the shul b”h

WEEKLY MAGAZINEWEEKLY MAGAZINE

B”HTHE SHULTHE SHUL

The Shul - Chabad Lubavitch - An institution of The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem M. Schneerson (May his merit shield us)Over Thirty five Years of Serving the Communities of Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Indian Creek and Surfside

9540 Collins Avenue, Surfside, Fl 33154 Tel: 305.868.1411 Fax: 305.861.2426 www.TheShul.org Email: [email protected] www.theshulpreschool.org www.cyscollege.org

SHABBOS PARSHAS KI SISASHABBOS PARSHAS KI SISAPARSHAS PARAHPARSHAS PARAH

ADAR 21 - 22 ADAR 21 - 22

MARCH 5 - 6MARCH 5 - 6

CANDLE LIGHTING: 6:06 PMCANDLE LIGHTING: 6:06 PM

SHABBOS ENDS: 6:59 PMSHABBOS ENDS: 6:59 PM

SPONSORED BY MR. & MRS. MARTIN (OBM) AND ETHEL SIROTKINSPONSORED BY MR. & MRS. MARTIN (OBM) AND ETHEL SIROTKIN& DR. & MRS. SHMUEL AND EVELYN KATZ& DR. & MRS. SHMUEL AND EVELYN KATZ

CONTENTS Weekly Message: 3Thoughts on the Parsha - Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

Celebrating Shabbos: 4 - 5Schedules, classes, articles & more... Everything you need for an “Over the Top” Shabbos experience

Community Happenings: 6 -7Sharing with your Shul Family

All Things Sephardic: 8 - 9Schedules, classes, articles & more

Daily Study: 12A complete guide to all classes and courses offered at The Shul

Inspiration, Insights & Ideas: 10 - 22Bringing Torah lessons to LIFE

Get The Picture: 23 - 28The full scoop on all the great events around town

In a Woman’s World: 29Issues of relevance to the Jewish woman

French Connection: 30 Reflexions sur la Paracha

Latin Link: 31 Reflexion Semanal

Networking: 32- 33 & 35Effective Advertising

Numbers To Know: 34Contacts at The Shul

Get The Picture: 36 The full scoop on all the great events around town

THE SHUL WEEKLY MAGAZINEEVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK

NACHAS AT A GLANCE PURIM

THE MEGILLAH WAS READ HUNDREDS OF TIMES ALL OVER 33154 THIS YEAR

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and growth to a higher and better level is what is referred to as “an awakening from below”. This requires self-awareness, honest reflection, a recognition of the present state not being acceptable, seeking meaningful purpose in life, accepting a Higher Authority/Hashem and a sustained amount of self-discipline.

In the first path, the change can happen quickly but is usually short-lived as it has not been internalized nor does it have inner personal foundations, having been influenced by outside forces that are not constantly being re-experienced. In that case one can have a short time of positive activity, but it quickly dissipates.

The second path that requires hard work, great effort and a constant consciousness and awareness may take longer and be harder, but it lasts as it has made internal changes that emanate from commitments and positions that have become part of life itself.

Until the event of the golden calf, the Jewish people’s connection to Hashem was motivated by powerful, external G-dly forces that shocked the system into a new reality of thinking, but the minute all of those elements became part of a past event and the seductive forces of physical pleasures came to the forefront, they reverted back to the instinctive forces of the animalistic pleasure principles.

It is why this event of the golden calf has placed us on a journey that is taking more than 3000 years to refine not only our own instincts but the world around us so that our commitment to a Torah lifestyle has powerful foundations based on the inner strength and invincible eternity of our holy connection to Hashem.We are presently at the last moments of this required effort as we experience the last moments of exile and are prepared for the final redemption when those challenges will no longer be present, and our growth will be only in a positive manner.

Have a great Shabbos and a wonderful week.

Rabbi S. Lipskar

One of the most calamitous events in Jewish history

that continues to plague us until today is related in this week’s Torah portion as the infamous event of the golden calf experience.

What is the essential element that was so egregious that it would be the cause for G-d’s

threatening to annihilate the entire Jewish people and has remained a stain on our continuing evolution through history? It is a transgression that is compared to the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when they ate from the tree of knowledge.

Primarily, the golden calf debacle was a choice the Jewish people made (when Moses did not appear at the appointed time) to abandon the commitment to G-d’s Torah and directives and to live a life that was centered on pleasure, hedonism and fulfillment of self-indulgence.

What really happened, when the Jewish people had just experienced the most incredible events that one could imagine, including the exodus from Egypt, the splitting of the sea, the multiple miracles that took place, manna from heaven, protected by clouds and the event of Revelation itself?

There are basically two ways in which a person reaches higher levels and affects self-improvement and refinement. One is referred to as “an awakening from above” which entails some extraordinary event that awakens the person to another reality and serves as a catalyst to rethink one’s present state of being and decide to make positive changes. This can come either as a very positive, miraculous happening in one’s life or, G-d forbid, a shock that brings trauma to the system or even a charismatic, affective lecture that can turn one on.

A second path to positive change, self-improvement

THOUGHTS ON THE PARSHA FROM RABBI SHOLOM LIPSKAR

SHABBOS PARSHAS KI SISA

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Eruv Information

We would like to emphasize that every Erev Shabbos, individuals should call the Eruv Hotline to make sure that the Eruv is operational. The number to call is 305- 866-ERUV (3788).

The Eruv message is recorded approximately two hours prior to candle lighting. Surfside: The Eruv in Surfside now includes the walking paths along the beach. Pushing strollers and carrying is permitted on the paths, but not beyond the path or onto the beach.

Bal Harbour: The Eruv in Bal Harbour included the inner (western) walking path only. The pier at Haulover Cut is not included. To pay your annual dues visit: www.miamibeacheruv.com

SHABBOS SCHEDULE

Candle lighting 6:06 p.m. Mincha / Kabalas Shabbos 6:10 p.m.

Shacharis 1st Minyan 8:30 a.m. Shacharis 2nd Minyan 10:30 a.m.

Mincha Shabbos Ends 6:10 p.m./ Ma’ariv & Havdalah 6:59 p.m.

CELEBRATING SHABBOS EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR AN “OVER THE TOP” SHABBOS EXPERIENCE

A TIME TO PRAYDAVENING SCHEDULES AND LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE WEEK

DAILY CHUMASH & TANYA AFTER EVERY MINYAN

SHACHARIS MINYANIM (MON - FRI)Main Minyan 6:45 7:30 9:00

Sephardic Minyan 8:00

SUNDAY SHACHARIS MINYANIMMain Minyan 8:00 am 9:00 am

Sephardic Minyan 9:00 am

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PARSHA IN PICTURESTest your PARSHA knowledge. Can you tell the story using the pictures below

To our beloved Soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces, courageously protecting and defending

Eretz Yisroel. We pray for you and all of the soldiers safety and well being daily.Menachem Mendel ben Chaya Leah

Menachem Mendel ben AuritEden Chana bat Karine Cecile

HALACHIC TIMESBASED ON TIMES FOR MARCH 10

Alot Hashachar / Dawn 5:23 amEarliest Talit & Tefillin 5:53 amNetz Hachamah / Sunrise 6:35 am(Earliest Amidah)Latest Shema 9:31 amZman Tfillah 10:30 amChatzot / Midday 12:30 pmEarliest Mincha 1:01 pmPlag HaMincha 5:16 pmShekiah / Sunset 6:27 pm(Preferable latest time for Mincha)Tzeit Hakochavim / Nightfall 6:51 pm(Earliest preferable Ma’ariv)

Times taken from www.chabad.orgPlease note that during the week times may Vary by a minute or two.

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22 Adar Mr. Eli Levitin22 Adar Mr. Gregory Levine22 Adar Mr. Max Sussman22 Adar Mr. Moises Wertheimer22 Adar Mrs. Myriam Rosenblum22 Adar Ms. Rachel Chaya Sussman22 Adar Ms. Sara Azout22 Adar Ms. Sofia Lustgarten23 Adar Mr. Benjamin Cohen23 Adar Rabbi Berel Zisman23 Adar Mr. Jerry Gontownik23 Adar Ms. Jodie Salzberg23 Adar Ms. Marlene Weisleder23 Adar Mrs. Perla Edderai23 Adar Mr. Steven Schmutter24 Adar Mrs. Annette Posner24 Adar Mrs. Aurelia Castiel24 Adar Mrs. Avital Hakmon24 Adar Mrs. Iona Saffer24 Adar Mr. Mendy Halberstam25 Adar Mrs. Jenny Klainbaum25 Adar Mr. Joseph Eliyahu Coiffman25 Adar Ms. Sharon Edderai25 Adar Ms. Yael Subar26 Adar Mr. David Shear26 Adar Mr. Ira Sussman26 Adar Mr. Joshua Jacob Gilinski26 Adar Mr. Lowell Robinson26 Adar Ms. Nicole Elizabeth Baumel26 Adar Dr. Rita Steiner26 Adar Mr. Yehuda Tzvi Gassner27 Adar Mr. Ari Capland27 Adar Mrs. Jack Osman27 Adar Mr. Jack Taplin27 Adar Mrs. Janet Spitz27 Adar Mr. Menachem Mendel Rubinstein27 Adar Ms. Nicole Esther Segal27 Adar Ms. Noa Dror27 Adar Mrs. Pnina Wuensch27 Adar Mr. Shlomo Kamhazi28 Adar Mr. Aviv Kordich28 Adar Mr. Daniel Chocron28 Adar Mr. Danielle Blake Warner28 Adar Ms. Hanna Colonomos28 Adar Mr. Jeffery Weiss28 Adar Mrs. Jessica Levison28 Adar Ms. Sofia Biton28 Adar Ms. Sybil R. Weinstein

