5tjt kotel tunnels

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Soupy SalesDanny ODoul 22

Guilty As ChargedHannah Reich Berman 32

The Daily JewsRabbi Avi Shafran 36

MindBizEsther Mann, LMSW 37

Positive Parenting

Rochelle Miller 64

Light And Darkness

At the Ohel Child Safety Fair that took place this Sunday.See Page 54

Only For The Children

The Legacy Of Rav Henoch

Leibowitz, ztl

B Y R A V A R Y E H Z .

G I N Z B E R G

CHOFETZ CHAIM TORAH CENTER

Our Chazal tell us that when

a person passes away, its com-

parable to a sefer Torah that is

burnt. On a simple level, this

means that just as a persons

neshamah lives on even after it

departs from the physical body,

so too when a holysefer Torah is

burnt, only the physical parch-

LIVINGLETTERS

Continued on Page 17

MOMMYTIME

KIDS NOT AT RISK

Another Mothers Musings

B Y P H Y L L I S J .

L U B I N

As mothers, its sometimes

difficult for us to devote time

for ourselves. Aside from night

traffic-court appearances, it is

difficult for me to get away. I

must admit, though, that I am a

little spoiled. I happen to have a

few in-house babysitters (two in

high school and one in college)

that are available on occasion.

Still, I have to keep track of their

An artists rendition of the Kotel Plaza archaeological park beingdeveloped with excavations taking place at the Western Wall in

Jerusalem. A new area, at the level used in ancient times, is to be addedunder the existing plaza. See Page 26


B Y L A R R Y G O R D O N

Those of you outside the Five

Towns area might feel a little

lost as we analyze and explore

what promises to be a hard-

fought race between the incum-

bent Nassau County Legislator

for the 7th District, Jeff Toback

of the Democratic Party, andthe Republican challenger,

Howard (Chaim) Kopel. What is

relevant to all our readers is the

electoral dynamics of the

Jewish community that is on

display in this race.

What also may be easy to

relate to regardless of where

one resides is how we are bom-

barded through the mail with

colorful oversized cards featur-

ing sensational accusations that

each candidate levels at the

other. Mired beneath some-

Surprising Reasons Why

Some Reject Yiddishkeit

B Y D R . Y A K O V

L O W I N G E R

He managed to stay under

the radar, despite having

become nonobservant when he

began elementary school. He

progressively cast off religious

obligations until he hit the radar

in a big way at 17, when he was

sent to the first of a series of

alternative yeshivos for drug and

alcohol users. Why did it come

to this? Why werent the risk

factors noticednot by a single

relative, educator, or friend?

What does this say about our

understanding of what drives

kids off the derech?

Two Questions

Every time a young person

from our community begins to

show obvious signs of a decline

in his Yiddishkeit, the experi-

ence is accompanied by under-

standable sadness and pain. But

it is often accompanied by

Continued on Page 8

B Y L A R R Y G O R D O N

Many of us are still basking in

the glow of the intense month

of holidays that recently con-

cluded. We go to shul on

Shabbos without a machzor, kit-

tel, or lulav and esrog, and it

feels like weve forgotten some-

thing. Now, as we float through

the celebrationless month of

Cheshvan, we naturally have no

choice but to instinctively set

our sights on the upcoming

month of Kislev and the celebra-

tion of Chanukah.

Chanukah, as you know,

marks the triumph of the few

over the many, the underdog

over the favorite. It celebrates

the destiny of the Jewish people

throughout the ages as well as

our imminent future. If youve

been following these columns

over the last decade, then you

may be somewhat acquainted

with what Chanukah has come

to mean to me over the last 20

Continued on Page 15Continued on Page 19

CANDLE LIGHTING

Oct. 30 5:35 PM

Nov. 6 4:27 PM

KOPEL VS. TOBACK

THE NEW AND IMPROVED KOTEL

In support ofYeshiva Bais Hillel.

See Page 56

Mosholu Rebbe in 5Tsthis Shabbos.

See Page 49

Who knows Y-Love?See Page 24

VOL. 10 NO. 5 12 CHESHVAN 5770 lk lk ,arp OCTOBER 30, 2009$1.00 WWW.5TJT.COM

See Page 80

INSIDE FROM THE EDITORS DESK

HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE

Jeff Toback and Howard Kopel Cou

rtesyofIsraeliAntiquitiesAuthority


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B Y S A M U E L S O K O L

The Israeli Government Press Office

took members of the foreign press corps

on a guided tour of the Western Wall tun-nels this past week, apparently in

response to recent claims by the

Palestinian Authority, Israeli-Arab law-

makers, and the Waqf administration.

Muslim and Arab figures in Israel have

been claiming that extremists, settlers,

and the Israeli government are colluding

to Judaize Jerusalem and are working to

undermine the foundations of the Al-Aqsa

mosque, located on the Temple Mount.

