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Rabbi Shlomo Braun Welcomes Captain Kenneth M. Quick

Rabbi Shlomo Braun Welcomes Captain Kenneth M. Quick 

 Rabbi Shlomo Braun representing Senator Martin J. Goldin officially welcomed Captain Kenneth M. Quick on Thursday, June 25 at the Community Board 12 as the Captain of the 66th precinct, where he took charge three months ago.

At the 66th Precinct it is customary for many years, that the precinct Captain meets with community leaders and residents the third Thursday of each month to discuss in dialogue the improvements and the problems of the local area.  At that time there is also an opportunity to hear updates on the latest crimes and find out about different programs available to the community.

After welcoming Captain Quick to his new post, Rabbi Braun discussed publicly the traffic problem in the Boro Park Community. He stated that he does not have a solution available.  Captain Quick agreed by commenting “if you have a solution please share it with me.”  The district manager, Mr. Spitzer stated that there is presently a study being done to turn 15th and 16th Avenues to a one way street and perhaps this will release some of the major traffic jams from the other Avenues as well.

Rabbi Braun who is a community leader for the past 45 years and had extensive dealings with the local community and Governmental organizations,  felt it was a wise choice for the Boro Park and Flatbush Community to receive such a distinguished & most impressive Commanding Officer  Kenneth M. Quick, assigned to the 66th Precinct, and extended  him, best wishes for much success in his new position.

 

Midreshet Eshel’s Leadership Program

Betty and Morris Esses graciously opened their home for a Bake Sale and Chinese Auction to benefit Midreshet Eshel’s Leadership Program. Their daughter, Nina, a Yeshivah of Flatbush graduate, recently completed the first year of this exclusive two-year program.
There were many activities throughout the opening evening and the following day. Ricky Cohen kicked off the event with an inspiring class for couples on “Building a Marriage of Love, Passion and Understanding,” and Adele Chabot spoke about her book, “Israel: The Best Secret Revealed.”
The next morning, Shirley Barnathan gave an informative demonstration on flower arranging. Mrs. Alouf gave a thought provoking class on “Ruth: The Paradigm of Hesed” followed by Esther Hidary’s class on “Women and Judaism.” Later in the day Rosette Setton taught participants how to make a Syrian treat—mouthwatering and delicious knafe.
Auction prizes included a stunning Shabbat table package imported from Emanuel in Israel, monogrammed dishes by Addy’s, electronics, jewelry and more. The grand prize was two round-trip airline tickets to Israel!
All of the funds raised went to help sustain the important work Midreshet Eshel does on behalf of the young women of the community. It was heartwarming to see Midreshet Eshel alumni from the past six years at the event—some with babies in tow!
Founded by community member Miriam Tawil and Rabbi Yosef Benarroch, Midreshet Eshel is a Jewish women’s post high school seminary in Israel that provides students with the opportunity to explore their rich Sephardic heritage and tradition in an exciting and innovative way.
Top candidates from community high schools are selected for the Women’s Leadership Program which began in the fall of 2014.
“Students must demonstrate that they have the potential to be leaders,” said Director Miriam Tawil. They must be highly motivated, self-starters, and goal oriented.”
Students develop intellectually, spiritually, socially and personally. The school and dormitories are located in Jerusalem’s Old City, in the heart of the Jewish Quarter. During the year, the students receive personalized leadership training, engage in intensive coursework, do extensive volunteering, and learn about Sephardic Heritage.
Two of the current four candidates, Camille Greenberg of Hillel Yeshiva and Raquel Sabbagh of Magen David Yeshivah, each spoke about the enriching experience of learning in the Old City two minutes away from the Kotel, the leaders they have learned from, the leadership skills they have acquired as well as the strength of overcoming the day to day challenges of life in a new country.
“This year has been the most adventure-packed, exciting and inspiring year of my life. I have learned and grown so much,” said Nina.
This coming year, she will be completing Stage 2 of the Leadership Program. Nina and her classmates will be giving back to the community by mentoring high school students, being mentored themselves by community educators and lay leaders, organizing monthly classes for high school and college age students as well as innovate new programs to strengthen the community’s youth.
Special thanks to all our sponsors and volunteers. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Aging Gracefully

When women get together, someone always brings up the latest anti-aging products—creams, serums, botox, or the latest filler. Some of us don’t like to admit that we visit our dermatologist many times a year to try the newest treatments. Some of us have a treatment on our lunch hour. More and more women are turning to a mini-procedure instead of a full face lift which, besides being very expensive, is more painful and the down time is much longer. If you tell your doctor you would like him to fill in your lips, crows feet or forehead—be sure to specify that you want the end result to look natural.

