My curious Jewish mind then made me wonder what else could there be? Within an hour, using simple math, I was able to uncover the foundations of Judaism which is revealed below.

I began presenting this to classes and clergy and to date it has not been challenged or has it been seen before.

Several years ago, in a high school class I was teaching, Sarah Sinert, a student, said I left something out. She was correct as she showed the most tenet of Judaism, one God!

Take a look and ponder as I did, what else can I learn about life and Judaism that we think might be hidden, yet could be obvious if we take a moment to look at what is right in front of us that was placed in our Torah for us to discover.

*6+1+3= 10 commandments

*6×1=6/3= 2 tablets (or Ten Commandments given twice)

*6×1=6X3= 18 Chai

*6-1=5+3=8 days of milah

*6+1=7-3= 4 Jewish matriarchs

*6/ (1×2)=3 Jewish forefathers

*6-13=7 Shabbat

*6/(1-3)= 12 tribes of Israel

*6x(3+1)=24 Books of bible

*6/3 =2-1=1 God (revealed by Sarah Sinert-HIP Hebrew high school student)

Andy Greenberg is a speaker, lay service leader and educator onJewish and secular topics and former radio and TV personality.

The Talmud teaches us that everything that happens in the world is for the good. And although many times it seems far from good, you should know that ultimately it somehow is for the good. We therefore wish each other, that not just should you have a good year, but also a sweet one. A year that is not just ultimately for the good, but rather one where the good is obvious to all. A year that is deliciously sweet!

Many give each other tegalach, honey cookies or honey cake – known as lekach. In fact the Chassidic custom is to specifically ask someone (usually the rabbi, but not necessarily) for a piece or a shtickel lekach. We hope and pray that if there’s anything that we must ask or beg anyone for in the coming year, we should fulfill it with that ask.

It is also the custom of eating sweet foods on Rosh Hashanah itself, especially an apple dipped in honey with a special prayer that G-d grant us a good and sweet year. The Challah is dipped in honey. A special dish known as Tzimes is a European carrot concoction cooked in honey. As well as many other foods we eat with honey. My mother z’ls delicious tzimes included Chuck fleish and marrow bones and was one of the most delicious dishes ever. Ah, good memories!

Of course by now you surely know that the theme of honey throughout this season symbolizes the sweet year we all yearn for. But why specifically honey? Why not sugar or splenda?

For starters, Israel was blessed to be a land flowing with milk and honey! Eating honey, wherever we may be, reminds us of our ancient homeland and our deep connection to Israel.

Have you ever seen an expiration date on honey? Honey can last for a really long time! A quick Google search will tell you that honey can last for centuries, but perhaps it can even last longer than that!

Many times there are people that get blessings. They win the lottery or stumble across a treasure. But the blessings unfortunately don’t always last and all their money can disappear as fast as it appeared. On Rosh Hashanah we pray that we not only get a blessed year, but that the blessing lasts.

Furthermore, honey can be used as a preservative. When Adam and Eve, whose birthdays we celebrate on Rosh Hashanah, were created, they were commanded to work the earth and to guard it. To protect it and all that it contains. To preserve the world and constantly make it a better place.

I wish each and every one of you a Shana Tova Umetuka! May you and your families be blessed with a Happy and Healthy, Good & Sweet New Year! May you be showered with blessings and may they last for a very long time! May you always be there for others! May you be a preservative for this beautiful world and help bring it to the perfection G-d has intended for it! May this year be your best year ever!

This year we will celebrate Rosh Hashanah beginning Sunday evening, September 25 at sundown, and concluding Tuesday evening, Sept 27 at nightfall. To learn more about Rosh Hashanah and the many customs associated with it visit www.ChabadChayil.org/HHolidays. You can also pick up a free holiday guide at Chabad Chayil’s office or call us and we will be happy to mail it to you.

I encourage you to attend your local Chabad or Synagogue to enjoy Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and all the high holidays to their fullest. Of course you can always join us at The Family Shul for services or holiday dinner, but you would need to RSVP in advance at (305) 770-1919 or TheFamilyShul.com. The community dinner will of course include Apples Dipped in Honey, Traditional Round Challah, Gefilte Fish, my mother’s Tzimes recipe, Kugel and all the delicious holiday foods!

