June 15, 2012 Shelach
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
July 20-22, 2012
July 24-26, 2012
Here is what you have been waiting for, the famous STAR Camping trip July 24-26!
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Shelach
Candle Lighting: 7:49pm
Shabbat Ends: 8:51pm
Torah Message
The Disease To Please
"…we were like grasshoppers in their eyes…" (13:33)
Two actors are sitting in a beat-up coffee shop on Sunset Strip.
One is telling the other about the jobs he almost got, the jobs his agent messed up on, the jobs he should have got but he was too old, he was too young, too dark, too tall, too short. He carries on like this for about twenty minutes. Then he pauses and says to the other, “Okay, that’s enough about me. Now you talk about me for a while.”
I remember a school friend who used to spend a good ten minutes on his hair in the mirror trying to achieve a spontaneous effect.
It’s not just that narcissism is a very obvious and unattractive aspect of conceit, but it places someone in a world of reaction instead of action.
When we fall prey to the desire for the approbation of others, every decision becomes tainted with the disease to please. Rather than consider what is right, we may be equally or even more concerned about how it will look, how it will read to others.
Our age has even invented a profession for people whose job is to gauge and garner the approval of the masses – the Spin Doctor. Just like a doctor, the Spin Doctor diagnoses and prescribes. He diagnoses how a political decision will be received and he prescribes how to get the masses to swallow the medicine.
The task of the Jewish People is to be the emissaries of G-d in this world.
G-d’s imprimatur is pure unvarnished truth.
As the verse states, “G-d is a G-d of Truth.” The Hebrew word for “truth” is emet. Emet consists of the first, the middle, and the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Truth is only true if it is true at the beginning, in the middle and at the end. If you ‘spin’ it to the side anywhere along the line – it’s not what the Torah calls true.
"We were like grasshoppers in their (the giants’) eyes…"
The Kotzker Rebbe identifies this line in this week’s Torah reading as the root of the spies’ sin. Why were the spies thinking about how they looked to the giants?
As the emissaries of the Jewish People – and as Jews themselves – they should have had no interest other than to bring back an accurate report about the Land. Who cares about what other people thought about them?
The mere fact that they viewed themselves from the outside skewed their judgment and led them to create a world of illusion – a self-produced movie – which resulted in the greatest debacle in Jewish history.
All because of a little preening in the mirror.
Rabbi M. Weiss Rabbi Y. Sakhai
Community News
Em Habanim Congregation
Weekly Parashat Hashavua class with Rabbi Joshua Bittan on Wednesdays at 8:30pm for more info. visit www.emhabanim.com
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Em Habanim Sephardic Congregation is pleased to make available its elegant venue for your celebration. Excellent location with easy access to freeways. For more info. visit emhabanim.com
***
We congratulate Em Habanim on their Talmud Torah celebration. May you always remain a source of knowledge for generations to come.
Get Well Soon
We urge the whole community and all the jews around the world to pray for two 16 year old boys that were in a tragic accident. May hashem grant them a full Refuah Shelema and may he grant their families patience and nachat, Amen.
Ariel Menachem Chayim ben Miryam & Daniel ben Sara
We wish a speedy recovery for all the Jews that may need it where ever they may be and especially for:
Em Habanim:
Max Barchichat From Sephardic Temple: Al Azus,Buena Angel,
Elaine Leon,Itzchak Rachmanony
From S.T.A.R.:
Mordechai Chaim Ben Chana, Chaim Ben Buena,
Meshulam Dov Ben Chana Sarah
Bracha Eliza Bat Ehteram, Bracha Sara Chaya Bat Ronit,
Donna Devora bat Sara
June 8, 2012 Beha’alotcha
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
July 20-22, 2012
July 24-26, 2012
Here is what you have been waiting for, the famous STAR Camping trip July 24-26!
