949 Clark Ave West Thornhill ON L4J 8G6 www.thornhillshul.com PHONE 905-764-1891 FAX 905-764-1606 E-Mail: theshul@aish.edu RABBI Avram Rothman 905-764-1891 x 214 (C) 416-876-0691 arothman@aish.edu REBBETZIN Ruth E Rothman 647-989-5821 tcsrbtzn@aish.edu RABBI S ASSISTANT Hadassah Hoffer 905-764-1891 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: Ki Tisa March 2/3, 2018 16 Adar Candle Lighting: Not After: 5:49 pm Shabbat Ends: 6:54 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. Mincha / Kabbalat Shabbat / Maariv D var Torah FRIDAY EVENING Rabbi Rothman SHABBAT MORNING IN THE MAIN SANCTUARY 5:55 pm Midrash class Rabbi Rothman Shacharis 9:00 am Torah Service: Ki Tisa pg: 484 9:55 am Haftorah pg: 1159 Rabbi s Drasha Rabbi Avram Rothman 10:40 am Mussaf 10:55 am Announcements / Adon Olam 11:25 am SHABBAT MORNING THROUGHOUT THE SHUL Hashkama Minyan Library 7:30 am Kiddush & Class with Rabbi Yeres Jerusalem Hall 9:20 am How to Choose the Best Seder Wine Library Minyan Rabbi Zelunka 9:30 am This Week s D var Torah Adam Myerowitz21874 Kiddush Jerusalem Hall ~12:30 pm Early Mincha Sanctuary 1:00 pm SHABBAT AFTERNOON /GINZBURG LEARNING CENTRE Ginzburg Learning Centre RETURNS IN THE SPRING Mincha Sanctuary 5:30 pm Shalosh Seuda Jerusalem Hall 6:00 pm Maariv followed by Havdallah Sanctuary 6:54 pm MAZAL TOV Paul & Andrea Skosowski on the engagement of their daughter, Avigayil, to Jason Kapsack, son of Alan & Jaye Kapsack of New York ~ Lev and Viola Mirlas on the engagement of their son Aharon to Elena Alexander ~ Chana Raizel Nightingale on winning Hachnosas Kallah of Toronto s "Toronto's Got Talent" contest. The Grand prize- of a trip to Israel!
KIDDUSH SPONSORED BY Lev and Viola Mirlas in honour of their son Netanel Moshe, and to say thank you to the women of the Chesed committee for the delicious Shabbat food ~ Dr. Alex & Sandy Pister and George & Judy Pister in memory of Laybel Yosef Ben Shmuel (Sandy's father) and Pinchas Oosher Ben Yisroel (Alex & George s father) HASHKAMA KIDDUSH SPONSORED SHALOSH SEUDA 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 SPECIAL CLASS Purim Unmasked Moriah Room Mrs. Jody Berkel 10:30 am PARSHA PARENTING INTRODUCTION TO HALACHA RABBI S CLASS GINZBURG LEARNING CENTRE: POST MUSSAF CLASSES BEGIN ~ 11:30 AM CLASSES END ~ 12:20 PM Using the subtle Torah messages on How to Parent in 2017 Stepping into Tur/Shulchan Aruch, The Laws of Havdalah (Hebrew textbased) The King s Insomnia: Different Views on the 6 th Chapter of the Megillah Moriah Room Dr. Mati Rothman 11:30 am PLEASE NOTE All Post Mussaf classes are cancelled this week in order for the Rabbi to address the entire congregation LIBRARY Jonathan Sherrington 11:30 am Sanctuary Rabbi Avram Rothman 11:30 am MEDICAL ETHICS Truth Telling & the Medically Ill ZION ROOM Dr. Michael Kirzner 11:30 am GUY S THING Controversial Issues discussed LIBRARY Rabbis Mitch Mandel & 11:30 am WITH THE RABBI Weekly The Golden Path: Stuart Haber PARSHA CLASS Humans of Bereshis MERON Rabbi S. Scherer 11:30 am Where Moderation & ROOM Passion Unite THE TALMUD Advanced Text based LIBRARY Dr. Alex Pister 11:30 am MESSAGES OF TORAH Revelation of the Depths Conference Dr. Martin Levin 11:30 am Room ISN T TIME TO Acquiring Skills in the Study of Mishna LIBRARY Ian Liebenthal 11:30 am COMPREHEND MISHNA? THE CHABURA Class for teen boys HEVRON Daniel Meisels 11:30 am ROOM RAMBAM REVIEW Ever wanted to understand the Rambam and his unique views on everything, here is your chance Lev Mirlas 11:30 am
Weekday Davening Times: Sun March 4 Fri March 9, 2018 Shacharit: Sunday Shacharit: Monday - Friday Mincha: Sunday - Thursday 8:00 am 6:45 am 6:00 pm Next Shabbos Vayakhel- Pekudei Friday Mincha / Kaballat Shabbat / Maariv Sanctuary 6:00 pm Friday March 9: Candle Lighting Not After 5:58 pm Shabbat March 10 Shabbat Ends 7:03 pm Weekday Classes Sunday: Library 8:45 AM The Mitzvah of Kiddush HaShem Rabbi Avram * *NEW Sunday: Sanctuary AFTER MA ARiV Haftorah Clinic Main Sanctuary Jonathan Sherrington 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 email Rabbi Rothman discreetly at: theshul@aish.com. We welcome everyone s participation Thurs: Library 6:00 AM Halacha Weekday Mornings 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 Weekday Evening Classes Monday Zion Room @ 8:00 pm Conference Room @7:30 pm NEW Deriving Halacha, Developing Skills Halacha Rabbi Rothman Rabbi Cohen Tuesday Conference Room 7:00 PM Reb. Avraham Kleiman
Ongoing Classes
Profiles This week we commemorate the Shloshim of Arthur Rothman z l, the father of our Rabbi Avram Rothman, Dr. Mati Rothman, Dr. Gary Rothman and Father-in-law, Uncle and Zaidy and Great Grandfather to many of our treasured members. We look back on the unique life and special person that Arthur was through the eyes of his sons. TCS: This is no doubt a difficult task with emotions surely quite raw but we appreciate your willingness to do so and it surely speaks volumes about how much you respected your father and feel that his legacy can be a positive influence on our congregation whether someone knew Arthur or not. Rothman Brothers (RB s): It is important to teach others about special people and for us all to learn from their challenges and accomplishments. So, we are glad to do so. TCS: Which core values were really important to your father? RB s: He was ahead of his time in being very accepting of all ethnic groups and showing them respect. He knew quite a few languages and a handful of words in many, many languages just so that he could connect with people. For example when he would meet a Polish person, he would use