בס״ד ּמִ ׁשְ ּפָ טִ י ם In loving memory of Devorah bat Avraham z”l

Volume 34 | #18 “If you see the donkey of your enemy crouching under its 13 February 2021 burden, would you refrain from helping him? – you shall 1 Adar 5781 surely help with him” Rosh Chodesh Adar ( 23:5) Parashat Shekalim Shabbat ends: London 6.00pm Sheffield 6.07pm Glasgow 6.12pm Edinburgh 6.08pm Birmingham 6.05pm Southport 6.13pm Jerusalem 5.59pm

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1st Sefer : Mishpatim (1 – 6) Artscroll p416 Hertz p306 INSIDE: Soncino p471 2nd Sefer Torah: Rosh Twin Tablets Chodesh (7th aliyah) by Rabbi Jeremy Conway Artscroll p890 Hertz p695 Soncino p944 Rashi and Onkelos in Print by Rabbi Nicky Goldmeier 3rd Sefer Torah: Maftir (Shekalim) Artscroll p484 Judaism and Music, part 7 Hertz p352 Soncino p540 The Music of the Future by Rabbi Lister Haftarah (Shekalim) Artscroll p1213 Hertz p993 The Soncino p1191

Daf Hashavua by Pnina Savery Sidra breakdown Twin Tablets ּמִ ׁשְ ּפָ טִ י ם Mishpatim by Rabbi Jeremy Conway, Director of KLBD (Kashrut) and Eruvim for the London Beth Din 6th Sidra in: Last week’s parasha Torah to the Jewish people, and brought us to the what does he teach them? Not climax of mystical secrets of the cosmos. Not ׁשְ מֹות from Egypt - the Giving Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh – Holy Holy Shemot of the Torah. Holy. The 10 Commandments really are He teaches them: By Numbers: the most extraordinary collection Employment law - How to treat of principles. They begin with the your servants. To pay your workers 118 verses most sublime, “I am the Lord Your on time. Not to mistreat them. God…, You should have no other Health and Safety Legislation 1,462 words gods besides Me” (Shemot 20:2-3), - Cover up a hole you dig in the and finish with the most prosaic, street. Build a fence around your 5,313 letters the most mundane, “The ox and flat roof. the donkey of your neighbour you Human Rights - Reparation of Headlines: shall not covet” (ibid. 20:14). Of damages, responsibility for your course, the mitzvot do not end property and your animals; make Civil laws, with the 10 Commandments; there sure they do not run around goring are 613! Straight after the 10 or causing damage. Yom Tov, Commandments the law-giving In other words, be good citizens Revelation continues in our parasha, “And and good human beings; care for these are the statutes that you shall your fellow man and be responsible place before them” (ibid. 21:1). towards the community. Then the It is a remarkable thing; Moshe Torah sums up: “Ve’anshei kodesh comes down the mountain to teach tiheyun li” - AND THEN you’ll be

Sidra Summary 1st Aliya (Kohen) – Shemot 21:1-19 United Synagogue Daf Hashavua The sidrah contains many mitzvot, of which a selection has been included here. It Produced by US Living & Learning starts with the laws of a Jewish servant. He is to work for six years, after which he together with the Rabbinical Council of can go free. Alternatively, he can decide to stay on as a servant forever. the United Synagogue Editor-in-Chief: Rabbi Baruch Davis 2nd Aliya (Levi) – 21:20-22:3 Editorial and Production Team: The penalties for physically injuring others are listed. An ox that gores a person to Rabbi Daniel Sturgess, Rabbi Michael Laitner, death is stoned. One may not dig pits in the public domain. Stealing an animal and Rebbetzen Nechama Davis, then selling or slaughtering it incurs an extra penalty. Joanna Rose Point to Consider: Why is there no death penalty for a person who kills a thief in Available also via email US website self-defence? (see Rashi to 22:1) www.theus.org.uk ©United Synagogue To sponsor Daf Hashavua please 3rd Aliya (Shlishi) – 22:4-26 contact Danielle Fox on 020 8343 6261, The laws governing guardians and borrowers of objects are listed – the level of or [email protected] responsibility for losing or damaging the object varies according to the nature of the If you have any comments or questions regarding Daf Hashavua please email contract. Special emphasis is placed on not mistreating a widow or an orphan. It is [email protected] forbidden to take interest when lending money to the poor. people of holiness (ibid. 22:30). In fact, there are 145 words in the They could easily have been tagged Kedusha, holiness, is not first five commandments and only on the end of the first luach! dependent only on mitzvot Bein 26 words in the second five. I did Rashi (1040-1105) comments on Twin Tablets Adam LaMakom – between a an experiment to see what the two the verse in Shir Hashirim (the Song person and God: Tefillin, Tzitzit, Tablets would look like with the of Songs, 4:5) “The two luchot are Kashrut, Davening... It is equally commandments written out in full: like two fawns, twins of a gazelle”. dependent on mitzvot Bein Adam These two aspects of Torah LeChavero –between a person and have to be like a pair of identical his fellow: Chesed, thoughtfulness, twins, alike, equally vital and caring… important. One without the other is This is reflected in another imbalanced. fascinating thing we learn in our The true tzaddik lives a life which parasha: “And God said to Moshe, is carefully balanced, giving equal ‘Come up to me… and I will give weight to Bein Adam LaMakom you the Tablets’” (ibid. 24:12). Why One takes 19 lines, the other 6. and Bein Adam LeChavero, to were there two Tablets? Couldn’t Or perhaps the second five were his relationship with God and his they all have been written on one engraved in a much larger font size! relationship with other people. stone? Having two Tablets, one for Two tablets. Both equally Bein Adam LaMakom and one for important. Bein Adam LeChavero, emphasises the equality between the two, that … be good citizens both are equally critical. I find this point most intriguing. and good human In the depiction of the Tablets of beings; care for your Stone we have at the front of many fellow man and be shuls, we usually display the Tablets Either way, the Bein Adam with 10 words on each – the first LeChavero five certainly didn’t need responsible towards two words of each commandment. a whole separate luach (tablet). the community.

