The people of Lakewood have spoken. After a long election season filled with a host of quality candidates, Matzav.com is able to report that Republican Michael D’Elia and Democrat Ray Coles are the winners in today’s primaries.

Although the final numbers aren’t in yet — six districts have not yet reported– the lead is comfortable enough to be able to declare the winners.

Though the rest of the candidates are undoubtedly disappointed to come away with losses after campaigning so vigorously these past few months, they can find comfort in knowing they raised awareness of many issues for the newly elected D’Elia and Coles to tackle as they work to benefit Lakewood and its citizens.

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At 8:45PM today a man soliciting residents claiming to be a worker from Con Edison was harassing residents, knocking on the doors of tenants of a frum 100 apartment building, belligerent and insistent that they open the door to accept his service.

Residents insisted he leave but he refused, insistent that they open their doors and sign up for his services.

When one resident began screaming at him to leave, the man turned violent, pulling out a knife and stabbing the Jewish resident in his rib cage while yelling that he should not be spoken to like that leaving.

The attacker got away, leaving his victim with a 5 inch stab wound. Police are still investigating.

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The lead article in the New York Times Sunday Review section — the old “Week in Review” — is headlined “Israel’s Everlasting Occupation.”

The article claims:

official Israeli and Palestinian population statistics indicate that Jews have been a minority in the territory Israel controls for several years now, and with no repercussions: A majority of the world’s nations still speak of undemocratic rule by a Jewish minority as a hypothetical future, not an unacceptable present.

That’s not accurate. At year-end 2016, the Israeli Jewish population was 6.45 million and the Israeli Arab population was 1.796 million, and there were 345,000 “others.” The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, meanwhile, counted a Palestinian population of 2.9 million in the West Bank and 1.8 million in Gaza.

The key point here is that Gaza is not “territory Israel controls.” In fact, Israel withdrew from Gaza unilaterally in 2005, uprooting and evacuating the Jews who lived there. The place is now ruled by Hamas, a terrorist group opposed to the existence of Israel. If Israel controlled it, Hamas wouldn’t be in charge there. It is true that Israel patrols its borders with Gaza, but that doesn’t constitute “control.” The error would be like counting the Hispanic population of Mexico as part of that of the United States just because the United States maintains a border patrol along the Rio Grande.

Subtract Gaza, and there is unquestionably a Jewish majority. Even if you add together the entire West Bank and all of Israel, 6.45 million Jews are more than 1.796 million Israeli Arabs and 2.9 million West Bank Palestinians. It isn’t even close.

And that’s just the beginning of the problems with the Times article, written by Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group. David Makovsky, a former State Department official now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, wrote his own detailed and perceptive critique on his Facebook page, observing:

I have many problems with Nathan Thrall’s NYTimes Week in Review piece on June 4, 2017, claiming Israel only makes compromises if forced. His piece makes clear that such pressure is often Palestinian violence. … I think the idea as evinced in the piece is both morally wrong and it is historically inaccurate. This history matters because it creates a fatally mistaken sense of cause and effect.

*Thrall claims that Yitzhak Rabin went to Oslo because the first intifada “intensified” in 1993. In fact, the mass nature of the intifada essentially died out by the start of the Gulf War in January 1991. Rabin pursued back-channel talks in Oslo largely because he promised his voters in 1992 of major progress on the Palestinian front and the front-channel was stuck. (I wrote a book on this topic Making Peace with the PLO: The Rabin Government’s Road to the Oslo Accord.)

*In December 2003, Ariel Sharon announced Gaza disengagement – yet not because of Hamas as Thrall contends. The second intifada had already peaked. …

*Thrall makes it sound like from Gaza pullout in 2005 until 2015, nothing occurred. In fact, it was the opposite of the Thrall thesis. The unilateral impulse of the Gaza pullout that Thrall yearned for was completely destroyed by the rockets that came into Israel after Israel withdrew from Gaza and after Israel faced a war in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. … Violence discredited Israeli pullouts. It did not facilitate it.

… violence will not solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It just makes its resolution much more distant.

