Hesped For Rav Nota Schiller z”l
Dear Editor:
I serve as a hesped for Rav Nota Schiller, as do all the talmidim who have attended Yeshiva Ohr Somayach since 1973 who became G-d-fearing, observant Jews, who teach and learn Torah and keep mitzvos, Shabbos, and kashrus, and even those who were inspired and learned Torah for any period of time.
On Rosh Chodesh Elul 1973, I was introduced to a cadre of rabbis who would help me shape my life and person at Yeshivat Shma Yisrael (to become Yeshivat Ohr Somayach one year later).
Rav Nota was one of the four founders of the Yeshiva. He was a dynamic, strong, and vigorous rebbi who spoke with great force of personality and was a tremendous source of motivation to all the students and those passing through the Yeshiva. His b’kius shiur (breadth of Talmud class), divrei Torah, and musar were major events at the Yeshiva. In later years, many students would flock to Ohr Somayach’s lower Manhattan office to hear Rav Nota’s inspirational talks for the alumni living in New York.
Rav Nota was truly a larger-than-life person who was not only a source of education and inspiration but was also a great advisor to seek direction from. Before I decided to go to law school, I sought Rav Nota’s counsel, and he helped me decide to go. Years later, when I went to visit him for my yearly visit to Ohr Somayach, Rav Nota introduced me to a father he was influencing to send his son to the Yeshiva as an Ohr Somayach alumnus who was a New York lawyer. Once a talmid of Rav Nota’s, you were always a talmid of Rav Nota’s.
While in Ohr Somayach, the students more experienced in learning were expected to devote at least an hour a day of serious learning with a recent addition to the Yeshiva. It was a major part of the Ohr Somayach culture. I used to tell all my beginner study partners that if one learns how to learn Gemara, then one will learn to think like a Jew and be able to learn all the books of Torah. It was one of my mantras. When my wife read some of the articles written about Rav Nota after his passing, she took note of a streamer in a magazine quoting Rav Nota’s kiruv secret: “Wade through a page of Gemara and the rest will follow.” Now I know where my kiruv mantra emanated from.
When one visited Rav Nota’s office, there was always the map of Ebbets Field on the wall; Rav Nota would compare Yeshiva to baseball to some extent. When referring to the Yeshiva’s accomplishments, Rav Nota would speak of the Yeshiva’s batting average, i.e., how many talmidim who passed the threshold of Ohr Somayach remained committed to Torah and Yiddishkeit – or even remained influenced to whatever extent. I was an early student, and in my time, it seemed the Yeshiva had a better batting average than Babe Ruth.
May the memory of Rav Nota Schiller z”l be blessed. May he always remain a source of inspiration for all of Yeshiva Ohr Somayach and the entire Jewish people.
Aharon Meltzer
Patience
Dear Editor:
Patience was never part of my genetic makeup or a virtue for me. I don’t have the patience to wait for the red light to turn green or for the cold water in the shower to turn hot. I lack the patience to sit through a haircut or wait until my nails dry after they’re done. I hate when the bank or some other customer service rep tells me, “Thanks for your patience.” I generally follow that line by slamming down my phone.
The only time patience pays off is if or when you are a caretaker, and bet your bottom dollar, you will be one, some day. I was a caretaker for 20+ years: first for my father and then for my husband. Caretaking has made the headlines recently with the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife and the frontal lobal dementia that Bruce Willis is suffering from. On a serious note, I urge people to check in with those suffering from illnesses as well as those who are taking care of their loved ones. A phone call, a lunch, or a walk go a long way.
On a much lighter note, a lot of people must exhibit patience for March Madness. I, of course, am ignorant as far as those brackets are concerned, and I choose my winning teams by the color of their uniforms. For instance, I will pick Duke over North Carolina because I prefer the former’s color choice. St. John’s, of course, is my favorite team because I used to teach there. As a former professor, I often wonder how these players get any homework or studying done, but I guess that’s not my problem anymore.
