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Here's a very disturbing thought... It might have been the lead tidbit. It isn't. I might have left it our altogether. I didn't. Differences among Jews usually does not bother me. Nusach Ashkenaz, Nusach Sfard. Yes Kitniyot, no kitniyot. 6 hours, 3 hours, one hour. T'filin of the arm - clockwise or counter-clockwise. Stand, sit, both for Kidush. And so many et cetras. Doesn't bother me. But the differences on Yom HaAtzma'ut are depressing. And I'm not talking about the differences between the religious and the secular. I'm taking about the Jews who feel a deep debt of gratitude to HaShem for the State. Yes Hallel, no Hallel. Half Hallel. With a bracha. Without a bracha. Daytime only. Night too. Haftara with or without a bracha. She'he'cheyanu, yes/no. Shave for Yom HaAtzmaut. Don't. Reishit Tz'michat Geulateinu. Or not. Why should I not have the same Vive la Diff attitude about these different practices and opinions as those? Because Kitniyot eaters don't look down their noses at non-Kitniyot people. Nor vice versa. Because people who stand for Kidush don't consider those who sit to be wrong. And vice versa. (At least I hope that's so.) But there is antagonism between the Hallel sayers and those who don't. Because there is a feeling from each side of some of the issues mentioned that it is the other side that is delaying the Mashiach. Because Hallel sayers and those who express their gratitude to G-d for the State with a Seudat Hodaya are in staunch opposition to those who negate the notion that there is anything positive in the State. Because some of the attitudes of some circles of religious Jews create a backlash in the secular (non-observant) community that is very negative vis-a-vis Torah and Mitzvot. Because the behavior and actions of some secular Jews creates an anti-Zionism within certain circles of religious Jewish. I don't have any suggestions to improve things, and that just makes the thoughts more depressing. Sorry. Just dumping on you.
GUIDE TO EARLY SHABBAT, part 2Last week's 4-pager didn't have everything I wanted in a "Guide to Early Shabbat", but I felt it stood well enough on its own to be released. When I discovered at my Shabbat table on Friday night that the Bracha for S'firat HaOmer was left out, I decided to make an insert for the pull-out and add a few things and present the Sh'ma differently. REMINDER/WARNING/PLEADINGIn my opinion, one of the strongest objections to "taking Shabbat early" is the likelihood that people will forget to repeat the Sh'ma - which means that they won't fulfill a required Mitzvat Asei from the Torah, and they might forget to count the Omer, which can mess up the bracha for the duration of the Omer. In my shul, the announcement that followed the early Maariv last Friday night was, "to prevent a MICHSHOL LARABIM (a pitfall for the public), we remind you to be meticulous about repeating the Sh'ma and counting the Omer at the proper time". I liked the announcement because it addressed the serious potential problem of early Shabbat. This past Friday night, one of the early comers to the regular minyan came over to me on my way out of shul and asked me to estimate how many of all the people who were at the first minyan would remember and how many would forget to say the Sh'ma and count. The question bothers me greatly, because I really enjoy the early Shabbat schedule. I'd hate to give it up. But I hate the idea of it being a stumbling block before the blind. So, I remind you and remind you to remind others, please remember to say the Sh'ma and count the Omer after dark. Altough it is not technically required to stop in the middle of eating, when the meal was started in a halachically permissible manner, I nonetheless recommend exactly that. Keep an eye on the clock, and/or assign that task to someone at your table, and interrupt the meal at the SHMA time (from the chart in last week's GTES) and make the Sh'ma and the Omer a family thing. (Side suggestion: Even if you usually don't say them all, Friday night with family and guests might be a nice time to say them. My shul doesn't leave enough time to say them, so I don't. That excuse can work during the week, but not at your table on Friday night.) IF YOU'RE DOING IT ALREADY...What I'm about to write about is not necessarily a reason to take Shabbat early - if