The International Crisis Group that employs Mr. Thrall has on its board of directors George Soros, who has described himself as neither a Zionist nor a practicing Jew and who has falsely accused Israel of “not seeking a political solution but pursuing military escalation — not just an eye for an eye but roughly speaking ten Palestinian lives for every Israeli one.”

It sure looks like Mr. Soros has gotten his money’s worth with his investment in the International Crisis Group and Mr. Thrall, who got a big Sunday splash in the New York Times to smear Israel, inaccurately.

(C) 2017    .   The Algemeiner      Ira Stoll

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By Moshe Bane

Unaffordable yeshiva tuition often seems like the weather. Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it. Like so many challenges facing our community, we are content to blame the “system,” assuming there is someone both responsible for addressing the concern and equipped to do so. But, despite our kvetching, we rarely provide sufficient resources to find the necessary solutions. 

Change, however, is in the air.

Our community is on the verge of realizing that solutions are possible with broad communal involvement, hands-on lay involvement, and a willingness to provide appropriate funding and manpower.

The first step in that direction led to an unprecedented breakthrough in New York State’s recent budget, including funding to partially reimburse yeshivos and other nonpublic schools for the costs of providing education in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Though historic, this achievement is just a step in the right direction. But it’s a pivotal step that teaches us an important lesson: The lay involvement and communal participation that made the STEM program possible can lead to further success in alleviating the tuition burden.

It all started four years ago, when a “tachlis-focused” discussion regarding the tuition challenge was initiated. A group of parents met in my office, together with representatives of numerous day schools and yeshivos, and representatives of the Orthodox Union. An impressive spectrum of the community was in the room: Yarmulkas of all types; parents and school representatives of single gender and coed day schools; Sephardim and Ashkenazim. In fact, parents in the Syrian community had played the pivotal leadership role. The differences in the room were substantial, but the unity of purpose was even greater. Thus, Teach NYS was born.

The group recognized that our mission raises the tension of balancing the degree of bitachon one can have that G-d will address the need with the degree of hishtadlus that is required to justify the bitachon. We understood that reliance on Divine intervention must be preceded by the minimum human effort that could reasonably achieve the goal. The group therefore tasked the OU’s staff with exploring what effort and expenditure the political marketplace would deem necessary to achieve significant results.

The findings were jarring. Focusing on New York State tuition funding alone would require millions of dollars. Our mission required a significant monetary investment, including professional lobbyists and consultants, and extensive lay involvement would be critical. The reports, however, were also encouraging. The political experts advised that success was achievable with appropriate investment, though certainly not assured. Moreover, there was a consensus that the Jewish community would likely realize a return greater than its investment.

The wheels began to turn. Money was raised from individuals and participating schools. School principals and shul rabbis joined the effort. Most significantly, lay involvement grew.

While by no means intended as exclusive, the OU initially focused on New York State because the state’s over 140,000 yeshiva students represent more than half of the nation’s yeshiva day school population. Moreover, while New York State’s nonpublic school students comprise about 16% of the state’s student population, they receive less than 2% of the state’s education funding. This inequality begs for a solution. The goal, of course, was to expand to other states in the near future.

While achieving substantial, long-lasting tuition relief requires continual focus and effort, the Jewish community’s commitment and investment have begun to bear fruit.

Teach NYS’s efforts, along with those of others, have helped increase New York State funding for nonpublic schools at unprecedented levels. Perhaps most significant, however, is that for the first time in any state, New York State has included STEM funding in its budget. This breakthrough allocation is most significant, as it creates a predicate for substantial further growth in state funding.

The accomplishments to date are impressive, but merely preliminary. If day school parents are to realize the relief they deserve, much work lies ahead. The Orthodox Union is ready to continue our work on this effort, but we call on all segments and members of the community to join. We will need to increase available resources, expand community unity, and, perhaps most importantly, grow active lay participation.

These are the hard realities of hishtadlus. But, as our respective contributions each constitute a tefillah to Hashem for His intervention, and our communal unity serves as the eternal supplication for Hashgocha Protis and siyata diShmaya, we can have bitachon that our pleas will be answered.

Moshe (Mark) Bane is the president of the Orthodox Union. In addition, he is a senior partner at the international law firm of Ropes & Gray, where he is chairman of the firm’s Corporate Restructuring Department. He has written and lectured extensively on Jewish community issues, and is a co-founding editor of the journal, Klal Perspectives.

