05 Dec SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER

SHOMRIM
Dear Vues Master:
I just wanted to give a big public THANK YOU to Bob
Moskowitz & Tzvi Weil and the entire Flatbush Shomrim
for all they do. The world is crazier than ever. There is more
antisemitism on the streets of Brooklyn than ever before.
The people that volunteer & their families deserve a big
Hakaras Hatov. They work tirelessly for the tzibur & for
that I just want to say Thank YOU!
RT
Vues Master’s Note: And most of all we should thank
Hashem who is up 24-7 watching over us!

SUGGESTIONS
Dear Vues Master:
I thought I’d send in a suggestion of a few things that

people could do to help those in Eretz Yisrael. First, Shela-
He has sponsored Tehillim Unite, where a participant is

assigned a few kapitlach of Tehillim to say at home every
night at 9pm. When done, the person should say the acheinu
tefilla. Thus, all are united by saying these tefillos at the
same time. This group can be reached at 732-334-0050
or at Shela-he.org/tehillim. Then there is tehillimlechayal.
org. This provides upon request an individual kapitel of
Tehillim along with a name of a chayal assigned to it. One
can then say the kapitel in the z’chus of the chayal or ask for
a different kapitel. When done, you indicate that the kapitel
was said. Then, you can either ask for another kapitel
assigned to a new chayal or leave the site. The advantage
of this is that it is very convenient, as you can say a kapitel
whenever you have a free minute or two. However, it is
only available online. Finally, I recently heard about Tikkun
Hagadol. Formulated by the Shela Hakodesh in his sefer
“Shenei Luchot Habrit” in Tractate Tamid – Ner Mitzvah –
Chapters 93 – 95, this tikkun is supposed to have the power
to hasten the redemption and to sweeten evil judgments.
The kapitlach are to be said as follows (from left to right):
79, 80, 137, 25, 51, 90, 89, 98, 107 and 96. The Shelah
specified that the kapitlach must be said in the above order.
Each kapitel is said to signify a different sefira, a matter
discussed at great length in Kabbalah. I hope people find the
above helpful. May the geulah come bimhayra biyamanu.
DZ
Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for sharing. As Sharing is
Caring!!

KISSINGER
Dear Vues Master:
Henry Kissinger was one of Israel’s biggest supporters

in the American government. While Secretary Kissinger
supported Israel, he pressured Israel to take on policies
it didn’t feel was in its best interests. As the first Jewish
American secretary of state, he made it kosher for future
American diplomats to use whatever means possible to
pressure Israel into taking steps it felt weren’t in its best
interests.
RUP
Vues Master’s Note: A self hating Jew.

DOT
Dear Vues Master:
I recently saw this email someone sent Rabbi Lazer Brody
& I wanted to share it with your readers. Dear Rabbi, why
does the Jewish religion seem to fuss over insignificant
details? How much Matzah do we have to eat, which
spoon did I use for milk and which for meat, what is the
right way to tie my shoelace? It seems to me that this
misses the bigger picture by focusing on tiny trivia. Is this
nitpicking what Jews call spirituality? I actually already
sent you this question over a week ago and didn’t receive
a reply. Could it be that you finally have been asked a
question that you can’t answer?! Signed, Rob (Rabbi
Lazer Brody’s answer) Dear Rob, I never claimed to
have all the answers. There are many questions that are
beyond me. But it happens to be that I sent a reply that
same day despite the fact that I’ve been away from home
on a rigorous speaking tour in the USA. I sent you a reply,
but I wrote your email address without the ‘dot’ before the
‘com’. I figured that you still receive the email, because
after all is only one little ‘dot’ missing. I mean come
on, it is not as if I wrote the wrong name or something
drastic like that. Would anybody be so nitpicky as to
differentiate between ‘yahoocom’ and ‘yahoo.com No, it
is not ridiculous, because the ‘dot’ is not just a ‘dot’. It
represents something. That ‘dot’ has a meaning far beyond
the pixel on the screen that forms it. To me it may seem
insignificant, but that is simply due to my ignorance of the
ways of the web. All that I know is with ‘dot’ the message
gets to the right destination, without it the message is
lost to oblivion. Torah observance and Mitzva fulfillment
contain a world of symbolism and every ‘dot’ counts.
When the Mitzvot are performed with precision a spiritual
vibration is emailed throughout the universe all the way to
G-d’s inbox. If you want to understand the symbolism of
the ‘dot’ study cyber tech. If you want to understand the
symbolism of Judaism, study Torah.
Yours always, Rabbi Lazer Brody
Vues Master’s Note: An oldie but a good one period!

