Rabbi Pinchos Lipschuts talks about Rubashkin 1:30:00
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Live at the TU Presidents Retreat
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The SSSS Food Truck Arriving soon in Lakewood
The new South Side Sandwich Shop and Smokehouse Food truck grand opening soon. for updates follow @ssssfoodtrucknj
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32 Yidden In IDF Jails this Shabbos אגודים בצרה
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5778 Lakewood Zmanim ערב שבת פרשת ויגש
Lakewood NJ Friday, December 22, 2017 / ד׳ טבת תשע״ח
-Candle lighting: 4:17pm
-Shkiah: 4:35pm
-Shabbos weather: Hi of 59, Rather cloudy with occasional rain , areas of fog
אַתָּה אֶחָד וְשִׁמְךָ אֶחָד, וּמִי כְּעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל, גּוֹי אֶחָד בָּאָרֶץ.. מְנוּחַת אַהֲבָה וּנְדָבָה מְנוּחַת אֱמֶת וֶאֱמוּנָה מְנוּחַת שָׁלום וְשַׁלְוָה וְהַשְׁקֵט וָבֶטַח. שבת שלום
-Candle lighting: 4:17pm
-Shkiah: 4:35pm
-Shabbos weather: Hi of 59, Rather cloudy with occasional rain , areas of fog
אַתָּה אֶחָד וְשִׁמְךָ אֶחָד, וּמִי כְּעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל, גּוֹי אֶחָד בָּאָרֶץ.. מְנוּחַת אַהֲבָה וּנְדָבָה מְנוּחַת אֱמֶת וֶאֱמוּנָה מְנוּחַת שָׁלום וְשַׁלְוָה וְהַשְׁקֵט וָבֶטַח. שבת שלום
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Melava Malka Motzei shabbos Parshas Vayigash 5778 Lakewood, NJ
-Melava Malka Khal Tiferes Shimon at 299 Monmouth Avenue 8:45 pm B'hishtatfus Rav Shlomo Miller shlita, Guest speaker Rav Shmuel Halberstadt shlita R' Yitzchok Aryeh Epstein shlita
-Melava Malka Khal Zichron Yaakov Rav Gissinger shul at the KZY Simcha hall 7:30 pm Guest speaker Harav Shlomo Feivel Schustal shlita (approx 9:25 pm) Kumzitz with Yehuda Aderet 8-8:45pm
-Parlor meeting for R' Bentzion Oring of Yerushalayim at 39 Trudy Lane Prospect Square 8:30 pm Hot milchig melavah malkah will be served
-Melava Malka for Yeshiva Shearis Hapleitah of Baltimore at 440 Glen Road Jackson, NJ 8:30 pm joined by Rav Shimon Hirsch Menahel, Rabbi Boruch Braun 4th grade Rebbe
-Siyum Hashas Melava Malka Sharei Torah Utfilah Rav Yisrael Panski 213 Pine street at the River Terrace 1094 River Avenue, Divrei Bracha Rosh Yeshiva Harav Yeruchom Olshin Shlita 8:00 pm
Parlor Meeting for Bais Medrash LTorah of Monsey (Rav Feivelsohns) at the home of Rav Avrohom Kammer shlita 8 Royal Avenue Lakewood 8:00pm Hot Fleishig Buffet
-Melava Malka Khal Zichron Yaakov Rav Gissinger shul at the KZY Simcha hall 7:30 pm Guest speaker Harav Shlomo Feivel Schustal shlita (approx 9:25 pm) Kumzitz with Yehuda Aderet 8-8:45pm
-Parlor meeting for R' Bentzion Oring of Yerushalayim at 39 Trudy Lane Prospect Square 8:30 pm Hot milchig melavah malkah will be served
-Melava Malka for Yeshiva Shearis Hapleitah of Baltimore at 440 Glen Road Jackson, NJ 8:30 pm joined by Rav Shimon Hirsch Menahel, Rabbi Boruch Braun 4th grade Rebbe
-Siyum Hashas Melava Malka Sharei Torah Utfilah Rav Yisrael Panski 213 Pine street at the River Terrace 1094 River Avenue, Divrei Bracha Rosh Yeshiva Harav Yeruchom Olshin Shlita 8:00 pm
Parlor Meeting for Bais Medrash LTorah of Monsey (Rav Feivelsohns) at the home of Rav Avrohom Kammer shlita 8 Royal Avenue Lakewood 8:00pm Hot Fleishig Buffet
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Letter: Only Local Rabbonim should Approve Eruvin in Lakewood
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Hespedim For Rav Shteinman ZTL in Lakewood
-Sunday: Live Video Hook up from EY at B"M D'Arlington 10:30 am
-Monday: at Zichron Binyomin 701 Princeton Avenue 6:00 pm Divrei Hesped by Harav Uren Reich shlita and Harav Yitzchok Rosengarten Shlita of Bnei Brak close Talmid of Rav Shteinman Zatzal
-Tuesday: Hespedim at BMG Beren hall 6:00 pm hall details to come
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-Monday: at Zichron Binyomin 701 Princeton Avenue 6:00 pm Divrei Hesped by Harav Uren Reich shlita and Harav Yitzchok Rosengarten Shlita of Bnei Brak close Talmid of Rav Shteinman Zatzal
-Tuesday: Hespedim at BMG Beren hall 6:00 pm hall details to come
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Oif Simchas Lakewood December, 24 2017
-Vort: Hachosson Menashe Abrahamson to Hakallah Bas R' Tuli Raitzik at Stolin Simcha hall 153 E. 7th Street Lakewood 3:00 pm-6:00 pm
-Vort:Hachosson Nechemia Rosenwasser to Hakallah Bas R' Yisroel Ahron Lebovics at Ohr Tuvia 969 E End Ave Lakewood, NJ 7-10 PM
-Vort: Hachoson Reuven Mendlowitz to Hakallah Bracha Baila Feder Bas R' Shloime at 109 Magnolia Drive Lakewood 6:00 pm- 9:00 pm
-Chasuna: Grossberg- Lessin at Lake Terrace hall (1690 Oak st)
