EXPRESS HOW MANY APPLES IS THAT FOR ROSH HASHANA? AVOT CHAPTER 5 & 6 ROSH HASHANA MON-TUES, SEP MOSAIC EXPRESS 1

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1 ב"ה Elul 27, Friday, September 7, 2018 נצבים NITZAVIM TORAH PORTION Candle Lighting: 7:02 pm Shabbat Ends: 8:04 pm EXPRESS AVOT CHAPTER 5 & 6 ROSH HASHANA MON-TUES, SEP HOW MANY APPLES IS THAT FOR ROSH HASHANA? Montreal Torah Center Bais Menachem Chabad Lubavitch Joanne and Jonathan Gurman Community Center Lou Adler Shul Marcia Gillman and Michael Flinker Early Childhood Center 28 Cleve Road, Hampstead Quebec H3X 1A Fax mtc@themtc.com SODIA ICONS MOSAIC EXPRESS 1

2 ANNOUNCEMENTS MTC GRACIOUSLY ACKNOWLEDGES THIS WEEK S SPONSORS OF THE DAY Reuben Dubrofsky in honour of the yartzeit of Frances Dubrofsky obm, Tishrei 2 To become a sponsor of the day, please contact ext 223 SHABBAT SCHEDULE Mincha & Maariv.....7:00 pm Shacharit :30 am Children s Program....10:45 am Kiddush :30 pm Mincha/Shalosh Seudos :00 pm TORAH READING Parshat Nitzavim...Page 1231 Haftorah... Page 1409 CLASSES Tehillim....8:00 am Men s Class....6:00 pm Women s Class.6:15 pm EN FRANCAIS AVEC LE RAV M. PINTO: Talmud et Hala ha h 15 Seu'da Chelichit h 15 YASHER KOACH TO OUR KIDDUSH CO-SPONSORS! LAST SHABBAT Emmanuel & Heather Amar John & Merle Finkelstein Rabbi Getzy & Shaina Markowitz Mrs. Tuky Treitel & family THIS WEEK Roslyn & Jerry Convoy, wishing our Rabbi New, Rabbi Itchy, Rabbi Levi, their wives and families and the entire MTC congregation a healthy, joyous and sweet New Year Ascher & Shani Berros in honour of the marriage of Lindsey Finkelstein & John Ifrah, and in appreciation to John & Merle Finkelstein for the care and concern shown to their family and the entire community. KIDDUSH CO-SPONSORSHIP IS $136 SUNDAY SELICHOT SCHEDULE Sunday, September 9 Selichot.. 8:00 am Shacharit...9:00 am 2 MOSAIC EXPRESS SHABBOS MEVORCHIM TISHREI MELAVE MALKA FARBRENGEN at the home of Nussi & Esther Frankfurter 5811 Tommy Douglas 9:15 pm For men ROSH HASHANA CANDLE LIGHTING & PRAYER SERVICE SCHEDULE Sunday evening, September 9 Candle lighting... 6:59 pm Mincha/Maariv...7:00 pm Monday, September 10 Shacharit.. 8:30 am Children s Program....10:30 am Rabbi s Sermon...10:45 am Mincha & Maariv :30 pm Tashlich :50 pm Candle Lighting*....after 8:00 pm Tuesday, September 11 Shacharit :30 am Children s Program...10:30 am Rabbi s Sermon....10:45 am Mincha/Maariv :50 pm * Light from a pre-existing flame. FAST OF GEDALIAH Wednesday, September 12 Fast begins....4:53 am Shacharit.....7:00 am Mincha & Ma ariv..6:50 pm Fast ends..7:41 pm MIKVAH HOURS Members with card access 4:45 am - 10:30 am 12:30 pm - 6:45 pm - Non-members 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm Members with card access 2:30 am - 9:30 am 11:45 am - 6:20 pm - Non-members 1:00 pm - 5:15 pm Adult $10 Children $5 A special curbside garbage collection will take place on Fridays Sep 14 and Sep 28. Overnight parking tolerance will be from Sep 9 to Oct 3 WEEKDAY PRAYER SCHEDULE SHACHARIT Thurs-Fri.....Chassidus...6:15 am Shacharis...7:00 am Followed by breakfast MINCHA Thursday :10 pm MAARIV Thursday :40 pm In cherished memory of R Yeshaya Aryeh ben Menashe Treitel obm

3 ALIYAH SUMMARY IS YOUR CAR LEASE UP? Do not return it so fast!!!! I ll take care of your buy-back and put in your pocket. Call Patrick Roche General Overview: In this week s reading, Nitzavim, Moses gathers the Israelites on the day of his passing to enter them into a covenant with G d. He warns of the exile and desolation of the Holy Land that will result when Israel abandons G d s laws, but assures them that they will eventually repent, and G d will then return His people to the Land. This portion also talks about freedom of choice and the mitzvah of teshuvah (repentance). First Aliyah: On the final day of his earthly life, Moses gathered all the Israelites men, women, and children to enter them into a covenant with Gd. Second Aliyah: This covenant established the Israelites as G d s exclusive nation. The covenant, Moses explained, was not limited to those who were physically present on that day; rather, it included all future generations of Jews as well. Third Aliyah: Moses warned the Israelites not to be tempted by the idolatrous lifestyles of the Egyptians and the other sundry nations through which they had passed in the course of their travels. Moses warned of the dire consequences which will befall the individual, family or tribe which would forsake their covenant with G d. This section concludes with the concept of communal responsibility for not appropriately punishing individual sinners. Fourth Aliyah: Moses informed the