Mazel Tov Mazel Tov to David and Ruthie Silverberg on the engagement of of their son, s"xc Mordechai to Dina Berstein of New York. *** Mazel Tov to Chaia and David Schedule of Services/Events Weinberg on the engagement of Chaia's brother, Akiva Ames, to Malkie THE BAIS YISROEL Wagner of Toronto. *** Mazel Tov to Sima Dehn on her engagement to Ken Zuger of Chicago. Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sara SHABBOS OBSERVER Page Numbers, Etc. Shacharis 8:30 A.M Shabbos Parshas Chaye Sorah Artscroll p. 106, Hirsch p. 110. Haftorah No Pirchei Issue Number 398 24 Cheshvan 5762 Artscroll p. 1136, Hirsch p.829. Shabbos Mevarchim Kislev Rosh Chodesh Shiur Iyun by Ho Rav Malkiel Kotler 3:30 P.M. Parshas Chayei Sara November 9 & 10, 2001 is Friday. Mincha 4:20 P.M. The Bais Yisroel Shabbos Observer is a weekly publication that brings you divrei Torah on the week's parsha from around the Shabbos Over 5:40 P.M. world and around the block as well as events going on in the Bais Yisroel Community. To submit a dvar Torah or item of interest Bnos 2:30 - 3:30 P.M. to the community contact Hindy or Arnie Frishman at 927-5134 before Thursday of each week. Pk-K: TBA Father/Son Learning 7:00 P.M. Grades 1, 2 and 3: TBA Address by Ho Rav Malkiel Kotler 8:30 P.M. Grades 4 and 5: TBA Sunday Tehillem Shacharis 7:00 and 8:00 A.M. Add: Eliyah bn Yittel, Baruch bn Olga. Take Off: Tzivia Leah bs Chava Sports & Learning (Led by Peter Runge) 7:45 A.M. Devora, Yaakov ben Chaya Liba. There will be an updated Tehillem list for Mincha/Maariv 4:30 P.M. Kislev. Please call Debra Yardley at 922-2059 to keep a name on the list. Second Maairv 10:00P.M.

Shalosh Seudos Monday - Thursday Shalosh Seudos is sponsored by the Marcus Family on the 25th Yahrtzeit of Shacharis 6:30 & 7:00 A.M. Akiva's father, Yosef Yaakov ben Aharon Mincha/Maariv 4:30 P.M. Second Maariv 8:00 P.M. Kollel to Make Community Wide Siyum Third Maairv 10:00P.M. The Kollel will be making a community wide Siyum Mesechta, IYH, on Sun- day, November 25th from 12:15 to 3:15 P.M. at the Shul. Rav Shmuel Erev Shabbos Parshas Toldos Kaminetsky, Rosh Yeshiva of Philadelphia, and Rabbi Naftali Ber, Rosh Kollel Shacharis 6:30 & 7:00 A.M. of the Boston Community Kollel, plan to be in attendance. Light Candles 4:25 P.M. Mincha 4:25 P.M. Kehillas Bais Yisroel welcomes HaRav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, Shlita, and his Rebbetzen Rabbi Dr. Asher Wade to Speak This SUNDAY! to our Kehilla this Shabbos. We are honored to have them with us and look forward Bais Yaakov and the Minneapolis J.C.C will be hosting Rabbi Dr. Asher Shiurim Given by HaRav Moshe Tuvia Lieff: to a very inspirational Shabbos. Pictured here are Rabbi Lieff, Rabbi Gibber, and the Wade to speak on November 11th. Tickets are $12.00 at the door, $10.00 in Rosh Yeshiva, along with many of the children who came to greet the Rosh Yeshiva advance. M-F: Mesechta Bava Kamma 6:10 A.M. at the airport last night. M, W, Th: M esechta Kiddushin at 7:15 P.M. ;hk vhcuy van Condolences Tu & F: Mesechta Megillah at 8:15 A.M. ktrah ,hc ,khve cr Avi Stewart, a leader of the S.E.E..D program over the last few summers lost Wednesday: Lunch and Learn. Noon. Foshay Tower 15th Floor. Message From the Rav vyuxhbhn w xhkupthbhn his sister this week. He is sitting Shiva at his parents' home and can be Th: Hillel. UoM. 3:00 P.M. A Stranger? reached there until Monday morning at 323-938-1643. Fax number is 323- 933-8150. For membership information or general information regarding activities and events In this week’s Parsha, Avrahom Avinu ofng hfbt cau,u rd/ I am a stranger at Bais Yisroel, write Congregation Bais Yisroel, 4221 Sunset Blvd., St. Louis Park, negotiates with the Bnei Cheys to and a resident with you. (Chayei BYSO/Shalosh Seudos Sponsorship Minnesota 55416 or contact HaRav Moshe Tuvia Lieff at (952) 926-7867 or (952) purchase a burial site for Sorah Sorah 23:4). What does Shabbos Toldos: BYSO sponsored/ Shalosh Seudos not sponsored 922 8881. Be sure to visit the Bais Yisroel Website at http://www.baisyisroel.org. The BYSO is published in conjunction with Puma Press. Immainu. In the course of these ne- Avrahom Avinu mean by his Parshas VaYetzei: BYSO sponsored/ Shalosh Seudos not sponsored gotiations, he says to them statement, cau,u rd -- an alien

