1 Parasha Va’eira English Date: 15 / 16 January 2021 Hebrew date: 3 Shevat 5781 www.milnertonshul.co.za Rabbi’s News ‘n Views Davening Times for home based on Growth Through Torah All the prayers should be said at home. When one prays This past week the President addressed our Country again. Unfortunately we are still in the midst of the second wave and need to be very careful. without a Minyan, one leaves out the following: by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin Masks must be worn at all times in public places and social distances must 1. 1. Torah Reading (You can read the Parasha and be observed. We were waiting to hear what he might say about Shuls. Are Before Jacob's death, the Torah tells us: Haftorah if you want, from a Chumash without a they allowed to open with restrictions or must they remain closed? After all restaurants and casinos are open so why not religious institutions? So Bracha) "And Ya'akov (Jacob) called to his sons, and he the answer is that they must remain closed for another month. Perhaps not 2. 2. Kaddish said, 'Gather together and I will tell you what will befall all of them follow strict protocol and can be the cause of the spread of 3. 3. Barchu infection which we are trying to prevent. you in the end of days' " (when the Jewish people will 4. 4. Repetition of the Amidah It is understandable but a bit frustrating. We were allowed to open last be redeemed from galus/exile) Genesis 49:1. year Elul, put in so much effort to make the Shul COVID safe and On Shabbat, all the prayers are the same, but besides gradually built up to having all Services at Shul. It felt so good to have What did Ya'akov mean when he used the phrase achieved that. Now we are back to square 1 (although once we can open leaving out the abovementioned prayers, you also leave out we will be ready as the Shul is nicely set up). the following: "Gather together"? The truth is that this is what everyone is going through in different shapes 5. 1. Magen Avot (Artscroll page 346) after the Ma’ariv and forms. We can’t predict anything. We plan for events and they have to When Ya'akov told his sons to gather together he Amidah, but you do say Vayechulu. be cancelled or postponed. Businesses, schools, shops, family Simchas, 2. After Shacharit (page 430), you skip to page 448 meant that they should have achdus, unity amongst holidays and trips are all having to be adjusted according to the level of and say the first Yekum Purkan only. Then you skip to themselves. Only when there is unity among the safety and restrictions imposed by the government. It isn't easy at all, but a thought came to mind from this week's Parsha that might help a little Av Harachamim p. 454 until the end of Mussaf. descendants of Ya'akov can there be redemption. If bit. there is not yet unity, it is not yet time for redemption. The first 7 of the ten plagues appear in our Parsha. The last plague in this Erev Shabbat : Parsha is the plague of hail. Massive ice balls dropped from the sky and Please join us at 6:15pm for Mincha, short idea and Yedid With this we can understand what Yosef's devastated Egypt. The crop was destroyed and trees, animals and people Nefesh via Zoom: ID 3961850316 - Password 277353 were smashed by the hail. Then the Torah says something strange. It states brothers meant when they said to him later on (Genesis that actually not all of the crop was destroyed. "The flax and barley were Candle lighting after 6:31pm and before 7:42pm 50:16-7) that before Ya'akov's death he requested that smashed because the barley was nearly ripe and the flax was in stalks. But Yosef forgive them. Nowhere in the Torah is it recorded the wheat and the spelt were not hurt because they had not yet ripened." Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma’ariv after Candle lighting What does that mean? The softer the plant was, the less it was damaged that Ya'akov asked Yosef to forgive his brothers. by the hail. It could bend and nothing happened to it. However the harder Shabbat Day: However, the commentary of the Shaloh tells us that the plants were smashed and destroyed. Shema should be said before 9:24am answer can be seen in our verse where Ya'akov asks the The Talmud (Taanit 20a) states the following similar idea. "A person Mussaf follows Shacharit brothers to "Gather together." Ya'akov was asking all should always be soft like a reed, and not hard like a cedar tree." Have a Shabbat meal with 2 loaves of bread of them, including Yosef, for unity and the deep love that The idea is that it pays to be easy going with life. Sometimes it