Hertz p.531
Soncino p.764
Shabbat ends in London at 9.44pm
Tuesday night & Wednesday will be Yom Yerushalayim
| Sidra Lite | |
| Plane speaking | Rabbi David Lister |
| Birkat Hamazon | Rabbi Daniel Roselaar |
| Yom Yerushalayim | Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis |
| Israel A-Z, Churchill | Simon Goulden |
| Riddle of the Week | Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis & Immanuel Burton |
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PLANE SPEAKING
Instead of walking straight across the flyover, I stopped in the middle and looked down. Forty feet below, the North Circular traffic hurtled by. From this angle, it all looked strangely anonymous.
Cars display all sorts of details about themselves and their occupants, but these are only visible from the side: I gave a home to a dog from the Battersea Dogs' Home; Lavender Hill Garage; Peace of mind from your Nissan dealer; IY NY At the very least, we get details about the engine or the make: 114 Gsi, Clio, dual fuel.
Lorries and vans are still more literary, often using every scrap of space to advertise a product or a service, or simply to communicate: You shop, we drop; Tilex tiling services; How's my driving?
Viewed from above, the scene is very different: every roof is bland and empty, and they all look the same. There is no communication, no personality and no interaction. And, of course, the same applies to the people who walk far below towards and away from the flyover. At a distance, they are indistinct smudges. Close up, there is no contact - not even eye contact, not even avoidance of eye contact and the subtle, wordless pact of "I'll walk on this side of the pavement and you walk on that side." Just the top of a head, or the top of a hat, bobbing along beneath, oblivious. When you're on top, the view is great, but you're on your own.
All this stands to reason; communication with someone directly above one is so impractical and so infrequent that advertisers do not bother emblazoning their messages on car or van roofs. Equally, pedestrians are unaccustomed to interacting on the vertical plane, and it is uncomfortable to do so, so they do not look out for what's going on up above.
This excursion to a different vantage point affords a clearer insight into a poignant verse in this week's Sidra. G-d promises the Jewish people that if we keep the Torah, "I will wander among you." (Vayikra, 26:12). This is a strange thing for an omnipresent Being to say. Is G-d not everywhere - including among us - all the time?
Perhaps G-d is giving us a hint as to how our relations with Him suffer when we ignore Him. On the one hand, G-d knows us more intimately than we will ever know ourselves. On the other hand, in a certain way, G-d feels "above" us - isolated from us - when we sin. And, through our failings and misdemeanours, we sink below Him and cannot see Him as well. This is, of course, a physical analogy for a spiritual reality. We know that connecting on the vertical is much harder than on the horizontal. And this is just what G-d means when He implies that sin removes us from His sphere of interaction.
Suddenly, when we do something wrong, communications with the Almighty are strained, distant and awkward. Our souls hurtle on below Him. We don't look up, we afford Him no access into our lives. Instead of inviting God to savour our personalities and appreciate our variegated, motley communication with Him, we rush along, insouciant, anonymous.
G-d does not enjoy our company, and we are unaware of His. But all this is only hinted at in the text. G-d accentuates the positive, stressing only the natural relationship with Him when all is well and we rise to the challenge of the Torah. When this happens, G-d promises, "I will wander among you." Our current exile and estrangement, for all the darkness, doubts and fear, constitute a mere blip in the normal state of affairs, when we can stroll along on G-d's level and bask in His company while He delights in ours.
Obviously, the mitzvah to recite Birkat Hamazon (Grace after Meals) is not restricted to Shabbat and applies whenever bread has been consumed. However, since there is a requirement to eat three meals on Shabbat there is also a requirement to bentch three times each Shabbat.
Birkat Hamazon is unique amongst the berachot that we recite. In general, the requirement to recite berachot - whether they are prior to eating food, before performing a mitzvah or as part of a prayer service - is Rabbinic in origin. However, Grace after Meals is Biblically mandated by the familiar verse that states: "You shall eat, and you shall be satisfied, and you shall bless Hashem etc." (Devarim 8:10). [Indeed, it may be for this reason that Birkat Hamazon is commonly known as "bentching" ("blessing"), reflecting its unique status amongst the various berachot.] According to Talmudic tradition,1 the first berachah in Birkat Hamazon was composed by Moses when the Israelites received the manna in the wilderness;2 the second was composed by Joshua when he led the people into the Land of Israel;3 the third was composed by Kings David and Solomon;4 and the fourth berachah was formulated by the Sages following the burial of those who died in Betar subsequent to the destruction of the Second Temple.
