12 Apr 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.
UKRAINE
Dear Vues Master:
I absolutely love the Yom Tov of Pesach. My family
gets together every year for the sedarim. The house
looks clean, everyone has new clothing. My wife
gets a new shaitel. It’s a lot of work, but it’s all good.
The issue that I have is that this year, there is a war
in the Ukraine, antisemitism is rampant throughout
the world & alot of people are struggling because
of covid & inflation both financially & psychologically.
Should I feel guilty that I have it so good, & so
many people are suffering throughout Klal Yisrael?
E P
Vues Master’s Note: The mitzvah of Simcha does not
contradict your empathy for Jews in danger! They
are mutually exclusive. A gado once said that even
in aveilus one should be BeSimcha, that one can sit
aveilus and be mekayem the ratzon HaBorei!
R’ YEHUDA SINGER
Dear Vues Master:
Seeing the picture of R’ Yehuda Singer literally took
my breath away. That’s him in a nutshell. Happy.
B’Simchah. What I remember most about Yudy is
his trademark smile and genuine interest in every
person. He was always smiling and always in a jolly
mood. Yudy was the first to greet everyone and
made each person feel valued and special. My heart
aches (and it’s already 2 years later) each time I
think about Yudy and knowing I will never hear his
joyous booming voice resounding, “Hello, how are
you?” Yudy’s mother in law is always fond of saying
that he treated her like a mother and she feels he
is her son. He is sorely missed. May his extraordinary
special wife Miriam and the whole mishpacha
have a nechama and only share in simchos.
S&S
Vues Master’s Note: Yes! We are happy that more
people are happy!
TERROR
Dear Vues Master:
The Palestinian Authority has created a culture that
incentives Palestinians to attack Israelis. On top of
the culture, they’ve incentivized their people to kill
Israelis through pay to slay. If white supremacists in
Georgia had a fund to pay white men a stipend each
month who killed African Americans and went to
jail, there would be no question we’d condemn the
white supremacist group for any racist attack even
if we didn’t know for sure if the attackers were directly
connected to the group. It doesn’t matter who
exactly committed the attack last week in Israel and
whether their members of or connected to the Palestinian
Authority or not. The Palestinian Authority,
started by despicable Yasser Arafat and led by
equally detestable Mahmoud Abbas, is responsible
for last week’s and every terror attack.
RUP
Vues Master’s Note: What can you expect from an
“Am HaDomeh LaChamor!”
PRETZELS
Dear Vues Master:
We always knew that the reason we do not eat kitniyos
on Pesach is because its flour can be mistaken
chas v’sholom for chometz. I recently saw an ad
for pesachdike pretzels, with a good hashgacha,
that made my blood boil. I am sure that if those
pretzels were available at the time the Chachomim
issued the issur on kitniyos, they too would have
been banned. With all due respect to the chosshuve
machshirim, if you want to certify gluten free pretzels,
by all means do so. There is a great demand
for gluten free food, but it does not have to be kosher
for Pesach. Even people who can’t eat gluten
have enough of a variety available without pretzels,
and anyone could survive eight days without them.
In past generations, one did not buy ready food for
Pesach because of the almost forgotten minhag of
not “mishing”. For the chinuch of our children. let
us teach them that we do not HAVE to buy EVERYTHING
that is in the kosher l’Pesach aisle in the
supermarket. Chag Kosher V’sameach
S W
Vues Master’s Note: There is a rule in Halacha we
generally do not make our own Gezeiros!
GADOL HADOR
Dear Vues Master:
Now that Rav Chaim zt”l was niftar, who is Klal Yisrael Gadol Hador? It feels like we have lost so many of our gedolim over the last 2 years.
LO
Vues Master’s Note: Lo alman Yisroel There are Gedolei Hador we just need to keep our eyes and ears open!
DRASHA
Dear Vues Master:
I just want to thank the Jewish Vues for compiling the Shabbos Hagadol drasha list last week. I decided for the first time to go listen to a different Rav in the community for the drasha & he was fantastic. We have so many great rabbanim in Flatbush these days! We should all give a tremendous Hakaras Hatov for all that they do for us.