BIRTHDAYS YAHRTZEITS22 Adar Yakov ben Leib Fraiman obm Father of Mr. Guido Fraiman22 Adar Yehoshua Hirsh ben Yaakov Kapol obm Father of Dr. Michael Salzhauer22 Adar Malka Brana bas benzion HaLevy obm Mother of Ms. Vivian Naimer22 Adar Doba bas Yehoshua HaLevi obm Mother of Rabbi Moshe Schneider23 Adar Naomi bas Yosef obm Mother of Mrs. Maya Nanikashvili23 Adar Rykla bas Yejeskel obm Mother of Mrs. Ofelia Hersman23 Adar Moishe obm Father of Mr. Sam Greenberg23 Adar Salomon ben Habib obm Son of Mr. Harry Mamane23 Adar Tzvi ben Zalman Ber obm Uncle of Mrs. Jana Falic24 Adar Rifka Dina bas Yosef Yehuda obm Mother of Rebbetzin Chani Lipskar24 Adar Yechiel Avraham ben Yeshua obm Father of Mrs. Laura Shainbaum24 Adar Amnon ben Rafael obm Brother of Mr. Gideon Azari25 Adar Chaim Yitzchak ben Yechiel Moshe obm Father of Mr. Roshi Handwerger25 Adar Reb Elchonon ben Reb Shmuel Menachem Mendel obm Father of Mr. Mayer Rivkin25 Adar Dovid Freier obm Father of Ms. Judie Weinbach25 Adar Nuchim ben Tzvi obm Father of Mr. Nelson Berman26 Adar Fruma bas Tevel obm Mother of Mrs. Ofi Osin- Cohen26 Adar Yisroel Yaakov ben Shlomo obm Father of Mrs. Yonit Duchman27 Adar Yosef ben Chaim HaCohen obm Father of Mrs. Nily Falic27 Adar Etta bas Shaul obm Mother of Mr. Richard Moore27 Adar Leah bas Esther obm Grandmother of Ms. Lydia Hasson27 Adar Yisroel Elimelech ben R’Aryeh Leib obm Father of Mr. Aryeh Rubin27 Adar Miriam obm Mother of Mr. Jorge Pack28 Adar Leibel ben Shmuel obm Uncle of Mr. Alan Lipton28 Adar Freda Rivi obm Mother of Dr. Reuven Freedman28 Adar Shemtov ben Meir Avner HaLevi obm Uncle of Mr. David Schottenstein Brother of Mrs. Devorah Leah New28 Adar Moshe ben Zalman Mendel obm Brother of Mr. Jack Taplin

COMMUNITY HAPPENINGSSHARING WITH YOUR SHUL FAMILY

KID’S BIRTHDAYS22 Adar David Amanou22 Adar Sara Goldfarb22 Adar Shmuel Mizrachi23 Adar Ella Brod23 Adar Mali Mangami24 Adar Eli Weiss26 Adar Joseph Ben-Chetrit26 Adar Ariella Nessa Wachtel27 Adar Zavel Edelkopf27 Adar Batsheva Hazan28 Adar Mia Gottesman28 Adar Elisha Mendelsohn28 Adar Yehuda Mendelsohn28 Adar Ari Wolff

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Mr. & Mrs. Eitan and Jennifer ZimermanMr. & Mrs. Chaim and Tamar Berkowitz

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

COMMUNITY HAPPENINGSSHARING WITH YOUR SHUL FAMILY

ADAR LIGHT & POWERLight & Power and Wine for Kiddush & Havdalah

Adar is sponsored by

Alberto Camhi, Steven Dunn, Jacob Givner, David Lichter, Alex Matz, Brian Roller, Isaac

Salver, Steven Schmutter, Barry Wax, David Wolf and Jeffrey Wolf

“Those who establish Synagogues for prayer and those who come there to pray,

those who provide lights for illumination, wine and grape juice for kiddush and havdalah, food for the wayfarers and charity for the needy, and all those who occupy themselves faithfully with communal affairs - may The Holy One, blessed be He, give them their reward, remove them from all sicknesses, heal their entire body, pardon all their sins, and send blessing and success to all

their endeavors, together with all Israel their brethren; and let us say Amen.”

THANKS TO OUR DONORSWe sincerely thank the following members and supporters of The Shul

for donations received between2/23/21 and 3/1/21We apologize for any errors or omissions that we may have made.

REFUAH SHLEIMAHIf you have a health update on anyone listed please contact The Shul. We would like to

keep the listing current and remove names of people who have recovered.

MENMordechai ben DevorahYehonatan HaLevi ben MalkaEliezer ben SarahAharon ben BeylahMeyer Eliezer ben SarahMenachem Mendel ben SaraYehoshua ben TamaraIsaac Gilbert ben Nelly EstherBentzion ben Nomi Rachel MargaliteChaim Zelig Ben EidelAri ben Na’amaTzvi Yitzchak ben ChayaChaim Tzvi Hirsch ben Guttel

WOMENLeah bas Alta Miriam ChayaEsther Yocheved bas Raizel BrachaShima Leah bas GittelSarah Libke bas BaileChana Bayla bas MashaGenya Bailah bat Gietel SuraSonia Simcha bat SultanaTzipora Pnina bas SlavaFeige bas KrandelChaya Miriam Yehudit bat ChavaClara bat CorinaRivka bat ShoshanaMiriam bat Risha Raizel

Mr. & Mrs. Jackie AbrahamMr. & Mrs. Yankie AndrusierMr. & Mrs. Yakov AvramovMrs. Bessie BedzowMr. & Mrs. Nadav Ben-ChetritMr. & Mrs. Daniel BenchimolMr. & Mrs. Landon BernsMr. Avigdor BlechMs. Marjorie BlendenMr. & Mrs. David BrecherDr. & Mrs. Stephen BrennerMr. & Mrs. Barry CohenMr. & Mrs. Emilio Liba CohenCrenshaw Wholesale Electric Supply CoMs. Gila DabahRabbi & Mrs. Shlomie DiamontMr. JZ DrizinMr. & Mrs. Dovid DuchmanMr. Elliott EisenbergerMr. & Mrs. Israel ElgamilMr. Yossef EzekielMr. Mandel FefermanMr. & Mrs. Abraham GewirtzMr. Daniel GielchinskyMr. & Mrs. Joseph GoldbrennerMr. & Mrs. Leon GoldenbergMr. & Mrs. Dan GoldfarbMr. Stuart GordonMr. & Mrs. Bernard GreenblattMr. & Mrs. Sam GreenwaldMr. & Mrs. Sharon HakmonMr. & Mrs. Fred HalpernMr. & Mrs. Shmuel HazanMr. & Mrs. Michael HeneschMr. & Mrs. Michael KanoffMs. Judith KaplanMr. Naftali KaplanDr. & Mrs. Shmuel KatzMr. & Mrs. Jordan Kavana

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Mayer KleinMs. Fay KranzMr. & Mrs. Mendy KurantMr. & Mrs. Mendi LabkowskiMr. & Mrs. Zalman LekachMr. & Mrs. David LichterMr. Alexander MantofelRabbi & Mrs. Yair MassriMr. & Mrs. Alexander MatzMr. & Mrs. Ralph MizrajiDr. & Mrs. Robert B. MondshineMr. & Mrs. Jonathan MoreMr. & Mrs. Kevin L. NeumarkMr. & Mrs. Jack OsmanMr. Jorge PackMrs. Shelley RindnerLieutenant Commander & Mrs. Yitzy RosenbergMr. & Mrs. Edward RosengartenMs. Beth F. SalzbergMs. Esty ScheinerRabbi & Mrs. Moshe SchneiderMr. Thomas SchottensteinMr. & Mrs. Daniel ShapiroMr. & Mrs. Zalman ShapiroMr. & Mrs. Yossi SokolMr. & Mrs. Abe SreterSunshine State Insulation LLCMr. Eli TourgemanMr. Alan WarnerMr. & Mrs. Moshe WeinbachMr. & Mrs. Joseph WeingartenMr. & Mrs. Michael WeinstockMs. Belinda Zaret & Mrs. Liv-Tiferet De VittonMr. & Dr. Joseph ZazonMr. & Mrs. Adam ZieferMr. & Mrs. Eitan Zimerman

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Sunday, 23 AdarWhat it Means to Rest on the Sabbath[Moses told the Jewish people], “Work may be done for six days, but the seventh day must be holy for you, a complete rest from work.” Exodus 35:2

Spiritually, every week is a repetition of the week of Creation: G‑d re‑creates the world during the six workdays and “rests” every Sabbath. G‑d “rests” by re‑experiencing the original idea that gave rise to the creation of the world. During the six original days of Creation, G‑d attended to the details of executing His designs; after the master architect completed His masterpiece, He surveyed it and reviewed it as the fulfillment of His plan.

Thus, during the six workdays, the world is re‑created by G‑d’s “creative” energy, whereas on the Sabbath, the world is created by G‑d’s “resting” energy.

Therefore, our task on the Sabbath is not to labor in rectifying creation, but to experience creation as the Divine dwelling we have worked to make it into during the week. We enter into this state of consciousness by refraining from the 39 categories of creative work we do in our weekday lives.

Monday, 24 Adar The Dynamics of Relationship[The artisans made the tapestries out of] linen, turquoise wool, purple wool, and scarlet wool. Exodus 36:8

These four materials allude to the four bases of our emotional relationship with G‑d.Scarlet wool is red, alluding to fire. The fire within our soul is the fiery love of G‑d that results from contemplating His infinity. When we realize the extent to which G‑d is beyond creation and that He is the true reality, we are overcome with a passionate desire to escape the limitations of the world in order to know Him and to merge with Him.Turquoise wool is the color of the sky, alluding to our experience of G‑d’s majesty. In this experience, we also contemplate G‑d’s infinity, but focus on our own insignificance in comparison. This fills us with feelings of awe.Purple wool is a blend of blue and red, of love and awe, alluding to pity, which is compounded of love and anger: love for the ideal, anger over how the ideal goes unfulfilled. Specifically, we pity our Divine soul when we consider its plight, having to live so spiritually distant from its natural home, i.e., in G‑d’s presence.Linen is white, alluding to our basic, inherent love of G‑d, a feeling that is above and beyond rationality. This love is what makes us capable of self‑sacrifice for G‑d’s honor, as it expresses our invincible bond with G‑d.

DAILY WISDOMInspiring insights on the Torah

Shabbos, 22 Adar A Shining FaceMoses was not aware that the skin of his face had become radiant. Exodus 34:29

G‑d Himself chiseled the first set of tablets out of the rocks on Mount Sinai, whereas the second tablets were chiseled by Moses. Nevertheless, it was specifically after receiving the second set of tablets, rather than the first set, that Moses’ face shone.

This is because when something is given to us from G‑d without our having worked to earn it, it does not penetrate our very being. It is thus no accident that the first tablets were broken, whereas the second set never were. When we work for something, it can remain with us permanently; something that is received unearned can be more easily lost.

Because Moses chiseled the second tablets himself, their holiness could penetrate his physical body, and therefore his face shone. Similarly, the effort we expend in studying the Torah and fulfilling G‑d’s commandments refines even our physical bodies. If we exert ourselves to the point that the Torah penetrates us, our faces glow.

Tuesday, 25 Adar Seven Ways to Light up the World[G‑d] made the Candelabrum out of pure gold. Exodus 37:17

The Candelabrum, the source of light in the Tabernacle, signified insight and enlightenment. The sudden and elusive flash of insight and illumination in the mind is similar to a bolt of lightning flashing across a dark sky.Every Divine soul is a source of Divine illumination. It is in this sense that the soul is metaphorically termed “the lamp of G‑d.” The seven lamps of the Candelabrum signify the seven basic types of Jewish souls. Each type has its particular path in revealing Divinity, based on the seven basic emotions: (1) the love of G‑d, (2) the awe of G‑d, (3) connecting to G‑d through studying the Torah, (4) overcoming obstacles opposing G‑dliness in the world, (5) appreciating G‑d’s goodness, (6) the pride in being G‑d’s emissary in the world, and (7) humility.