-Chasuna: Tepfer- Mayerfeld Chasuna at Fountain Ballroom Lakewood CHeder
-Vort:Hachosson Nechemia Rosenwasser to Hakallah Bas R' Yisroel Ahron Lebovics at Ohr Tuvia 969 E End Ave Lakewood, NJ 7-10 PM
-Vort: Hachoson Reuven Mendlowitz to Hakallah Bracha Baila Feder Bas R' Shloime at 109 Magnolia Drive Lakewood 6:00 pm- 9:00 pm
-Chasuna: Grossberg- Lessin at Lake Terrace hall (1690 Oak st)
-Chasuna: Tepfer- Mayerfeld Chasuna at Fountain Ballroom Lakewood CHeder
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Shiva Info
-shiva for R' Shmuel Koplowitz ZT"L at 219 E 4h street Lakewood (between Dewey and Manetta). Shachris 7:40 Mincha 4:00 pm Maariv 8:00 pm Getting up Thursday morning
-Mishpachas Eidelman sitting Shiva for Hatinok Dovi a"h at 108 Chateau Drive Lakewood shachris 7:30 Mincha 1:30 Maariv 7:30 pm getting up Monday Morning Dec 25th
-Mishpachas Eidelman sitting Shiva for Hatinok Dovi a"h at 108 Chateau Drive Lakewood shachris 7:30 Mincha 1:30 Maariv 7:30 pm getting up Monday Morning Dec 25th
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Audio: R' Yehoshua Balkany Discusses the Rubashkin Release on Talkline Radio show
Last night on the Zev Brenner show Rabbi yehoshua Balkany brother in Law of Shalom Mordechai Rubashkin discusses the release. He slammed Senator Chuck Schumer for opposing Rubashkin’s release when President Trump initially asked him to write a letter in support of a presidential pardon. Trump would have done it sooner if not for the intense criticism he faces on a daily basis from the media. He said it was Satmar and not Lubavitch who spearheaded the campaign to free Rubashkin from prison. A group of 24 stamar chasidim are to thank for igniting the campaign joining both factions of Satmar who worked day and night. They visited him every week and took on a large financial chunk. He mentioned Rabbi Pinchos Lipshutz of the Yated for helping with lawyers and advertisements spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising that brought up millions of dollars to help R' Shalom Mordche for the great injustice
that was done to him. Alan Dershowitz brought thPresident e case to Obama. Obama asked Dershowitz to get public support, they sent in 76,000 letters but the bluff was called and nothing was done. He concluded it was a klal yisrael simcha everyone did their part to free him.
that was done to him. Alan Dershowitz brought thPresident e case to Obama. Obama asked Dershowitz to get public support, they sent in 76,000 letters but the bluff was called and nothing was done. He concluded it was a klal yisrael simcha everyone did their part to free him.
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Agra Dpirka Legal Holiday Program in Lakewood
-Lakewood Township Municipal Offices will be Closed on Monday, December 25.
-No busing many schools expect traffic
-Agra Dpirka Legal Holiday program at Khal Zichron Yaakov (Rav Gissinger)
from 9:30 am-11:30 am at 175 Sunset Road Lakewood, NJ
10:30 am Rabbi Daniel Neustadt shlita will speak about The Halachic & Hashkafic approach towards tzedaka collection during davening
11:15 am- Rav Micha Cohn shlita R"M Mesivta o long beach will speak on the Sugya of: Hashovas Aveida profitting Vs. Preventing loss to others
-Yarchei Kallah at Ohr Mattisyahu - Shachris 7:45 & 8:45. Followed by breakfast and Seder and shiur. Mincha and lunch at 12:25
-No busing many schools expect traffic
-Agra Dpirka Legal Holiday program at Khal Zichron Yaakov (Rav Gissinger)
from 9:30 am-11:30 am at 175 Sunset Road Lakewood, NJ
10:30 am Rabbi Daniel Neustadt shlita will speak about The Halachic & Hashkafic approach towards tzedaka collection during davening
11:15 am- Rav Micha Cohn shlita R"M Mesivta o long beach will speak on the Sugya of: Hashovas Aveida profitting Vs. Preventing loss to others
-Yarchei Kallah at Ohr Mattisyahu - Shachris 7:45 & 8:45. Followed by breakfast and Seder and shiur. Mincha and lunch at 12:25
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Rubashkin and Lakewood
"Nowhere was Reb Shalom Mordechai's plight more keenly felt than here in Lakewood, says Rabbi Pinchos Lipscuhtz. "Thousands of people came to the rallies we made in Lakewood". He got the most chizuk, the most letters, the most connection from Lakewood. It was a beautiful thing to see, he wanted to come to Lakewood the day after he came home to personally thank the community for standing behind him. And while logistically the proposed Thursday night event did not work out, there are plans in the works to have Reb Shalom Mordechai come to Lakewood next week.