Israelites what will occur after they are exiled from their land due to their sins. Eventually they will wholeheartedly return to G d, and G d will gather them from the furthest reaches of the heavens and return them to the land of their forefathers. At that point, Moses says, G d will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you may love the L rd your G d with all your heart and with all your soul. Fifth Aliyah: When G d gathers His people s exiles, the curses which accompanied them throughout their sojourn in foreign lands will be placed upon their enemies who persecuted them. The Israelites will once again serve G d, and will be blessed with abundance in the work of their hands, the fruit of their wombs, the fruit of their land and the fruit of their livestock. Sixth Aliyah: Moses enjoins the people to follow the mitzvot, informing them that it is not beyond you, nor is it remote from you. It is not in heaven... It is not across the sea... Rather, it is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it. Seventh Aliyah: Moses tells the Jewish people that they have been given free choice to choose between good and evil, life and death. Their choice will determine whether they are the beneficiaries of G d s blessings or curses. Moses implores the Israelites to choose life. MOSAIC EXPRESS 3

4 UPCOMING EVENTS MONDAY-THURSDAY, WEEKLY Kolel, 7:30-9:00 pm THURSDAY SEP 13 Kid s Kaparot, 4:30 pm MONDAY SEP 17 Montreal Torah Academy begins Ages 5-10, 4:30-6:00 pm Register at themtc.com/academy WEDNESDAY SEP 26 Sukkot Street Celebration, 5:00-7:00 pm RSVP themtc.com/sukkotstreet THURSDAY SEP 27 Preschool Welcome BBQ, 5:00 pm MONDAY OCT 1 Children s Hakafa, Grand Kiddush and continuation of Hakafot, 7:10 pm TUESDAY OCT 9 BMC Lesson 1 WEDNESDAY OCT 17 Mini Chefs ages 3-5, 4:00-5:00 pm RSVP themtc.com/minichefs TUESDAY OCT 23 JLI 6-week Course begins: Wrestling with Faith 7:30-9:00 pm RSVP themtc.com/learn Dedicate a MACHZOR Machzor $36 Shabbos counselor welcome-party and meeting. Thank you Chaya Harrison for the CPR lesson! THIS WEEK S TORAH CLASS ROSH HASHANA- MULTI DIMENSIONAL RENEWAL This class explores the outer, inner and core dimensions of the Head of the Year and it s extraordinary gift of salvation and renewal.. View this class at themtc.com home page LULAV & ETROG Please contact Velvel By Monday Sept 17 vm@themtc.com x221 AND FINALLY... "The teacher was always so involved in the text he was teaching that he never looked up at his students. He would call on a student for translation and explanation, and -- without realizing it -- he often chose the same student day after day. Out of respect, the students wouldn't point this out to him. After being called on four days in a row, a student named Goldberg asked advice from his friends. The next day when the rabbi said "Goldberg, translate and explain," Goldberg replied, "Goldberg is absent today." "All right," said the rabbi. "You translate and explain." 4 MOSAIC EXPRESS

5 KIDS CORNER NITZAVIM Questions: 1. This parsha begins with a description of the Jewish people "standing" (netzavim) before Hashem. What 4 other places in the Torah are people described as "standing" (netzavim)? 2. Which two ancient professions appear in this parsha? 3. In what context is salt mentioned in this parsha? What 3 other places in the Torah is salt referred to? Last Week s Answers: 1. In this parsha, which four consecutive verses are read on a holiday - but not in the synagogue? The verses beginning with the words "Arami Oved Avi" (Deut. 26:5-8) are read at the Passover Seder. 2. What item is mentioned in this parsha four times - but nowhere else in the Torah? A fruit basket (teneh) is mentioned four times in this parsha: (1) Pilgrims place their first-fruits in a basket, and bring it to the Holy Temple. (2) The priest then takes the basket and places it near the Altar (Deut. 26:2, 4). (3-4) In the list of blessings and curses, the fruit basket is mentioned twice, as an indicator whether the Jewish people are following the Torah (Deut. 28:5, 17). 