From the virtual desk of the OU VEBBE REBBE
The Orthodox Union – via its website – fields questions of all types in areas of kashrut, Jewish law and values. Some of them are answered by Eretz Hemdah, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, founded by HaRav Shaul Yisraeli, zt"l to prepare rabbanim and dayanim to serve the National Religious community in Israel and abroad. Ask the Rabbi is a joint venture of the OU, Yerushalayim Network, Eretz Hemdah... and the Israel Center. The following is a Q&A from Eretz Hemdah...

Q I am studying on a campus with a small Jewish population. We some- times have a minyan and sometimes do not. Is it true that it is anyway better to daven vatikin (at sunrise) than to daven with a minyan?
A It is difficult to choose between different preferences for tefilla. Let us start with introductory background.

The best time to recite Kriat Shma is before (according to some, at) sunrise. The proper time to daven Shmoneh Esrei is right after sunrise. One should go from the last beracha after Kriat Shma directly into Shmoneh Esrei. The practice of davening like vatikin (the diligent) enables one to have the best of all worlds, by finishing Kriat Shma just before and starting Shmoneh Esrei just after sunrise (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 58:1).
But what if one doesn't have a minyan to daven at that time? The mishna (Berachot 22b) discusses a man who is coming out of the mikveh in the morning and barely has time to say Kriat Shma before sunrise. It says that he covers himself up and recites Kriat Shma. It is clear that he doesn't have a minyan and doesn't even have the opportunity to put on tefillin. Although it is problematic to say Kriat Shma (where it mentions putting on tefillin) without wearing them, he does not wait. The gemara (Berachot 25b) has two explanations for his haste: [1] The mishna follows the (rejected) opinion that one must recite Kriat Shma before sunrise; [2] It is referring to the approach of vatikin. This is the basis of the following proof (Biur Halacha, 58:1). It is more important to say Kriat Shma followed by Shmoneh Esrei with tefillin than to daven with a minyan (Magen Avraham 66:12). Thus, one can deduce through a KAL VACHOMER that vatikin is preferable to davening with a minyan.

However, we contend that the Biur Halacha's suggestion is not recommended in many cases, as we shall demonstrate:

[1] The Biur Halacha (ibid.) and several others (see Ishei Yisrael 18:8) give precedence to vatikin to such an extent only when one consistently follows the practice of vatikin.

[2] For tefilla to be accepted as desired, it must either be said with exceptional concentration or with a minyan (see Ta'anit 8a). Therefore, only one who is confident about his level of concentration should daven without a minyan because of vatikin (Yalkut Yosef vol. 1, pg. 139).

[3] Since it is hard to calculate the exact time of vatikin (see Moadim U'zmanim IV, 321), it is not clear that we receive its full effect. Therefore, tefilla with a minyan is preferable (Tefilla K'hilchata 3:(35) in the name of Rav M. Feinstein).

[4] One whose ability to function during the day is affected by vatikin should think twice if the gain justifies the loss (Rav S.Z. Orbach said that for this reason, he didn't daven vatikin).

In the case you describe there is an additional, crucial factor that you should consider. In a small campus community, it is crucial that those who are interested in having a minyan strengthen each other. Even if and when the tefilla like vatikin would be preferable halachically, your obligation to help strengthen your present community, in general, and increase the chance of a minyan, specifically, outweighs the gain of vatikin.

Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat Yamim, the weekly parsha sheet published by Eretz Hemdah. You can read this section or the entire Hemdat Yamim at www.ou.org or www.eretzhemdah.org. And/or you can receive Hemdat Yamim by email weekly, by sending an email to eretzhem@netvision.net.il with the message: Join Hemdatya –Please leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel

Hasidic Wisdom by Simcha Raz (Elkins)
“[If someone says to you] I struggled but still did not discover, do not believe him.” (Talmud, Megila 6b)
Because the struggle in and of itself is a great discovery, a great find indeed.
— Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

Everyone was created to right some- thing in this world.
Either they owe it to the world, or the world owes it to them.
— Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezritch

All of the desires of this world are like rays of light.
You try to catch them in your hand only to find there is nothing in your grasp. — Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav

Rite and Reason by Shmuel Pinchas Gelbard
It is customary to place the Chanukiya on the south wall of the shul (Shulchan Aruch).
Reason: In remembrance of the Menora in the Beit HaMikdash which stood on the south side of the Sanctuary (Tur).
In shul, it is customary to light the Chanuka lights at Shacharit, without a bracha.
Reason: As a remembrance of the Beit HaMikdash where the wicks of the Menora were prepared in the morning. If any lamp was not still lit in the morning, it was relit.
Reason: To publicize the miracle (some people come to shul only in the morning).
Reason: From one way of looking at things, lighting during the day is a greater Pirsumei Nisa than at night...

