Welcome to the DAT Minyan! Shabbat Chol Hamoed Sukkot September 29, Tishrei, 5779 Joseph Friedman, Rabbi Mark Raphaely, President

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1 Welcome to the DAT Minyan! Shabbat Chol Hamoed Sukkot September 29, Tishrei, 5779 Joseph Friedman, Rabbi Mark Raphaely, President Candle Lighting Havdalah 6:30 pm 7:26 pm SUKKOT/HOSHANA RABAH/SHEMINI ATZERET/ SIMCHAT TORAH SCHEDULE FRIDAY, Sep 28 6:30 pm Mincha/Maariv SHABBAT, Sep 29, Shabbat Chol HaMoed 7:30 am Hashkama 8:25am Daf Yomi 9:00 am Shacharit 3:00 pm to 5:45 pm Sukkah Hop 5:15 pm Shiur Rabbi YD Schwartz: This is the Way We Build Sukkot 6:15 pm Mincha 7:26 pm Maariv/Havdalah SUNDAY, Sep 30, Hoshana Rabah 7:30 am Shacharit 6:26 pm Candle Lighting/Mincha Followed by D var Torah by R Hayyim Angel 6:55 pm Maariv Kiddush should not be recited until 7:23pm 9:00 pm Oneg at the home of Chaya and Seth Parkoff, 7304 E. Cedar Ave., with Shiur by Rabbi Angel, The Chosen People in an Age of Political Correctness MONDAY, Oct 1, Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah 7:30 am -Hashkama 8:35 am Daf Yomi 9:00 am Shacharit Approx. 10:15 Yizkor Drasha Following Kiddush, Lunch & Learn (reservation required): The Rabbi, the Professor, and the Pope: Rav Joseph Soloveitchik, Professor Leon Kass, and Pope John Paul II on Family Values in Sefer Bereshit with R Angel 4:15 pm Shiur / R Angel: The Akedah: Extremely Religious without Religious Extremism 5:15 pm Mincha (before Plag) Ata Horayta auction 5:45 pm Maariv - Hakafot in Fisher Hall - Women s Dancing in Gallery - Shiur w/ R Angel: Parashat Bereshit - Eden - Kayin-Hevel 7:22 pm EARLIEST time for Candle Lighting/Kiddush TUESDAY, Oct 2, Simchat Torah 7:30 am Daf Yomi 8:00 am Shacharit/Hakafot - Hakafot in Fisher Hall - Shiur w/ R Angel during Hakafot: Lessons from Creation: Biblical Text and Ancient Near East - Shiur w/ R Angel during Aliyot: Introduction to Kohelet: Confronting Religious Challenges - Mincha after Musaf 6:15 pm Neilat HaChag (w/ refreshments): R Angel Moonlit Leadership: The Ingredients in Joshua s Spectacular Leadership Successes 7:21 pm Maariv/Havdalah WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, Oct 3 5 6:35 am Shacharit 6:30 pm Mincha/Maariv (6:20 pm on Fri., Oct 5) Berachot - A Primer (based on a series by Olami, a project of Ner L Elef) Section II. The Rationale and Impact of a Bracha There are three types of Brachot: blessings for deriving pleasure, blessings before performing a mitzvah, andblessings of praise. This week, we will begin addressing the first of the three: Part A. Bircot HaNehenin [Blessings upon having pleasure] Bircot HaNehenin are recited when we derive pleasure from this world. We are required to recite Brachot both before and after we eat and drink, as well as before we inhale pleasant fragrances. The purpose of these Brachot is to help us recognize that God is the Source of our pleasure, and to focus our minds on how to use this pleasure to fulfill our purpose in this world. The following Talmudic passage from Tractate Berachot 35a cites a fundamental aspect of the Brachot recited prior to partaking of any pleasure, namely, their recitation allows us to take benefit from the physical world: Rabbi Levi contrasted two verses. One states, The world and all that is contained within it belongs to God. Another verse says, The heavens belong to God, but the earth He gave to man. He resolved the contradiction by stating that one verse refers to the status of the world before reciting a Bracha and the other to after its recitation. Said Rabbi Chanina Bar Pappa: When someone derives enjoyment from this world without a Bracha, it is tantamount to stealing from God The enigmatic statement being made here that a Bracha avoids stealing from God has been explained in a number of ways. Here are a few possible explanations: 1. