July 13, 2012 Pinchas

S.T.A.R. News & Events

Here are S.T.A.R.’s upcoming exciting events:

July 20-22, 2012

SOLD OUT

Join the STAR Teens on a trip to SAN DEGO California!!! 3 Days of Awesome fun with friends and the STAR Family!

July 24-26, 2012

Here is what you have been waiting for, the famous STAR Camping trip July 24-26!


This Shabbat

Shabbat Parashat: Pinchas

Candle Lighting: 7:48pm
Shabbat Ends: 8:52pm


Torah Message

Make Mine A Screwdriver, Please!

“Harass the Midianites and smite them” (25:17).

Imagine yourself sitting on an airplane.

The person next to you smiles at you and then pulls out a screwdriver, places the sharp end into his ear and leisurely starts to turn the screwdriver into his brain.

You’d try and stop him, wouldn’t you? You’d knock the screwdriver out of his hand and kick it away from him.

Wouldn’t you?

How about if you found yourself sitting on a plane next to someone who is Jewish? They serve the food and you see him starting to eat a pork cutlet. Would you suggest that there was enough food for both of you, and that he join you and eat your kosher food? How about if he refuses? Would you knock his plastic tray to the ground and kick the food away from him?

Ideas don’t frighten us.

We are only frightened by what we see.

The greatest proof is that we don’t fear G-d.

We may know and believe that there is a G‑d, but how many of us walk around feeling that He is in front of us at every moment, watching us and listening to our every thought?

If we saw G-d, we would never sin. We don’t see Him, and that’s why we are able to pretend He’s not really there. In Hebrew, the word for fear and the world for sight are almost identical – "yirah". We are only frightened by what we see.

When we see someone murdering, it evokes in us a horror and a revulsion that is beyond words. But when we see someone encouraging a Jew to break Shabbat or eat non-kosher food, we don’t have anything like the same reaction. And yet, logically, our reaction to the latter should be far greater than the former.

If someone tries to murder you, he’s trying to take away your life in a world where everyone eventually dies. Someone who encourages you to transgress the Torah, however, is trying to take away your life in a world that you could live in forever.

As far as our eyes can see, this world is but a brief walk between two darknesses. However, weknow that this world is no more than an antechamber before the great palace of light. We don’t see the light, but we know it’s there.

The Midianites incited the Jewish People to sin. It is for this reason that G-d commanded us to take such harsh measures against them. It was not enough for us to attack them; rather we must maintain a constant enmity against them, a constant mindset to remind ourselves that they tried to implant in us a lust for immorality.

They tried to remove us not just from this world but also from the next as well.

 

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 

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