Congregation

Chevra Kadisha B’nai Jacob-Beit Hazikaron

Saturday, April 3, 2005

Parasha Shemini – Shabbat Para

22 Adar 2, 5765

Torah reading - page 443 in the Hertz Chumash and page 175 in the Hebrew Publishing.  

 The Maftir is on page 652 in the Hertz Chumash and on page 253 (Back) in the Hebrew Publishing.

The Haftarah is on page 999 in the Hertz Chumash and on page 104 (back) in the Hebrew Publishing

The Congregational Kiddush will be in Raicek Hall sponsored by

Mr. Daniel Freedman in memory of his beloved father Hyman Freedman

Toda Raba to the following who sponsored last week’s Kiddush

Daniel Miller in honour of the Kiddush Committee

Debbie Spivak in honour of her nephew Zachary’s Bar Mitzvah

Lorna and Jerry Sherman in honour of the birth of his two grandsons

Lawrence Popliger in memory of his sister Frances Friedman

Lawrence Popliger in honour of Rev. Even-Hen’s 25th Anniversary with our Shul, in honour of the engagement of Orna Even-Hen and in hour of the birth of a granddaughter to Rev. and Esther Eve-Hen

Robin & Les Schiller in honour of the visit of his first cousins from Toronto

Robin & Les Schiller for the melodious and inspiring way in which their eldest son Charlie led the concluding services.

Shalosh Seudot will be in the Raicek Hall sponsored by the Congregation

PLEASE NOTE:   CLOCKS ARE MOVED FORWARD BY ONE HOUR TONIGHT

‘Calendar’

BAT MITZVAH CLASS Tuesday April 5, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. with guest speaker Rabbi Mordechai Zeitz. Topic:  Kashrut

PARSHA CLASS with Rabbi Asher Jacobson, Wednesday,  April 6 2005 at 1:00 p.m. in the Raicek Hall.  Every one is welcome, refreshments following.

PRE-PASSOVER SHABBATON for our members and their families will take place on Friday April 22, 2005 at 6:00 p.m.  A delicious full course dinner will be served by Le Ballroom Catering. Please reserve by calling the office at 482-3366

SECOND SEDER – for our members and their families and friends Sunday, April 24, 2005.  By reservation only at 482-3366. Adults $46.00, children age 10 and over is $20.00, under 10 years is free.

POLAND AND ISRAEL TRIP – May 2 to May 12 2005.  Join Rabbi Avrohom Jacks and our own Rabbi Jacobson on an unforgettable journey to Poland and Israel.  Share in an experience of a lifetime. For info: (514) 482-3366

THE KIDDUSH KORNER is a new initiative brought to you by the improvement committee. Each weekend, members are encouraged to honour their family and friends by sponsoring a kiddush. In this way we will be able to build a kiddush fund which will enable the shul to provide delicious and soul nourishing food all in an ambience of relaxed congeniality after Shabbat services. All this, of course, without taxing the Shul’s treasury. The suggested kiddush donation is $72.00, but any amount is welcome. All we ask is that you call the office on Monday morning, following the kiddush, to provide them with your honouree and billing details. Thereafter, if the donor permits, details of the sponsor and the subject matter of the honour will be reported in the weekly bulletin.

 ‘Parasha’

The Torah portion of Shemini begins with the most sublime and elevated service on the eighth day of preparation for the Tabernacle, and ends with the prohibition against eating crawling insects, something, which goes against human nature. From this we learn that even one who stands on the highest level of spirituality and observance is not protected against spiritual downfall, G-d forbid, and must serve G-d with the same measure of acceptance of the yoke of heaven as others. (Likutei Sichot)

They brought what Moses commanded before the Tabernacle of Meeting, and the entire congregation drew near and stood before G-d (Lev. 9:5)

According to the Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzchak Luris, the commandment to love one’s fellow Jew must be accepted before beginning to pray. Only when “the congregation drew near” to each other in love and unity, did the Jewish people “stand before G-d” in prayer and supplication. (Chesed L’Avraham)

And it was on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel (Lev. 9:1)

Each and every day Aaron, his sons and the Jewish elders, would come to Moses to be taught Torah. Yet that particular day they didn’t go on their own and had to be summoned, as they had a premonition that something bad was going to occur. (Indeed Nadav and Avihu would die.) It states in Proverbs, “The heart knows its own bitterness” to which the Talmud adds, “A person may not see, but his mazal sees.” (Rabbi Shlomo Kluger)

These are the animals you may eat…whichever divides the hoof (parsa) and chews (literally “brings up”) the cud (geira) Lev.11:3

The Hebrew word parsa and geira have more than one meaning. Parsa is related to the word meaning to cut bread, and the geira is an ancient coin that weighs one-twentieth of a shekel. From this we learn that one of the primary distinguishing marks of a Jew is that he willingly shares his bread with the poor and distributes charity freely. (Rabi Zev HaMagid)

Moses received the Torah at Sinai, and passed it on to Joshua. Joshua to the Elders…” (Ethics of the Fathers 1:1)

When Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi compiled all the Mishnaic teachings, he placed the Mishna describing the transmission of Torah from one generation to the other as the opening Mishna of the Ethics. The wise men of the nations of the world also wrote works providing their disciples with moral instruction. However, they formulated their teachings based on their own human understanding.  Therefore, Rabbi Yehuda began the Ethics specifically with the words, “Moses received the Torah at Sinai” to inform us that the moral instruction and the qualities of character mentioned here are not a product of human invention. They were given to us by G-d via Moses at Sinai (Bartenura)

YAHRZEITS FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL  2-8

22-28 ADAR 2

Abraham Joseph Stober, John Levine, Shimon Chayim Glense, Frances Friedman, Joseph Assh, William Solomon, Ruth Segall, Mania Finkelstein, Solomon Cohen, Bennie Hockenstein, Israel Leib Bochner,  Sylvia Aronson, Samuel Burn, Joseph Frankel, Maimie Botner Clement, Eli Share, Arye Leib Cohen, Rochel Knopp, Samuel Richard Cherninsky, Shmuel Myer Frank, Myer Steinman, Kevin Berlin, Myer Starke, Charles Etcovitch, Jacob Melnick, Estelle Gameroff, Henry Slover, Isadore Singer, Jeno Polachek, Tzvi Zentner, Gittle Simmerman, Liba Rosenthal

“We do not appreciate people trying to create confusion where there is no confusion. I understand this is a big issue in Israel but no one should say there's no agreement between our two governments. That's wrong. There is; it was reached on April 14 last year and it's clear. While we will not prejudice the outcome of final status negotiations, the changes on the ground, the ‘existing major Israeli population centers’, will have to be taken in account in any final status negotiations.”—Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, reiterating Bush's promises to Sharon at their previous meeting in April 2004.  Rice went even further than the vague phrasing of Bush's letter and made it clear that the term "Israeli population centers" refers directly to the "large settlement blocs." (Ha’aretz, Mar. 27)

SHARON SEALS DISENGAGEMENT—(Jerusalem) Israeli PM Ariel Sharon crushed the last serious political threat to his planned evacuation of the Gaza Strip, securing enough support to pass his 2005 state budget. The Knesset approved the 267 billion-shekel ($61 billion U.S.) budget by a vote of 58 to 36 (with one abstention) after Sharon secured the support of the centrist Shinui party by promising $160 million U.S. of additional allowances for discharged soldiers, students, cultural and scientific institutions and the environment. “We agreed to the budget because for us disengagement is essential,” explained Shinui leader Yosef Lapid. Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip faced another setback earlier in the week, when the Knesset rejected legislation calling for a national referendum on the controversial Gaza pullout plan. (Bloomberg.com, March 30; National Post, March 28)

WAVE OF GRAFFITI IN ISRAEL—(Jerusalem) Three cases of vandalism were discovered in Israel today. Assailants in Sde-Boker in the Negev defaced the grave of Israel’s first PM, David Ben-Gurion, with the word “Hitler.” Similarly, graffiti declaring “Neo-Nazis Hail Beilin”—a reference to Yossi Beilin, leader of the left-wing Yahad party—was found next to Zionist visionary Theodore Herzl’s grave in Jerusalem. Vandals in Rosh Ha’iyn, in central Israel, graffitied a school with the statement “Sharon: Rabin and Hitler are waiting for you in hell.” They also wrote “Death to Arabs.” Last Sunday, a doll bearing a picture of PM Ariel Sharon with the caption “Sharon, enemy of the Jews” was discovered in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. (Jer. Post, March 30)

ISRAEL AND CHAD TO RENEW TIES—(Jerusalem) Israel and Chad are working to re-establish diplomatic ties, thirty-three years after the Muslim country cut off relations with the Jewish state. Israeli businessmen have been operating in Chad for a number of years and, in the 1980s, Israeli military experts advised the government during the country’s civil war. (Ha’aretz, March 25)

PALESTINIANS SMUGGLING ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILES INTO GAZA—(Tel Aviv) According to Israel’s Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, Palestinians smuggled several Strela shoulder-fired missiles into the Gaza Strip with the help of members of the PA’s military intelligence agency. The Strela antiaircraft missiles can be used against low-flying aircraft like the helicopters used by Israeli intelligence, but most Israeli aircraft can deal with them. (NYT, March 29)

ISRAELI ARAB SETS UP HOLOCAUST CENTER—(Jerusalem) Khaled Mahameed, an Israeli Arab lawyer who learned about the Holocaust while studying at the Hebrew University, established what is believed to be the first-ever Holocaust teaching center in Israel’s Arab sector. Based in Nazareth, the Arab Institute for Holocaust Research and Education aims to disseminate information about the Holocaust to Arabs to create greater understanding and foster peace and equality. Mohammed purchased more than 80 photos from Yad Vashem for the center and printed 2,000 copies of the explanatory booklet he wrote in Arabic. He has also offered stipends to Arabs who want to study the Holocaust. (Jer. Post, March 18)

Courtesy of Canadian Institute for Jewish Research – 514-486-5544