Kol Yisrael Atlanta Shavuot 5780
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KOL YISRAEL ATLANTA SHAVUOT 5780 YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR VOICE קהילת קול ישראל KOL YISRAEL ATLANTA KOL YISRAEL ATLANTA SHAVUOT 5780 Letter from the President Dear KYA Community, I hope that everyone is staying well and safe. The last few months have certainly been challenging and interesting. When the Torah was given some 3,300 years ago, the pasuk in Parshat Yitro says, “VaYichan Sham Yisrael Neged HaHar” – “And the Jews camped near the mountain”. “VaYichan” is in the singular – “And he camped”‐ although it is referring to all of Bnei Yisrael. Rashi says that this is to teach us the unity that Bnei Yisrael had. They were, “K’Ish Echad BiLev Echad”‐ “like one person with one heart”. Enclosed in this packet you find a collection of Divrei Torah from various members of our community. Although we cannot gather on Shavuot night to learn from one another as we normally do each year, I know that these pages will bring us together to learn virtually. It is truly heartwarming to see so many of the different voices of our community come together like this. I pray that we continue to always be “K’Ish Echad BiLev Echad” ‐ “like one person with one heart”. This notion of “one heart” certainly applies to our leaders in these trying times, and I thus want to (again) thank Rabbi Seeman and Rabbi Boroosan, both of whom have been working overtime the last few months. Although I am not privy to much of what they have been dealing with, I am fortunate to be involved in just a small portion of what they are doing for our community, and I can tell you that it has been non‐stop – the meetings, the calls, the emails, the texts – all of it never ending. We are really fortunate to have them at the helm. I would like to thank all of those that took their time to contribute Divrei Torah to this publication – especially on such short notice. And a big thank you to Hannah Honey Freedman for the beautiful cover art. Of course, we thank those who generously sponsored the packet and the goodie bag: ‐The Spicy Peach ‐Rabbi Michael and Channah Broyde ‐Josh and Jodi Wittenberg ‐Brent Delman (The Cheese Guy) ‐Levi and Aliza Afrah Lastly, I want to thank all of those who put this together, from coming up with the idea to executing it. It wouldn’t have been possible without help from Jodi Wittenberg, Shlomo Pill, Jonathan Farazmand, Shainah Afrah and, of course, Aderet Afrah. Finally, on behalf of the KYA Board, I wish everyone a Chag Sameyach! ‐Levi Afrah YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR VOICE קהילת קול ישראל KOL YISRAEL ATLANTA KOL YISRAEL ATLANTA SHAVUOT 5780 Matan Torah Rabbi Yehuda Boroosan In preparation of this most .מתן תורה ,The greatest moment in Jewish history was the giving of the Torah to conduct an assessment and משה רבנו pivotal revelation in Jewish history, Hashem commissions determine if the Jewish people are ready to receive the Torah. What was the criteria that Hashem instructed Moshe to use for this purpose? "ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש" "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The first criteria was willingness to be dedicated to leading the world toward an acceptance and embodiment of G‐d’s mission. Let’s understand this concept more clearly through the following story: After graduating from the prestigious Yale University, a totally secular young man inexplicably announced that he was going to Israel to study at Yeshiva Aish HaTorah. He studied hard, grew tremendously, and within a year, he was ready to return home as a fully observant Jew. Before he left, Rabbi Noach Weinberg, the famed Rosh Yeshiva of Aish, asked the student what motivated him to come to Yeshiva in the first place. The young man explained that he had studied Russian language at Yale, and spent time in Russia as part of his studies. One night, he was told that there was going to be a Jewish celebration in front of the Great Synagogue. Intrigued, he dropped by the Synagogue, and witnessed 50,000 Jews gathered there to dance on Simchat Torah. This was a most haunting experience. Muscovites are a hard‐faced people. No one dances in the streets. Yet, there were thousands of Jews dancing in genuine joy! What happened? To find the answer, he became friendly with a group of refuseniks who were learning and teaching Torah throughout Moscow. He joined their class. Although far from knowledgeable himself, he noticed that one of the teachers knew very little. This, however, did not prevent him from teaching. He asked the teacher, “How long have you been learning Torah that you feel proficient to teach?” “Six months,” the