Tisha B’Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which occurred on the ninth of Av.
Tisha B’Av means “the ninth (day) of Av.” This year it begins at sunset on August 9.
Tisha B’Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av.
Israel Teitelbaum, cofounder of Parents for Free Choice in Education, recently had the opportunity to present Presidential candidate John McCain with the organization’s proposal for school choice legislation—the Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity. This would require the states to provide equitable educational funding for children in public and non-public schools, while respecting the liberty of schools in hiring and provision of services.
This would fulfill what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 tragically omitted—education. While our leaders saw fit to require equitable treatment in housing, employment, travel and entertainment, they deemed education unworthy of such protection for those in private and religious schools, and we are suffering the bitter consequences.
Twenty-five year old Haran Yaffe smiles. “It’s a miracle I’m alive,” he says. “I was the most severely wounded soldier during the second Lebanese War. They said my chances were slim, but here I am. They said I’d never walk, and now I dance. They said I’d never play my music again, and…” He takes up his guitar, and his eyes smile as his fingers move confidently over the strings.
“The surgeons saved my life, but the therapists at the Reuth Medical Center have saved my reason for living: my music,” says Haran, who grew up in Amirim, the musical stronghold of the Galilee in the 1980s, and was, in fact, working on his first album when he was called up on August 6, 2006. Haran’s family proudly acknowledges their arrival in Israel after the Spanish Inquisition and expulsion, and traces their roots to the Pinto and Angel families.
In the Israeli town of Sderot, parents cannot send their children outside to play on a beautiful day. Soccer fields are no longer home to after-school games. There is no sound of laughter or any other usual childhood noises. The streets are not filled with children riding bicycles but rather with an eerie silence.
As rockets launched from the nearby Gaza Strip continue to fall on Sderot, life is at a standstill, especially for the town’s 3,000 children, who are forced to remain indoors all day rather than risk the chance that they won’t be able to reach a bomb shelter quickly enough during a rocket attack.
For the second year in a row, the Sephardic community of New York and NJ has graciously chosen to open their homes and hearts to Israel’s children of fallen soldiers by hosting a group of Bar/Bat Mitzvah aged youth taking part in the Friends of the IDF Legacy Program. The children will be greeted by our generous community for a welcoming weekend in Deal, NJ, to be followed by 10 days of fun-filled activities at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires.
When Emily Tammam, age 4, of West Long Branch, was about to get her first haircut, she and her mother decided to make it a memorable event by donating 10 inches of her curly locks to Zichron Menachem, a Jerusalem-based organization that provides natural hair wigs to children who have lost their hair due to illness. When Emily’s classmates at Center Play School (CPS) at the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center in Deal Park heard about this special mitzvah, their teacher Mrs. Peggy Wolfe decided to donate their classroom tzedakah money to the organization.
Naomi was desperate: newly married and on precarious financial ground, she and her husband felt totally incapable of properlycaring for the child she carried. Their social worker agreed with her husband. Abortion was the only choice. She would or could not listen to family members who tried to dissuade her against taking this irrevocable step. Procedures were followed, forms were duly submitted and an abortion was scheduled for a few days later. Then word reached EFRAT.
What is EFRAT? EFRAT was established by Mr. H. Feingenbaum, a Holocaust survivor. After immigrating to Israel after the war, and seeing the few that had survived the Nazi horror, he realized one thing. The way to the continued survival and with G-d’s help, resurgence of the Jewish people, was to increase the numbers of Jews being born. Mr. Feingenbaum’s goal in founding the organization was to increase the birthrate in the Jewish State by preventing unnecessary abortions.
What is metabolism? Your metabolism, experts say, involves a complex network of hormones and enzymes that not only convert food but also affect how efficiently you burn that fuel. Our metabolism establishes the rate at which we burn our calories and, ultimately, how quickly we gain and how easily we lose weight.
Of course, not everyone burns calories at the same rate. Your metabolism is influenced by your age. Metabolism naturally slows about 5% per decade after age 30. Men generally burn more calories than women. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate will be. And yes, heredity makes a difference. Some people just burn calories at a slower rate than others. Occasionally, a defect in the thyroid gland can slow metabolism.
Getting sick during a vacation can do more than spoil a trip. It can also lead to long-term negative health consequences. Diseases that have been eradicated in the United States are still active in certain countries, and the water supply is not always safe for drinking.
Fortunately, people can protect themselves against illness when they travel. The Maimonides Travel Medicine Service—which is overseen and staffed entirely by infectious disease physicians—offers comprehensive pre-trip medical care, reducing the likelihood that serious illness will occur while abroad.
Thirst Quenching, Soul Quenching
Kosher hot dogs, kosher chicken, kosher pizza, kosher strawberries—these are all part of a regular kosher diet. Well here’s a new one to add to the list: kosher water.
People turn to bottled water for one thing in particular: purity. And what’s more pure than something that’s certified kosher?
And with a certification from the Orthodox Union, Mizmor Kosher Water is capitalizing on the importance of purity and kashrut in the marketplace.
It was evident from the beginning of the year that Israel was to be a major theme of the 2008-2009 school year at Hillel Yeshiva. In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, Hillel students participated in various programs and projects.
For the first time, Hillel Yeshiva hosted two women from the Sherut Leumi program in Israel. These young women work as full-time volunteers at Hillel in place of their obligation to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Our volunteers, Mor and Adi, help pre-school through 8th grade students learn more about Israeli history and culture. In addition to organizing fun activities for Rosh Hodesh, the girls are involved with students on a daily basis, whether it be in tefilla (prayer), learning the Hebrew language, or as assistants in the classroom. Their presence has certainly helped make our students more aware of the importance of Israel, and has instilled in them a love and affinity for our homeland.
During its quarter of a century of educating hundreds of students, the Shehebar Sephardic Center has produced over 150 rabbis and communal leaders who accepted positions throughout the world on practically every continent and in the most out-of-the-way cities from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, to France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Yugoslavia, to South America, South Africa, Zimbabwe and many others—too numerous to list.
The skies in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn were illuminated with the fire of Torah recently, as the Madison Torah Center hosted their first annual L’ag B’Omer celebration. As the sun set, a huge bonfire was built by the Rabbanim and local residents in the spacious schoolyard of the Yeshiva Mikdash Melech girl’s school, adjacent to the Madison Torah Center. Over 200 yeshivah boys and girls and their parents enjoyed the sounds of festive songs praising Hashem that were played over the professional sound system. The men and boys danced with unbridled joy around the magnificent bonfire.
Some people like large gatherings, others more intimate get-togethers, but one thing is for certain—there can never be enough opportunities for the singles of our community to meet and mingle. Kudos to all the organizations and institutions out there who, with their tireless committees, work diligently to keep our singles entertained, safe, and unified.
To help kick off an event-filled summer were three unique activities—two held at the Jersey Shore—a paintball excursion on Memorial Day weekend, a karaoke competition on the Saturday night of Shavuot weekend, and a Tea Lounge Night held in the beautiful lobby of Magen David Yeshivah.
