Hertz p.567
Soncino p.793
Shabbat ends in London at 9.56pm
Shavuot will be on Wednesday and Thursday
| Sidra Lite | |
| Noch Shleppers have status as well | Rabbi Martin van den Bergh |
| Shavuot evening | Rabbi Daniel Roselaar |
| Suicide bombing | Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks |
| Israel A-Z, D - Dizengoff |
Simon Goulden |
| Riddle of the Week | Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis |
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NOCH SHLEPPERS HAVE STATUS AS WELL
We all like to be counted. We all like to feel that we are fulfilling role, and many may think this is not possible unless we take the limelight. However, the Levites teach us that supporting roles can be just as effective and significant.
The Leviim may have been considered as Noch Shleppers seeing as they fulfilled roles secondary to those of the Cohanim, an impression still maintained to this day. Yet, they fulfilled tasks that did not only enhance the Temple service, but also the lives of the whole community. They beautified the Temple services with their singing and playing of musical instruments. They ensured the smooth running of the Temple by being the administrators and gatekeepers. They made sure that the different parts of the Mishkan were in the right place by carrying them through the wilderness. Above all, the Levi'im were the original teachers of the community - "They shall teach Jacob your judgments, and Israel your Torah" (Devarim 33: 10). Additionally it should be remembered that the Cohanim through Aaron actually emanated from the Tribe of Levi.
The Levites' elevated status was recognized in the laws of the census. They were to be counted separately from the rest of the Israelites , as it states, "But the Levites were not counted among the people of Israel." (Bemidbar 2.33) The Midrash explains the reason for this separation. The Levi'im did not participate in the sin of the Golden Calf. They were therefore not included in the Divine edict that those in the wilderness who were 20 years old and older would die before reaching the Promised Land. Therefore, the Levi'im were to be counted within the census from the age of one month, rather than from 20 years.
The important supporting role of the Levi'im in the Temple is reflected in many of the Psalms that are still included in our Synagogue services, especially in the Pesukei DeZimra.
While being an introduction to our main Shachrit (morning) service, these passages also re-enforce the importance of supporting roles and structures in any organization. Our Sages of old could not conceive engaging in the lofty spiritual act of prayer without preparing themselves. Similarly, we should not expect any organization, no matter how small or large, or society itself to function effectively without the support services. Alas, all too often these services and those who work in them rarely receive the admiration, let alone the recognition that they deserve. The separate census of the Levi'im teaches us that in order to be counted, it is most laudable to fulfil a seemingly secondary support role.
Above all, we are taught that being a team player is often of greater value than being a leader, and can be just as fulfilling.
Though many communities commence Shabbat early in the summer months, some do not commence the Yomtov of Shavuot until (just prior to) nightfall. This is based on comments of the Shelah. Since the Omer period must be "seven complete weeks" (Vayikra 23:15), it is suggested that if one were to commence the festival early, Shavuot would be celebrated before the conclusion of the seven weeks in their entirety. The Taz and Mishnah Berurah write that Maariv should therefore not be recited before nightfall, though other authorities require only that Kiddush be delayed until after dark.
However, not all poskim concur with this practice, since delaying the commencement of the festival until nightfall does not enable one to "add from the profane to the holy" which is our normal practice on the eve of Shabbat and festivals. Furthermore, the interpretation suggested by the Shelah is absent from the Talmud and other early sources, and it conflicts with the comments of some Rishonim who use the same verse to require one to count the Omer as early as possible on the second night of the Pesach in order to achieve seven complete weeks.
Because of these latter considerations, and combined with the practical realities of a late nightfall in northern areas, some authorities suggest a lenient application of the halachic stringency. The famed author of Melamed Lehoil writes that since (in the absence of the Temple) the counting of the Omer is a Rabbinic mitzvah, the festival may commence and Kiddush can be recited immediately after sunset (bein hashmashot).
Those who do adhere to the strict approach of the principal Acharonim must be careful that their gain is not outweighed by their loss. Thus, they should ensure that their full Yomtov meal is eaten only after Maariv and Kiddush, and that the Mincha service is not unduly delayed.