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Thursday, 27 Adar

The Common Denominator[The artisans] made the onyx stones . . . engraved with the names of Israel’s [i.e., Jacob’s] sons. Exodus 39:6Some of Jacob’s sons were singled out for leadership roles: Judah was the father of the royal line of David, Levi was the father of the priests, and Joseph was selected to lead the family after Jacob’s death. Nonetheless, the names of Jacob’s sons were inscribed on the Ephod’s two shoulder stones in the order of their birth, rather than in the order of their importance or prestige. This underscores their common, unifying factor – the fact that they are all Jacob’s sons.

Jacob was the only patriarch whose children all remained faithful to the Divine mission and ideology that Abraham began. All of Jacob’s sons learned how to channel their individual differences and strengths toward perpetuating Judaism. This unity made their inscribed names a source of merit for us as the high priest entered the Tabernacle to represent us before G‑d. Just as parents are happy to grant their children’s wishes when they all cooperate lovingly, G‑d is more ready to shower us with His beneficence when we follow in the footsteps of Jacob’s sons and unite in our devotion to the ideals of Judaism.

Wednesday, 26 Adar

Blending Assertiveness with Humility[As instructed, the artisans made the Outer, copper Altar] as a hollow structure. Exodus 38:7

The Outer Altar is where the process of refining our animal natures took place. The material and form of the Outer Altar allude to the two opposite attitudes we need to cultivate in order to accomplish this:

On the one hand, we must be resolute in our dedication to spiritual advancement. The Jews are called “a stiff‑necked people”; this can be a positive quality when it is expressed as determination and obstinacy in realizing spiritual goals. This quality is alluded to by the fact that the Altar was made of copper, since the Hebrew word for “copper” (nechoshet) is related to the Hebrew word for “brazen (nechush) stubbornness.”

On the other hand, the hollow Altar was filled with earth. Similarly, while we must be externally stubborn, internally we must be humble as earth. As we say in our prayers, “and may my soul be as dust to all.”

Friday, 28 Adar

Positive Stubbornness[The artisans] made the Forehead‑plate, and inscribed upon it “Holy unto G‑d.” Exodus 39:30The high priest was required to wear the Forehead‑plate because the forehead represents stubborn determination. We all naturally wrinkle our forehead muscles whenever we resolve to see something through despite all odds.

Stubbornness can be positive or negative. Brazen nerve or arrogance in showing contempt for G‑d’s law is negative. It is no coincidence that the stone thrown from David’s slingshot hit and killed Goliath in the forehead, for Goliath brazenly and openly defied G‑d. We are therefore taught that the high priest’s Forehead‑plate atoned for the sin of arrogance.

An example of positive stubbornness is the resolve that enables us to stay true throughout the day to the spiritual awakening that we feel during our morning prayers. As we go about our daily business, it may be difficult to maintain the heightened Divine consciousness that we aspire to in prayer. But we can certainly maintain the attitude toward life implicit in this heightened awareness: that our Divine mission is our primary concern and the purpose of our involvement in the material world is to elevate it by using it for G‑dly purposes. Our goal of making everything “Holy unto G‑d” was therefore inscribed on the Forehead‑plate.

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DAILY STUDYA COMPLETE GUIDE TO ALL CLASSES AND COURSES OFFERED AT THE SHUL

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MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY7:20 ‑ 7:50 am

CHASSIDUSDerech MitzvoisechaRabbi Zalman Lipskar

7:20 ‑ 7:50 amCHASSIDUS

Derech MitzvoisechaRabbi Zalman Lipskar







7:50 ‑ 8:05 amCHITAS SYNOPSISChumash, Tanya, Rambam’s book

of MitzvosRabbi Zalman Lipskar









8:05 ‑ 9:05 amDAF YOMI

Tractate ShabbosRabbi Dov Schochet

(Men)



(Men)



(Men)



(Men)



(Men)

9:05 ‑ 9:35 am RAMBAM

One chapter a dayRabbi Aryeh Schottenstein

9:05 ‑ 9:35 am RAMBAM


9:35 ‑ 10:00 amMEGILLOT

Mishlei ‑ Book of ProverbsRabbi Dov Schochet

(Men & Women)

9:05 ‑ 9:35 am RAMBAM


9:05 ‑ 9:35 am RAMBAM


1:30 ‑ 2:30 pm THE BOOK OF DANIEL

Rabbi Dov Schochet (Men & Women)

9:35 ‑ 10:05 PARSHA OF THE WEEK

Rabbi Aryeh Schottenstein(Men & Women)

10:00 ‑ 11:30 amPARSHA OF THE WEEKRebbetzin Chani Lipskar

(Women Only)

11:15 am ‑ 12:00 pmPARSHA OF THE WEEK

Rabbi Shea Rubinstien(Men & Women)

10:30 ‑ 11:00 amFOOD FOR THOUGHT

Dobie Rubinstien(Women Only)

8:45 ‑ 9:45 pmPARSHA IN SPANISHRabbi Shea Rubinstein

(Men & Women)

11:00 am ‑ 12:00 pmSHABBOS

Exploring customs w/ chassidus and Kabbalah

Rabbi Shea Rubinstien(Men & Women)

11:30 ‑ 12:15 pmTANYA

Rabbi Sholom Lipskar(Men & Women)

12:00 ‑ 1:00 pmSENIOR TORAH ACADEMY

Rabbi Dov SchochetBook of Judges

(Men & Women)

4:30 ‑ 4:45 pmSHABBOS INSPIRATION

Rabbi Sholom Lipskar

12:00 ‑ 1:00 pmPIRKEI AVOT

Rabbi Dov Schochet(Men & Women)

3:00 pm TANYA IN ENGLISH

Mrs. Vivian Perez(Women Only)

https://zoom.us/j/758161843password 5899

2:00 pm PARSHA IN SPANISH


https://zoom.us/j/758161843Passcode 540360

2:00 pm TANYA IN SPANISH


https://zoom.us/j/758161843password 5899

8:00 pmPARSHA OF THE WEEK

Rabbi Sholom Lipskar (Men & Women)

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At the height of the drama of the Golden Calf a vivid and enigmatic scene takes place. Moses has secured forgiveness for the people. But

now, on Mount Sinai yet again, he does more. He asks G‑d to be with the people. He asks him to “teach me Your ways,” and “show me Your glory.” G‑d replies: “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the L‑rd, in your presence ... I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,’ He said, ‘you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live.”

G‑d then places Moses in a cleft in the rock face, telling him he will be able to “see My back” but not His face, and Moses hears G‑d say these words:

“The L‑rd, the L‑rd, the compassionate and gracious G‑d, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished …

This passage became known as the “thirteen attributes of G‑d’s compassion.”

The sages understood this episode as the moment in which G‑d taught Moses, and through him future generations, how to pray when atoning for sin. Moses himself used these words with slight variations during the next crisis, that of the spies. Eventually they became the basis of the special prayers known as selichot, prayers of penitence. It was as if G‑d were binding himself to forgive the penitent in each generation by this self‑definition. G‑d is compassionate and lives in love and forgiveness. This is an essential element of Jewish faith.

But there is a caveat. G‑d adds: “Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.” There is a further clause about visiting the sins of the parents on the children which demands separate attention and is not our subject here. The caveat tells us that there is forgiveness but also punishment. There is compassion but also justice.

Why so? Why must there be justice as well as compassion, punishment as well as forgiveness? The sages said that “When G‑d created the universe He did so under the attribute of justice, but then saw it could not survive. What did He do? He added compassion to justice and created the

world.” This statement prompts the same question. Why did G‑d not abandon justice altogether? Why is forgiveness alone not enough?

Some fascinating recent research in diverse fields from moral philosophy to evolutionary psychology, and from games theory to environmental ethics, provides us with an extraordinary and unexpected answer.

The best point of entry is Garrett Harding’s famous paper written in 1968 about “the tragedy of the commons.” He asks us to imagine an asset with no specific owner: pasture land that belongs to everyone (the commons), for example, or the sea and the fish it contains. The asset provides a livelihood to many people, the local farmers or fishermen. But eventually it attracts too many people. There is over‑pasturing or overfishing, and the resource is depleted. The pasture is at risk of becoming wasteland. The fish are in danger of extinction.

What then happens? The common good demands that everyone from here on must practice restraint. They must limit the number of animals they graze or the amount of fish they catch. But some individuals are tempted not to do so. They continue to over‑pasture or overfish. The gain to them is great and the loss to others is small, since it is divided by many. Self‑interest takes precedence over the common good, and if enough people do so the result is disaster.

This is the tragedy of the commons, and it explains how environmental catastrophes and other disasters occur. The problem is the free rider, the person who pursues his or her self interest without bearing their share of the cost of the common good. Because of the importance of this type of situation to many contemporary problems, they have been intensively studied by mathematical biologists like Anatol Rapoport and Martin Nowak and behavioral economists like Daniel Kahneman and the late Amos Tversky.

One of the things they have done is to create experimental situations that simulate this sort of problem. Here is one example. Four players are each given $8. They are told they can choose to invest as much or as little as they want in a common fund. The experimenter collects the contributions, adds them up, adds 50% (the gain the farmer or fisherman would have made by using the commons), and distributes the sum equally to all four players. So if each contributes the full $8 to the fund, they each receive $12 at the end. But if one player contributes nothing, the fund will total $24, which with 50% added becomes $36. Distributed equally it means that each will receive $9. Three will thus have gained $1, while the fourth, the free rider, will have gained $9.

This, though, is not a stable situation. As the game is played repeatedly, the participants begin to realize there is a free rider among them even if the experiment is structured so that they don’t know who it is. One of two things then tends to happen. Either everyone stops contributing to the fund (i.e. the common good) or they agree, if given the choice, to punish the free rider. Often people are keen to punish, even if it means that they will lose thereby, a phenomenon sometimes called “altruistic punishment.”

Some have linked participants to MRI machines to see which parts of the brain are activated by such games. Interestingly, altruistic punishment is linked to pleasure centers in the brain. As Kahneman puts it, “It appears that maintaining the social order and the rules of fairness in this fashion is its own reward. Altruistic punishment could well be the glue that holds societies together.” This, though, is hardly a happy situation. Punishment is bad news for everyone. The offender suffers, but so do the punishers, who have to spend time or money they might otherwise use in improving the collective outcome. And in cross‑cultural studies, it turns out to be people from countries where there is widespread free‑riding who punish most severely. People are most punitive in societies where there is the most corruption and the least public‑spiritedness. Punishment, in

PARSHAH MESSAGES CAN THERE BE COMPASSION WITHOUT JUSTICE?By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

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THE COINS SHONEBy Yitschak Meir Kagan

Rabbi Gavriel—a disciple of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (the “Alter Rebbe”)‑‑and his wife, Chana Rivka, had been married for twenty‑five years, but were childless. Rabbi Gavriel had been a prosperous merchant in Vitebsk, but hard times and persecution had destroyed Gavriel’s fortune. The Alter Rebbe was at that time trying to arrange for the release of some Jewish prisoners. Large sums of ransom money were needed, which the Rebbe attempted to raise amongst his followers. Gavriel was “estimated” as being able to donate a certain sum—but he could not; he was heart‑broken at not being able to participate in the great commandment of Redemption of Captives (Pidyon Shevuyim) to the extent expected of him.

