Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar - ShulCloud · The Torah, different than any other learning discipline, is...

The Shulw e e k l y m a g a z i n e

Weekly Magazine Sponsored By Mr. & Mrs. Martin (OBM) and Ethel Sirotkinand Dr. & Mrs. Shmuel and Evelyn Katz

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]

B”H

Shabbos Parshas BamidbarSivan 4 - 5

May 18 - 19CANDLE LIGHTING: 7:47 pm

The Shul - Chabad Lubavitch - An institution of The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem M. Schneerson (May his merit shield us)

SHAVUOTSivan 6 -7May 19 -21CANDLE LIGHTING 1st night: After 8:39 pm (from existing flame)CANDLE LIGHTING 2nd night: After 8:40 pm (from existing flame)Yom Tov Ends: 8:40 pm

Welcome to CantorYaakov Motzen

The Shul Weekly MagazineEverything you need for every day of the week

Nachas At A Glance

Rabbi Chanina the son of Dosa would say: One whose fear of sin takes precedence to his wisdom, his wisdom endures. But one whose wisdom takes precedence to his

fear of sin, his wisdom does not endure

– Ethics of the Fathers

Quotable Quote

Weekly MessageThoughts on the Parsha from Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

Celebrating ShabbosSchedules, classes, articles and more... Everything youneed for an “Over the Top” Shabbos experience

Celebrating ShavuosSchedules, classes, articles and more... Everything youneed for an “Over the Top” Yom Tov experience

Community HappeningsSharing with your Shul Family

A Time to PrayCheck out all the davening schedules and locationsthroughout the week

Inspiration, Insights & IdeasBringing Torah lessons to LIFE

Get The PictureThe full scoop on all the great events around town

In a woman’s worldIssues of relevance to the Jewish woman

French Connection Reflexions sur la Paracha

Latin LinkReflexion Semanal

The ABC’s of AlephServing Jews in institutional and limited environments.

Networking Effective Advertising

Numbers To Know Contacts at The Shul

Daily Study A complete guide to all classes and courses offered atThe Shul

Get The PictureThe full scoop on all the great events around town

Contents

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4 -5

6-7

8 - 9

10

11- 19

20 - 24

25

26

27

28

29-32

33

34

The Shul Hebrew School prepared for Shavuos with beautiful crafts and delicious cheesecake

Wrapping up a great year of learning, programs and events, The Shul youth enjoyed a trip to Ninja Lounge.

35-36

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Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar - Shavuos

“And these are the children of Aaron and Moses on the day that G-d spoke to Moshe at

Mount Sinai...”(3:1)

The obvious question that the classic commentator on the Torah, Rashi, immediately seeks to clarify is the fact that these are called the children of Moses when, in reality, they are only the children of Aaron, as he continues to list those sons of Aaron that took on the role of the priesthood, whereas the children of Moses retained the position of the Levites. Rashi comments that this is the source for the Talmudic statement that “one who teaches

his friend’s child Torah it is as if he gave birth to him”. The reality of life makes this concept somewhat difficult to comprehend as we know that it is a mother that gives birth to a child, not a teacher.

Rashi continues to explain the continuing text “on the day …etc” - which seem to be superfluous - that these words which Moses taught them were directly stated to him from G-d at Sinai.

The message that the Torah teaches us here comports very significantly to the fact that this Torah portion is always read in direct proximity to the holiday of Shavuos when each one of us was present at the Divine Revelation when G-d gave us the Torah and by His most direct force infused our inner being with His holy wisdom.

The Torah, different than any other learning discipline, is absolutely unique in the fact that it not only gives us knowledge and information but actually connects us with G-d Almighty Himself on the highest and most pristine levels. In fact, in our prayers each day we say that “the Torah is our life and the length of our days”.

Torah is transformational. In a very vital manner it changes our perspective, thought process, our feelings, our disciplines, our life patterns, and clarifies for each one of us our purpose in creation. Torah does not mean Bible but comes from the word Directives / Teachings. It is not only a document that we treasure as a source of our legitimacy as a Chosen People and our claim to the Holy Land but is our Eitz Chaim – our Tree of Life and our secret ingredient in ensuring our continuity against all odds and is the source of our disproportional contribution to civilization on every level.

It is why our response to receiving the Torah is, “we will do it and then we will understand it – Naaseh v’Nishma”, we commit to doing it before we endeavor to understand it. The connection of Torah to life and G-d is not limited by our human comprehension which can be changed in a whim and is constantly in a state of flux, but is based on G-d‘s wisdom which we accept unconditionally. We then put forth every effort to understand whatever G-d has made available to comprehend and thereby internalize it more than just by action.

As we approach this holy holiday of Revelation, let us learn Torah ourselves and teach those around us whom we love, especially our children, so that we transform their lives and give birth to another level of their being so that they are not merely Homo sapiens on the globe of earth, like the most sophisticated animal can be, but are truly in the image of G-d, fulfilling our purpose in culminating the process of creation and making this world a dwelling place for Him.

May we all receive and accept the Torah with joy and internalization.

We look forward to seeing all of you at the services on Shavuos where we will hear the 10 Commandments, men, women and children together, and then partake in a sumptuous dairy feast.

Have a good Shabbos, a Happy Shavuos and a great week.

Rabbi S. Lipskar

Thoughts on the Parshahfrom Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

Baruch Hashem

Erev Shavuos / Holiday of Revelation 5778

“Know before whom you stand…”

Letter of Commitment to Tefillah and Proper Decorum

The Shul values each community member’s attendance. The main purpose of prayer/Tefillah is a heartfelt and internalized beseeching G-d to answer our quests for whatever we ask. This is beneficially multiplied manifold when praying with a Minyan.

During services where there is talking it detracts from this meaningful and sincere prayer to our Father in Heaven. We ask that you commit to trying not to talk during services, allowing yourself and all those around you to have the only conversation that should occur within the sanctuary, one with Hashem. We know and greatly value the social component of attending Shul but ask that the conversations be held after services are through, at the Kiddush or in the comfort of the spaces outside of the Sanctuary.

Please join me to enhance our environment by committing to making every effort (without an oath) not to talk during davening.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart and surely Hashem will answer all your prayers.

Sholom D. Lipskar Steven Dunn – President

By the Grace of G-d, by signing below I commit and encourage my community members to do the same. Signature: ________________________

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Weekly Riddle

Shmuely'sTeen Boys

Grades: 9th - 12th

10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Haime Library

Mendy KatanDavening With Dad

Grades: 7th - 8th

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Montessori 3

Yossi Cohen’sHebrew School

Grades: 4th - 8th

10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Yosef Brook’sJunior Boys

Grades: 1 - 4

10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Classroom 1

Tween Girls

Grades: 6 - 8

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Raquel GilinskiPre Tween Girls

Grades: 4 - 5

10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Classrooom 4

Elisheva Adouth's Aleph Wonder Girls

Grades: 1 - 310:00 am - 12:00 pm

Classrooom 2

Celebrating Shabbos with our YouthEverything you need for an “Over the Top” Shabbos experience

Morah Malkie’s Tot Shabbat

Ages: 1 - 411:00 am - 12:00 pm

Montessori classrooom 2

Debbie’sTeen Girls

Grades: 9th - 12th

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Teen Girls Room

Questions:1) Which nasi (tribal leader) is the brother-in-law of Aharon the High Priest?

2) Which relative of Moshe shares the name of an ancient city in the land of Israel?

3) The name of which “mysterious” animal appears six times in this parsha?

Answers from last week:1) In parshas Shemos, Mount Sinai is called G-d’s Mountain (Har HaElokim) (Exodus 3:1). In parshas Ki Tisa, it is referred to as Mount Chorev (Exodus 33:6). In parshas Vezos Haberacha, the mountain that Moshe ascends to view the Land of Israel is called Mount Nevo (Deut. 34:1); in parshas Pinchas it is known as Mount Ha’Evarim (Numbers 27:12), and in parshas Ha’azinu it is called both names (Deut. 32:49). Mount Hermon is mentioned in parshas Devarim (Deut. 3:8), while in parshas Ve’eschanan it is called Mount Sion (Deut. 4:48).

2)The Torah commands the counting of seven sets of seven years, totaling 49 years leading up to the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:8). In parshas Emor the Torah commands the counting of 50 days from the Omer offering (brought on the second day of Passover) until the “new grain” offering (Mincha Chadasha) which is brought on Shavuos (Leviticus 23:15-16). In parshas Metzora, the Torah commands a woman with the ritual impurity of ziva to count seven days before becoming ritually pure (Leviticus 15:28).

3) For a home in a walled city, the original owner has a year to redeem it, after which the home becomes the perpetual property of the buyer (Leviticus 25:29).

RIDDLE RULESAnswers to the riddles can be given to Rabbi Shaykee Farkash any time over Shabbos. The first child to give a correct answer to each of

the questions will win an INSTANT prize!

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Kiddush This Week: Kiddush this week is available for sponsorship.

Shalosh Seudos This Week:Shalosh Seudos this week is available for sponsorship.

kiddushim at The ShulPlease help us to provide our weekly Shabbos Kiddush and Shalosh Seudos by becoming a sponsor. Or join the Kiddush Bank by becoming a Partner ($770 annually ) or Patron ($360 anually)

Lighting 7:47 p.m.Mincha 7:50 p.m.

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

the caterer for this week’s kiddush and Shalosh seudos is

Food Art

Celebrating Shabbos Everything you need for an “Over the Top” Shabbos experience

Shabbos ScheduleEarly Minyan 6:15 p.m.Candle lighting 7:43 p.m. Mincha / Kabbalas Shabbos 7:45 p.m.Shabbos Day Hashkama Minyan 7:15 a.m.Tanya / Hayom Yom 8:50 a.m.Shacharis (Morning Services) 9:00 a.m.Children’s Programs 10:00 a.m.Upstairs Minyan 10:30 a.m.Kiddush 12:00 p.m.Daf Yomi 6:25 p.m.Men’s Shiur 6:25 p.m.Women's Shiur 6:25 p.m.Shalosh Seudos for Boys 6:25 p.m.Mincha 7:30 p.m.Pirkei Avot Chapter 6Light Shavuos Candles from existing flame after 8:39p.m.Sephardic Minyan Friday Evening Mincha / Kabbalat Shabbat 7:25 p.m.

Shabbat Day Shacharit 9:00 a.m.Mincha 7:25 p.m.

The following dates are available for sponsorship:

Kiddush Shalosh Seudos May 19, 26 May 19, 26

If you wish to become a sponsor, please speak with Stacyat 305-868-1411 ext 313 or email [email protected]

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Celebrating Shavuos Everything you need for an “Over the Top” Yom Tov experience

S C H E D U L E

Friday, May 187:43 p.m. Candle Lighting

Evening Services

Saturday, May 19 - Erev Shavuos7:15 a.m. Hashkama/Minyan

9:00 a.m. Morning Services

9:00 a.m. Sephardic Minyan Morning Services

10:00 a.m. Children’s Programs

10:30 a.m. Upstairs Minyan

11:45 a.m. 30 Minutes of Tanya: Classroom #1

12:00 p.m. Kiddush

6:50 p.m. Men’s Shiur - Pirkei Avot - Ethics of the Fathers

7:30 p.m. Sephardic Mincha & Arvit

7:35 p.m. Mincha

After 8:39 p.m. Candle Lighting (from an existing flame)

8:30 p.m. Holiday Evening Services

12:00am - 5:00am All Night Learning (Refreshments served)

Saturday night into Sunday, May 19-2012:00 -1:00 a.m. Fusing Heaven and Earth an Isoteric and

Esoteric Perspective on Revelation

- Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

1:10 - 2:00 a.m. A Torah Perspective on Gun Control

- Rabbi Dov Schochet

2:10 - 3:00 a.m. The Rabbi and the Heretic

- A Dialogue of Torah’sTimeless Messages

-The Shul Bochurim

3:10 - 4:00 a.m. A Story of Jewish Selflessness and Heroism


4:00 - 5:00 a.m. Prepare with study of Chassiduth

(Chavrusa style)

5:10 a.m. Mikvah for Men - Prepare for the Great Day!

