Shabbat Parshat EIKEV

August 3-4 '07, 20 Menachem Av 5767

This Shabbat is the 316th day (of 355), the 46th Shabbat (of 51) of 5767

We read the 5th chapter of Pirkei Avot

VíZACHARTA ET HASHEM ELOKECHA KI HU HANOTEN LECHA KOACH... (Dívarim 8:18)

The OU Israel Family sends warm Mazal Tov wishes to Penina & Avi Berman and family on the birth of their new son

Halachic Times

Ranges are FRI-FRI ï 19-26 Menachem Av (August 3-10)

Earliest Talit & T'filin 5:01-5:06am

Sunrise 5:56-6:01am

Sof Z'man K' Sh'ma 9:20-9:22am

(Magen Avraham: 8:29-8:32am)

Sof Z'man T'fila 10:28-10:29am

(Magen Avraham: 9:54-9:56am)

Chatzot 12:45Ω-12:44Ωpm

(halachic noon)

Mincha Gedola 1:20-1:19pm

(earliest Mincha)

Plag Mincha 6:09-6:04pm

Sunset 7:39-7:33pm

(based on sea level: 7:34-7:28pm)

Note: When Israel switches to Summer time (DST), we include in the Candle lighting chart the earliest time one may light candles, in addition to the "official" time to light. This is useful to those who "take Shabbat early"

Candle lighting and Havdala - Summer time

Correct for TT 774 ï Rabbeinu Tam (J'm) -

Torah Tidbits Shabbat Times and IBL Standings

city team name candles earliest havdala W L pct GB Last 10 streak

Jerusalem (Giants?) 6:59 6:09 8:14 maybe next year

Bet Shemesh Blue Sox 7:15 6:10 8:14 19 7 .731 - 7-3 W3

Tel Aviv Lightning 7:15 6:12 8:16 17 9 .654 2 6-4 L1

Modi'in Miracle 7:15 6:10 8:15 15 10 .600 3Ω 5-5 W1

Netanya Tigers 7:16 6:12 8:16 10 14 .417 8 5-5 W1

Ra'anana Express 7:16 6:11 8:16 10 16 .385 9 4-6 L1

Petach Tikva Pioneers 6:59 6:11 8:16 5 20 .200 13Ω 3-7 L2

Rehovot (?) 7:16 6:11 8:15

Be'er Sheva (Bears?) 7:15 6:10 8:14

Gush Etzion (?) 7:14 6:10 8:14

Ginot Shomron (?) 7:15 6:10 8:15

Maale Adumim (Reds?) 6:59 6:09 8:13

K4/Hebron (?) 7:14 6:09 8:13

Tzfat (Mystics?) 7:05 6:10 8:15

How are the MLB and the IBL alike and how are they different? (installment 3)

Years ago, you could say, at an IBL game you can catch a minyan for Mincha but not at an MLB game. Today that isn't true anymore - you CAN find minyanim at several MLB parks. But do they announce Mincha over the PA? And is the Baal T'fila a pitcher for one of the teams?

That's the difference

NOTES: Note about Candle Lighting and Havdala times. Candle lighting times are rounded down to the minute, in other words, seconds are ignored. Havdala times, on the other hand, are round up to the next minute.

Further explanations and notes on Z'manim are available on the website www.ou.org/torah/tt - click on Halachic times

* Important clarifications concerning the Candle Lighting times

Petach Tikva officially accepts upon itself to light Shabbat candles according to the Jerusalem custom. (This is due to the fact that the Ashkenazi community of PT was founded by people from Jerusalem who brought their customs with them.) Up until this week, we understood that to mean that in PT one lights candles 40 minutes before sunset, just like we do in Jerusalem. We contacted the Religious Council in PT and found out that the official candle lighting time for PT is the same as Jerusalem's (not 40 min. before sunset, but the same time as J'lem). Petach Tikvians (or whatever they are called) must realize that their sunset is earlier than Jerusalem's and therefore they do NOT have 40 minutes after the posted time until sunset - more like 30-35. So too for Maale Adumim. They light candles at the same time as J'lem too. Sunset is also earlier in Maalei Adumim.

One of the rabbis from Ascent of Safed (that's Tzfat) told us that there are differing opinions concerning when Candle Lighting is there. All say 30 min. before sunset, but some say the sunset that does not take into account the elevation of Tzfat, and some say to use the sunset time that does take elevation into account. We print the earlier time, in case.

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...

17-18 Av are associated with two tragedies - one old and one in relatively recent times. A Taanit Tzadikim is recorded on the occasion of the extinguishing of the Western lamp of the Menora (corresponding to which we have a NER TAMID in shuls) in the time of Achaz.

A fast of this type is not imposed on the community at large, therefore, it is not a Taanit Tzibur. It is, rather, a fast that some individuals accept upon themselves, but can be viewed as fasting on behalf of Klal Yisrael.

The dates are also associated with the Arab riots of 1929, which resulted in 133 Jewish deaths in Hebron and Tzfat. The Arab attacks occurred in many other locations, including Jerusalem. It was the Mufti of Jerusalem who stirred the Arabs into a violent frenzy, that led to the violence that continued for about a week. Many Jews from Hebron fled to Jerusalem during this period.

21 Menachem Av is the 89th yahrzeit of Reb Chayim of Brisk, R' Chayim b. Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik

The Art & Science of Saying Thank You

Hi, it's Phil - I'm getting personal again. Hope you don't mind; sometimes it's the best way for me to get my point across.

I have a very strong childhood memory of my immediate post-Bar Mitzva period. The Bar Mitzva was a great experience all around, and the gifts made it even better. But then came... THANK YOU NOTES.

My father z"l had ordered personalized stationery for me - first time I ever had any. That was exciting. But every day after school, I spent what seemed like hours sitting at the table with my mother a"h looking over my shoulder and supervising the notes. I don't remember what the daily quota was, but I do remember that the writing of the notes went on for many days.

Dear Aunt and Uncle So-and-So, Please accept my sincere thanks for your - "stop", my mother would say, "make the loop of the L in 'please' wider." "No, too wide, it looks sloppy, let's do this one again." After many of these false starts, with loops that were too long or too short, too wide or non-existent, I asked what difference it made.

And my mother's answer - which I probably didn't appreciate all those years ago, helped me greatly in later years, to understand and appreciate part of what we learn from Parshat Eikev. My mother taught me that we must always say "thank you" when someone does something for us (all mothers teach that), and that the way you say thank you is a reflection on you and it is important in one's true appreciation of what is being done for him. (I know that was a long and difficult sentence to understand - let's try again.)

No "thank you" or a sloppy "thank you" does not say much - to you or the recipient of your thanks - for how much you really are appreciative. A sloppy thank you tells the recipient that you don't really care, and it indicates to you yourself that you don't really care.

When a Jew takes a drink of water, he/she is required to say a bracha. Not saying one is variously equated to stealing from G-d and to using that which is His without proper redemption - in other words, sacrelige. Saying the wrong bracha is not proper, of course, and so is thoughtlessly zipping through the SHE'HAKOL at warp speed with no possibility to have Kavana. A sloppy bracha is a sloppy thank you. It does not show G-d (so to speak) or yourself, that you really are appreciative. If we really believe that G-d is the source of all blessing, and that He is our G-d, and that He is King of the Universe, and that everything that exists was brought into existence by His Word, then we should take the extra few seconds (that's all it would take) to say a bracha correctly, clearly, and with Kavana.

The science of a bracha includes what bracha to say and various details of halacha related to brachot. The art is how we say it.

EIKEV STATS

46th of the 54 sedras; 3rd of 11 in D'varim

Written on 231.83 lines in a Sefer Torah; rank:14

10 Parshiyot; 6 open, 4 closed

111 p'sukim - ranks 26th (4th in D'varim)

Same number of p'sukim as Vayikra, but larger

1747 words - ranks 16th (3rd in D'varim)

Same number of words as Ki Tavo; Ki Tavo has more p'sukim; Ekev has more letters

6865 letters - ranks 14th (3rd in D'varim)

Ekev's p'sukim are long - 3rd longest in the Torah in words and letters per pasuk. This accounts for rise in ranking in the words and letters categories.

Mitzvot

8 of the 613 mitzvot, 6 positive and 2 prohibitions

Aliya-by-Aliya Sedra Summary

Numbers in [square brackets] are the Mitzva-count of Sefer HaChinuch AND Rambamís 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 pítucha or sítuma 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 - 25 p'sukim - 7:12-8:10

[P> 7:12 (5)] Moshe Rabeinu reiterates the "simple" deal that HaShem offers us: If we observe the mitzvot then He will keep the promises that He made to our ancestors. He will love us, bless us, and see to it that we flourish. We will be the most blessed among all the nations.

It behooves us to consider this fact that G-d repeatedly presents us with the alternative results of our faithfulness to Him and the opposite. This is what makes the second passage of the Sh'ma (see later in this sedra) so important to our daily routine. Although there is much overlap between the first two passages, it is the second one that states "the Deal", and it is supposed to be a (twice) daily reminder and warning.

Following this, Moshe issues another of the many warnings against idolatry.

SDT: In the context of the opening p'sukim of the sedra, the word EKEV means "in the wake of..." (following G-d's words).

Rashi takes the word to indicate mitzvot that people belittle and crush under their heel. With the careful observance of these mitzvot, G-d will keep His side of the deal.

Baal HaTurim presents a mini-mussar lesson based on the choice of the word EKEV. The heel represents humility, in that it always follows the toes and the rest of the foot (and body). Since it does not initiate action*, it does not run the risk of becoming arrogant. We must realize that humility is an important key in our following G-d's words. Thus, the opening words of the sedra can be saying: "If you are humble and follow G-d's commands, then..." (Note also that the heels support the entire body.)

*This does not suggest that initiative is a negative character trait. Done properly, while safegaurding against arrogance (shall we say), it is admirable and very positive.

[S> 7:17 (10)] Do not wonder how it will be possible to prevail against the many nations in the Land and do not fear them. The miracles witnessed in Egypt (and in the Midbar) will be repeated with other nations. Conquest of Eretz Yisrael will be slow so that the Land will not be overrun by wild animals.

Ponder this... Commentators ask, could not G-d Who split the sea and performed countless other miracles, prevent the problem with animals without drawing out the period of conquest? They explain that the period from Yetzi'at Mitzrayim until entering the Land was supernatural, filled with miracles, but it was an unnatural time. Food from heaven, miraculous well-water, clothes that we did not outgrow, shoes that did not wear out, and protection from the Clouds of Glory, all demonstrated G-d's special relationship with the People and helped develop within them a special faith in G-d, but was not to be their way of life. Just as the fetus is protected and provided for during gestation and then emerges from the womb into the less perfect but "natural" world, so too Israel is soon to emerge from its womb to face the reality of the natural, "real" world. Hence, the warning about the animals. One can say that by warning us about the length of the period of conquest, G-d is telling us that the period of open miracles is ending (not completely), but a more exciting, more alive, more "real" period is to come.

