The Gift of Renewal by: Josh Eisenberg

[12:1-2] “And Hashem spoke to Moshe and to Aharon in the land of Egypt, saying: This month shall be to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of the year.”

Hashem is now giving over the first commandment to the Jewish nation—the law of Rosh Chodesh, literally, the Head of the Month. The delivery of this commandment poses many questions. First, there seems to be a redundancy in the wording, as the Pasuk [12:2] says “Rosh Chadashim Reishon Hu Lachem L’Chadshei HaShanah”-“A head of the months; for you shall it be the first of the months of the year.” Also, the Pasuk says “HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem”-“This month shall be for you”. What is the commandment and what is its significance? One might also ask why the first of the months of the year is established by the month of Nissan if the world was created in the month of Tishrei. Besides the above issues, it seems as though the law of Rosh Chodesh is a random topic to mark the first of the laws of Jewish nation. We know the importance of mitzvos such as Talmud Torah, Shabbos, Bris Milah, Tfilin and many others. Why, then is ‘Rosh Chodesh’ the first one of the Jewish nation?

Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch breaks down the ideas comprised in this commandment of the ‘New month’. He explains that this commandment has two parts; (1) to establish a new month at every reappearance of the moon and (2) to establish Nissan as the first month of the year. As far as the redundancy is concerned, Rav Hirsch would use the literal translation for chadash, ‘new’ and thus, the Pasuk would come out to the following: “This renewal shall be for you the beginning of renewals; It shall be the first of the months of the year.” So how does this reading clarify the significance of the commandment? Rav Hirsch explains that the basis for the law of Rosh Chodesh is way more significant than an astronomical procedure or calculation; it is something much deeper.

     If one looks into Bereishis [1:14] during the creation of the luminaries, the pasuk says “Vayomer Elokim Y’hi M’Oros B’Rkiah Hashamayim L’Havdil Bein HaYom U’Vein HaLaila V’Hayu L’Osos Ul’Moadim V’Layamim V’Shanim”-“and G-d said ‘Let there be luminaries in the firmament of the heavens to separate between day and night and they shall be for signs for festivals and for days and years.” Besides being known as the day of the “New Moon”, Rosh Chodesh is also known as a Moed-a festival or a meeting, but not just any meeting, but a mutual coming together between man and G-d. Rav Hirsch explains the symbolism that

Caution! the murder rate in Elizabeth has reached a record high, so

lock your doors or buy a bulletproof vest available at Rabbi Neuman’s office… Congratulations to Yehuda Heller on winning the gold medal in a basketball tournament, all while taking a 2 week vacation in

Australia… Midterms coming up, so make sure you put to use the

study day this Wednesday… Varsity basketball had a long week playing

6 games in 5 days. I’m sure they got a good workout and are feeling

sore. Speaking of sore, the wrestling team wins again, and some

Kushner kids couldn’t walk home without a limp… Rumor has it the

Seniors are getting a new class pet, Rudolf the Reindeer… In other news Ben in West Orange had 28”, Avi from hillside had 31”, and Zev in

Passaic had 19”. Yup that’s alot of snow, with more expected to come!

Highlights by AviJ. & Ben H.

ROSH CHODESH SPECIAL ISSUE 6

JEWISH EDUCATIONAL CENTER/ JANUARY 10TH 2011

just like the moon has periods of darkness and obscurity but is ultimately trying to meet with the sun so that it will be reflected by its rays, G-d wants the Jews to find G-d and be illuminated with His light.

Another symbolism that is brought down is that just like the moon or month is ‘Chadash’-‘new’, we must aspire to and fulfill a personal goal of renewing

ourselves as people and Ovdei (servants of) Hashem. With this understanding of complete renewal, one can see the famous concept of G-d’s power known as ‘Yeish Me’Ayin’-creating ‘Something from nothing.’ When Rosh Chodesh comes around, the moon is invisible and like a small weed sprouting in an empty field, the moon appears from nothing as a minuscule sliver of a crescent completely starting over from scratch.