Women’s Classes: 12:00 - 12:50 a.m. Women, Torah and Mitzvos

Rebbetzin Chani Lipskar

1:00 - 1:50 a.m. David & Goliath

- Devorah Leah Andrusier

Spanish Classes:1:00 - 2:00 a.m. Rabbi Shea Rubinstein

Teen Program:12:00 - 2:00 a.m. Rabbi Zalman Lipskar

Sephardic Minyan:12:00 - 5:00 a.m. Tikun (Kraya for Shavuot)

Cantor Shimshon Tzubeli

Note: All Sephardic minyanim are the same times as the Ashkenazi

minyanim, except where indicated.

Sunday, May 20 - 6 Sivan / 1st Day Shavuos 5:15 a.m. Sephardic Minyan Shacharit - Cantor Shimshon Tzubeli

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5:50 a.m. Early Hashkamah Minyan

8:50 a.m. The Chassidic Torah Message Exclusive for Today

(Tanya / Hayom Yom) - Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

9:00 a.m. Shacharis - Morning Services - Cantor Yaakov Motzen

10:00 a.m. Children’s Services Followed by

Ice Cream Party for the Children

Sponsored by Brian and Cara Roller

10:30 a.m. Torah Reading - The Ten Commandments

All children, infants to Bar / Bat Mitzvah age,

teenagers and all adults are invited and urged to attend

the important re-experiencing of Revelation

10:30 a.m. Upstairs Minyan

12:00 p.m. Grand Shavuos (Dairy) Kiddush

6:40 p.m. Daf Yomi

7:40 p.m. Mincha - Afternoon Services

7:40 p.m. Sephardic Mincha & Arvit

8:00 p.m. Moses, King David and The Baal Shemtov


After 8:40 p.m. Candle lighting for 2nd Night Shavuos

(Light from existing flame)

8:40 p.m. Ma’ariv - Evening Prayers - Cantor Yaakov Motzen

Greeting Yom Tov with Song and Dance

Monday, May 21 - 7 Sivan / 2nd Day Shavuos 7:15 a.m. Hashkama Minyan

8:50 a.m. The Chassidic Torah Portion Exclusive for Today

(Tanya / Hayom Yom) - Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar

9:00 a.m. Shacharis - Morning Prayers - Cantor Yaakov Motzen

9:00 a.m. Sephardic Shacharit - Cantor Shimshon Tzubeli

10:00 a.m. Children’s Services

11:00 a.m. Yizkor - Memory Prayer for Beloved

- Bridging the Past, Present and Future

12:15 p.m. Community Kiddush

Generously Sponsored by The Falic Family in Honor of the Yahrtzeit of

Shulamit bat Yaakov OBM, Mother of Mr. Fima Falic OBM; and Harav

Yitzchak ben Moshe Baruch Leder OBM, Father of Mrs. Pola Lekach and

Grandfather of Mrs. Jana Falic.

Generously Sponsored by Avrom Chaim & Rosalia Zelmanovitch in

honor of the Rabbi & Mr. Zelmanovitch recovering well from their

procedures and for continued health, in commemoration of the Yahrzeit

of Rosalia’s Mother and 4 Brothers, and i the 70th Anniversary of Mr. &

Mrs. Zelmanovitch.

5:50 p.m. Daf Yomi

6:40 p.m. Sephardic Mincha

6:45 p.m. Mincha - Afternoon Prayers

7:05 p.m. Farbrengen: Tying it All Together / All the Niggunim (melodies)

of the Chassidic Dynasty – from the Baal Shem Tov to our Rebbe.

8:40 p.m. Ma’ariv / Havdalah - Shavuos blends into the rest of the year

8:40 p.m. Sephardic Arvit / Havdalah

Celebrating Shavuos Everything you need for an “Over the Top” Yom Tov experience

Shavuot

According to the Torah, a chatat (sin) offering is required on every festival with the exception of Shavuot. The reason is that on Shavuot, the day the Torah was given, every Jew is considered a “convert,” a newborn entity. In the same way that a newborn baby is free of transgression, so

too are all Jews without sin on Shavuot.

(Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev)

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5 Sivan Mr. Oded Ben-Arie5 Sivan Mr. Daniel Burstyn5 Sivan Mr. Eran Tobul5 Sivan Mr. Yosef Wolf6 Sivan Mrs. Ruthy Benoliel6 Sivan Mr. Meir Cosiol6 Sivan Ms. Susan Roth6 Sivan Ms. Angelica Rubin6 Sivan Mr. Samuel Daniel Vlosky6 Sivan Mr. Mark Weinschneider8 Sivan Ms. Shana Cappell8 Sivan Ms. Lydia Hasson8 Sivan Mrs. Chaya Wolff9 Sivan Mr. Jesse Izak9 Sivan Mr. Allan Weinbaum10 Sivan Mr. Moses Egozi10 Sivan Mr. Evan Hershman10 Sivan Mr. Mendi Labkowski10 Sivan Mr. Alexander Robinson11 Sivan Mr. Yisroel Shimon Chuitdatov11 Sivan Mr. Josh Greisman11 Sivan Mrs. Fortuna Mamane11 Sivan Mrs. Shir Melamed


Birthdays

Kid’s Birthdays

Yahrtzeits

5 Sivan Uriel Rosenblum6 Sivan Levi Chuitdatov6 Sivan Estie Chuitdatov6 Sivan Shoshana Fish7 Sivan Yitzchak Yehoshua Kopel8 Sivan Raaya Hannah Gilinski9 Sivan Avraham Tzvi Sragowicz10 Sivan Yisroel Mordechai Barouk10 Sivan Misha Cohen10 Sivan Rochel Rivka Gassner11 Sivan Noach Abraham Givner

5 Sivan Miriam Hadar bas Shlomo obm Sister of Mrs. Dana Werner6 Sivan Sarah Rivka bas Yosef obm Sister of Mr. Irving Hoine6 Sivan Chaim Akiva obm6 Sivan Etta Liba obm Parents of Mr. Alex Gross6 Sivan Shlomo ben Yosef obm Brother of Mr. Irving Hoine7 Sivan Harav Yitzchok ben Moshe Leder obm Father of Mrs. Pola Lekach7 Sivan Tzora Hizler obm Mother of Mrs. Rose (Rosalia) Zelmanovitch7 Sivan Shulamit bas Yaakov obm Mother-in-law of Mrs. Nily Falic8 Sivan Menachem Yoel ben Dovid Hirsch HaCohen obm Father of Mrs. Shoshana Halpern8 Sivan Sultana Levy obm Mother of Mrs. Sonia Franco8 Sivan Shmuel ben Zadok HaLevi obm Father of Mr. Henry Stern8 Sivan Yosef ben Zvi Yehuda obm Father of Mrs. Elisabeth Berend Grandfather of Dr. Rita Steiner9 Sivan Ezra ben Farida obm Father of Mrs. Ginette Dekelbaum-Sultan10 Sivan Israel ben Gershon obm Father of Mrs. Jenny Bublick10 Sivan Etel obm Mother of Mr. Sam Greenberg10 Sivan Abraham obm Grandfather of Mrs. Amelia Dorra Galagovsky10 Sivan Malka bas Dovid Aryeh obm Mother of Mr. Saul Retelny

Volunteers NeededAfter every Kiddush and event, The Shul donates the

left over food to organizations or families in need.

We are looking for volunteers to help collect and

wrap the food.

If you would like to help please contact the

Mashgiach, Mordechai Olesky after the Kiddush.

Community service hours will be awarded.

AnniversariesDr. & Mrs. Bernard & Carolyn BaumelMr. & Mrs. Leon & Agi GoldenbergMr. & Mrs. Daniel & Miriam WienerRabbi & Mrs. Shaya & Deby FarkashMr. & Ms. Shaya & Tziporah GheblikianMr. & Dr. Hersh Yitzchok & Bracha ReichMr. & Mrs. Isaac & Miriam Basha Arber

Mr. Yosef LevyWelcome to New Members

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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.

Mr. & Mrs. Jackie AbrahamMr. Gabriel AmmarMr. Daniel AmramMr. E Salim AssaMr. & Mrs. Gideon AzariMr. & Mrs. Charles AzoulayMr. & Mrs. Baruk BenamranMr. & Mrs. Joseph BliskoMr. & Mrs. Michael BliskoJudge & Mrs. Mark BlumsteinRabbi & Mrs. Menachem Mendel BrodMr. Uri BublilMr. & Mrs. Max DekelbaumRabbi & Mrs. Shlomie DiamontDr. & Mrs. Brian DooreckMr. and Mrs. Abi GoldshteinMr. & Mrs. Sam GreenwaldMr. & Mrs. Josh GreismanMr. & Mrs. Roshi HandwergerMr. & Mrs. Menahem IvcherMr. & Mrs. Meir IzakDr. & Mrs. Richard Koffler

Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Kopel-LaouiMr. & Mrs. Mendi LabkowskiRabbi & Rebbetzin Sholom D. LipskarMr. & Mrs. Yaakov MizrachiMr. & Mrs. Sanford MusikarMr. & Mrs. Isser NewMr. & Mrs. Shlomo PeretzMr. Daniel RubinoffMr. & Mrs. Steven B. SchmutterMr. & Mrs. David SchwartzMr. & Mrs. Ryan ShapiroMr. & Mrs. Bentzy ShemtovMr. & Mrs. Jaime SlomianskiMr. & Mrs. Aaron StauberMr. Mordechai Turgel & Mr. Alan TurgelMr. & Mrs. Philip WeinermanMr. & Mrs. Victor WeingartenMr. & Mrs. Paul WeintraubMs. Edna Pena WertaMr. Jose YankelevitchMr. & Mrs. Adam Ziefer

MENAryeh Leib ben Sura HenyaRafael Maya ben SolAaron ben TamarRaphael Moshe ben MiriamYichael ben LaykeMeyer Yankev ben Chaya EtelAlexander ben Esther RaizelRaphael Moshe ben SarahMoshe ben ZoilaMoshe Avraham ben Tziporah RivaChaim ben Pnina Gabriel ben EstherEber Avraham ben Fruma EstherShmuel ben Sarah PerlYosef ben EdwinaAvrohom ben FeigelMordechai David ben Esther RaizelYedidya Chaim Raphael ben ElanaYehuda ben Chaya SaraShimon Yitzchak ben Leah RochelChaim Tzvi Hirsch ben Guttel

WOMENShoshana bat MazalChaya Miriam Yehudit bat ChavaClara bat CorinaRivka bat ShoshanaLeah Rochel bat SarahMiriam bat Risha RaizelDana Ella bas Devorah HindeChana bas ShoshanaIlana bas Shaina RochelChava bas Elka MenuchaChaya bas RachelFayge bas ChayaMiriam Leah bas Helen

Sivan Light & PowerLight & Power and Wine for Kiddush & Havdalah for

the month of Sivan is Kindly Sponsored by

Shlomie and Gruni Diamont. In honor of our Dear Children Mendel, Henna,

Eli, Chana and Zalman.

