This weekend:
Sunday, April 1
10:15 a.m. Hesed Outreach meeting in the social hall.
12:00 noon Unveiling of the stone for Ltc. Sam Lurey at Whaley Street Cemetery.
Cleanse yourself spiritually in preparation for the Passover holiday.
10 a.m. - 12 noon Mikveh open for ladies use.
1 - 3 p.m. Mikveh open for mens use.
The cost to use the mikveh for this occasion is $10 (free with a mikveh membership), please bring a towel with you. Contact the office to sign up for a time slot.
Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, April 3 - First Day of Pesach
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
7 p.m. Beth Shalom’s Community Seder (Second Seder) in the social hall.
Wednesday, April 4 - Second Day of Pesach
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
Thursday, April 5–7 p.m. Board of Education meeting
Monday, April 9 - Seventh Day of Pesach
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
Tuesday, April 10 - Eighth Day of Pesach - YIZKOR will be said
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
Wednesday, April 11–7:30 p.m. Board of Directors meeting
Friday, April 13–6:45 p.m. Jenna Safran Bat Mitzvah
Saturday, April 14–9:45 a.m. Jenna Safran Bat Mitzvah
Birkat HaIlanot (Blessing the trees): The Talmud teaches us a wonderful way to appreciate God’s renewal of nature in the spring. Take a moment this week to appreciate the beauty of a blossoming tree, and recite the following brocho: Blessed are you, lord our God, King of the universe, who did not allow anything to lack in your world and [who] created within it good creatures and good trees to give pleasure to humanity through them." (Talmud Brachot 33b)
Hametz: More than just Bread! Hametz includes anything with a grain (wheat, oat, barley, spelt, rye) or grain derivative in the ingredients if there is water in the product. Ashkenazim customarily add kitniyot (beans, corn, rice, etc) to this list. Eating Hametz is prohibited from Monday morning, April 2, through Tuesday night, April 10.
Bedikat Hametz–Hametz should be removed by 8:00 p.m. Sunday night, at which point it is customary to look for hidden crumbs by candlelight. Before the search, there is a prayer: asher kidshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al beur hametz.
Bitul Hametz (Nullification of Hametz): After getting rid of your hametz, you can nullify any crumbs you didn’t find by formally renouncing ownership of any remaining hametz: Any chametz or leaven that is in my possession which I have not seen, have not removed and do not know about, should be annulled and become ownerless like the dust of the earth.
Beur Hametz (destruction of Hametz): Any hametz not yet sold (i.e. the pieces you found last night) should be burned on Monday morning, and the Bitul Hametz phrase recited again: Any chametz or leaven that is in my possession whether I have recognized it or not, whether I have seen it or not, whether I have removed it or not, should be annulled and become ownerless like the dust of the earth.
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Adult Education:
Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 p.m. “Understanding the Shabbat Services,” Intro to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers. This study group is being facilitated by Alan Witten (Tuesday, April 3 & 10 there will be no class, due to Passover).
Thursdays 5:15-6:15 p.m. Pirke Avot “The Ethics of our Fathers.” This study group is being facilitated by Dr. Henry Ray Wengrow.
Thursdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. Join us as we study the Zohar, the classic work of Jewish mysticism.
Saturdays 1:30-2:15 p.m. “Journey to Virtue”- a study of the Torah laws of Interpersonal Relationships.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Parshat Tzav - Shabbat Hagadol
Parshat Tzav
Shabbat Hagadol
(Malachi 3:4-24)
March 31, 2007
The penultimate verse of this Haftorah for Shabbat Hagadol, the special Shabbat which precedes Pesah, seems ironic. Why should the final verses of the final prophecy of the last of the prophets, end by returning to the prophetic message of the very beginning: "Be mindful of the Torah of My servant Moses, whom I charged at Horeb with laws and rules for all of Israel." (Verse 22) The very essence of the mission of the prophet was to uphold Moses' Torah. So why return to it now?
The following Midrash alludes to the problem: "The Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, built great fortresses: i.e. the two hundred and forty-eight positive commandments and three hundred and sixty-five prohibitions and gave them over to Moses, yet no man remembered him. So the Holy One blessed be He, said, 'You have not remembered him, but I will cause him to be remembered, as it is said, 'Be mindful of the Torah of My servant Moses.'" (Adapted from Ecclesiastes Rabbah 9:5)
Prophecy was not always such a successful means for achieving loyalty to God and His ways. This is why it was necessary to conclude the prophetic message where it had begun, with an additional reminder of what Judaism was all about. The modern Jewish philosopher, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, takes this as a sign that the only way to inculcate loyalty to God and the mission that He has chosen for us in this world is through a lifestyle of Divine service, namely, the life of Torah and the commandments. (See 'Seven Years of Weekly Discourses on the Weekly Torah Reading' Heb. Pp. 499-500)
Prophetic cajoling and⁄or a commitment to 'high ideals' and 'spiritual beliefs' will not raise anyone to a lofty plateau nor achieve religious world building. People are not built that way. Without action, which for Jews means commitment to God's commandments, a relationship with God cannot exist. This idea, of course, is what always made Jews religiously different, as is indicated in the commentary of Rabbi David Kimche (Provance, 12th century) to this verse: "Until the day of judgment, remember in every generation, the Torah that was given to My servant Moses must be observed as it was written, namely, as it was written at Horeb and not like those who say it was given for a particular time and that we must now give it a spiritual interpretation. Rather this verse makes it explicit that this is not so."
