Rain Check 

IN ISRAEL, we begin to ask for rain in the weekday Amida, this Motza'ei Shabbat, the eve of 7 Cheshvan, with the words V'TEIN TAL U'MATAR LiVRACHA (T&M) in the BAREICH ALEINU bracha (a.k.a. Birkat HaShanim). We continue to ask for T&M until, and including, Mincha on Erev Pesach (this year, until Friday, Erev Erev Pesach).

[STAT-CHECK: We will say T&M 414 times this year. That is, if one is DATI (G'matriya) and davens 3 times a day.]

During the T&M season, an Amida without T&M is "fatally flawed" and must be repeated. (And, conversely, when we don't say T&M, if one errs and says it, the Amida must be repeated.)

If you realize your omission during BAREICH ALEINU, just go back and say it. If you realize right after the bracha, but you have not continued with T'KA, then say the words V.T.U.L. between BAREICH ALEINU and T'KA B'SHOFAR.

If you started T'KA, but are still within the weekday Amida's middle-request brachot, DO NOT GO BACK, but rather say V'TEIN TAL U'MATAR LiVRACHA as part of the final request-bracha, SH'MA KOLEINU — specifically towards the end, right before KI ATA SHOMEI'A. 
If you have just finished Shma Koleinu but have not yet said the word R'TZEI, then you would say V.T.U.L. by itself, between the two brachot. (Really, you'd be saying it as part of Shma Koleinu, which isn't completely over until you begin the next bracha.)

And if you have already begun R'TZEI, and realize that you forgot to say T&M, as long as your feet are still together and you have not "closed off" your Amida with the pasuk, Y'H'YU L'RATZON IMREI FI... then you go back to BAREICH ALEINU and daven straight from there.

Finally, if you finished the Amida, and then realize the omission, you go back to the beginning and say the WHOLE Amida over again.
And even if you remember that you forgot T&M at Shacharit, let's say, and it's already Mincha time, you consider as if you forgot to daven Shacharit altogether and you daven Tashlumin at Mincha. (That is, after the Mincha Amida, you say another Amida as a make up for the the previous davening that you missed or messed up.

Not sure? Then it depends. Within the first month of T&M (some say 90 times, which is more than a month), a doubt usually means that you did not say it and you must behave accordingly. After a habit is formed, you may assume that you said it correctly, even if you aren't sure.

FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR

After the deluge, when Abraham was embarking on his quest for truth, a people appeared whose philosophy and culture appeal to our liberal, social and technological sensibilities. In the Land of Shinar, this people shared a common language, the humanistic goal of saving mankind from a future flood (see Rashi), and even the means to achieve their 'towering' designs.
According to the Midrash, this society portrayed an organized social system under which egoistic urges are seemingly suppressed for the common good. And although the Tower of Babel represented a blatant attack on Hashem's ascendancy, Rashi notes that this generation was not wiped out, as was that of the Flood, because the people "conducted themselves in love and friendship".

In our times, many cultures and political systems display such humanistic characteristics. But let us not be deluded! For the detailed scriptural description of the Tower's bricks cannot but remind us of the wretched slaves buried under Leningrad's walls. And the doomed Tower - of Moscow's wrecked monuments. And the Babel of languages - of the ineptitude of the United Nations. And the empirical rationality of the Tower's builders - of the moral bankruptcy of scientific determinism.
We can agree that Abraham's contemporaries lived for national betterment and prosperity; yet, these ideals were only a masquerade for the natural currents of self-interest. Fortunately, Abraham noted the absence of moral progress and taught us the authentic Jewish response - to put aside the "bricks of human deception" and to reach for an ideal far beyond the frontiers of human endeavor.

Sincerely yours,
Menachem Persoff, Director, Israel Center

NCSY in Israel NEWS

NCSY is proud to announce the opening of the new Teichman Youth Center. It promises to be a real “happening” kind of place, servicing different folks at different times.

Monday and Wednesday evenings will see the beginning of our new ”Homework Helper” program, whereby volunteers and bnot sherut will assist 4th-7th graders in their English studies and Limudei Kodesh.

Once a week, the Center will be open as a reunion spot for our Russian and Kharkov olim. It will serve these high school and post high school youth as a haven for meeting old friends and new in an informal educational-social atmosphere.

TYC will also be home base for our NESTO members. Here they will be able to get together for all their social and educational activities, under the direction of Rabbi Avi Silverman.

