5tjt Hikind

Celebrate more than four decades of community service with Sh’or Yoshuv Institute on December 5, 2009

$1.00

See Page 64

HIKIND: OBAMA IS OBSTACLE TO PEACE

ONE MAN, TWO VOTES 31

New Guys On The Block Hannah Reich Berman 35 Mind/Body Connection 62 73

Harvey Schwartz, a tax lawyer and longtime Woodmere resident, made aliyah about two years ago, after a long period of thought and deliberation over making the change. It quickly became clear that for Harvey, an intelligent and accomplished individual, this would not be just a change of address. Harvey is the founder and prime moving force behind the relatively new American Israeli Action Coalition. Affiliated with

Continued on Page 5

Photo By Heshy Rubinstein

What Is Zionism? Dr. Alex Grobman

,usku, ,arp NOVEMBER 20, 2009

28

MindBiz

Rachael E. Schindler, MS

3 KISLEV 5770

BY LARRY GORDON

‘Buycott’ Campaigns

Esther Mann, LMSW

VOL. 10 NO. 8

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

INSIDE Samuel Sokol

WWW.5TJT.COM

Harvey Schwartz

Letters to the Editor JNF Defends Its Land Cantor Helfgott at Park East. See Page 56

9/11 Jerusalem dedication. See Page 24

Dear Editor, The claims printed in your front-page article “This Land Is Our Land” in the November 13 issue, regarding JNF, require a response. Mr. Arieh King of the Israel Land Fund is quoted as the source for the claim that the Jewish National Fund “has allowed Arab homes to be illegally constructed on land owned by JNF.” This is total misrepresentation of the facts. In 1948, when many parcels of land owned by the JNF fell under the control

NYS Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D., Borough Park) on a solidarity mission in Israel this week laying the cornerstone at the dedication of the second phase of development of the Nof Tzion neighborhood in Jerusalem. President Obama has referred to construction in this area of the capital city as being unhelpful to the peace process. See Page 60

HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE

Standing Before Heroes

of Jordan, the United Nations confiscated a large parcel of land in northern Jerusalem, owned by JNF, and built the Kalandia Refugee Camp on the land. JNF had no ability to stop this illegal confiscation by the UN and subsequent construction, and never accepted this seizure of its land. In 1967, after the Six Day War, when Israel asserted control over this property, JNF went to the Israeli courts and sought to evict the residents of the Kalan-

Just two days after last year’s international conference of sh’lichim — emissaries of Chabad-Lubavitch around the globe — the world was stunned by the brutal murder in Mumbai, India of two sh’lichim, Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, of blessed memory. Just as stunning was the unceremonious fashion in which their then two-

Continued on Page 20

Continued on Page 12

Kulanu Meets The Mayor

BY LARRY GORDON

Gabi and Rivka Holzberg, z’l

Who Is A ‘GET’ GOING Briton? An Overview Of The Growing Get Crisis

Happy 105th. See Page 37

CANDLE LIGHTING Nov. 20 – 4:15 PM Nov. 27 – 4:11 PM

Students of Kulanu Torah Academy met recently with Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise to make some suggestions about improved traffic safety near the new Kulanu school building. See Page 57

BY RABBI AVI SHAFRAN

BY ESTHER SCHONFELD, ESQ.

To the delight of Jew-haters everywhere, a British court has in effect deemed Judaism a racist religion. As a result, the blogosphere swarmed with invective about how the Jews had been exposed as imposing, in the words of one jolly blogger, an “ethnic purity test.” What happened is that the parents of a boy whose father is Jewish but whose mother

When a man divorces his first wife, even the Altar sheds tears. — Gittin 90b From the perspective of Jewish law, marriage is a contractual relationship between a husband and a wife. It is neither a creature of the State nor a mandate of the rabbinate. A Jewish divorce is the termination of the contractual relationship between a husband

Continued on Page 19

Continued on Page 16

Hikind Calls Obama “Obstacle To Peace” BY SAMUEL SOKOL, JERUSALEM In defiance of President Barack Obama’s demands that Israel cease building in sections of Jerusalem annexed following

the 1967 Six Day War, New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind (Dem.) laid the cornerstone for the second phase of the Nof Tzion neighborhood near Jabel Mukabar. Together with Likud MK Danny Danon, Hikind

spoke with reporters about the Jewish right to build in Israel’s capital city. Hikind explained that banning Jews from building in a neighborhood was segregation. He expressed wonder that an African-American president should endorse such a policy in the 21st century and expressed his interest in buying an apartment in Nof Tzion, encouraging the group traveling with him to purchase land there as well. Hikind blamed Obama for stalling the peace process. According to the assemblyman, PA President Abbas has latched

L–R: MK Danny Danon and Assemblyman Dov Hikind.

Preparing to lay the cornerstone.

onto Obama’s calls for a settlement freeze as an excuse not to negotiate with Israel. During the cornerstone laying and subsequent press conference, a small group of demonstrators from the Peace Now organization stood nearby calling for the division of Jerusalem. One demonstrator, a Jew from Britain, held a sign which stated, “Hikind, you’re a shame to your party.” As Hikind attempted to leave, he was accosted by the demonstrator. The Assemblyman explained that he did not have time to debate and gave the young man his telephone number, offering to take him out to dinner, in order to have a chance to speak about the issues in a polite and respectful manner. When asked by the 5TJT if he had a message to give to American Jews, MK Danon stated that he would like to see them coming home to Israel. ❖

60

November 20, 2009

5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES