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Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Parshat Ki Teitzei HERTZ 840 in a Parsha Laden with Captive Woman Taken in the Rachel

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Parshat Ki Teitzei HERTZ 840 in a Parsha Laden with Captive Woman Taken in the Rachel

Parshat September 2, 2017 11 Elul, 5777 ARTSCROLL 1046 Jonathan Sacks on Parshat Ki Teitzei HERTZ 840 In a parsha laden with captive woman taken in the . The second wedding , one in particular is course of war, the above took place a mere after full of fascination. Here it about the rights of the firstborn, the first. We then read: And HAFTORAH is: If a man has two wives, and the “stubborn and rebellious [] went in also to ARTSCROLL 1201 one loved, the other son” – are all about dysfunctions Rachel, and he loved also HERTZ 857 unloved [senuah, literally within the family. The sages said Rachel more than Leah … God “hated”], and both the that they were given in this order saw that Leah was unloved Bar loved and the unloved bear to hint that someone who takes [senuah] and He opened her of him sons but the firstborn a captive woman will suffer from womb, but Rachel remained Michael Ahdut is the son of the unloved strife at home, and the result will barren. (Gen. 29:30-31). wife, then when he wills be a delinquent son. In Leah called her firstborn his to his sons, he is seen as the , but her hurt at being Times must not give the rights of foundation of society. Disorder less loved remained, and we the firstborn to the son of there leads to disorder read this about the birth of Candle Lighting 7:08 pm the beloved wife in elsewhere. So far, so clear. What her second son: She became Mincha 7:00 pm preference to his actual is extraordinary about it is that it pregnant again and had a firstborn, the son of the seems to be in the sharpest son. ‘God has heard that I Hashkama 8:00 am unloved wife. He must possible conflict with a major was unloved [senuah],’ she Youth Minyan 8:30 am recognize [the legal rights narrative in the Torah, namely said, ‘and He also gave me of] the firstborn of his Jacob and his two wives, Leah this son.’ She named the child Parsha Shiur 8:30 am unloved wife so as to give and Rachel. Indeed the Torah, by Simeon. (Gen. 29:33). Main 9:00 am him a double share of all its use of language, makes he has, for he is the first of unmistakable verbal linkages The word senuah appears Beit 9:15 am his father’s strength. The between the two passages. One only six times in the Torah, Shiur 6:00 pm birthright is legally his. is the pair of opposites, ahuvah/ twice in the passage above (Deut. 21:15-17). The law senuah, “loved” and “unloved/ about Leah, four times in our Mincha 7:00 pm makes eminent sense. In hated”. This is precisely the way parsha in connection with the Shabbos Ends 8:15 pm biblical the firstborn the Torah describes Rachel and law of the rights of the was entitled to a double Leah. Recall the context. Fleeing firstborn. There is an even Sun. September 3 7:30/8:30 am share in his father’s from his home to his uncle stronger connection. The . What the law , Jacob fell in love at first unusual phrase “first of [his Mon. Labor Day 7:30/8:30 am tells us is that this is not at sight with Rachel and worked father’s] strength” appears Tue., Wed. & Fri. 6:45/7:45 am the father’s discretion. He seven years for her hand in only twice in the Torah, here Thurs. 6:35/7:45 am cannot choose to transfer marriage. On the night of the (“for he is the first of his this privilege from one son wedding, however, Laban father’s strength”) and in to another, in particular he substituted his elder daughter relation to Reuben, Leah’s Mincha 7:00 pm cannot do this by favoring Leah. When Jacob complained, firstborn: “’Reuben, you are the son of the wife he “Why have you deceived me?” my firstborn, my might and Latest Times for loves most if in fact the Laban replied, with intentional the first of my strength, first Shema/Shemoneh Esrei firstborn came from irony, “It is not done in our place in rank and first in another wife. to give the younger before the power” (Gen. 49:3). Because September 2 9:38/10:43 am elder.” Jacob then agreed to of these substantive and The opening three laws – a work another seven years for linguistic parallels, the September 9 9:40/10:44 am Kiddush Seudah Shlishit is sponsored by Next the Steinberg/Ginsburg Family is sponsored by Sharon & Mordechai Ahdut on occasion of the 40th Yahrzeit Candle Lighting 6:57 pm in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of Philip R. Steinberg of their son Michael as we lovingly remember our Mincha 7:00 pm father, grandfather and husband 26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11023 (516) 487-6100 Shabbat Announcements Ki Teitzei 5777 attentive reader cannot but hear in the law in our parsha a make clear that the case of was an exception, not a retrospective commentary on Jacob’s conduct vis-a-vis his own precedent. Ovadia Sforno suggests that the Deuteronomy sons. Yet that conduct seems to have been precisely the prohibition applies only when the transfer of the firstborn’s opposite of what is legislated here. Jacob did