Shabboom! Weekly Announcements

Energize your week with Ohev Sholom                                               April 11, 2019

Shabbat Times and Announcements

Erev Shabbat, April 12 (Nisan 7)
6:30a Shacharit
6:45p Kabbalat Shabbat
7:24p Candle Lighting

Shabbat, April 13: Shabbat HaGadol, Metzora (Nisan 8)
7:30a Mashkimin
9:15a Shacharit
10:30a Shabbat Youth Groups
11:45a Daf Yomi
4:45p Haggadah Study with Rabbi Herzfeld
5:45p Rabbi Herzfeld's Shabbat HaGadol Lecture for Teens
6:35p Chaim Fruchter's Shiur
7:05p Mincha, followed by Maharat Friedman's Shabbat HaGadol lecture
8:26p Havdalah

Upcoming Kiddush Schedule
4/13: No food served
4/20: No food served
4/27: No food served

Visit ostns.org/pesach to see the schedule of events including services, Seders, and more.

Sale of Chametz Form is available online or for download. 

The Beltway Vaad's Halachik Guide to Cleaning and Kashering for Pesach can be found here. 

Donate the chametz you've cleaned out to the Capital Kosher Pantry! A collection bin is at the shul. The last day to donate is Sunday, April 14.

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

This Shabbos is "Shabbos Hagadol," the Shabbos preceding the Pesach festival.  It is described as the "Great Shabbos" because traditionally, a learned member of the congregation delivers a discourse on the subject of Pesach. 

The Parsha, Metzora, takes its name from its opening words about the laws surrounding the metzora, an individual afflicted with skin disease. The rabbis break the word "metzora" into two words, "motzi" and "ra", a person who "brings out," or circulates, negative reports about another. The sin is usually described as "motzi shem ra," similar but not identical with our "defamation." Rashi notes that the Torah provides that the purification of a motzi shem ra is through the presenting to the Kohen of two live, clean birds ("shnei tziporim chayos tahoros"). Why birds? Because birds chirp, that is, chatter without thinking; so the motzi shem ra chatters without thinking. 

The Torah further describes the purification process as including the immersion of the birds in a mixture of wood from a cedar tree, a hyssop bush, and scarlet wool with the color supplied by the aphid insect. The meaning? Since the motzi shem ra has sinned because of his arrogance, which is symbolized by the cedar wood, the individual must humble himself like the hyssop bush and the scarlet wool. (Translation from Rabbi Steinsaltz’s Chumash).

The Tanach continually emphasizes the importance of refraining from circulating "shem ra." One example is the passage (Psalms, 34:13-14): "Who is the person who desires life ("chofetz chaim")? Guard your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from dishonesty." (This Psalm is part of the Sabbath morning service.) That connection between long life and guarding your tongue is illustrated by the rabbinical story of the peddler who went around selling a drug that he said brought long life. Rabbi Yanaai came to the peddler and ask that he sell him the drug .The peddler answered that Rabbi Yanaai had no need for the drug, took out the passage from the Book of Psalms, and said: "You already know how to achieve life."

One of the most prominent contemporary rabbis, Rabbi Israel Meir HaCohen Kagan, wrote extensively about the laws against motzi shem ra. His first work was on this subject and it was named "Sefer Chafetz Chaim," and so, the rabbi became known as the Chofetz Chaim. He lived in Portland in the 19th century.

Although there is no special Torah reading on Shabbos Hagadol, there is a special haftorah, the closing passages from the prophet Malachi. Malachi was a second-Temple prophet, and the Book of Malachi is the last book in the Prophets section (Nevi'im) in the Bible. Because the last verse in the Book of Malachi talks of God's destroying the land, it is the tradition, when reading these passages, to repeat the next-to-last verse when closing the Book of Malachi. That verse is uplifting. It states, "And I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Lord."

Upcoming Events and Weekly Schedule

To view and register for upcoming events and weekly schedule, visit our website's online calendar. 

Lifecycles

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Contact Us

Synagogue Office
info@ostns.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
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
Mikvah Chaim
mikvahchaim.org
attendant@mikvahchaim.org
Cemetery Information
cemetery@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225