may mean Mincha after 1:30pm and before 8:00pm comes from unity. Where there is love, there is that one isn't so strong with ones opinions and decisions, but it can also Seudah Shlishit to begin before 8:00pm forgiveness. be a healthy way to live. If we are so set in our ways and decisions that life will take the course that we plan, we will often be disappointed. Many Shabbat ends 8:38pm things are not in our control. If we allow life to unfold and are prepared Ma’ariv & Havdalah after 8:38pm This is a crucial issue for our time. People are to change our plans, then our disappointment will be less. That's what it very different from one another in many ways. means to be soft like a reed which bends with the wind and not hard like a cedar which is very strong, but once it is struck hard enough it won't get Weekday Schedule Sunday 17 to Friday 22 January: However, if all the descendants of Ya'akov realize how up again. important it is to have achdus, this unity will bring Shacharit via Zoom: I think one of the greatest lessons that this epidemic has taught us is that Sunday at 8:00am about a love that transcends the specific complaints one we are not completely in control and never will be. Life can take us on Monday to Friday at 6:45am person has against another. Judging favourably helps different paths to what we were expecting. How do manage the emotional roller coaster of life especially during this unpredictable time? It isn't brings unity. easy, and some have been hit harder than others, but one thing that may Mincha followed by Ma’ariv via Zoom: help is the thought that we do not have to be in control of our life. Let's try Sunday to Thursday at 6:15pm roll with the punches, and please G-d they will come to an end very soon. There is however one more thought to add to this idea. We may not be in The zoom link for Shacharit and Mincha/Ma’ariv is control, but our Father in Heaven is. He has a plan for us and the world. ID 3961850316 - Password 277353 “Our thoughts are not His thoughts" as the prophet Isaiah says, but we have trust in Him that there is a plan and there will be a good end to all of this as well. May we be protected through this challenging time and be strengthened to cope and manage, and please G-d see blessings and success in our own lives and in the world very soon! Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov to everyone! 2 Parasha Summary: Va’eira Here is the story of the Ten Plagues which God put upon the Egyptians not only to effect the release of the Jewish people from bondage, but to show the world that He is the God of all creation and history. The first nine plagues are divisible into three groups: 1) the water turning to blood, frogs, lice 2) wild beasts, pestilence/epidemic, boils 3) hail, locust, and darkness. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that these were punishments measure for measure for afflicting the Jewish people with slavery: 1) The first of each group reduced Egyptians in their own land to the insecurity of strangers. 2) The second of each group robbed them of pride, possessions and a sense of superiority. 3) The third in each group imposed physical suffering. Upcoming week: • Tehillim every Monday from 6:00pm – 6:45pm. We have a WhatsApp Tehillim Group. If you would like to join us, please contact Vonny Bernstein on 083 557 1110. • Special event this Monday night at 8pm on zoom: Siyum (Celebration) on Completion of Pirkei Avot. We will be joined by Chief Rabbi Goldstein who will address us. Please join this auspicious occasion on zoom! Zoom link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3961850316 - Password 277353 • Gemora Shiur every Tuesday night at 8:30pm via Zoom. Zoom Link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3961850316 - Password 277353 • Emunah and Growth in Difficult Times by world-renowned speaker and author Rabbi Paysach Krohn, Sunday evening 24 January 2021 at 8:00pm on zoom. Organised by Milnerton Shul and kindly sponsored by Henry and Rachel Wachs Trust in partnership with the Green & Sea Point Hebrew Congregation, Camps Bay Shul, Constantia Hebrew Congregation and Yeshiva Mizrachi Johannesburg. Zoom Link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3961850316 - Password 277353 Please Note: Happy birthday to: • For Shul or admin matters, please contact Janine Fox Saturday 16 January – Gadi Aginsky, Cheryl Lazard, on 082 491 9176 or [email protected] Laurie Millner • For account queries, please contact Melanie Osrin on Sunday 17 January – Shirley Elvey, Barbara Bolnik, 083 703 0192 or [email protected].