Shabbat Matot 5774 - Schedules & News

[Congregation Or Menorah]

 

Kehilat
Or Menorah
On the SW corner of Touhy& California in West Rogers Park
www.ormenorah.com

Rabbi Doug Zelden – Rav
Binyamin Rister – President 
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2801 W. TOUHY AVE.  CHICAGO , IL 60645
Join us this week for Shabbat Parshat Matot Shabbat – 21, Tamuz 5774 Friday Candle lighting 8:02pm Friday – Mincha/Kabalat Shabbat:  8:12 pm Shabbat Morning:  9:15 am ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We do not have a sponsor this week for Kiddush yet. If you wish to contribute or host please contact the Rabbi asap.   Donations to the Kiddush fund have been made by Sid and Dale Amdur in observance of yartzeit for his aunt a”h, and by Binyamin Rister. Todah Rabah! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mincha will follow kiddush (and a Shiur) at 1:30pm Zman Mincha Gedolah! ... *Motz'ei Shabbat Maariv: Saturdays 36 minutes after Sunset- 8:59pm (The Siebzener House - Side Entrance) 7400 N Fairfield Ave   Chicago, IL 60645

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SIMCHA NEWS
Mazel Tov to:
-Bari & Avi Fleischer on their 4th Anniversary.
-Dorothy Levitansky on the birth of a great-great granddaughter, to Adam and Rena Silverstein.  Mazel Tov to grandparents  Miriam &. Louis Kolom and to great-grandparents, Sherwin Greenberg and Ethel & Les Sutker.

-Rochel & Yale Ray on the birth of a grandson, to children Nachi & Chumie Danziger.
-Leah Edelman & Ephraim Isaacson and their families on their engagement.
-Dr. and Mrs. Mitch Hoberman on the birth of a daughter.  Mazel Tov to the grandparents, Cheryl & Dr. Gary Hoberman and to the
great-grandmother, Arlene Gordon.

-Mr. and Mrs. Ari Kirshner on the birth of a son.  Mazel Tov to the grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. Irving Kohn.

-Rabbi and Mrs. Yosef Rajchenbach on the birth of a daughter. Mazel Tov to the grandparents, Rabbi and Mrs. Jack Rajchenbach.

-Mr. and Mrs.  Jay Meystel on the Bar Mitzvah of their grandson, Moshe Akiva Kutoff, son of Rabbi and Mrs. Eliyahu . Mazel Tov to the
great-grandfather, Mr. Sidney Meystel.

-Mr. and Mrs. Chaim Suss on the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Shimmy.  Mazel Tov to the grandmother, Mrs. Ita Kaufman.
-Mr. & Mrs. Volvie (Mark) Hollander on the engagement of their son, Yitzchok (Alan), to Kreindy Katz.

-Mr. & Mrs. Asher Feiger on the birth of a son. Mazel tov to the grandparents Mr. & Mrs. Steven Burgher and Mr. and Mrs. Mo Feiger. Mazel tov to
the great-grandfather Rabbi Lawrence Montrose.

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 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:
Ruvane Kurland
Henry Roth
Barbara Zelden
Beverly Finnell
Melissa Shabat
Becca Pallock
Ruben Vadnai
Elana Levin
Chaim Shapiro
Elyse Kaskel
Rachel Diamond
Richard Buck
Laura Cohn
Stuart Dunn
Michelle Bulgatz
Michael Rosenbaum
Dena Shapiro
Dov Steinberg
Dennis Burg
Jodi Weinstein
Sue Pollack
Adam Davis
Judi Tuchten
Jay Hopkins
Brad Schoenberg
Jammie Gold
Hannah Jacobs

Yom Huledet Samayach!
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CONDOLENCES TO:  The family of Carol Gutstein a”h   The family of Marlene Schwartz a”h The family of Ernie Gershon z”l.

HaMakom yenachem etchem b'toch sha'ar aveilei Tzion Virushalayim!

Baruch Dayan Emet!!

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HALACHA CORNER: “The Dri Vuchin”

The “Dri Vuchin” - the 3-week period of mourning began last Tuesday on the
fast of the 17th of Tammuz, commemorating the fall of Jerusalem, prior to the
destruction of our Holy Temples. 
During this period, we lessen the extent of our rejoicing and we don't:
-Conduct weddings. (Engagement parties – without music – are allowed until Rosh Chodesh Av.)
-Play musical instruments for pleasure, listen to live music, or attend concerts .
-Recite the Shehecheyanu blessing. Thus, we do not wear new clothing or eat fruit which we have not yet eaten this season.
-Take a haircut. (Some don’t shave). Many Sephardic communities permit haircuts and shaving until
the week of Tisha b'Av (in other words, until the Saturday night before the fast).
All these laws and many more also apply during the last 9 days of this period leading to Tisha B’Av.

 

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Torah Thoughts from Rabbi Doug…

Torah Portion: Matot

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

 ונכבשה הארץ לפני ה' ואחר תשובו... והיתה הארץ הזאת לכם לפני ה 

 

"...Therefore, have compassion upon us Master of all, and instill Your faith in our hearts always, and satisfy us with Your goodness... and hear our prayers always, and allow us to come to the Land of Israel the Land You have chosen from all other lands" (Likutei Tfilot 7).