The good news is you don’t have to worry about the price of eggs anymore. If you make less than $200,000, your kids can go to Harvard for free! You just have to show a little patience and wait until they are 18 and acing all their subjects. Good luck with that!
Debbie Horowitz
No, Biden Is Not Better Than Trump by Any Metric
Dear Editor:
To Arlene Ross, who is still hung up on Trump not attending Biden’s 2021 inauguration, I offer the following observation.
You claim Trump is “indecent” for not attending the inauguration. But let’s look at how things played out. Biden presided over the biggest foreign policy disaster in the Afghanistan withdrawal that got thousands of American allies killed, and revealed to the world just how weak America was under Biden when it came to defending our allies. This directly resulted in the Russia invasion of Ukraine, which, to date, has likely resulted in the loss of over a million people.
Biden also opened our borders to the world on Day One, which led to the influx of more than ten million illegals, many of whom have gone on to commit violent crimes including murder.
I do not have the statistics on illegal crime, but we do know that about 500,000 Americans died from fentanyl poisoning during Biden’s term, most of which was brought over the Southern border that Biden opened. Biden has shown zero remorse for his buffoonish incompetence and all the carnage that ensued because of him.
I’m not claiming Trump is a navi and knew Biden would be the worst President this country ever had (in addition to all of his well-documented corruption and moral failings), who’s atrocious decision-making would result in the catastrophic loss of millions of lives. I am claiming though, that in hindsight, Trump’s decision looks pretty good.
I am not disappointed at all that Trump didn’t attend the inauguration for the worst president in this country’s history. Apparently, you are.
I understand you’d like to limit the discussion to presidential transitions because you believe it makes Trump look worse than Biden, but your TDS prevents you from widening the lens a bit and seeing the big picture. My question to you is: If the adjective you use to describe Trump for merely skipping an inauguration is “indecent,” what adjective have you reserved for the man whose corrupt and incompetent decision-making directly led to the slaughter of millions of people?!
Jason Stark
The Real Fallout from Signal-Gate
Dear Editor:
The fallout from National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally including pseudo-journalist Jeffrey Goldberg on a group chat discussing war plans is interesting but not for the reasons the fake news media is focusing on. Many of the fake news outlets have focused on the Trump administration’s silly denial, claiming that this was not war plans, which it clearly was, but that’s not the real story here. The interesting angles are:
The outrage the fake news media is showing at Waltz’s mistake has led to many of them calling for his firing. Remember, this is the same group that was fine with no one being held to account for the execution of this country’s most embarrassing, overseas failure in the Afghanistan withdrawal. To recap that debacle: 13 servicemen needlessly died, hundreds were injured, thousands of American allies left behind, and $85 billion of military grade equipment lost to the Taliban. The fake news was fine with no one from the Biden administration losing his or her job over that, but now want heads to roll because a journalist was accidentally included in a group chat.
The fake news has portrayed Vice President Vance as Trump’s toadie, a Mini-Me stooge there to placate Trump. The leaked text messages reveal just the opposite. Everyone was on board with bombing the Houthis except Vance, who was worried about the perception that they were picking up the slack for Europe again, which would contradict Trump’s messaging on holding Europe more accountable for their own defense. This shows three things about Vance: He’s not afraid to speak up even when he’s the minority opinion; he’s not lockstep with Trump on everything and will push back when he feels it’s necessary; and he’s 100% loyal to Trump’s brand and his messaging.
Atlantic writer Jeffrey Goldberg is not very bright. Goldberg has been wrong on almost everything related to Trump including the Russia hoax he perpetuated for years. He is universally reviled by Trump and his cabinet. He realizes he’s accidentally included on a chat that contains confidential information and is for high-level officials only. Yet he gives up the goods almost immediately. Can you imagine how much more Goldberg could have gleaned if he just kept his mouth shut?! Had he stayed quiet and remained undetected on the chat, the scandal would have snowballed, and he could have gotten enough information to write a book. Instead, he outed himself for a measly return of dominating the news cycle for a few days.