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Why Lakewood Rabbis Voted for Trump
Great American Thinker BY Rabbi Yaakov Menkin
Not Just Jerusalem: Why America's Rabbis Voted Trump and Don't Regret It
Yes, you read correctly. America's rabbis voted for Donald Trump.
Given the common belief that Jews are liberal, this may come as a surprise to many. But not only do Orthodox Jews (the traditionally observant) have very different political leanings from their more liberal brethren, but they now encompass the vast majority of American Jewish clergy.
Lakewood, N.J. is the home of the largest rabbinic seminary in America and home to tens of thousands of its alumni. In a few square blocks, you'll encounter more rabbis than liberal seminaries have produced in several decades. Lakewood also produced the largest pro-Trump majority in 2016 of any New Jersey town, despite a higher percentage of immigrants, impoverished, and non-whites than most other pro-Trump communities.
Rabbis voted Trump not for financial benefits; it is liberal candidates who support generous government programs. They supported him not simply because of his pro-Israel posture, although he has exceeded expectations with his new, commonsense approach to the right of Israelis to live in peace and security. Neither did they blind themselves to Trump's failings. They do not support what he said on a bus 12 years ago or appreciate the un-presidential things he says or tweets on a daily basis. They look askance at casinos and beauty pageants and have little patience for "reality TV."
So what is it about Trump that they liked on Election Day, and like even more a year later?
First of all, Trump understands that good and evil remain vibrant in today's world and refuses to point fingers only at those who liberals agree are evil. Charlottesville provided a great example of this phenomenon.
No honest reading of the president's remarks has him calling white supremacists "fine people." This nonsense, so loudly proclaimed in the media, was designed to prevent sober analysis of Trump's true crime: he dared point out that violence and bigotry are not unique to those perceived as "right-wing." This, liberals could not countenance. As Maxine Waters put it, "No, Trump. Not on many sides – your side."
That liberal narrative is both false and profoundly dangerous. Our First Amendment liberties depend upon protection of free speech even for those with abhorrent views. Disruption of opposition events was a Nazi tactic, and had Antifa not violently employed it against the Nazis, we might hardly have heard of Charlottesville.
In the succeeding weeks and months, Antifa repeatedly proved President Trump correct, using force to stifle free speech not from Nazis, but from anyone with whom they disagreed -- including Ben Shapiro, the conservative, yarmulke-clad Jew who was the journalist most targeted by anti-Semites in 2016. Trump deserved an ovation for stating that hatred is not a one-sided phenomenon.
The leading belief of anti-Semites is that all Jewish property is stolen; this is something rabbis know from both rabbinic literature and world history. It is why Jews were forced to live in ghettos and barred from most professions during the Middle Ages. It is why the Nazis began with a boycott that declared that Germans should "protect themselves" rather than buy from Jews. And it is why the Arab League co-opted the German boycott, which leftists then renamed BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) to make a "human rights" cause out of economic warfare against Jews living in their ancestral homeland, something visited upon none of those engaged in true, unquestioned occupations of the homelands of others around the world.
Thus, anti-Semitism travels seamlessly between the far right and the far left. It is too real and too dangerous to be wielded as a partisan cudgel.
We already had a president who said Israel is "occupying" Palestinian land and who sat idly while the U.N. called Jewish life in Judea "illegal." Similar language was seven percentage points away from being part of the Democratic platform. The only foreign flag flown inside the DNC was Palestinian, while they burned the Israeli flag outside. That's not about Israel's politics, government, or policy. That's about anti-Semitism.
The Republican platform rejected the "false notion" that Israel is an occupier, and President Trump has unquestionably acted in accordance with those positions. He has a history of trusting visibly observant Jews, and he put two of them, Jared Kushner and Jason Dov Greenblatt, in charge of negotiating peace with Mahmoud Abbas. Their first demand was that Abbas stop funding terrorism. In any other context, this would seem obvious, yet this revolutionary idea entirely escaped previous negotiating teams.
Nikki Haley's indignant, even furious reaction to the U.N. Security Council's attempt to tell the United States where it can put its embassy to Israel was merely her latest verbal fusillade against U.N. bias regarding the world's sole Jewish state. Trump's decision to move the embassy, recognizing that no peace can be achieved that does not recognize the attachment of Jews to Jerusalem, showed that he is unafraid to speak truth to world powers. The administration was far too busy protecting Jewish interests to pay attention to Jewish liberals claiming that Trump was "encouraging" Alt-Right hatred.
And then there is the "big picture"– the underlying vision for the future of America. Western civilization traces its roots to what are called Judeo-Christian values, which trace their roots to a small community of liberated slaves clustered on the Eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
Their Bible sanctified human life and peace, while surrounding countries glorified warfare and considered fights to the death a form of entertainment. They taught that a ruler's power must be limited, that even a king must live within the law. They pioneered universal education, which other cultures reserved for the wealthy. And they valued family and social responsibility while others regarded these as signs of weakness.
Western civilization depends upon choosing biblical values over those of Greeks, Romans, Huns, and Visigoths. This is not a political posture, but reference to our moral foundation. It is a sad commentary that one party seems devoted to tearing down traditional moral norms, expressing the belief that what is new is automatically superior.