Getting older is inevitable—aging is optional. Whether or not you choose to have a nip or tuck occasionally, there are many other ways to avoid aging rapidly.
Taking good care of your skin is one of them. If your skin stays young looking you may never need a nip or a tuck.
Many women don’t realize how dry their skin is, because they are used to it. If you have dry skin, try cleansing, toning and moisturizing with products that contain Retin-A or mild glycolic acid, this will remove the top layer of flakiness from your skin so your face looks fresher and brighter.
Keep your skin moisturized at all times. If it gets dry after a few hours, you need a heavier moisturizer. Try one with an SPF, which will protect your skin from the sun. ‘
It’s also helpful to use a mild exfoliant twice a week, if your skin looks dull. For women over 40, or those who have very dry skin, a night cream is essential, as well as a rich eye cream to minimize crows feet. If you keep them next to your bed, or in your night table drawer, you will be more likely to remember to use them.
When it comes to moisturizer and other skin products, you don’t necessarily get what you pay for. Invest in quality moisturizers and night creams, but you don’t have to spend $400, when a $50 cream may work just as well.
Look for creams that contain vitamins A, E and D. Don’t fall for pretty packaging. Try to recognize the seduction of the beauty industry’s tactics designed to get you to spend more money than need be. The beauty magazines also play a big part, advertising expensive products on beautiful air brushed models, (who wear a size 0)!
Think of taking care of your skin as an investment in your anti-aging future and you will enjoy it, especially when you see the results. Forget about reclaiming your youth with very expensive skin care products that don’t deliver. Buy products with ingredients that nourish your skin. Be proud of your age and enjoy getting older—remember, it is inevitable!

FREE CPR Classes being offered by BLINK during the 9 days

FREE CPR Classes being offered by BLINK during the 9 days

In memory of Diane Azrak A”H

Men and Women separate, Ages 18+

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Israeli start-up freezes breast cancer in its tracks, without surgery

IceCure says that its cryoablation system can kill 
early-stage growths within minutes without surgery, let alone scarring.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women. Usually, treatment involves mastectomy and chemotherapy or radiation therapy. But there is a lesser-known alternative: cryoablation – to freeze the tumor in its tracks. Literally. No scarring, no hospital stay, though chemotherapy or radiation will still apply, IceCure Medical stresses.

This would be good news for women, given the American Association for Cancer Research projection of 440,000 breast cancer cases in 2030, compared with 283,000 in 2011. (Yes, that rate is faster than population growth, because of rising incidence in elderly women.)

Cryoablation has been around for 25 years and is commonly used to remove external skin blemishes, such as warts. Some companies, like IceCure, have developed it to freeze tumors too, but the Israeli company claims its technology is better.

“Other cryoablation companies use 25-year-old technology,” says IceCure CEO Hezi Himelfarb, an engineer. That old technology is large and clunky, and for that reason (plus safety regulations), its use is confined to operating theaters. IceCure’s system, the minimally invasive IceSense3, is compact and usable in any office, Himelfarb says.

Nor does it require a surgeon: a gynecologist or radiologist can use the device to freeze the tumor within minutes, and send the patient home, Himelfarb adds.

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Summer Cocktails – Frozen Drink Recipes Refreshing & Alcohol-Free

The next time you throw a party, try these summer drink recipes. Throw in some fancy straws and umbrellas and your guests will love them—and you won’t have to take anyone’s keys away from them, because there’s no alcohol included, which sets a great example for your children. Most of the drinks are pareve; however, some call for milk

Fruit Loops

Fruit Loops combines the sharp tastes of pineapple, cranberry, orange juice and sweet grenadine syrup. Stir and serve over ice, garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.

1
Ingredients
• 3 ounces pineapple juice
• 2 ounces orange juice
• 1 ounce cranberry juice
• 1/2 ounce grenadine syrup
• Slice of orange
• Ice
In a chilled highball glass, add ice and stir in juices. Add the grenadine syrup and garnish with orange slice.

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Rabbi Shlomo Braun Participates in Washington at 30th Anniversary of the Commission of America’s Heritage Abroad

On Thursday, June 18, an elite group of Rabbinical leaders; Ambassador’s of several European countries, representatives from the House and the Senate gathered in Washington in the magnificent Senate’s Kennedy Caucus Room to celebrate the monumental accomplishments of the late Rabbi Zvi Kestenbaum.  Among the numerous life missions was to preserve and protect cemeteries and Synagogues throughout central and Eastern Europe, where his ancestors were buried.

