Click to view this email in a browser Forward this message to a friend Printer Friendly Our Website | Tours | Donate | YouTube (US) ­פרשת נשא / Israel) Parashat Nasso) פרשת / Parashat Beha'alotcha Candle Lighting in Jerusalem 7:06 PM, June 17, 2016 Sivan 10 5776 Jerusalem Divrei Torah The centrality of Jerusalem to the Jewish People is indisputable and is the Dr. Irving Moskowitz, Z"L core of our mission. Our Divrei Torah by Rabbi Yosef Bronstein focus on Jerusalem and its connection to the weekly Torah portion. For a pdf to It is with great shock and extreme sadness that we announce discuss at the Shabbat table, please click here. To sponsor a Dvar Torah the passing of Irving Moskowitz z"l to Gan Eden. please click here Irving's neshama­soul has gone to "Yerushalayim Shel Maaleh" A Transition Period (Jerusalem of the Heavens) and he will be in a place of honour for the righteous, next to The Throne of Glory. The modern history of Yerushalayim is filled with conflict and wars. From the battles over the city in 1948 to the legendary offensive of the paratroopers in Irving Moskowitz was a giant of this generation who has 1967, to the unfortunate reality of terror attacks on the city, we tend to associate effectively secured a united Jerusalem for the Jewish People. Yerushalayim with fighting. And this is not a surprise. After nearly 2,000 years Known in many circles as the "Montefiore and Rothschild" of our sovereignty over our city has been an uphill struggle. our times, he has redeemed, built and uplifted Jerusalem from the mounds of destruction and desolation. But despite the necessity of war and the Kiddush Hashem that our struggle for Yerushalayim represents, we must always remember our long term goal. While Together with his wife Cherna (May she live till 120 years) they these wars are fulfillments of mitzvot in the Torah, they are still not a cause for have revitalized Jewish life, in and around the Old City, by joy. The Chazon Ish reminds us, that while we should embrace and identify with helping to establish Jewish neighbourhoods, and returned most mitzvot in the Torah, the mitzvoth regarding war are temporary in nature and Jewish life to the Holy Basin. that should be viewed as a means to an end. In fact, he notes that while we are engaged in the mitzvah of war we should never forget that fighting is against our Irving Moskowitz has changed the face of Jerusalem for the nature. Our ultimate value and deepest desire is for peace. good, and noone can stand in his footsteps, for his achievements have reached the Heavens. The ultimate importance of peace is underscored in this weeks parsha. The coda of the priestly blessing is that Hashem should bless us with peace. The midrash Thousands of Yeshiva students,, children and families living in continues this theme by extolling the ultimate value of peace: the Old City, Abu Tor, the City of David, Kfar HaTeimanim of Shiloach, Shimon HaTzaddik, Beit Orot, Maaleh HaZeitim and And so you find that Yerushalayim is only compared to peace as the pasuk says Kidmat Zion are indebted and forever grateful to Irving “may there be peace in your wall.” And so you find that Hashem will only comfort Moskowitz z"l. The same people are now in mourning, as is Yerushalayim in the future with peace as the pasuk says “And my nation will sit Am Yisrael. in the dwelling place of peace.” And so you find that Hashem refers to the dynasty of Dovid as “peace”... Ateret Cohanim has lost a pillar, a guardian and truly modest builder of Jerusalem. Jerusalem has lost one of "her" dearest This midrash notes that all of our future hopes and dreams regarding of friends. Yerushalayim and Mashiach ben Dovid are intertwined with peace. One can add that this idea is even embedded in the name Yerushalayim. Rav Sa’adia Gaon The Moskowitz Family has lost a husband, father, grandfather translates Yerushalayim as the Arabic equivalent of “City of Peace.” and great grandfather. The importance of this midrash is magnified in our contemporary reality. When Our hearts and warm wishes go out to Cherna and the wider Jews were far from their city and dreaming of a utopian Yerushalayim it was easy Moskowitz Family, and we hope that they will be comforted by to imagine it as being the City of Peace. Now, however, for completely valid Hashem, along with generations of mourners of Zion and reasons we associate Yerushalayim with conflict and struggle. It is therefore all Yerushalayim, and be comforted by Jerusalem herself. the more important to remember that we are living in a transition period. Wars are necessary and are even mitzvos. But the future Yerushalayim is entirely one Irving Moskowitz was an idealistic pioneer, who feared G­d of peace and