a phrase that he learned when he worked in a Polish market. It loosely translated to sir, we have very fine pigs feet today. He would say the phrase, laugh and proceed to explain why he said it. Of course, the Polish speaking person always laughed along with him. Another example occurred shortly before he passed. The hospital nurse was Filipino and dark skinned so he thought she was Spanish. He spoke to her in Spanish even though the nurse did not speak Spanish. She told me that she did not correct him, as she understood why he was doing it and was touched by it. TCS: What did your father do for a living? RB s: He was a travelling salesman. He could have made a lot of money but that was not his priority. He made enough to provide for his family and valued spending time with us. We are convinced that he had the skillset and people skills to have been quite wealthy but he was not materialistic. After our Mother passed away, he was very lonely so he came to work at my veterinary clinic in 1991 and worked there until shortly before he passed away. Even though he was in his 90 s there are tasks that no one else on my staff can handle as well as he did.
TCS: But he did go to law school. RB s: He went but did not like and left before he was finished. He was very bright so Law School was not too hard. He was close to his Mom who really needed someone to help her. Recently he remarked that his kids are doing for him what he did for his Mother. That was very evident especially with the amazing efforts of his son Gary and wife Vicki. TCS: Did he like animals? RB s: We had animals growing up. My father was somewhere between being tolerant and liking them. He would never admit to liking them however. He used to take me to the SPCA. He would talk in Yiddish to the animals. He had an American accent but spoke Yiddish as his first language. I would tell my father that the animals don t speak Yiddish yet somehow they understood. TCS: How important was it to your Father that you grow up as menschs? RB s: He did not talk about it but he certainly lived that way. Mom would tell us stories about what a mensch he was. He was the guy who would find a wallet and return it or if the shopkeeper gave him too much change, he would give the extra change back. TCS: Did he change much over the years? RB s: After my Mother passed away, he became a lot more outgoing. He was lonely so he went to every school meeting, kid s game, and dinner invitation. He needed to be around people but did not care for older people as he found that they complained too much. Our father, on the other hand, was a joy to be around always kibitzing, always happy and never wanting to be a burden. TCS: How much credit does your Father deserve for your having a strong Jewish identity? RB s: He strongly identified with Jews. There were not a lot of religious Jews in Syracuse but he felt a connection to any Jew that he ever met. TCS: Your mother was a holocaust survivor. How did your father help her deal with the psychological scars? RB s: He felt very deeply for the pain that our Mother suffered. Moreover, he certainly loved her. We even found love letters when we started to clear out his house. TCS: I understand your Father had a good sense of humour. Did that rub off any of you? RB s: My father was poor as a child but he was happy. We all saw it and experienced his humour. Many of the jokes that we use even today come from him. Our grandchildren are tortured with the same jokes we were and we expect tht will continue for genertions. TCS: Did your father have any unique talents?
RB s: He read a lot. He liked to do stuff around the house but he only had two tools a hammer and a crowbar. He broke everything. TCS: Your Dad apparently knew George Friedmann. What was their connection? RB s: My father was a manufacturing representative the majority of time was with Dr. Denton whose main line was pajamas. George manufactured the pajamas for Dr. Denton to be sold in Canada. They met at conferences. When our father visited our shul, he recognized George. TCS: Which lessons or character traits from your father are important for you to teach to your children and grandchildren? RB s: The idea of being accepting all people. The community thing that I constantly talk about is an offshoot of how my Father raised us. TCS: Any memories of joining him on his business trips? RB s: He took me on a school break to work, which meant travelling to places like Albany. One of those trips was on the same weekend that Man landed on the Moon and Woodstock took place. He loved his maple syrup and insisted on the high quality stuff. He carried a flask with maple syrup on the road so that he would be sure to have some when he had waffles in a restaurant. He sometimes had to explain that his flask was not filled with alcohol. TCS: Any lasting thoughts? RB s: He loved people and was ahead of his time in being tolerant. Even when the nurses were sticking needles in him, he would thank them for what they were doing. The nurses fought over who would have the privilege of tending to him. His neighbours adored him. An African American came by the other day to inquire about him, as he had not seen my father for a while. When I told him that he had passed away the gentleman broke down in tears. He had another neighbour who was Vietnamese and would bring him egg rolls. My father tried to explain that he did not eat pork but the fellow insisted on continuing to bring egg rolls. My father would graciously accept and without the neighbour knowing then throw them out. He will be sorely missed.
Next Challah Bake March 14