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, on Devarim 8:10, writes: A Bracha said before partaking of any pleasure expresses the resolution that we will employ any renewed vital energy gained from this pleasure, to serve God s purposes. Only if we make this resolution will we become worthy of enjoying that pleasure. This explanation takes the Gemara s statement literally. A Bracha is, indeed, a form of payment for the benefit received, inasmuch as it represents a commitment to use the material world to advance the purpose for which God intended it. Rav Shimshon Pincus, in Nefesh Shimshon, Siddur Ha Tefilla, takes a different approach. He writes: A simple analogy: If a man goes to the supermarket to buy bread and other foods, he must pay for Learning the DAT Minyan Kitzur Shulchan Aruch: Daily, after Shacharit Daf Yomi Shiur (30 min): after Shacharit on Sun through Fri, and 8:25 am on Shabbat Mishnayot: Daily, between Mincha and Maariv Halacha Chaburah: Sun, 10:00 am 11:00 am (reconvenes 10/7) Short & Sweet Talmud Class (30 min-never longer): Wed, 9:20 am, DAT Minyan offices at BMH-BJ (men only) Rabbi Friedman Wed. Night Class: 7:30 pm, starting new series The Halelukahs-Part 1, October 3rd SHAWL: Shabbat afternoon women s only study group (Continued on Page 3) (Continued on page 3) DAT Minyan is a dynamic and friendly Modern Orthodox synagogue for all ages and dedicated to meaningful personal spiritual development, community growth, youth involvement, Torah education, and Religious Zionism. DAT Minyan S. Monaco Pkwy., Denver, CO

2 DAT MINYAN NEWS, EVENTS AND LEARNING We are pleased to welcome Rabbi Hayyim Angel, one of the most popular Tanach educators in the world, who will join our community for Shemini Azeret and Simchat Torah. Rabbi Angel will be speaking to us throughout the holiday. To help sponsor this exciting event, please speak with Drs. Rachel or Nathan Rabinovitch or Rabbi Zalesch. Information, is on Page 6 of the Newsletter. Our thanks to Bara and Chaim Loewenthal, Lisa and Jonathan Perlmutter, Rachel and Nathan Rabinovitch and the generosity of an anonymous donor for their sponsorship of our Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah events with Rabbi Angel. A huge thank you to our Sukkah Hop hosts, Michael and Gus Joshua, Rich and Evelyn Male, Bob and Jacquie Marks and Josh and Rachel Rubin! Mazal Tov to Pia and Fred Hirsch on the birth of a new granddaughter this week to their daughter and son-in-law, Nathalie and Mordechai Birnbaum, in New Jersey! As a reminder regarding our Youth Group programming, as previously announced, Groups will be meeting on Shemini Atzeret but NOT on Simchat Torah. Construction is underway on the new Denver Academy of Torah High School building. As a result, access to DAT s north parking lot at Oneida is now restricted. Fencing has been rerouted to allow pedestrian traffic from the Lex to DAT and Ekar Farm, but much of the sidewalk on the north side of the property will be restricted, and access through the property will limited to use of the lawn only. Please note that as construction progresses, there may be times when access is completely limited. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. Have you noticed something different about our webpage? We are in the process of updating and streamlining our website, Please bear with us while we make final adjustments and changes to assure we achieve a great final product. If you notice any typos, or wish to share content suggestions and constructive feedback, please contact Rachel Rabinovitch or Aaron Segall. And, if you were not already aware, our website includes a membership directory which is available to all members once you ve logged into your DAT Minyan account and set up a password. