambassador: Zelensky expects Israel’s assistance because he’s Jewish” great way to bring out our Jewish guilt! It made me feel really bad, so I decided to check out how Ukraine has voted in the UN since it elected Zelensky in April 2019 as its first Jewish president. According to the UN Watch website, there were 17 UN resolutions against Israel in 2020 and 2021. Since Ukraine had a Jewish president that entire period, I was sure I would find that Ukraine voted consistently with Israel. To my dismay, Ukraine voted against Israel 13 times and abstained four times – they did not vote with Israel even once. I, for one, have higher expectations from a country with a Jewish president. To add insult to injury,there were only seven UN resolutions against all of the other countries. Two of these seven were sponsored by Ukraine and Israel voted with Ukraine both times. Reciprocity? No – hypocrisy! The lesson to be learned is that Israel, like every other country, must first be concerned with its own security.
SH
Vues Master’s Note:Do you think Russia is any better? Jews are always hated on!
LAUNDRY
Dear Vues Master:
We live in perilous times. The war in the Ukraine is ongoing and much of the civilian population is threatened with injury and even death. There are many Jews in the Ukraine whose situation is dire. The “peace loving Palestinians” often look for opportunities to injure or kill Jews. Many other problems face the Jewish people today. It is obvious to the most casual of observers that strict adherence to Tznius standards is most crucial now. Therefore, the Council of Erudite Torah sages would like to remind everyone of their guidelines for doing laundry according to Halacha. These guidelines were recently reported exclusively by the Torah True Times. It has come to our attention that many families, including those who pride themselves on following all aspects of halacha, are regularly not conforming to proper Tznius guidelines. Unbelievably, many, many families are washing men’s and women’s clothing together at the same time in the same washing machine! This is an unprecedented breach of Tznius.!!! How could anyone think that one is allowed to wash men’s and women’s undergarments at the same time in the same washing load?!!! What has our nation come to when people have fallen to such a low level? For shame!!! This practice must stop!!!! Given this we are issuing the following guidelines regarding the doing of laundry. 1. Ideally, each observant home should have two washing machines and two dryers – one washing machine and one dryer should be used exclusively for men’s clothing, and the other washing machine and dryer should be used exclusively for women’s clothing. 2. If a family cannot afford to have two washing machines and two dryers, the following rules should be adhered to. a. Under no circumstances should men’s clothes be put in the same machine as women’s clothing. They should, of course, also be dried separately. b. After doing a load of men’s clothing, one should run the washing machine through a complete cycle using hot water without any clothes in it. Then one may wash women’s clothing in this machine. The same procedure should, of course, be followed after washing a load of women’s clothing, namely, run a complete cycle using hot water without any clothes in the machine. Then one may wash men’s clothing in the machine. c. After drying a load of men’s clothing, the dryer should be allowed to cool off completely. After this, one may use the dryer for drying women’s clothes. The same applies after drying a load of women’s clothing before using the dryer for men’s clothing. It is not enough to let the dryer cool below Yad So Ledas Bo. The dryer must be completely cooled off! Our forefathers lived in a land that was between two rivers – the Tigris and the Euphrates. The reason is obvious to anyone who thinks into it a bit. One river was used to wash women’s clothing, and the other to wash men’s clothing. Surely, we can continue this tradition by observing the rules stated above. We are confident that everyone who takes Yahadus seriously will abide by the guidelines stated above. With Torah greetings, The Council of Erudite Torah Sages PS. The Council is in negotiations with the manufacturers of washing machines and dryers that will hopefully lead to them producing appliances that are clearly marked male and female. We will notify the Olam when and from whom these may be purchased.
PL
Vues Master’s Note: As long as you are not laundering money!!
