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: Vaera - Shabbat Mevarchim January 12/13, 2018-26 Tevet Candle Lighting: Not After: 4:44 pm Shabbat Ends: 5:50 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 4:50 pm Midrash Rabbi Rothman 8:30 am Shacharis Dani Meisels 9:00 am Torah Service: Vaera pg: 318 Dr. Jeff Bernholtz 9:50 am Maftir: 890 Haftorah pg: 1208 Alan Roth Rabbi s Drasha Rabbi Avram Rothman 10:40 am Mussaf Michael Bloom 10:55 am Announcements / Adon Olam Rabbi Mitch Mandel 11:25 am SHABBAT MORNING THROUGHOUT THE SHUL Hashkama Minyan Library 7:30 am Kiddush & Class Rabbi Yeres is away this week Jerusalem Hall 9:20 am Library Minyan 9:30 am This Week s D var Torah Rabbi Mark Zelunka Kiddush Jerusalem Hall ~12:30 pm ** Early Mincha Sanctuary 12:50 pm SHABBAT AFTERNOON /GINZBURG LEARNING CENTRE Ginzburg Learning Centre RETURNS IN THE SPRING Mincha Sanctuary 4:20 pm Shalosh Seuda Jerusalem Hall 4:50 pm Maariv - Tzaitz HaCochavim ( Night fall or 3 stars) Sanctuary 5:50 pm Havdalah MAZAL TOV Jonathan & Amanda Sherrington on the engagement of their son Daniel to Elisheva Clements daughter of Daniel & Grace Clements of Cleveland ~ Hal & Laura Biren on the birth of a grandson, born to Nathan & Shaindel Biren
KIDDUSH SPONSORED BY Talya and Stephen Beker in memory of Mamoru Takano on the 4 th anniversary of his passing 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 PARSHA PARENTING INTRODUCTION TO HALACHA 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 text-based). Moriah Room Dr. Rothman 11:30 am Jerusalem Hall CANCELLED THIS WEEK 11:30 am RABBI S CLASS Bit Coin Transactions & Halacha Sanctuary Rabbi Rothman 11:30 am GUY S THING Controversial Issues discussed Jerusalem Hall Dr. Kirzner & 11:30 am WITH THE RABBI Weekly Rabbi Mandel PARSHA CLASS Humans of Bereshis Zion Room Rabbi Sha anan 11:30 am Scherer THE TALMUD Advanced Text based Jerusalem Hall Dr. Alex Pister 11:30 am MESSAGES OF TORAH Revelation of the Depths Conference Dr. Martin Levin 11:30 am Room THE JEWISH QUESTION What You Thought You Knew: Parsha Library CANCELLED THIS 11:30 am WEEK ISN T TIME TO Acquiring Skills in the Study of Mishna Jerusalem Hall Ian Liebenthal 11:30 am COMPREHEND MISHNA? THE CHABURA Class for teen boys Jerusalem Hall Daniel Meisels 11:30 am RAMBAM REVIEW Ever wanted to understand the Rambam and his unique views on everything, here is your chance Jerusalem Hall Lev Mirlas 11:30 am
Weekday Davening Times: Sun January 14 Fri January 19, 2018 Shacharit: Sunday Shacharit: Monday /Tue/Thurs/ Friday Wednesday Rosh Chodesh Shvat Mincha/Maariv : Sunday -Thursday 8:00 am 6:45 am 6:35 am 4:55 pm Next Shabbos Friday Mincha / Kaballat Shabbat / Maariv Sanctuary 5:00 pm Friday January 19: Candle Lighting Not After 4:53 pm Shabbat January 20 Shabbat Ends 5:58 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 CANCELLED THIS WEEK 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
Sholosh Seudot You Gotta be Kiddin Me Halacha Discussion An ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) is a device, similar to a pacemaker that monitors a patient s heart rhythm and automatically administers shocks to treat life-threatening disruptions in the heart beat. Since the device was invented, it has been responsible for saving many people from death by heart attack. An elderly man who had been fitted with such a device asked his cardiologist to deactivate it. I am sick of life, he explained. I wouldn t go as far as to kill myself, but when my time comes, I am ready to go. I don t want a device that will keep me alive longer than necessary. The cardiologist then asks R Zilberstein if this was permitted. He noted that at the moment the ICD was deactivated, the patient would suffer no harm. The patient would not even be able to feel that it was no longer working. Furthermore, only a small percentage of patients fitted with ICD units ever come to a situation in which the ICD actually saves their life. Nonetheless the question remained: may a doctor deactivate a life-saving device, thus increasing the chance that his patient might die at a later date? What is the answer? Find out with Rabbi Rothman during Shalosh Seuda
Profiles This week we continue our new feature in the bulletin with another installment of PROFILES Each week, we profile a different family in a (hopefully) fun and non-invasive manner to help us get to know our fellow shul members. This week we spotlight Natasha and Alex Katz. originally? TCS: You both add a little international flavor to TCS. Where are you from Natasha: I am from Russia. Alex: I am from the Ukraine. TCS: Has the political unrest in Ukraine spilled over into the Katz household? Alex: We have maintained a truce for now. TCS: And how do you navigate the language barrier between Ukrainian and Russian? Alex: I can never understand her. Natasha: That would explain a lot. At least I am a good listener and understand Alex s language. TCS: When did you come to Canada and what was the driving force? Natasha: I came to Canada in 1994. Alex came in 1991. We were both teenagers when we arrived and it was the political situations that pushed our families to leave. TCS: When and how did you meet? Alex: We met in 1999. Natasha: I met Alex in 1998. Apparently it took him a year to officially recognize our meeting. Alex: We met at a Simcha Bet Shoeva party. TCS: So which languages do you speak at home? Alex: Russian and English. TCS: So if you dropped Shlomit off in Moscow for a month would she get by with her Russian speaking skills? Alex: We tried that. It didn t work and she found her way home. TCS: What piece of your Russian/Ukrainian heritage do you most want to pass on to the kids? Natasha: An appreciation of the literature, movies and cartoons that I enjoyed as a kid. TCS: How did you find the transition in moving to Canada?