The Abicidan FamilyIn loving memory of Sarah Rochel Ruth obm

Bat Avraham obm

“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 between 05/08/18 and 05/14/18We apologize for any errors or omissions that we may have made.

Community Notice Board:If you have a new or slightly used Shaitel that you

would like to donate to The Shul Sisterhood

Please Contact Mrs. Devorah Failer 305.323.2410

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A Time to PrayDavening schedules and locations throughout the week

Evening Kolel Schedule - Monday and Thursday 8:45 -9:30 pmMon & Thurs 8:45 - 10:00 pm Evening Community Kolel Chavrusah

Daily Learning Schedule at The Shul6:20 -6:50 am The Rebbe’s Maamorim Chassidic Discourse R’ Zalman Lipskar

7:45 am Daf Yomi R’ Dov Schochet8:45 am (approx) Halacha Sephardic Custom R’ Shimshon Tzubeli10:15 - 11:00 am Maamorim Maamor of the Rebbe R’ Shea Rubinstein

Daily Chumash & Tanya after every Minyan

Shacharis Minyanim (mon - Fri)Main Minyan 6:50 7:30 9:00

Sephardic Minyan 8:00

Sunday Shacharis MinyanimMain Minyan 8:00 am 9:00 am

Sephardic Minyan 9:00 am

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.Hinda Clara bas Chana Guenendel

Benyamin Aharon ben Jeniya Gila RutJonathan ben Aliza Sher

Amir Herzel ben Dvora DorryEden Chana bat Karine Cecile

If anyone would like to send us the name of a soldier in the IDF we would love to add them.

Halachic TimesBased on times for May 23

Alot Hashachar / Dawn 5:09 amEarliest Talit & Tefillin 5:45 amNetz Hachamah / Sunrise 6:31 am(Earliest Amidah)Latest Shema 9:52 amZman Tfillah 11:00 amChatzot / Midday 1:17 pmEarliest Mincha 1:52 pmPlag HaMincha 6:42 pmShekiah / Sunset 8:04 pm(preferable latest time for Mincha)Tzeit Hakochavim / Nightfall 8:29 pm(Earliest preferable Ma’ariv)

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

mincha / Maariv Minyanim (mon - Thurs)Main Minyan 2:00 pm Early Mincha 7:55 pm 10:00 pm

Sephardic Minyan 7:55 pm Following

Sunday Mincha /Maariv Minyanim

Main Minyan 7:55 pmLate Maariv 10:00 pm

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Friday - Sivan 4Shavuot is an opportune time to achieve everything in improving Torah-study and avoda marked by fear (awe) of G-d, and also to strive in teshuva concerning Torah-study, without interference by the accusing Satan - just like the time of Shofar-sounding on Rosh Hashana and the holy day of the Fast of Yom Kippur.

Shabbos - Sivan 5On the eve of Shavuot 5557 (1797) the Alter Rebbe taught:

Sanctify them today and tomorrow and they shall cleanse their garments. “Sanctify them today and tomorrow,” is done from Above, but “they shall cleanse their garments” - one must do himself. This was the entire teaching.

The Tzemach Tzedek elaborated: “Sanctify them” was said by G-d to Moshe. The extension of Moshe is in every generation and they are able to sanctify the “today” and the “tomorrow”; but for this is needed “..and they shall cleanse their garments” - the garments of thought, speech and deed. This must be done by each person on his own.

Sunday - Sivan 6The Baal Shem Tov passed away on Wednesday, the first day of Shavuot, 5520 (1760) and is interred in Mezibuz. The Alter Rebbe Commented (on Wednesday, the 20th of Kislev 5559 (1798) in Petersburg): “On the fourth day the luminaries were taken away.”

Monday - Sivan 7Procedure for the congregant during the blessing by the kohanim (p. 268): When the kohanim say yevarech’cha, face forward; When kohanim say Hashem, turn head to right (which is the left of the kohein pronouncing the blessing). When the kohanim say v’yishm’recha, face forward. While kohanim say ya’eir, turn head to left (which is to the right of the kohein pronouncing the blessing), etc. At shalom face forward.

Say Ribono shel olam only while the kohanim sing (the wordless accompanying melody); but when they pronounce the words, one must listen. When the kohanim sing the wordless melody prior to saying v’yaseim, say Ribono until hatzadik. During the similar choral introduction to l’cha, say from v’im until Elisha. Likewise before shalom say from Uch’sheim until l’tova. As the kohanim finish pronouncing the word shalom, say v’tishm’reini u’t’chaneini vetirtseini.

Adir bamarom is said after responding amein, while face is still covered by the tallit.

Tuesday - Sivan 8The physical universe is a mixture. It is a meeting-place where G-d meets together (as it were) with man, the select of all creatures; yet it is also ginat egoz, “a garden of nuts,” the word egoz having the numerical equivalent of cheit, “sin.” G-d gives man the capacity to choose freely, that man may choose for himself a path in life.

Wednesday - Sivan 9In the year 5589 (1829) the Shabbat of Parshat The world is in need of a purified atmosphere. Purified air comes only through words of Torah. Words of Torah offer protection in general and for each individual in particular. The division of the Six Orders of Mishna for memorization is intended for “when you walk on the road.” The Mishna or two recited from memory wherever one may be, in whatever sort of place he may be, will illuminate the bond between Israel and G-d. The letters MiSHNaH are the same as NeSHaMaH (soul). It is extremely difficult to find the words to express the tremendous benefit, with G-d’s help, in the general and individual protection that constant repetition of Mishna will bring. And there are no words to describe the tremendous gratification one thereby gives the Creator, may He be blessed.

Thursday - Sivan 10The Alter Rebbe responded to an individual at yechidus: “...The Jewish people are called neirot, lamps. A lamp comprises a vessel, wick, oil and flame. But one must kindle the flame - and then it sheds light. You have a good lamp, but you lack the igniter. By sharply striking the stone of the animal soul, a spark of fire flies out and kindles the G-dly fire.”

Friday - Sivan 11From my father’s talks: “The avoda of serving G-d according to Chassidus comprises all kinds of levels... The level of “corpse” does not need much elaboration; but, thank G-d, there is also “revival of the dead” in spiritual avoda. A corpse is cold; there is nothing as frigid as natural intellect, human intellect. When one’s natural intelligence comprehends a G-dly concept, and the emotions latent in intellect are enthused and moved by the pleasure-within-intellect - that is true revival of the dead.

Hayom Yom

In the winter of 1942, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Y. Schneersohn, of righteous memory, gave his son- in-law, the future Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, the task of compiling an anthology of Chasidic aphorisms and customs arranged according to the days of the year.

The calendar was entitled Hayom Yom. In describing this work Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak wrote: …”A book that is small in format…but bursting with pearls and diamonds of choicest quality.” “A splendid palace of Chasidism.”

True to these words, Hayom Yom has become a beloved classic work and a source of daily spiritual sustenance.

Inspiration, Insights & IdeasBringing Torah lessons to LIFE!

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Who Owns Judaism?Why the Desert Was the Most Suitable Space for TorahBy: Rabbi YY Jacobson

The DesertThis week’s Torah portion, named “Bamidbar,” which means “in the desert,” is always read preceding the holiday of Shavuos, when we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Sinai, more than 3,300 years ago, in the year 1313 BCE.

One reason for this is because the Torah was given “bamidbar,” in a desert. It was at Mt. Sinai in the Sinai desert where the Hebrews were molded into a nation and given the blueprint for repairing the world. But that only carries the question over: Of all places, why indeed was Torah given in a wilderness? What is more, our sages describe Sinai as the marriage between G-d and His people; whoever heard of getting married in a barren desert? The Torah should have been given in the Hilton or the Waldorf-Astoria, not in a desolate desert?

Let us introduce one more question: Why was it necessary for the Jewish people to wander 40 years in this desert before entering the Promised Land? Was 210 years in Egypt, including more than 80 years of hard labor, not enough? Why liberate them from Egypt only to put them through another 40 years in the wilderness?

There are many explanations for the unique relationship between Torah and the desert. Here are three.

Absolute Sublimity1) Had the Torah been given in a civilized city or community, people might have defined it as a product of a particular culture, milieu and environment. Sophisticated academics would explain to us the particular “genre” of Torah, as if it were an outdated, modern or post-modern piece of literature, an epic or lyric, a work of history, law, tragedy or philosophy. They would enlighten us as to whether Torah belonged to the time of the Athenians, the Hellenistic age, the Greco-Roman period, the Byzantine age or another period of civilization. Torah would be labeled, classified and qualified. It would be “put into perspective.”

But Torah cannot be put into a particular cultural or artistic perspective. Torah is not culture, literature, art, history, law or fiction. Torah embodies the eternal truths about existence,

life and destiny that speak in every language, in every culture, in every age, to every soul. The Torah cannot be reduced to a particular time frame or reference point. It benefits all the arts but never competes with them. Professor Abraham Joshua Heschel put it thus:

“Why does the Bible surpass everything created by man? Why is there no work worthy of comparison with it? Why is there no substitute for the Bible, no parallel to the history it has engendered? Why must all who seek the living G-d turn to its pages?

“Set the Bible beside any of the truly great books produced by the genius of man and see how they are diminished in stature. The Bible shows no concern with literary form, with verbal beauty, yet its absolute sublimity rings through all its pages. Its lines are so monumental and at the same time so simple that whoever tries to compete with them produces either a commentary or a caricature. It is a work we do not know how to assess. Other books you can estimate, you can measure, compare; the Bible you can only extol. Its insights surpass our standards. There is nothing greater. In three thousand years it has not aged a day. It is a book that cannot die. Oblivion shuns its pages.”

“Absolute sublimity.” Such a work must be taught and transmitted in a desert. A desert is not associated with any particular culture or form of living. A desert is barren, raw, plain. A desert is not sophisticated; it is real.

Ownerless2) Had the Torah been given in a particular city or community, its inhabitants would have claimed copyrights on it. Had the Torah been given in BoroPark, CrownHeights, Williamsburg or Monsey, these communities would claim “ownership” on Torah. “We know how to interpret Torah, how to assess it, how to appreciate it. It belongs to us.” The same would hold true if the Torah was given in Lakewood or the Upper West Side.

The desert, on the other hand, is ownerless. Nobody wants the desert (besides the Arabs, once the Jews settle it). It belongs to nobody. Torah, too, is ownerless. It belongs to every Jewish soul on earth. Nobody holds any “rights” to the Torah. It is the living, vibrant conversation of G-d with every living Jew.

Life in the Fast Lane3) Had the Torah been given in a civilized and splendid terrain, we might have believed that its objective was to guide the beautiful life and the splendid heart.

But that is not Torah.

Torah does not tell us that life is easy and that faith is bliss. On the contrary, we were placed in a personal and global wilderness, and life is a battle. And it is precisely this battle that G-d intended us to face, day in and day out. Do not be disturbed or demoralized, the Torah teaches, by your challenges, your demons, your inconsistencies and your weaknesses. Do not be shaken when you do not live up to your highest aspirations, and often do not actualize or maintain your inspiration. Do not be discouraged; because the Torah was given precisely to help us pave a road in the barren desert of the human psyche, to create a highway in the jungle of history.

Had the Torah been given in a beautiful city, then all we would have is a guide on how to live in beauty, in ecstasy. But Torah came to teach us how to confront our wilderness and to transform a desert into paradise.