Rabbi Moishe Kievman is the founder of CHAP – an after school program for Jewish children in Public Schools, rabbi at The Family Shul and together with his wife directs Chabad Chayil. He can be reached at (305) 770-1919 or rabbi@ChabadChayil.org

There were some good points in CNN’s recent Antisemitism Special, such as a discussion of the importance of the Secure Community Network’s synagogue security training; a depiction of the harassment and death threat against a pro-Israel college student; and CNN’s acknowledgement that antisemitism is a serious, growing problem.

Unfortunately, however, the CNN Antisemitism Special grossly downplayed leftwing and Islamist antisemitism, and ignored  Black Nationalist and other major sources of antisemitism. This seems in large part due to CNN’s reliance on the extremist, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and its CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Deborah Lipstadt (who compared pro-Jewish President Trump to Nazis); and radical T’ruah’s Jill Jacobs.

(ADL recently stated that BDS [anti-Jewish boycotts] alone do not count as antisemitic; praised antisemite Ilhan Omar as “committed to a more just world’; defended antisemitic NGOs including Amnesty International; defended extremist, anti Israel George Soros and tried to defund and remove the tax exemption from three pro-Israel groups, including Christian Zionists; among numerous other dangerous positions.

Hostile-to-Israel T’ruah partners with falsehood-purveying, anti-Israel NGO Breaking the Silence to vilify Israel; and has repeatedly tried to defund hundreds of humanitarian Jewish pro-Israel charities.)

Alarmingly, the CNN program publicized T’ruah head, Jill Jacobs’ extremely limited definition of antisemitism – without giving ZOA or anyone else an opportunity to provide a sensible broader definition.  Jacobs claimed that anti-Zionism is only antisemitism when an antisemitic “trope” (such as Jews wanting money) is involved.  In fact, anti-Zionism denies the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and right to live in the Jewish homeland, and is thus both discriminatory and antisemitic.  Anti-Zionism is a major manifestation of antisemitism today.  On college campuses and elsewhere, antisemites use the term “Zionist” and “Jew” interchangeably.

Jacobs also absurdly claim during the CNN program that “Palestinian activism” is not primarily antisemitic.  In fact, “Palestinian activism” on college campuses consists of harassing Jewish students, holding demonstrations calling for killing and evicting Jewish students, shouting down Jewish and pro-Israel speakers and events, and trying to make Jewish and pro-Israel students fearful and miserable.

The CNN Antisemitism Special never mentioned the following major perpetrators of antisemitism, who are responsible for making antisemitism acceptable and mainstream today:

(1)  The “Squad” of antisemites in Congress (Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, AOC, Betty McCollum, Jamal Bowman, Cori Bush, Marie Newman):  They’ve falsely accused Israelis of “evil”, denying Palestinian Arabs clean water and other blood libels; accused American Jews of buying Congress; and initiated antisemitic legislation, including bills falsely accusing Israelis of abusing Palestinian children and declaring Israel’s reestablishment to be a “Nakba” (catastrophe).

(2)  Imams who preached sermons in mosques throughout the United States calling for Muslims and Allah to murder and annihilate Jews:  Sermons calling for massacring Jews were preached in mosques in California, Texas, New Jersey and North Carolina.

(3)  Farrakhan and other antisemitic Black nationalists, etc.:  Farrakhan is notorious for his antisemitic rants about “Satanic Jews” who “deceive the whole world,” “synagogues of Satan,” calling Judaism a “gutter religion,” and other vile comments, but despite his widespread malign influence, CNN never mentioned him.  Farrakhan has been mainstreamed by women’s march leader Tamika Mallory praising Farrakhan as the “Greatest of All Time.”  Frequent violence against identifiable Jews in the New York metro area is overwhelmingly perpetrated by Blacks; more such events occurred this week.  Members of a Black supremacist sect, the Black Hebrew Israelites (a non-Jewish group that believes that white people are Satan’s agents, Jews are liars and false worshippers, and black people are the true “chosen people”), perpetrated the deadly Jersey City shooting at a kosher grocery.  However, when CNN briefly mentioned the Jersey City shooting, CNN did not mention the perpetrators’ identity.

(4)  The Black Lives Matter organization (BLM), BLM’s parent group Movement 4 Black Lives (M4BL) and related organizations:  The BLM/M4BL organizations promote antisemitic blood libels and anti-Jewish boycotts in their platform; incited a major pogrom in Los Angeles in which they burned, looted and defaced synagogues, Jewish schools and businesses; and meet with and promote the designated terror groups promoting their agenda in joint events, joint demonstrations, and tweets.

