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RCA and Community Updates
- Updates from Israel – see the video above.
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The RCA will tentatively be running a Rabbinic Mission to Israel the week of November 10. Please mark your calendars for this important trip.
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See here for 10/7 Resources from the Conference of Presidents.
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The first Rebbetzin’s Yarchei Kallah under the auspices of the RCA will take place on Dec. 9-10. This yearly must-attend conference for shul and JLIC rebbetzins is open to wives of RCA members at a discount. Please contact Adina Morris at amorris@rabbis.org if your wife is not yet part of the Rebbetzins network and might wish to attend the conference. Please feel free to have your wife reach out to her with any additional questions.
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ONLINE EVENT: The Ideology of Hesder Revisited – September 15, 11:00 AM EST. Join TRADITION and the Rabbinical Council of America for an online Zoom conversation with R. Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion, revisiting a classic essay from our archives: R. Aharon Lichtenstein’s “The Ideology of Hesder,” using it as a lens to explore contemporary issues in Israeli religious and civilian life and society, and the particular challenges of the current war. See below for the registration link.
In our RCA Family
- Mazal Tov to Jonathan and Dr. Leah Knapp on the engagement of their daughter Esti to Sam Rabinowitz - both of Bergenfield.
- Mazal Tov to Zvi and Shira Romm on the engagement of their daughter Miriam to Ephraim Gurell.
- Mazal tov to Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. and Yocheved Schacter on the engagement of their granddaughter Shira to Sam Rabinowitz and on the birth of a great grandson born to Yonatan and Talia Sragow.
- Mazal Tov to Menachem & Adeena Penner on the bris and naming of their grandson, Tzvi Hersh, born to Yosef and Elana Penner in Israel.
- Mazal Tov to Larry and Chaviva Rothwachs on the marriage of their son Yisrael to Malkie Agbashoff of Woodmere.
Chomer Lidrush – Parshas Shoftim
Have you ever studied the haftara with the shul before musaf? Or perhaps before the reading of the haftara itself? It is true that poetic passages from Nevi’im Achronim can be hard for the novice to teach. But in a week where we really don’t know what to say to our kehillos and in a week where we are looking for nechama, one could practically quote this haftara, filled with famous pesukim and key phrases used in Lecha Dodi, verbatim.
אָנֹכִ֧י אָנֹכִ֛י ה֖וּא מְנַחֶמְכֶ֑ם מִי־אַ֤תְּ וַתִּֽירְאִי֙ מֵאֱנ֣וֹשׁ יָמ֔וּת וּמִבֶּן־אָדָ֖ם חָצִ֥יר יִנָּתֵֽן׃
וַתִּשְׁכַּ֞ח יְהֹוָ֣ה עֹשֶׂ֗ךָ נוֹטֶ֣ה שָׁמַ֘יִם֮ וְיֹסֵ֣ד אָ֒רֶץ֒ וַתְּפַחֵ֨ד תָּמִ֜יד כׇּל־הַיּ֗וֹם מִפְּנֵי֙ חֲמַ֣ת הַמֵּצִ֔יק כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר כּוֹנֵ֖ן לְהַשְׁחִ֑ית וְאַיֵּ֖ה חֲמַ֥ת הַמֵּצִֽיק׃
מִהַ֥ר צֹעֶ֖ה לְהִפָּתֵ֑חַ וְלֹא־יָמ֣וּת לַשַּׁ֔חַת וְלֹ֥א יֶחְסַ֖ר לַחְמֽוֹ׃ ...
הִתְעוֹרְרִ֣י הִֽתְעוֹרְרִ֗י ק֚וּמִי יְר֣וּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׁתִ֛ית מִיַּ֥ד יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶת־כּ֣וֹס חֲמָת֑וֹ אֶת־קֻבַּ֜עַת כּ֧וֹס הַתַּרְעֵלָ֛ה שָׁתִ֖ית מָצִֽית׃
כֹּה־אָמַ֞ר אֲדֹנַ֣יִךְ יְהֹוָ֗ה וֵאלֹהַ֙יִךְ֙ יָרִ֣יב עַמּ֔וֹ הִנֵּ֥ה לָקַ֛חְתִּי מִיָּדֵ֖ךְ אֶת־כּ֣וֹס הַתַּרְעֵלָ֑ה אֶת־קֻבַּ֙עַת֙ כּ֣וֹס חֲמָתִ֔י לֹא־תוֹסִ֥יפִי לִשְׁתּוֹתָ֖הּ עֽוֹד׃
וְשַׂמְתִּ֙יהָ֙ בְּיַד־מוֹגַ֔יִךְ אֲשֶׁר־אָמְר֥וּ לְנַפְשֵׁ֖ךְ שְׁחִ֣י וְנַעֲבֹ֑רָה וַתָּשִׂ֤ימִי כָאָ֙רֶץ֙ גֵּוֵ֔ךְ וְכַח֖וּץ לַעֹבְרִֽים׃ {פ}
עוּרִ֥י עוּרִ֛י לִבְשִׁ֥י עֻזֵּ֖ךְ צִיּ֑וֹן לִבְשִׁ֣י ׀ בִּגְדֵ֣י תִפְאַרְתֵּ֗ךְ יְרֽוּשָׁלַ֙͏ִם֙ עִ֣יר הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ כִּ֣י לֹ֥א יוֹסִ֛יף יָבֹא־בָ֥ךְ ע֖וֹד עָרֵ֥ל וְטָמֵֽא׃
הִתְנַעֲרִ֧י מֵעָפָ֛ר ק֥וּמִי שְּׁבִ֖י יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם הִֽתְפַּתְּחִי֙ מוֹסְרֵ֣י צַוָּארֵ֔ךְ שְׁבִיָּ֖ה בַּת־צִיּֽוֹן׃ {ס}
כִּי־כֹה֙ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה חִנָּ֖ם נִמְכַּרְתֶּ֑ם וְלֹ֥א בְכֶ֖סֶף תִּגָּאֵֽלוּ׃ {ס} ....