     Now one can understand why Rosh Chodesh is the first law and why we start from Nissan. By making this law the first mitzvah of the Jew, the Torah is teaching a valuable lesson. Hashem is showing a Jew the mindset he must have when he begins to take on Torah—that no matter what you have done in your past, no matter where you have been in life, there is always opportunity to put your past behind you (like the invisible moon), and start a clean slate from scratch (like the little crescent of moon). This idea is why the Torah feels it’s necessary to say that Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aharon “B’Eretz Mitzrayim”-“in the land of Egypt.” The Jews were suffering at the hands of Pharaoh and then the leader of Klal Yisroel was slowly called out into the open like the crescent of moon revealing itself for the first time. Likewise, at this point in the Torah, the Jews are approaching Nissan and where were they holding spiritually? They just exited Egypt—the home of the most immoral of immoralities and they now stand at the worst possible level of impurity. But, what did Hashem tell Moshe and Aharon as the first law for the Jews? Renewal! The Jews were granted with the opportunity to ‘meet’ with G-d and turn over a ‘new’ leaf.

Why is Nissan first? Rav Hirsch explains that the Pasuk doesn’t say “Chadshei Shanah” but Chadshei HAShanah”-“The months of THE Year”, meaning, the old year of the world (i.e. that starts with Tishrei) will go on, however, with a new cycle starting, not with the creation of the world in Tishrei, but in the Jewish year--at Nissan, the time of our Redemption when G-d ultimately says to His children, “Yes, you’re on the lowest level possible but, like the moon, you can always start all over and come back to Me!”

Bo ~ בא

Sportsby Joe Waldman

• • •

NFL Divisional Round Weekend Predictions:

After a great Wildcard Weekend full of upsets (the Seahawks) the divisional round gives us some great match ups. Here are my predictions for the weekend.

New York Jets vs New England Patriots- After a game of late heroics the Jets come into this game with even higher confidence. Although Mark Sanchez struggled for most of the game, he came up big when his team needed him the most. With all that said the Jets will have their hands full going up against this years MVP Tom Brady. Prediction- Patriots win 20-17. This will be a good game, but in the end its Tom Brady and the Patriots with the late game heroics.

Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers- This will be the game of the weekend. Two veterans teams that know what it takes to win a Superbowl. Although, The Steelers have had the

upper hand in these playoff match-ups lately. Prediction- This one may come down to who has the ball last; it will be a defensive struggle. Ravens win 13-10

Seattle Seahawks vs Chicago Bears- The Seahawks shocked the world by

b e a t i n g t h e defending champions, the Saints. Can they keep this improbable r u n g o i n g f o r a n o t h e r w e e k ? Prediction- The Seahawks beat the Saints at home this past weekend, but they have to go to Chicago for this one. Bears win 24-10

Green Bay Packers vs Atlanta Falcons- The Packers are coming off a big win vs the Eagles this past weekend. Aaron Rodgers is playing very well and will be a problem for the Atlanta defense. Prediction- Green Bay wins 24-17.

FUN SECTION

If your scrambled eggs are green, don’t eat them

If it’s cold outside, you probably should wear a coat.

When giving blood, use a clean needle.

Rocket is Russian for “little water”.

The IRS has a manual on how to collect tax after a nuclear war.

Elvis Presley sold over one billion albums globally, still more then any other artist today.

JEC SPORTS BY SPECIAL KSo far the JEC Wrestling is undefeated. On Monday JEC beat DRS 41-36 and on Wednesday 60-18 against Kushner. With the record so far of 3-0, this team is making JEC history…Varsity basketball team lost against the Heshel Heat this Wednesday in a close match, final score 50-42. Though they had a bad game this week, the varsity basketball team went to a basketball tournament this weekend in the 5 Towns. Jake Varley remarked “It was schtark!”… Soccer season is getting started after the 2nd cut which was Thursday, more information to follow… Varsity hockey, well you guessed it, lost again. This time however they managed to score 1 point in a not so close game against Kushner. Final Score 5-1… In other news the JEC students are demanding a curling team for the winter sports, but as the faculty remarked “JEC isn’t in Canada”. Stay tuned, for more information is to follow.

Word To the Wise:

Congratulation to Ohr Pinchas (Shwarma), Akiva Weinstein (Gift

certificate), Yoni Kolb (Tacos N’ Things), and Josh Eisenberg (Hot

pretzel). This week we are raffling off a free lunch special to Tacos N’

Things as well as a hot pretzel. Enter by submitting either the riddle or

the sudoku to the suggestion box in the high school office, or by

submitting it online to TheJecJolt@gmail.com.