transfer the right rights happens because of the father favours one wife over of the firstborn from Reuben, his actual firstborn, son of the another. It does not apply when the firstborn has been guilty less-loved Leah, to Joseph, the firstborn of his beloved Rachel. of a sin that would warrant forfeiting his legal privilege. That is This is what he told Joseph: “Now, the two sons who were born what Jacob meant when, on his deathbed, he said to Reuben: to you in Egypt before I came here shall be considered as mine. “Unstable as water, you will no longer be first, for you went up Ephraim and Manasseh shall be just like Reuben and Simeon to onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.” (Gen. me.” (Gen. 48:5) Reuben should have received a double 49:4). This is stated explicitly in the book of Chronicles which portion, but instead this went to Joseph. Jacob recognized each says that “Reuben…was the firstborn, but when he defiled his of Joseph’s two sons as entitled to a full portion in the father’s marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the inheritance. So Ephraim and Menasseh each became a tribe in sons of Joseph son of Israel.” (1 Chron.5:1). It is not its own right. In other words, we seem to have a clear impossible, though, that there is a different kind of explanation contradiction between Deuteronomy and Genesis. How are we altogether. What makes the Torah unique is that it is a book to resolve this? It may be that, despite the rabbinic principle about both law (the primary meaning of “Torah”) and history. that the observed the whole Torah before it was giv- Elsewhere these are quite different genres. There is law, an en, this is only an approximation. Not every law was answer to the question, “What may we or may not do?” And precisely the same before and after the covenant at Sinai. For there is history, an answer to the question, “What happened?” instance Ramban notes that the story of and There is no obvious relationship between these two at all. seems to describe a slightly different form of levirate marriage from the one set out in Deuteronomy. Not so in Judaism. In many cases, especially in mishpat, civil law, there is a connection between law and history, between In any case, this is not the only apparent contradiction between what happened and what we should or should not do. Much of Genesis and later law. There are others, not least the very fact biblical law, for example, emerges directly from the ’ that Jacob married two sisters, something categorically experience of in Egypt, as if to say: This is what our forbidden in :18. Ramban’s solution – an elegant ancestors suffered in Egypt, therefore do not do likewise. Don’t one, flowing from his radical view about the connection oppress your workers. Don’t turn an Israelite into a lifelong between Jewish law and the – is that the slave. Don’t leave your servants or employees without a week- patriarchs observed the Torah only while they were living in ly day of rest. And so on. Not all biblical law is like this, but Israel itself. Jacob married Leah and Rachel outside Israel, in some is. It represents truth learned through experience, jus- the house of Lavan in Haran (situated in today’s Turkey). tice as it takes shape through the lessons of history. The Torah takes the past as a guide to the future: often positive but Abarbanel gives a quite different explanation. The reason Jacob sometimes also negative. Genesis tells us, among other things, transferred the double portion from Reuben to Joseph was that that Jacob’s favoritism toward Rachel over Leah, and Rachel’s God told him to do so. The law in is therefore stated to firstborn Joseph over Leah’s firstborn, Reuben, was a cause of lingering strife within the family. It almost led the brothers to Great Neck Yoetzet Halacha Lisa Septimus Welcomes your questions about mikvah, kill Joseph, and it did lead to their selling him as a slave. Ac- observance of taharat mishpacha (halacha relating cording to Ibn , the resentment felt by the descend- to married life) and women’s health, as it connects ants of Reuben endured for several generations, and was the to Jewish law. Reach out to her at: reason why Datan and Aviram, both Reubenites, became Phone: 516.415.1111 Email: [email protected]. key figures in the rebellion. All conversations and emails are kept confidential. Jacob did what he did as an expression of love. His feeling for Rachel was overwhelming, as it was for Joseph, her elder son. Great Neck Synagogue Love is central to Judaism: not just love between husband and 26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck , NY 11023 wife, parent and child, but also love for God, for neighbor and 516-487-6100 stranger. But love is not enough. There must also be justice and the impartial application of the law. People must feel that Rabbi Dale Polakoff, Rabbi law is on the side of fairness. You cannot build a society on Rabbi Ian Lichter, Assistant Rabbi love alone. Love unites but it also divides. It leaves the Dr. Ephraim Wolf, z”l, Rabbi Emeritus less-loved feeling abandoned, neglected, disregarded, “hated.” Zeev Kron, Cantor It can leave in its wake strife, envy and a vortex of violence