3. Where is plaster instructed to be used? When the Jews cross the Jordan River, they are to set up huge stones, coat them with plaster (Deut. 27:2), and then write upon them all the words of the Torah. PARSHA INSIGHTS From the book Daily Wisdom By Moshe Wisnefsky FREE CHOICE AND REWARD Moses then told the Jewish people that, in the final analysis, G d is presenting them with the free choice to choose between good and evil. ר א ה נ ת תּ י ל פ נ י ה יּוֹם א ת ה ח יּ ים ו א ת ה טּוֹב ו א ת ה מּ ו ת ו א ת ה ר ע... וּב ח ר תּ בּ ח יּ ים וגו': (דברים ל:טו) [Moses told the Jewish people,] Behold, I have set before you today life and good and death and evil. Choose life! Deuteronomy 30:15 It is not always clear that good behavior leads to blessings and life and that bad behavior leads to curses and death. This allows us the free will to choose to be good. If it were always clear that good behavior leads to blessing and life, whereas bad behavior leads to the opposite, what choice could we have but to be good? The very fact that being good does not always lead to goodness both forces us and enables us to base our relationship with G d on a more profound basis. For this reason, on a deeper level, G d (through Moses) is here asking us to be good for its own sake, rather than for any expectation of material reward, even when we do see clearly that being good leads to good results. DOSE OF INSPIRATION MY DAD, THE KING by Tzvi Freeman On Rosh Hashanah, we call G d both king and father. King, because He dictates what will be and what will not. Father, because there is something of Him within each of us. Indeed, as we choose, so He will dictate. Choose life. MOSAIC EXPRESS 5

6 LA SIDRA DE LA SEMAINE VIVRE AVEC LA PARACHA CHABBAT PARCHAT NITSAVIM SAMEDI 8 SPETEMBRE ELLUOL 5778 UNE EXPLOSION DE LUMIÈRE A la tombée de la nuit, la veille de Roch Hachana, la nouvelle année, D.ieu enlève un peu de Sa lumière du monde. Bien sûr, Il reste présent, sinon le monde ne pourrait survivre, mais cette présence se fait plus discrète, plus retenue. Et puis Il attend. C est maintenant à notre tour d agir. Vers le milieu du saint jour suivant, dans tous les coins du monde, les Juifs reconnaissent Sa souveraineté par leurs prières et le son du Choffar. Alors D.ieu accepte à nouveau d être notre Roi et Il renoue à nouveau Ses relations avec notre monde. Et Il le fait avec un nouveau seuil de lumière et de puissance. De toutes nouvelles possibilités, des possibilités qui n avaient jamais existé auparavant, pénètrent le monde et nous avançons d un pas de géant vers notre destinée ultime. Mais le premier pas doit venir de nous. Nous devons renouveler notre contrat avec notre Créateur pour que le monde continue à exister. Chaque année, le monde doit choisir D.ieu. DES LARMES À LA TRANSFORMATION Pourquoi le Choffar? Quelle force possède cet instrument primitif au point de faire descendre une lumière si intense et si essentielle? Plus qu une simple corne, le Choffar est un instrument de transformation. Le son qui en émane est celui d un cri sortant d un cœur brisé et sa force est la force des larmes. Nous vivons dans un monde matériel où nous sommes sujets aux multiples angoisses et défis de la vie sur terre, nous sommes soumis aux demandes incessantes de notre corps et de notre ego et nous sommes loin d être conscients de notre véritable potentiel. Notre âme, elle, avec sa conscience, sa perspective, sa créativité, sa force et son amour illimités est prise au piège et étranglée. 6 MOSAIC EXPRESS Mais quand nos défenses tombent, quand nous nous trouvons face à face avec notre petitesse et notre vulnérabilité inhérentes, dans ce vaste monde, nous pleurons vers D.ieu. Et ce cri, cette conscience aiguë de nos propres limites, est ce qui nous rend notre liberté. Le cri d un cœur brisé peut libérer notre âme de sa prison et nous ouvrir à quelque chose de totalement nouveau. Cette liberté, et ce n est pas un hasard, est également liée au son du Choffar. En fait, c est le son du «Grand Choffar», le Choffar de la Rédemption, qui annoncera notre libération et notre transformation ultimes à la fin des temps. La faiblesse et la force. La petitesse et la grandeur. L isolement et l unité. L esclavage et la liberté. Comment peuvent-ils aller de pair et comment le même son peut-il les exprimer en même temps? UN MONDE D OPPOSÉS La Kabbale explique que tout ce qui existe est fait de contraires. Le contraire de l obscurité est la lumière. Le contraire du mal est le bien. Le contraire de l esclavage est la liberté. Là où l on trouve l un, l on trouve son contraire. Ils se définissent mutuellement et chacun permet l existence de l autre. Cependant les états négatifs n ont pas de réalité intrinsèque. L obscurité n est pas un état définitif. Tout comme pour lancer un ballon avec force, il faut d abord mettre le bras en arrière, l obscurité n est qu un prélude à une lumière qui jaillira avec encore plus de force. C est la raison pour laquelle les larmes ont une telle force de transformation. Paradoxalement ce n est qu en prenant conscience de notre petitesse, de notre faiblesse, de notre solitude et des limites de notre existence égocentrique que nous nous ouvrons suffisamment pour nous dépasser et devenir ce pourquoi nous sommes réellement nés. Cette