Sunday Morning Parasha Class with Rabbi Adam

Rabbi Adam S

R. Adam's Sunday Morning Parasha Class

R. Adam’s Sunday Morning Parasha Class

Our Sunday Morning Parasha Class is on for this week (Jan. 5). We will be studying Parashat BeShalach!

A special thanks to this week’s anonymous sponsor for breakfast, for a refuah shelema of the entire community.

Breakfast will be served at 9:45 am, the class is 10 am – 11 am, at 54 Steamboat Road.

This class is also for the refuah shelema of Ruchama Sara Miryam bat Tamar, Avraham ben Chava, Mordekhai ben Rivka, Ruth bat Ahuva, Rafael ben Michal, & Chana bat Rachel. This class is also for the iluy neshama of Nissan ben Yonah & Efraim ben Shemuel.

Parashat Va’era

Martin's Corner

Dear friends;
I hope you’ll enjoy the following parsha  summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” Parsha in a Nutshell  ”
G-d reveals Himself to Moshe. He promises to take out the  Children of Israel from Egypt, deliver them from their enslavement, redeem them  and acquire them as His own chosen people at Mount Sinai; He will then bring  them to the Land He promised to the Patriarchs as their eternal  heritage.
Moshe and Aaron repeatedly come before Pharaoh to demand in  the name of G-d, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the  wilderness.” Pharaoh repeatedly refuses. Moshe’s staff turns into a snake and  swallows the magic sticks of the Egyptian sorcerers. G-d then sends a series of  plagues upon the Egyptians.
The waters of the Nile turn to blood;  swarms  of frogs overrun the land; lice infest all men and beasts. Hordes of  wild  animals invade the cities, a pestilence kills the domestic animals,  painful  boils afflict the Egyptians. For the seventh plague, fire and ice  combine to  descend from the skies as a devastating hail. Still, “the heart of  Pharaoh was  hardened and he would not let the children of Israel go; as G-d had  said to  Moshe.

 

 