On learning of her husband’s distress, his wife sold her pearls and jewelry for the required sum of money. She then scoured and polished the coins till they sparkled, and with a heartfelt prayer that their fortune should also begin to shine, she packed up the coins and gave them to Gavriel to bring to the Rebbe.

When he came to Rabbi Shneur Zalman, Gavriel placed the package in front of the Rebbe on the table. At the Rebbe’s request he opened the package; the coins shone with an extraordinary brilliance. The Rebbe became pensive, lost in thought for a few moments. Then he said, “Of all the gold, silver and copper which the Jews gave to build the Tabernacle (the desert sanctuary) nothing shone but the brass‑laver and its stand.

(These were made from the copper cosmetic mirrors which the Jewish women had selflessly and joyously given to the sanctuary1).”Tell me,” continued the Rebbe, “where did you get these coins?” Gavriel told the Rebbe of his plight and how his wife Chana Rivka had raised the money.

The Rebbe rested his head on his hand, and was lost for a long while in profound thought. Then, raising his head, he blessed Gavriel and his wife with children, long years, riches and extraordinary grace. He told Reb Gavriel to close his business in Vitebsk and to deal with diamonds and precious stones. The blessing was wholly fulfilled. Gavriel “Nossay Cheyn” (the ‘graceful’)‑‑as he came to be called—became a wealthy man and the father of sons and daughters. He died at the age of 110 years and was out‑lived by his wife by two years!

The “coins of charity” (material or spiritual charity) may be the same as ordinary coins in number and in value, but when the commandment is done with self‑sacrifice—yet with joy—it acquires an inestimably greater value, and shines with a brilliance that illuminates one’s whole life.

other words, is the solution of last resort.

This brings us to religion. A whole series of experiments has shed light on the role of religious practice in such circumstances. Tests have been carried out in which participants have the opportunity to cheat and gain by so doing. If, without any connection being made to the experiment at hand, participants have been primed to think religious thoughts – by being shown words relating to G‑d, for example, or being reminded of the Ten Commandments – they cheat significantly less. What is particularly fascinating about such tests is that outcomes show no relationship to the underlying beliefs of the participants. What makes the difference is not believing in G‑d, but rather being reminded of G‑d before the test. This may well be why daily prayer and other regular rituals are so important. What affects us at moments of temptation is not so much background belief but the act of bringing that belief into awareness.

Of much greater significance have been the experiments designed to test the impact of different ways of thinking about G‑d. Do we think primarily in terms of Divine forgiveness, or of Divine justice and punishment? Some strands within the great faiths emphasize one, others the other. There are hellfire preachers and those who speak in the still, small voice of love. which is the more effective?

Needless to say, when the experimental subjects

are atheists or agnostics, there is no difference. They are not affected either way. Among believers, though, the difference is significant. Those who believe in a punitive G‑d cheat and steal less than those who believe in a forgiving G‑d. Experiments were then performed to see how believers relate to free‑riders in common‑good situations like those described above. Were they willing to forgive, or did they punish the free‑riders even at a cost to themselves. Here the results were revelatory. People who believe in a punitive G‑d, punish people less than those who believe in a forgiving G‑d. Those who believe that, as the Torah says, G‑d “does not leave the guilty unpunished,” are more willing to leave punishment to G‑d. Those who focus on Divine forgiveness are more likely to practice human retribution or revenge.

The same applies to societies as a whole. Here the experimenters used terms not entirely germane to Judaism: they compared countries in terms of percentages of the population who believed in heaven and hell. “Nations with the highest levels of belief in hell and the lowest levels of belief in heaven had the lowest crime rates. In contrast, nations that privileged heaven over hell were champions of crime. These patterns persisted across nearly all major religious faiths, including various

Christian, Hindu and syncretic religions that are a blend of several belief systems.”

This was so surprising a finding that people asked: in that case, why are there religions that de‑emphasize Divine punishment? Azim Shariff offered the following explanation: “Because though Hell might be better at getting people to be good, Heaven is much better at making them feel good.” So, if a religion is intent on making converts, “it’s much easier to sell a religion that promises a divine paradise than one that threatens believers with fire and brimstone.”

It is now clear why, at the very moment He is declaring his compassion, grace and forgiveness, G‑d insists that He does not leave the guilty unpunished. A world without Divine justice would be one where there is more resentment, punishment and crime, and less public‑spiritedness and forgiveness, even among religious believers. The more we believe that G‑d punishes the guilty, the more forgiving we become. The less we believe that G‑d punishes the guilty, the more resentful and punitive we become. This is a totally counterintuitive truth, yet one that finally allows us to see the profound wisdom of the Torah in helping us create a humane and compassionate society.

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In the late 1970s, I asked the Rebbe for a bracha to open a kosher restaurant, Mintz’s Buffet, on the Upper East Side

of Manhattan. At the time there was nothing glatt kosher there. They only had “kosher style.” The only real kosher place was Meal Mart on the West Side, and aside from that, there was nowhere an observant Jew could eat.

The Rebbe gave me a beautiful bracha. He emphasized that I would succeed if I was very careful with the kosher products I used.

When I first opened and people saw the glatt kosher sign and then saw that I was wearing a kippa, they said, “Young man, you’re wasting your time and money in this place. You belong on the Lower East Side.” But I said, “I appreciate your interest and advice but the success of the business depends on G-d.”

The restaurant became a huge success. I did a lot of take- out and a lot of catering. People would often ask me for ice cream, to which I would reply, “The food is fleishig, so in the same meal we can’t have ice cream.” They said, “Okay, then we’ll buy our own ice cream.”

That’s when the seeds were planted in my head. I started to do research and finally decided to make non-dairy parve ice cream which I could sell with a fleishig meal. I read an article about tofu. I didn’t even know what tofu was at the time, and I went to Chinatown to buy it.

I started experimenting with it but at first I had little success and whatever I made, I had to throw out. During this time, whenever I met with the Rebbe I would mention what I was doing, and he would say to me, “You have to have faith. If you have faith in G-d, you can do wonders.” So I kept trying.

Meanwhile, my restaurant business

expanded. I now had a Mintz’s Buffet on 3rd Avenue in Manhattan and another one in Flatbush, Brooklyn. And then an opportunity came up to open on Madison Avenue. I asked the Rebbe if I should do it, and his answer was “Be careful.” I didn’t understand what that meant. It was Madison Avenue and it was such an opportunity. I opened there, but I was not successful. The local clientele was wrong for my sort of business. And then my 3rd Avenue restaurant had to close because Donald Trump bought out the whole square block and razed all the buildings.

That is when Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, founder of the Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side, came to me. He said, “I understand that you have to leave your location because of Donald Trump. Why don’t you come to us – we want you here on the West Side. Open up a Mintz’s Buffet and we will support you totally. My whole congregation will come to you.”

I was very excited about that, especially when a friend of Rabbi Riskin found me the perfect location at 72nd and Broadway. What an

opportunity!

As always, I asked the Rebbe’s advice and I immediately got an answer. It was the same day, a few hours later, that the Rebbe’s secretary, Rabbi Leibel Groner called up, and he said, “Listen carefully. Get a pencil and paper and write it down. This is very important.”

I was very excited. This was the answer I was waiting for.

Then he dictated to me, “The Rebbe says, ‘Absolutely not. B’Shum oifen nisht. Absolutely not. B’Shum oifen nisht.’” Twice he said that.

I was taken aback. I said, “Why is the Rebbe saying absolutely not?”

Rabbi Groner said, “The Rebbe says you should continue with your experiments with the parve ice cream and G-d will help you to be very successful. And your products will become so popular and so in demand that they’ll be sold all over the world.”

It sounded like a fantasy. Meanwhile, I felt like I was losing and golden opportunity at 72 and Broadway...

MY ENCOUNTER WITH THE REBBETHE STORY BEHIND TOFUTTIMr. DaviD Mintz

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But I listened to the Rebbe. For me it was not even an option. Somebody else seized that opportunity and it proved nothing but trouble – trouble with the building department, trouble with the health department – the man never really managed to open up despite the enormous expenses that went into it.

I decided to go into experimentation full time. I sold the Brooklyn restaurant because the neighborhood had changed and I committed to making this parve ice cream from tofu – first I called it Tofu Time, and later Tofutti.

By 1981 I was distributing samples. Then I got my first break. There was a health food store in Manhattan called Health Nuts and the owner called me. He said, “I heard people talking about a product you are making – tofu ice cream. I’d like to try it.”

I brought him a five-gallon pail. No sooner had I returned from Manhattan to Brooklyn, there was a call from this guy from Health Nuts: “Mr. Mintz, Mr. Mintz, you’ve got to bring me more. Please bring me more.”

He was my first big customer and then came Zabar’s, the epitome of gourmet shops in New York. After that Bloomingdale’s called. They ended up giving it out as people came into the store and selling it in their cafeteria.

Now I knew I couldn’t make enough of the stuff in the small place where I was working. I had to go commercial – to take it to the next level.

Again, I went to the Rebbe and I said, “Please give me a bracha. I found a factory that wants to make it.” The Rebbe said, “It will be difficult in the beginning, but you have to have faith in G-d.”

And it was difficult. In my lab in Brooklyn we made the stuff in little kettles. In the factory, the pots were a hundred or two hundred gallons. I had to reformulate. But I succeeded and Tofutti took off. Eventually, we were producing almost ten thousand gallons of Tofutti a week

in cooperation with Wells Farms.

At this time, the Rebbe told me, “People will come and they’ll offer you all kinds of money. Don’t be swayed by their offers and be very careful. Just keep on doing what you are doing.”

When that did happen, I followed his advice. But after a time I asked him if I should take the company public. It was a privately held company and I thought it would be profitable to have it traded on the stock exchange. The Rebbe’s response was: “That’s a very good thought.”

And that’s what I did. This move put Tofutti on the map, so that we were working with the largest companies like Haagen Dazs and others. And it was all because the Rebbe gave me a blessing that I should be successful, and because his guidance saved me each and every time.

BLIND FAITH IS INTELLECT’S MOST DEADLY FOE. INTELLECT THAT WOULD SURRENDER TO FAITH HAS FORFEITED ITS VERY NATURE.

TRUE FAITH IS INTELLECT’S MOST VITAL PARTNER. TO TRAVEL BEYOND ITS BOUNDARIES, INTELLECT MUST FIND A VISION THAT

TRANSCENDS ITSELF.