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Beha’alotcha
Candle Lighting: 7:45pm
Shabbat Ends: 8:48pm
Torah Message
Going Up
“In your lighting…” (8:2)
Once there was a rich nobleman who had a friend who was a simple laborer. The rich man told his friend that he would eat in his home. The laborer did not stint in preparing his home to the maximum of his ability. He cleaned and arranged his meager furnishings, set the table as lavishly as he could, and lit candles to welcome his friend. As it grew dark, the laborer went to the window and saw rising on the horizon a glow. At first, he thought it was the setting sun, but as the sky darkened, the glow continued to get brighter. Suddenly, his friend the nobleman appeared on the crest of the hill with a large group of servants all carrying torches. These torches were so bright that they lit up the night as though it were day. When the laborer saw this entourage approaching his cottage, he turned and looked at his room. The candles that he had arranged paled into insignificance in the glow of the torches that approached his home. Quickly, he extinguished the candles and hid the candlesticks in a drawer. The nobleman entered his cottage and saw the darkness and said, “Were you not expecting me tonight?” “Yes, I was,” said the laborer. “Why did you kindle no lights?” enquired the nobleman. “I did,” replied the other, “but when I saw the wonderful blaze of lights from the torches of your servants, I was ashamed and hid my candles away.”
On hearing this, the nobleman dismissed all his attendants and said, “Tonight I will dine only by the light of your candles so you will see how dear they are to me.”
People often ask why G-d gave us so many commandments.
Altogether, there are 613. It’s true, however, that not all of them can be performed by everyone. For example, there are mitzvot that only kohanim can do. There are those that only levi’im can do, ones that only women can do, as well as mitzvot that can only be done when the Beit Hamikdash exists. Nevertheless, that still leaves a tremendous amount of mitzvot.
Why does G-d need me to do all these things? What possible benefit is there to the Creator of the World if I put on tefillin, or if I love my neighbor as myself? Whatever little light I can shine into this world is infinitesimal compared to His Light. How can the little light that my kindness generates compare with G-d’s eternal kindness in creating the world and giving me the opportunity to exist and create a relationship with Him? Isn’t my little light swamped completely by His light?
This is exactly how Moshe felt when he entered the Sanctuary. When Moshe went in there he found the Sanctuary bathed in radiance of the Shechina, the Divine Presence. Moshe wondered how the poor earthly lights of the menorah could radiate any light. He thought they would be overpowered by the brilliance of the Shechina.
What possible use could G-d have for the wicks and oils of mere mortals?
G-d spoke to Moshe using the first word of this week’s Torah portion, “Beha’alotcha”. This word is usually translated as “When you light”; however it can also mean “In your elevation.” G-d was telling Moshe that the mitzvah of the menorah would elevate him. And so it is with all the mitzvot. Every mitzvah is a chance to become spiritually elevated.
The Torah is 613 ways to become closer to G-d.
- Based on the Midrash
Rabbi M. Weiss Rabbi Y. Sakhai
Community News
Em Habanim Congregation
Weekly Parashat Hashavua class with Rabbi Joshua Bittan on Wednesdays at 8:30pm for more info. visit www.emhabanim.com
****
Em Habanim Sephardic Congregation is pleased to make available its elegant venue for your celebration. Excellent location with easy access to freeways. For more info. visit emhabanim.com
Get Well Soon
We urge the whole community and all the jews around the world to pray for two 16 year old boys that were in a tragic accident. May hashem grant them a full Refuah Shelema and may he grant their families patience and nachat, Amen.
Ariel Menachem Chayim ben Miryam & Daniel ben Sara
We wish a speedy recovery for all the Jews that may need it where ever they may be and especially for:
Em Habanim:
Max Barchichat From Sephardic Temple: Al Azus,Buena Angel,
Elaine Leon,Itzchak Rachmanony
From S.T.A.R.:
Mordechai Chaim Ben Chana, Chaim Ben Buena,
Meshulam Dov Ben Chana Sarah
Bracha Eliza Bat Ehteram, Bracha Sara Chaya Bat Ronit,
Donna Devora bat Sara
June 1, 2012 Nasso
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
July 20-22, 2012
July 24-26, 2012
Here is what you have been waiting for, the famous STAR Camping trip July 24-26!
