NITSAVIM-VAYEILECH 5784
09/27/2024 11:52:19 AM
Dear mitpallelim,
The following was sent to me on Sept. 23 by our former student at Herzliah, Prof. Shawn Aster, who lives with his family in Beer Sheva, has served in miluim in Gaza, teaches Tanach studies at Bar Ilan, and would often daven with us when visiting his family in Montreal. I am reproducing it with permission:
For the last...Read more...
KI TAVO 5784
09/20/2024 12:48:30 PM
MONTREAL, JE T’AIME!
This past week, I made a brief trip to la belle province. Comme je me souviens, the Jewish community of Montreal is wonderful. My dear friends the Gehrs, who have been visiting from Israel in Montreal, had spent Shabbat in Teaneck with my family, and on Sunday morning we began our drive to Montreal. While there, I was hosted by my dear friends the...Read more...
KI TEITSEI 5784
09/13/2024 11:56:13 AM
Dear Chevra Shaas/Shearith Israel
This Sunday, September 15, at 4:00 PM, is the unveiling for our friend Malcolm Moscovitch a”h.
It is at De la Savane, section Shomrim LaBoker (towards the rear of the cemetery.)
********
On Sunday, 12 Elul, Mr. Leonard Mintz observes yahrzeit...Read more...
SHOFETIM 5784
09/06/2024 09:06:34 AM
Dear Chevra Shaas/ Shearith Israel
WE NEED CONSOLATION
Oy, we heard such terrible news this week concerning the 6 hostages. Let us pray as hard as we can for a “nechama,” as we have begun the month of Elul, and we read this week the 4th of the special haftarot of consolation. This week we read from Isaiah, chapters 52 and 53.
Read more...
RE'EH 5784
08/30/2024 10:15:56 AM
We were all saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Dr. James (Jim) Archibald, a former President of the Spanish. He taught at McGill for over 50 years and was indeed “a gentleman and a scholar,” besides being the father of two of my students at Herz. “yehi “zikhro baruch.”
******
This Tuesday, 30 av, Leonard Mintz observes yahrzeit...Read more...
EIQEV 5784
08/23/2024 10:55:57 AM
Dear Chevra Shaas/Shearit Israel,
I know that I have related this meaningful personal story to you in the past. However, in light of the terrible problems that Israel has been facing since Simchat Torah, and especially as I see the vicious protests going on now in Chicago, I felt that I must repeat it, as it is an expression of how precious the Land is to all of...Read more...
VA'ETHANAN 5784
08/16/2024 01:29:16 PM
THOUGHTS FROM EICHA
This past Tuesday night, in shuls around the world, people gathered to hear the Book of Eicha, “Lamentations.” According to tradition, it was composed by the Prophet Jeremiah, describing the destruction in the Land of Israel, at the time of the churban of the first Temple in the 6th century BCE.
I have always been...Read more...
DEVARIM 5784
08/09/2024 11:50:18 AM
First of all, I must apologize for the incorrect date that I gave for Rosh Hodesh in last week’s bulletin. Fortunately, we have clever people in Chevra Shaas who caught the mistake. So, BH, I don’t think anyone was misled.
********
Mariam Mintz and Stanley Goldstein observe for their grandmother Mania Wittenberg on Monday, 8 av; Maggy...Read more...
MATOT-MASEI 5784
08/02/2024 11:39:05 AM
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?
We are now in the midst of the “three weeks,” leading up to the saddest day in the year, 9th of Av. In these three weeks, we read special haftarot, not directly connected to the weekly parasha.
An incident that happened many years ago comes to mind. As some of you may know, my first permanent position was...Read more...
PINCHAS 5784
07/26/2024 01:22:30 PM
Dear Chevra Shaas/Spanish
Mazal tov to Simcha Foxman as he celebrates his 70th birthday. We wish him and his family good health and success. Toay's kiddush is being co-sponsored by Shulamit in his honour. (See, I haven't forgotten Canadian spelling.)
********
I suppose the city of Westmount...Read more...
BALAQ 5784
07/19/2024 10:54:15 AM
Dear Chevra Shaas/Spanish
This has been a difficult week for our family, as Mr. Mel Novogroder, father of my son-in-law Azriel (whom many of you remember) passed away after a long, debilitating illness. My son-in-law and his two sisters were super devoted in making his last years as comfortable as possible.
Azriel has been a great role model...Read more...
