Shabbat Parshat Va’eira B”H Friday, January 24, 2020 FRABRENGEN: this Shabbos is co-sposnored by Daniel And Hadassah Kestenbaum 27 Tevet, 5780 in memory of Danny's father R. Raphael ben Yisroel Yekusiel Kestenbaum. Whose Candle Lighting 4:45 PM 21st Yohrzeit is on Thursday, 4th Shevat. Mincha at 4:55 PM It is also co-sponsored by the Chai Club.

Shabbat Services ROSH CHODESH SOCIETY: Lesson 4: “An Eternal Blueprint: Blending Celestial Tanya/soul maps 8:30 AM Shacharit 9:00 AM Spirit and Mundane Matters ” taught by Rebbetzin Sorah Shemtov next Shabbat Frabrengen 12:00 PM February 1st 12:30 - 1:30 PM and Monday, February 3rd, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM @ Mincha 4:45 PM Chabad, 535 West 246th Street. Light Refreshments served. Shabbat Ends 5:47 PM Havdalah Service/Living DVD of the Rebbe 5:47 PM

CONFERENCE OF SHLUCHOS: February 13th-16th in Crown Heights, NY; Gala Junior Congregation Dinner Sunday, February 16th 5:00 PM (see flyer for more details). 10:45 am - 12 pm PreK-Grade 3 (upstairs) - Mrs. Dina Klapper HATZALAH 2020 CAMPAIGN: Please Support our local Hatzalah. You can donate Grades 4+ Girls (downstairs) - Girls by going to the website www.riverdalehatzalah.org (see flyer for more details). lounge Aviva Laskin & Maya Rudoy Grade 4+ Boys (downstairs library) GIRLS SHABBAT LOUNGE: Instead of Jr. Congregation for your daughter Grade 4+ we are excited to offer the “Girls Shabbat Lounge” which is a comfy welcoming NEXT WEEKS SCHEDULE space where she can daven, snack and schmooze with her friends. It will be open every Sunday Shacharit 8:45 AM Monday 6:55 AM week on Shabbos with older supervision from 10:45-12 pm. Tuesday 6:45 AM Wed-Friday 6:55 AM BAR MITZVAH CLUB: Rabbi Shneor Wolfman will be teaching Bar Mitzvah boys and at Chabad on a weekly basis, if you are interested to have him teach your son please email Rabbi Shemtov asap [email protected] A TWEET TREAT FOR SHABBAT When did we start recycling names? CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES: JAN-MAR: http://ChabadRiverdale.org/892352 JAN: LIGHT END FEB: LIGHT END MAR: LIGHT END 31 4:52 5:55 7 5:02 6:03 6 5:35 6:35 Updates 1 14 5:10 6:11 13 6:43 7:42 Parsha in a Nutshell 2 21 5:19 6:19 21 6:50 7:50 CELC 2 28 5:27 6:27 27 6:58 7:58 Parnter with Chabad 2

RSC Flyer 3 KLL 2020 REGISTRATIOIN IS OPEN: KLL is a Shabbat-friendly little league in Riverdale, NY. Games are played on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings on Shluchos Flyer 4 fields in the Riverdale area. The Junior League is for players in grades 3-5, Senior Tehilim List 5 league for grades 6-8. Deadline Registration is February 14th. Weekly Article 6 Visit https://www.rjconline.org/kll2020 for more information and to register.

PARSHA IN A NUTSHELL Va'eira

Exodus 6:2-9:35

G-d reveals Himself to . Employing the "four expressions of re- demption," He promises to take out the Children of Israel from Egypt, deliver them from their enslavement, redeem them and ac- quire them as His own chosen people at Mount Sinai; He will then bring them to the Land He promised to the Patriarchs as their eternal heritage.

Moses and repeatedly come before Pharaoh to demand in the name of G-d, "Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness." Pharaoh repeat- edly refuses. Aaron's staff turns into a snake and swallows the magic sticks of the Egyptian sor- cerers. G-d then sends a series of plagues upon the Egyptians.