Doniel Behar
‘Conspiracy Theories’ Are Often True
Dear Editor:
I am not looking to insert myself into the Arlene Ross/Jason Stark tête-à-tête, but I fail to understand how Arlene Ross still considers Trump indecent for not attending the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Trump, like millions of Americans to this day, felt that the election was stolen from him. For those who think this is a bridge gone too far and has crossed into “conspiracy theory” territory, I would express a word of caution. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment in the 1930s, where our government performed experimental procedures on black people, was a conspiracy theory...until it wasn’t. Operation Mockingbird in the 1950s, where the CIA seized control of large swaths of the mainstream media to influence media coverage around the world, was a conspiracy theory for decades...until it wasn’t.
But Mr. Goldgrab, those “conspiracy theories” occurred 75-85 years ago before we had social media. Nowadays, our trusted government would never be able to pull something like that off, right? Wrong! Have you forgotten the Hunter Biden laptop that was all a Russian disinformation “conspiracy theory”...until it wasn’t? How about our government lying to us about Covid originating from a wet market, dismissing the lab leak theory as a “conspiracy”? The lies about masking, social distancing, vaccine efficacy? Anyone who challenged those were dismissed as “conspiracy theorists.”
If the Covid “conspiracies” are too far in the rearview mirror for you, I would remind you that as of last June, Joe Biden was running for re-election as our fully functioning President, in complete control of all his faculties. Anyone who challenged that assertion was summarily dismissed as, you guessed it: a “conspiracy theorist.”
My point here is not to prove Trump won the 2020 election. It is only to express caution to those such as Ms. Ross who believe they are morally superior because they are in agreement with our (very often, lying) government that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Jonathan Goldgrab
Dear Editor:
Baseball season is upon us. Mr. Hecht is way off base, so we will have to pick him off. Last I checked, Obama’s administration spied on Trump and his campaign. Last I checked, Biden’s incompetent Secret Service allowed two shooters to get really close to assassinating President Trump. Last I checked, Biden’s politicized DOJ was trying to bankrupt and imprison President Trump. They successfully put Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro in prison. So, Mr. Hecht, what are you whining about?
Judges are lawyers in black robes. Those who are issuing nationwide injunctions preventing the President from executing his role as it is stated in Article II of the Constitution are Democratic Party activists. How is it that a single district court judge has more power than an Article III Supreme Court Justice? You need five of those to issue a nationwide ruling. In the Appellate Division, you need two out of three for a ruling. So, explain to me, Mr. Hecht, how some bozo named Boasberg in the District of Columbia can tell our Commander-in-Chief how to enforce our immigration laws? There is separation of powers; the President overseas the execution of the laws of the land.
Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are no longer members of Congress. They were both part of a committee that destroyed evidence. Hillary Clinton hasn’t worked in government since she was Obama’s Secretary of State. John Brennan, a communist, and James Clapper both haven’t worked in government since the Obama years. They both signed a phony letter about Hunter Biden’s laptop to rig the 2020 election. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden were part of the cabal to try to destroy Trump. So, why should any of them keep their security clearances? All they will do is use the information to leak to their friends in the Democratic Party media.
Trump now has Trump-friendly people surrounding him in his cabinet. There will not be any leaks. Jeffrey Goldberg is a left-wing clown. He writes for a failed publication owned by Steve Jobs’ widow. She is Kamala Harris’ BFF. If Mr. Goldberg saw that he was in a chat that he didn’t belong in, he should have done what normal people do and exit the chat. The fact that he stayed in the chat and then tried to use what he saw to create a phony scandal just demonstrates how low of a human he really is. Politics first and everything else be damned. There was no classified information shared and those who think otherwise need to get their news from a new source.
Shalom Markowitz