RJ
Vues Master’s Note: So Nu! Tell us something he said!
THANKS
Dear Vues Master:
My family absolutely loves the Jewish Vues!!You are definitely the best newspaper for Klal Yisrael. I have friends that are modern, yeshivish syrian & chassidish & we all love the paper. You are really the newspaper of Klal Yisrael!!! I just want to say THANK YOU to the entire staff at the Jewish Vues for all the great work you guys do every week!!!
TY
Vues Master’s Note: We here at the Jewish Vues would like to thank our readership without you we would not be able to be a great newspaper!
MATZOH FUND
Dear Vues Master:
I just wanted to tell people how great a job the Matzah Fund in Eretz Yisrael does. I have been reading the Vues for many years & have always contributed toward the Matzah Fund. This year I was visiting a family member for a simcha in Eretz Yisrael & we decided to call up Alan Hirsch from the Matzah Fund & ask him if we can help volunteer to help distribute the matzah, grape juice, wine, chicken etc. to people that live in Yehuda & Shomron. Let me tell you, it was an experience of a lifetime. I will never forget it. We helped distribute anything & everything that a family needs for Pesach to families throughout the Yehuda & Shomron. These people, our brothers & sisters in Klal Yisrael appreciated it so much & desperately needed our help. Some of them are living in the most remote locations. I just want to give a big Yasher Koach To Alan Hirsch & all the volunteers at the Matzah Fund. Keep up the great work you do & have a Chag Kasher V’Sameach!
LY
Vues Master’s Note: And Thanks to all those who continue to Contribute! Without your contributions we could not have done this!
CRAZINESS
Dear Vues Master:
Fringe politicians in every country occasionally say crazy things, so perhaps we shouldn’t get too alarmed over the fact that Gaby Lasky, a Jewish member of the Knesset, last week expressed support for the Palestinian Authority’s payments to families of terrorists. But when the U.S. arm of Lasky’s party is treated as a legitimate and accepted part of the mainstream American Zionist community—well, then it’s time to start asking some serious questions. Especially given that Lasky’s shameful comments came while Israel is reeling under what even the New York Times had labeled a “rash of terrorist attacks” on April 1. In an interview with the Israeli news outlet “Kan News” on April 7, Knesset Member Lasky was asked about the Palestinian Authority’s policy of rewarding dead and imprisoned terrorists by making special payments to their families. Lasky replied: “We need to look at the rights in a comprehensive fashion. We need to make sure that those same children also have a livelihood. I know it’s hard for people to hear this, but this is the truth.” After a wave of criticism, Lasky said, “My comment was uncalled for and did not for a moment justify the nefarious terror [attack] and I apologize for it.” But she pointedly did not retract her support for paying the families of terrorists; she just didn’t want to appear as if she was endorsing the recent attacks. One may legitimately wonder what could motivate an Israeli Jew, even a far-left extremist such as Lasky, to say such a thing. Is she genuinely more concerned about the livelihood of terrorists’ children than the livelihood of their victims’ orphaned children? Has she become so wrapped up in her fervent support for the Palestinian side, that she feels she must support every single policy of the Palestinian Authority, no matter how immoral? Does she honestly believe that providing financial incentives to terrorists, such as payments to the children, does not encourage more deadly terrorism? The above factors may each play a part in Lasky’s extremist position, but I tend to suspect that the main factor is more strategic. The cause of creating a Palestinian state has become almost a religion for some Jewish left-wing extremists. They have concluded—perhaps correctly—that the PA will never relent on its policy of rewarding terrorists, so they have given up on trying to get the PA to change on the issue. Instead, they are now trying to get Israeli Jews to accept the payments on “humanitarian” grounds (the “livelihood” argument). Lasky and her comrades are missing the main point, however. If the PA will not stop rewarding terrorists, it means that the PA still supports terrorism—and therefore their dream of creating a