July 21 Shabbat Announcements

7/31/2019 July 21 Shabbat Announcements

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Parshat Mattos-Masei July 21, 2012 2 Av, 5772The book of Bamidbar drawsto a close with an account ofthe cities of refuge theplaces set apart as shelterfor those found guilty ofmanslaughter, that is to say,those who caused a humandeath, but accidentally orinadvertently, withoutmurderous intent. The citieswere havens, shelters, placesof safety designed to protectman-slaughterers fromblood vengeance by amember of the family of the

victim.

One detail in the legislationabout the cities of refuge isparticularly fascinating.Maimonides, following theTalmud, rules thus: One whohas been exiled does notleave the city of refuge at all,even to perform a mitzvah,or to give evidence in amonetary or capital case, orto save someone by histestimony, or to rescuesomeone from a non-Jew ora river or a fire or a collapsedbuilding. Even if all Israel

needs his help, like Joab benZeruyah [King David's chiefof staff], he never leaves thecity of refuge until the deathof the High Priest, and if heleaves, he makes himselfvulnerable to death.(Rotzeach 7:8)

There is a principle here thatsheds much light onJudaisms system of values.Outside the city of refuge,the person found guilty ofmanslaughter could be killedby the blood avenger: But ifthe accused ever goes

outside the limits of the city

of refuge to which he has fled, andthe avenger of blood finds himoutside the city, the avenger ofblood may kill the accused withoutbeing guilty of murder. (Num. 35: 26-27)

Only within the city of refuge wasthe man-slaughterer safe. To leavethe city of refuge was to put his lifeat risk. No one in Judaism iscommanded to put his life at risk tosave the life of another even tosave the entire Jewish people(even if all Israel needs his help).Despite the fact that Judaism is anintensely communal faith,nonetheless in Jewish law theindividual takes priority over thecommunity.

Here is another example, codifiedby Maimonides: If idol-worshipperssay to a group of women, Give usone of your women for immoralpurposes, or we will violate you all,they must all allow themselves tobe violated rather than hand overone Jewish soul. Similarly, if idol-worshippers say, Give us one ofyou and we shall kill him, or else wewill kill you all, they must all allow

themselves to be killed rather thanhand over one Jewish soul. (YesodeihaTorah 5: 5)On the face of it, the law is illogical.The refusal to collaborate withtyranny by handing over a victim,will not save the victim. She will beviolated, or he killed, whatever thegroup chooses to do. Why thenmust they all allow themselves tobe mistreated? The key difference isbetween active and passive,between what a person does andwhat is done to him. An entiregroup must passively allow itself tobe assaulted rather than activelysacrifice a single one of their

number. Again, the rights of the

Rabbi Sacks on Parshat Mattos-Maseiindividual take priority over thewelfare of the group.

A third example is exemptionfrom military service (in the caseof a milchemet reshut, a non-obligatory war; the exemptionsdo not apply in the case of a warof self-defense): The officersshall say to the people: Hasanyone built a new house andnot dedicated it? Let him gohome, or he may die in battleand someone else may dedicateit. Has anyone planted avineyard and not begun to enjoyit? Let him go home, or he maydie in battle and someone elseenjoy it. Has anyone becomepledged to a woman and notmarried her? Let him go home,or he may die in battle andsomeone else marry her . . (Deut. 20: 5-7)

Wars are fought for the sake ofthe nation as a whole. Theexempt categories refer toindividuals who have not yet hadthe chance to enjoy somethingimportant to them. Again we seethat the private good overrides

the public good. At stake inthese and many other examplesis the supreme importance, inJudaism, of the individual. Thisis how a famous Mishnah puts it:Man was created alone to teachyou that whoever destroys asingle soul is as if he destroyedan entire world, and whoeversaves a single life is as if he hadsaved a complete world. Also [hewas created alone] for the sakeof peace among human beings,so that one could not say to theother, My father was greaterthan yours . . . And also toproclaim the greatness of the