Since the Torah mentions eating and being satisfied in the context of reciting Grace after Meals, the Biblical requirement to bentch applies only if a person feels full from what he has eaten. However, there is also a Rabbinic requirement to bentch even if one has only eaten just a kezayit of bread.
Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis writes some thoughts about Jerusalem in honour of YOM YERUSHALIYIM
The eternal role that Jerusalem plays as the spiritual heart of the world matches in uncanny fashion the eternal nature and destiny of the Jew. From the very outset, Jerusalem was chosen for her spiritual properties.
Capitals invariably owe their choice to being on an important trade route or a major crossroad, possessing a large natural harbour or being beside a navigable river. Capitals must have the potential to be commercially viable and attractive centres. Jerusalem, however, is not on any main trade route. To her east, the King's Highway linked Arabia with Damascus. To her west, the Way of the Sea connected Egypt with Damascus, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Jerusalem is not on the coast: indeed, it has no river and its lack of a constant water supply has often presented a threat to her inhabitants. Jerusalem would not have been chosen as the capital of Israel were it not for the designs of Hashem: "The L-d has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His habitation". (Psalms 132)
As Hashem, true to His covenant, shows special concern for the chosen people, so too does He enjoys a special relationship with the chosen city. The prophet Zechariah brings this Divine promise to us: "Jerusalem shall stand, when all is over, where Jerusalem stood". (Zechariah 12:6) The prophet adds a strong word of warning to all those who desire to take the Holy City that is not theirs: "All that burden themselves with Jerusalem shall be sore wounded. I will seek to destroy all the nations that come up against Jerusalem". (Zechariah 12: 3,9) We can only shudder in awe and humility at the manner in which the accuracy of this prophecy has been proved. History has witnessed the setting of the sun over the empires of, amongst others, the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Assyrians, Byzantines, Crusaders, Tartars and Mamalukes, all of whom have taken occupation of Jerusalem.
With the liberation of Jerusalem during the Six Day War, we witnessed, according to the calculation of many historians, the actualization of a remarkable historical parallel: Following the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE, the Jews returned from Babylonian exile 50 years later, in 536 BCE. They immediately went about the rebuilding of the Temple, which was completed and dedicated 20 years' later in 516 BCE. The first Zionist Congress was held in Basle in 1897. 50 years' later on 29th November 1947, the United Nations voted to establish a State for the Jewish people in Palestine, signalling a return to Zion. 20 years thereafter in 1967, we once again attained Jewish rule over the holy Temple site in Jerusalem.
C - Churchill
In the - quite appropriate - lauding of Sir Winston Churchill as the Greatest Briton - it is sometimes forgotten that he was also a philosemite of actions as well as words.
In his first parliamentary career, in the early part of the twentieth century, he strenuously opposed the laws restricting Jewish immigration into the UK, supported the Saturday Closing and Sunday Opening Bills and fought for specifically Jewish educational rights. As early as 1908, he was expressing his "full sympathy with the historical aspirations of the Jews" to restore "a centre of racial and political integrity" in Palestine.
As Colonial Secretary in the 1920s he formulated what he thought would remain the basis of Anglo-Jewish co-operation and during his 'wilderness years' he fought against the 1937 Partition Plan and infamous 1939 White Paper (called by many Zionists "the Black Paper"), claiming that they were a breach of agreed policies - his!
Although there was no change in British policy during the Second World War, his Memoirs claim that, whilst not wanting to create disunity in fighting the Nazi enemy, he maintained his pro-Jewish attitude throughout. He was one of the first major British politicians to insist on the recognition of the fledgling State of Israel.
Last week's questions:
1. Which well known Biblical character's Hebrew name is a palindrome son of a palindrome?
Answer:
DaViD, son of YiShaY (Jesse).
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Anthony Kent of Borehamwood.
Which name is given at least once to three different people in the Torah?
Answer:
Reuel.
all had this name.
This week's question:
1. set by Immanuel Burton of Finchley.
Which long sequence of words appears only in benching and the blessings after a Haftarah?
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE
Where in Synagogue services do we say the words "Yom Yerushalayim"?
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