PLEASE NO CONVERSATION DURING SERVICES WEEKDAY DAVENING INFORMATION

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בס ד שבת פרשת פינחס SHABBAT PARSHAT PINCHAS 24 TAMMUZ/JULY 11 Haftorah is Jeremiah 1:1-2:3 ירבד" "ימרי (the three Haftorot of the three weeks are called the שלש אתונערופד the "Three

Chapter 7 of Pirkei צדקתך צדק FRIDAY NIGHT EARLIEST CANDLES- 6:57 PM MINCHA - 7:05 PM CANDLE LIGHTING - 8:12 PM TZAIT - 9:15 PM SATURDAY SHACHARIT YOUTH - 8:20 AM SHACHARIT MAIN -

PM WEDNESDAY) OR DEDICATE A BULLETIN FOR $36 ($54 W/PHOTO), EMAIL SEPLOTNICK@GMAIL.COM.

Earliest Talit 4:28 AM 4:29 AM 4:30 AM 4:31 AM 4:32 AM 4:33 AM Shacharit 8:15 AM 6:15 AM 6:25 AM 6:25 AM 6:15 AM 6:00 AM Gedolah 1:40 PM 1:40 PM 1:40 PM 1:40 PM 1:40 PM 1:40 PM

Tuna Tower Challenge! A box has been set up in the shul hallway for people to bring cans of tuna during the three weeks.

1 בס ד שבת פרשת פינחס SHABBAT PARSHAT PINCHAS 24 TAMMUZ/JULY 11 Haftorah is Jeremiah 1:1-2:3 ירבד" "ימרי (the three Haftorot of the three weeks are called the שלש אתונערופד the "Three Haftorot of Punishment"). We bless the month of Av. Don t say אב הרחמים or מלא.א-ל We say Avot. at Mincha. Chapter 7 of Pirkei צדקתך צדק FRIDAY NIGHT EARLIEST CANDLES- 6:57 PM MINCHA - 7:05 PM CANDLE LIGHTING - 8:12 PM TZAIT - 9:15 PM SATURDAY SHACHARIT YOUTH - 8:20 AM SHACHARIT MAIN - 8:45 AM LAST KRIAT SHEMA - 9:18 AM GEMARA SHIUR - 7:00 PM MINCHA - 8:00 PM SHKIA - 8:30 PM MAARIV/HAVDALAH - 9:15 PM BULLETIN INFORMATION TO REQUEST A BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENT (BY 7:00 PM WEDNESDAY) OR DEDICATE A BULLETIN FOR $36 ($54 W/PHOTO), SEPLOTNICK@GMAIL.COM. נא לא לדבר בשעת התפילה PLEASE NO CONVERSATION DURING SERVICES WEEKDAY DAVENING INFORMATION Sunday (7/12) Monday (7/13) Tuesday (7/14) Wednesday (7/15) Thursday (7/16) Friday (7/17) Earliest Talit 4:28 AM 4:29 AM 4:30 AM 4:31 AM 4:32 AM 4:33 AM Shacharit 8:15 AM 6:15 AM 6:25 AM 6:25 AM 6:15 AM 6:00 AM Gedolah 1:40 PM 1:40 PM 1:40 PM 1:40 PM 1:40 PM 1:40 PM Mincha- Maariv 8:10 PM 8:10 PM 8:10 PM 8:10 PM 8:10 PM 7:00 PM Shkia 8:29 PM 8:29 PM 8:28 PM 8:28 PM 8:27 PM Tzait 9:14 PM 9:14 PM 9:13 PM 9:13 PM 9:12 PM Ahavat Achim Three Weeks Tuna Tower Challenge! A box has been set up in the shul hallway for people to bring cans of tuna during the three weeks. On Tisha B Av, kids and kids at heart will build a tower with all the donated cans, and IY H the next day we will bring all the cans to the food bank here in Fair Lawn (who are in desperate need of canned foods like tuna). CONGREGATION AHAVAT ACHIM SADDLE RIVER ROAD FAIR LAWN, NJ The Molad for Av is Thursday, July 16, 3:39 PM and 7 Chalokim. Rabbi Uri Goldstein President Stephen Agress "1