(5)  Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP):  SJP is the source of most campus antisemitism and violence.  Trained SJP activists on over 200 college campuses intimidate, harass and assault Jewish and pro-Israel students, and aggressively disrupt pro-Israel events.

(6)  CAIR and other Hamas-related organizations:  CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator involved in funneling money to Hamas, whose charter calls for murdering every Jew.  CAIR incites against Jews; promotes BDS; defends terrorists; hosts extreme Jew-haters and more.

(7)  Antisemitic anti-Israel churches and related NGOs:

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC, a.k.a. Quakers) and Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA):  These groups are major Israel bashers and promoters of antisemitic BDS.  In July 2022, PCUSA falsely declared Israel to be an “apartheid state.”  In 2014, PCUSA divested from certain American companies doing business in Israel.  “AFSC Investigates” also provides targeting research on Jewish companies to target for boycotts and other action.  AFSC and JVP also sponsored an intensive BDS summer training camp to teach students to run antisemitic boycott campaigns and other antisemitic anti-Israel campaigns on college campuses.

Sabeel and Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA): These NGOs specialize in turning Christians and churches against Jews and Israel; promote antisemitic anti-Israel blood libels; and promote antisemitic BDS.

(8)  BDS groups and other anti-Israel NGOs:  An alphabet soup of BDS groups operating in the U.S. engage in lawless, violent “block the boat” actions to prevent Jewish-owned ships from onloading needed supplies at U.S. ports; “map” and target Jewish institutions, their employees and other tangentially related to Jews or Israel; and promote antisemitic economic, cultural and academic boycotts to destroy the Jewish state and Jewish livelihoods.

(9) Jewish antisemites and Israel-bashers, including Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), IfNotNow, J Street:  These groups consistently side with and assist Israel’s enemies.

(10) President Biden’s antisemitic anti-Israel appointees and nominees: Biden’s nominees include Islamists who promoted anti-Jewish boycotts; Hady Amr, who stated that they were “inspired by the Intifada” (the terror wars in which Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered or maimed 10,000 innocent Jews); Karine Jean-Pierre, who helped orchestrate Democratic presidential candidates’ boycott of a major pro-Israel conference;  Maher Bitar, who organized anti-Israel conferences where he taught “how to demonize Israel“; and numerous others with antisemitic anti-Israel records.

(11) Linda Sarsour and other radical Islamists:  Sarsour is an extremist Israel-hater, BDS-promoter and terrorist-sympathizer-and-inciter who said she was “honored and privileged” to stand with PFLP murderer-of-Jewish-students Rasmea Odeh; tweeted “nothing is creepier than Zionism”; praised the Intifada terror wars (in which Palestinian-Arab terrorists murdered and maimed thousands of innocent Israelis) as “invaluable on many fronts”; falsely blames Israel for American police killings of Blacks in America; called throwing rocks at Israeli Jews the “definition of courage“; demanded we not “humanize” Jews; proclaimed no “Zionists” will be allowed at a rally, and more.   Sarsour and other radical Israel-haters were mainstreamed by, among other things, being given a speaking platform at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

(12) Funders and legal backers of antisemitic groups who enable antisemitism:  Groups such as Palestine Legal back up SJP and other groups that harass and attack Jewish students on college campuses.  Huge funders of antisemitic NGOs include the Tides Foundation; Rockefeller Brothers Foundation; New Israel Fund (NIF) and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

Yet, CNN omitted all of this.

CNN also made no mention of President Obama’s antisemitic statements, such as Obama’s Cairo speech which egregiously implied that Jews’ suffering under the Nazis was equivalent to Palestinian Arab (supposed) suffering under Israel.

CNN never contacted ZOA despite our long expertise dealing with antisemitism.  Among other things, ZOA is the leading organization providing legal assistance to Jewish and pro-Israel students on college campuses, and fought a six-year battle to reinterpret Civil Rights regulations to include Jewish students. We have notified CNN about our concerns. Hopefully CNN will produce a more accurate program of the scourge irrational Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred.

Morton Klein is the National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA).

We can find a pearl of wisdom in the tragedy of the recent event in Jewish History, when we marked the date of Tisha B’Av, the saddest date on the Jewish Calendar. Both our temples were destroyed on this day as well as countless other tragedies our people have endured. As our ancestors were led in chains into Babylon and through the humiliating Arch of Titus, it seemed like all hope was lost — G-d had forsaken his People.

