Z'MANIM - HALACHIC TIMES - Correct for TT #655
Ranges are THU-THU 1-8 Adar Alef (Feb 10-17)
Earliest Talit & T'filin - 5:35-5:29am
Sunrise - 6:26-6:19am
Sof Z'man Kri'at Sh'ma - 9:09-9:06am (8:24-8:21am)
Sof Z'man T'fila - 10:04-10:01am (9:33-9:31am)
Chatzot (halachic noon) - 11:53-11:53am
Mincha Gedola (earliest Mincha) - 12:24-12:24pm
Plag Mincha - 4:13-4:18pm
Sunset - 5:26-5:32pm (5:21½-5:27pm)

*Concerning "Earliest Shacharit", the time is actually the earliest time for Tallit & T'fillin. In extenuating circumstances, one may daven earlier than T&T time, but will have to do so without T&T, until their later time. A fast begins earlier than T&T time, namely Olot HaShachar.

Correct for TT 655 • Rabbeinu Tam (J'm) - 6:40pm
4:47pm Jerusalem 6:01pm
5:06pm Gush Katif 6:05pm
5:03pm Raanana 6:02pm
5:03pm Beit Shemesh 6:02pm
5:03pm Netanya 6:02pm
5:03pm Rehovot 6:02pm
4:43pm Petach Tikva 6:02pm
5:03pm Modi'in 6:02pm
5:04pm Be'er Sheva 6:03pm
5:02pm Gush Etzion 6:01pm
5:02pm Ginot Shomron 6:01pm
4:47pm Maale Adumim 6:00pm
4:54pm Tzfat 5:59pm
5:03pm K4 & Hevron 6:01pm

Jerusalem lights candles 40 minutes before sunset. (Except for those who don’t follow that custom.) Which sunset? Important question. The standard practice is to count 40 minutes before “sunset of elevation”. Jerusalem is a little over 800m above sea level. If one could see the sun set over a horizon at sea level (which can be done from some parts of J’lem), it would set about 5 minutes later than someone watching from sea level, or seeing the sun set beyond mountains that are approx. the same height as Jerusalem is. Since the sunset on the same plane is 5 minutes earlier, and for Shabbat purposes is the sunset we would have to consider because of the strictness of Shabbat, then J’lem candle lighting time is really only 35 minutes before “the other” sunset. All other places at some height above sea level have similar problems. Tzfat lights candles 30 minutes before sunset. Official candle lighting for Petach Tikva is 40 minutes before sunset, just like Jerusalem. Not everybody holds by that timing. Some communities calculate Shabbat out at 33 minutes after sunset. Some use the angle of the sun below the horizon to “end Shabbat” (8.5 deg). Bottom line for now: until we get the chart running smoothly, don’t rely on it exclusively. Cross-check times with calendars and charts. Please report discrepancies to us, so that we can improve our time table. Also realize that Sfardim and Ashkenazim often has differences in minhag.

Explanation of the Z'manim
Sunrise for Jerusalem does not take into account elevation, since the eastern horizon (where the sun rises) consists of the Hills of Moav across the Jordan River, which are approx. at the same elevation as Jerusalem

Sunset, on the other hand, is given for an elevation of 825m and, in parentheses, as if at sea level. There are different opinions as to which sunset time should be used for halachic purposes. We present both times.

The deadlines for the SH'MA and the Shacharit Amida can be calculated in two ways. Either considering the day to be from sunrise to sunset or from dawn to stars out. The first way of reckoning is known as the opinion of the GR"A, and is the first time given in each case. The second method is known as the Magen Avraham, and is presented in parentheses.

Aside from candle lighting and havdala, the times are presented as a range, from the current Thursday of the issue of Torah Tidbits until the coming Thursday, a span of 8 days. Days between the two Thursdays can be determined by interpolation (which means: a method by which to estimate a value of between two known values-this is something that people above a certain age might remember from high school trigonometry and logarithms, but younger people who went to school during the calculator era might not be familiar with).

It is usually wise to "pad" the times with a minute or two in the "play it safe" direction. E.g. Plag Mincha. Better to finish Mincha a minute or two before the given time. But, better to not light candles until a minute or two after the given time.

WORD OF THE MONTH
A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem...
The molad of Adar Alef was early morning of last Wednesday. That means that the first opportunity for Kiddush L'vana this month is Motza'ei Shabbat, eve of the 4th of the month (Feb. 12th). Three days after the molad is the starting time for KL according to Minhag Yerushalayim.
Those who wait for 7 full days to pass from the molad will have their first op on Wednesday night, Feb. 16th.
There are opinions that during "nice" weather, one should wait for 7 days, but in the rainy season, one should take an earlier opportunity, if presented.
Others keep to a very strict 7 full days minimum. And others, of course, hold by the three-day (72-hrs.) after the announced molad rule. Others will wait for Motza'ei Shabbat, if at all possible.

Lead Tidbit
This Time Around
I fervently hope and pray that this is not just wishful thinking...

It seems that "in the olden times", the times of the Mishkan... in its several incarnations, and the First Beit HaMikdash and the second Beit HaMikdash, that the Jewish people often let spiritual and holy things take place in the Mikdash and somehow failed to internalize the experiences and lessons. The Tanach tells us of people bringing hollow, empty korbanot and behaving in terrible ways. How could people sacrifice to G-d on forbidden Bamot? Did they not see the utter contradiction in their behavior?

We really shouldn't be judging generations of old. we have enough to concentrate on our own behavior. On the other hand, we have to learn from mistakes of the past. Otherwise, how will we be able to improve ourselves as individuals and as a community. How will we hasten the Geula. How will we merit the Third and Eternal Beit HaMikdash.

During the tenures of the Mikdash, people always davened. Prayer was not created as a substitute for Temple service. But it has served that function for a very long time. We have been without a Mikdash more than 550 years longer than the time from the building of the Mishkan until the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash. We have to have learned many important things during that time. We should have learned how to make and use and properly respect the Mikdash Me'at, our shuls. We should have learned how to serve G-d with all our heart - to daven on the level of kohanim doing their Avoda. We had to have learned how to build a Mishkan in our hearts and offer our very Nefashot in complete sacrifice to HaShem.

These things we should have learned during the absence of a Mikdash, not to replace it, but rather to be able to survive and thrive as Jews during its absence... AND to reach even higher heights of Kedusha when it will be restored to us. Are we ready for that challenge?

T'ruma Stats
19th of 54 sedras; 7th of 11 in Sh'mot
Written on 154.8 lines in a Sefer Torah, rank: 43rd
9 Parshiot; 4 open, 5 closed
96 p'sukim - ranks 38th (9th in Sh’mot)
1145 words - ranks 45th (10th in Sh’mot)
4692 letters - ranks 41st (9th in Sh’mot)
T'ruma is a short sedra with very short p'sukim (especially in words per pasuk)

Mitzvot:
Contains 3 mitzvot; 1 positive and 2 prohibitions

Aliya-by-Aliya Sedra Summary
Numbers in [square brackets] are the Mitzva-count of Sefer HaChinuch AND Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvot. A=ASEI (positive mitzva); L=LAV (prohibition). X:Y is the perek and pasuk from which the mitzva comes.
[P> X:Y (Z)] and [S> X:Y (Z)] indicate start of a parsha p’tucha or s’tuma respectively. X:Y is Perek:Pasuk of the beginning of the parsha; (Z) is the number of p'sukim in the parsha.

Kohen - First Aliya -16 p'sukim - 25:1-16
[P> 25:1 (9)] G-d tells Moshe to tell the People to donate materials in amounts that "each person sees fit". The donations were to be of gold, silver, copper; dyed wools (blue, purple, red), fine linen; goat-hair fabric, red-dyed sheepskin, Tachash skins; acacia wood; oil for light, spices for the anointing oil and the incense offerings; gemstones for the Eifod and the Choshen.

"And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst" [95,A20 25:8]. This well-known pasuk constitutes the mitzva to build the Mishkan in that generation, and the Beit HaMikdash in later times. Each time the Mishkan was taken apart, transported, and reassembled, the mitzva was fulfilled. It was fulfilled by Shlomo HaMelech and his generation, and by Ezra HaSofer and his generation. It will be fulfilled IY"H when the third Beit HaMikdash will be built, IY"H in our own time.

SDT Some commentaries interpret the word B'TOCHAM as "within each person of B'nei Yisrael", not just in the midst of the People, thereby personalizing the relationship between G-d and each person.

In a different way, this also points to the building of a Mikdash in one’s own heart. in a figurative sense.

SDT V’YIKCHU, rather than V’YITNU. “Take” rather than “give”. Famous question. The Malbim answers it this way. Really, everything belongs to G-d. So how can we give to Him. Our first step is to take from Him by using worldly goods for sacred purposes. Just as making a bracha enables us to take possession of food which is essentially G-d’s, so too did the donations of materials for the Mishkan make those materials ours to give.

MitzvaWatch
Rambam gives 14 rules for the counting of the 613 mitzvot. Rule #12 is that it is not "appropriate" to count as separate mitzvot those commands that are part of a more all-encompassing mitzva. Therefore, Rambam does NOT count among the 613 the mitzvot to make the Aron, Menora, Shulchan, Altars, etc. since they are included in Building the Sanctuary. In other words, ALL of the details of the building of the Mikdash are included in this one single Mitzvat Asei.

Other mitzva-counters disagree. E.g. Ramban counts the making of the Aron as a separate mitzva (but not the other sacred vessels).

