|
March 8, 2024 - 28 Adar-1 5784 Parashat Vayakheil- To Do & Not To Do:
Dear Friends, I hope you had a good week and did not get caught in the rain. To help end your week on a sunnier note, we have another amazing program to share with you on Shabbat morning. We are calling this program “The Torah & The Tenor” and it will make your Shabbat unlike any other and once again demonstrate how unique and innovative of a synagogue Kehilla (community) we are. As always, we will begin at 10AM in the sanctuary and enjoy a festive Kiddush afterwards, so I look forward to seeing you. This Shabbat, we are delighted to welcome two special guests. Our musical guest is Cantor David Krasner, who serves as the Hazzan of the Paramus JCC and lives close by, in Fort Lee. I have heard him sing and am sure that his talents and passion for Davening will greatly enhance our spiritual and melodious Davening. In addition, we will welcome Lois Roman, a Trustee of the Czech Memorials Scroll Trust, which is based at the Westminster Synagogue in London, England. Lois will share with us the story of the rescue of 1,564 Czech Scrolls by Ralph Yablon, who donated them to the Westminster Synagogue in February 1964. Our rescued scroll, which beautifies our Bimah, is but one of those Sifrei Torah on loan to Shuls and organizations throughout the world. Each of these scrolls serves not only as a symbol of sorrow, but as a beacon of hope, continuity, and the resilience of the Jewish people. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the distribution of these religious relics. Come and learn the story of our Torah, but I am also planning to make a special announcement about it, so I hope you will be there. In honor of our two guests, I would like to call your attention to this week’s Shir Shell Shavua (Song of the Week), which you can find towards the bottom of this email. This week’s song helps to set the stage for the interview with Lois Roman, so I hope you will take a listen and let me know what you think of it. I am often asked by Jewish people ascending in their level of observance, “Rabbi, what exactly is it that I can’t do on Shabbat?” The first part of my answer always includes suggesting to them not to focus on what they cannot do on Shabbat, but rather to reflect upon what they can do! After all, according to tradition, the two candles we light for Shabbat are intended to parallel the variant wording of the Mitzvah of Keeping the Sabbath, as shared in the two renditions of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Devarim 6): Shamor and Zachor. The Sages said (Mechilta on Ex. 20:8) that Shamor and Zachor were said in one utterance to emphasize the two principal aspects of Shabbat. Shamor refers to the negative commandments; all the things that we are not allowed to do on Shabbat to preserve its sanctity. Zachor, on the other hand, refers to the positive aspects of Shabbat; those things we are supposed to do to honor the Shabbat. In this week’s Torah portion of Vayakheil, we read of the construction of the Mishkan or Tabernacle, which will secure the tablets of the covenant and also accompany the Jewish people through forty years of wandering. The text goes into great detail about how Btzalel is instructed to create curtains, covers, planks, partitions, screens, a table, the menorah, the altar, and the laver, which might make you itch for a trip to Home Depot or Lowes! While each detail of the Mishkan is carefully engineered by Divine instruction during nascent biblical times, generations later, the Rabbis of the Talmud (Messechet Shabbat 97b) derive from these directives thirty-nine (!) types of labor that are now forbidden on Shabbat. Prohibited activities taken from this week’s portion include (now take a breath before you run through this list…) carrying, burning, extinguishing, finishing, writing, erasing, sewing, tearing, knotting, cooking, washing, untying, shaping, plowing, planting, reaping, harvesting, threshing, winnowing, selecting, sifting, grinding, kneading, combing, spinning, dyeing, chain-stitching, warping, weaving, unraveling, building, demolishing, trapping, shearing, slaughtering, skinning, tanning, smoothing, and marking. It is more than just not cooking and not going to the office! It is a full sense of Shamor et HaShabbat (and thank you to Parashat Vayakheil, our lives will never be the same)! On the other hand, Zachor et HaShabbat offers us wonderful activities that can enhance our lives and make Shabbat an incredible opportunity to escape the mundane existence of daily life while experiencing living in holiness. Rochi Koval, writing for Out of the Ortho Box, suggests that this list may include (but not be limited to):
Please share with me what makes your Shabbat special and may this Shabbat, with all of its “do’s and don’ts”, bring us all blessing, fulfillment, joy, and harmony. See you in Shul! Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD, Hon.DM
|
