The one that moved me to tears the most was The Kichels. Sounds strange — a comic strip bringing a grown woman to her knees

Nothing to Boast About [Inside the Room / Issue 1072]

I was deeply disturbed by your headline declaring the meeting of Ambassador Mike Huckabee with leading roshei yeshivah as a “meeting of hearts and minds.” While I would not have considered the entire item deserving of front-page status, that is obviously subject to editorial discretion.

How, however, a magazine that is not only Orthodox but prides itself on following the most rigorous standards and right-wing views, could possibly describe the meeting of an evangelical Christian with Torah scholars of the first rank as a “meeting of hearts and minds” is beyond me.

As per the Britannica dictionary, evangelical (or Evangelical) is used “of or relating to a Christian sect or group that stresses the authority of the Bible, the importance of believing that [oso ha’ish] saved you… and the preaching of these beliefs to other people.”

Indeed, the word itself is from the Greek word meaning to share the “good news,” which Mr. Huckabee — like almost all other religious Christians — feels religiously impelled to share with others, most prominently Jews, so as to effect their ultimate salvation.

I find this extremely difficult to square with any claim of a “meeting of hearts and minds.” Many of our gedolim and shtadlanim of the past cultivated a closer relationship with kings, princes, and bishops than these roshei yeshivah would ever dream of having with Mr. Huckabee. Does one, then, imagine that these Jews, whether Ramban, Don Yitzchak Abarbanel, or Rabbi Yoselman of Rosheim, would have been pleased — or even willing, at all — to describe their carefully orchestrated works of shtadlanus as “meetings of hearts and minds”?

Christian mission is axiomatic to the Christian faith as a whole, and to evangelists most specifically. This does not mean we cannot appreciate Mr. Huckabee’s support of Israel. But to impute a “meeting of hearts and minds” seems to boggle the truth on both sides, and to insult not only the present roshei yeshivah, but our saintly forebears as well.

Rochel Alpert

Judaic Studies Instructor

Touro, Lander College for Women

Sad, Not Funny [The Kichels / Issue 1072]

I’ve always appreciated your magazine and the thoughtful content you share. I know you have a rabbinical board guiding your work, and I trust that you aim to uplift and inspire your readers. I also understand that comics are meant to be light, funny, and even a little self-critical — and that’s often a healthy thing.

But the recent Kichels strip about Tishah B’Av left me feeling deeply uncomfortable. It suggested that even though people try to mourn the loss of the Beis Hamikdash, we quickly move on to fun and vacations — and that somehow, this is just “how it is.”

While it may be true that many of us struggle with this, it’s not something we should laugh off. The absence of the Shechinah is the greatest pain our nation lives with. Making light of it — even indirectly — risks sending the message that it’s fine to feel distant from Hashem.

Yes, let’s laugh at ourselves and be honest about our shortcomings. But let’s also hold ourselves to a higher standard and stay focused on building a stronger connection with Hashem — so we can truly be zocheh to the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash.

Bina Weiss

RBS

Sobering Reality Check [The Kichels / Issue 1072]

Your pre-Tishah B’Av edition featured many moving articles that powerfully conveyed the sorrow and suffering our people have endured throughout history.

The one that moved me to tears the most was The Kichels. Sounds strange — a comic strip bringing a grown woman to her knees. But the truth it presented was raw — and it hurt. It hurt badly. How did we allow ourselves to reach this point? And more importantly, what are we going to do to change it?

In a nutshell, this is the story of Jews in the Diaspora — and it is so painful.

Financial prosperity in galus has become a double-edged sword. Instead of mourning the devastating losses we’ve suffered over the centuries on Tishah B’Av, including the anguish of the current war, our minds are too often occupied with vacations and post tzom/day-after barbecues. What has become of us?

Lisa Silverberg

Beit Shemesh

Genuine Hero [Encounters / Issue 1071]

Thank you so much for printing the account of Yeedle Baum a”h and his miraculous survival against the odds through the devastation of Europe. At a time when we’re all feeling challenged — true, we’re no longer living through the Holocaust where millions of Jews are being systematically slaughtered, yet so many feel broken and hopeless by both personal and national nisyonos — Yeedle’s fortitude, unwavering emunah, and deep inner knowledge that Hashem was with him no matter the outcome was truly strengthening.

He wasn’t a high-visibility gadol or tzaddik, but really, the true heroes are those who push forward under the radar. May his descendants continue in his ways, and may he be a meilitz yosher for all of Klal Yisrael.