No one will be able to stand before Israel. [This is as it SHOULD be, but its happening in reality depends on our collective "behavior".] The idols of the nation shall be destroyed and we shall not desire their rich trappings. It is forbidden to derive benefit from the adornments of idolatry, even if they have not been worshiped [428,L22 7:25]. Nor may we have anything to do with idolatry, directly or even peripherally. We may not benefit from that which is consecrated to idolatry [429,L25 7:26].

[S> 8:1 (18)] All that G-d commands us in the Torah is for the purpose of living... in Eretz Yisrael.

SDT: This is an oft-repeated theme of Moshe's words to the new generation that is soon to cross the Jordan River. It emphasizes the interdependence and inseparable nature of the three fundamental events that define the Jewish People - the Exodus, Matan Torah, and entry into Eretz Yisrael.

Moshe next asks us to remember the experiences of the years of wandering, the miracles as well as the tribulations. That was a testing period which set the stage for real life in Eretz Yisrael.

The Land is beautifully described and the Seven Species are enumerated.

This gives prominence to grain products (bread, pastry, etc.) in the realm of brachot and gives priority to wine and the five special fruits (among the Seven Species - the other two are grains).

The Torah commands us to "bench" after meals [430,A19 8:10].

MitzvaWatch: Chazal augmented this rule with a wide range of brachot to be recited before and after partaking of food, by which we express our appreciation and thanks to G-d for the bounty of His world. So too, the Sages required us to say brachot before mitzvot, as well as blessings of praise, request, and acknowledgment - to make us constantly aware of G-d and His role in the Creation and continuing maintenance of the world.

Based on the words of the command to say Birkat HaMazon, we are not only thanking G-d for the food, as would be expected, but also for the Land. This is reflected in the texts of Birkat HaMazon and "Al HaMichya" Since Birkat HaMazon is a mitzva which applies in all places (not just in Israel), commentaries ponder the significance of the reference to the Land.

Ramban says that when one looks back at the oppression in Egypt and remembers the harshness of the Wilderness, and is now enjoying the bounty of the Land of Israel, there is special cause to thank G-d. Even during times of exile, the significance of the Land (and the Torah) to the life of the Jewish People must not be overlooked. To paraphrase a chassidic interpretation of the pasuk which commands us to "bench": One can eat anywhere and be satisfied physically, but to be spiritually satisfied as well - that happens only in THE natural environment of the Jew and his Torah - in Eretz Yisrael. Perhaps this is why Sefer HaChinuch speaks of the brachot for Torah-learning in the same context as Birkat HaMazon. "And you will eat and you will be satisfied..." - this refers to both physical and spiritual food - food of the body and food for the mind and soul.

The implication of Ramban's words is that only in Eretz Yisrael can one be genuinely fulfilled in the performance of mitzvot. One can keep (many) mitzvot outside of Israel, but there is something vital lacking under those circumstances.

In the Midbar, Moshe taught us to thank G-d for our sustenance - the Manna. This is the theme of the first bracha of Birkat HaMazon. When Yehoshua brought the People into Eretz Yisrael, he inspired the 2nd bracha, acknowledging that there is much more to thank G-d for - the Land, the Torah, the Covenant with HaShem. These add the spiritual dimension to the otherwise physical act of eating.

Levi - Second Aliya - 13 p'sukim - 8:11-9:3

Until now, the People have periodically displayed lack of faith in G-d in troubled times (hunger, thirst, fear). At this point, Moshe issues a very different kind of warning. When the People will enter the Land, successfully defeat the nations therein, and begin to benefit from the spoils of war and the bounty of the Land, the potential exists to discount G-d's role in their good fortune. Moshe warns: be careful to remember the One Who took us out of Egypt and fed us in the wilderness. Do not say: look what I accomplished with my own powers. Always remember that it is G-d who continuously keeps his promises to our ancestors.

The Torah's point can be seen reflected in Birkat HaChodesh. In our text for Rosh Chodesh benching (next Shabbat IY"H), we ask for many good things in life. One item, we ask for twice - YIR'AT SHAMAYIM, fear (reverence) of G-d. Why twice? Perhaps, because after asking for it the first time, we ask for a life of wealth and honor. If G-d were to grant that request, it would be important for us to ask for YIR'AT SHAMAYIM again.

[P> 8:19 (2)] Know well that turning from G-d towards idolatry will result in annihilation, as it does for other nations.

[Perhaps we can infer this additional point: Don't think that the specialness of the relationship G-d had with the Avot and the special relationship He has with us allows us to turn away from G-d and embrace idolatry with impunity. It does not.]

[P> 9:1 (26)] Notwithstanding the might of the nations we are about to face, have confidence that G-d will lead us to victory.

Note that the words that Moshe uses to describe the nations that we will face in Eretz Yisrael are very similar to the words used by the Meraglim when they panicked the People with their evil report on the Land. Moshe is not glossing over the difficulties that lie ahead. He is rather instilling confidence in the People that will come from faith in G-d and His promise to fight on our behalf. If an enemy is strong, you don't mislead the people by saying that he is weak. You tell the truth and explain the special protection and help that we will have in battle.

Shlishi - Third Aliya - 26 p'sukim - 9:4-29

Moshe next "put things in perspective". We must not think that we deserve all that G-d is giving us, but rather we must remember the many times we angered G-d in the wilderness AND even at Sinai!

[Some mitzva-counters consider this ZACHOR to be among the 613; Rambam and the Chinuch do not. This does not, however, minimize the significance of this command. Some people have the custom of reciting a list of 6 or 10 Remembrances daily after Shacharit.]

Moshe now recounts for the People the devastating event of the Golden Calf. How glorious the events should have been when Moshe descended the Mount with the first Luchot. Moshe tells how G-d wanted to destroy the People and how he (Moshe) smashed the Luchot, interceded on behalf of the People, and returned to the mountain for an additional 40 days and 40 nights of fasting and prayer.

Aharon too was subject to G-d's anger.

Rashi explains that G-d was angry at Aharon for "going along" with the People as far as he did. The implication, is that Aharon lost his sons as a result of G-d's anger with him. Moshe's prayers on behalf of his brother were partially successful - Aharon's other two sons lived.

Inter alia, Moshe mentions other places and events where the People angered G-d.

Moshe tells the People that he smashed the Luchot when he saw the Golden Calf. He also tells them of the different ìargumentsî he put before HaShem to obtain His forgiveness.

R'VI'I - Fourth Aliya - 11 p'sukim - 10:1-11

[P> 10:1 (11)] Moshe continues by telling about the second set of Luchot and the ARON constructed to contain them.

Rashi explains that this ARON was not the one made by Betzalel for the Mishkan. That came later. Specifically, the construction of the Mishkan and its furnishings did not take place until after Yom Kippur. Moshe came down with the second set of Luchot on Yom Kippur. Where was he to put them? This ARON was made to contain the LUCHOT until THE ARON would be built. Rashi says that this was the ARON used to accompany the people into battle - the ARON of the Mishkan did not go to war until the time of Eli HaKohen. It should not have, and as a Divine punishment, it was captured by the enemy and kept from us for many years.

He then tells of the travels of the People, the death of Aharon (again), and the succession of his son, Elazar. Moshe also tells of the special role given to the tribe of Levi as a result of the (improper) behavior of the rest of the People.

SDT: The juxtaposition of the breaking of the Luchot and the death of Aharon teaches us (among other things) that an irreparable, invalid Sefer Torah is to be buried next to a Talmid Chacham. (Baal HaTurim)

Chamishi - Fifth Aliya - 20 p'sukim - 10:12-11:9

[S> 10:12 (20)] "And now, People of Israel, what does G-d want from you? ONLY to revere Him, follow His ways, love Him, and serve Him with all your heart and soul. To fulfill all that He commands - for our own good."

Moshe tells the People that even though G-d is the Master of all, He has a special relationship with our ancestors and their descendants (us). We must not be stubborn; we must be good, for G-d is truly great and not subject to bribery.

We are required to especially love the convert [431,A207 10:19] - we know how being a stranger among others is.

Revere G-d [432,A4 10:20], serve Him [433,A5 10:20], cling to Him (by adhering to Torah scholars) [434,A6 10:20], and swear in His Name [435,A7 10:20] when necessary to swear.

MitzvaWatch: Rambam counts the commandment to pray daily as Biblical, based on "and Him you shall serve" and "and to serve Him with all your heart", (and other similar texts,) defining service of the heart as prayer. Ramban, on the other hand, holds that prayer is a rabbinic mitzva altogether, albeit inspired by the p'sukim in the Torah and stories of the Avot, who prayed on various occasions.

At first look, it seems problematic that there is no specific command in the Torah "Thou shalt daven" (or words to that affect). The use of the indirect form - serve Him, serve Him with all your heart, what is service of the heart? Answer: Prayer - leads to different views on exactly what is commanded here.

But if you think about it, SERVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART is the best way to command us to daven, because it tells us clearly the high premium placed on KAVANA in respect to davening. Of course, all mitzvot should be performed with proper intention, thought, and feeling. But if one falls short in the Kavana department, most mitzvot are still acceptable that way. With davening, kavana is the whole story, not just a component of the mitzva. This is so, specifically because the Torah did NOT command us to pray, but rather to serve G-d with all our hearts.

He is our G-d and He formed a mighty nation from a family of 70 souls. Love Him and do His mitzvot (do His mitzvot out of love for Him). Learn the lessons of Jewish history - the miracles and wonders of the Exodus, the crossing of the Sea, and the punishment of Datan and Aviram (here singled out for their arrogant, unforgivable insult to Eretz Yisrael, as opposed to Korach whom Moshe was able to forgive, sort of).

Once again, Moshe emphasizes that the purpose of mitzvot and the proper environment for Torah is Eretz Yisrael.

Shishi - Sixth Aliya - 12 p'sukim - 11:10-21

[S> 11:10 (3)] The Land that the People are about to enter is a land that is "accountable to G-d" in obvious (and less obvious) ways. G-d is demanding of it and of its soon-to-be inhabitants (us). The main physical distinction mentioned is Israel's reliance upon rainfall.

G-d is demanding of the Land of Israel and of the People of Israel - always, from one end of the year to the other.

[S> 11:13 (9)] This Aliya concludes with a restating of the "deal" that opened the sedra. This parsha is the second passage of Shma. If we keep the mitzvot then we will have bountiful rain and abundant yields; if not, then...

