For more information and details on how to sign-up for our limited outdoor in-person services, please visit ostns.org/reopening.
Mazel tov to Ariele Mortkowitz and David Hain on the birth of a baby boy!
Tot Shabbat: Join Yoni Friedman and Shalom Yaffa this Shabbat, February 6 at 10:30 AM. Masks, social distancing, and registration required; register here.
Tonight at 7:00PM, Camp Kibbutz Town Hall: We want your feedback about what you/your children are looking for this summer. Click here to join.
Survey Reminder: If you have not completed the survey and attended the January 25th community gathering, please complete the survey here by tomorrow, Friday February 5th.
Class on the Laws of Purim: Rabbi Herzfeld will be teaching the Laws of Purim on Tuesday nights (until Purim), 8:15-8:45 PM. Join here.
Solar Panels Installation: Ohev's solar panels installation will be starting next week! Please be advised the parking lot will be closed all day Wednesday, Feb 10 and Shacharit will take place in the side "stroller" area.
OSTNS Mishloach Manot will be handled differently this year; please see below for more information. Ohev's February Food Drive for Yad Yehuda: Ohev has been tasked with collecting winter food items during the month of February. See details below.
Thank you to our virtual learning sponsors for this past week: Deborah Kopp, Nina Tarley, Donald Krastman and Sindy Udell. If you are interested in sponsoring a day of virtual learning for $54, please visit https://www.ohevdc.org/form/virtual-learning-sponsor.html
Spotlight on.... Genealogy Workshop Starting Next Week
Mishloach Manot 2021/5781
Because of the unique distribution circumstances this year, we will not be using our usual registration system and instead everyone will receive a Mishloach Manot from Ohev Sholom (and not a list of those who sent to them). These packages will be available for in-person pickup as well as home delivery if necessary.
We would greatly appreciate sponsorships to help cover the costs of this community project. If you are able to contribute, please go to https://www.ohevdc.org/form/Mishloach_Manot_2021.html. If you are signed up for our annual giving plan, you are automatically signed up as a sponsor and there is no need to register.
Stay tuned next week for details on all of our exciting Purim plans!
We are thrilled to announce our new Ohev composting initiative, in partnership with the Beltway Vaad! We would love to have as many Ohev households as possible practice composting to help reduce landfill waste.
As part of this initiative, Compost Cab has graciously offered all Ohev members a special discount on their monthly services. Use coupon code "COMPOSTT" to receive half off your first month of home pickup service, and then $5 off your monthly service on an ongoing basis https://compostcab.com/join. Once you sign up they will send you the receptacle, and all necessary information to get started. Contact MaharatRuth@ostns.org with questions.
Ohev's February Food Drive for Yad Yehuda
Yad Yehuda has asked Ohev Sholom to collect winter foods for the food pantry, specifically: dried (tube) and boxed (broth) soups, barley, lentils, Near East mixes, and quinoa. We have a bin outside the shul on the Jonquil steps for drop off or you can order online and have the items shipped to the shul for us to deliver. Below are a few direct links to items on Amazon:
Words on the Weekly Parsha and Haftorah Contributed by Rabbi Ben Mintz
The high point of this week's parsha, Yisro, is, of course, the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. In shul, when the leining of the parsha reaches that point, the entire congregation rises to its feet and remains standing as the Aseret Hadibrot are read. This year, around the country and world, far fewer than usual will have the opportunity to be in a minyan for that moment. We look ahead to a time when, once again, we can all rise together.
In the parsha, we learn that, in preparation for the giving of the Commandments, the people camped "betachtis ha'har." (Shmos, 19:l7) This can be translated as "at the foot of the mountain." However, it can also mean "under the mountain". The midrash famously explains those words thus: God placed the mountain "over" them. He covered them with the mountain, saying: "if you accept the Torah, that will be good. But if not, this place will be your place of burial." This suggests that the Jews received the Torah under compulsion. However, the midrash adds, that in the time of Mordechei and Esther, the Jews accepted the Torah voluntarily. The Book of Esther says, in 9:27, that the Jews "observed and accepted." The midrash interprets that in the time of Esther in Persia, the Jews agreed to accept the words of the Torah that earlier they had been forced to accept, In the Ten Commandments, the obligation to observe the Shabbos is stated with the word "zachor" "Remember" (the Sabbath). (Shmos 20:8). However, in the second iteration of the Commandments, in the Book of Dvorim, the Jews are commanded to "observe" the Shabbos. The term used is "shamor". Is this a contradiction? The rabbis say that God said the two words "zachor" and "shamor" simultaneously, "be'dibur echad," something that we cannot do ourselves. This idea of God saying two words at the same time is reflected in the first verse of the Lecha Dodi prayer, which we recite each erev Shabbat.