Palestinian state would be a recipe for Israel’s destruction. For American Zionists, the controversy over MK Lasky’s statement is not just some internal Israeli curiosity. We have to take it seriously because Lasky’s associates are part and parcel of the American Zionist community. Lasky is a Member of Knesset for the Meretz Party. The organization “Partners for Progressive Israel” (PPI) is the current iteration of “Meretz USA,” the American arm of the Meretz Party. And PPI is a member in good standing of the American Zionist Movement (AZM), the umbrella group for all the major U.S. Zionist organizations. I am not one of those who calls for expelling Jewish organizations from communal umbrella groups simply because they take controversial positions. The AZM is home to a range of groups from right to left. There are several other left-wing groups within AZM, such as the Association of Reform Zionists and Ameinu (the Labor Zionists), that take the same positions on most Israeli issues that PPI takes. But supporting financial rewards for terrorists and their families is different. It crosses a line. The American Zionist community should be a big tent and I advocated for that principle when I was, until last year, a board member of the AZM. But even in a big tent, there must be some limits. It is necessary to have some red lines. There have to be fundamental consensus issues on which all organizations in the American Zionist Movement agree and support for Israel’s right to exist is obviously one of them. Opposition to rewarding terrorists has to be on that list. Does Partners for Progressive Israel oppose financial rewards for Palestinian terrorists? If so, they need to say so, right now, loudly and clearly. They need to publicly and explicitly condemn MK Lasky’s statement. And if they can’t bring themselves to do that, then their membership in the American Zionist Movement should be suspended.
MP
Vues Master’s Note: Proves that Liberals will do anything to stay in power even say or do things they themselves don’t believe it!!
BIZAYON
Dear Vues Master:
In last week’s paper you printed a meme that is a bizayon talmid chochom, and should never have been printed nor created. Being that, that meme (R’ Chaim ztzk”l-buah) was obviously made by a so-called Jew, that guy has got to learn to respect talmidei chachamim and instead of making fun of them he should become nispoel from the fact that we had such great people that would not speak any extra words. A similar incident happened the week before when you printed a story (R’ Chaim with playing basketball on shabbos) that sounds funny to a non-Jew, or anyone without Torah values on the joke page turning another maseh of chashivus into a joke. It is embarrassing that people that consider themselves Jewish can create such memes that then get posted on all so-called Jewish social media and in newspapers. Similarly is when someone sends in a letter thanking organizations that help our rabeim and the response he gets is just making fun of this chashuv organization. (Which btw DOES help our moros as well.) Instead of making fun of them for leaving people out why don’t you call them up and ask to sponsor packages for those people, or make your own organization to help them out. I am hoping that action is taken to prevent such bizuy hatorah from being printed in this paper.
MP
Vues Master’s Note:Don’t be so negative! This was his gadlus! Try to see the good in people trying to depict a Gadol in their eyes and not think they are criticizing!
BUAAAH!
Dear Vues Master:
Sorry,but Rav Chaim ztl does not belong on the Fun Pages especially during the Shloshim, or better yet not during the year, or as a matter of fact never on the Fun Section! Boooohoooo!
RMS-RLL-R’ Leib Louis!
Vues Master’s Note: I don’t know about you but every time I met Reb Chaim he enjoyed a good joke and had a great sense of humor! No reason not to show the human side of Reb Chaim who was great at saying a sharp line or two!
MOTHER IN LAW
Dear Vues Master:
Ralph was always a joker. Even when he decided to get engaged, rather than directly introducing his kallah to his parents, he brought home three girls, a blonde, a brunette and a redhead, and told his mother to guess which one he selected. “It’s the blonde,” she said. “How did you know?” he asked. “It was easy,” she said. “I just met her and already I can’t stand her.”
MB
Vues Master’s Note: Oy another Shvigger Joke!
