Shabboom! Weekly Announcements

Energize your week with Ohev Sholom                                             August 8, 2019

Shabbat Times and Announcements

Erev Shabbat, August 9 (Av 8)
6:30a Shacharit
6:45p Kabbalat Shabbat
7:52p Candle Lighting

Shabbat, August 10: Erev Tisha B'Av, Shabbat Hazon, Devarim (Av 9)
9:15a Shacharit, with a Dvar Torah from Rabbi Herzfeld
10:30a Shabbat Youth Groups
11:45a Kiddush Luncheon 
5:00p Daf Yomi
6:00p Mincha
8:10p Fast Begins
8:52p Shabbat Ends
9:00p Maariv
9:15p Eicha Reading
10:00p Eicha Reading

Upcoming Kiddush Schedule
8/17: No food served
8/24: Kiddush Luncheon sponsored by the Shurkin family
8/31: No food served

Tisha B’av begins on Saturday night, August 10th. There are a few points of information about how Tisha B’av preparation is different on Shabbat.

Mincha will begin earlier than usual on Shabbat afternoon so that we have time to go home and eat a proper meal to prepare for the fast.

1. One should not adhere to the laws governing the final meal before the fast, so we do not need to eat the customary egg.
2. One may also eat meat for this meal. 
3. On Shabbat afternoon we must finish eating before shkiah (sunset), which is at 8:10pm.
4. One may not prepare on Shabbat for Tisha B’av. 
5. Shabbat ends at 8:52pm. Maariv on Saturday night is at 9:00pm. 
6. One should either bring their non-leather shoes to Shul on Friday afternoon and leave the shoes in Shul over Shabbat or else change into one's shoes after 8:52pm. 
7. Havdalah: We do not recite a full havdalah because it is forbidden to drink the wine. We will make havdalah at shul over a candle before reading Eicha. If one is driving to shul after shabbat ends then first recite “baruch ha mavdil ben kodesh l’chol” to mark the end of Shabbat. If you are making havdalah at home then do havdalah only with a candle - we do not recite the blessings for the wine or the spices.

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

This Shabbos, we begin reading the fifth book of the Torah, Sefer Dvorim. It is also called Mishneh Torah because this book retells a number of earlier incidents of the Jewish travels in the desert. This year, at the conclusion of Shabbos, the fast of Tisha B'Av begins, commemorating the destruction of the two Temples. On the eve of the fast day, we read Megillat Eicha, the Book of Lamentations, written by Jeremiah, and describing which describes the destruction of the First Temple.

The Midrash Rabba points out that the word "eicha" is the central word of this season. It can be translated roughly as "How?" In the parsha, Moshe says "How" can I continue by myself, to bear the burdens of leading the people who are so numerous? And in the Haftorah, Isaiah says, "How" has the faithful city of Jerusalem become a prostitute? (More about the haftorah below.) Then, in Lamentations, Jeremiah says, "How" is it that the great city of Jerusalem sat abandoned? The Midrash Rabba analogizes these events to a woman, first in her prosperity (in the times of Moshe), then in her promiscuity (in the time of Isaiah), and then in her shame (in the time of Jeremiah). 

As we've mentioned, in this parsha, Moshe says that God has multiplied the Jews like the stars in the sky, and that he is unable to bear the burden of leadership by himself. He describes the burden as "torchachem," "masa’achem" and "rivchem." Rashi explains "torchachem" as that the Jews were litigious, as we might say today, always seeking another court to which to bring a case; "ma’aseichem,” as that the Jews were questioning every action of Moshe; and "rivchem," that no matter what happened, the Jewish people would complain. So Moshe sets up a judicial system to assist him in leading the Jews.

The Parsha goes on to present basic principles to govern the deciding of cases. One of these principles is the Torah. "You shall not be partial in judgment…Fear no man, for the judgment belongs to God" (1:17). The Talmud interprets this statement by describing a student sitting before a rabbi deciding a case. If the student discovers evidence supporting a poor person litigating against a rich person, the student has an obligation to speak up to the rabbi and not fear the wealthy person's wrath. 

The Haftorah for the Shabbos before Tisha B'Av is called Haftorah Khazon. Khazon means "vision," and that is the first word of the Haftorah, which describes Isaiah's vision of the sins of the Jewish people. It is generally agreed that this Haftorah is the most powerful denunciation of the sins of the Jewish people in the entire Tanach. "And when you lift up your hands, I will turn my eyes away from you. Though you pray at length I will not listen. Your hands are stained with blood." (1:15) The Haftorah is sung with the same mournful tune as we use for the Book of Lamentations (Eicha).

Haftorah Video, by Hal Brodsky z"l

A video about the Haftorah can be found here: Isaiah 1:1-27

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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
Monica Wolfe, Interim Executive Director
Monica.Wolfe@ostns.org
(202) 882-7225, etx. 103
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
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