17 Oct SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER

DIFFICULT DAYS
Dear Vues Master:
We know that the Jewish people are in a very difficult
situation. However, we can never despair or give up hope.
As our enemies raise their evil hands to commit unspeakable
acts of brutality and murder, we, too, raise our hands. Our
brave soldiers are raising their hands in defense of the Jewish
people. We, too, who are not in a position to raise our hands
in actual defense of our brethren, can still raise our hands in
ways that can help. My son Tuvia was called away from his
family on Shabbos/ Simchas Torah, along with thousands of
other reservists, to defend the Jewish people. He left his family
and home was given a rifle and to fight the enemies of our
people. Yet, there were others who were not called up and were
still at home. On Motzei Shabbos, the end of Simchas Torah
in Eretz Yisroel, while my son Tuvia proudly donned his IDF
uniform, some of his neighbors donned a different “uniform.”
Two Chassidic men, who were not called up, came calling at
Tuvia’s house after Shabbos and said to his wife, “We are here
to take down your Sukkah. If Tuvia is gone defending us, it
is only right that we do something for him and take down his
Sukkah.” A few minutes later, there was another knock on the
door. This time from a woman. She explained, “Your husband
is out protecting us; the least I can do for you is to do your
laundry, which has piled up over Yom Tov!” A few minutes

later, another woman came. She bolted to my daughter-in-
law’s kitchen and said, “Your husband is off protecting us.

You have no one to help you clean up as you must put your
children to sleep. My husband is safe and in his bed. He helped
me clean up. Please, go tend to your children while I clean up
your kitchen from Yom Tov.” Everyone raised their hands to
help each other. We all must raise our hands. Some raise them
with a gun in their hands. Others raise their hands to take down
a soldier’s Succah. And others raise their hands to do other’s
laundry and dishes.
Rav Ron Yitzchok Eisenman Congregation Ahavas Israel
Passaic, NJ
Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for sharing this. It is very
inspiring!

GREAT STORY
Dear Vues Master:
A bochur from a religious family who years ago dropped all
levels of observance shared his story. To support himself, he
became a driver and photographer, driving wealthy visitors
from New York to gedolim in Eretz Yisroel. He had 3
American gvirim in his car shortly before Rosh Hashana, who
came specifically to secure a bracha from Rav Chaim Feinstein
of Bnei Brak for a shana tovah. As the gvirim were leaving,
Rav Feinstein, the rosh yeshiva at Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo,
turned to the driver and asked, “Don’t you also need a shana
tovah? He then stopped and thought, saying that a bracha with

nothing to stand on will not be effective. “Accept upon yourself
to keep Shabbos for the month of Tishrei,” he asked. The
bochur became filled with emotion and accepted. A couple of
weekends ago, the boy traveled to Israel’s south to participate
in a Rave, a music festival in the desert. On Friday afternoon,
he realized that he would not be able to keep Shabbos there, so
he bid his friends farewell and departed. The next day, the boy
was among the millions of people who heard about the savage
butchery that happened at the rave, and that his friends were
among those killed. It was the small kabbalah he undertook –
to keep just four Shabbosos – and it saved his life.
YD
Vues Master’s Note: I am sure once this war is over there will
be so many baalei teshuva!

DAVENING
Dear Vues Master:
Not gonna lie or pretend. I’m having a really hard time
davening to Hashem. I know now my tefillah is needed more
than ever. I know. But I’m still having a hard time. Why, G-d?
Just why. I try so hard to tell myself the things I’ve told others
over the years. Hashem loves us. We are His children. Hashem
loves me. We don’t know why things happen. We don’t
understand Hashem’s ways. I know all the answers. And yet,
I’m having a tremendously hard time turning to Him for the
past week. I don’t know how to cope with the dissonance of
everything He does is good, on the one hand, and this war, on
the other. How could He allow such barbaric cruelty? Again, I
know the answer. “He didn’t do this. Hamas did this.” But how
did He allow this to happen? Anyway, I’ll go force myself to
talk to Him and ask for mercy and compassion. That’s what I
need. That’s what you need. That’s what we all need. Hashem,
enough pain and suffering. Please make it stop. Please bring
our children home. Please eradicate evil from this world.
Please protect our soldiers. Please protect our families. If I’ve
ever done anything good in my life. If not for me, for this
nation and the good we are doing. If not for this nation, for our
forefathers. Please bring Mashiach. We can’t handle this much
pain any longer. Please, Hashem!
Hillel Fuld
Vues Master’s Note: I’d rather pray and sing…

