20 Dec 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.
NES
Dear Vues Master:
It’s becoming very popular for frum people throughout New York to put on their lawns large Chanukah & menorah blowup balloons. I’m also noticing people putting up colored light bulbs. Why do we need to be like the goyim? Are we even allowed to do this? I un- derstand pirsumei nes but why do we need to replicate what goyim do? We light our beautiful menorahs. That should be enough.
KP
Vues Master’s Note: I can see both sides of this coin! I guess it depends which neighborhood you live in!
GIFTS
Dear Vues Master:
Giving presents on Chanukah has always both- ered me. What is the source? What is the source of giving presents every night of Chanukah? I feel like we do it just to copy the goyim & their holiday this month. Is there a source in any se- forim for giving presents on Chanukah? Why is it so widely accepted amongst Klal Yisrael? MJ
Vues Master’s Note: Definitely a source for giv- ing Chanukah Gelt!
ME
Dear Vues Master:
BISHVILI NIVRUH HAOLAM
You are a world full of wonder
Filled with potential galore
The key is to be
All you can be
You can conquer the world
and much more
Hashem in his infinite wisdom Knew just what he had to do The world so replete
Was still incomplete
So he went and created you
Be proud that he chose to mold you
With love, every boy every girl
For you are a gem
In the eyes of Hashem
In the eyes of Hashem
You’re the world
BISHVILI NIVRUH HAOLAM
The world was created for me
Every bird in the sky
Every cloud passing by
Every mountain and flower and tree BISHVILI NIVRUH HAOLAM
Hashem loves me more than I know but I know that it’s true
There’s so much I can do
With his help I can learn, I can grow
And all will soon see
How great I can be
For this world was created for me
Yes, somebody out there is waiting
For my love, my kind word and my smile
And I’ll comfort them
B’ezra‘s Hashem
‘Cause nobody else has my style
And soon all will see
How important I’ll be
‘Cause the world was created for me
To complete
Yes,the world was created for me
COUNTRY YOSSI TOIV
Vues Master’s Note: Amazing! The truth!
Vues Master’s Note: Interesting how you think you can play G-D! We don’t know!
BLIND
Vues Master’s Note: Not really appli- cable today!
YESHIVA
Dear Vues Master:
Dear Vues Master:
A sad looking little man, wearing dark glasses and holding a battered tin cup in his hand, poked his way along the street, saying: “Help the blind! Help the blind!” An elderly woman passed by. “Oh, you poor man,” she said as she dropped some coins into his cup. “Lady,” said the
A famous badchan was on his death- bed when he was informed that a kosher caterer had died. Still retain- ing his sense of humor, he said that they must be preparing a wedding in heaven. When asked why, he re- sponded: “First they bring the cater- er; then they call for the badchan.” HS
SPEAK YOUR VUES (CONTINUED)
and threw him into the sea. Several days later, after a long struggle, fish- ermen caught the shark, split open its belly and to their amazement found the Jew selling wine to the Goy!
BM
SHIDDUCH
Dear Vues Master:
CD’s answer to AB This is in answer to “The Shidduch Crisis: which you printed in the 12/7-12/13 issue writ- ten by AB. Not only was the blurb not written well and childish, but it was also downright nasty. It sounded like it was written by a bitter man who finds it necessary to put women down -especially those who would not consider him marriage worthy. How can he say that women of a cer- tain age-if they are single- it’s their own fault. As far as I can see, there are slim pickings of guys who match up to the many– put together, edu- cated, kind, ambitious and beautiful women who are out there. As far as a woman not considering a man who works in the pizza shop-that is a job for a young guy who is trying to find his way. By the time he reaches the age of about 35, he has had many years to prepare himself to support a family by either getting an education or spending his time learning so he can go into chinuch or learning the pizza business so that he can start his own business. If he did none of the above, is he socially awkward or not capable of pursuing a career that can support a family? AB’s state- ment-you can’t get a Lexus for $20k is ridiculous. He is comparing the eligible guys out there to a Lexus!! And at the same time he is saying that the women are lacking by saying they only have 20k and are unreal- istic about finding a worthwhile guy (Lexus) with so little to offer (20K) These women are not looking for a Lexus. They want a family car. Noth- ing fancy, just one that works!! And lastly, the last sentence that he used, which will not repeat because single women read this and it was a hurt- ful way of mentioning them. It was uncalled for and the Vues Master should have cut those words out. Signed CD (cool dude) Married with eligible children
Vues Master’s Note: We do not cut out letters unless they are against Jewish law! Your points are well taken! BRACHA
grateful beggar, “the minute I took a look at you, I knew you had a kind heart.”
