Hertz p.45
Soncino p.60
Shabbat ends in London at 5.11pm
| Sidra Lite | |
| Lech Lecha | Rabbi David Lister |
| Shabbat candles - The Berachah | Rabbi Daniel Roselaar |
| Our Rabbis on Abraham | |
| Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir (RASHBAM) | Rabbi Dr Michael Harris |
| Mt Sinai (perhaps) Yeroham | Simon Goulden |
| Riddle of the Week | Andy Pater & Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis |
|
Two or three years ago, I was invited to a brit in an old country hotel in the heart of Berkshire. One of the other guests was a young Israeli who had flown over from Israel to be there. After the ceremony, I noticed that he was standing by the window. He was looking out over a lush golf course, deserted except for a few peacocks strutting in the sunshine. He stood there and looked out... and looked and looked and looked. He stayed by the window for ten minutes, transfixed.
Although I never spoke to him, I can guess what was going on in his head. He had just been whirled away from a country parched by drought and wracked by conflict and terrorism. And now here he was, entranced by a place where grass grew thick and green, and flowers turned their petals to the sun and bobbed in the breeze, and there was no tension and no fighting. He looked and looked and looked some more, and learned and memorised and stored this vision of serenity in his heart, to fortify himself against the next blaze of bloodshed and agony back home in Israel.
So why did G-d choose Israel as the Promised Land? Israel is at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. It is the gateway to abundant oilfields in the east, and the Mediterranean Sea and the Americas in the west. It is a magnet for every conqueror and despot. It has been invaded and ransacked time and again - Alexander the Great, Richard the Lionheart, Saladdin, Napoleon have all seized Israel as their own. Why couldn't G-d choose the Australian Outback as the Promised Land?
Our Sidra makes the question more piquant still. Even if we look back over nearly four thousand years, we see that Abram, at the dawn of history, was embroiled in a tremendous conflict played out on that same blood-soaked soil. Nine imperial armies, allied into two opposing coalition forces, battled this way and that for supremacy, rebelling and rampaging and ransacking their way into the history books. What hope for peace in our time if Israel has such a long history of warfare?
Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch takes this gloomy historical approach and turns it on its head, applying it not to the present but to the future. He juxtaposes the long-running tensions around Jewish life in Israel with the unthinkable prophetic visions of the future. Israel will be blessed with peace, there will be no more guns and tanks, and all the nations of the world will flow like a mighty river to the Temple in Jerusalem to learn Torah from and with the Jewish people.
Such a peace in the empty expanses of Siberia would be unremarkable. But in Israel, it will shine forth as a living example of G-d's gentle might, bestowing peace even to the epicentre of conflicts that shake the world.
And all the nations of the world will come to Israel, and marvel at G-d's gift of tranquillity, granted to this aching speck of a country. They will look and look and look again, and they will take home with them a vision of Divine grace and a lesson of true peace.
The mishnayot of the second chapter of Massechet Shabbat - read during the Friday evening services - consider the types of fuel that may be used when lighting Shabbat "candles." The principal requirements are that it should be something that provides a bright and clean light, and that it doesn't splutter or cause a foul odour that might cause a person to leave the room.
Traditionally, olive oil was often used for this mitzvah, and presently most people light wax candles. In the last one hundred-and-fifty years several authorities considered if it is acceptable to use gas or electric lights. Most came to the conclusion that it is entirely acceptable to do so, since the requirement to provide illumination in the house is fulfilled, and according to many halachists the regular berachah should also be recited.
Whilst in a conventional context it might be regarded as unauthentic not to use candles or oil, this ruling is significant and helpful for those who find themselves in environments where it is difficult to light regular candles. Thus, a person spending Shabbat in a hospital ward, under canvass, or in a hotel, would be well advised to fulfil the mitzvah by switching on the electric lights. (Interestingly, Israeli Chief Rabbi Nissim, writing in the early years of the State of Israel observed that due to frequent power cuts it may not be correct to use electric lights as Shabbat "candles" since there was no certainty that they would remain on for the duration of the Friday-night meal.)
Since electric lights provide an acceptable form of Friday-night illumination, some authorities recommend that the dining room lights be turned on immediately before lighting the traditional Shabbat candles and that the berachah be said over both forms of lighting.
* Abraham said to the Angels, "I will fetch a morsel of bread and comfort your hearts" (Bereishit 18:5). Later, however, it is written, "and Abraham ran to the herd and fetched a calf" (18:7). Said Rabbi Eliezer: From here you learn that the righteous say little but do much (Babba Metzia 87a).
* "And the L-d went his way as soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned unto his place" (Bereishit 18:33). The Creator knew that Sodom was devoid of righteous people; nevertheless, he allowed Abraham to finish his words. From here, we can learn the importance of allowing people to finish speaking without interrupting them (Avot d'Rabbi Natan 37:12).