The waters of the Nile turn to blood; swarms of frogs overrun the land; lice infest all men and beasts. Hordes of wild animals invade the cities, a pestilence kills the domestic animals, painful boils afflict the Egyptians. For the seventh plague, fire and ice combine to descend from the skies as a devastating hail. Still, "the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he would not let the children of Israel go; as G-d had said to Moses." Taught by Rebbetzin Sorah Shemtov SHABBAT, FEBRUARY 1ST, 12:30-1:30 PM & MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD, 11:00 AM-12:15 PM @ Chabad 535 West 246th Street Light Refreshments served. There is no fee for the course but student textbooks are available for purchase. Walk-Ins welcome RSVP appreciated Contact: 718-549-1100 [email protected] For more information please email Rebbetzin Sorah Shemtov:

[email protected] TEHILLIM (PSALMS) LIST We compile and maintain a Tehillim list of the names of people who need a refuah shlaima (speedy recovery) so we may all daven for them. Dr. Frimet Skolas has volunteered to coordinate names for a Tehillim list for the weekly Shabbat bulletin. So if you know someone who isn’t well, please contact Frimet at 1-347-602-7951, fax 1-347-602-7951, or e-mail: [email protected]. All names need to be rein- stated 8 weeks after submission or they will automatically be deleted. Frimet will update the list every Wednesday evening.

Rabbi Adin ben Rivka Lea Esther bas Rochel Reuven ben Aliza Aurilia Myriam bat Rivka Victoria Esther bat Maguy Rivkah Leah bas Sarah Raiza

Avraham Abba Ben Sara Chana Ephraim Matan Ben Chana Riva Devorah bas Raizel Gittel Avraham Shmelka ben Sarah Frimet bas Chaya Gitel Reizel Gitel bas Rochel Leah Baruch Moshe ben Esther Freida Rochel bas Esther Ruth bas Rivka Beila bas Sarah Gershon Elchanan hacohain ben Tzvia Rachel Chana bas Sidell

Bracha Faiga bas Yehudis Sara bat Shoshana Gitel bas Sheindel Bracha Rivkah bat Yehudis Devorah Golda Shira bat Yenta Rochel Sarah bas Yael

Carmela bat Juliet Hadassah Raizel bat Sorel Schneur Chaim Yitzchok Alexander Ben Nechama Dina Channah bat Rivka Hinda Sorah Rochel bas Yitta Shlome Alter Dov Yehuda Halevi ben Gila Esther

Chana bas Devorah Huna ben Esther Shmuel ben Ellen

Chana bas Mushka Juliet bat Hanna Sholom Mordechai Halevi Ben Rivkah Chana Breindel bas Gittel Jadon and Anias bas Nicole Shoshanah Faige bas Devorah Chaim Dovid ben Blume Kalman ben Dobe Sima bas Chana

Chaim Shraga Feivel ben Chaya Leah Malka Kayla Sarah bas Malka Yentel Sorah Hadassah bas Gittel

Chana Chaya bas Yenta Bayla Lea bat Valerie Tzvi ben

Chaya Bella bas Rivka Leah bat Rachel Tzadik haLevi ben Masha Rachel Chaya Sorah bas Devorah Yuda Leah Luba bas Baila Yael bas Sarah Channah Liba bat Chaya Sarah Liat bat Carmela Yaacov aryeh dov ben resha matel Cherna bas Liba Lieba Chaya bas Devora Yuda Yakot bat Zochra

Daliya Bat Batya Malka Devorah bat Ella Chava Yehudit bat Sarah Daveda shimona bas Malka rivka Masha bas Tzimi Yehudis bas Feigel Rachel Devorah Hinda bat Bracha Meir ben Trina Yehudis Chaye bas Gittel Devorah Lieba bas Yael Menucha Rochel bas Gilah Elkah Yehudis Tirtza Chana bas Bracha

Doba Baila bas Malka Menachem Mendel Mordechai ben Miriam Yissaschar ben Roza Rasha David Shlomo ben Lea Mechachem Ksil ben Kayla Yona bas Chana

Dovid Shlomo ben Shoshana Malka Moshe Chaim ben Yehudis Yoshua Tzvi ben Nechama Lea

Dovid ben Sarah Moshe Yoel Lee ben Chana Yosef Yisrael ben Dina Eheskiel Baruch Ben Leah Miriam bas Chaya Sorah Yosef bezalel ben Rus Eliyahu ben Miriam Miriam Esther Bas Sorah Yonatan Halevi ben Malka

