SHABBAT

MATTERS

21 Tevet 5779 December 29, 2018

* * * PRIDE OF ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

59 Lissom Crescent, North York, ON M2R 2P2, (416) 226-0111; Fax: (416) 226-0128

Office hours Monday to Thursday 9-5, Friday 9-1. Closed Jewish and statutory holidays.

Website: www.prideofisraelshul.org

Shemot Torah reading Page 206

Haftarah Page 225

Weekly Service Times Shabbat Morning 8:45 a.m. Evening 4:15 p.m.

Sunday Morning 9:00 a.m. Evening 4:30 p.m.

Weekdays Morning 7:30 a.m. Evening 6:30 p.m.

Rabbi Sean Gorman

Cantor Charles Weinberg

Ritual Director Larry Spring Synagogue Chairman Steven Bloom

Society President Hymie Blum

Ritual Chairman Eric Sunshine

Sisterhood President Carol Arshoff

Candle Lighting December 28 – 4:29 p.m. January 4 – 4:35 p.m.

Shabbat Shalom & Good Morning

Welcome to our synagogue. We hope you have a meaningful and enjoyable experience. If you have any questions, please ask any of the clergy, shul officials, or members – we’d be pleased to help. At certain times during the service please try to avoid talking or moving around: when the ark is open, when the congregation is standing, and particularly during the private Amidah and the Kedushah at the beginning of the repetition of the Amidah.

PLEASE turn off cell phones, pagers, and all similar devices. Use of electronic equipment is prohibited on synagogue property on the Sabbath. GABBAIM: Barry Barnes, Marty Risen, Jeffrey Sherman, Jack Steinmetz

* * *

SERVICE TIMES CHANGES

Evening services on Monday, December 31 will be at 4:30 p.m. Services on Tuesday, January 1, 2019 will be at 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

SHABBAT MONTHLY

2nd WEEK

SHALOM YELADIM

Ages 3-8 Downstairs in the Ganz Room 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Next program: January 12 ***

2nd WEEK

TORAH & TANGENTS

Join Rav Jennifer Gorman for a lively and open discussion on the weekly parashah. All ages 9:45 a.m.

Next Program: January 12

***

4TH WEEK

ASK THE RABBI

Enjoy lively discussion on current topics following Kiddush. Bring your questions.

Next program: January 26

ANNOUNCEMENTS This week’s Congregational Kiddush will be held in the

Torno Hall. An online version of Shabbat Matters is available every

week in colour on the synagogue’s website at https://bit.ly/2Arvqrx

THANK YOU We would like to recognize the following individuals/families who sponsored a breakfast for morning Minyan this past week. We appreciate your recognition of the strength of our Minyan group and the role they fill during our time of need:

Jan & Gerry Babins on the occasion of the yartzheit for her father, Jack Geller.

2019 SISTERHOOD MEMBERSHIP

Sisterhood Membership fees are now due for 2019. Fees are $25 and help to fund our programs. As part of being a member, as well as receiving tributes for life events, you will receive a discount towards some of our programs that we are offering in 2019. Make your cheque payable to Pride of Israel Sisterhood. You can deliver or mail your cheque to the synagogue office. If you would like more information on sisterhood, please feel free to contact me via e-mail or leave a message at the synagogue. Carol Arshoff President, Pride of Israel Sisterhood

With the end of the calendar year upon us and the start of a new one, my wish to each of you is that you enjoy the break in good health and remember, please socialize responsibly! Shabbat Shalom Steven Bloom

Did you know...?

Now you know!

Rav Sean Gorman

And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Yaakov; every man with his household came. (Shemot 1:1)

Thus begins the book of Shemot, of Exodus. The process of naming is interesting. In the Torah, we name parshiyot and books for their first unique words. We have Breishit, Shemot, Vayikra, B’midbar and D’varim. We also use the English chapters and names created by others. Chapter and verse numbers provide an easy reference, but changing book names is a different issue. English names were given to Torah based on perceived themes: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. While there is overlap, meanings change.

The names begin with a connection. Breishit is certainly our origin story. However, the similarity ends there. Sefer Shemot tells the story of the exodus from Egypt and much more. It teaches about our growth from family to tribes to a nation. These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt, few in number,

and there we became a nation, great and mighty. The book continues well past the departure. Without a doubt, it is a dramatic moment, but not the only one. Focusing on the departure, we forget revelation at Sinai and our connection to Torah and the Mitzvot. Vayikra is laws and rituals for the Levi’im and Kohanim. We are to be a kingdom of priests. This knowledge is not for an elite few. B’midbar speaks of time and place. It is not just a book of censuses. We are searching for a way out of the wilderness, both physically and spiritually. Finally, D’varim, actually named Eileh HaD’varim, These Are the Words,” is a repetition of laws through Moshe’s farewell speeches. It is a book of reminders, a summation. Words, and especially names, have power. Our tradition teaches that each person is given three names: one his parents give, one that his friends call him, and one that he acquires. Each name speaks to who we are and the relationships we share. The same is true for the Torah. The names we use describe and inform our relationship to it and to Jewish life.

The Etz Hayyim Humash credits the midwives as being the spiritual ancestors of the Mieps, the family who hid Ann Frank in Holland. Tzipporah performed the brit milah on her two sons. The connection with my necktie is in the 7th aliyah.

Shabbat shalom. Rabbi Jennifer Gorman Executive Director, MERCAZ-Canada & Canadian Foundation for Masorti Judaism

Shabbat Shalom to everyone and thank you for joining us today for services.

Whether you have been coming to us for quite a while for High Holy Days, attending our daily minyan, or just enjoy spending Shabbat with the Pride of Israel family, we`re so happy you`re here!

Don’t be shy! Learn more about our membership incentives. Make our synagogue your synagogue. We’d be pleased to take your call, or you could send an email to membership@prideofisraelshul.org to learn more. Shabbat Shalom

Membership Committee

YAHRTZEITS FOR THE WEEK OF: December 29 – January 4

Lillian Aronson Bernard Arshoff Judith Bieler Alice Bly Sophie Borer Bessie Bornstein Joyce Breger Sally Don Hannah Efraim Eva Epstein Shirley Farberman Cecil Feferman Sam Goldman Minnie Grossman Estelle (Buddy) Heller Yetta Krakower

Mordechai Langsam Pearl Lewis Fran Mann Felicia Mroz Ethel Rosen Joseph Rosenberg Herbert Charles Scheinman Mille Schuman Jacob Shelson Charles Spiro Dr. Harry Sugar Ann Wainer Joseph Weiser Aube O. Weisman Phillip Weitzman

December 3 – December 9, 2016

MAY THE SOULS OF OUR LOVED ONES REMAIN FOR AN ETERNAL

BLESSING

Sponsor an upgraded

Kiddush or refreshments for

Torah and Tangents and

get a tax credit! Please call the

office.