Shemot- January 20, 2017
This Shabbat:
Friday Candle Lighting: 4:55 pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:44 pm
Upcoming events:
Torah Message:
Cracking the Code
“They will heed your (Moshe’s) voice…” (3:18)
Nations spend megabucks on keeping their communications secret. But a code, however sophisticated, can always be cracked.
In 1939 it was generally believed at the British Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park that the Nazi’s “Enigma” code could not be broken. Only the head of England’s German Naval Section, Frank Birch, and the mathematician Alan Turing believed otherwise. Using an embryonic computer and a lot of hard work, GC&CS managed to break “Enigma”. This resulted in a dramatic turn-around in the Atlantic War. Enigma intercepts helped the British to plot the positions of U-boat patrol lines, and adjust the routes of the Allied convoys to avoid them. Losses of merchant-ships dropped by more than two-thirds in July 1941.
Vayechi- January 13, 2017
This Shabbat:
Friday Candle Lighting: 4:48 pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:37 pm
Upcoming events:
Torah Message:
Listening to the Little Voice
“Reuven, you are my firstborn, my strength…Accursed is their rage for it is intense…” (49:1-7)
Nobody likes being told they did something wrong. And no one has yet walked the earth who was not a candidate for correction. How do we overcome our inherent talent for self-justification and admit that we messed up, and realize that by accepting that reproof we can grow immeasurably?Rabbi Yehuda b’Rabbi Shemuel bar Nachmani said: Because Reuven and Shimon and Levi accepted the rebuke of their father they merited that their names would be associated with those of Moshe and Aharon (in Parshat Shemot), to fulfill the verse “an ear that hears life’s reproof will dwell among the wise.” (Mishlei 15:31) (Yalkut Shimoni)
Vayigash- January 6, 2017
This Shabbat:
Friday Candle Lighting: 4:42 pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:31 pm
Upcoming events:
Torah Message:
Voice Recognition
“…that it is my (Yosef’s) mouth that is speaking to you” (45:12)
Learning Hebrew was a slow painful process for me. But when I finally managed to hold what might be called a “conversation”, it struck me that the way I was expressing myself in Hebrew was quite different from my English self.
Not just that my limited vocabulary and my painful syntax made communication more cumbersome and imprecise, but that I adopted a different persona — somewhat more confrontational and heimishe.
Miketz- December 30, 2016
This Shabbat:
Friday Candle Lighting: 4:36 pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:25 pm
Upcoming events:
Torah Message:
Sevens and Eights
“Out of the river emerged seven cows….” (41:2)
The Torah portion Miketzalmost always falls during the week of Chanuka. This year it is read on the next-to-last day of the festival. There is obviously a very strong link between the portion of Miketz and Chanuka.
At the beginning of this week’s reading Pharaoh has a dream about seven cows coming up from the river. These cows were healthy looking, robust, full of flesh. After them emerged seven other cows. These cows were gaunt and ugly. The gaunt, ugly cows ate the fleshy cows and left no trace of them.
Vayeshev- December 23, 2016
This Shabbat:
Friday Candle Lighting: 4:31 pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:20 pm
Upcoming events:
Kids Chanukah Party @ Castle Park Dec. 27, 2016
Torah Message:
A Problem of Peace
“And Yaakov dwelled…” (37:1)
The Midrash explains that Yaakov wanted to “dwell” in tranquility, and so G-d sprang upon him the troubles of Yosef.
What was this tranquility that Yaakov wanted, and why was he prevented from having it?
The Talmud (Berachot 64a) describes the different expressions appropriate for taking leave from the living and the dead. When one leaves a dead person, one should say “Go with peace!”, but one should say to a living person, “Go to peace!”
Vayishlach- December 16, 2016
This Shabbat:
Friday Candle Lighting: 4:28 pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:16 pm
Upcoming events:
Teens Escape Room Dec. 18, 2016
Kids Chanukah Party @ Castle Park Dec. 27, 2016
Torah Message:
His Heart’s Desire
“And Yaakov became frightened, and it distressed him.” (13:17)
Rashi explains that, sensing his forthcoming encounter with Esav, Yaakov “became frightened” lest he be killed, and “it distressed him” lest he kill Esav. The halacha states that if someone comes to kill you, it is a mitzvah to pre-empt him and kill him first. Given that Yaakov knew this mitzvah, why should he be distressed? Yaakov Avinu certainly knew the difference between sensitivity and sentimentality.