The juxtaposition of the mitzva of davening and G-d's promise of bountiful rain teaches us to include the mention of G-d as Rainmaker and the request for rain in the Amida, i.e. MASHIV HARU'ACH... and V'TEIN TAL U'MATAR..

T'filin, Torah learning, and Mezuza are restated as is the correlation between mitzvot and long life in the Land. This second portion of the Shma is one of the two passages in a Mezuza and one of the four portions in T'filin.

Sh'vi'i - Seventh Aliya - 4 p'sukim - 11:22-25

[S> 11:22 (4)] Once again, the "deal" that the sedra began with is repeated at its conclusion - If we will keep all the mitzvot, motivated by a love of G-d; if we follow in his footsteps (by performing acts of kindness) and cling to Him... then we will prevail against mightier nations than ourselves. Every place in Eretz Yisrael that we walk upon, will be ours. No one will stand up against us. The sedra concludes with promises of successful conquest of the Land - if we keep our side of the deal. That's all it takes.

These 4 p'sukim are Maftir too.

Haftara - 27 p'sukim - Yeshayahu 49:14-51:3

2nd of the 7 Consolation Haftarot read between 9'Av and Rosh HaShana. G-d's message through the prophet, is that He has not forgotten Zion nor forsaken His People. It might seem that He has abandoned His People and His Land, but there will come a time when the People will return to their roots and be restored to their Land. Exile is not permanent; there was never a "divorce" between G-d and the People of Israel. G-d will help in the battles against the mighty nations that oppress His People. G-d has (will) comforted Zion; the desolated areas will flourish; joy and gladness, thanks and song will be found in Zion.

THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW - Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean

Lesson # 389

Recessing for Lunch

A few days ago I saw that the workmen who were making repairs on the building next door to where I reside stopped work at about 11:30am, sat down in the shade under a tree, and each man took out a box or pail and took out some food to eat. In T. Shabbat (10a) the Talmud records a discussion concerning the minimum amount of time the judges are required to sit in Beit Din. It appears that immediately after the morning prayers, the judges went into the court room to hear cases and they did this without taking out any time for eating. The question therefore arose: Until when must they sit in judgment? The answer given by the Talmud is that they must sit until the time of the midday meal. The Talmud points out that the scholars ate their first meal in the sixth hour. In Jewish law the hours are calculated by taking the amount of daylight and dividing by twelve. Thus assuming a day equally divided between night and day, we would have twelve equal daylight hours from 6:00am to 6:00pm and the scholars would eat between 11:00am and noon. There is a difference of opinion among post-Tal- mudic authorities whether the mandatory meeting time of Beit Din is until 11:00am, until noon, or sometimes in between. Alfasi (1013-1103; on Shabbat 10a) says that they must sit until the sixth hour and Asherei (1250-1327 T. Shabbat 1:20) following him, uses the exact same language. The word ìuntil the sixth hourî would seem to indicate until the beginning of the sixth hour, which is about 11:00am. Rambam (1135-1204, Laws of Sanhedrin 3:1), however, states that the judges must sit until the end of the sixth hour, which would be until noon. Tur (1270-1340, chapter #5) holds that the law is in accordance with Rambam. Rabbi Yosef Karo (author of the Shulchan Aruch (1488-1575) in his Kesef Mishna commentary on Rambam and in his Beit Yosef commentary on Tur, questions the holdings of Rambam and Tur. He concludes that the law should be that judges must sit until the beginning of the sixth hour rather than until the end of the sixth hour.

These comments serve as the basis of R. Karo's statement in Shulchan Aruch that Beit Din sits until the end of the fifth hour, that is, until 11:00am. Bach in his commentary on Tur and Falk in his Prisha commentary on Tur write that Rambam and Tur certainly are aware of the Talmudic admonition that a scholar must commence his midday meal no later than before noon. Accordingly, they explain Rambam and Tur do not literally mean until the end of the sixth hour or noon, rather they are referring to a time approximately a few minutes before noon. R. Shabatai Cohen (Schach) cites Falk with approval. R. Yechiel Michal Epstein (Aruch haShulchan, 1829-1908) attempts to reconcile all the previous views as follows. All agree that Beit Din must be in session until 11:00am. In addition, the judges, if they desire, may remain in session from 11:00am until just before noon. However, the judges must adjourn to eat at least a few minutes before noon according to all authorities. Tur, after stating that Beit Din sits until noon, adds that after this time Beit Din is no longer required to sit in session. The language is also used by R. Moshe Isserles in his emendations to Rabbi Karoís Shulchan Aruch. R. Yoel Sirkes, (Bach) comments that judges should not think that they are prohibited from sitting in judgment in the afternoon because they would be neglecting the study of Torah.

Therefore judges should be told that their function is so important they the may resume sitting in judgment in the afternoon after they have eaten. Rabbi Epstein in Aruch HaShulchan after analyzing the various authorities concludes that the preceding rules were followed during Talmudic times. At the present time, however, courts always reconvene after the midday meal.

In discussing this topic, the Talmud and codes also mention that provision should be made for recessing the afternoon session in order to afford the participants an opportunity to recite the afternoon prayers. This is something that more and more professionals and businessmen do nowadays. They break to daven Mincha. Similarly, more and more people also beak for davening maariv. This is also true on outings. Very often before we board a bus back to Jerusalem I state that we will daven maariv before we board the bus. Invariable someone will say that we will daven as soon as the bus arrives at the bus stop in Jerusalem. From experience, I can say that this rarely if ever happens. As soon as the bus arrives, all the men who would have made up the minyan are running to their cars or to taxis to get home after a long day. We therefore have to go to the shtiblach to get a minyan for a late maariv. Also, all those planning meetings and conferences should include in the schedule of events provision for davening mincha and maariv. Also, davening on the bus while it is on its way to Jerusalem is not a viable option. It is almost impossible to daven while the bus is in motion, especially if the bus driver suddenly steps on the brakes or the accelerator, or makes a turn. It is a wonderful thing in Jerusalem that many organizations that schedule very early in the morning departures for wherever they are going very often provide that we will meet outside a shul and that the meeting time is at the time that the shul concludes its shacharit services. This gives those who might not have had a chance to daven with a minyan to do so before departing on the trip. The organization also often provides a snack. More and more organizations from overseas are using these methods to see that when the tourists go home to their own countries they will have had the experience of davening on a tiyul. More and more organizers of trips that will include eating along the way provide bottles of water so that the participants can wash their hands before eating. This is almost always followed up by benching together. This lesson started off by discussing the lunch of the worker. We are all workers in the House of G-d and should act as such. Hearty appetite.

The topic of this lesson is more fully discussed in Volume 2, chapter 5 of Jewish Jurisprudence. Copies of this volume can be purchased at local Judaica bookstores. Questions to quint Copies of quint@inter.net.il

Spiritual & Ethical Issues in the Stories of Shímot

Moshe and Par'o (4) - by Dr. Meir Tamari

Moshe's first meeting with Par'o had resulted in a new decree of persecution for Israel. Now Hashem speaks to him again with a new dimension to his mission, prior to the next meeting with Par'o. This dimension contains the essence of the Exodus and explains why it is so central and basic to Judaism. Therefore it is introduced by the use of Hashem, not Elokim, Shaddai or any other form G-d's Name (Shmot 6:6). "Hashem refers to Himself as the One Who exerts His will independently of existing conditions, even completely in spite of or against them. With this moment, a completely new world is to enter the realm of Mankind, a world which to be independent of all those conditions which hitherto had governed the events of world history" (Rabbi S. R. Hirsch). "I am Hashem; because I give existence to all that exists, not only when I created them but throughout their existence, therefore I am able to change all reality and redeem them" (Soforno).

"I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, will deliver you from their slavery and will redeem you. And I will take you to Me for a people, I will be a Lord to you and you will know that I am Hashem." (Shmot 6:6-7).

"From these four redemptions, we learn the obligation to drink four cups on the Seder night" (Yerushalmi, Pesachim 10a) and there are four redemptions foretold for the future (Yechezkiel 34:13). They are also the reason for the recurrent reference to the number 4 at the Seder, as in four questions, four children and four verses heading Magid.

The sequence of the verses is the sequence of Jewish history as well as the purpose of that history.

The first three expressions correspond to the conditions referred to in the Brit Bein Habetarim - geirut, avdut and inui, albeit the sequence of the Exodus - first release from the burdens that is the suffering, then release from slavery and then the redemption that corrects the status of geirut - is opposite to the order foretold to Avraham. The fourth expression, "I will take you to be a nation for Me", is both the purpose of the redemption and also the method whereby Hashem becomes their G-d.

"I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians":

This refers to the financial burdens suffered by Israel since the labored for Egypt without payment (Midrash Hagadol), alternatively this refers to the special taxes imposed on them (Abarbanel).

Seeing a connection between SIVLOT, burdens, and SAVLANUT, tolerance, R' Simcha Bunem of Psyscha taught that redemption became imperative when Israel tolerated their slavery and exile, otherwise they would have disappeared. Our own national experience of galut is that in it a people can become accustomed to degrada- tion, suffering and abnormal social living, so that these seem normal and destined.

"Hashem brought them out of their tolerance of exile and of its pernicious effects and that was the beginning of their redemption" (R' Menachem Mendel of Kotsk). We have been shown in our own times that this awareness of exile and a desire to end it are preconditions for deliverance; 19th century Jewish self-defense organizations, Chovevei Tzion, land purchases for settlement, aliyot and political Zionism all preceded statehood.

"I will deliver you from their slavery":

This refers to the physical rigor of labor and the unnecessary, unsatisfying and degrading methods and kinds of work, inflicted by the Egyptians (Shmot Rabba 1:13-15).

This also teaches that the Exodus was not a slave revolt whereby Israel freed itself nor was it the result of Par'o's magnanimous declaration of emancipation, nor due to Moshe's role as a liberator, but solely due to G-d's intervention in human history.

"I will redeem you":

The Torah (Vayikra 25:47-49), describing how one who sold himself because of poverty became freed, uses the term redeemed in reference to the obligation of his kinsman to pay for his release. So too, here G-d foretold how He would redeem them from the stigma of slavery by taking them out of Egypt. Rabbi Avraham HaKohen Kook stressed that even if they had been freed, if not for the Exodus they would have reverted to slavery. The Seder does not commemorate the freeing of slaves but rather the Exodus from galut.

"And I will take you to Me for a people and I will be to you a Lord":

This is the 4th cup of the Seder and was achieved by Matan Torah where G-d said: "You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation".