” Dvar Torah “
 This week’s Parsha is packed with   miracles, plagues and  supernatural events. Sticks transforming into snakes; water turning into blood;  hail pellets with a core of fire; dreadful plagues of frogs, lice, wild beasts,  pestilence and boils. G-d through Moshe, performs miracles for the Jews,  and brings plagues upon the Egyptians that have never been seen before.  But  it seems that some people just never learn. For almost a year Pharaoh was  literally plagued by every conceivable misfortune, yet he refused to let the  Jewish people go.  Of course, he pleaded with Moshe during every plague to stop  the great inconvenience, pain, and disaster that were befalling his country.   He  would even beg for mercy and promise to let the Jews go, yet he never  admitted  guilt.  He would plead with Moshe to stop the various  plagues. “Pray  for me and remove the frogs!  I will let you serve your G-d in  the desert.”   Sometimes he would offer unrestricted freedom, only to go  back on his  word when the plagues ceased.  Never, except on one occasion,  did Pharaoh  admit that G-d was right and he was wrong.
That exception was the plague of hail.  In fact, the plague of hail was so  powerful that even Hashem Himself categorized it in a unique way.  Moshe quoted  Hashem to Pharaoh: “This time I shall send ALL my plagues against your  heart, upon your servants, and your people so that you shall know that there is  none like Me in the world.”  Why did Hashem consider the hail a more  powerful act than His turning water into blood, or delivering pestilence, or  wild animals or frogs?  True, the hail did miraculously contain a  fire shield by ice, but all the plagues had miraculous attributes to  them.  Turning the Nile into blood is not an everyday type of a  miracle either!  So, what characteristic did the hail have to label it  as “all my plagues”?
Even more troubling is Pharaoh’s response.  After the plague of  hail strikes Egypt, he calls Moshe and Aaron and he tells them,  “this  time  I have sinned, Hashem is righteous and I and my people are the wicked  ones!”  What caused Pharaoh to utter those soothing words at this particular  time?   Didn’t he already see blood, frogs, pestilence, boils, wild animals, and  a host  of different miraculous misfortunes that befell his people? What was so  special  about the fire and ice falling from the heavens that brought one  of the  cruelest man on earth down to his knees?
Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetsky has an interesting insight to this question. He  says that there are many opposing forces in the world. However, when they  work in tandem, they become the most powerful force possible.  During this  plague, fire and ice, two opposing forces in the world of nature disregarded  their differences all in the service of the Supreme Commander, the G-d  Almighty.  When Hashem announced that He will send all of His plagues,  he meant that  when two conflicting forces work harmoniously  together, they have  the same power as ALL of the plagues  put together!.  After that, even  Pharaoh was sensible enough, although for  a short period of time, to see  his imperfection and delusions.  When even  the worst of men see fire and  ice dance together on one mission, there is  nothing he can do but watch in  amazement and admit, “Hashem is the righteous  one and I and my people are the  wicked ones.”
Yes my friends, when two opposing forces decide to work together,  they create the most powerful force. There is one other place in the  Torah which talks about opposite forces. In Parashat Bereshit, when G-d  wanted to create Eve, the Torah says, G-d saw that it is not good for  a man to be alone, so he created for him, “ezer kenegdo”, which means a helper  against or “opposite” him. The Chachamim derive from this Pasuk that men and  women are created differently and they might even have opposing ideas. But when  they work together and are willing to get along, only then, the woman will  become a helper to man and they will create the most amazing force together!  Partnership, whether in marriage or in business, is an excellent idea, but  it only works when the two parties are willing to get along and work together  despite their differences. But once they do, then they’ll become a  very powerful force just like the hail that brought Pharaoh to his  knees!
Radio commentator, Paul Harvey, once related the following story which  is another proof of the power of two opposing forces joining together: William  and his Aunt Caroline were constantly fighting.  Actually, William was jealous  of his aunt’s popularity and social status in the New York of the late 1890’s.   Compared to her, he was considered a social outcast, and was never invited to  any of her lavish parties.  That would have been bad enough. Having to live  next  door to her was too much for William to bear.  The sight of elegant  carriages  arriving and departing made him annoyed.  Yet he could do nothing.   At least he  did nothing until the family fortune was distributed and he  received 100 million  dollars.  Then he knew what to do. He decided to rip down  his mansion and build  an enormous hotel.  It had 530 rooms, 350 baths, and a  whopping 970 employees.   It would be the grandest, most elegant guest house of  it’s kind.  More carriages  would pull up to his property in a day then to  his aunt’s mansion in a  month!  Her home would pale in comparison, and  the comotion of it all would  force her to move.William was right.  Aunt Caroline moved way north of the shadow of her  nephew’s hotel.  And then, she ripped down her old home.  With the mere 50  million that she received, she too, decided to build a hotel on the site of her  old mansion!  It would be even more elegant, with nicer rooms and better  service  than her nephew’s.  Two adjacent, competing hotels would have been  built right  next to each other if not for the wisdom of William’s own hotel  manager.  He got  the two feuding relatives together and explained that  hostility is not the way  to success.”If you two could just work together and adjoin the two hotels as one, it  would become the most outstanding and influential accommodation on earth,” he  explained.  They listened and followed his instructions.  He even advised them  to make sure that every opening between the structures could be sealed again in  case of a renewed falling-out.  But in the end, William Waldorf and his aunt,  Caroline Astor decided to put away the locks and leave the openings open  forever.  And the world’s most luxurious accommodation was built — The  Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. 

 

ShabbatShalom & Regards;

 

Martin

Sunday Morning Parasha Class with Rabbi Adam

Rabbi Adam S

R. Adam's Sunday Morning Parasha ClassR. Adam’s Sunday Morning Parasha Class

Our Sunday Morning Parasha Class is on for this week (Dec. 29). We will be studying Parashat Bo!

A special thanks to this week’s anonymous sponsor for breakfast, for the refuah shelema of all who need a complete recovery.

Breakfast will be served at 9:45 am, the class is 10 am – 11 am, at 54 Steamboat Road.

This class is also for the refuah shelema of Ruchama Sara Miryam bat Tamar, Avraham ben Chava, Mordekhai ben Rivka, Ruth bat Ahuva, Rafael ben Michal, & Chana bat Rachel. This class is also for the iluy neshama of Nissan ben Yonah & Efraim ben Shemuel.