Rabbis were guided by rabbinic scholarship and their consciences. We do not look to politicians as role models, and the idea of a perfect human is foreign to Judaism in any case. Rather, an election is a binary choice. Which candidate and which party will better protect innocent lives – our lives – here and around the world, and keep America closer to our core values?
This is why rabbis voted for Trump in 2016 and are yet happier with that choice today.
Rabbi Menken is the managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/12/not_just_jerusalem_why_americas_rabbis_voted_trump_and_dont_regret_it.html#ixzz52AbOuSKb
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
Not Just Jerusalem: Why America's Rabbis Voted Trump and Don't Regret It
Yes, you read correctly. America's rabbis voted for Donald Trump.
Given the common belief that Jews are liberal, this may come as a surprise to many. But not only do Orthodox Jews (the traditionally observant) have very different political leanings from their more liberal brethren, but they now encompass the vast majority of American Jewish clergy.
Lakewood, N.J. is the home of the largest rabbinic seminary in America and home to tens of thousands of its alumni. In a few square blocks, you'll encounter more rabbis than liberal seminaries have produced in several decades. Lakewood also produced the largest pro-Trump majority in 2016 of any New Jersey town, despite a higher percentage of immigrants, impoverished, and non-whites than most other pro-Trump communities.
Rabbis voted Trump not for financial benefits; it is liberal candidates who support generous government programs. They supported him not simply because of his pro-Israel posture, although he has exceeded expectations with his new, commonsense approach to the right of Israelis to live in peace and security. Neither did they blind themselves to Trump's failings. They do not support what he said on a bus 12 years ago or appreciate the un-presidential things he says or tweets on a daily basis. They look askance at casinos and beauty pageants and have little patience for "reality TV."
So what is it about Trump that they liked on Election Day, and like even more a year later?
First of all, Trump understands that good and evil remain vibrant in today's world and refuses to point fingers only at those who liberals agree are evil. Charlottesville provided a great example of this phenomenon.
No honest reading of the president's remarks has him calling white supremacists "fine people." This nonsense, so loudly proclaimed in the media, was designed to prevent sober analysis of Trump's true crime: he dared point out that violence and bigotry are not unique to those perceived as "right-wing." This, liberals could not countenance. As Maxine Waters put it, "No, Trump. Not on many sides – your side."
That liberal narrative is both false and profoundly dangerous. Our First Amendment liberties depend upon protection of free speech even for those with abhorrent views. Disruption of opposition events was a Nazi tactic, and had Antifa not violently employed it against the Nazis, we might hardly have heard of Charlottesville.
In the succeeding weeks and months, Antifa repeatedly proved President Trump correct, using force to stifle free speech not from Nazis, but from anyone with whom they disagreed -- including Ben Shapiro, the conservative, yarmulke-clad Jew who was the journalist most targeted by anti-Semites in 2016. Trump deserved an ovation for stating that hatred is not a one-sided phenomenon.
The leading belief of anti-Semites is that all Jewish property is stolen; this is something rabbis know from both rabbinic literature and world history. It is why Jews were forced to live in ghettos and barred from most professions during the Middle Ages. It is why the Nazis began with a boycott that declared that Germans should "protect themselves" rather than buy from Jews. And it is why the Arab League co-opted the German boycott, which leftists then renamed BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) to make a "human rights" cause out of economic warfare against Jews living in their ancestral homeland, something visited upon none of those engaged in true, unquestioned occupations of the homelands of others around the world.
Thus, anti-Semitism travels seamlessly between the far right and the far left. It is too real and too dangerous to be wielded as a partisan cudgel.
We already had a president who said Israel is "occupying" Palestinian land and who sat idly while the U.N. called Jewish life in Judea "illegal." Similar language was seven percentage points away from being part of the Democratic platform. The only foreign flag flown inside the DNC was Palestinian, while they burned the Israeli flag outside. That's not about Israel's politics, government, or policy. That's about anti-Semitism.
The Republican platform rejected the "false notion" that Israel is an occupier, and President Trump has unquestionably acted in accordance with those positions. He has a history of trusting visibly observant Jews, and he put two of them, Jared Kushner and Jason Dov Greenblatt, in charge of negotiating peace with Mahmoud Abbas. Their first demand was that Abbas stop funding terrorism. In any other context, this would seem obvious, yet this revolutionary idea entirely escaped previous negotiating teams.
Nikki Haley's indignant, even furious reaction to the U.N. Security Council's attempt to tell the United States where it can put its embassy to Israel was merely her latest verbal fusillade against U.N. bias regarding the world's sole Jewish state. Trump's decision to move the embassy, recognizing that no peace can be achieved that does not recognize the attachment of Jews to Jerusalem, showed that he is unafraid to speak truth to world powers. The administration was far too busy protecting Jewish interests to pay attention to Jewish liberals claiming that Trump was "encouraging" Alt-Right hatred.
And then there is the "big picture"– the underlying vision for the future of America. Western civilization traces its roots to what are called Judeo-Christian values, which trace their roots to a small community of liberated slaves clustered on the Eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
Their Bible sanctified human life and peace, while surrounding countries glorified warfare and considered fights to the death a form of entertainment. They taught that a ruler's power must be limited, that even a king must live within the law. They pioneered universal education, which other cultures reserved for the wealthy. And they valued family and social responsibility while others regarded these as signs of weakness.
Western civilization depends upon choosing biblical values over those of Greeks, Romans, Huns, and Visigoths. This is not a political posture, but reference to our moral foundation. It is a sad commentary that one party seems devoted to tearing down traditional moral norms, expressing the belief that what is new is automatically superior.
