Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisadesשבת נחמו פרשת ואתחנן

Shabbat Nachamu, Parashat V’etchananAugust 5, 2017 | Av 13, 5777

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TORAH STUDYNext Week: Shabbat Parashat Ekev D’varim 7.11-11.25, pages 1037-1054

FIRST ALIYAH: Why is Moshe promising reward for obeying “these rules,” but not for “the commandments” and “the laws,” which are mentioned as well in verse 7.10 (at the end of last week’s parashah)?

FIFTH ALIYAH: In verse 11.6, Moshe reminds Israel of the rebellion led by Datan and Aviram. Yet he leaves out mention of Korach’s concurrent Levite rebellion?

The second ‘Haftarah of Consolation,’ Yishayahu 49.14-51.3, begins on Page 1056.

This Week: Shabbat Nachamu, Parashat V’etchanan D’varim 3.23-7.11, pages 1005-1031

FIRST ALIYAH: If God had vowed that Moshe could not enter the Land, why did Moshe think prayer could cause God to break His vow (which He never does)?

THIRD ALIYAH: Moshe sets aside three cities on the east bank of the Jordan to serve as Levitical cities of refuge. It is not until Chapter 19 that he reminds Israel to do the same in the Land, so what is the point of this digression here?

The first ‘Haftarah of Consolation,’ Yishayahu 40.1-26, begins on Page 1033.

For haftarot, we follow S’fardi custom.

CBIOTP STANDARDS & PRACTICES

1. Men must keep their heads covered in the building and must wear a talit when appropriate. Women may choose to do either or both, but it is not mandatory.2. Anyone accepting a Torah-related honor must wear a talit, regardless of gender.3. Only one person at a time may take an aliyah.4. No one should enter or leave the sanctuary during a K’dushah.One should not leave the sanctuary when the Torah scroll is being carried from or to the ark.5. No conversations may be held in the hallway outside the sanctuary, or while standing in an aisle alongside a pew.

6. The use of recording equipment of any kind is forbidden on sacred days.7. Also forbidden are cell phones, beepers and PDAs, except for physicians on call and emergency aid workers (please use vibrating option).8. No smoking at any time in the building, or on synagogue grounds on Shabbatot and Yom Kippur.9. No non-kosher food allowed in the building at any time.10. No one may remove food or utensils from the shul on Shabbatot. An exception is made for food being brought to someone who is ailing and/or homebound.

A PEOPLE LIKE NO OTHERThe Israelites had not yet crossed the Jordan. They had not yet begun their life as a sovereign nation in their own

land. Yet Moshe was sure, with a certainty that could only be prophetic, that they were a people like no other. What has happened to them was unique. They were and are a nation summoned to greatness.

“You are a people holy to Hashem your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” (D’varim 7.6)

Then he says this: “Hashem did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you are the fewest of all peoples.” (D’varim 7.7)

The fewest of all peoples? What happened to all the promises of B’reishit? What of Moshe’s own statement at the beginning of D’varim: “you are as numerous as the stars in the sky” (D’varim 1.10)?

This is Moshe’s point here: Compared to other nations, we are indeed small—but the reason for this goes to the very heart of our existence as a nation. Israel will show the world that a people does not have to be large in order to be great. It does not have to be numerous to defeat its enemies. Israel’s unique history will show that, in the words of the prophet Zechariah (4.6), “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My spirit,’ says Hashem Almighty.”

In itself, Israel would be witness to something greater than itself.Moshe’s statement has immense implications for Jewish identity. Jews have had an influence out of all proportion to

our numbers because we are all called on to be leaders, to take responsibility, to contribute, to make a difference to the lives of others, to bring the Divine presence into the world. Precisely because we are small, we are each summoned to greatness.

Margaret Mead once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Gandhi said: “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” That must be our faith as Jews. We may be the fewest of all peoples but when we heed God’s call, we have the ability, proven many times in our past, to mend and transform the world.

—Adapted from the writings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

HAPPY BIRTHDAYToday Al SussmanTuesday Saul Luchs, Mayer KadochWednesday Lisa Haber ChalomThursday Yvonne ChalomDid we miss a birthday, anniversary, or other simchah?

