Welcome to the DAT Minyan! Shabbat Vayeitzei November 25, 2017-7 Kislev 5778 Joseph Friedman, Rabbi David Fishman, President FRIDAY 4:20 pm: Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Maariv, (Shema should be recited after 5:22 pm) SHABBAT Parasha: Page 144 / Haftarah: Page 1139 7:30 am: Hashkama Minyan 8:30 am: Tefillah Warm-up with Ellyn Hutt 9:00 am: Shacharit Kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored by Rachel and Nathan Rabinovitch in honor of the marriage last weekend of their children Beth Gindi and Avi Rabinovitch 3:25 pm: HS Boys Gemara w/ Rabbi Zalesch at at his home, 315 S. Newport Way 3:40 pm: Saturday Afternoon Class with Rabbi Friedman, with this week s topic My Recent Visit to the Temple Mount 4:10 pm: Mincha, followed by Seudah Shlisheet Seudah Shlisheet this week features Sheva Brachot in celebration of the wedding of Beth and Avi Rabinovitch and is sponsored by the Nathan and Rachel Rabinovitch in honor of the love and warmth extended to them by Barbara and Alan Gindi and the entire DAT Minyan community 5:21 pm: Maariv / Havdalah Weekday Schedule Havdalah 5:21 pm D var Torah with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Shabbat Schedule Please help make our prayer service more meaningful by refraining from talking during the service. Candle 4:20 Lighting pm Go and learn what Laban the Aramean sought to do to our father Jacob. Pharaoh made his decree only about the males whereas Laban sought to destroy everything. This passage from the Haggadah on Pesach evidently based on this week s parsha is extraordinarily difficult to understand. First, it is a commentary on the phrase in Deuteronomy, Arami oved avi. As the overwhelming majority of commentators point out, the meaning of this phrase is my father was a wandering Aramean, a reference either to Jacob, who escaped to Aram [Aram meaning Syria, a reference to Haran where Laban lived], or to Abraham, who left Aram in response to God s call to travel to the land of Canaan. It does not mean an Aramean [Laban] tried to destroy my father. Some commentators read it this way, but almost certainly they only do so because of this passage in the Haggadah. Second, nowhere in the parsha do we find that Laban actually tried to destroy Jacob. He deceived him, tried to exploit him, and chased after him when he fled. As he was about to catch up with Jacob, God appeared to him in a dream at night and said: Be very careful not to say anything, good or bad, to Jacob. (Gen. 31:24). When Laban complains about the fact that Jacob was trying to escape, Jacob replies: Twenty years now I have worked for you in your estate fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for some of your flocks. You changed my wages ten times! (31:41). All this suggests that Laban behaved outrageously to Jacob, treating him like an unpaid labourer, almost a slave, but not that he tried to destroy him to kill him as Pharaoh tried to kill all male Israelite children. Third, the Haggadah and the seder service of which it is the text, is about how the Egyptians enslaved and practised slow genocide against the Israelites and how God saved them from slavery and death. Why seek to diminish this whole narrative by saying that, actually, Pharaoh s decree was not that bad, Laban s was worse. This seems to make no sense, either in terms of the central theme of the Haggadah or in relation to the actual facts as recorded in the biblical text. How then are we to understand it? Perhaps the answer is this. Laban s behaviour is the paradigm of anti-semites through the ages. It was not so much what Laban did that the Haggadah is referring to, but what his behaviour gave rise to, in century after century. How so? Laban begins by seeming like a friend. He offers Jacob refuge when he is in flight from Esau who has vowed to kill him. Yet it turns out that his behaviour is less generous than self-interested and calculating. Jacob works for him for seven years for Rachel. Then on the wedding night Laban substitutes Leah for Rachel, so that to marry Rachel, Jacob has to work another seven years. When Joseph is born to Rachel, Jacob tries to leave. Laban protests. Jacob works another six years, and then realises that the situation is untenable. Laban s sons are accusing him of getting rich at Laban s expense. Jacob senses that Laban himself is becoming hostile. Rachel and Leah agree, saying, he treats us like strangers! He has sold us and spent the money! (31:14-15). (Continued on Page 4) SHACHARIT Sunday: 8:00 am Learning Opportunities @ the DAT Minyan Monday Friday: 6:35 am Kitzur Shulchan Aruch: Daily, after Shacharit MINCHA/MAARIV Sunday Friday: 4:20 pm Mishnayot: Daily, between Mincha and Maariv Friday: 4:20 pm Wednesday Evening Class: returns November 22nd(Continued at 7:00onpm page 4) 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 - 6825 E. Alameda Ave. Denver, CO 80224-720-941-0479 - www.datminyan.org