SUICIDE BOMBING
Suicide bombing is a misnomer. It confuses several different ideas. The first is martyrdom. Martyrdom is the willingness to die for your faith. Terrorism is the willingness to kill for your faith. The former may be an act of courage. The latter is always an act of cowardice.
Suicide is categorically forbidden in those faiths -- they include Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- which hold human life sacred and a gift of G-d. Suicide is not martyrdom. Martyrdom means being willing to die at the hands of someone else. That is what distinguishes it from suicide.
Terror is not and cannot be a religious act. The attempt to impose your faith or rule on others by violence is imperialism and should never be dignified by any other name. Judaism was born as a protest against empires, in the form of Egypt of the Pharaohs, which reduced people to slavery and sought to rule over large parts of the world. Religion can never be imposed by force because truth can never be established by power. "Holy war" belongs to the politics of imperialism, not the religion of Abraham.
The random killing of the innocent is an act that can have no religious or moral justification. Sympathy for those who do so is based on a failure of coherent thought. To understand why someone acts in a certain way has nothing to do with whether that act is right or wrong. We may be able to understand why someone commits a murder, but it remains a crime. Laws and moral codes exist to prevent behaviour that may be perfectly "understandable," even natural, but which is unequivocally wrong, destructive and evil.
The most demonic feature of suicide bombing is that it exploits precisely those aspects of free societies that make them good societies. Women and children are sometimes used as suicide bombers because decent people do not suspect them of being intent on murder. Countries which have strong civil libertarian traditions are chosen as bases for terrorist organisations because of the freedoms they embody. Terror exploits the vulnerabilities of freedom and compassion for its own murderous ends. To take advantage of the good in others for evil ends constitutes a double evil.
Civilisations begin to fail when they can no longer recognise evil and begin to make excuses for it. The Talmud (Shabbat 54b) states that one who could protest against wrongdoing but does not do so is implicated in its guilt. According to Maimonides (Melakhim 9:14), this applies not just to the Jewish people but to all humanity. That is why, according to him, the people of Shechem were guilty, because they saw their prince rape and abduct Dinah and did not bring the guilty party to trial. Amnesty International has declared suicide bombings to be a crime against humanity. They are also a blasphemy against G-d and His image, mankind.
D - Dizengoff
No-one who has visited Tel Aviv can have failed to know Dizengoff Street, but who was Meir Dizengoff ? Born in Bessarabia in 1861, he was active in Russian revolutionary circles in his youth and was arrested in 1885. Later he became active in the Hibbat Zion movement and during the late 1880s he studied glass production in France. He was sent to Palestine in 1892 by the visionary Baron Edmond de Rothschild to establish a glass factory to supply bottles for the wines produced in the settlements. Unfortunately, the factory was closed shortly after, in 1894, when it became clear that the local sand was unsuitable for glass manufacture.
Returning to Russia in 1897, he settled in Odessa, went into business, again becoming active in the Zionist movement. He returned to Palestine in 1905 and settled in Jaffa. Dizengoff was one of the founders of the Ahuzat Bayit Company for establishing a modem Jewish quarter near Jaffa. This quarter, later called Tel Aviv - a poetic allusion to Altneuland - was founded in 1909. In 1911 Dizengoff was elected head of the local council and, when Tel Aviv became a city in 1921, Dizengoff was elected its first mayor. Except during 1925-28, he served in that capacity until the end of his life.
Last week's questions:
1. set by Immanuel Burton of Finchley.
Which long sequence of words appears only in benching and the blessings after a Haftarah?
Answer:
Al Hakol Hashem Elokenu anachnu modim lach ....
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE
Where in Synagogue services do we say the words "Yom Yerushalayim"?
Answer:
In the Selichot in the passage of "Zechor rachamecha".
This week's question:
1. Cite two possible occasions when "Kadosh kadosh kadosh" is recited 10 times in Synagogue services within 24 hours (kedusha counts as 1).
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Professor Lester Kershenbaum of New West End Synagogue.
There are two occasions during the year when, in a period of eight or nine days, we read from all five books of the Torah. One occurs every year and the other occurs in most years. What are they?
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