It seems that this integral union of nation-religion has and is still perhaps the most difficult idea of Judaism to conceive and practice. It is easy to see religion in ritual, miracles and personal good works just as it is easy to feel the spirituality in prophetic visions and divine prayer. It seems difficult to see and feel G-d in national economics, diplomacy, war, urban planning and social legislation. "These are the social laws that you shall set before them (Shmot, 21:1). How can Chazal say: 'Before them and not before the nations of the world', when every nation has mishpatim? Only with us are mishpatim a form of divine worship" (Menachem Mendel of Kotsk). "Why were the spies reluctant to enter Eretz Yisrael? As long as they were in the desert and supported by His miracles they were able to achieve spirituality and religiosity. However, when they would enter the Land their parnassah, their defense and their social living would all have to be through natural means. They feared that they were not of a religious level to do so, so preferred to remain in the desert" (Shem Mi Shmuel).

"In these few words 'to Me for a people' lies that which is so absolutely unique to Judaism. Judaism founded by G-d is no a religion in the customary application of the word. Here G-d founds not a Church but a Nation, a whole national life is to form itself on Him. Later, in our history when the people relegated their relationship to G-d to sacrifices and life in the Temple, thus entrenching themselves against reproaches of social sins and social degradation, Yermiyahu (Ch. 8) thundered that they themselves should be the temple of G-d. Although He commanded offerings He did not want a congregation to bring offerings, but rather by that offering to constitute us into a nation of G-d" (Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, Shmot 6:8).

MISC section - contents:

[1] Vebbe Rebbe

[2] Candle by Day

[3] From Aloh Naaleh

[4] Wisdom and Wit

[5] Portion from the Portion

[6] MicroUlpan

[7] Torah Kidbits

[8] Parsha Points to Ponder

[9] Torah from Nature

[10] Pirkei Avot

[11] From the desk of the director

[1] From the virtual desk of the OU VEBBE REBBE

The Orthodox Union ñ via its website ñ 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: I have an idea to enable Jews to have non-Jews operate an elevator for them in a permitted way. In a big building, maintenance workers do work on different floors throughout the day. If we get the management company to tell the workers to schedule work that has to be done on floors where shomrei Shabbat live at the time of day when they return from shul, it should be permitted. Is this correct?

A: We will deal only with your specific idea. Other factors that are involved in the use of a regular elevator are found in Bemareh Habazak II, 23.

A non-Jew may do melacha (work) for a Jew if he does so for his own purposes. One example is when he gets paid per-job (as opposed to per time). Then even though the Jew benefits directly from the action, we say that the non-Jew does it for his wages (Shulchan Aruch, OC 243:1-2). However, even so, the Jew may not tell him to do the work specifically on Shabbat (ibid. 307:4). If the non-Jew does the work for his own direct benefit, a Jew may tell him to do it even if he also benefits. For example, if a Jew sees a flood in their joint building, he may tell his non-Jewish neighbor (at least before Shabbat) to fix it because the non-Jew will have his own welfare in mind.

This would seem to be true in your case. The question is whether the Jew tell the non-Jew to do the work that he does for his own good but also for the Jew specifically on Shabbat? While the non-Jew uses the elevator for his own purposes, he does so at the time the Jew desires it. There are sources that imply that when it is directly for the non-Jew's benefit, the timing is not a problem (see Taz 307:3 & Biur Halacha to 276:2 in the Nishmat Adam's name). However, it is difficult to rely upon this alone.

In the case you devise, the Jew need not have the non-Jew act because he said so. Rather, he can tell him to not do the work at another time on Shabbat so that the chances the Jew will benefit go up. The non-Jew might even decide not to do work at all on Shabbat. The problem might exist though if the workers would have done their work later and move it up to the appointed time because the Jews asked.

The best approach to permit your idea is to say that the Jews do not ask the non-Jew to do work for them at all. The maintenance work will not be ordered by the Jews, and joint work is done for the majority (can we assume that?) (see Shulchan Aruch, OC 307:3). Regarding the fact that he takes an elevator in a way that Jews benefit from, consider the following. The Mishna Berura (276:27) says that one can ask a non-Jewish worker to do dishes on Shabbat (which need not include melacha) and it is not a problem that the non-Jew will light a candle to help. In fact, although a Jew may not benefit from melacha done by a non- Jew of his own accord on behalf of a Jew, here he may benefit from the candle later, as the non-Jew lit it for his own benefit. Although the Jew may not benefit immediately from the light (or in this case, the elevator) that is probably because he initiated the work. Furthermore, there must be a legitimate independent reason for the non-Jew to have gotten involved in the activity. Therefore, one cannot suggest to a non-Jew to go up together to a certain floor and have him use the elevator to get there (see Shemirat Shabbat K'hilchata 30:52). Therefore, if the workers understand the plan and purposely go with the Jew as a favor, it would be a problem to benefit from their service on his behalf. If it is a safek whether their intention was for the Jew, the matter is unclear (Mishna Berura 307:24 & 276:15, Biur Halacha, ad loc.).

There is more to say on the topic, but it appears that the plan has merit (especially for cases of great need) but is not always feasible for pragmatic and/or halachic factors.

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

It is difficult for one who has arrived at a certain moral understanding not to regard another's acting in opposition to it as a piece of willfulness rather than as an innocent ignorance of that understanding on the other's part.

From "A Candle by Day" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

A Candle by Day ï The Antidote ï The World Of Chazal by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

Now available at 054-209-9200

[3] CHIZUK and IDUD (for Olim & not-yet-Olim respectively)

In Parshat Ekev, Moshe Rabeinu informs the Jewish people that God has chosen them to inherit the land of Israel, not because they are worthy of that prize, but rather because of the evil of those who presently inhabit the land, and because of the merit of the Patriarchs and the oath made to them. These are very sobering words, to say the least. Moreover, they seem to contradict the message delivered to us by Moshe Rabeinu in last week's parsha. There we were told that we were chosen not because of our great size, but rather because God loves us. The implication is that God chose us for our "quality", not for our "quantity". This certainly implies that qualitatively we are worthy and that this worthiness expresses itself in the spiritual realm.

The Ramban resolves this difficulty in his commentary to Parshat Va'etchanan. There he explains that the Jewish people always exist on two planes. One is the Jewish people at any particular point in history. Sometimes we are worthy, some- times we are not, all depending on the religious and spiritual level achieved by the particular generation.

But there is another plane on which we exist called "Knesset Israel." This is the totality of the Jewish people in all times, the past, the present, and the future, including the Patriarchs, the Matriarchs, and the righteous of all generations. The Jewish people eternal are always worthy qualitatively and truly merit inheriting Eretz Israel.

Our goal must always be to make the Jewish people of our own generation as similar as possible to Knesset Israel, the Jewish people eternal.

Rabbi Menachem Schrader, Efrat

TORAH THOUGHTS as contributed by Aloh Naaleh members for publication in the Orthodox Union's 'Torah Insights', a weekly Torah publication on Parshat HaShavuía

[4] Wisdom and Wit

One of the large contributors to the yeshiva of Rr Yechezkel Sarna lost all his money, and became destitute. When Rí Yechezkel organized a fund-raising event for the yeshiva, he decided not to invite this man, in order not to embarrass him. To R' Yechezkels amazement, though, the man came without having been invited. He also asked to speak, and what he said electrified the audience.

ìOnce, I too, had lots of money to spend, and I was glad to contribute to the yeshivaî he began, "but as you probably know, things have not gone so well with me lately. While I lost my money, the one thing that still remains with me is the merit of the money I gave in those times.

ìThe entire world revolvesî he went on, sand those with money can find themselves without it the next day. Learn from me, and contribute while you still have the means, because one can never tell what tomorrow will bring.î

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" ó available at your local Jewish bookstore (or should be). Excerpted with the permission of the copyright holder

[5] Portion for the Portion by Rakel Berenbaum - FEEDback to berenbau@actcom.net.il

V'HAYA EIKEV...

The first section of this week's portion discusses the rewards for abiding by G-d's laws. Things mentioned are that G-d will love us, bless us and make us numerous. He will bless the fruit of the womb, of our land, the grain, the wine, the oil, the calves of our herds, and lambs of our flocks (6:13). No one will be sterile, or sick or suffer with the afflictions such as the ten plagues (6:14-15). All this EKEV - if only we listen to the laws. This sounds so easy. Just keep the laws and look at all we will get. But if we look around us we can see so many people not following the path that G-d has instructed us to follow. Why is this?

A hint can be found in the first verse of the portion. It reads V'HAYA EIKEV TISHMA'UN - If only you listen to these laws. The Rabbis teach that there is a difference when the word VAYHI or V'HAYA are used. VAYHI is used when talking about something sad, whereas V'HYA is used when talking about something happy. Our verse uses the word V'HYA - happy. The LEV SAMEACH learns from here that happiness is the secret to mitzva observance. The Rabbis teach, ìJust as the only place to preserve money is in the ground, so too the only way to preserve mitzvot observance is through happiness. If we are truly happy, we will want to do the mitzvot and doing the mitzvot will make us happier.

So what is the secret to happiness. We have to work on ourselves to be happy with everything we have, but one secret is hinted at in this same verse. The word EIKEV used in the verse is the same word used for heel.

The heel is the lowest part of our body. The LIKUTEI YEHOSHUA says it is a symbol for being humble. A person who is sincerely humble will constantly be happy. He feels that nothing is owed to him, and feels satisfied with what he has. He constantly has peace of mind and always feels the joy of life. This joy will energize his mitzva performance.

Today we are witness to the truth of this verse. We see so many teens who go ìoff the derechî. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, but a lot of times the cause is some unhappiness ñ whether with their parents, their teachers, their school, their friends or themselves. If they could learn to be happy with their situation no matter what it is then they might not feel that they have to run away from Judaism and could continue to follow the mitzvot.

The Israel Center with their varied programs for teens and adults tries to bring out this happiness to help us all with serving G-d.

This weeks recipe is made with calf's or chicken feet as a reference to the EIKEV, heel from the portion. You might not want to tell how this recipe is made until after everyone tastes it. This jellied dish is an old European delicacy that is served as an entree on special occasions. My husband remembers enjoying this and watching his grandmother preparing it. Nowadays you might have to order the calf's foot from the butcher in advance. If you don't want the hassle to make this recipe, you can buy it ready made.

P'TCHA or GALLARETTA

1 calf's foot or two dozen chicken feet

Water to cover

1 large onion

bit of salt

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

3-4 hard-boiled eggs (for garnish)

Wash calf's or chicken's foot very well. (If using chicken feet, soak for a few minutes in hot water, then remove skin from legs.) Put in pot with water. Add onion and salt and bring to a boil. Lower flame and cook for 3-20 hours. The longer you cook it the softer it will be. Pick meat from bones and grind well. Spread ground meat at the bottom of a pan.