teacher replied. He explained that he had attended two to three classes a week and he was teaching Torah to others now. “How can you know enough to teach?” he asked. The teacher looked him squarely in the eyes and said, “I risked my life to learn what I know. My teacher risked his life to teach me. How can I not teach it? Whatever I have learned is so precious and represents so much that I am willing to risk my life to pass it on.” YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR VOICE קהילת קול ישראל KOL YISRAEL ATLANTA KOL YISRAEL ATLANTA SHAVUOT 5780 The student told R’ Noach, “it was the power of that message that brought me to Yeshiva and the beginning of my life of Torah observance.” .ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש Shavuot is a time for us to revisit and internalize our mission and role of being a But it is not sufficient for us to fall back into our old habits in Avodat Hashem. The Torah tells us: ”בחדש השלישי לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני" had left Egypt, on that day, they דAnd it was in the third month after the Jew came to Har Sinai. Chazal teach us that our renewed commitment to Hashem, and the manner in which we conduct ourselves on a day‐to‐day basis, must be adjusted to reflect the moments and lessons of the day. YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR VOICE קהילת קול ישראל KOL YISRAEL ATLANTA KOL YISRAEL ATLANTA SHAVUOT 5780 A Dvar Torah in Honor Rabbi Don Seeman, NTS and the Holiday of Shavuot A Note On The Title Of Jewish Books Rabbi Michael J. Broyde A note on the titles of books in the Jewish legal tradition is needed, if for no other reason than to explain why the single most significant work of Jewish law written in the last 500 years, the Shulhan Arukh, should have a name which translates into English as "The Set Table." Maybe this will also help you understand the mindset of a community that has a holiday named “Weeks” or “Booth” or “Pass Over”. Unlike the tradition of most Western law, in which the titles to scholarly publications reflect the topics of the works,1 the tradition in Jewish legal literature is that a title rarely names the relevant subject. Instead, the title usually consists either of a pun based on the title of an earlier work on which the current writing comments or of a literary phrase into which the author's names have been worked (sometimes in reliance on literary license). A few examples demonstrate each phenomenon. Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's classical treatise on Jewish law was entitled "The Four Pillars" (Arba Turim), because it classified all of Jewish law into one of four areas. A major commentary on this work that, to a great extent, supersedes the work itself is called "the House of Joseph" (Beit Yosef), since it was written by Rabbi Joseph Karo. Once Karo's commentary (i.e., the house) was completed, one could hardly see "The Four Pillars" it was built on. A reply commentary by Rabbi Joel Sirkes, designed to defend "The Four Pillars" from Karo's criticisms, is called "The New House" (Bayit Hadash). Sirkes proposed his work (i.e., the new house) as a replacement for Karo's prior house. When Rabbi Karo wrote his own treatise on Jewish law, he called it "The Set Table" (Shulhan Arukh) which was based on (i.e., located in) "The House of Joseph," his previous commentary on Jewish law. Rabbi Moses Isserles' glosses on "The Set Table"‐ which were really intended vastly to expand "The Set Table" ‐ are called "The Tablecloth," because no matter how nice the table is, once the tablecloth is on it, one hardly notices the table. Rabbi David Halevi's commentary on the Shulhan Arukh was named the "Golden Pillars" (Turai Zahav) denoting an embellishment on the "legs" of the "Set Table." This type of humorous interaction continues to this day in terms of titles of commentaries on the classical Jewish law work, the Shulhan Arukh. Additionally, there are book titles that are mixed literary puns, and biblical verses. For example, Rabbi Shabtai ben Meir HaKohen wrote a very sharp critique on the above mentioned Turai Zahav ("Golden Pillars"), which he entitled Nekudat Hakesef, "Spots of Silver," which is a veiled misquote of the verse in Song of Songs 1:11 which states "we will add bands of gold to your spots of silver" (turai zahav al nekudat hakesef, with the word turia "misspelled.") Thus, Shach's work is really "The Silver Spots on the Golden Pillars," with 1 Consider for example, for fine work by our Rabbi, Dr. Don Seeman entitled One People, One Blood: Ethiopian-Israelis and the Return to Judaism (Rutgers University Press, 2009), which deals with Ethiopian-Israelis and their Return to Judaism.