We are suspending all of our in-person activities but we are looking to significantly increase our electronic communication.
Today at 4:30 pm Maharat Friedman will be giving a shiur on Facebook live
Today at 5 pm Rabbi Herzfeld will be delivering the D'var Torah for this Shabbat on his Facebook Live account. You can alsoread it here . We also would like to invite everyone to join him for havdalah at 8 pm on his Facebook Live account.
Rabbi Herzfeld’s daily daf yomi class and his two weekly parasha classes will now take place on zoom. Please email him if you would like to participate in those classes.
Maharat Friedman will be conducting her Torah classes on Zoom as well. Please email her for more information.
We also encourage people to pray at the same times on Shabbat that they would normally pray every other Shabbat. Please spend an extra moment reflecting on prayers for the sick.
Please note: Mikvah Chaim will remain open for women who are immersing for the purpose of niddah and who are not experiencing any symptoms of the virus. All male immersions, and non-halachic immersions, are canceled until further notice.
These are very difficult times for our community. We encourage everyone to think creatively about how we can all help those in greater need. We hope to have time next week to come up with more ideas about how to help others.
With Prayers and Blessings for a Special Shabbat,
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld and Maharat Ruth Friedman
Energize your week with Ohev Sholom March 13, 2020
Shabbat Times and Announcements
Erev Shabbat, March 13 (Adar 17)
6:56p Candle Lighting
Shabbat, March 14: Parshat Parah, Ki Tisa (Adar 18)
7:57p Havdalah
Sale of Chametz: This year's sale of chametz forms can be found here Online Form|Download/Print Form Please note all chametz products can be sold and do not need to be disposed of. You should not hesitate to purchase anything you need for the next few weeks out of fear that you will have to throw it out for Pesach.
Thank you to the volunteers who helped serve food at the Purim carnival: Rachel Berger, Sara Steindel Dauber, and Leora Klapper.
Comments on the Portion, Haftorah & Morning Prayers, As Well As a Few Words About the Daily Prayers Contributed by Rabbi Ben Mintz
The highlights of this week's parsha, Ki Tisa, are the sin of the Golden Calf and Moshe receiving from God the second set of tablets of the Ten Commandments after Moshe smashed the first in anger.
The parsha begins with a statement of the laws of Shabbos. The rabbis look to this Torah text for support of the well-established principle that it is permissible to violate the Shabbos in order to save a life.. The Torah says, "And the Jewish people shall observe the Shabbos, to keep the Shabbos for all their generations, a covenant for all time." (Shmos, 31:16) The rabbis say:that we permit the violation of one Shabbos, so that the person will be the to observe many Shabbosos in the future.
In describing the tablets on which the Commandments were inscribed, the Torah emphasizes that they were of stone "luchos avanim:" Why so much emphasis on "stone?" The Malbim, a Torah commentator in Poland, explains as follows: Just as stone is composed of many small particles that in themselves have no strength, so the Torah contains many individual mitzvos which, alone, may not seem impressive, but when combined constitute the Torah which is "solid."
Further, the Torah states that the words of the Commandments were charus, engraved, on the Tablets. The word charus is spelled the same in Hebrew as the word cheirus which means freedom. Say the rabbis: There is no truly "free" individual except one who devotes himself or herself to observing what is engraved (charus) on the Tablets.
Moshe is given a second set of tablets to make up for those he shattered. As he descends from the mountain, the Torah says, that "koran or panav." The face of Moshe was radiant; it shone with heavenly rays. The Latin translator Jerome took the word "koran" literally (the word keren means horn) and translated the passage as stating that Moshe's face was "horned," that he had horns. As a result of this overly literal translation, in medieval art, Moshe was pictured as having "horns" and from this the medieval calumny was derived that the Jews all had horns, a well-known antisemitic canard.
This Shabbos is Shabbos Parah, one of the four special Shabbosos preceding Pesach. There is an addition to the Torah reading from the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), Chapter 19. It is the instruction to the Jews for the preparation and the sacrifice of the para aduma, the red heifer.
The special haftorah for Shabbos Parah is from the book of Yechezkel (Ezekiel), 36:16-38. God says: "I shall give you a new heart and a new spirit, and I will remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh."
TFILOT From the Shmoneh Esrei: Lead us not into error, sin, wrongdoing, temptation or disgrace. Do not let the evil instinct dominate us. Keep us far from a bad person and bad friend...and bend our instincts to be subservient to you.
Upcoming Events and Weekly Schedule
To view and register for upcoming events and weekly schedule, visit our website's online calendar.