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Sunscreen Don’t Leave Home Without It!

Most of us are aware that the sun is harmful to our skin. Now that summer is upon us, we can arm ourselves with knowledge that will allow us to have fun in the sun and enjoy its warmth while protecting our skin from its harmful rays.

Shield yourself with clothing, a hat and glasses whenever possible. That’s a great start, but the sun can penetrate our clothing, so it’s important to apply sunscreen as well. The trick is to buy the right product, have it on hand and remember to use it.
For prolonged outdoor activity, choose a sunscreen that offers a sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 or higher. Those with fair skin will want to use a higher number.
Choose a sunscreen effective against both UVA and UVB rays, typically identified as a broad spectrum sunscreen.
Apply sunscreen liberally. For adult protection, use 1 ounce per application. Don’t spread it too thin. Apply sunscreen on dry skin, between 20 and 30 minutes before sun exposure begins. If you are at the beach or pool, apply sunscreen again after swimming. All sunscreens lose some degree of effectiveness when skin is submerged in water. Although many say they are waterproof and sweat proof, their effectiveness diminishes when long periods are spent in the water. For best results, reapply as directed.

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The Rude Awakening Program

The Deal Test Site, also known as the Joe Palaia Park in Ocean Township,  New Jersey, is a peaceful place to walk, bike ride, and appreciate nature. So, when a multitude of fire fighters and fire engines, police officers and police cars, emergency responders and emergency vehicles; golf carts, close to 500 students from Hillel, Magen David, and Flatbush Yeshivahs and a crane dropping cars filled a section of the park for an anti-drinking and driving program, it was a rare spectacle, indeed.
The woman responsible for the commotion was Esther Tebele, mother of four Hillel graduates and a Hillel freshman. Eight years ago, she came across an article about a program called Rude Awakening and their spectacular full-day seminar that educated teens about the ramifications of drinking and driving. Esther wanted Hillel to participate in the program, so she contacted Police Officer Jim Roese, who has been running the Rude Awakening Program for over a decade.
Officer Roese launched this initiative after he was involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver in 1993. Since that dreadful event, he has been passionate about educating people about the dangers of drunk driving.

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Spain passes citizenship plan for descendants of Jews exiled centuries ago

Spain’s parliament has approved a law that will ease the path to citizenship for descendants of Jews who fled the country five centuries ago.

It will allow those who can trace their roots to the expelled Jewish community, also known as Sephardic Jews, to apply for a Spanish passport from October.

The aim is to correct what Spain’s government has called a “historic mistake”.

Tens of thousands of Jews were expelled in 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition.

Those who remained had to convert to Catholicism or risked being burnt at the stake.

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Barkai Yeshivah’s 2nd Annual Art Fair

The halls and classrooms of Barkai Yeshivah were filled with a variety of activities, which kept attendees busy for hours during their 2nd Annual Art Fair.

Art Educators, Barbara Sakkal and Sara Weinstock Aranov, took great pride in showcasing the creative talents of the students, as works of art by every child in the school, from kindergarten through the 8th grade, were exhibited. The lower level was magically transformed into a sophisticated art gallery, where paintings and sculptures, prints and puppets came to life through the imagination of the children.
In addition to the gallery exhibit, there were many activities for both children and parents to enjoy  throughout the day.
Interactive art workshops in hat making, wire sculpture, and drawing to music were led by graduates of the Brooklyn College Masters Program in Art Education. The Community Mural had artists, young and old—children, parents, grandparents and staff—lined up to offer their contribution to a wall of patterned circles. Another community project, a group sculpture, grew and took form over the course of four hours, with children and adults cooperating with each other to build a construction out of cardboard.
Alex Aranov, wood carver and Judaica artist demonstrated his craft while chiseling mezuzot from various types of wood. Completed mezuzot were on display and available for purchase.
In addition to displaying work from the art program, the Art Fair featured performing arts, both dramatic and musical. A theater was set up with stadium seating for the audience to enjoy the performances. The first one, “Tableau Vivant,” which means “living picture,” brought to life The Starry Night  by Vincent

Camaflouged Hands and Animal PuppetsArt Fair committee
Van Gogh. The 3rd grade girls performed in glowing costumes against a glow-in-the-dark reproduction of the popular painting. The girls sang lyrics about the stars while performing a ribbon dance which mimicked the movement of the artist’s energetic night sky. Barkai teachers, Deborah Schecter and Rachelle Sitt, wrote and directed the presentation.
The second performance was presented by the Barkai Concert Band, under the direction of Middle School Music Teacher Peter Hanson. The band which formed this year, was supported  by the Barkai PTA which provided the program with professional wind and percussion instruments.