Rabbis were guided by rabbinic scholarship and their consciences. We do not look to politicians as role models, and the idea of a perfect human is foreign to Judaism in any case. Rather, an election is a binary choice. Which candidate and which party will better protect innocent lives – our lives – here and around the world, and keep America closer to our core values?
This is why rabbis voted for Trump in 2016 and are yet happier with that choice today.
Rabbi Menken is the managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/12/not_just_jerusalem_why_americas_rabbis_voted_trump_and_dont_regret_it.html#ixzz52AbOuSKb
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
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Pedestrian Struck and killed on Cedarbridge
A pedestrian was struck a little after 7:30 this evening on Cedarbridge Boulevard near MLK in Lakewood.
Medics transported the patient in Traumatic arrest to Kimball hospital but was pronounced DOA. The area is not well lit and a dangerous place to cross. Just a few months ago a pedestrian was struck and killed at the same location on Friday night.
Misaskim services not needed.
see Video courtesy of FAA
Medics transported the patient in Traumatic arrest to Kimball hospital but was pronounced DOA. The area is not well lit and a dangerous place to cross. Just a few months ago a pedestrian was struck and killed at the same location on Friday night.
Misaskim services not needed.
see Video courtesy of FAA
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Oif Simchas Lakewood December 25, 2017
Engagements:
Avromi Pick (Lkwd) to Chaya Dusie Basch (Lkwd) Bas R' Tzvi
Aryeh Leiner to Devoiry Leiser from Lakewood.
Yakov Gordon (Lkwd) to Mindel Wrotzlovsky
Chasna Halpern- Rockoff Ateres Chana hall Bais Faiga hall
Chasuna: Winter-Barker at River Terrace, Lakewood
Avromi Pick (Lkwd) to Chaya Dusie Basch (Lkwd) Bas R' Tzvi
Aryeh Leiner to Devoiry Leiser from Lakewood.
Yakov Gordon (Lkwd) to Mindel Wrotzlovsky
Chasna Halpern- Rockoff Ateres Chana hall Bais Faiga hall
Chasuna: Winter-Barker at River Terrace, Lakewood
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Atzeres Hisoirerus in BMG for Rav Shteinman ZTL Next Monday
A Atzeres Hisoirerus will take place Next Monday January, 1st 2018 in Lakewood yeshiva following the Petirah of Rav Aaron Leib Shteinman Zatzal. Although he left a Tzavah not to have any Hespedim, it was consulted with Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlita to go ahead with it. Its called a atzeres and not a hesped. Speakers will be:
Harav Malkiel Kotler shlita
Harav Yeruchem Olshin Shlita
Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlita R"Y of Slabodka in EY
Harav Don Segal shlita
Harav Malkiel Kotler shlita
Harav Yeruchem Olshin Shlita
Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlita R"Y of Slabodka in EY
Harav Don Segal shlita
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Who will be Lakewood Mayor in 2018
The Mayor of Lakewood is usually voted on every year by the committee and it goes in rotation based on who has a majority of seats between Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans currently have a 3-2 majority. Last year Committeeman Delia was expected to be mayor and said so two weeks before the new year. In a last minute move the township voted in Mayor Coles from the Democrat Minority.
See here Mayor Coles sworn in for 2017
In a recent interview Ray Coles outlined his plans for 2018 perhaps hinting that he expects to keep the mayors seat in 2018. At the last township committee meeting of 2017 no major fanfare was done to indicate the mayor won't continue for next year. As always it won't be the township who will decide on the next year's mayor.
See here Mayor Coles sworn in for 2017
In a recent interview Ray Coles outlined his plans for 2018 perhaps hinting that he expects to keep the mayors seat in 2018. At the last township committee meeting of 2017 no major fanfare was done to indicate the mayor won't continue for next year. As always it won't be the township who will decide on the next year's mayor.
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Rubashkin Helps get Girl into Lakewood High school
Updated:
Some say it's a miracle to be accepted into a school in Lakewood. There were a few girls who were still not in school as of Chanukah. According to reports in Israeli media kikar Shabbat Rubashkin called the school owner and asked to take the girl in.
Updated from Matzav.com
Two girls in Lakewood, New Jersey, who were unfortunately out of school have now been placed thanks to the influence of Reb Shalom Mordechai Rubashkin.
A group of school administrators and principals had gathered to discuss the plight of these two girls. It was decided to hold a goral (draw lots) to determine which school would take in these girls. The attendees agreed to participate in the goral so long as all the other schools would participate as well.
It was at that moment that one of the representatives of a school received a phone call. The caller was none other than Reb Shalom Mordechai Rubashkin. Somehow, he had been informed of the proceedings and was asked to call.
Reb Shalom Mordechai Rubashkin, with his usual positivity, kindly asked the school administrator to take in one of the girls, stating that he would be willing to exchange any zechusim or s’char that he acquired through his yissurim and nisyonos over the past eight years during his imprisonment for the s’char of one Yiddishe girl being excepted into a Yiddishe school.
Moved by Reb Shalom Mordechai’s plea, the school representative immediately agreed to take the girl into his school, telling Reb Shalom Mordechai that he need not give away his merits in order for the girl to gain acceptance.
Subsequently, the rest of the schools agreed to participate in a goral to determine placement of the second girl.
