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Contact Us
Ohel Shalom
Check out our new and improved website at
ohelshalomchicago.org
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Davening Times
Shabbat Candle
Lighting 7:48 pm
Early Mincha: 6:50 pm
Regular Mincha 7:58 pm
Shacharit 8:15am
Shabbat Mincha 7:25pm
Shabbat ends at 8:59 pm
Weekdays
Shacharit
Sunday 7:45am
Monday-Friday 6:30am
Mincha/Arvit
Sunday 8:00 pm
at Ohel Shalom
Mincha/Arvit
Mon-Thurs.
8:00 pm
at Ohel Shalom
Second Arvit
Sunday-Thursday 10:00pm
following Kollel
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Regular Shiurim
Kollel
Open Seder
Sunday-Thursday
8-10pm
Rabbi Olstein
Parasha Shiur
Wed 8:30pm (Hebrew)
Thurs 8:00pm (English)
Rabbi Cohen
Chok L'Yisrael
Weekdays after Shacharit
Men and Women
Ner Foundation
Rabbi Raccah
Wednesdays at 8:30pm
Topic: Misilat Yisharim
based upon Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh
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SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
20 Chamesh Ta'aniyot
(14 sold - 4 left)
$10.00 each
Chair Sponsors
(96 sold - 154 left)
$25.00 each
New Set of Artscroll Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi
($30.00 for Talmud Bavli
$35.00 for Talmud Yerushalmi)
Siddurim Shaarim Ba'Tifilla
($15.00 each)
Chumash w/simanim
($20 each)
20 New Talitot
(4 sponsored - 16 left)
$75.00 each
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This Week at Ohel Shalom
Early Shabbat Minyan Continues!
B"H we have had enough interest to continue the early Friday Shabbat Minyan. This Friday, May 18th, the minyan will start at 6:50 p.m in the Beit HaMidrash. Please note the slightly earlier start time. Adjustments may be made in the start time in future weeks, so keep checking the weekly email.
Mazal Tov U'BiSiman Tov!
Our Kehilla wishes Mazal Tov to our good friend Dr. Ken (Chanoch) Bloom, our Googlist, upon his engagement to Shoshana Scharf from Boston MA. May they merit to build a Bayit Ne'eman BiYisrael!
Rosh Chodesh Sivan
Rosh Chodesh Sivan will begin this week on Monday night, May 21st through Tuesday evening, May 22nd. This means that Shavu'ot will begin next Motza'ai Shabbat. May we all merit to have a Chodesh Tov and be ready to celebrate receiving the Torah.
Shavu'ot Begins Next Motza'ai Shabbat
Please look for the exciting schedule soon.
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Shavuot Learning Opportunities
Look for our Shavu'ot schedule soon. In addition though ...
On the First night of Shavuot, May 26th, our own David Blatt will be giving a shiur on the topic: "Comparing Rav Kook and Rav Yosef Baer Soloveichik" at 11:30 pm at Anshe Motele.
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New Events Calendar - Any Ideas?
We are looking at creating an Events Calendar for the shul events that would span the next few months. Such a calendar would permit people to know well in advance of upcoming programs and events, so that they could make their plans. Of course, we will likely still maintain our custom of doing some things at the last minute. If anyone has ideas of Shiurim, programs and/or events that they would like to see during the year, please call office or email the office with your suggestions and we will consider it. Examples could include: particular Shiurim, meals, picnic, BBQ, Lag Ba'Omer fire, etc. We need input in advance, and not at the last minute, so please don't hesitate to send in your ideas soon.
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Kollel Korner of the Sephardic Community Kollel
Come learn with the Sephardic Community Kollel from 8:00pm to 10:00pm, Sunday through Thursday. Please contact the Kollel Coordinator, Rabbi Yosef Olstein to arrange a learning partner or to receive information about the Kollel and its programs. Rabbi Olstein can be reached at 773-338-8046 or by email at Sephardic Community Kollel
Donations to the Kollel
Donations can now be made to the Kollel via credit card. Please call the shul at 773-465-5274 or email the Kollel for details.
Halacha of the Week
Submitted by Rabbi Yaakov Azose
Halacha Yomit
Question: Is it permissible to ride a bicycle on Shabbat?
Answer: Many of the great Acharonim discuss the issue of whether or not it is forbidden to ride a bicycle on Shabbat. Hagaon Harav Yosef Mesas zt"l (Chief Rabbi of Haifa) writes that riding a bicycle is forbidden on Shabbat, for we are concerned that the bicycle will break as one is riding it and the rider will then come to fix it on Shabbat. We must therefore enact a decree prohibiting riding bicycles on Shabbat just as our Sages prohibited playing musical instruments on Shabbat, lest one come to repair them on Shabbat.