In loving memory of Shmuel Nissim ben Yaacov z”l

of those nations. 4th Aliya (Revi’i) – 22:26-23:5 The narrative now switches back to three days before the The mitzvah of pidyon haben (redemption of the first born) is giving of the Torah (Rashi). Moshe builds 12 altars at the foot repeated. It is forbidden to eat an animal which died without of Mount Sinai, one for each tribe, on which offerings are shechita (kosher slaughter). One must not favour the destitute brought. Moshe sprinkles the blood of the offerings on in court. A stray ox or donkey should be returned to its owner. the people, who famously proclaim “we will do and we will listen” (na’aseh ve’nishma). Moshe, Aharon, Nadav, Avihu and 5th Aliya (Chamishi) – 23:6-19 70 elders see a very pure ‘vision’ of God. Moshe remains on A judge has to avoid showing favour or taking bribes. For six Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. years the land is worked; in the seventh year (shemittah) it is prohibited to work the land. The three pilgrim festivals – 7th Aliya (Shevi’i) – ( 28:9-15) Pesach, Shavuot and Succot – are listed. There is a mitzvah to The reading for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh is taken from bring one’s first fruits (bikurim) to the Temple. It is prohibited to parashat Pinchas and details the additional Shabbat cook meat and milk together. and Rosh Chodesh offerings in the Temple.

6th Aliya (Shishi) – 23:20-24:18 Maftir (Shemot 30:11-16) God says that He will send an angel to guide the nation in The special reading for Shekalim is from the beginning of their conquest of the Land, helping them to destroy the host parashat Ki Tisa (Shemot chapter 30), instructing the nations. They are warned not to emulate the idolatrous ways to bring a compulsory annual half-shekel contribution for Rashi and Onkelos in Print by Rabbi Nicky Goldmeier, Rabbi at Staines and District Synagogue, Education Consultant and Tribe Scribe Editor

On 6th Adar 5781 (18th convert to Judaism, Onkelos wrote This story highlights Onkelos’ February 2021), it will his Aramaic translation to the Torah utter dedication and love of be 539 years since the in approximately 110 CE. Ezra the Judaism. In just a few meteoric very first edition of the Scribe, who had led many words of sincerity and truth, he had Chumash with the commentary of back to Israel to rebuild the Temple conveyed the essence of Judaism Rashi and the translation of ‘Targum after the Babylonian exile, had to his would-be captors. Onkelos’ (the Aramaic translation of translated the Torah into Aramaic. Fast forward to the 11th Century the Torah) was published and printed Unfortunately, this translation was and we meet Rabbi Shlomo in Bologna, Italy by ben lost and so Onkelos’ work was much Yitzchaki. Known by the acronym Abraham Caravita. needed for a large population of Rashi, R’ Shlomo was born in Interestingly, in the Orach Chayim Jews who had stayed in Babylon. Troyes, Champagne, France in 1040. section of the Shulchan Aruch, the Upon Onkelos’ conversion to Rashi dedicated his life to his Code of Jewish Law (285:1-6), we Judaism, and being the nephew commentaries, and his extensive are told to read the parasha twice of the Emperor Hadrian, there was explanations and style of writing weekly, ‘Sh’nayim Mikra v’echad some ‘displeasure’ in Rome! became popular. This is because Targum’, together with one reading The Talmud (Avoda Zara 11a) they open up the simple meaning of the Targum Onkelos in the build-up tells us how Hadrian sent a unit and elaborate on the text under to its Shabbat reading. There is an of soldiers to bring his nephew discussion, making it accessible to additional custom to read Rashi’s back to Rome and explain his many a Tanach () and commentary together with the traitorous behaviour. Upon arrival, Talmud student. parasha. Onkelos invited them into his house, What is the origin of the unusual The importance of the Torah, whereupon a theological discussion ‘Rashi script’? Rashi himself did a guide to life itself, makes the ensued, resulting in the soldiers’ own not invent this script, but a printer requirement to familiarise ourselves desire to convert. in 1475 created this new style with its text quite clear. Yet there Word of these events got back based on earlier Sephardic styles must be something truly special to Rome and Hadrian sent another of Hebrew, to differentiate it from about the commentaries of both group of soldiers to arrest Onkelos. the text of the Torah. Rashi and Onkelos that requires us to They too converted to Judaism For all those Tanach and Talmud include their writings as part of this following another theological learners out there, gratitude halachic obligation. discussion. for the accessibility of these What is the background to the Hadrian ordered the next group of commentaries must surely go Targum Onkelos? soldiers not to say a single word to to the publisher who organised Going back to the 1st Century, Onkelos and as they led him from his and financed this momentous we meet a Roman national named house, he kissed the Mezuzah on the printing project, Joseph ben Onkelos the son of Callinucus, who door, prompting a question from one Abraham Caravita. What incredible lived during the years 35-120 CE. A of the soldiers. They too converted! foresight!

