Hertz p.93
Soncino p.140
| Sidra Lite | |
| Wells Go Far | Rabbi Yitzhak Sufrin |
| The start of Shabbat | Rabbi Daniel Roselaar |
| Rambam, Maimonides | Rabbi Dr Michael Harris |
| 4th of Kislev | Rabbi Yisroel Fine |
| Palm Springs in Park Canada | Simon Goulden |
| Riddle of the Week | Matthew Weiniger |
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I want to talk about my great, great grandfather of many generations ago. He, Isaac, together with his father Abraham and his son Jacob were the forebears of our people, all of whom I am immensely proud. Curiously, though, Isaac only gets one Sidra to describe his life’s activities, whereas Abraham’s life story is spread over three Sidrot and Jacob dominates in no less than six! Furthermore, he lived the longest, 180 years, and undoubtedly had many accomplishments, yet the only one of his endeavours related in any detail in the Torah is a series of wells he dug.
The reality, though, is that therein lies Yitzchak’s major contribution. He tells us to dig and probe until we discover and uncover the soul and source. Be it the good that can be found in any Jew, the heart and moral of a story, or the lessons to be learnt from any experience in life.
Notwithstanding the brevity of Isaac’s life story, Toldot is a happy Sidra - the only one which covers the span of time in which all of our 3 forefathers lived together on this world. Probing deeper we realise that they had vastly different modes of service but that it was Isaac who provided the link to fuse and mould the apparent extremes of contrasting personalities.
In Abraham we see a fountainhead of Jewish generosity and social commitment. His home and heart were open to any wayfarer, regardless of who he was or where he was coming from, offering food, drink, companionship and guidance.
In Jacob we see a prototype of the Jew’s devotion to learning and, thereby truth. To quote this weeks Sidra he was "a dweller of tents (of study)" and "the voice is the voice of Jacob", he lives by the word. His first act upon arriving in Egypt was to establish a house of study. It was this attitude which enabled him to persevere under condition of exile and adversity. In the employ of deceitful Laban he built his family and fortune. In alien Egypt he created a lasting legacy for the future nation of Israel.
Isaac personified awe and ‘the fear of heaven’ and thus his efforts were directed towards revealing the inner core. When one digs a well, one penetrates beneath the external, earthy surface and taps the fountain of living water that lies hidden below. In every being there is a fountain, a G-dly core, a Neshama.
Each one of us share the same ancestors and are thus endowed with the hereditary love, awe and truth to be found in the DNA of our souls. The ‘Abraham’ within us reaches out to embrace the world, to extend friendship and support in a loving manner. But love, to be true, must be restrained and disciplined. The awe of our ‘Isaac’ is the source of such discipline. At the same time we are imbued with the capacity to reveal the hidden. In ourselves it is the potential to achieve, in others to seek and find only good. The outcome is truth and consistency.
In the Biblical account of creation the Torah tells us "And it was evening and it was morning etc." Consequently, Jewish days begin in the evening and Shabbat commences on Friday evening. Opinions are divided about whether one day ends and the following day begins at sunset (the view of the Geonim), or whether the point that separates one day from the next is nightfall, which occurs some time later (the view of Rabbenu Tam). Since the observance of Shabbat is a Biblical mitzvah a stringent conclusion must be reached. Thus we commence Shabbat at the earlier time, but do not conclude it the following day until the later time, this way avoiding any doubt about whether Shabbat has been properly observed.
The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 9a) establishes the principle of tosefet - that as well as the period of time that is automatically Shabbat, an additional period has to be added onto the sanctity of the day, both before Shabbat commences as well as after it terminates. Most halachic authorities regard the requirement to extend Shabbat as a Biblical one, and some even require one to verbally declare the start of Shabbat. (However, according to the Rambam the mitzvah of tosefet only applies to the prohibition against eating on Yom Kippur and not to a regular Shabbat.)
The Talmud and Shulchan Aruch do not specify how long the addition to Shabbat must be. The practice in London is to commence Shabbat at least fifteen minutes before sunset, and we do not conclude it until a short while after nightfall on Saturday night.
Rabbi Dr Michael Harris, Hampstead Synagogue.
Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon (Rambam, Maimonides)
Moses Maimonides, born in Cordova, Spain, in 1138, is considered by many the greatest Rabbi of the Middle Ages.
Rambam’s monumental contributions to Torah literature are all the more remarkable when one considers the many upheavals that he had to endure. He was forced to flee Cordova from a fanatical Moslem sect at the age of thirteen. Rambam’s family wandered in Christian Spain for twelve years, subsequently emigrating to Fez, Morocco, and then to Eretz Yisrael. As a result of the Crusades, Eretz Yisrael was not safe for Jews, and Rambam’s family finally settled in Fostat (present-day Cairo).