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat:Nasso
Candle Lighting: 7:42pm
Shabbat Ends: 8:44pm
Torah Message
History Lesson
“On the first day, Nachshon ben Aminadav, prince of Yehuda, brought his offerings.” (7:12)
At the inauguration of the Mishkan, the princes of the twelve tribes of Yisrael each brought identical donations. These donations contained within them a symbolic “history lesson” depicting the history of the world from Adam onwards. What was the significance of this historical panorama?
The silver bowl that they brought alluded to Adam, the first man, for the gematria (numerical value) of word ke’arat kesef is 930 the years of Adam’s life. It was made of silver which hints to the fact that Adam kept six commandments of the Torah, for the Torah is likened to silver. The weight of the bowl was 130 shekels, symbolizing the 130 years that Adam lived before his successor, Shet was born. It was through Shet that mankind was established.
Apart from this silver bowl, they brought a silver basin. The gematria of mizrak ehad kesef (“one silver bowl”) is 520. Noach did not have children until the age of 500, and 20 years before this event, G-d decreed the flood. The word mizrak is from the same root as “to be thrown out,” and Noach was an outsider in a generation that scoffed at his building of the ark. This basin was also silver to represent the Torah, for in addition to the six mitzvot that Adam observed, Noach kept a seventh mitzvah not to eat the limbs or the meat of a living animal. The basin weighed 70 shekels corresponding to the seventy nations that are descended from Noach who are commanded to observe these seven mitzvot to this day.
The offerings of one bullock, one ram and one lamb as olah offerings hint to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. The bullock symbolizes the hospitality of Avraham when he ran to bring oxen for his guests. The ram is a reminder of Yitzchak’s willingness to be bound on the altar even though a ram was offered in his stead. The lamb represents Yaakov who separated his herds from Lavan.
The two oxen, which were offered as shlamim, allude to Moshe and Aharon who made peace (shalom) between the Jewish People and their Father in Heaven.
The kaf, spoon, represents the giving of the Torah. The Torah is called a kaf because kaf can also means “hand” – the Torah was given to us directly to be the “Hand” of G-d. The spoon weighed 10 shekels, corresponding to the Ten Commandments. It too was gold, alluding to the Torah. The kaf was filled with ketoret incense. The gematria of ketoret is 613, the number of mitzvot in the Torah.
When Adam sinned the Divine Presence withdrew from this world. The message of the symbolic “history lesson” of the princes’ offerings was that with the inauguration of the Mishkan which these offerings honored, the Divine Presence rested on the world once again.
Sources: Bamidbar Rabbah; Tzror Chamor
Rabbi M. Weiss Rabbi Y. Sakhai
Community News
Em Habanim Congregation
Weekly Parashat Hashavua class with Rabbi Joshua Bittan on Wednesdays at 8:30pm for more info. visit www.emhabanim.com
****
Get Well Soon
We urge the whole community and all the jews around the world to pray for two 16 year old boys that were in a tragic accident. May hashem grant them a full Refuah Shelema and may he grant their families patience and nachat, Amen.
Ariel Menachem Chayim ben Miryam & Daniel ben Sara
We wish a speedy recovery for all the Jews that may need it where ever they may be and especially for:
Em Habanim:
Max Barchichat From Sephardic Temple: Al Azus,Buena Angel,
Elaine Leon,Itzchak Rachmanony
From S.T.A.R.:
Mordechai Chaim Ben Chana, Chaim Ben Buena,
Meshulam Dov Ben Chana Sarah
Bracha Eliza Bat Ehteram, Bracha Sara Chaya Bat Ronit,
Donna Devora bat Sara
May 18, 2012 Behar-Bechukotai
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
July 20-22, 2012
July 24-26, 2012
Here is what you have been waiting for, the famous STAR Camping trip July 24-26!
