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Congregation Beth El
El--Atereth Israel
Parshas Yisro
Stone Chumash
Haftarah
Shema by
Mincha
Seudah Shlishis
Shabbos ends:
February 7, 2015
18 Shevat 5775
p 394
p 1154
9:25 am
4:45 pm
Kehillah Konnections
5:50 pm
Beth El Briefings
Mazel Tov— to Norman Hartstone on his special birthday and thank you to Normie and his friends for sponsoring today's
kiddush in his honor.
Condolences to the Packer Family— on the tragic passing of Julia Packer, z’l, daughter of our cherished members Judy
and Marvin Packer. Shiva will be observed at the Packer residence 949 Centre St. Newton Centre through
early Monday morning February 9th. For shiva minyan schedule and sign up go to http://shiva.bethelnewton.org May
Hashem console the entire Packer family among those who mourn for Zion and Jerusalem.
Middle School Musaf Minyan (M&M Minyan)— the M&M Minyan will continue this Shabbat at 10:45 am for 6th – 8th
graders. The idea behind this Minyan is that it offers the children the opportunity to daven in the main Minyan and hear
the Torah and Haftorah.
Father/Son Learning— This popular program for boys in grades 1-8, co-sponsored by Congregation Beth El-Atereth
Israel and Boston Kollel, will continue on Motzei Shabbat, February 7 at 6:45p.m. Please note new time. Rabbi Segal
leads middle school learning (6th, 7th and 8th grades) with weekly sports related prizes (Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski
jerseys). Thank you to Dena and Mark Salzberg for contributing the prizes for the Middle School program.
Father/Son Grand Finale Sunday Evening February 8— there will be a grand finale celebration of this season’s Father/
Son Learning. The celebration will include the middle school grand raffle for Celtics tickets, a bicycle raffle, music and a
kid friendly menu. Thank you to Barbara and Arnie Andler for contributing the Celtics tickets.
Mother/Daughter Learning— This Sunday, February 8th, the mother daughter learning series continues, co-sponsored by
Congregation Beth El Atereth Israel and the Kollel of Greater Boston. This will be a six part series of Mother-Daughter
learning. Grades 1 through 4 will study with Dina Feldman Pirkei Avot. Grades 5 through 8 will study with Rabbi Segal
Megillat Esther and its commentaries, exploring its depth and beauty. There will be prizes, raffles, and refreshments. The
sessions will take place between 10:30 and11:45 on the following Sunday mornings: February 8 and 22.
Beit Midrash and Rabbi Segal’s Shiur— The Beit Midrash program for men, co-sponsored by Beth El and the Kollel, and
Rabbi Segal’s weekly Talmud shiur, will continue on Tuesday, February 10 at 8:00 pm & 8:45 pm respectively.
Thursday Morning Class— Rabbi Segal’s Thursday morning class will take place at 11:00 am in the library. The class
will cover various topics on the Parashat Hashavua.
Bnei Akiva Snif— there will be no Bnei Akiva Snif this Shabbos.
Mishloach Manot— we will be having Beth El’s Mishloach Manot program on Purim through which you can send Mishloach
Manot to fellow shul members. See flier on the back cover for more details or contact Tanya Fischer.
AIPAC Policy Conference— Join the Beth El delegation for this year's AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C. March
1-3, 2015. It is a wonderful opportunity for our community to join with other synagogue delegations throughout the country
in support of Israel. If you have any questions, please contact Jone Dalezman.
JLIC Shabbat— on February 13-14, Beth El will be hosting a program by JLIC, a OU sponsored program for Orthodox
students on college campuses. We will have with us Rabbi Menachem Schrader, JLIC Founding Director, Rabbi David &
Ariel Pardo, JLIC Educators at Brandeis and Rabbi Yosi & Sheera Eisen, JLIC Educators at UMAS Amherst. The schedule is
as follows: Community Tisch on Friday night at 8 p.m. with dvar Torah by Rabbi David Pardo; on Shabbos Day after Kiddush, a panel discussion about Orthodox Life on College Campuses including all the above JLIC educators; at Seudah
Shlishit, a Dvar Torah by Rabbi Menachem Schrader.
Super Bowl Raffle— Thank you to Mike Hirsh for arranging the super bowl raffle which raised $1,020 for the shul and to
Dan Goldish for his technical assistance. Congratulations to Charlie Fine and Mark Fraenkel for guessing the final scores
of the Super bowl raffle.