THAT IS THE MEANING OF TRUE FAITH: A PERSPECTIVE THAT SURPASSES THE FIELD OF INTELLECT’S VISION, A SENSE THAT THERE IS SOMETHING NOT ONLY UNKNOWN, BUT UNKNOWABLE; SOMETHING BEFORE WHICH ALL OUR

KNOWLEDGE IS AN INFINITESIMAL POINT OF NOTHINGNESS.

AND SO, THE MIND THAT FEARS FAITH WILL CHOOSE A TRUTH WITH WHICH IT IS MOST COMFORTABLE, WHILE THE MIND THAT HAS FOUND A PARTNER IN FAITH WILL CHOOSE TRUTH THAT IS

ABSOLUTE.

MAAMAR BAYOM ASHTEI ASSAR, 5731.

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A fierce looking man ran out of the house, his eyes burning with murderous rage at the coach full of Jews. In his hand he

carried a revolver. At his heels a massive black dog yelped and snapped at the carriage.

One of the passengers approached the angry householder, who drew his gun and began to shoot at the coach. The gun clicked ‑ but no bullets emerged. Again and again he pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.

Just then, a calm, holy face appeared at the window of the carriage. With a fascinated stare, the angry one lowered the gun and pulled the trigger. A bullet spewed forth and struck the black dog, killing it instantly.

One of the passengers approached the householder. “Sir, we are chasidim traveling with the holy Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev,” he stammered. “It is time for our evening prayers and we would like to ask your kind permission to pray in your house.”

“The Holy Rabbi of Berditchev? Why yes, of course, you have my permission,” said the man, as if in a dream. With that, he turned and strode into his house without a backward glance at his beloved dog.

The servants and friends were puzzled. They expected to enjoy the massacre of the Jews ‑ these Jews who seemed not to know or care that no Jew dared step onto this property since the owner’s murderous reputation had become known. The disciples of Reb Levi Yitzchak were perplexed, too. Why had their Rebbe asked them to accompany him to this unknown place, leaving Berditchev very early, traveling quickly and stopping only once along the way to say Psalms? The homeowner himself was also confused. “I know the gun was in perfect order, and yet it would not shoot when I pointed at the carriage. It must be the power of that holy Rabbi,” he muttered to his friends.

News of the arrival of Reb Levi Yitzchak and the estate owner’s seeming change of heart reached the Jews living nearby. They began gathering at the estate to see Reb Levi Yitzchak and pray with him. Many non‑Jews also joined the gathering since Reb Levi Yitzchak’s holiness was known by the entire countryside.

Reb Levi Yitzchak led the evening prayers himself. Before saying the opening words, “And He is merciful, He forgives sin, and will not destroy. He turns back His anger many times and does not arouse his wrath,” the Rebbe began to sing a moving melody. It was sad and poignant and had a haunting effect on all who listened. It turned everyone’s thoughts to their own private world, contemplating past regrets and the evil and folly of a person’s actions. Each heart was full of despair and bitter regret. The disciples understood the melody to depict the suffering of the pure and holy soul, forced to leave the beautiful heavens, and come to this evil, false world.

But just as the notes seemed to fade into the very abyss of doom, the Rebbe raised his voice in a triumphant call of hope and salvation. The words, “Oh G‑d, save. The King will answer us on the day we call,” were sung in a joyful tune, stirring everyone to confidence and hope. But, before the Rebbe had sung the last of the sad notes, the host cried out hysterically and fell to the ground in a faint.

Everyone was mystified by the events. The chasidim now understood that the purpose of the journey had to do with their host. But what were the redeeming qualities of this Jew‑hater that he merited the special attention of Reb Levi Yitzchak?

A few hours later, the chasidim saw the host emerge, his eyes red and his face tear‑stained. In broken Yiddish, the host stammered, “I am a Jew. I, too, am a Jew.” In wonder, they listened to his story:

“I was born in Germany to Jewish parents. As a young man I joined the Kaiser’s army. The higher I rose in rank, the looser my ties to Judaism became. By the time I was a personal guard of the Kaiser, I had totally disassociated myself from Judaism. Finally, I became a Jew‑hater and relished every opportunity I had to persecute Jews.

“Now, with you and your Rebbe here, I remember that I am a Jew. I want to be a Jew again. Please, I beg of you, ask your holy Rebbe to teach me how to behave like a Jew again!”

The next morning, prayers were lead with a festive atmosphere. The host joined the Jewish villagers. He borrowed a talit and tefilin and asked to be shown how to use them. After prayers, he was closeted with the Rebbe for several hours, their conversation remaining a secret. The Rebbe warned his chasidim never to breathe a word about this journey.

A short time later, the former Kaiser’s guard sold his estate and disappeared. Around the same time, a stranger came to live and study in Berditchev. He became a close disciple of Reb Levi Yitzchak and the father of one of the finest Jewish families.

STORIES WITH SOULIT ONCE HAPPENED

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Rav Yisrael Abuhatzera (1889‑1984, 4 Shevat) well known as Sidna Baba Sali (Father of Prayer) was born on Rosh Hashana in Tafilalt, Morocco

to Mas’ud (Moshe) and Aisha. He was born into a generational family of scholars and miracle workers with his grandfather being the Abir Yaakov (Rabbi Yaaakov Abuhatzeira ‑ who died and was buried in Damanhur Egypt on his way to making aliya to Israel). With this foundation, removal of excess pleasures and diligent steadfast studying of the Torah he reached unbelievable levels of kedusha that is hard to grasp. His brothers were Rav David and Rav Yitzchak (Baba Haki).From a young age the Baba Sali would fast for many days at a time and eat only on Shabbat. He would devote himself to hours and days of constant study of the Torah, Gemara, Halacha and Kabbalah. He did not eat meat of animals from a young age. He studied and was an expert in Shehita, Brit Mila, and was a Sofer STAM (Sifre Torah and Mezuzot). At age 18 he was chosen as the Rosh Yeshiva in Risani, Morocco, right outside Tafilalt. He later became the Rav of Tafilalt. In 1922 he traveled to Israel to study in Yeshivat Hamekubalim in Bet El. His rabbi, Rav Moshe Tourgeman asked him to return to Morocco which he did. In 1933 he again returned to Israel to study Havruta with Rav Ezra Attiah in Yeshivat Porat Yosef in the old city of Jerusalem. He traveled and lived as well in France, Tunisia, and then returned back to Morocco. It’s important to note that traveling between locations was difficult and dangerous but for the success of studying and teaching Torah, he imbued all efforts. In 1964 he returned back to Israel permanently and later settled in the Negev in the city of Netivot which had a growing Moroccan community. The Baba Sali was offered the position of Chief Rabbi of Lod, which he declined. Upon the death of the first Israeli Chief Rabbi Ben‑Zion Meir Hay Uziel in 1953, he was offered the position, which he also declined. The

Baba Sali was a supporter of Agudat Yisrael and was in close ties with many Rabbanim in the Hasidic world. His home in Netivot was a hub where all Jews of all different backgrounds and faiths would come to get berachot, guidance and advice. He loved every single Jew no matter their background, affiliation or religious level of observance which is the true sign of a gadol. The Baba Sali married 4 times (3 of his wives passing away in his lifetime). The 1st wife Rahma (his first cousin) passed away during childbirth, with the child also not surviving. The 2nd wife Farha had 9 children but only 3 survived to adulthood ‑ they include Rav Meir Abuhatzeira, Ruhama and Sarah. The 3rd wife Miriam had 4 children ‑ Avigayel, Rav Baruch Abuatzeira (Baba Baruch), Penina and Aliza, The 4th wife Rebbetzin Simi had 2 children ‑ a son, Mas’oud (who passed away at 7 months) and daughter, Esther who married Rav Yashar Eddrai, a Chabad shaliah and administrator of the Chabbad institution Bet Yisrael in Netivot. The Baba Sali dressed extremely modestly. When one says modesty we automatically think of the dress of a woman, but the Baba Sali took this modesty to another level even for men. He would cover his entire body from head to toe in long black garments and Jellabia’s (ancient Tunics) revealing only his face and hands and no form of his body was visible. His head and face would be covered with multiple coverings draping to his forehead covering his eyes. He was diligent not to talk to any woman other than his wife or children, and never looked at any immodestly dressed person. He protected all his senses, eyes, ears and mouth and protected what he listened to, looked at and consumed. These extra steps provided him with abilities to produce miracles and high levels of success in learning Torah. In fact the holy books bring down that if a Jew protects his eyes from what he sees, his mouth from what he eats and his ears from what he listens to ‑ even if he did not study Torah fervently ‑ holiness would fall onto that person. With the study of the Torah one can only imagine how much higher a level can be accomplished. He would have daily minyanim in his home but only those with beards and unshaven faces were permitted to pray with him privately.In the Atlas mountains in Morocco existed several yeshivot that the Baba Sali would visit to bless the students, test them on their learning, discuss and teach Torah to inspire

them to reach even higher. On one trip during the cold winter, the students were learning gemara and they stumbled upon a very difficult Tosafot. They tried for several weeks to understand the concept, question and answer and could not make good with their efforts. After over a month they were given another print of a new Gemara and found that the Tosafot in their Gemaras was missing a full 3 lines and upon reading the entire Tosafot of the new Gemara everything fell into place and was well understood. When the Baba Sali visited, several students presented the Rav with the old gemara and tosafot which was missing the few lines and asked him for his help in trying to understand the piece. The Rav reviewed the piece and kept glancing back and forth from the Talmud to the commentary to the Rashi and Tosafot. The Rav realized something was off. He then covers his entire face with his robe all the way to the Gemara and begins sweating profusely and meditating, with drops of sweat falling onto the daf of gemara. He quickly asked one of the students to bring him a pen and paper. While still meditating on the learning and sweating incessantly, he starts writing on the paper a few lines. He gets up, removes his face covering and looks up at the students and says that Tosafot is missing 3 lines, here are the 3 missing lines missing in your print to help reconcile the Tosafot. This was the steadfast learning and focus of the Baba Sali and ability to see what others can not. During the 1973 Yom Kippur war an IDF soldier was heavily injured and underwent several operations but became paralyzed and was unable to walk. The doctors felt they needed to amputate at least one leg. The soldier was not a religious or observant Jew and his friend nudged him to go visit the holy sage Baba Sali before making any major decision. The soldier refused multiple times and finally acquiesced being that there was no other hope. The soldier walks into the home of the Baba Sali and the rav glances at him asking “Do you put tefillin on daily?” to which the soldier replied “no”. “Do you keep shabbat?” the soldier again replied “no.” The Baba Sali says “if I bless you that you may walk again, will you keep the mitzvot?” the soldier cries “yes, i promise.” So the Rav says “then provide me your hand and with the help of the mighty G‑d of the heavens and earth you will have a complete recovery.” He is then assisted to stand up and begins walking around. Disheveled and amazed, he runs outside to the nearest phone in the local yeshiva and calls his family frantically telling them the good news. The soldier, so excited returns back to the Baba Sali with other students from the Yeshiva and makes a beautiful seudat hoda’a (meal of thanks). The story spread quickly like wildfire and many Jews in Israel made teshuva and returned to Torah and Mitsvot.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF OUR SAGES SAGE OF THE WEEK - BABA SALI

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Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher RebbeCourtesy of MeaningfulLife.com

Certainly the most esoteric chapter in the Torah is the law of the “red heifer” (parah adumah), commanded by G‑d

to Moses (Numbers 19) as an antidote to the state of ritual impurity engendered by contact with death. The Midrash describes how King Solomon, “the wisest of men,” was baffled by it; and how Moses, the very vehicle of G‑d’s communication of His Torah to man, turned pale upon encountering the prospect of contamination by death, and found utterly incomprehensible the process of its rectification, crying out to G‑d: “Master of the universe! This is a purification?!”