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat:Behar-Bechukotai
Candle Lighting: 7:32pm
Shabbat Ends: 8:36pm
Torah Message
Holy Crop Rotation!
“For six years you may sow your field” (25:3)
I still remember learning at school about crop rotation. One year the field would be planted with wheat, the next year with barley or some other crop, and the third it would be left to lie fallow. And then the cycle would begin again.
When reading this week’s Torah portion, one could think that the mitzvah of Shemita the prohibition of working the fields in the seventh year is some kind of holy crop rotation. The difference being that in the Torah it says you should work the field for six years and leave it for a seventh.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
First, there is evidence that working a field for six straight years and then leaving it for one year does nothing to improve its yield and may even have a negative effect. Second, the Torah prescribes dire punishments for the non-observance of Shemita. The seventy years of the Babylonian exile were a punishment for seventy non-observed Shemita years during the 430 years that the Jewish People dwelled in the Landof Israel. We know that G-d’s punishment is always measure for measure. If Shemita was a matter of crop husbandry, how is exile an appropriate punishment? What does exile have to do with the cessation of agriculture in the seventh year? Furthermore, from an agricultural point of view, seventy years without husbandry can have had no possible benefit for the land. Seventy years of weeds and neglect in no way contribute to the land’s rejuvenation; so how is this punishment an appropriate restitution?
To answer these questions we must examine what causes a person to violate Shemita in the first place.
A great malaise of our own era is the compulsion to overwork. The workaholic defines himself by his job. When you meet someone socially, the question “What are you?” is usually answered by “I’m a doctor,” or “I’m an accountant” or “I’m a rabbi.”
There is a fundamental mistake here. What we do is not what we are.
In our society we have confused what we do with who we are. The underlying belief revealed here is that the more I work the more I become myself. Violation of the laws of Shemita comes from a belief that the more I work, the more money will I make, and the more I make, the more I am the master of my own world.
When a person is sent into exile, all the familiar comforting symbols of his success are taken away from him. He realizes that what he does is not who he is. Both his survival and his identity are G-d given gifts. The insecurity of exile brings a person face to face with his total dependence on G-d.
It is from the perspective of exile that a person can rebuild his worldview so that he can see that what he does is not who he is.
Rabbi M. Weiss Rabbi Y. Sakhai
Community News
Em Habanim Congregation
Weekly Parashat Hashavua class with Rabbi Joshua Bittan on Wednesdays at 8:30pm for more info. visit www.emhabanim.com
****
Get Well Soon
We urge the whole community and all the jews around the world to pray for two 16 year old boys that were in a tragic accident. May hashem grant them a full Refuah Shelema and may he grant their families patience and nachat, Amen.
Ariel Menachem Chayim ben Miryam & Daniel ben Sara
We wish a speedy recovery for all the Jews that may need it where ever they may be and especially for:
Em Habanim:
Max Barchichat From Sephardic Temple: Al Azus,Buena Angel,
Elaine Leon,Itzchak Rachmanony
From S.T.A.R.:
Mordechai Chaim Ben Chana, Chaim Ben Buena,
Meshulam Dov Ben Chana Sarah
Bracha Eliza Bat Ehteram, Bracha Sara Chaya Bat Ronit,
Donna Devora bat Sara
May 11, 2012 Emor
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
July 20-22, 2012
Join the STAR Teens on a trip to SAN DEGO California!!! 3 Days of Awesome fun with friends and the STAR Family!