A 3-2 ruling by the Appellate Division First Department in Manhattan is another win for the Jewish community and the minhag of Kapporos.

The case was an appeal pushed by “The Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos” which sued and lost a case in 2015 that sought to end the ancient tradition on the basis that it violates animal cruelty and sanitation laws in 2015.

Justice Judith Gische wrote for the majority that the plaintiffs were not just seeking to compel authorities to enforce the law, but to compel an outcome they desired.

“The plaintiffs are really challenging the core decision by law enforcement not to arrest or take other legal action,” Gische wrote.

“Although they may be upsetting to nonadherents of such practice, the United State Supreme Court has recognized animal sacrifice as a religious sacrament,” the ruling read.

In a dissent, Justice Ellen Gesmer wrote that authorities couldn’t ignore animal cruelty laws.

“It is not at all clear that the alleged treatment of poultry in the days leading up to Kaporos, or in improper slaughter, is justifiable,” Gesmer wrote.

“(Authorities) have, at a minimum, an obligation to determine whether or not a reported violation has occurred.”

The group, which organizes protests in front of Kapparos centers every year, plan to appeal to the state’s highest court.

“A 3-2 vote on the appellate level is not very common and leaves the door open to proceed further,” their attorney said.

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Some would give up hope if their spouse was diagnosed with ALS, especially if their treatments drained them of all of the money they had. But not Rabbi Klein, of Jerusalem.

This week, the Rabbi launched a fundraising campaign with the help of tzedaka organization Kupat Ha’Ir, to help get his wife the treatments that she needs.

Rabbi Klein speaks out in heartfelt footage, where he blesses those who contribute to giving his wife relief. He paints a gruesome picture of life in the midst of illness:

“The heart monitor beeps … nurses & doctors shuffle in and out … cries of pain fill the room. My wife is having another ALS spasm. Tissues block her mouth due to her inability to control her saliva.

Another day, another excruciating treatment.

The expenses are beyond belief. After what we’ve already been through, we have nothing left. An empty fridge, a broken home, muffled sobs as another spasm begins.

I look at her, and my eyes fill with tears. My wife, the mother of my children,wasting away. My heart is broken.

I refuse to give up on her life. I refuse to believe that Hashem would take her away because of something as fleeting as money. I must believe that someone will help us. For her, for me, I must believe that we can make it through this.”

Readers around the world have been inspired by Rabbi Klein’s bravery in making this story public, and in believing that the Jewish people will once again step up, to provide treatments for a beloved sick woman.

It is truly a reminder that in the face of horrors, love & generosity endure. However, they have yet to reach their goal. The family needs help urgently, as Mrs. Klein’s condition is deeply painful, and their poverty level is extreme.

Their story has been verified by The Chesed Fund, and Kupat Ha’Ir’s board of approval.

CLICK HERE TO HELP

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL CAMPAIGN

In a visit by a delegation from Dirshu to Paris and its environs to mark the siyum of the second part of Mishnah Berurah in the Daf Yomi B’Halachah program, they met the Sarcelles mayor who issued a call to the Jews of France: “Don’t be afraid; come to Sarcelles.” * It turns out that the mounting anti-Semitism in France is contributing to the connection of the Jewish nation to its roots * The heads of Dirshu meet 30 maggidei shiur in Paris: Ahead of the beginning of the study of the third section of Mishnah Berurah Hilchos Shabbos, we will increase the investment in France by opening dozens of new shiurim, they said.

“We are waiting for you and want to see as many Jews as possible settling in the city.” This call was issued by Mayor of Sarcelles Mr. Francois Pupponi, during a meeting with a delegation of Dirshu that was visiting France on a special trip to mark the occasion of the siyum of the second section of Mishnah Berurah in the Daf Yomi B’Halachah program. The mayor, who is an ardent oheiv Yisrael, did not hesitate to make the following declaration: “France without Jews is not France.”

The Dirshu delegation visited several communities and cities throughout France. It was comprised of several Rabbanim, headed by the nasi of Dirshu, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita. The objective was to visit the many dedicated maggidei shiur who deliver the Daf Yomi B’Halachah shiurim and have now completed the second section of Mishnah Berurah and are about to start the third.