That is how the spiritual masters explained the reason for the Torah being given on a mountain. Why a mountain, and not flat land?

A mountain is essentially elevated earth. That is the profound message of Torah: With earth, gravel, dirt and mud, you must battle. That is intrinsic to the human condition and the reality of our world. Yet you must remember that your mission is to elevate the earth, to introduce holiness and G-dliness into a mundane and soiled world.

G-d did not desire holy people doing holy things; he wanted unholy people doing holy things. He desired that earthly human beings become mountains of moral dignity and divine grace.


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Seeing the Sounds @SinaiWas the medium the real message of the Ten Commandments?By Tzvi Freeman

The Experience

I woke up late on the day of the Ten Commandments. Look, stuff happens. When I finally jolted out of bed and ran towards the scene, I met someone

coming from there. “Hey, I missed it!” I said. “What went on?”

I’ll bet you’re thinking he told me something like, “G-d said He’s G-d, no other gods, and we shouldn’t steal, kill or commit adultery.”

But he didn’t. It was more like this:

“You can’t imagine it! There was this bizarre thunder! And freaky lightning! The whole mountain was glowing in some weird fire-like light! And this shofar sound didn’t stop getting louder and louder and louder! We heard a voice coming from all directions at once. Then, next thing you know, it was like nothing existed but G-d—I mean nothing. The whole world became totally unreal, and all there was was Him! The whole experience was such a knockout—over and over again. And you missed it?!”

Okay, so I made this up. Everyone was there, men, women and children, and all the souls of every Jew who will ever be. I’m just out to make a very Marshall McLuhan–esque the-medium-is-the-message point: That event at Mount Sinai wasn’t so much about content as it was about the experience. It wasn’t about hearing commands. It was about seeing G-d. At Sinai, the medium was the message.And that experience was the message—that there’s nothing but G-d.

And it was an interactive experience. Even though there was nothing but G-d—so what was there to interact with? Okay, that’s a problem. But it had to be interactive, because the Torah introduces the Ten Commandments with the words, “G-d said all these words, to say.”

Usually, “to say” means that Moses was to say this over to the Jewish people. But in this case, the Jewish people were right there (even this sleepyhead). So here, “to say” means something else—that the people were supposed to say something.

What were the people supposed to say? Depends on who you ask: Rabbi Yishmael or Rabbi Akiva.

The DisputeBefore we get into their dispute—which you can find in Mechilta, one of the most ancient collections of commentary on the book of Exodus—let me describe something of the personalities involved. Two diametrically opposed personalities.

Rabbi Yishmael was born into the priestly class. Some say he was the high priest. From childhood, he looked more like an angel than a human being.

Rabbi Akiva was a descendant of converts. He was an ignorant shepherd until the age of 40. Up until then, he said, if he would have met a scholar of Torah, he would have bit him. Then he turned around and worked his way up to become the greatest teacher of his time, and one of the greatest of history.

When these two clash, it’s not just two personalities clashing. It’s two faces of Torah looking in two opposite directions, one from the top down, one from the bottom up. When these two clash, it’s two faces of Torah clashing.And at the point of their intersection, we discover what Torah is all about at its very core.

Now back to what the people had to say to each of the Ten Commandments.

Rabbi Yishmael answers our question simply: Each time G-d told them they were supposed to do something, everyone answered “Yes!” Each time G-d told them they were not supposed to do something, everyone answered, “No!”

As in “I am G-d . . .” receives “Yes, You are the only G-d!” and “Don’t have other gods” receives “No, we won’t have any other gods!”

Rabbi Akiva disagrees. For every positive there was a “Yes!” And for every negative there was also a “Yes!” As in, “Yes, we will not have other gods!”

There’s something deep behind this argument. Where Rabbi Yishmael sees the negative as negative, Rabbi Akiva sees even the negative as positive. What’s going on?

Seeing VoicesHuman interactivity is not their only topic of dispute concerning Sinai. They also argue over the multimedia experience itself. It makes sense that the two disputes are related.

The verse reads, “All the people saw the sounds and the lightning and the mountain aflame.”

Hold on: They saw the sounds?

Rabbi Yishmael dismisses that. It’s just poetically licensed language. They heard the sounds and they saw the sights.

Rabbi Akiva disagrees. They saw the sounds. And not only that: they heard the sights.

Dear Rabbi Akiva, what’s the point in that? Okay, we get the whole “medium is the message” idea. But what is the message of such a medium? In what way does seeing thunder or hearing lightning enhance the experience of Sinai? And what makes it so crucial to receiving Torah?What could be the message behind the medium of synesthesia?

Without getting into what sounds might look like, or how sights might sound (there are people who experience this—it’s called synesthesia), let’s strip this dispute of its superficial wrappings and get into what these two Torah titans are really discussing. Let’s look at how these two mediums—hearing and seeing—impact the human being.

Neurons devoted to visual processing occupy about 30 percent of the brain cortex, as compared with 8 percent for touch and just 3 percent for hearing. No wonder why if it’s visible in front of us, we take it as an objective reality. No wonder why, for us humans, seeing is believing.

For a dog, smelling is believing. For a shark, electroreception is believing (well, a major part of it). For a bat, hearing is believing. But when we humans hear something, it’s more of a secondhand, subjective experience. We’re not so convinced. It could have been all sorts of things that we heard. Or maybe we didn’t hear anything at all.

We use “hearing” in a different but similar sense: When we know about something because we heard it from someone else, or even read it in a blog or news story, we say, “Yes, I heard about that.” So hearing, to human beings, is a kind of secondhand experience.

And yet, that secondhand experience of hearing information has a certain advantage over seeing something in front of you. When you see something,


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you grasp it as a “thing that is.” When it’s not visible to you, but you hear the sounds it makes, or just hear about it, in a certain way you are more capable of dealing with the information this thing contains. Its isness is less real, it remains more abstract—and therefore it leaves more room for your imagination.

In court, we refer to secondhand evidence as “hearsay.” You hear information. You see a thing that is.And here’s a fascinating fact: In a Jewish court—which is generally a tribunal—the judges can decide the case only if their experience of that evidence is hearsay. The witnesses must be eyewitnesses, having seen the deed firsthand. But if any of the judges was there watching at the scene of the crime, he’s off the bench.

Why is that? Because the Torah demands that a court must attempt to exonerate the accused before incriminating him—and you can’t exonerate someone when you yourself saw him do the act. It’s become too much of a reality for you. You’re trapped within your own perception.

Which takes us back to Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva: When they argue over seeing and hearing, they’re really talking about something far more abstract. Seeing means it’s real to you. Hearing means it’s something you only induce from the evidence before you. So the argument really is about the message of Sinai. It’s about a shift that experience made in our perception of reality.

Existence by ImplicationRabbi Akiva says they saw the sounds. When G-d said He’s the only G-d, they didn’t just hear that. They saw that.

Up until then, they had heard about an underlying reality beneath this world of sensation and tangible stuff. Intuitively, it made sense. But it was nowhere as real as the rocks on the ground and the sun in the sky. Now, suddenly, that reality burst into center stage. G-d said, “I am,” and that became their reality. Wherever they looked, all they saw was a world of endless divine energy, a perfect oneness of a Creator beyond all existence.

And they heard the sights. G-d said to have no other gods, and otherness vanished. The busy world of multiple things and sensations which until now had been their obvious reality dissolved within this divine harmony, and could only be induced from the evidence.

What evidence? If G-d was speaking to them, they must somehow exist.Well, if G-d was saying they must work for six days and rest on the seventh,

then there must be something called “work” that’s necessary to do, and time must exist. If G-d was saying they must not worship idols, then there must be a world where the concept of something other than one G-d must be thinkable. If G-d was speaking to them and requiring that they respond, then they too must somehow exist.

Amazing—there is a world! G-d, after all, desires we do something with it, and that desire renders it real. Somehow. By implication. Yet, once this radical paradigm shift of Sinai had taken place, what was previously obvious suddenly demanded a great deal of evidence and imagination.

Sinai was a revolution that turned the entire cosmic order on its head. Reality as we know it was shattered to reveal a deeper, singular truth behind all things.

Rabbi Yishmael hears out Rabbi Akiva and nods. Yes, Sinai exposed the façade of physicality. Yes, at Sinai infinite light poured down upon us. But with a goal: So that we earthly beings, within our earthly limitations, might welcome that light and allow it entry into our finite, natural world. And in a natural world, people don’t hear sights or see sounds. And you have to know that yes is yes and no is no—there’s stuff that’s good that must be embraced, and stuff that’s bad that must be rejected.

That’s Rabbi Yishmael. That’s what a kohen and a tzaddik-all-his-life is all about—channeling light, nurturing the world.

But Rabbi Akiva is a “master of return,” a man whose life is a perpetual exodus of leaving behind the person he was the day before, pulling back the curtains of the reality he has known until now. For him, life is about seeing a higher reality, beyond the horizon that the eye can perceive. He has transformed the darkness of his past into a great light, and so in all darkness he is able to perceive light. And when you do that, you see G-d everywhere—not only in the “yes,” but in the “no” as well.

Because there is only yes. There is only One.

Crying and LaughingThere are two stories of Rabbi Akiva that demonstrate just how far he took that attitude:

Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Akiva went up to Jerusalem. When they reached Mount Scopus, they tore their garments. When they came to the ruins of the Temple Mount, they saw a fox running out of the

Holy of Holies. They began to cry, and Rabbi Akiva began to laugh.

They asked, “Akiva, why do you laugh?”

He asked, “And why do you cry?”

Said they to him: “Here is the place of which it is said, ‘The stranger that approaches it shall die,’ and now foxes walk through it! And we shouldn’t weep?!”

Said he to them: “That is why I laugh. For it is written, ‘I shall have bear witness for Me faithful witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Yeverechiah.’”

“Now, what is the connection between Uriah and Zechariah? Uriah was in the time of the First Temple, and Zechariah was in the time of the Second Temple! But the Torah makes Zechariah’s prophecy dependent upon Uriah’s prophecy.”

“So I will explain: With Uriah, it is written: ‘Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field.’ And here it is, plowed as a field and desolate.”

“With Zechariah, it is written, ‘Old men and women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem . . . and the streets of the city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets. . . . In those days, ten men of all the languages of the nations shall take hold of the fringe of a Jewish man’s garment, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

“As long as Uriah’s prophecy had not been fulfilled, I feared that Zechariah’s prophecy may not be fulfilled either. But now that Uriah’s prophecy has been fulfilled, it is certain that Zechariah’s prophecy will be fulfilled.”

With these words they replied to him: “Akiva, you have consoled us! Akiva, you have consoled us!”

The Temple lay in ruins, the Jewish people were in exile, and the Roman oppression had become unbearable. There may never have been a time as void of hope and promise in all of Jewish history.

But for Rabbi Akiva, all that lay before him was a transient state—a secondary reality. He heard it, but he saw beyond it. What he saw was a path to the fulfillment of a promise—the final exodus of his people and the ultimate of times for all peoples. Even within exile and desolation, even there he saw reason to laugh—the “yes” within the “no.”

Oneness in the Ultimate DarknessHow far can you take that? Rabbi Akiva took it all the way.


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After the failed Bar Kochba revolt, the Romans prohibited the teaching of Torah in public. Rabbi Akiva defied the prohibition and was arrested. And then, the Talmud tells:

When the Romans brought out Rabbi Akiva to be executed, it was time to recite the Shema. They began torturing him by raking his skin with combs, and he prepared himself to accept the yoke of heaven by saying Shema Yisrael—Hear O Israel, G-d is our G-d, G-d is one.

