October 26 Shabbat Announcements

7/27/2019 October 26 Shabbat Announcements

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Parshat Chayei Sarah

Our parsha contains themost serene descriptionof old age and dyinganywhere in the Torah:"Then Abrahambreathed his last anddied at a good old age,an old man and full ofyears; and he wasgathered to hispeople" (Gen. 25: 8).There is an earlier

verse, no less moving:"Abraham was old, welladvanced in years, andG-d had blessedAbraham witheverything" (Gen. 24:1). Nor was thisserenity the gift ofAbraham alone. Rashiwas puzzled by thedescription of Sarah -"Sarah lived to be 127years old: [These were]the years of Sarah's

life" (23: 1). The lastphrase seemscompletely superfluous.Why not just tell us thatSarah lived to the ageof 127? What is addedby saying that "thesewere the years ofSarah's life"? Rashi isforced to the conclusionthat the first half of theverse talks about thequantity of her life, howlong she lived, while the

second tells us about thequality of her life. "They -the years she lived - were allequal in goodness."

Yet how is any of thisconceivable? Abraham andSarah were commanded byG-d to leave everything thatwas familiar: their land, theirhome, their family, andtravel to an unknown land.No sooner had they arrivedthan they were forced toleave because of famine.Twice, Abraham's life was atrisk when, driven into exile,he worried that he would bekilled so that the local rulercould take Sarah into hisharem. Sarah herself had tosay that she was Abraham'ssister, and had to suffer theindignity of being taken intoa stranger's household. Thenthere was the long wait for achild, made even morepainful by the repeatedDivine promise that theywould have as many childrenas the stars of the sky or thedust of the earth. Then camethe drama of the birth ofIshmael to Sarah's servantHagar. This aggravated therelation between the twowomen, and eventuallyAbraham had to send Hagarand Ishmael away. One way

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Parshat Chayei Sarah

or another, this was asource of pain to all fourpeople involved. Thenthere was the agony of thebinding of Isaac. Abrahamwas faced with theprospect of losing theperson most precious tohim, the child he hadwaited for so long. Oneway or another, neitherAbraham nor Sarah hadan easy life. Theirs werelives of trial, in which theirfaith was tested at manypoints. How can Rashi saythat all of Sarah's yearswere equal in goodness?How can the Torah saythat Abraham had beenblessed with everything?

The answer is given by theparsha itself, and it is veryunexpected. Seven timesAbraham had beenpromised the land. Here isjust one of thoseoccasions: The Lord saidto Abram after Lot hadparted from him, "Raiseyour eyes, and, from theplace where you are now[standing], look to thenorth, to the south, to theeast, and to the west. Allthe land that you see I willgive to you and youroffspring forever. Go, walk

Times

Hashkama 8:00 am

Parsha Shiur 8:30 am

Youth Minyan 8:30 am

Main Minyan 9:00 am

Beit Midrash 9:15 am

Gemorah Shiur 4:35 pm

Mincha 5:35 pm

Shabbat Ends 6:50 pm

Sunday Oct. 27 7:30/8:30 am

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

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

Mincha 5:35 pm

Latest Times for

Shema/Shmoneh Esrei

Oct. 26 9:56/10:51 am

Nov 2 9:57/10:51 am

Next Shabbat

Toldos

Candle Lighting 5:34 pm

Mincha 5:35 pm

Friday Mincha 5:45 pm

Candle Lighting 5:43 pm

TORAHArtscroll, 106Hertz, 80HAFTORAHArtscroll, 1136Hertz, 90

October 26, 2013 22 Cheshvan, 5774

BAT MITZVAHESTHER BAUM

AUFRUFMICHAEL ROSMAN

Kidush is sponsored byEmma & Bart Baum

in honor of their daughterEsthers Bat Mitzvah,

and by Anida & Edwin Rosmanin honor of

the Aufruf of ther son Michaeland by Great Neck Synagogue

in tribute to Al and Lil Leidermanfor their many years of service

Seudah Shlishit issponsored by

Sheila & Moosa Ebrahimianin memory of his mother

Rahel Ebrahimian, zland by Emma & Bart Baum

in honor of their daughterEsthers Bat Mitzvah


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through the length and breadth of the land, for I amgiving it to you" (Gen. 13: 14-17). Yet by the time Sarahdies, Abraham has no land at all, and he is forced toprostrate himself before the local Hittites and beg forpermission to acquire even a single field with a cave inwhich to bury his wife. Even then he has to pay what isclearly a massively inflated price: four hundred silvershekels. This does not sound like the fulfillment of thepromise of "all the land, north, south, east and west."