In this week's parsha Matot we learn about the request of the tribes of Reuven and Gad to stay on the eastern bank of the Jordon, a matter that is met, at the ouset, with fierce antagonism on the part of Moshe Rabeinu. Only after these tribes agree to cross the Jordon to fight with their brothers and conquer the western side of the Jordon does Moshe agree that these tribes settle on the eastern bank. When learning this passage, one of the obvious questions to be asked is: what exactly is the sanctity of the Eastern side of the Jordan in comparison with the Western side, the Land of Israel Proper? On the prohibition on Moshe to enter the Land of Israel Proper, while residing on the Eastern Bank, our Sages comment that this prohibition can be compared to the prohibition of a king on his son to not enter his palace. Although the king ultimately lets his son enter the courtyard of the palace and even the corridor, when the king reaches the entrance to his room he tells his son, 'my son, from here onwards you are forbidden.' In this way the Eastern Bank is compared to the 'corridor' of HaShem's Palace, while the Land of Israel Proper is likened to the internal abode of HaShem. Rabbi Moshe Goodman, of the Kollel Ohr Shlomo in Hebron writes that in a halachic sense, we also see an intricacy/(perhaps) controversy in regard to the Eastern Bank. On the one hand, the Hazon Ish learns that, except for numbers of specified laws, the Eastern Bank is considered the Land of Israel. He learns this principle from the law, in addition to other proof-texts,  that once the tribes on the Eastern Bank went into exile the Biblical condition for Shmita and Yovel that 'all its (the Land of Israel's) inhabitants live upon it' was no longer met. On the other hand, it is agreed in halachic conclusion that the Eastern Bank is liable for Bikurim and other laws of the Land only on a Rabbinic level, and not on a Biblical level as the Land of Israel Proper. Rambam even states in his commentary on the Mishna that 'it (the Eastern Bank) is not considered the Land of Israel,' although it is liable Rabbinically for many of its laws. Interestingly, based on this week's parsha, we find that the Eastern Bank itself may be also divided into two parts. According to the Yerushalmi, the explanation given in the Mishna Bikurim for the Biblical exemption of the Eastern Bank from Bikurim, that the Eastern Bank is not rendered the Land of milk and honey' mentioned in context of Bikurim, is only one opinion. According to a different Tanaic teaching, the reason the Eastern Bank is excluded from Biblical obligation for Bikurim is because one must announce on the bikurim that the first fruits come from the Land 'You (HaShem) have given me'. The Yerushalmi continues to ascertain that the initiation of settling the Eastern Bank did not come from HaShem, but rather from the tribes of Reuven and Gad. Therefore, the Yerushalmi concludes, the Eastern Bank given to half of the tribe of Menashe (i.e. Northern Eastern Bank, around where the 'Golan Heights' are today) by HaShem's initiation, unlike Reuven and Gad, may be considered liable for Bikurim, according to the latter Tanaic teaching in contrast with the opinion posed in the Mishna, exempting the entire Eastern Bank from Biblical Bikurim. From this concept we can learn how important is putting HaShem as the 'initiator' of what we do, as first studying the Torah and then deciding what to do (and not the other way around...) When we connect to the 'City of the Patriarchs', we connect to the very roots and 'initiation' of our People as the People of God through our Avot V’imahot, thereby clarifying our minds to what is really important before HaShem.

 

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Or Menorah
Weekday Minyanim with Rabbi Doug

~M-F Shacharit: 8:00am at Bnei Ruven - Ashkenaz Minyan.

~Sunday Shacahrit: 9:15am at Shevet Achim/Buckingham

~S-TH Mincha/Maariv: approx 10 minutes before Sunset 
at Shevet Achim/Buckingham. 

~Motz'ei Shabbat Maariv: Saturdays 36 minutes after Sunset 
at 7400 N Fairfield in Chicago  (Right Entrance)

~Friday Nights: 10 Minutes after Candle Lighting at Or Menorah

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If you have a birthday, a Yahrtzeit, a simcha, a baby coming, 
or you are a chiuv.... 
PLEASE inform Rabbi Doug and one of the 
Gabbayim when you come into shul 
so that the appropriate honors can be handed out 
and the appropriate announcements made. 
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See the only weekly Jewish TV show in the midwest!
"Taped With... Rabbi Doug"
See www.tvrabbi.com to watch on-line 24/6 and for more info and schedules!

This week's show with Rabbi Doug:

“Rabbi Hanoch Teller”

On-Line Link to watch this episode on the web: 
http://www.tvrabbi.com/

In Chicago - Channel 19 Mondays at 8:30pm and Tuesdays at 3:30pm.
(see http://www.tvrabbi.com for more TV schedules and stations.)

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Be sure to check the WRP Eruv Hotline  every Erev-Shabbat at 1-773-74-ERUV-2or on-line by clicking below: http://chicagoeruv.tripod.com
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Please make sure Rabbi Doug has your email address, and if you are not in the Achenu,
please make your home address and phone number available too.

 

PLEASE EMAIL US TO GET OUR EMAIL UPDATES.
Shul Email: orme...@ormenorah.com
Rabbi’s Email: rabb...@ormenorah.com 
Binyamin Rister’s email: biny...@ormenorah.com 
Website: http://www.ormenorah.com

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SHABBAT SHALOM!
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Or Menorah
www.ormenorah.com