What’s Nu?!
politico wannabees took this lesson to heart,
don't you think?
Live & Laugh
In Florida , an atheist created a case against the
upcoming Easter and Passover Holy days. He
hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case
against Christians and Jews and observances of
their holy days. The argument was that it was
unfair that atheists had no such recognized
days. The case was brought before a judge.
After listening to the passionate presentation
by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, "Case dismissed!"
The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the
ruling saying, "Your honour, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have
Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have
Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my
client and all other atheists have no such holidays."
The judge leaned forward in his chair saying,
"But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully
ignorant." The lawyer said, "Your Honour, we
are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists."
The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is
April Fools Day. Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool
says in his heart, there is no G-d.' Thus, it is
the opinion of this court, that, if your client
says there is no G-d, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned."
Sydenham Shul’s
Shabbos Smorgasbord
Rabbi Goldman - Halacha of the Week
Fish & Fowl and other Kosher Curiosities
in the Main Shul
Rabbi Stern - Tanya for Beginners
in the Elk Hall
Rabbi’s Pesach Appeal
Help Those in Need This Yom Tov
Rabbi Goldman Discretionary Fund
Cheques or Cash to Shul office or EFT to
FNB Norwood: Branch Code 258624
Account No: 503 600 89202
Thank You and G-d bless you.
The Barmy Boy
Saul Joseph
Mazal Tov Avi & Avril Joseph and grandparents
Doreen Bensaul, Rhoda Joseph, Lionel Joseph
and great-grandmother Phyllis Barnett.
Calendar
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Parshas Parah, 2 Torahs
Shacharis 8:15; Shtibl: 8:45
Shul Brocha in the Seeff Hall sponsored by
the Joseph Family in honour of Saul’s Bar
Mitzvah.
Smorgasbord of Shiurim.
Mincha: 5:40 pm
Shabbos ends: 6:48 pm
Shiurim @ Sydenham Shul
 Sunday morning 9 am—Mishna & Mysti
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cism Rabbi Goldman (boardroom)
Monday 1 pm - Businessman’s Lunch &
Learn (Ukhuni Furniture Centre, Wynberg)
Tuesday 1 pm—Ladies Shiur
Rabbi Goldman (Elk Hall)
Tuesday 7:45 pm - Gemorra Rosh Hashana
Rabbi Goldman (Rabbi’s home)
Tuesday 8:15 pm - Talmud Brachos (for
young men) Rabbi Stern (Rabbi’s home)
Wednesday 8:00 pm - Gemorra Sukkos
Rabbi Stern (Rabbi’s home)
Shabbos 8:15 am - Chumash Shmos Rabbi
Stern (Shtibl)
See pictures from Purim on:
www.sydshul.co.za
Management & Staff of Jack’s Paint &
Hardware, Highlands North wish all congregants a good Shabbos. 011 440 5868.
Nathan Fine of I.deal Furnishers at Midway
Mall, Bramley Gardens wishes all congregants
a Good Shabbos. Call 011 887 5456/082 854
5706. Furniture, Bedding & Appliances.
Acknowledgements: Chabad.org, zahavi.
Please take Good Shabbos Sydenham home if
you will only carry it within the Eiruv.
22 Mar 2014
Parshas Shemini/Parah
20 Adar 2 5774
Why We Keep Kosher
By Rabbi Yossy Goldman
An observant Jew was experiencing a crisis of
faith. He decided to sneak into a non-Kosher
restaurant and have a fling. He orders ‘you
know what,’ and is pumping adrenalin big
time, full of nervous anticipation of what that
forbidden ‘white meat’ really tastes like. Unfortunately for him, his Rabbi was walking
down the road behind him and saw him enter
the restaurant. The Rabbi was shocked. He
waited outside to see what he would order
and when the waiter duly arrived and removed the tray cover revealing the swine in
all its glory, decorated with the customary
apple in its mouth, the Rabbi rushed in and
confronted the Jew. “How could you?!” he
demanded. The shamefaced Jew trying desperately to explain himself out of a corner
replies, “Rabbi, this is such a fancy restaurant.
You order an apple and they make such a
fuss!”
This week’s Parsha, Shmini, introduces the
Bible’s dietary laws. Animals must chew their
cud and have split hooves, fish need fins and
scales, and a long list of forbidden fowl is
enumerated.