force de transformation est extrêmement présente à Roch Hachana quand le monde recommence à nouveau. AU SEUIL DE LA RÉDEMPTION A Roch Hachana, cette transformation n est pas seulement davantage possible mais elle est aussi davantage nécessaire. Chaque année, à Roch Hachana, le monde attend, suspendu dans l espace obscur entre l ancienne lumière et la nouvelle. Entre deux façons d agir, il y a toujours un moment «creux», un moment de transition. C est dans cet espace que nous avons l opportunité de laisser partir les mesquineries, les ressentiments, les erreurs, les peurs et les échecs passés. Nous pouvons adopter un comportement tout à fait nouveau, une vie avec plus de sens. Nous pouvons nous engager dans des relations où dominent davantage la bonté, le respect, la compassion, envers les gens que nous aimons et envers ceux que nous pourrions aimer si nous cessions d être en colère, sur la défensive ou effrayés. En nous ouvrant à la vie, nous créons la plus grande ouverture pour que D.ieu nous inscrive dans le Livre de la Vie, pour une bonne et douce année dans son sens le plus vrai. A Roch Hachana, le monde attend au seuil de la Rédemption. Dans ces moments d obscurité intense, notre monde tremble ; la terreur, la guerre, les désastres naturels jettent une ombre terrible sur notre vie. Mais cette obscurité n est qu un prélude à une toute nouvelle réalité. Ces événements sont décrits dans le Talmud (fin du traité Sota) et se concluent par la nécessité de resserrer nos liens avec D.ieu et de concrétiser notre potentiel comme partenaires de la Création. Tout dépend de nous.

7 An inspiring story for your Shabbos table HERE S my STORY Generously sponsored by the A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK RABBI PINCHOS WOOLSTONE ב ה שבת פרשת קרח, ג תמוז, תשע ה Shabbos Parshas Korach, June 20, 2015 Gimmel Tammuz, 5775 Please support the My Encounter with the Rebbe project donate.jemedia.org help them bring their daughter back to her people. I said, Australia is geographically the size of the United States. Looking for someone there without an address is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. He said, I don t know what to tell you, but maybe the Rebbe would know what to do. Before returning to Australia I had an audience with the Rebbe, so I told him this whole story. He asked, When are you going back? I said, I m going back Wednesday. He said, Sometime after you get back, maybe the week after, you should take a trip to Brisbane. Iwas raised in a traditional Zionist Jewish home in Sydney, Australia. While on a visit in Israel, I became attracted to Chabad-Lubavitch and, upon return to Australia, I enrolled in a Chabad yeshiva, which eventually led me to learning in New York. That is when I found out I had Chabad ancestors including the Tzemach Tzedek, the third Rebbe of Chabad and I became a loyal follower of the Chabad Rebbe. While I was in New York, I was approached by a prestigious rabbi from another chasidic group, who told me about a family that was searching for their long-lost daughter. She had been born and raised in Boro Park, and she had married there; unfortunately, the marriage ended badly, but her husband for whatever reason refused to agree to a divorce. After this went on for a period of time, she snapped (to use a slang term), and she suddenly disappeared. Her family had learned that she had gone to Australia, but they had no idea where. Since I was from Australia, the rabbi who approached me thought that maybe I could He didn t explain why I should do this, but, of course, I would follow the Rebbe s instructions without question. So, when I returned to Australia, I got on a plane to Brisbane. Now, Brisbane is a northerly city, about an hour s flight from Sydney, and it has a very small Jewish community. At that time, there was no Chabad emissary in Brisbane; Rabbi Levi and Dvorah Jaffe had not yet arrived in town, so it was a desolate place, Jewishly speaking. Flying there, I found myself sitting next to a well-dressed, non-jewish woman who identified herself as a Greek Orthodox Christian. Seeing that I was Jewish, she began asking me theological questions concerning the Hebrew Bible. Toward the end of our conversation, she asked me something peculiar: What is the Jewish view of a person who leaves the Jewish faith? Is such a person allowed back in, or is the door bolted? I answered, Nobody can ever be separated from Almighty G-d, and if somebody has, for whatever reason, taken a vacation from commitment to Torah but then decides to come home again, the Jewish community will welcome that person with open arms. Then she said, I want to tell you something I own a continued on reverse An oral history project dedicated to documenting the life of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. The story is one of thousands recorded in the over 1,100 videotaped interviews conducted to date. Please share your comments and suggestions. mystory@jemedia.org

