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Volume 26 TERUMAH No. 19 SHABBAT ROSH CHODESH ADAR 1 Daf Hashavua

1 February 2014 • 1 Adar 5774 Shabbat ends in at 5.39 pm Artscroll p.444 • Hertz p.325 • Soncino p.500

Sayings & Sayers Abahu of the Sidrah by Rabbi Samuel Landau, Kingston, Surbiton & District

Chumash: “And you shall make two gold (Isaac) which we recall on Rosh Hashanah cherubs, you shall make them of hammered but also created the note arrangements work, from the two ends of the Ark cover”. used. This arose from a question as to (Shemot 25:18) whether the crying sound of the shofar is formed from nine sharp shrieks (teruah) Talmud: “What is the meaning of ‘cherub’ or three mournful wails (ke –rub)? Rabbi Abahu (shevarim). The two said: ‘Like a child were combined by (Ke = like, Rub = child), Rabbi Abahu into one for in Babylonia a child (shevarim-teruah). is called Rabia’. His imposing presence Rabbi Abahu lived endowed him with the skills towards the end of 3rd to debate and challenge neo- century CE. He was the rector Christian polemic and missionary of the Academy in Caesarea and activity. He sometimes did this in a studied in Tiberias. Rabbi Abahu was a dismissive manner, sometimes in a more handsome and charismatic figure, making sophisticated one. For example, he often him not only popular with the Jewish cited Biblical verses alluding to mistakes inhabitants but also the Roman within developing Christian theology. proconsular government. He spoke and studied Greek to allow him to interact Despite the power that he commanded, easily with the ruling class. Indeed, the he was a man of intense modesty. On quotation above demonstrates his one occasion, he delivered a lecture and command of language. drew such an audience that it resulted in a competing lecturer only gathering a Rabbi Abahu formalised the structure of paltry few listeners. Rabbi Abahu was shofar blasts that we follow in the Rosh so concerned that he may have slighted Hashanah machzor (festival prayer book). his colleague that he pursued him for He not only taught the connection between the rest of the day in order to beg the ram’s horn and the binding of Yitzchak for forgiveness. The Three Pillars by Rabbi Dr Moshe Freedman Northwood United Synagogue

In his epic Biblical poem Shir HaShirim (Song of The Aramaic translation Songs), King Shlomo (Solomon) uses the analogy (attributed to Yonatan ben of a bride and groom to describe the relation- Uzziel, 1st century CE) notes ship between the Jewish people and G-d that this middle bar was (respectively). The story of the Exodus can be made from the wood of a viewed with the same analogy. tree planted by Avraham in Be’er Sheva (see Bereishit Exiled in Egypt, the Jewish people had no real 21:33). This is in line with connection to G-d. In fact, in the beginning, one interpretation of the when the Israelites were suffering from the Talmud (Sotah 10a), that the tree was from an harsh decrees of the wicked Pharaoh, the orchard that bore the fruits which Avraham does not say that the Israelites pleaded to G-d, served to his guests. The other explanation of the but that they merely “cried out” (Shemot 2:23). Talmud is that the Torah is Furthermore, the purpose of referring to the inn where the plagues was not only to the guests stayed. Either way, break the exile, but to make the middle bar represented G-d known to Pharaoh, the Avraham’s trait of gemilut Egyptians and the fledgling chsasdim – acts of loving- Israelite nation. Subsequently, kindness towards others. the Jewish people are redeemed and brought to the foot of The Mishnah states that the Mount Sinai. world stands on three things; Torah, avodah (the service of G-d) and gemilut To continue King Shlomo’s analogy, this is akin to chsasdim (Pirkei Avot, Ethics of Our Fathers 1:2, two individuals who as yet have no connection see green siddur p.524). The Mishkan was the with one another, but start to become first house which brought G-d and the Jewish acquainted. As the couple’s relationship builds, it people together with the Torah, housed in the reaches a point where a proposal is made and the Ark of the Covenant. It also contained the service wedding ceremony takes place. Similarly, G-d of G-d through the offerings brought. Yet it was proposes an everlasting covenant with Israel at the wood from Avraham’s tree, representing acts Mount Sinai. G-d proposes to Israel, offering the of kindness towards others that held the entire convenant and the people respond with ‘Na’aseh structure together. Venishmah’ and Divine Revelation takes place. Similarly, a Jewish home must be based on the The next stage is that the couple must set up principles of Torah, as expressed through Jewish home together. This is represented by the law and customs. Secondly, it must be a place primary command given in this week’s portion. where relationships are built and nurtured. The Tabernacle (Mishkan) is the portable The building of a Jewish home as a bastion of sanctuary which the Jewish people will take with Judaism is avodah. But thirdly, it must be a them on their journey through the desert on place which reaches out to others in order to their way the Land of Israel (Shemot 25:8). bolster the wider community (gemilut chasidim). One of the details of the Mishkan was that there With these three pillars, we help to weave was a middle bar inside the planks of the walls the fabric for better homes and in turn a better which extended from end to end (Shemot 26:28). society for all. Lost Communities Hambro around Britain (Part 8) by Rabbi David Katanka, St. Anne’s Hebrew Congregation