It was the great Rabbi Akiva who transformed our perception of suffering and gave us the most magnificent and majestic understanding of human suffering and tragedy. While his colleagues cried out of the destruction of Jerusalem, Akiva burst out in joyous laughter. When asked to explain his bizarre behavior, he quoted the prophecy of Isaiah that prophesied that “Jerusalem would be destroyed just like a plowed field.”

The Rebbe opened our eyes to the profound wisdom in Rabbi Akiva’s reaction and in his choice of metaphor. When one sees a plowed field it seems like total death and devastation. But a wise person understands that the plowing is a vital step towards planting the field and filling it with life and rebirth. You can’t fault the one who sees it in a negative light, but he clearly is missing the bigger picture and purpose.

Just like construction of the new cannot begin before the demolition of the old, Rabbi Akiva perceived the current anguish as the necessary precedent towards the subsequent recovery. Seeing the full picture, he naturally reacted with joy and laughter!

The same is true of all the negative experiences that we encounter in our lives. G-d Almighty, our beloved Father in heaven, is always in control. It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just not good yet. Sometimes G-d makes better choices for us than we could ever have made for ourselves.

Whilst our Holy Jerusalem Temple was being conquered and violated by the marauding Babylonian invaders, one might have thought G-d had fully abandoned His people. Yet the Talmud tells us that when the intruders entered the Holy of Holies they witnessed an awesome sight. The Ark of the Covenant, housing the Ten Commandments, that when stationed there had two large golden cherubs atop it. Whenever the Jews were in G-d’s favor, the cherubs were facing each other. Whenever the Jews fell out of grace, they would miraculously about face. Yet when they entered, we’re amazed to learn that they found the cherubs facing each other, indicative of G-d’s love and affection to His people!

Even amidst the burning buildings, painful conquest and subsequent death, G-d was giving us a sign that He still loved us and was present there with us. This was all part of His plan. We just needed to hold on tight with every shred of our faith.

The image of the cherubs amidst the flames is a powerful representation of the conscious Jew’s rock-hard faith. As G-d was fully present during the national destruction of our homeland, G-d is also present in each and every one of our personal trials, temptations and tribulations! It’s no easy task to believe in G-d’s love when all you see is hate. But then again, it’s no big deal to have faith when things are going well. Faith is what you fall on, when they aren’t. It’s one thing to believe in G-d, it’s quite something else to trust Him with our lives!

Before you dismiss this transformative perception of reality as rabbinic and out of touch, open your eyes to see this truth all around this beautiful world we live in: The Jewish day begins at sunset. We need to experience a full twelve hours of lonely darkness before we can enjoy the blessing of sunrise. Anyone who has ever achieved anything of importance did so after countless hours of training and discipline. You too are willing to pay good money to tire your body and stress out your muscles at the gym in order to reach the beautiful, healthy body that lies at the other side of stress. G-d changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls and coal into diamonds using time and pressure.

Like the viewer of the plowed field, you too have a choice: will you choose to get stuck in the current scene or will you wait to see the full movie! Having a nervous breakdown now would be akin to marching out of the theater in the middle of the movie!

A diamond is merely a lump of coal that didn’t give in to the pressure. He’s working on you too! When G-d doesn’t answer your prayer, it means that he has another answer for you, Hang in there.

My life may not be going the way I planned it, but it is going exactly the way that G-d planned it. My parents in law were on a routine flight from Tel Aviv to New York a few weeks ago when the plane made a sudden, unexplained and torturous stop in Rome. Saturated with this foresight, my wise mother-in-law, Sarah Krinsky immediately bounced into action soothing the complaints of the curmudgeons and filling them with faith, food and fortitude. When I asked my parents in law what they thought the reason for the delay was, they said that “when your plane reroutes, it’s because Hashem has a better flight path.”

Like the distant control tower that manages our flight paths, Hashem is ever present planning each detail of our lives. When your flight is grounded, it’s in order to keep you safe. You’re much better off despite the temporary frustration.

Let’s learn from Rabbi Akiva. Let’s laugh our way through life’s fears and tears as we calmly sit back and wait for the mysterious plot to unfold as everything eventually falls into place!

Rabbi Dovid Vigler is director of Chabad of Palm Beach Gardens.

Visit Rabbi@JewishGardens.com and www.JewishGardens.com

Sid was a two-time All-American football player while playing quarterback for Columbia. After graduating from college in the spring of 1939, Sid told me that he did not want to play professional football. However, he changed his mind when Chicago Bears Coach George Halas went to his house in Brooklyn and convinced him to play. Sid agreed to play for the Bears. In fact, Sid played his entire NFL career from 1939 to 1950 with the Bears.

