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Articles by Boaz Bachrach
Inbox: Issue 1120
Advocating for Chareidim [Publisher’s Perspective / Issue 1119] I want to thank Mishpacha for printing Eli Paley’s important and eye-opening essay on the impasse between the IDF and the olam haTorah, which has confounded the greatest minds of our people for so many decades. I daven each day that the One Who is oseh shalom bimromav should somehow help us break the deadlock and see the good in each other. Israel is a small boat on a stormy sea and the only way not to capsize is if we pull together.
The Din Torah - Mishpacha
Both parties had agreed to abide by my ruling and to remain friends, no matter what I decided. Golda B. and Chana P. (names changed) had come to my office one Monday morning. Chana was Golda’s supervisor at a high-pressure company. The company allotted ten personal days per year to each employee. In addition, simchahs, graduations, and “normative family life-cycle events” were considered excused absences.
Mattos-Masei - Mishpacha
We’re all entitled to our own space in Judaism. But there’s a line. If you’re on the other side of the river, then you’ve gone too far “They said, ‘If it pleases you, let this land be given to your servants as an estate; do not take us across the Jordan River.’ ” (Bamidbar 32:5) These were the words of the leaders of Gad and Reuven: “We love Torah and we love G-d, but we can’t live together with the rest of Bnei Yisrael.
The Elderly Man on the Stairs
After my first year learning in Eretz Yisrael, I was offered the choice of staying there for the summer. I took it, my friends and I having arranged to work together at an Israeli day camp in Ramot. As an added benefit, one of my rebbeim in yeshivah, Rabbi Klein, asked if I would learn with him nightly in Har Nof to prepare for the upcoming zeman. I excitedly agreed, thinking it would not be too hard to meet his one condition: I had to commit to being on time every night.
He’ll Be Okay - Mishpacha
I bring him myself, leaving my newborn behind. I need to time the trip perfectly in the two-and-a-half-hour space between feeds, but I’m not going to give it up. It’s his first day — in ganon (nursery), in school, in a fully Hebrew-speaking environment. He’s my oldest, so it’s my first day, too. I can’t breathe. Other mothers come, drop off their sons, meet the morahs, leave. I come and stay, and stay, and stay. I speak to the three morahs, the principal, the preschool director.
Parshas Korach: 5785
“Hashem said to Aharon, “I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of Bnei Yisrael.” (Bamidbar 18:20) We often think holy people are above and removed from This World and its inhabitants. However, the Chasam Sofer writes that Hashem’s promise to Aharon was, despite him being the Kohein Gadol — the only man allowed into the Kodesh Hakodoshim — he still had the ability to remain “in the midst of the Jewish people.” Aharon pursued peace.
From Home of the Blues to Land of the Jews
Title: From Home of the Blues to Land of the Jews Location: Chevron Document: Nashville Banner Time: August 27, 1929 I assure you I would not exchange these seven weeks [learning in Chevron] for a lifetime of the wealthiest American millionaire. A moment of spiritual life is not to be assessed in the most enormous terms of material wealth. —Aharon Dovid (Dave) Shainberg January 1929, Chevron.
Who By Fire - Mishpacha
It wasn’t a member of the Argentine Jewish community who said this, regarding the tragic deaths of five members of the Chabbas family consumed by fire last week in Buenos Aires, but the doorman of the building where they lived. And it expressed the sentiments of an entire shattered community, grieving for a family whose entire life was a constant kiddush Hashem.
Frozen Cookie Dough
Photo Credit: Sina Mizrahi Once I found a brand of frozen cookie dough I liked, I took full advantage and turned to the convenience more times than I care to admit. I usually bake it straight from the freezer but was wondering if thawing it first would be beneficial. Also, would baking the cookies at different temperatures yield a different texture? So I experimented with a batch I had in the freezer and was surprised to see that one difference was marginal and the other was noticeable.
Anger Allowed - Mishpacha
In an effort to get a handle on my emotions — the bouts of sadness, melancholy — she’d recommended I track different feelings that came up for me. I’d been diagnosed with a physical illness, and had done some necessary grieving work. But still, the depression persisted, and it seemed there was no particular rhyme or reason to my triggers.
“Shema B’ni” - Mishpacha
“The lively tune of ‘SHEMA B’NI’ followed, and I would sing — and dance — through it” As a five-year-old in Bala Cynwyd, PA, I would sit on the floor in front of our record player and listen to London Live for hours on end, every day. Staring at the orange record cover with Yigal Calek in “up hat” and scarf, I memorized the entire album including all narration and choir shtick within (“Like chazeirim you eat! No brachah, no nothing?
Still My Brother
To my dear brother Yanky, I feel so blessed to have a relationship with you. Look at our differences: you’re on the west coast, I’m on the east; you’re completely secular, I’m as religious a Jew as anyone in our circles. You’re wandering and still trying to find yourself, I’m struggling and growing while keeping sacred the life I’ve chosen for myself. I have a large family, thank G-d, and you’re barely holding on to the succession of relationships that come and go. Deeper yet.