Such claims have been used as the pre-

text for violent clashes, rock-throwing

attacks, and firebombing throughout East

Jerusalem and the Old City.

At the beginning of the tour, GPO

director Danny Seaman denied that thetour had any connection to recent events:

We dont want to turn this into a politi-

cal tour. What is happening here by the

State of Israel is being done to uncover

the past. This area is important to the

three monotheistic religions. There is an

obligation for all of us to learn the past, to

understand what happened here.

He further stated that he did not want

to get involved in any discussion of the

current tensions or violence surrounding

the site.

However, the tenor of statements

made later in the tour indicated that the

chief reason for the tour was indeed set-

ting the record straight regarding Israeli

excavations on the mount.

Ofer Cohen, chief engineer of the Kotel

tunnels, explained that the work being

done was actually beneficial to the stabili-

ty of the area. In discussing the recent

work in the soon to be opened Hall of

Ages, which is located underneath a row of

Arab houses abutting the Wall, Cohen stat-

ed, Theres a lot of talk about instability

and the digging causing problems. Let me

reassure you that wherever we dig, or

wherever we are and we have access to, we

improve the structural stability tenfold.

When we put on this structural sys-

tem above us, we actually improved the

structural stability of this place. Thats

what we do everywhere in the tunnels.Our first priority is always safety, of both

visitors inside the tunnels and the inhab-

itants above us. Thats our top priority.

We take it very seriously and theres no

room for error in this aspect.

Since the Palestinian Authority was

given de facto control over the mount,

renovations aimed at destroying the

Jewish character of the site have taken

place and have seriously weakened the

structural integrity of the southern

retaining wall. In 2001, Israeli Antiquities

Authority head Shuka Dorfman warned

that the wall is in danger of collapse.

When the Waqf, the Islamic trust that

oversees civil administration of the

Mount, began excavation work in the

area known as Solomons Stables in 1997,

archaeologists offered to pay for the work

being done in exchange for the right to

examine the area and to salvage artifacts

26 October 30, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

Israel Denies HarHaBayit Dig,Announces KotelPlaza Excavation


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unearthed in the course of the digging.

Former Waqf director Adnan Husseini

explained, Its a principle. The Waqf

works alone at the mosque.

Many archaeological treasures werefound in the rubble discarded by the

Muslim trust, including a coin dated to

the First Temple period.

Explaining the reasons for the current

riots, the Palestinian Authority Ministry

of Education stated that extremists had

announced plans to storm the mosque

in order to perform religious rites in the

occasion of the so-called Yom Kippur.

The PA called for the masses of Arab and

Islamic nations, and lovers of justice in

the world to protest the crime and to

refuse it by all legitimate means.

Shmuel Rabinovitch, the Kotel Rabbi,

spoke with reporters in the Hall of Ages.

The rabbi put the onus of responsibility

for controlling the violence on Muslim

religious leaders. The people who arecoming to pray with a bundle of stones

do not belong in such a holy place . . .

The police are not needed for that.

Every religious leader has to distance

such people from holy places, the

rabbi said.

The Jewish law forbids ascending

the Temple Mount. Any person who

says that Israel is excavating on the

5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES October 30, 2009 27

The Rabbi of the Western Wall,Shmuel Rabinovitch, spoke with reporters

in the Hall of Ages.

Excavations at the rear of the Kotel plaza.



4/428 October 30, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

Temple Mount, it is as if he is

saying that day is night and

that the night is day; it is a

complete lie. To my sorrow,

there are people who speak in

the name of G-d and even lie in

the name of G-d. Even those

who ascend to the Temple

Mount, and I am against

ascending to the Temple

Mount, they agree that it is for-

bidden to excavate on top of

the Temple Mount.

When asked to elaborate on

who was meant by his state-

ment that there are those who

lie in the name of G-d, the

rabbi demurred. When pressed

for an answer, he named

Sheikh Raed Salah. Salah, the

fiery leader of the Northern

Islamic Movement, has served

time in jail for funding the

Hamas terror organization and

has been detained on multiple

occasions for inciting Arab vio-

lence against Jews.

After exiting the tunnels, the

GPO showed journalists exca-

vations being conducting at

the rear of the Western Wallplaza. The Israeli Antiquities

Authority is currently excavat-

ing a Roman road from the

Second Temple period. An IAA

guide explained that the Israeli

government is planning to

excavate underneath the

Western Wall plaza.

The excavations will create

an archaeological park directly

underneath the area where wor-

shippers currently stand while

praying at the Kotel. The current

prayer area will remain open,

supported by pillars, while a

new area will be added under-neath, at the level at which wor-

shippers at the ancient Temple

stood in the past.

The dig may be met with

harsh reactions by Israels

Muslim population. The

Palestinian Authority has

stressed the danger of

describing Al-Boraq Wall as

Wailing Wall as it is the

western part of the Wall of

Al-Aqsa Mosque.O

Kotel ExcavationContinued from Page 27

5tjt kotel tunnels

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