בס"דMIZRACHI MATTERS SHABBAT NACHAMU – PARASHAT VA’ETCHANAN (Vol 7, No 43) CALENDAR 20-26 July 2013 / 13-19 Av 5773 Friday, 19 July (12 Av) – Candle Lighting 5:05pm Minchah at 5:10pm 1, 3, 4 1. Beit Yehuda 2. Beit HaRoeh 3. Beit Midrash 4. Bnei Akiva 5. Elsternwick 6. Midrashah 7. Rabbi’s Home 8. Goldberger Hall 9. Nachalat David Z’manim SHABBAT 20 JULY 13 AV SUNDAY 21 JULY 14 AV MONDAY 22 JULY 15 AV TUESDAY 23 JULY 16 AV WEDNESDAY 24 JULY 17 AV THURSDAY 25 JULY 18 AV FRIDAY 26 JULY 19 AV Shacharit 7:30am 1 9:30am 1-4, 9 8:00am 1 9:00am 3 6:25am 1 7:25am 1 6:30am 1 7:30am 1 6:30am 1 7:30am 1 6:25am 1 7:25am 1 6:30am 1 7:30am 1 Dawn 6:18am 6:17am 6:17am 6:16am 6:15am 6:15am 6:14am Tallit & Tefillin 6:35am 6:34am 6:34am 6:33am 6:32am 6:32am 6:31am Sunrise 7:30am 7:29am 7:29am 7:28am 7:27am 7:27am 7:26am Sh’ma (גר"א) 9:58am 9:58am 9:58am 9:57am 9:57am 9:57am 9:56am Earliest Mincha 12:57pm 12:57pm 12:57pm 12:57pm 12:57pm 12:57pm 12:57pm Candles 5:10pm Minchah followed by Ma’ariv 4:55pm 1, 3 5:15pm 1 5:15pm 1 5:15pm 1 5:15pm 1 5:15pm 1 5:15pm 1, 3, 4 Sunset 5:23pm 5:24pm 5:25pm 5:26pm 5:26pm 5:27pm 5:28pm Night 6:05pm 6:06pm 6:07pm 6:08pm 6:08pm 6:09pm 6:10pm Second Ma’ariv 9:30pm 3 9:30pm 3 9:30pm 3 9:30pm 3 9:30pm 3 Shiurim R’ Bert Mond 8:45am 3 R’ Leor Broh 9:00am 2 R’ James Kennard 9:30am 6 Drashot R’ Sprung 1 Informal Education R’ Soloveichik 2 R’ Meir Soloveichik Margaret Thatcher and Chief Rabbi Jakobovits: The Story of a Remarkable Friendship 4:00pm 2 R’ James Kennard Parashat HaShavua Not today Daf Yomi 8:45am 3 R’ Dudi Winkler Sefer HaKuzari 8:45am 6 Daf Yomi 9:45pm 3 Daf Yomi 8:15am 3 R’ Dudi Winkler (for women) 9:30am 3 R’ Dudi Winkler Dilemmas Shiur Medical Negligence 8:30pm 2 R’ Dovid Segal Gemara B’iyun 8:30pm 2 Michal Kaufman (Lewis’ house) 9:00pm Daf Yomi 9:45pm 3 Daf Yomi 8:15am 3 R’ Yaakov Sprung Chumash Shiur for women 10:00am 6 R’ Dudi Winkler Rav Kook Shiur Insights into the Laws of Kashrut 8:30pm 6 Daf Yomi 9:45pm 3 Daf Yomi 8:15am 3 Weekly Parashah Shiur for ladies & girls R’ Yonason Johnson 7 Morrice Street Caulfield 11:00am Ari Morris Sefer Chofetz Chaim 1:00pm 6 R’ Yaakov Sprung Masechet Brachot 8:00pm 6 Chani Winkler (for women) Not this week Daf Yomi 9:45pm 3 Daf Yomi 8:15am 3 R’ Yaakov Sprung Gemara B’iyun 7:00pm 6 R’ Dudi Winkler Gemara Shiur 8:00pm 3 R’ Yaakov Sprung Shiur for men 8:30pm 7 R’ Dudi Winkler Parashat HaShavua in easy Hebrew 8:45pm 3 Daf Yomi 8:45pm 3 Daf Yomi 8:15am 3 Halachah Yomit Not today Between Minchah and Ma’ariv 1 Between Minchah and Ma’ariv 1 Between Minchah and Ma’ariv 1 Between Minchah and Ma’ariv 1 Between Minchah and Ma’ariv 1 Not today Mishnah Yomit Sanhedrin 7:10-11 Sanhedrin 8:1-2 Sanhedrin 8:3-4 Sanhedrin 8:5-6 Sanhedrin 8:7-9:1 Sanhedrin 9:2-3 Sanhedrin 9:4-5 4:45pm 1 After Ma’ariv 1 5:05pm 1 Events Aufruf 1 Yaakov Waller Children’s Tefillah Groups 10:15am – 11:30am Bnei Akiva 3:30pm Seudah Shlishit R’ Meir Soloveichik & Dr Allan Garfield Avot U’Banim 6:50pm 3 The Holy Bagel 9:00am 3 In Recess Leil Limmud In memory of Rabbi Boruch Abaranok ז"ל9:45pm 3 Yahrtzeits John Steiner (Father) Ann White (Father) Ben Gershov (Mother) Alex Mihalovich (Father) Rabbi Boruch Abaranok ז"לDavid Slonim (Father) Jack Goldberg (Father) Michael Kraus (Father) This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Eva and Jack Goldberg in memory of Jack’s father, Melech ben Ya’akov Moshe, whose Yahrtzeit is 19 Av. To sponsor the newsletter please call Rae on 8317 2555