Unauthorized O-U B Y This issue of the BYSO is sponsored by Dr. Nesanel Breningstall in gratitude to Rabbi There is an unauthorized O-U on Cub Frozen Garlic Bread and Garlic S O Binyomin Friedman of Atlanta who introduced him to Mrs. Debi Breningstall six years ago. Toast. *** Thanks to All the Volunteers and Participants Who Made the Banquet Such a Successful and Memorable Event*** and a citizen. How can he both? If Avrahom is a citizen, requesting the though he had been summoned reluctantly to this earthly sphere. The nurse cleaned rights of a citizen, then he is not an alien. Conversely, if he is only an alien the little baby, wrapped him in swaddling to keep him warm, and gave the baby into visiting in Chevron, then how can he describe himself a cau, , a bona fide his mother’s arms. The mother looked at her newborn son and thought to herself. resident? “You are so beautiful, little Neshama, little soul.” Like the dark world before this existence, this world too is no more than a dark corridor compared with the great The Dubno Maggid ZT”L in his sefer Ohel Yaakov explains that this state- palace of light into which we will enter. This world is the place where we have the ment typifies both the wisdom and statesmanship of Avrahom Avinu. opportunity to prepare ourselves to enter that palace. To the extent that we prepare, so we will be able to bask in that radiance. It’s often hard to see this world as a Avrahom was facing both a moral and political dilemma. He knew that Eretz Parshas Chayei Sara corridor. It’s so easy to get caught up looking at all the neon signs along the way, to Yisroel was destined for him and his descendents, but he realized this was think that this world is the palace itself. Yet, for all its beauty, this world is a pretty neither the time nor place to bring it to the attention of the Bnei Cheys. He Overview shabby palace. Is there anyone who dies with even half his dreams fulfilled? With needed to work with Efron and the Bnei Cheys to insure a proper burial for Sara, mother of the Jewish People, passes on at age 127. After mourning and eulogiz- how many problems and heartaches and backaches is this world filled! This week’s Sorah. On the other hand, as the self-respecting patriarch of Klal Yisroel he ing her, Avraham seeks to bury her in the Cave of Machpela. As this is the burial place Torah portion is called Chayei Sara — “The Lives of Sara.” It’s a strange title, as this could not (and would not) go on record, so to speak, as suggesting that it of Adam and Chava, Avraham pays its owner, Ephron the Hittite, an exorbitant sum. Torah portion begins with Sara passing away. Why is it called the “Lives” of Sara? belonged to the Bnei Cheys and that he regarded himself as merely a stranger Avraham sends his faithful servant Eliezer to find a suitable wife for his son, Yitzchak, The name is apt. Because only when we leave this passing world do we really start in a strange land. To resolve the issue he uses the word, ofng , which means making him swear to choose a wife only from among Avraham’s family. Eliezer travels to live. Later in the book of Bereishet, there is a Torah portion called Vayechi Yaakov more that just “among you.” It also can mean “with you.” In effect, Avrahom to Aram Naharaim and prays for a sign. Providentially, Rivka appears. Eliezer asks — “And Yaakov lived.” That’s the Torah portion in which Yaakov passes away. As the Talmud says, “the righteous in their deaths are called alive.” There’s an interest- Avinu is telling the Bnei Cheys: “I am a stranger and a resident together with for water. Not only does she give him water, but she draws water for all 10 of his ing fact about the Hebrew word “life.” It has no singular. Chaim is a plural noun. you.” Both you and I are cJu, rd. Together we can be described as both thirsty camels as well. (Some 140 gallons!) This extreme kindness marks her as the right wife for Yitzchak and a suitable mother of the Jewish People. Negotiations with Maybe that’s to remind our neshama, our soul, that there are two lives — and this alien and citizen. It all depends on what you want to hear. The Bnei Cheys Rivka’s father and her brother Lavan result in her leaving with Eliezer. Yitzchak brings one is only a prelude to the “main attraction.” (Rabbi M.A. Amiel in Iturei Torah) obviously inferred from Avrahom Avinu’s statement that they were the Rivka into his mother Sara’s tent, marries her and loves her. He is then consoled for the residents and Avrahom was the visitor. Avrahom Avinu understood (and loss of his mother. Avraham remarries Hagar who is renamed Ketura to indicate her Parsha Question meant to imply to generations to come) the very opposite. He (and by improved ways. Six children are born to them. After giving them gifts, Avraham sends 1. Name the four couples buried in Kiryat Arba. extension Klal Yisroel) were to be the eternal citizens of Eretz Yisroel. Efron them to the East. Avraham passes away at the age of 175 and is buried next to Sara in 2. What did Sarah hear that caused her death? and the Bnei Cheys were the strangers. What does all of this mean for us so the Cave of Machpela. 3. What title of honor did the B’nei Chet bestow upon Avraham? many generations later? 4. Where was Avraham born? Insights 5. How were Avraham’s camels distinguished? 