G-d will show the various forms that the work should take as models for the people to follow in M'lechet HaMishkan, the sacred task of building the Mikdash.
[S> 25:10 (13)] The first specific command is that of making the Aron (Ark). It is to be made of wood, gold- plated inside and out. Four gold rings are to be fixed to its sides to receive the Carrying Poles (themselves made of gold-plated wood). The Carrying Poles, once inserted into the rings, may never be removed [96,L8625:15].

MitzvaWatch
Note that although all the positive commands related to the details of each of the vessels are included within the "master-mitzva" of building the Mikdash (and everything in it), this prohibition is counted separately. In other words, the commands to make the Aron, to plate it with gold, to attach rings, to make poles, to put a decorative border around the top of the Aron, to make the lid, etc. etc. are all part of the mitzva to make the Sanctuary. The prohibition of removing the carrying poles is its own mitzva.

The "Testimony" (the LUCHOT - Tablets) shall be placed in the Aron.

Clarification: Some commentaries describe the ARON as three nested, open-top boxes - an outer box of gold, a middle box of wood, and an inner box of gold which had a rim to cover over the thickness of the wooden box, so that only gold would be visible both from the outside and inside of the ARON. There are different opinions as to how thick the gold plating was.

Levi - Second Aliya - 24 p'sukim - 25:17-40
A thick, solid gold lid (called the KAPORET) is to be made for the Aron. From the lid are to be formed two Cherubs facing each other with their wings spread out above the lid. Communication from G-d to Moshe will be from "between the two K'ruvim".

Think about this... It seems a bit strange, does it not, that we would be commanded to make the K'ruvim in light of the strong prohibitions against graven images. And more so, if we note the chronology of the events in the months following the Exodus - specifically, that the command to build the Mikdash followed in the wake of the Golden Calf fiasco. The "answer" is that G-d is the Boss. He says no graven images - then we don't. And the Golden Calf is the ultimate affront to G-d. He commands us to make the K'ruvim, then we do. There are many examples of this idea. Lighting fire is forbidden on Shabbat. In the Mikdash it is required. Piku'ach Nefesh situations require it. This is not contradictory. This is recognizing G-d's mastery of the world and our commitment to follow His commands.

[P> 25:23 (8)] A special table of gold-plated wood shall be made; a frame and decorative border to the frame are to be made of gold. Four gold rings are to be attached to the legs of the table as receptacles for the carrying rods. Shelves and supports for the shelves complete the Shulchan.

The Lechem Panim (Showbread) are to be placed on the Shulchan at all times [97,A27 25:30].

MitzvaWatch
This is not considered just a detail of the making of the Shulchan, but as its own mitzva. The mitzva involves baking 12 special loaves (halachically, they were matza) on Friday to replace the previous week's loaves on Shabbat. Tradition records a weekly miracle that the one-week-old Lechem HaPanim was found to be fresh by the kohanim on duty who shared in eating it. This mitzva makes the statement that we should not view food as just the physical necessity that the rest of the world sees it as, but rather we are challenged to add a spiritual dimension to even the most mundane of our human activities. Lechem HaPanim are the symbol; our laws of kashrut, brachot, and more, help us achieve the spiritual levels of this concept.

In the Shabbat Zmira KI ESHM'RA SHABBAT, we sing that G-d gave a Torah-mitzva to the Kohanim to put the Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan on Shabbat. Therefore, we are forbidden to fast on Shabbat (except for Yom Kippur). In other words, G-d did not include a food in the Temple service just to feed the Kohanim. G-d is showing us, so to speak, the potential spirituality of food. Take this lesson, He says, from the Mikdash into your homes. Food is not incidental to Shabbat; it is a significant part of our observance of Shabbat. We can see this from the earlier (in Parshat B’shalach) introduction of Shabbat to the people of Israel. We were first taught Shabbat in the context of the MN (manna). “And Moshe said - Eat it TODAY, for TODAY is Shabbat to HaShem, TODAY you will not find it in the field.” As significant to Jewish Life is fasting, so too is eating. It is part of our Judaism, not just a physical need we have to satisfy.
(some Chumashim put Shlishi here)

[P> 25:31 (10)] The Menora is to be made of solid gold, one continuous piece, a central branch with six side branches (3 on each side), decorative orbs, flowers, and cups adorned the ends of each branch, with additional ones on the central branch. The Menora's utensils were also made of gold. Additionally, there was a 3-step platform that was used by the Kohen when he tended and lit the Menora. Commentaries point out that the Menora was not THAT tall to require a step-stool to reach the oil lamps. However, it would usually require the Kohein Gadol to lift his hands above the TZITZ he wore on his forehead, and that was not permitted. Hence the need for the steps.

(The oil cups were separate and either attached or placed at the top of the branches.
SDT All parts of the Menorah were integral to the whole; none was "merely" attached. Torat Moshe applies this to the People of Israel and, with a play on words, says that even Jews who have strayed from Torah and mitzvot are part of the whole.

Shlishi - Third Aliya - 14 p'sukim - 26:1-14
[S> 26:1 (14)] The MISHKAN (the term is used for the whole structure as well as the first fabric covering) was a roofless structure covered by three layers of coverings. The first was called the MISHKAN and was made of 10 panels of woven fabric made from 3 different colors of dyed wool, plus white linen. Five panels were attached to form one section; similarly for the other five panels. The two sections thus formed were linked with buttons of gold through loops of blue wool, the buttons being attached to the edge of one section and the loops woven onto the edge of the other section. The weave of the Mishkan included images known as K'ruvim.

Above the Mishkan was an 11-panel covering (sections of six and five panels joined with copper buttons) made of goats' hair. The Mishkan was decorative; this covering, known as the OHEL, was utilitarian, affording protection from the elements. The OHEL and MISHKAN covered the sides of the structure as well as the top.

The topmost covering (some say it was just on the top, not the sides; others say it too draped down the walls of the Mishkan) was made of red-dyed sheepskin and Tachash skins.

Tachash? What's a TACHASH?

Excellent queston. And after you read what R' Aryeh Kaplan z"l has to say in The Living Torah [LT], you will not KNOW what a Tachash is, but you'll know many of the possibilities.

LT translates OROT T'CHASHIM as "Blue processed skins". This goes well with the "red-dyed rams' skins". Others explain it as blackened and waterproofed leather. Others say that the Tachash was an animal. No one seems to know for sure what animal, but suggestions include: ermine, member of the badger family, a species of wild ram, antelope, okapi, giraffe, narwhal, sea cow or DUGONG, an herbivorous marine mammal native to the Red Sea, a type of seal (hence the choice of this week's MRMH column on p.32), or an unknown extinct animal that existed when the Mishkan was being built, and for that purpose.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION...
The Mishkan, as described in the Torah, functioned for the 40 years of the Wilderness (actually 39 years), and the first 14 years in Eretz Yisrael (in GILGAL), the years of conquest and settlement. After that, a stone structure – with the same dimensions – was made in SHILO to replace the gold-covered wooden wall sections.(The K’rashim of the Mishkan were not used and were buried.) The three coverings were the same, as were the furnishings inside the Mishkan. The Mishkan stood in SHILO for 369 years. After ELI HAKOHEN died, the Mishkan was set up in NOV (13 years) and then (after Shmuel's death) in GIV'ON (44 years). That's a total of 480years, from Y'TZI'AT MITZRAYIM until the first Beit HaMikdash.

R'vi'i - Fourth Aliya - 16 p'sukim - 26:15-30
[P> 26:15 (16)] The walls of the Mishkan were gold-plated wooden boards. Each board had two pegs to be inserted into silver foundation sockets. Boards were joined by square gold rings into slits at the top of the boards; connecting rods through rings mounted on the sides, above and below their mid-lines; and a central bolt through the center of the boards, internally. There were to be 20 boards each for the north and south walls, eight on the west. The east was open, covered by a special curtain.

SDT Rashi brings a Midrash that Yaakov Avinu foresaw with Divine Vision that wood would be needed by his descendants upon their departure from Egypt. He brought saplings with him to Egypt which he planted and ordered his children to take the wood with them when they left Egypt.

Chamishi - Fifth Aliya - 7 p'sukim - 26:31-37
[S> 26:31 (7)] A woven curtain (like the first covering of the Mishkan) was to be hung from four gold-plated wooden pillars to separate between the Holy of Holies and the main hall of the Sanctuary. This curtain is called the PAROCHET, and gives its name to the curtain which we place on the Aron Kodesh in shul. Their functions are not the same; their names are. Rashi explains that Parochet means Mechitza, partition, or in the language of our Sages, Pargod, a partition between a king and his subjects.

SDT MA'ASEI CHOSHEIV, explains Rashi, is highly skilled weaving (could it be embroidery of a sort?) which results in different designs on each of the two sides of the fabric.

The Aron is to be put into the Holy of Holies. The Shulchan on the north wall (2½ amot from the north wall) opposite the Menora on the south wall (also 2½ amot from the south wall) are placed outside the Parochet in the main section of the Mishkan. (The custom is to place the Chanukiya on the south wall of the shul, to remind us of the Menora in the Mikdash.)
A curtain similar to the Parochet was to be hung across the entrance of the Mishkan. This MASACH is to be hung on five wooden pillars plated with gold, fitted with golden hooks, and inserted into gold foundation sockets. The Masach measured 10 amot by 10 amot, as did the Parochet.