Both Kimche and Leibowitz make it quite clear, Judaism is a religion of doers, not of spiritualizers.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Shabbat Shalom,
And a happy and kosher Passover
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair
Beth Shalom
Shabbat Hagadol
(Malachi 3:4-24)
March 31, 2007
The penultimate verse of this Haftorah for Shabbat Hagadol, the special Shabbat which precedes Pesah, seems ironic. Why should the final verses of the final prophecy of the last of the prophets, end by returning to the prophetic message of the very beginning: "Be mindful of the Torah of My servant Moses, whom I charged at Horeb with laws and rules for all of Israel." (Verse 22) The very essence of the mission of the prophet was to uphold Moses' Torah. So why return to it now?
The following Midrash alludes to the problem: "The Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, built great fortresses: i.e. the two hundred and forty-eight positive commandments and three hundred and sixty-five prohibitions and gave them over to Moses, yet no man remembered him. So the Holy One blessed be He, said, 'You have not remembered him, but I will cause him to be remembered, as it is said, 'Be mindful of the Torah of My servant Moses.'" (Adapted from Ecclesiastes Rabbah 9:5)
Prophecy was not always such a successful means for achieving loyalty to God and His ways. This is why it was necessary to conclude the prophetic message where it had begun, with an additional reminder of what Judaism was all about. The modern Jewish philosopher, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, takes this as a sign that the only way to inculcate loyalty to God and the mission that He has chosen for us in this world is through a lifestyle of Divine service, namely, the life of Torah and the commandments. (See 'Seven Years of Weekly Discourses on the Weekly Torah Reading' Heb. Pp. 499-500)
Prophetic cajoling and⁄or a commitment to 'high ideals' and 'spiritual beliefs' will not raise anyone to a lofty plateau nor achieve religious world building. People are not built that way. Without action, which for Jews means commitment to God's commandments, a relationship with God cannot exist. This idea, of course, is what always made Jews religiously different, as is indicated in the commentary of Rabbi David Kimche (Provance, 12th century) to this verse: "Until the day of judgment, remember in every generation, the Torah that was given to My servant Moses must be observed as it was written, namely, as it was written at Horeb and not like those who say it was given for a particular time and that we must now give it a spiritual interpretation. Rather this verse makes it explicit that this is not so."
Both Kimche and Leibowitz make it quite clear, Judaism is a religion of doers, not of spiritualizers.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Shabbat Shalom,
And a happy and kosher Passover
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair
Beth Shalom
Friday, March 23, 2007
Announcements for March 24 - April 1
Adult Education:
Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 p.m. “Understanding the Shabbat Services,” Intro to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers. This study group is being facilitated by Alan Witten.
Thursdays 5:15-6:15 p.m. Pirke Avot “The Ethics of our Fathers.” This study group is being facilitated by Dr. Henry Ray Wengrow.
Thursdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. Zohar study group will NOT meet this week.
Saturdays 1:30-2:15 p.m. “Journey to Virtue”- a study of the Torah laws of Interpersonal Relationships.
********************************************************
We extend our deepest condolences to Marilyn Safran & family on the loss of her step-father, Harry Dawkins.
This weekend:
Saturday, March 24–1 p.m. Congressman Joe Wilson to speak after lunch, on his traveling experiences to the Middle East⁄Israel.
Sunday, March 25
10 a.m. Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World Committee meeting.
10 a.m. Sisterhood Board Meeting
11:00 a.m. 1st, 2nd & 3rd Grade Program “Passover Pleasure”
12:30 p.m. “Running a Fun and Participatory Family Seder” class and a light lunch led by Rabbi David Siff and Rebecca Pinsker - Social hall.
Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, March 28–6:30 p.m. Ritual Committee Meeting.
Sunday, April 1
10:15 a.m. Hesed Outreach meeting in the social hall.
12:00 noon Unveiling of the stone for Ltc. Sam Lurey at Whaley Street Cemetery.
Cleanse yourself spiritually in preparation for the Passover holiday.
10 a.m. - 12 noon Mikveh open for ladies use.
1 - 3 p.m. Mikveh open for mens use.
The cost to use the mikveh for this occasion is $10 (free with a mikveh membership), please bring a towel with you. Contact the office to sign up for a time slot.
Tuesday, April 3 - First Day of Pesach
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
7 p.m. Beth Shalom’s Community Seder (Second Seder) in the social hall.