Slowly, pour the stock on top. Add the garlic Garnish with slices of hardboiled eggs. Jell in the refrigerator. To serve cut into cake-sized pieces. Can stay two weeks in the refrigerator.

[6] Parsha Points to Ponder - EIKEV

1) Why does the Torah use the word EIKEV meaning ON THE HEELS instead of the usual word IM which means IF when teaching that if we keep the mitzvot then we will be rewarded? (see 7:12)

2) Why are we commanded to say a blessing after a meal instead of the more logical and reasonable approach of saying grace before indulging in the food? (see 8:10)

3) Why does this weekís parsha teach the mitzva of tefillin before the command to teach Torah to our children (11:18-19) while last weekís parsha teaches these two mitzvot in the reverse order? (6:7-8)

THESE ARE THE ANSWERS

Ponder the questions first, then read here

1) The Ohr HaChayim teaches that the word EIKEV means AT THE END. The Torah is teaching us that a person who commits himself to Torah and mitzvot is guaranteed good and joy but not necessarily throughout life which can be very challenging and difficult. Rather, EIKEV, at the end of the story that soul will experience true joy and happiness.

2) Rav Gedalya Schorr answers that we are commanded to give thanks specifically when it is most difficult to do so - after one is already satiated. At the moment when we are most prone to fail, after indulging in the material, we pause to recognize that whatever physical good we have comes from G-D.

3) Rav Volbe explains that the Torah is teaching us a difference between a person without sin and a person who has sinned. The first paragraph of Sh'ma describes the individuals who are on the highest of spiritual levels whose primary connection to G-D is through Torah study. Mitzva performance such as tefillin serves to augment this Torah study and, therefore, Torah study is mentioned first. Our parsha describes the masses who are on a lower spiritual level. Those people need to focus on performing mitzvot and through the spiritual growth which this achieves they will be inspired to connect further through Torah learning. Thus, Torah learning is mentioned second.

Parsha Points to Ponder is prepared by Rabbi Dov Lipman, who teaches at Reishit Yerushalayim, Tiferet, and Machon Maayan in Beit Shemesh and RBS and is the author of "DISCOVER: Answers for Teenagers (and adults) to Questions about the Jewish Faith",just re-published by Feldheim, ppp@ouisrael.org

[7] Torah Kidbits by Yaffa Ganz

A Torah Tidbits column with a Parshat HaShavua insight geared towards the young reader...
or their parents and grandparents to read to them

Everyone appreciates a bracha or a good word but very few "good words" can compare with Parashat Eikev! It is a parsha of great, sweeping promises and a declaration of love by Hashem to the Jewish People once they are living in Eretz Yisrael. Hashem will love us, bless us, multiply us. He will give us children and bountiful harvests. He will keep us healthy, without illness, and will vanquish all our enemies.

The Parasha then gives one of the most beautiful descriptions in the Torah of the Land of Israel. Hashem will bring us to a "Good Land - a land with streams of water, of springs coming forth from valleys and mountains. A land of wheat, barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates; a land of oil-olives and date-honey. A land where you will eat bread without poverty. You will lack nothing there. You will eat and you will be satisfied and bless Hashem your G-d, for the good Land that He gave you." (Sound familiar? We say some of these words every day in Birchat Hamazon!)

But all of these great blessings come with certain conditions. They are ours, but only if we fear Hashem, walk in all His ways, keep His commandments and... if we love Him! Only if we serve Him with all our heart and soul. Many nations fear G-d (if they have any sense!) but we love Him. Love is mentioned over and over again in the parsha. G-d's love for us, and our love for Him.

Moshe tells Am Yisrael that Eretz Yisrael is not like Egypt which receives its water from the annual flooding of the Nile. In Eretz Yisrael, rain comes from the heavens. It is a gift which depends on our prayers and good deeds. For Eretz Yisrael is always in the center of G-d's mind. "The eyes of Hashem your G-d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the year's end."

The parsha ends with one last, tremendous blessing: If we walk in G-d's ways, "Every place where the sole of your foot will tread shall be yours. From the Wilderness and the Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, until the western sea shall be your boundary. No man will stand up against you."

These are pretty big promises and we, who have the privilege of living in Eretz Yisrael, have a chance to help fulfill them!

[8] MicroUlpan

Pruning shears - MAZMEIRA - In French: secateurs

[9] Torah from Nature

"very strange little beast"

A few years ago, scientists discovered perhaps the world's most unusual snail... bears a mass of interlocking, iron-based plates on its body and the base of its foot. Like a suit of medieval armor, the snail may use its metal scales as a defense against predatory attack... all other slugs and snails (i.e. gastropod mollusks) have a soft and slimy foot... discovered in the hostile hydrothermal vent environment of the deep Indian Ocean... first animal discovered that uses iron sulfides for a structural purpose... when first examined, the sea snail's magnetized scales kept sticking to the forceps... scales are comprised of two iron sulfide minerals: iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, and greigite... lives with very high pressure and temperature

[10] Pirkei Avot

Pirkei Avot 5:1

"With ten Sayings the world was created." What are these ten sayings? They are: VAYOMER ELOKIM, And G-d said:

Specifically:

And G-d said, Let there be light;

And G-d said, Let there be a

firmament in the midst of the waters...

And G-d said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place...

And G-d said, Let the earth bring forth grass...

And G-d said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven...

And G-d said, Let the waters be filled with many kinds of living creatures, and birds...

And G-d said, Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures...

And G-d said, Let us* make man in our* image...

Counting so far? We are short of 10. Commentaries include the opening statement of the Torah as the first of the Divine sayings that brought the world into existence: B'REISHIT BARA ELOKIM ET HASHAMAYIM V'ET HAARETZ, In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth.

For this verse to "qualify" as a Saying, we point to the verse in T'hilim (33:6): By the word of G-d were the heavens made...

With "B'REISHIT", as many commentaries agree, our list is at 9. What is the 10th Divine Saying with which the world was created?

Some point to: And G-d blessed them, and G-d said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply... This can be seen as part of creation, because it is the way G-d built into the world (so to speak) the ability to continue the creative process, so that what G-d created will always be.

Some point to this pasuk: And G-d said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed... which we can explain as the Divine Saying that provides us (human beings) with the ability to live in this world and to propagate...

And some point to this pasuk from the second perek: And G-d (this time, HASHEM ELOKIM) said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help to match him. That is, that the 10th saying of G-d's creation of the world was the creation of woman.

Other commentaries consider another set of 10 Sayings - The Aseret HaDibrot as being used by G-d, so to speak, to bring the world into existence. These two lists do not contradict each other, rather they go hand in hand to show us the very special nature of the world into which G-d has placed us.

[11] from Machon Puah

Sarah and Chayim had a wonderful marriage, they both had good jobs, a nice home and a wide circle of friends. To look at them no-one would think that there was anything missing in their lives.

Yet there was one thing missing, one thing that occupied their every waking hour and gave them both nightmares. They had been married for three years but they had no children.

They had tried, they had even been to the top doctors, but so far nothing had worked. They were literally at their wit's end, they could not concentrate at work, they stopped going out with friends because the conversation invariably ended up talking about kids, daycare and carpools.

Sarah and Chayim had no one to talk to, they felt uncomfortable speaking to family, they did not feel that their friends understood them, and the doctors and nurses were always so busy.

Eventually Chayim asked his Rabbi for advice, the Rabbi did not hesitate but immediately sent the couple to speak to one of the Rabbis in the Puah Institute. Sarah and Chayim found that the Rabbis at Puah were both knowledgeable about the medical and halachic aspects of fertility treatment, and were very friendly and helpful. The Rabbi guided them to a series of tests that the couple had not yet done and to a doctor who was an expert in their particular problem. The couple were put at ease and were delighted to have found someone that they could talk to and open up to. Their meeting ran over the allotted hour but the Rabbi gave them all the time they needed to discuss the strain that infertility was having on their marriage and lives.

They left Puah with greater confidence and new hope. The tests were not easy but they did show a particular problem that had not so far been addressed and the doctor was able to suggest a new type of treatment.

Sarah and Chayim were so grateful to all the staff at Puah that the third person (after calling both sets of parents) they called when their daughter was born was the Rabbi at Puah. He was so happy for them and they felt that he was so much a part of their simchah.

Sarah and Chayim are not an unusual couple, in fact some 15% of couples face problems of getting pregnant. In this new regular column we will look at some of the issues that they face and the solutions, we will discuss the work of the Puah Institute and new advances in the fascinating field of assisted reproduction and the halacha.

The Puah Institute for Fertility and Gynecology in Accordance with Halacha is based in Jerusalem and helps couples from all over the world who are experiencing fertility problems. Puah offers free counseling in five languages, halachic supervision and educational programs. Puah has offices in New York, Los Angeles and Paris. To contact the Puah Institute please call (02) 651-5050 in Israel or 718-336-0603. Visit our website at www.puah.org.il

[11] From the desk of the director

Parshat Ekev recalls more of Moshe's exhortations to Bnei Yisrael to continue in Hashem's ways. He could have been speaking to us. For Moshe resorts to the notion that we are a people who witness wonders and miracles in a way that no other nation experiences.

The question Moshe asks is seemingly rhetorical. Has any other nation undergone what we did, as a wandering group of tribes in a pitiless desert? Our food was taken care of and our clothes did not spoil. We were in a wilderness of wild beasts, yet they spared us.

We wandered in a flaming desert as a test of our faith. So now, as we are about to cross the Jordan (Yarden, implying the potential to descend spiritually), G-d tells us not to fear the overwhelming odds of the surrounding nations. As He looked after us in the desert, so will He protect us from our enemies. The question is: do we believe it? Not, did they believe then, but, do we believe now?

Do we really believe that in our everyday life, Hashem is protecting us? Do we really see those little daily miracles that accompany us? Do we appreciate the song of the turtledove or the radiant colors of the orchids? Do we recognize those small seemingly random occurrences as the Guiding Hand of G-d? Clearly, Moshe's message was for us too.

Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff

Towards Better Davening and Torah Learning

Quick Review:

V'ACHALTA V'SAVATA U'VEIRACHTA

Three second-person future verbs, each "flipped" from past tense by the VAV HA-HIPUCH. The first and third also have the accent pushed to last syllable, v'a-chal-TA, not v'a-CHAL-ta. This is the norm. v'sa-VA-ta is an exception because when the word is at an ETNACHTA (or SOF PASUK) the accent remains in its usual MIL-EIL (next to the last syllable) position, even those it is now in the future/command tense. The other exceptions to the accent-shifting rule are verbs whose roots have an ALEF or HEI as their third letter. KARATA, you read, is pronounced ka-RA-ta. And you will read, v'ka-RA- ta - the accent stays back because the root of the word is KUF-REISH-ALEF.