Some commentaries say that each curtain hung from hooks on the supporting pillars. Others say that a rod was inserted at the top of each curtain and the rod was suspended from the hooks on the pillars. This would allow the Parochet and Masach to hang evenly without sagging.

Shishi - Sixth Aliya -8 p'sukim - 27:1-8
[S> 27:1 (8)] The Mizbei'ach (Altar) is to be made of wood, plated with copper. It is a square with raised corners. All vessels and utensils for this Altar were to be made of copper, as are the rings for the carrying rods. This Altar was outside the Mishkan, in the courtyard of the Mikdash and was used for most of the sacrifices. (Unlike the internal, golden, incense Altar - not even mentioned in this sedra).

The Torah says that this Altar was 3 amot tall. R. Yehuda says: understand it as it is written. R. Yosi says just as the internal Altar is twice as tall as it is wide and long, so too is this one. It measures 5 amot on each side of the square, therefore, it is 10 amot tall. But the Torah says three? That is measured from its SOVEV.
The Aron, Shulchan, Menora are 1,2,3 in Parshat T'ruma. Then the structure of the Mishkan, then the External Altar. Internal Altar doesn't come until T'tzaveh - after the garments of the Kohanim. The Washing Basin and its Stand don't show up until the beginning of Ki Tisa. When the actual construction is described in Vayak-hel and P'kudei, the order is different.

Sh'vi'i - Seventh Aliya - 11 p'sukim - 27:9-19
[S> 27:9 (11)] Linen curtains were to be made, as were wooden columns, decorated (not completely covered) with silver. The courtyard curtains were to be hung from silver hooks on these columns. Each column was supported by a copper foundation socket. An entrance curtain was to be woven in the style of the Mishkan, the Parochet, and the Masach, to be hung across the eastern side of the courtyard. Copper spikes helped anchor the curtains that surrounded the Mishkan.

We have been without a Beit HaMikdash for so long that many of us have developed a "who needs it?" kind of attitude about a physical Mikdash. Without analyzing the following analogy too much, here's a thought. Even if one has been davening by heart for a long time, and knows the prayers well, there is still many benefits to his getting a beautiful Siddur to use. It gives him a focus, enhances his service of G-d, is physically attractive and spiritually inspiring.
The final three p’sukim of T’ruma are reread for the Maftir.

Haftara - 20 p'sukim - Melachim Alef 5:26-6:13
The Haftara describes the preparation for the building of the first Beit HaMikdash, much like the Torah presents the preparation for the building of the Mishkan. One can notice differences between the building of the Mishkan and the building of the Beit HaMikdash, especially on the point of participation of the people. In the case of the Mishkan, there was a high level of enthusiasm and volunteerism that even had Moshe begging the people to stop bringing materials. In the case of the Beit HaMikdash, there were conscriptions of labor forces to do some of the work to supply material for the Beit HaMikdash.

The concluding pasuk of the Haftara goes so beautifully with one of the open p'sukim of the sedra. “And I will dwell (says G-d) in the midst of Bnei Yisrael and I will not abandon My people Israel.” If one had any doubt as to the meaning of the sedra’s V’SHACHANTI B’TOCHAM, and I will dwell among them - the haftara spells it out beyond any ambiguity.

It is also important to note what G-d told Shlomo HaMelech before the promise to dwell in the midst of Bnei Yisrael. And this was the word of G-d to Shlomo: This House that you are building, IF you will go in My ways and do what I command, and keep all of My mitzvot, THEN I will fulfill My word with you, as I told your father David.

V’ASU LI MIKDASH is a command. V’SHACHANTI B’TOCHAM is a promise, but apparently it is a conditional promise. And the condition is NOT just to build a Mikdash. It is to be faithful to G-d and keep His Torah.

May we see the fulfillment of the mitzvot of the sedra and Haftara, speedily in our time.

THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW - Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean
Lesson # 271 (part four) •Labor Law
The Employee's Right to Terminate the Employment
Halacha is clear that, absent an agreement or governmental labor laws to the contrary, a worker cannot be compelled to commence work or to continue working for the employer. It is stated in Vayikra 25:55, "For the Children of Israel are servants to Me, they are My servants, whom I have taken out of the land of Egypt, I am Hashem, your God." The Talmud expressing the accompanying Oral Law states that the verse teaches that a worker can resign from the employment at any time for the Jews are servants to God but not servants to man who are His servants. Thus the employee may resign at any time (except as shown in these lessons).

There are times that the resigning employee will be compensated to the time of termination and forfeit the balance of his wages. Sometimes the resigning employee will have to compensate the employer for losses suffered by the employer. Sometimes the employee will not be compensated to the time of termination nor have to pay damages to the employer. That which has been said about a worker having the right to resign his employment at any time also applies to independent contractors, absent any agreement to the contrary. The employee has the right to resign from his employment even if he has already been paid all of his wages to the end of his employment, provided that he has or will have the wherewithal to repay the amount that will become due to the employer for the employee failing to complete his employment. But if it appears that there is very little likelihood that he will ever be able to repay the balance, he may not resign his employment, for this would be akin to robbery.

As is shown in the next lessons, if the employer will suffer irreversible loss by the resignation of the employee, the employee may not resign his position with the employer. However, if there is force majeure, the employee may resign even if the loss is irreparable.

Examples given in the codes include hiring a driver to deliver a band for a wedding and the driver does not appear and it is not possible to get another driver. Or a tailor who is hired to sew suits before a Holy Day and he does not do the work and no one else is able to sew the garments. Or the employee is a servant or maidservant in the home of the employer. Many employees cannot continue their running of the household without the servant.

More on Early termination of employment
As stated earlier, based on Vayikra 25:55, a worker can resign from the employment at any time, for the Jews are servants to God but not servants to man who are His servants.

Based on this there were rules established in some communities that an employee would not undertake employment for a period exceeding three (or in some communities five) years, whether by under- standing or by agreement. This became a norm in some of the jobs that these communities offered its religious functionaries, such as a rabbi, cantor, sexton, scribe, or teacher of children. The theory is that in excess of three (or five) years an employee becomes more like a slave than an employee. Most communities did not adopt these rules, since there is an obvious difference between a slave and an employee. Even in the communities that adopted these rules, if a person was very poor and could not find employment except for a period of time exceeding these time limits, he could do so. There was a difference as to the rights of the parties under these long-term understandings and agreements. The rabbi could resign his position at any time even within the agreed-upon term in his understanding with the community. But he should not do so and if he did, he is known as a man lacking in faith. If he did resign and he received either wages or expense and house allowances in advance, he must repay the unexpired sums not yet earned. But at the conclusion of his term he may seek employment elsewhere.

On the other hand, a community has no right to discharge their rabbi or other religious functionaries even after his term expires, unless there is a valid cause as found by a Beth Din.

The Employee Resigns the Employment
As stated above, the Torah permits an employee to terminate his employment at any time, even if he is in the midst of his employment (except if the employer will suffer irreparable money loss; see below).

There is a difference in the law of damages depending on when the employee leaves the employment. If the employer hires a worker to appear for work on a specific day and the worker does not show up, the employer has only a "grievance" against the employee, for the employee can tell the employer to seek other workers. Such grievances are not compensated in money damages. There is authority that the employee can be designated one who is lacking faith. The grievance is that the employer must now go through the trouble of finding another employee. Thus, if the employer can find other workers without much bother, he does not even have a grievance against the employee. There is no compensation that one pays as a result of being designated as a person who is lacking in faith.
If the employee did not do the work because of force majeure, the employee is not even designated a person lacking faith.

The employee who resigns stands in a favorable position in relation to the employer. For example, the employee is to work eight hours to receive $8 for the work, or $1 an hour. The employee resigned after four hours, and his resignation will not cause irreparable damage to the employer. The employee will receive $4, although the employer may have to pay another employee $5 to complete the work. If the new employee will work the remaining four hours for only $3, the resigning employee will receive $5 for the four hours that he worked.

Employer Will Suffer an Irreparable Monetary Loss by the Employee's Resigning
All that has been said in the prior two sections applies if (I) the employer does not suffer a loss by the employee reneging, except for the loss of time it takes the employer to find a replacement employee, as favorable as the reneging employee; or (2) the employee was prevented from working because of force majeure.
But the law is different if the employer will suffer a monetary loss by the employee not fulfilling his undertaking immediately to do the work. Under such circumstances, the employee may not resign from the employment! For example, the employee is hired to remove flax from the soaking baths and if the flax not be so removed, the flax will become unusable, or a teacher is hired to teach schoolchildren Torah. The right of the employee to resign does not exist. <MTC>
The subject matter of this lesson is more fully discussed in volume IX chapter 333 of A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law by E. Quint. Copies of all volumes can be purchased via email: orders@gefenpublishing.com and via website: www.israelbooks.com and at local Judaica bookstores. Questions to quint@inter.net.il

MEANING IN MITZVOT by Rabbi Asher Meir
Each week we discuss one familiar halakhic practice and try to show its beauty and meaning. The columns are based on Rabbi Meir's Meaning in Mitzvot on Kitzur Shulchan Arukh
Reading the Torah Portion with Targum
“Rav Huna bar Yehuda said in the name of Rebbe Ami: A person should complete the portion together with the community, twice Scripture and once targum, and even ‘Atarot and Dibon’ [proper names], for anyone who completes the portion with the community, his days and years are lengthened” (Berakhot 8a). This is also the ruling of the Shulchan Arukh (OC 285:1), who also permits reading Rashi’s commentary.

