DECEMBER 8, KISLEV 5779 PARSHAT MIKETZ Sarah Finegold & Andrew Newton on the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Rena SHABBAT SCHEDULE

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1 Sunday Dec. 9 7:45AM Daf Yomi 8:30AM Shacharit DECEMBER 8, KISLEV 5779 PARSHAT MIKETZ Sarah Finegold & Andrew Newton on the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Rena SHABBAT SCHEDULE EREV SHABBAT 4:10PM Candle-lighting 5:30PM Youth Department Family Dinner (for those who pre-registered) SHABBAT 7:30AM Hashkama Israel Silverstein Morning Midrash with Rabbi Dovid Zirkind will resume next week. 9:00AM Shacharit 9:15AM Hashkama Shiur with Rabbi Dovid Zirkind, Seeing Is Believing: Chanukah's Most Unusual Blessing 9:12AM Sof Zman Kriat Shema 9:30AM Young Leadership (1st floor) 10:00AM Youth Groups 11:15 Dvar Torah from Community Educator, Ora Weinbach, Candles and Community: Where We Light Shows Who We Are 12:20PM Early Minchah (4th floor, Beit Midrash) 2:45PM Bikkur Cholim/Bikkur in the Home (meet at 730 Columbus Ave.) 4:00PM Minchah Daf Yomi Muktzah 101 with Rabbi Dovid Zirkind Seudah Shlishit Speaker, Rabbi Noach Goldstein, Shining Light on Jewish History: The Rambam s Introduction to Hilkhot Chanukah 5:10PM Shabbat Concludes 5:15PM Menorah Lighting & Muscial Havdalah THANK YOU TO OUR KIDDUSH SPONSORS: Community Kiddush: Saul Finkelstein, Anne Friedman & Family in Memory of Bernard Finkelstein Seudah Shlishit Sponsor: Kathy & Milton Parnass in Commemoration of the yahrzeit of Milton's father, Gedaliah Dovid Parnass. (R' Gedaliah Dovid ben R' Nachum) DAILY SERVICE TIMES Monday Dec. 10- Friday Dec. 14 Thursday Dec. 13 7/8AM Shacharit 7/8AM Shacharit 7:45AM Daf Yomi 7:45AM Daf Yomi 4:11PM Candlelighting WOMEN S TEHILLIM GROUP: Monday, December 17, 7:15PM Contact Joyce Weitz for more info. at The Jewish Center SHABBAT BULLETIN COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS MAZAL TOV Sarah Finegold & Andrew Newton on the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Rena Beth & Abe Rosenberg on the engagement of their daughter Zoe to Harrison Silver son of Robert Silver Bill & Radine Spier and family on their children Daniella & David Spier receiving the Visionary Award at the NYC gala dinner for the Chabad of George Washington University CONDOLENCES Robert Goldfarb on the passing of his mother, Sophie Goldfarb Wein Maureen Marcus on the passing of her mother, Evelyn Feder Shira Orenstein on the passing of her father, Rabbi Israel Orenstein THANK YOU TO OUR USHERS Adina and Phil Wagman Thank you to our CSS members whose efforts help maintain a safe shul for our community. Youth Department Family Dinner Thank you to our sponsors: Heidi & Jeff Abraham, Marnie & Scott Black, Aliza Herzberg, Becca & Dovid Herman, Amanda Nussbaum & Daniel Laifer, Dana & Neil Liebowitz, Sarah Finegold & Drew Newton, Sabrina & Guy Salomon Join us Motzei Shabbat at 5:15PM for Menorah Lighting and Musical Havdalah with Cantor Berson followed by Cocoa and Crafts! Enjoy arts and crafts with hot chocolate in The JC lobby. WHY WE CANNOT IGNORE THE UN December 12th at 7:30PM The Jewish Center and Touro College invite the community to a conversation between Justice Elyakim Rubinstein and Irwin Cotler, moderated by Harry Ballan, Dean and Professor of Law at Touro Law Center. To register visit jewishcenter.org. Scholar in Residence Mrs. Esti Rosenberg Shabbat December 15th Seudah Shlishit at 4:30PM Topic: Hashem will not forsake His People Wife, daughter and sister; Destruction and Comfort Mrs. Esti Rosenberg is the Rosh Beit Midrash of the Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women of Yeshivat Har Etzion at Migdal Oz. Teen Boys vs. Clergy Basketball Game December 15 Join out growing list of sponsors! For details and registration visit jewishcenter.org. (See insert for more information). Questions? Sarah@jewishcenter.org The Jewish Center - The Modern Orthodox Center for Jewish Life and Learning 131 W. 86 th Street, New York, NY

