WESTMINSTER SYNAGOGUE Bar Mitzvah of Misha Sofaer Zoom Etiquette for Westminster Synagogue services To ensure services are running as smoothly as possible, please have a look over the following ground rules. Mute You will be muted while entering the Zoom session. Make sure you stay muted unless you are invited to un-mute. This is to ensure that the person leading the service can be heard. You will find the mute button in the left-hand corner, as shown below. The microphone should have a red line over it when you are muted. If you are joining the session via your phone (landline or mobile) rather than via the internet, you can mute/un-mute yourself by pressing * followed by 6 Raise your hand to ask questions If you have a question, please click on the button “Raise hand”. This button can be found when you have the list of participants/chat open on the right-hand side. You can also type your question in the chat window, but we recommend that you raise your hand virtually as well, to catch the leader’s attention. Video Video can be on, and is nice to see (though be mindful of what you do behind the camera). If you don’t feel comfortable with having the camera on, feel free to keep it off. Introductions and Latecomers The Zoom session will open 10-15min before the Service starts. Do join in early to make sure we’re all ready at the set time. The minutes before can be used as introductions and catch ups. Latecomers will be muted upon entry, please keep it that way. If it’s your first time using Zoom, we recommend arriving 10-15 mins before the session starts, to make sure everything is set up correctly. Kippot during Services During our services our regular dress code still applies, which includes men covering their heads (if you don’t have a kippah at home, you can use a hat). 1 WESTMINSTER SYNAGOGUE שַׁ בָּ ת שָׁ ל וֹ ם Shabbat Shalom Saturday 26th June 2021 16th Tamuz 5781 שַׁ בָּ ת בָּ לָ ק Shabbat Balak Readers: Rabbi Benji Stanley; David Connick; Misha Sofaer; Denisa Scarcova-Sofaer; Phillip Sofaer; Mark Shamash; Phillip Bekhor; Jack Bekhor Torah Service Numbers 22: 2 – 12 (pages 7 – 8 of this booklet) Bar Mitzvah: Misha Sofaer מישה בן מיכאל ו’דניסאה Misha ben Michael v’Denisa Haftarah Micah 5:6 – 6:8 (pages 9 – 12 of this booklet) Mourner’s Kaddish Page 37 in the Siddur (pages 15 – 16 of this booklet) Address: Rabbi Benji Stanley Singer: Betty Makharinsky Warden: David Connick Zoom Warden: Hadassah Lingenheim WELCOME TO OUR SYNAGOGUE 2 Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah According to Jewish Law, when Jewish children reach the age of maturity, they become responsible for their actions. At this point, a child is said to become Bar or Bat Mitzvah, which can be translated as “one to whom the commandments apply”, or literally, “a son or daughter of the commandment.” Before this age, all of the child’s responsibility to follow Jewish law and tradition lies with the parents. After this age, the child is privileged to participate in all areas of Jewish life and to bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual law, tradition and ethics. A child becomes a Bar or Bat Mitzvah automatically upon coming of age. No ceremony is needed. In fact, there is no reference to a Bar Mitzvah ceremony at all before the 15th century, when the custom developed that a boy would be called to the Torah on the first possible Shabbat after his 13th birthday. He would also give a D’var Torah - an exposition of the Torah portion. In contrast to the 500 year plus history of a Bar Mitzvah celebration, Bat Mitzvah can only be traced back to the 19th century, when a celebratory meal would be held on the girl's 12th birthday. Modern traditional and Progressive synagogues affirm the absolute equality of boys and girls, so that all young persons may become B’nei Mitzvah or B’not Mitzvah (singular a Bar or a Bat Mitzvah) and all are encouraged to read from the Torah. It is recognised that a Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration is but a stepping stone on the road to religious, spiritual and physical maturity. 