When Erev Pesach Falls on Shabbat
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Alan Mendelsohn, M.D. Nathan Klein, O.D. 954.894.1500 Welcome to Eye Surgeons and Consultants! WE USE THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND CUSTOMIZE OUR SERVICE TO YOUR EYES! SERVICES For your convenience, we also have a full service optical dispensary Laser Cataract Surgery with the highest quality and huge selection of the latest styles of Laser Vision Correction eyeglasses and sunglasses, including: Glaucoma Laser Surgery Comprehensive Eye Exams Oliver Peoples • Michael Kors • Barton Perreira • Tom Ford • Burberry Macular Degeneration Marc Jacobs • Lily Pulitzer • Mont Blanc • Nike Flexon • Silhouette Diabetic Eye Exams Glaucoma Exams We provide personalized, professional care using Red Eye Evaluations a state-of-the-art computerized in-house laboratory. Dry Eye EXTENDED HOURS: MON: 7:30AM – 8:00PM Contact Lens Exams TUE – FRI: 7:30AM – 4:30PM • SUN: 7:30AM – 11:30AM Scleral Contact Lenses 4651 Sheridan Street, Suite 100, Hollywood, FL 33021 • 954.894.1500 PLEASE SEE OUR WEBSITE: www.myeyesurgeons.com for sight-saving suggestions! YOUNG ISRAEL OF HOLLYWOOD-FT. LAUDERDALE MARCH 2021 PAGE 3 RABBI’S MESSAGE EPIGENETICS AND THE STORY OF NACHSHON AT THE SEA Nature and nurture, our DNA and our environment, are “Yehuda Keedesh Shemo Shel Hakadosh Baruch Hu, L’fikach traditionally identified as the two factors that most influence who Yisroel Mamshelotav” we are. Epigenetics represents a new paradigm to this theory. Since the tribe of Yehuda took the initiative to sanctify God’s Epigenetics is the study of environmental and external name at the Red Sea, they were blessed with the privilege and mechanisms that can cause permanent alterations in one’s DNA. responsibility of kingship. Call it nature through nurture. This theory has been utilized in the This sounds like a beautiful idea- until you take a step back field of cancer research for a while and helps to explain how and realize that the timing is off. Yehuda was promised the environmental factors may impact the growth of cancerous kingship by his father on Yaakov’s deathbed, CENTURIES tumors. before the Exodus from Egypt and the events at the Yam Suf. The next frontier in epigenetics is exploring ways that How can a future generation (Nachshon) create the merit that environmental factors may impact/ change the DNA that controls earned Yehuda the kingship years earlier!? our neuroscience and mental health. A leader in this epigenetic The answer is epigenetics. Yehuda not only possessed research is Dr. Rachel Yehuda, one of the world’s leading leadership qualities that enabled him to take the initiative, he experts in post-traumatic stress. Dr. Yehuda is studying how ingrained these qualities into himself and taught them to his stress may permanently change people on a genetic level. Dr. children to the extent that it became part of their DNA. Rabbi Yehuda spent a decade working with Holocaust survivors and Akiva credits Yehuda with creating leadership qualities that were their children. One of the theories that she is testing is the ultimately ingrained in his DNA through epigenetics. These possibility that these changes in DNA caused by environmental qualities were passed down through the generations and factors can be hereditary and passed down to future generations. demonstrated by Nachshon and his contemporaries. This idea is very new, somewhat controversial, and too early to determine its veracity. But there are some early studies with It’s not just Nachshon at the Yam Suf. Yetziat Mitzrayim some intriguing results: has this epigenetic effect on all of us. Our collective Jewish history entails being enslaved and then being freed. This Studies of humans whose ancestors survived periods of experience had a profound impact on our ancestors, encoding in starvation have suggested that the effects of famine can pass their DNA certain values that Jews still hold dear today. The through at least three generations. epigenetic impact of Yetziat Mitzrayim predisposes us to believe Epigenetics blurs the lines between nature and nurture. For in miracles, to cherish freedom, to utilize freedom to maximize example, it has been suggested that children of Holocaust our positive impact, and to be sensitive to the plight of those who survivors are impacted by growing up in an environment with are less free. Just as we were the beneficiary of certain epigenetic parents who had experienced profound loss and stress. characteristics, so too can we create positive environment factors Conventional wisdom has been that the root cause of the that will shape and benefit future generations. characteristics associated with children of Holocaust survivors Rabbi Akiva teaches that we each have the potential to was due to nurture. Epigenetics suggests that the stress may have internalize our values to