CLEAR
Dear Vues Master:
Let me say this in the clearest possible terms.
If you’re concerned with Israel’s response, if
you’re focused on the people of Gaza right
now, you’re either ignorant or intentionally
hypocritical. 2005: Israel handed Gaza over
on a silver platter. No “occupation”, no Israeli
presence, nothing. 100% theirs. If they wanted
anything other than dead Jews, they had the
chance. In what world is it normal to demand
a country provide water and electricity to its
enemy when there is clear evidence that they
are using those water pipes to create rockets
that then kill Israelis? You’re worried about
the electricity and water in Gaza? You can
provide it. Don’t want to? Then keep your
mouth shut. They have nowhere to go those
poor Palestinians? Why don’t you go look
at a map? They have a border with Egypt.
Let them take them in if they care so much.
Oh, Egypt doesn’t want them? Did you hear
that? That was my heart breaking for them.
Egypt can take them. They don’t want them?
Not my problem. You’re worried about a
disproportionate response by Israel? Kindly
tell me what a proportionate response would
look like. Because if we did what they did to
us, that would require the murder, abduction,
and rape of over a thousand people. Is that
what you’re recommending Israel does?
Because that’s pretty sick of you. And once
and for all, we need to unequivocally reject
the false narrative of “They’re not all Hamas
supporters so Israel has no right to attack
Gaza.” A- The Palestinian people elected
Hamas. Make up your mind. If they’re a
people who you believe deserve a state then
it’s time you held them accountable as a
people. They elected Hamas. They will pay
for that tragic decision. B- The Palestinian
people, not 100, 1,000, or 10,000 of them,
give out candies when innocent Jews are
murdered. Have you seen thousands of
Palestinians speaking out against Hamas? I
haven’t. Where are they? Their silence is all I
need to know. C- In every war in the history
of the world, innocent people die. That fact,
as sad as it might be, has zero relevance to
whether the war is justified or not. Need I
remind you how many innocent Germans
died in WWII? Israel is fighting Nazis now.
Zero difference. In war, innocent people die.
D- And finally, don’t come at me with the
whole “They can’t speak out. Hamas will kill
them.” Where have we heard that before? “I
was just fulfilling orders. I had no choice.”
Oh yes, that was what the Nazis said. It was
not a legit argument then and it’s not a legit
argument now. What Israel experienced on
October 7th was the equivalent of 9/11 times
50. Israel WILL retaliate accordingly and it
will not stop no matter how much you throw
your double standard at us. We not only
have every right to do whatever we can to
obliterate Hamas, we have a moral obligation
to do so. You might not know this now, but
a world without Hamas is a safer world for

you and your children. If you didn’t complain
when ISIS was defeated, if you think WWII
was justified in order to defeat the Nazis,
then you can either stand with Israel while
we cleanse the world of Hamas savages or
you can go ahead and keep your mouth shut
while we do the work from which you will
benefit. If you have any integrity at all, go
read the charters of Hamas and the PLO. If
you’re honest, ask yourself what “From the
river to the sea” means. Look at a map if you
can’t figure it out. It means no Israel. Do you
support that? Throwing all Israelis into the
sea? Because that’s what that means. If you
are still delusional enough to think they want
a state, go Google The Partition Plan. They
had one. They rejected it. Then google how
many times Israel offered them a state. And if,
after all that, you still think the Palestinian’s
agenda is anything other than total genocide
of the Jewish people, congratulations, you
have earned the privilege of being named a
flaming antisemite who supports murder and
rape. I’m sure your mother is proud.
Hillel Fuld
Vues Master’s Note: You could not be any
clearer!

ANGEL
Dear Vues Master:
When the wife of the מלובלין חוזה died, his
Chassidim approached his rival, עזריאל רב,
the Rav of Lublin, and asked that he give his
daughter in marriage to their their Rebbie. He
rejected their request. “I can’t do it,” he said.
“The Torah says that a father needs to give his
daughter לאיש. It says
,view your in And .את בתי נתתי לאיש הזה
your Rebbie is a מלאך, not an איש.“
MB
Vues Master’s Note: I know someone who
said he wishes his mother in law was an
angel! Up there!

SONG
Dear Vues Master:
The winds of war are blowing
Planes fly overhead
We didn’t start this war
But we’ll finish it
We’ll avenge our dead
We’ll rid this region of the cancer
The world should do the same
Maybe now they all see
WHO it is to blame
With arms wide open
They let the enemy in
It’s taking over all over the world
It’s time for realization to begin
If you don’t rid your countries of this
abomination
You’ll suffer the same fate
Take action now
Don’t wait!
Protect your homelands
Before it is too late
For years our hands were tied
We worried about what the world would say

The gloves are off now
We’ll finally do what we have to
No one will stand in our way
Our mission is not an easy one
But we will push on
We’ll fight with all we’ve got
To make sure HAMAS is gone!
Karen Skoorka Kripor
Vues Master’s Note: One thing missing in this
song! Where is Hashem?

