See Page 79 $1.00 WWW.5TJT.COM
en ,arp DECEMBER 18, 2009
INSIDE
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MindBiz
Esther Mann, LMSW
Please, Not Him
30
The Hills Are Alive In The Shomron
Hannah Reich Berman 35 Moshe Goldsmith is the
mayor of Itamar, a city that sits
The Candle Within on one of the highest moun-
Rabbi Avi Shafran 38 tainous perches and provides a
stunning panoramic view of
‘No Recess!’ much of the land of Israel. With
Elisheva Liss 61 a simple turn of the head, on a
Chanukah 1917 very clear day you can see forev-
Larry Domnitch 62 er and even catch a glimpse of
that which lies slightly beyond.
It’s mid-morning on Monday,
and my friend Ophir wants to
know which route I want to
take to get to Itamar. He says we
can take the safer route and cir-
cumvent the road that passes by
MEDIA AND LASHON HA’RA
BY RABBI YAIR
HOFFMAN
Miracle On Ice.
Part 1
See Page 46
In its latest issue, the Jewish
Week reported on a growing
scandal involving the head of a
yeshiva for ba’alei teshuvah who
also runs an organization
involved in promoting conver-
sions among intermarried cou-
ples. The person has ostensibly
resigned his position as leader
of that organization. The allega-
tions are based upon tapes that
have been anonymously re-
leased. Some supporters of the
Aleh 5T honorees.
See Page 41 An Enlightening Evening
YU Chanukah Dinner.
See Page 43
CANDLE LIGHTING Senator Kirsten Gillibrand looks on as the menorah is lit at Sunday
night’s NORPAC dinner. NORPAC is the largest American multi-candidate
Dec. 18 – 4:11 PM political action committee. Mr. Stanley Stern is president of the
Dec. 25 – 4:15 PM Long Island Chapter, and, together with his family, hosted Senator
Gillibrand at his home in Lawrence. See Page 72
VOL. 10 NO. 12
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
BY LARRY GORDON
Leading the Minchah prayers on a mountaintop in Itamar,
overlooking the city of Shechem.
organization maintain that the
tapes are forgeries; others are
not sure.
In this article, an attempt will
be made to explore some of the
halachic issues involved, with
an application to this develop-
ing story, as well as the reactions
of contemporary gedolim.
Serious And Complex Laws
The laws of lashon ha’ra are
quite serious and complex.
Much has been written about
this category of Jewish law. The
Continued on Page 12
PhotoByJoshJustic
1 TEVES 5770 .
the Arab town of Ramallah
(which Israelis are forbidden to
enter). Or, it’s completely okay
with him to go straight up Okef
Ramallah, the road that heads
past a number of significant
and glorious settlement com-
munities, including Ofra, Eli,
and Shiloh, among others.
It’s fear of past incidents of
stones being thrown at passing
PhotoByEliezerFranklin
cars and even shots being fired
resulting in fatalities that keeps
people away not only from this
Continued on Page 10
HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE
Flying Singers
BY LARRY GORDON money—much more than the
$25 extra per seat that it costs
We are in the upper deck of a on JetBlue for those additional
747–400, flying to Israel on a nine inches that allow you to
Saturday night and a rapidly stretch out more than the pas-
evaporating Sunday. We sleep a sengers seated behind you. Up
few hours, consume several here on the top deck of the El Al
meals at the oddest of times, jet, there’s significantly more
and then we are there. We arrive than a few inches of extra room
in the everyday precious Israel in front and back of you as well
that no one has any time to real- as on either side.
ly understand or report about. A treat up here on this second
Flying with a little more
legroom costs a lot more Continued on Page 16
FREE RUNNING
TREES ON EMPTY
Jerusalem Municipality Another Mother’s Musings
Distributing X-Mas Trees BY PHYLLIS J. LUBIN
BY SAMUEL SOKOL
It’s 2:53 a.m. Tuesday morn-
The municipality of the city ing. It’s certainly quiet as I sit in
of Jerusalem announced Tues- front of the computer screen
day that it will be distributing with the comfort of The $25,000
free Christmas trees to the city’s Pyramid (yes, it’s not even The
Christian population. $100,000 Pyramid) playing on
For a period of three hours the television to keep me com-
next Wednesday morning, city pany. As I glance over at the
officials will run a tree distribu- couch, I see the megaphone.
tion center at the entrance to My Uncle Arthur had called
the Old City at the Jaffa Gate. me up earlier in the week: “I’m
The Jaffa Gate is the endpoint of warning you, it’s loud. But I saw
Continued on Page 18 Continued on Page 19

Free Trees
Continued from Front Cover
Jaffa Road, one of Jerusalem’s main thor-
oughfares, and is among the more popu-
lar tourist destinations in the city.