Riddle of the week:There are 3 boxes, each with 10 fruit in them. One with apples, one with oranges, and one with both.

Each box is labeled incorrectly, so what is the

minimum amount of times you could stick your

hand into what box, to figure out what each box is?

World AffairsChavez Strikes Back by Rafael Itzhakov

MAN ON THE STREET

BY AARON KOHN

This past Tuesday we had a blood-drive in JEC. If you were here you would have met Andrew, one of the nonprofit volunteers who gets paid. Originally from his mother, Andrew currently resides in NJ. Other then his hobby of “stickin” people, he enjoys black pudding, and no, Andrew is not a vampire ( sorry Twilight fans). While most people contemplate whether to go ALYX (red blood “expresso”) or whole blood (we want it all) donations, Andrew prefers “A knife & bucket” old school style. He has been doing this for 2 hours. If he were stuck in a desert, he wouldn’t go to the Hilton, for there is none in the desert… As far as JEC “Smart kids, Good blood”, Andrew remarked. When I asked him when was the last time he himself gave blood, he replied “I only take”… In addition to his current job, Andrew is also an aspiring artist, who goes under the alias Jin. So now you know about Andrew…

Who should be interviewed next? Please enter

your request via email TheJecJolt@gmail.com, or place it in the suggestion box.

In issue 4 of the JEC Jolt, I wrote about the threats to the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela and how President Hugo Chavez was going to deal with them. Well, he’s dealing with them. On Friday 10th of December, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez publicly asked the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) deputies in the National Assembly to pass a new Enabling Law, giving him power to take rapid action, faced with the natural disaster caused by the heavy rainstorms, which have left around 100,000 Venezuelans homeless.

The new Enabling Law, which was passed by parliament on the 17th of December, gives President Chavez mandate to legislate by decree for the next eighteen months in the following areas: Attention towards the human needs generated by the rainstorms, infrastructure, transports and public services, housing, finances and taxes, territorial order, integral development and the use of urban and rural lands, inhabitants security, national defense, international cooperation and social-economic system. The President explained that these measures were a necessity for Venezuela now not only because of the tremendous rainstorms, but because tougher measures are necessary to advance the revolution. In his weekly column, “Las líneas de Chávez” the President explained:“The Enabling Law is a necessary instrument faced with the challenges and the responsibilities that we have taken upon ourselves: It is not only about tackling the negative consequences of this prolonged period of rainfalls, it is also about responding to some of the structural problems, inserted in the Capitalist model, which have worsened the present crisis.” (Últimas Noticias, December 19, 2010)

The reaction of the Venezuelan bourgeois was furious. The headline of the Tal Cual newspaper read “Towards a dictatorship”. Articles in El Universal compared Chavez to Hitler and Mussolini. The U.S. is also very concerned. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told that the U.S. Government is “worried” about the new Enabling Law, as it allegedly “undermines the will of the Venezuelan people”. The international news agency Reuters said, “Bankers and property-owners are bracing themselves for a new wave of nationalizations.”

Now I have a problem with the allegations made by Mr. Crowley and the international news agency Reuters. The new Enabling Law does not in any way shape or form undermine the will of the Venezuelan people as it is they who pushed for a radicalization of the revolution. In addition, the Enabling Law will never lead to a dictatorship because this law limits President Chavez to carry out only certain tasks and for only a period of eighteen months. Venezuela is famous for its democracy. Venezuela is one hundred percent democratic and will never turn into a dictatorship under President Chavez.

As far as the new wave of nationalizations mentioned by the international news agency Reuters, these nationalizations is what is going to help Venezuela in this financial crisis. Hopefully, now President Chavez will carry out the nationalizations to the end and the nation’s industry will be in the hands of the Proletariat. If this happens we should see the economy of Venezuela doing a lot better.

Random PollWhom would you hang out with for a day?20 asked, conducted by Andrew Seidman

and Akiva WeinsteinDJ Pauly D.

