February 10, 2012 Yitro
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
February 20, 2012
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Yitro
Candle Lighting: 5:14pm
Shabbat Ends: 6:11pm
Torah Message
The Princess and the Bentley
"Thou shalt not covet." (20:14)
How is it possible to command people not to covet? Coveting is a knee-jerk reaction, isn’t it? You see someone driving along in a Bentley Continental and before you can even think twice, your envy-glands go into overdrive. Covetousness is a reflex, isn’t it? It’s not in the domain of intellectual control, is it?
Once there was a peasant who stood in line all day to see the king pass by. At last, the royal procession drew close. He craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the royal countenance. Immediately behind the king stood the crown princess; the peasant was taken aback. The princess was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had delicate pale features. All the women he knew had coarse sun-browned skin and bad teeth. A peasant’s life is not conducive to physical beauty. However, despite the princess’s exquisite appearance, not for one moment did the peasant desire or covet her. She was someone so above his station in life that it never entered his mind that he was even in the same world as her. She remained an ethereal unreality in another cosmos
The root of all desire is the unconscious assumption that we could have the object of our desire. If we feel that it’s possible for us to have that thing, if we feel that it’s within our orbit, the next step is to covet it.
The truth of the matter is that G-d puts each of us on our own separate monorail in life. Like two trains speeding past each other in the night that come ever-so-close, but never (hopefully) touch.
The fact that you have a Bentley Continental and I don’t doesn’t mean that if you weren’t around I could have your car. It means that if you weren’t around that Bentley Continental wouldn’t exist.
The mitzvah of not coveting tells us to look at someone else’s Bentley as peasant looks at a princess.
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
****
Congratulations to Mr. Aime Eliezer Oiknine for being elected as the new president of Em Habanim. May he be a source of growth and success for his community and all of Am Yisrael.
****
Purim Monte Carlo Night March 7th at 8pm at Emhabanim. For more Info. visit www.emhabanim.com
Sephardic Temple:
Talmud Torah and Youth Havadalah and Movie Nite will return in January after the completion of the remodel of the new Alcana Youth Lounge. Watch for upcoming dates and info!
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
February 2, 2012 Beshalach
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
February 11, 2012
February 20, 2012
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Beshalach
Candle Lighting: 5:07pm
Shabbat Ends: 6:05pm
Torah Messag
A Divine Tapestry
"Then Moshe and the Children of Yisrael chose to sing this song to G-d." (15:1)
As a young boy, I remember my mother weaving a tapestry of Gainsborough’s "The Boy In Blue". It took her forever. One day, shortly before she finished it, I remember picking it up and thinking to myself: "Mommy, you may be the best mother in the world, but when it comes to needlework, well… There’s a piece of red sticking out here. Over here, there’s a turquoise thread that seems to go nowhere. Clumps of wool all over the place. This doesn’t look anything like Gainsbrough. This thing is a mess!" The whole thing looked like chaos.
Suddenly, my fingertips detected smooth regular stitching on the other side of the tapestry. I turned the tapestry over and saw the most beautiful sight. An exquisite and precise copy of Gainsborough’s "Boy in Blue". The stitches were so regular and well formed. The colors all blended so beautifully together. A divine tapestry! All the disjointed threads that I saw on the other side of the tapestry harmonized into a complete and beautiful whole.
Sometimes it’s very difficult to see sense in world events. It’s difficult to believe that the world is being run by Somebody. You wonder how things could be part of a Divine coherent plan. You hear about suffering and evil, and you wonder how this can this be the handiwork of a Merciful G-d?
Don’t think you’re alone if you feel like that. You’re in good company. Because one of the greatest men who ever lived felt exactly like you. Moses, our greatest teacher, also had his questions about how G-d was running the show. In last week’s Torah portion Moses went to Pharaoh to ask him to let the Jewish People go. Pharaoh, as you may remember, was not the easiest of negotiating partners. In reply to Moses’ request, Pharaoh told the taskmasters to stop giving the Jews straw. However, the Jews were still required to produce the same quantity of bricks as before. Not surprisingly, the Jews complained bitterly to Moses. So Moses went back to G-d and said, "Why have You done evil to this people; why have you sent me? From the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he did evil to this People, but You did not rescue Your people."
Moses wasn’t just complaining about the problems he was having now with Pharaoh. Rather, he was saying that "from the time" – from its very beginning – the whole plan to take the Jews out of Egypt was fatally flawed. He was saying to G-d that he didn’t see any order in what was going on.
When you look at life’s rich tapestry from the wrong side it looks like a complete mess. Moshe didn’t see the Divine needlework of the Creator. He was looking at events from the wrong perspective. However, the same word that Moshe used to complain to G-d, he repeated in G-d’s praise when he saw the perfection of the Divine Plan. The Midrash says that just as Moses erred with the expression M’Az – "From the time" – so too with that same word "Az", Moses rectified his mistake.