Kiddush Information Kiddush cleanup for the month of July is Kwestel, Lang, Latkin, Levine, Levine, Lewis, Lewissohn, Oppenheim, Oster, Plotnick, Racenstein, Reichardt Kiddush setup for this Shabbat

2 Kiddush Information Kiddush cleanup for the month of July is Kwestel, Lang, Latkin, Levine, Levine, Lewis, Lewissohn, Oppenheim, Oster, Plotnick, Racenstein, Reichardt Kiddush setup for this Shabbat is Agress, Baron, Bernstein Kiddush setup for next Shabbat is Brenenson, Riskin, Wolfson To sponsor a Kiddush ($1000/$613/$318 plus scotch) send an to gplotnick@aol.com. Adult Education GEMARAH SHIUR - Rabbi's Shabbat afternoon gemarah shiur takes place one hour before Mincha. CHUMASH CLASS - Gerry Halpern s Class - Shabbat morning before Shacharit. ע ה Gita Cooperwasser Youth Program Upcoming Events July 18 - Kiddush sponsored by the Kor family in honor of the upcoming marriage of Rachel to Yoni Edelman July 18 - Sisterhood Mah Jong, 4:00 PM, at Eita Latkin s home, Marie Ct. July 25 - Ben Greenbaum Bar Mitzvah July 28 - Shul Board Meeting Aug. 1 - Kiddush in honor of Andrew Wigod s Aufruf, and upcoming wedding to Kira Batist Aug. 3 - Sisterhood Meeting, 8:00 PM. at Lori Garfunkel s home Aug Suedah Shlishit sponsored by Seymour Wigod for Andrew & Kira s Sheva Brachot. Oct. 3 - Hadassah & Hadar Schachter B'Not Mitzvah Feb Ben Wechsler Bar Mitzvah Feb Yachad Shabbaton Numbers & Info ERUV UPDATE MIKVAH At Shomrei Torah, weekdays 9:00 PM 10:30 PM, Motzei Shabbat from 11/4 hours after Shabbat ends for 1.5 hours. Kaylim Mikvah: Sunday 10 AM-3 PM FACEBOOK: facebook.com/ groups/ahavat.achim/ Shirley Vann has dedicated this week s Covenant & Conversation (used with permission of. ע ה the Office of Rabbi Sacks) in memory of her beloved mother Necha bat Yitzchok "2

IN AV WE REMEMBER... NAME HEBREW DATE CANDLE EVENING OF DEDICATOR RELATIONSHIP Joseph Harcsztark 1 July 16 Marcelle Harcsztark Husband Ella Horwitz 9 July 24 Mrs.

David Graber Father Rose Pinchas 20 August 4 Naomi Graber Mother Andrew Staub 20 August 4 Gloria Epstein Father Sidney Sperling 22 August 6 Dr.