8 continued from reverse chain of dress shops around Australia and, in Cairns, I have a shop which employs a Jewish girl. She came from a very religious home in New York and I can see that she s living a very different life here from how she was brought up there. She tells me she s happy, but I can tell that she s not, and I believe that she would be better off back in her own community. At that moment, bells started ringing in my head. Here I am going to Brisbane on the Rebbe s instructions without knowing why I am going there. And on the way, I meet a Greek Orthodox Christian woman who is telling me about a Jewish girl who left home. Realizing what this could mean, I suddenly got goose pimples all over my body, and I started to shake. I said to the woman, You should know that I am going to Brisbane without knowing why I am going there. I am doing this because a Rebbe in New York, who is probably the greatest living sage of our time, told me to do so. He told me to do so after I asked him how I could find a lost Jewish girl. When I said that, the Christian woman started to shake as well. Maybe she s the one, she said. Maybe this girl working for me in Cairns is the one. I had to admit that she could be right. The woman immediately offered to facilitate everything and to pay all costs involved, so that I could meet this girl though I declined her offer. From Brisbane, I flew to Cairns, and I walked into this dress shop. She wasn t there because the salesgirls worked in shifts and her shift had not started yet. I went off to buy myself a Coke, but I was so nervous, I bought a beer instead. When it was time, I walked back to the store, and there she was. This was the girl I was looking for! Obviously she was not dressed like a religious girl from Boro Park, and she was clearly surprised to see me there a chasid visiting a women s dress shop at the end of Australia, where she thought she could get away from her people. I said, My name is Pinchos Woolstone, I m a Lubavitcher I was trying to find the right words, how best to explain what I was doing there. I decided it was best to just tell her what happened, which is what I did. Then I asked her, Are you willing to talk to me? She answered abruptly, I can t talk now, I m working. I said, I ll come back when the store closes. She wasn t overly enthusiastic. She said, All I want all I ever wanted is a get, referring to the Jewish divorce document. I said, But you are not religious; what do you need a get for? She said, If you can help me with a get, that s good. But if not, then just leave me alone. I called the people back in New York, and they managed to finally arrange her get. While I was making these arrangements, I met with her again, and I said to her, To be honest, your reaction to what happened to you is understandable. But getting divorced from your husband doesn t mean you must divorce yourself from your family, from your community, from Torah and G-d. She heard me. After she received her get, she came back to America and enrolled in a university. This was, of course, a path far removed from her Boro Park roots, but at university she connected with the local Chabad emissary and began attending the Shabbat dinners he organized once a month. Little by little, she became Torah-observant again. Today she is religious; she is married again, and a mother of a beautiful family. And that chain of events began when the Rebbe said to me, Go to Brisbane. Rabbi Pinchas Woolstone, served as rabbi of the Jewish House Crisis Center in Sydney, Australia for over twenty years. He was interviewed in Brooklyn, New York, in December of לע נ ר ישראל יעקב וזוגתו מרת קריינא ע ה לאקשין ע י בניהם ר נחמן ור אברהם ומשפחתם שיחיו This week in. > , the Rebbe joined the call of rabbis proclaiming a half day fast and prayer for the grave situation in Israel during the Lebanon war. After the afternoon prayers, the Rebbe gave a talk about the significance of the fast. 1 7 Tammuz 1. Sefer Hisvaaduyos 5742 Vol. 3, p In loving memory of ר שמואל נטע הכהן ע ה בן יבלח ט ישראל דוד שי Yahrzeit, 2 Tamuz You can help us record more testimonies by dedicating future editions of Here s My Story A project of: JEWISH EDUCATIONAL MEDIA mystory@jemedia.org myencounterblog.com Eastern Parkway Suite 403 Brooklyn, NY Copyright, Jewish Educational Media, 2015 Generously printed by