Again, the rule: When a VAV flips the tense of a verb from past to future, the accent goes from MIL-EIL to MILRA. Exceptions: LAMED-ALEF and LAMED-HEI verbs. And when the word is at an ETNACHTA or SOF PASUK.

These particular three words are more difficult than most to get right, because the first and the third follow the rule and the middle one is an exception. Furthermore, those of us who have grown up singing those words in Birkat HaMazon have become accustom to mutilating the accenting of the words, starting with ka-a-KA-tuv (wrong - should be ka-ka- TUV), v'a-CHAL-ta (wrong again), v'sa-VA-ta (right this time), u'vei-RACH-ta (wrong again)...

BTW (by the way), at the end of the pasuk we find ASHER NATAN-LACH, (the Land) which He has given you. Although the word NATAN on it own is accented MILRA, na-TAN, when it is followed by a one-syllable word in the same phrase (and in this case, the LACH is connected to it by a MAKAF - the upper hyphen), the accent regresses to make the word-pair NA-tan-LACH.

Since we are quoting this pasuk in our acknowledgment and thanks to G-d for food, for Eretz Yisrael, for Torah and Mitzvot, it seems that we should make the effort to pronounce and accent the words correctly.

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.

The Churban's Aftermath (2)

We try to picture the thoughts that went through the mind of R. Yochanan and his associates at that very somber hour when they first surveyed the wreckage of the lost war. Perhaps a holocaust survivor who returned to Warsaw or Vilna or to the sites of thousands of other destroyed Jewish communities can succeed. The number of Sages was greatly reduced; many had been killed; others had fled the country and had not returned; the Jewish masses were decimated and demoralized. (Actually use of the word decimate is inappropriate. When a Roman legion showed cowardice in the face of the enemy, as a punishment, one man in the disgraced legion in ten was selected by lot and put to death. Unfortunately, vastly more than 10% of the Jewish population of Eretz Yisrael found their deaths in the bloody war that culminated in the Churban.)

We all know the familiar Talmudic story of how R. Yochanan was smuggled out of doomed Jerusalem. Foreseeing the imminent destruction of the city, he was determined to salvage what he could. "Devise a plan for me to escape," R. Yochanan approached Abba Sikra, his nephew and the Sicari leader who conducted the defense of Jerusalem, "Perhaps I shall be able to save a little." Abba Sikra advised R. Yochanan to "play dead" and have his disciples carry him out of the beleaguered city. Having little choice, R. Yochanan accepted his advice. Wrapped in Tachrichim (shrouds), lying in a coffin, R. Yochanan, rehearsed in his mind what he would say to the Roman commander Vespasian if and when he would manage to meet with him. How would he be able attract the Roman commander's attention so he would even listen to him? How would he manage to wheedle concessions from him? In the end R. Yochanan, by prophesying imperial honors for Vespasian, did succeed in putting himself in the Roman general's good graces. After a messenger arrived from Rome substantiating R. Yochanan's prediction, Vespasian said, "I am now going (to assume my new position)Ö make a request of me and I shall grant it." Today we see that R. Yochanan's seemingly modest petition to be permitted "to teach his disciples and observe the Mitzvot of the Torah" (Avot D'Rabbi Natan 20a) or "Yavneh and its Sages, the dynasty of R. Gamliel (the family of the Nasi - the Patriarch - descended from Hillel) and physicians to heal R. Tzadok" (Gittin 56b) as a turning point in Jewish history. Today everyone understands that R. Yochanan was instrumental in the creation of a Yahadut, which while certainly "incomplete", could develop and even flourish without the Beit Hamikdash and without Eretz Yisrael. R. Yochanan has been rightly referred to as "this redeeming angel sent to us from the heavens in the form of a manÖ" (Toldot Hatana'im)

It was said of R. Yochanan that he "never spoke an idle word; he never walked four Amot without Torah and without Tefillin, no one ever proceeded him in entering the Beit Midrash, he never dozed in the Beit Midrash, Öand he was always the last to leave it, nor did anyone ever find him sitting in silence, but only sitting and learningÖ" (Sukka 28a). Before the Churban, he used to give public lectures in the "very shadow of the Beit Hamikdash" (Pesachim 26b). Any available lecture hall was simply too small to accommodate the crowds who wanted to hear him. According to the Mishna (Sota 9:9), in the last days of the Mikdash, he was held in such respect, that he had the authority to "bring to an end" even such an ancient venerable Torah rite as the "Bitter Waters" (Bamidbar 5:11-31).

Nevertheless, it is a historical fact that many Chachamim who were colleagues of R. Yochanan before the Destruction, and later on would be closely associated with Rabban Gamliel after he became Nasi, were conspicuous by their absence in R. Yochanan's Yavneh. Those "missing" included some of the leading Kohanim, great sages in their own right, who survived the debacle, such as R. Tzadok, his son R. Eleazar, R. Shimon son of the deputy Kohein Gadol, R. Tarfon and R. Yosi Hakohein. Perhaps these Kohanim thought that they should have been given the reins of leadership. Our Mekorot make no mention of Chachamim such as R. Nechunya ben Hakana, a disciple of R. Yochanan, R. Dosa Ben Hyrcanus, R. Nahum Hamadi, and Rabbi Yehuda ben Baba later celebrated for giving Semicha to five students of R. Akiva and giving his life in the process, as being active in the Yavneh of Yochanan ben Zakkai. After helping carry R. Yochanan out of Jerusalem, even R. Eleazar ben Arach, his favorite student (Avot 2:11,14), did not follow his master to Yavneh. However, despite the reluctance of many Sages to join R.Yochanan, the positive verdict of history on his contribution to the survival of Yahadut cannot be disputed. By permitting R. Yochanan to organize, albeit at first in a modest scale, a new Torah center for the disheartened defeated people, the Romans in effect threw away the the fruits of their victory. Defeated Am Yisrael survived and the triumphant Roman Empire, "eternal and divine", vanished from history. From R. Yochanan's small seed grew a mighty tree and in the next generation Torah institutions sprouted throughout Eretz Yisrael: Lod, Peki'in, Bnei Brak, Tzipori etc.

Later, when conditions improved, though we do not know the exact circumstances, Rabban Gamliel of the family of Hillel was able to assume the office of Nasi, which was his by hereditary right. Most of the Sages who eschewed R. Yochanan's leadership came to Yavneh and put their talents and learning at Rabban Gamliel's deposal. R.Yochanan spent the last years of his life in Bror Chayil, a small town not far from Yavneh. The great Tanna, R.Yochanan, had succeeding in laying "the foundations for what was to become the structure of central leadership for the entire Jewish people for centuries to come." As time went on, the Jewish courts slowly revived and it did not take long until the Roman authorities came to recognize them, first de facto and eventually de jure. The Mishna relates how R. Gamliel, the Hillelite successor to R. Yochanan, "went to (Antioch to) have authority given to him by the (Roman) governor in Syria." The Mekorot report how the Nasi started to make tours of inspection all through the land and led official Jewish delegations to Rome. Judicial autonomy had been restored to Jewish Eretz Yisrael. The importance of this milestone cannot be over estimated. But much of the land had passed from Jewish ownership; title passing "by right of conquest" to the Roman Empire, with the Roman Emperor having the right to dispose of the land as he saw fit. Much of the land was distributed to "friends of Rome" such as Josephus, who received an estate "for services rendered". Many farmers were forced to become tenants on land they had once owned. However, Chazal scorned to recognize the "new owners" and, as much as possible in post-destruction Eretz Yisrael, defended the rights of the dispossessed. And sometimes despite the very unfavorable conditions, the Sages were successful in upholding the rights of the former owners. It was an uphill battle but gradually land was put back into cultivation and uprooted orchards were replanted; agriculture, the economic base of Jewish Eretz Yisrael slowly recovered. -to be continued-

Parsha Pix

Dvarim 8:8 describes Eretz Yisrael and presents us with the famous list of the Seven Species. Wheat in the upper left; barley between grenade and elephant. Grapes. Pomegranate is the hand grenade, known as a RIMON in Hebrew. The olive is in the martini glass, and there is a date (the 31st) on the calendar. And the fig is represented by FIGaro, Gepetto's pet cat.

The Land is also described as being a land whose rocks are iron (Fe on the piece of rock), and from whose mountains you can extract copper. Penny on the hill.

It is in Parshat Eikev that Moshe recounts for the people the story of the Golden Calf, the breaking of the Luchot, and the second Luchot. Pair of stone tablets and Davka Judaica ClipArt's scene of the Golden Calf.

The second passage of the Sh'ma is in Eikev. It contains the mitzva of Mezuza and a reminder of the "deal" we have with G-d.

If we listen to the Mitzvot (preserve them, keep them, practice them), then we will receive rainfall in its proper time. That's the cloud with drops of rain. But if we don't observe and preserve the mitzvot, then G-d will "lock" the heavens and there will not (G-d forbid) be rainfall, and the ground will not give up its bounty, and we will be lost...

Elephant is a reminder of the many times (in this sedra and elsewhere) that the Torah commands us to remember and warns us never to forget.

Yellow jacket (wasp) is the TZIR'A that G-d says He will send against our enemies.

Loaf of bread and a key below it. The key is not on the loaf, KI LO AL HALECHEM...

Baby and tomatoes. PRI VITN'CHA (the fruit of your womb), UFRI ADMATECHA, the fruit of your ground.

XL is Roman numerals for 40. ARBA'IM appears 136 times in Tanach, referring to days and nights or to years. 12 times in Parshat Eikev.

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 (Va'etchanan) TTriddles:

[1] before opening, before & after reading

There are three Torah-reading related p'sukim in Parshat Va'etchanan - specifically, in perek 4 of D'varim. ATA HOR-EITA LADAAT... (D'varim 4:35) which is said before the Aron is opened prior to taking out the Torah. Nusach S'fard says that pasuk on Shabbat and Chag. Nusach Ashkenaz says it only on Simchat Torah - it being the first of the set of p'sukim we say before taking out the Torah's to do Hakafot and dance with them. V'ATEM HAD'VEIKIM... (4:5) is said as part of the "calling up" of the kohein for the first Aliya. It is said right before we begin Torah reading. When we finish Torah reading, the Torah is held aloft and we all say V'ZOT HATORAH... (4:44). Standard practice is to say more than this pasuk, adding AL PI HASHEM B'YAD MOSHE. This is a partial pasuk - and some authorities are opposed to quoting partial p'sukim from the Torah, and therefore either don't say this ending, or they continue the ending to the conclusion of the pasuk from which it comes. The problem with this is we are not sure where it comes from and therefore how to continue it. The words occur four times in Bamidbar and once in the book of Yehoshua. Most likely candidate from where the words are borrowed is Bamidbar 9:23. They thus camped at G-d's word (lit. on the mouth of G-d) and traveled at G-d's word, keeping their trust in G-d. [It was all done] according to G-d's word through Moses. Some people say this whole pasuk after V'ZOT HATORAH; most don't. Some leave out the AL PI HASHEM... Most say it.