Minyanim — February 8-14
A
M
P
M
Sunday
2/8
Monday
2/9
Tuesday
2/10
Wednesday
2/11
Thursday
2/12
Friday
2/13
Shabbos
2/14
7:00 am
8:00 am
6:30 am
6:40 am
6:40 am
6:30 am
6:40 am
7:45 am
9:00 am
5:00 pm
6:30 pm
6:30 pm
Maariv only Maariv only
6:30 pm
Maariv only
6:30 pm
Maariv only
Candle
Lighting
4:55 pm
Shema by:
9:21 am
5:05 pm
4:50 pm
REGULAR CLASSES
Mishnah Brurah
Rabbi Segal
Sunday: 1/2 hour before Shacharit
(8:00 am)
Halacha Yomi
Rabbi Segal
Daily, after Shacharit and between
Mincha and Maariv
Gemorah
Mesechet Chullin
Rabbi Segal
Tuesday, 8:45pm
Parshat Hashvuah
Topics Related to Weekly Portion
Rabbi Segal
Thursday:
11:00 am
Mishnayot:
Seder Nezikin
Rabbi Asher
Shabbat morning
Leeder
8:30 am
Rabbi Leeder’s
home
Shabbat Morning Groups
Youth Groups
Toddlers-2nd grade
10:00am-end of Shul
• Toddlers—1st Lower Level
Classroom
• Pre K– K—2nd Lower Level
Classroom
• 1st-2nd Grades—3rd Lower
Level Classroom
Youth Minyan
3rd-5th Grades
10:15-11:00am
Chapel (in the basement)
M&M Minyan
6th-8th Grades
10:45 a.m.—11:15 a.m.
First Upstairs Classroom
Interested in sponsoring a Youth
Kiddush?
Contact Shari Lederman at:
[email protected]
Please remember to remove all
your trash from the Sanctuary!
If you have any life cycle events
that should be published in the
Kishrei, please inform the shul
office.
Office Hours
Monday-Thursday-9am-1pm
Friday: 9:30am-1:30pm
By Rabbi Avraham Fischer. A publication of the Orthodox Union in cooperation with the Seymour J. Abrams Orthodox Union Jerusalem World Center
Parshat Yitro
18 Shevat 5775 - February 7, 2015
Revelation at Sinai is the fulfillment of
Hashem’s plan for the people of Israel.
Everything that occurred up to this point
— from the descent to Egypt, the enslavement and oppression, the plagues,
the splitting of the Sea of Reeds and the
liberation — were all in preparation for
the nation’s encounter with Hashem.
After three days of purification, as the
Divine Presence descends in fire to the
top of the smoking, quaking mountain, the
people are ready for their collective
prophecy:
And Moshe brought the people out from
the camp to meet G-d, and they stood
upright at the foot of the mountain…
And the prophecy is heard:
And G-d spoke all these words, saying: I
am Hashem, your G-d, Who brought you
out of the land of Egypt, from the house
of slaves… (Shemot 19:17, 20:1-2).
It was known from the beginning that this
meeting would take place. While still in
Egypt,
And Moshe said to G-d, “Who am I that I
should go to Pharaoh, and that I should
bring forth the Children of Israel out of
Egypt?” And He said, “Because I shall be
with you; and this is the sign to you that I
have sent you; when you shall bring the
people out of Egypt, you shall serve
(TA’AVDUN) G-d on this mountain” (Shemot 3:11-12).
But, how can the receiving of the Torah,
in which the people were essentially passive, be regarded as the realization of
you shall serve (TA’AVDUN) G-d?
Indeed, says Ibn Ezra (in his long commentary), TA’AVDUN is not completely
achieved until later (24:4-8), when Moshe
writes down the laws, builds an altar,
and the people offer sacrifices, followed
by Moshe’s sprinkling blood upon the
altar, reading the Book of the Covenant,
and the people’s committing themselves
to obey Hashem. Serving Hashem, as
Godly call with commission and command.”
Hashem’s initial communication to the
prophet is more than just the contemplaHowever, most other commentaries untion of the mysterium tremendum; it is in
derstand that the very receiving of the
Torah is the actualization of TA’AVDUN. the form of a command, which establishes
Rashi (3:12) emphasizes that Hashem did the nature of the prophetic experience.
not rescue them from Egypt because they
Hashem’s first address to Adam, and thus
deserved it, but since “I have a great
to the human race, is
thing (consequence) for this taking out,”
And Hashem G-d commanded the man,
namely, because they are meant to resaying, “From every tree of the garden
ceive the Torah.
may you indeed eat; but from theTree of
Ramban makes the point that Moshe was the Knowledge of Good and Evil you
concerned lest the people would not fol- shall not eat of it . . .” (Bereishit 2:16-17).
Hashem orders Noach
low him to Canaan. Once they receive
the Torah, however, they become commit- “Make for yourself an ark of gopher
wood . . .” (6:14).
ted to Hashem, which is the service emHashem commands Avra(ha)m
bodied in TA’AVDUN; this, in turn, will
make the people committed to following “Go from your country and from your
birthplace and from your father’s house
and obeying Moshe (see 19:9). [This is
the position adopted by Rambam in the to the land which I will show you” (12:1).
