Shabbos Parshas Shoftim Elul 5 - 6 August 13 - 14 Candle Lighting: 7:40 Pm Shabbos Ends: 8:33 Pm

B”H THEWEEKLY MAGAZINE SHUL SPONSORED BY MR. & MRS. MARTIN (OBM) AND ETHEL SIROTKIN & DR. & MRS. SHMUEL AND EVELYN KATZ SHABBOS PARSHAS SHOFTIM ELUL 5 - 6 AUGUST 13 - 14 CANDLE LIGHTING: 7:40 PM SHABBOS ENDS: 8:33 PM The Shul - Chabad Lubavitch - An institution of The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem M. Schneerson (May his merit shield us) Over Thirty five Years of Serving the Communities of Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Indian Creek and Surfside 9540 Collins Avenue, Surfside, Fl 33154 Tel: 305.868.1411 Fax: 305.861.2426 www.TheShul.org Email: [email protected] www.theshulpreschool.org www.cyscollege.org THE SHUL WEEKLY MAGAZINE EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK NACHAS AT A GLANCE CONTENTS THE SHUL CHILD ENRICHMENT’S BEAUTIFUL Weekly Rebbe Message : 3 NEW CLASSROOMS, ALMOST READY! Thoughts on the Parsha from The Lubavitcher Rebbe Weekly Message: 4 Thoughts on the Parsha - Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar Celebrating Shabbos 5 Schedules, classes, articles & more... Everything you need for an “Over the Top” Shabbos experience Daily Study: 6 - 7 A complete guide to all classes and courses ofered at The Shul Community Happenings: 8 -11 Sharing with your Shul Family All Things Sephardic: 12 - 13 Schedules, classes, articles & more Inspiration, Insights & Ideas: 14 - 22 Bringing Torah lessons to LIFE Get The Picture: 23 - 24 The full scoop on all the great events around town In a Woman’s World: 25 Issues of relevance to the Jewish woman French Connection: 26 Reflexions sur la Paracha Latin Link: 27 Reflexion Semanal Networking: 28 - 29 Efective Advertising Numbers To Know: 30 Contacts at The Shul Get The Picture: 31 - 32 The full scoop on all the great events around town PARSHAH MESSAGE FROM THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE - RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSOHN blood. hassidus explains that there are two parallel realms, the physical and the What is the heavenly, mystical, Cspiritual. In other words, whatever spiritual counterpart of the City of objects exist in this world, whether they are Refuge? The Rebbe explains that human, animal, plant, or inanimate, have a the entire matter can be interpreted counterpart in the spiritual realm. The same is in a spiritual sense — in terms true of the Torah. There is Torah in the physical of a person’s soul. Who is the realm and Torah in the spiritual realm. manslaughterer, and who is the victim, and who is the relative who Regarding the Torah of the spiritual realm, comes to avenge the unintentional our Sages state that the Torah preceded the killing? world by two thousand years. Of course, this is not meant literally, in terms of time, for time Each Jew comprises a body, an was created along with all the rest of physical animal soul, and a G-dly soul. The creation. Rather, it means that the Torah is two latter is referred to in Tanya as thousand levels above the world. That is the “actually part of G‑d Above.” Briefy, spiritual aspect of the Torah. But the ultimate when a person has the temptation purpose of the Torah is to relate to this world, to transgress (and this is something and not to the spiritual worlds: Lo bashamayim we are all familiar with — doing G-d’s hi ” — “The Torah is not in Heaven.” The Will or transgressing G-d’s Will) and Gemara relates an incident where there was a that person makes the choice of disagreement between the Sages of the Mishnah — more specifcally doing the aveirah (transgression) rather than the mitzvah, he has between the Chachamim and Rabbi Eliezer. A voice came out of heaven sort of sapped the life-force of the G-dly soul. He has robbed the and declared that Rabbi Eliezer was right. But the Chachamim argued G-dly soul of some of its vitality. Every time a person does a mitzvah that they were not obliged to pay heed to a heavenly voice (a bas it adds vitality to the G-dly soul, and every time he does an aveirah kol, as it is known) since “the Torah is not in Heaven.” Similarly, when he weakens the manifestation of the G-dly soul within himself. Then Moshe Rabbeinu was called by G-d to come and receive the Torah, the the yetzer hara1 comes before HaShem and says, “You know that Gemara tells us that the angels brought an urgent request to G-d — guy there? He just did an aveirah.” And he demands revenge. He is “Give Your glory (i.e., the Torah) in the heavens.” Moshe Rabbeinu was therefore the goel hadam. told to reply to them, explaining why the Torah was needed specifcally