Let us know. We can’t print what we don’t know.

THE IMAHOT:Following is the text adopted by the Ritual Committee for use by the Prayer Leader in reciting the Amidah, and those wishing to insert the Matriarchs in their Amidot:

SH’MA MATTERS

The blessings before the Sh’ma:

To respond or not?Whenever a blessing is recited, we offer two responses. After “Baruch Ata Adonai” (Blessed are You, Lord), we say

“Baruch Hu, u’varuch Sh’mo” (blessed is He and blessed is His Name). At the end of the b’rachah, we say “Amen.”But should any response be given to the blessings between Bar’chu and the Sh’ma?It is not a frivolous question. These are blessings preparatory to reciting the Sh’ma, putting them in the same catego-

ry as, say, the Motzi. We may not speak after the Motzi until we have eaten bread; may we “speak” until after the Sh’ma?The S’fardi halachic authority, Rabbi Joseph Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch, Judaism’s definitive law code, says

no. Rabbi Moses Isserles, in his equally authoritative gloss, “the Mapa,” rules that Ashkenazim should respond.Chasidic rulings follow Rabbi Karo, meaning chasidim do not response with “Baruch Hu, u’varuch Sh’mo” and

“Amen.”Either way is acceptable here, although our rabbi’s traditon is to offer no response.

A meditation before the Sh’maBefore reciting the Sh’ma, keep this in mind:

I hereby accept upon myself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Присоединяйтесь к нам для освящение и обед

Today’s kiddush and luncheon is sponsored by

RABBI SHAMMAI ENGELMAYER

to celebrate his B’rit Ahuvim with DONNA AMSTERDAM,

and in memory of his aunt, ISABELLE SOKOLOFF, ז״ל,

may her memory be for a blessing.

(oh, yes, and his birthday!)

Please join Donna, the Rabbi and us.

This month’s Shabbat Booklets are being sponsored by

MARJORIE GOLDSTEIN in memory of her late mother,

GERTRUDE GLUCKMAN TUNICK, ז״ל, may her memory be for a blessing.

Why not join Marj in sponsoring a Shabbat booklet this month?

'HEAR': JUDAISM'S KEYWORD“Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is one.” These words are the supreme testimony of Jewish faith. Each

word is worthy of careful study, but it is the first—the verb Shema —that deserves special attention.

There was a profound difference between the two civilizations of antiquity that between them shaped the culture of the West: ancient Greece and ancient Israel. The Greeks were the supreme masters of the visual arts: art, sculpture, architecture, and the theatre.

Jews, as a matter of profound religious principle, were not. God, the sole object of worship, is invisible. He transcends nature. He created the universe and, therefore, is beyond the universe. He cannot be seen. He reveals Himself only in speech. For this reason, the supreme religious act in Judaism is to listen. Ancient Greece was a culture of the eye; ancient Israel was a culture of the ear. The Greeks worshipped what they saw; Israel worshipped what they heard.

That is why the keyword of Judaism is Shema. God is not something we see, but a voice we hear. This is how Moshe put it elsewhere in this week’s parashah, describing the supreme revelation at Mount Sinai:

“Then Hashem spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. (D’varim 4.12)

This has systemic implications for the whole of Judaism. Its way of understanding the world, and of relating to it, is fundamentally different from that of the Greeks, and of the philosophical tradition (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and others) of which they were the founders. A listening culture is not the same as a seeing culture. Let us here explore one of the many aspects of this difference.

The Mosaic books are, among other things, a set of commandments, mitzvot, 613 of them. That is the primary meaning of the word Torah—namely law. It would seem to follow that a book of commands must have a verb that means “to obey,” for that is the whole purpose of an imperative. Obedience stands in relation to command as truth does to statement. Yet there is no verb in biblical Hebrew that means to obey. This is an utterly astonishing fact.