Wednesday, April 4 - Second Day of Pesach
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
Thursday, April 5–7 p.m. Board of Education meeting
Monday, April 9 - Seventh Day of Pesach
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
Tuesday, April 10 - Eighth Day of Pesach - YIZKOR will be said
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
Need a place for Seder? We are facilitating home hospitality for Passover, so please contact us if you would like to be placed with a family.
We are looking for volunteers to help kasher the meat kitchen for Passover. Please call the office to let us know that you would be able to help with this mitzvah. Thank you!!
Beginning with the month of April, we will be clearing off all the names on the Mishaberach list. Please make sure you submit any names you would like to have added to the new list.
A high school foreign exchange student from Belgium has asked to be placed in a Jewish home for the coming school year. Samuel will have his own spending money, insurance, and he will pay for his own school lunches. It is ok if we break up the school year and have Sam stay with a few families for a couple of months each. Call Penelope Smith at 1-800-964-4678.
Tikkun Olam:
Sign the “fair elections” petition to publicly finance elections at pol.moveon.org⁄fairelections.
Walk, bike or carpool to work to save gas
Stay after Congressman Wilson’s talk and share your own thoughts with him on how he can help better transform the world.
Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 p.m. “Understanding the Shabbat Services,” Intro to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers. This study group is being facilitated by Alan Witten.
Thursdays 5:15-6:15 p.m. Pirke Avot “The Ethics of our Fathers.” This study group is being facilitated by Dr. Henry Ray Wengrow.
Thursdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. Zohar study group will NOT meet this week.
Saturdays 1:30-2:15 p.m. “Journey to Virtue”- a study of the Torah laws of Interpersonal Relationships.
********************************************************
We extend our deepest condolences to Marilyn Safran & family on the loss of her step-father, Harry Dawkins.
This weekend:
Saturday, March 24–1 p.m. Congressman Joe Wilson to speak after lunch, on his traveling experiences to the Middle East⁄Israel.
Sunday, March 25
10 a.m. Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World Committee meeting.
10 a.m. Sisterhood Board Meeting
11:00 a.m. 1st, 2nd & 3rd Grade Program “Passover Pleasure”
12:30 p.m. “Running a Fun and Participatory Family Seder” class and a light lunch led by Rabbi David Siff and Rebecca Pinsker - Social hall.
Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, March 28–6:30 p.m. Ritual Committee Meeting.
Sunday, April 1
10:15 a.m. Hesed Outreach meeting in the social hall.
12:00 noon Unveiling of the stone for Ltc. Sam Lurey at Whaley Street Cemetery.
Cleanse yourself spiritually in preparation for the Passover holiday.
10 a.m. - 12 noon Mikveh open for ladies use.
1 - 3 p.m. Mikveh open for mens use.
The cost to use the mikveh for this occasion is $10 (free with a mikveh membership), please bring a towel with you. Contact the office to sign up for a time slot.
Tuesday, April 3 - First Day of Pesach
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
7 p.m. Beth Shalom’s Community Seder (Second Seder) in the social hall.
Wednesday, April 4 - Second Day of Pesach
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
Thursday, April 5–7 p.m. Board of Education meeting
Monday, April 9 - Seventh Day of Pesach
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
Tuesday, April 10 - Eighth Day of Pesach - YIZKOR will be said
9:45 a.m. Pesach services (office is closed in observance of the holiday)
Need a place for Seder? We are facilitating home hospitality for Passover, so please contact us if you would like to be placed with a family.
We are looking for volunteers to help kasher the meat kitchen for Passover. Please call the office to let us know that you would be able to help with this mitzvah. Thank you!!
Beginning with the month of April, we will be clearing off all the names on the Mishaberach list. Please make sure you submit any names you would like to have added to the new list.
A high school foreign exchange student from Belgium has asked to be placed in a Jewish home for the coming school year. Samuel will have his own spending money, insurance, and he will pay for his own school lunches. It is ok if we break up the school year and have Sam stay with a few families for a couple of months each. Call Penelope Smith at 1-800-964-4678.
Tikkun Olam:
Sign the “fair elections” petition to publicly finance elections at pol.moveon.org⁄fairelections.
Walk, bike or carpool to work to save gas
Stay after Congressman Wilson’s talk and share your own thoughts with him on how he can help better transform the world.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Parshat Vaykirah
Dear Congregants:
The adult education committee is working with the Rabbi to bring us a series of classes that explore Jewish literature from a traditional and conservative prospectus. Even if you have taken classes from others, join Beth Shalom, Rabbi Siff and the selected teachers in these classes.
Rabbi Siff teaches a class on leading an ethical life at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday after the service and the meal. New students are welcome to join this group.
The Rabbi also teaches a class on Zohar each Thursday after Minyan. This class begins at 6:30 p.m. but come to Minyan at 6:15 p.m. and stay for class afterwards.
Please join me as I teach a class on Pirkei Avos [Sayings of the Fathers] which is Mishna each Thursday at 5:15 p.m.