To those of us in Jewish education, it is a
continuing source of disappointment that so
many Jews still believe the Kosher laws to be
outdated. After all, they reckon, in the desert
our ancestors needed to protect themselves
from trichinosis and all sorts of diabolical
diseases so some kind of dietary system was
needed. But today, they argue, in an age of
government inspection and modern hygiene
standards, Kashrut is archaic, anachronistic and
quite dispensable.
How sad. The fact is that the Kosher laws were
never given to us for health reasons. If they
happen to be healthy or provide good hygiene
that is purely a fringe benefit. It may well be
one of the perks but it has never been the reason.
I often joke that if Kashrut was for health, then
all the Rabbis should look like Schwarzenegger!
And those who don’t keep kosher should look
sickly. In fact, anecdotal evidence seems to
prove the very opposite. Your average religious
type looks rather scrawny (or overweight) and
the non-kosher guys are the ones with the big
biceps!
So let it be stated categorically. Kashrut is not
for our physical health but for our spiritual
health. It is not for our bodies but for our
souls. It is a Jewish diet to help Jews remain
spiritually sensitive to their innate Jewishness.
While the Torah actually records no official
reason for these laws, the Rabbis and philosophers have speculated on their purpose. They
act as a bulwark against assimilation, we are
taught. On a simple level, if we keep kosher,
inexorably, we will remain close to Jewish communal life. We will shop in the Jewish neighborhood, possibly find it more convenient to
live nearby and generally mix in Jewish company.
A Rabbinic friend of mine once asked a very
high-profile Jewish businessman why he was
about to marry a non-Jewish woman. Couldn’t he find a ‘nice Jewish girl?’ His reply was
very revealing. “I just don’t mix in those
circles anymore, Rabbi.” There is no doubt
that had he still kept Kosher he would have
been compelled to mix in Jewish circles and
his life choices may well have been very different.
On a deeper, more spiritual level, keeping
kosher keeps our Jewish souls sensitive to
things Jewish. This is clearly a mystical concept and completely imperceptible but according to our sages it is a fact. Just as too
much red meat or fatty foods are bad for
your cholesterol; non-kosher foods are bad
for your neshoma. They clog your spiritual
arteries and prevent those warm, healthy
Jewish feelings from circulating through your
kishkes and your consciousness.
It’s very important to have a Mezuzah on
your door. It identifies your home as Jewish.
But what really defines your home as a
‘Jewish Home’ – what your Zayde meant
when he said with pride ‘My children run a
Jewish Home’ – is the kitchen! A kosher
kitchen makes a Jewish home truly Jewish. It
also extends a very warm and gracious invitation to all fellow Jews. Here you are welcome.
Here it is safe to come in and eat. Make yourself at
home.
Your favorite diet may build healthy bodies
but a kosher diet builds healthy souls.
Parsha Pointers
Shemini: Hertz Chumash pg 443;
Living Torah pg 537
On the eighth day following "seven days of
inauguration," Aaron and his sons begin to
officiate as Kohanim (priests); a fire issues
forth from G-d to consume the offerings on
the Altar and the Divine Presence comes to
dwell in the Sanctuary.
Aaron's two elder sons, Nadav and Avihu,
offer a "strange fire before G-d, which He
commanded them not" and die before G-d.
Aaron is silent in face of his tragedy. Moses
and Aaron subsequently disagree as to a
point of law regarding the offerings, but Mo-
ses concedes to Aaron thatAaron is in the
right.
es off with an admonition to keep ourselves pure
and holy.
Afraid? Good!
G-d commands the kosher laws, identifying
the animal species permissible and forbidden
for consumption. Land animals may be eaten
only if they have split hooves and also chew
their cud; fish must have fins and scales; a list
of non-kosher birds is given, and a list
of kosher insects (four types of locusts).
I've never understood it. Is this the culmination
of our becoming a nation? That is what G‑d
demands of us? Instead of sitting and basking in
the presence of G‑d or developing an appreciation for spirituality, we're expected to leaf our
way through a description of scavenging beasts.
Couldn't we stick to the high road? Let's talk
about truth, justice and the rabbinical way, rather
than take the low road of filth, avoidance and
disagreeability.
In the process of the Tabernacle's inaugural, the
Torah describes an interesting scene: The time
had arrived for the newly appointed high priest,
Aaron, to bring his first offering to G‑d—but he
stood on the side, reluctant to assume his duties.