His students cried out, “To such a point?”

He responded, “All my life I was pained over this verse, ‘You shall love G-d with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might.’ What does it mean to love G-d with all your soul? It means, even if He should take your soul from you. All my life I ached for the opportunity to fulfill those words. And now that it has arrived, I should not fulfill it?”

He sustained his recitation of the last word “one,” so that his soul departed from him with that “one.” A voice from heaven was heard, declaring, “Fortunate are you, Akiva, that your soul departed with ‘one.’”

It is one thing to see hope glimmering within the embers of the Temple ruins. It is another to see the oneness of G-d within the brutality of man against man, in a cruel and tortuous death rewarded for the deed of teaching Torah—never mind that it was his own death. The Talmud continues that even the ministering angels expressed their outrage, crying out to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Is this Torah and this its reward?!”

If the angels could not see, we cannot be expected to see. If they who do not suffer were outraged, we certainly have the right to be outraged at the horrors that have befallen our people. And to demand.

But then, If Torah is to enter our world, the “yes” must be found even in the darkest “no.”if Torah is to enter our world, if Sinai is to have its effect, if we are to fulfill our mission in this life, we must have at least an ounce of the vision of Rabbi Akiva—to see that G-d is found not only in the light, but in the darkness as well. Not only in the “yes,” but in the “no” just the same. Because there is nothing else but G-d, and He is good.

As David sang, “Even darkness will not obscure anything from You, and the night is light like day; darkness and light are all the same.”

Shavuos

The name Shavuot literally means weeks. The simple reason for this name is that this marks the end of the seven week counting,

purification process from the Exodus.

The name can also mean oath, which represents the eternal oath between G-d and the Jew to never betray their mutual bond, which was cemented at Sinai.

Although one can accept Shabbat on Friday afternoon one should be careful to pray Shavuot night only after nightfall. This is because the festival of Shavuot is celebrated after 49 complete days have passed from Passover. If one would accept the holiday early, the 49th day would be incomplete.

There is a custom to remain awake the first night of Shavuot and study Torah the whole night. This is to prepare ourselves for receiving the Torah on the following morning, and to remedy the fact that our ancestors slept the night before revelation and had to be awoken to receive the Torah. The primary study of this night is the Oral law.

Many communities (Chabad included) have a special Tikkun with a detailed study schedule. If one did not sleep at night there is a dispute whether we can make a blessing on Netillat Yadayim in the morning.

There is a custom to read the book of Ruth on Shavuot. One explanation is that just as Ruth went through great hardship and privation to join the Jewish people, so too the study of Torah requires great commitment. Furthermore, Ruth

was the ancestor of King David, whose birthday is on Shavuot.

We try to bring many plants and flowers into both our homes and Shul in remembrance of the giving of the Torah, when Mount Sinai was surrounded by beautiful trees. It is also the time when judgment is handed down on how fruitful each tree will be, so by seeing the trees we will think about this and pray for them.

When reading the Ten Commandments during the Torah reading, the custom is to stand and face the Torah. This is to commemorate the standing of our nation at Sinai. The Rebbe would also stress the importance of every Jew being present during this reading, even young children and babies.

The Haftorah on the first day of Shavuot is the “Chariot of Ezekiel”. It is customary to give this Haftorah to a scholar and some have a custom to stand while reading it along with the Chazzan.

It is customary to have a dairy meal on the first day of Shavuot. There are many reasons given for this custom, amongst them are:

1) When the Torah was given and we received the laws of Kashrut, all of our vessels and meat were not kosher. Being that the Torah was given on Shabbat, the only Kosher food we had were dairy products.

2) Milk represents kindness, and it was only by the kindness and mercy of G-d that we received the Torah.

3) The only source that one can use dairy is from the oral tradition, so by having a dairy meal we affirm our belief in the oral tradition.

It is proper to have a meat meal following the dairy one. One should take proper care not to inadvertently mix the milk and meat, or eat one immediately following the other in a way which is forbidden.

Our custom is to not say Tachnun starting from Rosh Chodesh Sivan (for that is when they started preparing at Sinai) until the 12th of Sivan for one could bring their festival offering till that day.

May we all merit receiving the Torah with great joy and internalization.


Halacha of The WeekBy Rabbi Dov Schochet

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Absolute AcquisitionsAdapted by Jonathan Udren from the teachings of the Maharal of Prague

The world was created with a Beit, but the Torah begins with an Aleph.

Before we even begin the sixth chapter of Pirkei Avot, we have actually already finished the book. No Kabbalistic secrets here, just

that Pirkei Avot originally was composed with five chapters. So what is the sixth chapter? It was added on at a later time in line with the custom of learning Pirkei Avot during the six weeks between Pesach and Shavuot.

The last chapter is a collection of braitot, or sayings of the sages, who were contemporaries of the sages of the original text. These teachings were taught in a different study hall and are usually worded in a less concise fashion. Leafing through the final chapter one can find many familiar themes, however the teachings focus on the exalted quality of the Torah, as opposed to specific spiritual lessons dealing with the nature of the person.

“G-d acquired five acquisitions in His world, and they are: the Torah, one acquisition; the Heavens and Earth, one acquisition; Avraham, one acquisition; the Nation of Israel, one acquisition; the Temple, one acquisition”. (Avot 6:10)

The Maharal begins his commentary with several questions. First off, why are only these five items listed as acquisitions of G-d? Doesn’t the whole world belong to G-d, as it’s written in Psalms that the world and all that fills it all belongs to G-d?

A second implicit question has to do with the ordering of the teaching. Were not the heavens and the earth created first? And Avraham also came before the Torah, did he not? The time line expressed in the braita seems to be out of order.

As we’ve come to see, the Maharal says little, but implies grand concepts. Here in a few words he explains the nature of the Torah and the role of the Jewish people:

“That it is written that the Torah is one acquisition, that the Torah is one complete entity alone, and

therefore it is an acquisition of G-d….therefore the Ten Commandments opened up with an Aleph, and the world was created with a Beit, to teach that there is nothing more unified that the Torah”. (Derech Chaim)

First, let’s understand what the term acquisition means in the context of the braita. As we noted, the simple meaning does not make sense.

The Maharal answers our first question as follows: the list of five acquisitions denotes entities that are absolute acquisitions. From all perspectives it must be something that is only appropriate for G-d. And what is that quality? It can only include that which is unique and unified.

In other words, only that which is the absolute spiritual root can be called an acquisition; since G-d is one, so too the entity must also express oneness. Only then can it be called an absolute acquisition in our context.

What about the non-sequential order of our braita? The Maharal refers us to a Midrash that says the world was created with a Beit, but the Torah begins with an Aleph. Let’s understand this Midrash and see how it answers our question.

The first word in the Torah is bereishit, translated as “In the beginning,” begins with the letter Beit, the second letter of the alphabet. However the first word of the Torah that was revealed to the Nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai was anochi, I, which begins with the letter Aleph, the first letter of the alphabet. Here we run into the same problem: if the letters Aleph and Beit suggest chronology, then they are out of order.

The answer provides a fundamental understanding of our Torah. There are two Torahs: the Torah that we read from, and the Torah in its conceptual form. The Midrash teaches that G-d looked into the Torah and created the world. The Torah actually preceded the world, and is the blueprint for the world. The Torah in its essence is the unified vision of what the world was, is, and can become. Therefore, the revelation of the Torah was with an Aleph, the first letter, to teach that it preceded creation. Only after the blueprints were drawn could the project of the world begin that denotes the Beit, the second step.

The Torah, G-d, and the Jewish people are all one, the Talmud teaches. G-d’s Torah is a reflection of the unity of its Creator, given to the Jewish people so we as a nation could reflect that unity in the world. We too are listed in the teaching as an acquisition. We too are one unified entity in our essence. Guided by the Torah, we unite in order to

help the world reach the level of completion G-d had in mind before creation.

It Once Happened

Many years ago in Dubrovno there was a boy named Feivish Henech, who was a G-d-fearing lad. Although he was

not a great student, he nevertheless devoted practically all his time to reciting Psalms, and this he did in the sweetest voice imaginable.

Feivish Henech was a beautiful-looking boy and his voice was a pleasure to listen to. When he sang the Psalms of praise, his voice rang with joy, so that everyone listening to him felt their beings permeated with gladness. But when Feivish recited the Psalms which were outpourings of the soul to the Alm-ghty, beseeching Him to help His troubled people, Feivish Henech’s voice assumed such depths of melancholy and distress, that everyone felt full of sorrow and sadness.

When he reached the age of 16, he suddenly took it into his head to live differently from everyone. He spent literally every moment of his life reciting the Psalms. And in order that no one should deter him from his purpose, he stopped up his ears so that no sound of the outside world should reach him. He covered up his eyes so that no sight should disturb him, as he could recite the Psalms and prayers by heart. He ate hardly anything, fasting all day and only partaking of a crust of bread and drink of water at night. On Shabbat or holidays he ate white bread, instead of the darker bread, and in addition drank a glass of wine. One may have expected to see him become a physical wreck under the circumstances, but to everyone’s surprise he became, if anything, even stronger and more handsome.

Naturally, he could not go unnoticed, and he was talked about all around the area of Dubrovno. When word of this strange Jewish hermit reached the ears of a certain anti-Semitic Polish squire, he decided he would have some sport with the Jew. He sent one of his servants to Dubrovno to bring Feivish back, but when the man heard that Feivish was a holy man whom it was impossible to approach, he fled in terror. When his master heard his story, he flew into a deadly rage and ordered the poor fellow to

Pirkei Avos Stories with Soul


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be publicly flogged. The usual penalty was 15 lashes, after which the unfortunate victim had to crawl on all fours and kiss the feet of his tormentor, begging forgiveness. But when the lashes were administered to the back of the servant, nothing happened; there was no pain and no blood.

Everyone wondered what would happen now. It was known that the squire had sent other servants to fetch Feivish Henech the Hermit. The servants returned, but without Feivish. They related their story: “When we found the hermit, he was standing and praying. We called out to him, but he made no sign of having heard. I stepped up quite close to him and struck him with my whip, but it was as if it hadn’t even touched him. Then I waited and tried to convince him to accompany us, but he refused to react and we had no choice, but to come without him.”

The squire was in a rage. “Saddle a horse, and I myself will fetch this crazy Jew! Get the priest and he will accompany us.” In the squire’s heart was a creeping fear that the hermit might after all be a supernatural being.

When the priest heard that the squire planned to use force against Feivish Henech, he begged him, “Please, Your Honor, do not do anything against Feivish Henech the Hermit. He is a holy man and you will be wiser to leave him alone. I, myself, will have nothing to do with this foolishness.”

“Aren’t you ashamed? I will show you that he is merely mentally unhinged!” exclaimed the squire.

When the squire entered the study hall he greeted the rabbi and the other community notables in a friendly manner, but he let them know that he was there to prove that this particular hermit who refused to see, hear, or eat was just crazy, and had nothing supernatural about him.

“You are playing with fire,” they warned him, but he refused to listen.

“I have driven sense into many obstinate persons with this whip and shall now drive the nonsense out of this individual also!” With that he walked up to Feivish Henech and struck him with his whip. The whip fell out of his grasp and his hand dropped helplessly to his side as excruciating pains shot through his arm.

There was a feeling of panic in the air. The Jews

feared the squire’s retaliation against the entire community, while the squire’s men were terrified of the hermit. They bundled up their master and ran for their carriage. Feivish the Hermit took no notice of the entire proceeding and continue to fill the hall with his exquisite singing.