The Maharal likens these three readings to the three times the Torah was reviewed to Israel in the desert: once at Mount Sinai, once in the Tent of Meeting, and once in Moav. (See Rashbam Shemot 12:1.) In Moav, we learn that Moshe “explained the Torah” (Devarim 1:5); Rashi explains that he explained it in seventy languages. So the third time the Torah was given, it was given in all the languages of the nations.

The Maharal explains that these three readings correspond to three “worlds”, or levels of holiness. We might think that the Targum would be the lowest of the three worlds, but actually, writes the Maharal, it is the highest. The reason is that the Targum (Aramaic) is not just one language among the languages of the nations;it is a unique pan-human language. He brings several proofs for this claim:
The Maharal writes that the Targum “isn’t considered a language”. (I can’t find the source for this statement.)

The gemara states that the angels don’t understand Aramaic (Shabbat 12b and elsewhere); this is because it is a language unique to the level of mankind as a whole, who are above the angels in respect of free will and reward and punishment.

The Maharal also points out that the Talmud is written in Aramaic, because it relates to a higher level of Torah understanding than the Mishna.

The translation of the Torah into Aramaic testifies to the fact that the Torah is relevant to all of mankind. It is true, writes the Maharal, that the other nations didn’t accept the Torah, but it was offered to them. And non-Jews can still accept the Torah by converting; thus, writes the Maharal, the language of Targum is specially connected to converts.

The gemara states that the Targum on the Torah was composed by Onkelos, a convert. (Megila 3a.)

The entire mishnah is in Hebrew. Yet at the very end of chapter 5 of tractate Avot, there are two statements in Aramaic, by Ben Bag Bag and Ben Hei Hei. One old tradition states that these individuals were converts.

In addition, this switch is important because the sixth chapter of Avot is all about the Torah; as we move from the level of midot to Torah, we suddenly have statements in Aramaic which is uniquely relevant to the highest worlds.

So reading the Targum on the portion testifies to the fact that the Torah comes to us from the highest worlds the special level of human striving which is above the level of the angels. This level is inherently relevant to mankind as a whole, as we see from the fact that Aramaic is a pan-human language. All nations have a potential connection to Torah, but since they declined to accept the Torah at the time it was given, their main connection is through conversion, and indeed converts seem to have a special affinity for this language.

Based on Maharal Netivot Olam Netiv HaAvoda 11, 13, Derekh Chaim 5.

Publication Update: Both volumes of the book have already been through page design, type-setting, and proof reading. It won't be long now, IY"H, that we will see it IN PRINT.

Rabbi Meir authors a popular weekly on-line Q&A column, "The Jewish Ethicist", which gives Jewish guidance on everyday ethical dilemmas in the workplace. The column is a joint project of the JCT Center for Business Ethics, Jerusalem College of Technology - Machon Lev; and Aish HaTorah. You can see the Jewish Ethicist, and submit your own Qs — www.jewishethicist.com or www. aish.com

TANACH
Spiritual and Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach; JOSHUA, JUDGES,
SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi'im Rishonim) by Dr. Meir Tamari
From Tish'a b'Av to Tzom Gedaliya, Melachim Bet 25:11-27
Still, Israel lingered on in its land, despite the destruction of the Temple and of Yerushalayim, despite the exile first of Yehoyachin to Bavel, together with the country's military, financial, scholarly and technical leadership, and then, 11 years later the exile of the last king of Israel, Tzidkiyahu. The country's treasury had been looted and the Temple stripped of all the gold that Shlomo had put into it. Nevuzaradan, the general-butcher who had fired the Temple and slaughtered the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, "without compassion on young or maidens, old man or those stooped with age" (Divrei HaYamim 35:17), left only the poor and the guardians of the fields and orchards. Over them he appointed as governor of Judah, not some- body of the royal house but rather a former royal courtier, Gedaliya.

In this book we have no details of Gedaliya beyond his grandfather's and father's names, and very bare ones concerning his subsequent fate, but in Yirmiyahu(40:10-43:7) the story is told in full.

Gedaliya's family had always been close to the Davidic royal house as part of the royal family and amongst its trusted advisers. Gedaliya's father had been a minister under both Yoshiyahu and Yehoyakim his son, and had been the one to release Yirmiyahu from the prison where he languished for prophesying the failure of the proposed revolt by Tzidkiyahu against Nevuchadnezzar.

Gedaliya set up his center at Mitzpa [Northwest of Yerushalayim; Shmuel Hanavi's town and residence], towards which the remnants of the army, the urban population and the poor made their way in their zeal for some form of community, even if it was a mere shadow of the state that had been. Indeed, so powerful was the call of the Land and the Nation that upon hearing of the Jewish governorship of Eretz Yisrael, those Jews who had fled to Trans-Jordan to escape the various invasions of the Babylonians, now came back and joined the remnants of Judah. Gedaliya, realizing the precariousness of the Jewish settlement and of his own status as not being of the Davidic dynasty, took an oath wherein he promised to respect the rights of the various nobles and army leaders. However, peace was not to come to the shattered people and land. Despite their oath of loyalty to Gedaliya, when Yishmael of the House of David together with a band of nobles, came to the festive meal on Rosh HaShana at Mitzpa, they assassinated him. They also murdered the Babylonian soldiers in Mitzpa as well as many Jews. Many of the nobles had refused to join the plot against Gedaliya and had even warned him of Yismael's intentions. Gedaliya dismissed the warnings, seeing them as Lashon HaRa and unjustified. As to Yishmael's motives, the sources are divided in their explanations. According to Radak, he was motivated by the belief, that as a scion of the royal family he was more entitled than Gedaliya to rule, while it would appear from the text in Divrei HaYamim that he was in the service of Baalis, king of Amon in Trans-Jordan.

Irrespective of the particular cause in this case, similar political assassinations had not been uncommon in the histories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. All of them, essentially, were conceptually different from the fratricide that characterized the last days of the Second Temple. While they flowed from personal career considerations or political policy, the actions of the Zealots and the Sicarri of Bayit Sheini were only motivated by nationalism or by a yearning for messianic redemption. All of them, however, were basically expressions of the centrifugal trait of a lack of Ahavat Yisrael, which has been and still is a characteristic of the Jewish People. This must not be understood, as it often is, as the same thing as 'sinat chanim', needless hatred, but rather as the inability to subordinate oneself to another. "This unwillingness and inability of Israel to subjugate themselves to others, is a source of strength since it enables them to exist and flourish even under difficult and hard conditions. However, it is also a major source of spiritual weakness as it prevents the tzadik being a leader unless he has the pride necessary to guide and to rule. That explains why David HaMelech had to have an ancestress from Moab, Ruth; she could give the pride necessary to rule over Israel. The need for Ahavat Yisrael does not obligate us to love or to relate to those with whom we agree but only to the people with whom we disagree" (Shem Mi Shmuel).

After the assassination of Gedaliya there was not only dismay among the remnant of Israel in Eretz Yirael but real fear of the revenge of the Babylonians at the murder of their appointed governor. Their dilemma was an age-old one, yet an ever-present one, even today. Whether to leave the Holy Land because of the serious danger involved in staying or to remain within the Land of Israel because that is Israel's home. Yishmael and his band were determined to go down to Egypt, as far as possible from the hands of The Babylonians as possible. It meant nothing to them that G-d through Yirmiyahu told them to stay and prophesied the sword and persecution if they went willingly into exile, rather than the peace and security that they believed awaited them there. They were not prepared to listen to the prophet and took him and the rest of the Jews with them to Egypt.

Tzom Gedaliya, is the concluding fast of the four fasts that mark the destruction of our national independence. The Land now lay desolate. "How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger; and cast down from heaven into the earth the beauty of Israel" (Eicha 2:1).
This is the 71st installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times”

MISC section - contents:
[1] Vebbe Rebbe
[2] Candle by Day
[3] From Aloh Naaleh
[4] MicroUlpan
[5] A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit
[6] Haftara Follow-Up
[7] Various DT's
[8] Torah from Nature
[9] From the desk of the director

[1] 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, headed by Rav Yosef Carmel and Rav Moshe Ehrenreich, 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: During laining, the ba'al koreh showed the oleh (the one who had the aliya) the wrong place and noticed during the oleh's beracha. The ba'al koreh rolled the Torah to the right place as the oleh continued his beracha. Did the oleh have to make a new beracha?

A: This question is important because a quick decision is needed, and sometimes the rav is not present. It is hard to choose among opinions, and there are distinctions over which poskim differ. We will try to explain the basic approaches and present an approach to implementation.

The Beit Yosef (Orach Chayim 140) relates the following incident. On Rosh Chodesh Tevet, the shaliach tzibbur opened up the Sefer Torah for Chanuka reading before that for Rosh Chodesh and was corrected after the oleh's beracha. The Avudraham brought those who said that he should have made another beracha because of the time delay as they rolled the sefer to the correct place and because in the parallel case, of one who made a beracha on a food but ended up eating a different one, he makes a new beracha. He brings others who argue on both assumptions and say that the beracha applies to all texts that are in the Sefer Torah before him and, therefore, making a new one is improper. The Beit Yosef concludes that since regarding berachot on foods (206:6), we require a new beracha on the food he had not intended to eat even though it had been in front of him, so too here he makes a new beracha. In the Shulchan Aruch (140:3), he brings both opinions but favors the one to make another beracha (without repeating the introduction of "Barchu…" (Mishna Berura 140:3)). Nevertheless, recent Sefardic poskim (see Kaf Hachayim 140:15; Yalkut Yosef 140:4) conclude that in a case of a doubt whether or not to recite a beracha, one refrains from reciting it even if the Shulchan Aruch rules that one should.