harmony. It is the Yerushalayim that connects all Jews and “makes only, and who built the eternal Jerusalem. He had the key to them friends.” Jerusalem, and was in fact, part of the fabric of Jerusalem itself. It is the Yerushalayim where all people of the world can come together to serve the one true God. His memory will be everlasting. יהי זכרו ברוך !May we see this Yerushalayim emerge speedily in our days [1]See his comments at the end of Chazon Ish to Taharot. Mati Dan ­ Chairman and Founder [2]Sifre Zuta 6:26. Daniel Luria ­ Executive Director Ateret Cohanim [3]From Rav Sa’adya Gaon’s Arabic translation of Shir ha­Shirim. [4]Yerushalmi Bava Kama 7:7. Dr. Joseph Frager, Chairman, Executive Council Shani Hikind, Executive Director From the Wittenberg Play Center !that we Learn what Ateret Cohanim is doing נחש נחושת This week we made snake keychains and learned about the will hear about in upcoming parshat chukat. Some of the girls preferred to make Become our Partner and support our ongoing Projects princess necklaces instead of snake key chains. Everyone had a great time! Beit Wittenberg Childrens and Older Youth Activities Center $3,000 Four Yaldei Tzion V'Yerushalayim Nurseries $2000 Monthly Hosting of Students in our neighborhoods for Shabbat: $1,200 3 Closed Circuit TV Surveillance Systems $70,000 Renovation and dedication of apartments in the area to add Jewish families or students Major restoration of Beit Wittenberg as a monumental heritage house (Mark Twain also stayed in the building in 1867) Jerusalem's planning and building committee has approved plans to build homes for Jews in Kfar Shiloah, after political pressure forced the issue off of the committee's agenda two weeks ago. (The Times of Israel) The proposal calls for building a three­floor residential building for Jews, on land purchased by the organization Ateret Cohanim in 2005. It will be located near Beit Yonatan. Following the liberation of eastern Jerusalem in 1967, Israel annexed its entire capital via the Basic Law: Jerusalem, which passed in 1980 and declared that the entire city of Jerusalem is a single entity. Thirty­six years later, though, Jewish tenants still face routine and systematic discrimination when they try exercising their rights to live in the most ancient Jewish parts of the capital: the Old City and the around the City of David. Jews in the Muslim and Christian Quarters of the Old City, or in Help Us With Crowd Funding, Share this on Facebook Kfar Shiloah are frequently harassed and attacked by their Muslim neighbors. The danger is serious enough that young children require armed escorts in order to reach their schools or friends safely. Even though the violence consists almost entirely of Arabs attacking Jews, self­proclaimed human rights groups insist that the Jews are the true problem. They do not call for an end to the violence or encourage Arabs to treat their Jewish neighbors with respect, and instead demand that the government place a blanket ban on Jews living in those neighborhoods. The Jerusalem municipality on Wednesday approved the construction of a three­story residential building for Jews in the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, following attempts by government officials to stymie the project over fears of angry reactions. The city’s Planning and Building Committee made the decision following a two­week delay on the ruling, due to a heated debate on the issue between councilors. The plot, which the state sold to settlers in 2005 via the Justice Ministry’s custodian general, is located in the Batan Al­Hawa area of Silwan opposite the seven­story Beit Yonatan. Beit Yonatan was built without permits in 2002, and 11 Jewish families moved in two years later. Despite orders by the courts and by then­attorney general Yehuda Weinstein to evacuate and seal the building, 10 families still live there, according to the Haaretz newspaper. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has supported the Jewish residents’ right to inhabit the building. See All of Our Videos on You Tube Eldad Rabinowicz, the lawyer who submitted the planning request on behalf of a company named Maliach 73, on Wednesday praised the decision, Haaretz reported. “We are pleased that the municipality granted permission for a building permit on Jewish lands in Silwan. This is an action of historical justice for the settling of the land that began since the SHOW THE WORLD THAT WE ARE PROUD AND NOT AFRAID first [Jewish] immigration to Israel,” he said. Plan your tour of Jerusalem During the Summer Months CLICK HERE In a statement, the municipality vowed to “continue to build in Visit our New Buildings­ Beit HaNof in the Old City all neighborhoods” of the city.