When the family reheats old noodles from a legendary sports star

1.

Read - and cry.

"I would very much like to ignore the phenomenon and paint my city in rosy shades of sweet pastoralism immersed in the clear, wine-like air of the Judean Mountains, lush with beauty," journalist Aryeh Erlich honestly begins his weekly column on the family.

But the situation, unfortunately, is completely different.

He came to his senses after a night when he picked up two guys for a ride, with "the scent of alcohol vapor hitting my respiratory tract sharply." They asked for Beitar Illit, and he realized that they were from his city.

There were those who tried to help the marginalized youth in the Torah city in the Judean Mountains, but they were replaced one after the other. "One fell out with the city's top brass and is running a complex legal system against them, the second couldn't handle the impossible task and gave up at an early stage, the third found himself getting more and more involved, the fourth is still trying."

Over his toro, Erlich calls on the city's mayors: Do something. Set up youth clubs, assign educational personnel, including pre-dropout activities, and save a lot of tears from fed-up parents.

And most importantly: "Enough of the culture of fighting over the humble backs of miserable souls."

The municipality's response did not appear. It seems that it was not requested. That's what's great about it, in a personal column, that you can pour your heart out without resorting to irritating formality. If he had asked, the following response would probably have been received: 'The municipality of Beitar Illit and its head, Mayor Rabbi Meir Rubinstein, work day and night for the marginalized youth of the city. We regret that... he preferred personal battles and going to court over real work.'

"Parents, brothers, and grandparents whose entire world was destroyed, and whose entire labor went down the drain in the filthy hallways of central Jerusalem," those who "sought to find a handful of peace and found a mouthful of misery, wanted to raise children for the Torah and were exposed to severe hardship" - will continue to cry.

"And only the silent cry of the boys' souls rises in the tumult of the kidney transplant above the sound of the parents' cries."

Here, I have contributed my part here, and I too have raised the cry. Beitar Illit, wake up.

2.

  On the cover of a family magazine, under the headline 'Scoring a Ball', we are informed: "Once a legendary sports star, today a Jew of Torah and faith. Doron Sheffer's new life is revealed."

The article itself, by Shlomi Gil, is interesting.

After all, a basketball player who currently leads an ultra-Orthodox life, with a blessed family of five children and studying Torah, is always intriguing. But to say that his life is now being "exposed"? Well, really.

There is hardly a Haredi media outlet that has not interviewed the man. On YouTube you can find a fascinating film that tells the full story of his life. The film includes pictures from his past, as well as pictures from his current home and life today.

As early as 2009, Esti Aharonovich wrote about him in Haaretz: "Doron Sheffer was supposed to be one of the greatest basketball players in the history of Israel and perhaps even in the history of Europe. But then a lot of things went wrong, one after the other, some the result of the intervention of a higher power and some the tricks played by the demons that have been raging in Sheffer's soul for years."

"Now, with a Breslau kippah on his head and a soul that only wants peace for itself, Shefer is ready to talk about things between a person and a person and things between a person and a place. Moni Panan, Omri Caspi, Oded Katash, Tihor and the cancer star in Doron's starting five. The legendary coach wins over them all: God Almighty."

And since then, and especially after he published a book about his life - 'Anani' - he has given countless interviews. 

A newspaper like a family is expected to be up-to-date, and above all, to provide its readers with real exposure.

3.

If indeed Haim Tricky from the newspaper 'Yom Liom' was briefed before writing his column by the movement's chairman, Minister Aryeh Deri, then it gives the impression that he is a political figure who happened to be in the State of Israel and the government as a tourist.

The column deals with political promises, and paints a picture of a situation according to which Deri "has difficulty accepting the fact that Bibi pledged only two months ago to fully abide by the agreements and summaries, and is now renouncing at least some of them."

"I don't understand, so many hours and days of negotiations were wasted on budget items...and yet they are now reneging on commitments?" he said in a fit of rage.

If the words were not written solely on the writer's opinion, if they were written after a conversation with the party chairman, then I would say it this way:

Welcome, Aryeh Deri, to the political system of 2015. You should have known in advance that not all coalition agreements would be honored. Why? Because that's how it is in politics. Even in the term that began in 2009, not all coalition agreements were honored, and no one in the Haredi parties turned the tables, threatened to turn the tables, or dissolved the government.

"Until now, the practice in the country was that signing the coalition agreement was merely a 'recommendation.' There were also those who were not afraid to admit that 'the coalition agreements were never fully implemented with any party'... Not so Rabbi Aryeh Deri."

We'll live and see.

MKs Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Litzman are no less sophisticated than Deri, no less wiser than him, no less assertive than him. And if they failed to fulfill all the commitments, it means that it is impossible.

Unless you shoot a real gun and blow up the basta on its occupants. The Zionist camp will send you a bouquet of flowers in the event of a government dissolution, and Obama will happily join in and send a few more red roses.

4.

Two weeks late after its competitor, Family, this week the community was reminded to draw up a map of the large yeshivas for next year. Not really respectful of a newspaper that wants to maintain its standard. On the other hand, if the family 'reveals' the life story of someone whose story has been revealed over and over again, the community is probably also imitating the method.

