6— THE BULLETIN — Thursday. January 23,1992
Remember the SabbaUiyio keep H holy r. . Fourth Coirimaridment; Exodus, 20:8
Friday^ January 24v4:37 p.in. Sedra Yitro Havdala Shabbat eiids
January 25, 5:42 p.m.
Friday, January 3l, 4:49 p,nfi. : Sedra Mishpatim Havdala Shabbat ends
February IV5:52 p.m.
Beth Hamidrash (Sephafr die Orthodox), 3231 Heathfe St. Rabbi Y. Benarroeh| : Daily 7 a.in., Shabbat, Sun, and public holidays 9 a, Fri. 6 p.m.; Sat. sunset. 4222 or 873-2371.
Beth Israeli Conservative), 4350 Oak St. Rabbi W. Solomon, Rabbi R. Cahaha, Cantor M. -Nixon, Tbrah reader D. Rubin, Choir S. Pelman. Daily 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Fri. 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.; Sat. 9; 15 a^m. and 6 p.m.; Sun. 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. 73M161. ;
Beth Tikvah (Conservative), 9711 Geal Rd., Richmond. Rabbi M. Cohen, Torah readers D. Saunders and T. Wolinsky. Mon. and Thurs. minyan 7 a.m.; Fri. 8 p.m.; Sat. 9:30 a.m. 271-6262.
Burquest Jewish Community (Traditional), Oneg Shabbat Services, second Friday of ■ each month, 8 p.mE, 939-3119.
Chabad-Lubayitch (Chas-sidicj, 5750 Oak St. Rabbi Y. Wineberg. Daily 7 a.m. and sunset; Fri. sunset; Sat. IQ a.m.; Sun. 9 a.m. and sunset. 266-1313. :
Chabad of Surrey Com-muiiity Centre (Chassidic), 210-6950 Nicholson Rd., Delta. Rabbi M. Altein. Sat. 10 a.m. 596-9036.
■V*■'■■' • '.*.■■•'.. .
Eitz Chaim (Orthodox), 8080 Frances Rd, Richmond. Rabbi A. Feigelstock. Daily minyan 7 a.m.; Fri. 6 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m. and sunset; Sun. 9 a.m. 275-0007.
Emanu-El (Conservative), 146 i Blanshard, Victoria. Rabbi V. Reinstein. Sat. 9:15 a.m. 382-0615.
Har El (Conservative), North Shore, JCC, 1735 InglcNvood Ave., West Van.
—DEATHS —
PAULINE COHEN Dec. 23
SIDNEY ZACK Dec. 26
. MET A MANN Dec. 28
NINA ULLMAN Dec. 29
ROSETTA EDWARDS pec. 30
HARRIS BARNETT ■ Jan. 1 ■
JOHANNA JULIUS Jan. 7
As another BulMIn community service feature, Deaths will be published weekly as they are registered.—THE PUBLISHED.*
J.B. Newall Monuments
Hebrew Inscriptions Our Specialty
" Established 1909 Personal attention paid to ALL ORDERS fra»ef and 35th 327-1312
Rabbi I. Balla, canto rial leader R. Edel. Fri: 7 p.m.; every other Sat. 10 a.m. 922-8245 or 922-9133.
Louis Brier Home (Orthodox), 1055 W. 41st Ave. C. Kornfeld, D. Kornfeld, M.. Frumkin, R. Rosenberg. Daily4:J5 p.m.;Sat. 9:15 a.m. and4:15 p.m. 261-9376.
[Or Shalom (Traditional Egalitarian), 561 W. 28th Ave. Rabbi I. Marmorstein. Sat. 10 am.; monthly Fn. Oneg Shabbat. 872-1614.
S char a Tzedeck (Orthodox), 3476 Oak St. Rabbi M; Feuerstein, Rabbi S. Crandall, Cantor A- Katzir, Torah reader Rev. J. Marci-ano. Daily 7:15 a.m. and sunjiet; Fri. sunset; Sat. 9 a.m. and sunset;^unf::8;30 a.m. and sunset. 736-7607.
Temple Sholom (Reform), 7190 Oak St. Rabbi P. Breg-man. Rabbi Y. Zylberberg, cantorial soloist A. Guttman. Morning minyans; Sun. 9:30 a,m.; Mon. and Wed. ;7:15 a.m.; Fri. 8:15 p.m.; Sat. 10:30 a.m. 266-7190.
Whoever teaches^ his son teaches not alone his son but also his son's son, and so on to the end of generations.
Talmud
" * '■■ ■ * ■ ■ The fool searches for last year's snow.