According to the municipality, this ges-
ture has been taking place yearly since
the time of Teddy Kollek, who served as
mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 until 1993,
when he was unseated by Ehud Olmert.
The International Christian Embassy
in Jerusalem, a Protestant Zionist organi-
zation, lauded the practice. A spokesman
for the group called it “a lovely gesture.”
However, there is some controversy
surrounding the city’s actions, which are
funded by taxpayer money. The distribu-
tion of trees by a Jewish government is
seen by some as an unacceptable promo-
tion of religion.
Jonathan Rosenblum, the director of
Jewish Media Resources and a popular
chareidi columnist for the Jerusalem Post,
expressed his disappointment with the
Jerusalem city government.
Rosenblum told the Five Towns Jewish
Times that Israel is the only country in
the world where Jews are not constantly
reminded of their minority status and
where the nature of the public square is
Jewish.
The columnist stated that this initia-
tive is “just another way of conveying the
message to Jewish youth in Israel that
there is nothing to take pride in, there is
no reason to be jealous of the public
square in any way,” and calling it “anoth-
er blow to Jewish identity.”
While Rosenblum objects strongly to
the measure, he was emphatic that the
18 December 18, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES
State of Israel “should not impede the
Christians in Israel.”
However, he contends, for the city gov-
ernment to “simply make no distinction
or go out of its way to make a public mes-
sage to bring Christmas into equality…is a
disaster.” Rosenblum claims that
Jerusalem’s leaders “are in no way try[ing]
to preserve the Jewish nature of the pub-
lic square.”
“Interest will be among non-religious
Jews,” Rosenblum warned.
The Municipality defended the prac-
Jerusalem’s leaders “are in no way
try[ing] to preserve the Jewish
nature of the public square.”
tice, explaining that it engages in activi-
ties for the benefit of all three major
monotheistic faiths.
A city spokesman explained that by
distributing trees at one central location
for free, the city has prevented Christians
from opening disruptive Christmas tree
markets.
Michael Ben-Ari, a freshman Knesset
member from the right-wing National
Union party disagrees strongly. Ben-Ari
told the Five Towns Jewish Times that the
municipality’s explanation is “stupid.”
The fiery legislator stated that “the city
of Jerusalem is going out of its way to be
cordial regarding the Christian holidays.
The distribution of trees is an appropriate
response to the religion of grace, which
in the past, distributed hanging trees [to
the Jews] and which brought Jews to the
auto-da-fé.”
Religious opposition in this matter
stems from the way in which
Christianity as a religion is classified in
traditional Jewish legal sources. Since
Christianity believes that God is made
up of a trinity of beings, rabbinical codi-
fiers such as Maimonides have described
the religion as avodah zarah, a Hebrew
term whose nearest English equivalent
is idol worship. Under Jewish law, it is
forbidden to financially support such
worship. As such, observant Jews are
opposed to the use of their tax dollars
for the purpose of aiding in the celebra-
tion of a Christian holiday.
The liberal and secular Meretz party,
however, disagrees with the Orthodox
position. The Meretz platform calls for
“separation of religion from the state
and separation of religious institutions
from political institutions.” The party
is generally considered at the forefront
of the battle for separation of church
and state.
A Meretz spokesman explained that so
long as the city of Jerusalem is support-
ing Judaism, Islam, and Christianity in
the same way, the party has no objec-
tions to the practice of distributing
Christmas trees.
She explained that such a view does
not contradict the party’s platform
regarding the mixture of church and
state. The party’s main objection, she
offered, is the power of the Israeli
Rabbinate and the role of Jewish law in
such matters as marriage and divorce.
According to the 2006 Israeli census,
Christians make up only two percent of
Jerusalem’s population. ❖
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