Ashkenazic poskim generally require the new beracha in this case, but several distinctions make application of this rule uncommon. Most classical poskim decided that the matter depends on the oleh's intention during the beracha. Since most people do not think too deeply about the matter, poskim have to fill in gaps. If the oleh becomes aware of the mistake before the ending of the beracha, he does not need a new beracha (Biur Halacha, ad loc.). (Rolling the Torah without him realizing would not help). The Mishna Berura (ibid. :9) rules that all texts that were open when the oleh was shown the place are covered by the beracha. (The Shaarei Efrayim 4:17 requires that the texts be in the same column). Thus, the most common mistakes that require a new beracha are in the first aliya, in cases where the wrong Torah was taken out, the Torah was rolled improperly, or the place was moved during the last hagba (let the ba'al koreh, gabbai, and kohen beware).

The Pri Megadim (Eshel Avraham 140:4) raises a further limitation on the basic ruling. Noting that the case discussed by the Rishonim involved people who thought that they were supposed to lain the Chanuka reading first, he says that if the oleh knew what the right reading is but was inadvertently shown the wrong column, then he does not make another beracha. Although the classical poskim and the Mishna Berura apparently reject the Pri Megadim, and accepted practice appears to follow the Mishna Berura, the Pri Megadim makes a lot of halachic sense. The Radvaz (I, 248) goes further, saying that the beracha primarily relates to the mitzva of public Torah reading, with the specific text being secondary. Of great importance is that leading, recent poskim, including R. Moshe Feinstein (OC I, 36; see Piskei Teshuvot 140:3) accept the Pri Megadim and that we try to avoid questionable berachot.

We suggest the following (if the rav is not present). If you recall that the shul's practice is like the Mishna Berura, have the oleh make a new beracha, unless he is Sefardic, he refuses, or you expect him to be upset to repeat the beracha. If the practice is not known, do not instruct the oleh to make a questionable beracha, given important poskim's opposition.

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 info@eretzhemdah.org with the message: Subscribe/English (for the English version) or Subscribe/Hebrew (for the hebrew version). Please leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel

[2] Candle by Day
A half truth is a whole lie...- From A Candle by Day by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

[3] CHIZUK and IDUD (for Olim & not-yet-Olim respectively)
In this week's parsha the Jewish people are instructed to collect the materials for and begin the construction of the Mishkan. It was a tremendous undertaking to build a "house" for the Presence of God, an undertaking that, as God Himself later revealed to Moshe Rabbeinu, requires Divine assistance (Shemot 39:33). Only with the help of God does the impossible become possible, and sometimes, it is only in hindsight that we are able to discern His hand in all that we have succeeded in accomplishing.

We can speak about Eretz Yisrael in the same way. To return to a barren land after 2000 years of exile, and to transform what had become a virtual wasteland into living habitations and an advanced country - and all this in less than 60 years - is nothing short of a great miracle. This is especially true given all the obstacles along the way and opposition from the rest of the world.

Amazingly, the land has developed not only physically, but spiritually as well. At the center of the spiritual world is the Western Wall, recovered during the miraculous 6-Day War, and a draw for Jews from all over the world. As one drives from community to community, it is astounding how many shuls and Torah study halls have been built over the years.

And, as long as we keep our ultimate national goal in mind, to build a "house" in which the Presence of God may rest, then we can expect additional miracles that will further develop this country into place to which ALL Jews will wish to return. We will be able to make a gift (terumah) to God from the very gift that He first gave to us, as the Jews did in this week's parsha when they contributed to the Mishkan.

Rabbi Pinchas Winston, Telshe-Stone
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

[4] MicroUlpan
This is Lenny. He's working on a PUZZLE. And how do you say puzzle in Hebrew? PAZEL? Right answer to: What do Hebrew speakers call a puzzle? But the question was, how do you say PUZZLE in Hebrew? TATZ-REIF

Here's an interesting find. On a ship or train, sometimes at hotels, dinner is served in shifts, called sittings. The official Hebrew word for this is: ZIMUN, Without nikud ZAYIN-YUD-MEM-VAV-NUN. That, of course, is the same word used for three or more men (or women) who eat together and will be benching together.(men - required; women - optional) ZIMUN = RABOTAI NEVARECH

[5] A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit
One Friday night, R' Hillel, the son-in-law of R' Chaim of Volozhin was seen striding through the market carrying a lantern, an action which is forbidden on Shabbos. Many were curious and followed him. He entered a house, stayed there some time, and came out without the lantern.
"Rebbe," they asked, "what happened?"
"Inside that house," explained R' Hillel, "is a man who is mortally ill, and since all the other members of the household are ignorant and refused to do anything for him which they thought might be a violation of Shabbos, I felt that I had to show them in practice that when someone's life is in danger it is a mitzva to violate Shabbos for him."

Shmuel Himelstein has written a wonderful series for ArtScroll: Words of Wisdom, Words of Wit; A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit; and" Wisdom and Wit" — available at your local Jewish bookstore (or should be).
Excerpted with the permission of the copyright holder

[6] Haftara Follow-Up
Last week, we pointed out that the haftara of Mishpatim was unusual for two reasons. The first unusual feature is that it gets preempted more than it is read. On this score, there are others that are more remarkable, such as the regular haftara of Parshat Mikeitz. (Almost 90% of the time, Mikeitz is Shabbat Chanuka.)

The other unusual feature is not just unusual, it is unique. After the main text of the haftara, we finish with two p'sukim from the PREVIOUS chapter. There are several haftarot that end with skipping ahead for the final pasuk or two. But Mishpatim's haftara is the only one that skips back.

And that is the reason for this follow-up. Shulchan Aruch (144:1) discusses skipping in Torah reading and haftara. Mishna B'rura explains a phrase in the Shulchan Aruch as forbidding skipping back, but adds that there are different opinions on the question. The PRI MEGADIM allows skipping back if the topic is the same and if the congregation will not be "bothered" by a long delay in the shift in text. ELIYA RABA forbids skipping back.

In fact, the Yemenite practice, based on the Rambam (of course), is not to add the two p'sukim from the previous chapter, but to continue into the next chapter and read an additional 19 p'sukim (ch. 35) in order to finish on a good note.

RDZ pointed out that HaRav Kaniefsky wrote that if a shul is using a Chumash or Haftara book, then they can jump back to the previous chapter for the last two p'sukim. But if they are reading the haftara from KLAF (a kosher parchment scroll), then they may not skip back, but must continue reading the additional 19 p'sukim (as do the Teimanim).

[7] SDT
32 times in the sedra we find V'ASITA, and you (singular) shall make... Those commands are to Moshe or Betzalel. Twice - only twice - the command is V'ASU (plural). MIKDASH and the ARON (Torah) are for all of Israel to do. Based on Alshich

[8] Torah from Nature
Pinnipeds - Within the class of vertebrates (backboned animals) known as mammals, there are different orders, one of which is CARNIVORA, meat-eating animals. They subdivide into cat-like animals and dog-like animals. Among the family of mammals within the suborder Caniformia (dog-like) are the PINNIPEDS, fin-footed animals. They are further divided into four subfamilies: true seals, fur seals, sea lions, walruses. These subfamilies consist of 18, 9, 5, and 1 species, respectively.

True seals have no external ears... only a small ear opening behind the eyes is visible. The furred hind flippers of true seals are shorter than those of the fur seals and sea lions, and extend behind their body to provide propulsion when swimming. The short, furry front flippers act mainly as rudders when the seals are swimming and help with movement on land or ice...

Fur seals and sea lions have small, but noticeable, external ear flaps. The long, mostly hairless, front flippers are used for propulsion through the water while the long hind flippers are used more for steering. The hind flippers can also be brought forward and under the body, enabling them to 'walk' on land...
The walrus is a mix of both the true seal and the fur seal and sea lion. Like true seals, walruses do not have an external ear. Similar to eared seals, they can move their hind flippers forward and underneath their bodies but they cannot bear weight. Both male and female walruses have tusks...

[9] Divrei Menachem
Parsha Teruma introduces us to the various vessels of the Mishkan, the Sanctuary that was to be built in the Desert. One of the central vessels was the Menora which the Torah describes in all its beauty as consisting of a base, shafts, cups, knobs, blossoms, and branches - all to be hammered out of one piece of pure gold!

One of the fascinating aspects of the command to make the Menora is found in the wording: "And you shall make a Menora; the Menora shall be hammered out" (Shmot 25:31). The use of the active and passive voice here is strange. The Midrash indicates, however, that the intricate details of the Menora were so complicated that Moshe could not visualize how it should appear. Moshe, nevertheless, makes an attempt at forging the Menora (proactive) but finally Hashem assists him: Moshe threw the gold ingot into a fire and the Menora came into being (passive form) without human intervention (cf. Rashi, Gur Aryeh).