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בס"ד
MIZRACHI MATTERS
SHABBAT NACHAMU – PARASHAT VA’ETCHANAN (Vol 7, No 43)
Leil Limmud In memory of Rabbi Boruch Abaranok ז"ל
9:45pm3
Yahrtzeits
John Steiner (Father)
Ann White (Father)
Ben Gershov (Mother)
Alex Mihalovich (Father)
Rabbi Boruch Abaranok ז"ל
David Slonim (Father)
Jack Goldberg (Father)
Michael Kraus (Father)
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Eva and Jack Goldberg in memory of Jack’s father,
Melech ben Ya’akov Moshe, whose Yahrtzeit is 19 Av.
To sponsor the newsletter please call Rae on 8317 2555
Birth
Daughter, Eliana Sarah Ruth, to Kate & Aaron Weinstock
Grandparents: Miriam & Zenon Weinstock and Judith & Seamus Gallagher
Engagement
Laura Rubin to Jonathan Posniak
Parents: Roslyn & Brian Rubin and Melanie & Derek Posniak
Grandparents: Irene Rubin, Sonia & Reuben Mond and Paula Posniak
Marriage
Leah Gordon to Ya’akov Waller
Parents: Vicki Gordon, Moishe Gordon and Adina & Ian Waller
Grandparents: Mary Herzog, Elka Balbin and Wendy & Louis Waller
YAVNEH PARENTS’ ORGANISATION ISRAEL RAFFLE As you may be aware the YPO is running its very successful Israel raffle again. Up for grabs are 4 return economy airfares to Israel including taxes. Only 300 Raffle tickets are being sold. That means your odds are great with a 1 in 300 chance to win. Tickets cost $100 and all proceeds go to the school. The Raffle will be drawn at Speech Night. The raffle is going to be advertised widely so get in quick to purchase the limited tickets available. To purchase tickets please contact Sharona on 0408 381 100 or Aviva on 0438 440 430 or buy online at www.trybooking.com/52546.
HOSPITALITY
Mizrachi’s active Hospitality Network, which is run by the Culture and Events Committee, ensures that visitors and others are hosted for meals on Shabbatot and Yamim Tovim.
We are currently trying to coordinate a hospitality roster to ensure that this service is available every week. It is hoped that a number of Mizrachi families across the various age groups will volunteer to be part of the roster, so that visitors of every age will be able to be hosted by a suitable family.
If you would like to be included as part of our hospitality roster, please contact Rae Bower in the Mizrachi office.
Thank you in anticipation!
Culture and Events Committee
ז"ל
Click here to view a video interview of
Rabbi Abaranok recorded in 1998.
Chofetz Chaim Shiur
Our Sages teach that a major reason for the destruction of the Holy Temples was sinat chinam and lashon hara. As we emerge from the period of the ‘Three Weeks’ which culminated in the Fast of Tishah B’Av, there is no better time than now to resolve to refrain from lashon hara.
