Shabboom! Weekly Announcements

Energize your week with Ohev Sholom                                        December 6, 2018

Shabbat Times and Announcements

Erev Shabbat, December 7: Chanukah (Kislev 29)
6:30a Shacharit
4:27p Candle Lighting
4:30p Kabbalat Shabbat
5:00p December Dinner and Drash (Pre-registration required)

Shabbat, December 8: Chanukah, Rosh Chodesh Tevet, Miketz (Kislev 30)
9:15a Shacharit, with a Dvar Torah from Ari Blumenthal
10:30a Shabbat Youth Groups
11:45a Kiddush Luncheon
2:30p Women's Learning Program
3:05p Daf Yomi
4:05p Mincha, followed by Seudah Shlishit
5:28p Havdalah

Upcoming Kiddush Schedule
12/15: Kiddush Luncheon sponsored by the Saka family in honor of Emma's birthday
12/22: Kiddush
12/29: No food served



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Comments on the Portion & Haftorah , Contributed by Rabbi Ben Mintz

This week's Parsha, Mikeitz, tells of the elevation of Joseph as a second to Pharaoh, of the famine in the Land of Canaan, and the appearance of Joseph's brothers before Joseph. The Torah says: "And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him."

The Midrash interprets that when his brothers fell into Joseph the ruler's hands, he recognized them as brothers, but when Joseph the teenager fell into his brothers' hands, in the previous Parsha, they did not recognize him as a brother. Thus, as in the previous Parsha in the story of Judah and Tamar, we learn that "recognition" is not only physical, but also moral and psychological -- a recognition of the humanity of the individual. 

The Haftorah is from the Prophet Zechariah (2:14), one of the twelve, the Trei-Asar. This is the Haftorah for Chanukah. Although this Shabbos is also Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon, the Haftorah of Chanukah takes precedence, because that Haftorah is appropriate only once (or sometimes twice) a year. The Haftorah is appropriate for Chanukah, beginning with its opening phrase, "Sing and rejoice Zion, for I come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord" (2:14). The Haftorah also contains the parable of the Menorah, beginning at 4:1. It puzzles the prophet as it does us. The Haftorah concludes with the timeless saying, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of Hosts" (4:6)

During Chanukah, we add to the Shmoneh Esrei, and to the Birchat Hamazon after meals, the two paragraphs of "Al Ha'Nisim," which speak of the Nisim, the miracles, that God performed in those days at this time. Curiously, the paragraph in the prayer about Chanukah does not mention the familiar "nes," miracle, of the oil burning for eight days. We understand from this that a miracle is not only a supernatural event, but also, as the prayer says, natural events that lead to unexpected and happy results. God delivered "the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few... the wicked into the hands of the righteous."

Chanukah Sameach to all.

Haftorah Video, Contributed by Hal Brodsky Z"L

How are the national tree and national emblem of the state of Israel connected to  Chanukah and to this week's Haftorah? Find the answer here, in a video by Hal Brodsky Z"L, about the Haftorah for Shabbos Chanukah. 

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info@ostns.org
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Sarah.Shapiro@ostns.org
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Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
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Stacey Watson, Director of Engagement
Stacey.Watson@ostns.org
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Lisa Redisch, Director of Youth & Family Programs
youth@ostns.org
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