DAT MINYAN NEWS, EVENTS AND LEARNING Mazal Tov to Rachel and Nathan Rabinovitch on the wedding this past weekend in Los Angeles of their son Avi to Beth Gindi, daughter of Barbara and Alan Gindi of Los Angeles. We extend a warm welcome this Shabbat to Alan and Barbara Gindi, Rachel and Aaron Inlender and family, Ariella and David Kuppermann and family, and Aliza! Mazal Tov to all! Our Wednesday night classes with Rabbi Friedman are back! Join us at 7:30 pm on November 29th for our next class when the Rabbi presents The REAL Chanukah Story Part 2. Our Social Committee, under the new leadership of Jay and Melanie Schoenberger, has put together a full calendar of events for the New Year! Plan to be with us for our Third Annual Trivia Night Latke Supper, Saturday, December 16th, 7:30 pm, at The Jewish Experience. Register online at https://www.datminyan.org/form/trivianight and see the attached flyer for more details. Volunteers are needed! And, Sunday evening, March 11th is our Annual Event. More details coming soon! AIPAC 2018 takes place in Washington, D.C. March 4th through 6th. The DAT Minyan has a block of 20 reserved spots at the AIPAC discounted rate of $399.00 per person and we are now accepting registrations. To register online, please go to https://www.datminyan.org/form/aipac2018, or contact the shul office for additional information. 2017 is rapidly coming to an end, and your opportunities for claiming charitable deductions on your 2017 Income Tax are down to a final few weeks. As a personal benefit to you and to the congregation, please make every effort to close out any remaining balances on your DAT Minyan account. Thank you for your ongoing support throughout the year! Thank-you to all of those who contribute to our Shabbat services by signing up to help with our weekly leining. We remain in need of continued help with this, and all able-leiners are encouraged to please volunteer! Leining slots have been posted for the Shabbosim after the Chaggim until the end of the year. In addition, with a goal of expanding our roster of Haftarah readers, we have now opened up the weekly Haftarah portions for sign-up as well. The sign-up website is www.datminyan.org/laining. Please contact Steve Hutt for questions and additional information. Minutes from last week s Board of Directors Meeting can be accessed online at: https://images.shulcloud.com/395/uploads/documents/boardminutes/board-mtg-minutes-11-14-17.pdf Looking for a way to make your donation to the shul really go the distance? We can use your Frequent Flyer miles to fly in our Scholars in Residence, saving the shul a great deal of money! Please contact the synagogue office to make a mileage donation. Please check the lost and found every month to see if any of your lost belongings are there. It is located right near the main entrance doors. The school donates all remaining items at the end of each month. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS Yeshiva Toras Chaim celebrates its 51st tribute dinner on Tuesday, November 28, 2017, at BMH-BJ Hall, 560 Monaco Pkwy, Denver. Yeshiva will be paying tribute to its Legacy Building Partners, securing Torah learning and education in Denver for the coming half-century. Honorees are Zvi & Shoshana Gelt, The MB Glassman Foundation, Larry & Cindy Halpern, Michael & Barbara Katch, Burt & Lee Levy, Ronald & Sandy Schiff, Ari Yeruchem (Andy) Siegel obm, and Morey & Joni Troy. The keynote speaker will be Howard Tzvi Friedman of Baltimore, MD. Cocktails at 5:30 pm, Buffet Dinner at 6:00 pm and Program at 7:00 pm. followed by dessert. For more information, please visit www.ytcdenver.org, email ytcinfo@ytc.edu or call 303-629-8200. It s the hilarious and uplifting story of a successful Hollywood screen writer discovering the world of Torah. Come hear the story of David Weiss, the writer of Smurfs, Rugrats, Shrek 2 and