The rabbis teach us that the Menora, whose flames were fed from the purest oil, symbolizes the illumination of the intellect. Yet Moshe - our foremost teacher and guide - had a cognitive problem fathoming its creation. It was as if, even by Moshe, the intellect was found wanting. Clearly Hashem is instructing us that our human faculties are ultimately subservient to the higher order of things, and that true intellectual achievement is that which is guided by and serves the dictates of Torah.
Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff

SHEYIBANEH BEIT HAMIKDASH...
A series of articles on Beit HaMikdash-related topics by Catriel Sugarman intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

Meat Eating in Temple Times
From Aryeh and Judy, "Is it true that one was not allowed to eat any meat except in connection with Korbanot? My Chavrusa and I are studying Melachim and my daughter claims that there was a lot of resentment in the tribes because as soon as the Beit HaMikdash was built one could eat meat only in Yerushalayim; (i.e. as a Korban) which would explain why the Bamot continued even among the "good" kings; but doesn't seem to make sense otherwise.

The meat that Am Yisrael ate in biblical times came primarily from permissible "pure" domestic animals; cattle, sheep and goats. However, the consumption of these animals for food was quite restricted simply because of their high value, even though they were quite common. The Gemara (Chulin 16b) notes, "…(It is written) 'When the Lord your G-d shall enlarge your border, as He promised you, and you will say, I will eat meat (for you will have a desire to eat meat, to your hearts' entire desire may you eat meat." Devarim 12:20). R. Yishma'el says that this Pasuk is stated specifically in order to permit Bnei Yisrael to eat meat at will (i.e. upon entering Eretz Yisrael, Am Yisrael would be permitted to slaughter kosher animals and eat the meat without offering sacrifices whenever they wished).

Previously in the wilderness, the animal first had to be offered as a Korban. "Any man from the House of Israel who will slaughter a bull, a sheep, or goat in the camp or will slaughter it outside the camp and he has not brought it to the entrance of the Ohel Mo'ed - the Mishkan, the Desert Sanctuary - to bring it as a Korban to G-d before the Tabernacle of G-d - it shall be considered as bloodshed for that man, he has shed blood , and that man shall be cut off from his people…and they shall slaughter them as Shelamim to G-d" (Vayikra 17:3-5). The Gemara then asks, "Why were they forbidden in the beginning (in the wilderness)? Because they were near to the Mishkan. And why were they permitted subsequently? Because they were far from the Mishkan (Mikdash)". After all, "when they entered the Land, their land was spacious and those who lived at a distance were not able to come to Jerusalem (and offer sacrifice at the Mikdash) every day" (Rashi). But before Shlomo HaMelech built the Bayit Rishon, there was an interim period called Tekufat Heter Bamot - when private sacrificial altars (Bamot) were sometimes permitted. The Mishna reads, "Before the Mishkan was set up, Bamot were permitted and the (priestly) Avoda was performed by the firstborn. But after the Mishkan was set up, Bamot were forbidden and the Avoda was performed by Kohanim. …After they came to Gilgal the Bamot were again permitted. After they came to Shiloh the Bamot were (again) forbidden. (After crossing the Jordan, Am Yisrael set up the Mishkan in Gilgal where it remained for 14 years during the conquest and the parceling of Eretz Yisrael among the people. Then the Mishkan was set up at Shiloh - Yehoshu'a 18:1 - where it remained for 369 years (Note Zevachim 118b) until its destruction.). After they came to Nov (I Shemu'el 21:1) and to Given (I Melachim 3:4), the Bamot were permitted. After they came to Jerusalem (and built the Mikdash), the Bamot were forbidden and never again permitted. (Zevachim 14:4-8).

During Tekufat Heter Bamot "formal" meals were frequently linked to the offering of Shelamim. Saul, soon to be anointed King of Israel, and his servant entered the city of Ramah seeking the "Seer" Samuel. They find that "he is come today into the city because the people have a sacrifice in the high place. …for the people will not eat until he comes and bless the sacrifice and afterward the invitees will eat. (Incidentally, this is the source for making a Beracha over the eating of Shelamim.

Rashi supplies the Nusach. "…Asher Kidshanu Bemitzvotav Vetzivanu Le'echol Et Hazevach - …Who has sanctified us with His commandments and has commanded us to eat of the sacrifice" (I Shemu'el 9:10-13). Later as King, Saul and his entourage once had a festive banquet on Rosh Chodesh. David though invited refrained from attending. King Saul upon noticing David's absence said, "…he is (ritually) impure, surely he is impure." The Radak and the Ralbag raise the possibility that the meat ingested at Saul's Rosh Chodesh feast were from Shelamim sacrifices. This would explain why it was necessary for the invitees to be in a state of ritual purity. David's excuse was that he had a Zevach Mishpacha, a family sacrifice, in his home town of Beit Lechem which required his presence (I Shemu'el 20:25-29).Metzudat David explains that "on that day the members of his (David's) family would offer Shelamim (and eat the meat) in their city." But not all the meat eaten was from Shelamim - even in Tekufat Heter Bamot when Korbanot could be offered on every hill top. The substantial gift of Abigail "wife of Naval" to David and his men included "five sheep ready dressed (slaughtered and prepared)" which certainly were not Shelamim meat (I Shemu'el 25:18). "And the Lord sent Nathan unto David… There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing; save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and reared. And it grew up with him, and with his children, it did eat of his own morsel and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler to the rich man, and he forbore to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that had come unto him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him." The Navi who spun such a picturesque parable did not speak of Shelamim and Korbanot (II Shemu'el 12:1-4). "And Solomon's provision for one day… ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fatted fowl (I Kings 5:2,3). And the newly completed Bayit Rishon was only a few meters away! Solomon's provisions also included animals which, while "pure" (kosher), were ineligible for Korbanot. In short, the rural population was not dependent on Shelamim for their meat supply; they were free to slaughter and eat non-sacrificial meat at will. Bamot persisted after the building of the Beit HaMikdash because the rural population found it difficult to understand why the time-honored custom of local sacrifice fell out of Divine favor. And it is important to understand that this was not necessarily because of ill will or idolatrous inclinations on the part of Am Yisrael.

Could it be that Am Israel were shepherds and had huge flocks but wouldn't eat lamb chops? The Torah does cite one example from our history when we did refuse to eat lamb chops. After Yetzi'at Mitzra'im, Bnei Yisrael started to wail, "Who will feed us meat?" Moses was in despair and turned to G-d. "Where shall I get meat to give to this entire people when they weep to me saying, 'Give us meat that we may eat.' Can sheep and cattle be slaughtered for them…?" G-d answered Moshe in his distress and "a wind went forth from G-d and blew quail from the sea and spread them over the camp… (Bamidbar 11:4-34). Despite their unholy lust for meat (for which they were severely punished), and surrounded as they were by their numerous flocks and herds, they were unwilling to slaughter even a single sheep or goat!

Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service

Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading
V'ASU LI MIKDASH V'SHACHANTI B'TOCHAM
A well-known pasuk from this week's sedra; let's use it to review a topic or two.
• The first word is usually accented on the last syllable - v'a-SU. As it is two p'sukim later.
V'ASU ARON ATZEI SHITIM
Notice the TROP-note under the SIN, as opposed to being under the AYIN, as it is above. The word is MILRA, but in the earlier case, the accent recedes to the next-to-the-last syllable (in this case, the first of the two syllables). When this happens, it is called NASOG ACHOR. When a MILRA word is followed by a MIL'EIL word or a one-syllable word - within a single phrase (as is the case with v'A-su LI), then the word becomes MIL'EIL.
• Okay, back to the top pasuk. sha-CHAN-ti = I dwelt, past tense. v'sha-CHAN-ti = and I dwelt - still past tense. v'sha-chan-TI, and I will dwell - future tense. When the VAV is a tense-flipping VAV from past to future, it causes (in most cases) the accent to go from the MIL'EIL (next-to-last syllable) position to the MILRA (last syllable) position.
[Remember that we've done this topic many times in the past, but also remember that it was the original starting point for the TBDATR column. It started with v'di-bar-TA BAM from Sh'ma.]
Combining the two points reviewed so far, we find (in the sedra and later)
V'YATZAKTA LO | V'YATZAKTA LAHEM | V'YATZAKTA AL ROSHO
ya-TZAK-ta becomes v'ya-tzak-TA as future or command tense, but in v'ya-TZAK-ta LO we have NASOG ACHOR (check the TROP-marks).

Parsha Pix
Across the top are sacks of gold (Au is the symbol for the element gold - it is based on the Latin name for gold, Aurum), silver (similarly, silver’s symbol comes from its Latin name Argentum), and copper (Cuprum), that were donated to the building of the Mishkan and its accouterments.
The two things in the upper-right of the ParshaPix are cabbages. In Hebrew - KRUV, as in the K’RUVIM on the KAPORET of the ARON.
Many of the other items in this ParshaPix represent the materials that were collected, and mentioned, in the beginning of the sedra. The gem represents the stones for the CHOSHEN and the shoulder straps of the EIFOD.
The gold rings stand for the rings through which were inserted the carrying poles of some of the furnishings of the Mishkan.
The spools of thread represent the different colored wool and linen that were used to weave the coverings in the Mishkan. Also, to sew together the panels of the Mishkan and the Ohel.
Under the cabbages is a bouquet of flowers, in Hebrew - ZEIR. That is the term used in the Torah for the decorative border of gold that was made for the ARON and SHULCHAN (at least).
The olive oil represents the olive oil, which had several purposes in the service of the Mikdash.
Next to the olives is a tree and a log, standing for the ATZEI SHITIM, the acacia wood used extensively in the construction of the Mishkan.
Below the olive oil are representations of the three decorations of the Menorah. The trophy cup is called a GAVI’AH. The buttom is KAFTOR and the flower is the PERACH. The actual Menora shapes did not resemble these, but the names do.
Then there is a sewing machine to facilitate various sewing jobs that were needed in the Mishkan.
To the right of the sewing machine is a column or pillar, of which there were many in the Mishkan - to support the PAROCHET, the covering of the entrance of the Mishkan, the curtains of the courtyard, and the entrance to the courtyard. Many AMUDIM.
To the column’s right and under the bouquet is a frame, MISGERET in Hebrew. The word is used in the description of the SHULCHAN.
Bottom row, right to left: Matza with a face is LECHEM HAPANIM, which reminds us that those special loaves were halachic matza - no Chametz.
Notebook is MACHBERET, a term used in the sedra.
The computer screen is called a MASACH in Hebrew. The Biblical use of the word applied to the curtains that covered the entrance to the Mishkan and to the courtyard of the Mishkan.
Which brings us to the lower-left and the flag of Lebanon, reminding us of the Cedars of Lebanon mentioned in the Haftara.