There is also a new class - “Understanding the Shabbat Services,” Introduction to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers. This study group is being facilitated by Alan Witten, Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Parshat Vaykirah
(Isaiah 43:21-44:23)
March 24, 2007
This week's haftarah gives us an informative and intimate glimpse into the biblical attitude towards idolatry. Its approach verges on parody: "The craftsman in iron, with his tools works it over charcoal and fashions it by hammering, working with the strength of his arm. Should he go hungry, his strength would ebb; should he drink no water, he would grow faint. The craftsman in wood measures with a line and marks out a shape with a stylus; He forms it with scraping tools, marking it out with a compass. He gives it a human form, the beauty of a man, to dwell in a shrine. For his use he cuts down cedars; he chooses plane trees and oaks. He sets aside trees of the forest; or plants firs, and the rain makes them grow. All this serves man for fuel: He takes some to warm himself, and he builds a fire and bakes bread. He also makes a god of it and worships it, fashions an idol and bows down to it. Part of it he burns in a fire; on that part he roasts meat, He eats roast and is sated; He also warms himself and cries, 'Ah, I am warm, I can feel the heat!' Of the rest, he makes a god – his own carving! He bows down to it and worships it; He prays to it and cries, 'Save me, for you are my god.'" (44:13-17)
This characterization is expanded in the following midrash: "If it [the idol] was made of stone or wood, then the worshipper cast it out of the house, but if it was made of silver or gold, then they gave it a place of honor in the house; in addition they hired guards to protect it from being stolen. Woe to the person whose gods need to be guarded… If the god is carved out of wood in the standing pose, it cannot sit. If shaped to sit, it cannot stand. If a poor person [who owns an idol] made of gold [needs funds he could say:] 'Make it of silver'; of silver: 'Make it of bronze'; of bronze: 'Make it of wood'; if he needed the wood, he could chop it in half, use half of it and worship the other half…"(Adapted from Devarim Rabbah, Lieberman ed. pp. 55-56)
These two polemics portray the religious behavior rejected by the Jewish tradition as fetishism, the worship of objects. Yehezkel Kaufmann, Israel's premier Bible scholar during the first part of the 20th century asserted that this was the actual prophetic understanding of how pagan's understood their religion since they were so removed from such worship. (The Religion of Israel, Moshe Greenberg ed. p. 17) M. Halberthal and A. Margalit, however, assert that the prophets and rabbis were well aware of the significance of pagan religion but purposefully misrepresented it for polemic purposes, mocking the attribution of religious significance and power either actually or symbolically to a physical object. (Idolatry, pp. 39-40; p. 259 note 6; Lieberman, Hellenism in Jewish Palestine, p. 126)
This biblical and rabbinic wariness of the human potential to misrepresent the significance of material things is something that even we "moderns" might want to take to heart.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Shabbat Shalom,
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair, Beth Shalom
The adult education committee is working with the Rabbi to bring us a series of classes that explore Jewish literature from a traditional and conservative prospectus. Even if you have taken classes from others, join Beth Shalom, Rabbi Siff and the selected teachers in these classes.
Rabbi Siff teaches a class on leading an ethical life at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday after the service and the meal. New students are welcome to join this group.
The Rabbi also teaches a class on Zohar each Thursday after Minyan. This class begins at 6:30 p.m. but come to Minyan at 6:15 p.m. and stay for class afterwards.
Please join me as I teach a class on Pirkei Avos [Sayings of the Fathers] which is Mishna each Thursday at 5:15 p.m.
There is also a new class - “Understanding the Shabbat Services,” Introduction to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers. This study group is being facilitated by Alan Witten, Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Parshat Vaykirah
(Isaiah 43:21-44:23)
March 24, 2007
This week's haftarah gives us an informative and intimate glimpse into the biblical attitude towards idolatry. Its approach verges on parody: "The craftsman in iron, with his tools works it over charcoal and fashions it by hammering, working with the strength of his arm. Should he go hungry, his strength would ebb; should he drink no water, he would grow faint. The craftsman in wood measures with a line and marks out a shape with a stylus; He forms it with scraping tools, marking it out with a compass. He gives it a human form, the beauty of a man, to dwell in a shrine. For his use he cuts down cedars; he chooses plane trees and oaks. He sets aside trees of the forest; or plants firs, and the rain makes them grow. All this serves man for fuel: He takes some to warm himself, and he builds a fire and bakes bread. He also makes a god of it and worships it, fashions an idol and bows down to it. Part of it he burns in a fire; on that part he roasts meat, He eats roast and is sated; He also warms himself and cries, 'Ah, I am warm, I can feel the heat!' Of the rest, he makes a god – his own carving! He bows down to it and worships it; He prays to it and cries, 'Save me, for you are my god.'" (44:13-17)
This characterization is expanded in the following midrash: "If it [the idol] was made of stone or wood, then the worshipper cast it out of the house, but if it was made of silver or gold, then they gave it a place of honor in the house; in addition they hired guards to protect it from being stolen. Woe to the person whose gods need to be guarded… If the god is carved out of wood in the standing pose, it cannot sit. If shaped to sit, it cannot stand. If a poor person [who owns an idol] made of gold [needs funds he could say:] 'Make it of silver'; of silver: 'Make it of bronze'; of bronze: 'Make it of wood'; if he needed the wood, he could chop it in half, use half of it and worship the other half…"(Adapted from Devarim Rabbah, Lieberman ed. pp. 55-56)
These two polemics portray the religious behavior rejected by the Jewish tradition as fetishism, the worship of objects. Yehezkel Kaufmann, Israel's premier Bible scholar during the first part of the 20th century asserted that this was the actual prophetic understanding of how pagan's understood their religion since they were so removed from such worship. (The Religion of Israel, Moshe Greenberg ed. p. 17) M. Halberthal and A. Margalit, however, assert that the prophets and rabbis were well aware of the significance of pagan religion but purposefully misrepresented it for polemic purposes, mocking the attribution of religious significance and power either actually or symbolically to a physical object. (Idolatry, pp. 39-40; p. 259 note 6; Lieberman, Hellenism in Jewish Palestine, p. 126)
This biblical and rabbinic wariness of the human potential to misrepresent the significance of material things is something that even we "moderns" might want to take to heart.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Shabbat Shalom,
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair, Beth Shalom
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Congressman Joe Wilson to speak March 24th
Come and join us for Shabbat services
followed by guest speaker, Congressman Joe Wilson
Saturday, March 24 - 9:45 a.m.