He was the most prolific passer in the NFL in the 1940s. Sid led the Bears to NFL titles in 1940, 1941, 1943 and 1946 and was often named to All-Pro teams. Very few fans know that after the 1943 season, Sid was a Merchant Marine for eight months during WWII. However, Sid got back in time to take the snaps for the 1944 season. He retired from the Bears after the 1950 season, but still stayed involved with the team. After retiring, Sid volunteered his time in the 1950s to help tutor the Bears’ quarterbacks.

In the mid-1980s, Sid became a snowbird by living in Aventura for around eight months a year and going back to Chicago for four months. I would visit him every winter and spring from the Washington, D.C. area as I also saw family here. I would often show my Jews in football memorabilia (mostly football cards) to Sid, and he showed me his “hobby room.” It was fun and Sid would sign all of his football cards that I would bring to him each time there.

Sometimes when I visited him in the month of December we would eat at his house while watching football games. He treated me as family. I once wore my Washington Redskins shirt when I hung out with Sid, and he reminded me how he led his Bears to a 73-0 rout over my Redskins in the 1940 championship game.

I remember Sid telling me how he threw an NFL record seven touchdowns in a 1943 game against the New York Giants. He said this about his most memorable game, “My best game was the 1943 title game. We beat Washington, 41 to 21 and I felt sharp.” When I asked Sid who was his hero that shaped his football career, he replied, “George Halas was the greatest person I ever met.”

Another thing you may not know about Sid is that he was the very first Jewish person to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That happened in 1965. Since the induction, seven other Jews have been inducted at Canton, Ohio. The other seven are Ron Mix, Sid Gillman, Al Davis, Benny Friedman, Andre Tippett, Marv Levy and Ed Sabol.

Sid was a private man, but always opened his home to me as he enjoyed talking about Jews in football. We would talk about Marshall Goldberg, Harry Newman, Lyle Alzado, Merv Pregulman and some others. Once I told him that Lyle Alzado was Jewish and he was surprised to hear that and responded with a smile, “We had a tough New York Jew in the league.”

Sid was always very hospitable to me and would give me a Chicago Bear tie or other items of friendship after each visit. In the winter of 1996, I brought my one year old daughter Dana (now she is almost 27) to see Sid and she was playing with an old Chicago Bear stuffed animal in his hobby room. Sid was so nice and told Dana that she could have it, but I insisted that Sid keep it as it was from his playing days. Luckily Dana forgot about the teddy bear when we left his place.

I remember around October 1997 before coming down to South Florida, I called Sid and he said he was in bad health but still wanted me to visit him. I saw him for the last time in December 1997 and he passed away on July 5, 1998, in Aventura at the age of 81.

If you grew up when I did, you probably remember the book and movie Love Story. The book, published by Erich Segal in 1970, was a bestseller. The movie based on the book, released in the same year, made stars of Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw. They play college students Jenny and Oliver from opposite social economic backgrounds who fall in love and marry. They then must deal with tragedy as she contracts cancer. (This is not a spoiler; her death is the first line of the book.)

If you remember the book and movie, you also probably remember the key line – “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” It is #13 in the American Film Institute’s list of greatest movie quotes. It sounds wonderful to love, without ever having to apologize. But is it true? To answer that question, we must talk about love.

The Talmud teaches, “When our love was strong, we could have slept on a bed that was the width of a sword. Now that our love is not strong, a bed of sixty cubits is not sufficient for us.” (Sanhedrin 7a)

Last week’s portion speaks of the commandment to love, a verse Jews recite as part of the Sh’ma each morning and each evening. Love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our might. But this is followed by a long list of obligations. We must speak of this love when we lie down and when we rise up. We must teach it to our children. We must bind it on our hand and on our heart (tefillin). We must write it on the doorposts of our house and upon our gates (mezuzah). This brings us to the heart of the Jewish view of love. Love is not simply about inner feelings. Love comes with actions. Love is tied to law, it creates obligations.

That brings me to Love Story. If we wronged someone we love, we must take action. We must apologize. Love always means having to say you’re sorry. Love without action is not true love. We must demonstrate our love, not only by how we feel but what we do. The beauty of our tradition is that love is always tied to action.

In my career I have performed hundreds of weddings. Let me share the thoughts I have shared with the bride and the groom in almost every one of those weddings. What is love? Love is when you look into the eyes of your partner and ask the question, what does my partner need? How can I meet those needs? How can I make the life of my partner happier, healthier, more successful. Love means knowing your partner and then acting. Love is not about what you feel but what you do.