DOUGH-NUTS
Dear Vues Master:
How do these bakeries charge more than $5
for a donut over Chanukah? Why does anyone
spend that type of money on a donut? Two or
three dollars for a specialty donut I understand
but $10?? Crazy!!
AG
Vues Master’s Note: It is called supply and
demand! As long as there are people ready to
pay for them they will be sold at those prices!

JEWISH CONCERT PRICES
Dear Vues Master
The price of a Jewish concert these days is off
the charts! Why should it cost my family of 6
over a thousand dollars to go to a concert this
Chanukah season? Why? To make the singers
wealthy? I understand it’s there parnasah but
to pay them over 10k to sing for an hour or
two?
Vues Master’s Note: Again, it is called supply
and demand! As long as there are people
ready to pay for them they will be sold at
those prices! Most concerts these days benefit
a tzedakah or an organization so they are
trying to raise money and that’s in part why
they charge so much.

10 POINTS TO KNOW ABOUT
THE WAR
Dear Vues Master:
1. In 2005 Israel unilaterally pulled out of
Gaza. Palestinians had a chance to create a
functioning and peaceful democracy. They
didn’t.
2. In 2006 Gazans elected Hamas and in
2007 Hamas staged a coup and overthrew the
Palestinian Authority. Hamas started to attack
Israel.
3. Hamas is recognized as a terrorist
organization by countries all over the world.
Its charter calls for the destruction of Israel
and the death of Jews. Hamas is funded by
Iran and Qatar.
4. Instead of developing a functioning
government for the betterment of its people,
Hamas diverted funds from international aid
to build tunnels and weapons. They didn’t
build bomb shelters for their people.
5. In response to Hamas attacks, Egypt and
Israel shut their borders to Gaza. Israel carried
out three operations in 15 years to respond to
Hamas attacks and developed Iron Dome to
defend against Hamas rockets.
6. Even though Israel faced continuous
terrorist attacks from Hamas, Israel allowed
25,000 workers from Gaza to enter Israel
everyday to gain employment. These same
workers would be the attackers against Israel
on Oct. 7th Over 85% of Palestinians support
the Oct 7th attacks.
7. On Oct 7th, on Simchas Torah, Hamas,
and other 11 other terrorist organizations,
along with thousands of Palestinian civilians
attacked – with no Israeli provocation –
Israeli civilians. They killed 1,200, injured
over 5,000, kidnapped 240 people, and have
held hundreds of people, including children

hostage ever since.
8. The Palestinian terror attacks of Simchat
Torah were some of the most brutal ever
imposed on a Western country. It included
raping, beheadings, burning people alive,
torturing men, women and children, and
summary executions. Over 300 bodies are too
devastated for proper identification.
9. In response Israel has declared war on
Hamas and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza.
They have gone further than their legal
responsibility under international law to
protect innocent lives in Gaza. Israel is using
its superior weapons and skills to eliminate
their enemies. The nations of the world have
come out in support of Israel’s right to defend
itself. Numbers of Palestinians killed are only
known from Hamas press releases and are
highly exaggerated.
10. Israel didn’t want this war. It didn’t choose
to go to war. Hamas has said they will commit
the same massacres over and over. Israel must
eliminate Palestinian terrorists. This war could
end immediately with Hamas’s surrender and
the return of Israel’s hostages. Hamas uses its
civilians as human shields. Any consequences
of this war, including innocent Israeli and
Gazan deaths, are the responsibility of Hamas.
RUP
Vues Master’s Note: This is a narrative which
is constantly repeated and yet has much of
the world disagreeing so why bother trying to
placate the US and the UN.