After the Jewish People emerged from the splitting of the sea, they saw the mighty Egyptian army strewn across the beach like so many broken toy soldiers. It was there that every Jew, from the greatest to the most humble, reached a level of insight into the workings of the world that has never been repeated.
This perception moved Moses and the Children of Israel to song. Song in Jewish thought represents the ability to harmonize all the disparate events in our world and plug them back into the One – "G-d is One".
"Then – Az – Moses and the Children of Israel sang a song."
That song is part of the prayers we say every single day of the year. Maybe one of the reasons we say it every day is to remind ourselves that when life seems like a bad attempt at modern art, we must know that there is a Supernal Artist weaving the Divine Tapestry. And not a single thread is without design and beauty.
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
****
Congratulations to Mr. Aime Eliezer Oiknine for being elected as the new president of Em Habanim. May he be a source of growth and success for his community and all of Am Yisrael.
Sephardic Temple:
Talmud Torah and Youth Havadalah and Movie Nite will return in January after the completion of the remodel of the new Alcana Youth Lounge. Watch for upcoming dates and info!
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
January 27, 2012 Bo
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
February 11, 2012
February 20, 2012
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Bo
Candle Lighting: 5:01pm
Shabbat Ends: 6:04pm
Torah Messag
I’m Being Watched!
"And G-d said to Moshe, ‘Come to Pharaoh…’ " (10:1)
Have you ever had the feeling that you are being watched? Have you ever felt that your every move is being scrutinized?
I’m not just asking those of you who have the misfortune to live in a police state. (Mind you, if you live in a police state, I doubt that the authorities are sufficiently magnanimous to allow you online access.) No. I’m addressing this to all of us whose most intimate contact with Big Brother was in a novel by George Orwell.
Have you ever felt that you are being watched? Do you feel that, as you are reading these words, right now, you are being investigated?
If the answer to these questions is no, then you’re in trouble.
Before you write to the editor of this august publication and suggest that he send the present writer on an extended South Sea cruise (chance would be a fine thing!), or call for those nice smiling men in their white coats – let me explain what I mean.
The phrase "the fear of Heaven" to our Anglo-Saxon ears sounds extremely archaic. It sounds like something out of the mouth of a street-corner gospel preacher, ranting his heart out to indifferent passers-by. We may be frightened by many things: that the dollar may go up; that the that the dollar may go down; that thieves may break into our homes; that we may contract some terrible malady. We may even be frightened that the supermarket will have sold out of our favorite dog food, but ‘the fear of Heaven’ is something very far from our hearts.
But, quite simply, the fear of Heaven means the feeling that you are being watched.
Try this experiment. Think for one moment that G-d is watching you. That’s right. Right now. G-d is watching your every move. In great detail. Think that G-d is right here, right now. Now, with that in mind, change the way you’re sitting or standing. Just a little.
What you just did was to show the fear of Heaven.
"And G-d said to Moshe, ‘Come to Pharaoh…’ "
Notice that the Torah doesn’t say, "Go to Pharaoh". Rather, it says, "Come to Pharaoh." Why?
There’s no such thing as "going" from G-d. G-d fills the world. There is nowhere where He is not. No place can exist if He is not there. You can’t "go" from G-d. Therefore the expression "Come to Pharaoh" is more apt because it also means, "Come – and I will go with you."
- Source: The Kotzker Rebbe
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
Sephardic Temple:
Talmud Torah and Youth Havadalah and Movie Nite will return in January after the completion of the remodel of the new Alcana Youth Lounge. Watch for upcoming dates and info!
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
January 20, 2012 Va’era
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
February 11, 2012
February 20, 2012
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Va’era
Candle Lighting: 4:53pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:57pm
Torah Message
The Real Thing
"…and Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs." (7:12)
You can’t fake the Real Thing.
When Aaron’s staff swallowed the staffs of the Egyptian sorcerers in front of the king it became clear who was authentic and who was not.
Jewish history has been plagued by other movements purporting to be the Real Judaism.
The most successful of these is undoubtedly Christianity, but there have been many others who have tried to authenticate themselves as the ‘real’ Judaism. Some break away from normative Judaism and change their name, and some try to usurp the authority of the Torah Sages and call their beliefs ‘Judaism’.
During the Ottoman Empire, the Karaites attempted to gain recognition for themselves as the ‘authentic Jews’.
They approached the Sultan, wanting to be recognized as the legitimate ‘People of Israel’, and that the Jewish People should be disenfranchised as being fakes.
The Sultan summoned a representative of both the Karaites and a Rabbi to appear in front of him at the royal palace. After hearing both their cases, he would decide who was the authentic "People of the Book".