There was an undercurrent of mixed emotions on Zalman and Rabbi David Tevele Schiff. Shabbat 25 April 1936. It was the last Shabbat of Hambro, the most traditional of the City the Hambro Synagogue, Adler Street. With the congregations, always appointed scholarly closure of the Hambro, its members were to chazanim. Rev Herman Hoelzel (1845-52) wrote rejoin the Great Synagogue, a community that a German and English translation of all four Hambro had broken away from in 1707: volumes of the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Marcus Hamburger, who was married to Jewish Law. He mastered English and gave Freudiche, daughter of Glueckel of Hameln (the lectures to the congregation. However, he was German-Jewish Pepys) founded this community not allowed to do so in front of the Ark, this after being excommunicated for criticising a being reserved for the Chief Rabbi. He eventually conditional divorce arranged by Aaron Hart, moved to Australia to become Presiding Rabbi Rabbi of the Great Synagogue. for the Colonies. There was no love lost between Rev Samuel Marcus Gollancz him and Reb Aberle, President of (1854-1899) succeeded him. He the Great - they had both courted studied under the renowned Rabbi Freudiche and Hamburger had Akiva Eiger and Rabbi Israel won. Lipshitz (the Tiferet Yisrael). The cherem (excommunication) His autobiography ‘Biographical started just before Rosh Sketches’ was translated and Hashanah. Wherever Hamburger published by his distinguished son appeared, he was labelled a Rabbi Sir Hermann Gollancz. ‘heretic’. His business at a It offers a fascinating insight standstill, he was even denied Chief Rabbi Dr J H Hertz into 19th century Jewish life in the privilege of giving charity, Europe. as paupers would not visit him. He was not The Hambro was an original constituent member called to the Torah over the High Holidays, nor of the United Synagogue in 1870. However, was he allowed to name his newly born influential members left the City, causing daughter. The only way forward was to start a financial difficulties. The building was closed minyan in his home in Fenchurch Street. It was down in 1892. Yet after seven years of struggle named Hambro in acknowledgement of its and argument, the New Hambro opened. 1925 strict adherence to the Hamburg prayer ritual. saw the Bicentenary celebrations at which Chief This served as the synagogue until 1725 when Rabbi Dr J H Hertz remarked that whilst some a beautiful building was constructed in had said that the Hambro’s glory had departed, Hamburger’s garden. In 1706 Rabbi Aaron Hart “the great men of Anglo-Jewry wished to give it recorded these events in Urim ve Tumim, the a new sphere of labour and make it a power for first book in England to be published entirely in spiritual good”. Hebrew. The cherem was rescinded by 1750; for a time Hambro and ‘the Great’ shared a The mahogany doors taken from the old Hambro Rabbi, Hart Lyon. Argument broke out again in Synagogue finally closed in 1936. Hambro 1765 over should be the next joint Rabbi, a had come full circle as it rejoined the Great position contested by Rabbi Israel Meshullam Synagogue once again. THIS WEEK How Time Flies IN HISTORY by Rabbi Daniel Fine, Living & Learning Israel Educator

Many notable events took place during this We are also threatened by diminishing week in history. On 27 January Wolfgang privacy. A private argument at home can Amadeus Mozart (1756) and Lewis Carroll quickly become public knowledge via social (1832) were born. On 28 January 1807 networking. Personal, memorable moments London’s Pall Mall became the first gaslight- can be lost in the rush to post pictures lit street. On 29 January Thomas Paine was online. born (1736), the petrol-driven car was patented (1886) and Thomas Edison We also face an underlying move (who invented the light bulb) was towards disjointed artificiality. Until recognised for his contributions. half a century ago, only the finest authors with the most thought-out It is amazing to think how quickly theories would have their works society has changed. Just 250 published (the first book of its kind years old, America is now the world published in the lifetime of its author superpower. Within 300 years, tech- was the landmark Beit Yosef by Rabbi nology has seen us move from Yosef Karo in the 1550s). Book- 5 mph cars and cherishing the light- publishing later became widespread. bulb to Formula One and to compact, Today books are becoming obsolete. No sophisticated ways of wirelessly prior level of knowledge or expertise is connecting to people. And one dreads to needed to write a blog. There is a fear that think what Mozart would have thought of rapid-speed artificiality may spill over to the today’s digitally-created music! way that we communicate. We are in danger Technology is a wonderful gift. For parents of face-to-face conversations being replaced to speak to their children and grandchildren, with witty one-liners and hashtags. or for a teacher to learn with a student thou- Rosh Chodesh Adar beckons in the theme of sands of miles away on a screen is some- joy. This means an internal sense of joy and thing previous generations did not imagine. security we all have lying inside ourselves. Yet technology comes with dangers. Shabbat teaches us that one need not Just over a decade ago, employees on depend on the buzz and noise of technology holiday were un-contactable. Nowadays, for true happiness. Relationships with increased stress can result from instant others, a sense of community and a emails and constant beeping from smart- connection to our heritage is more profound phones and pagers. than the latest technological innovations.

United Synagogue Daf Hashavua Produced by the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue, together with US Living & Learning Editor: Rabbi Chaim Gross Editor in Chief: Rabbi Baruch Davis Available also via email US website www.theus.org.uk ©United Synagogue To sponsor Daf Hashavua please contact Richard Marcus on 020 8343 5685, or [email protected] If you have any comments or questions regarding Daf Hashavua please email [email protected]