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Ohr HaTorah Synagogue
11827 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90066
Saturday, April 07, 2012
22 Nisan, 5772
7th Day of the Omer
Malkhut she'be-Chesed
Chag Pesach Sameach
Join us for a special festive Passover Lunch.
The Rabbi and Rebbetzin, along with all the lay leaders
of Ohr HaTorah invite you to stay after services
and partake in a savory feast. We look forward to celebrating the final day of Pesach together.
Members: $18 Non-Members: $20 Children: $10
Grace and Faith in Passover
8th Day Passover
I had a store of insights that I wanted to share at our community Seder. Quite frankly, the majesty of the music quieted me. When Meirav shared with me that she wanted the music to speak the Seder, I did not know quite what that meant, until I heard the different music for each of the four sons, the wise, wicked, simple and mute. The music was transporting. I felt any words would have made water from chocolate. (I think next year we will have a "learning Seder" in the hour before the public Seder begins, for all those who want to delve verbally into the deeper dimensions together.)
Our Shabbat studies last week also took an unexpected turn; my words on the pain expressed in the Haggadah resonated with many, and we talked extensively, at both sessions, on anti-semitism and the human tendency to create Otherness, that group against whom we are posed. I did not talk about thetwo exoduses that the Sefat Emet discusses, Exodus of Grace and the Exodus of Faith. Nor did I speak about the counting of the Omer.
I plan to stay on track this Shabbat.
The Chasidic teaching on Grace and Faith is very insightful; sometimes life just opens up for us; a path is cleared and we just have to walk forward. That same path then can become an ordeal, a sometimes wretched journey into the unknown. Faith in some goal, unknown because it can't be known, keeps us moving. One way to express that unknown goal is the idea of the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. The Jewish tradition says that the Messiah will become known during Pesach, so we will touch on that topic as well.
I also would like to introduce briefly the counting of the Omer for beginners (the counting of the Omer is core to my own spiritual practice. It is uncannily insightful and powerfully transformative). After that introduction, I want to then to focus on the emanation that will fall on every Shabbat between now and Shavu'ot, the Sefirah of Malkhut/Shekhina. "Malkhut" literally means "dominion" or "sovereignty", and "Shekhina" means something like "presence" or "indwelling", but these words hardly capture the complexity of the Kabbalistic notions about this emanation. Conflicting ideas and images regarding this 10th Sefirah converge into a raucous tumult of competing notions of the nature of God and the nature of humanity, and the possibilities and means toward transformation.
Looking forward to seeing you on Shabbat and next Sunday at our Grand Opening! We hope to be ALL together to mark this important achievement in Ohr HaTorah's life.
Best,
Rabbi Mordecai Finley
You can read the good words of Jewish Journal President, David Suissa on THE HUB ON VENICE by clicking here.
Read our previous article in the Mar Vista Patch by clicking here.
GRAND OPENING, BUILDING DEDICATION, TREE PLANTING, CONCERTS, REFRESHMENTS, SPECIAL ACTIVITIES,VENDORS AND MORE! CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.
Join us this Shabbat for a special Oneg
in honor of the Rabbi and Rebbetzin's daughter,
Shulamit Nicole, returning from
a year of studying abroad in Paris.
What's Happening?
Religious School Back in Session
Shabbat, April 14, 9AM
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Special Passover Shabbat Lunch
Shabbat, April 14, 2012, 12:30PM
Members: $18, Non-Members: $20, Children: $10
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Sophos Café
CLOSED FOR PASSOVER
Thursday, April 5 - Saturday, April 14
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Spiritual Formation and Moral Psychology
Mondays, April 16 - May 21, 8:00-9:15PM
Private Residence in Sherman Oaks
Need 15 RSVPs for class not to be cancelled
*
Spiritual Formation and Moral Psychology
Wednesdays, April 18-May 30, 12:15-1:30PM
Ohr HaTorah Synogogue
*
The Idea of the Soul
Wednesdays, April 18 - June 6, 8:30PM
At The AJU Familian campus
Click here for more information!
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Grand Opening
Sunday, April 22, 10:00AM-1:00PM
*
Contrarian Commandments for a Good Marriage
(or any other relationship that counts)
Saturday, April 28 (4-9PM) - Sunday, April 29 (8AM-12PM)
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Torah and Haftarah Readings
Eighth Day Passover
(from Parashat Re'eh)
Deuteronomy 14:22 - 16:17
(pp. 462-469 in the Stone Tanakh)
Haftarah:
Isaiah 10:32 - 12:6
(pp. 972-975 in the Stone Tanakh)
Thank you Kiddush contributors...
Carol Zulman and Eric Taub in honor of Eric's birthday on April 9.
Synopsis of the Torah Portion
Deuteronomy 14:22 - 16:17
The Torah Reading for today, eighth day of Passover, is prescribed in the Talmud, tractate Megillah 31a.
1. The Second Tithe: To bring a tenth of our produce or the value thereof to Jerusalem; we eat and rejoice before God and share the tithe with the Levite, the stranger, the orphan and the widow. (14:22-29)
2. The Shmittah Year: Remission of debts every seven years. (15:1-6)
3. To be open hearted and generous with the destitute -- not to refuse to lend money in the seventh year, even though the shmittah approaches. (15:7-11)
4. An Israelite servant: They serve for six years, and in the seventh go free, and do not go free empty handed. (15:12-18)
5. Not to work first born animals that are kosher to be eate; to sacrifice and eat them before God. (15:19-23)
6. The Pilgrimage Festivals: Pesach (16:1-8), Shavu'ot (9-12), Sukkot (13-15); Epilogue (16-17)
Synopsis of the Haftarah
(prophetic reading)
Isaiah 10:32 - 12:6
The Haftarah, from the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 10:32-12:6), begins with a prediction that Assyria will be defeated. This prophecy comes true. The Haftarah continues with Isaiah's message of hope that the Israelites will again be gathered together from lands of exile and return to Israel. The Haftarah also contains the famous great vision of the Messianic Era when peace and harmony will reign supreme among all people. Because the Haftarah contains several allusions to the redemption from Egypt, it was especially chosen to be chanted on the last day of Passover. (from MyJewishLearning.com)
1 But a shoot shall grow out of the stump of Jesse,
A twig shall sprout from his stock.
2 The spirit of the Lord shall alight upon him:
A spirit of wisdom and insight,
A spirit of counsel and valor,
A spirit of devotion and reverence for the Lord.
3 He shall sense the truth by his reverence for the Lord:
He shall not judge by what his eyes behold,
Nor decide by what his ears perceive.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard lie down with the kid;
The calf, the beast of prey, and the fatling together,
With a little boy to herd them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze,
Their young shall lie down together;
And the lion, like the ox, shall eat straw.
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Venice Blvd. Community Center presents:
Contrarian Commandments for a Good Marriage
(or any other relationship that counts)
led by Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Saturday, April 28 (4-9P) - Sunday, April 29 (8A-2P)
All relationships that matter hit rough patches. As people try to work their way through difficult times, basic mistakes are repeated over and over again. Rabbi Finley has taken his years of counseling and teaching Spiritual Psychology, and distilled a set of guidelines for creating healthy relationships in times of stress. People report that these seminars change their lives.
OHT Members: $325 Non-Members: $375
To register, click here or call the OHT office at 310-915-5200
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