The squire’s pain became unbearable. He wanted to return to the hermit and beg forgiveness, but he was told that no one could approach the holy man. The doctors said there was no hope, other than to remove the arm before it poisoned the entire body.

From this time on, people in trouble tried to do something for the hermit, so that they might be helped, as a result. So it was that all the childless wives of the town gathered together and raised funds to build a study hall with special accommodations for Feivish Henech the Hermit to be called by his name. It is an interesting fact that after this, all the childless women bore children.

Accepting The Torah At Sinaiby Mordechai Olesky, adapted from a lecture by Rabbi Sholom Lipskar

We will soon celebrate the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. A Jewish holiday, however, is not merely a

commemorative event. Our rabbis explain that the spiritual forces that brought about the original giving of the Torah are enlivened in the present on Shavuos.

But why is it that the vast majority of Jews don’t accept the Torah? Commentators tell us that when the Jewish nation was leaving Egypt, and the sea had split, 80% were too pre-occupied with piling up riches taken from the Egyptians. The least of them came out with 90 mules laden with gold and silver, but it wasn’t enough. Imagine trying to manage that load. And where were they going that they wanted even more? Into a desert where there was nothing to spend it on.

Similarly today, many persons are in bondage piling up riches. Workaholics and shopaholics, spending all their time earning or spending, their quest to free themselves from poverty binds them to a pharoah inside of them. The Torah, however, provides a way to liberate one’s self from the grip of materialism. One

day a week, you can’t work, and you can’t spend. And from what we earn during the other six days, we share at least 10% with those in need. Far from being “the root of all evil,” material wealth can used to build shuls, yeshivas, hospitals, and provide food, shelter, and clothing for ourselves and others. By providing for our fellow man, we bind ourselves to G-d, the Creator of the One the material world.

So, if we escape from material bondage, what else keeps us in Egypt? The first line of Parshas Beshalach tells us that when G-d took the Jewish Nation into the desert, He did not take them by a shorter route, the way of the Philistines. Had He done so, they would see war, and return to Egypt. The Philistine way of life was one of hedonism, a seemingly logical philosophy that argues that the most effective way to free yourself from war with physical desires is to satiate the body with as much as it wants, whenever it wants it. The hedonistic way of life, however, results in addiction. In their quest to free themselves from struggling with physical desire, persons who rely on unrestricted pleasure from alcohol, drugs, and physical intimacy return to bondage. The body becomes the slavemaster.

The Torah allows for bodily pleasure without becoming dependent. A person must not drink to the point of drunkenness; or eat like a glutton (Maimonides says one should stop eating if the stomach is 3/4 full); and intimacy is to be enjoyed only between husband and wife. Through a Torah way of life, the body can be a means of serving G-d, and connecting with Him. With our hands we give tzedakkah, wrap tefillin and light Shabbos candles; with our feet we run to do mitzvot. When our minds we study Torah, and with our lips, share words of Torah.

The same Spiritual Force that brought us the Torah thousands of years ago is bringing it to us today. Let’s resolve not to capitulate to the internal pharoahs of materialism and physicality, but rather utilize our material resources and bodies to make a “dwelling place for G-d.”


Community Corner

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Witnessing HistoryBy Tila Levy

Putting my thoughts into words to explain the last few days is not easy. The excitement that I felt is nothing like anything I’ve felt

before. This was a new feeling I almost didn’t recognize. The mixture of pride, joy, honor, awe, love, passion all came together as one!

To say I love Israel is an understatement, and to say I love the USA is also not enough. The experience of being at the opening of the new American Embassy in Jerusalem was exhilarating. I felt fortunate and blessed to be there. It was a ceremony which celebrated my 2 homes as 1. My blue and white blood mixed with the red white and blue inside my heart. I was proud to be an American, and I was proud to be a Jew standing in Jerusalem in my own Embassy.

They say “Home is where the heart is”... It felt like a new home away from home- at home! Not sure any of this actually makes sense, but neither did this moment. It’s a moment we thought would never come, yet always hoped it would happen in our lifetime. Being there was a dream come true and sharing it with friends and family made it even more special, because it felt like we were surrounded by only friends and more family.

I am so grateful to President Trump, Ambassador Friedman and their families, and all our leaders -gentile and Jewish alike, who through the years have worked so hard to make this dream a reality. I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, fighters of our State of Israel and a proud American citizen, so this moment made all

my past present and future...ONE. Ambassador David Melech (that’s his real name) you are a true King David of our time, just like our original King David who reigned over our capital of Jerusalem, who’s life is celebrated on Shavuot - this Shavuot we will celebrate you and him for glorifying our city of Jerusalem.

Invocation at U.S. Embassy Opening in Jerusalem Delivered by Chabad Rabbi By Dovid Margolin

Fifty-one years after the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces entered the gates of the Old City of Jerusalem, reunifying

the holy city after almost two decades of Jordanian occupation, the United States of America officially moved its embassy to Israel’s capital city. The move, a perennial presidential campaign promise supported by U.S. leaders on both sides of the aisle for decades, was announced by President Donald J. Trump in December 2017. The opening took place on May 14 in the presence of U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and American and Israeli dignitaries.

The gathering was addressed by Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Five Towns in Cedarhurst, N.Y., and a longtime Torah-study partner of Ambassador Friedman.

Emphasizing Jerusalem’s place as the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Wolowik noted that “truth is not determined by popular opinion—it is eternal not ephemeral, unchanging not relative. Truth stands the test of time. While empires, ideologies and philosophies rise and fall, the Jewish people’s attachment to this holy city has never waned or faltered—it is truth. King David imagined a Temple here, and his son Solomon built it here; the Prophets pleaded, cajoled and thundered here. From cradle to grave, for thousands of years, Jews of every extraction have had the beautiful name of this beautiful city on their lips, Yerushalayim. Jews have lived here, and when they didn’t, they directed their prayers here. That is truth.”

Thanking President Trump and the United States for “standing for this truth,” he prayed that other

Recently In The News

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countries follow America’s example in “affirming the Jewish people’s eternal bond with this holy city.”

Peace, Wolowik pointed out, is a quintessentially Jewish idea and aspiration, symbolized in the very makeup of Jerusalem. “The beauty of Jerusalem,” Wolowik said, quoting the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, “ ... is that its walls are unifying walls. Within the confines of Jerusalem, every man, woman and child became part of something greater than themselves.”

But peace is the twin of truth, and the rabbi concluded by praying that “from today’s exalting of truth, there flow to Jerusalem, her neighbors and to the entire world, a true and perfect peace. ... In the words of the Psalmist who sang his longing for peace not far from right here, ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may those who love you be at peace ... ’ ”

*******A Holocaust Survivor’s Revenge: A Bar Mitzvah in Poland After 79 YearsMontreal resident dons tefillin and is called to the Torah for the first timeBy Mordechai Lightston

Johnny Jablon began preparing for his bar mitzvah in Poland in the summer of 1939. A month later, the Germans invaded. Now 92

years of age, Jablon returned to Poland for the first time since World War II to finally celebrate his bar mitzvah.

Born the second of three sons to an assimilated Jewish family in Kraków, Jablon spent the first 11 years of his life fully integrated into Polish society. While many of the more traditional Jews lived in the Kazimierz district, the Jablons lived on a small suburban street next to Planty

Park, the large garden that encircles Kraków’s Old City, where the city’s walls had once stood.

“Until the sixth grade, I spoke only Polish,” Jablon recalls. “I was the only Jew in my class. My classmates made that very clear to me—for six years, they called me nothing but ‘dirty Jew.’ ”

How the Science of Racism Led to the HolocaustDespite the abuse, the Jablons considered themselves Jewish Poles, with an emphasis on being full Polish citizens.

In the summer of 1939, Jablon was learning to swim in Kraków’s new public pool and enjoying time with his aunt and cousins in a summer camp in Rytro, a resort town nestled in Poland’s Tatra mountains. His parents hired a rabbi to help him with his bar mitzvah studies. When the war broke out in September, his studies stopped—and the course of Jablon’s life was forever altered.

“In one day, I lost everything,” he says.

Instead of attending gymnasium as he had planned, Jablon spent the war years being shuffled from the Kraków Ghetto to the Płaszów, Auschwitz and Mauthausen concentration camps. When the war finally ended, he had lost his mother, father and brothers, as well as 16 aunts and uncles, and many more cousins.

Moving to Montreal, Jablon married, opened an electronics store and began a new life. He never planned to return to Poland. “How could I go back?” he says. “I had no one left. I didn’t want to go to see the ashes of my family.”

Last May, when his wife, Sally, passed away, Jablon began to reflect on his life in Poland before the war. At the urging of friends, he decided that it was time to finally return on a “March of the Living” trip to the country of his birth.

That’s when Jablon met Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Pinny Gniwisch. The director of Chabad-affiliated “Living Legacy” in Montreal, Gniwisch has been leading “March of the Living” trips to Poland for the past 13 years. This year, he served as the Montreal delegation’s official rabbi.

As the two met over lunch before the trip, Jablon mentioned his interrupted bar mitzvah.

“He was adamant at first about not wanting to put on tefillin,” notes Gniwisch. The conversation then turned to the subject of revenge.

“This is your revenge,” Gniwisch told him. “You owe it yourself to reclaim what was taken from you.” Jablon took to the idea. He was on board to wrap tefillin in Poland.

The bar mitzvah was held on Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the Jewish month) of the month of Iyar in the Tykocin synagogue, one of the few remaining historic synagogues in Poland.

“It was surreal,” says Gniwisch. “We were in a shul that once had 4,000 members—all murdered in one day. Yet here it was, 79 years later, being used again, to help a survivor reclaim what was stolen from him.”

To Jablon, the bar mitzvah was the highlight of his trip.

“I felt such a mixture of emotions. Everyone around me was crying. I felt so excited for the opportunity, and sad that no one from my childhood family could see it.”

After Jablon donned tefillin for the first time and was called to the Torah, everyone in the synagogue began to dance.

“That was something else,” he says. “To see all the kids around me dance. That is how you fight anti-Semitism—by showing Jewish pride.

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Get the PictureThe full scoop on all the great events and classes around town

Shabbos Parshas BamidbarMay 19th 5:30 pm

Speaker: Mrs. Chana Barouk

At The Home OfRuthy Ginsburg

9424 Byron Ave Surfside

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The Shul is working towards some big membership goals right now. We are working to get to 770 members by the end of December 2018. This is truly a community-led effort, and one that won’t make it without the continued support of our members. In order to hit these milestones, we are asking for YOUR help, our members. You can help us spread the word by encouraging others to become members and if you bring a friend who signs up as MEMBER you will get a The Shul Rewards cards full of Surfside Stores Discounts. We’ll be updating you periodically on our

progress. Thanks again for helping to make this a successful membership campaign.

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Construction Updates Keeping you up to date on our exciting progress

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE We have now split the “underground structures” process into four phases. The first phase involves H&M now mobilized and focused on the excavation and formation for the grade beams and pile caps in tandem with Thunder Demolition. Attention is on the chipping away of those remaining auger piles which we anticipate will soon be chipped down to their required height within the next three weeks. We will keep you updated on that progress! Royal Plumbing is working in tandem with H&M on-site to locate and lay the underground pipe work before the slab is poured. By early May, we plan to transition to Phase 2 which will include excavating and clearing the elevator pits, preparing for water proofing, and laying the rebar. There’s a lot going on here and we will keep you updated

As always, if you have any questions regarding the construction process, please don’t hesitate to contactMaurice Egozi (786-280-1923), Mitch Feldman (786-556-5425) or Yankie Andrusier (347-723-2731).