ArtScroll Series • Mesorah Publications Ltd.
WORDS OF WISDOM WORDS OF WIT by Shmuel Himelstein
On a Friday afternoon during Chanuka, R’ Shmuel of Slonim made his preparations for lighting the Chanuka candles. He then went over to see his grandfather, the Yesod HaAvoda, light his menora, allowing himself barley enough time to return and kindle his own Chanuka lights. While he was away, one of the many visitors in is house, seeing the Chanuka lights prepared, lit them himself.
When R’ Shmuel returned home, he saw the lights burning and realized there was no time to prepare another set. “The same Hashem who commanded us to kindle the Chanuka lights also commanded us not to become angry,” he said to himself, and he went to shul to welcome Shabbos cheerfully.

Moral growth carries with it the danger of coming to despise others to the extent that we rise above them. Any moral system worthy of the name must regard such a development as a violation of its very spirit. From A Candle by Day by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

CHIZUK and IDUD (for the Oleh & not-yet-Oleh respectively) • The Dream and The Goal
Much of the book of Bereishit, as understood by Ramban, anticipates the relationship between the People of Israel and the Land. Specifically, in Parshat Miketz, we are taught that leaving Eretz Yisrael is considered a descent, yerida (Bereishit 42:2-3); while returning home to Eretz Yisrael is defined as an ascent, aliya (ibid. 44:17). Furthermore, we ultimately come to realize that the sale of Joseph, which eventually took Jacob and family down to Egypt in fulfillment of the Divine decree (ibid. 15:13-14), was a necessary preparatory stage for full redemption.

Joseph the vice-king plays out two critically important roles of leadership. He actively deals with matters of state along with matters of economics (ibid. 42:6). On the one hand, Joseph is personally living out his own dreams of Parshat Vayeshev (ibid. 37:7-9) – that of provider linked with that of ruler. However, in the spirit of "our forefathers actions are preludes to Jewish destiny", Joseph inculcates his personal dreams with future national aspirations. Agricultural resuscitation in Eretz Yisrael, along with independent political revival have been singled out by our sages as clear indications of the impending approach of redemption (Sanhedrin 98a-99a). Joseph remembers the dreams and recognizes their long-range significance; tragically, the other brothers do not.

On the last day of Chanuka, having progressed to the lighting of the eighth candle, it is time to rediscover the dreams of old dedicated to the attainment of tomorrow’s goals at the final chanukat bet hamikdash. - Rabbi Dr. Aharon Adler, Ramot • TORAH THOUGHTS as contributed by Aloh Naaleh members for publication in the Orthodox Union's 'Torah Insights', a weekly Torah publication on Parshat Ha'Shavuah

MA RABU MA'ASECHA HASHEM KULAM B'CHOCHMA ASITA MAL'A HA'ARETZ KINYANECHA • Elephants
There are only 2 species of elephants in the world — African and Asian. They are the largest land animals in the world. An Asian bull may achieve a height of 10 feet at the shoulder and may weigh up to 6 tons. An African bull can weigh up to 7 tons. African elephants have large ears and two fingers at the end of their trunk. Asian elephants have much smaller ears and one finger at the end of their trunk. Male and female African elephants both grow tusks; only male Asian elephants do. They also differ in number of toenails.
An elephant's trunk is actually a combination of the upper lip and nose. It is prehensile (able to grasp objects) and can be 8 feet long. The trunk is sensitive enough to pick up a single blade of grass and strong enough to pick up a heavy log.

An elephant can draw up to four gallons of water into its trunk before squirting it into its mouth for a drink...

Elephants live to about 60-70 years.

An elephant walks on its toes.

After a 22-month pregnancy, a female gives birth to a single calf that weights more than 200 pounds. In the close-knit herd, baby elephants grow up surrounded by family members who cooperate and care for them... Elephant herds are made up of closely related female and their babies, led by the oldest female, the matriarch...

Baby elephants may suck their trunks, as human babies suck their thumbs. Baby elephants also have milk tusks that fall out when they are about a year old.

Elephants communicate with body language and a variety of vocalizations – rumbles, trumpets, squeals, squeaks, snorts, and some sounds too low for humans to hear.

From the Desk of the Director
In parshat Mikeitz we read of the tortuous meeting between Yosef's brothers and the slave turned viceroy - and we are amazed. Yosef withholds his identity from his aged father, accuses his brothers of espionage, incarcerates Shimon, and demands Binyamin's presence in Egypt. How could he impose such vengeful retribution on his brothers?

The commentators assert that there were very positive reasons. They range from Yosef's need to avoid nepotism and to fulfill his dreams to the significance of repaying his brothers through mechanisms that mirrored his own sufferings. Moreover, Yosef had to assure him- self that the brothers' had a change of heart and that they had not transferred their hatred of him to their youngest brother, Binyamin...

This drama marks the end of a series of confrontations between brothers in Sefer Bereishit. While Yosef’s brothers originally sought a violent settlement of their differences, Yosef unraveled a tangled web of animosity to reveal a thread consisting of reunion, reconciliation and peace.

Yosef's tactics help us comprehend how Jewish destiny unfolds. They also demonstrate the powerful and often painful process of reconstituting family relationships. In this case, the means justified the end, as the psalmist would later indicate: "Hineh ma tov uma na'im shevet achim gam yachad" - 'How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in harmony."
Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff, Director, Israel Center

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