Shabboom! Weekly Announcements

Energize your week with Ohev Sholom                                        November 5, 2020

Shabbat Times and Announcements

Erev Shabbat, November 6 (Cheshvan 19):
2:00p D'var Torah with Rabbi Herzfeld via  Facebook Live
4:10p Laining of the Torah by Shia Herzfeld  join here
4:40p Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/D'var Torah (in person,  advance registration required Mincha via Zoom  join here )
4:43p Candlelighting

Shabbat, November  (Cheshvan 20):
8:30a Shabbat Morning Services (in person, advance registration required)
4:45p Mincha/Maariv (in person, advance registration required)
5:43p Havdalah via Zoom at 5:45p 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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Maharat Friedman's weekly parsha podcast "Life Imitates Torah" is back!  
Click here to listen, or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.  

Last year we participated in a faith & mental health survey for researchers at Catholic University. They have built a follow-up survey focusing specifically on mental health during the pandemic, and we invite all members to participate (it should take 15 minutes.) In addition to helping support their research, Ohev's participation will also give the shul leadership useful information on the challenges and experiences of our members during the pandemic, which will allow us to serve you better. For the results to be accurate and useful, we need as high a response rate as possible. So we ask all adults to please fill out the survey. The survey is completely anonymous; we do not collect names or email addresses. You can find the survey here. Thank you for your participation!

Thanks to the hard work of Shepherd Park Citizen Association, Profish will be delivering to Shepherd Park once a week. Please see below for a message from Shepherd Park Citizens Association President, Naima Jefferson, and also a note from our clergy about the kosher items on the truck.

Message from Naima Jefferson: Profish has received approval from the DC Department of Health to have a "Meet the Truck" pickup location at Shepherd Park Christian Church located at 7900 Eastern Avenue! Profish will be offering pick up from 8:00 am to 10:00 am on Thursdays starting on 11/5! The minimum order is $40.

How to Order
For those who may be new to Profish customers, their website has instructions on How to Order. First, you need to register to set up an account. Then shop, add items to your cart, select Shepherd Park Christian Church as your location, and pay. It's just that simple!

Kosher items
Please click here to see the flyer for kosher items (must bear an OU symbol). Profish makes and sells an an assortment of packaged smoked fish and also chicken wings under the certification of OU. These are kosher. Profish also can sell you a whole fish that is kosher—e.g. tuna, salmon, sea bass, or any other kosher fish.

With respect to non-whole fish: DC Kosher has already had preliminary conversations with Profish on this topic. Based on their operating procedures, it is our opinion that Profish can also filet a raw fish for you and identify the fish on the wrapping paper that they sell it to you in. Under these circumstances, it is permitted to eat the fish, but one should first wash the fish before cooking it. Any further questions on this topic can be emailed to rabbishmuel@ostns.org or maharatruth@ostns.org

Comments on the Weekly Portion and Haftorah Contributed by Rabbi Ben Mintz

This week's parsha, Vayera, opens with God appearing to Avraham in the guise of three angels who come to the tent of Avraham and Sarah. Avraham shows hospitality to the visitors by feeding them. They then announce that the following year at the same time, Sarah will have a son. Sarah overhears and expresses laughing disbelief to herself that with Avraham's senior age, she would have a child. God then asks Avraham, why did Sarah laugh at the news that she would have a child by saying that she was too old? In fact Sarah had said that it was Avraham who was too old  The rabbis wonder why God made that change. They answer that for the sake of family peace, even God changes the facts. God did not not want to tell Avraham that his wife Sarah had said that he was "too old". That could cause family friction. 

The parsha continues with the important story of Akedas Yitzchak, which begins with the phrase, "Acharei ha'dvorim ha'eilu;" which means "after these words". (Bereshis 22:1)  But what "words" is the Torah referring to? One explanation is that it was the words of Satan. Satan criticized Avraham by saying he made a great party in honor of the circumcision, inviting many guests, but he didn't even offer an animal sacrifice to you, God, for the occasion.  So, God responded, saying that even if I asked Avraham to sacrifice his son to me, he would do so willingly. Another explanation is that those "words" were Yishmael's, who said to Yitzchak that he, Yishmael, was holier than Yitzchak, because he, Yishmael, had been circumcised at the age of eight days which is the proper age, but Yitzchak was not circumcised until he was thirteen years old. To that, Yitzchak responded that if God were to tell Avraham to sacrifice him, he would be willing to allow himself to be sacrificed.

The Haftorah is from 2 Kings, 4:1-37. It tells the story of how the prophet Elisha brought the Shunamite woman's son, who had died, back to life. This parallels a story in the tradition, that Isaac actually died on the altar, and that he was brought back to life miraculously.

Haftorah Video, by Hal Brodsky z"l

Upcoming Events and Weekly Schedule

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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
Board of Directors
board@ostns.org
Hospitality & Welcome Committee
BeOurGuest@ostns.org
Mikvah Chaim
mikvahchaim.org
attendant@mikvahchaim.org
Cemetery Information
cemetery@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225