3 IN AV WE REMEMBER... NAME HEBREW DATE CANDLE EVENING OF DEDICATOR RELATIONSHIP Joseph Harcsztark 1 July 16 Marcelle Harcsztark Husband Ella Horwitz 9 July 24 Mrs. Hanna Lewinson Mother Joseph Teitelbaum 11 July 26 Joyce Sperling Father Ella Cahn 13 July 28 Audrey Bickel Great Aunt Sidney Smedresman 13 July 28 Steve Smedresman Uncle Abraham Graber 19 August 3 David Graber Father Rose Pinchas 20 August 4 Naomi Graber Mother Andrew Staub 20 August 4 Gloria Epstein Father Sidney Sperling 22 August 6 Dr. Arnold Sperling Father Helene Bonnie Amrani 22 August 6 Neil Amrani Mother Gertrude Cooperwasser 23 August 7 Seymour Wigod Aunt Frieda Jaffe 24 August 8 Sophie Infield Friend Celia Levine 25 August 9 Naomi Levine Mother in Law Celia Levine 25 August 9 Kenny Levine Grandmother Claire Diamond 25 August 9 Lisa Eis Mother Hetti Jacobs 29 August 13 Stacey Finkelstein Grandmother Dave Molever 29 August 13 Lori Garfunkel Grandfather SUPPORT YOUR SHUL Donate a Sefer, etc. The shul has Siddurim & Machzorim ($36) and Chumashim ($54) available to be donated. Please contact Jeff Safier at rjsafier@optonline.net for details. Yahrzeit Plaques Memorialize a loved one and receive written notice of your upcoming yahrzeit every year. In addition, your loved one s name will be mentioned during the public Yizkor we recite on Yom Kippur and in the Bulletin. Plaques are $300 for members and $350 for non-members. For more information, contact Sophie Infield at Scrip Scrip is available from Men s by ing David at dmgarfunkel@gmail.com. Pay using Paypal (treasurer@ahavatachim.org) or use Discover, MasterCard or Visa - treasurer@ahavatachim.org for details. Mishebayrach If you ve made a Mishebayrach you ve pledged to give Tzedakah on behalf of those for whom you asked Hashem's blessing. Contributions to the shul are appropriate and can be made via Paypal to treasurer@ahavatachim.org, or via MasterCard, Visa or Discover by sending the information to Elliot Greene (contact him at treasurer@ahavatachim.org). If paying by check please indicate on its face Aliyah Donation. Thank you for your generosity. David Schwitzer ע ה Social Hall Please contact Jonathan Schachter at jschachter2@bloomberg.net to book the David Schwitzer ע ה Social Hall for an event or special occasion. $250 per simcha (members) / $500 paid in advance for nonmembers, plus the cost of any additional clean up (plus a $150 security deposit refunded when the social hall is returned in the condition it started in). Private caterers must be approved in advance by the Rabbi. "3 Sisterhood & Men s Club Please contact Eli Greenbaum at eligreenbaum@yahoo.com to join the Men s Club. To join Sisterhood, please contact Lori Garfunkel at garfmom@gmail.com. Honoraria Contributions to acquire honoraria in memory or honor of a loved one are welcome. The available Honoraria list will be provided upon request by contacting Steven Plotnick at seplotnick@gmail.com. Mitzvah Cards Want mitzvah cards, contact Eita Latkin at or parentsof3@aol.com. Cost is $3 per card. Also can be ordered in bulk - ten cards for $25, which you send out yourself privately.