Meeting Elijah - Mishpacha
Book: Meeting Elijah Author: Rabbi Eliezer Shore Publisher: Israel Bookshop Publications How it all began Many years ago, when I was a yeshivah bochur, I had several amazing and mysterious encounters in moments of personal crisis. When, in my late thirties, I started teaching in colleges and yeshivos, I began to tell these stories to my students. Invariably, someone would say, “Oh, I also have a story.” The same happened at our Shabbos table.
On Your Mark with Hadassah Buchwald
Hadassah Buchwald is the co-founder of the Identity Preservation Project, based in New Haven, Connecticut Rebirth in the Land of Ashes I grew up in Poland, and no one would have been able to tell we were Jewish. The communist regime was oppressive for anyone, especially Jews, so within a year of the collapse of communism, my family moved to Israel.
To Protect and Serve?
Last Friday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu shared a video on Twitter called “The Incitement to Murder the Prime Minister and His Family Reaches New Heights,” a provocative compilation of death threats against Netanyahu and his family that have appeared on social media and been shouted during recent protests.
Moonwalk: Chapter 8
As told to Rochel Samet “How’d you find the quiz?” Shana asks me after math class. My stomach turns. “Ugh. It was awful. I hardly studied.” “Yeah, I tried calling you last night,” Shana says in an offhanded voice. I know my best friend — she’s offended.
Upper Crust - Mishpacha
It’s only the crust, I think. Only the crust?! Yitzy can eat it soon with peanut butter. At two-and-a-half, he isn’t picky. At least not yet. Yeah — but it’ll have to sit on the table or counter until then. And I want the place clean. I can break it up into little pieces and chuck it. A wisp of a memory tickles at the far recesses of my gray matter. Mrs.
Facets: Chapter 12
L esson learned for next time: Don’t listen to your husband’s bright ideas. A school tea was not the place I was going to meet my new BFF. I stepped into the basement — which was the first problem really basements feel like basements no matter how beautiful they are. The first thing I saw was rows and rows of sushi which got me excited because yay sushi. But when I got closer I saw it was only vegetable or cooked fish rolls. Really do they think women can’t handle raw fish?
We’re All Igbo - Mishpacha
T he scene was surreal. We were sitting in Port Harcourt Nigeria in a torrential equatorial downpour. Within minutes the dirt courtyard became a swamp and the roads were ankle-deep in water. The clouds were so thick that the sky turned the color of post-shkiah before Shabbos ends. But the rain and mud didn’t seem to distract the boys who crowded around us many with peyos braided out of their afros.
Savoring the Memories
G reat historical events give birth to great works of history and the Six Day War is no exception. Michael Oren’s Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East is a magisterial survey of the political and diplomatic background leading up to the war and throughout the fighting. Oren draws on all the relevant archives: Hebrew Arabic English and Russian. Abraham Rabinovich’s The Battle for Jerusalem must rank with the most gripping military histories ever written.
High Anxiety Before Trump’s Israel Trip
S peculation is rampant that President Trump may announce a plan to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on his coming trip to Israel a move long sought by Jerusalem and its pro-Israel supporters. But speculation equally centers on Trump’s plans to enforce the status quo and leave the embassy in Tel Aviv a move that would please America’s Arab allies and throw a bone to the peace process.
White Chocolate Cheesecake
Food preparation and food styling by Chanie Nayman | Photography by Lisa Monahan One of the highlights of many a balabusta is serving a special cheesecake for Kiddush on Shavuos when the men return home from learning all night. I am proud to present you with this outstanding confection that will without a doubt live up to all expectations.
Mission with Ambition
P arshas Vayakhel-Pekudei “And every man whose heart uplifted him came.” (Shemos 35:21) The Ramban writes that there were no experienced artisans in Bnei Yisrael to build the Mishkan. Those who came to work were men whose hearts were inspired with avodas Hashem. They approached Moshe and offered to accept upon themselves whatever job necessary. If you take a look at the successful people of the world you’ll find that the secret of their accomplishments is dependent on their inner drive.
Checkmate - Mishpacha
I was never officially diagnosed with Asperger’s. Growing up in the ’70s and ’80s no one even knew what that was. My rebbeim and teachers loved me because I was the smartest kid in the class; my classmates hated me for the same reason. I was friendly with the few other gifted kids — the geeks — but the rest of the kids either bullied me or wanted nothing to do with me. When people talked about body language I had no idea what they were referring to.
I Love Israel - Mishpacha
Someone sent us vitamins from the States — $314 worth to be exact. Plus $80 for shipping. I’m not a big vitamin fan but I waited about a month to get the package though it was sent express and after deep research we discover it’s stuck in customs. Once you hear the word customs inIsrael your heart knows it’s not going to be a simple story. I walk in with my papers. A nice humble-looking man with a knitted yarmulke is just changing shifts.
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