R.K.

Beitar Illit

Here for You [Making It Work / Issue 1071]

Thank you for the excellent article on the H3 Summit in London, which mentioned a new mentoring initiative. I wanted to make readers aware of a similar mentoring program that’s been in existence for over ten years.

The Jewish Entrepreneur network offers free mentoring services for Jewish business owners and entrepreneurs. Our mentees are international and range from individuals with a great idea looking for help getting it off the ground, to businesses with millions in revenue who want guidance pushing through to the next level. With over 550 mentors in our system, from a wide variety of industries, we have made over 5,000 connections to date and have a 90 percent satisfaction rate. We also offer monthly webinars, industry-specific virtual networking groups, and other business resources. To learn more, please reach out to us via Mishpacha.

Tziona Viezel

Program Director, The Jewish Entrepreneur

The Real You [The Kichels / Issue 1070]

The Kichels strip about people showing their true colors was great. I did however, disagree with its portrayal of people being nice and kind as “covering up,” and their negative feelings and thoughts as their “true colors.”

From a Torah perspective, when someone acts properly, that is their true self showing; their neshamah. If they are frustrated or upset, although normal for us human beings, that is the cover-up to our neshamos and who we really are.

Similarly, while someone who does one mitzvah in a sea of other behaviors can feel he is acting hypocritical, in fact, it is then that he is actually displaying his true self.

Chani Zirkind

Hospice Can Be Hazardous [Perspectives / Issue 1068]

Several weeks ago, you published an article by Dr. Dan Berman, a veteran physician who shared his impression that patients who may really be treatable are being directed to hospice care to die instead.

In the next issue, you published a reply by Chaya Lasson, who gave a glowing portrait of some frum people who were treated at a particular special hospice where there was respect for rabbinic rulings. It is important for readers to understand the rarity of this type of hospice.

Unfortunately, I have personally seen what can happen at a regular hospice, without consultation with rabbanim who are experts in medical halachah. My mother had pneumonia and was on a ventilator. Although the pulmonologist thought she could be weaned off of it, she got discouraged and signed herself in to hospice. Of course they took her off the ventilator right away, but she didn’t die.

But they weren’t feeding her. I begged them to, but they claimed the food they put into her feeding tube was going into her lungs. I begged them to allow her to wake up, given that she was off the ventilator, so I could ask her if she would want to be fed, but they refused to wake her up because they said that would make her “uncomfortable.”

This is why I devote time to helping Chayim Aruchim, an organization whose medically trained rabbis can identify treatable patients and authoritatively interact with the medical team to persuade them to provide halachically required medical interventions to keep these patients alive.

Please, do not transfer your loved one into any hospice, even a special hospice, without rabbinic consultation.

Barbara Olevitch, Ph.D.

They Only Seem Pareve [TLC Talks / Issue 1066]

I was excited to see this article that compellingly portrayed a major need that exists in the yeshivah world.

Last summer, a bochur approached me in a half-joking way, telling me how he’d had an amazing summer in camp — a stark contrast to his not-so-amazing year of yeshivah where he felt misjudged and not valued for who he was. He wistfully wished aloud that we could create a yeshivah with the atmosphere he’d felt in camp — a place that would empower him and bochurim like him to succeed and feel great about themselves.

Sensing the urgency behind his light tone, I felt I should get involved. I reached out to a friend of mine, Reb Yaakov Yisroel Privalsky, a choshuve rosh kollel and rav in my neighborhood. The idea resonated with him, and he in turn brought along a friend of his, Reb Yehoshua Blumstein, an outstanding mechanech overflowing with irresistible energy and charisma. With vision and incredible siyata d’Shmaya, a new yeshivah was born.

Baruch Hashem, our first year at Bais Medrash Malin Bakodesh in Chestnut Ridge, NY was an unforgettable year of growth. We had a close-knit group of bochurim who fit the description in the article — sincere, refined, erliche boys full of untapped potential. In a warm, connected, happy environment focused on personalized growth and total avodas Hashem, in the context of the full-day sidrei hayeshivah, these seemingly “pareve” bochurim solidified their identities as proud bnei Torah and developed a sense of ownership in their development in learning and avodas Hashem.

BMMB is here to help the aspiring ben aliyah discover the derech that ignites his cheishek and brings out who he really is.

Y.D. Cohen

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1073)