The Commandments in Shmos state that one should honor "their father and mother." (20:12) Elsewhere, the Torah says that they should fear their mother and father." (Vayikra 19:3.) Why the change in the order of the words "mother" and "father"? The rabbis explain that an individual is more likely to respect his or her mother, so when the subject is the obligation to respect, the father is placed first as an extra reminder. On the other hand, a person is more likely to fear his or her father, so for the obligation to fear, the mother is placed first.
The haftorah is from the Book of Yeshayahu, Isaiah. Among many other things, the haftorah offers a vision of God's presence: "I beheld my God seated on a high and lofty throne...The Seraphim stood in attendance on Him... and called one to the other. 'Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord of Hosts, His presence fills all the earth.'"
Sunday, February 7 (Shevat 25) 8:00a Shacharit (in person or via Zoom) 9:00a Daf Yomi with Rabbi Herzfeld 11:00a Exploring Judaism: The Richness of our Tradition with Rabbi Mintz via Zoom 5:25p Mincha/Maariv (in person or via Zoom)
Monday, February 8 (Shevat 26)
Day of Virtual Learning sponsored by Elaine Jacobson in memory of her brother, Jerry Stein 7:00a Daf Yomi with Rabbi Herzfeld 8:00a Shacharit (in person or via Zoom) 12:30p Class with Rabbi Herzfeld on the Parsha via Zoom 4:30p Book of Kings with Maharat Friedman via Zoom 5:25p Mincha/Maariv (in person or via Zoom)
Tuesday, February 9 (Shevat 27) 7:00a Daf Yomi with Rabbi Herzfeld 8:00a Shacharit (in person or via Zoom) 4:00p Parshah Storytime with Rabbi Herzfeld (recommended ages 4-6) 5:25p Mincha/Maariv (in person or via Zoom) 7:00p Class with Baruch Roth via Zoom 8:15p Class with Rabbi Herzfeld: Laws of Purim
Wednesday, February 10 (Shevat 28) 7:00a Daf Yomi with Rabbi Herzfeld 8:00a Shacharit (in person or via Zoom) 12:30p Class with Rabbi Herzfeld on the Parsha via Zoom 4:30p Book of Kings with Maharat Friedman via Zoom 5:25p Mincha/Maariv (in person or via Zoom)
Thursday, February 11 (Shevat 29) 7:00a Daf Yomi with Rabbi Herzfeld 8:00a Shacharit (in person or via Zoom) 12:00p Jewish Genealogy Workshop by The Beltway Vaad 4:00p Teen Torah Class on Parashat Hashavua by Rabbi Herzfeld 5:25p Mincha/Maariv (in person or via Zoom)
Erev Shabbat, February 12: Rosh Chodesh Adar (Shevat 30) 7:00a Daf Yomi with Rabbi Herzfeld 8:00a Shacharit (in person or via Zoom) 5:20p Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat (Registration required; Mincha available via Zoom) 5:23p Candle Lighting
Devora Hileman Douglas Lachance Ethan Josovitz Isaac Begal Ethan Price Izzy Orlofsky Rebecca Schwartz Steven Solomon Daniel Troy Judith Gerstenblith Kayla Drogosz Doron Tauber Elizabeth Bodine-Baron Emily Kahan Jonathan Kopp Leah Fleischer Noah Trauben Nora Abramson Sandra Leigh Sholom Yaffa Ellen Epstein Jason Pressberg Ariel Wolf Yoni Morse-Achtenberg
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Members Observing Yahrzeits
Thursday Micah Salb for grandmother Helen Stern
Shabbat Belle Davis for Husband Martin Davis Henry Brem for father Jacob Brem
Sunday Ruth Friedman for grandfather Ezra Perkal
Monday Annie Elizabeth (Chana) Ryan for Aunt Nereida Martini Freyesleben
Tuesday Benjamin Mintz for father Mintz Chani Laufer for mother Rayna Clark
Wednesday Wendy Lachman for mother Sadie Gould
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