BG
Dear Vues Master:
We often get told that having lots
Vues Master’s Note: I guess some things are seen and some are on scene!
GREEK
of kids is a good bracha. Is this re- ally true? I work in a few homes with families that have more kids than they can handle and I don’t envy them at all. The parents are almost always stressed and strapped for cash. Kids are con- stantly fighting and the adults seem drained. Statistically speaking, as the number of children grows, fam- ilies spend a larger share of their income on current consumption and per capita income declines. The highest birth rate in the United States is among households making less than $10,000 a year while the households in the highest bracket making $200,000 or more a year have the fewest number of chil- dren. Wouldn’t it make more sense to focus on quality over quantity? Most large families have a few off the derech kids and the families that have kids later on in life are more likely to have a special needs kid. With prices through the roof, parents squeezing in multiple kids in the same rooms and stress levels at all time highs, wouldn’t it make more sense now to stop pressuring parents to have more kids than they can handle?
-AB
Dear Vues Master:
During the first day of Chanukah, two elderly Jewish men were sitting in a wonderful deli frequented almost exclusively by Jews in New York City. They were talking amongst themselves in Yiddish, A Chinese waiter, only one year in New York, came up and in fluent impeccable Yiddish asked them if everything was okay and if they were enjoying the holiday. The Jewish men were dumbfounded. “Where did he ever learn such perfect Yiddish?” they both thought. After they paid the bill they asked the restaurant manager, an old friend of theirs, “Where did our waiter learns such fabulous Yid- dish?” The manager looked around and leaned in so no one else will hear and said… “Shhhh. He thinks we’re teaching him English.”
SG
Vues Master’s Note: Am not sure this story holds water!
WEIGHT LOSS
Dear Vues Master:
Vues Master’s Note: I speak to the heart the language of love!
FISHY
Dear Vues Master:
Avraham had a son that was a trou- blemaker. Yitzchak and Rivkah dealt with infertility that strained their marriage. Yaakov had issues with his father in law. Yosef spent time in prison. Moshe was accused of mur- der. Aharon inadvertently encour- aged a rebellion against G-d that caused 3,000 people to die. Miriam was punished by G-d in an embar- rassing public humiliation. Even our greatest leaders suffered almost in- surmountable challenges. Whatever you’re facing you can take comfort knowing you’re not alone and you’ll pull out of it.
As a ship full of barrels of wine was sailing on the sea, it was attacked by a huge shark. The Captain ordered two sailors to grab a barrel of wine and throw it toward the shark. The shark crushed and swallowed the barrel and its wine, but continued to fiercely attack the ship. Desperate and feeling that he had no choice, the Captain ordered that one of the Goyim be thrown overboard. The shark immediately swallowed the Goy whole. Unfortunately, the shark wasn’t satisfied. He continued to at- tack the ship, endangering all those aboard. Having no alternative, the crew told a Jew to say Shema Yisroel
RUP
A third grade Melamed asked his class how the Livayoson was able to swallow Yonah. A student answered: Yona was one of the neviim ketanim. FE
Vues Master’s Note: This sounds like a tall tale!
YICHUS
Dear Vues Master:
Vues Master’s Note: Sounds funny to me!
WOMEN
Dear Vues Master:
The ad on page 19 of this past week’s paper requires a response. I am leav- ing the issue of the need for the or- ganization, and I am not writing to try (again) to ask for help with our unmet needs (like a mental health crisis unit) I am only writing because the idea that a frum response to an emergency should have the option to consider gender is wrong. If I am walking down the street and my skirt starts to fly up, I will hold it down – that’s tznius. However, if I am in a car accident and the 1 st responders on scene need access to the femoral artery on my upper thigh I should pull my skirt up and out of the way – not down –to give them full access regardless of their religion or gender – that’s v’chai Bahem – at it overrides tznius every time. Whether the Tam- my of the ad is burnt or in labor her choice of first responder is only that they are skilled and arrive quickly. That may be Ezras Nashim, I don’t know, but to suggest that there is cre- dence to the “shame” she feels at be- ing exposed must be strongly rebut- ted. Halacha guides our behavior and our world view. If the Halacha calls on us to expose ourselves, then doing so is righteous. Following Halacha is NEVER shameful. We have a re- ligion, and it has behaviors that are shameful – getting medical help in an emergency is NOT one of them. Rivka
Vues Master’s Note: This story never gets old! I chuckle every time I read it or hear it!