Congressman Joe Wilson (SC) will speak during the kiddush luncheon (approximately 1:00 p.m.), about his experiences travelling in the Middle East and Israel.
followed by guest speaker, Congressman Joe Wilson
Saturday, March 24 - 9:45 a.m.
Congressman Joe Wilson (SC) will speak during the kiddush luncheon (approximately 1:00 p.m.), about his experiences travelling in the Middle East and Israel.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Parshat Vaykhel-Pekudei
Dear Congregants:
The adult education committee is working with the Rabbi to bring us a series of classes that explore Jewish literature from a traditional and conservative prospectus. Even if you have taken classes from others, join Beth Shalom, Rabbi Siff and the selected teachers in these classes.
Rabbi Siff teaches a class on leading an ethical life at 1:30 on Saturday after the service and the meal. New students are welcome to join this group.
The Rabbi also teaches a class on Zohar each Thursday after Minyan. This class begins at 6:30 but come to Minyan at 6:15 and stay for class afterwards.
Please join me as I teach a class on Pirkei Avos [Sayings of the Fathers] which is Mishna each Thursday at 5:15 PM.
There is also a new class - “Understanding the Shabbat Services,” Introduction to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers. This study group is being facilitated by Alan Witten, Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Parshat Vaykhel-Pekudei
Shabbat Hahodesh
(Ezekiel 45:16-46:18)
March 17, 2007
Shabbat Hahodesh is the fourth special Shabbat preceding Pesah. Its special maftir Torah reading recounts the taking of the lamb in preparation for the Korban Pesah – the Passover sacrifice. Its Haftorah was chosen because the Prophet Ezekiel recounts special sacrifices offered during the first month of the year (Nisan), as well as the Passover sacrifice. Much ink has been spilled over the fact that many of the sacrifices mentioned in this passage from Ezekiel are different from those found in the Torah. (See my drashah for the year 5761.) In particular, Ezekiel calls for an inaugural sacrifice on the first day of the first month to ritually purify the Temple: "Thus said the Lord God: On the first day of the first month, you shall take a bull of the herd with out blemish, and you shall cleanse the sanctuary." (Verse 18) and a second sacrifice, described in these words: "You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month (basheeva bahodesh) to purge the Temple from uncleanness caused by unwitting or ignorant people." (Verse 20)
The first sacrifice is generally understood to have been an inaugural offering. (See Rashi and Radak.) What then was the purpose of the second offering and when was it to be offered? In part, the answer to these questions depends on the meaning of the words "basheeva bahodesh", generally translated as "on the seventh day of the month". The modern scholar, R. Kasher points out that while he agrees with this understanding, still, the phrasing of these words is unusual in Biblical Hebrew. (Ezekiel, Mikra L'Yisrael, p. 889)
This ambiguity led to a number of different interpretations. The Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Bible, translated these words "in the seventh month", meaning that this second sacrifice happened not in the month of Nisan but rather in Tishrei, the month of the fall festivals. (Ibid.) Consequently, it played the same role as the first sacrifice. This interpretation was also accepted by Rabbi David Tzvi Hoffman (19th century Germany). (Peirush L'sefer Vayikra Vol. 2 p.130) Rashi, on the other hand, understood this phase to mean that this sacrifice was offered each of the first seven days of the month of Nisan in order to atone for Temple's altar. Rabbi David Kimche emphasized that this offering would be a future innovation and that it would be offered only on the seventh day. Its purpose would be to atone for sins committed on the Temple's sacrificial altar by accidental trespass by those who were overtaken by their rejoicing.