IRON DOME
Dear Vues Master:
Since the Iron Dome is now prominently in
the news, I think it is worth looking at through
“Torah eyes.” Specifically, I have seen the
Iron Dome, which protects Israel by shooting
down rockets headed its way, compared to the
ananei hakavod, which surrounded the Jews
while they travelled in the desert and protected
them from predators. There is much that we
can learn from this analogy. The Lubavitcher
Rebbe explained that the ananei hakavod
were created by the collective breaths of klal
yisroel. He stated that their breaths would
fuse together, becoming one. The Rebbe said,
however, that when the Jews did not get along,
failing to give kavod to one another, their
breath could not so fuse. The emphasis on not
speaking loshon hora in the sukkah, meant to
symbolize the ananei hakavod, and the fact
that these Clouds accompanied Klal Yisroel
in the merit of Aaron Hakohen, known for his
love of every Jew, support this view. Finally,
although I cannot track down the source, I
have seen it written that the ananei hakavod
were literally comprised of the praise each
Jew gave to the other. So I think that it would
be helpful to the Jews in Israel and worldwide
that whenever you hear about the Iron Dome,
you see in your mind’s eye a huge dome over
Israel made entirely of words of praise of klal
yisroel – and then add some of your own.
DZ
Vues Master’s Note: I am holding my breath
waiting for your next dvar Torah!

ORDER
Dear Vues Master:
The ע“שו/טור and other פוסקים start with
Hilchos Pesach & continue in order of the
year’s calendar, Shavuos,Rosh Hashana,
Yom Kippur Sukkos, Chanukah & ends
with Purim. The Rambam has Hilchos מגילה
(Purim) before Hilchos Chanukah. Perhaps
we can explain the Rambam’s reason for
placing Purim before Chanukah. In none of
the other Yamim Tovim does the Rambam
teach us the story behind the Yom Tov. *The
one exception is Hl. Chanukah. The Rambam
not only teaches us the Halachos of Chanukah
but he also adds the story of Chanukah.
In other words, Hilchos Chanukah is also
a lesson in history. Perhaps, the Rambam
wants to be historically accurate by placing
the story of Chanukah after Hilchos Purim
which happened 200 years before Chanukah.
אמבצי* Harav Hagaon R..Y.B. Soloveitchik
zt”l (Boston) explains: Why did the Rambam
feel it was important to teach us the story &
reason we celebrate Chanukah? (unlike all
the other Yamim Tovim) The Rambam in his
הקדמה writes the reason he called his Sefer,
“תורה משנה “because if you learn ך“תנ and
his Sefer (תורה משנה (you won’t need any
other Seforim. For all the other Yomim Tovim,
the Torah gives the reason why we celebrate
it. For Purim, we have the מגילה. The only
Yom Tov not mentioned in ך“תנ is Chanukah.
Therefore. the Rambam needs to write the
story of Chanukah.
Vues Master’s Note: I could use some great
Purim Torah!

SALE
Dear Vues Master:
Yitzchak walked into his clothing store and
saw that his partner’s hand was bandaged.
Before he could ask his partner what
happened, the partner said “Mazel Tov. I sold
that rainbow colored suit we thought we’d
never get rid of.” “Great,” said Yitzchak,
“It was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. But
what happened to your hand?” His partner
replied: “Well, as soon as I sold the suit to the
customer, his guide dog bit me.”
MB
Vues Master’s Note: I guess the salesman got
bit off more than he can chew!