 The author of the article admits that "my friend the journalist Moshe Weisberg" and his knowledge assisted in preparing the article.

Is there a situation where he was helped by an article that appeared in Family, two weeks ago?! That's not the name that was signed to the article in 'Family,' but maybe Weisberg also helped a family reporter. Doesn't make sense, but who knows.

5.

I have no idea why a family newspaper didn't bother to conduct a direct interview with MK Yair Lapid. But it's clear to me that this caused a flaw in reading Shimon Britkoff's column, which quotes Lapid on various topics, without talking to him himself.

I have no idea where Della got the quotes from, I'm guessing they were taken from Lapid's interviews in the Haredi media. Quotes like "If you don't speak up and don't respond to what they tell you, you lose twice," or "Maybe I was wrong in my worldview, I'm willing to argue about it, but I was certainly wrong in not explaining" - they are beautiful and good, when you sit across from the man and hear them from him.

And maybe that's why I moved to the left part of the column, the sub-column.

Ostensibly, it's a eulogy for the passing of a woman, but you have to read it to understand that it's a tremendous paragraph. There's nothing like a personal experience described from the heart to capture the reader.

It turns out that Breitkoff, like many yeshiva students at Ateret Yisrael, used to eat at the deceased's house - and as is evident from reading the column, she knew how to entertain.

Rabbi Aryeh Golovnitsich's wife, may God bless her, used to meticulously set the Shabbat table from Friday noon. "The Shabbat table was the Shabbat table, the dishes were the dishes, and the service was the service. She never frowned upon the younger generation's use of disposable utensils.

"When the yeshiva students would enter the house like a storm, she would take advantage of the time to inquire about the well-being of the young men whom she knew had not been well-off. Only God knows how she knew. Quietly, without anyone noticing, she would call the boy into the kitchen and gently inquire about his well-being. When she thought it was necessary, she would also help out during the week.

"Quite a few people owe their family life to them... She grew up in a wealthy home and all options were open to her. She didn't have to take a yeshiva student who dreamed of becoming a yeshiva head, but that's what she wanted and that's how she raised her children."

This column touched my heart, I have to admit.

6.

Yated Ne'eman reporter Yisrael Schwartz was wrong when he described Yair Lapid as someone who announced that he would not enter a government with the ultra-Orthodox parties.

And so he wrote:

"Another possible coalition partner is Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid. His chances of entering the government are smaller, mainly because of the wall he built for himself when he declared that he would not sit in a government with the haredi parties."

To the H.D.M.

So: Lapid never said he wouldn't sit down with the ultra-Orthodox parties. In the previous term, he made an alliance with the Jewish Home and together they decided to enter the government without the ultra-Orthodox parties, and even this veto was only valid until the conscription law was enacted.

From that moment on, Lapid had no problem bringing in the ultra-Orthodox parties.

Moreover: This time it is the ultra-Orthodox parties who are boycotting Yesh Atid, and not the other way around. Deputy Minister Yaakov Litzman even refuses to return his greetings of "peace" in the Knesset. Yair Lapid will not enter Netanyahu's government not because he is the one vetoing the ultra-Orthodox parties, but, most importantly, because they veto his own entry.

7.

The title of best field reporter of the week goes to Shmuel Greenwald from Meitad Ne'eman.

A family newspaper also worked on the same topic - the disappearance of Avra Magisto - but the family chose to send the newspaper's reporter Aharon Granot to the family home, for a (fascinating) conversation with the father, Haley Magisto.

In Bethad, they chose the more difficult path and sent the reporter to the shore of Zikim, where Avra was last seen.

"The soldiers saw him and tried to stop him, but in vain," the reporter reported.

The neighbors in the neighborhood where he lived talked to him about the situation, and the brother explained why they had been silent until now. The doors of the family home, it should be noted, were closed (they were opened to a family reporter, I wonder why).

At first, the lifeguard on the beach says that he can't monitor everything, and that he didn't see anything. But then, he starts to let go. Yes, the soldiers tried to stop him. "We're talking about a distance of about a kilometer from here. You know what, here's the binoculars, see if you can see anything. If not, I suggest you go there and see for yourself what the terrain looks like up close. But be careful, you know... it's dangerous out there, Laiya."

The security man at Kibbutz Zikim tells him that he knew about the incident as soon as it happened, but was ordered to keep quiet. This is exactly the place where the terrorists infiltrated in the early days of Operation Protective Edge. It was at that exact spot that Avra chose to cross the border.

He talks to his brother ("We're not allowed to talk, that's the order we received from our counselor"), with a neighbor of Russian origin ("We knew, of course we knew... Avra was like a big brother to me, it's a shame we only remember us when something bad happens"), and with a neighbor who has lived here for 23 years ("One day the mother came home from work crying, all in tears. I asked her, 'What happened?' She said, 'My child got lost.'").

Although he doesn't manage to get into the family home, he nevertheless leaves the area with a completely fascinating article. Inhale.

8.

You will find this week's fascinating article in the community newspaper: A meeting of the child from the song 'Brit in Moscow' with the sons of the legendary composer Yom Tov Simcha Erlich.

Worth a movie.