6. What is meant by “all the good of his master in his hand?” I would suggest that the lesson we can take from the veiled language of “These are the lives of Sara...” (23:1). Neshama. She had always liked her name. Neshama. A name which whispered the very breath of life. Neshama breathed in 7. What special character trait did Eliezer seek when choosing a wife for Yitzchak? Avrahom Avinu is that, in reality, the “final status” of Chevron, Yerushalaim, deeply the life-giving fluid in which she floated. Turning on her side, the life-support 8. Why did Avraham’s servant, Eliezer, run toward Rivka? or any other city in Eretz Yisroel depends not so much on what we or anyone cable gently undulated in the dark liquid-world like a lethargic sea snake. It was at a 9. Why did Lavan run to greet Eliezer? else says, but on what Hakadosh Borch Hu has promised to us as his time like this that one thought about the elemental things. Name. Life. The future. 10. When Lavan told Eliezer that the house was cleared out, what did he remove? chosen nation, Am Yisroel. She was frightened. What lay ahead of her? As far back as she could remember, she 11. Who did Eliezer want Yitzchak to marry? had been in this safe secure waterworld. Now her life was drawing to an end. Death, 12. Aside from Eliezer, to which other people did Rivka offer to give water? non-being, the end of all she knew, of knowledge itself, awaited her at the tunnel’s end. 13. Lavan answered Eliezer before his father, Betuel, had a chance. What does this Agudas Yisroel Relief Fund Contributors Like a puny raft circling on the edge of a giant whirlpool, she felt herself being drawn indicate about Lavan’s character? The Rav wishes to acknowledge the following individuals who have given inexorably down into the vortex. Panic rose in her mouth. A primordial fear of the 14. What did Rivka mean when she said “I will go?” to the Agudas Yisroel Relief Fund: Rabbi and Mrs. Yerucham Prero, HaRav unknown gripped her. I don’t want to die! I want to stay in this world and live 15. What blessing did Rivka’s family give her before she departed? and Rebbetzen Moshe Tuviah Lieff, Mr. and Mrs Label Kutoff, Mr. and Mrs. forever! She had spent her days here in deep meditation on the secrets of the universe 16. Who was Ketura? Daniel Kutoff, Mr. and Mrs. David Weinberg, Rabbi and Mrs. Mitchell Smith, with her spiritual guide. But now she was alone. And she knew this was the end. The 17. What gift did Avraham give to Yitzchak? Dr. and Mrs. Harold Wexler, Mr. and Mrs. Reid Wexler, Rabbi and Mrs. Joel time had come. It seemed that her ears filled with the most sublime music. A single 18. How old was Avraham when he died? Waxman, Rabbi and Mrs. Aryeh Cohen, Mr, and Mrs. Eugen Weinberg, Mr. chord of all the watervoices sounding one wordless chord undulating through every 19. For how many years did Yaakov attend the Yeshiva of Ever? 20. How does the Torah indicate that Yishmael repented before his death? and Mrs. Gershon Sandberg, Mr. and Mrs. Shimon Perez, Mr. and Mrs. known scale. The sound grew and grew. She was terrified. Terrified of the pain. Terrified of not feeling the pain anymore. Down and down she went. Down to the 1. 23:2 - Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivka, Yaakov and Leah. 2. 23:2 - That Yitzchak was almost slaughtered. 3. 23:6 - Prince of G-d. 4. 24:7 - Ur Kasdim. 5. Yonasan Manring, Rabbi and Mrs. Avrahom Kaufmann, Mr. and Mrs. Charles 24:10 - They were muzzled, so they wouldn’t graze in the fields of others. 6. 24:10 - Eliezer carried a document in which Avraham gave all he owned to Yitzchak so that people would world’s end. Down to the place of death. It was here. This was the end. It was over. want their daughter to marry him. 7. 24:14 - He sought someone who excelled in performing acts of kindness. 8. 24:17 - He saw that the waters of the well rose when she approached. 9. Frank, Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Gottlieb, Mr. and Mrs. David Silverberg, Mr. 24:29 - Lavan coveted his money. 10. 24:31 - Idols. 11. 24:39 - His own daughter. 12. 24:44 - To the men who accompanied Eliezer. 13. 24:50 - That he was wicked. 14. 24:58 - I will She had died. It wasn’t a particularly busy night in the delivery rooms at Hadassah go even if you don’t want me to go. 15. 24:60 - That the blessings given to Avraham would continue through her children. 16. 25:1 - Hagar. 17. 25:5 - The power of blessing. 18. and Mrs. Shmulik Etziony, Mr. Daniel Gepner. (Apologies: The names from Hospital. Another little soul had just come into the world. Screaming and crying as 25:7 - 175 years old. 19. 25:17 - 14 years. 20. 25:17 - When reporting his death, the Torah uses the word vayigva (expire), a term reserved for the righteous. last week were left out due to technical difficulties) *** Save the Date: Shul Chanukah Dinner Sunday December 16th. More details to follow. ***