Holy One, blessed be He, for if a

Times

Candle Lighting 8:04 pm

Friday Mincha 7:00 pm

Hashkama 8:00 am

Main Minyan 9:00 am

Beit Midrash 9:15 am

Teen Minyan 9:30 am

Gemorah Shiur 6:50 pm

Mincha 7:50 pm

Shabbat Ends 9:11 pm

Sunday July 22 8:30/9:30 am

Mon., Thurs. 6:35/7:45 am

Tues., Wed,. Fri. 6:45/7:45 am

Mincha 8:00 pm

Latest Times for

Shema/ Shmoneh Esrei

July 21 9:22/10:35 am

July 24 9:24/10:36 am

Next Shabbat

Devarim

Candle Lighting 7:58 pm

Mincha 7:00 pm


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person makes many coins from one mould, they are all the same, butthe supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, made everyperson in the stamp of the first man, yet not one of them is identicalto another. Therefore every single person is obliged to say: the worldwas created from my sake. (M. Sanhedrin 4)

In these words, we feel the full revolutionary significance ofthe first chapter of Genesis, with its momentous declaration that thehuman being is in the image and likeness of G-d the single mostradical consequence of monotheism. The concept of G-d, singular andalone, gives rise to the concept of the human person, singular andalone. This is the birth of the individual in Western civilization. It goes

without saying that this was unknown in the pagan world. Moreworthy of attention is the difference between biblical ethics and thoseof ancient Greece. In Greece the highest value was the polis, thegroup. Ethics was a code of devotion to the city (Athens, Sparta). Thesupreme glory was heroism in the field of battle, or the willingness todie for the citys sake: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (It ispleasant and proper to die for ones country). The group takesprecedence over the individual. That is the fundamental differencebetween Greek and Jewish ethics.

One thinker who reflected deeply on this was the late Rabbi MosheAvigdor Amiel (1882-1945), Chief Rabbi of Antwerp and later of TelAviv. In his book translated as Ethics and Legality in Jewish law, hepointed out two consequences of the Jewish emphasis on theindividual. On the one hand, it was vital to Jewish survival in exile.Jews were always a minority, and the minority usually conforms tothe majority. Had this been the case among Jews, there would be no

Judaism today. Jews, however, have had a long history of valuing theindividual over the group. Jews did not bend to the majority. The onedid not give way to the many. But the very attribute that was asource of strength in exile could also be a source of weakness attimes of Jewish national sovereignty:

In order to enforce order, there must be some denial of theindividuals rights in society, or sacrifice of the private to the publicgood. No government or political order in the world can always benefitevery individual. Every form of government must strive for the publicgood, and if the individual must occasionally suffer, there is no greatharm done. But the Jewish national character cannot bear this, forJewish ethics preaches the absolute freedom of the individual, whichcannot be abrogated on behalf of society.

This gives rise to the fractious nature of Jews as a group: Everyoneconsiders himself qualified to judge the judges, and sets up his own

altar, not accepting any authority. If Jews are more prone to thesefaults than the rest of mankind, it is also the result of this outlook that society exists for the sake of the individual. Thus every individualallows himself to separate from society, until there are an endlessnumber of parties and splinter groups. This in turn generates muchbaseless hatred. Can a civilization that grants supreme significance tothe individual, flourish as a collective entity, a self-governing nation?That is the great question of Jewish history, then and now.

26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11023 (516) 487-6100 Shabbat Announcements Parshat Mattos-Masei 5772

Great Neck Synagogue

Shabbat Activities Program

Dale Polakoff, RabbiIan Lichter, Assistant Rabbi

Dr. Ephraim Wolf ,zl, Rabbi Emeritus

Daniel Schwechter, Rabbinic Intern

Zeev Kron, Cantor

Eleazer Schulman, zl, Cantor Emeritus

Rabbi Sholom Jensen, Youth Director

Mark Twersky, Executive Director

Rabbi Avraham Bronstein, Program Director

Dr. Scott Danoff, President

Harold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board

Tuesday, July 17Dinner 7:30pm | Mincha 8:05pm

Maariv following lectureRabbi Dr. Edward Reichman

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine

Philosophy & History of MedicineAlbert Einstein College of Medicine, YU

The Resuscitation of Halakhah:

Resuscitation episodes in rabbinic literature

and their use in contemporary

Jewish medical ethics

SALLY & SEYMOUR OLSHIN

ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM

GreatNeckSynagogue

2012SummerLearningProgram

JewishProfessionalLectureSeries

Reservations

required

for

dinner.