Thus, within a few days of his release, Reb Shalom Mordechai’s shining example and his inspiration as an individual who lives with Hashem and by Hashem every moment pulled at the heartstrings of a school administrator to take a bas Yisroel into his institution.
Interestingly, a source close to the story told us that for many years, the wife of this school representative had been davening every day, during the bracha of Matir Assurim, for Reb Shalom Mordechai’s release Matzav. Com
Some say it's a miracle to be accepted into a school in Lakewood. There were a few girls who were still not in school as of Chanukah. According to reports in Israeli media kikar Shabbat Rubashkin called the school owner and asked to take the girl in.
Updated from Matzav.com
Two girls in Lakewood, New Jersey, who were unfortunately out of school have now been placed thanks to the influence of Reb Shalom Mordechai Rubashkin.
A group of school administrators and principals had gathered to discuss the plight of these two girls. It was decided to hold a goral (draw lots) to determine which school would take in these girls. The attendees agreed to participate in the goral so long as all the other schools would participate as well.
It was at that moment that one of the representatives of a school received a phone call. The caller was none other than Reb Shalom Mordechai Rubashkin. Somehow, he had been informed of the proceedings and was asked to call.
Reb Shalom Mordechai Rubashkin, with his usual positivity, kindly asked the school administrator to take in one of the girls, stating that he would be willing to exchange any zechusim or s’char that he acquired through his yissurim and nisyonos over the past eight years during his imprisonment for the s’char of one Yiddishe girl being excepted into a Yiddishe school.
Moved by Reb Shalom Mordechai’s plea, the school representative immediately agreed to take the girl into his school, telling Reb Shalom Mordechai that he need not give away his merits in order for the girl to gain acceptance.
Subsequently, the rest of the schools agreed to participate in a goral to determine placement of the second girl.
Thus, within a few days of his release, Reb Shalom Mordechai’s shining example and his inspiration as an individual who lives with Hashem and by Hashem every moment pulled at the heartstrings of a school administrator to take a bas Yisroel into his institution.
Interestingly, a source close to the story told us that for many years, the wife of this school representative had been davening every day, during the bracha of Matir Assurim, for Reb Shalom Mordechai’s release Matzav. Com
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Oif Simchas Lakewood, NJ December 26, 2017
-Chasuna: Zagelbaum- Herbst at Ateres Chana hall Bais faiga
-Chasuna: Steinhous- Schneidman Ateres Reva hall
-Chasuna: Moskowitz- Tress Ne'emas Hachaim hall Bais Tova
-Chasuna: Fishbein- Greenbaum Fountain ballroom Lakewood Cheder
Engaged:
Moshe Penfil (Lkwd) to Grunenbaum (Lkwd)
Shloimy Pinter (Lakewood) to Goldie Abish
-Chasuna: Steinhous- Schneidman Ateres Reva hall
-Chasuna: Moskowitz- Tress Ne'emas Hachaim hall Bais Tova
-Chasuna: Fishbein- Greenbaum Fountain ballroom Lakewood Cheder
Engaged:
Moshe Penfil (Lkwd) to Grunenbaum (Lkwd)
Shloimy Pinter (Lakewood) to Goldie Abish
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Article: Rubashkin Was Put On Trial - But So Were We
Article in The Forward written by a Lakewood Resident.
Last Wednesday President Trump unexpectedly commuted the sentence of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin. Rubashkin had been the executive of Agriprocessors, which was, at one point, the largest Kosher meatpacking plant in the United States.
At the time of his commuted sentence, Rubashkin was eight years into a 27-year sentence for financial crimes he committed as he tried to keep his business afloat in the aftermath of a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on his plant in 2008.
45 members of Congress and 107 legal experts (including six former attorneys general) signed letters voicing concerns about prosecutorial misconduct in the way the case was handled, as well as the disproportionality of Mr. Rubashkin’s sentence. A “We the People” petition attempted to raise these concerns with President Obama; it doubled the threshold of signatures needed to qualify for a response from the White House — which promptly shrugged it off, citing separation of powers.
And then, suddenly, he was free.
Throughout the Haredi community, the news spread like wildfire — and with the reports, incredible, pure and unadulterated joy. Videos of the spontaneous celebrating circulated like wildfire, and almost immediately, the celebrations were misunderstood and condemned.
According to these critics, there is no place in society — and certainly not in Judaism — for the celebration of a man so odious as they posit Mr. Rubashkin to be.
But what we celebrate when we celebrate Rubashkin is not only the freedom of one of our own. These celebrations provide a window into haredi society as a whole. Let me explain.
First off, Rubashkin’s commutation was and is an incredible story. It is the story of a man who made a mistake and suffered disproportionately because of it. For eight years he and his family left no stone unturned trying to gain his release — and despite their best efforts, they kept on coming away empty handed. Until last week, when, in the blink of an eye, he was freed.
Who can’t identify with that kind of story?
I was trying to find context for myself, so I could better understand the throngs of Jews who filled the streets to share in the joy together — the crowds I was a part of. The best reference was the time a family friend had received her Get — her religious divorce — after five years as an Agunah (a chained woman). Those years, like these, were punctuated by the many times members of our community had all but given up hope, but never stopped trying to free her.
There too, it came suddenly, and people flocked to her home, for nothing more than to be with her in her moment of happiness — an irrational need to celebrate the end of struggles we had all shared over the years preceding that moment of redemption.
The only difference between then and now was the scale. On that day, the celebrants could be contained by her house. On this day, they could not.