[2] The Torahís AZCHU is daveningís AMEN

Let's start with AMEN. In addition to what the word means and when we say it, AMEN is also an acronym for KEIL MELECH NE'EMAN, which is said by people saying the SH'MA not in a minyan, right before saying SH'MA YISRAEL... So, davening's AMEN means what is right before SH'MA YISRAEL in the Siddur. The Torah's counterpart of AMEN would be an acronym for the words that immediately precede SH'MA YISRAEL in the Torah. And those words happen to be ERETZ ZAVAT CHALAV UDVASH, a land flowing with milk and honey. Rashei Teivot (acronym)? AZCHU.

[3] Caponeís refuge

Assuming that TTriddles are rarely silly, perhaps this one is. Al Capone fled the police of Chicago and took refuge in the nearby town of Cicero (pop. now of about 85,000). The areacode of Cicero is 708. So what is it doing as a Footer TTriddle for issue 773? Excellent question. Apparently it used to be in areacode 773 and the document we use for areacodes is apparently out of date. So there!

[4] Israeli: you said to his garden

A native born Israeli is called a Sabra - in Hebrew, TZABAR. You said is AMARTA. To his garden is L'GANO. Each of these words is an anagram for one of the three Cities of Refuge that were on the east side of the Jordan river. BETZER, RAMOT, and GOLAN.

[5] Apparently,one must honor his parents even if it is expensive

This is a play on words between languages, specifically, Aramaic and Hebrew. On the pasuk KABEID ET AVICHA... Honor your father and mother, Targum Onkeles is YAKAR YAT AVUCH... YAKAR in Hebrew is dear or expensive. Hence the implication that even if it is costly, one must honor his parents. The fact is that one must honor them but may use their money (assuming they have) to feed and clothe them, etc. and the child is not required to spend his own money. But a TTriddle is a TTriddle.

[6] Wise or generic child?

This was not an either or question. It has to do with the words AVADIM HAYINU L'FAR'O B'MITZRAYIM... we were slaves to Par'o in Egypt... In Parshat Va'etchanan, the pasuk is our response to a child who asks MA HA-EIDOT V'HACHUKIM V'HAMISHPA- TIM... That is the Wise Child's question, from the Hagada. So AVADIM HAYINU is the CHACHAM's answer. However, in the Hagada, the CHACHAM (Wise child) gets a different response and AVADIM HAYINU is considered to be the beginning of the answer to the MA NISHTANA, which we can consider to be the generic child's question(s).

Ashkenazim from Amsterdam use it in lieu of our POTEI'ACH ET YADECHA. Real question. We (some of we) use the 7-word pasuk POTEI'ACH ET YADECHA to count the 7 winds of the T'filin straps around our arm. Minhag Amsterdam (Ashkenaz) is to count with V'ATEM HAD'VEIKIM...

This weeks TTriddles:

[1] Between Golf Point and Lida Road

[2] WHAT is the answer!

[3] Sheep first, then people. Sheep first, then people. People first, then sheep. People first, then sheep. Explain.

[4] last week, their cities...

[5] Ashkenazic homophones - cause and effect

[6] probably no one in Dor HaMidbar named Kravitz or Schuster

[7] 75% of 6 = 2

[8] Yaakov, Bilíam, Moshe, Yona, Yirmiyahi, Shaíul

[9] Jerusalem forever!

[10] 6555111

[11] which includes goobers?

"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper", the old saying goes. And if you are still hungry at midnight, pretend that you are a king who has taken to dressing like a pauper so as to get to know your subjects better. And then make yourself a snack.

from 1001 Smiles by Marion Kaplinsky

Israel Center Miscellany

See website for the "standard" entries of this file.

Help young couples (evacuees and children of evacuees) from Gush Katif and N. Shomron get ready for the arrival of their babies - Tzedaka - Matan BíSeter; The money collected will be used to buy carriages, cribs, layettes... Make checks out to the Israel Center. Write on the envelope: Gush Katif - Baby Fund, Also collecting good second-hand baby items, For more info. call Sara 0505-444-397

Chessed Fund - Please help those unable to help themselves! Please help a family about to be evicted from home unable to make a living due to severe illness. Please make checks out to ìChessed Fundî and send to:

Chessed Fund att. Menachem Persoff, Israel Center, P.O.B. 37015 Jerusalem 91370

NESTO Native English-Speaking Teen Olim

Two weeks ago, NESTO's Arts and Crafts Event was labeled a big success drawing many chanichim from each of the groups. NESTOers expressed themselves using finger paints, markers, crayons, popsicle sticks - among other items. If you wish to check the projects out, they remain displayed on our floor (downstairs at the Israel Center), just as you enter the floor.

It is going to be one HOTT (yes that is hot with two T's) NESTO August, and we are not just talking about the weather. We start things off on the 7th with a movie night starting at 5:30pm. Members get in for free. Not a member? Not a problem, just bring 10?. For Rosh Chodesh Elul, on August 14th, NESTO will be taking you on a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem. Looking for a chance to get back at one of your madrichim? On the 21st, NESTO starts a new tradition with our first annual Kids vs. Madrichim event in Gan Sakar. Oh, and the 28th is the date to save if you like Amusement Parks. :-)

Are you an English speaking teen spending your summer in Israel? Are you bored? Looking to make some friends? Give NESTO a chance! We have weekly events and a clubhouse! Any newcomer will receive a free J-Man snack! NESTO Clubhouse hours will be posted on our office door.

Jr. NESTO is for 7th, 8th, and 9th graders,

Sr. NESTO is for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders,

BOGRIM is for recent H.S. graduates

NESTO's home base is the Israel Center's TEICHMAN FAMILY YOUTH CENTER

The Israel Center's Youth Program for Anglo-Israelis, tel. 566-7787 ext. 247 fax: 561-7432, Chaim Pelzner, Director, Rachel Fredman, Bat Sherut, Partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel

Travel Desk: 560-9110 direct

THE TRAVEL DESK is for making reservations and receiving info about Israel Center tiyulim. Please note that ALL Israel Center tiyulim require advance registration.

And to help you - whether you live in Israel or abroad -make hotel reservations throughout Israel (thru Travel Deal (02) 999 8440, www.traveldealisrael.com

At your service SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY 11:00am-4:00pm (other times leave a message and they will be picked up)

Call Naomi at the Israel Center Travel Desk, 560-9110; fax: 566-0156 tiyul@israelcenter.co.il - *if you call outside Travel Desk hours, or if we miss your call for any reason, please leave a message and we will return your call.

LUNCH? When a tiyul says ìbring your own lunchî, you can order one instead from the Israel Center Cafe. When you make your reservation for the tiyul, request a box lunch, or call the CAFE (ext. 106) up to the day before the TIYUL. 18NIS will get you a sandwich (your choice), a refreshing drink (regular or diet) and a dessert. Your lunch will be ready for you when you board the bus.

BOOKED? When a tiyul is listed as BOOKED - you can call to be wait-listed; if you call, you will be called back if there is a cancellation, if we add a bus, or when we fix a new date for the tiyul.

CANCELLATION POLICIES: We reserve the right to charge a cancellation fee in case of last-minute cancellations. Also... Price of tiyul is based on a minimum number of participants.

STUDENTS FROM ABROAD: Parents visiting you this year? If so, speak to us! (560-9110) to see if we have any tiyulim or Shabbatonim (call Ita Rochel 560-9125) that they might be interested in.

KASHRUT POLICY: Food for Israel Center In-House programs is supervised by OU-in-Israel-Mehadrin. Israel Center sponsored trips and programs are Mehadrin. Hotels, restaurants, and tiyulim advertised by outside parties are not necessarily Mehadrin and are not endorsed by the OU or the Israel Center.

Calls from abroad: Due to time differences, we recommend that people from abroad fax 972-2-5660156 for attention of Travel Desk or email tiyul@ouisrael.org. Please be sure to include email or fax number for reply, in addition to phone number.

Israel Center tiyulim are partially subsidized by the Jewish Agency for Israel

BOOKED with a waiting list - Jerusalem Month by Month - Menachem Av Tiyul with David Magence, Sunday, August 5th - 21st of Menachem Av 5:00-6:30pmpm (approx.) - A unique look at the Old City using sites to tell stories of Aliya to Jerusalem throughout the centuries, Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar, Ohr HaChayim Hakadosh (approx. 1741), Rabbi Yehuda HeChassid (1701), largest Aliya from the time of Nechemia until modern times, Ramban (1269) fulfilling the Mitzva of living in Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi (1140) Greatest poet of Zion since King David, Members NIS 18 (non-members NIS 26), Register in Advance at the Travel Desk (02) 560-9110, Shulamit's tiyulim are always a treat; Come! You will enjoy her delicious sweets!

BOOKED with a waiting list - SUMMER SOLIDARITY with SPECIAL SOULS - Wednesday, August 8th - We'll be IY"H spending the day with the displaced people of Gush Katif in various places of their dispersion Led by ANITA TUCKER the famous celery lady Among the places that we will visit are: Yad Binyamin, Kibbutz Chafetz Chayim, Yisodot, Nitzan, Ashkolon, and Karmya, We will have a lavish mehadrin lunch at Kibbutz Ein Zurim, Timing: 8:00am - 8:00pm (approx.), Prices: NIS100 for members, NIS120 for non-members

BOOKED with a waiting list - FAMILY SUMMER VACATION at the Mehadrin SOL MARINE HOTEL, Nahariya-on-the-Mediterranean

Mark you calendar immediately, limited number of rooms available at a FANTASTIC PRICE

SUN-WED Aug. 19-22 - 4 days 3 nights, NIS1095 p.p. dbl occ for the whole stay, Reduced rates for 1 or 2 children in same room, Bus transportation from/to Jerusalem at additional cost (NIS120) incl. local trips Monday & Tuesday., All rooms facing the sea with a/c, balcony, telephone, television and bath, Separate swimming on the beach and at the hotel pool at different times, Half Board incl. coffee and cake daily (glatt kosher - products from either Rabbi Landau or Badatz Eida Charedit), A mini market nearby, Guest Speaker, Menachem Persoff, Scholar-in-Residence, Shul, New Adventure Park (free of charge) next to the hotel - one of the

loveliest attractions in the country, Touring in the hotel without need for transportation - Evening Programs

Ideal for families - activities for children, PLEASE REGISTER AT THE TRAVEL DESK with Naomi 02-560-9110 direct, Shulamit's tiyulim are always a treat; Come! You will enjoy her delicious sweets!