more! Motzaei Shabbos, December 2nd at Bais Menachem, 7:30pm. www.chabadcolorado.com/weiss PORAT is proud to host Jacob Sztokman, high-tech executive turned non-profit entrepreneur. Mr. Sztokman will speak about his Project Gabriel Mumbai, which feeds, educates and provides health care for over 1,500 children in the slums of Mumbai, before mincha on Shabbat 12/9 at 3:40 pm followed by a complete presentation of his inspiring experience at the home of Chaim and Bara Loewenthal Saturday night 12/9 at 7:00 pm. Come join R Chaim Sher and discover the power we all have! Join us every other Tuesday evening, to explore the Brachos of Shmonah Esrei. This four part shiur will take place Tuesdays, December 5th & 19th, and January 2nd, at Merkaz, from 8:15 9:00 pm. Shiurim are open to men and women. Chabad of Colroado presents Chanaukah Night at the Children's Museum, Thursday, December 14th, 5-8pm! Exclusively for us! Special Chanukah activities and refreshments. Special rate this coming Monday (11/27) only $10 per person. See website for details. www.chabadcolorado.com/museum BMH-BJ Congregation invites the community to their Jazz, Jews and Booze Chanukah party, Tuesday night, December 19th at 6:30 pm at BMH-BJ. Enjoy a night out with a live jazz band, special Chanukah cocktails, and your favorite holiday foods! Tickets are $36. Must be 21+ to attend the event. Childcare is free and will be provided at BMHBJ. Drop your kids off, enjoy the evening, and pick them up before you head home! Register on line through the calendar date (December 19) on the BMH-BJ website. The Denver Academy of Torah High School Senior class is running a Toveling fundraiser. Save time and let us tovel your dishes for you. Contact the senior class at seniors@datcampus.org for more information or to coordinate pickup and dropoff times and locations. Price: $10 + generally $1 per item. All proceeds go to the senior class trip. The Denver Academy of Torah High School Senior Class is selling a take-out Italian Dinner on Sunday, December 3rd. The meal will include a vegetarian or meat pasta dish, garlic bread, minestrone soup, salad, and italian ices. Cost is $12 for 1 meal, $44 for 4 meals with home delivery available for an extra $10. Pickup between 4-6 pm at EDOS. All proceeds go to the senior class trip. To place an order, contact the seniors at seniors@datcampus.org.
DAT MINYAN MEMBER MILESTONES The DAT Minyan wishes to acknowledge the following milestones* of our members in the coming week: Elior Biton, Tamar Fine, Jamie Katz, Jacquie Marks, Yona Zalesch, David Zalkin, Jessica Zalkin Ari and Miriam Hoffman 16 years Aaron and Nicki Toys 15 years Nathan and Rachel Rabinovitch 25 years Daniel Woodrow and Myndie Brown 40 years *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 mistakes. For corrections or additions, please log on to your account and update the information, or contact the synagogue office at 720-941-0479. This Day In Jewish History - Nov 25 / 7 Kislev 442 B.C.E. King Yehoyakim, of Judah, burns a sefer Torah when it is read for him and he hears it foretelling that Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar would one day destroy the Judean kingdom. The day became a day of fasting, as enumerated in Megillat Taanit (Chap. 9). 4 B.C.E. The death of the wicked King Herod is remembered in Megillat Taanit (Chap. 9) as a Yom Tov. 1918 The armistice between the Allied nations and Germany is signed in Compiegne, France, ending World War I. The date would become known throughout the world as Armistice Day. It is estimated that over 1.5 million Jewish soldiers fought in all the armies and that approximately 170,000 were killed. 1992 The 44 victims who perished when the Egoz boat capsized off the Moroccan coast while trying to immigrate to Israel in 1961 are brought to burial in Eretz Yisroel, 31 years later. More than 30,000 Jews had made the perilous journey from Morocco to the Promised Land up to that point, but on the night of January 10th, the Egoz sank two hours into its voyage. 