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Emor
Candle Lighting: 7:27pm
Shabbat Ends: 8:29pm
Torah Message
Overview
The kohanim are commanded to avoid contact with corpses in order to maintain a high standard of ritual purity. They may attend the funeral of only their seven closest relatives: father, mother, wife, son, daughter, brother, and unmarried sister. The kohen gadol (High Priest) may not attend the funeral of even his closest relatives. Certain marital restrictions are placed on thekohanim. The nation is required to honor the kohanim. The physical irregularities that invalidate a kohen from serving in the Temple are listed.Terumah, a produce tithe given to the kohanim, may be eaten only by kohanimand their household. An animal may be sacrificed in the Temple after it is eight days old and is free from any physical defects. The nation is commanded to sanctify the Name of G-d by insuring that their behavior is always exemplary, and by being prepared to surrender their lives rather than murder, engage in licentious relations or worship idols. The special characteristics of the holidays are described, and the nation is reminded not to do certain types of creative work during these holidays. New grain may not be eaten until the omer of barley is offered in the Temple. The Parsha explains the laws of preparing the oil for the menorah and baking the lechem hapanim in the Temple. A man blasphemes G-d and is executed as prescribed in the Torah.
Rabbi M. Weiss Rabbi Y. Sakhai
Community News
Em Habanim Congregation
Weekly Parashat Hashavua class with Rabbi Joshua Bittan on Wednesdays at 8:30pm for more info. visit www.emhabanim.com
****
Get Well Soon
We urge the whole community and all the jews around the world to pray for two 16 year old boys that were in a tragic accident. May hashem grant them a full Refuah Shelema and may he grant their families patience and nachat, Amen.
Ariel Menachem Chayim ben Miryam & Daniel ben Sara
We wish a speedy recovery for all the Jews that may need it where ever they may be and especially for:
Em Habanim:
Max Barchichat From Sephardic Temple: Al Azus,Buena Angel,
Elaine Leon,Itzchak Rachmanony
From S.T.A.R.:
Mordechai Chaim Ben Chana, Chaim Ben Buena,
Meshulam Dov Ben Chana Sarah
Bracha Eliza Bat Ehteram, Bracha Sara Chaya Bat Ronit,
Donna Devora bat Sara
Community Lag BaOmer
Wed. May 9th, 2012
For the Whole Family!
May 4, 2012 AchareiMot-Kedoshim
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
Get Your Wristbands Now
May 9th, 2012
S.T.A.R. Community Lag B’Omer Extravaganza at the Santa Monica Pier May 9th, 2012.
Come and join thousands of Jews from all kinds of background on the happiest time of the year.
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: AchareiMot-Kedoshim
Candle Lighting: 7:21pm
Shabbat Ends: 8:25pm
Torah Message
G-d’s Waiting Room
“When you shall come to the Land and you shall plant any food tree, you shall treat its fruit as forbidden; for three years it will be forbidden to you.” (19:23)
With macabre humor, Miami Beach is called “G-d’s waiting room” because it abounds with retirement homes and hotels for the elderly.
Retirement is a western concept, and one that has come under criticism from doctors in recent years. Studies have found that people who don’t retire but stay involved in their work (albeit at a level that befits their age) have longer life expectancies than those who retire and relax into their “golden years”.
My father, alav hashalom, who passed from this world a few years ago well into his ninety-third year, was a person who worked hard throughout his life and never retired. Every morning he would still go into the office and do his work. He went in later and came back earlier, but he still kept his life’s routine.
Our Sages teach that G-d conceals our time of death from us so that we should remain active to the last.
The Roman Emperor Hadrian was once passing through the city of Tiberias in Eretz Yisrael. He noticed an elderly man exerting himself, tilling the soil around his fig trees.
“Saba! (Grandfather) Saba!” called out Hadrian, “Why are you working so hard? When you were young you had to toil to make a living, but now it’s time to relax. Anyway, you will never live to enjoy the fruits of your labors.”
The old man replied, “My task is to try and accomplish whatever my age allows. The Almighty will do as He sees fit.”
“Tell me, please, Saba, how old are you?”
“I am a hundred years old.”
“A hundred years old! And you actually expect to reap what you sow?”
“If I merit to eat the fruit of my labors, well and good; and if not, my efforts will benefit my children just as I have benefited from the toil of my forebears.”
Said Hadrian,”Hear me Saba! If you ever eat these figs that you are planting you must surely come and let me know.”
In due course, the figs ripened and abounded with fruits. The old man thought to himself, “I must go and tell the emperor.”