the offerings brought in the Mishkan. This also acted as the by the Kohen Gadol Yehoyada, he successfully organised means of conducting the national census in the desert. a national fundraising initiative to repair and maintain the Temple. Haftarah (Shekalim) King Yehoash ascended the throne aged only seven. Guided Judaism and Music, part 7: The Music of the Future by Rabbi David Lister, Edgware United Synagogue

We have already spirituality that is still of this world, seen that music is a whereas the eight strings of the particularly powerful music in the Messianic era express a means for drawing sanctity that is not really of this world people close to God. But there at all. is a music of the future whose And beyond the Messianic era, the magnificence will dwarf any musical ten strings of the harp of the World experience that we can hope to to Come will correspond to a spiritual achieve in our current state. completeness that is beyond anything Leon Theremin playing the theremin The Talmud offers us a tantalising we can imagine. clue (Arachin 13b): The music of the future is so strange whirring note which rises and Rabbi Yehuda says: The harp used spiritual as to be unimaginable. It will falls with changes in the speed of in the Temple was an instrument of be a sublime experience of holiness the spin and can be heard over vast seven strings… And the harp that will and divine love, unlike anything that distances. be played in the days of the Messiah we have ever experienced. But if And in the 1920s, a Soviet scientist will have eight strings, as it is stated: this is totally beyond our ken at the developed the theremin, an electronic “For the Leader, on the eighth: A moment, we can anticipate a tiny instrument with proximity sensors that Psalm of David” (Psalms 12:1). … fragment of the novelty of hearing is played without being touched. Its And the harp that will be played in the something totally new and different eerie, wavering wail can be fine-tuned World to Come will have ten strings, by experiencing music that we have for pitch and volume depending on as it is stated: “A Psalm, a song. For never imagined. where exactly the player’s hands are the Shabbat…With an instrument of Here are some musical curiosities in the air near its sensors. ten strings and with the lyre, with a that may be unfamiliar to Western To hear these instruments is to solemn sound upon the harp” (Psalms music lovers: experience an entirely new aesthetic 92:1–4). The inhabitants of Tibet, Mongolia pleasure coupled with the frisson This passage is difficult to and the adjoining Russian republic of unfamiliarity, the excitement of understand. The Western classical of Tuva have perfected the art of something different. harp has thirty-six strings, yet its overtone singing, a very deep hum While the sacred, ethereal ecstasy music, while beautiful, is of the here which comes from low down in the of the future is something we cannot and now. throat and, through careful shaping hope to comprehend, we can seek But we can understand the of the larynx, tongue and mouth, can out totally new music and take numbers of strings to symbolise result in several notes being sung from the very strangeness of the a deeper truth. It seems that, as simultaneously by one person. experience a glimmer of an insight beautiful and spiritual as the Temple The bullroarer, an ancient of the transcendent music, the final music was, there is something that instrument found in many parts of the and complete bridge with the divine, can still be added to it, to build a world, is an artfully carved piece of which is soon to come. stronger bridge between us and God. wood attached to a long string and Perhaps, as we have seen, the seven swung around the player’s head. As Our thanks to Rabbi Lister for this strings of our own time represent a it shoots through the air, it makes a fascinating series.

