Announcements: D'varim
Akiva Gordon
THE ORTHODOX MINYAN AT HARVARD HILLEL
Shabbat D’varim
Shabbat: August 1st-2nd, 2025 | 8 Av, 5785
NO DAVENING WILL BE AT HILLEL THIS SHABBAT. Additionally, we will be maintain the 9:15 davening start time. See below for details. For all davenings everyone is encouraged to bring their own siddurim/chumashim as desired— many will be available but it will not be Hillel’s usual capacity. Shacharit will be at the Law School like last week. Mincha and maariv on Friday evening and Shabbat mincha will be run jointly with Kehillat Lev Chochma at the home of Talia Weisberg and Evan Crane. Maariv on Saturday night will be back at the law school.
Tisha b’Av davening will also be at the law school; see below for details
Shabbat Shalom! In this week’s parsha, Moshe looks back on the Torah and realizes that he missed a few important details. In looking back at the emails I’ve sent, I realized that the unexpected inclusion of pringles at kiddush derailed my plans to discuss tin leprosy for Tazria Metzora, so here we are:
In biblical leprosy, the skin turns from its normal color (presumably light-brown) to snow-white. In tin leprosy, tin turns from its normal color (snow-white) to grey. The reason for this is actually quite simple – the color of tin is dependent on its crystalline
structure (i.e. how the tin atoms interact with each other). When in a tetragonal structure (rectangular prism), the tin is white, and when that structure becomes a cube, the tin turns grey.
Unfortunately, this structure has impact on more than just color, since grey tin is less dense, resulting in flaking and degradation of the metal’s integrity (hence the ‘leprosy’ name). The primary cause of tin leprosy is temperature changes, with white tin the favored state above about 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit). As a result, the primary cause of tin leprosy is storage under cold conditions, as was the case for a number of historic polar expeditions which suffered from issues with their canned food.
Shabbat Times
Mincha: 7:00pm at Kehillat Lev Chochma (Contact Evan Crane for address)
Candle Lighting: 7:45pm
K”S and Maariv: Following mincha
Shacharit: 9:15am at Harvard Law, Wasserstein Hall, enter via the South entrance
Tot Shabbat: 10:30am
Latest Sh’ma: 9:14am
Mincha: 5:00pm at Kehillat Lev Chochma (Contact Evan Crane for address)
Tisha b’Av Times
Fast begins: 8:02pm
Shabbat ends: 8:47pm
Maariv: 9:20pm at Harvard Law, Wasserstein Hall, enter via the South entrance,
but on the second floor (Millstein West A)
Light a candle and say borei m’orei ha’esh after Maariv
Shacharit: 9:00am at Harvard Law, Wasserstein Hall, enter via the South entrance,
but on the second floor (Millstein West A)
There will be a Tisha b’Av-appropriate learning activity between Shacharit and Mincha
Mincha: 1:30pm at Harvard Law, Wasserstein Hall, enter via the South entrance
Maariv: 8:05pm at Kehillat Lev Chochma (Contact Evan Crane for address, please sign up to ensure we have a minyan)
Fast ends: 8:40pm
Make havdalah, omitting the spices and candle
Sponsorships
Kiddush this week is sponsored by the minyan
A light Seudah Shlishit this week is sponsored by the minyan, but everyone is encouraged to return home and eat more prior to the start of the fast.
If you're interested in sponsoring in the future, please contact Adena (kiddush) or Catherine (seudah shlishit).
Upcoming Learning Opportunities
Write for the CanTab! Sign up here, or contact Ezra or Mike for more information.
Community-led mishmar!
Thursdays, after Maariv
Join us for community-led shiurim on a wide range of topics. We often order pizza, and there is always interesting discussion. For more details, please contact
Daniel Seligson or
Drew Gottlieb.
Discussion of Chaim Saiman’s Halacha: The Rabbinic Idea of Law, Monday evenings at 8:15pm. For more information or to request the Zoom link, please contact Mike or Ezra.
We are looking for more shiurim! If you are interested in teaching (whether once or regularly), please reach out to Ezra and Mike.
Announcements
New to the community? If you’re new to the community, please share your information here to connect with fellow newcomers and receive invitations from community members eager to host.
https://tinyurl.com/new-community-member
Sign up to help with kiddush! Having a robust kiddush committee is key to having the wonderful kiddush each week we've become accustomed to. Please fill out this form to volunteer to help with kiddush in the future!
Camberville Eruv: The Camberville Eruv is in need of new checkers! The eruv is divided into 3 sections, with checkers specializing in one of the sections. Currently, one section is understaffed. It is covered by only two teams of checkers, which means these volunteers have to check every other week! Are you able to help out and volunteer to check the eruv? Typically, the commitment is to check once every 3-4 weeks, but there is some flexibility with this. Please let the eruv leadership team know if you are interested or have any questions by emailing Amy Robert at info...@nceruv.org
Please familiarize yourself with Harvard Hillel's exits in case of emergency. In addition to the main staircase, there are exits through the door behind the men's section and through the door to the left of the elevator. I understand that this section is of minimal relevance right now, but I don't want to forget it once we're back. If you're reading this and disagree, let me know! No one wrote to me about this section, so I’m going to just keep expanding it slightly every week until someone notices. One person wrote to me that they noticed, but explicitly requested that I continue expanding this section, so here we are. We’re back at HLS this week, so the primary exits are once again the doors you came in. On the topic of exits, here’s a hot tip: We may be exiting the law school for the month of August. That’s right, I put real information in this block of text that no one reads. Our likely venue for August 16, 23, and 30 is the Sheraton Commander. After the 30th, we’ll hopefully be back in Hillel. Also another person noticed, so we’re at two people reading this whole email right now. Many more people have told me they read this section, which is good – it means I feel less need to paste in the entire bee movie script when I resign in three weeks. If you’re engaged enough with the minyan to read the emails thoroughly, maybe you’re interested in a board position— let me know!
The ZA'AKAH Peer-Support Hotline is available as a resource to our community for those who feel they need to talk to someone on Shabbat. It is not a substitute for professional crisis intervention. Call, text, or WhatsApp 1-888-4-ZAAKAH (1-888-492-2524).
Minyan Times
(Services are held only if the status is listed as "ON" on the signup sheet)
Shacharit (M-F at Hillel)
Monday/Thursday: 7:15am
Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday: 7:25am
Mincha/Maariv (Location TBA)
Sunday-Wednesday: pending signups
Thursday: Preceding/Following Mishmar
Please check the signup sheet/whatsapp group for daily information.
Akiva Gordon
Please find the Cantab attached. Don’t forget to hydrate today and tomorrow in preparation for the fast, which begins tomorrow at 8:02 pm
Shabbat Shalom,
Akiva
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The Orthodox Minyan at Harvard Hillel
harvardorthodox.com
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Akiva Gordon
Chair
aggo...@mit.edu
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Rabbi Noah Marlowe
Rabbinic Advisor
rabb...@hillel.harvard.edu
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If you are struggling in any way and in need of support, reach out to Emily Feldman, Chessed Chair,
efel...@binghamton.edu.
If you are visiting the community or considering moving here, reach out to Talia Weisberg, Hospitality Chair,
weisbe...@gmail.com.
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For community postings sign up for or-minyan-misc at
http://groups.google.com/group/or-minyan-misc.
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Akiva Gordon
Sent: Friday, August 1, 2025 3:08:53 PM
To: Akiva Gordon <aggo...@mit.edu>; or-m...@googlegroups.com <or-m...@googlegroups.com>; Harvard Hillel Orthodox Minyan Misc. <or-miny...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: RE: Announcements: D'varim