The Talmud, when it takes on this verse, seems challenged by two issues. One is obviously the meaning of the words "basheeva bahodesh" and the other concerns the fact that the sacrifice mentioned in this verse was not mentioned in the Torah. In the following passage, Rabbi Yochanan's interpretation veers from the "pshat" or plain meaning of the text but offers an interesting insight by radically reinterpreting the meaning of each part of the verse: 'Seven', says Rabbi Yochanan, refers to a sin committed by seven [of the twelve tribes, which constitute a majority of the tribes] even though they do not constitute the majority of the community. 'Hodesh – month' [is taken to mean instead 'hadash – new', [implies that the sages] decided a new law that something which is really prohibited is now permitted. 'Unwitting or ignorant people' – [comes to] teach that [in such a situation] the community is liable [to bring a special sin offering] when the ruling of the court was made in ignorance and the transgression [of the community] was made in error [by following the ruling of the court]. (Adapted from Menahoth 45a)
This passage uses this verse as a vehicle to tell us that the sages were aware that their colleagues were capable of making mistakes in their judgments and that their mistaken decisions might potentially lead the community to sin by following their judgment. In situations like this, the sages held both the community and the sages, who accidentally misled them, liable to God for the accidental misjudgment. Neither courts nor people are perfect. The tradition appreciates this reality, but still, both leaders and the community must bear responsibility for their actions.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Shabbat Shalom,
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair
Beth Shalom
The adult education committee is working with the Rabbi to bring us a series of classes that explore Jewish literature from a traditional and conservative prospectus. Even if you have taken classes from others, join Beth Shalom, Rabbi Siff and the selected teachers in these classes.
Rabbi Siff teaches a class on leading an ethical life at 1:30 on Saturday after the service and the meal. New students are welcome to join this group.
The Rabbi also teaches a class on Zohar each Thursday after Minyan. This class begins at 6:30 but come to Minyan at 6:15 and stay for class afterwards.
Please join me as I teach a class on Pirkei Avos [Sayings of the Fathers] which is Mishna each Thursday at 5:15 PM.
There is also a new class - “Understanding the Shabbat Services,” Introduction to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers. This study group is being facilitated by Alan Witten, Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Parshat Vaykhel-Pekudei
Shabbat Hahodesh
(Ezekiel 45:16-46:18)
March 17, 2007
Shabbat Hahodesh is the fourth special Shabbat preceding Pesah. Its special maftir Torah reading recounts the taking of the lamb in preparation for the Korban Pesah – the Passover sacrifice. Its Haftorah was chosen because the Prophet Ezekiel recounts special sacrifices offered during the first month of the year (Nisan), as well as the Passover sacrifice. Much ink has been spilled over the fact that many of the sacrifices mentioned in this passage from Ezekiel are different from those found in the Torah. (See my drashah for the year 5761.) In particular, Ezekiel calls for an inaugural sacrifice on the first day of the first month to ritually purify the Temple: "Thus said the Lord God: On the first day of the first month, you shall take a bull of the herd with out blemish, and you shall cleanse the sanctuary." (Verse 18) and a second sacrifice, described in these words: "You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month (basheeva bahodesh) to purge the Temple from uncleanness caused by unwitting or ignorant people." (Verse 20)
The first sacrifice is generally understood to have been an inaugural offering. (See Rashi and Radak.) What then was the purpose of the second offering and when was it to be offered? In part, the answer to these questions depends on the meaning of the words "basheeva bahodesh", generally translated as "on the seventh day of the month". The modern scholar, R. Kasher points out that while he agrees with this understanding, still, the phrasing of these words is unusual in Biblical Hebrew. (Ezekiel, Mikra L'Yisrael, p. 889)
This ambiguity led to a number of different interpretations. The Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Bible, translated these words "in the seventh month", meaning that this second sacrifice happened not in the month of Nisan but rather in Tishrei, the month of the fall festivals. (Ibid.) Consequently, it played the same role as the first sacrifice. This interpretation was also accepted by Rabbi David Tzvi Hoffman (19th century Germany). (Peirush L'sefer Vayikra Vol. 2 p.130) Rashi, on the other hand, understood this phase to mean that this sacrifice was offered each of the first seven days of the month of Nisan in order to atone for Temple's altar. Rabbi David Kimche emphasized that this offering would be a future innovation and that it would be offered only on the seventh day. Its purpose would be to atone for sins committed on the Temple's sacrificial altar by accidental trespass by those who were overtaken by their rejoicing.
