Letters – Fall 2025

Taking a Stand Against Phones in Schools 

The principals in the recent article “Taking Back Our Schools—and Childhood” (spring 2025) should be applauded for taking a stand against phone use in schools. They are probably downplaying the pushback from many parents who are concerned with their children’s social status. These principals should stand firm and inspire every principal of every Jewish day school in the country to do the same.  

There is another step that principals can take. In some schools, administrators and teachers walk around the school with their noses in their phones. This is rude to the rest of the staff and to students. Let’s support the principals in the “no student phone in school” rule and “Wait Past 8” policy. And let’s instill the message that adults in schools should save checking messages for their offices and show their faces to the students and staff as they walk around school—modeling greeting every person with a “seiver panim yafot” [cheerful face]. Now that promotes emotional health!   

Sima Greenman   

Teaneck, New Jersey 

Remembering Tobie and Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan 

I was so pleased to see the kavod Tobie Kaplan’s children expressed for her in the recent tribute article by Tova Cohen (“Tobie Kaplan: The Woman Who Helped Shape Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s Enduring Legacy,” summer 2025).  

My family and I knew her as Toba Leah.  

I can attest to the warm welcome she extended to our son Daniel Epstein, z”l, when he was a student at Yeshiva University; he would often spend Shabbat with them during which Rabbi Kaplan helped him with his studies.  

Tobie’s grandfather, Louis Goldstein, was my mother’s brother, and although Tobie grew up in the Deep South, she was part of a very committed frum family from Louisville, Kentucky.  

My fondest memories are of Tobie’s great-grandfather, my Zadie Isaac, who went to bed early each evening so he could come back down and learn at the dining room table for an hour at midnight.  

Indeed, it was our family, the Goldsteins and Simons, who founded the Eliahu Academy Jewish Day School in Louisville, where Rabbi Kaplan taught. I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where my father was the shochet and mohel during Rabbi Eliezer Silver’s reign, but many of my extended family members had the privilege of having Rabbi Kaplan as their teacher. He had a profound influence on their lives, and six generations later, my mother Anna and her siblings all have grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are on the derech.  

Esther Rae (Lowenthal) Epstein  

Indianapolis, Indiana 

I read with interest your article about Tobie Kaplan, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s wife, who safeguarded his legacy through his writings. In 1983, I came to Israel at age twenty-nine to study in yeshivah for the first time in my life. Rabbi Kaplan’s writings about Yiddishkeit were very important to those of us returning to the fold. Since I had been involved with meditation in the context of Zen Buddhism, I was especially interested in his work on Jewish meditation. His books, Meditation and the Bible, Meditation and Kabbalah and Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide helped me make the transition to Jewish life. He not only wrote about meditation but also practiced it and was truly a pioneer in this often-neglected part of Torah.    

Uri Mendel Weinberger  

Jerusalem, Israel 

Dealing with Dementia 

Thank you for the excellent articles about dementia in your summer 2025 magazine. For the past five years, my husband has been suffering from Alzheimer’s. I was able to identify with so much of what was written. Unfortunately, dementia has become more widespread, and with no cure on the horizon, life can be extremely challenging for patients and their families. I am fortunate to still be working part time, which really helps me stay sane. As mentioned in the articles, we live for the moments, semachot, nachas from our families, trips or just smelling the flowers!  

I could have written the very articulate fictional letter with which Rabbi Daniel Rose began his article, “Writing the Final Chapter: A Torah View on Facing Mortality.” However, I would like to add to Rabbi Rose’s answer on what we [the caretakers] should daven for. In addition to davening for “Hashem’s compassion . . . that [the patient’s] aides should be kind, that his overall health should remain strong,” among the other things he mentions, I daven daily for Hashem to give me the koach (strength) and patience that I need to get through the day. Also, in Shemoneh Esrei I concentrate on the berachah of “chonen hada’at,” that I should continue to have the da’at to be able to take care of my husband and myself.  