Of course, as was the custom of the east, both the Karaite and the Rabbi were required to remove their shoes before appearing in front of the Sultan. The Karaite removed his shoes and left them by the entrance to the throne room. The rabbi also removed his shoes, but then he picked them up and carried them with him into the audience with the Sultan.
When the Sultan looked down from his throne he was struck by the somewhat strange sight of the Rabbi holding a pair of shoes, and he demanded an explanation.
"Your Majesty." began the Rabbi "As you know, when the Holy One, may His Name be blessed, appeared to our teacher Moses, peace be upon him, at the site of the burning bush, G-d told Moses, "Take off your shoes from on your feet!"
"We have a tradition," said the Rabbi, "that while Moses was speaking to the Holy One, a Karaite came and stole his shoes! So, now, whenever we are in the company of Karaites we make sure to hold onto our shoes!"
The Karaite turned to the Rabbi and blustered, "That’s nonsense! Everyone knows that at the time of Moses, there were no Karaites!"
The Rabbi allowed time for what the Karaite had said to sink in, and then quietly added, "Your Majesty, I don’t believe there is a need for more to be said."
You can’t fake the Real Thing.
- Source: Heard from Rabbi Zev Lef
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
****
Please join Em Habanim congregation as we celebrate the Hilula of Harav Yisrael Abuchatzira (The Baba Sali) on the 26th of January at 6:30pm. Dinner will be served accompanied by entertainment, admission $26.
Sephardic Temple:
Talmud Torah and Youth Havadalah and Movie Nite will return in January after the completion of the remodel of the new Alcana Youth Lounge. Watch for upcoming dates and info!
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
Disneyland
Mon. January 16, 2011
Ages 7-12 (Tikva & Aviv)
January 13, 2012 Shemot
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
February 11, 2012
February 20, 2012
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Shemot
Candle Lighting: 4:46pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:50pm
Torah Message
Kvelling
"And these are the names of the children of Yisrael." (1:1)
Imagine a grandmother sitting with a stack of photos of her grandchildren. She takes out the pictures after breakfast and leafs through them, reciting the names of each of her beloved treasures, one by one.
After lunch she has a nap, and then, well, she takes out her photos again and recites their names again.
And last thing at night, out come the pictures for a last time, kissing them and calling each of them by name.
The name of the book of Exodus in Hebrew is "Shemot", The Book of Names.
It starts with a list of the names of the children of Yaakov.
Even though the Torah had already detailed the names of Yaakov’s children in their lifetimes, the Torah lists their names again here after their passing from the world, to show how dear they are to G-d.
Because something that is dear and highly-prized is repeated and re-examined many times.
Like the photos of a doting granny.
The children of Yisrael are likened to the stars. Just as G-d counts the stars and calls them by name when they come out, and again when they pass from the world and are gathered in, similarly he counts the children of Israel both when they enter this world and when they are gathered in.
We should remember that since we are compared to the stars we must emulate the stars. Just as the purpose of the stars is to radiate light to the darkest and most distant corner of the universe, so too it is the job of the Jewish People to radiate spiritual light to the most benighted corners of the world.
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
***
Please Join Em Habanim for a special Lecture by world renowned Rabbi Yossi Mizrahi on the 16th of January at 7:30pm.
***
Sephardic Temple:
Talmud Torah and Youth Havadalah and Movie Nite will return in January after the completion of the remodel of the new Alcana Youth Lounge. Watch for upcoming dates and info!
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
Occupy Big Bear Teen Retreat
Friday January 6th – Sunday 8th
Ages 15-18 (Mitzvah & Haverim)
December 30, 2011 Vayigash
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
January 6th-8th
STAR Teens will occupy Big Bear on this amazing retreat. A 3 day luxurious stay at a 5 STAR hotel accompanied by great food lots of crazy fun, skiing, snow boarding and much more.
January 15th:
Disneyland
Let”s go to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland!!! To top it all off, you will be with the happiest people on earth, the STAR Group!
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Vayigash
Candle Lighting: 4:34pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:39pm
Torah Message
The Good Life
" The years of my dwelling have been one hundred and thirty years. Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life." (47:9)
Most of us think of life as a trip through a treasure house of experiences.
"Living it up" is synonymous with living itself: White-water rafting, paragliding, sipping Margaritas around the pool, seeing the Mona Lisa or the Pyramids or climbing Everest. That’s what life is all about!
The eulogy "He had a good life" usually means that the person used his time to maximize his experiences in the world. According to this view, someone who lives his life without tasting any of this world’s countless experiences hasn’t really lived.
Judaism’s view of the world is the total opposite.
Life experiences are like Cinderella. They last, by definition, as long as one experiences them. However sweet, however exciting they may be, there comes the moment when the gilded coach turns back into a pumpkin. Every moment of life is constantly passing and vanishing forever. As soon as the taste of one moment expires, we must seek a new taste, a new experience.
