Baruch Hashem! Luach for Week of Mishpatim Chabad NP
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Baruch Hashem! Luach for Week of Mishpatim www.chabadnp.com Chabad NP - 30 Shevat- 7 Adar 5781 / February 12- 19 Friday, 30 Shevat ● Shabbat Candle Lighting at 5:28 PM ● Kabbalat Shabbat - (P. 154) ● Kiddush on p. 179 ● Rosh Chodesh Observances Today is the first of the two Rosh Chodesh ("Head of the Month") days for the month of Adar (when a month has 30 days, both the last day of the month and the first day of the following month serve as the following month's Rosh Chodesh). Special portions are added to the daily prayers: Hallel (p. 307-312) is recited -- in its "partial" form -- following the Shacharit morning prayer, and the Yaaleh V'yavo prayer is added to the Amidah (Shacharit - p. 50, Mincha p. 108) and to Grace After Meals (p. 92); the additional Musaf prayer is said (p. 313-319). 1 Adar - Shabbat Mishpatim- Rosh Chodesh Adar, Shekalim Torah Reading: Mishpatim: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18 Shabbat Rosh Chodesh: Numbers 28:9-15 Parshat Shekalim: Exodus 30:11-16 Shekalim - Rosh Chodesh: Kings II 11:17 - 12:17; Isaiah 66:1; Isaiah 66:23-24; Isaiah 66:23 ● Rosh Chodesh Observances Today is the second of the two Rosh Chodesh ("Head of the Month") days for the month of Adar (when a month has 30 days, both the last day of the month and the first day of the following month serve as the following month's Rosh Chodesh). Special portions are added to the daily prayers: Hallel (p. 307-312) is recited -- in its "partial" form -- following the Shacharit morning prayer, and the Yaaleh V'yavo prayer is added to the Amidah (Shacharit - p. 50, Mincha p. 108) and to Grace After Meals (p. 92); the additional Musaf prayer is said (p. 313-319). ● Adar Joy "When Adar enters," the Talmud declares, "we increase in joy." For this is "the month that was transformed for them from sorrow to joy, from mourning to festivity" (Esther 9:22) by the great miracle and victory of Purim. Our sages advise that the month of Adar is an auspicious time for the Jewish people, so that if a Jew is faced with a challenging event (i.e., a court case, a medical procedure, etc.) he should endeavor to schedule it during Adar. ● Parshat Shekalim When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, each Jew contributed an annual half-shekel to the Temple. The 1st of Adar marked the beginning of the collection of the shekalim. In commemoration, the Torah reading of the Shabbat that falls on or before Adar 1 is supplemented with the verses (Exodus 30:11-16) that relate G-d's commandment to Moses regarding the first giving of the half-shekel. "Parshat Shekalim" is the first of four special readings added during or immediately before the month of Adar (the other three being "Zachor", "Parah" and "Hachodesh") ● Three Sefer Torahs This Shabbat is unique in that three Torah scrolls are taken from the ark and read from in the public Torah reading: one scroll for the weekly Parshah, a second scroll for the Rosh Chodesh reading, and a third scroll for the Shekalim reading. (The only other occasions on which three scrolls are taken out are Simchat Torah, and when Rosh Chodesh Tevet (which is also Chanukah) or Rosh Chodesh Nissan (in which case the special reading of "Hachodesh" is read) fall on Shabbat). ● Kiddush for Shabbat day on p. 249. ● Shabbat Ends at 6:27 PM ● Havdalah on p. 297 ● Today in Jewish History Plague of Darkness (1313 BCE) The 9th plague to strike the Egyptians for their refusal to release the Children of Israel from slavery -- a thick darkness that blanketed the land so that "no man saw his fellow, and no man could move from his place" (Exodus 10:23) -- commenced on the 1st of Adar, six weeks before the Exodus. Monday, 3 Adar ● Today in Jewish History 2nd Temple Completed (349 BCE) The joyous dedication of the second Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) on the site of the 1st Temple in Jerusalem, was celebrated on the 3rd of Adar of the year 3412 from creation (349 BCE), after four years of work. The First Temple, built by King Solomon in 833 BCE, was destroyed by the Babylonians in 423 BCE. At that time, the prophet Jeremiah prophesied: "Thus says the L-rd: After seventy years for Babylon will I visit you... and return you to this place." In 371 the Persian emperor Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple, but the construction was halted the next year when the Samarians persuaded Cyrus to withdraw permission. Achashverosh II (of Purim fame) upheld the moratorium. Only in 353 -- exactly 70 years after the destruction -- did the building of the Temple resume under Darius II. Wednesday, 5 Adar ● Today in Jewish History Moses' Last Day of Leadership (1273 BCE) Moses passed away on the 7th of Adar. Following G-d's instruction that Joshua should succeed him and lead the Jewish nation into the Land of Israel, Moses transferred leadership duties to Joshua on the day before he passed away. Thus the fifth day of Adar was the last day of Moses' leadership. Thursday, 6 Adar ● Today in Jewish History Moses Completes the Torah (1273 BCE) Moses completed the book of Deuteronomy, concluding his review of the Torah which he began several weeks earlier, on the 1st of Shevat. He then wrote down the completed Five Books of Moses, word for word, as dictated to him by G-d. This scroll of the Torah was put into the Holy Ark, next to the Tablets of Testimony. First Print of Torah with Onkelos & Rashi (1482) The first edition of the Five Books of Moses (Torah) with the Targum Onkelos (Aramaic translation of the Torah) and the commentary of the famed commentator Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as Rashi, was published on this date in 1482. It was published in Bologna, Italy, by Joseph b. Abraham Caravita, who set up a printing-press in his own home. Friday, 7 Adar ● Shabbat Candle Lighting at 535 PM ● Kabbalat Shabbat - (P. 154) ● Kiddush on p. 179 ● Today in Jewish History Moses' Birth & Passing (1393 and 1273 BCE) Moses was born in Egypt on the 7th of Adar of the year 2368 from creation (1393 BCE) and passed away on his 120th birthday -- Adar 7, 2488 ● Sanctification of the Moon Once a month, as the moon waxes in the sky, we recite a special blessing called Kiddush Levanah, "the sanctification of the moon," praising the Creator for His wondrous work we call astronomy. Kiddush Levanah (pg. 301) recited the following Maariv if the moon is visible. Though Kiddush Levanah can be recited as early as three days after the moon's rebirth, the kabbalah tells us it is best to wait a full week, till the seventh of the month. Once 15 days have passed, the moon begins to wane once more and the season for saying the blessing has passed. ● If you don't have anyone to say Shalom Aleichem (p. 302) to (live or virtually), skip that part. ● Thought to ponder Tzivos Hashem Jews, since Abraham, saw themselves as servants of a transcendent G-d. But in a New World, servitude and self-discipline didn’t go over so well. The Rebbe wrote that he had pondered this problem at length: How can we communicate to children today the dedication and responsibility that comes along with being a Jew? So the Rebbe created Tzivos Hashem—literally, an army. He gave the children a sense of pride, as they rose in rank in this army, and told them that they were on a special mission to defeat evil, model goodness, and make this world a divine home for its Maker, the Commander-in-Chief. At public gatherings, the children now crowded around the Rebbe’s chair, even sitting under the table at his feet. At one point, a certain elder attempted to chase them away. The Rebbe admonished him, “You are a civilian and they are officers, and you want to chase them away?!” That is education. That is wisdom .