CallSynagogueoffice4876100

Tuesday, July 24Dinner 7:30pm | Mincha 8:00pm

Maariv following lecture

Dr. Michelle FriedmanChair, Department of Pastoral Counseling,

Yeshivat Chovevei TorahAssociate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry,

Mount Sinai Hospital

A Different Derekh:

Religious Life in Transition


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GotShoes?GotGlasses?GotCellPhones?

Wewillbecollectinggentlyusedshoesthatwillbedonatedto

Soles4Souls(www.soles4souls.org)Eyeglassesandsunglasseswillbegivento

NewEyes(www.neweyesfortheneedy.org)tobenefittheneedy.Cellphoneswillbedistributedtosoldiersthrough

CellPhonesforSoldiers(www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com)

DropoffdaysareJuly25and31

Pleasebringalldonationsto:

SteveBlumner 88OldPondRoad5166398941

orto:

EricaZuckerHeisler 71BayviewAvenue

pleaseleaveitemsbythegarage)5168294072


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ANNOUNCEMENTS

YAH

RZEIT

Saturday, 2 AvLauren Abehsera for Evelyn Stricker

Sheila Ebrahimian for Devorah AminoffGladys Moslin for Seymour MoslinMichael Moslin for Seymour Moslin

Osnass Shein for Joseph SheinRuvan Shein for Joseph Shein

Sunday, 3 AvMadeline Belonsky for Monty WineZoltan Justin for Herman Juskovic

Gloria Wang Miller for Frank SaltzmanAlex Weiss for Ignatz Weiss

Michael Weiss for Ignatz WeissAnnabelle Zackheim for Marvin Atlas

Tuesday, 5 Av Anne Gold for Harry Feinstein

Marion Rabinowitz for Rose GetreuBrian Smith for Louis Smith

Edward Wydra for Helen WydraWednesday, 6 Av

Sabina Geist for Rachel Lea GeistSabina Geist for Tova Geist

Thursday, 7 AvDassie Barth for Roslyn OrensteinStanley Fischer for Harry FischerSabina Geist for Ichaskel Geist

Marion Kapner for David EisenbergAlan Levy for William Levy

Fr iday, 8 AvSheila Bachman for Max Bachman

Paul Brody for Bea BrodySabina Geist for Itzchak GeistSabina Geist for Moshe Geist

Israel Rosenzweig for Evelyn Rosenzweig

GNS UPCOMI NG EVENTS

GNS TALMUD TORAHRegistration is now open for next years Tal mud Torah p rog ram .Please contact Rabbi L ichter at i l i ch [email protected] for moreinformation.

RAFFLE PRI ZES WANTEDWe are now collecting raffle prizes for the GNS Annual Dinnerscheduled for Sat u rday even i ng , December 15 , 20 12 . We stronglyencourage you to donate credit card points for prizes that can includeairline tickets and hotel accommodations. We are also looking for prizessuch as timeshare vacation places, beautiful jewelry, fur, electronics,judaica, gift certificates, internship opportunities, theatre and sportstickets, camp discounts, as well as other prize donations that youmight have that will make our dinner extra special! Please submit yourraffle prize donations to Mark Twersky at [email protected]. Thankyou very much!

COMMUNI TY UPCOMI NG EVENTS

ROSH HASHANAH SCOPE MAGAZI NEThe Rosh Hashanah Scope Magazine deadline is Monday, Ju ly 23rd.All articles, advertisements, recipes, photos and sponsorships must besubmitted by that date to ensure a timely publication of this issue.Kindly email all submissions to dre in@ver izon.net . Thank you!

