בס ד CLAREMONT WYNBERG HEBREW CONGREGATION

Transcription

1 בס ד CLAREMONT WYNBERG HEBREW CONGREGATION GOOD SHABBOS # 788 PARSHAT HAAZINU SHABBAT SHUVAH 22/23 SEPTEMBER TISHREI 5778 Artscroll Living Torah PARSHA: Pg 1100 Pg 1024 HAFTORAH (SHUVAH): Pg 1204 Pg 1247 IT MAKES YOU STRONG When Angelina Jolie announced that she was seeking a divorce from her husband Brad Pi in September 2016, the entertainment world was thrown into disarray and shock. The couple have been married for two years, have been together for twelve years and have six children, three of whom are adopted. They became known as Brangelina and were considered the hoest couple in Hollywood since Jolie was accused of causing Pi s 2005 divorce from actress Jennifer Aniston, when the two co-starred in a film together. There were so many rumours circula.ng on the internet about why they were ge/ng divorced that I could get no clarity at all. These included: him having an affair with a co-star, differences in paren.ng habits and, for all I know, alien abduc.ons. Many expressed their dismay and shock that such a perfect marriage had come to an end, but I was completely not shocked. This was en.rely predictable as is almost any Hollywood break-up. The ques.on is not if it will happen, but only when. Many theories have been advanced as to why these marriages end so soon: Actors and actresses spend a great deal of.me away from their spouses and this puts a strain on the marriage. They are constantly working with other handsome and beau.ful co-stars and this leads to infidelity. Hollywood is a place with very poor values where life is about money and fame and these are not conducive to marriage. Celebri.es live under the ever-watchful eye of the public and are hounded by the paparazzi. They have very lile privacy. My theory has always been that they are never content. They suffer from chronic discontent. They feel they can always do beer than what they have now. Here is another theory: They cannot manage when life becomes difficult. They seek happiness and a pain-free existence and when that doesn t happen, they remove the source of the difficulty hoping they will then find happiness again. This becomes a vicious cycle. In Moshe s famous song of rebuke and encouragement in our parsha, he begins (Devarim 32:1-2): Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and may the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop like the rain, may my uerance flow like the dew; like storm winds upon vegetaon and like raindrops upon blades of grass. Rashi explains the metaphor as follows: Just as the storm winds strengthen the vegeta.on and cause it to flourish, so too the words of Torah strengthen those who learn them and cause them to grow. The strong winds force the trees and other forms of vegeta.on to send down deep and strong roots, anchoring them firmly in the ground. Without them, the vegeta.on would easily be swept away. Likewise the words of Torah are powerful and challenging and inculcate strength into her scholars, allowing them to deal with life s hardships. The Talmud (Brachot 5a) makes a fascina.ng remark, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said, The Holy One, blessed is He, gave three wonderful gids to the Na.on of Israel, and all of them were given with hardships. These are they: the Torah, the Land of Israel and the World to Come The Torah is the most wonderful repository of knowledge but mastery of it does not come

2 without a life.me of toil. The Land of Israel is a gorgeous country flowing with milk and honey but it is not easy to acquire and is even harder to keep hold of. The World to Come is the des.na.on for all serenity, peace and spiritual pleasure but it can only be aained by those who have lived a good life and have remained commied to the Torah s values. One only merits these gids by overcoming the difficul.es that they come with. In Proverbs (24:16) King Solomon states, For though the righteous one may fall seven.mes, he will arise, but the wicked ones will stumble through evil. The commentary Metzudat David explains, Even if the righteous one falls seven.mes, he will keep ge/ng up but the wicked fall with no chance of arising when evil befalls them. Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner ( , Europe, USA and Israel, in Pachad Yitzchak, Leers, 128), one of the great Roshei Yeshiva of the 20 th century, wrote to a student who was struggling with depression and disappointment: Certainly you have stumbled and will stumble again, and in many bales you will fall lame. I promise you, though, that ader those losing campaigns you will emerge from the war with laurels of victory on your head The wisest of men said, A righteous man falls seven.mes, but rises again. Fools believe the intent of the verse is to teach us something remarkable that the righteous man falls seven.mes and, despite this, he rises. But the knowledgeable are aware that the essence of the righteous man s rising again is because of his seven falls. In his touching and oden humorous book The Rabbi and the Nuns, Rabbi Dr Abraham Twerski records the advice he offered the nuns with whom he worked at the St Francis hospital in Pisburgh. The following is most relevant to our discussion (pages ): Sister D. had not yet made her final vows. She consulted me because she was in doubt as to whether she should indeed be a nun Another thing is that I m finding my spiritual growth painful. The demands on my personal life are hard to take. I know it will make me a beer person, but it is nevertheless very uncomfortable. I don t know whether my mo.va.on is strong enough to withstand the discomfort. Sister complained of the pain engendered by spiritual demands. I told her that a lecturer asked the audience, How many things have you learned from pleasurable experiences? No one raised their hands. How many things have you learned from unpleasant experiences? A number of hands were raised. I told Sister about what I had read in a magazine in a den.st s wai.ng room. The ar.cle was called How Do Lobsters Grow? Come to think of it, how can a lobster grow? It is encased in a rigid shell that does not expand. The answer is that when the lobster grows, the shell becomes confining and oppressive. The lobster then retreats under a rock to be safe from predatory fish, sheds the shell, and produces a more spacious one. As the lobster con.nues to grow, the new shell eventually becomes oppressive, and the lobster repeats the process of shedding the confining shell and producing a larger shell. This process is repeated un.l it has reached its maximum growth. So much for the ar.cle. Interes.ng, huh? But don t overlook the crucial point. The signal the lobster has that it s.me to shed the shell is discomfort. If lobsters had access to doctors, they might never grow. Why? Because when they felt the discomfort of the oppressive shell, they would get a prescrip.on for a painkiller or a tranquilizer. With the discomfort gone, they would not shed the shell and produce a more spacious one. They would die as.ny lile lobsters. For human beings, too, discomfort is oden a signal that it s.me to grow. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Liebenberg Rabbi s YouTube message for Rosh Hashanah is hps://youtu.be/p3aoxrnbuiy Rabbi s YouTube message for this week s parsha is hps://youtu.be/dyvpie5p2nm