Hold this date for a TIYUL - In the Footsteps of Sanhedrin visit Tzipori, T'veria, and more, Wednesday, September 5th, 22 Elul 5767 - Watch for further details

Travel Deal Israel - to book a hotel or rent a car in Israel:

TravelDeal Israel - 02 - 999-8440 - Toll free in the US 1-866-376-6716

www.traveldealisrael.com, res@traveldealisrael.com

Call now for our lowest rates on hotels throughout the country

The Back Page of TT774

The Avrom Silver Jerusalem College for Adults - Dean, Rabbi Sholom Gold, is the educational component of the Seymour J. Abrams Orthodox Union Jerusalem World Center and incorporates all the classes & lectures of the OU Israel Center.

"Regular" IC classes & lectures - 5NIS Life members, 20NIS members, 25NIS non- members

No one will be turned away for inability to pay. Membership 250NIS couple, 180NIS single.

Programs of the Center are partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel

Schedule for Erev Shabbat to Erev Shabbat, 19-26 Menachem Av (August 3-10)

Friday August 3 ï 19 Menachem Av

9:00am Pirkei Avot - Phil Chernofsky

11:00am RCA Daf Yomi

5:55pm EARLY SHABBAT MINYAN - Mincha before Plag Please remember: Candles may not be lit before 6:09pm (PLAG)

Shabbat day

5:00pm Parsha/Perek Shiur by Kalman Walker, 6:00pm Mincha

MotzaîSh AUG 4 ï 21 Menachem Av

Motza"Sh, August 4th - 9:30pm

English Stand-up: Jerusalem Style, Starring: Charley Warady, Featuring Chad Kaplan Host: David Kilimnick.

Lineup may change and comedians may be added, 30/35nis, students, soldiers, and people wearing a baseball cap, In the Israel Center's Teichman Family Youth Center, For further details 050-875-5688 or www.israelcomedy.com

SUN-Thu in the Ganchrow Beis Medrash (first floor)

SUN, TUE, THU Rabbi Bienenfeld's shiur will resume IYîH on Sunday, August 12, with the last perek in YUMA

11:15am RCA Daf Yomi by Guest Presenter

1:20pm Mincha (this time stays the same throughout the year)

on hold Shiur in Masechet Brachot by Rabbi Hillel Ruvel

Sunday August 5, 21 Menachem Av

N'SHEI LIBRARY will be closed until Aug. 19

9:30am Parshat HaShavua Shprintzee Rappaport

The classes of Golda Warhaftig and Tonia Frohwein are on recess

Golda resumes IYH on Aug. 12; Tonia resumes IYH on Aug. 19

Amit and the Israel Center - Health Lectures to take place on Sunday, August 5th, 10:00am (30nis per lecture)

Heart Disease - Not only a man's disease by Prof. M. S. Gotsman, former chairman of the Cardiology Dept., Hadassah Ein Kerem

12:30pm "Lift me up so I can touch the sky" Aharon Romm

5:20pm Pri Chadash Womens Writing Workshop - Contact: Ruth Fogelman (628-7359) and Judy Caspi (054-569-0410)

Sunday, August 5th, 6:00pm: Radiating Love for Healing: Philosophical & Psychological Implications

incl. study and practice based on primary sources from Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah.

Dr. Natan Ophir Each week has a separate theme, natan21@zahav.net.il 563-6093, 052-240-8822

health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Meorot

Monday - Aug 6, 22 Menachem Av

9:15am : Excursions into the Book of Shmuel Mrs. Pearl Borow

10:30am Rabbi Zev Leff will resume his shiur IYH on Aug. 20

Shmita is coming; Shmita is coming! 10:30am, Rabbi Reuven Aberman - Shmita part 2, Part 3 IY"H on Monday, August 13th, at 10:30am

Note too that Rabbi Aberman will repeat the series in the evenings during Elul. Watch for further details

(in recess Jewish History Series by Dr. Henry Goldblum)

Fit Forever: Look & Feel your Best! Resumes IY"H on August 13th

12:30pm: VIDEO SCREENING in the LIBRARY - MON Aug 6 - Yiddish Theater- ìThe Ketubahî

With their son planning to marry, an Israeli couple must produce their ketubah. They discover that they might not actually be husband and wife, with hilarious results. A classic satire from the late, brilliant Ephraim Kishon. (Hebrew subtitles only) (1h15m)

2:30pm Women's Beit Midrash "Hear the Sh'ma" - Pearl Borow

resumes iyîh next week - 3:30pm Fine-tuning Halacha - Phil Chernofsky

7:30pm Why is TU b'AV a Yom Tov as great as Yom Kippur? - Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher

in recess Chug Tanach - Rabbi Dr. Elie Assis (Heb.) To find out more, call Sam Finkel at 052-469-1263 or finkels2@zahav.net.il

For 14 years, American and Israeli spinmasters have promoted the idea that the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization, founded by the Arab League to liberate all of Palestine) and the Fatah (Arabic term for "conquest") are "good guys" and the Hamas are "bad guys".

There are many, many facts about the PLO and its leaders that are not being publicized.

Knowing these facts can change the "good guy" perception that can spell our doom and the repeat of recent disasters, We must know what is really going on and we must use that knowledge to help stop the dangerous road we are being forced down, Come to an eye-opening (and frightening) update by investigative journalist David Bedein, Monday, August 6th at 8:00pm

MASK - Mothers & Fathers Aligned Saving Kids, Jerusalem Chapter at the Israel Center ï maskjerusalem.cjb.net ï 050-754-2717, NEXT MEETING: Monday, Aug. 6th, 7:30-9:30pm with Dr. Judy Belsky

Tuesday, Aug 7 ï 23 Menachem Av

The Israel Center and the Old City Free Loan Association

18th year ï over 4000 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 and 19:00-20:30 ï Please bring ID

Rabbi Adler and Rabbi Gold will resume their shiurim IY"H on Tuesday, August 14th - Rosh Chodesh Elul

Rabbi Abramson's shiur is in recess

Esther Sutton's workshop for women resumes IY"H on Aug. 14

Rabbi Kolatch's Meet the Meforshim is in recess

12:30pm VIDEO SCREENING in the LIBRARY - TUE Aug 7 - ìPerlman in Russiaî - Film of Itzhak Perlmanís historic first tour of Russia which shows Perlman not only as a supreme violinist, but as a man of charisma, wit, charm, and compassion. This video includes Perlmanís special performance in Moscow. (1hr 40m)

Tuesday, Aug. 7, 8:00pm - Dr. David Luchins - Do American Jews still care about Israel?

Wednesday August 8, 24 Menachem Av

Rabbi Macy Gordon will resume IY"H on Aug. 29th

10:45am Parshat HaShavua - Rabbi Yosef Wolicki

various - Shiur/Divrei Torah while you fold

12:30pm VIDEO SCREENING in the LIBRARY - WED WED Aug 8 - ìBirkat Kohanimî - Rabbi Aharon Adler (1hr)

2:30pm Women's Beit Midrash - Pearl Borow - First hour on T'hilim; second hour on Chumash with Rashi

MovieTime at the Israel Center - Wednesday, August 8th 7:30pm No charge - just come and enjoy

Remember the movie E.T.? Never saw it? Want to? Saw it a long time ago? Want to see it again?

Never heard of it? Really? He is afraid. He is totally alone. He is 3 million light years from home.

A group of aliens visit earth and one of them is lost and left behind stranded on this planet. The alien is found by a 10 year old boy, Elliot. Soon the two begin to communicate, and start a different kind of friendship in which E.T learns about life on earth and Elliot learns about some new values for the true meaning of friendship. E.T. wants to go home, but if Elliot helps him, he'll lose a friend

Thursday August 9, 25 Menachem Av

Shiur/Divrei Torah while you fold

11:00am to 12:50pm Torah Secrets - Dr. Hayim Abramson

Friday August 10 26 Menachem Av

9:00am Pirkei Avot - Guest presenter

11:00am RCA Daf Yomi

5:50pm EARLY SHABBAT MINYAN - Mincha before Plag - Please remember: Candles may not be lit before 6:04pm (PLAG)

Upcoming at the Israel Center

Aug. 11th - Shabbat Shiur 5:00pm (Mincha 6:00pm)

Motza"Sh Aug. 11 ï 9:30pm - To be announced

Tuesday, Aug 14, 10:00am to 3:00pm yesha fair

Thursday, August 16th ï TWO comedy shows: (30/25nis each show or 50/45nis for both), 7:30pm English Stand-up: Jerusalem Style with Dave Siegel, DeadFish, Tal Solomon, Susan Block Goldman & Host David Kilimnick

9:30pm David Kilimnick's Frum From Birth - Religiously Oriented Material

Aug. 18th - Shabbat Shiur 5:00pm (Mincha 6:00pm) - Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Poupko

Tuesdays, AUG 7, 14 & 21 - 6:30-9:30pm - Comedy Crash Course: Stand-up 101, Learn to Speak & Present Funny in a week! with David Kilimnick, Three 3-hour seminar classes culminating with a student showcase

For further details 050-875-5688 or www.israelcomedy.com

Orthodox Union

OU Kashrut ï Synagogue Support Services ï NCSY ï NJCD / Yachad / Our Way ï OURadio.org ï Kharkov ï Young Leadership ï Jewish Action ï IPA ï Project Areivim ï OU West Coast

Stephen Savitsky, President, Orthodox Union

Harvey Blitz, Chairman of the Board, Orthodox Union

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Exec. Vice President, OU

Eliezer Edelman, Exec. Dir. Operations and Management

Headquarters: 11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004

212-563-4000 ï website: www.ou.org

OU ISRAEL

Seymour J. Abrams ï Orthodox Union ï Jerusalem World Center

OU Israel Center programs ï Makom BaLev ï Lev Yehudi ï Pearl & Harold M. Jacobs ZULA Center ï Machon Maayan ï NESTO ï Beit Kharkov ï OU Israel Communities ï OU Kashrut in Israel...

Yitzchak Fund, President, OU Israel

Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Senior Vice President

Prof. Meni Koslowsky, Vice President

Rabbi Dovid Cohen, Vaad member

Stuart Hershkowitz, Vaad member

Moshe Kempinski, Vaad member

Sandy Kestenbaum, Vaad member

Zvi Sand, Vaad member

Harvey Wolinetz, Vaad member

Rabbi Avi Berman, Director-General, OU Israel

Menachem Persoff, Director of Programs, Israel Center

Phil Chernofsky, Educational Director and TT editor

22 Keren HaYesod ï POB 37015 ï Jerusalem 91370

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Torah Tidbits

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