He filled a basket with figs and traveled to the palace.
“The Emperor wishes to see me,” he announced to the guards and they led him before the Hadrian’s throne.
“Who are you?" asked Hadrian.
“Does the emperor remember years ago in Tiberias passing by an old man tending his figs? G-d has granted me to eat of those figs that I planted. I have brought the emperor a basketful as a gift.”
Hadrian turned to his servants. “Take the figs from this elderly man and refill his basket with gold coins.”
His courtiers questioned the emperors generosity, “Why such an lavish gift for an old Jew?” Hadrian replied to them, “His Creator honored him with longevity; is it not proper that I too should accord him honor?”
The Creator does not want us to sit and read the newspapers in G-d’s waiting room.
- Source: Vayikra Rabba 25:5
Rabbi M. Weiss Rabbi Y. Sakhai
Community News
Em Habanim Congregation
Weekly Parashat Hashavua class with Rabbi Joshua Bittan on Wednesdays at 8:30pm for more info. visit www.emhabanim.com
****
Get Well Soon
We urge the whole community and all the jews around the world to pray for two 16 year old boys that were in a tragic accident. May hashem grant them a full Refuah Shelema and may he grant their families patience and nachat, Amen.
Ariel Menachem Chayim ben Miryam & Daniel ben Sara
We wish a speedy recovery for all the Jews that may need it where ever they may be and especially for:
Em Habanim:
Max Barchichat From Sephardic Temple: Al Azus,Buena Angel,
Elaine Leon,Itzchak Rachmanony
From S.T.A.R.:
Mordechai Chaim Ben Chana, Chaim Ben Buena,
Meshulam Dov Ben Chana Sarah
Bracha Eliza Bat Ehteram, Bracha Sara Chaya Bat Ronit,
Donna Devora bat Sara
April 27, 2012 Tazria-Mesora
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
Get Your Wristbands Now
May 9th, 2012
S.T.A.R. Community Lag B’Omer Extravaganza at the Santa Monica Pier May 9th, 2012.
Come and join thousands of Jews from all kinds of background on the happiest time of the year.
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat:Tazria-Mesora
Candle Lighting:7:16pm
Shabbat Ends: 8:19pm
Torah Message
So Far Away
“The kohen shall look, and behold! The affliction has covered his entire flesh, then he will declare the affliction to be pure.” (13:13)
Tzara’at, frequently mistranslated as leprosy, was a disease caused by spiritual defects, such as speaking lashon hara (slander). (Nowadays we are on such a low level spiritually that our bodies do not reflect the state of our spiritual health in this way.)
The verse here is puzzling for if “the affliction has covered the entire flesh” of the person that must mean that he is far from pure, and yet the Torah tells us that the kohen shall “declare the afflictionpure“. How can he be pure if the affliction covers his whole body?
The answer is that he is so far from being cured, having ignored all the warnings to do teshuva(repent), that the disease ceases to perform any further purpose. Thus the Torah specifically says not that the kohen shall declare him pure; rather that “the affliction is pure”. He, on the other hand, is as far from purity as is possible.
- Based on the Ha’emek Davar and Rabbi S. R. Hirsch
Rabbi M. Weiss Rabbi Y. Sakhai
Community News
Em Habanim Congregation
Weekly Parashat Hashavua class with Rabbi Joshua Bittan on Wednesdays at 8:30pm for more info. visit www.emhabanim.com
****
Get Well Soon
We urge the whole community and all the jews around the world to pray for two 16 year old boys that were in a tragic accident. May hashem grant them a full Refuah Shelema and may he grant their families patience and nachat, Amen.