The Talmud, when it takes on this verse, seems challenged by two issues. One is obviously the meaning of the words "basheeva bahodesh" and the other concerns the fact that the sacrifice mentioned in this verse was not mentioned in the Torah. In the following passage, Rabbi Yochanan's interpretation veers from the "pshat" or plain meaning of the text but offers an interesting insight by radically reinterpreting the meaning of each part of the verse: 'Seven', says Rabbi Yochanan, refers to a sin committed by seven [of the twelve tribes, which constitute a majority of the tribes] even though they do not constitute the majority of the community. 'Hodesh – month' [is taken to mean instead 'hadash – new', [implies that the sages] decided a new law that something which is really prohibited is now permitted. 'Unwitting or ignorant people' – [comes to] teach that [in such a situation] the community is liable [to bring a special sin offering] when the ruling of the court was made in ignorance and the transgression [of the community] was made in error [by following the ruling of the court]. (Adapted from Menahoth 45a)
This passage uses this verse as a vehicle to tell us that the sages were aware that their colleagues were capable of making mistakes in their judgments and that their mistaken decisions might potentially lead the community to sin by following their judgment. In situations like this, the sages held both the community and the sages, who accidentally misled them, liable to God for the accidental misjudgment. Neither courts nor people are perfect. The tradition appreciates this reality, but still, both leaders and the community must bear responsibility for their actions.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Shabbat Shalom,
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair
Beth Shalom
Thursday, March 08, 2007
The Mikveh as a conduit to family purity
ADULT EDUCATION SEMINAR:
Sunday, March 11
10 a.m.
Beth Shalom - Social Hall
(Please don't forget to advance your clocks forward 1 hour on Saturday evening as daylight savings time begins Sunday morning)
Topic: "The Mikveh as a conduit to family purity, to significant changes in Jewish life staus, and to internal personal tranquility."
Moderator: Sandra Whitton
Panelists:
Rabbi Siff - "Jewish law and practice regarding the mikveh"
Tanya Siff - "The mikveh and the Jewish woman"
Dianne Witten - "The mikveh and the Jewish conversion"
Jack Ginsberg - "The mikveh in Reform Judaism"
Rabbi Hesh Epstein - "The history of the Columbia community mikveh"
Meira Warshauer, Chair, Columbia Community Mikveh Committee - Summary
Tour of the mikveh to follow seminar.
(bagel & lox breakfast $3 per person)
Sunday, March 11
10 a.m.
Beth Shalom - Social Hall
(Please don't forget to advance your clocks forward 1 hour on Saturday evening as daylight savings time begins Sunday morning)
Topic: "The Mikveh as a conduit to family purity, to significant changes in Jewish life staus, and to internal personal tranquility."
Moderator: Sandra Whitton
Panelists:
Rabbi Siff - "Jewish law and practice regarding the mikveh"
Tanya Siff - "The mikveh and the Jewish woman"
Dianne Witten - "The mikveh and the Jewish conversion"
Jack Ginsberg - "The mikveh in Reform Judaism"
Rabbi Hesh Epstein - "The history of the Columbia community mikveh"
Meira Warshauer, Chair, Columbia Community Mikveh Committee - Summary
Tour of the mikveh to follow seminar.
(bagel & lox breakfast $3 per person)
Parshat Ki-Tissa
Dear Congregants:
The adult education committee is working with the Rabbi to bring us a series of classes that explore Jewish literature from a traditional and conservative prospectus. Even if you have taken classes from others, join Beth Shalom, Rabbi Siff and the selected teachers in these classes.
Please join Rabbi Siff in a class on leading an ethical life at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday after the service and the meal.
Please join me as I teach a class on Pirkei Avos [Sayings of the Fathers] which is Mishna each Thursday at 5:15 p.m.
There is also a new class - “Understanding the Shabbat Services,” Intro to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers. This study group is being facilitated by Alan Witten, Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Parshat Ki-Tissa
Shabbat Parah
Ezekiel 36:16-38)
March 10, 2007
Parshat Parah, which is read as the maftir Torah reading this Shabbat, is the third of the four special Shabbat Torah readings before Pesah. Its reading was meant to serve as a reminder of the need to attain a state of ritual purity in order to eat of the Pesah sacrifice on the evening of the festival. Ritual impurity, contracted through contact with a dead body, could only be remedied by being sprinkled by water mixed with ashes from the burning of a red heifer (parah adumah). This special Torah reading recounts the details of this ritual.
In the special Haftorah for this Shabbat, Ezekiel portrays Israel's exile from its homeland as the result of its disloyalty to God and its rampant immorality. God will ultimately redeem His people for His own sake, bringing them back to their homeland. The process of purifying the people for their return home is described in these words: "I will sprinkle purifying water upon you and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your fetishes." (36:25) The Targum Yonathan recognized that Ezekiel's message was meant symbolically: "I (God) will forgive your sins like one purifies with the water for sprinkling together with the ashes of the heifer of atonement and you will be purified from your impurities and from all your idols I will purify you." In addition this translation [interpretation] links this verse to the rite of the ashes of the red heifer.
This verse also plays an interesting role in the interpretation of a discussion in the Talmud: "Our rabbis taught: The Alexandrians asked twelve questions of Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah: Three were of a scientific nature, three were matters of aggadah, three were matters of nonsense, and three were matters of conduct…'Three were matters of nonsense':… Does the son of the Shunamite, [whom the prophet Elisha miraculously] restored to life (See 2 Kings 4:35), convey ritual impurity. He answered: A corpse conveys impurity but no live person conveys impurity. Will the dead in the hereafter require to be sprinkled upon [with water with ashes of the red heifer] on the third and the seventh day or will they not? He replied: When they are resurrected we will be wise to the matter. Others say: When our master Moses will come with them, [we will know]. (Adapted from Niddah 70b)
The Tosafot (Ibid.) ask why the Talmud did not ask about "sprinkling" for the Shunamite boy whom Elisha revived? It finds the answer in the verse from Ezekiel [which is in the future tense]: 'And you will sprinkle on them purifying waters'. The question is therefore relevant for those who will be resurrected in the future but not for the Shunamite boy.