The first recorded prophecy to Yitzchak is
Laws of the Fundamentals of the Torah
“Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the
8:2.]
land which I shall tell you of” (26:2).
Yaakov translates his vision of the ladder
Hirsch (Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch,
1808-1888) anticipates the entire diffi- into commitment:
And Yaakov vowed a vow, saying, “ . . .
culty by translating TA’AVDUN ET
this stone which I have set as a memorial
HA’ELO-IM as
“You shall become the servants of G-d.” shall become a house of G-d, and everything that You will give me I shall surely
This will occur through receiving the Totithe to You” (28:20-22).
rah.
And, at the burning bush, Moshe is
Heretofore, prophecy was the domain of charged:
“Do not approach here. Remove your
individuals. Now, for the first and only
shoes from upon your feet, because the
time in human history, an entire nation
place upon which you stand is holy
experiences prophecy. And, in this instance as in all others, the encounter with ground” (Shemot 3:5).
Hashem — TA’AVDUN ET HA’ELO-IM — Thus mankind learns that Hashem makes
takes the form of hearing the Divine Will demands and sets standards.
expressed in the form of mitzvot, comRabbi Frimer continues:
mandments.
“A similar pattern confronts us as we examine the record of the Sinaitic stand. On
This profound idea is developed by
Rabbi Dr. Norman Frimer (1916-1993), this occasion, to be sure, not just select
in his contribution to the 1966 book, The individuals are graced with the gift of
prophecy. A whole community particiConditions of Jewish Belief:
pates in a national divine-human meet“In almost every instance in the Pentateuch where the will of God directly con- ing. In fact, the revelation at Sinai itself,
fronts man, the event of revelation is not entailing a second creation, gives birth to
expressed merely as mysterious divine
a new people of Israel and constitutes it
presentness without content or specificity. at one and the same time as both faith
Invariably the Torah associates the
and nation. . . .
Moshe had said to Pharaoh (8:23),
means sacrifices and commitment.
Rabbi:
Gershon Segal
617-244-7233 X2
President: David Fisher
617-969-0713
Vice Presidents
Sam Wald
617-558-9985
Judy Packer
617-964-6956
Jack Schuss
617-964-6024
Treasurer
Ira Scharf
Associate Treasurer
Gary Lasman
Recording Secretary
Burt Leeds
781-983-6196
Associate Recording Secretary
Kenneth Snow
Corresponding Secretary
Michael Hirsh
617-969-7713
Associate Corresponding Secretaries
Sarah Okon
Larry Speiser
Financial Secretary
Payson Greene
Associate Financial Secretaries
Arnold Andler
Chairman of the Board
Philip Levy
617-244-5863
Vice Chairmen
Herbert Birnbaum 617-965-8235
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
ADULT EDUCATION
Judy Packer
617-964-6956
ANNUAL APPEAL
617-558-9985
Sam Wald
BROTHERHOOD
Norman Hartstone
617-244-4891
ERUV
FAMILY TABLE
Jane Hanser
617-965-8257
FUND RAISING
Phillip Levy
HISTORY
Ken Snow
617-332-4273
HOLOCAUST COMMITTEE
David Fisher
HOUSING
Payson Greene
781-444-7184
Burt Leeds
781-983-6196
ISRAEL SOLIDARITY TZEDAKAH FUND
MEN’S CHESED
Mike Hirsh
617-969-7713
NEW MEMBERS
Tami Wald
617-558-9985
Eliana Vidan
617-965-0484
POLITICAL ACTION
PROGRAMMING
Amy Rosen
617-965-1297
SHABBAT & YOM TOV YOUTH GROUPS
Shari Lederman, Shari Bloom
PUBLICITY
Debbie Schuss
RABBINIC ADVISORY
Arnie Andler
781-235-4444
RENOVATIONS
Mark Salzberg
617-796-9029
RITUAL
Nahum Vishniavsky
617-527-8462
WOMAN”S CHESED
Sara Okon
617-964-7375
YOUTH
Sherri Cohen
617-527-3624
Shari Lederman
617-969-4169
‫קהלת בית א־ל עטרת ישראל‬
Cong . Beth El-Ateret h Is rael
561 Ward Street
Newton Centre, MA 02459
Once again, however, the Torah does not
describe this “invasion” of the Timeless into
the timely, the Eternal into the momentary,
merely in the universal terms of “Presence
as power,” . . . not a call to some ineffable
spiritual ecstasy or mystical union. It is
boldly set forth in a detailed outline of
daily living, seeking to interpenetrate
every nook and cranny of experience with
holiness.”
Living a life in accordance with the commands of the Torah is the highest service to
Hashem. It is living a life in response to
prophecy.