CIVILIANS
Dear Vues Master:
The prime minister of Canada recently
blasted Israel for accidentally killing civilians
in Gaza— even though the Canadians
deliberately killed German civilians in World
War II. Hypocrisy? Cynical indifference to
the historical record? Perhaps a little bit of
both. The Canadian Royal Air Force was
a participant in the Allies’ strategy of “area
bombing” in World War II, the policy of
attacking civilian areas in order to undermine
the German public’s morale. Canadian
bombers took part in some of the war’s most
famous strikes on civilian targets—including
the bombing of Hamburg in July 1943, which

left 40,000 dead, and the attack on Dresden in
February 1945, which killed tens of thousands
more. The bombings were reported in
the Canadian press at the time, and nobody
protested. The Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator,
for example, reporting on July 30, 1943 about
one of the attacks on Hamburg, noted: “A
great many Canadian bombers participated in
this attack as they have in every Hamburg raid
since the round-the-clock bombings began last
week-end.” And that’s not all. Canadian
troops fought a storied urban battle in World
War II that had more than a few similarities
to the situation in Gaza today: enemy
fighters holed up in underground tunnels,
savage house to house fighting, booby-traps
everywhere—and more than a few civilian
casualties. In late 1943, Canadian troops
pushing through Italy took aim at German
forces situated in the quiet seaside town of
Ortona. Many of the town’s 10,000 residents
fled after the Germans took over, but some
remained, as the Canadian military historian
Mark Zuehlke made clear in his book, Ortona:
Canada’s Epic World War II Battle. Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau recently demanded
that Israel stop “this killing of women, of
children, of babies” in Gaza, asserting that
“the price of justice cannot be the continued
suffering of all Palestinian civilians.” Yet
the suffering of innocent Italian civilians
was regarded by Canada as a just price to
pay for the wholesale destruction of Ortona
in 1943. Trudeau told Israel to “exercise
maximum restraint,” warning that “the world
is watching.” The world was watching in
1943, too. The New York Times provided a
day-by-day, blow-by-blow description of the
battle during the final week of 1943—yet
nobody urged the Canadians to show restraint.
“Mines, demolitions and booby traps”
planted by the Germans “are steadily taking
[a] toll” on the Canadian troops, the Times
reported. Holed up in “cellars and sewers,”
German snipers would pop up, shoot at the
advancing Canadians, and then disappear
underground again. “You can hardly stick
your head around a corner without hearing a
sniper’s bullet zing by,” one Canadian soldier
remarked. The Nazis “have defended the
town street by street and almost house by
house,” the Times explained. Utilizing the
city’s underground railroad tunnels, the
Nazis had turned Ortona into “a veritable
underground fortress.” The Canadians
responded with a new military tactic called
“mouse-holing.” To avoid venturing into the
streets, they used explosives to blast their way
through the interior walls of adjoining houses,
moving from house to house through the
rubble. The Canadian officer in charge of
the massive bombing operation “never gave a
thought to the destruction he was wreaking on
Ortona with his explosives,” historian Mark
Zuehlke recounted. “There was a job to do,
so he did it.” When the battle was over,
“Hardly a building was left intact” in “the
once pleasant coastal resort,” the Times noted.
One thousand, three hundred and seventy-

five Canadian soldiers were killed. So were
more than 1,300 innocent Italian civilians.
Considering the similarities between what
the Canadians faced in Ortona and what
the Israelis are facing in Gaza, you would
think Prime Minister Trudeau might show a
little more understanding. And considering
the huge number of German civilians whom
Canadian pilots deliberately helped kill in
World War II—by contrast with Israel’s
careful and risky efforts to avoid killing
civilians—the prime minister might be
a little more restrained in his comments.
Perhaps he needs to brush up on his own
country’s history.
Rafael Medoff
Vues Master’s Note: Waste of time arguing
with liberal pigs. You both end up in mud
but the liberals enjoys it!