This unusual passage formed part of a debate in a modern teshuva regarding the question whether a cohen (priest) can have an organ transplant where the transplanted organ might be considered temporarily dead and consequently cause the cohen to become ritually impure. Rav Israel Meir Lau, the former Chief Askenazic Rabbi of Israel, cites in his discussion of the question the above Talmudic passage and the accompanying Tosafot as a possible proof that such a person is not to be considered as dead at all, like the Shunamite boy, since he does not require "sprinkling", and consequently never acquires ritual impurity in the process once the transplant has been successful. This potentially serves as proof for Lau that a cohen might receive an organ transplant. (Yahel Yisrael 61)
What began as an illustration of God's promise to save his children from exile and to return them in the future both to their physical and spiritual home also turned out to help produce a religious and legal means to save a life. Such is the redemptive nature of God's words.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair
Beth Shalom
The adult education committee is working with the Rabbi to bring us a series of classes that explore Jewish literature from a traditional and conservative prospectus. Even if you have taken classes from others, join Beth Shalom, Rabbi Siff and the selected teachers in these classes.
Please join Rabbi Siff in a class on leading an ethical life at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday after the service and the meal.
Please join me as I teach a class on Pirkei Avos [Sayings of the Fathers] which is Mishna each Thursday at 5:15 p.m.
There is also a new class - “Understanding the Shabbat Services,” Intro to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers. This study group is being facilitated by Alan Witten, Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Parshat Ki-Tissa
Shabbat Parah
Ezekiel 36:16-38)
March 10, 2007
Parshat Parah, which is read as the maftir Torah reading this Shabbat, is the third of the four special Shabbat Torah readings before Pesah. Its reading was meant to serve as a reminder of the need to attain a state of ritual purity in order to eat of the Pesah sacrifice on the evening of the festival. Ritual impurity, contracted through contact with a dead body, could only be remedied by being sprinkled by water mixed with ashes from the burning of a red heifer (parah adumah). This special Torah reading recounts the details of this ritual.
In the special Haftorah for this Shabbat, Ezekiel portrays Israel's exile from its homeland as the result of its disloyalty to God and its rampant immorality. God will ultimately redeem His people for His own sake, bringing them back to their homeland. The process of purifying the people for their return home is described in these words: "I will sprinkle purifying water upon you and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your fetishes." (36:25) The Targum Yonathan recognized that Ezekiel's message was meant symbolically: "I (God) will forgive your sins like one purifies with the water for sprinkling together with the ashes of the heifer of atonement and you will be purified from your impurities and from all your idols I will purify you." In addition this translation [interpretation] links this verse to the rite of the ashes of the red heifer.
This verse also plays an interesting role in the interpretation of a discussion in the Talmud: "Our rabbis taught: The Alexandrians asked twelve questions of Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah: Three were of a scientific nature, three were matters of aggadah, three were matters of nonsense, and three were matters of conduct…'Three were matters of nonsense':… Does the son of the Shunamite, [whom the prophet Elisha miraculously] restored to life (See 2 Kings 4:35), convey ritual impurity. He answered: A corpse conveys impurity but no live person conveys impurity. Will the dead in the hereafter require to be sprinkled upon [with water with ashes of the red heifer] on the third and the seventh day or will they not? He replied: When they are resurrected we will be wise to the matter. Others say: When our master Moses will come with them, [we will know]. (Adapted from Niddah 70b)
The Tosafot (Ibid.) ask why the Talmud did not ask about "sprinkling" for the Shunamite boy whom Elisha revived? It finds the answer in the verse from Ezekiel [which is in the future tense]: 'And you will sprinkle on them purifying waters'. The question is therefore relevant for those who will be resurrected in the future but not for the Shunamite boy.
This unusual passage formed part of a debate in a modern teshuva regarding the question whether a cohen (priest) can have an organ transplant where the transplanted organ might be considered temporarily dead and consequently cause the cohen to become ritually impure. Rav Israel Meir Lau, the former Chief Askenazic Rabbi of Israel, cites in his discussion of the question the above Talmudic passage and the accompanying Tosafot as a possible proof that such a person is not to be considered as dead at all, like the Shunamite boy, since he does not require "sprinkling", and consequently never acquires ritual impurity in the process once the transplant has been successful. This potentially serves as proof for Lau that a cohen might receive an organ transplant. (Yahel Yisrael 61)
What began as an illustration of God's promise to save his children from exile and to return them in the future both to their physical and spiritual home also turned out to help produce a religious and legal means to save a life. Such is the redemptive nature of God's words.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair
Beth Shalom
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