Delving into our Shabbat Tefilot

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1 949 Clark Ave West Thornhill ON L4J 8G6 PHONE FAX RABBI Avram Rothman x 214 (C) arothman@aish.edu REBBETZIN Ruth E Rothman tcsrbtzn@aish.edu RABBI S ASSISTANT Hadassah Hoffer x 210 hhoffer@aish.com PRESIDENT Stuart Haber stuarthaber@rogers.com GABBAI: Jonathan Sherrington aishthornhillgabbai@gmail.com YOUTH DIRECTOR: David Toledano davidtoley@gmail.com SHABBAT HOSPITALITY Chani Rosenberg chanirosenberg@gmail.com Aish Thornhill Community Shul Bulletin: Balak June 29/30, th Tammuz 5778 Candle Lighting - Not Before: 7:28 pm Not After: 8:45 pm Shabbat Ends: 9:49 pm ~ The ongoing mission of the Aish Thornhill Community Shul is to create a family-friendly community where Jews of all backgrounds can experience meaningful Jewish Living and Heritage in an inspiring, educational and welcoming environment. FRIDAY EVENING Early - Mincha / Kabbalat Shabbat / Maariv Daniel Sacks 7:00 pm D var Torah Mincha / Kabbalat Shabbat / Maariv Sanctuary 8:45 pm SHABBAT MORNING IN THE MAIN SANCTUARY New Prayer Class: Connecting to the Eternal: Rabbi Rothman 8:30 am Delving into our Shabbat Tefilot Shacharis 9:00 am Torah Service: Balak pg: 857 Jeff Bernholtz 9:55 am Haftorah: pg 1189 Mati Rothman Rabbi s Drasha Rabbi Rothman 10:40 am Mussaf: Dani Meisels 10:55 am Announcements / Adon Olam Stuart Haber 11:25 am SHABBAT MORNING THROUGHOUT THE SHUL Hashkama Minyan Library 7:30 am Kiddush & Class with Rabbi Yeres Jerusalem Hall 9:20 am The Three Weeks Library Minyan 9:30 am NEW Youth Minyan Returns in the Fall This Week s D var Torah Rabbi Rothman Kiddush Jerusalem Hall ~12:30 pm SHABBAT AFTERNOON /GINZBURG LEARNING CENTRE Ginzburg Learning Centre 7:20 pm Mincha Sanctuary 8:20 pm Shalosh Seuda Jerusalem Hall 8:50 pm Havdallah 9:49 pm Mazal Tov Chaim & Freda Shiel On the recent marriage of their granddaughter Michaela to Shlomo Laufer of NewYork

2 KIDDUSH SPONSORED BY HASHKAMA KIDDUSH SPONSORED Rabbi Dr. Moshe & Esty Yeres on the yahrzeit of their daughter Batsheva OB M 9 Tammuz and on the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yeres mother Shaindel Yeres OB M - 15 Tammuz SHALOSH SEUDA SPONSORED BY YOUTH MINYAN & KIDDUSH SPONSORED BY CLASSES DURING MUSSAF BEGIN ~ 10:30 AM ALL CLASSROOM ARE ON THE 2 ND FLOOR UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED GIRL S GROUP GR 4 + Davening, Parsha, Games and Kiddush Carmel Room Rebecca & Meira 10:00 am BACKSTAGE PASS Behind the Ethical Teachings of Judaism Conference Rm Ephraim Silver 10:30 am THE PARSHA PERSPECTIVE Understanding the Weekly Torah Portion, with Focus on Personal Development Moriah Room Dr. Michael Kirzner 10:30 am GINZBURG LEARNING CENTRE: POST MUSSAF CLASSES BEGIN ~ 11:30 AM PARSHA PARENTING Using the subtle Torah messages on Moriah Dr. Mati Rothman 11:30 am How to Parent in 2017 Room INTRODUCTION Stepping into Tur/Shulchan Aruch, The Jerusalem Jonathan Sherrington 11:30 am TO HALACHA Laws of Shabbos Meals (Hebrew textbased) Hall RABBI S CLASS The Heartless Chicken of 1709 & its Sanctuary Rabbi Avram Rothman 11:30 am Effect on Medical Ethics Today MEDICAL ETHICS On Transplantation... Do We?? Library Dr. Michael Kirzner 11:30 am GUY S THING Controversial Issues discussed Weekly Jerusalem Rabbis Mitch Mandel 11:30 am WITH THE RABBI Hall & Stuart Haber PARSHA OF THE WEEK Humans of Bereshis Zion Room Rabbi S. Scherer 11:30 am THE TALMUD Advanced Text based Jerusalem Hall MESSAGES OF TORAH Revelation of the Depths Conference Room ISN T TIME TO Acquiring Skills in the Study of Mishna Jerusalem COMPREHEND MISHNA? Hall THE CHABURA Class for teen boys Jerusalem Hall RAMBAM REVIEW Ever wanted to understand the Rambam Jerusalem and his unique views on everything, here Hall is your chance Dr. Alex Pister Dr. Martin Levin Ian Liebenthal Daniel Meisels Lev Mirlas 11:30 am 11:30 am 11:30 am 11:30 am 11:30 am