In America we worship feelings. Our inner feelings are of ultimate importance; actions do not matter. That is why the line is so popular in America, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” If you feel in love, that is all that is important. In Jewish tradition love is not about feelings but about actions. It is not what we feel in our heart but what we say with our mouths and do with our hands. It is a lesson that we learn reading the Sh’ma.

With that in mind, I recommend the following. If there is someone who you love with all your heart, a spouse or partner, family member or friend, and if you have wronged them, say you are sorry. Give them a call, send them a text, write them a note. Love means always saying you’re sorry.

Rabbi Michael Gold, PhD serves as spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Boca Raton. He can be reached through his website rabbigold.com

“That tragedy,” it has been said, “inaugurated the modern age of terror and remains a scar on the collective conscience of the world.”

On September 5, Arab terrorists took nine members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage, after killing two more. The terrorists demanded the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the West German held founders of the Red Army Faction, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. The terrorists wanted transportation to Cairo. Authorities led the gunmen to believe they would comply to fly them and the hostages to an Arab country, while in truth, they were planning to ambush the gunmen at the airport.

I remember at the time, I was on my way to the New York Times on a press matter and was elated at hearing initial news reports, indicating that all the hostages were alive, and that all the attackers had been killed. Only later did the somber voice of Jim McKay of ABC, tell us that the Israelis “are all gone.”

The rescue operation was a fiasco, botched by the Germans. Nine Israelis were killed by the terrorists. Five of the eight Black September members were shot dead in the gunfight on the helicopter pad, at Fürstenfeldbruck airfield. Three were captured. The German failure to free the Israelis was amateurish and negligent.

The next month, moreover, following the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615, the West German government released the three terrorists in a hostage exchange. The gunmen were flown to Libya.

The Israeli government launched Operation Wrath of God which authorized Mossad to track down and kill those involved in the Munich massacre.

Tragically, it took the International Olympic Committee 44 years to commemorate the victims of the Munich Massacre. The IOC honored the murdered ones for the first time in the Rio 2016 Olympic Village. A moment of silence was observed in the opening ceremony, the first time in history.

Ever since the massacre, reflected Joel Moses of Boynton Beach, because of the IOC attitude, “I’m an anti-Olympic person though I always root for the American team.” As for terrorism and the terrorists involved, the then prime minister, Golda Meir, stated after the massacre:

“From the blood drenched history of the Jewish nation, we learn that violence which begins with the murder of Jews, ends with the spread of violence and danger to all people, in all nations. We have no choice but to strike at terrorist organizations wherever we can reach them.That is our obligation to ourselves and to peace.”

Until this day, it is clear that “an entire generation of Mossad, Shabak and Military Intelligence officers of Israel have been armed and motivated by her words,” writes Aaron Klein in his book, “Striking Back.”

A secret Mossad unit, Operation Caesarea was mobilized. After the massacre, the Israelis rightly and justly carried on a manhunt for those responsible for the killings. An example of this policy is the U.S. killing of Osama Bin Laden and just recently, Ayman al-Zawahri. “It’s the right thing to do,” said David Cohen of Boynton Beach, also, adding the Biblical phrase, “if someone comes planning to kill you, you should hurry to kill him first.”

Several decades after the Munich attack, more than a dozen people involved in the crime were shot dead, including two of the three kidnappers, allegedly by Mossad. No operation of that magnitude is free of mistakes. An innocent man was killed by Israelis at Lillehammer, Norway. Israel expressed regret over the action and offered compensation to the family totaling almost $400,000, according to Klein.

One Arab terrorist who avoided justice, was Abu-Daoud, responsible for the Munich tragedy. But the French government refused a West German extradition request on grounds that forms had not been filled in properly and put him on a plane to Algeria. In 2010, he died of kidney failure in Damascus.

On this, the 50th anniversary of the Munich Massacre, it is fitting we remember the athletes. One way is to recite their names on September 5. May their memory be a blessing.Moshe Weinberg, Yossef Romano, Ze’ev Friedman, David Berger, Yakov Springer, Eliezer Halfin, Yossef Gutfreund, Kehat Shorr, Mark Slavin, Andre Spitzer and Amitzur Shapira.

Ben G. Frank, a resident of Boynton Beach, is a journalist, lecturer and author of books on Russia and Ukraine, including his latest historical novel, “Klara’s Brother & The Woman He Loved.”