ALIVE
Dear Vues Master:
Zisha was 76 when she passed away. Her husband mourned her at the fu- neral service. Afterwards, as the cof- fin was being removed and taken to the hearse, it was accidentally knocked against the doorframe of the chapel. To the shock of her hus- band and all the mourners, a moan
came from the coffin. The attendants quickly opened it and found Zisha alive. It was nothing short of a mir- acle. Zisha and her husband lived together for another five years and then she died. Her husband mourn- ed her again at the funeral service. Afterwards, as the coffin was being removed, he called out: “Be careful. Don’t hit the door frame again.”
MB
Vues Master’s Note: This sounds like a crazy story!
FATHER
Dear Vues Master:
It says at the beginning of Vayes- hev, “These are the children of Yaa- kov: Yoseph was seventeen years of age…” It says at the beginning of Noach, “These are the children of Noach: Noach was a righteous man (tzadik)…” Both pasukim are paral- lel; it talks about fathers (children of, implies a father) and it says they were righteous; even though it doesn’t say that about Yaakov it does say it about his son. Noach and Yoseph are the only two individuals, in the Chumash, that are explicitly called tzaddikim (righteous). Being that Yaakov was instrumental in his son’s salvation, Yoseph saw his father’s image, sure- ly his father was also a tzadik (righ- teous). Another reason to say Yaakov was righteous like Yoseph is based on Rashi (Genesis 37:2): Yoseph’s facial features bore a striking resemblance to those of Yaakov. Further, whatever happened to Yaakov happened to Yo- seph: the one was hated, the other was hated; in the case of the one his broth- er wished to kill him so, too, in the case of the other, his brethren wished to kill him. Many such similarities are pointed out in Genesis Rabbah 84:5- 6. Learn from here that the beginning of salvation starts with a righteous fa- ther. Noach saved his family from the deluge with the ark and Yoseph hat- zadiksavedB’neiYisraelviatheRed sea on his merit, against Potiphar, and his father’s help. If two great catas-
trophes were averted with the help of the father then this is the secret to the next salvation. Salvation might take a while to blossom like it did above but it germinates with the father and son. Another support for this germi- nation is at the end of Tenach, Mala- chi 3:23,24, “I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Lord. He shall reconcile fathers with children and children with their fathers, so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with utter destruction.”
DG
preferential treatment to one of his parents. This is especially true when his parents are divorced and the fa- ther and mother are equal.
DG
Vues Master’s Note: You are consis- tent!
EQUAL
Dear Vues Master:
There was a story with the Satmar Rov ztz’l where there was an indi- vidual who would find kashrus faults in everything, so the Rov told him, you know what was the neis the first day that you were not there because if you were there, you would have paseled the oil.
Now Yisrael loved Yoseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a coat of many colors. And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a friendly word to him.- Be- rashis 37:3,4 Sforno says: Yaakov had committed an error, allowing the love in his heart for Yoseph to now become visible through preferential treatment of him. A corollary to this is just as a father shouldn’t give pref- erential treatment to one of his chil- dren similarly a child shouldn’t give
Vues Master’s Note: Moshiach’s tzeiten!
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Dear Vues Master:
Vues Master’s Note: No place does it say in Halacha!
CHANUKAH
Dear Vues Master:
RE
Where are the Greeks?
Where are the Romans?
Where are the Babylonians?
Where are the Crusaders?
Where is the Caliphate?
Where are the Nazis?
Enemies of the Jews beware! Hash- em performs miracles for the Jews, Hashem liberates the Jews, Hashem performs mighty acts for the Jews, and Hashem wages war for the Jews. Vues Master’s Note: The story of Chanukah!