Then, in relation to children, Abraham is promised fourtimes: "I will make you into a great nation" (12: 2). "Iwill make your offspring like the dust of the earth" (13:16). G-d "took [Abram] outside and said, 'Look at thesky and count the stars. See if you can count them.' [G-d] then said to him, 'That is how [numerous] yourdescendants will be.'" (15: 5). "No longer shall you becalled Abram. Your name shall become Abraham, for Ihave set you up as the father of many nations" (17: 5).Yet he had to wait so long for even a single son by Sarahthat when G-d insisted that she would indeed have ason, both Abraham (17: 17) and Sarah (18: 12)laughed. (The sages differentiated between these two

episodes, saying that Abraham laughed with joy, Sarahwith disbelief. In general, in Genesis, the verb tz-ch-k, tolaugh, is fraught with ambiguity).

One way or another, whether we think of children or theland - the two key Divine promises to Abraham andSarah - the reality fell far short of what they might havefelt entitled to expect. That, however, is precisely themeaning and message of Chayei Sarah. In it Abrahamdoes two things: he buys the first plot in the land ofCanaan, and he arranges for the marriage of Isaac. Onefield and a cave was, for Abraham, enough for the textto say that "G-d had blessed Abraham with everything."One child, Isaac, by then married and with children(Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born; Isaac wassixty when the twins, Jacob and Esau, were born; andAbraham was 175 when he died) was enough forAbraham to die in peace.

Lao-Tzu, the Chinese sage, said that a journey of athousand miles begins with a single step. To thatJudaism adds, "It is not for you to complete the work but

26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11023 (516) 487-6100 Shaabbat Announcements Parshat Chayei Sarah 5774

neither are you free to desist from it" (Avot 2: 16). G-d himself said of Abraham, "For I have chosen him, sothat he will direct his children and his household afterhim to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is rightand just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abrahamwhat he has promised him" (Gen. 18: 19). Themeaning of this is clear. If you ensure that yourchildren will continue to live for what you have lived

for, then you can have faith that they will continueyour journey until eventually they reach thedestination. Abraham did not need to see all the landin Jewish hands, nor did he need to see the Jewishpeople become numerous. He had taken the first step.He had begun the task, and he knew that hisdescendants would continue it. He was able to dieserenely because he had faith in G-d and faith thatothers would complete what he had begun. The samewas surely true of Sarah. To place your life in G-d'shands, to have faith that whatever happens to youhappens for a reason, to know that you are part of alarger narrative, and to believe that others willcontinue what you began, is to achieve a satisfaction

in life that cannot be destroyed by circumstance.Abraham and Sarah had that faith, and they were ableto die with a sense of fulfillment.

To be happy does not mean that you have everythingyou want or everything you were promised. It means,simply, to have done what you were called on to do,to have made a beginning, and then to have passedon the baton to the next generation. "The righteous,even in death, are regarded as though they were stillalive" (Berakhot 18a) because the righteous leave aliving trace in those who come after them. That wasenough for Abraham and Sarah, and it must beenough for us.

Great Neck Synagogue

Shabbat Activities Program

26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck , NY 11023

516-487-6100

Dale Polakoff, RabbiIan Lichter, Assistant Rabbi

Dr. Ephraim Wolf ,zl, Rabbi Emeritus

Zeev Kron, Cantor

Eleazer Schulman, zl, Cantor Emeritus

Rabbi Sholom Jensen, Youth Director

Zehava & Dr. Michael Atlas, Youth Directors

Mark Twersky, Executive Director

Rabbi Avraham Bronstein, Program Director

Dr. Scott Danoff, President

Harold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board

Dena Block, Yoetzet Halacha 516-320-9818

AL&LILLEIDERMAN

PleasejoinusthisShabbataswepay tribute

toAlandLilLeidermanandthankthemforthe

manyyearsofservicetheyhavegivento

GreatNeckSynagogue. Aftermorethan54

years,thiswillbethelastShabbatthatthe

Leidermansare

residents

of

Great

Neck,

astheywillbemovingtoNewJerseytobe

closertotheirchildren.Theircontributionto

oursynagogueandcommunityhasbeen

extraordinaryandwelookforwardtopublicly

acknowledgingallthattheyhavedoneand

wishingthemwellonthisnewpartof

theirjourney.