DAF AND CHANUKAH
Dear Vues Master:
It might seem counterintuitive to suggest
that the daf yomi the Shabbat before
Chanukah this year was particularly relevant
to this particular Chanukah since it is well
known that, unlike Purim, Chanukah does
not have its own tractate in the Talmud.
Not as equally obvious, I have it on good
authority that Chanukah is not mentioned
even once in the Mishna, and it is only
referred to incidentally eight times in the
Talmud. (One for each day of the holiday?)
But the page in the daf of the Talmud
read on the Shabbat before Chanukah
this year was one of those eight times.
The incidental reference to Chanukah on
page 30 of Baba Kama discusses the issue
of liability when an animal in the public
domain catches fire when brushing against
a Chanukah menorah placed outside of a
building. The owner of the menorah is
exempt since the menorah was put there
with the implicit permission of the court.
But the Talmud proceeds to specify that the
menorah was placed with the permission of
the court only because it was placed there
to perform a mitzvah. Most Jews place
their Chanukah menorah in a window – and
in some cases in more than one window –
to publicize the miracle, but the ideal way
to perform the mitzvah, as presumed in the
time of the Talmud, is to place the menorah
outside of the house, as is still done (in
special glass cases to shield them from the
winds) by many religious people (if not
quite necessarily a majority) today. The
main justification – and maybe the only
official one — for not placing the menorah
outside the house nowadays is in order
not to antagonize non-Jews – even before
October 7 – though there happen to be some
compelling practical considerations as well
– so that the flames will not be blown out
by the wind or transmitted because of the
wind in conjunction with passing people
or animals or vehicles (self-driving or
otherwise) as described above. Returning
to the main justification identified above,

we can segue back to the present Chanukah
and why the placement of the menorah is
more of a hot issue this year than on most
other celebrations of Chanukah in modern
times.
Although blood on the doorpost was
enough to cause the Angel of Death to
pass over Jewish households at the time
of the Exodus, at most other times of
upheavals affecting the Jews, the mezuzah
on the doorpost – without even getting
to the menorah — has all too often been
seen by some as an invitation to violent
anti-Semites rather than the protector of
Jewish households it has generally been
considered to be.
Thank G-d we haven’t come close to the
atmosphere of the Inquisition, so far (blee
ayin horah) when mezuzot were concealed
by some Marranos (or “crypto-Jews)
inside of statues or amulets of the Virgin
Mary, though we may have surpassed
the conditions on Irish campuses in 2021
when a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi in Ireland
invented the camozuzah (the mezuzah
camouflaged in an apparent security alarm
system). Ingenious Jews have continued
to find ways to enable the contents of the
mezuzah to provide protection from above
and from within.
On the flip side (of the dreidel?), we can at
least share some of the positive examples of
goodness that have begun to shine through
the darkness of the pro-terrorist supporters
that have blackened the reputations of
some of our Ivy League colleges and
many mostly young people whose level of
sophistication is limited to the sound bites
of the tik tok of a clock run amok.
A few weeks ago, when a mezuzah
was deemed the likely cause of serious
vandalism in Studio City, California, some
non-Jewish neighbors proposed putting
up their own mezuzah. Shades of “I am
Spartacus” when good-hearted Romans
sought to protect the identity of a heroic
figure, and then the period of the holocaust
when the King of Denmark is said to have
remarked that “if the Germans would
introduce the yellow star of David to
Denmark, “perhaps we should all wear it.”
As a sign of the times, a non-Jew in Toronto
wishing to put up a mezuzah as a sign of
identification with Jews and an attempt
to confound people with unfounded
hatred had the added sensitivity to ask
a Jew whether this would be considered
insensitive. Sure enough, at least one Jew
has already responded to this well-intended
sign of solidarity by saying it smacked of
cultural appropriation!
Similarly, many Jews and non-Jews have
vowed to decorate their houses and yards
this year in particular with elaborate and
well-lit decorations commemorating
Chanukah and supporting Israel, in many
cases larger, lighter, and brighter than ever,
though there has also been a concern that
they might lead to activities worse than

vandalism or theft, G-d forbid.
In 1993, a brick was thrown through a
window in front of a menorah in Billings,
Montana. The Billings Gazette published
a drawing of a menorah, and it was said
that a thousand people (non-Jews as well
as Jews) hung makeshift menorahs in
their windows, and Billings, Montana is
no Borough Park. This year, on the 30th
anniversary of that incident, a full-page
ad appeared in that paper suggesting that
history should repeat itself – in a positive
way.
I think we can safely assume that Chabad
won’t hold back on their menorah displays,
and the Shine a Light Coalition will shine
many lights to counter the darkness of the
Gaza tunnels and the people who built and
supported them. Let us hope and pray that