Many misconceptions abound about the definition of lashon hara. For example, a common excuse heard by those who have been alerted to the fact that they engaged in lashon hara, is that “what I said was true!”. In actual fact, lashon hara applies to true statements as well as those which are false. Accordingly, in order to effectively confront this malady, regular study of the laws related to lashon hara is vital. Mizrachi is therefore pleased to announce a new shiur on Sefer Chofetz Chaim to be held, bli neder, in the Midrashah every Wednesday at 1:00pm. As an added incentive, if we reach a critical mass of people attending, we plan to make this a ‘lunch and learn’ session, to nourish both the soul and the body! For any queries about this shiur (including joining in via Skype for those who are unable to attend in person), please call Ari Morris on 8317-2525.
11:00am (approximately) Beit Yehuda ‘To Bee or Not To Bee: A Reflection On Devarim, Devorim And Honey’ 5:15pm Seudah Shlishit ‘Yiddish: Metaphysics of a Mameloshen’ 8:00pm Emunah Education Evening ‘The Talmudic Marriage of Henry VIII’
7:00pm Beit HaRoeh ‘The Temple And The Colosseum’
Following 8:00am Shacharit Naftali Herc Beit Midrash Kinot Recital & Explanation 5:15pm Beit Yehuda ‘The Discovery of David’s Palace’
FRIDAY 19 JULY ( אב י"ב )
SHABBAT NACHAMU 20 JULY
י"ד אב
From 9:30pm Bnei Akiva Oneg Shabbat
11:00am (approximately) Beit HaRoeh Drashah 4:00pm Beit Yehuda ‘Margaret Thatcher and Chief Rabbi Jakobovits: The Story of a Remarkable Friendship’
Rabbi Meir Soloveichik is the Rabbi of Congregation
Shearith Israel, America’s first Jewish congregation.
A leading Jewish thinker, theologian and public
intellectual, Rabbi Soloveichik obtained his Rabbinic
ordination from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological
Seminary of Yeshiva University and holds a Ph.D.
from Princeton in Religion. He is also currently the
Director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western
Thought at Yeshiva University.
You are invited to come and join
Rabbi Ben and Sharona Hassan,
as we bid them farewell and
wish them 'Hatzlacha Raba'
on their journey in Seattle.
Motzei Shabbat Nachamu
20th July 2013
16 Otira Rd. North Caulfield
8:00pm-10:00pm
Sunday 28th July 2013 2pm-4pm
Beth Haroeh Shule 81 Balaclava Road Balaclava
We are seeking a part time melodious chazzan who can daven with tunes we can sing along to, and add
to the spirituality of our davening, especially on Yamim Noraim.
Remuneration given to suitable candidate.
If you feel you have the:
“ FACTOR”
…register for an audition, click: www.tinyurl.com/chazzan
Invite the community to a Melave Malka Dinner with the acclaimed
For over 25 years, Rabbi Berel Wein has been identified with the popularisation of Jewish history through worldwide lectures, 15 books, history courses, educational tours, and film documentaries. Executive Vice President, Union Orthodox Organizations America
1993 Educator of the Year Award and Torah Prize Award from Machon Harav Frank Jerusalem for his achievements in teaching Torah and spreading Judaism around the world
Where: Mizrachi Centre, Goldberger Hall, 81 Balaclava Rd
“Pina Chama” is a unique place in Gush Etzion were soldiers can come to rest and have a free hot drink & cake. The place is run by volunteers, residents of the area, who would like to express their appreciation to the soldiers serving in the region. “Pina Chama” was established in memory of Dr. Shmuel Gillis and Tzachi Sasson, residents of Gush Etzion, who were killed in terror attacks.
1 IN 300 CHANCE TO WINFOUR RETURN ECONOMY AIRFARES INCL. TAXES FROM MELBOURNE TO TEL AVIV*To purchase tickets, at $100 each, go to www.trybooking.com/52546and pay by credit card online or call Sharona 0408 381 100 or Aviva 0438 440 430. Raffle drawn on December 9, 2013For full terms and conditions please see www.yavneh.vic.edu.au
Minor Gaming Permit Holder: Yavneh College Nominees Pty Ltd trading as Leibler Yavneh College; Permit Number: 10649/13
Take your family to Israel for $100*
Bs”d Page
Accordingly, the first paragraph of the Shma might be understood as fol lows: Be loyal to the Lord your God with all your resources, to the point of self-sacrifice, and with all your armies. You should internalize this contract which I command you today. Make sure your children continue the contract. You should talk about it wherever you go. Wear a sign of allegiance on your arm and where you can see it. Display a copy of the contract by your front door.
