Shabboom! Weekly Announcements

Energize your week with Ohev Sholom                                         January 10, 2018

Shabbat Times and Announcements

Erev Shabbat, January 11 (Shevat 5)
6:30a Shacharit
4:47p Candle Lighting
4:50p Kabbalat Shabbat

Shabbat, January 12: Bo (Shevat 6)
8:15a Shacharit
9:15a Women's Tefillah Bat Mitzvah Celebration, with a Dvar Torah from Batya Sperling-Milner
10:30a Shabbat Youth Groups
11:45a Kiddush Luncheon
12:05p Daf Yomi
3:55p Chaim Fruchter's Shiur
4:25p Mincha, followed by Seudah Shlishit with a Shiur from Michael Sperling on: “A Voice from the Judean Desert”
5:49p Havdalah
7:30p Jewish & Israeli Culture Film Series - Rabin: In His Own Words

Upcoming Kiddush Schedule
1/19: Kiddush Luncheon sponsored by the Gershman/Silverberg family in honor of Josie's bat mitzvah
1/26: Kiddush Luncheon sponsored by the Kaiser-Blueth family in honor of Zoe's bat mitzvah
2/2: Kiddush

Friday, February 1st
5:15PM - Kabbalat Shabbat led by Shlomo Gaisin
6:15PM - Communal Shabbat Dinner followed by Tisch

Shabbat Dinner: $18/adult (before 1/25; $36 after), $10/youth 12 and under, free under 4, $75 family maximum

Saturday, February 2nd
9:15AM - Shacharit with a D'var Torah from Shlomo Gaisin
7:30-9:00PM - Community-wide Melava Malka at Milton Gottesman Primary Jewish Day School

Melava Malka is free of charge thanks to our generous sponsors. However, RSVP is requested.

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

This week's Parsha, Bo, speaks first of the last three plagues: locusts, darkness, and death of the first born. It then describes Pharaoh demanding that the Israelites leave the country, and contains the first description of the rules governing the Festival of Passover. 

The Parsha emphasizes that the Israelites left Egypt "be'chipazon," hurriedly. This is understandable. However, the Prophet Isaiah, centuries later, seems to foresee the opposite type of departure, saying that in the days to come, the Jewish people, in their ultimate redemption by God, "will not depart in haste (be'chipazon), nor will you leave in flight." The explanation appears in the words of Isaiah: "For the Lord is marching before you" (52:12). There's a world of difference between a situation where the Egyptians are behind the nation, and where the God of Israel is up ahead, leading them.

Much earlier in the Torah, God tells Abraham, in the famous covenant, that Abraham's descendants will be slaves and be oppressed for four hundred years in a strange land. There are many different calculations of the time during which the Israelites were in Egypt and how long they were slaves there; but Rashi comes to the conclusion that the relevant period of the Israelites in Egypt was 210 years. A contradiction? The most straightforward explanation notes that the Torah emphasizes that the Egyptians had burdened the Israelites with "hard labor and mortar and bricks." So the Israelites performed 400 years of labor in just 210 years.

The Haftorah is from the Book of Jeremiah. As in prior Haftorahs, it describes the arrogance of Egypt and its ultimate downfall. In this prophecy, Jeremiah refers to the arrogant Egypt as "eglah ye'fei fiya" (46:20) -- translated by the Jewish Publication Society as a "handsome heifer," and in the Artscroll translation as “a beautiful calf” -- which should prepare for itself "instruments of exile." This metaphoric description of Egypt is adopted in “Ma'Oz Tzur,” the popular Chanukah song. In “Ma'Oz Tzur,” each verse mentions a period of Jewish exile, climaxing with the Jewish triumph over its enemies. The second verse of the song, which refers to the slavery in Egypt, describes the country as "malchus eglah,” the kingdom of the heifer.

Haftorah Video, by Hal Brodsky z"l

A video about this week's Haftorah can be viewed here: Jer. 46:13-28

Upcoming Events and Weekly Schedule

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Contact Us

Synagogue Office
info@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225
Sarah Shapiro, Executive Director
Sarah.Shapiro@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225, ext. 103
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
RabbiShmuel@ostns.org
(202) 812-8900 
Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman
MaharatRuth@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225, ext. 107
Stacey Watson, Director of Engagement
Stacey.Watson@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225, ext. 102
Lisa Redisch, Director of Youth & Family Programs
youth@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225, ext. 105
Board of Directors
board@ostns.org
Hospitality & Welcome Committee
BeOurGuest@ostns.org
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mikvahchaim.org
attendant@mikvahchaim.org
Cemetery Information
cemetery@ostns.org
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