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS The Mizel Museum invites the community to a commemoration of the Babi Yar Massacre, honoring all the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, Sunday, September 30th, 11:00 am till noon at Babi Yar Memorial Park, E. Yale Ave., Denver. Keynote speaker is David Shneer, the Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History, Professor of History and Jewish Studies and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Guided tours of the park will be available following the ceremony. Register at tinyurl.com/babiyar18. #LIFEHACK for Teens: Unlocking the Secret to Mental Wellbeing Sundays Oct 7, 14, 21, 28 & November 18 3:00 pm- 5:00 The Jewish Experience Cost: $125. Contact Chaya Parkoff at chaya.parkoff@gmail.com for more information or to register. Tali Berman, Autism Specialist and author from Israel, will be hosting a 2-hour workshop sharing an innovative and integrative approach to autism, taking place on Sunday, October 14th, from 10:00 am to noon at Green-Spaces, 2590 Walnut St., in Denver. Registration fee is $25 per person. For more information and to reserve your seat, go to whole_child_autism_workshop_denver.eventbrite.com. The Shabbat Project presents the Mega Challah Bake of Colorado, Wednesday, October 25th, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at BMH-BJ Synagogue. Join fellow Jewish women of Colorado in an evening of challah baking, fun and inspiration. Preregistration online by October 15th, $20 per person or $40 at the door. Register at denverchallahbake.eventbrite.com. All teens are invited to join us for our new weekly program, Morning Motivation, 10:30 am in the Library, each Shabbat other than Shabbat Mevarchim, when we will have our monthly Teen Minyan. SAVE-THE-DATE Friday night, October 19th DAT MINYAN SHABBAT DINNER Details coming soon!

3 Brachot Primer (Continued from page 1) them. But suppose the same man comes to the shopkeeper s home for a meal and eats exactly the same food; he doesn t pay a penny. So it is with Brachot. God has His business the universe. Anything one wants in life is [within the domain of] God s business and must be paid for. But if he develops a loving connection and relationship with God, he can eat from the Heavenly table. [This is accomplished by making a Bracha]. And when you eat by the shopkeeper you don t receive a bill! According to this explanation, a Bracha is not a payment for one s food. Rather, it is a means of developing a relationship with God, which circumvents the need to pay. The classic work, the Kuzari, sees Berachot in yet a different way: The constant practice of Brachot will add sweetness to sweetness Readiness for receiving pleasure, as well as imagining its absence, together result in doubled pleasure. This is one of the benefits for those who are accustomed to saying Brachot with thought and mental preparation For example, the Bracha Who has given us life and sustained us automatically entertains the possibility of the absence of life and therefore illness and death are easier to bear, because they have already been considered and you will ultimately realize that by rights you deserve no goodness and then you will enjoy all your days on earth. Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, in Alei Shur Vol. I, p.112, posits that reciting Brachot helps us remain sensitized to everything in Creation. How does one come to see God? Through recognizing His goodness and praising Him for it. One of the wondrous achievements of the Sages was to ensure the continued awareness of the Hand of Creation. The world before us is neither fully developed nor completed. Rather, day by day, hour by hour, creation is renewed. All that our eyes see and every pleasure we taste is a new creation which God has created from nothingness to bestow upon us, so that we realize His kindness and His wisdom A world like this, which is renewed before our eyes day in and day out, ensures that we do not become rusty [in our acknowledgement of God] due to monotony. All of the above explanations focus on the way that Brachot impact the frame of mind and cognizance of the person reciting them. Kabbalistic wisdom identifies other benefits of the recitation of Brachot, which help infuse the world with vital spiritual energy. For example, the Rabeinu Bachya, commenting on Devarim 8:10, explains: According to the Kabbalah, a Bracha is not only to help a person nor is it only a way to express thanks and recognition Rather, when we say a Bracha, this increases the Divine spiritual power [in the world], and our Brachot cause