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 at https://goo.gl/aeyjg2. Avraham ben Yonita Baruch Getzel ha Cohen ben Esther Benyamin ben Bryna Borukh ben Eydya Bryna bas Menucha Carmel ben Tirtza Chaim Shmuel ben Miriam Chaim Tuvia ben Dina Chana Yetta bat Bryna Chaya Chanah Elisheva Rivka bat Sarah Chaya Orah bat Sarah Chaya Sarah bat Tzirel Devorah Leah bat Chanah Dinah bat Chayala Dovid ben Ita Sheva Dovid ben Leah Eliyahu Chaim ha Cohen ben Sara Rifka Ephraim ben Henna Eunice bat Sarah Faige bat Sarah Feigie bat Sarah Gali bat Etel Guy Chaim ben Rita Hadassah bat Fruma Rahel Ilana Dintza bat Ita Mirrel Kalia bat Miriam Laizer ben Yaffa Leah bat Helen Leah bat Sarah Leah Devora Kivitiya bat Chaya Leya bat Sara Lyudmila bat Roza Malka bat Sarah Menachem Mendel Dan ben Seryl Menachem Yitzchak ben Yisraela Michel ben Leah Miriam Tova Chaya bat Chanah Moshe Feivel ben Rose Naftali Yisroel ben Yisraela Nataniel ben Elisheva Rachael bat Devorah Raphael Yotam ben Efrat Reuven Yehoshua ben Nechama Rina bat Lea Sara Chana bat Shaina Sarah Shoshanna bat Sarah Shaina Meryl bat Rivka Shashi bat Batya Baila Shifra Hadassah bat Chaya Leah Shira Chana bat Sara Shirley Hasia bat Devorah Shlomo ben Penina Shoshanna bat Liora Shoshanna bat Smadar Shoshanna Miriam bat Chanah Shulamit Leah bat Chava Tirtza bat Sarah Tomas ben Galit Tova bat Nechama Tziporah Rut bat Cissie Tzvi Gershon ben Shaindel Shaina Raizel Yaakov Mordechai ben Chana Yaakov Roni ben Margolit Yehuda Mordechai Shrage ben Roiza Feige Yehudit bat Leah Yisroel ha Cohen ben Hadassah Yona Malka bat Pola Yonatan Zeev ben Netaa Ziporah Sarah Mirrel bat Miriam
YOUTH ANNOUNCEMENTS The Denver NCSY and DAT Teen Minyan Shabbat will be December 2nd, 9:30 am following the Hashkama Minyan in Room 111 Saturday night Mish Mosh is coming back! Look for its return right after Thanksgiving! Rabbi Sacks (Continued from page 1) Jacob realises that there is nothing he can do or say that will persuade Laban to let him leave. He has no choice but to escape. Laban then pursues him, and were it not for God s warning the night before he catches up with him, there is little doubt that he would have forced Jacob to return and live out the rest of his life as his unpaid labourer. As he says to Jacob the next day: The daughters are my daughters! The sons are my sons! The flocks are my flocks! All that you see is mine! (31:43). It turns out that everything he had ostensibly given Jacob, in his own mind he had not given at all. Laban treats Jacob as his property, his slave. He is a non-person. In his eyes Jacob has no rights, no independent existence. He has given Jacob his daughters in marriage but still claims that they and their children belong to him, not Jacob. He has given Jacob an agreement as to the animals that will be his as his wages, yet he still insists that The flocks are my flocks. What arouses his anger, his rage, is that Jacob maintains his dignity and independence. Faced with an impossible existence as his father-in -law s slave, Jacob always finds a way of carrying on. Yes he has been cheated of his beloved Rachel, but he works so that he can marry her too. Yes he has been forced to work for nothing, but he uses his superior knowledge of animal husbandry to propose a deal which will allow him to build flocks of his own that will allow him to maintain what is now a large family. Jacob refuses to be defeated. Hemmed in on all sides, he finds a way out. That is Jacob s greatness. His methods are not those he would have chosen in other circumstances. He has to outwit an extremely cunning adversary. But Jacob refuses to be defeated, or crushed and demoralised. In a seemingly impossible situation Jacob retains his dignity, independence and freedom. Jacob is no man s slave. Laban is, in effect, the first anti-semite. In age after age, Jews sought refuge from those, like Esau, who sought to kill them. The nations who gave them refuge seemed at first to be benefactors. But they demanded a price. They saw, in Jews, people who would make them rich. Wherever Jews went they brought prosperity to their hosts. Yet they refused to be mere chattels. They refused to be owned. They had their own identity and way of life; they insisted on the basic human right to be free. The host society then eventually turned against them. They claimed that Jews were exploiting them rather than what was in fact the case, that they were exploiting the Jews. And when Jews succeeded, they accused them of theft: The flocks are my flocks! All that you see is mine! They forgot that Jews had contributed massively to national prosperity. The fact that Jews had salvaged some self-respect, some independence, that they too had prospered, made them not just envious but angry. That was when it became dangerous to be a