SALLY & SEYMOUR OLSHI N ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMOur Annual Summer Learning Program is enabled only through thegenerosity of our sponsors. It is to their credit that the voice of Torahis strengthened each summer in our community.Sponsorsh i p i s one hundred e i gh t y do l l a rs ($180) . Please call theSynagogue office at (516) 487-6100 to be included in this noble effort.We will recognize and honor all of our sponsors in a special ShabbatAnnouncements listing. (See page 2 f o r i n f o rma t i on abou t t h i sw eeks l ec t u re ) .To sponsor a Day of Learning at an additional cost in honor or inmemory of a loved one, please contact Mark Twersky.S ummer Learn i ng S ponso rs : Erika & Josh Olsh inGi l A ronow i t zIn memory of Danit Esther bat Binyamin Avraham.I s rae l & Sydel le Slochow skySharon & Mark TwerskyIn memory of Danit Esther bat Binyamin AvrahamRu t h & M i l t on M i t znerIn fond memory of our distinguished Mechutan, Rabbi Dr. Aaron LevineA'H. He was a much-admired and eagerly -awaited lecturer at ourRoshei Yeshiva summer programs of recent years. A renowned andleading authority on the interface between economics and Jewish law,Dr. Levine was also a prolific writer, whose books were published all

over the world.Al isa & Michael HoenigL i l l i an & Gary ChubakLor ra i ne & Haro l d Domn i t ch Karen & Robert Spi ta ln ickIn memory of her father Jonas Steigman,zl.Jolanta & Frank Rosenste inIn honor of their parents, zl

Chuck Berlin and family would like to thank Rabbi Polakoff,

Rabbi Lichter and the entire community for their outpouring of

support and comfort during the difficult time following the

loss of his father Harold Berlin, zl.

JULY CHESEDGot Shoes? Got Glasses? Got Cell Phones?We will be collecting gentlyused shoes that will be donated to Soles 4 Souls(www. so l es4sou l s . o rg ) Eyeglasses and sunglasses will be given toNew Eyes (w ww . neweyes f o r t heneedy .o rg ) to benefit the needy.Cell phones will be distributed to soldiers through Cel l Phones forSol d i e rs (w w w. ce l lphones f o rso ld i e rs .com) Drop off days areJu l y 25 t h and 31s t . Please bring all donations to:Steve Blumner88 Old Pond Road 516-639-8941 or to:Erica Zucker Heis ler71 Bayview Avenue (please leave items by the garage) 516-829-4072

VOLUNTEERS WANTED TO DO A SEWI NG MI TZVAH PROJECTVolunteers are needed to sew beautiful ribbons around challahcovers that will be donated to Jewish patients at North Shore UniversityHospital to use on Shabbat and Yom Tov. Kindly contact Rabbi Danie lColeman at [email protected] or (516) 562-4011 if you areinterested in helping in this mitzvah. Thank you!

SAVE THE DATE:NSHA will hold its annual golf, tennis, mahjong & charity Texas HoldemClassic- Monday , Augus t 13 t h . Golf (11:30 am shotgun), tennis (ladiesat 9:30am followed by lunch & men's at 2:30pm), card games/mahjonglessons (for those who don't play golf or tennis from 10:30 am to 5pm),brunch, BBQs ,sunset cocktail party, million dollar Jet Blue Challenge,

buffet dinner with prizes, raffles and auctions, Charity Texas HoldemTournament, open bar, all night BBQ and a chance to win amazing prizes.For additional information re: sponsorships/participation, please emailArnie F la tow at [email protected] or call 487-8687 ext 133.

THANK YOU VERY MUCHThe Sisterhood would like to thank Brenda Parver for organizing awonderful day trip to the National Museum of American Jewish Historyin Philadelphia. Everyone greatly enjoyed the beautiful museumexhibits, the educational docent led tours and the delicious boxedlunches. We are extremely grateful to Brenda for having this greatidea and working so hard to arrange and ensure that we had afun day out!

NORTH SHORE UNI VERSI TY HOSPITAL NEEDS MUSI C CDSAND TOI LETRIESNorth Shore University Hospital is about to launch a program that offersmusic (of all varieties) to patients. Kindly drop off donations of musicCDs in the synagogue office. Also, the hospital hosts over 250 guests/year in their Shabbat accommodations. Please drop off unused samplesize toiletries (e.g. shampoo, soap, toothbrush, mouthwash etc.) in thesynagogue office. Please contact Rabbi Daniel Coleman for furtherInformation at (516) 562-4011 or at [email protected].

Documents

July 21 Shabbat Announcements