4 The Three Weeks (From the Ezras Torah Luach) The period between the Seventeenth of Tamuz until after Tisha B'Av is called המצרים" "בין between the straits (based upon the verse in Lamentations 1:3) because of the multiple tragedies that have occurred to the Jewish people throughout the ages during these three weeks. Among the worst of the tragedies are the destruction of both Holy Temples, the end of Jewish Sovereignty for almost 2,000 years, and the exile from Eretz Yisroel. The custom is for us to manifest some signs of mourning during this period. Therefore, we do not make weddings or take haircuts during these three weeks. Because it is a time of national catastrophe, we do not make the Bracha שהחיינו (so as to avoid the Bracha שהחיינו we do not eat a new fruit [unless that fruit would be unobtainable afterward] or purchase an expensive article of clothing that would require the Bracha,שהחיינו during these three weeks [the custom is to make the Bracha on Shabbos]. MISCELLANEOUS Rabbi Goldstein s Hours Rabbi Goldstein is available to the membership by contacting him at UriG77@aol.com or by phone at For those who wish to contact him during office hours, he is available to be at the shul Wednesday evenings after Ma ariv until approximately 10:00 pm. Please note that the Rabbi's s are forwarded to his home PC and to his mobile phone. Become a Member of Ahavat Achim If you are not yet a member; please contact Aryeh Brenenson abrenenson@gmail.com for details on membership. Bikkur Cholim/Chesed If anyone could use a visit/assistance from the Bikkur Cholim/Chesed Committee, contact the Rabbi at UriG77@aol.com or Sara Levine at saralevine06@gmail.com or (201) Contact Sara to join the committee and offer Biker Cholim assistance in the manner that s most conducive to your schedule. You may find yourself in a position to spend time visiting a homebound shul member, give them a call and see if they require any special assistance or might even decide to cook or purchase a special meal for them. No offer will be refused and all are most appreciated. The Nine Days (Adapted from the Ezras Torah Luach) In addition to the rules for the Three Weeks (above), from Rosh Chodesh Av (starting Thursday night, July 16) until after Tisha B'Av we refrain from washing ourselves with warm or hot water. Only those who are feeble, extremely sensitive, or who must do so for medical reasons may wash with warm or hot water. We do not launder clothing until after Tisha B'Av. We do not wear clothing that was laundered before Rosh Chodesh, except on Shabbat. We do not drink wine or eat meat of any kind, with the exception of the feeble, sickly, or ill, who may eat poultry. We may eat meat and drink wine on Shabbat or while attending a Seudat Mitzvah, such as a Brit or the completion of a Tractate of Talmud. Personal Announcements Various life cycle events related to members are announced in the shul s weekly bulletin (e.g., births, bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings and deaths), and the bulletin acknowledges travel to/from Israel for study. We also welcome new members and those who ve moved into the community and express interest in our shul. Other personal announcements generally are not appropriate for inclusion in the bulletin, except as part of the bulletin s dedication (a $36 cost - $54 with photo). Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Shirley Vann has dedicated this week s Covenant & Conversation (used with permission of the. ע ה Office of Rabbi Sacks) in memory of her beloved mother Necha bat Yitzchok "4

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind.

5 Elijah and the Still, Small Voice Pinchas - 11 July 2015 / 24 Tammuz 5775 Then the word of the Lord came to him: Why are you here, Elijah? He replied, I am moved by the zeal for the Lord, God of Hosts The Lord said to him, Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire a still, small voice. (I Kings 19:9-12) In 1165, an agonising question confronted Moroccan Jewry. A fanatical Muslim sect, the Almohads, had seized power and were embarked on a policy of forced conversion to Islam. The Jewish community was faced with a choice: to affirm Islamic faith or die. Some chose martyrdom. Others chose exile. But some acceded to terror and embraced another faith. Inwardly, though, they remained Jews and practiced Judaism in secret. They were the conversos, or as the Spanish were later to call them, the marranos. To other Jews, they posed a formidable moral problem. How were they to be viewed? Outwardly, they had betrayed their community and their religious heritage. Besides, their example was demoralising. It weakened the resolve of Jews who were determined to resist, come what may. Yet many of the conversos still wished to remain Jewish, secretly fulfill the commandments and when they could, attend the synagogue and pray. One of them addressed this question to a rabbi. He had, he said, converted under coercion, but he remained at heart a faithful Jew. Could he obtain merit by observing in private as many of the Torah s precepts as possible? Was there, in other words, hope left for him as a Jew? The rabbi s reply was emphatic. A Jew who had embraced Islam had forfeited membership in the Jewish community. He was no longer part of the house of Israel. For such a