Janet Lipman Thera Swersky Adin Kahan David Kurtzer-Ellenbogen Sarah Leshner Alexandra Alhadeff Claire Miller Levi Rubin Ori Alon Perel Richard Atkins Aaron Wildavsky Adi BenEzra Benjamin Bokser Hope Meltzer Jeruchim Kenneth Halperin Keren BenEzra Ronnie Kleinfeldt Tara Hain
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Members Observing Yahrzeits
Friday Gilad Tal for mother Vera Tal Janice Epstein for grandmother Rose Rosenblatt Thera Swersky for first husband David Finbloom
Shabbat Jonathan Kopp for mother Charlotte Kopp Maraji Gwynallen for father Russell Levin Stefan Gottschalk for father John Gottschalk
Sunday Janice Epstein for uncle Nathan Rosenblatt
Monday Moshe Horowitz for father Elliot Horowitz
Tuesday Harris Cohen for Grandmother Evelyn Cohen Norma Burdett for grandfather-in-law Isadore Mallinoff Ronald Viener for grandfather Hyman Viener
Wednesday Stuart Leven for mother Sari Leven Camras
Thursday Julie (Julius) Levine for mother Matilda Levine
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Donations - February 2020
Annual Giving Plans Anthony & Leone Abroms Yoni & Emily Appelbaum David & Naomi Balto Naomi Brodsky Eric Brown & Aliza Levine Jeffrey & Sandra Burt Belle Davis Kira Epstein Begal & Billy Begal Ellen & David Epstein Sarah & David Feith Sarah Fertig Trauben & Steven Trauben Shaw & Thomas Fodor Yoni & Ruth Friedman Harold & Diana Furchtgott-Roth Carl & Laurie Gershman Dov Grossman & Katie Schenk Shmuel & Rhanni Herzfeld Amos Hochstein & Rae Ringel James & Deborah Karesh David & Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen Nathan Lesser & Chani Bloom James & Rachel Loeffler Joseph & Carol Low Jeffrey & Lea Mendelsohn Shaanan Meyerstein & Rachel Engelhart Michael Morse & Miriam Achtenberg Jerome Netter & Leora Klapper Matthew & Rebecca Price Baruch & Rachel Roth Yaakov & Arielle Roth Justin & Jessica Rubin Franklin Rubinstein & Nicole Goldstein Joseph & Claudia Saka Joshua Schenker & Julie Rapoport Schenker Susan Schutz Joshua Segal & Jennifer Geetter Starr & William Stixrud Samuel & Thera Swersky Daniel & Cheryl Troy Michael & Avril Weisman Ben & Rachel Wildavsky Ariel & Andrea Wolf Reuven & Tamar Zakheim
General Gifts & Donations Cohen, Ramona Michael Morse & Miriam Achtenberg Brian Nadata Amichai Schreiber Western Correctional Institution
Cemetery Martin Auerbach Jack & Diana Binder Eric Brown & Aliza Levine Belle Davis Edward Davis Kenneth & Anita Davis Michael & Harriet Epstein Donald Evans Harold & Diana Furchtgott-Roth Leonard Goodman Trust Kenneth Josovitz & Sindy Udell James & Deborah Karesh Leon Kass Joshua & Francesca Kranzberg Wendy & Desmond Lachman Steven & Sharon Lieberman Michael Morse & Miriam Achtenberg Baruch & Rachel Roth Thomas & Jill Sacks Meryl Schumacker Samuel Shapiro Starr & William Stixrud Nina & Peter Tarley Gale Teitelbaum Michael & Avril Weisman Ann Werner
Meal Sponsorship David & Naomi Balto for Anna Yuter Kiddush Jeff Ernst & Adina Loeb Kiddush Eitan Levisohn & Dina Epstein Security team lunch Michael Morse & Miriam Achtenberg thank you security personnel Yaakov & Arielle Roth Pesha Rubinstein for Rena and Chaim Fruchter Seudah Shlishit Samuel & Thera Swersky Shabbas of Chesed in memory of Anna Yuter Purim - Mishloach Manot Fundraiser Richard Atkins & Cynthia Samuels Ken & Nicole Cox Asher & Smadar Epstein Harold & Rena Fruchter Kenneth Halperin & Caryn Wexler Kenneth Josovitz & Sindy Udell Binyamin Katz & Hannah Gerstein Joshua & Adena Kirstein Jonathan Kopp & Charlotte Rest Joseph & Claudia Saka Nina & Peter Tarley
In Honor of Norman Blaustein Stephen & Shoshana Bryen Helene Reisler in honor of Ellen Epstein Birthday
In Memory of/Yahrzeit Martin Auerbach in memory of my father, David Auerbach Ralph & Sylvia Block in memory of my great aunt, Esther Sherman and my uncle, Hyman Block Max Chaikin in memory of my father, Samuel Chaikin Ramona Cohen in Memory of my beloved Grandfather, William Gildenhorn and Grandmother, Gertrude Gildenhorn Mark & Andrea Dettelbach in memory of Marda Brown Michael & Harriet Epstein in memory of Isaac Rosenblatt, Leon Epstein, Violet Levitt, and Janice Epstein on her 100th Birhtday Sol & Nina Glasner Leon Kass Charis Keitelman Joyce Kirshenbaum in memory of Rebecca Perry Wendy & Desmond Lachman in memory of my mother, Sadie Gould Steven & Chani Laufer Julie (Julius) Levine in memory of grandmother, father, cousin Billy and uncle Arleen Meyers in memory my father, Meyer Levine Marshall & Adele Narva in memory of my mother, Ellen Potts Robert Parker & Mona Charen Baruch & Rachel Roth in memory of Earl Jone's sister Gerald Steinkeller in memory of my wife, Rose Steinkeller Nina & Peter Tarley in memory of my mother, Chaya Zangwill Breslav Michael & Avril Weisman in Memory of Inge Horowitz, mother of Cheryl Troy Michael Yoselle in memory of Richard Levine