It’s not just that the law of the red heifer cannot be logically explained; indeed, there exists an entire category of mitzvot, called chukim (“decrees”), whose defining criteria is that they transcend human understanding. What’s unique about the red heifer is that while the other chukim at least follow an internal logic of their own, the laws of the red heifer are fraught with paradox and inconsistency.

Thus the laws of the red heifer are introduced by the Torah with the phrase “This is the chok of the Torah,” as if to say: this is the Torah’s ultimate chok, the mitzvah that most vividly demonstrates the supra‑rationality of its Divine commandments.

The Mystery of DeathIndeed, explains the Lubavitcher Rebbe (in a talk delivered upon the conclusion of the sheloshim [30‑day mourning period] for his wife), the most incomprehensible of human experiences—the phenomenon of death—can be sublimated only with the most incomprehensible of Divine mitzvot, the ashes and water of the red heifer.

Physically and biologically, death makes perfect sense (indeed, it is the phenomenon of life that defies explanation). Yet we all—even a man such as Moses—find death utterly incomprehensible, utterly devastating to our sense of reality. Despite all the “evidence” to the contrary, something deep inside us insists that life is the natural, axiomatic state of the human being, and that its cessation is a violation of the most basic law of existence.

For such, in truth, is the fundamental nature of man. True, the human body is physical flesh, and as such shares the dissolutive nature of all things physical. But it is animated by a soul that is a “spark of the Divine” and fortified with the eternity and indestructibility of its Source. In essence, human life is eternal.

Indeed, the first man was created to live forever. But then he violated the Divine will, thereby distancing himself from his Source and introducing the phenomenon of death into the human experience.

Our sages tell us that when the children of Israel stood at Sinai to receive the Torah from G‑d, they were restored to the original perfection in which man was first created. The Torah reinstated the original, unadulterated bond between G‑d and man, so that man was once more granted “freedom from the angel of death.”

But this time, too, the state of perfect connection to G‑d was short‑lived. Forty days after the people of Israel stood at Sinai, they transgressed the Divine decree “You shall have no other gods before Me” by worshipping a calf of gold. The pestilence of death, introduced into the world by Adam’s sin and banished at Sinai, was reintroduced by the sin of the golden calf.

This explains the connection between the red heifer and the golden calf expressed in the Midrashic parable:

A maid’s child once dirtied the royal

palace. Said the king: “Let his mother come and clean up her child’s filth.” By the same token, G‑d says: “Let the heifer atone for the deed of the calf” (Midrash Tanchuma, Chukat 8).

In our post‑Calf world, the imperfection in our relationship with G‑d finds its most noxious expression in the phenomenon of death. Contact with death thus spawns the most severe form of spiritual impurity, which can be mitigated only by the mother of the golden calf, the most supra‑rational of the Divine decrees—the red heifer.

This was G‑d’s reply to Moses’ cry, “Master of the universe! This is a purification?!” “Moses,” G‑d said, “it is a chok, a decree that I have decreed.” Certain things are so overwhelming to My creations that they can be overcome only by submitting to an absolute command from an absolute authority. I have therefore commanded laws to instruct you what to do when your lives are touched by death. These are supra‑rational, even irrational laws, for only such laws can facilitate your recovery. It is only by force of an utterly incomprehensible Divine decree that you can recover from such utter devastation to a living being’s self‑definition.

Ultimately, however, there will come the day when the original bond between man and G‑d will once more be restored. This time, our prophets promise, it will be immune to disruption by sin, since G‑d will “slaughter the inclination for evil” in the heart of man and “remove the spirit of impurity from the earth,” with the result that “death shall cease forever.”

PARSHAS PARAH

THE CALF’S MOTHER

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6 LITTLE-KNOWN JEWISH LANGUAGES by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller ‑ Aish.com

When the ancient Israelites were slaves in Egypt, they assimilated into Egyptian society – with three key exceptions. They never lost their

distinctive Jewish mode of dress, they maintained their Jewish names, and they kept their Jewish language. These three features enabled them to just barely hold on to their Jewish identity.

Scattered far and wide, Jewish communities have carved out distinctive languages, keeping them somewhat apart from the larger non‑Jewish communities surrounding them. Dr. Mary Connertey, Teaching Professor Emeritus at Penn State Behrend, explained to Aish.com that “Anywhere we (Jews) have lived we created our own language.”

Sometimes these “Jewish” languages are very similar to the dominant language around them, yet Jewish forms of languages contain clearly distinct elements. Hebrew words, quotes from Jewish prayers and elements from other languages picked up in the Jewish diaspora mark “Jewish” minority languages. The history of exile is etched into Jewish languages.

Here are six Jewish languages, spoken amongst Jews as a way of preserving their communities through the years.

Yiddish

Yiddish evolved among Jewish communities in Slavic and Germanic‑speaking lands in the Middle Ages. Incorporating German, Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic and other language elements, Yiddish is written using Hebrew letters. It was widely spoken in central and eastern European communities from the early Middle Ages until the decimation of Jewish communities in the Holocaust, and continues to be spoken in some Jewish communities in Europe, Israel, and in North and South America today.

In time, a number of different Yiddish dialects arose in Jewish communities throughout eastern Europe. “In each new setting elements from local vernaculars have been absorbed, modified to suit the Yiddish idiom,” noted historians Mark Zborowski and Elizabeth Herzog.

“Whoever knows Yiddish can understand the Yiddish of anyone else, even though some of the words may be incomprehensible. Yet each region has its own accent and idioms, which can be recognized and identified.” (Quoted in Life is With People: The Culture of the Shtetl by Mark borowsky and Elizabeth Herzog, Schocken Press: 1952.)

Ladino

Ladino – sometimes variously called Judeo‑Spanish, Judezmo, Judio, Jidio, or Spanyolit – is a language written with Hebrew characters that has been spoken by Sephardi Jews around the world for generations. It has its origins in Medieval Spain where the country’s large, vibrant Jewish community developed a unique way of speaking, blending Hebrew and even some Arabic words with Medieval Spanish.

Facing persecution from Islamic rulers in Spain, some Spanish Jews moved to North Africa in the 1300s and 1400s, bringing Ladino with them, establishing Ladino‑speaking communities in Morocco.

When Spain was unified under Catholic rule in 1492, the monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella marked the milestone by forbidding any Jews to live in the country on pain of death. 200,000 Jews fled the country, bringing Ladino with them.

Ladino‑speaking Jewish communities existed for hundreds of years in North Africa, Yugoslavia, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Egypt, and the Land of Israel. Through the years, local variants incorporated new linguistic elements from Turkish, French, Arabic and Italian. Today, Ladino is still spoken by thousands of Jews, many of them elderly.

YevanicJews living in the northern regions of Greece developed their own language called Yevanic, also known as Judeo‑Greek. The area was home to Romaniote Jews. Prof. Mary Connerty explains “they weren’t Sephardi nor Ashkenazi,” but a separate group of Jews who traced their origin to Jews from the ancient Byzantine empire.

Romaniote Jews developed their own dialect of the local Greek language; Prof. Connerty believes that became more distinct and changed into Yevanic during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. “Beginning with the Ottoman invasion (the Ottoman empire captured Athens in 1458), the language started changing,” Prof. Connerty explains. The local Jewish dialect evolved into something that was unintelligible to non‑Jewish Greek speakers. The name Yevanic derives from the Hebrew word for Greece: Yavan.

Yevanic contained many Greek words and also incorporated Hebrew, Arabic and Italian. It was traditionally written using Hebrew letters, though some Jews began to switch to writing the language using Greek letters in the 1800s. Romaniote Jews prayed from Jewish prayer books written in Yevanic. There were also some small communities of Yevanic speakers in Turkey. The Constantinople Pentateuch (Jewish Bible) is one of the oldest surviving books written in Yevanic, dating from 1547.

“There is still a tiny population of Yevanic speakers in Turkey,” Prof. Connerty explains, “and a few still in Iran.” She estimates that only a few hundred people speak Yevanic today. In northern Greece, there were about 10,000 Yevanic speakers on the eve of World War II. After the Holocaust, just 149 Yevanic speakers had survived. Today, the language is kept alive by a few families in Jerusalem and New York – and by scholars who continue to research Yevanic and other small Jewish languages.

BukharianFor generations, Bukharian Jews live in scattered communities across Central Asia, primarily in present day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. They trace their history back to Biblical times, when King Nebuchadnezzar

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of Babylonia conquered ancient Israel, destroying the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 587 BCE, and exiled many Jews north into Babylonia. Although many Jews soon returned to Jerusalem and other Jewish lands, some Jews remained in exile, migrating even further north into Central Asia.

These Jews were sometimes known as Bukharian Jews because many lived under the reign of the Emir of Bukhara. Jews often called themselves Isro‑il (Israelites) or Yahudi (Jews). They developed a distinct dialect of the local Tajik language which incorporated many Hebrew words, as well as language elements from elsewhere in Central Asia, and became known as Judeo‑Tajik. It is also known as Bukhori or Bukharian. Bukharian became the first language for many Jewish communities in the area. Even when they were living in areas where their non‑Jewish neighbors spoke Uzbek, not Tajik (which was much more similar to Bukharian), Bukharian Jews would communicate among themselves using Judeo‑Tajik, or Bukharian.

In the late 1800s, many Bukharian Jews began immigrating to Israel. The Bukharian Quarter in Jerusalem became a thriving center of Bukharian culture. Rabbi Shimon Hakham, a Central Asian‑born Bukharian Jew living in Jerusalem, translated many works into Bukharian and sent them back to his co‑religionists in Asia. The Bukharian language, which had been primarily oral for centuries, began to develop a literary character in the Jewish state.

Between 1910 and 1916, a Bukharian‑language newspaper called Rahamim was published, first in the town of Skobelev and then in Kokand, both in Uzbekistan. Another Bukharian language newspaper called Roshani (“Light”) ran from 1920 to 1930; in 1930 it changed its name to Bajroqi Minat (“Life of the Workers”) and continued running until 1938. During this period, Jewish schools in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan taught students in Bukharian, using Bukharian‑language schoolbooks. This period also saw a transition from using Hebrew letters to write Bukharian texts to using Latin or Cyrillic letters instead.