it were, we should probably do it throughout the year, not just when we're on SummerTime - but it's a nice idea in that it lends an extra legitimacy to the practice of taking Shabbat early. The Aruch HaShulchan reminds us that Maariv corresponds to burning on the Mizbei'ach of certain fats and parts of the afternoon TAMID sacrifice. For the Friday afternoon TAMID, the fats and parts had to be put on the Mizbei'ach before Shabbat, since only a Shabbat korban can push aside Shabbat. This, he says, makes for a perfect davening-korbanot match if we daven Maariv on Erev Shabbat early. (And, he adds, Mincha before PLAG.) The saying of SHMA is a mitzva from the Torah and we should seize the first opportunity after dark to say it, even during our Shabbat meal. Say it with KAVANA to fulfill the mitzva and to reconfirm one's belief in G-d, one's love of G-d, and one's commitment to mitzvot. KAVANA should also include the fulfillment (one of many) of remembering Y'TZI'AT MITZRAYIM all the days of our lives. Suggestion (which can be done only when SH'MA is not being said as part of davening): Before saying the SH'MA, say: L'SHEIM MITZVAT KRI'AT SH'MA BIZMANA Last week's version of the SH'MA was straightforward text. This week's is meant to help the serious SH'MA-sayer with some of the finer points. KEIL MELECH NE'EMAN is in brackets because it may or may not be a part of the "repeated" Sh'ma, which is not in the context of the davening. Even in the davening, it is disputed as to whether it should be said or not, and under what circumstances. In davening, the SH'MA ends with the word EMET, which is really the first word of the GEULA bracha that follows SH'MA at both Shacharit and Maariv. In checking with two Rabbanim so far, they both agree that the word has no place in a non-davening reciting of the SH'MA. I have therefore left it out. But I'm still asking around to see if there is another point of view. So far it is 3 consulted rabbis who all agree that EMET is not said. Many, but not all, accented syllables have been bolded and increased by 4 points in size. Usually, it was done only where some people are likely to accent the wrong syllable. Getting the accent wrong is usually "just" a sloppy way of reading the word. The perfection of the reading is diminished, but not the validity of the reading. Some of the words, however, are more problematic. A wrong accent for those words changes their meaning, and this can be a serious defect in the reading of SH'MA. Take, for example V'AHAVTA. a-HAV-ta (with the accent on the HAV) means YOU LOVED. v-a-HAV-ta means AND YOU LOVED. That's not what the pasuk is saying. v-a-hav-TA (accenting the last syllable) means AND YOU SHALL LOVE. That is the mitzva of AHAVAT HASHEM and the correct meaning of the pasuk. It is very important to train oneself in the proper pronunciation of all the words of the SH'MA, but especially the words whose meaning changes with emphasis. V'AHAVTA, V'SHINANTAM, V'DIBARTA, U'K'SHARTAM, U'CH'TAVTAM (2), V'NATATI (2), V'A'SAFTA, V'ACHALTA, V'SARTEM, VA'AVADTEM (one with AYIN, one with ALEF), V'HISHTACHAVITEM, V'SAMTEM, U'K'SHARTEM, V'AMARTA, V'NA'T'NU, U'R'ITEM, U'Z'CHARTEM, VA'ASITEM (twice). Then there are the thick black vertical lines between words that tend to run into each other unless one pauses between them. AL L'VAVECHA comes out ALIVAVECHA is you don't pause. Without care, we get ASHE-RANOCHI, V'NEICHEMAL, DABEIREL, etc. Some SHVA NAs are done in white on black as a reminder. Not M'TZAV-CHA, but M'TZAV-V'CHA. Not B'SAD-CHA, but B'SA-D'CHA. Some are disputed by grammarians because the SHVA is ambivalent in its real status. Then there are SHVA NACHs that many people pronounce as NA. VA'AVAD-TEM, is correct, not VA'AVA-D'TEM. These are not marked. One just has to read carefully. The famous ZAYIN of TIZ-K'RU is a different and larger font so one will not say TIS-K'RU. Watch out for some dots that are not there. L'MA'AN YIRBU Y'MEICHEM VIMEI V'NEICHEM - not B'NEICHEM. How many people catch that one. There are many other points of care in the reading of the SH'MA which are not mentioned here. The difference between ALEF and AYIN and CHET and CHAF are very hard for Ashkenazim. And other things. Let's call this a help towards better (if not perfect) recitation of the SH'MA. Dear electronic version TT reader:
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