the solidarity in support of the modern-
day Maccabees will not wane like the

Chanukah lights of Beit Shamai but will
grow with each passing day like the lights
of Beit Hillel, and will not stop at the end of
Chanukah, or at the end of the War in Israel
and Gaza, but will continue to grow and
strengthen until the time of the Moshiach.
And finally, returning to the daf yomi,
anti-Semitism has been around since well
before the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai, yet
even at the time of the Gemorah, placing a
menorah not merely in one’s window but
outside in front of one’s window or door
was considered a standard way to publicize
the miracle of the few in the face of the
many. Let us hope and pray that the Jews
who observe this level of observance today
will not be deterred from doing so even in
the current climate, and will never have
reason to regret it.
AR
Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for your lesson!

HOSTAGE
Dear Vues Master:
An older person was in the safe room for 22
hrs until the IDF knocked on the door. He
didn’t know if he can trust them. Perhaps it
was Hamas? He told them to answer him,
and he said Shema Yisroel. They answered;
“Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echod! Another
grandfather told everyone to hide in the safe
room, while he read a paper on the couch.
The terrorist killed him and didn’t bother to
check the safe room, so he sacrificed his life
in order to save his family. A retired general
took his gun and went with an Israeli
soldier to save his family while killing the
terrorist B”H. There are people putting
on tzitzis Teffillin and lighting candles
keeping Shabbos. There was a Jew who
people were mekarev him in Uman to try to
keep Shabbos. He left the musical festival
before Shkiah and was saved on Oct 7! A
Sofer called the mother of Yagel Yaakov
about his Teffillin for his bar mitzvah. She
had bitochon that he would get freed. My
brother counted 53 days that he was in
captivity and kapital nun Gimel has “Yagel

Yaakov”Yismach Yisroel! Young boys are
starting to say ShmahYisroel. A frum person
helped out a non frum person stuck on the
side of the road. He later invited him and
his family from their kibbutz for Shmini
Atzeres and he was saved. Another kibbutz
had built a gate wall around the kibbutz for
shmiras Shabbos, so the terrorist could not
get in B”H. I will never forget as long as I
live seeing the billboard on the Outerbridge
crossing of the young hostages and on the
yellow medallion taxicab. I never cried so
much as when I saw the young girl wearing
a yellow sweater being the first hostage to
go onto the bus and be freed! Hashem; I beg
of you-No more tears! Where is Kfir? Save
her!
RMS
Vues Master’s Note: Keep on Davening and
have faith in Hashem, he can do anything!

DONUTS OR PIZZA
Dear Vues Master:
In Shulchan Aruch, there is no mention
of eating on Chanukah foods fried in
oil .(Latkes & donuts etc.) In Shulchan
Aruch (Rema) it does say to eat cheese on
Chanukah. Probably the first & only מקור
(source) for Donuts on Chanukah is from
a copy of a יד כתב) manuscript) that Rav
Y.M. Toledano z”l found. In his Sefer ופליט
שריד, he quotes from a יד כתב of R. Maimon
(Rambam’s father) where he mentions the
Minhag of donuts on Chanukah. It seems
Rav Toledano himself wasn’t convinced of
this יד כתב to be authentic. Somehow the
location of his find is unknown. Donuts
or Pizza? It seems, that the מסורה of our
mothers (fried foods) has precdence over
הלכה in ערוך שלחן) cheese) Rav Toledano
was a Rov in Tel Aviv & also the minister of
religion in Ben Gurion’s Government.
MJ
Vues Master’s Note: I’ll take em both in no
particular order!

SPEECHLESS
Dear Vues Master:
A man who was asked to be the principle
speaker at a dinner refused. When asked
why, he explained “The principle is what’s
left after all the interest is gone.”
WR
Vues Master’s Note: I kind of wish there
were more people like him so we would
suffer less and not have to listen to
speeches!