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17 November 2018 9 Kislev 5779 ends London 5.00pm 5.17pm

Volume 31 No. 11 Artscroll p.144 | p.1140 Hertz p.106 | Haftarah p.118 Soncino p.164 | Haftarah p.188

In loving memory of Yaakov ben Moshe Bentzion, who fell on active service over Italy in 1942

The AJEX parade This year’s parade, marking the 100th anniversary of the Armistice in World War One, takes place from 2pm on Sunday 18th November at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

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Sidrah Summary: Vayetze

1st Aliya (Kohen) – Bereishit 28:10-22 with Yaakov. conceives and has a fifth son, On Yaakov’s journey to Charan, he falls asleep Yissachar. This is followed by a sixth, Zevulun. and dreams of a ladder resting on the ground She then has a daughter, . finally and reaching up to heaven, with has a child, Yosef. Yaakov demands that Lavan ascending and descending. God is at the top of let him return home after all his years of work. the ladder, telling Yaakov that he will inherit the Point to Consider: What is the connection Land and that he will have plentiful offspring (see between the birth of Yosef and Yaakov’s demand p.3 article). Yaakov wakes up, having realised the to leave? (see to 30:25) holiness of the place, which is where the Temple would later be built (Rashi). He builds an 5th Aliya (Chamishi) – 30:28-31:16 and takes a vow committing to serve God fully Lavan asks Yaakov to stay on and to specify (Ramban). his payment. Yaakov replies that he will keep 2nd Aliya (Levi) – 29:1-17 the plain-looking animals currently in the flock, and any offspring born to them with unusual- Yaakov travels eastwards. He sees a well in a patterned skin. Yaakov becomes very field, covered by a large stone. The local prosperous. Lavan’s sons accuse Yaakov of shepherds tell Yaakov that the daughter of his theft. God tells Yaakov to return to Cana’an uncle Lavan is approaching. Yaakov moves the immediately. Rachel and Leah agree to leave. boulder blocking the well and waters Rachel’s flock. He kisses Rachel and weeps. 6th Aliya (Shishi) – 31:17-42 Question: How many flocks of sheep were Yaakov’s entire family leaves. Lavan finds this out beside the well when Yaakov arrived at the three days later and chases after Yaakov, field? (29:2) Answer on bottom of page 6. catching up with him at Mount Gilad. God appears to Lavan in a dream, telling him not to 3rd Aliya (Shlishi) – 29:18-30:13 harm Yaakov. Lavan criticises Yaakov for fleeing Yaakov wants to marry Rachel, the younger and for stealing his idols. Yaakov denies the latter sister of Leah, and offers to work for Lavan for charge, unaware that Rachel was hiding them. seven years as payment. Although Lavan agrees, Yaakov also defends his record in Lavan’s house, when the time comes, he tricks Yaakov, where he worked tirelessly, despite Lavan’s swapping Rachel for Leah. Lavan defends his trickery. actions and agrees to let Yaakov marry Rachel 7th Aliya (Shevi’i) – 31:43-32:3 a later, if he works for another seven years. Leah, unlike Rachel, is blessed with children: Lavan proposes a peace treaty, which Yaakov Reuven, Shimon, Levi and Yehuda. Rachel gives agrees to, symbolised by a stone monument built Yaakov her maidservant Bilhah to conceive ‘on by Yaakov’s sons. Lavan and Yaakov part ways. her behalf’. Bilhah gives birth to Dan and Naftali. Haftarah Leah then gives Yaakov her maidservant Zilpah, The haftarah, according to the general United who gives birth to Gad and Asher. Synagogue custom, is taken from the 4th Aliya (Revi’i) – 30:14-27 Book of Hoshea (ch. 12-14). The Reuven finds some dudaim (jasmine – Rashi) in Hoshea rebukes the tribe of Ephraim for their the field and brings them to his mother Leah. rebelliousness, warning them of the dire Rachel asks for some of the jasmine. Leah agrees, consequences. However, they will ultimately but only in return for the right to sleep that night return to God, Who will welcome them back.