Eleazer Schulman, z”l, Cantor Emeritus and revenge. That is what the Torah is telling us when it uses Rabbi Sholom Jensen, Youth Director verbal association to link the law in our parsha with the story Zehava & Dr. Michael Atlas, Youth Directors Mark Twersky, Executive Director of Jacob and his sons in Genesis. It is teaching us that law is Dr. James Frisch, Assistant Director not arbitrary. It is rooted in the experience of history. Law is Dov Sassoon, President itself a tikkun, a way of putting right what went wrong in the Rabbi Aron Rubin, Rabbinic Intern past. We must learn to love; but we must also know the limits Harold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board of love, and the importance of justice-as-fairness in families as Lisa Septimus, Yoetzet Halacha 516-415-1111 in society. CHAVERIM, YOUTH CARNIVAL, AUGUST CHESSED & WOMEN’S LEARNING PASS IT FORWARD GNS 10TH ANNUAL ROSH HASHANA PASS IT FORWARD HUNGER INITIATIVE

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 17th, 2017 BRING THE SWEETNESS OF ROSH HASHANA TO THOSE IN NEED! Now in its 10th year, the PASS IT FORWARD program of the GNS Hunger Initiative provides to families for Yom Tov. Last year, volunteers packed and delivered over 1000 meals to needy individuals, families and kosher food pantries.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP! Donate Food: If you have a kosher kitchen (separate meat and dairy utensils and kosher certification on all processed ), make extra food (soup, main, side or dessert) and pack it in containers serving 4-8 (no bags please!). Brownie mixes, aluminum pans & plastic containers available at 11 Margaret Court and 9 Myrtle Drive. Special request for matzah balls!!

Deliver food to GNS COAT ROOM LOBBY on SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 17th be- tween 11:00 pm – 1:00 pm.

Donate Funds: Purchase a special meal for an $18 contribution from Great Neck Glatt or Everfresh, which will be delivered on your behalf. You can also make a donation directly to the GNS Hunger Initiative.

Donate Time: We need packers (from 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm) and drivers for about 25 different routes, starting from 3:00 pm on SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 21st meeting at GNS Coat Lobby.

All Volunteers, please email Michelle Berman at [email protected] Do A Mitzvah... Make Life Meaningful…. Rosh HaShana is coming….

CHAZZANIM 5778

MEN’S CLUB EVENT

GUEST SPEAKER & SLICHOT PROGRAM

ANNOUNCEMENTS Rabbi Polakoff’s shabbos drasha through 5777 MAZAL TOVS & COMMUNITY NEWS is dedicated in memory of PINCHAS BEN YOSEPH For other such opportunities please contact Mazal Tov to Sharon & Mordechai Ahdut on the Bar Howard Wolf 516-643-3344 Mitzvah of their son Michael.

IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO IS MOVING INTO THE Mazal Tov to Farla & William Frumkin on the marriage GREAT NECK AREA PLEASE LET THE OFFICE KNOW. of their daughter Geena to Ronn Blitzer. HASHKAMA MINYAN KIDDUSH Mazal Tov to Katie & Nadav Geft on the birth of a baby Hashkama Minyan Kiddush is sponsored by Mel Fox in boy. Mazal Tov also to sister Noa and Bubbie and Pops, honor of the minyan and the 78th Anniversary of his Bar Laura & Scott Danoff. Mitzvah. Mazal Tov to Florence & Irvin Spira on the Bat Mitzvah CHAVERIM CENTER of their granddaughter Gabi Spira, daughter of Elana & Join the Chaverim Center on Wednesday, August 30th Avi Spira of New Rochelle. from 11:30-2:00 to make containers of soup for needy families fro Rosh Hashana, part of the Hunger Initiative SHAARE ZEDEK COLLEGE BOWLATHON Pass it Forward Program. An amazing event at Chelsea Piers with more than 200 college students. Be a captain and make a team of 6-10 SEATING FORMS people and join us Sept. 5 th Text Sharon for details 917 287 High Holiday seating forms are due by Sept 5th. Please 7334 or go to www.bowl4israel.com and sign up your team! send in your forms and your financial obligations ASAP. KIDNEY DONATION FOR SISTER OF KAREN WYDRA MEN’S CLUB MEDICAL FORUM SERIES If you know anyone who is willing to save a life by donating Dr. Jeffrey Liebmann will be speaking on Eye Care and a kidney - no matter what their blood type, please have Glaucoma on Sunday, September 10 at 10:00am. them contact [email protected]. This is my sister's Dr. Liebmann is a member of GNS. He is an renewal number. My sister would be given the consideration ophthalmologist and a world renown expert on Glaucoma. for the donation and a matched donation could be set up. Complimentary light breakfast will be served. MEOROT REGISTRATION HUNGER INITIATIVE/PASS IT FORWARD B"H Meorot is excited to start classes this September! A) Looking for drivers to deliver care packages to those in We are still taking applications and registration information need for on Sunday, September 17th can be found on the website www.meorotgn.org. from 3:00-5:00 pm. Contact Michelle Berman at For inquiries please contact Rabbi Hercman at [email protected]. Start the year out right... [email protected]. B) Want to do something fun? Bake brownies or cakes for those in need for Rosh HaShanah. Mixes and pans are Saturday, 11 Elul Gloria Faizakoff for Rose Cohen available at 11 Margaret Court and 9 Myrtle Drive. Felix Glaubach for Ethel Glaubach Bring your baked goods to GNS Coat Room Lobby Jerome Goodman for Florence Goodman on Sunday September 17th from 11:00-1:00 pm. Larry Horn for Irene Horn Feel good; Do the Right Thing. Sunday, 12 Elul C) When you're cooking, cook for one more for those in Jeffrey Freedman for Ettie Freedman need. Freeze it and deliver on Sunday Sept 17 to GNS Y Ellen Siegel for Anna Givner coat lobby at 11:00-1:00 pm. Let us know at Sharon Goldwyn for Solomon Goldwyn [email protected]. A Elaine Miller for Harry Grant Monday, 13 Elul WOMEN’S LEARNING H Leslie Kahn for Fanny Eisman Come here Mrs. Chani Juravel on Thursday evening, Serge Fischler for Fischler Sept. 28th at the home of Doreen Hadid at 15 Magnolia R Ebrahim Gabbaizadeh for Tova Gabbaizadeh Drive at 8:00 pm on the topic of “Tshuva: The Gift of Self”. Gary Knobel for Paul Knobel Z Meredith Bachrach for Maureen Shapiro SISTERHOOD ROSH HASHANA CARDS Tuesday, 14 Elul Sisterhood is selling beautiful Rosh Hashana cards E Edith Lubin for Harry Feigenbaum designed by Celia Lemonik for a pack of 10 for $18 or Rabbi Shimon Wolf for Rev. Sidney Miller $2.50 each. Cards may be purchased in the shul office or I Harriet Frederick for Erwin Sillem by Judy Lillien 516 487 6845. Sisterhood supports many Jerrald Weinstein for Ira Weinstein programs throughout the year by the monies raised. Thank T Thursday, 16 Elul you for your continued support! Susan Mindick for Rose Kaufman Michail Litvin for Elik Litvin UPCOMING EVENTS Friday, 17 Elul AT GREAT NECK SYNAGOGUE Marilyn Freedman for Ivan Cohen Leo Mindick for Getrude Mindick August 30: Chaverim Center Claire for Bella Winston August 31: Youth Carnival

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