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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

MondayWomen’s Study Group Rebbetzin Chani Lipskar 8:30 - 10:00 pmAt the home of : No Class This Week

TuesdayPrayer Class Rebbetzin Chani Lipskar 9:15 - 10:15 am1111 Kane Concourse Suite 618

Tanya Class In Spanish Mrs. Vivian Perez 10:45 - 12:00 pm198 Park Drive, Bal Harbour Village

WednesdayMorning Torah Class Rebbetzin Chani Lipskar 10:00 - 11:00 amThe weekly portion - Women’s PerspectiveHaime Library

Tanya Class in English Mrs. Vivian Perez 1:15 - 2:50 pm198 Park Drive, Bal Harbour Village

Thursday

Women’s Tanya Class – Spanish – Mrs. Vivian Perez

Call Vivian for details – 305.213.3202

WEEKLY CLASSES

HALVAH SESAME ICE CREAMBy Shifra Klein

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sesame seeds½ cup sugar½ teaspoons salt2 teaspoons cardamom (optional)⅓ cup tahini paste1 cup date honey (silan)¼ cup warm water2 cups shredded halvah1 cup chopped dates1 (56-ounce) container vanilla ice cream, room temperature

PREPARATION

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a non-stick skillet, pour sesame seeds, sugar, salt, and cardamom (if using) and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes, until sugar caramelizes.

3. Stir and coat sesame seeds and pour onto parchment paper to cool.

4. Once cooled, break sesame seeds into chunks. Store in airtight container until ready to use.

5. Combine tahini paste, date honey, and warm water to create a caramel-like sauce.

6. Scoop out half the ice cream in a bowl and swirl in a third of the caramel and sesame seeds. Top with remaining ice cream and swirl another third of the caramel and sesame seeds, leaving the remaining caramel and sesame seeds for serving.

7. When ready to serve, scoop out two scoops of ice cream per person. Top with shredded halvah, dates, and remaining caramel and sesame seed crunch.

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La Loi Orale

La Massorah comprend tout ce que Moïse apprit de D.ieu sans le noter par écrit, mais en le transmettant oralement à

ses successeurs. Cette tradition passa de génération en génération. La Loi Orale inclut des édits et des ordonnances décrétés par les Sages à travers las générations, et des lois et enseignements dérivés des versets de la Torah, selon une méthodologie prescrite par Moïse (telle que D.ieu l’en a instruit).

Cliquez ici pour une description détaillée de la transmission de la tradition.

La MichnaDepuis Moïse jusqu’à Rabbi Judah le Prince (Rabbénou Hakadoche), les lois de la Tradition étaient ainsi apprises par cœur et transmises oralement de génération en génération. Ai 3ème siècle de l’ère commune, Rabbénou Hakadoche, craignant que les difficultés et les persécutions qui allaient en augmentant, n’empêchent les juifs de se souvenir de toutes les lois de la tradition, décida de les enregistrer par écrit. Étant à la fois un grand érudit et un homme aux moyens considérables, il s’entoura des plus grands savants de son époque et consigna par écrit toutes les lois orales et toutes les interprétations de la Torah qu’ils avaient apprises de leurs maîtres. Ils divisèrent toutes ces vastes connaissances en six “ordres” :

Zéraïm “Semences” – lois agricoles.Moède “Saison” – lois régissant le Chabbat et les fêtes.Nachim “Femmes” – lois concernant le mariage.Nézikine “Dommages” – lois civiles et criminelles.Kodachime “Choses saintes” – lois concernant le service divin dans le Temple.Taharoth “Puretés” – lois concernant la pureté rituelles.Chaque ordre contient plusieurs traités, “Massekhtot”. Chaque traité est divisé en chapitres et chaque chapitre en Michnayot.

Le TalmudLa Michna fut écrite de manière extrêmement concise, avec très peu de discussions et d’informations sur le contexte. Plus tard,

les disciples de Rabbénou Hakadoche compilèrent les “Tosseftot” et “Braïtot” où les sujets de la Michna sont discutés et examinés d’une façon plus approfondie. Les grands érudits qui vécurent après la rédaction et l’achèvement de la Michna et qui étudièrent, examinèrent, discutèrent et interprétèrent la Michna, furent appelés Amoraïm (ce qui veut dire “enseignants” ou “interprètes”).

La Michna fut étudiée dans les grandes Yéchivot (académies talmudiques) d’Israël et de Babylonie pendant plusieurs siècles. Finalement, au 5ème siècle, Rav Achi, un des plus grands savants de son époque et qui n’était pas seulement érudit mais également riche, décida de mettre par écrit les lois et interprétations que sa génération avait reçues oralement de la précédente, de peur que les difficultés et les souffrances qui se multipliaient, ne fissent oublier au peuple juif beaucoup de lois et de commentaires de la Michna.

Avec son contemporain Ravina et d’autres chefs de Yechivot de Babylonie, ils rassemblèrent et compilèrent le Talmud (ou Guémara) – le Talmud Babli (Talmud Babylonien) qui est sacré aux yeux des Juifs et qu’ils étudient jusqu’à nos jours. Environ un siècle auparavant, les sages d”Israël avaient déjà recueilli le Talmud Yérouchalmi (le Talmud de Jérusalem) qui, bien que ne faisant pas autant autorité que celui de Babylone, est également sacré étudiés par les savants juifs jusqu’à nos jours.

Les Rabbanan Savoraeies savants qui vécurent après la rédaction du Talmud, au 6ème siècle de l’ère commune, étaient appelés Rabbanan Savoraei (rabbins interprètes). Ceux-ci n’ajoutèrent ni retirèrent rien au Talmud, mais entreprirent seulement de l’interpréter.

Les GuéonimeLes grands savants babyloniens, successeurs des Rabbanan Savoraei, furent appelés Guéonim (“génies”). Ils furent de longues années (du 6ème au 11ème siècle) à la tête des grandes académies talmudiques de Babylonie. Le dernier d’entre eux fut Rav Haï Gaon.

Les Richonim et A’haronimAprès les Guéonime, vécurent les grands érudits : Rabbénou Hananel (990-1053), Rabbi Isaac Alfassi (1013-1103), Rabbi Guerchom Meor Hagola (“la Lumière de la Diaspora” – 960-1028), Rabbi Joseph Ibn Migache, Rachi, Rambam (Maïmonide) et d’autres. Rachi (Rabbi Salomon Its’haki – 1040-1105) devint célèbre à jamais par ses commentaires de la Torah et du Talmud, car, sans ces commentaires, il aurait été presque impossible de comprendre la Torah ou le Talmud. Maïmonide (1138-1204) se fit une renommée immortelle par son Michné Torah (“Répétition de la Loi”), la codification de toutes les lois d’Israël. Les petits-fils de Rachi assistés d’autres savants éminents compilèrent les “Tossafoth”. Les sages qui vécurent approximativement les cinq premiers siècles après l’an mil sont appelés “Richonim” (les “premiers” sages).

Des grands savants qui vécurent plus tard, appelés “A’haronim” (sages “ultérieurs”), recueillirent les décisions et accords définitifs concernant les lois controversées, codifiées par les Richonim, et les ordonnèrent. Le plus célèbre de ces juristes fut “l’auteur des Tourim”, Rabbi Yaakov ben Acher (1270-1340). Plus tard, Rabbi Joseph Karo (1488-1575) réexamina et remania les décisions juridiques dans son fameux Code de Loi juive, le Choul’hane Aroukh, “la Table Dressée”, pour que chaque juif pût les apprendre et les comprendre.

La sainte Torah – la Torah écrite ainsi que la Torah orale – est le présent divin qui nous a été donné sur le mont Sinaï par l’intermédiaire de Moïse. Cette même Torah fut transmise par Moïse à son successeur Josué et ainsi de suite, jusqu’à nos jours. Comme D.ieu est éternel, la Torah qu’il a donnée est également éternelle, et en étudiant la Torah et en observant ses lois et ses commandements, le peuple juif est aussi éternel.

French ConnectionReflexions sur la Paracha

Vivre avec la paracha

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Los Diez Mandamientos“No soy demasiado religioso, pero sí mantengo los Diez Mandamientos” ¿Estas seguro?Por Yossy Goldman

A menudo escucho que alguien dice: “bueno, en realidad no soy demasiado religioso, pero sí mantengo los Diez

Mandamientos”. En esos momentos me vienen ganas de decir: “Realmente, ¿tú sabes que los Diez Mandamientos no son de múltiple opción...?” A veces me pregunto si las personas que hacen esta afirmación saben realmente qué son los Diez Mandamientos. ¿Por qué no hacer un repaso de la lista para que todos tengamos una mejor idea del puntaje que podemos obtener?

1) Yo soy el Señor tu Di-s. En esencia, este es el mandamiento que nos ordena creer en un Di-s. Tengo total confianza que, en lo que respecta a este mandamiento, todos obtendremos buenas calificaciones.

2) No habrá para ti otros dioses delante de Mí. Muy bien, así que no tienes por costumbre hacer una reverencia ante ese busto de Buda que está colocado en el living de tu casa. La pregunta que surge es: en primer lugar, ¿debería estar ahí? Y, ¿no es interesante que en la actualidad estén teniendo lugar esos certámenes de ídolos a lo largo de todo el mundo? Además, por supuesto, están todos esos bien arraigados ídolos contemporáneos que tendemos a comernos con los ojos y venerar; celebridades como Brad Pitt, Madonna o Donald Trump.

3) No tomarás en falso el nombre del Señor. Acá no se trata solamente de dejar de beber o de prestar el juramento en el juzgado. ¿Qué pasa con las palabrotas que usamos en la calle? ¿Cuántas malas palabras de primera calidad hay en tu vocabulario? Y, ¿por qué hay que meter a Di-s en estas expresiones gráficas?

4) Recuerda el día sábado para santificarlo. Es interesante que los Diez Mandamientos figuren dos veces en la Torá. En Éxodo, el cuarto Mandamiento comienza con Zajor.

Guardarás el día sábado para santificarlo.

En el libro de Deuteronomio dice: “Observa el Shabat”. Y, el mandamiento de “Recordar” se logra a través de actos positivos como el Kidush, el encender las velas, etc. El de “Observar” para guardarlo (Shamor) de toda profanación, es la parte difícil que puede llegar a limitar nuestros estilos de vida. Es aquí que interviene el verdadero compromiso.

5) Honra a tu padre y a tu madre. Muchas personas cumplen, por cierto, de manera ejemplar con esta mitzvá. Admiro a los hijos, hijas, y a menudo parientes políticos, que se ocupan y atienden las necesidades de un anciano padre o pariente político. Ellos cocinan, les siguen la corriente y a menudo aguantan a viejitos irritables, malhumorados. A medida que pasa el tiempo este mandamiento parece ser más difícil de cumplir. A pesar de esto, la Torá no hace distinciones basadas en la edad. Es nuestra responsabilidad cuidar a nuestros padres cuando dependen de nosotros, igual que nos cuidaron cuando dependíamos de ellos.

6) No matarás. Correcto. Acá tenemos otro mandamiento fácil de cumplir. Estoy seguro que ninguno que esté leyendo este artículo mató a alguien. Pero alguna vez pensaste hacerlo, casi llegaste a hacerlo pero, al fin y al cabo, los judíos no somos del tipo asesino. Sin temor a equivocarnos podemos anotarle un punto a un mandamiento más.

