Welcome to the DAT Minyan! Shabbat Ki Sisa March 3, Adar 5778 Joseph Friedman, Rabbi David Fishman, President

Transcription

1 Welcome to the DAT Minyan! Shabbat Ki Sisa March 3, Adar 5778 Joseph Friedman, Rabbi David Fishman, President Candle Lighting Havdalah 5:34 pm 6:34 pm Shabbat Schedule Please help make our prayer service more meaningful by by refraining from talking during the service. FRIDAY 5:25 5:35 pm: Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Maariv, (Shema should be be recited after after 6:25 6:33 pm) pm) SHABBAT SHABBAT Parasha: Parasha: / / Haftarah: Haftarah: :30 am: Hashkama Minyan 7:30 am: Hashkama Minyan 8:25 am: Daf Yomi 8:25 am: Daf Yomi 8:30 am: Tefillah Warm-up with Ellyn Hutt 8:30 am: Tefillah Warm-up with Ellyn Hutt 9:00 am: Shacharit 9:00 am: Shacharit Kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored Kiddush this Shabbat anonymously is sponsored by Sara and Harley Rotbart in honor of the upcoming 4:00 marriage pm: HS Boys of their Gemara daughter, w/ Nathan Emily, to Eitan Rabinovitch Danon, son at of the Arleen Rabinovitch and Bentzi home Danon, and in 5:15 honor pm: of Mincha, the special followed birthdays by Seudah of their Shlisheet parents, Helen Rotbart and Ruth and Gene Schorsch Seudah Shlisheet is sponsored by the shul 4:25 pm: HS Boys Gemara w/ Rabbi Leib 5:35 Zalesch pm: at Shabbat the Zalesch Mishna home, w/ Howie 315 S. Shapiro Newport Way 6:26 pm: Maariv / Havdalah 5:25 pm: Mincha, followed by Seudah Shlisheet 7:15 pm: Mish Mosh (the final Mish Mosh of the season) Seudah Shlisheet is sponsored by the shul 6:34 pm: Maariv / Havdalah Weekday Schedule Weekday Schedule Sunday: 8:00 am Monday-Tuesday: SHACHARIT 6:35 am SEE Sunday: COMPLETE 8:00 am PURIM SCHEDULE ON PAGE Monday Friday: 6:35 am MINCHA/MAARIV MINCHA/MAARIV Sunday Friday: 5:40 pm D var Torah with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Comparing two of the most famous events in the Torah, we face what seems like a glaring contradiction. In this week s parsha, Moses on the mountain is told by God to go down to the people. They have made a golden calf. Moses descends, holding in his hands the holiest object of all time, the two tablets carved and inscribed by God Himself. As he reached the foot of the mountain, he saw the people dancing around the calf. In his anger, he threw down the tablets and broke them to pieces (Ex. 32:19). It was a public display of anger. Yet Moses was not criticised for this act, done entirely of his own accord. Resh Lakish, commenting on the verse in which God commands Moses to carve a new set of tablets to replace the ones which you broke (Ex. 34:1), says that God was, in effect, giving His approval to Moses deed. The sages went further. The concluding verses of the Torah state, No other prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, who knew the Lord knew face to face or in any of the mighty hand and awesome wonders Moses displayed in the sight of all Israel (Deut. 34:10-12). On the phrase mighty hand, they said that it refers to the breaking of the tablets. In other words, it is seen as one of his greatest acts of courage and leadership. Many years later Moses was faced with another crisis. The people had arrived at Kadesh. There was no water. The people complained. Once again, Moses displayed anger. Told by God to speak to the rock, he struck it twice, and water gushed out. This time, however, instead of being praised for what he did, God said to him, Because you did not trust in Me to sanctify Me in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them (Num. 20:12). The difficulties in this passage are well-known. What was Moses sin? And was not the punishment disproportionate? My concern here, though, is simply with the comparison between the two events. In both cases, the people were running out of control. In both cases, Moses performed a gesture of anger. Why was one commended, the other condemned? Why was a show of anger appropriate in one case but not in the other? Is anger always wrong when shown by a leader, or is it sometimes necessary? The answer is provided by Maimonides in his law code, the Mishneh Torah. In his Laws of Character, he tells us that in general we should follow the middle way in the emotional life. But there are two emotions about which Maimonides says that we should not follow the middle way, but should instead strive to eliminate them entirely from our emotional life: pride and anger. About anger he says this: Anger is an extremely bad attribute, and one should distance oneself from it by going to the other extreme. One should train oneself not to get angry, even about something to which anger might be the appropriate response The ancient sages said, One who yields to anger is as if he had worshipped idols. They also said, Whoever yields to anger, if he is wise, his wisdom deserts him, and if he is a prophet, his prophecy leaves him. And The life of an (Continued on 4) Learning the DAT Minyan Kitzur Shulchan Aruch: Daily, after Shacharit Daf Yomi Shiur (30 min): Sun Fri after Shacharit and 8:25 am on Shabbat Mishnayot: Daily, between Mincha and Maariv Halacha Chaburah: Sun, 10:00 am 11:00 am Wed. Evening Jewish History Class: 7:30 pm, next class topic, The British Mandate Thu. Evening Mishmar: 8:00 pm (Continued on page 4) DAT Minyan is a dynamic and friendly Modern Orthodox synagogue for all ages and dedicated to meaningful personal spiritual development, community growth, youth involvement, Torah education, and Religious Zionism. DAT Minyan E. Alameda Ave. Denver, CO