So glaring is the lacuna that when Hebrew was revived in modern times, a verb had to be found that meant “to obey.” This was an obvious necessity—especially in the case of Israel’s defense forces. An army depends on obedience to the command of a superior officer. The word chosen was “letsayet” (לציית), an Aramaic term that does not appear in this sense anywhere in the Hebrew Bible. The word the Torah uses is quite different, namely “lishmo-ah” (לשמוע), Shema, “hear” (שמע).

The verb lishmo-ah is a key term of the book of D’varim, where it appears in one or other forms some 92 times (by way of comparison, it appears only 6 times in the whole of Vayikra). It conveys a wide range of meanings, clustered around five primary senses:

[1] to listen, to pay focused attention, as in “Be silent, O Israel, and listen

[u-shema]” (D’varim 27: 9)

[2] to hear, as in “I heard [שמעתי] Your voice in the garden and I was afraid” (B’reishit 3: 10)

[3] to understand, as in “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand [ישמעו] each other” (B’reishit 11: 7)

[4] to internalize, register, take to heart, as in “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you [שמעתיך]” (B’reishit 17: 20), meaning, “I have taken into account what you have said; I will bear it in mind; it is a consideration that weighs with Me.”

[5] to respond in action, as in “Abraham did [וישמע] what Sarah said” (B’reishit 16: 2).

This last sense is the closest shema comes to meaning “to obey.”It has yet other meanings in rabbinic Hebrew, such as “to infer,”

“to accept,” “to take into account as evidence” and “to receive as part of the Oral tradition.” No English word has this range of meanings. Perhaps the closest are “to hearken” and “to heed”—neither of them terms in common use today. Psychotherapists nowadays sometimes speak of “active listening,” and this is part of what is meant by Shema.

The best way to discover what is unique about a civilization is to search for words it contains that are untranslatable into other languages. It is said the Bedouin have many words for sand and the Inuit many terms for snow. The Greek word megalopsuchos—literally the “great-souled” person, one blessed with wealth, status, and effortless superiority—has no equivalent in either Judaism or Christianity, two cultures that valued, as Greece did not, humility. Shema is untranslatable—understandably so since it belongs to biblical Hebrew, the world’s supreme example of a culture of the ear.

This is a fact of great consequence and should affect our entire understanding of Judaism. The existence of the verb lishmo-ah and the absence of the verb letsayet tells us that biblical Israel, despite its intense focus on Divine commandments, is not a faith that values blind, unthinking, unquestioning obedience.

There is a reason for the commands. In some cases, they are rooted in the fact that God created the universe and the laws that govern it; therefore, we must respect the integrity of nature. In other cases, they are grounded in history. Our ancestors were slaves in Egypt; they knew from indelible personal experience what it is to live in an unjust, tyrannical society. Therefore, a society based on Torah will be just, compassionate, generous. Slaves must rest one day in seven. The landless poor should not go without food at harvest time—and so on.

The God of revelation is also the God of creation and redemption. Therefore, when God commands us to do certain things and refrain from others, it is not because His will is arbitrary, but because He cares for the integrity of the world as His work, and for the dignity of the human person as His image. There is a profound congruence between the commandments and the laws that govern nature and history. An arbitrary ruler demands blind obedience. God is not an arbitrary ruler; therefore, He does not demand blind obedience. Instead, He wishes us as far as possible to understand why He has commanded what He has commanded.

Thus we have the reason for the emphasis, in Sh’mot and D’varim, on children asking questions. In an authoritarian culture, questions are discouraged: “Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die,” as Tennyson put it. Had this been the case in Judaism, the Torah would have had a verb that meant the same obey, not one with the many meanings of lishmoa.

On Pesach, the least mature child, not the most, is “one who does not know how to ask.” Indeed, we are commanded to teach him or her to ask. Even the verb three lines after “Hear O Israel”—usually translated as “You shall teach these things diligently to your children,” means, according to Rashi, “you shall sharpen your children” — meaning, teach them the full depth of their meaning, rather than superficially (see Rashi to the Babylonan Talmud tractate Kiddushin 30a).

To be sure—this should go without saying—obedience to the commandments, to the mitzvot, should never be conditional on understanding them. It is a contradiction in terms to say that one who does not understand or agree with a law is free to break it. Anyone who thinks this has not understood what a law is. But it does mean ours is a searching, questioning, rational, intellectual faith, one that calls for the full exercise of the mind.