Natasha: It was my 2 nd transition as we first moved to Israel in 1991. So in that regard it was easier but I came with no language skills and I found that socially it was challenging. We aiso lived in Scarborough which was culturally very different from what I was accustomed to. Alex: It was a pretty smooth for me. I met a lot of wonderful people. TCS: What brought you to AISH? Alex: I was already involved with AISH through renting a basement apartment from a very warm family who were one of the AISH founders. When we got married we lived near the Village Shul. Natasha: I was very influenced by Alex. I did not have a religious connection and it was terrifying that Alex kept Shabbat. However, he started introducing me to people and my fears subsided and I grew to love Jewish observance. TCS: When it comes to your children. Are you optimistic or worriers? Natasha: I worry all the time. Alex: And I never worry. Natasha: Our main goal is that they develop into menschs. TCS: Is there a Katz trait that runs through all the kids? Alex: They all hate to speak Russian. Natasha: They are completely different. But they are all open and very expressive. TCS: That is not the stereotype of a Russian. Why are your kids so expressive? Natasha: Lots of communication. Alex: Natasha is very expressive. She does not hold back. TCS: Shlomit appears to be very mothering for Joshua. Is she a role model for Avi? Natasha: Avi used to copy her but now he has become quite independent. They both love Joshie and take amazing care of him. I never have to worry about Joshie when the kids are with him. TCS: What about Alex with Joshie? Natasha: Then I have to worry. TCS: Tell us about Limud FSU. Natasha: It is a once a year weekend global program in over 30 locations that is geared towards Jews from the former Soviet Union. The goal is to connect them to the Jewish community, engage them and keep them involved Jewishly. Alex: Friends introduced us to Limud FSU in New York and it was an amazing gathering of more than 1,000 fellow Jews from the FSU. We both fell in love with the concept of community building. TCS: What role does you currently play with Limud FSU? Alex: I am part of the programming committee responsible for finding speakers.
TCS: You seem to have an amazing connection to ba al teshuvas, converts and singles. It almost seems like you are the shul s concierge for these groups? Can you shed some light for us on this connection? Natasha: We don t look at it this way. We just enjoy our friends company on Shabbat and we love making new friends, nothing more to it. Alex: Ditto. TCS: You are active with the Partnership Minyan. What is the biggest misconception? Natasha: The main issues are(1) that the Partnership Minyan is perceived to be completely against Halacha and (2)that some in mainstream Orthodoxy think that Feminism is a dirty word in because it became associated with other ideals that are against Jewish values. TCS: The common questions are why don t women focus on their own mitzvot and why do they need men s mitzvot? How do you respond to those questions? Natasha: At some point the focus became very narrow for women as they did not have the skills and experience to be part of the discussion of Jewish values. The desire is real for more involvement and if we don t address it now, we put our kids who are not satisfied with the status quo at risk. Alex: Judaism is supposed to include the physical and spiritual world. There is near unanimous acceptance of women contributing as Doctors, Lawyers and Scientists. Why is there such a backlash against women contributing in a spiritual realm? TCS: Any hobbies? Natasha: We enjoy theatre, reading and travelling. Alex: I have a strong interest in videography. What I would love to learn is skydiving. TCS: A thrill seeker? Natasha: He is fearless. Alex: That is why I married Natasha - for the thrills. TCS: Russian condiment of choice? Natasha: Everything has mayo. They even make grilled cheese with mayo. TCS: Vodka in the freezer? Alex: No. I became a scotch drinker since joining TCS. TCS: Stuart, is away busy this week pressing olives at the shul vineyard to replenish the stock for next year s Chanukah so the two of you are president for a week. What changes big or small can we expect you to make? Natasha: More kids programming. After a certain age kids are not engaged. Alex: I would appoint the Profile s staff as the leadership of the shul. TCS Editor: Hashem help us.
Special thank you to the Nightingale Family for donating new Sforim to the Shul In memory of their parents Irving & Eve Nightingale
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