2 DAT MINYAN NEWS, EVENTS AND LEARNING Monday, March 19th, is our Annual Event honoring Rachel and Nathan Rabinovitch at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Join us for a fabulous evening, featuring a delicious dinner reception and amazing private tour of the Dead Sea Scrolls, with special tributes to our honorees throughout the night and a community siyuum. RSVP at To select a parsha for the siyuum: action=p&id=460&a2=ch_view (the password is DAT Minyan). All able Torah leiners are encouraged to sign-up to lein one or more aliyot for any upcoming Shabbos. The sign-up website, lists all the open slots through early May (after Pesach) in need of your ability to help us carry out this central segment of the Shabbos morning service. Sign-up takes about 15 seconds, and can be done weeks in advance, giving you plenty of time to prepare. We have also made advance sign-up easy (via the same website) for those interested in participating by chanting a Haftorah, again allowing plenty of time for those who'd like time to brush-up on a Haftorah previously chanted, or to learn one they've not done yet. Please contact Steve Hutt with questions or for more information. Please check the lost and found every month to see if any of your lost belongings are there. It is located right near the main entrance doors. The school donates all remaining items at the end of each month. To view Board Meeting notes online: The DAT Minyan, in partnership with Religious Zionists of America, presents a Scholar-in-Residence Shabbaton celebrating Israel s 70th birthday, April 13th and 14th, featuring guest speaker, Rabbi Stewart Weiss. Rabbi Weiss is a columnist for the Jerusalem Post and Director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra anana. A noted speaker on the topic of coping with loss and maintaining faith in the shadow of tragedy, Rabbi Weiss draws upon his own experiences, having lost his 20-year-old son in battle against Hamas terrorists in Rabbi Weiss will be speaking Shabbat afternoon, April 14th. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS The MB Glassman Foundation Avos U Banim final Melava Malka will take place this Motzei Shabbos, March 3rd at YTC! Learning is at 7:45 pm, Melava Malka at 8:30 pm. Cost: $2/child, $4/nonmembers. All regular Avos Ubanim Participants will receive a special Sefer! These seforim have been generously donated by Dr. Philip and Mrs. Leah Mehler, in memory of Dr. Irving Mehler. The Denver Community Kollel will celebrate 20 years of Torah Eternity with a groundbreaking for its Kollel Torah Center on Tuesday, March 6th, 6:30 pm at the 20th Anniversary Celebration Pavilion, located at the future site of the Kollel Torah Center, 5080 W. 14th Ave. To reserve or place an ad in the Celebration Journal, visit denverkollel.org, journal@denverkollel.org, or call Yeshiva Toras Chaim Ladies Auxiliary invites the community to their Annual Melave Malka featuring musical entertainment by star singer Mendy J, Saturday evening, March 10th, 8:30 pm, at YTC MB Glassman Foundation Community Social Hall, 1555 Stuart Street. Dine with International Cuisine while viewing a fabulous array of auction items. For reservations and for more information, please call Estelle Klubock at or Yeshiva at , or online at ytcinfo@ytc.edu. The CELL is offering special complimentary tickets to our upcoming forum, Crisis & Clarity in the Middle East, on March 13 at The Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The event features His Royal Highness Prince Feisal Ibn Al-Hussein, of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Ambassador Dennis Ross, Middle East policy adviser to five U.S. presidents, and Catherine Herridge, Chief Intelligence correspondent for Fox News Channel, this critical forum will address current security concerns in the Middle East and what the future holds for both the U.S. s and Jordan s involvement. Reserve complimentary tickets at using promo code: CELLEngage18. Back by popular demand, Denver Academy of Torah s 8th grade class is selling disposable foil pans, plastic containers, and plastic dinnerware for Passover and year-round to raise money for their Immmersion Trip to Washington, DC. Support the school with your purchases. Deadline to place your order is March 14, 2018 with anticipated availability for pickup March 26, For more information or to place your order:

3 MORE DAT MINYAN EVENTS AND LEARNING Calendar of Events March 2 nd - 4 th : Southwest NCSY Spring Regional 6 th : Beit Midrash Night 7 th : Belleview Latte N Learning 11 th : Leetsdale Latte N Learning 14 th : Belleview Latte N Learning 18 th : Leetsdale Latte N Learning 20 th : Beit Midrash Night 21 st : Belleview Latte N Learning 24 th : Shabbat w/ DeNCSY 25 th : Leetsdale Latte N Learning 28 th : Belleview Latte N Learning April: 11 th : Belleview Latte N Learning 12 th : Denver NCSY Yom Hashoa Program 15 th : Leetsdale Latte N Learning 17 th : Beit Midrash Night 21 st : Shabbat w/ DeNCSY 21 st : Party with DeNCSY 22 nd : Leetsdale Latte N Learning 25 th : Belleview Latte N Learning NCSY and DAT Teen Minyan Shabbat, March 17th at 9:30 am

4 YOUTH ANNOUNCEMENTS Join us for Shabbat Mishna Class Geared for parent and child learning- 5th grade and up. Open to all who'd like to attend. Where: DAT Kindergarten room. When: Shabbat afternoon (resumes 3/10) between Mincha and Maariv Details: We will explore how to dissect a Mishna and explore the text analytically. Ideal for pre-gemarah prep. No previous background required. English and Hebrew text will be provided. Rabbi Sacks (Continued from page 1) irascible person is not a life. Therefore they have instructed us to keep far from anger, training ourselves to stay calm even in the face of provocation. This is the right way. However he adds an important qualification: If one wants to instil reverence in his children and family, or in public if he is the head of the community, and his desire is to show them his anger so as to bring them back to the good, he should appear to be angry with them so as to reprove them, but he must inwardly remain calm as if he were acting the part of an angry man, but in reality he is not angry at all. According to Maimonides, the emotion of anger is always the wrong response. We may not be able to help feeling it, but we should be aware that while it lasts we are in the grip of an emotion we cannot control. That is what makes anger so dangerous. It is, to use Daniel Kahneman s terminology, thinking fast when we ought to be thinking slow. What then are we to do? Maimonides, here and elsewhere, adopts a position that has been strikingly vindicated by neuroscientists discovery of the plasticity of the brain. Intensive training over a prolonged period rewires our neural circuitry. We can develop new patterns of response, initially through intense self-control, but eventually through habit. This is particularly hard to do in the case of anger, which is why we have to work so hard to eliminate it from our emotional repertoire. But, says Maimonides, there is a fundamental difference between feeling anger and showing it. Sometimes it is necessary for a parent, teacher or leader to demonstrate anger to look angry even if you aren t. It has a shock effect. When someone in authority displays anger, the person or group it is directed against is in danger, and knows it. It is almost like administering an electric shock, and it is often effective in bringing a person or group to order. It is, though, a very high-risk strategy. There is a danger it will provoke an angry response, making the situation worse not better. It is a weapon to be used only rarely, but sometimes it is the only way. The key question then becomes: is this a moment when anger is called for or not? That calls for careful judgement. When people are dancing around an idol, anger is the right response. But when there is no water and the people are crying out in thirst, it is the wrong one. Their need is real, even if they do not express it in the right way. So, to summarise: we should never feel anger. But there are times when we should show it. These are few and far between, but they exist. I say this because of one of my own most life-changing experiences. There was a time when I smoked a pipe. It was the wrong thing to do and I knew it. There is a mitzvah to take care of your health, and smoking harms you badly in multiple ways. Yet there is such a thing as addiction, and it can be very hard to cure even when you are fully aware of how badly you are injuring yourself and others. For years I tried to give it up, and repeatedly failed. Then someone I respected greatly became angry with me. It was a cool anger, but it felt like a slap in the face. It cured me. The shock was so great that I stopped and never smoked again. The experience of being on the receiving end of someone s anger changed my life. It may even have saved my life. This was a difficult discovery. When you are a leader, you are often at the receiving end of people s anger. You learn to live with it and not let it depress or deflect you. However when someone who clearly cares for you, gets angry with you, not because he or she disagrees with you, but simply because they see you doing yourself harm, it can change your life in a way few other things can. You come to see the point of Maimonides distinction as well. Therapeutic anger, if we can call it that, is done not out of emotion but out of careful, deliberate judgment that this is what the situation calls for right now. The person who delivers the shock is not so much feeling anger as showing it. That is what makes it all the more shocking. There are families and cultures where anger is used all too often. This is abusive and harmful. Anger is bad for the person who feels it and often for the one who receives it. But sometimes there are situations that demand it, where putting up with someone s bad behaviour is damaging, and where making excuses for it can become a form of co-dependency. Friends and family, intending no more than to be tolerant and kind, in effect make it easy for the person to stay addicted to bad habits, at a cost to his and others happiness. Maimonides on Moses teaches us that we should try to conquer our feelings of anger. But when we see someone or a group acting wrongly, we may have to show anger even if we don t feel it. People sometimes need that shock to help them change their lives.