WEARING COSTUMES ON
PURIM
Dear Vues Master The Lubavitcher Rebbe was once asked what we can learn from the custom of wearing costumes on Purim? The Rebbe answered: On Purim you see many people dressed in different types of costumes, one is a clown, one is an animal, and one you don;t even know what he is wearing. Do you get angry or upset with them? No, because you know it’s just a costume. In life we meet many people. One is impatient, one is angry, one is apathetic… This is not who they really are. This is just a “costume.” Deep in their heart they are *all warm Jews, full of purity and beauty.* We just need to interact with them with kindness and tenderness and take off their “costume” and reveal the pure Neshama (soul) inside each one. This is true Ahavas Yisroel!
AS
Vues Master Note: Love it!!
DEFENSE
Dear Vues Master:
Please find attached the statement by Socialist Workers Party National Secretary Jack Barnes: Defend Ukraine’s independence! For defeat of Moscow’s invasion! US troops, nuclear arms out of Europe, all of Europe! which was printed in the latest issue of the Militant newspaper. We think you and your readers will find this statement of interest, including the section on Jew-hatred. Please feel free to reprint the statement. Best regards,
Seth Galinsky
Defend Ukraine’s independence! For the defeat of Moscow’s invasion! US troops, nuclear arms out of Europe, all of Europe! The following statement was issued March 3 by Jack Barnes, national secretary of the Socialist Workers Party, on behalf of the SWP National Committee. The Vladimir Putin regime in Russia has unleashed a murderous war, including massive bombardment of civilian-occupied urban centers in Ukraine. In face of this intentional carnage, and despite Putin’s dangerous and provocative action placing Moscow’s nuclear forces on high alert, Ukrainians are fighting courageously, often arms in hand, to defend Ukraine’s national sovereignty and independence. The Socialist Workers Party hails their resistance and calls for the defeat of Putin’s invading forces. As the Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union collapsed in face of massive popular mobilizations at the beginnings of the 1990s, Ukraine was one of 14 former republics to declare national independence. Now Putin’s regime is ruthlessly seeking to claw back, under Moscow’s hegemony, those nations incarcerated in the czarist prison house of nations, regenerating the Russian empire today with Putin as its czar. Putin’s aim is “to erase our history, erase our country,” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky concisely put it March 1. Putin insists Ukraine is not a nation and has no right to exist as one. “Modern Ukraine was entirely and fully created by Russia,” he claims. It is “an inalienable part of our own [Russian] history, culture and spiritual space.” He proclaims that his hoped-for resurrection of the empire is a step toward rejuvenating Christendom, with its “Holy See” in the Russian Orthodox patriarchate of Moscow. Russia’s armed forces are facing tenacious resistance and taking thousands of deaths and injuries in the first week of the assault. In face of these setbacks, Moscow’s armed forces have now stepped up heavy bombardment of residential and commercial areas in hopes of sowing terror and cowing the Ukrainian people into submission. Russian planes and cruise missiles have struck apartment buildings, homes, schools, hospitals and railway stations in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv and numerous smaller cities. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported March 1 that 2,000 civilians had been killed during the first week, as well as many Ukrainian soldiers. Under Putin’s direction, his high command is intensifying siege warfare against the entire population of Ukraine, cutting off electricity, water and sanitation, and cellphone, television, and radio communications. In face of the rise of Jew-hating demagogy and violence in today’s world, there is mounting disgust among Jews in Ukraine and beyond at the outrageous claims by Putin — himself a product of Russia’s notoriously Jew-hating secret police, formerly called the KGB — that the aggression aims to “denazify” Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelensky is Jewish, with a grandfather who fought in the Soviet army to turn back the German imperialist invaders, and other family members who were killed in the Holocaust. On March 2 “denazifying” Russian missiles struck a TV tower in Babyn Yar — the site of the slaughter of more than 30,000 Jews by Nazi forces during World War II — desecrating a Jewish cemetery. No wonder Jews around the world are seeing more of the truth and encouraging Jews in Ukraine to join with others there to stand and fight. More Russian soldiers and sailors are becoming demoralized and disillusioned. They’ve been lied to by Putin’s regime about what to expect, being told they’d be welcomed as “liberators,” and would quickly roll over Ukraine’s military forces. Now they’re not only taking substantial casualties but facing shortages of food and fuel. Some are disobeying orders to shell civilian targets; retreating from battle or surrendering without a