11 Jul SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER
SPECIAL ASKANIM
Dear Vues Master:
I just want to give Askanim Abe Rosenberg & Abe
Rutner and all of his helpers a big yasher koach for the
JCC of Sullivan County breakfast this past Sunday.
They had a very large turnout & it was a way to thank
people that do a lot for the summer visitors. Keep up
the good work for Klal Yisrael.
DP
Vues Master’s Note: Klal Yisrael is lucky to have
askanim like Abe Rosenberg & Abe Rutner! They are
constantly looking out for the klal.
VISITING DAY
Dear Vues Master:
This past Sunday my family & I drove upstate for vis-
iting day. It took us forever to get home because the
Palisades was flooded & was closed for a long time. I
wish they had a way to unflood these major highways
when flooding occurs. It happens all over New York!
LP
Vues Master’s Note:There was so much flooding that
some of the highways near Bear mountain won’t be
open for months!
ANTI SEMITISM
Dear Vues Master:
Antisemitism is everywhere these days. A yeshiva
bochur from Eretz Yisrael was stabbed this past Fri-
day night while walking on Union Street in Crown
Heights. The bochur, who is a chassan and traveled
to NY to receive an aliyah at 770 before his chasu-
nah, was walking at about 2:30 a.m when he was
accosted by two Afro-Americans who asked him if
he was Jewish. When he answered yes, they stabbed
him in the arm, apparently with a screwdriver. The
bochur, who speaks very little English, didn’t call
for help and went to sleep with his wound untreat-
ed. When he arrived at 770 on Shabbos morning,
his friends called Hatzalah, who brought him to
Methodist Hospital for treatment. We are living in
crazy times!
YM
Vues Master’s Note: You are so right!
ALZHEIMERS
Dear Vues Master:
U.S. officials granted full approval to a closely
watched Alzheimer’s drug last Thursday, clearing the
way for Medicare and other insurance plans to be-
gin covering the treatment for people with the brain-
robbing disease. The Food and Drug Administration
endorsed the IV drug, Leqembi, for patients with
mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early
Alzheimer’s disease. It’s the first medicine that’s been
convincingly shown to moderately slow the cogni-
tive decline caused by Alzheimer’s. Do you think that
in our lifetime there will be a cure for Alzheimers? I
have a relative of mine that was recently niftar from
Alzheimers. It was very sad.
LW
Vues Master’s Note: If there is a cure, I hope those
afflicted remember to take their medicine to become
healed!
SHIDDUCHIM
Dear Vues Master:
This past weekend a delegation of leading American
Roshei Yeshiva traveled to Israel to consult with Rav
Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlit”a about the Shidduch Crisis.
The group is considering a dramatic move – shortening
the amount of years boys learn in yeshiva before they
begin dating. The delegation led by Rav Mendel Slo-
movitz shlit”a of Lakewood consists of R’ Mottel Dick
shlit”a, Rav Yehuda Svei shlit”a, and the Novominsker
Rebbe shlit”a. They are reportedly considering elimi-
nating one year of high school or bais medrash, which
would hopefully decrease the infamous “age gap”, by
encouraging boys to begin dating sooner. This dramatic
move would appear to be a strong endorsement of the
“age gap theory”, which posits that the main reason for
the Shidduch Crisis is that there are more girls in the
dating pool than boys, due to population growth each
year, combined with the fact that older boys tend to date
younger girls. Do you think that this will actually help
the shidduch crisis?
BH
Vues Master’s Note: No, because the crisis has noth-
ing to do with the age gap!
CROWNS
Dear Vues Master:
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. There are three crowns that
the Torah teaches us to respect:
1) one who has learned Torah; 2)
the priest; 3) the King. These are
representative of the three types
of leadership in Israel, the sage/
prophet, the priest who is con-
nected to the Temple and the king
who governs the people. How-
ever, Rabbi Shimon says there is
a crown greater than all three, and
that is the crown of a good name.
This can be proven by the fact that
if any of these three, the sage, the
priest or the king behaves badly
by sinning and thereby gains an ill
reputation, we are no longer obli-
gated to respect that person. This
is a statement of the responsibility
of leaders. A leadership position
in society does not automatically
entitle one to respect, without any
connection to actions. A leader
who wishes to be respected must
earn that respect by his deeds. An
interesting commentary on the
three crowns is that they are rep-
resentative of three types of quali-
ties that leaders often have: the
king is wealthy, the priest is from
an aristocratic family, and the sage
is intelligent. In all of these cases
the crown is meaningless, with-
out the crown of a good name. –
Pirkei Avot 4:13 from sefaria.org
Students honoring their rabbi is
common, honoring the wealthy
is a given and honoring a Kohen
is halacha. None demonstrates a
good name but someone who hon-
ors their father is rare just like a
good name is rare. Can there be
some connection?
DG
Vues Master’s Note: I was worried
you would not get your topic this
week but lo and behold you have a
one track mind!
FAT FEET
Dear Vues Master:
A rav was once asked to explain
why the Rambam said that a hus-
band is required to buy new shoes
for his wife for each Yom Tov.