Shema Yisrael does not mean “Hear, O Israel.” It means something like: “Listen. Concentrate. Give the word of God your most focused attention. Strive to understand. Engage all your faculties, intellectual and emotional. Make His will your own. For what He commands you to do is not irrational or arbitrary, but for your welfare, the welfare of your people, and ultimately for the benefit of all humanity.”

In Judaism, faith is a form of listening: to the song creation sings to its Creator, and to the message history delivers to those who strive to understand it. That is what Moshe says, time and again, in D’varim. Stop looking: listen. Stop speaking: listen. Create a silence in the soul. Still the clamour of instinct, desire, fear, anger. Strive to listen to the still, small voice beneath the noise.

Then you will know that the universe is the work of the One beyond the furthest star yet closer to you than you are to yourself—and then you will love Hashem your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your might. In God’s unity you will find unity—within yourself and between yourself and the world—and you will no longer fear the unknown.

—Adapted from the writings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.

May He who blessed | מי שברךMay He who blessed our ancestors bless and heal all those whose names are listed here, those whose names will be called out,

and those whose names we do not know because either we are unaware of their illness or they are.We pray He mercifully quickly restore them to health and vigor. May He grant physical and spiritual well-being to all who are ill. אמן

Sydelle KleinBonnie Pritzker AppelbaumDeenah bat Sarah LeahRut bat EstherMiriam Zelda bat Gittel D’vorahMiriam Chanah Sarah bat LibaMiriam Rachel bat ChanahHarav Mordechai Volff ben Liba MiryamAdina bat FreidelBaila bat D’vorahChavah bat SarahChayah bat FloraDevora Yocheved bat YehuditEsther bat D’vorahHaRav Ilana Chaya bat Rachel EstherLiba Ruchel bat MichlahMasha bat EtlMasha bat RochelMatel bat FrimahMindel bat D’vorahNinette bat Aziza Pinyuh bat Surah

Rita bat FloraRifkah bat ChanahSarah bat MalkaSarah Rifka bat SarahShimona bat FloraSura Osnat bat Alta ChayahTzipporah bat YaffaYospeh Perel bat MichlahMichelle BlatteisDiane FowlerGoldy HessFay JohnsonKatie KimElaine LaikinMira LevyRobin LevyKaren LipsyKathleen McCartyGail SchenkerLinda StateNorma SugermanMary Thompson

Aharon Hakohen ben OodelAvraham Shmarya ben GittelAvraham Yitzhak ben MashaChaim ben GoldaEzra ben LuliGil Nechemiah ben YisraelaMoshe Ben BashaMoshe ben ShimonHarav R’fael Eliyahu ben Esther MalkahHarav Shimon Shlomo ben Taube v’AvrahamYehudah ben LeahYisrael Yitzhak ben ShayndelYitzchak ben TziviaYonatan ben MalkaYosef ben FloraZelig Herschel ben KreintzehHarry IkensonShannon JohnsonItzik KhmishmanAdam MessingGabriel NeriMark Alan Tunick

We pray for their safe return...May He who blessed our ancestors bless, preserve, and protect the captive and missing

soldiers of Tzahal—Ron Arad, Zecharia Baumel, Guy Chever, Zvi Feldman, Yekutiel Katz, and Zeev Rotshik—as well as those U.S. and allied soldiers, and the civilians working with them and around them, still missing in Afghanistan and Iraq, and all other areas of conflict, past and present.

And may He bless the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and Tzahal, and those who serve the United States and Israel in foreign lands in whatever capacity, official or unofficial, members of our community or related to members, and their colleagues and companions. Guide them in peace and return them speedily to their families alive and unharmed. אמן

HONOR YOUR DEPARTED LOVED ONES WITH A PLAQUE ON OUR

VIRTUAL MEMORIAL BOARD.