Shulamit Gartenhaus  

Baltimore, Maryland 

Thank you for your articles on dementia, especially “Dementia in Halachah” by Rabbi Dr. Jason Weiner. There are several areas in which more information is needed. For example, halachic guidance is also needed in the area of kashrus—especially when a home attendant is in the home. Preparations might include putting away china and other non-kosherable items and clear labeling of the kitchen. Another area where halachic guidance is needed is in taking things away from the person with dementia (keys, cars, banking and financial documents) and easing anxiety by making promises and not telling the truth. Aspects of physical care need to be addressed as well. Because of the changing nature of dementia, halachic guidance is needed at each stage and as new issues arise. 

Since most forms of dementia are long term—lasting many years—care can get progressively difficult and more expensive as outside assistance might be needed. It is prudent to consult with a lawyer who specializes in long-term care options, Medicaid and estate planning.  

Many people who have early dementia start to wander. A medical alert bracelet should be purchased. In the case of a single caregiver, a duplicate bracelet stating that you are the caregiver of a person with dementia is advisable. This is so if, chas v’shalom, something happens to the caregiver, Hatzalah and the police will also look for the person with dementia.  

Many physical changes can be made in the home to help a person with dementia maintain independence for a longer period of time. Preparation can make things easier for both the person with dementia and the caregiver.  

Susan Methal RN, CMCDPT, CADDCT 

Corporate Director 

Bainbridge Adult Day Health Care Centers 

Brooklyn, New York 

The Human Side of the Disengagement  

I especially appreciated the articles focused on the dismantling of the Gush Katif community and its aftermath (“Twenty Years Later—Remembering the Uprooting of Gush Katif,” summer 2025). Having previously only had exposure to it through news stories, the articles gave me an inside glimpse into the human side of this important episode in our recent history.  

Dr. Howard Lear  

Department of English  

Levinsky College of Education 

Tel Aviv, Israel  

The Great Z’manim Debate: Rabbi Ahron Notis Responds 

I am writing in regard to Rabbi Yaakov Hoffman’s review of my book The Great Z’manim Debate: The History, the Science, and the Lomdus printed in your most recent issue (summer 2025). 

I would like to begin by thanking Rabbi Hoffman and acknowledging that his review contains valid points and insightful halachic arguments. I would, however, like to clarify that my book is not a halachah l’ma’aseh sefer; it is a presentation of all the major opinions in this debate with an explanation of the science and astronomy that underlie these opinions. As I make clear in the book, regarding practical halachah one should speak to his personal rav. 

In his review, Rabbi Hoffman writes that he is not convinced that shekias hachamah in the Gemara refers to what we call sunset. This definition of shekias hachamah is found in responsa from the Geonim. My book presents this opinion, as well as the opposing opinions found in Rishonim, together with the insights and analysis of gedolei Yisrael. It does not issue the author’s halachic ruling on this dispute. 

Rabbi Hoffman correctly points out that in a number of places, the book uses strong language when discussing the lack of scientific knowledge of previous generations. I would like to clarify that the strong language appears in quotes from gedolim, not from the author. 

What is unique and fascinating about the topic of halachic zemanim is that the fundamental issues debated by Rishonim have been resolved by Acharonim such as the Levush, the Minchas Kohen, the Vilna Gaon and the Ba’al HaTanya, based on science and observation. The book presents the arguments and counterarguments in this fierce Torah debate and explains the science and realities to which they refer. This debate in Torah contains some forceful positions, which these gedolim expressed in firm and conclusive language. The strong language used by these gedolim when pointing out scientific errors of previous generations is indeed unusual and upsetting to some people. The book discusses why they used such strong language and how to understand their criticism of earlier chachamim. 

Anyone seeking the final word on halachic zemanim should not expect to find this in The Great Z’manim Debate; that is not the book’s aim. Anyone interested in exploring a fascinating halachic debate that is intertwined with science and astronomy, and which has engaged great minds for a thousand years, will enjoy this book.