Shabboom! Weekly Announcements

Energize your week with Ohev Sholom                                         January 16, 2020

Shabbat Times and Announcements

Erev Shabbat, January 17 (Tevet 20)
6:30a Shacharit
4:54p Candle Lighting
4:55p Kabbalat Shabbat

Shabbat, January 18: Shemot (Tevet 21)
9:15a Shacharit with a D'var Torah by Rabbi  Shmuel Herzfeld
10:30a Shabbat Youth Groups
11:45a Kiddush Luncheon in honor of Gerry Steinkeller 
3:35p Daf Yomi
4:05p Chaim Fruchter's Shiur
4:35p Mincha followed by Seudah Shlishit with a D'var Torah by Nathan Weissler
5:56p Havdalah

Upcoming Kiddush Schedule 
1/25 Kiddush Luncheon sponsored  by the Roth Family in honor of baby Rory








​​​​​​​






​​​​​​​

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

This Shabbos, we start a new book of the Torah, the book of Shmos (“Names”), and we read the first parsha, also called Shmos. In the Jewish tradition, each book of the Torah is named after the first major word in that book. Here, the opening words are: "Eileh shmos bnai Yisrael."  "These are the names of the children of Israel..."   On the other hand, the Greek and English translations of the Bible name each book after its contents. Here, that is the story of the leaving of Egypt. Thus the English and Greek title: Exodus.
 .
The story begins with a new pharaoh, who intends to outsmart the Jewish people:"hava nischakma lo."  So he enslaves the Jews and decrees death to all newborn Jewish males.  Amram and Yocheved place their infant son in the river to escape the decree. The infant is taken from the river by the pharaoh's daughter who names him Moshe -- "I drew him from the water." ("Min ha'mayim me'shisihu.")  
 
In contemporary culture, the event was cited by George and Ira Gershwin in their opera Porgy and Bess, a revival of which is currently running at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. The smart-alec disbeliever, Sportin' Life, sings: Little Moses was found in a stream . . ./ He floated on water/ Till Old Pharaoh's daughter/She fished him, she said, from that stream.
 
While the infant is in the river, he is watched over by his older sister, Miriam. The rabbis say that because she waited until the baby Moshe was drawn from the water, many years later, when she was stricken with a skin disease, the Jewish people, journeying to the Promised Land, waited for her (Bamidbar 12:15)
 
At Miriam’s suggestion to the Pharaoh’s daughter, Moshe is nursed and raised by his biological mother before being returned to Pharaoh's palace. Thus, he gains a strong sense of his Jewish allegiance. We are told that one day, as a young adult, Moshe sees an Egyptian official beating a Jewish slave. He can see no one watching, so he kills the Egyptian. The Torah's words are. (va'yar ki) “ein ish." (He saw that) "there was no man." The plain meaning is that Moshe did not want anyone to report him. However, the rabbis interpret that Moshe saw that no worthy descendant would come from the Egyptian. We may also say that Moses saw that there was no person qualified as a leader among the Jews and it was his duty to assume the role.
 
There follows the vision of the burning bush and God's selection of Moshe to lead the people out of Egypt. The miracle is that the bush, though burning, is not consumed. I remember from my law school days, when I frequented the Jewish Theological Seminary for lunch, that the emblem on the door of the seminary was, and still is, "And the bush was not consumed," an apt slogan for the Jewish people.
 
The haftorah is from Isaiah, (27:6 - 28:13 and 29:22,23). It contains the phrase "yoreh dei'ah", "teach knowledge" (28:9). This phrase has been adopted by Jewish codifiers as the name of one of the books of the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law.
 
TEFILOT:  From the Shmoneh Esrei (The Amidah): "We give thanks to you and declare your praise for our lives which are committed to your care, and for our souls which are dependent on you, and for your miracles and wonders that are with us daily."

Haftorah Video, by Hal Brodsky z"l

A video about this week's Haftorah can be viewed here:  Isa. 27:6–28:13; 29:22-23

Upcoming Events and Weekly Schedule

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

Lifecycles

Support our community and its members by making a donation dedicated in honor of (IHO) or in memory of (IMO) a  loved one.

Don't see a birthday listed? Update your lifecycle events and more at ostns.org (login required)

Don't see a yahrzeit listed? Update your lifecycle events and more at ostns.org (login required)

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