Eliezar Ben Pearl Naftali Hertz Chaim ben Feiga Gitel Zehava Nechama Chaya bat Elisheva

Elisheva Malka bas Sarah Miriam Nechama bas Chana

Eliana bat Chana Nechama Miriam bas Shternah Chana

Elisheva Malka bas Sarah Miriam Pesha Soroh bas Esther

If you only knew - The Tzemach Tzedek said - the power of verses of Tehillim and their effect in the highest Heavens, you would recite them constantly. Know that the chapters of Tehillim shatter all barriers; they ascend higher and still higher with no interference; they pros- trate themselves in supplication before the Master of all worlds; and they effect and accomplish with kindness and compassion (Chaf). We know that when an individual says any amount of Tehillim (Psalms) she/he can merit many blessings. This is particularly true when the entire book of Tehillim is recited by a group of individuals, since G-d blesses us when we are united in peace with one another. It is also considered as if each of the individuals who take part in the group recited the entire Tehillim, not just their allotted chapters. You can say it anytime and anywhere that Shabbat. If you wish to participate, please indicate how many average-sized chapters (psalms) you would like to say and your preference. I will contact you to let you know your allotted chapters. In the merit of saying Tehillim may we receive the blessings we need individually and for Klal Yisrael. Please reply to Frimet Skolas at [email protected] or call 1-347-602-7951. Va’eira: Rain, a River, Fire and Ice By Rabbi Simon Jacobson

On the eve of their entry into the Holy Land, Moses described to the Children of Israel the nature of their new homeland in the following way:

For the land which you are entering to inherit is not like the land of Egypt from which you are coming... it is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water of the rain of the heavens (Deuteronomy 11:10).

Our Sages explain that this distinguishes the Land of Israel from "the land from which you are coming" since "The land of Egypt does not drink rainwater; rather, the Nile rises and waters it" (Rashi, Genesis 47:10).

Rain represents the reciprocal relationship between heaven and earth. Chassidic teaching cites the Torah's description (Genesis 2:6) of the first rainfall: "A vapor rises from the earth" to the heavens, and the heavens return it as rain which "quenches the face of the land." This, explain the Chassidic masters, represents the spiritual truth that "an arousal from be- low evokes an arousal from above"--that G-d responds to the efforts of man, reciprocating our prayers, yearnings and deeds with nurture from Above.

But rain alone does not suffice to make the land flourish and give fruit. The soil must be plowed--broken up and softened-- before it can receive the seed and absorb the rain. Spiritually, this means that it is not enough to send up "vapors" of lofty feelings and virtuous works; one must first "plow" one's ego, crush the clods of coarseness and arrogance in one's personali- ty, to make one's life receptive to the flow of divine nurture from Above.

In the "Land of Israel" one plows, and is nourished by rain. But in "Egypt" things were different. Egypt was nourished not by descending rain but by the overflow of the Nile, which would periodically flood the land. Nor was it necessary to plow its soil: the floodwaters of the Nile would leave behind a layer of fertile silt which required no breaking up prior to planting.

The spiritual "Egyptian" is one who does not recognize the Heavenly source of the blessings of life. He believes that all is generated from below--that everything he has and has achieved is of his own making. Nor does he see the need for any "plowing" of his personality--he is fine as he is, clods and all.

Perverted Rain

When rain does fall in Egypt, it falls as hail--hail that is ice without and fire within. Thus the Torah describes the seventh of the "ten plagues" to visit the Egyptians:

And G-d rained hail upon the land of Egypt. And there was hail, and fire burning within the hail... (Exodus 9:23-24)

We often speak of "warm" and "cold" personalities. A "warm" person is a passionate, loving, outgoing individual, always ready to extend a hand and a smile to a fellow. A "cold" person is reserved, self-centered, indifferent to the fate of others. But the cold individual is also aflame--fired with self-love, ablaze with egotistical passions. Indeed, it is his excess of inner heat that is the cause of his icy exterior.

When rain falls in Egypt, it falls as a hail of ice-enclosed fire. In this unplowed land, where the heavenly source of its water is unseen and unrecognized, the nurture that descends from Above is perverted as a source of increased love of self and greater alienation between man and his fellow.

The Exodus came to deliver us from this rainless, ice-fire state of existence, and bring us to a "holy land" defined by faith, humility and a reciprocal relationship between earth and heaven.