If life is the sum total of our experiences then life is really a kind of ongoing death, running from moment to moment, never being able to possess the moment itself.
We tend to think of this world and the next world like two chapters in a novel. One finishes and the other begins. This is not the case. There is nothing in the next world that is not in this world already. One of the blessings that we say on the Torah says, "and He has planted within us eternal life…" A plant does not make an appearance out of nowhere. The plant will never be more than what the seed contained. Similarly, our eternal existence is no more than what G-d has planted within us in this world.
If we live for the moment by perceiving life as a series of fleeting experiences, then the taste of the moment lives on our lips for that second and disappears forever.
However, if we take all those moments and connect them to the Source of Life itself, if we understand that our entire life, our entire existence, is just one facet of what the Creator wishes to express and reveal in His creation, then in the next world all those passing moments return to live eternally.
The seed that was planted within is nurtured and flowers into eternal life.
In this week’s Torah portion Pharaoh asks Yaakov, " How old are you?" To which Yaakov replies, "The years of my dwelling have been one hundred and thirty years. Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life."To answer Pharaoh’s question required no more than a number, "One hundred and thirty."
Why, then, did Yaakov see fit to give such a long answer?
You can dwell in this world without truly living in it.
On Yaakov’s level, "living" meant a life of constant Divine inspiration. Hence, he felt that he had not truly lived during the many years that he had been deprived of Divine inspiration.
Yaakov was telling Pharaoh that life is not a mere compendium of possibilities and that he who dies with the most toys wins. Life means immortalizing every second through connection to the Source.
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
***
Please Join Em Habanim for a special Lecture by world renowned Rabbi Yossi Mizrahi on the 16th of January at 7:30pm.
***
STAR would like to welcome Mr. Ezra Laniado as the new Em Habanim Youth director. We wish him lots of success and growth.
Sephardic Temple:
Talmud Torah and Youth Havadalah and Movie Nite will return in January after the completion of the remodel of the new Alcana Youth Lounge. Watch for upcoming dates and info!
Get Well Soon
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
Kids Chanukah Party
Dec. 25th, 2011
Ages 7-12 (Tikva & Aviv)
Dec. 23, 2011 Miketz
S.T.A.R. News & Events
Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:
December 25th:
STAR kid’s Chanukah party!!!
Join the STAR Gang as we journey back in time at Golf and Stuff. Unlimited games and rides for all, plus a special Chanukah presentation followed by Chanukah gifts!!!
January 6th-8th
STAR Teens will occupy Big Bear on this amazing retreat. A 3 day luxurious stay at a 5 STAR hotel accompanied by great food lots of crazy fun, skiing, snow boarding and much more.
January 15th:
Disneyland
Let”s go to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland!!! To top it all off, you will be with the happiest people on earth, the STAR Group!
This Shabbat
Shabbat Parashat: Miketz
Candle Lighting: 4:31pm
Shabbat Ends: 5:30pm
Torah Message
Do You Want To Hear A Good Story?
"Seven years of famine…" (41:27)
If you examine most classic Torah insights, they often start with an anomaly in a verse, be it in the spelling, the grammar, or the sequence of the words, and based on this anomaly the writer will draw a homiletic interpretation. And then he will write, "To what may this be compared?", and finish with a parable to illustrate the point.
I have had the merit, thank G-d, to write these insights on the weekly Torah reading for nearly twenty years. Early on in my career I made a discovery that I would like to share with you.
My feeling is that nowadays many readers are resistant to inferences based on textual anomaly–but everyone wants to hear a good story. So very simply, I reversed the classic structure, starting with the story and finishing with the textual analysis.
The great spiritual master Rava would always begin a deep Torah discourse by telling a joke. Why? As soon as the yetzer hara notices someone getting up to speak divrei Torah, it sends a powerful sedative to the brain.
Rava knew that to grab the attention of his listeners he would have to outflank the yetzer hara.
You can’t get people to listen to you unless you can first grab their attention.
My intention was the same as Rava’s, the same as any teacher – to grab the attention of the audience before they hit the delete button.
So having told you the story, here’s the anomaly:
In this week’s Torah portion, when Yosef interprets Pharaoh’s dream, he starts off by first telling him about the seven years of famine. Chronologically, the seven years of plenty came first.
Why didn’t Yosef start be talking about them?
In a country as prosperous as Egypt, talking about seven years of plenty would have been about as interesting as watching wallpaper. Yosef deliberately started with the years of famine because he knew that such a cataclysmic disaster would be sure to make Pharaoh sit up and take notice of his advice.
In communicating your ideas to people, you must first gain their attention. Without that, the best arguments will fall on deaf ears.
- Source: Ramban
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
Sephardic Temple:
Talmud Torah and Youth Havadalah and Movie Nite will return in January after the completion of the remodel of the new Alcana Youth Lounge. Watch for upcoming dates and info!
Get Well Soon
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