Initially, Rambam was able to devote all of his time to writing, while his merchant brother David supported the family. After David’s untimely death, however, the responsibility of supporting the family fell to Rambam. He became a physician, ultimately being appointed chief physician to the Sultan. He was also named "Naggid", or "prince" of Egyptian Jewry.
Rambam’s colossal reputation rests primarily on three of his many works: his Peirush HaMishnayot, a comprehensive commentary on the Mishna; his philosophical work The Guide for the Perplexed, and his magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah, a fourteen-volume codification of all of Jewish law, also known as Yad Hachazakah - The Mighty Hand - the word Yad having the numerical value of 14.
While, for various reasons, some aspects of his works attracted bitter opposition within the world of Jewish scholarship, the verdict of Jewish history on Rambam stands inscribed on his tomb in Tiberias: "From Moshe (Rabbeinu) till Moshe (ben Maimon), there arose none like Moshe".
Today, we commence a new series on the anniversaries of significant dates on our calendar, written by RABBI YISROEL FINE, Cockfosters & N.Southgate Synagogue
4th of Kislev
Today marks the anniversary of the death in 1939 of the Talmudic Scholar Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz. Rabbi Baruch Ber, one of the founders of the Yeshiva of Kamenitz in Poland and one of the great lights of his generation was born in Slutsk in 1866. He was a loyal disciple of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk and inherited his distinct analytical methodology of Talmud study.
He was a loyal disciple of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk and inherited his distinct analytical methodology of Talmud study.
A hallmark of his teaching was a passionate search for the innermost truth of the Torah’s teachings. In this pursuit he applied the most rigorous intellectual honesty.
Once in the middle of a lesson, a student asked a question which completely refuted the hypothesis of the Shiur. At that point Rabbi Leibowitz in the presence of all his students stepped down and suspended the Shiur.
In 1929 he undertook an arduous fundraising visit to America, and, in spite of the depression years, raised substantial funds and was received as royalty.
In 1939 the Nazis entered Kamenitz on Erev Rosh Hashanah and handed over the territory to the Russians in accordance with the Stalin-Hitler pact. Rabbi Baruch Ber moved his Yeshiva to Vilna but he and most of his students perished.
In 1942, his students and family reopened the Kamenitz Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where it is situated in the Geulah district to this day.
by Simon Goulden, Agency for Jewish Education
Palm Springs in Park Canada
One of the many benefits which the Jewish National Fund gives to Israel is the many parks and recreation areas, well tended and now maturing. One of those is Park Canada, which you will easily guess, was sponsored by the Canadian JNF! The park actually stretches over the entire eastern edge of the Ayalon Valley and the foothills of the Judean Mountains. This area has had more than its fair share of battles and conquests, as it held a key position on the way to Jerusalem. Joshua, Judah Maccabee, Saracens and Crusaders all passed this way and the War of Independence left the area a 'no man's land' until after the Six Day War, which brought it finally into Israel. The park stretches over thousands of acres and includes antiquities, a ruined Crusader fortress, Castellum Arnold and a Bar Kochba period cave hideout.
The central part of the park and the prettiest is, perhaps, Emeq Hama'ayanot – the Valley of Springs – with remains of water channels and a tunnel, which was dug nearly two thousand years ago which reaches the spring. In the rainy part of the year, the vegetation is lush and your walk will be accompanied by the sound of flowing water. Even in the height of the summer, the end of your walk will bring you to ma'ayan hatmarim - the palm spring - which waters the broad grassy area beside it all year round.
Even the entrance to the park has something of interest, with Byzantine and Crusader ruins, as well as the remains of a Roman house with a mosaic floor.
You reach Park Canada by driving on the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem Highway, Route 1, turning north at mechlaf Latrun (Latrun Interchange) onto Route 3. The entrance to the park is less than one km from the interchange.
by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
Last week's questions:
1) What is the connection between Sarah and King Achashverosh?
Answer:
Sarah died when she was 127 years old. Achashverosh ruled over 127 provinces.
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE Where in the Siddur do you find Isaac’s name spelt yiSchak instead of yiTZchak?
Answer:
In the prayer recited on the naming of a baby boy at a Brit Milah(New Singers Siddur Page 781).
This week's question:
1) set by Matthew Weiniger of Finchley.
Which Torah passage is read in Synagogue on three consecutive occasions, all within 24 hours?
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE Where in the Siddur do you find David’s name spelt DaYvid instead of David?
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