United Synagogue Daf Hashavua Produced by US Living & Learning together with the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue Editor: Chaim Gross Editor-in-Chief: Rabbi Baruch Davis Editorial Team: Rabbi Daniel Sturgess, Rabbi Michael Laitner, Sharon Radley Available also via email US website www.theus.org.uk ©United Synagogue To sponsor Daf Hashavua please contact Danielle Fox on 020 8343 6261, or [email protected] If you have any comments or questions regarding Daf Hashavua please email [email protected]

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Lessons of the Ladder by Rabbi Ephraim Guttentag, Community Rabbi, Hampstead Garden Suburb United Synagogue

The sidrah begins with better to take it slowly, incorporating each step Yaakov’s flight from his of progress into our lives, before moving on to brother Esav. Yaakov finds the next stage. himself atop Mount Moriah where he lies down to sleep In his classic work Mesillat Yesharim (Path of he for the night. In his dream, Just), Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (d.1746) God appears to him and begins the first chapter with the words of the reiterates the promises that Talmudic sage Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair: “The He gave to his father Yitzchak and grandfather foundation of piety and the root of perfect Divine Avraham. service lies in clarifying and verifying what each person’s duty is in this world”. On the one hand, “And he dreamed, and behold! A ladder set up on the word ‘piety’ denotes one of the highest levels the ground and its top reached to heaven; and that a person can achieve. On the other hand, behold, angels of God were ascending and ‘knowing one’s duty in this world’ seems like a descending on it” (Bereishit 28:12). very basic demand. Yet this is exactly what Rabbi Luzzato is teaching. If one is so busy striving for There are many interpretations of this dream, lofty, exalted levels that the basics get forgotten, including its symbolism of the Jewish future and it is akin to slipping down the ladder. of inheriting the . The dream also hints to important lessons about how we ascend As Dr. B. J. Fogg, the psychologist, author and our own personal spiritual “ladder”. founder of the Behaviour Design Lab at Stanford University puts it, “habits build upon themselves”. Firstly, the ladder can be likened to a spiritual If we want to make any kind of significant change, measuring gauge. The first rung on the ground we should strive to do so gradually and over time. represents the furthest away a person could possibly be from God; yet rung number one is still on the ladder, indicating that no one is ever at zero – each of us has an inner spark. Furthermore, the commentators state that it does not matter where we are on the ladder – as long as we are on the way up. It is better to be on rung 22, struggling to maintain our spiritual trajectory and to grip on to rung 23, than to be on rung 78, but quietly slipping down to 77 (see commentary of Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer, the ‘Vilna Gaon’, d. 1797, to Mishlei/Proverbs, 15:24).

Secondly, when we aim to grow in spirituality and religious observance, we remember that just as the angels ascended the ladder one rung at a time, we should also go along our journey one step at a time. If one tries to skip a rung, to move too fast, there is a danger of falling. It is generally

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Jewish Contemporary Ethics Part 9: The Written and Oral by Rabbi Dr Moshe Freedman, New West End Synagogue

The last article introduced animals which were “ritually clean” and just one the idea that God’s Divine pair of animals which were “not ritually clean” morality is not simply into the Ark (Bereishit 7:2). The explains imposed on humanity, that Noach studied the laws of the of but requires an eternal animals, and that he needed more kosher and ongoing animals in order to offer them to God after leaving relationship between God the ark (Zevachim 116a). and mankind. The next section of this series will try to analyse the nature, The Talmud notes that Avraham himself deduced meaning and mechanics of that covenant. both the existence of God and the mitzvot, and kept the entire Torah (Yoma 28b). Avraham then When we refer to ‘the Torah’ we often mean the taught Torah to his family, who also kept its laws Five Books of Moshe. The word itself derives (see Beresihit 18:19 and 26:5). This generates a from the Hebrew root hry, which in this form number of fascinating conundrums where the means to guide or teach (see 10:11). Yet actions of our forefathers appear to contradict the commentators write that the concept of ‘the Torah law. While a detailed resolution lies beyond Torah’ is much deeper and more complex. the scope of this series, it shows that Avraham not only recognised the Unity of God, but that he We may be used to thinking that the Torah was was the progenitor and advocate of pre-Sinaitic given to the Jewish people via Moshe at Mount Torah, which was Monotheistic. Sinai (see part 11 for more details on this topic). This is true, but the Torah did not originate More importantly, it shows that Torah is more at Mount Sinai. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto than just the Five Books of Moshe. It is God’s (d. 1746) explains that the Torah is God’s Divine Divine wisdom, which defines objective human wisdom, crystallised into a finite text. The study ethical behaviour, the absolute truth of which is of Torah therefore connects mankind to God’s cosmically woven into the reality of creation. The infinite thought, for although there are a finite next article will explore how God’s Divine number of words in the written Torah, they universal ethics are comprehensively applicable contain an infinite depth of understanding. to all mankind in all generations and how Therefore, Torah in its purest definition means Avraham and became the first ones to God’s wisdom. Since God is not bound by time, disseminate it globally. His wisdom is eternal and unfettered by any historical event. This is what the Talmud means when it describes how the angels were reluctant to allow the Torah to be released from Heaven and given over to mankind.