40%Mike the Situation 10%Vinny

50%

From the Belly of StraussThis past Tuesday, at all- you- can- eat in Jerusalem Pizza, I noticed a large civil line of men waiting. For what, pizza? No no, these men and students were waiting for, I hate to even say it, salad. While I went ahead to the empty line to order my pizza, I wondered if their spouses forced them on salad diets or they somehow acquired this taste for green vegetation. G-d said, “let the earth sprout vegetation.....and G-d saw that it was good”. Salad is good……. for women, or in a big meaty sandwich… Recently, Rabbi Neuman has been boldly setting the trend back, he is currently on a manly new diet, the Atkins diet. It involves protein which can be found in meat, the stuff that men should be eating. So Rabbi Neuman has been eating meat, meat, more meat, and one potato …...chip, for dessert. So please for the love of G-d, because this is what G-d intended us to eat, eat meat, not the girly salads from Jerusalem Pizza.

PS: At the Rosh Chodesh breakfast, someone stole my fruity pebbles. More info to follow.

Over the years we have heard some pretty interesting claims about what Israel has done to harm the world. People have blamed world hunger, unemployment, death, disease, and poverty all on the Jews. Some people even went as far as to blame Israel for the attack on the World Trade Center and the bombings in London. But conspiracy freaks will always come up with crazy things so we’re used to it.

Lately however they seem to be running out of ideas, or things to blame Israel for. Actually some are downright comical! For example on December 1, 2010 Egyptians killed 2 sharks that were suspected in a series of attacks that killed four Russian tourists while they were enjoying a nice day on the beach. Shortly after, The Egyptian Governor of Southern Sini, Abed Al-Fadij released this statement. “We must not discount the possibility that the Mossad threw the sharks into the sea in order to attack tourists who were having fun at Sharmal- Sheikh”… Righhhhhht, like Mossad has nothing better to do then transport sharks to kill Russian tourists!!, and this is a country that we are at peace with.

Another example, recently an Iranian movie producer wrote an article on how Harry Potter … Yeah you read that correctly, the popular fantasy series for people of all ages, is not as innocent as it seems….Apparently it is really a Zionist plot to promote devil worship… there is ridiculous, and then there is this. This just brings things to a new level of craziness. Come on you can’t come up with anything better then Harry Potter? Give me a break!

But that’s not all. This past Monday Saudi Arabia security forces captured a vulture that was carrying a GPS transmitter with the words “Tel-Aviv University” etched into it. Although Ohad Hatzafe, a bird ecologist for the nature and Preservation Authority said it was just an experiment that tracks the migration patterns of various birds, the vulture with the ID R65 is still currently being detained on suspicion of being a Mossad Agent.

As funny as this may seem, it is all true and is being spread as fact in Arab media channels. Just think, if the Arab public will believe this nonsense, who knows what else these people can be convinced of through propaganda, and what they will do as a result. It is truly a scary thought.

From The Depths of Heller By Yehuda HellerBagels, Bagels, Bagels, they can be eaten in many ways. With cream cheese, tunafish, butter, lox, peanut butter (not in school) and/or with jelly. Sesame, poppy, onion, whole wheat, and everything bagels, leave breakfast shop goers perplexed as to what they will have their egg omelet on. They can even be dipped into hummus as our courageous Israeli foreign exchange student Ohr Pinchas has recently been starting. Now, you may be asking yourself why this week’s article is about bagels. It could be because the writer forgot to finish his article, so he wrote it about his lunch 2 minutes before the deadline, or it could not be. Who knows? You don’t, nor will you ever. Next week: Where did Aaron park his car!?

Israel Issues By Menachem Samel

FROM THE EDITORWith Midterms coming up I hope everyone does well and has a great vacation. Many people suggested that we make a Q& A section, so put your questions in the suggestion box and we’ll answer them. I would like to thank Reuven M. For his inspiration last week.

Aaron Kohn, Editor & Chief

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Comment, Questions,

Suggestions we take them all.

Contact us either via suggestion

box in the high school office or by e-mailing us at

TheJecJolt@gmail.com

EDITORS & WRITERSTHE JEC JOLT

Jewish Educational Center/ RTMA 330 Elmora Ave.

Elizabeth, NJ 07208

THE JEC JOLTIssue number 6

Volume 1

TheJecJolt@gmail.com

Aaron Kohn: Editor &

Chief, Man on the street

Josh Azar: Editor.

Alex Wenig: JecSports

Joe Waldman: Sports

MenachemSamel: Israel

Issues

Yehuda Heller: Depths of

Heller

Josh Eisenberg: D’var Torah

Andrew Seidman and Akiva W.: Random Poll

Rafael Itzchakov: World

Afairs

Ben H. & Avi J. : Highlights