3 A Message from Misha’s Parents The Bar Mitzvah ceremony represents the passage of a Jewish boy to manhood and we are honoured to have our family and closest friends here today to witness and celebrate with us this wonderful occasion. Misha’s Bar Mitzvah ceremony takes place during this morning’s Shabbat service. The word Torah means law or teaching and refers to the five Books of Moses. A set portion is read aloud on each Shabbat and holiday over the course of the year. Misha’s portion comes from Numbers. He will share his reflections on the meaning of his portioned about becoming a Bar Mitzvah in his introduction. Misha has asked members of his family who he wishes to honour to participate in today’s service: his mother Denisa will read a prayer, his uncle Phillip Sofaer and cousin Mark Shamash will read from the book of Psalms; cousin Jack Masri will open the Ark. Misha’s father Michael will elevate the Torah Scroll (Hagba), Misha’s cousin Phillip Bekhor will say the blessings before and after the Haftarah reading, and cousin Jack Bekhor will read the Haftorah portion from Micah 5:6 – 6:8. Our family is fortunate to have avoided the horrors of religious persecution in Europe 80 years ago. However, along with many other Jewish families, our family has experienced persecution in Iraq after 1948 when religious persecution swept through the Middle East. It endures today although there are very few Jews left now in the Middle East. We are also fortunate that we were able to emigrate to England to start new lives. Where we are able to practice Judaism in the way we choose, and where we are protected by law from the sort of persecution we fled from. We would like to thank Rabbi Benji Stanley for his leadership of the community and mentorship of Misha; Michal Ish-Horowitz for her patience and application in teaching Misha Hebrew and guiding him through his portion and the entire process. Due to Covid, remarkably Misha’s learning was entirely online! We would also like to thank Maya Kay and the Westminster Synagogue team for so effectively and professionally organising all the parts of what makes today so special. And finally, to our eldest son Misha, you must know how incredibly happy we are today on your Bar Mitzvah and how proud we are of the man you have become. And to all, Shabbat Shalom, Denisa and Michael 4 Misha’s D’var Torah My Torah portion is from the Book of Numbers, Chapter 22, Numbers 2-12. The name of this portion is “Balak”, who was the ruler of the Moabites. My portion concerns how the Moabites reacted to newcomers entering their land, and how their leader responded. The story raises questions about the way in which we treat immigrants today and, particularly, how leaders and leadership can play a very important role in defining the way we live our lives. In my portion, the Moabites were very worried about the large number of Israelites that had entered their land and camped there. The Moabites were fearful that these foreigners would take over their land and consume their resources. Balak, responding to the fears of his people, came to the elders of Midian to find and hire Balaam, one of the best-known sorcerers, to put a curse on the Israelites and drive them away from Moab. It is tempting to say that Balak and his people were wrong to want to expel the Israelites. There are many parallels in history and in the modern day. Walls have been built between countries and peoples, sometimes to keep their people in, like with the Berlin Wall, and many to keep others out, for example, Hadrian’s Wall, the Great Wall of China and many others. Today, everyone also needs passports to travel and work permits to work so we aren’t free to do what we want and go where we want. Sometimes immigrants come from countries they are forced to flee from; Syrian refugees for example. When immigrants move to a new place they are often judged quickly and unkindly by others who don’t even know what they might have been through. So, should we be surprised that the Moabites and their leader Balak resisted the Israelites settling in their land? My father’s family were refugees from Iraq in the 1960s as the persecution of the Jews there intensified following the establishment of the State of Israel. My father’s family went to the U.K. where religious tolerance was and is practiced. My father tells me that his father met with minor racism at the time and my father’s time at school was also largely without trouble. Part of my father’s family also went to India and Burma in the first part of the twentieth century. I’ve seen from photographs that the Jews who emigrated there also wore local clothing in order to blend in with their surroundings while at the same time observing their own customs. Returning to the story of Balak, Balak was keen to please his people and, rather than speak with the Israelites about their intentions and how they may work alongside his people, he sought to drive them away from Moab by placing a curse on them through Balaam.