In memory of David Yochanan ben Moshe z”l Sefer Shofetim (the Book of Judges) Chapter 12: A Tragic Civil War by Pnina Savery, US Jewish Living Educator

In the previous Yiftach was a cised for these actions. Indeed, the chapter we learnt text records that he “was buried in about Yiftach’s victory brigand who had the cities of Gilad” (12:7). The plural over the Ammonite “cities” implies that he received enemy. However, the tribe of quarrelled with more than one burial. The Midrash were insulted not to have (Bereishit Rabba 60:3) explains that been included in the battle. They his own brothers. he suffered a terrible illness where approached Yiftach, aggressively Although a his limbs withered away and fell off claiming that he had excluded one by one, each limb being buried them. He responded with violence champion in the city he was in at the time. and a tragic civil war broke out. It is also possible that our Sages The tribe of Ephraim had a warrior, he did are alluding to Yiftach’s ability to unique way of pronouncing the sow discord among the tribes, who name of a specific type of grain. not have the could metaphorically be called Instead of saying “shibbolet”, they the body of the Jewish people. would say “sibbolet”. Yiftach’s ability to unite the The chapter concludes with a men took advantage of this. When Jewish tribes. brief description of three further they saw someone fleeing from judges, who ruled for short periods. battle, they would ask them to (Chapter 8). He managed to deal First, Ivtzan of Beit-Lechem ruled say the word “shibbolet”. If they with the issue by utilising modesty for seven years. Second, Elon of pronounced it “sibbolet” that and tact. However, Yiftach was not Zevulun ruled for ten years. Lastly, confirmed their Ephraimite roots like Gidon. Yiftach was a brigand Avdon son of Hillel ruled for eight and they would be killed. In total, who had quarrelled with his own years. Little is recorded of these 42,000 people were killed from the brothers. Although a champion three judges. The Sages link tribe of Ephraim. This staggering warrior, he did not have the ability Ivtzan to Boaz of Beit-Lechem, the number far exceeds any other to unite the Jewish tribes. His hero of Megillat Ruth (the scroll death toll recorded in the book of response to the similar claim was of Ruth), which we read on the Shofetim! Interestingly, this story to descend into aggression and festival of Shavuot (Talmud Bava provides the etymology of a mod- violence, with tragic consequences. Batra 91a). The story of Ruth takes ern-day English word. Shibboleth is Nothing else is recorded of place during the period of Sefer used to refer to a phrase or custom, Yiftach’s six years of rule. Whilst he Shofetim and, by linking these two knowledge of which can prove achieved the goal of defeating the characters together, our Sages are membership of a specific group. enemy, the reason he was made a reminding us of the positive and This was not the first time the shofet, his real legacy is his fail- righteous characters that did exist tribe of Ephraim had claimed that ings. His reckless words led to the during this dark and chaotic time. a shofet (judge) had excluded them downfall of his daughter and the Despite Yiftach’s major failings, from a battle. They had made death of tens of thousands of his there was still hope that better a similar claim against Gidon fellow kinsmen. He is strongly criti- leaders could arise in the future.

In memory of Harav Yisrael ben Eliyahu z”l Ce lebrating 150 Years

The United Synagogue and Tribe are delighted to invite you to a fabulous feast of events to celebrate…

THURSDAY 25 - FRIDAY 26 FEBRUARY

THURSDAY 5:20pm Tribe’s Purim Adventure with Captain Calamity 6:14pm Fast Ends & Ma’ariv | Story Time with Tribe 6:30pm Tribe’s Family Megillah Reading 7:15pm Purim Musical Extravaganza with Eitan Freilich and Luis Herszaft 7:45pm US Communities Women’s Megillah Reading hosted by HGSS 7:45pm Megillah Reading | BGT Finalist, Illusionist Josh Horus 8:30pm Fast Megillah Reading NCE FOR US M DA EM 9:15pm Young US Cocktail Making (visit theus.org.uk/cocktails) UI B G E H R Late Megillah Reading A S 10:30pm L : L I Ordinarily, adults have an obligation G to hear the megillah in person both in FRIDAY E the evening and day of Purim. If you can M Early Megillah Reading hear a reading in shul or from somebody else 7:00am whilst complying with government and US Covid regulations, or if you can read it yourself from a Online Shacharit 7:45am kosher scroll, then you should do so. Early Megillah Reading 8:30am If owing to Covid restrictions it is not possible, Megillah Reading then you should listen to one of the live 9:00am recitals we are broadcasting, rather than a recording. 10:30am Explanatory Megillah Reading 11:30am Women’s Megillah Reading 12:30pm Megillah Reading 1:15pm Tribe’s Family Kahoot Quiz 1:45pm Family Megillah Reading 4:15pm Kabbalat Shabbat Live! with Rabbi and South Hampstead Synagogue

Watch via facebook.com/UnitedSynagogueUK Watch at www.TheUS.tv/purim2021