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DoyouliketoBAKE

OR

DoyouprefertoEATCAKE?

Eitherway,youcandoamitzvah.

PIESFORPREVENTION

isofferingdeliciouspiesforyourThanksgiving

meal. Youcanvolunteertobaketheminyourko

sherhomeforustosell,oryoucanbuythemfrom

usforyourThanksgivingmeal.

ALLSALESWILLSUPPORTSHARSHERETSUNIQUE

PROGRAMHELPINGYOUNGJEWISHWOMENAND

THEIRFAMILIES

DEALING

WITH

OVARIAN

CANCER.

IfyouwouldliketoVOLUNTEERtobeabaker,

callTOVAHat5163147135or

[email protected]

Informationforbuyingpiescomingsoon!

CosponsoredbySisterhood

andWomensTefilaofGNS

GNSOCTOBERCHESEDCOLLECTION

OurOctobercollectionisforbabyclothesandbabyitems.

AlldonationswillbenefitOnegShabbos.

Babyclothesshouldbeneworgentlyworn. Babyitems

shouldbecleanandingoodcondition.

Snowsuitsandblanketsarealsoneeded.

PleasedropoffdonationsatthehomeofMichelleandPhilip

Berman11

Margaret

Court.

Allitemscanbeleftonthefrontporch.

GreatNeckSynagogueMensClub

ComeenjoyaFreeBreakfast

andhearourDynamicSpeaker

HerbKeinonDiplomaticandpoliticalcorrespondent

atTheJerusalemPost

Topic:

Isitasbadasitseems?Anonsensationalistlookat

Israel'scurrent

state

of

affairs,

from

Iran

to

Gaza,

ObamatoAbbas,withemphasisonthepeacetalks.

Sunday,October27,2013at10:00am

Allwelcome


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ANNOUNCEMENTS

YA

HRZEIT

In The Community

Saturday, 22 Cheshvan

Mary F. Flax for Max PasvolskyLisa Kaufman for Erica Josephs

Sunday, 23 Cheshvan

Deborah Hollander for Ida Warren CohenJoseph Sokol for Ida Warren Cohen

Monday, 24 Cheshvan

Moosa Ebrahimian for Rahel EbrahimianMahin Mardkha for Rahel Ebrahimian

Tuesday, 25 Cheshvan

Andrew Allen for Harriet Allen

Murray Honig for Sylvia HonigWednesday, 26 Cheshvan

Yve Fouladi for Michael FruhlingNina Gourdji for Ezra Nuriel

Osnass Shein for Hode PinsovitzThursday, 27 Cheshvan

Stanley N. Lupkin for Sylvia LupkinPaul Marcus for Sylvia MarcusLeon Miller for Symma MillerEllen Modlin for Marilyn Hose

Paul Weinberg for Jerry WeinbergMillie Werber for Jacob WerberDavid Werber for Jacob WerberMartin Werber for Jacob Werber

Friday, 28 Cheshvan

Elana Flax for Janie MatzkinShulamid Gavronsky for Bertha Kopelowitz

Cheryl Sneag for Janie Matzkin

Within Our Family

Mazal Tov to Emma & Bart Baum on the Bat Mitzvah of their daughterEsther.Mazal Tov to Anida & Edwin Rosman on the upcoming marriage oftheir son Michael to Lauren Wagner, daughter ofPhyllis & JonathanWagner of Manhattan. Mazal Tov also to grandparents Roz & DavidWagner.Mazal Tov to Karen & Ethan Ben-Sorek on the Bat Mitzvah of their

daughter Michaela. Mazal Tov also to grandparents Rahel & EsorBen-Sork.Mazal Tov to Nadine & Coby Noy on the birth of a son. Mazal Tovalsoto grandparents Ester & Eliezer Noy and Eliane & Allan Tobin ofToronto.Mazal Tov to Susan & Michael Castle on the birth of a granddaughterborn to their children Alexis & Seth Ross. Mazal Tov also to great-grandmother Betty Castle.

MENS CLUB UPCOMING EVENTSSUN., OCT 27, 10:00 am: The diplomatic correspondent forThe Jerusalem Post, Herb Keinon, will be talking on thepolitical and diplomatic situation in Israel.