Today, there are over 200,000 Bukharian Jews: many live in Israel and the United States. While Bukharian is no longer widely spoken, many older Bukharian Jews continue to remember and speak this distinctive Jewish language.

Judeo‑ArabicDistinct forms of Arabic spoken by Jewish communities in the Middle East began to evolve as early as the 8th century, according to New York University Prof. Benjamin Hary. He spoke with Aish.com, describing various versions of Judeo‑Arabic as a “language variety”

rather than a fully distinct language. “I consider Judeo‑Arabic in general a language variety that has its own history and variety all the way from the 8th century until today – and in the past two to three hundred years local varieties have developed in Yemen, the Maghreb, Iraq, and Egypt that are unique to this local variety.”

One of the most distinctive aspects of all these diverse Judeo‑Arabic dialects is the use of Hebrew letters – rather than Arabic – to write many Judeo‑Arabic texts. Another difference from non‑Jewish forms of Arabic is pronunciation. Prof. Hary gives the example of Egyptian Judeo‑Arabic: Jewish speakers use a long “oo” vowel sound whereas standard Egyptian pronunciation would say “i”. In Yemen, Judeo‑Arabic dialects sounded even more distinct from the language spoken by non‑Jews. at times employing radically different pronunciation from that of local non‑Jewish Arabic speakers. Judeo‑Arabic dialects also incorporate Hebrew and Aramaic words, as well sometimes as older Arabic words that have fallen out of use in the wider non‑Jewish population.

Prof. Hary notes that some of the most notable works of Jewish literature were written in Judeo‑Arabic. Judah Halevi (1075‑1141), for instance “composed his 12th‑century classic work, The Kuzari (Kitab al‑Xazari), in a part of the Iberian Peninsula that had recently been re‑conquered by Christians, but he nonetheless wrote it in Judeo‑Arabic, the language of the educated Jewish classes.” Maimonides’ wrote his classic Jewish work Guide for the Perplexed in Judeo‑Arabic while he was living in in the late 1100s, Prof. Hary notes; the name in Judeo‑Arabic was Dalalat al‑Ha’irin.

Judeo‑ItalianIn the Middle Ages, Italian Jews developed a unique mode of speaking known today by scholars as Judeo‑Italian. Written in Hebrew letters, Judeo‑Italian flourished after Jews were confined to small ghettos: all‑Jewish neighborhoods in Italian towns where Jews were forced to live. Prof. Sandra Debenedetti Stow, who retired after a career teaching at Israel’s Bar Ilan University, recently shared her research into this distinctive language with Aish.com.

Since Italian Jews were so confined in the Middle Ages, the language traditions they developed were intensely local. “What the Jews spoke and wrote was mainly the dialect spoken in their places of residence, so we speak of Judeo‑Roman, Judeo‑Piedmontese, Judeo‑Venetian and so forth,” Prof. Stow explains. Italian Jews incorporated “Italian archaic terms and... the presence of Italianized Hebrew terms.”

Judeo‑Italian used “verbs like ‘achlare’ (to eat), from the Hebrew leechol and the verbal ending ‑are, ‘lechtire’ (to go) from the Hebrew lalechet, and the ending ire, ‘dabberare’ (to speak), from the Hebrew ledaber, adjectives like ‘ammazzallato’ (lucky) from the Hebrew mazal,” Prof. Stow explains. Some Hebrew terms became adapted to Italian linguistic components too. Prof. Stow notes that talledde was a Judeo‑Italian form of the Hebrew word tallit (prayer shawl).

Some Judeo‑Italian words were interesting syntheses of Italian and Hebrew terms. Sone meant anti‑Semite in Judeo Italian: it came from the Hebrew word sone (hater). Marorre meant an ugly thing in Judeo Italian; it was derived from the Hebrew word for bitter, maror.

Beginning in the Renaissance, Judaic languages in Italian became more Italianized; soon they were simply dialects of local forms of Italian. “Today there are no genuine speakers of Judeo‑Italian dialects left inside of Italy,” Prof. Stow notes, “and to the best of my knowledge there aren’t any speakers outside of Italy.” However, in Rome today there is movement among some younger Jews to revive Judeo‑Italian and its traditions.

Today, most of these Jewish languages – and other even smaller and lesser known Jewish languages – are considered endangered, their native speakers aging and dwindling. In part, this abandonment of traditional Jewish languages reflects the robust state of Israel as the homeland of the world’s Jewish communities. As Jews have moved to Israel from across the globe, their children grow up conversing in Hebrew. In some cases, Jews have abandoned their traditional languages as anti‑Semitism decreased and Jews were allowed to socialize and educate their children in their countries’ dominant languages.

These Jewish languages reflect the history of our ancestors around the world. The poetry, songs, sayings and writings in Jewish languages are a crucial record of how our ancestors lived; they are a tribute to the rich Jewish lives that our forbearers led.

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פרשת כי תשא

Sponsored by Zalman and Leah Duchman

In honor of their son Dovid's birthday

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Le piège de l’argentIls oublièrent D.ieu

Moïse était encore au sommet de la montagne mais, à cause d’une erreur de calcul, le peuple d’Israël pensait qu’il

aurait dû revenir la veille. Quand le jour passa, le peuple s’imagina avec angoisse que D.ieu l’avait gardé. Ils craignirent qu’il ne revienne jamais et demandèrent à Aharon de créer un nouveau dieu matériel.

Aharon fut bouleversé. Un nouveau dieu ? Cela faisait à peine quarante jours que D.ieu, le Créateur du ciel et de la terre, leur avait donné au Sinaï le commandement de ne servir que Lui. Il leur avait expressément interdit d’adorer toute autre divinité. Avaient-ils si vite oublié ?

Mais soudain, Aharon fut frappé par un nouveau discernement. La responsabilité de ce comportement revenait à la richesse fabuleuse qui avait été attribuée au peuple avant l’Exode d’Égypte.

Les gens de richesse ont l’habitude de voir chacun de leur désir contenté et ils apprennent à se sentir en droit d’être exaucés. S’ils désiraient un dieu matériel, ils ressentaient qu’ils devaient l’obtenir. Cela posait-il un problème ? Aucun souci, nous y mettrons de l’argent et le problème disparaîtra de lui-même. Tous les autres obstacles semblent se dissoudre lorsque les pattes sont graissées avec les sommes appropriées.

C’est dans cette perspective qu’Aharon tenta de traiter la racine du problème. Il demanda au peuple : « Qui possède de l’or ? » Il avait l’intention d’expliquer que tout l’or vient de D.ieu et que lorsque nous avons mérité la richesse, nous devons nous sentir humbles devant la générosité de D.ieu. Il espérait les encourager à méditer sur ce concept, pensant qu’une telle réflexion permettrait de résoudre le fond du problème.

De l’or au creuset comme de l’huile sur le feuMais le peuple ne lui permit pas d’aller au bout de sa démarche. Quand ils l’entendirent demander de l’argent, ils pensèrent reconnaître cette requête : finalement, tout était question d’argent. « Tu veux de l’or ? demandèrent-ils. Aucun problème. Nous avons de l’or en abondance. » Et ils se mirent à en apporter des quantités énormes.

Comment Aharon réagit-il ? À cette étape, il était trop tard pour les mots. Cette situation extrême nécessitait une action radicale. Il jeta l’or au feu. Il entendait communiquer ainsi l’idée que tout l’or vient du ciel et la richesse doit nourrir les flammes de notre amour pour D.ieu plutôt que l’inverse.

Mais à son grand désarroi, il était trop tard. Leur attitude était si corrosive qu’elle ne pouvait être changée en une nuit. Comme Aharon devait l’attester plus tard : « J’ai jeté l’or dans le feu et il en est sorti ce veau. » L’image même de l’or brillant dans le feu réveilla la passion du peuple pour l’argent. Cela souleva en eux le sens de leur propre infaillibilité. Le feu engendra un veau d’or, et cela, ils l’adorèrent.

Quand le « Je » est au-dessus de toutMoïse perçut le problème ainsi que ses racines dès sa descente de la montagne. Il dit à son disciple Josué qui l’attendait au pied de la montagne : « Ce n’est pas le son d’une victoire, ce n’est pas le son d’une défaite, c’est [plutôt] un son de blasphème, je perçois. »

Pourquoi conclut-il ses paroles avec ces mots apparemment superflus, « je perçois » ? Selon au moins un commentateur, Moïse disait ainsi à Josué que la source du blasphème venait d’un sens excessif de l’ego. C’était le sens arrogant du « je » du peuple qu’il percevait. « Je vois que c’est le “je” qui stimule leur blasphème et leur idolâtrie. »

Ce dilemme a suivi l’humanité au fil des générations. Rarement les gens riches se sentent-ils comparables au commun des mortels. Ils se perçoivent plutôt comme une élite. Cependant, le plus grand éloge que l’on puisse faire à quelqu’un de riche est précisément d’avoir surmonté cette tentation. C’est lorsque les nantis évoluent parmi les gens ordinaires qu’ils jouissent de l’estime de tous.

Un message d’humilitéC’était là le message de D.ieu à Moïse quand Il consentit à lui donner les secondes Tables de la Loi. D.ieu dit à Moïse d’extraire les Tables d’un gisement de saphir, particulièrement créé à cette intention sous sa tente. Quand D.ieu lui dit de graver ces pierres, Il ajouta le mot lekha qui signifie « pour toi » : « Grave pour toi. »

Les tables n’appartenaient pas à Moïse. Elles constituaient l’héritage de la nation entière. Pourquoi D.ieu dit-Il alors à Moïse de les graver « pour lui » ? Le mot hébreu pour « graver » est psal, un mot qui signifie également « inférieur ». Nos Sages nous enseignent que Moïse s’enrichit des éclats de pierres précieuses qui tombèrent pendant la gravure.

D.ieu ne disait pas à Moïse que les Tables lui appartenaient, mais que « psal lekha », ce qui est inférieur (les éclats de pierre) est pour toi.

Le sens profond de ces mots est qu’un Juif doit toujours garder un sentiment d’infériorité lorsqu’il contemple D.ieu. Quand nous nous tenons devant les Tables sur lesquels les commandements de D.ieu sont inscrits, un sentiment d’infériorité s’impose parce que l’humilité est l’attitude adéquate en présence du Tout-Puissant.

Même lorsque nous sommes bénis d’une immense richesse, comme l’était Moïse, nous devons nous souvenir, comme le fit Moïse, que la richesse, tout comme la personne qui en est bénie, est inférieure à sa source. La source de la bénédiction est D.ieu et c’est à Lui que doit revenir notre allégeance.

C’est le roi que je veuxLe Baal Chem Tov expliqua ce concept à l’aide d’une parabole. Un jour, le roi offrit d’accéder au désir de tous ses sujets. Ceux-ci firent la queue et chacun, arrivé devant le roi, lui demanda tout ce qu’il désirait. L’un des sujets fit une requête unique en son genre : « Je souhaiterais obtenir une audience quotidienne avec le roi. »

Quand nos désirs sont exaucés, les bénédictions sont aussi limitées que nos désirs le sont, et la richesse peut nous conduire à l’arrogance. Mais quand nous nous en remettons à la miséricorde de Sa Majesté, les bénédictions sont infinies et, ce qui est plus important, nous restons toujours humbles et reconnaissants.