Jew. Laban was the first to display this syndrome but not the last. It happened again in Egypt after the death of Joseph. It happened under the Greeks and Romans, the Christian and Muslim empires of the Middle Ages, the European nations of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and after the Russian Revolution. In her fascinating book World on Fire, Amy Chua argues that ethnic hatred will always be directed by the host society against any conspicuously successful minority. All three conditions must be present. [1] The hated group must be a minority or people will fear to attack it. [2] It must be successful or people will not envy it, merely feel contempt for it. [3] It must be conspicuous or people will not notice it. Jews tended to fit all three. That is why they were hated. And it began with Jacob during his stay with Laban. He was a minority, outnumbered by Laban s family. He was successful, and it was conspicuous: you could see it by looking at his flocks. What the sages are saying in the Haggadah now becomes clear. Pharaoh was a one-time enemy of the Jews, but Laban exists, in one form or another, in age after age. The syndrome still exists today. As Amy Chua notes, Israel in the context of the Middle East is a conspicuously successful minority. It is a small country, a minority; it is successful and it is conspicuously so. Somehow, in a tiny country with few natural resources, it has outshone its neighbours. The result is envy that becomes anger that becomes hate. Where did it begin? With Laban. Put this way, we begin to see Jacob in a new light. Jacob stands for minorities and small nations everywhere. Jacob is the refusal to let large powers crush the few, the weak, the refugee. Jacob refuses to define himself as a slave, someone else s property. He maintains his inner dignity and freedom. He contributes to other people s prosperity but he defeats every attempt to be exploited. Jacob is the voice that says: I too am human. I too have rights. I too am free. If Laban is the eternal paradigm of hatred of conspicuously successful minorities, then Jacob is the eternal paradigm of the human capacity to survive the hatred of others. In this strange way Jacob becomes the voice of hope in the conversation of humankind, the living proof that hate never wins the final victory; freedom does.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO HELP WITH TRIVIA NIGHT Our Third Annual Trivia Night is Saturday, December 16th, at The Jewish Experience, and we need a few volunteers to help in the following areas: Organizing the menu Preparing lists of needed supplies Shopping for supplies Preparing the food (light cooking) Setup of the event an hour before start time Contact the shul office at 720-941-0479 to volunteer! THE DETAILS: We have launched a new registration system that works best in Google Chrome. If you are registering friends or family members in addition to yourself, you will need personal and contact information for each registrant. There are specific requirements for each host site, including age minimums and flu shots. December 25 Greater Denver/Boulder Area WINTER IS HERE: REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! Join us in lending a hand to local hospitals, assisted living facilities, shelters and other organizations this Christmas REGISTER ONLINE AT https://www.classy.org/event/christmas-mitzvah-project/e143949 If your site requires an orientation, you will receive details in early December. Day-of information, including site-specific details and parking information will be provided by your Rosh Volunteer closer to Christmas Day. We are still recruiting host sites, so if you don t see a site that interests you, please check back often for new opportunities! ONGOING VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES It s been said that it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a congregation to put together a kiddush, especially with the spacial challenges with which we work. We recognize that the kiddush is an important component of our Shabbat experience, not only for something to eat, but as a chance to socialize with one another. Your participation in the kiddush process can make a huge difference to the shul, at whatever level you can volunteer. Here are the opportunities: Kiddush sponsorships Shopping for kiddush supplies Table setup Weekly event breakdown Thanks for your support!