SUN., NOV 10, 10:00am: We are thrilled that ReverendKenneth Meshoe, an elected member of the South Africanparliament and a staunch supporter of Israel will be speakingat our breakfast that morning.SUN., NOV 17, 2:00PM : A trip to NYC, together with DosYiddish Vort, to the Yiddish Theater to see " Lies My FatherTold Me ", a musical in English with Yiddish. Cost is $65 perperson, which includes the bus, theater tickets and a lightdinner.

SISTERHOOD NEWSWed. night, Oct. 30th, Aksana Jensen will be presenting aspa facial demonstration!

BI-ANNUAL OHEL SHABBATONThe Ohel Shabbaton will be taking place this Shabbat on

Oct.25-26th. If you are interested in hosting OHEL membersfor that Shabbos, please contact Rabbi Lichter at [email protected]. The program will include dinner Friday night at theshul for OHEL and their hosts, an Oneg following dinner opento the entire community and a Saturday night activity.

SAVE THE DATESThe Iranian Jewish federation will be holding its 12th Annual Gala Thur.,Nov. 7 at Alice Tully Hall. Call 516-466-8947 for more information.

SAVE THE DATEThur., Nov. 7, 7 PM at the GN Library, Main Branch, Community Room.Andrew G. Bostom, noted author and lecturer, will speak on "Islam andThe Jews". Sponsored by the Jewish Political Education Foundation.

NYC MARATHON FOR SHEBA BURN CENTER AND BLUE CARDArnie Breitbart will be running the NYC Marathon on Nov. 3 to benefitboth the Burn Center at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, and TheBlue Card, an organization providing support to destitute Holocaustsurvivors. Check donations can be made out to American Friends ofSheba Medical Center and/or The Blue Card, and mailed to ArnieBreitbart, 10 Imperial Court, GN NY 11023.

GNS ANNUAL DINNER RAFFLES WANTEDPlease generously donate raffle prizes for the upcoming GNSAnnual Dinner on Dec. 14th. Some ideas to consider : jew-elry, electronics, sports or theatre tickets, restaurant orstore gift certificates, experiences, tutoring, camp discounts,clothing, internships, art work, air miles for a trip to Israel orother destination, and hotel accommodations. Please contactRaffle Co-Chairs David and Diane Rein at [email protected] your donation. Thank you very much!

SHAARE ZEDEK CHILDRENS BOWLING/CASINO EVENTPlease join us at Sat. night Oct. 26th at Bowlmor Times Square from8:30pm-Midnight. For full details, and to Register go to www.acsz.org/

bowl. This years goal is to purchase a 14 Crib Nursery and an OvernightNICU Parent Room. Great Neck Chair Couples: Talia & Sol Goldwyn,Ilana & Aaron Wallenstein, Asher & Lauren Abehsera and Aliza &Dov Sassoon. For more info contact Sharon 917 287 7334

GNS ANNUAL DINNEROur 62nd Annual Dinner will take place on

Saturday evening, Dec.14, 2013.Our Guests of Honor will be:Dina & Natan HamermanJudith & Jerrald Weinstein

and Boneh Habayit:

Zachary Mittleman

Please volunteer to help makethis a memorable evening.

DOS YIDDISH VORTSpend an afternoon with the renowned Trickster, Hershel ofOstopol at Dos Yiddish Vort on Wednesday, October 30 at1:30 pm. All Wellcome. For Info: Roz Wagner 487-9795.

NSHA OPEN HOUSEThe NSHA Early Childhood Program will hold an Open House on Nov. 6at 7pm at the Cherry Lane Campus.For more info contact Elana Helfgott at 516-487-8687 x156.

WOMENS TEFILAThis Shabbat Womens Tefila will meet for Shabbat Minchaservices. The Bat Mitzvah ofEsther Baum will be celebrated.Emma & Bart Baum will sponsor the collation in her honor.

PRIME MINISTERS AT NS TOWERS CINEMAStarting this weekend the new movie The Prime Ministers will be showing

at North Shore Towers Cinema.

KRISTALLNACHT

This year will mark the 75th anniversary ofKristallnacht onNovember 9-10. A program in commemoration of thisanniversary will involve the showing of a movie (Not JustBroken Glass) and a brief talk by Henry Katz, who livedthrough it, will take place Sunday evening, November 10.Details to follow.

Documents

October 26 Shabbat Announcements