CALL THE OFFICE TO ADD THEIR NAMES TO OUR MEMORIAL BOARD.

yahrzeits for today through next FRIDAY!May their memories be for a blessing — זכרונם לברכה

Kaddish listRegina BlankSelim ChamuelYaakov ChamuelSamuel DeutschFrancine FederDr. Jerry FinklesteinBlanche FriedmanHonora GershmanLawrence GlazerMoshe GlickmanFrieda GutfriendJeanette Shandolow HermanRebecca Kaplan

Fred B. KatzHaviva KhedouriPeter KoenigLeon LevyAlan LinickHarold RappoportDeborah Frankel ReeseNorman Harry RiedermanDavid ShandalowPaul SingmanEd SoleimaniAlan Silverstein

Isabelle Sokoloff

5 Kim Veysman* Dr. Marvin F. Loring*, brother of Ros Lobel Sidney Goldfischer*, grandfather of Dr. Mindy Goldfischer Esther Feiger* Jennie Tischler* Salomon Bagdadi* Dinah Baskowitz* Abraham Kohl* Max Margulies*6 Arthur A. Farber Mary Simon* Harry Schweitzer Curt Lorch* Lena Koshar* Dorothy Epstein*7 Yulo Frimet* Father-in-law of Herman Singer Rae Noveck* Jessie Rothberg*8 Abraham Samuel Davis* Dr. Herman M. Jerrow* Abraham Isaacs* Rose Gordon* George A. Baker*9 Elsa Paskus Sarah Krupenin Jacob Elishewitz* Rose Brody* Mayer Katz*10 Herman Gutman Pearl Rosen Marvin Offitzer* Pauline Geffner* Seymour Graff* Pearl Rosen* Minnie Baxter* Lionel Isaacs* Eva Brody*11 Rose Sokolitsky, mother of Selma Kamil Gertrude Gluckman Tunick*, Marjorie Goldstein’s mother Yehiel Giller* Mother of Janice Cooper

* A plaque in this person’s name is on our memorial board.

Are we in your will?Shouldn’t we be?

When people prepare their wills, they usually look to leave a mark beyond the confines of their families. Thus it is that general gifts are left to hospitals, and other charitable organizations.

All too often ignored, however, is the synagogue, even though its role in a person's life often begins at birth, and continues even beyond death. We come here on Yom Kippur and other days, after all, to say Yizkor, the memorial prayer remembering our loved ones.

Our Virtual Memorial Plaques remind everyone of who our loved ones were, and why we recall them. All of us join in saying the Kaddish on their yahrzeits.

Considering this, it is so unfortunate that, in our final act, we ignore the one institution in Jewish life that is so much a part of us.

The synagogue is here for us because those who came before us understood its importance and prepared for its preservation. By remembering it in our wills, we will do our part to assure that the synagogue will be there for future generations, as well.

Think about it. We have always been here for anyone who needed us in the past. Do not those who need us in the future have the same right to our help?

Of course they do. Do not delay! Act today!Help secure the future of your communal home.

Is there a yahrzeitwe should know about?

If it’s not listed, let us know.

Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisadesק״ק בית ישראל של הפליסד207 Edgewater Road, Cliffside Park, NJ 07010-2201

207 Edgewater Road

Cliffside Park, NJ 07010-2201

Office: 201-945-7310;

Fax: 201-945-0863

websiteL www.cbiotp.org

general e-mail: shul@cbiotp.org

Shabbat ends tonight with havdalah at 8:51 p.m. DST

Attention All Vets!If you’re not yet a member of

JWV Post 76,YOU SHOULD BE!

For more information, call 201-869-6218

REMINDER: If you want to guarantee last year’s seats, or if you want different seats this year, you must send in your registration form

no later than August 17.

Shammai Engelmayer, Rabbi rabbi@cbiotp.orgNadia Massuda, Co-President nadia@cbiotp.orgCraig H. Bassett, Co-President craigbassett@cbiotp.orgJudy Golub, Vice-President judygolub@cbiotp.orgErrol Kaget, Secretary membership@cbiotp.orgAl Glick, Co-Treasurer alglick@cbiotp.orgGarrison D. Miller, Co-Treasurer garymiller@cbiotp.org

There are fewer than seven weeks until The High Holy Days