We also foresee our Beit Jerusalem taking advantage of this moadon to hold their activities. One exciting new program in the making is the chug etgar. It will be an opportunity to develop Torah values through the acquisition of challenging outdoor survival skills.

The doors are open to all our youth and NCSY welcomes all to 22 Keren HaYesod to drop in!

HOMEWORK HELPERS
NCSY B’Yisrael is happy to provide a new service for all 4th-7th graders.
Every Monday and Wednesday from 4:00-6:00, the new Teichman Youth Center at the Seymour Abrams Orthodox Union Jerusalem World Center (the Israel Center), 22 Keren Ha’Yesod, Jerusalem, will be open for tutoring help in English, Limudei Kodesh, etc. 

Our devoted volunteers will be available to all who register for this help.
• Refreshments 
• raffles 
• weekly quizzes
Bring a friend! 

Please contact Sarah Pinsky, bat sherut, 566-7787 for registration and more information.

NCSY b'Yisrael. Rabbi Michael Fredman, director. Daniella Levine, Bat Sherut 22 Keren Ha'Yesod, POB 37015, Jerusalem 
(02) 566-7787 ext. 242 • fax: (02) 561-7432. ncsy_isr@netvision.net 

NESTO

Hey, NESTOers: Please note correct website: www.zyworld.com/nesto

Every Thursday night the Teichman Youth Center (let's call it the TYC) at the Seymour J. Abrams Orthiodox Union Jerusalem World Center (a.k.a. Israel Center) is open from 7:30-10:00 pm for NESTO members and their friends. There will be board games, computers (eventually) and a great group of people to hang out with. Once a month we will have a movie night. 

The Lounge is located on the bottom level of the building, one floor down when you enter the building. Please treat the room with care and respect. 
There is no charge for this.

Every other Tuesday night we will have our Fiddlin' and Food discussion group. After viewing a scene from the classic movie Fiddler on the Roof, we will discuss the characters in the movie, the development of the plot, and most importantly, how our lives and values today have changed or remained the same from the ones in the movie. This will be a year long discussion group, but you don't have to come each time to be able to participate fully. 

Of course, plenty of Dunkin donuts will be on hand! There is no charge for this either. Scheduled dates: October 31st, November 14th, November 28th, December 12th, January 2nd, January 16, and January 30th.
All members should have received by November 1st both e-mail and snail mail an invitation to our first shabbaton of the year. Hope to see you all next week in Bayit Vegan. If you have not received all the information, or you have more questions, please contact either of us at the office.
Our new extension at the center is #250. Please note my new e-mail address (in the box below) as well, and that of our website (top of the page).

Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Silverman and Ilana

NESTO, the Israel Center's youth program for Anglo-Israelis 22 Keren HaYesod • P.O.B. 37015, Jerusalem tel. 566-7787 • fax: 561-7432 • email: silvera@mail.biu.ac.il Rabbi Avi Silverman, Director • Ilana Milo, Bat Sherut 

In last week's Pull-Out — Between the Haftara and Musaf — there was a special MI SHE'BEIRACH for Israel's missing soldiers. It was composed several years ago with the MIAs from the Battle of Sultan Yaqub in '82 (Zacharia Baumel, Yehuda Katz, and Tzvi Feldman) and for Ron Arad. In recent weeks, additional captives and missing soldiers have been added to the list. For the full version, I refer you to last week's TT. If you don't have it, and want it, give us a call, email us an email, or drop by. 

What is being printed on this page is a shortened version of the MI SHE'BEIRACH, without specific names and without the p'sukim which contributed to the text of the MI SHE'BEIRACH. This version is being offered for those of you who would like your shul to say the MI SHEBEIRACH, and for whom the larger text is a bit daunting. Our suggestion is to just take this page, fold it back so that only the MI SHEBEIRACH is showing and "stick it under the Gabbai's nose", with a whispered request that he say this one after the regular MI SHEBEIRACH for IDF. Or whenever. Our MIAs and captives deserve our prayers. Note that Yosef's name is included in parentheses. Yosef is usually not mentioned in MI SHEBEIRACHs, but one that speaks of captives and missing, relates and identifies with Yosef HaTzadik, who went through some of the same experiences that our boys have gone through. May our prayers be sincerely offered and favorably received.

[In the hard copy of TT, the MI SHEBEIRACH appears in Hebrew.]

[The Noach Homepage]
[The TORAH tidbits Homepage] [How to use TORAH tidbits]
[About The OU/NCSY Israel Center] [About TORAH tidbits]