* Abraham kept every detail of Torah law and taught it to his sons (Bereishit Rabbah 95:3).
* Abraham obeyed "My Torahs" (Bereishit 26:5) in the plural, i.e. both the Written and the Oral Laws (Yoma 28b).
* The Holy One Blessed Be He said to Abraham, "How shall I bless you? Only that all your children and your grandchildren will be just like you" (Bemidbar Rabbah 2:13).
* Eitan is another name for Abraham (Babba Batra 15a).
* Peace is so important that even Hashem changed His words for its sake. Sarah had said, "My husband is old" (Bereishit 18:12). Subsequently, Hashem said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying 'I have aged'?" (18:13) (Babba Metzia 87a).
* "He pitched his tent" (Bereishit 12:8). The spelling, however, is OHELOH, which means "her tent". From here, we learn that Abraham first pitched Sarah's tent and, only after he had looked after her needs, did he pitch his own tent (Midrash Aggada, Bereishit 12:13).
Rabbi Dr Michael Harris, Hampstead Synagogue.
RABBI SHMUEL BEN MEIR (RASHBAM)
Rashbam was the grandson of Rashi (discussed in last week's Daf HaShavua). He was the son of Rashi's daughter Yocheved and her husband Rabbi Meir ben Shmuel, a leading disciple of Rashi. Rashbam was tutored by both his father and his grandfather.
Rashbam was born in Ramerupt, France, around 1085, and died in France in 1174. He earned a living as a merchant of wine and wool.
Like his grandfather, Rashbam authored a most important commentary on the Torah. Characteristic of this commentary is Rashbam's unprecedently strong emphasis on the peshat, the plain meaning of the Biblical text. Whenever possible, Rashbam interprets the text in its literal sense, criticising previous commentators who had, in his view, failed to do this. Rashbam stresses the famous Talmudic dictum: Ein mikra yotsei midei peshuto - a Biblical verse is never free of its plain meaning.
Rashbam also followed his grandfather in penning Talmud commentaries. In some parts of the standard printed edition of the Talmud, Rashbam's commentary is included beside the Talmudic text itself.
by Simon Goulden, Agency for Jewish Education
A quick visit to Mt Sinai (perhaps) Yeroham
The Visitors to the northern Negev development town of Yeroham would be hard put to place mount Sinai here, but perhaps - just perhaps - things are not what they always seem.
Through the centuries there have been many theories about the location of Mt. Sinai. A good Bible encyclopedia will list several. In 1995 Dr. Gerald Aardsma, a non Jewish Biblical chronologist, advanced a new theory, locating it as Mount Yeroham (M'tzad Yeroham).
What, claims Aardsma, sets this mountain (more of a big hill in reality) apart from the other candidates which have been suggested is that it is the only mountain (he claims) which meets all of the criteria required by the Biblical account:
1. Distance from Egypt2. Not in Midian3. Sufficient room for the Israelites4. Presence of Pottery Sherds5. Adequate Water Supply6. The Bamah of Moses (cf Shemot 24:4)
In Aardsma's, very personal, view, it is nearly impossible to escape the conclusion that Mt. Yeroham is the Mt. Sinai of the Bible. You might well take a different approach, but a visit to Park Yeroham would certainly be appropriate. For a long time the park and the lake were in a bit of a sorry state, with industrial works close by for this development town which was originally settled by Romanians in the early 1950's. In truth, the Romanians were not the first settlers, as the site was well known thousands of years previously and is even mentioned in the writings of Pharoah Shishak. Valiant efforts are being made to improve the park and the lake now and, for the twitchers and birders amongst us, the lake has become a regular 'motorway service station' on the migration routes from Africa to Europe, extolled on ornithological websites.
You can visit Park Yeroham on Route 204, just west of the town, about 15 km south west of Dimona.
Last week's questions:
1) set by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
Explain: Today we have one of the two Ronnies in Shul.
Answer:
There are 2 Haftarot which commence with the word Roni:
· the Haftarah for Noach (Ronnie Akarah) and
· the Haftarah for Beha'alotcha (Ronnie Vesimchi).
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Rabbi Ya'akov Grunewald of Pinner.
In the Jewish world today there are four people who are all "the first". Who are they?
Answer:
The Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel is called "Rishon Letzion" - The First in Zion.
This title is kept for life. Today it is held by former Chief Rabbis
· Yosef
· Eliyahu
· and Bakshi-Doron,
· and current incumbent Chief Rabbi Amar.
This week's question:
1) set by Andy Pater of Bushey.
Apart from their suffixes, what, nominally, have the Sidrot of Lech Lecha and Shelach Lecha in common?
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
On which morning of the year in all Synagogues is Tachanun said and not said?
|