Holding their cokes, they made their way back to the tracks to reboard their train car. They were horrified to see that it was gone! Their jackets, luggage, and belongings were on their way to Los Angeles and they were stranded in Tucson with nothing! There was no way to continue their journey empty-handed — they would have to turn back. Distraught and disappointed, they rented a hotel room for the night, awaiting the next train heading east to Ft. Worth.

Rabbi Aaron Moscovitz watched his wife, Ethel, put the final touches on her Shabbat dinner as he wished her Good Shabbos before walking to their Tucson synagogue for Friday night services. As Rabbi Moscovitz opened his Siddur to find the place, the synagogue door opened and two young men walked tentatively inside. They explained their predicament — stranded in town after missing their train West — and Aaron invited them to join his family for Shabbat dinner. The arrival of two young men caused quite a stir in the Moscovitz house especially for their teenage daughters, Judy and Ilene. Eligible Jewish men were hard to come by in Arizona!

By the end of Shabbat dinner, Leonard and Bob’s troubles were forgotten as they delighted in the company of their new friends. Bob began a long distance courtship with Judy and two years later in 1948, they were married in Tucson, Arizona.

Their love story had a propitious beginning and thank G-d, a blessed continuation as they enjoyed seventy-eight years of marriage before Judy passed away in June of this year in Boynton Beach. We were privileged to celebrate Judy & Bob’s 77th anniversary at a Kiddush at Chabad of South Palm Beach and we were deeply moved by the providence that brought them together and the deep love that joined them for so long.

How marvelous are the ways of G-d. The “stranded” Rosenthal boys were the answer to the Moscovitzes’ prayers. It is not every day that we glimpse the marvelous ways of Divine providence, seeing the silver lining in the gray clouds.

How often do we find ourselves stalled in traffic, on line, or on the phone? If we train ourselves to see the opportunity in every interaction, we can recognize that we are planted with precision, and not randomly “stuck.” We can make the most of opportunities we did not anticipate by sharing love, Yiddishkeit, or even a throat lozenge.

In 1967, the Lubavitch women’s annual conference was held in Detroit. At the successful conclusion of the gathering, the women went to the airport where they found out that all air travel had been suspended because of bad weather and that none of them would be able to fly home. This was a logistical nightmare for the women in Detroit and more importantly, for their families back home.

A convention organizer reached out to the office of the Lubavitcher Rebbe informing him that all the women were stuck in the Detroit airport because of a blizzard. The Rebbe’s secretary responded to the women saying that the Rebbe did not understand the word “stuck”. As they attempted to explain the definition of the word the secretary responded, “The Rebbe knows what stuck means. The Rebbe is saying that a Jew is never stuck.” The women understood the challenge in the message and they made sure to make their time count.

Being stuck is feeling powerless, giving up personal agency, and losing precious time. When I recognize that everything happens with Divine will, I realize that I am precisely planted in this unique situation. How can I make the most of it? What opportunities present themselves in this scenario that I did not anticipate? When faced with a similar obstacle, you too can decide if you will be stuck or if you will be planted! I so hope you’ll bloom.

Shaina Stolik is the Rebbetzin at Chabad of South Palm Beach, 224 S. Ocean Blvd., Lantana. www.chabadspb.org.

My great grandfather’s Uncle, Mitchell, who emigrated to Flint, Michigan sent money to the Jewish Agency in Gdansk, Poland for the Lewinson family to come to America in 1923. My great grandpa and his family walked 400 kilometers (248.5 miles) from their home to get to Gdansk. They had to walk at night to avoid German occupying soldiers. While they were walking, they entered several villages and inquired where the Jews lived in order to get food and possibly shelter. It took them four months to walk to Gdansk. The Lewinson family spoke Yiddish and Russian.

The Jewish Agency was able to get them on a boat to England from Gdansk. From England they were able to cross the Atlantic to Ellis Island in New York City. Each one of them had to go through processing as immigrants on Ellis Island, and once this was completed, they made it to Flint, Michigan. Flint was where the sponsoring individual (Uncle Mitchell) lived. Mitchell generously gave the family $300 to start their lives in America.

My great grandpa and his family started a small grocery store in Flint which sold homemade pickles, gefilte fish, and blintzes, all of which were popular with both Jews and non-Jews. The family gave a line of credit in their store to Flint workers who had been laid off from their jobs in the winter from the Flint auto plants. The workers were usually able to repay their debts in the spring when they started working again.