But those who weren’t a part of the struggle can’t understand the joy.
There is an added level of identification Haredim have with their fellow Jews that others, frankly, do not. For eight years, the plight of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin never left the community’s consciousness. It was personal — and it affected every individual in their own way.
We live in a time where people are more and more disengaged from the idea of community, and all that a community comes with. Conservative thinker Sir Roger Scruton explains the appeal of socialism as the “longing to be caught up in a mass movement of solidarity, with the promise of emancipation at the end.” A large part of the appeal of Trump, I believe, is tied up in this longing as well.
The longing is there because society is missing that sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves.
But one corner of the world has not given up this kind of belonging. Haredim, for the most part, excel at this “solidarity,” and in doing so, reap its inherent benefits. We haredim are communal beings in the sense that we still put the community first and we still care for our own, no matter what it costs us personally.
Ironically, the “otherization” of Haredim that is commonplace only fortifies this solidarity.
Haredim don’t limit this sense of community – nay, family – to only those who are religious like them. Agudath Israel of America’s Executive VP, Rabbi David Zwiebel, actively advocated to President Obama for Alan Gross – a USAID worker who was unjustly imprisoned by Cuban authorities for five years, as did Malcolm Hoenlein. Haredi publications like Mishpacha and Hamodia engaged their readers on that front as well — and they wrote multiple stories decrying a system that had been letting a fellow Jew down.
Do Haredim feel an even closer kinship to fellow Haredim? Sure. But that is only natural, as all people feel closer to those they better identify with. In that vein, it is also true that Satmar Hasidim identify more intimately to each other than they do, say with Chabad. But a Satmar Bikur Cholim won’t deny a Lubavitcher – or, for that matter, a secular Jew — a meal in a hospital.
The Rubashkin saga, however, seems to have united the Haredi community in an unprecedented way. And there’s a good reason for that as well.
Rubashkin had been a target for some time before the 2008 raid – his slaughterhouse was under fire from both People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). UFCW’s campaign focused on the alleged abuses of workers, while PETA maintained the plant was abusive to the animals it slaughtered.
PETA released deceptively and selectively edited videotapes which were culled from weeks of footage which were intended not only to discredit Agriprocessors but the practice of Shechita in general. The Orthodox Union, who provided the Kosher certification for the plant as well as a team of experts reviewed the tapes and concluded that “Agriprocessors has been completely cooperative” in continually seeking to maintain the highest standard of humane treatment of animals.
UFCW, frustrated that Rubashkin would not allow them to unionize his workforce, was the source for many of the labor allegations still being repeated today. It is worthwhile to note, however, that Rubashkin was acquitted of all the labor violations he was ever charged with. And the fines for workplace safety violations that were so loudly trumpeted in the aftermath of the raid were quickly (and quietly) reduced to less than 25% of the original fine. Worker compensation and benefits were also always at or above industry standards.
For many Haredim, the disingenuous nature of the attacks hammered home the idea that it was more than just Rubashkin on trial in the court of public opinion. It was the focus on the continued “otherization” of the religious practices he adhered to at Agriprocessors – and Kosher slaughterhouses around the world which convinced the broader Haredi world that Rubashkin was just a stand-in for all of them in this conflict.
He was only ever a means for these interests to pursue their desired ends.
It is somewhat disconcerting to see people still parroting the allegations of the UFCW as facts – despite the fact they only ever were allegations. None of those were ever proven, and many of them were debunked.
So maybe Rubashkin isn’t that awful a person after all. Perhaps we can find a place in our hearts for a man who committed a crime in the face of difficult circumstances, but was still the subject of a “veritable witch hunt. Maybe we can even recognize that the people who are according him a “hero’s welcome” are in fact celebrating a different sort of heroism – the heroism of a man who inspired others, as he stoically kept his faith in God even when it appeared he would never see his wife and ten children as a free man again. Maybe they should be allowed to celebrate the miracle of his sudden release.
Maybe, just maybe, we can accept that people – all people – deserve a chance at redemption.
Eli Steinberg lives in Lakewood, New Jersey with his wife and four children. They are not responsible for his opinions, which he has been putting into words over the last half-decade, and have been published across Jewish and general media. You can tweet the hottest of your takes at him @DraftRyan2016.
Read more: https://forward.com/opinion/390827/rubashkin-was-put-on-trial-but-so-were-we/
Last Wednesday President Trump unexpectedly commuted the sentence of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin. Rubashkin had been the executive of Agriprocessors, which was, at one point, the largest Kosher meatpacking plant in the United States.
At the time of his commuted sentence, Rubashkin was eight years into a 27-year sentence for financial crimes he committed as he tried to keep his business afloat in the aftermath of a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on his plant in 2008.
45 members of Congress and 107 legal experts (including six former attorneys general) signed letters voicing concerns about prosecutorial misconduct in the way the case was handled, as well as the disproportionality of Mr. Rubashkin’s sentence. A “We the People” petition attempted to raise these concerns with President Obama; it doubled the threshold of signatures needed to qualify for a response from the White House — which promptly shrugged it off, citing separation of powers.
And then, suddenly, he was free.
Throughout the Haredi community, the news spread like wildfire — and with the reports, incredible, pure and unadulterated joy. Videos of the spontaneous celebrating circulated like wildfire, and almost immediately, the celebrations were misunderstood and condemned.
According to these critics, there is no place in society — and certainly not in Judaism — for the celebration of a man so odious as they posit Mr. Rubashkin to be.