His brother, Moses, came over to him and said:
"Aaron! Why are you fearful? L'kach nivcharta—
you were chosen for this!"
Also in Shemini are some of the laws of ritual
purity, including the purifying power of
the mikvah (a pool of water meeting specified
qualifications) and the wellspring. Thus the
people of Israel are enjoined to “differentiate
between the impure and the pure.”
In preparation for the upcoming festival of
Passover, when every Jew had to be in a state
of r ritual purity, the section of Parah
(Numbers 19) is added to the weekly reading
this week. Parah relates the laws of the Red
Heifer with which a person contaminated by
contact with a dead body was purified.
A Tale of Two Extremes
By Rabbi Elisha Greenbaum
In this week's Torah portion, Shemini, there is
a total contrast between the topics addressed
at the beginning to that of the end. It starts off
so spiritually. Moses inaugurates the Tabernacle and hands the reins to Aaron and the
priests. There are days of celebrating and rejoicing. Spirituality reigns supreme and a new
era of goodness and G‑dliness is ushered into
the world.
The tail end of the portion is so pedestrian in
contrast. In excruciating detail, G‑d lists the
animals that a Jew may not eat. There are signs
given for permitted land animals and fish, and
a list of birds that can never appear on our
menus. The Torah describes the process of
contracting various ritual impurities and finishSydenham Shul 24 Main Street, Rouxville, 2192.
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The same degeneration of purpose appears in the
Yom Kippur prayers. We start off the day so
puritanical and determined. We thrill to descriptions of G‑d's mercy and wonders. We resolve to
remain perfect and committed to our mission
and religion. However, as the sun sets, we pull
out a Torah scroll and, instead of all the highminded prayers of the morning, we recite a list of
forbidden sexual encounters and perversities. It
seems so out of context with the moment. Why
ruin the mood with depictions of unpleasantness
when we could appeal to our better feelings with
stirring calls to idealism and religiosity?
For better or for worse, this is the struggle of
humanity. It is never enough to rely on one's
natural abilities or innate connection with the
divine. Whether we like it or not, life is a daily
struggle against the profane and the immoral. It is
as much an act of courage to refuse to partake of
forbidden flesh or a perverse pleasure as it is to
shelter in the tent of Torah, communing with
G‑d.
No one is immune from temptation. Dressed all
in white on Yom Kippur, we must still hold true
to our morals and determine to remain connected
to G‑d.
It is not easy. We can sympathize and understand. Even those with the greatest spiritual gifts
and accomplishments struggle to remain perfect
at all times and under all circumstances. There is
nothing unnatural about sin. No one is immune
from temptation. The choices we make directly
impact on our future and those whom we love
and respect. All we can do is hope and pray to
somehow find the courage and conviction to
remain at all times true to our G‑d and beliefs.
By Rabbi Levi Avtzon
The holy Baal Shem Tov, founder of the chassidic movement, took these two words, "l'kach
nivcharta," and shined a deeper light into them:
It was at that moment, when Moses saw his
brother Aaron's hesitation to accept the highest
position, that he finally understood why his
brother was chosen. L'kach nivcharta—it is for this
– i.e., because of your humility and fear of heaven – that you were chosen. It was precisely because Aaron did not seek power or prestige that
he was chosen to be high priest.
Now try telling that to our wannabee politicians… "I'm the best for the job!" "My experience demonstrates that I can tackle any issue!"
"You can have 100% confidence in my ability to
weather any storm…" Where's the realization of
– and hence apprehension in the face of – the
responsibility that leadership requires?
Isn't it ironic that while we are bombarded by
speech after speech from self-idolizing hopefuls,
polls show that 75% of Americans believe that
there is a glaring lack of leadership in our country?
Rabbi Sholom DovBer, the fifth rebbe in the
Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, once advised one of
his chassidim to become a shochet (ritual slaughterer). The chassid was reluctant: "But Rebbe, I'm
afraid! It's a huge responsibility!" (Due to the
immense responsibility involved, the job of
shochet is traditionally reserved for individuals of
outstanding piety and integrity.)
The Rebbe smiled, and said: "Who then should I
appoint as a shochet? Someone who is not afraid?"
Of course one must have the skills to execute the
tasks that leadership demands, but humility and
sterling character constitute the meat of the soup.
The world would be a much better place if the