fight; even sabotaging or abandoning Russian military equipment. Inside Russia, tens of thousands have poured into the streets of cities and towns all across that vast country to demand a halt to the war. They are doing so in face of police repression, with more than 7,000 arrests the first week, as well as government threats of being charged with “treason.” Street demonstrations are spreading across Europe, the Americas, and worldwide, as well. The Socialist Workers Party opposes the broadly aimed economic and financial embargo imposed on Russia by the U.S., European, and other imperialist ruling classes, as well as military maneuvers by these governments. Those sanctions ultimately fall most harshly on working people in Russia. Washington and its capitalist allies in London, Paris, Berlin and elsewhere shed crocodile tears over Ukraine’s national sovereignty and the plight of its people. High-flown phrases aside, however, their only real concern is to protect their own profits and strategic political interests in the region. The Socialist Workers Party demands the complete withdrawal of all U.S. troops and both conventional and nuclear arms and nuclear missile systems from Europe! Since the 1990s, both Democratic and Republican administrations and Congresses have acted to reinforce U.S. imperialism’s post-World War II position as the dominant “European” military power. In collaboration with other imperialist governments in Europe, as well as the other bourgeois regimes involved, Washington has extended the reach of its armed might close to Russia’s borders. This includes deployment of ballistic missiles in Poland and Romania. Putin’s efforts to excuse his bloodthirsty invasion of Ukraine on grounds of moves by Washington and other NATO governments are as cynical as they are false. A sovereign and independent Ukraine poses no military threat to Russia of any kind. At the same time, the Socialist Workers Party lends no political confidence to the capitalist government in Kyiv, which stands behind Ukraine’s wealthy rulers in their pressure on the living and job conditions and political rights of coal miners, rail workers, farmers and others among the oppressed and exploited. The Socialist Workers Party stands and acts on our communist continuity with V.I. Lenin, under whose leadership the Bolshevik Party in October 1917 led the working class to state power in Russia. It was that revolutionary workers and peasants republic that ensured the right to self-determination to oppressed nations formerly trapped within the czarist empire. In 1922, after consolidating victory over the counterrevolutionary armies of the capitalists, landlords and 16 invading foreign powers, the Bolshevik-led government established a voluntary federation of the Russian, Ukrainian, and four other republics: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Communists in Russia, Lenin insisted, must “declare war to the death on Great Russian chauvinism.” It was only after the counterrevolution led by Joseph Stalin against Lenin’s proletarian internationalist course that Ukraine and other oppressed peoples were again denied their language, cultural, and other national rights. Members and supporters of the Socialist Workers Party are campaigning to get out the truth about the Russian government’s murderous assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty, on its right to exist as a nation. We and fellow communists in other countries will organize to get this statement, along with weekly Militant coverage of the struggle of the Ukrainian people, into the hands of working people far and wide, including strike picket lines, social protests, at workers’ doorsteps and everywhere else we go. And to take them with us in protests against Russia’s invasion that are occurring across the United States and the world over. The Socialist Workers Party is mobilizing its candidates for the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and other public offices to use the 2022 election campaign period to maximize getting out the truth and presenting an independent working-class foreign policy. A foreign policy that starts from the interests of the toilers at home and internationally — not from hypocritical chants about “democracy” and “freedom” behind which the capitalist rulers seek to mask their exploitation and oppression of billions the world over. The stakes are enormous. Working people must see the necessity of taking political power into our own hands — as toilers did in Cuba at the opening of the 1960s, following a popular, workers-and-farmers-based revolution — or we will face a future of social devastation, reaction, world war, and even nuclear catastrophe. Join us in this effort to raise an independent working-class voice in the United States — to have an impact on public opinion here, elsewhere in the Americas, Europe, and the world. Join us in demanding: For the defeat of Moscow’s murderous invasion and bombardment of Ukraine! Defend Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty! Get Washington’s nuclear weapons and armed forces out of Europe, all of Europe, now!
Vues Master’s Note:Socialist party thinking one way convinces me to think the other way!