The rav explained that today’s דף
relates that after receiving good
news, Vespasian couldn’t remove
that said ר‘ יוחנן בן זכאי .shoes his
the hearing of good news causes
the feet to swell, as ל ,טו משלי,
states: עצם תדשן טובה שמועה. Ac-
cordingly, since every טוב יום is a
שמחה, and feet swell, a husband
is required to buy his wife new
shoes.
MB
Vues Master’s Note: My foot!
LOCALS
Dear Vues Master:
We see the yearly parade of 1/2
million Brooklyn residents com-
ing to the Catskills and putting
millions of dollars into the pock-
ets of businesses owned by local
residents that won’t put a penny
into the pocket of religious Jews.
Before you shop in mom and
pop non Jewish stores or conduct
business with non Jewish trades-
people remember those that you
are giving your money to do not
like religious Jews and they boy-
cott any store they know is owned
by a Torah observant Jew. If you
must spend money then I suggest
you shop in national chain stores
where the profit goes to the share-
holders not to local anti semites.
H T
Monticello
Vues Master’s Note: You gotta
give the benefit of doubt! There
are plenty of good people in the
Catskills.
FLYING
Dear Vues Master:
An Aeroplane cleaner was clean-
ing the Pilot’s cockpit when he
saw a book titled, “HOW TO FLY
AN AEROPLANE FOR BEGIN-
NERS (Volume 1). He opened the
first (1st) page, which said: “To
start the engine, press the red but-
ton….” He did so, and the airplane
engine started…. He was happy
and opened the next page… “To
get the aeroplane moving, press the
blue button…”He did so, and the
plane started moving at an amaz-
ing speed…. He wanted to fly, so he
opened the third (3rd) page, which
said: To let the aeroplane fly, please
press the green button… “He did so,
and the plane started to fly.. He was
excited..!! After twenty (20) min-
utes of flying, he was satisfied and
wanted to land, so he decided to go
to the fourth (4th) page…. And….
page four (4) says; “To know how
to land an aeroplane, please pur-
chase Volume 2 at the nearest book-
shop!” Moral of the Story 1. Never
attempt anything without complete
information. 2. Half education is
not only dangerous but destruc-
tive! 3. Stay in your lane; stick to
what you know and are good at. (c)
Source unknown
BR
Vues Master’s Note: I still fly in
airplanes despite the fact I don’t
know how to fly.
UBER
Dear Vues Master:
Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub
sued New York City last Thurs-
day to block its new minimum
pay rules for food delivery work-
ers. The recently announced rules,
touted as a national first, could
nearly triple average earnings for
app-based delivery workers in the
coming years. An increased pay
rate of $17.96 an hour is set to take
effect July 12. New York’s more
than 60,000 delivery workers cur-
rently make an average of $7.09
an hour, according to the city. The
food delivery services are seeking
a temporary restraining order in
state Supreme Court in Manhat-
tan to stop the changes from going
into effect on July 12. The compa-
nies claim the changes would re-
sult in higher costs for consumers.
It seems that everything these days
is going up in price excpt my pay-
check. Why is that?
JD
Vues Master’s Note: Maybe you
should become an Uber driver!
MEDICINE
Dear Vues Master:
Why does גיטין מסכת come before
provides השם Because? קידושין
the רפואה before the מכה.
FG
Vues Master’s Note: That is a bit-
ter pill!
GET
Dear Vues Master: Why is a get re-
ferred to as כריתות ספר ?Because
the תיבות ראשי of גט can stand for
.גמר טוב
JH
Vues Master’s Note: Oh get lost!
RICH
Dear Vues Master:
At a meeting with the wealthy
men of his town, חריף אייזל ר׳ was
asked all kinds of crazy questions
about the matters under discus-
sion. As the meeting was ending, a
woman came in and said she must
speak with the rav. She explained
that she had a dream that her son,
who was living in another town,
had lost his mind. “What does my
dream mean?” she asked. The rav
responded: “The dream that you
dreamt is a סימן that your son will
become wealthy.” When the wom-
an asked why, he said:
“.כל העשירים משוגעים”
SW
Vues Master’s Note: I would be
OK being meshuga if I was a mil-
lionaire!
PARNASSAH
Dear Vues Master:
Motty saw a guy today walk-
ing and saying parshas hamon
by heart, so he asked him: “Why
don’t you say it from a chumash
like a mentsch?” He answered: “I
need parnassah, but I don’t want
it to be on the books!”
MK
Vues Master’s Note: I saw a guy
under the table because he want-
ed his paycheck to be unter the
tish!
PINCHAS
Dear Vues Master:
The beginning of Parshas Pinchas
begins with the story of the hero-
ism of Pinchas who slew Zimri
and Cuzbi to stop the plague. At
the end of Parshas Balak, we see
that he went all the way to Cuba
to smite them. To commemo-
rate that event, people go there
as a segula for shidduchim – to
ha’Amuka in Israel. Zimri and
Cuzbi descendants still are fa-
mous in our recent history. Zimri
ben Sully’s namesake landed an
airliner in the Hudson River some
years ago. Captain Sully became
famous as the pilot of the Miracle
on the Hudson. As for Cuzbi, her
descendant is still doing the same
despicable things she was killed
for – Bill Cuzbi. There is a place
in Egypt, I believe, near the border
with Eretz Yisroel called TachPin-
chas. Is there a relationship with
Pinchas? Well, it’s mentioned
in the haftora of Maasei in sefer
Yirmiyahu. Usually, we lein it
the week after Pinchas during the
three weeks. So it’s Tachas Pin-
chas – under or after Parshas Pin-
chas. The parsha continues with
a census of the Yidden. Again
some names are very interesting.