blessing to flow from God upon all of creation. The Zohar, on Vayechi, states: As a result of the Bracha said to God, all the upper and lower worlds become blessed. Finally, in addition to bringing blessing to the world at large, a Bracha brings spiritual energy to the person who recites it. The Ma yana Shel Torah on Devarim 8:3, citing the Arizal, writes: It is difficult to understand how the soul, which is entirely spiritual, finds sustenance in physical food. However, since every object in the universe came into existence solely through God s word, therefore the spiritual power of those Godly words that lies hidden within the food is what nourishes the soul. When a person takes a piece of fruit and recites a Bracha the Divine powers dormant in the food are activated and that provides the spiritual nourishment for the soul. With all of these profound explanations for the institution of bircot hanehenin, we must still keep in mind the simplest and most obvious impact that they are meant to have: the recognition of God s great kindness, and that He is the source of all that we have. As Rabbi Yisroel Miller writes, in his book, What s Wrong With Being Happy: The Bracha is not to dampen our pleasure by forcing us to give thanks; it is to heighten our pleasure by reminding us how truly fortunate we are. Look a potato in the eye and say the Brachah, Borei P ri Ha Adamah, Who creates produce from earth! All the world s scientists together cannot create a potato, but God arranges for them to be available in supermarkets for pennies. A thoughtful Bracha makes a potato so much tastier, and it does the same for every food and beverage you enjoy, every day. A young couple getting married once sent a wedding invitation to Richard Nixon, President of the United States at the time. They had never met the President, but why not? Maybe the White House would mail back the reply card, and they could paste it in their wedding album as a souvenir. The names on the invitation were totally unfamiliar to the President, but politicians meet so many people that he figured he must know them from somewhere; so, along with his regrets that he and Pat could not attend, the President sent the newlyweds a serving set of sterling silver. And today, when visitors to that couple s home admire their serving set, and the hostess says, Yes, that was a wedding gift from the President, we can be certain that the coffee or tea has a richer taste. And how much more pleasure is there for those who received a Presidential gift which was indeed intended for them? And therefore, when we bite into an apple, orange or a piece of bread (and don t forget the potato!), our Bracha reminds us that this gift is not from the President, not even from a king or queen, but from the King of Kings; a gift given to you, because God thinks of you and wants you to enjoy. Next week we ll look at Part B. Bircot HaMitzvot [Blessings upon Mitzvot]

4 DAT MINYAN MEMBER MILESTONES The DAT Minyan wishes to acknowledge the following milestones* of our members in the coming week: Dena Boyd, Lily Dauber, Barbara Feldman, Alexis Gorlin, Noah Hill, Margalit Levy, Joey Mogyoros, Ilan Rubin, Sarah Senkfor, Raymon Wener, Sadie Wiener, Daniel Woodrow Howard Ancell - Wed., 10/3/18 (24 Tishrei) *These details were obtained from the DAT Minyan database, which contains information provided by the members when they joined. We apologize for any omissions or errors. For changes, please log on to your account and update the information as needed, or contact the synagogue office at This Day In Jewish History - 29 Sep / 20 Tishrei 20 Tishrei, The Jews of Zurich are charged with perpetrating the Black Death epidemic in Europe. Jews are tortured into admitting to poisoning wells in order to kill Christians, and those who manage to escape being burned to death are expelled from Switzerland. As riots against Jews spread throughout the country, more than 210 Jewish communities in Europe are destroyed as a result of these false accusations. 