The existence of Torah in the form of God’s wisdom before Mount Sinai also explains the statements of our Talmudic sages which declare that many Biblical personalities studied and kept the Torah generations before the revelation at Sinai. For example, the Torah describes God’s command to Noach to bring seven pairs of

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MARKING 100 YEARS SINCE THE ARMISTICE OF WORLD WAR ONE: The 84th AJEX Parade by Rabbi (Major) Reuben Livingstone CF LLM, Senior Jewish Chaplain to HM Armed Forces and Chaplain to AJEX

Remembrance Sunday As uncomfortable as it might be, there is a was officially designed profound lesson in remembering such a painful "to commemorate the event. The Torah makes clear the gravity of contribution of British and Amalek's crime, to attack the least threatening and Commonwealth military and most innocent members of society placed Amalek civilian servicemen and beyond the pale of humanity. If Israel stands for women in the two World Wars the ultimate dominion of human virtue, Amalek and later conflicts". For one symbolises the darkness of the human heart. who understands the sacrifices that the United Kingdom has made in wartime, this day has great Memory is in fact the lifeblood of Jewish being. poignancy. This is especially so for those who are No word in the echoes currently serving or have served in HM Armed more strongly than zachor, remember. A flood Forces and have directly experienced the life- of associations come to mind: from the threatening nature of armed conflict. Ten Commandments to Moshe’s numerous exhortations such as, "Remember the years of Memory, in many circumstances, can be healing, ages past…” ( 32:7). comforting and even cathartic. Yet it can also reinforce traumatic events when they are re-played Remembrance Sunday, normally held close to in the mind. While recently spending time with 11 November, which is Armistice Day, fell this year an armoured battalion that served in Afghanistan, on the 11th itself and marked the centenary of the I found it both moving and painful to witness how end of WW1. photographs of colleagues killed in battle were lovingly cherished and had pride of place in the It is our duty to acknowledge and remember all hulking steel Warrior vehicles, many years after those who fell in service of King/Queen and country. their tragic deaths. We also remember the tens of thousands of who served and sacrificed, as well as those who It is therefore interesting that the Torah prioritises continue to do so unto this day. guarding memories that include difficult and traumatic events. Indeed, the command to To this end, the AJEX Parade, which takes place for remember the violent assault of Amalek on Israel is the 84th year this coming Sunday (18 November) at recorded not once but twice in the Torah (see the Cenotaph, commemorates Jewish service in the 17:14-16 and Devarim 25:17-19). It is the Armed Services for over 300 years. Let us latter account which is selected for reading on acknowledge and guard this important Jewish Shabbat Zachor, before Purim. Unlike in the earlier memory by making an effort to attend and support account in Shemot, which dwells more on the the parade, together with veterans, serving miracle of the victory, the reading for Zachor personnel and their extended families. stresses the depravity of the attack, that the Amalekites were bloodthirsty terrorists rather than soldiers: "...that he [Amalek], happened upon you on the way, and struck the stragglers, and you were tired and worn out, and he did not fear God”.