Ariel Menachem Chayim ben Miryam & Daniel ben Sara
We wish a speedy recovery for all the Jews that may need it where ever they may be and especially for:
Em Habanim:
Max Barchichat From Sephardic Temple: Al Azus,Buena Angel,
Elaine Leon,Itzchak Rachmanony
From S.T.A.R.:
Mordechai Chaim Ben Chana, Chaim Ben Buena,
Meshulam Dov Ben Chana Sarah
Bracha Eliza Bat Ehteram, Bracha Sara Chaya Bat Ronit,
Donna Devora bat Sara
SIX FLAGS MADNESS
Sun. April 22, 2012
Mitzvah & Haverim (ages 13-18)
April 20, 2012 Shemini
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
April 22, 2012
SOLD OUT
Get Your Wristbands Now
May 9th, 2012
S.T.A.R. Community Lag B’Omer Extravaganza at the Santa Monica Pier May 9th, 2012.
Come and join thousands of Jews from all kinds of background on the happiest time of the year.
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Shemini
Candle Lighting:7:10pm
Shabbat Ends: 8:14pm
Torah Message
Chant Of Love
“Aharon raised his hands toward the people and blessed them.” (9:22)
One of the most awe-inspiring experiences is the Birkat HaKohanim, when a thousand-or-sokohanim bless the many thousands at the Western Wall in Jerusalemon the second day of Chol HaMo’ed Pesach and Succot.
Most of the time, prayer at the Wall is a segmented affair. This group starts as this one finishes, while yet another group is somewhere in the middle.
Apart from the daily moments of silence at the dawn’s break when everyone begins together the Silent Prayer of Eighteen Blessings, I can think of no other time when the whole of the Kotel is as unified as it is by Birkat HaKohanim.
The haunting chant of the Kohanic blessing evokes deep and powerful feelings in the heart of every Jew however religious he may be. It is a chant that echoes down the years. It is a living witness to the unbroken chain of Jewish tradition that links us to Sinai.
The first appearance of that chant is in this week’s Torah portion. Aharon completed his first day of service in the Sanctuary and he then blessed the people with great joy. Such was his desire to bless the people that G-d rewarded him and his descendents that they should bless the Jewish People thus throughout the generations.
The word for blessing in Hebrew, beracha, is connected to bereicha, which means a “pool.” Blessing is an overflowing pool that enriches and fills our lives.
In the time of the HolyTemple, when the kohanim would bless the people, they would raise their hands over their heads and make a space between the third and fourth fingers of hands. When they recited the blessing using the ineffable Name of G-d, the Shechina, the Divine Presence, would rest on their hands.
The kohanim to this day still cover their heads and hands with their prayer shawls when they recite the blessing.
But maybe we could also understand a different symbolism behind the covering of the hands of thekohen.
Our Sages teach us that blessing only descends on things that are hidden from the eye, that which the eye doesn’t see. For example, a farmer who starts to weigh his grain may pray that his crop will be large, but if he has already weighed it, he may no longer make such a request, for the size of the crop is already revealed to the eye. When the kohanim cover their hands they symbolize this idea that blessing descends only on that which is hidden from the eye.
Mind you, I wouldn’t recommend that because of this you give up checking your bank balance once in a while!
- Sources: Talmud Bavli Bava Metzia 42a, Mishna Berura, 128:98
Rabbi M. Weiss Rabbi Y. Sakhai
Community News
Em Habanim Congregation
Weekly Parashat Hashavua class with Rabbi Joshua Bittan on Wednesdays at 8:30pm for more info. visit www.emhabanim.com
****
Get Well Soon
We urge the whole community and all the jews around the world to pray for two 16 year old boys that were in a tragic accident. May hashem grant them a full Refuah Shelema and may he grant their families patience and nachat, Amen.
Ariel Menachem Chayim ben Miryam & Daniel ben Sara
We wish a speedy recovery for all the Jews that may need it where ever they may be and especially for:
Em Habanim:
Max Barchichat From Sephardic Temple: Al Azus,Buena Angel,
Elaine Leon,Itzchak Rachmanony
From S.T.A.R.:
Mordechai Chaim Ben Chana, Chaim Ben Buena,
Meshulam Dov Ben Chana Sarah
Bracha Eliza Bat Ehteram, Bracha Sara Chaya Bat Ronit,
Donna Devora bat Sara