2 THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF CHANUKAH Our clergy have prepared a helpful guide for the halachot and minhagim of the Chanukah season. The guide is available for download on our website and print copies are available in the lobby as well. If you have any specific questions, Rabbi Zirkind and Rabbi Goldstein look forward to discussing them with you. Chanukah Sameach! SAVE THE DATE A Tour of the extraordinary and popular Holocaust Tapestry Series of Shoshana Comet (z"l), given by Ted Comet. January 6 at 10:30AM-12:00PM Coffee and pastries will be served. YOUTH EVENTS TEEN WEEKEND EXTRAVAGANZA Friday Night December 14th Middle School Oneg (6th-8th grade) from 7:309:30PM at the home of Ezra Marcus, 225 W 86th St. Please be sure to RSVP in advance on The JC website! High School Oneg 7:45-10PM at the home of Josh Milstein, 100 W 89th Street. Shabbat December 15th Teen Minyan at 9:30AM on the 4th Floor of The JC followed by Teen Kiddush! Saturday Night December 15th Teen vs. Clergy Basketball Game at 7:00PM Visit jewishcenter.org for more information. Questions? sarah@jewishcenter.org JEWISH CENTER UNIVERSITY FALL SEMESTER RUNS THROUGH DECEMBER BEIT MIDRASH UPDATE For more information visit our website or contact Rabbi Dovid Zirkind at dzirkind@jewishcenter.org TUESDAY Talmud Class Rabbi Noach Goldstein 7:45am 8:30am Nosh and Drash With Dr. Adena Berkowitz 10:00AM-11:00AM Tanach 101: Athens vs Jerusalem: War in Tanach and The Iliad Rabbi Noach Goldstein The Sadye and Henry Bayer Tanach Class 8:00 PM The Jewish Center is going to be cleaning out the cubbies and shelves of the Beit Midrash this week. If you have any personal siddurim or property of any kind in the Beit Talmud 101 Midrash please remove Ora Weinbach, Community Educator it so it does not get October 24th, 31st and November 14th and misplaced. Thank you! WEDNESDAY An Introduction To The World of Mussar: The Writings of Rav Eliyahu Dessler Rabbi Dovid Zirkind Oct.10- Dec.12 at 11:00 am 28th at 8:00pm In addition, anyone who has borrowed books from the library, Muktzah 101 kindly return them soon Rabbi Dovid Zirkind so we can asses what Shabbat Afternoons needs to be replaced Between Minchah and Maariv in the main in the coming weeks. SHABBAT sanctuary

3 Cooper Hewitt Guided Tour Last Sunday, YL hosted a guided tour at The Cooper Hewitt Museum to explore the designs of Marguerita Mergentime. Her granddaughter, Virginia Bayer Hirt, explained how Marguerita was inspired by colors and conversations and how she pushed the boundaries of women in business in the 1930's. Her designs were certainly ahead of the time, and she was a truly fascinating and remarkable woman. Thank you to everyone who came, and thank you to Virginia for bringing the exhibit to life. National Menorah Lighting Ceremony at the White House Cantors Yaakov Motzen, Zevi Muller and our very own Chaim Dovid Berson where invited to lead the ceremony. AIPAC Policy Conference 2019 Sunday March 24-26, 2019 in Washington, DC Registration for the conference costs $599, but if you purchase a ticket through The Jewish Center, you will pay $399, a $200 discount. Contact the Jewish Center office for more information and to purchase your ticket. Only 7 tickets left!