RULES OF WAR
Dear Vues Master:
In recent days, President Biden has twice
publicly cautioned Israel to observe “the
rules of war” when it strikes back at Hamas
terrorists. He appeared to be referring to the
importance of avoiding civilian casualties
in Gaza. But exactly how far does he expect
Israel to go in limiting its actions because of
the presence of civilians? The president’s
description of Hamas as “pure, unadulterated
evil” places the current conflict squarely in
the category of a good-versus-evil conflict,
like World War II. With regard to civilian
casualties, the position of the United States
and its allies in World War II was that civilian
deaths were an unfortunate but inevitable
consequence of their war of self-defense.
Israel’s approach to the issue is similar.
Beginning in March 1944, the Americans
and British carried out extensive attacks
on railways across France, Belgium, and
western Germany in advance of the June 6
D-Day landings. The breadth of the air strikes
made it inevitable that there would be some
civilian casualties; they averaged about 100
per bombing. On May 7, British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill told President
Franklin D. Roosevelt he was concerned
about “the number of Frenchmen killed in
the raids on the railway centers in France.”
Churchill estimated that the total number
of French civilian deaths in the operation
would reach 10,000, in addition to tens of
thousands of injured. The British leader
asked FDR to “consider the matter from the
highest political standpoint,” because his
war cabinet was unanimously convinced
that continuing the bombings would “leave a
legacy of hate” toward the Allies among the
French populace. Roosevelt responded:
“However regrettable the attendant loss of
civilian lives, I am not prepared to impose
from this distance any restriction on military
action by the responsible commanders that
in their opinion might militate against the
success of [the upcoming D-Day landings]
or cause additional loss of life to our Allied
Forces of invasion.” On October 31, 1944,
British planes targeted the Gestapo’s Danish
headquarters, on the campus of the University
of Aarhus. The target was situated in the
dormitory buildings, which were flanked by
civilian hospitals on both sides. Nonetheless,
the raid proceeded in broad daylight, because
it was militarily advantageous to do so. Most
of the bombs hit their mark but several stray

bombs hit another campus building which
was under construction, killing ten workers.
Likewise, a British bombing raid on Gestapo
headquarters in Copenhagen the following
year destroyed the building, but some bombs
accidentally hit a nearby school, killing an
estimated 125 civilians. The U.S. carried
out bombing strikes on German oil factories
in and around Auschwitz during daylight
hours, when military planners had every
reason to believe the factories would be filled
with Jewish slave laborers. Civilian casualties
were inevitable but the administration felt that
harm to the Jewish prisoners was justified in
order to achieve America’s war aims. For the
same reason, U.S. bombers were sent to strike
the V-2 rocket factory in the Buchenwald
concentration camp in broad daylight, when
it could be assumed that Jewish prisoners
would be in the factory. Nearly 400 of them
were killed in the bombing. Not only was
the Roosevelt administration willing to risk
killing Jewish civilians in order to strike
those military targets—it even was willing
to endanger the lives of Allied POWs. About
1,400 British servicemen were imprisoned
in Auschwitz beginning in the autumn of
1943, and six hundred remained there as
of the summer of 1944, working as slave
laborers in the oil factories. The U.S. and
British governments were well aware that
the POWs were there; in fact, the Red Cross
regularly brought them food packages. One
of the POWs, Charles Coward, smuggled
information to the British government about
the mass-murder process that was taking
place in the Birkenau section of the camp.
But the presence of the POWs did not deter
the daylight air strikes on factories where
British prisoners might be working. As a
result, thirty-eight of the British prisoners
were killed, and many others injured, in
the American bombing on August 20. In
some instances, the U.S. and its allies went
further and undertook deliberate attacks
on enemy civilians in order to advance the
war effort. Beginning in February 1942, the
British undertook what was known as “area
bombing,” which meant attacking civilian
areas in order to undermine the German
public’s morale. The United States assented
to this approach and participated in many of
the most famous strikes on civilian targets.
The British-American bombing of Hamburg
in July 1943 left 40,000 dead, and the attack
on Dresden by U.S. and British bombers in
February 1945 killed tens of thousands more.
This approach was sometimes employed
on the Pacific front as well. The Roosevelt
administration’s firebombing of Tokyo in
March 1945 caused over 100,000 civilian
fatalities. The Truman administration selected
two Japanese civilian centers as the targets
of its nuclear bombs, leaving approximately
135,000 dead in Hiroshima and 64,000 in
Nagasaki. Israel does not deliberately kill
enemy civilians, but one of the principles of
its military actions in built-up areas such as

Gaza resembles that of the Allies in World
War II—that strikes against the enemy must
proceed even if there are civilian casualties.
Will President Biden support Israel taking
an approach comparable to what the United
States did in World War II? Or will he expect
Israel to do as he says, not as the U.S. has
done? The answer will become apparent
soon.
Rafael Madoff
Vues Master’s Note:The same rules should
apply to Hamas! Yet they get away with it!