That attack gave rise to one of the harshest injunctions of the Torah: to erase the name of Amalek from the face of the earth. However, paradoxically, the memory of that episode must never be erased.

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The Armistice Thanksgiving Service of 1918

This Shabbat, 100 years ago to the day, an Armistice Thanksgiving Service was held in the imposing Great Synagogue, Dukes Place, Aldgate, led by Chief Rabbi Dr J.H.Hertz. Located close to Bevis Marks Synagogue, the Great Synagogue was amongst the earliest Ashkenazi synagogues in the UK, a base for the Chief Rabbinate, as well as a founding member of the United Synagogue. Sadly, it was destroyed during German bombing in 1942, after which it moved to smaller premises before its closure in 1977. To mark the centenary of the World War One Armistice, we reproduce below sections of Chief Rabbi Hertz’s stirring address at the Thanksgiving Service in which he thanked God for the cessation of hostilities and called for the adoption of Biblical imperatives for international peace in anticipation of the Peace Conference which was to come.

‘This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. with the sound and splendour and terror of its might, O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His only to go down as an Empire to eternal night. The mercy endureth for ever.’ PSALM cxviii, 23, 29 fall of the Hohenzollerns, as of the Romanoffs, marks the definite triumph of the world’s free democracies THESE verses are from the last of the Hallel , today over the ‘mailed fist’ of autocratic power, and those unique songs of thanksgiving to God for means the final disappearance of the ‘shining armour’ wonderful national deliverance. They may well be ideal, by which militarism has for so many ages our text. For it is gratitude to Him Who alone doeth deluded and destroyed the children of men. wondrous things that has led our steps to this House of Worship to take part in the third Thanksgiving A blood-stained chapter in the story of mankind is Service held within its walls during this ever thus, thank God, drawing to a close. Verily, ‘Thou, memorable week. O Lord, art on high for evermore.’ This gratitude is both boundless and well-nigh Now a word of warning. Let us not mar our prayerful inexpressible. All of us, old and young, learned and gratitude to Almighty God for the signal unlettered, are alike unequal to the onrush of world- manifestation of His mercy, by heartless taunt and historic events that in these fateful days has jeer at a fallen foe. For, overwhelmed us. We are dazed spectators of the ‘Unholy is the joy collapse of empires and kingdoms, yea, of the passing Of loud thanksgiving over slaughtered men.’ of an entire world-order. What the saw in visions and proclaimed in similitudes we now behold We may yet see the fulfilment of ’s prophecy with our own eyes – Righteousness as an irresistible that swords will be turned into ploughshares, spears force, shaping anew the destinies of men and nations. into pruning-hooks; when the untold millions of lives Conventional words fail miserably to express what and treasure hitherto deflected for the purpose of we feel; and oratorical phrases are hollow and even destruction will be devoted to the healing of the more helpless. And as in all crises of humanity, men nations. The coming Peace Conference will proclaim turn not to Homer, not to Shakespeare or Molière, but the principle of nationality sacred and unassailable; to the Hebrew Scriptures, to the Book of Psalms, that and even the oldest of national wrongs perpetrated great confessional of the human heart. 1,800 years ago on the soil of Judea is about to be righted. Instead of the discredited ideal of uniformity, With the sceptre of autocracy shattered, we perceive we shall, in the new order that, under God, will be that a Higher Power has overruled the designs of rooted in righteousness, and everywhere based on the brute force, human cunning, and earthly power, and consent of the governed, have a harmony of free shaped them to His everlasting purposes. We have peoples, a fit prelude to the Brotherhood of Man and witnessed an Empire that sprang up like grass – the Federation of the World. within the memory of many who are with us today –

and in fifty years it flourished and filled the planet Answer: three Answer:

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Make a difference - Please leave a legacy to your US community

Throughout our lives we all give charity to causes close to our hearts but we rarely reflect on the incredible good we can bring about through Legacy Giving. By leaving a gift to your community, you can help ensure that our next generation enjoy a strong Jewish community life. For more information or to arrange a confidential meeting to discuss Legacy opportunities, contact Richard Marcus on 020 8343 5685 or [email protected]

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