TTRIDDLES...
are Torah Tidbits-style riddles on Parshat HaShavua (sometimes on the calendar). They are found in the hard-copy of TT scattered throughout, usually at the bottom of different columns. In the electronic versions of TT, they are found all together at the end of the ParshaPix-TTriddles section. The best solution set submitted each week (there isn't always a best) wins a double prize a CD from Noam Productions and/or a gift (game, puzzle, book, etc.) from Big Deal

Last issue’s (MISHPATIM) TTriddles:
[1] Not only the product, but its holiday too
[2] V1-2-3 • V2-1-3 *
[3] The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
[4] Egyptian, no money, slaughtered the ox
[5] Before you... and before what?
[6] ... 7/5 • 3/1 6/4 9/7 12/10 • 3/1 6/4 9/7
[7] The connection between 2319 and 3426
[8] plus 2 elements from the ParshaPix

First, unfinished business from last week...
One of the people who have achieved the rank of grand master TTriddle solver, EB, fax three very valid points concerning last week's TTriddles Report.
He (facetiously, sarcastically, rhetorically, good- naturedly) asks: What kind of mirror converts a TIPCHA into a PASHTA? "In my mirror, a TIPCHA becomes a MERCHA and a PASHTA becomes an AZLA."
Well, if you hold the mirror horizontally rather than vertically, the TIPCHA looks like an AZLA and a PASHTA looks like a MERCHA. Which doesn't answer EB's question, but it does indicate something. If you hold two mirrors perpendicular to each other and a PASHTA at right angles to both mirrors, you will see a TIPCHA if you look in one mirror at the other mirror's reflection. In computer graphics terms, flip horizontal and flip vertical will turn a PASHTA into a TIPCHA... and vice versa.
EB added: "What is very surprising is that apparently some readers also used strange mirrors like yours."
I guess so. It's nice when a TTriddle gets messed up and solvers know what was meant anyway. Sympathetic brain waves, or something like that.
EB also correctly pointed out that only three of the four "short" commandments from that one pasuk in the Aseret HaDibrot have a DAGESH in the TAV (of LO TIRTZACH, LO TIN'AF, LO TIGNOV) in the Taamei HaElyon format. LO TAANEH doesn't have a DAGESH in either TROP format.
EB's final comment also dealt with the same TTriddle with the 4-commandment pasuk. He writes that a KAMATZ is not really like the letter T or a + sign without the top piece. It is really a PATACH (horizontal line) with a dot under it, not a short vetrical line. Let's here from some other readers on this last point.

And the envelope, please...
[1] This refers to Peasch, whose main "product" is MATZA and whose name is CHAG HAMATZOT. Aside from many references in the Torah to both, there are two (very similar) p'sukim that mention the mitzva to eat MATZA on CHAG HAMATZOT - one is in Mishpatim and the other in Ki Tisa.
[2] All right. Here's another example of a messed up TTriddle, still with the hope that someone will solve it anyway. In Sh'mot 23:8 (in Mishpatim), the Torah says, V'SHOCHAD LO TIKACH, and a bribe you shall not take. In D'varim 16:19 (Shoftim) the words are arranged differently - V'LO TIKACH SHOCHAD. If the Mishpatim phrase is designated as V1-2-3, that means that 1= SHOCHAD, 2= LO, and 3= TIKACH. That will mean that the D'varim phrase is V2-3-1. If the D'varim phrase is V1-2-3, then the Sh'mot one would be V3-1-2. So the V2-1-3 of the TTriddle is not correct in either direction. The PDF version was corrected.
[3] This was meant to be very simple. The TTriddle consists of two well-known sentences. Their content are totally irrelevant. As are their being well-known. The are just sentences. In Hebrew: MISHPATIM.
[4] The phrase MAKEI ISH (striking a man) appears three times in Tanach. Moshe saw an Egyptian striking a Jewish man. The statement in Mishpatim that murder is a capital offense is preceded by the phrase EIN KASEF, no money. The third instance is from Yeshayahu 66:3.
[5] In Mishpatim it says, HINEI ANOCHI SHOLEI'ACH - I am hereby sending an angel (messenger, prophet) BEFORE YOU (to bring you into the Land...) The other time the phrase appears in Tanach, it is at the end of Zecharya (and all of TREI ASAR) and it is Eliyahu that HaShem will send BEFORE what? BEFORE the coming of HaShem's day, HAGADOL V'HANORA.
[6] The famous EYE FOR AN EYE portion spans 3 p'sukim. In the first, the 5th and 7th words are NEFESH, and 7/5 represents NEFESH TACHAT (under) NEFESH. Each fraction represents a similar trio of words with the numbers being the word numbere in the pasuk.
[7] In 2319 to Creation, Levi was 125 years old, six of his brothers had already left this world and five others were still alive. In 3426, Nechemiya came on Aliya (he returned to Bavel 12 years later to fulfill obligations to the king). This is during the early years of the second Beit HaMikdash and the early time of the ANSHEI KNESSET HAGEDOLA. There is no connection between the two years, nor is anything written so far in this TTriddle of any relevance whatsoever to its solution. But Sh'mot 23:19 and Sh'mot 34:26 are identical p'sukim.
[8] As to the unexplained elements in the ParshaPix, there is a happy dog - not the little one who laughed to see such sport - but a happy dog to receive our TREIF meat, as expressly stated in Sh'mot 22:30.
[9] The other item is a sparrow - in Hebrew, DROR. Also the word for freedom (from slavery) and mentioned in the haftara four times. Aside from the four occurrences of the word DROR in Yirmiyahu 34, the word occurs only three other times in all of Tanach, making DROR TTriddle-worthy for Mishpatim.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] In G'matriya, A is 374 more than B.In area, B is 200 more than A.
[2] What was the score of the Do-Panels
[3] It's also the Torah reading schedule
[4] P=3A+B What is AÇB?
[5] 8 times with gold; twice with copper
[6] Thunder &hail, people's favor, wisdom, voice, fear, great army
[7] Pair of pelvic fins and a pair of what for two similar sounding words
[8] Group 11's first three, bread, the Jordan
[9] One element in the ParshaPix

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Renaissance, Jerusalem, valid until March 31st
2-night MIDWEEK package880 NIS per couple, B/B

Inbal, Jerusalem, valid until February 16th
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Schedule for Erev Shabbat to Erev Shabbat (Fri-Fri), 2-9 Adar Alef (February 11-18)

Friday
9:00am (men & women) Overview of Pirkei Avot with Rabbi Chaim Eisen

Shabbat day
Shabbat afternoon Shiur, 3:45pm, Mincha at 4:45pm: Different Perspectives on the Mikdash with Phil Chernofsky

Motza'ei Shabbat, Leil 4 Adar A, February 12th, 8:30pm: Weddings, Temples, and Baruch HaShems, How not to let Externals distract you, Another Mini-Melave Malka withR' Yaacov Yisroel Bar Chaiim, Educational Counselor and Slonimer Chossid

SUN-Thu in the Ganchrow Beis Medrash (first floor)
10:00am Rabbi Pesach (Paul) Greenman is now teaching Gemara Masechet Kiddushin
1:20pm Mincha (this time stays the same throughout the year)
3:00pm Daf Yomi by Rabbi Shmuel Halpern
4:30pm Shiur in Masechet Sanhedrin by Rabbi Hillel Ruvel

Sunday
N'SHEI LIBRARY - 10:30-12:45
9:30am (women) Mystical Insights into the Months of the Year with Golda Warhaftig
10:30am (men & women) Fine Tuning Our Davening with Phil Chernofsky, Tonia's shiur will resume IY"H in two weeks
11:30am (M&W) Parshat HaShavua with Shprintzee Herskovits
Sundays 12:30pm and Wed. 8:00pm: Creative Life Education in cooperation with the Israel Center presents: This Golden Age We Live In, Alternating presenters, including: Dr Vivienne Damelin, Aharon Romm
7:30pm (men & women) Issues in Jewish Thought as they emerges from the Torah with the help of Ramban's Commentary - Now studying: Does G-d have Second Thoughts? How are we to understand expressions in Tanach of G-d's reconsidering and G-d's remorse in light of His Omniscience with Rabbi Chaim Eisen
Sunday, February 13th, 8:00pm: LET MY PEOPLE KNOW: The Harm of Sharm, Eyewitness to Disaster: What really took place in Sharm El Shiekh and how the Israeli government now covers up Abu Mazen incitement, David Bedein Investigative Journalist, www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