6 person to fulfill the commandments was meaningless. The choice was stark and Worse, it was a sin. The choice was stark and absolute: to absolute: to be or not to be a Jew. be or not to be a Jew. If you choose to be a Jew, you should If you choose to be a Jew, you be prepared to suffer death rather than compromise. If should be prepared to suffer you choose not to be a Jew, then you must not seek to reenter the house you had deserted. death rather than compromise. If you choose not to be a Jew, then We can respect the firmness of the rabbi s stance. He set out, without equivocation, the moral choice. There you must not seek to re-enter the are times when heroism is, for faith, a categorical house you had deserted. imperative. Nothing less will do. His reply, though harsh, is not without courage. But another rabbi disagreed. The name of the first rabbi is lost to us, but that of the second is not. He was Moses Maimonides, the greatest rabbi of the Middle Ages. Maimonides was no stranger to religious persecution. Born in Cordova in 1135, he had been forced to leave, along with his family, some thirteen years later when the city fell to the Almohads. Twelve years were spent in wandering. In 1160, a temporary liberalisation of Almohad rule allowed the family to settle in Morocco. Within five years he was forced to move again, settling first in the land of Israel and ultimately in Egypt. Maimonides was so incensed by the rabbi s reply to the forced convert that he wrote a response of his own. In it, he frankly disassociates himself from the earlier ruling and castigates its author whom he describes as a self-styled sage who has never experienced what so many Jewish communities had to endure in the way of persecution. Maimonides reply, the Iggeret ha-shemad ( Epistle on Forced Conversion ), is a substantial treatise in its own right. 1 What is striking, given the vehemence with which it begins, is that its conclusions are hardly less demanding than those of the earlier response. If you are faced with religious persecution, says Maimonides, you must leave and settle elsewhere. If he is compelled to violate even one precept it is forbidden to stay there. He must leave everything he has and travel day and night until he finds a spot where he can practice his religion. This is preferable to martyrdom. None the less, one who chooses to go to his death rather than renounce his faith has done what is good and proper for he has given his life for the sanctity of God. What is unacceptable is to stay and excuse oneself on the grounds that if one sins, one does so only under pressure. To do this to profane God s name, not exactly willingly, but almost so. These are Maimonides conclusions. But surrounding them and constituting the main thrust of his argument is a sustained defence of those who had done precisely what Maimonides had ruled they should not do. The letter gives conversos hope. They have done wrong. But it is a forgivable wrong. They acted under coercion and the fear of death. They remain Jews. The acts they do as Jews still win favour in the eyes of God. Indeed doubly so, for when they fulfill a commandment it cannot be to win favour of the eyes of others. They know that when they act as Jews they risk discovery and death. Their secret adherence has a heroism of its own. What was wrong in the first rabbi s ruling was his insistence that a Jew who yields to terror has forsaken his faith and is to be excluded from the community. Maimonides insists that it is not so. It is not right to alienate, scorn and hate people who desecrate the Sabbath. It is our duty to befriend them and encourage them to fulfill the commandments. In a daring stroke of interpretation, he quotes the verse: Do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger 1 An English translation and commentary is contained in Abraham S. Halkin, and David Hartman. Crisis and Leadership: Epistles of Maimonides. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1985.