APPLE DOESN’T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE
Dear Vues Master:
Fortunate is man who heeds Your commandments; and takes Your Torah and Your word to his heart. (Morning prayer) “Your Torah” means the basic concepts of the Torah itself, and “Your word” refers to ethical concepts —Siach Yitzchok The verse can be compared to a tree: the roots are the mitzvos, the trunk is the Torah and the leaves are the mussar. The mother is responsible for making him do mitzvos. The father is responsible for straightening him out and he’s responsible for maasim tovim and middos tovos. The leaves are the crown of the tree; however, don’t forget to look down at how you got there and still nourishes you. Why do we feast on Tu Bishvat and say a blessing, on the elanos (trees), in Nissan? There are six weeks between Tu Bishvat and Nissan which represent the six years a child is nurtured by the mother and the next six years when he’s trained by his father. The parents feast as this is their opportunity to raise a mensch and the father says a blessing ,when he becomes thirteen years old, to let it be known that he’s now absolved of the child’s indiscretion as he can now blossom.
DG
Vues Master’s Note: One thing is consistent the tone and topic of your letters. What would you complain about if your son did an about
face?
BACKACHE
Dear Vues Master:
There were mixed reviews about the story with Rav Chaim and his “backache”. Someone thought it took away from his seforim and may even paint a negative image. The consequences of not sharing incredible stories about kibbud av v’eim is: If we tell them stories in the clouds, they will reach for the mountains; if we tell them stories in the trees they will bow for the fruits. People will modify what resonates with them to suit their level. For example, one person may stop challenging everything his father says and another may take a day or two to contemplate what he says before responding. I think we have to be equally concerned about what he did than what he wrote. It doesn’t say one joke can remove a thousand pages of knowledge but that it can remove a thousand lessons of mussar. Rav Chaim’s good name preceded him as it says in Pirkei Avos 4:13: Rabbi Shimon said: There are three crowns: the crown of torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of royalty, but the crown of a good name supersedes them all.
DG
Vues Master’s Note: Don’t over simplify everything. Certain things we don’t understand!
COLORFUL STORY
Dear Vues Master:
Two parrots, one green and one red, flew out of their owner’s home. He chased after them and saw them land on the branch of an apple tree. When they failed to respond to his calls for them to come down, he asked a slightly deranged young man to climb up the tree and bring them down. The הטוש†made his way up the branches of the apple tree and within a short while came down holding the red parrot. “I got this one for you,” he said, “but the green one isn’t ripe yet.”
BM
Vues Master’s Note:That joke flew by me. I won’t be able to re peat it!
HUSBAND
Dear Vues Master:
As Sam lay on his deathbed, his wife at his side, he said to her “I have one final wish.” What is it my dear?” she asked. “I want you to marry Manny,” he said. “But you hate Manny,” his wife responded. With his final breath, he said “Yes, I do.”
GF
Vues Master’s Note: Would have been better if they lived happily ever after!
SLOW DOWN IT’S A GREEN LIGHT!
Dear Vues Master:
People always ask me how come I drive slowly on a green light? Why don’t they ask the person crossing on a red light with their cell phone and baby carriage?!? I even got points off on my road test because I didn’t look both ways when I crossed over an intersection, even though I had the right of way-it was green. Rabbi Paysach Krohn says about the person who doesn’t look when he crosses a green light, since he has the right of way, that he’s right DEAD RIGHT! Kids on their scooters and immigrants on their motorbike, no one looks anymore or follows the rules. We can save on electricity by not having traffic lights. No one follows them anyways. I love the people who race or dash across the street hoping that they can beat the oncoming car. Rav Tarphon was punished for lying down on the road saying krias shema according to Beis Shamai that robbers came, and chazal says that if something chalila would have happened to him, he would have been mischayav b’nafsho. We are responsible for our actions. When I passed my road test, my uncle jokingly said that he heard about it on the radio. They were telling everyone to walk on the streets! Have a Chag Kosher V’Sameach, a Good Shabbos and Yom Tov!
RMS
Vues Master’s Note: Vahavta Lreacha Kamocha zeh Klal Gadol Batorah!!! Love thy neighbor!