December 5, 2025

Candle-Lighting for Shabbat: 4:26 pm

Dear Friends,

This week we read Parshat Vayishlah, which contains many more of the Jacob stories. Jacob wrestles with an angel and has his name changed to Israel, which the Torah uses inconsistently. He meets up with his brother Esau, buries his wife Rachel who dies in childbirth, and then he buries his father Isaac. The story of Jacob's daughter Dina is also in this Parsha, as are the generations descending from Esau.

This Shabbat we have a Torah Club service and Kiddush outside on the Lainer family Mercaz patio. The weather forecast is sunny with a high in the mid sixties. It may be a good idea to bring a sweater.

Also in this week's Update:

Shabbat Services
Mishna Study
New Announcements from the Rosh
Upcoming Events
Donations This Week
Haftara Plethora
Jewish Trivia

If you have questions or suggestions, or would like to include something in a future edition of the Weekly Update, please email Rachel Rubin Green at rachelrubingreen@gmail.com.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rachel Rubin Green

Rosh Minyan

Shabbat Services

Services begin at 9:45 a.m. in the Lainer Mercaz patio. A Kiddush, also outside, will follow.

Mishna Study

Mishna Study meets this week at 9:15 in Whiteman Conference room and on Zoom. Barry Rosenblatt will lead us in Tractate Shabbat chapter 24 Mishna 2.

From the Rosh:

The Garber family is celebrating Maxine's Bat Mitzvah in the Ganzberg Sanctuary next week on December 13. The Garbers have invited any interested LM member to join them upstairs for their Simcha. LM will meet as usual that day.

Library Minyan members Deborah and Warren Blum have completed their documentary, Laemmle’s List, about Carl Laemmle, Deborah’s relative, a founder of Universal Studios, who rescued his fellow German Jews from the Holocaust. You can read more about it on the film’s website Laemmleslist.com and also purchase tickets there for the upcoming screenings at Laemmle Theaters on Dec 9, 10 & 11. The Q & As after each screening will be moderated by Dr, Michael Berenbaum. Tickets available at: https://www.laemmleslist.com/screenings

Upcoming Events:

12/7 - AJU event at TBA honoring Michael Berenbaum

12/13 - OneLA Concert and Fundraiser after Shabbat

12/14-22 - Hanukkah

1/3/2026 Siyum for the Mishnah Group concluding Tractate Shabbat

1/9 - 1/11/2026 Kol Tefilla weekend

1/17 Torah Club

1/31 Kiddush and Learn with Michelle Wolf

The Library Minyan Education Committee has scheduled a Kiddush and Learn with Michelle Wolf for Shabbat, January 31, 2026. With your donations honoring Michelle, we can turn this into a Lunch and Learn. It will be a privilege to hear about Michelle's work with Jewish Special Needs programs and with the Jewish Special Needs Trusts.

Donations this Week:

In honor of the Mishnah Group completing Tractate Shabbat

-Henry and Suzanne Morgen

Haftarah Plethora

In the Haftarah Plethora for Va-Yishlaḥ, the boys ponder just who Ovadia was, whether Ovadia was his name or description, why he only wrote one brief chapter, and why he had it in for Edom and Esau. Larry notes that we recite the final verse of the haftarah daily at the end of P’sukei d’Zimra while Rick breaks into a Beatles tune. Shabbat Shalom

Jewish Trivia

Last week's question: What letters appeared on the original dreidel? Answer: Nun, Gimmel, Heh, Shin. It was originally a Jewish version of a popular gambling game, with the letters representing the Yiddish words נישט (nisht, "not", meaning "nothing"), גאַנץ (gants, "entire, whole"), האַלב (halb, "half"), and שטעל אַרײַן (shtel arayn, "put in"). Only later were these letters ascribed the meaning Nes Gadol Hayah Sham and associated with Hanukkah. The Shin was subsequently switched to a Peh in Israel, in order to be geographically correct.

This Week's Question: What is the only actual mitzvah associated with Hanukkah?

The Hesed Fund supports Library Minyan members during the birth/adoption of a child, illness or death in the family. The Outreach Fund supports new, particularly youth, membership. The General Fund goes for everyday expenses, primarily kiddushim. If you would like to make a donation to any of these funds, click here.