My great grandfather came to America with his immediate family in 1923 when he was 12 years old. His family had been in America less than 10 years when they had saved enough money to send my great grandfather and his younger brother to college at the height of the Depression.

My great grandpa became a US citizen in 1937. He was then drafted into the US Army in 1942. He became part of the 8th armored division, The Thundering Herd. He served in active combat, including the Battle of the Bulge, and helped to liberate a concentration camp called Buchenwald which was located in Weimar, Germany. As a Jew, this was extremely emotional and meaningful to my great grandfather.

My great grandfather was in Nazi Germany in 1945, when his army unit dropped him at a seemingly abandoned farmhouse to clean it up in order to create a new headquarters for the unit. His commanding officer said they would pick him up in a few hours. While he was alone in the farmhouse, a caravan of German troops came and entered the house. My great grandfather hid underneath a bed. He understood the German language because he spoke Yiddish, so he was able to later relay to his unit what he had heard the Germans saying. This included the Germans’ plans to attack nearby Allied forces. Providing this information to his commanding officer prevented the attack and likely death of many troops.

At age 34, when he returned to the US after the war, he kissed the ground as he was very thankful for surviving and could return to his family in Michigan. My great grandfather went on to complete college, earn a law degree, and became a successful businessman in Michigan.

Not at all. After the end of World War II, a relatively large German minority remained in western Poland. They were often people who were cruelly treated by fate, deprived of their property or orphans left to themselves, whose parents died in the course of hostilities.

In the Kalisz region, in Greater Poland, the post-war fate of several nations, Poles, Jews, Germans and Ukrainians, was mixed. Two young boys left on their own, lived in one of the houses in a small town. They were Germans. Their parents never returned home from the conflagration of the war. The Szczecinskis, a Jewish family, lived nearby. In September 1939 the family’s senior fought in the Polish army against the German aggressor. He was taken prisoner to finally endure the horror of the Auschwitz Birkenau camp, brutally tortured by, among others, the famous sadist Dr. Mengele. After more than 5 years, a fragment of a human returned home, mercilessly emaciated, with scars from medical experiments and a tattooed camp number on his forearm.

When his daughter sees this tattoo she gets nervous and tells her never to mention it again. The camp trauma of a mutilated man is very strong. The wounds, especially those in the soul, are deep. However, seeing the difficult situation of their German neighbors, the Szczecinskis offer them help. The boys live under one roof together with a Jewish family who offered them selfless support. They become practically family members, but the reluctance of the social environment turns into open hatred.

The danger increased for the young boys. By protecting them, the hostility against the Szczecinski family grows. A gang of thugs begins to organize in the area, targeting the young Germans hiding with the Szczecinski family. They are led by a Ukrainian who in a characteristic way distorts the word “Germans,” calling out “Germams.” The Szczecinskis often heard these calls in front of their home when night falls: “You are hiding the Germams!”

This characteristic cry at night usually heralds an attack on the Szczecinski’s house, stones are flying towards them, windows are broken, but also shots are fired. After all, no one even thinks of handing over the boys to their torturers even though they most likely risk their own lives by doing so. Replacing broken glass windows became a daily issue in the Szczecinski family’s house. The torturers did not let go. They came again one evening with loaded weapons and shot at the Szczecinski’s house. The senior of the family still had time to shout for everyone to fall to the floor, and then the bullets of the attackers hit him, wounding his chest. He was seriously injured but managed to survive once again. The boys were rescued again. After several years of living in extreme, constant danger, the boys managed to go to West Germany to visit their relatives.

After some time, as young men, they visited their rescuers to thank them for the extraordinary effort and dedication that saved them from imminent destruction. Despite the enormous suffering at the hands of the Nazis during World War II, the Szczecinski family, risking their own lives, saved the two German boys from their torturers. Szczecinski did not see them as “Germans,” but as defenseless children whom he considered his duty to help. Their ethnic origin did not matter because what counts is a person, what he is, not the inscription on the cover of his passport. Szczecinski behaved like the “Righteous Among the Nations,” despite the deadly danger he and his family experienced. He simply acted as he felt he should.

Marcin Szydlowski is an archaeologist. He lives in Gdansk (Poland). He is an assistant professor at the Institute of History, University of Szczecin. He conducted excavation research at many sites, from the earliest times to World War II. Currently, he is writing the fate of Jews who survived the Holocaust. He is the author of 3 books and about 60 articles.