3 SHABBAT TIMES 17:27 *Earliest candle ligh.ng.me from an exis7ng flame 18:24 Candle ligh.ng.me 18:00 Mincha followed by Kabbalat Shabbat 18:42 Sunset 18:15 Children s Service 09:00 Shacharit followed by Kiddush Bracha luncheon 09:36 Latest.me to fulfil the mitzvah of reading the Shemah Approx 12:30 Shabbat Shuvah Shiur following the Kiddush Bracha 10:30 Children s Service 13:15 Mincha 19:21 Shabbat ends 19:35 Maariv THE HAFTORAH WILL BE READ BY RABBI LIEBENBERG *IMPORTANT NOTE FOR LADIES: It is customary to light candles 18 minutes before sunset but one may light earlier. In case of an emergency, one may light within the 18 minutes, provided it is s.ll before sunset. CURRENT WEEKDAY TIMES SHACHARIT Mondays and Thursdays - 06:30 Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays - 06:40 Sundays and public holidays - 08:00 MINCHA AND MAARIV Sundays to Fridays - 18:00 DAILY: Gemorah Shiur (Tractate Shabbat) Between Mincha and Maariv CWHC For details of all shiurim contact the office at info@clarewynshul.co.za Following Shacharit Mondays to Fridays. A short halachic shiur with an opportunity to Ask The Rabbi. MONDAY: 20:00 Parsha shiur for gentlemen will resume 16 October. TUESDAY: 13:00-14:00 Lunch.me shiur at the offices of Berk Enterprises will resume 17 October. WEDNESDAY: 09:00-10:00 20:00-22:00 20:00 THURSDAY: 10:00-11:00 11:00-11:30 SHABBAT: Pirkei Avot - Ethics of our Fathers shiur with Rebbetzin Lee will resume 18 October. Yeshiva learning sessions. Contact Vanessa on / / office@yeshiva.org.za Shaarei Teshuvah shiur for ladies with Rabbi Liebenberg - next shiur 27 September. Ladies Parsha shiur with Rabbi Liebenberg will resume 19 October. Ladies Tehillim group. Shiur following the Kiddush Bracha. Rabbi Liebenberg will speak on the topic, Confron7ng our personal demons.

4 SELICHOT SCHEDULE 2017 Selichot are prayers for forgiveness that are recited from a few days before Rosh Hashanah un.l the eve of Yom Kippur. Selichot is followed by Shacharit and gemorah shiur. Join us thereader for freshly-brewed coffee! 07:30 Sunday 24 September (Fast of Gedaliah) Fast begins at 05:20 and ends at 19:02 07:30 Monday 25 September (public holiday) 06:15 Tuesday 26, Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 September 06:15 Friday 29 September (Erev Yom Kippur) Remember to bring charity money for kapparot

5 SOCIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS WELCOME Rabbi Ephraim Levitz who is conduc.ng services on the High Holidays and on Shabbat Shuvah. Oren Katzeff who is visi.ng his family for Yom Tov and will be reading the Torah this Shabbat. TZAITCHEM L SHALOM Ian and Heather Blumenthal and Irene and Ian Berman who are going to Israel for their granddaughter s Bat Mitzvah. Leah Blumenthal who is moving to Israel to study at the IDC in Herzlia. MAZAL TOV Eric and Wendy Berger and Rita Shorkend on the engagement of their son and grandson, Eitan, to Shoshan Zarfaty in Israel. Josh Todes on being awarded his Master s Degree in Counter Terrorism Studies at the Louder School of Government at the IDC in Israel. Birthdays: Friday 22 September Sunya Maltz Saturday 23 September Lauren Klein Sunday 24 September Gali Davimes, Coryn Katz, Alana Shapiro Monday 25 September David Bloch Tuesday 26 September Farrell Bernberg, Paula Penkin Wednesday 27 September Cecilia Kark, Jake Young Thursday 28 September Ryan Kaplan Anniversaries: Sunday 24 September Ronnie and Linda Levinsohn Monday 25 September Colin and Janet Wolfsohn CONDOLENCES We extend sincere condolences to Janice Bloch and David Bloch on the passing of their brother and uncle, Charles Odes. May they be consoled amongst those who mourn for Zion and Jerusalem. Condolences are extended to all family members. CONSECRATION The consecra.on of the tombstone for the late Jos Gatz will take place this Sunday 24 September at 10:30 at Pinelands 2. UPCOMING SPONSORSHIPS 14 October Kiddush Bracha: Louis and Sonia Karol Ice Cream Table: Janice Bloch and Temma Gad Please call the office if you would like to sponsor a Kiddush Bracha, Ice Cream Table, Cake Table or Children s Table. LULAV AND ETROG ORDERS Contact Felicia at the office if you would like to order a Lulav and Etrog set. Orders close Tuesday 26 September at 12 noon. SUCCAH DECORATING Decora.ng of the shul succah will take place on Sunday 1 October at 11:30. All welcome. UPCOMING PROGRAMMES AND EVENTS Please contact the shul office for details. SECURITY Thank you to our team on duty this week. HOSPITAL OR HOME VISITS Should you, or someone you know, be ill at home or going into hospital and would like a visit from a member of our sick-visi.ng commiee, please contact Felicia at the office. PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE FROM SHUL PREMISES ON SHABBAT