But what we celebrate when we celebrate Rubashkin is not only the freedom of one of our own. These celebrations provide a window into haredi society as a whole. Let me explain.
First off, Rubashkin’s commutation was and is an incredible story. It is the story of a man who made a mistake and suffered disproportionately because of it. For eight years he and his family left no stone unturned trying to gain his release — and despite their best efforts, they kept on coming away empty handed. Until last week, when, in the blink of an eye, he was freed.
Who can’t identify with that kind of story?
I was trying to find context for myself, so I could better understand the throngs of Jews who filled the streets to share in the joy together — the crowds I was a part of. The best reference was the time a family friend had received her Get — her religious divorce — after five years as an Agunah (a chained woman). Those years, like these, were punctuated by the many times members of our community had all but given up hope, but never stopped trying to free her.
There too, it came suddenly, and people flocked to her home, for nothing more than to be with her in her moment of happiness — an irrational need to celebrate the end of struggles we had all shared over the years preceding that moment of redemption.
The only difference between then and now was the scale. On that day, the celebrants could be contained by her house. On this day, they could not.
But those who weren’t a part of the struggle can’t understand the joy.
There is an added level of identification Haredim have with their fellow Jews that others, frankly, do not. For eight years, the plight of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin never left the community’s consciousness. It was personal — and it affected every individual in their own way.
We live in a time where people are more and more disengaged from the idea of community, and all that a community comes with. Conservative thinker Sir Roger Scruton explains the appeal of socialism as the “longing to be caught up in a mass movement of solidarity, with the promise of emancipation at the end.” A large part of the appeal of Trump, I believe, is tied up in this longing as well.
The longing is there because society is missing that sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves.
But one corner of the world has not given up this kind of belonging. Haredim, for the most part, excel at this “solidarity,” and in doing so, reap its inherent benefits. We haredim are communal beings in the sense that we still put the community first and we still care for our own, no matter what it costs us personally.
Ironically, the “otherization” of Haredim that is commonplace only fortifies this solidarity.
Haredim don’t limit this sense of community – nay, family – to only those who are religious like them. Agudath Israel of America’s Executive VP, Rabbi David Zwiebel, actively advocated to President Obama for Alan Gross – a USAID worker who was unjustly imprisoned by Cuban authorities for five years, as did Malcolm Hoenlein. Haredi publications like Mishpacha and Hamodia engaged their readers on that front as well — and they wrote multiple stories decrying a system that had been letting a fellow Jew down.
Do Haredim feel an even closer kinship to fellow Haredim? Sure. But that is only natural, as all people feel closer to those they better identify with. In that vein, it is also true that Satmar Hasidim identify more intimately to each other than they do, say with Chabad. But a Satmar Bikur Cholim won’t deny a Lubavitcher – or, for that matter, a secular Jew — a meal in a hospital.
The Rubashkin saga, however, seems to have united the Haredi community in an unprecedented way. And there’s a good reason for that as well.
Rubashkin had been a target for some time before the 2008 raid – his slaughterhouse was under fire from both People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). UFCW’s campaign focused on the alleged abuses of workers, while PETA maintained the plant was abusive to the animals it slaughtered.
PETA released deceptively and selectively edited videotapes which were culled from weeks of footage which were intended not only to discredit Agriprocessors but the practice of Shechita in general. The Orthodox Union, who provided the Kosher certification for the plant as well as a team of experts reviewed the tapes and concluded that “Agriprocessors has been completely cooperative” in continually seeking to maintain the highest standard of humane treatment of animals.
UFCW, frustrated that Rubashkin would not allow them to unionize his workforce, was the source for many of the labor allegations still being repeated today. It is worthwhile to note, however, that Rubashkin was acquitted of all the labor violations he was ever charged with. And the fines for workplace safety violations that were so loudly trumpeted in the aftermath of the raid were quickly (and quietly) reduced to less than 25% of the original fine. Worker compensation and benefits were also always at or above industry standards.
For many Haredim, the disingenuous nature of the attacks hammered home the idea that it was more than just Rubashkin on trial in the court of public opinion. It was the focus on the continued “otherization” of the religious practices he adhered to at Agriprocessors – and Kosher slaughterhouses around the world which convinced the broader Haredi world that Rubashkin was just a stand-in for all of them in this conflict.
He was only ever a means for these interests to pursue their desired ends.
It is somewhat disconcerting to see people still parroting the allegations of the UFCW as facts – despite the fact they only ever were allegations. None of those were ever proven, and many of them were debunked.
So maybe Rubashkin isn’t that awful a person after all. Perhaps we can find a place in our hearts for a man who committed a crime in the face of difficult circumstances, but was still the subject of a “veritable witch hunt. Maybe we can even recognize that the people who are according him a “hero’s welcome” are in fact celebrating a different sort of heroism – the heroism of a man who inspired others, as he stoically kept his faith in God even when it appeared he would never see his wife and ten children as a free man again. Maybe they should be allowed to celebrate the miracle of his sudden release.
Maybe, just maybe, we can accept that people – all people – deserve a chance at redemption.
Eli Steinberg lives in Lakewood, New Jersey with his wife and four children. They are not responsible for his opinions, which he has been putting into words over the last half-decade, and have been published across Jewish and general media. You can tweet the hottest of your takes at him @DraftRyan2016.
Read more: https://forward.com/opinion/390827/rubashkin-was-put-on-trial-but-so-were-we/
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