5 DAT MINYAN MEMBER MILESTONES The DAT Minyan wishes to acknowledge the following milestones* of our members in the coming week: Evan Kornbluth, Rachel Kornbluth, Emma Loewenthal, Benjamin Mezer, Naomi Miriam Miller, Yoshi Polotsky, Chava Riemer, Ronald Rubin, Robert Wilkin, Ahuva Kayla Zalesch Eric and Chava Riemer 10 years Maurice Dobro Wed., 3/7/18 (20 Adar) June Goldstein Sat., 3/10/18 (23 Adar II) Walter Brooks Fri., 3/9/18 (22 Adar) *These details were obtained from the DAT Minyan database, which contains information provided by the members when they joined. We apologize for any omissions or mistakes. For corrections or additions, please log on to your account and update the information, or contact the synagogue office at This Day In Jewish History - 3 Mar / 16 Adar 16 Adar, 42 C.E. King Herod Agrippa I begins construction of a gate for the Jerusalem wall. Under the reign of Agrippa I, Judean Jews began to prosper and live comfortably. He followed orthodox Jewish policies which earned him the friendship of the Jewish people, striving for a balance between Roman authority and Jewish autonomy. Unfortunately, his objectives were never realized as he died two years later and Judea once again returned to provincial status. 16 Adar, 1656 The Jews of New Amsterdam (eventually to become New York) are denied the right to build a synagogue by the well-known anti-semitic Governor, Peter Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant frequently subjected the Jews to indignities, denying them the right to serve in the military and forcing them to pay extra taxes. As for Stuyvesant's refusal to allow a synagogue, history would take revenge. On this same date in 1897, the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University in New York, was incorporated as America's first Orthodox Jewish rabbinical seminary. March 3, 1801 David Emanuel, originally believed to be the first U.S. Jewish governor, takes office in Georgia as the state s 24th governor upon the resignation of James Jackson. Emanuel only served until November 7th of that year, the remainder of Jackson s term, and did not seek re-election. Early historians believed Emanuel was Jewish, though few records of his life exist. More contemporary historians have debunked the notion that Emanuel was actually Jewish, and have concluded that Moses Alexander, the 11th governor of Idaho, was probably the first elected Jewish U.S. governor. Refuah Shelayma Please include the following names in your prayers. May each be granted a Refuah Shelayma. Names are kept on the list until the next Rosh Chodesh. Help us keep the list accurate by verifying the necessary details each month on the Cholim Document at Baruch Getzel ha Cohen ben Esther Bella bat Malka Bluma bat Marsha Borukh ben Eydya Carmel ben Tirtza Chaim Shmuel ben Miriam Chaim Tuvia ben Dina Chana Yetta bat Bryna Channa Bat Henny Rus Chaya Chanah Elisheva Rivka bat Sarah Chaya Miriam bat Shoshana Chaya Orah bat Sarah Chaya Talia bat Shayna Leah Devorah Leah bat Chanah Dinah bat Chayala Doniel ben Chana Dovid ben Laya Dovid ben Leah Eliyahu Chaim ha Cohen ben Sara Rifka Eliyahu Dovid ben Ita Sheiva Ephraim ben Henna Eunice bat Sarah Faige bat Sarah Hadassah bat Fruma Rahel Hillel Yerachmiel ben Ariella Kalia bat Miriam Leah Devora Kivitiya bat Chaya Leya bat Sara Lyudmila bat Roza Malka bat Sarah Michael ben Leah Michel ben Leah Michoel Zisel ben Barbara Miriam Tova Chaya bat Chanah Moshe Hersh ben Penina Nataniel ben Elisheva Noa Shani bat Chaya Bracha Raphael Yotam ben Efrat Reuven Yehoshua ben Nechama Rifka bat Leah Roshka bat Bryna Sara Chana bat Shaina Sarah Shoshanna bat Sarah Shoshanna bat Smadar Shoshanna Miriam bat Chanah Tirtza bat Sarah Tomas ben Galit Tova bat Nechama Yehuda Mordechai Shrage ben Roiza Feige Yehudit bat Leah Yisroel ben Chana Pesel Yosef ben Bruria Katrina Yona Malka bat Pola Yosef ben Malka

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