Yiddish Saying
OFTHE
JLuNviteher
mm
YISRO
SHABBOS REST - IN THOUGHT, SPEECH AND ACTION
JEWISH CALENDAR
5752-1992
Rosh Chddesh Rosh Chodesh Fast of Esther Purim
Shushan Purim Rosh Chodesh Erev Pesach Pesach
\oin Hashoah • Rosh Chodesh Yom Hazikaron
Feb. 4-5 Mar. 5-6 Mar. 18 Mar. 19 Mar* 20 Apr. 4 Apr. 17 Apr. 18-25 Apr. 30 May 3-4 May 6
Our sages derive from the passage in the Ten Commandments, "The seventh day is Shabbos to G-d your L-rd," that we are to refrain on Shabbos not only from physical creative labor but also from speaking about such labor, etc., fpf just as Grd rested from the Utterances of Creation, so top are. we to refrain from such speech, v^y,/ ^
G-d's thoughts, however, are fully capable of bringing about action, that is, creation. The only difference between His thought and speech is that His thought.
being more sublime, creates creatures who are more spiritual, while His speech which is on a more revealed and lower level creates
RISKIN
:v■yitro
efrat, Israel - remember amalek
Remember the Sabbath. Last week's Torah reading concluded with devastation, and this week's begins with revelation, is there a connection? We all suffer various degrees of reverses, butevery oncein awhile one reversal is so devastating that it seetns impossible to get back on our feet again unless a total shiift takes place within us — a radical transformation of the soul.
This is what happened at the end of last week's portion, Beshalach, when the Jewish people faced their first major defeat after their grand escape from Egypt. The entire world should have heralded little Israel, this nation of exrslaves escaping bondage from the most powerful empire on the planet, and starting out oh a track of the message of freedom that could well revolutionize not only their own destiny but the destiny of the entire world.
What a powerful entraiice on the stage of world history, but then, for no apparent : reason, (not land, wealth or glory) the nation of Amalek attacks the weakest link of this nation, the old and frail and the young too tired and weak to prevent their ranks from being massacred. In the annals of Jewish history, this act has conie to be identified withthe essence of evil, destruction for the sake of destruction, G-d commands the Jews to record for all time never to forget what was done to them in the desert.
Even though we can no longer identify the Amalekites, Maimpnides specifically rules in his Laws of Kings Ch. 5, Law 5 that this commandment" • • is a law for all generations." Interestingiy enough, Maimonides points out that when Sennacherib, king of Ashur, captured the 10 tribes^ he also confounded all the nations of the Fertile Crescent — the seven indigenous nations are considered to have vanished off the face of the earth and so we no longer have the obligation to destroy theni.
But Amalek is different. The command to obliterate its rnempry is elfijrn^al. Reb Chaim of Brisk, the grandfather of my revered teacher. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, explained that Ariialelc applies to any nation throughout history—like Nazi Germany —t which lifts up its banner to destroy Israel. .V T:' T-'v'f:'-V
And this commandment, to remember the evil perpetu-ated-against you, never to forget it'and to attempt to destroy it, is not only found in the Book of Exodus, but is even repeated by Moses at the end of his life: "You must obliterate the memory of A malekjrom under the heavens. Youmust not forget** (Deut. 25:18).
But our Torah is hot built upon the possibilities of evil and our remembrance of destruction. Exit Amalek and enter Jethro: **Jethro expressed Joy because of ali the good that G'd haddqnefor Israel. . . He said, Praised be Q-dwho rescued you from the\power of Egypt and Pharaoh . /Ex. I8:9'10j,ikhro is (iTst and foremost a gentile, priest of Midian, a non-Jew who liever converts to his son-in-law's religion, but his zeal is genuine. In praising G-d theredeemer of Israel, Jethro puts things into focus, a chance for the Jews to see that the entire world is not Amalekian, that our G-d is not first and foremost a G-d of Vengeance but rather a G-d of redemptidn.
ft
Proximity alone woiild have been enough to conclude that the Torah wants these two gentiles to serve as a foil for each other. What confirms it is the fact that each incident becomes the source of a commandment passed down to the generations — destroying 'evil' and praising G-d for miracles. The Talmud in Tr. Brachot54a cites Jethro's praise as the source of the command to offer blessings on the spot where a miracle once took place.
; The inclusion of the Ten Conimandments in this week's portion signifies how crucial the sequence is. Only after heeding both commands — remembering Amalek and praising G-d for redeeming us — is it possible to truly keep the Tbrah's conimandments. This proximity also teaches us a fundamental law of life — that after remembering what
revealed creation and creatures.