וְעַתָּ֤ה מַה־לִּי־פֹה֙ נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֔ה כִּֽי־לֻקַּ֥ח עַמִּ֖י חִנָּ֑ם מֹשְׁלָ֤ו יְהֵילִ֙ילוּ֙ נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֔ה וְתָמִ֥יד כׇּל־הַיּ֖וֹם שְׁמִ֥י מִנֹּאָֽץ׃
לָכֵ֛ן יֵדַ֥ע עַמִּ֖י שְׁמִ֑י לָכֵן֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא כִּֽי־אֲנִי־ה֥וּא הַֽמְדַבֵּ֖ר הִנֵּֽנִי׃ {ס}
מַה־נָּאו֨וּ עַל־הֶהָרִ֜ים רַגְלֵ֣י מְבַשֵּׂ֗ר מַשְׁמִ֧יעַ שָׁל֛וֹם מְבַשֵּׂ֥ר ט֖וֹב מַשְׁמִ֣יעַ יְשׁוּעָ֑ה אֹמֵ֥ר לְצִיּ֖וֹן מָלַ֥ךְ אֱלֹהָֽיִךְ׃
Our parsha speaks of refuge in the form of the Arei Miklat, the Cities of Refuge. Rabbi Yissochar Frand points out the timely reading of Parshas Shoftim during Elul, noting its deeper connection to the “Zone of Refuge” character this month embodies.
Rabbi Frand reflects on the seeming disconnect: "It seems rather stretched and inappropriate...to link the concept of the City of Refuge, a place for accidental killers, to the month of Elul. What connection could there be?" Through a poignant gemara in Avodah Zarah (17a) that recalls the teshuva of Elazar ben Dordaya, Rabbi Frand reveals how Elul itself serves as the ultimate Ir Miklat in our lives: “In less than a month we will stand and plead 'Remember us for life... inscribe us for life.' And G-d responds, 'Before asking for life, spend a month in a Zone of Refuge, reflecting on what life truly means.'" Full adaptation here.
Our parsha contains the prohibition to build a matzevah, a stone pillar, as that is which “Hashem detests,” and to instead utilize a mizbe’ach. What’s interesting is that we see the matzevah was used by the Avos, with no issue at all! Why the shift in standard? Rav Kook suggested that the difference between the two represents an important change in the way we serve Hashem: a matzevah consists of one single stone, whereas a mizbe’ach is built of many. In Bezalel Naor’s paraphrasing (In the Desert, A Vision, p. 135-137), “A single stone is symbolic of a single approach to serving God. This singularity of approach existed during the days of the [Avos]. Each Patriarch served God in but a single way: Abraham through 'love,' Isaac through 'fear,' Jacob through Torah.”
That singular approach shifted with the advent of the Jewish People: “No longer could God be reached exclusively through one way … God now desires to be served through a symphony of ideas, all based, of course, on Torah. If there is to be true unity in Israel, it must be precisely through this polyphony of ideas as to how to serve God.”
A scan of Naor’s piece is available here.
Rav Moshe Feinstein, in Derash Moshe, takes a different approach. The matzevah marks a mission that has been completed. The Avos were einam metzuvim ve-osim and could rightfully memorialize their achievements even while alive. Not so the Jewish People after Matan Torah. As much as we may accomplish – there is always more to do. We awaken each day to a continued mission and a plethora of mitzvos to fulfill. When do we merit a matzevah? That’s right – only after 120 years.
In explaining an aggadah on Sanhedrin 6b, our chaver Yitzchak Blau weighs in on the responsibility that must be felt by the dayanim of a Jewish court. “According to the gemara, God's intimate involvement in the judicial process means that both the witnesses and the judges should feel the eyes of divine providence watching over them. It is God Who oversees the court and Who will punish those that fail to adhere to the requirements of honesty and integrity…” If God is truly behind the scenes of every court case, asks the Iyun Yaakov, then what would make each case unique?
R. Blau frames a moving call to action by explaining this gemara. Without spoiling too much: “With all this focus on the awesomeness of judicial responsibility, the gemara is nervous that the prospective judge will abandon his bench in search of another profession. Why get involved in such a grave matter when it seems much safer to go into carpentry or shoemaking? Therefore, the gemara concludes with a reassuring note: 'a judge has nothing more than what his eyes see' — any judge that does his best to arrive at the correct ruling will not be held responsible for an erroneous decision."
The principle that "a judge has nothing more than what his eyes see" applies beyond the courtroom, extending to personal decision-making and even medical evaluations. We all face important decisions, and while we should strive to be informed, we must also trust ourselves to act, without being paralyzed by the fear of making mistakes. Full piece here.
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