20 Tishrei, After 10 days of fighting, Israeli forces led by Ariel Sharon cross to the western side of the Suez Canal in a decisive battle of the Yom Kippur War. In some of the most brutal fighting of the war, the Israelis open a hole in the Egyptian line and reach the Canal, allowing for a small force to cross the Suez and create a bridgehead on the other side. A few days later, Israeli troops trap the Egyptian Third Army, leaving it without any means of resupply, thus effectively ending the Yom Kippur War. September 29, Following a visit by Ariel Sharon and Israeli legislators to the bitterly contested Temple Mount in Jerusalem, clashes between Palestinian protestors and Israeli police result in five people dead and dozens of police injured. Sharon insisted he was bringing a message of peace, but many considered his visit as an attempt to upstage Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming primaries for leadership of the Likud Party. September 29, Israel s Central Bureau of Statistics releases its annual population figures to mark Rosh Hashanah At that time, it said 7.34 million people lived in Israel, including 5.54 million Jews, or 75 percent of the population. There were 1.48 million Arabs, about 20 percent, and 315,000 members of other groups. Rosh Hashanah that year coincided with Eid el-fitr, one of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar. Refuah Shelayma Please include the following names in your prayers. May each be granted a Refuah Shelayma. Names are kept on the list until the next Rosh Chodesh. Help us keep the list accurate by verifying the necessary details each month on the Cholim Document Baruch Getzel ha Cohen ben Esther Bella bat Malka Carmel ben Tirtza Chaim Shmuel ben Miriam Chaim Tuvia ben Dina Chana Yetta bat Bryna Channa bat Henny Rus Chaya Chanah Elisheva Rivka bat Sarah Chaya Miriam bat Shoshana Chaya Orah bat Sarah Chaya Sarah Rivka bat Leah Devorah Leah bat Chanah Dinah bat Chayala Doniel ben Chana Dovid leb Avraham Halevi ben Dina Esther Eliyahu Chaim ha Cohen ben Sara Rifka Ephraim ben Henna Esther Leah bat Rachel Esti bat Sara Faige bat Sarah Gavriel Yehoram ben Leah Cecil Geula bat Chana Guy Chaim ben Rita Hadassah bat Fruma Rahel Hersch Leib ha Cohen ben Feige Rifka Hillel Yerachmiel ben Ariella Ilana Dintza bat Ita Mirrel Jerry ben Chaya Chana Kalia bat Miriam Keile bat Sarah Leah Leah Devora Kivitiya bat Chaya Levick Yitzchak ben Bracha Leya bat Sara Malka bat Sarah Mendel Ila ben Frida Miriam Michel ben Leah Michoel Zisel ben Barbara Mikimia bat Pesha Baila Miriam Tova Chaya bat Chanah Pinchas ben Beula Batya Rifka bat Leah Rivka bat Penina Roshka bat Bryna Sarah Shoshanna bat Sarah Shashi bat Batya Baila Shifra Hadassah bat Chaya Leah Shira Chana bat Sara Shirley bat Hasia Devorah Shoshanah bat Miriam Shoshanna bat Liora Shoshanna bat Smadar Shoshanna Miriam bat Chanah Shulamit Leah bat Chava Tirtza bat Sarah Tomas ben Galit Tova bat Nechama Tzvi Gershon ben Shaindel Shaina Raizel Yasmine bat Miriam Yehuda Mordechai Shrage ben Roiza Feige Yehudit bat Leah Yisroel Yaakov Moshe ben Sarah Yitzchak Isser ben Sima Yochanan ben Sarah Yona Malka bat Pola Yonatan Zeev ben Netaa Yosef ben Bruria Katrina Yosef ben Malka Machla

5 HOLIDAY SCHEDULE THANK YOU FOR INSPIRING FUTURE GENERATIONS WITH YOUR GENEROSITY We would like to thank our Legacy Society donors for investing in our future by naming the DAT Minyan with a gift in their will, trust, retirement account or life insurance policy. Our Legacy Society includes: Graeme Bean You can add your name to this list with a legacy gift to the DAT Minyan. To arrange for your gift or for more information about our Legacy Society program, please contact any of the following Committee Members: Rob Allen, Myndie Brown, Sarah Raphaely or Steve Weiser. Ellyn Hutt Steve Hutt Rachel Rabinovitch CURRENT AND UPCOMING COMMUNITY SPECIAL EVENTS As a result of the many different events and festivities this week for Sukkot, the Oneg scheduled for Friday night in the Rabbi and Rebbetzin's Sukkah has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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