7 when he is starving (Proverbs 6:30). The conversos who come to Maimonides Epistle is a the synagogue are hungry for Jewish prayer. They steal moments of masterly example of that belonging. They should not be despised, but welcomed. most difficult of moral This Epistle is a masterly example of that most difficult of challenges: to combine moral challenges: to combine prescription and compassion. prescription and Maimonides leaves us in no doubt as to what he believes Jews should compassion. do. But at the same time he is uncompromising in his defence of those who fail to do it. He does not endorse what th3ey have done. But he defends who they are. He asks us to understand their situation. He gives them grounds for self respect. He holds the doors of the community open. The argument reaches a climax as Maimonides quotes a remarkable sequence of midrashic passages whose theme is that prophets must not condemn their people, but rather defend them before God. When Moses, charged with leading the people out of Egypt, replied, But they will not believe me (Exodus 4:1), ostensibly he was justified. The subsequent biblical narrative suggests that Moses doubts were well founded. The Israelites were a difficult people to lead. But the midrash says that God replied to Moses, They are believers and the children of believers, but you [Moses] will ultimately not believe. 2 Maimonides cites a series of similar passages and then says: If this is the punishment meted out to the pillars of the universe, the greatest of the prophets, because they briefly criticised the people even though they were guilty of the sins of which they were accused can we envisage the punishment awaiting those who criticise the conversos, who under threat of death and without abandoning their faith, confessed to another religion in which they did not believe? In the course of his analysis, Maimonides turns to the prophet Elijah and the text that forms this week s haftarah. Under the reign of Ahab and Jezebel, Baal worship had become the official cult. God s prophets were being killed. Those who survived were in hiding. Elijah responded by issuing a public challenge at Mount Carmel. Facing four hundred of Baal s representatives, he was determined to settle the question of religious truth once and for all. He told the assembled people to choose one way or another: for God or for Baal. They must no longer halt between two opinions. Truth was about to be decided by a test. If it lay with Baal, fire would consume the offering prepared by its priests. If it lay with God, fire would descend to Elijah s offering. Elijah won the confrontation. The people cried out, The Lord, He is God. The priests of Baal were routed. But the story does not end there. Jezebel issued a warrant for his death. Elijah escapes to Mount Horeb. There he receives a strange vision. He witnesses a whirlwind, then an earthquake, then a fire. But he is led to understand that God was not in these things. Then God speaks to him in a still, small voice, and tells him to appoint Elisha as his successor. The episode is enigmatic. It is made all the more so by a strange feature of the text. Immediately before the vision, God asks, What are you doing here, Elijah? and Elijah replies, I am moved by zeal for the Lord, the God of Hosts. (I Kings 9:9-10). Immediately after the vision, God asks the same question, and Elijah gives the same answer (I Kings 19:13-14). The midrash turns the text into a dialogue: Elijah: The Israelites have broken God s covenant God: Is it then your covenant? Elijah: They have torn down Your altars. 2 Shabbat 97a.

8 God: But were they your altars? Elijah: They have put Your prophets to the sword. God: But you are alive Elijah: I alone am left. God: Instead of hurling accusations against Israel, should you not have pleaded their cause? 3 The meaning of the midrash is clear. The zealot takes the part of God. But God expects His prophets to be defenders, not accusers. The repeated question and answer is now to be understood in its tragic depth. Elijah declares himself to be zealous for God. He is shown that God is not disclosed in dramatic confrontation: not in the whirlwind or the earthquake or the fire. God now asks him again, What are you doing here, Elijah? Elijah repeats that he is zealous for God. He has not understood that religious leadership calls for another kind of virtue, the way of the still, small voice. God now indicates that someone else must lead. Elijah must hand his mantle on to Elisha. In turbulent times, there is an almost overwhelming temptation for religious leaders to be confrontational. Not only must truth be proclaimed but falsehood must be denounced. In turbulent times, there is an almost overwhelming temptation for religious leaders to be confrontational. Not only must truth be proclaimed but falsehood must be denounced. Choices must be set out as stark divisions. Not to condemn is to condone. The rabbi who condemned the conversos had faith in his heart, logic on his side and Elijah as his precedent. But the midrash and Maimonides set before us another model. A prophet hears not one imperative but two: guidance and compassion, a love of truth and an abiding solidarity with those for whom that truth has become eclipsed. To preserve tradition and at the same time defend those others condemn is the difficult, necessary task of religious leadership in an unreligious age. 3 Shir ha-shirim Rabbah 1: 6.

Mazel tov to Sophie Infield on the birth of a great granddaughter, Aliza Shoshana, to Ari & Deena, joining older brother Yehoshua Binyamin.

Mazel tov to Sophie Infield on the birth of a great granddaughter, Aliza Shoshana, to Ari & Deena, joining older brother Yehoshua Binyamin. בס ד נא לא לדבר בשעת התפילה PLEASE NO CONVERSATION DURING SERVICES שבת פרשת פינחס SHABBAT PARSHAT PINCHAS 24 TAMUZ/JULY 30 Haftorah is Jeremiah 1:1-2:3 (beginning the the "Three Haftorot of דפורענותא שלש