3 Weekday Davening Times: Sun July 1 Fri July 6, 2018 Shacharit: Sunday 8:00 am Fast of Tammuz Begins: 3:38 am Ends: 9:48 pm Shacharit: Monday- Stat Holiday Tuesday - Friday 8:00 am 6:45 am Mincha: Sunday Monday - Thursday 8:25 pm 8:55 pm Next Shabbos Pinchus Friday Mincha / Kaballat Shabbat / Maariv Sanctuary 7:00 pm & 8:45 pm Friday July 6 : Candle Lighting Shabbat July 7 Not Before Not After 7:27 pm 8:44 pm 9:48 pm Weekday Classes Sunday: Library 8:45 AM The Mitzvah of Kiddush HaShem Live from Israel with Rabbi Yair Spitz From Zion to the Zion Room We are pleased to announce that Rabbi Spitz will return to ATCS to conduct a weekly class exploring the Midrashim in the Torah. The classes will be run live via teleconference and allow the audience to interact with Rabbi Spitz in real time. The class will run Sundays at 4:00 pm in the Zion room, and will last for approximately 1 hour. The cost is $50 for the series of 10 classes. Payment can be provided when arriving. For anyone who finds payment difficult, please simply Rabbi Rothman discreetly at: theshul@aish.com. We welcome everyone s participation Tue -Thurs Library 6:10 AM Weekday Mornings Mishnayos Rabbi Mordechai Cohen 7:30 AM Rambam s Mishna Torah Rabbi S. Schwartz Wed: Conference Room 10:00 AM Women s Parsha class Rabbi Rothman Monday Zion 8:00 pm Conference pm Tuesday Conference Room 7:00 PM *** New Wednesday Class Moriah Room 8:00 pm Weekday Evenings NEW Deriving Halacha, Developing Skills Halacha Exercise Methods of character development as the Foundation of Jewish Life Rabbi Rothman Rabbi M. Cohen Reb. Avraham Kleiman Rabbi Rothman

4 This Week s Post Mussaf Class with the Rabbi A senior doctor asked the following question: Sholosh Seudot Halacha Discussion One Shabbos a patient of mine came to me and complained about various aches and pains. From my experience with the patient, I knew that the aches and pains were imaginary and there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. Several times I had treated him successfully using placebos. The patient had little knowledge of the laws of Shabbos, and did not realize that it is forbidden to take medicine on Shabbos except in cases of real illness. The patient in this case was clearly not ill, so there was no excuse for giving him real medicine. My only question was if this prohibition extends to placebos as well, which, are not really medicine, but the patient believes they are. Should I give him the placebo on Shabbos, or tell him to come back after Shabbos? What does the Torah say about such a situation? Find out with Rabbi Rothman at Shalosh Seuda

5 Profiles This week we continue our new feature in the bulletin with a most unusual installment of PROFILES This week; the extraordinary life of the late Abe Beker z l, through a hypothetical interview as we would have imagined how it would have happened. TCS: Do you appreciate being seen and identified as a Holocaust survivor or is it something you would rather not be associated with? would be foolish. Abe: I consciously chose to move forward with my life after the Holocaust and not live life bent on revenge. However, to deny the impact and degree to which it shaped my personality and my life TCS: And that is why you don t shy away from talking about your experiences? Abe: My willingness to talk is a recent development. Although I have no plans to check out any time soon, perhaps sharing my experience is my final great contribution to the world. TCS: Your story of survival is both astonishing and difficult to comprehend but we will get back to that later. Where did you grow up? Abe: I was born in a little Lithuanian town called Yosvainiai not too far from Kovno. TCS: Was it a happy childhood before the War? Abe: I had some good memories but it was not easy. My Father, Osher Beker z l died when I was only eleven and my Mother moved us to Kovno to try to earn a living. We had no money so I was sent to a Jewish orphanage. On the weekends, I was able to stay with my mother. TCS: Any specific memories from your childhood? Abe: I remember enjoying being with our extended family. Our town had nothing in the way of entertainment so we entertained each other. Even though we were not permitted to go to shul after the Communists invaded, my Mother gathered ten Jewish men and made a small bar mitzvah for me in our home. It is something I will always remember. TCS: Tell us about your Mother Mina Beker z l. Abe: She came from a scholarly lineage. Her great, great Grandfather was Rabbi Elchanon Spector z l who was a Talmudic Chacham as well as a progressive thinker well beyond his time and the influence behind the modern day Yeshiva University. My Mother was very respected and her advice and teaching was highly sought after in the community. TCS: And your Father? Abe: As I said, he died when I was young. I do recall that he was very Zionistic and had even met Jabotinsky. TCS: Did you have any siblings? Abe: I have 2 sisters, Rochelle and Judy who miraculously survived as well. Even though we presumed each other had been killed, someone suggested to them after the War to send a note to one of the refugee camps. Fortunately, I was in that camp and I received that note. TCS: What happened when the war began?