Peter Hanson with the Barkai Concert Band
Peter Hanson made a second appearance with his jazz combo, which played smooth jazz in the gallery throughout the day.
A new attraction, the Shuka Truck was parked at the entrance to the school, serving Israeli style shakshuka. The food was so delicious and popular that it sold out before the end of the day.
The Art Fair, which requires a full year of planning, is a collaboration between the Art Program and the Barkai PTA. Co-chairs of the Event were Barbara Azizo, Director of the Arts Program, Aimee Bailey, President Elect of the PTA, and Susan Sorscher, Curator of the Art Gallery. The Fair reflects Barkai Yeshivah’s strong commitment to the arts.

Enjoying a Jazz performance

The Incredible History of a Greek Jewish Shul in NYC

A festive trip to Congregation Kehila Kedosha Janina, the only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere

This past Sunday, strings of Greek, Israeli and American flags danced in the breeze over a Lower East Side block. The air smelled of honey. Long lines of people waited to nosh on baklava and biscochos, a traditional Sephardic cookie. Under a big banner reading YASOU! a diverse crowd of Jews, Latinos, Chinese-Americans—along with the typical mix of white-sneaker-wearing fanny-pack-sporting tourists and local hipsters with expensive haircuts—listened to live bands rocking out with ouds and daoulis. (I especially enjoyed the awesomely-named Pontic Firebird, which plays dance music from the western Pontic zone of the Black Sea.)

The Greek Jewish festival was sponsored by Kehila Kedosha Janina, a tiny synagogue on Broome Street between Eldridge and Allen Streets. I’d passed it many times—it’s only a few blocks from my apartment—assuming that it was one of the many small shuls in the neighborhood that had become fancy condos. But no: Kehila Kedosha Janina is the only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere.

The Romaniotes are a people who view themselves as neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi. According to their oral tradition, they’re descended from Jews who were put on a slave ship to Rome after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE; a storm grounded the ship in Greece, and there they stayed for 2000 years. Their unique culture flowered. They didn’t speak Ladino, the Spanish-Hebrew hybrid language of Sephardic Jewry; they spoke their own Judeo-Greek language, sometimes called Yevanic—a mix of Greek, Hebrew and Turkish with a few Spanish words thrown in.

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Supreme Court strikes down law in Jerusalem passport case

(CNN)The Supreme Court struck down part of a federal statute Monday that allowed Americans born in Jerusalem to record in their passport “Israel” as the place of birth.

The 6-3 decision is a victory for the Executive, and a loss for Congress and the 12-year-old boy caught in the middle of a separation of powers dispute.

For the last 60 years, the United States policy has been to recognize no state as having sovereignty over Jerusalem.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the opinion, held that “over the last 100 years, there has been scarcely any debate over the President’s power to recognize foreign states.” Kennedy said that it was “clear” that in the statute at issue in the case, “Congress wanted to express its displeasure with the President’s policy, by among other things, commanding the Executive to contradict his own, early stated position on Jerusalem. This Congress cannot do.”

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Should New York City Fund Security Guards for Yeshivas?

Standing on the steps of City Hall in downtown Manhattan, Letitia James, the New York City public advocate, turned to the private school students arrayed like a backdrop behind her and ended the speech she gave in mid-May with a shout: “We want school safety agents!”

The children — Muslim girls with their heads covered, Catholic school students in vests, a few Jewish kids in yarmulkes — cheered back.

The rally was part of an increasingly high-pitched effort to ensure the passage of a bill, favored by city religious schools, that would assign a city-funded security guard to each New York City private school. Long a priority of the Orthodox Union’s Advocacy Center, the bill has attracted major backing in the New York City Council but has yet to draw support from the mayor’s office.

The bill would provide at least one guard from the New York City Police Department’s school safety division to every nonpublic elementary or high school in New York City that requested one, and would cost the city up to $50 million a year, according to a City Council estimate. It’s been a long-term goal for its sponsor, Councilman David Greenfield.

“This is an issue of public safety,” Greenfield said. “Religious bias attacks have gone up in New York City.”

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