a degree that it changes our DNA and altered survivors’ DNA. This altered DNA was then passed down becomes hereditary. This opportunity is especially poignant for to their children and affected characteristics such as the parents and grandparents. Through what we say, what we do, children’s resilience or the way that they deal with stress. what we teach and what we prioritize, we can impress Jewish In the world of science, epigenetics is a cutting edge field values and identity to the degree that it is encoded in a child’s and its theories are yet to be fully researched or proven. However DNA and can be passed on to future generations. in the world of rabbinics, I think I know how Chazal felt about We have reached the milestone of a full year of CoVID. This the topic. year has affected people in so many ways, some of which we still The Tosefta in Brachot (end of Chapter 4) tells the story of don’t fully grasp. There has been so much loss, so much trauma, how Rabbi Akiva once asked his students: in what merit did so much anxiety, and so much pain. But this year has also Yehuda attain Jewish kingship? A couple of his students offer brought so much kindness, so much resilience, so much answers, but Rabbi Akiva has a problem with each suggestion. ingenuity, and so much optimism. There is no doubt that if Finally the students say, “So, Rebbe, you tell us: why did Yehuda epigenetics is real, then this past year has fundamentally changed merit Jewish kingship?” us- even on a genetic level. The question is: what will those “Mipnei Shekidesh Shemo Shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu.” A changes be? From Rabbi Akiva’s teaching it is clear that the week after leaving Egypt, the Jewish People reach the Yam Suf. impact we will experience from this pandemic and its legacy on The tribe of Yehuda, led by Nachshon ben Aminadav, took the us as individuals and as a community is in large part up to us. I initiative to enter the Red Sea, even before it split. This is how pray that Hashem gives us the insight and strength to somehow Rabbi Akiva explains the phrase from Hallel that we recite each translate this challenging period into a brighter future. day of Pesach: “Hayta Yehuda L’kadsho”- the verse singles out the tribe of Yehuda- which Rabbi Akiva understands to mean: RABBI YOSEF WEINSTOCK 1-305-546-8394 [email protected] *** Extremely Reliable ***Highest Value For Your Home *** First Class Service ***Always 100% Honest ***Maximize the Value of your house on any sale*** ***Proud Young Israel Members since 2001*** CALL ME, SHARON BRANDT FOR MORE INFORMATION-THE TOP LISTING AGENT IN EMERALD HILLS! Exclusive Mangrum Court 5 BR, 6 ½ Bath, over a ½ Acre Asking: $1,699,000 Completely Remodeled 5 BR, 3 Bath, 2 CG, pool on the Golf Course, STUNNING. Reduced: $888,000 4 BR, 4 Bath, on the ultra-exclusive Casper Court, corner lot on the Golf Course, many upgrades. Reduced: $1,325.000 Corner lot, 5 BR, 4 Bath, pool, 2 CG, Priced to SELL. Asking: $839,000-Lakes of Emerald Hills 6 BR, 4 ½ Bath, 2 CG, pool, steps away from the shul on the block. Asking $1,079,000 The Woods of Emerald Hills 3BR, 2 ½ Bath + loft area, impact windows, gorgeous kitchen. Asking $514,900. The Preserves, Breathtaking Deerwood Model-5 BD, 4 ½ Bath, pool for Sale $1,299,000 I have several private listing (not in the MLS), contact me directly for more information. If you want your home sold, I will get it done for you! #SharonBrandt #EmeraldHillsSpecialistOGoldberg_HalfPage_(OG Edited)_ad#1_press_Layout #IListISell 1 8/13/2020 9:12 AM Page 1 General and Family Dentistry | Veneers and Cosmetics Implants | Invisalign | Sleep Apnea Treatment We are conveniently located in the Park Sheridan Plaza, Just across from TY Park, In Emerald Hills Call for Your Appointment Today! 954-963-6668 ERIC H. NAIERMAN D.D.S. 3333 Sheridan Street HollywoodFamilyDentist.com While we request that our community and friends patronize the businesses advertised in our bulletin, we do not endorse the Kashrus reliability of any establishment or product. Please consult our Rabbi. YOUNG ISRAEL OF HOLLYWOOD-FT. LAUDERDALE MARCH 2021 PAGE 5 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Even though this is the Pesach edition of our institution - which has been so central to so many of monthly bulletin, I am writing this piece just before our lives, and indispensable to the explosive growth Purim 5781. of our community. But the challenge of the pandemic have also had a silver lining. The necessary changes and adapted services have allowed our shul leadership (lay and rabbinic) to reimagine our needs in so many areas. And recent developments have allowed us to start imagining, planning and putting into place Young Israel of Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale post pandemic life. Hopefully, the next few columns will introduce several of our exciting new changes and additions.