Along these lines, the late Prof. Moshe Weinfeld (1925-2009) suggested that the tefillah of Emet VeYatziv, which we say right after the Shma in Shacharit, contains expressions that are direct parallels to the loyalty oaths which started in the ANE and continued in Greek and Roman times (when the tefillah was composed).
It seems that Chazal understood the Shma to be the conditions of Hashem‟s contract, so they created Emet VeYatziv to be our acceptance of those conditions (“The Loyalty Oath in the Ancient Near East,” Ugarit-Forschungen 8 (1976), pp. 379-414).
Approach Two: Being Lovesick A second possibility is to read the Shma in romantic terms. The Rambam declares that the ideal fulfillment of the mitzvah to love Hashem is by being in love with God: What is that proper love [which a person is to love God]? A great, exceedingly intense love, until his soul is bound up with love of God and he finds himself immersed within it. It is as if he is lovesick, when a man‟s mind is never free of the thought of that woman, and he thinks of her perpetually – whether sitting, standing, eating or drinking.
Greater than this should be the love of God in
Continued on page #2
Familiarity may not breed contempt of the tefillot (prayers) we say every day, but it certainly makes us feel overconfident about how much we understand. After all, isn‟t knowing the words by heart the same as knowing their meaning? If only!
Before we look at two ways to understand the first paragraph of the Shma (Devarim 6:4–9), let‟s do a quick review of how it‟s usually understood.
H e r e ‟ s a g o o d t r a n s l a t i o n : Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words which I command you today shall be on your heart. Teach them repeatedly to your children, speaking of them when you sit at home and when you travel on the way, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be an emblem between your eyes. Write them on the doorposts of your house and gates (translated by Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, The Koren Siddur, p. 98).
If you asked the average person what‟s involved in love, they might say it‟s doing nice things for the one you love, showing that you care, and so on. But that‟s not what the Shma says. What‟s love got to do with the detailed actions describe here?
A p p r o a c h O n e : B e i n g L o y a l One possibility is to read the Shma in political terms that could have been familiar to Bnei Yisrael or anybody else living in the Ancient Near East (ANE). In ANE loyalty oaths or treaties, between a suzerain (ruler) and a vassal (subject), the word “love” appears. For example, in the El Amarna letters, the king of Byblos (in present-day Lebanon) writes to Pharaoh, “Behold the city! Half of it loves the sons of „Abd-Asir-ta [who rebelled against Pharaoh], and half of it loves my lord” (cited by Prof. Joshua Berman, “God‟s Alliance with Man,” Azure 25 (Summer 2006), http://www.azure.org.il/download/magazine/1721az25_Berman.pdf). In this context, “love” doesn‟t mean affection but rather loyalty.
Love in the Shma: Two Radically Different Approaches Rav Uri C. Cohen Former Shaliach in Syracuse, currently teaching at Midreshet HaRova, Midreshet Moriah, and Yesodei HaTorah.
ד“בס 13 Av 5773, 20 July 2013 Issue 488
Shabbat Times
Jerusalem
Begin 19:08
End 20:24
Va’etchanan 5773
www.torahmitzion.org
Another great event
of 'Brotherz in the
Beis'. Chevruta
learning for Tisha
B”Av in Torah
MiTzion-Melbourne
שבת מציוןThis week’s Shabbat MiTzion is dedicated
to the speedy Refua Shelema of Zeev Ben Gila.
Daniel Moatti
Matan Tur-paz
Amir Cohen
Rav Dudi Winkler
Rosh Kollel
Bs”d Page 2
in Egypt under their Egyptian slave masters it tells us how the
people suffered. "In those many days, the king of Egypt died
and the children of Israel moaned due to the work and they
cried and their pleas ascended to God from the work. God
heard their cries and God remember His covenant, Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. God saw the children of Israel and God
knew." (Shemot 2:23-25) The same word "vayeda" is used to
describe God's reaction to the suffering of His children, the
Jewish people. Knowing is more than just having a relationship
and must be more than just engaging in sexual activity, since
the word cannot possibly be translated that way in this verse
dealing with God and the children of Israel. Rather, knowing
implies a sense of listening, of close feeling, of feeling the
other's pain and discomfort, in other words knowing means
empathy. When God heard their cry, His heart went out to
them. He felt their pain. We note that it does not say in the
verse that they cried to God, because they did not need to. It
was enough that they cried and God could not ignore their cry.