The trip had many emotional moments, but one of the surprises that awaited the delegation was when they arrived in Sarcelles, a city outside Paris, and discovered very active shiurim in Daf Yomi B’Halachah that draw multitudes of participants from all strata of the community, from bnei Torah to those taking their first steps in the Torah world.

The members of the community and its leaders initiated a meeting between the delegation and the mayor. Joining the delegation was Harav Shalom Bruss, the Rav of Sarcelles, who is also the maggid shiur of the central Daf Yomi B’Halachah shiur, and Rabbi Avraham Elchaddad, one of the city’s Rabbanim. Also present was Dr. Uzan, the deputy mayor and president of the Jewish community in the city. Mayor Pupponi went out of his way during the visit by the Dirshu delegation to urge them to spread the call to the Jews of France to come to Sarcelles. Dirshu is the largest Torah organization in the world, with some 130,000 learners in 26 countries.

“The knowledge that there are Jews who are afraid to live in France and want to go to Israel because of the rising anti-Semitism, arouses concern in the hearts of the French nation,” said Pupponi. He noted that “if a Jew wants to go to Israel because he loves the land, we cannot stand in his way. But those who are doing so out of fear – on the contrary, we call for them to come to Sarcelles, where we will welcome them with open arms.” He even revealed that he is working to build a new neighborhood with 500 housing units that the municipality wants to designate for Jews settling in the city.

At the end of the moving visit, the mayor awarded the city’s medal of honor to the nasi of Dirshu, Rav Hofstedter. The mayor noted that it was an honor for the city to give its medal of honor to the nasi of the largest Torah organization in the world. Rav Hofstedter gave the mayor in return a copy of his sefer Darash Dovid al HaTorah in a version translated to French.

From there, the delegation continued to Paris, where the nasi of Dirshu delivered a shiur in the 19^th Arrondissement to the members of the Torateinu community, headed by Harav Yitzchak Shama, shlita. At the end of the shiur, there was a meeting of the maggidei shiur of the Daf Yomi B’Halachah shiurim in Paris, and they reported the effects of the shiurim and how they are generating a kiruv revolution in the City of Lights.

Some 30 maggidei shiur attended and related that many Jews who had, until recently, been disconnected from Yiddishkeit, now participated each morning or evening in a Daf Yomi B’Halachah shiur and learn to live like Jews in the full sense of the world.

“Learning halachah is effectively returning Jews who have grown distant to their Jewish roots,” the maggidei shiur marveled. They related that there is a thirst for learning, and that Rabbanim receive phone calls late at night from women asking if “it’s true that I have to act like this or make a brachah like that.” Entire families are taking steps toward Yiddishkeit, only in the merit of the daily shiur in halachah.

“What is keeping up the Jews who are coping with a wave of anti-Semitism, alongside the constant fear of terror attacks, is the connection to Judaism,” the maggidei shiur said. This was the theme of what the nasi of Dirshu said as well, and he noted that “the connection to Yiddishkeit is felt today more and more, specifically in light of the anti-Semitic attacks. The more Jews are harmed because of their Jewish identity, the more it brings them to cleave to their Judaism and return to it, not the opposite.”

At a meeting with Mr. Meir Chaviv, a member of the French parliament, Chaviv also pointed to a revolution taking place in France, and said that “today we are seeing a process of connection to heritage and a return to roots, and there is no doubt that these shiurim play a great role in this. These shiurim strengthen the Jewish identity of the French people, and that is exactly what we lack today.”

The exciting trip left a deep impression on the Jewish communities in France. It concluded with a visit to the yeshivah ketanah headed by Harav Mordechai Rottenberg, shlita, Av Beis Din of Kehillas Hachareidim of Paris. The yeshivah has dozens of young students learning Torah diligently, and their pure learning radiates to the entire community. In a drashah delivered by the nasi of Dirshu he told them that “it is heartwarming to see that in the heart of the secular city of Paris, bachurim are growing in this wonderful hothouse of Torah and good middos.”

The nasi also focused on the importance of learning halachah, in addition to learning all other parts of Torah. He blessed them that “I am confident that you will become Gedolim b’Yisrael.”

