Shabboom! Weekly Announcements

Energize your week with Ohev Sholom                                         January 23, 2020

Shabbat Times and Announcements

Erev Shabbat, January 24 (Tevet 27)
6:30a Shacharit
5:01p Candle Lighting
5:05p Kabbalat Shabbat
6:15p Communal Dinner
8:00p (approx) Tisch

Shabbat, January 25: Shabbat Mevarchim, Vaera (Tevet 28)
9:15a Shacharit  
10:30a Shabbat Youth Groups
10:30a Pickle Minyan
11:45a Kiddush Luncheon sponsored  by the Roth Family
3:40p Daf Yomi
4:10p Chaim Fruchter's Shiur
4:40p Mincha followed by Seudah Shlishit with a D'var Torah by Maharat Friedman
6:04p Havdalah
8:00p Melava Malka Concert with Tizmoret

Upcoming Kiddush Schedule:​​​​​​​
2/1: Kiddush Luncheon, Community-made, part of Shabbat of Chesed in Memory of Anna Yuter
2/8: Kiddush Luncheon sponsored by the Wolf family in honor of Eliana's Bat Mitzvah





















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

In this week's parsha, Va'era, the first seven of the Ten Plagues (eser makos) occur.  In the next parsha, the remaining plagues and the exodus from Egypt (yetzias mitzrayim) will take place.

The rabbis note that in Va'era, there are two plagues that Moshe does not bring about. Rather, Moshe instructs his brother Aharon to take the action. Those are the plague of blood and the plague of lice (kinim). Why? The rabbis explain that Moshe did not want to strike the waters to bring about the plague of "blood," because the waters had protected him when he was a baby and his parents placed him in a small ark in the river, to protect him from discovery. The rabbis also note that the plague of lice was brought about by striking the earth and Moshe did not want to strike the earth which had protected him when, in his youth, he killed the Egyptian who was striking the Jew, and Moshe buried the body in the sand. Therefore, Aharon was told to strike the waters and the earth.

The second plague was the enveloping of the land of Mitzrayim in frogs (Tsfardim). Curiously, the Torah says that "a frog" came and covered the land of Mitzrayim. ("Tzfardeya" is the word for frog in the singular, and that is the word used in the Hebrew list of the ten plagues.)  This is surprising. How does one frog cover the entire land of Mitzrayim? The rabbis explain that  a single frog emerged from the waters, and then that frog multiplied, and many frogs covered the land of Egypt. One frog multiplying into many was a miracle to draw the attention of the Egyptians.

The Torah notes that Aharon was married to Elisheva, whose brother was Nachshon. (Shmos. 6:23) This is curious; normally the parents of a person are mentioned. Why the brother?  From this unexpected inclusion of the brother, the rabbis learn a lesson: when a person plans to marry a woman, he should always investigate the character of her brother(s). We can understand from this that there may be flaws or positive characteristics that potential wife does not exhibit that can be seen in a brother. Here, Nachshon qualifies without question. The rabbis say that after escaping from Egypt and coming to the Sea of Reeds, the former slaves were told to continue into the water. They could not believe they wouldn't drown, and so did not proceed.  It was Nachshon who courageously led them by jumping in. When he did, others followed, and the waters parted. 
The haftorah is from Ezekiel, 28:25 - 29:21. The prophet talks of the destruction of the kingdom of Egypt by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. 


TFILOT
 From the early morning prayers:  "Who is there among all the works of your hands, of the heavenly or earthly beings, that can say to you, 'God, What is it that you are doing?' Heavenly Father, deal kindly with us for the sake of your great name..."

Haftorah Video, by Hal Brodsky z"l

A video about this week's Haftorah can be viewed here:  Ezek. 28:25–29:21

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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, 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
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