Therefore, knowing means to be connected in a deep sense to
the other person, to hear what they say, to empathize. This
feeling made man and his wife like God. This brought them
closely together and was an expression of their Divine image.
They both understood the other's pain at the ejection from the
Garden and without words were able to comfort each other. I,
man, have acquired God. I express my godliness by being
deeply connected with another human being, especially by
developing the relationship between husband and wife. So too,
it is only when this exists that life can be formed and man and
woman become partners with God.
We wish to express our appreciation to Rav Gideon
Weizman for his important contribution to Shabbat
MiTzion
As this is my final week presenting here, I would like to return
to our starting point, namely the creation of man and the
beginning of all human relationships.
Chapter 3 of the Book of BeReishit records how Adam and Eve
went against God's instructions and ate from the forbidden
fruit. They are both punished, along with the snake and the
land itself. They are banished from the Garden of Eden and sent
to sit just outside of the Garden within view of the paradise that
they had and lost. If this was not enough, the entrance to the
Garden was guarded by two cherubs holding fiery swords.
We would assume that man and his wife would be despondent
and depressed, that they would forever mourn what they could
have had but rejected for a moment of culinary pleasure, that
this would determine their behavior and maybe the behavior of
all of their descendants.
However, the very next verse presents a distinctly different
story; and Adam knew Eve his wife and she became pregnant
and gave birth to Cain, and she said "I, man, have acquired
God." (BeReishit 4:1)
The last phrase is somewhat difficult to translate and to
explain: what does Eve want to express after the birth of her
first child? Rashi explains that in this act of procreating and
creating life Adam and Eve believe they have become partners
with God and in some sense god-like, exactly as the snake
promised would happen if they ate the fruit. Despite their
ejection from the Garden of Eden, they still became divine and
were able to generate and produce life. I would like to offer an
alternative explanation based on the opening words of the
sentence. Adam knew Eve is usually understood as a
euphemism for having sexual relations. However, the word
"yada", "he knew" means more than just having a physical
relationship as can be seen from another verse. When the Torah
describes the terrible hardship that the Jewish people endured
Va’etchanan 5773
Knowing me, Knowing you?
the hearts of His lovers, pondering upon Him perpetually, as we have been commanded: “with all your heart and all your soul.” It is of this that King Shlomo allegorically has said: “I am lovesick,” and all of Shir HaShirim is an allegory for this (Hilkhot Teshuvah 10:5, translated by Rav Reuven Ziegler, “Teshuva: Repentance and Return,” http://www.vbm-torah.org/roshandyk/yk62ral.htm).
Notice that the Rambam refers explicitly to the Shma’s words (bekhol levavkha uvekhol nafshekha). Accordingly, the first paragraph of the Shma might be understood as follows:
Be in love with the Lord your God with the most love that‟s
humanly possible, to the point of self-sacrifice, and wanting to give more even after giving everything. These words which I command you today should be heartfelt. Tell them to your children over and over. These words should be all you talk about, wherever you go, morning and evening. Wear a symbol of them on your finger, and tack the words up by the door.
What a contrast in approaches! Is it the legal or the emotional? Is it being loyal or being lovesick? The beauty of the Shma is that both are possible. These and those are the words of the living, loving God.
Rav Gideon Weitzman, Former TMT Shaliach Kansas City, Staff of Puah Organization
If you would like to sponsor a parsha sheet please email [email protected]
Bs”d Page 3 Va’etchanan 5773
To love God is not just a philosophical idea in Judaism, it is a
mitzvah that every Jew is required to fulfill. The Rambam
who structured his Sefer Hamitzvot thematically includes the
mitzvah to love God as the third Mitzvah. It follows the
mitzvot to believe in God and to believe there is but one God.
Clearly, the Rambam used this structure to convey his view
as to the centrality of this mitzvah. The Sefer Hachinuch
whose structure follows the order of the pesukim in the
Torah, includes this mitzvah in parashat Va'etchanan
(mitzvah 418). The mitzvah is learned from the pasuk
"Ve'ahavta et Hashem elokecha bechol levavcha uvechol