in the physical world. When a person realizes that he’s done something he shouldn’t have done — and I think many of us have experienced that moment of Nevertheless, these two dimensions of the Torah — the physical and truth — what must one do then? How does one run away and turn the spiritual — do exist. Thus, when the Torah talks about civil law, for over a new leaf? How does one erase the past? example — if an ox gores another ox or a person, or if two people both claim that they found a certain object, or the laws of adjacent felds, etc. The solution given by the Torah is to fee to a City of Refuge. This — this may be understood in two ways: In terms of the physical world, is the Torah, of which our Sages state, “The words of Torah grant concerning the practical legal decision in such cases, and in terms of its refuge.” One can become absorbed into the world of Torah just as an spiritual content. What relevance can oxen, felds and lost objects have unintentional murderer could fee to a City of Refuge. The moment to angels? So each one of these concepts — a feld, a slave, an ox, a a person realizes that the past was not perfect and that he can start lost object, etc., all of these concepts have a spiritual counterpart which a new life, he has obligated himself to do so. Age is irrelevant in this is applicable even when the actual laws do not apply because we do not discussion. The important thing is this truth, this awareness, and the have the Beis HaMikdash , or because the incident takes place outside desire to come closer to HaShem. He should begin to study Torah; he of Israel, but the law in question applies only in Israel. should begin to study Chassidus. But he must throw himself into the “City of Refuge” completely. For, just as the goel hadam was liable to The Torah can therefore be studied in two ways — in an earthly way, take revenge if he found the murderer outside of the City of Refuge, or in a heavenly way. Let us take, for example, the law of the Cities of so too the yetzer hara is liable to take revenge if he fnds the person Refuge — the arei hamiklat , as they are called in the Torah. These outside of the refuge of Torah and mitzvos. In this way, a person can were special cities which were set aside for a person to fee to if he stop worrying about the past, and focus his energy and concentration killed another Jew unintentionally. There he could fnd refuge from the on the present and on the future. goel hadam , a relative of the dead person, who comes to avenge his 3 THOUGHTS ON THE PARSHA FROM RABBI SHOLOM LIPSKAR SHABBOS PARSHAS SHOFTIM Judges / legislators and Police / enforcers The mouth/speaking can be very destructive as words can “you shall place at all hurt and even destroy a person. of your gates”. The Torah establishes the reQuirement The Torah teaches us, particularly in the month of Elul, to place a proper judicial that we must establish proper legislation at all of our gates system in every city. The to know where to look, what to listen to, what to allow to objective of this is, as the occupy our thoughts and what to speak. Torah states a few versus later, “to eradicate and If knowledge and awareness is not enough to control those cleanse all evil from your gates, we must then place a more strict enforcing method midst and from all of Israel”. for us to comply with this imperative directive. The Torah is eternal and Legislation is the knowledge and policing is the clear always relevant and when recognition of the negative consequence that we can, G-d certain commandments cannot be fulfilled as a result of forbid, suffer when allowing the gates not to be controlled circumstances, such as our condition today when we do properly. not have this obligation which only applies when the Jewish Supreme Court is established requiring the existence of our When we do guard our personal individual gates then we Holy Temple, we apply this very important law of establishing eradicate all evil from ourselves and, as a result, from all of Judges and enforcers in a manner that has relevance and the Jewish people and as a result from the entire world, and application in our personal lives today. we merit the final redemption with the coming of Moshiach. Have a great Shabbos and wonderful week. Gates do not only refer to literal entry points to cities or homes but we each have multiple apertures and gates that allow for Rabbi S. Lipskar outside influences to enter into our being and for our inner selves to affect our environment. Our primary gates are eyes/sight, ears/hearing, nose/scent and mouth/speaking.

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