6 Abe: The Russians invaded in 1940 followed shortly thereafter by the Germans in Between the two invasions, I was sent to a Communist camp where I was discriminated against for being Jewish. One night we were woken to the sound of explosions and our roof being blown off. We made a run for it but the Germans overtook us. We were dragged back to the camp. I had heard ominous rumours about the Germans killing Jews in Poland and realized it was not going to end well there. I tried to convince a friend to leave with me but in the end, I left alone. I don t know for sure but I doubt anyone survived. I walked for 3 or 4 days eventually getting a lift part of the way and made it back to Kovno and my Mother some 250 or 300 miles away. TCS: What was your Mother s reaction when she saw you? Abe: She was elated. She thought she would never see me alive again. TCS: What happened next? Abe: After the Germans came into Lithuania, there was a pogrom with 10,000 Jews murdered in Kovno and another pogrom in Slabodka which was a small town just outside of Kovno and home to the famous Slabodka Yeshiva. The most chilling aspect of this pogrom was that it was not the Nazis who murdered the Jews but rather Lithuanian Nationalists who committed the atrocities. TCS: But you survived. Abe: Yes and later, there was a selection with 10,000 more taken away and killed by gunfire. TCS: And what happened to those who remained alive? Abe: We were forced into a ghetto that was quite small and lacked basic necessities like food and water. We were three families to one large room. What people don t understand is that the ghettos, just as with the concentration camps, were designed to eliminate the Jews. The concentration camps were just a more efficient means from the Nazi perspective. But the intention was very much the same. TCS: And what did you do during your time in the Ghetto? Abe: I was working as well as selling anything I could get my hands on in the black market to try to get some food. At some point, the Germans decided to send others and me to Riga to work but we feared the worst so we tried to escape through a small window while the train was moving. TCS: You escaped a moving train? That sounds like something out of the movies. Abe: There were about 12 of us and more than half were gunned down by the Germans who were poised with machine guns. I still have a mark on my back from a bullet that grazed by me. TCS: Where did you go from there? Abe: I returned to the Ghetto. We remained there until April 1944 when the Nazis burned down the ghetto. We were taken by train to Stuthoff where the men and women were separated. I tried to run to my Mother but I was held back by Dr. Elkes the head of the Ghetto who saved my life as a German was about to bayonet me. My Mother was sent to the gas chambers along with my sister Judith but a drunken guard took pity on her and screamed at her to run away. Judith escaped but my Mother was not so fortunate. TCS: Where did you end up? Abe: In Dachau concentration camp. TCS: The stories of what went on in the concentration camps are horrific. Can you give our readers a sense of how bad it was?

7 Abe: You can never comprehend how terrible it was. Although Schindler s List was a brilliant attempt at capturing the emotions involved and connect them with the audience in the end it still seemed like a fairy tale compared to what really went on. TCS: Can you explain further? Abe: The scene where they take away the children in a cart presumably to their death. What really would have happened is that they would have been beaten, mocked and tortured. I saw myself babies taken from their Mothers and swung around until their heads were smashed against a wall. We were treated as if we were the lowest species on Earth. TCS: How brutal were the conditions? Abe: We were starved, forced to work gruelling 12-hour days and only had thin striped linen pajamas despite freezing temperatures. We were reduced to animals and had to abandon any feelings for others. I saw a father and son fight over a piece of bread. I saw people fight over clothing from a dead person. TCS: That is heartbreaking. Of all these horrific memories do any stand out most for you? Abe: I recall working on a job where we were smoothing wet cement and my friend slipped into the pool of wet cement. I tried to help but the guard poked me with his bayonet and told me to Leave him alone. He drowned in the cement. TCS: What do you attribute your having been able to survive while others perished? Abe: Partly, I was conditioned by the extremely tough conditions in the Ghetto. A group of Romanian and Hungarian Jews arrived in Dachau after I had been there for a while. They were used to a more luxurious life and were not able to withstand the conditions. One young man died in my arms as I tried to coax him into summoning the will to survive. TCS: You said partly. Any other thoughts about why you might have been able to survive. Abe: Partly G-d s will though I really question where was G-d through all of this. TCS: Yet you maintained a connection to Judaism and your legacy is rewarded with children and grandchildren with a very deep and devoted commitment to Judaism. Abe: I have very conflicted feelings. I have a lot of anger yet I also have a lot of nachas from my children. TCS: Do you remember the moment you were liberated? Abe: We were taken from the camp in what is infamously known as the Death March. 10,000 started the march and only about 1,200 survived. A group of six or so of us kept watch for each other. If we stumbled and could not go on we were shot. Each night we slept overnight in the snow with many never waking up. At one point we came across a dead horse and cut it open and ate the raw flesh. TCS: Were you really able to eat raw flesh? Abe: People have no idea how overwhelming the urge to eat anything is when you are starving to death. TCS: But again, you somehow managed to survive. And then liberation finally came? Abe: One morning we woke up and there were no guards. I could hardly walk but then I saw an American soldier. I knew he was American because he was black. I knew in that instance it was over. TCS: After you were liberated, where did you go?