4 Rabbi Noach Goldstein, Assistant Rabbi Parshat Miketz May God Make You Like Ephraim and Menashe The Midrash (e.g. Shemot Rabbah 1:32) classically teaches that Bnei Yisrael merited the redemption from Egypt because they refused to abandon their names and their language. In this, as in so many areas, they had Yosef to thank for taking the lead, as Yosef gives his sons Hebrew names even though he is the only Ivri in the entire country. The courage of Yosef s decision cannot be taken for granted. We know that the Egyptians despised and disdained the Ivrim this week we learn that they would not even break bread together with them and no less than Pharaoh himself felt political pressure to Egyptianize his new viceroy, giving him an Egyptian name (one that does not seem to stick) and a wife from a prestigious Egyptian family. And yet, when Menashe and Ephraim are born, Yosef resolutely gives them Hebrew names. The Meshech Chochma notes that the Chumash changes its regular formulation when Yosef names his children. Whenever Rachel and Leah name a son, they verbally announce the reason for the name. In contrast, while the Chumash narrates Yosef s thoughts when he chose the names Menashe and Ephraim, Yosef never speaks those thoughts aloud. Living in a foreign land hostile to his values and his heritage, Yosef carved out the space for his family to maintain its distinct identity. The Egyptians who would not deign to eat at his table would not learn the meaning behind the names of his children; that would just be a secret shared only between them and God. The names themselves indicate the wellsprings of spiritual resolve and optimism that Yosef marshaled. The verse describing Menashe s name uses an unclear phrase: Yosef reflects that Nashani Elokim from his troubles and his father s house. R. Hirsch argues that the root word is nosheh (creditor) and explains Yosef s intent as follows: What had seemed to me until now as disaster and misfortune [being sold into slavery], God has transformed into the means of achieving my joy, so that I am deeply indebted to my misfortune and my family. Yosef so strongly senses the divine plan that landed him in Egypt that he views his travails with gratitude rather than bitterness, and he stamps that recognition onto his firstborn son. Then, once again, when Ephraim is born, Yosef s optimistic faith asserts itself. The name of the second he called Ephraim, for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. (The Meshech Chochma could note that it would be politically challenging if Yosef s description of Egypt as the land of my affliction became public knowledge...) Yosef aims not merely to survive in Egypt, but to thrive and to multiply, to continue the legacy of the blessing that God gave to Avraham all the way back in Parshat Lech Lecha. Interestingly, a certain dialectic emerges in the attitude underlying the names of Ephraim and Menashe. On the one hand, Yosef s decision to give them specifically Hebrew names, and to keep the meaning of those names hidden, demonstrates an effort to maintain substantial distance from the infamous Egyptian society where he found himself. But on the other hand, the meaning of the names themselves indicated that Yosef would not inculcate a beleaguered, hunkered-down mentality in his family, but rather one of bold faith, optimism, and opportunity. It is no accident then that as Israel s Egyptian exile begins at the end of Sefer Bereshit the first of many exiles we would endure Yaakov famously blessed his Egyptian-Israelite grandchildren, By you shall Israel bless, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and Menashe. ISRAEL UPDATE December 8, 2018 White House Asks Arab Countries to Support UN Resolution Against Hamas The Trump administration has reached out to a number of key Arab countries with the request to support a UN resolution condemning Hamas, which will come to a vote before the UN General Assembly on Thursday. The administration hopes these Arab countries will support the resolution despite attempts by the Palestinian Authority to impede it. Trump s special representative to the Middle East peace process, Jason Greenblatt, sent a letter on the subject to diplomats from Morocco, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar. In the letter, Greenblatt urged them not to join the PA s efforts against the resolution. A U.S. administration official told Haaretz on Tuesday that Greenblatt noted in his letter that the resolution denounces Hamas for its terrorist acts, but at the same time, calls to support the efforts for Palestinian political unity. He said that countries which oppose terrorism and want stability in the region have no reason to oppose the resolution. Our synagogue partners with AIPAC, America s pro-israel lobby, in educating our community on issues affecting the U.S.-Israel relationship. We encourage you to learn more by contacting AIPAC at (202) or by visiting Yosie Levine Rabbi Dovid Zirkind Associate Rabbi Noach Goldstein Assistant Rabbi Chaim David Berson Cantor Ora Weinbach Community Educator Eliezer Buechler William Fischman Rabbinic Intern Aaron Strum Executive Director Batsheva Leibtag Director of Programming and Communications Sarah Cromwell Youth Director OFFICERS Andrew Borodach President Mark Segall First Vice President Len Berman Vice President Aliza Herzberg Vice President Michael Jacobs Vice President Scott Black Treasurer Daniel Solomons Assistant Treasurer Naomi Goldman Secretary LOCAL RESOURCES Yoetzet Halacha Shiffy Friedman nycyoetzet@gmail.com Jewish Center Chevra Kadisha x555 UWS Mikvah Hatzoloh Eruv Status x4

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6 Joshua Alge Melissa Appel Avi Baron Faygel Beren Shai Berkowitz Sara Birnbaum Joshua Block Aliza Blond Simone Blond Danya Bocarsly Rebecca Buchwald Atara Burian Sheryl Chuven Elie Cohen Dylan Cooper Ethan Cooper David Deutscher Abbie Dinowitz Stewart Doberman Sophie Edelman Zachary Federbush Colby Foster Mara Friedman Eli Gancz Aryeh Ginsburg Akiva Gluck Aryeh Gold Amanda Goldsmith Jonathan Goldstein Tamar Aliya Gomolin Ari Greenblatt Debby Greenstein Jonathan Herszfeld Joel Hyman Dov Kalton Michal Kaplan-Nadel Moshe Klein Sara Klein Daniel Kohanim Jane Komsky Leora Kurtz Marianna Lamnina Isaac Laufer Michael Lefkovits Eliezer Lefkowitz Aaron Lesser Kayla Levinson David Levy Meir Lichtenberg Daniel Lieberman Betsy Magilnick Joshua Mark Asher Marks Melanie Malc Steven Miller Suzanne Miller Adam Neuman Marni Ornstein Ilan Portnoy David Quintas Jessica Reich Toby Reiter Ian Richmond Ari Rosenberg Yael Rosenrauch Aliza Rubin Ricki Rubin Meryl Salpeter Elana Sand Tamar Schaum Lisa Schechter Karen Segal Talya Seidman Ellie Selevan Eta Siegel Avi Silvermetz Shira Siskind Justin Spiro Arielle Stein Rebecca Stein Stern Sarah Sarah Stern Joshua Strauss Steven Strauss Joel Sussman Chaim Szachtel Howard Tepper Avi Turk Brian Turk Alana Warhit Ilana Weinberger David Weintraub Steven Wengrofsky Renee Wietschner Estee Williams Zev Williams Mendel Zecher Samantha Zwick Its never too late to make the Jewish Center your home! Join today by visiting jewishcenter.org