Monday
N'SHEI LIBRARY - 10:00-12:30
9:15am (men & women) Excursions into the World of Nvi'im with Mrs. Pearl Borow
on sale: Jewish Books for Adults and Children by Simcha Publishing • Mondays 10:00-12:00
10:30am (men & women) Rambam’s 13 Principles with Rabbi Zev Leff'
Monday, February 14th, 11:35am (after Rabbi Leff's shiur): Jewish History Series Just restarting...This week: In the Days of the Babylonian Exile to 539 BCE
Fit Forever: Look & Feel your Best! Exercise for women of all ages, Mondays 11:35-12:35pm, Gentle exercises to improve flexibility, circulation, posture, etc. Breathing and relaxation skills to use every day.
Monday, FEB 14th, 12:30pm, in the Library (free), Lunch and Video Parshat T'tzaveh (90 minutes) by Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
3:00-5:00pm - Women's Beit Midrash, Acquire study skills and knowledge crucial to your life as a Jew - join us! Guided Chavruta study with Pearl Borow, Fine Tuning Shabbat (with text) - Phil Chernofsky
Pri Chadash Women's Writing Workshop with Ruth Fogelman (628-7359) & Mindy Aber Barad (643-5276)
MON 8:30pm • AM SEGULA “Curing the Jewish Heart” lecture series with Eli Yosef
MASK - Mothers & Fathers Aligned Saving Kids, J'lem Chapter at the OU Israel Center • www.maskjerusalem.cjb.net • 050-754-2717, NEXT MEETING: Monday, February 14th, 7:30-9:30pm
Monday, Leil 6 Adar Alef, February 14th, 8:15pm: Center for Mind Body Medicine (Washington DC), Trauma GROUP WORK Training Course, Rabbi Immanuel Yosef Legomsky MA Neurotherapist, Director of Israel Trauma Care, shares this systematic and experiential GROUP APPROACH to mind body trauma healing which enables individual and group feelings to emerge and develop, in a Jewish context, TONIGHT, Learn 2 Amazing Exercises from this program! Details: 0544-311-711

Tuesday
The Israel Center and the Old City Free Loan Association, 14th year • over 3000 loans granted, Gemach - Free Loan Society to provide interest-free loans for people in financial distress (living in the Jerusalem area). Interviews at the Center on Tuesdays from 10:00-12:00 • Please bring ID - New additional hours for the Gemach - Tue. 7:00-9:00pm
Tuesdays, 9:00am: The Meaning of Mitzvot • Rabbi Aharon Adler
Tuesdays, 10:15am: The Parsha thru the Eyes of the Haftara with Rabbi Sholom Gold
9:00am & 9:55am: I will send My angel before you with Dr. Hayim Abramson
11:00am: All with the permission of Hashem with Dr. Hayim Abramson (in Hebrew)
10:50am: Parshat HaShavua with Rabbi Mordechai Spiegelman
11:45am (women) Review of the weekly Farbrengens of the Lubavitcher Rebbe with Raizel Zisk
Tuesday, Feb. 15th, 12:30pm, in the Library (free): "IN THE FIDDLER'S HOUSE", Simply delightful film of Itzhak Perlman performing and talking with the world's leading Klezmer bands. It is Perlman playing what he calls "my own music". Meet "another part of Perlman"!
The Art of Simcha Tuesdays, 12:00-1:30pm: 5-week pre-Purim innovative workshop, Mrs. Esther Sutton freelance author, certified counselor women only
Tuesday, February 15, 7:00 pm in the library: SUSPICION The Alfred Hitchcock classic with Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. A wealthy woman believes her handsome, gambler husband is trying to kill her.

Wednesday
Wednesdays, 9:10am • Current Issues in Halacha with Rabbi Macy Gordon, Hesder Yeshivot & the IDF
Wednesdays, 10:30am: Rabbi Yosef Wolicki on Parshat HaShavua
Wednesdays, 10:30am (women only): Songs from the Siddur - Meaning & Melodies, Chani Abramson
Wednesdays, 11:30am (men & women): More Upbeat Chesed Projects with Jackie Lowenstein, YOU have the power to make a positive difference in people's lives! Come & join us ?
New: Melabev Support Group for Family Members of People Suffering from Cognitive Decline with Rabbi Yosef Wolicki • Call 655-5198 for details
Wed. FEB. 16th, 12:30pm, in the Library (free), lunch and video: UNDERSTANDING HALACHA (Part 2) by Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo
3:00pm: (men & women) Women in Tanach with Pearl Borow
3:00-5:00pm - Women's Beit Midrash: Acquire study skills and knowledge crucial to your life as a Jew - join us! Guided Chavruta study with Pearl Borow
7:30pm (Men & Women) Jewish Philosophy, Rambam's Guide for the Perplexed - Now studying: Ta’amei Mitzvot: Ta’amei Mitzvot: Understanding the Torah's Approach to Sex with Rabbi Chaim Eisen
Wednesdays, 8:00pm (also Sun. 12:30pm) Creative Life Education: Introduction to Mentoring with Dr. Vivienne Damelin
7:30pm: Enduring and Enjoying a Second Family, A support group for women who want to share their experiences in a blended family with Devorah Saslow Weinberger, (02) 651-9216
in recess: Aliya Counseling: watch for announcement - If you would like to speak with Miriam Bass (Aliya Counselor), call 566-7787 ext. 204, leave a message, and she will call you back

Thursday
THU: Dvar Torah by Menachem Persoff
time varies: Shiur while you fold with Phil
Art Workshop: Thursdays, 10:00-12:00 Weekly drawing class at the Center...or perhaps a different medium...please all Rachael at (02) 627-1577 to discuss details
8:00: Legends from the Gemara with Reb Yosef Schreiber
Root & Branch Association in cooperation with the Israel Center
Thursday, February 17th • 19:00: Is Torah Universal? The Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet and the Twenty-Two Portals of Creation by Reuven Kossover
And at 20:00: The Jerusalem Mandate:Torah Referendum to Stop the Disengagement by Devora Chaya Shem-Tov http://jerusalemmandate.org
Info: rb@rb.org.il • NIS25 per person, members NIS20, students NIS10

Friday
9:00 (men & women) Overview of Pirkei Avot with Rabbi Chaim Eisen

Upcoming at the Israel Center
Shabbat Parshat T'tzaveh, Feb. 18-19 • Shabbaton: See p.10

Sunday, February 20th, eve of 12 Adar Alef, 8:00pm: Guest lecture/shiur by Rabbi Jacob Rabinowitz, Former administrator, Yeshiva University

Please save the date Monday, February 21, ‘05 • 13 Adar Alef for the first Yahrzeit of Rabbi Dr. Ephraim R. Wolf, zt"l at the Israel Center • Maariv at 7:15pm, Program will begin at 7:30pm: Featured speaker will be his grandson, R' Yair Moshe Wolf, Siyum Mishnayot in honor of the Yahrzeit by his sons and grandsons on both sides of the ocean. (Yahrzeit commemoration & Siyum on same evening at Great Neck Synagogue), Messages from Rabbi Dr. Aaron Adler; Rabbi Menachem Porush; Rabbi S. Stern of Bayit Lepletot, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Rabbi Meyer Fendel and Rabbi Dr. Ephraim D. Becker., We hope the evening will serve as an Aliya for Rabbi Wolf's Neshama and as an inspiration to us all. We plan to finish by 9:00pm IY'H. Light Refreshments

What do we want to know about Bush in his second term, the new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, New York's senator whose name is being mentioned as potential presidential candidate, the latest congress, Update on the American polical scene in general and its implications for Israel in particular, Dr. David Luchins Tuesday, February 22nd, 8:00pm

Pearl Borow is just completing a successful Mother-Daughter Bat Mitzva program and has been asked to do another. This will happen if there are enough serious candidates. The series will begin IY"H around Rosh Chodesh Adar Sheni. Please call for details and to express your interest. Please call Mrs. Borow at (02) 671-3567

Save the Date: Gala Dinner of the Seymour J. Abrams • Orthodox Union Jerusalem World Center, Rabbinic Honoree: Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi Of Efrat; Sunday, June 5, 2005, Leil Yom Yerushalayim, at the Renaissance Hotel

OU ISRAEL CENTER
Seymour J. Abrams - Orthodox Union - Jerusalem World Center
Yitzchak Fund, President
Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Senior Vice President
Prof. Meni Koslowsky, Vice President
Rabbi Dovid Cohen, Vaad member
Moshe Kempinski, Vaad member
Sandy Kestenbaum, Vaad member
Simcha Rock, Vaad member
Zvi Sand, Vaad member
Harvey Wolinetz, Vaad Member
Menachem Persoff, Director, Israel Center
Phil Chernofsky, Educational Director and TT editor
Ita Rochel Russek, Production Assistant and Advertising Manager, Torah Tidbits
22 Keren Ha'Yesod POB 37015 Jerusalem 91370
Phone: (02) 566 7787 Fax: (02) 561-7432 email: tt@ou.org
websites: www.ou.org/torah/tt and www.ou.org/israel/ic
Orthodox Union • National Conference of Synagogue Youth
This publication and many of the programs of the Israel Center and NCSY b'Yisrael are assisted by grants from The Jewish Agency for Israel
TT is published and printed "in house" at the Israel Center