MTC Ice Skating at Bryant Park – Sat, Jan 11

Community News Headlines, MYC

MTC will be heading to New York city for a night of skating at Bryant Park. This year, the event will take place on Saturday Night, January 11th. Pizza will be served at 130 Steamboat at 7:30 PM, followed by bus departure at 8:00PM. $25 includes dinner, bus transportation and skating. Limited space available so please reserve your spot by December 24. For more information, contact Erica Kamali (516-965-8720), Adam Livi (516-423-3787) or David Hajibay (516-507-9232).

Click here for Flyer and more Info

ice skating bryant-park

Parashat Shemot!

Community News Headlines, Martin's Corner
Dear Friends;
I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parasha  summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell  ”
The Children of Israel multiply in Egypt. Threatened by  their growing numbers, Pharaoh enslaves them and orders the Hebrew midwives,  Shifrah and Puah, to kill all male babies at birth. When they do not comply, he  commands his people to cast the Hebrew babies into the Nile.
A child is  born to Yocheved, the daughter of Levi, and her husband, Amram, and placed in a  basket on the river, while the baby’s sister, Miriam, stands watch from afar.  Pharaoh’s daughter discovers the boy, raises him as her son, and names him  Moses.
As a young man, Moses leaves the palace and discovers the  hardship of his brethren. He sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and kills the  Egyptian. The next day he sees two Jews fighting; when he disapproves, they  reveal his previous day’s murder, and Moses is forced to flee to Midian. There  he rescues Yitro’s daughters, marries one of them – Zipporah – and becomes a  shepherd of his father-in-law’s flocks.
One day when Moses was watching  the herd, G-d appears to him in a burning bush at the foot of Mount Sinai and  instructs him to go to Pharaoh and demand: “Let My people go, so that they may  serve Me.” Moses’ brother, Aaron, is appointed to serve as his spokesman. In  Egypt, Moses and Aaron gathered the elders of Israel to tell them that the time  of their redemption has come. The people believe; but Pharaoh refuses to let  them go, and even intensifies the suffering of Israel.
Moses returns to  G-d to protest: “Why have You done evil to this people?” G-d promises that the  redemption is close at hand.
 ” Dvar Torah “
I would like to dedicate this week’s Dvar Torah to refuah shelemah of my  dear father, Reuven Ben Bilha, who is undergoing an important surgery next  week.  May Hashem protect him, heal him and help him with fast recovery. EL Na  Refana  Lo! Your prayers and thoughts are greatly appreciated;
In this week’s Parsha, we read about the birth of Moshe Rabeinu, the savior  of the Benei Yisrael. After the Jews have been enslaved by Pharaoh for  many  years, Hashem finally decides to rescue them from the hands of the  Egyptians by  sending Moshe to lead them out of Egypt. But there were other  heroes involved in  the rescue operation, who risked their lives in  order to save the Jews. Two  of these heroes were the two midwives who  delivered the Jewish  children, Shifrah and Puah. The Torah says:Now the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, and he said, “When you  deliver the Hebrew women, and you see on the birth stool, if it is a son, you  shall put him to death, but if it is a daughter, she may live.” The midwives,  however, feared G‑d;  so  they did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but they enabled  the  boys to live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them,  “Why  have you done this thing, that you have enabled the boys to live?” And the  midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian  women, for they are skilled as midwives; when the midwife has not yet come to  them, they have already given birth.” G‑d benefited the midwives, and the  people  multiplied and became very strong. Now it was because the midwives  feared G‑d,  that He made houses for them.There is an obvious difficulty in understanding G-d’s reward to the   midwives. The phrase “and the people multiplied and became very strong”   seems totally out of place in these verses. It appears to  interrupt the  description of the reward with which G-d benefited the  midwives by making them  houses.

Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetsky has an interesting observation that  explains the sequence of these verses. He believes that by telling  stories,  it always helps to understand the Torah better. Accordingly, he  says the  following story: A couple had a  premature child. The baby was in  the  hospital for a couple of months and  came home after several weeks of  intensive  care in the hospital. The  parents were very grateful to the doctors  and  especially to the nurses in  the Neonatal Care Unit. The father  of the  baby called his Rabbi and asked him  how he could show his  appreciation to the staff in the hospital. The Rabbi advised the  following: Every year on the child’s birthday, he  should take the child back  to  the Neonatal Care Unit and show the nurses and  the doctors how much he  has  grown. “See the actions of your hands. Look  who you allowed to live and to  grow  up.” The greatest reward for the people working in that unit is seeing  that   their efforts paid off, that their labors resulted in a very significant   accomplishment.

Rabbi Kamenetsky says that the same interpretation should be read in  these  pasukim: G-d rewarded the midwives with what? And the answer is: “The  people became  many and very mighty.” The greatest reward for the midwives was  that the Bnei Yisrael grew. Pharaoh wanted to kill off all the Jews  and destroy the  possibility of a future Jewish nation. The “houses” that G-d  made for  Shifra and Puah were only a secondary reward. Their main reward  was  seeing the fruits of their labor: Pharaoh’s decree failed. Their work to   save the Jewish people succeeded. The people became many and very mighty!

Yes my friends, because of the will of G-d and the sacrifices of many  heroes, we are a free nation today. Although, the Egyptian regime was  destroyed and we are not slaves anymore, but unfortunately, there  are still Pharaohs in every generation. And our today’s Pharaohs are  the enemies of the State of Israel, who want to destroy the Jewish  nation and wipe out Israel from the face of the map. But once again,  Hashem has not abandoned us. He has send us the midwives too. And our  today’s midwives are our dear Israeli Soldiers who risk their lives in order to  protect the lives of our brothers living in Israel. Don’t think for a  moment that their rewards are the medals or any benefits that they  might receive from the State of Israel. But rather, their true reward is  to  see the Bnei Yisrael “increase and become very strong”. May Hashem bless  them,  protect them and make them houses in this world and the world to come,  just like  he did for Shifrah and Puah.

 

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Sunday Morning Parasha Class with Rabbi Adam

Rabbi Adam S

Rabbi Adam's Sunday Morning Parasha Class
R. Adam’s Sunday Morning Parasha Class

Our Sunday Morning Parasha Class is on for this week (Dec. 22). We will be studying Parashat Va’era!

A special thanks to this week’s sponsor for breakfast, Brian Kohanian, for the refuah shelema of Avraham ben Chava and of the entire community.

Breakfast will be served at 9:45 am, the class is 10 am – 11 am, at 54 Steamboat Road.

This class is also for the refuah shelema of Ruchama Sara Miryam bat Tamar, Mordekhai ben Rivka, Ruth bat Ahuva, Rafael ben Michal, & Chana bat Rachel. This class is also for the iluy neshama of Nissan ben Yonah & Efraim ben Shemuel.

Holiday Mini-Series Learning @MYC office- December 25th

Community News Headlines, MYC

Bring meaning into your day-off and spend some time learning @MYC office. Come and learn on your own, with a Hevruta, or in one of the amazing classes being offered all afternoon (details on specific classes TBA) – Free Lunch as well!

11:00 am Doors open for learning. Classes being offered all day.

11:45-12:45– Rabbi Nir Shalom

12:45-1:30– Lunch

1:30-2:15-R Adam Sabzevari

2:15-2:30– Early Mincha

2:30-3:15– R Moshe Aziz

See flyer for more information

 

Affordable Care Act – SAVE THE DATE

Community News Headlines

Save the Date For an Important Lecture about the NEW Health Insurance Law  Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) – Thursday Jan 16

All community members are invited to attend an important program given by representatives of the FEGS organization ( member of the UJA Federation) regarding the Affordable Care Act ( health insurance ) , better known as Obama Care. You will get information, advice and help regarding the new health insurance law. Professionals from our own community will be there to translate and to assist you.  Thur, Jan 16 at 7 pm , Shaare Shalom , 54 Steamboat Rd. For more information you can contact Anna Carmili.

affordable care act