Vayetzei- December 9, 2016
This Shabbat:
Friday Candle Lighting: 4:26 pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:14 pm
Upcoming events:
Teens Escape Room Dec. 18, 2016
Kids Chanukah Party @ Castle Park Dec. 27, 2016
Torah Message:
In the Midst of the Darkness
“He (Yaakov) encountered the place” (28:11)
The spiritual masters explain that the word “vayifga” — “he encountered” — is an expression of prayer, and it is from this word that we derive that Yaakov instituted Ma’ariv, the Evening Prayer. The reason that the Torah did not plainly say “he prayed” is to teach that the earth contracted for Yaakov and made his journey shorter.What does prayer have to do with the contraction of the earth? In verse 15 Yaakov says, “Surely G-d is in this place, and I did not know!”, implying that indeed this place was very distant from being able to sense the Presence of G-d. So much so that Yaakov was surprised to be able to sense the Divine Presence there. Inside Yaakov there was a tremendous desire to be close to G-d, and it was for this reason that the earth contracted, and Mount Moriah came to meet Yaakov.There is a message here for us all:However distant we may feel from G-d, and however dark our world may seem, if we make a sincere effort, G-d will move mountains to bring us close to Him. That, in essence, is the concept of the Evening Prayer, Ma’ariv — to reveal the light in the midst of the darkness.
Sources: Sfat Emet in Talelei Orot
Toldot- December 2, 2016
This Shabbat:
Friday Candle Lighting: 4:26 pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:13 pm
Upcoming events:
Teens Escape Room Dec. 18, 2016
Kids Chanukah Party @ Castle Park Dec. 27, 2016
Torah Message:
The Calculus to Multiply
“The children (Esav and Yaakov) agitated within her (Rivka), and she said, ‘If so, why am I thus?’…” (25:22)
King Chizkiahu refused to procreate because, through prophetic insight, he saw evil people amongst his offspring.
Yishayahu the Prophet criticized him, telling him he had no business entering into the calculations of Heaven: “What the Torah requires from you, that is what you do.” (Talmud Bavli, Berachot 11a)Therefore, if it not for a direct command from G-d, “Be fruitful and multiply,” Chizkyahu’s reckoning was correct. If you know that amongst your progeny there will be evil offspring, better not to have any at all.However, this only applies to the male of the species. Women have no Torah commandment to procreate.“If so, why am I thus?” With this we can understand Rivka’s question.
Rashi tells us that whenever Rivka passed by the doors of a house of idol worship she felt her unborn fetus struggle to emerge. She knew that her child was destined to be an idol worshipper. “Why am I thus? Why should I labor to give birth to a child who will be evil; I am not Yitzchak. I am a woman, and I have no obligation to reproduce.”
Source: Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveichik
Chayei Sara- November 25 , 2016
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 4:27 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 5:14 pm
Upcoming events:
Teens Escape Room Dec. 18, 2016
Kids Chanukah Party @ Castle Park Dec. 27, 2016
Torah Message:
In this weeks parsha we read that at the age of one hundred and twenty seven, Sarah Imeinu died. It seems strange that right after we read of her death, it is added that Sarah had a good life. One might think that though she had a long life, a life full of good deeds, it was anything but a good life. Anyone can see from reading the basic text, all the troubles Sarah had. First she had to travel far away, then there was a famine. She was kidnapped twice, and experienced years of childlessness. Finally Sarah gave birth to a boy. Not long after that however, Yishmael, the son of the concubine Hagar, began to have a bad influence on her son. Both Yishmael and Hagar had to be sent away. Now I would call that a hard and troublesome life, full of sadness and hardships.
Vayera- November 18, 2016
This Shabbat:
- Friday Candle Lighting: 4:29 pm
- Shabbat Ends: 5:17 pm
Upcoming events:
Torah Message:
A Square Meal
“So Avraham hastened to the tent to Sarah and said, ‘Hurry!” (13:17).
Rabbi Leib Chasman once joined the saintly Chafetz Chaim for a Friday night meal in Radin. Rather than starting the meal with singing “Shalom Aleichem” as was his custom, the Chafetz Chaim immediately recited Kiddush and commenced the meal forthwith, and only then started “Shalom Aleichem”.