We find the first occurrence with
the Bnei Menashe where the Yid-
den in Eretz YIsroel were called
mishpachas ha’Isreali. There was
a mishpacha from the Bnei Zevu-
lon that liked sardines. One of the
Bnei Gad lived in the north. Even
more interesting were the other
bnei Gad. One mispacha was
mishpachas ha’uzni while the
next one was mishpachas ha’ear-
y. Now that’s eerie. In shevet
Reuven, there were the nefarious
characters, Dasan v’Avirum. It
turns out that they were brothers.
What’s less known is that there
was a third brother ‘ Ne’muel.
He was ashamed of his brothers
and tried to stay away from them.
He was the “white sheep” of the
family. A few pesukim later, we
see Ne’muel was listed in She-
vet Shimon. There were probably
two Ne’muels; could be short for
“Nuch a’muel”. However, nowa-
days we could say he identified
as a member of Shevet Shimon.
Once we say that, the Bnos Tlaf-
chad would have no problem these
days either. They would identify
as sons. Finally, in case you were
wondering where all these double
meanings originated, there was a
family from Yissachar who spe-
cialized in them – mishpachas
ha’PUNy.
DF
Vues Master’s Note: Don’t quit
your day job!
MALE
Dear Vues Master:
Hashem spoke to Moshe, say-
ing: “Pinchas, the son of Elazar,
the son of Aharon the priest has
turned My anger away from the
children of Israel by zealously
avenging Me in their presence,
and I did not destroy the children
of Israel because of My zeal-
ous anger. – Numbers 25:11 Son
of Aharon the priest: Because
the tribes ridiculed him, saying,
“Have you seen the descendant
of Puti [i.e., Yisro], whose moth-
er’s father fattened calves for
idol worship, and yet he killed a
leader of one of the tribes of Is-
rael?” Therefore, scripture traces
his lineage to Aharon. -Rashi The
Lubavitcher rebbe explains the
finger pointing at Pinchas’ moth-
er: There was a serious flaw in the
tribes’ argument because Pinchas
was also Aharon’s grandson, on
his father’s side. So how can we
be sure that he inherited the nega-
tive qualities of Yisro and not the
good traits of Aharon? To answer,
the tribes stressed that Yisro was
Pinchas’ “mother’s father” and
not simply “his grandfather.” To
point out that a by nature, a boy’s
disposition is most similar to that
of his mother, and a girl to that of
her father – a fact which the reader
will have gleaned from Rashi’s
comment to Bereishis 46:15:
“The males are attributed to Leah
whereas the females are attrib-
uted to Yaakov to teach you that
if the woman emits seed first then
she will give birth to a male and
if the male emits seed first then
she will give birth to a female.”
Thus, the tribe wished to argue
that Pinchas would have inher-
ited the disposition of the mater-
nal and not paternal grandfather.
Rashi thus explains, “Scripture
traces his lineage to Aharon,” in-
dicating that Pinchas inherited the
nature of Aaron, who “pursued
peace and brought people who
were fighting with each other to
love each other” And this was
proof that Pinchas’ intention had
indeed been pure. From this and
my experience with my son it is
clear to me that a boy desires the
protection of their mother rather
than the prodding of their father.
This explains expressions like go-
ing back to the womb and moth-
er’s boy. Hashem made Moshe
forget the halacha (law) in order
for Pinchas to be associated with
his father and not his mother by
earning him the title of his father,
the Cohen. Similarly, every son
can leave the protection of their
mother and cling to their father
to earn the title of a good name.
As Rabbi Shimon says: 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.” – Pirkei Aovs 4:13
DG
Vues Master’s Note: Cute vort.
WE WON’T COMPROMISE
Dear Vues Master
At an event at the Knesset this
past Monday, Itamar Ben-Gvir,
the Israeli Minister of National
Security, addressed recent criti-
cism of the Israeli government
by US President Joe Biden. Ben-
Gvir expressed appreciation for
the United States as a wonder-
ful friend, stating, “We love the
Americans.” However, he em-
phasized that the Land of Israel
belongs to the People of Israel, in
accordance with the Torah of Is-
rael. Ben-Gvir made it clear that
there would be no compromise on
Israeli territory, asserting that ev-
ery hilltop and outpost is rightful-
ly theirs. It’s about time someone
stood up to Biden! If Israel or any
other country said the same thing
about the United States, they
would be upset that that country
is getting into their business so
why should America get into Is-
rael’s business?
YH
Vues Masters Note: Ben Gvir is
the real deal. We should be thank-
ful that we finally have someone
like him in the Israeli cabinet.