In light of the above, it is to be understood that man's Ten thought bears absolutely no comparison to G-d's, since man's thought cannot affect anpther's actipris'^whilc G-d's thought does. Man's speech, however, in that it is capable of compelling external action, does bear some similarity, as it were, to G-d's speech. :
The differences in refraining from labor oh Shabbos with regiard to action, speech and thought. Will be uridcr-stpod accordingly: " " The general reason for refraining from labor on Shabbos is, "For [in] six days the L-rd made the heavens, the earth .. . and rested on the seventh day** — we are to emulate the
Amalek did to us, the Torah does not want us to dwell on our history of suffering, but to recognize that ultimately G-d shall destroy Amalek, erase his name, and redeem us.
Even in such a basic text as the Four Questions in the Haggadah, we see how remembering and praising is an integral part of Jewish theology, the paths of slavery and freedom constantly intersecting. The first question describes that on all other nights we eat chametz and matzah, and oh ; this night only matzah, the poor bread which interweaves in its dough both the symbol of slavery and freedom.
The second question deals exclusively with slavery in that it recalls how all year long we eat all vegetables, but on Passover only maror, the bitter herb.
The third question is again a mixture of slavery and freedom. On this night wediptwice, which is the symbol of free men everywhere, but look at what gets dipped, maror into charoset.ihQ bitterness into the mortar.with which the Jews built the cities of Pithom and Raamses. And karpasm saltwater for the tears that poured freely.
The fourth question balances the second question's slavr ery symbolism. All other nights we eat either sitting up or reclined, this night only recHned, a symbol of freedom.
As we can see from these questions, Judaism's night of remembering is not dedicated exclusively to slavery to avoid turning J udaism into a negative, lachrymose religion —one of the major reasons so many thousands abandoned it when they arrived in America at the turn of the century because it felt negative. Who wants to identify with a people that constantly stresses its history of destruction? The glory of the Pesach seder is the memory of slavery permeated with the blessing of freedom, emphasizing that "although in every generation there were those who rose up to destroy us, the Holy One always sayed us from their hands."
A curious phenomenpn has manifested itself in America. Part of it is positive, butpartofit is negative. In keepinjg with the commandment to remember Amalek, Holocaust centres are being built in such locations as New York, Washington D.C., Vancouver, Los Angeles. But a Holocaust centre which doesn'tr^manifest the words of Jethro's praise and enthusiasm for the greatness of G-d violates the subtle message in this week's portion. _^ "
Remembering the Nazis is only half the story; by itself, it is not enough to guarantee a Jewish future. Amalek must be linked to Jethro, devastation must be linked with revelation, destruction must be Hnked with redemption. That's why one Holocaust centre being built in America stanjis apart in iu^^ effort to preserve not just a memory, but also in its commitment toward the redemption of the Jewish people. In Los Angeles, the Wiesenthal Center is linked to YU LA, Yeshiva University of Los Angeles, and the significance of this fact bears the same significance as the proximity of Amalek io Jethro. Jewish education is the only proven guarantee for Jewish survival; Amalek will Only be destroyed through national redemption and the Divine lawsof ritual and ethics.
There is only one Yad Vashem in the world, and that's not only because of the quality of its exhibits, but the si mple fact that in leaving Yad Vashem, one finds oneself in Jeruaslem, in one direction the great complex of Jiic^^MbJiospital, and
SHABBAT SHALOM - Page 16
Creator. Therefore, though G-d's resting from creation on Shabbos alsp involved resting from speech and thought, nevertheless, since in man's realm thought and speech do not create action, the Biblical Commandnient of resting on Shabbos does not include resting from thought and speech.
Nevertheless, since there is some modicum of com-parispn between nian's speech and G-d's, for man's speech, as well, can compel action, therefore our sages
— whose province it is to prohibit those things that are similarto Torah prohibitions — also prohibited spea k i ng a bout c reative physical labor.
With regard to man's thought about labor; however, since it can in no way compre to Divine thought, there is absolutely no reason for it to be even rabbiriically
prohibited. Still, a pioiis individual
who seeks to emulate G-d's
ways will refrain even from
such mundane thoughts;
since Gd rested from
thoughts of creation, he
top will do SO;
Moreover, our sages go on to say that a pious individual refrains on Shabbos from even thinking about work and labor. The reason for this is that G-d created with His speech the revealed, world and with His thought the concealed worlds: Just as He rested from speech and thought, so tod will a pious individual rest not only from mundane speech but from mundane thoughts as well. ;v-
Since the underlying reason fpr man's cessation of creative physical labor is the same with regard to his actions, speec ha ndtho ughts
— G-d rested oh that day fro m a 11 His c rea ting act i 0 ns, s p ee c h a nd thoughts, why is actual physical labor prohibited by
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