In another month, the Jewish world will mark the siyum of the second part of the Mishnah Berurah under the Daf Yomi B’Halachah program by Dirshu. The visit to France also put the spotlight on the revolution spreading throughout the Jewish world due to the regular study of halachah – something that has become widely accepted since Dirshu established the organized study of halachah.

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Kol Ha’Olam reporting that the roof of a wedding hall in Yerushalayim collapsed while a wedding was taking place.

According to the report, everyone was able to get out of the way in time and there are no injuries reported. Source: Kol Ha’Olam.

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A new helicopter commuter service has just launched its services for Lakewood/Manhattan (a 24 minute ride) Monsey and Catskills.

As a partner of Wings Air, UpperRide’s innovative idea looks to target members of the Jewish community who are fed up with traffic time.

Two arson attacks on kosher restaurants in Manchester, northwestern England, are “anti-Semitic hate crimes,” according to local police.

The attacks, which police believe are linked, took place in the northern neighborhood of Prestwich within five days of each other, the latest on Tuesday, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported.

On Friday night, two people threw a firebomb at the Taam restaurant in an attack caught on surveillance camera. The firebomb failed to ignite, leading one of the attackers to throw a stone through the establishment’s front window.

Early on Tuesday morning, unknown attackers forced open a window at the JS restaurant and poured in flammable liquid, which they ignited. The fire was put out after over an hour, causing no serious damage.
Police said they have increased patrols in the area. Read more at Ha’Aretz.

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Newly Designed Website to Accommodate Thousands of Daily Visitors

After several months of intense research, work, and much Siyata D’Shmaya, the Misaskimorganization, known for its unparalleled work on behalf of the bereaved, has rolled out a stunning and up-to-date website: www.misaskim.org that includes many new innovations…with more to come.

During a recent review of internet analytics, Misaskim’s website was confirmed to average over 5,000 unique visitors per weekday; thus the “no-brainer” for a newly designed, user-friendly, website that was unveiled this week. The new site, designed and powered by Duvys, was designed for desk computers, as well as for hand-held Android and iPhone devices.

Not surprisingly, the page that was searched the most was the Aveilim listing page, in which the names of the recently departed, together with their close relatives, are listed. This list include all relevant shiva information to assist the bereaved family.

New to the site is a condolence message-sending link that enables those who are not able to personally be Menachem Avel, the ability to send a private e-message, directly to the shiva-sitting family.

An innovative downloads page, with many new features, now enables one to access Perek 119 of Tehillim, together with the other perakim of Tehillim usually recited at the graveside during a Hakamas Matzeivoh or a Yahrzeit. Other relevant Tefilos are also available for download, compliments of ArtScroll/Mesorah, together with Misaskim Mishnayos lists and other pertinent information relating to the passing of a loved one.

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Friday marked the 3^rd annual joint Lakewood Police, Lakewood Civilian Safety Watch Bike & Pedestrian Safety Event, cohosted by The Rothenberg Law Firm.  This year’s event took place at the Lakewood Lake with a record number of vendors, agencies and attractions, giving kids the opportunity to sit in emergency vehicles, ride on police ATVs, and watch a simulated water rescue operation.

The event drew a tremendous crowd of all ages, over 2000 participants, with many taking advantage of the event to register their bikes, to ensure the proper fitting of their helmets by experts, as well as learn about the functions and interact with local, and state emergency agencies.  The crowd was treated to presentations by a drone operations unit, a dive team and special investigative units.

This year’s event launched an exciting safety cards series with a raffle drawing, bringing important safety messages to the kids of Lakewood in a fun and interactive way.  Other giveaways, appreciated by parents and kids alike was a safety activity book, not to mention ice packs, balloons, safety bracelets and airbrushed reflective swim bags.

A special thank you to the event cohost, The Rothenberg Law Firm and event sponsors, Gourmet Glatt, Tech Keys, B3 Bicycles, Maser Consulting, Toys4U, and The Fishing Line for their support of this important event.  Parents and kids alike are looking forward to implementing the safety information gained while enjoying a beautiful day out at the Lake!

Wishing all a safe summer!

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