FRENCH CONNECTIONREFLEXIONS SUR LA PARACHA

Vivre avec la paracha

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¿Fue Aarón responsable del becerro de oro?¿Pueden los Héroes Bíblicos Cometer También Errores?Por Baruch S. Davidson

Pregunta:Estoy completamente molesto con la interpretación rabínica de la Biblia. Parece que hubiera un encubrimiento total de las historias, sólo para hacer que los héroes permanezcan sin pecados. ¿Puede haber también un lado humano de la historia?

La historia del becerro de Oro es mi último ejemplo. El pueblo vio que Moisés no había retornado, se reunieron ante Aarón y demandaron que él “haga para nosotros dioses que vayan delante nuestro”. La siguiente frase, Aarón les dice que saquen sus anillos de oro y se los traigan. Aarón tomó sus pertenencias de oro y confeccionó un becerro de fundición, y el pueblo dijo: “¡Estos son tus dioses Israel, que te han sacado de la tierra de Egipto!” La frase final de esta escena es: “Aarón construyó un altar y exclamó diciendo: ‘¡Mañana será una festividad para Di-s!’”

La historia es clara y simple. Temeroso de la turba, o quizás, una pérdida temporaria de su fe, Aarón no mostró resistencia al pedido del pueblo. No intentó persuadirlos del error de su conducta.

Pero los rabíes dicen: “No. Esto no fue lo que ocurrió —él se dedicó a ganar tiempo, así Moisés retornaría de la montaña para probar que Di-s y Moisés aun estaban ah con la Casa de Israel.

¿Por qué los rabíes, una y otra vez, se resisten a la noción de que nuestros héroes bíblicos tales como Aarón, son seres humanos que tienen flaquezas humanas? ¿Y aun al costo de desafiar el significado simple del texto?

Respuesta:Usted pregunta por las palabras literales del versículo, por lo que yo comenzaré con una respuesta del texto literal —la cual, para ser honesto, me molesta más que la explicación rabínica. Si, realmente, Aarón pasó por un momento de debilidad, posiblemente aun en su propia fe, entonces: a) Parece que Moisés también hizo la vista gorda en una de las muestras más grandes de nepotismo atribuida a un héroe bíblico; b) No sólo Aarón carecía de fuerza para el liderazgo, sino que realmente era deshonesto, sin sentido de la responsabilidad.

Permítame explicarle.

Moisés desciende de la montaña, quiebra las tablas, muele el becerro, y dirigiéndose a Aarón, Moisés le pregunta (Éxodo 32:21) “¿Qué te ha hecho este pueblo que has traído un pecado tan grave sobre ellos?”

Moisés parece saltearse una importante pregunta: “¿Cómo has hecho un ídolo, cuando has oído en Sinaí que está prohibido?”

En cambio dice: “¿Qué te han hecho para que tu les hagas esto?” —implicando que Aarón fue obligado a ello. ¿Por qué está seguro que Aarón no hizo el becerro por falta de fe?

La peor parte es la respuesta de Aarón en el siguiente versículo “¡Mi señor, no estés enojado! Tú conoces al pueblo, que está inclinado hacia el mal” ¿Su error? ¿Qué habría ocurrido si hubieras asumido la responsabilidad por tus acciones? ¿Quién les pidió el oro y la plata? ¿Quién los arrojó al fuego?

Entonces Moisés castigó al pueblo involucrado. Algunos son muertos por la espada. Algunos mueren tras haber sido obligados a beber el agua del molido Becerro de Oro (32:20). Muchos más murieron en una plaga que Di-s envió.

¿Y Aarón? ¿Cuál fue su castigo? ¡Es designado Sumo Sacerdote! El pueblo es golpeado por una plaga “porque ellos hicieron el becerro que Aarón hizo” (32:35), sin embargo la mente maestra de este escándalo es recompensado con el sacerdocio para él y todos sus hijos.

Este libro tiene que tener algún sentido, y no pienso que esté tratando de enseñar una lección acerca de eludir la responsabilidad y salir de ella a través del nepotismo. Si ese fuera el caso, entonces esos dos hermanos son el peor ejemplo de liderazgo, y pasar a la historia como deshonestos y malvados. “Los Cinco Libros del Nepotista” no deberían ser estudiados por millones de personas, y definitivamente no ser leídos con una bendición antes y otra después.

Y una última cuestión.El pueblo acosó a Aarón y pidió un nuevo dios. Ellos estaban obviamente frenéticos. Su “dios” aparece. (De acuerdo con el Midrash, ellos también presenciaron un fenomenal show supernatural, vieron a un becerro de oro emergiendo sobre sus cuatro patas de un fuego). Y Aarón anuncia: “¡La fiesta será mañana!” ¿Qué clase de anticlímax es este? Imagine si en la noche del 4 de noviembre, la noche en que el Presidente Obama fue electo, los bares hubieran cerrado y colgado carteles: “Usted ha presenciado uno de los momentos más grandes de la historia americana, pero pensamos que debe dormir un poco. ¡La fiesta será mañana!”

¿Puede ser que hubiera una especie de “ganar tiempo” ahí? ¿Podemos nosotros, los progresistas y tolerantes, considerar que quizás un gran plan no funcionó como Aarón lo planeó? Puede ser que Di-s ya hubiera insinuado a Moisés quién era realmente responsable, cuando le dijo (32:7-8): “Ve, desciende, pues tu pueblo al que has sacado de Egipto se ha corrompido… ¡Han

hecho para ellos un becerro de fundición!”

En Éxodo 28:1 Di-s instruye a Moisés: “Acerca a tu hermano Aarón… de entre los hijos de Israel para servirMe”. No se le dice a Moisés que designe a Aarón, se le dice “acerca a Aarón”. El Midrash (Shemot Rabá 37:2) explica que Moisés sentía que Aarón era responsable en alguna medida de la conexión del Becerro de Oro, a lo cual Di-s respondió con la siguiente parábola:

Un príncipe travieso decidió un día destruir los muros del palacio de su padre. Su maestro lo vio, y dijo: “Permíteme ayudarte a destruir el muro, pues yo soy más capaz que tú”. Cuando el rey vio esto, se dio cuenta que la intención del maestro era demorar al príncipe. “Si hay alguien capaz de mantener mi palacio” proclamó el rey “eres tú —el maestro sabio”.

Por lo tanto, Di-s le dijo a Moisés: a pesar de tus preocupaciones, “acércalo”, créeme que Aarón, una persona discretamente dedicada a hacer lo mejor para su pueblo, es la persona más adecuada para el trabajo.

El sexto de los Trece Principios de la Fe de Maimónides es la creencia en que “Di-s se comunica con el hombre a través de la profecía”.

Los criterios para ser merecedor de la profecía, como fue explicado por Maimónides: Uno debe ser sabio, con mente clara y lúcida, de carácter impecable, controlar profundamente sus pasiones y deseos y de constitución alegre. En adición, el individuo debe rechazar el materialismo y las frivolidades de la vida, dedicándose enteramente a conocer y servir a Di-s.

Tiene sentido que sólo alguien que está completamente dedicado a Di-s, sin rastros de pasión materialista o cualquier sentido del ego, puede ser un conducto positivo para la comunicación Divina.

Sin embargo, el judaísmo cree que la profecía es algo real. En otras palabras, el judaísmo cree que es posible que un ser humano alcance tan grande nivel espiritual. Es por eso que los judíos de todas las generaciones tienen lo que es llamado emunat tzadikim, “confianza en los justos” —la creencia de que hay personas justas que están divinamente inspiradas, de los cuales todos sus miembros en todo momento son conductos para la voluntad Divina.

Aarón fue la única persona en sus días (fuera de Moisés) a la que Di-s permitió ingresar al Santo de los Santos. A través de él Di-s comunicó directamente varias secciones de la Torá. Él es uno de los 48 profetas registrados en la Biblia.

Basta con decir eso.

LATIN L INKREFLEXION SEMANALParasha de la Semana

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IN A WOMAN’S WORLDISSUES OF RELEVANCE TO THE JEWISH WOMAN

Women’s Mikvah:Please call Mrs. Devorah Failer for an

appointment: 305-866 1492 or 305-323-2410

Please Note: Shabbos & Yom Tov visits must be Prepaid

The Shul Sisterhood

Who we are...The Shul Sisterhood organizes all of The Shul’s programming and classes geared toward women in the community. Our objective is to bring women of all ages and backgrounds together to learn, laugh, experience, and rejuvenate their mind, body and soul.

Meet new friends,relax and get inspired!

If you would like to be a part of The Shul Sisterhood, please call 305. 868.1411

CRISPIEST CLASSIC FRENCH FRIESBy Jaimie Geller

INGREDIENTS3 russet potatoes, scrubbed, but not peeled3 cups extra virgin olive oilSea saltGarnish: chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, freshly ground black pepper, smoked paprika, Parmesan cheese (for dairy)

PREPARATION1. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.2. Cut each potato lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick slices, then cut these slices lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick sticks. Keep cuts uniform so the potatoes cook evenly.3. Soak potatoes in cold water for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse potatoes in 3 changes of fresh cold water, draining after each rinse. (Don’t skip this step; it keeps fries from getting soggy.) Dry potatoes in a single layer on a towel-lined baking sheet, or pat/blot dry with towel.First Fry:1. Line a second baking sheet with paper towels.2. Heat evoo in a heavy bottom 6-quart pot (like a Dutch oven) over medium heat until it reaches 250°F on a deep-fry thermometer.

3. Blot potatoes completely dry with more towels. Gently drop one-third of potatoes into the oil and increase the heat to medium high so that the oil goes back to 250°F. 4. Cook, stirring occasionally with a skimmer or a large slotted spoon, for 2 to 3 minutes, until potatoes soften (you should be able to cut them with the side of the spoon), are slightly blistered, and creamier in color. Remove potatoes if they start to brown.5. Scoop out potatoes, shake to drain off excess oil, transfer to prepared baking sheet, and arrange in a single layer. Fry remaining 2 batches of potatoes in the same manner, letting the oil return to 250°F before adding each batch.Second Fry:1. Heat oil until it reaches 360°F. (Once you drop in the fries, the temperature will lower to 350°F, which is the correct temperature for frying.) Line a baking sheet with paper towels.2. Add one-third of potatoes and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes, until they turn golden-brown and become crisp.3. Transfer fries to prepared baking sheet and sprinkle generously with salt. Fold the edges of the paper towels up and over the fries to make a little pouch, and shake well so salt is evenly distributed.

4. Fry the remaining 2 batches of fries in the same manner, letting the oil return to 360°F before each batch. Serve immediately.

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