7) No cometerás adulterio. Correcto. Por supuesto.

8) No robarás. En rigor, esto se refiere en particular a los secuestros. Sin embargo, se aplica a todo lo que tiene que ver con robar, incluso a los métodos “de guante blanco”.

9) No darás falso testimonio contra tu prójimo. ¿Cuán honestos somos? Incluso, sin estar bajo juramento, nuestra palabra debería ser sagrada. Recuerdo una oportunidad en que un viejo rabino fue presentado ante un grupo de estudiantes universitarios simplemente como “un hombre que nunca dijo una mentira”. ¿Cuántos de nosotros podría hacer esta afirmación?

10) No codiciarás los bienes de tu prójimo. Éste tampoco es sencillo. El comentario define a este mandato como la prohibición de acosar a alguien, o de manipular la situación, con el fin de adquirir -incluso legalmente- aquello que le pertenece a otra persona. Procúrate algo propio. ¿Por qué tiene que ser su cónyuge, casa o auto?

Bueno, ahora está dicho. ¿Obtuviste el puntaje más alto? ¿Pasaste, o estás en la categoría del cuarenta por ciento o menos? ¿Verdad que vale la pena seguir trabajando el tema de los Diez Mandamientos?

Ojala que todos podamos mejorar nuestro puntaje para algún día, justificadamente, poder afirmar que sí, que realmente observamos los Diez Mandamientos.

Latin LinkReflexion Semanal

Parasha de la Semana

Clases en Espanol

Porcion SemanalRabbi Shea Rubinstein

Lunes 8:45 pm - 9:45 pmAnalisis de distintos temas basados en la Perasha

Rabbi Shlomi HalsbandMiercoles 8:30 - 10:00 pmDomingo 8:30 - 10:00 pm

(Para Mujeres)Sra. Vivian Perez

Martes 10:45 am - 12:00 pmMiércoles: 1:15pm - 2:50 pmJueves: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

198 Park Dr. Bal HarbourPor favor llamar al 305.213.3202

para confirmar

Clases y Eventos

28

The Aleph InstituteServing Jews in institutional and limited environments

To contribute to The Aleph Institute’s programs, or to volunteer your time, please call 305.864.5553 www.alephinstitute.org

29

NetworkingEffective Advertising

PAID ADVERTISEMEnTS DO NOT CONSTITUTE ENDORSEMENTS BY ANY RABBIS OR THE SHUL. THE SHUL RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ACCEPT OR REjECT ANY AD SUBMITTED.

PLEASE READ ONLY AFTER SHABBOS

Sarah SheridanGlobal Real Estate Advisor

ONE I Sotheby’s International Realty

[email protected]

www.SarahSheridan.com

Silvia OliveraGlobal Real Estate AdvisorOne Sotheby’s International

Realty :786-303-0262

[email protected] www.SilviaOlivera.com

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Surfside Champlain Towers East -8855 Collins Ave: Unit 4J- Direct Ocean 3/3, 2260 sq ft- $1,360,000Champlain Towers North - 8877 Collins Ave: Unit 309- 3/2.5 with Ocean Views, 2367 sq ft- Reduced to $1,299,000

Miami BeachBlue Diamond-4779 Collins Ave: Unit 3703- First time Offered- 3/3, 2010 sq ft- $2,250,000

Aventura Porto Vita Bella Vista - 19925 NE 39 PL: Unit # 602 East views Ocean and Intercostal 2,850 Sqft 3 beds 4, 1/2 bats $2.480M newly redone

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30




CITADEL REALTY, LLC.Raquel Sragowicz Cell: 305.588.2481 Email: [email protected]

Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour Condo-Hotel: Studio,1 full bath, Gorgeous water views, 510 SQ FT, $485,000 Use it for personal use or rent it out thru the Ritz Carlton Hotel program. Surfside: Waterfront 9056 Bay Dr: 5 Beds, 3 baths, $1,750,000 Bay Harbor Islands: Riva- 9400 W. Bay Harbor Dr. 3 Beds/ 3.5 Baths- Decorated, 2,347 SQFT $1,450,000 Development Opportunity- 1040 - 94 St. 4 units- Rented- 2 beds/ 2 baths + den $1,650,000 Aventura: Atlantic II # 1603- 3 Beds + Den- 4.5 Baths, 2,750 SQFT $1,150,000

Joel S. BaumCertif ied Public Accountant

___________________________________

Financial AdvisorIncome Tax Preparation

(954) [email protected]

Walk with me to find your placeWith over 40+ years knowledge of Miami and the unique experience of watching the 33154 zip code evolve, mature, and come full circle, I know Surfside, Bal Harbour and Bay Harbor Islands. If you’re looking to buy, sell, or rent your home, call me today.

Renée M. GrossmanLuxury Real Estate Advisor | Grossman Properties [email protected] reneeMgrossman.com

31




FELISE EBER | 305.978.2448 | [email protected] JILL EBER | 305.915.2556 | [email protected]

COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE©2018 Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate (FLA License No. 2027016). All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Operated by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker, the Coldwell Banker Logo, Coldwell Banker Global Luxury, the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury logo are registered and unregistered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, government records and the MLS. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification.

JILL HERTZBERG | 305.788.5455 | [email protected] | DANNY HERTZBERG | 305.505.1950 | [email protected]

HILLARY HERTZBERG | 305.336.2210 | [email protected]

THE Nº 1 REAL ESTATE TEAM IN FLORIDA | THEJILLS.COM

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32




Don’t miss out on this opportunity to buy an Ocean View unit at Solimar,

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Please call Ary Farias 786 208 1660One Sothebys Int Realty

33

Board of TrusteesAmbassador Isaac Gilinski - ChairmanSimon FalicSidney FeltensteinMatias GarfunkelJaime GilinskiMax GilinskiSaul GilinskiSam GreenbergAbel Holtz Mike Izak

Alberto KamhaziShmuel Katz M.D.Leo KryssRabbi Sholom D. LipskarLazer MilsteinMichael PerezRyan ShapiroClaudio StivelmanMorris Tabacinic

Albert Pollans - PresidentJaime Gilinski David LichterRabbi Sholom D. LipskarMonroe Milstein - Treasurer

Steven M. Dunn - ChairDevorah Leah AndrusierJanice BarneyJoel BaumMaurice EgoziHenry EichlerMitchell FeldmanDaniel GielchinskyJacob J. Givner

Evelyn KatzRebbetzin Chani LipskarRabbi Sholom D. LipskarRabbi Zalman LipskarOrit OsmanMarc SheridanDaniel SragowiczCynthia SteinEric P. Stein

Rabbi Rabbi Sholom Lipskar Ext 311Associate Rabbi Rabbi Zalman Lipskar Ext 345Rabbi’s Executive Assistant Ms. Lydia Hasson Ext 311Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Chani Lipskar 305.992.8363JLAC / Adult Ed/ Singles Rabbi Shea Rubinstein Ext 342CYS College / Kolel Rabbi Dov Schochet 305.790.8294Accounting Mrs. Geri Kelly Ext 341Controller Mrs. Janice Barney Ext 318Office Manager Ms. Stacy Waxman Ext 313Events / Office Assistant Ms. Milena Liascovitz Ext 328Dinner Mrs Devorah Leah Andrusier Ext 339Youth Director Rabbi Shaykee Farkash Ext 329Operations / Maintenance Rabbi Shlomi Katan Ext 319Reception / Accounts Payable Mrs. Mindy Natoli Ext 0Mikvah Mrs. Devorah Failer 305.323.2410Pre-School Mrs. Chana Lipskar Ext 325Sephardic Minyan Chazan Shimshon Tzubeli 305.865.4205 Hebrew School / Editor Mrs. Aurit Katan 786.382.9006Hashkama Minyan Mr. Lazer Milstein 305.349.3040Mashgiach Mr. Mordechai Olesky 786.262.9115

Foundation Trustees

Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Contacts at The Shul 305.868.1411

Numbers to know

Shul Gaboim

Mr. Andrew RothMr. David Portnoy

Rabbi Henry EichlerMr. Ettai Einhorn

Mr. David Ben-ArieMr. Seth Salver

Steven M. Dunn - PresidentMitchell Feldman - Vice PresidentRabbi Zalman Lipskar VP DevelopmentEric P. Stein - TreasurerJoel Baum - Associate TreasurerDovid Duchman - SecretaryCarolyn BaumelMax BenolielEli DominitzBoruch DuchmanVelvel FreedmanEli FreundBruce GelbIghal GoldfarbSam Greenwald

Jerrod M. LevineRabbi Sholom D. LipskarAlexander MatzLazer MilsteinEzzy RappaportEliott RimonBrian RollerSeth SalverDaniel ShapiroRyan ShapiroMichael TabacinicDavid WolfJose Yankelevitch

34

Daily StudyA complete guide to all classes and courses offered at The Shul

DAILY CLASSES

The Rebbes’ Maamorim 6:20 - 6:50 amPHL 101 PHL-301 PHL-501 Rabbi Z. LipskarDaf Yomi 7:45 - 8:45 amTXT-220 Rabbi Dov SchochetChok L’Yisrael - Sephardic 8:45 amReb Shimshon TzubeliChassisdic Discourses 10:15 - 11:00 am PHL-322 PHL-510 Rabbi S. RubinstienCommunity Kollel (Men) 8:00 - 9:30 pm(Monday & Thursday) LAW-154Shul Rabbis & Kolel

SUNDAY

Daf Yomi 9:00 amTXT 220 Rabbi Dov SchochetTanya - Sichos 8:00 - 10:00 pmPHL-322 Rabbi Shlomo Haltzband

MONDAY

In Depth Chumash 1:30 pmTXT-110 Rabbi Dov SchochetInsights to our Torah Portion (Spanish) 8:45 - 9:45 pmPHL-120 Rabbi S. RubinstienWomen’s Study Group 8:30 - 10:00 pmTXT-110 Rebbetzin Chani LipskarAt the home of: No Class This Week

TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

Senior Torah Academy 12:00 - 1:00 pmPirkei Avot ETH-101 Rabbi Dov Schochet

Women’s Torah Portion Class (Spanish) 10:45 am - 12:00 pmTXT-110 Mrs. Vivian Perez198 Park Drive, Bal Harbour Village

Women’s Morning Torah Class10:00 - 11:30 amTXT-110 Rebbetzin Chani Lipskar Chassidic Discourses (Men & Women)11:30 - 12:30 pmPHL-320 PHL-501 Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar or Rabbi Zalman LipskarTanya Class - English 1:15 - 2:50 pmPHL-120 Mrs. Vivian Perez198 Park Drive, Bal Harbour VillageSpanish Kolel - Chassidus 8:00 - 10:00 pmPHL-301 Rabbi Shlomo Haltzband

Parsha (Men & Women)11:15 am - 12:00 pmTXT-501 Rabbi S. RubinstienSenior Torah Academy (Men & Women)12:00 - 1:00 pmTXT-120 Rabbi Dov Schochet(Main Sanctuary) Book of Judges - Years 2780 -2835

Women’s Tanya Class (Spanish) 11:00 am - 12:00 pmPHL-320 Mrs. Vivian Perez Call Vivian for details - 305.213.3202

NUMERIC CODES INDICATE CYS COLLEGE COURSES

VISIT WWW.CYS-COLLEGE.ORG FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

ALL CLASSES LOCATED AT THE SHUL

UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED

SHAVUOTSHAVUOT

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