Dear SHA Community,
I wish Jason and Brooke Shindler a big Mazal Tov on the occasion of Jacob’s Bar Mitzvah!
I look forward to visiting with you at our Trivia Night and Light the Way Campaign Kickoff on Saturday Night, November 12 at 7:30 pm at the school. This program is new for the school and replaces last year’s virtual gala. The evening will be a fun and social setting to launch our Annual Fundraising Campaign and will include appetizers by Chef Eli Varon and a Trivia Game Show by Premier Entertainment. I hope to see you there!
This week’s perasha, Noah, begins, “These are the offspring of Noach. Noach was a perfectly righteous man in his generation. Noah walked with Hashem”.
The commentator, Rashi, addresses the ambiguous meaning of the word “offspring”. If offspring refers to Noah’s children, why doesn’t the Torah list them immediately? Rashi explains that Noah’s offspring referred to here are not his children. The mention of Noah’s offspring flows directly into a statement about his righteousness. In this context, offspring refers to Noah’s good deeds.
Rav Moshe Feinstein elaborates on the word “offspring” - a word that refers to children and also to good deeds. He explains that, like Noah, we should strive to love good deeds to the same degree as we love our child. Just like a parent loves his or her child graciously and unconditionally, one should also love to perform mitzvot and good deeds even when it is difficult to do so. Just like a parent loves his or her child despite the child’s faults and shortcomings, one should perform a mitzvah or good deed even when it does not seem to be so important or great. Just like a parent toils to provide every resource for the growth and development of the child, one should also toil to ensure that each mitzvah or good deed that he or she performs is done as beautifully as possible.
Discussion: If we internalize this teaching, in what ways could we improve our performance of mitzvot and good deeds?
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Owen