8 Abe: We were in a series of refugee camps for a while but a bunch of us decided we needed our freedom. We stole a jeep and one of the guys was a mechanic and he managed to get it started. However, on the way down a steep mountain the brakes stopped working and we must have been going 200 miles per hour. I remember thinking that after surviving the concentration camps I was going to die in a car accident. TCS: Where did you end up? Abe: We made our way to Italy. Those were quite possibly the best years of my life. My friends and I terrorized the place but who could blame us. We were young, fearless and finally able to enjoy our youth. TCS: But you did not stay. Abe: It was tempting. A family by the name of Olivetti took me in and wanted to adopt me. TCS: Olivetti as in the typewriters? Abe: Yes. I tutored their kids as I was strong in Math and they treated me like a king. They wanted to teach me the family business and send me to Argentina where they had a big office. I was determined, however, to go to Israel. TCS: But you ended up In Canada. What changed your plans? Abe: I was on my way but when the IDF blew up the Altalena ship, I decided not go. I had seen enough war. Even though history proved Ben Gurion s decision to be the right one, I wanted to live in peace. TCS: Was it love at first sight in Canada? Abe: Actually, the day I arrived in Halifax there was a storm and it was freezing. I thought I had made a huge mistake. TCS: And how did you end of up in Toronto? Abe: They were willing to send us anywhere we wanted by train. I loved to swim and so I chose Toronto because I knew about Lake Ontario. TCS: Where did you develop your passion for swimming? Abe: I became a very good swimmer as a child in Josvainiai out of necessity. The non-jewish kids would try to drown us and I quickly learned how to outswim them. TCS: I understand that you swam competitively in Toronto. Abe: There was a reward posted for the first person to swim Lake Ontario. I competed in the same swim that Marilyn Bell did when she became the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. I made it halfway but my crew got sick and I had to quit because without a guide boat it was impossible to finish. TCS: Did any of your kids pick up your swimming genes? Abe: My sons could not swim the length of the bathtub even if you gave them a half-length push. TCS: And when did you meet your wife? Abe: I met my wife in I had been seeing a friend of hers but her parents did not like that she was dating a refuge so we had to always meet on a street corner. That did not work for me as I no longer wanted to hide from anybody TCS: Can you describe the attraction between the two of you?

9 Abe: Simmie was pretty and played a little hard to get compared to the other girls. I asked her as a date to a wedding we were both invited to and she refused saying that we would see each other there anyways. I asked someone else and she was not pleased. TCS: And how did you get involved in the Shmata Business? Abe: My father-in-law was very good to me and kept begging me to join the business. Eventually, I relented even though I was doing quite well as a salesman in another business. TCS: Were you happy to give up sales? Abe: I never really gave it up. I continued to go on the road and would routinely outsell my professional sales agents. My son said that I could sell a bathing suit to a fish. TCS: What does it mean to have your son Ronny in the business? Abe: It means a lot. We have different skills and compliment each other. Manufacturing is a very difficult business but we have weathered the storms and hung around for over 80 years while employing in excess of one thousand people over the years. TCS: You have also helped many in need over the years. Abe: As a survivor and an orphan, I benefitted from the generosity of others and have always had a soft spot in my heart for refugees. We helped a number of South Africans immigrate by giving them jobs regardless of qualifications and financial support. TCS: That must be rewarding. Abe: Not always. Not everyone was appreciative and some took advantage of my generosity. But I never let it deter me. TCS: And your family? Abe: I never would have imagined that I would be standing where I am today. President of a successful manufacturing business, a lovely devoted wife, three good, well-educated children and seven grandchildren though one sadly passed away and now even one great grandchild. TCS: Any parting thoughts? Abe: Only a survivor can understand the depths of hell that I experienced. I shared little with my family and did my best to move forward and build a good life for myself and my family. I did my best but like all survivors, I have wounds that could never heal in a lifetime. I am grateful that my family is healthy and doing well.

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