I SEE
Dear Vues Master:
I see mothers of soldiers on the front lines
volunteering in supermarkets. I see rabbis
leaving their communities, traveling 48
hours across multiple countries to return
home and fight for their country. I see
people who have never said a word of
praise in favor of the Israeli army crying
with tears for Hashem to protect them and
keep them safe. I see thousands of men,
young and old, teenagers, spending all
night digging graves for their brethren to
be brought to proper burial. I see videos
of stores in Jewish neighborhoods around
the world, completely cleaned out of every
possible supply that could be sent in duffel
bags on cargo planes to the holy land. I see
soldiers with uncovered heads pleading for
tzitzit from those who arrived to offer them
sweets. I see restaurants turning over their
kitchens to become kosher in order to serve
any soldier a free meal. I see real estate
agents begging for families from the south
to enter their empty apartments for free.
I see Jews in uniform swearing they will
not come back home until they wipe out
the enemy completely. I see police officers
feeding bottles to babies who no longer
have parents. I see grooms who traded in
their wedding suits for machine guns. I see
women changing from their hospital gowns
in maternity wards into army fatigues in
intelligence war rooms. I see teenage girls
with flags at 2:30 in the morning dancing
for soldiers who have returned to fight
who simply cannot believe their eyes. I
see reservists refusing to take more food,
because their tanks cannot hold the amount
they’ve already received. I see young men
dodging rockets on army bases, while in the
middle of sending messages of strength to
Jewish schoolchildren thousands of miles
away. I see Hashem’s nation, waking up,
coming together, and doing everything in
their power so that “Never Again” is not
just a slogan. I see Am Yisrael. Tell me,
what do you see?
AF
Vues Master’s Note: I hear you loud and
clear a Kiddush Hashem!

FOOD
Dear Vues Master:
A rav was once asked why it is that a

husband is required to give מזונות to his
wife, rather than the wife being required to
provide מזונות to her husband. He answered:
“It’s because the first wife, Chava, tried to
feed her husband and look what happened.”
FD
Vues Master’s Note: This letter makes me
hungry! Lemme ask my wife for some food!

ADVICE
Dear Vues Master:
I want to share perhaps this unpopular
observation. I am so convinced that this
war in Israel is caused if anyone in our
Klal makes a mistake or does not live up
to their definitions of what a good jew is.
That person is never forgiven, grudges are
held, and the person’s reputation is ruined
forever. Forgiveness is not granted and if
it is it is done during asreth yemei teshuva
in order that hashem will not punish them.
There is no margin of error. And for us
being chosen people this is deplorable. I
feel that this chorban hashem wants us to
stop this behavior. Didn’t Hashem destroy
the temples because of hate between fellow
jews and not keeping shabbat. Wasn’t the
flood during Noach’s life because people
acted sub-human? On another topic I
observed through personal and professional
experiences, that our precious youth, both
girls and boys need a mentor program in
high schools and seminaries to guide them
how to live in the Jewish world and balance
the secular world too. The youngsters are
lacking the proper skills to handle career
choices based on skills and talent. They need
instruction on money management, how to
make one’s career choice, and the proper
balance of living a Jewish life within one’s
capabilities. I would like to set up a program
but no one wants to cooperate. Shirum and
shidduchim redding is just not enough. For
example: would one hand the keys to a car
and say drive and not give drivers education?
Would someone give someone a knife to
slaughter an animal without teaching how
to be a shochet? I would like to help this
community. Thank you
GS
Vues Master’s Note: You seem to be all over
the place.

HALACHOS
Dear Vues Master:
Especially at times of national crisis
it behooves us to utilize the following
strategies which we are told make our tefillos
more readily accepted: * Before davening,
one should accept upon himself the mitzvah
of Ahavas Yisroel. (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch
12:2) * Have extra kavannah when saying
‘Ki lishuasacha kivinu’ in Shemoneh Esrei
(see Orech Chaim Shaarei Teshuva 118:1
at the end). When saying ‘Yihiyu l’ratzon
imrei phi…’ at the conclusion of Shemoneh
Esrei, the Mishnah Brura 122:2:8 urges us
to say this pasuk slowly and with kavanah

as it greatly helps our tefillos be accepted.
Shalom al Yisroel
DY
Vues Master’s Note: Thanks!

