Shabboom! Weekly Announcements

Energize your week with Ohev Sholom                                        October 15, 2020

Shabbat Times and Announcements

Erev Shabbat, October 16 (Tishrei 28):
5:00p D'var Torah with Rabbi Herzfeld via  Facebook Live
5:35p Laining of the Torah by Yoni Friedman with parsha commentary from Maharat Friedman join here
6:05p Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/D'var Torah (in person,  advance registration required Mincha via Zoom  join here )
6:09p Candlelighting

Shabbat, October 17 (Tishrei 29):
8:30a - 9:30a Shabbat Morning Services (in person, advance registration required)
6:10p Mincha/Maariv (in person, advance registration required)
7:08p Havdalah via Zoom at 7:10p Join here

For more information and details on how to sign-up for our limited outdoor in-person services, please visit ostns.org/reopening.
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• The first panel will discuss what “success” means in the context of Modern Orthodoxy and consider the challenges associated with Modern Orthodoxy’s big tent. 
• ​​​​​​​The second panel will turn to how the Modern Orthodox community engages with their Judaism and address the evolution of Modern Orthodoxy and what Jewish adults are seeking in terms of their education.  

Maharat Friedman's weekly parsha podcast "Life Imitates Torah" is back!  Click here  to listen, or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.  

Shouk now offers their award winning burgers pre-packaged for you to make on your own grill or frying pan. Best of all they are DC Kosher!  People can order from their general menu for pickup at their stores or through delivery.
 

COMMENTS ON THIS WEEK'S PORTION AND HAFTORAH
Submitted by Rabbi Ben Mintz

We begin reading the Torah from the beginning this Shabbos,  with parshas  Bereshis.

The first letter in the first parsha of the Torah is "beis", which is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The rabbis ask: Would it not have been more appropriate to begin the Torah with the first letter of the alphabet, which is "aleph? They explain as follows: the letter "aleph" is the first letter of the Hebrew word "arur", which means "cursed." This, the rabbis said, is hardly an appropriate way to start the story of creation. But the letter "beis" is the first letter of the word "baruch," which means "blessed." God wished that his creation of the world would begin on a note of blessing, not with the concept of a curse.

In the famous King James translation of the Bible, the first words are translated, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was "tohu vavohu (formless and void)." Rashi, the foremost Jewish commentator, disagrees. He would translate the word "Bereshis" as "In the beginning of," so that the start of the Torah, according to Rashi, should be translated: in the beginning of God's creation of the heavens and earth, the earth was "tohu va'vohu..."  According to Rashi's thinking,, the King James translation is inaccurate, because, as the Torah tells the story, God did not create the heavens and the earth at the beginning of creation, but during the six days of creation. Take your choice.  

The parsha continues with  the story of Kayin and  v'Hevel, Cain and Abel. God accuses Kayin of murdering his brother. Kayin denies the accusation, and God says, "koll dmei achicha..." your brother's blood is calling to me from the earth. In Hebrew, the word blood is plural; your brother's bloods" are calling to me. Why the plural? The rabbis interpret that not only Abel's blood, but all the bloods of the generations of individuals who would have come from Abel, are calling to God from the ground. The rabbis assert that a murder case is most serious because it involves many deaths.

The haftorah is from Isaiah (42:5 - 43:10). "Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens, and stretched them out. who spread the earth and what it brings forth, who gave breath to the people in the earth, and life to those who walk thereon."

Haftorah Video, by Hal Brodsky z"l

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Contact Us

Synagogue Office
info@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225
Alejandra Benitez, Office Manager
Alejandra@osts.org
(202) 882-7225
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
RabbiShmuel@ostns.org
(202) 812-8900 
Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman
MaharatRuth@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225, ext. 107
Monica Wolfe, Executive Director
Monica.Wolfe@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225, etx. 103
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