It is correct that our Sages outlawed playing musical instruments on Shabbat because they were concerned that one would come to fix them on Shabbat as is actually the case where many musicians, even nowadays, tune the cords of their instruments anew every time they play, which indeed constitutes a Torah prohibition on Shabbat. Thus, our Sages decreed that one may not play musical instruments on Shabbat.
The same should seemingly apply to bicycles in that were our Sages to prohibit riding them on Shabbat lest they break down, we would surely comprehend the reason for their decree and we would absolutely prohibit riding bicycles for this reason. However, since bicycles did not exist in the days of the Sages of the Talmud and the Torah luminaries of our generation do not have the authority to make new decrees on the Jewish nation, this cannot be the premise for prohibiting bicycle riding on Shabbat.
Rabbeinu Yosef Haim zt"l, author of Ben Ish Hai and Rav Pe'alim, writes likewise that since we do not have the authority to enact new decrees like the Sages in the time of the Talmud did, we cannot compare the decree prohibiting playing musical instruments on Shabbat to riding a bicycle on Shabbat. He therefore concludes that according to the letter of the law, one may ride a bicycle on Shabbat.
Hagaon Harav Azriel Hildsheimer zt"l writes that it is prohibited to ride a bicycle on Shabbat because the wheels of the bicycle make "ditches" in the ground and this constitutes the forbidden work of "ploughing" on Shabbat. Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef Shlit"a rejects this view and writes that since the ditches in the ground are not being made by a plough, rather, they are being made indirectly by riding a bicycle in addition to the fact that that the ditch is being made does not interest the rider, there is no need to be stringent on account of this claim.
However, halachically speaking, Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef Shlit"a (in his Chazon Ovadia-Shabbat Part 4 page 43, as well as in his Responsa Yabia Omer Volume 10 in his comments on the Responsa Rav Pe'alim) agrees that riding a bicycle on Shabbat is prohibited based on what the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat (113a) writes, "'If you shall turn away your foot because of the Shabbat - by not making your ways,' your mode of walking on Shabbat should not be like your mode of walking during the weekdays." The Poskim derive from this Gemara that one may not run on Shabbat, as we shall discuss in the following Halacha.
Thus, since bicycle-riding is meant for traveling a long distance which is not the usual way of walking on Shabbat, it is forbidden to ride bicycles on Shabbat. He proceeds to bring many sources to defend his opinion, one of which is based on the Gemara in Masechet Beitzah (25b) which states that one may not go out in a chair on Shabbat. This refers to the custom of an important figure sitting in a chair and being carried around by people to his destination of choice (as is common in some lands in the Far East even today). Our Sages prohibited this practice on Shabbat, for this is not respectful to the Shabbat as this is considered a weekday mode of travel. Maran Shlit"a brings other reasons to be stringent as well.
Thus, halachically speaking, one should not be lenient to ride a bicycle on Shabbat; even if one is doing so for the purpose of performing a Mitzvah, one should still act stringently regarding this matter. We shall, G-d-willing, discuss the laws regarding bicycle-riding for children in the Halacha that will be published next Thursday.
Machshava (Thought) of the Week
By: Rabbi David Shamsi
Why the Torah Refer to One's Wife as His Bread
A friend once told me he was afraid to get married: Why? Because how could any relationship possibly stay fresh and exciting even after a few years - let alone eternity? Interestingly, the Mikalel, the man whom, the Torah tells us, eventually came to curse G-d, was initially led astray by a similar argument.
In the desert, Hashem commanded the Jewish people regarding the Lechem HaPanim, two stacks of challah (bread) that were to remain on a designated table in the Tabernacle from week to week as a form of divine service. But the Mekalel just could not tolerate such a request: "How could the Almighty, the King of all Kings, request stale bread as an offering? If He was really a King, wouldn't he want new fresh bread every day?" Through this one critique, the Mekalel eventually came to curse Hashem.
The funny thing is though, Chazal tell us that despite the long duration of their exposure to air, the Lechem Hapanim actually did stay fresh throughout the week. If the Mekalal would have only subdued his criticism for just a short period of time he would have seen the fallacy of his argument with his own eyes - if he just would have had a little bit of faith.
Marriage is very much the same way. How could Hashem want such a long drawn out relationship? Won't it get stale? Shouldn't Hashem want us to have an array of short fresh and exciting relationships? However the truth is, if we just have a little bit of faith, we will see that our kallah, like the challah in the Torah, will stay as fresh as can be.
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EVENTS CALENDAR
May 26th - Bar Mitzvah of Yisrael Ben Abu
June 16th - Ufruf for Yisrael Moshe Klein, son of Devorah and Aaron Klein.
August 4th - Bar Mitzvah of Ben Tzion Nehali.
If you have a Simcha occurring within the next few months that you would like to have added to the calendar, please call the office at 773-465-5274 or email Mrs. Natan at the office.
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