TRUSTED
Dear Vues Master:
When the סופר חתם was only eight years
old, he was asked “We know דין בעל that
קידושין requires two עדים. How then did חוה
מקדש הראשון אדם, when there wasn’t even
one witness?” The young boy thought for a
moment and responded: “The קידושין גמרא
notes that the requirement of two עדים for
קידושין is learned from monetary law and
therefore, as in matters of ממון where
as קידושין in ,הודאת בעל דין כמאה עדים דמי
well we should be able to dispense with the
witnesses and rely on דין בעל הודאת. The
גמרא answers that קידושין is not like ממון
in this regard because in monetary matters
דין בעל הודאת obligates only the debtor
himself, but in קידושין the הודאה obligates
not merely the דין בעל, but also his and and
his wife’s relatives, for whom he is אסור. “
Therefore, the סופר חתם explained, since
אדם and חוה did not have any relatives,
they obligated only themselves and in that
situation matters of
and applied הודאת בעל דין כמאה עדים דמי
the קידושין is תופס even without עדים .
FE
Vues Master’s Note: I know when I get told
to trust me I know that I can’t trust!

WE DON’T PROVIDE HELP TO
THE ENEMY
Dear Vues Master
I get the same absurd question multiple
times a day. When and how is Israel going
to provide humanitarian assistance, like food
and water, to the innocent people of Gaza?
There are two reasons why this question
is absolutely absurd. First, because Gaza
is the base of Israel’s enemy, and we don’t
help the enemy. Second, because the notion
of “innocent people of Gaza” is erroneous.
Let me explain. People have this unrealistic
view of war that Israel is responsible for the
welfare of its enemy. I don’t know where the
notion of Israel being responsible to help its
enemy comes from – it’s absurd. Let’s discuss
this at a very basic level. Palestinians from
Gaza, many of them Hamas, but also six other
Palestinian terror organizations, plus many
non-affiliated Palestinians, attacked Israel. In
this attack they killed soldiers and civilians
– purposely and with premeditation. Their
attack wasn’t normal. It included brutality
not seen in decades in the civilized world.
Israel has called up its reserves – more than
300,000 of its soldiers – and has declared war
on Hamas. It isn’t only going after Hamas, it
is striking any enemy in Gaza and anyone that
attacks it in Lebanon. It is also conducting
raids in Judea and Samaria to eliminate
threats of Palestinian bad actors starting

trouble from within territory Israeli controls.
Israel has ONE goal in this war – to WIN.
This isn’t a limited scale operation. This isn’t
an operation to rescue the hostages taken by
Palestinians in Gaza. This is a full out war
where one side will win at the end of the war.
The winning side will live, and the losing side
will die. Israel is committed to winning the
war. To think Israel should fight its enemy
while simultaneously aiding its enemy is
either ignorant or unrealistic. In any other
context, any other war, any other country,
people would laugh at the suggestion that
one side of a war should provide its enemy
with assistance. People will counter that
they’re not suggesting they provide Hamas
and other Palestinian terrorists with support,
just the innocent people of Gaza, like babies,
assistance. This counter is even more absurd
than the original idea because it demonstrates
a complete lack of understanding that Hamas
and other Palestinian terrorists confiscate
all foreign assistance for their own needs
and there is no way of preventing this
from happening. It also speaks to a level of
ignorance and lack of understanding that one
way of defeating an enemy is by denying
them the resources it needs to continue
fighting. Palestinians in Gaza aren’t the
innocent babes caught in a situation not of
their own making that Palestinian apologists
make them out to be to the world. These are
people who elected and continue to support
Hamas. They are not a population forced to
stay silent in the face of a repressive regime.
In poll after poll, Palestinians in Gaza and
the West Bank maintain antisemitic views
and the desire to wipe Israel off the face of
the map and have its people drown in the sea.
These are not people Israel needs to aid. This
doesn’t mean Israel can or should target them,
but it means Israel isn’t going to help them.
Any situation in Gaza that requires assistance
is of Hamas and the other Palestinian
organization’s making and not Israel’s fault
nor responsibility to correct. We need to stop
buying into Palestinian apologists’ talking
points that cloak themselves in humanitarian
language but are meant to vilify Israel. Israel’s
goal is to win this war, nothing else. We will
do what it takes to win and not take steps that
inhibit a full victory.
RUP
Vues Master’s Note: I definitely agree! They
should destroy Gaza as quickly as possible
and not worry about the welfare of the
enemy!