HUQQAT 5784 (aka chukkas)
07/12/2024 10:54:21 AM
Dear Chevra Shaas/Spanish
I am writing this on Tuesday, the third day of Tammuz, a day that is well known by every Lubavitcher as “gimmel Tammuz,” the yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I am not a Lubavitcher, but like everyone, I stand in awe at all of his unparalleled accomplishments: his influence on thousands of people, from accomplished scholars, to ba`alei teshuva; his...Read more...
KORACH 5784
07/05/2024 10:55:37 AM
Mazal tov to Maggy and Michael Rubin on the birth and berith of grandson Yaakov (in Eng/Fr Ayden,) named after Maggy’s father. Yaakov is baby brother to Leo. Mazal tov to parents Ivana and Ariel Rubin, and to grandmother Ruth Khadouri. To little Yaakov I offer the beracha that I would often hear from his late maternal grandfather, who was a cherished member of the Spanish, Hazzan Emile Khadouri: “ya`avdukha...Read more...
SHELACH 5784
06/28/2024 12:38:10 PM
Back in the academic year 84-85, I had the privilege of spending a sabbatical in Jerusalem. Shortly after our arrival in August, we received a very sad phone call from New York: my mother-in-law had passed away, and the funeral would be held the following morning in Queens, New York. There would be no way for my wife to return to America in time for the funeral.
Now, under normal...Read more...
BEHA'ALOTEKHA 5784
06/21/2024 12:41:06 PM
Dear everyone,
On Sunday, 17 Sivan, Michael Rubin observes yahrzeit for his father: Leonard/ Arye Leib. May the neshama have aliya.
We were saddened to hear this past week of the passing of Mr. Fred Pfeiffer. Freddy was the head of the Aguda in Montreal, for very many years, and was very active in the Vaad ha-Ir. We became friends when I first...Read more...
NASO' 5784
06/14/2024 12:59:10 PM
My dear friends,
As we said a couple of weeks ago, when we concluded VaYiqra’, there was a time when breaking the rules in school had consequences. Not any more! [I would probably have lost points from my English teacher for that last sentence, without a verb or subject!] I saw in the news this week that McGill is granting amnesty to the protesters, will discuss their demand for...Read more...
BAMIDBAR 5784
06/07/2024 11:18:52 AM
We begin this Shabbat shabbat Sefer BaMidbar.
My dear friends,
Mr. Manfred Erdstein observes yahrzeit for his mother Julie on Sunday 3 Sivan. May her neshama have aliya.
*******
This past Tuesday was the marriage of my granddaughter Aliza Novogroder to Daniel Kirstein of Monsey....Read more...
BEHUQOTAI 5784
05/31/2024 12:08:14 PM
My dear friends,
We have to begin with sad news. Last Shabbos, our dear friend Malcolm Moscowitz passed away. The funeral was held Monday morning. Malcolm lived near the Shomrim LaBoker, and was a long-standing member there. However, whenever possible, he would come to our Chevra Shaas.
A ba`al teshuvah, he was meticulous in his observance...Read more...
BEHAR 5784
05/24/2024 12:23:25 PM
This week’s parasha is very brief: 57 verses. Yet It contains one of the most famous verses in the Torah: “Proclaim liberty in the land for all of its inhabitants.” This is the inscription on the famous Liberty Bell in Pennsylvania. Due to the crack, it does not ring anymore. However, in 1944, to mark D-Day, it was struck 7 times. [A recording can be heard on the internet.] In 1999, students at Penn State, by...Read more...
EMOR 5784
05/17/2024 12:24:16 PM
My dear friends,
YOM HA`ATSMA’UT AND THE SOLAR ECLIPSE
We all remember the eclipse of Monday, April 8. As I wrote on the Shabbat bulletin after the eclipse, I am aware that up in Montreal you merited to see the totality. Yet even here in NJ, where we had just 94%, I found it to be a spectacular sight as the sun went from being a golden banana...Read more...
QEDOSHIM 5784
05/10/2024 10:41:47 AM
My dear friends,
In this coming week we mark Yom Ha`atsma’ut, Independence Day.
It is certainly a day of Hallel. I know there is a technical debate as to whether hallel should be said with or without a beracha. However, all should agree on the religious significance of the day, and with or without a beracha, hallel should be said.
Read more...
AHAREI MOT 5784
05/03/2024 01:19:23 PM
Dear congregants,
I trust that you all had a meaningful Pesach (although I saw that the campus protests have reached McGill!)
“leshanah ha-ba’ah biyrushalayim.”
******
AN ANCIENT MIDRASH WITH CONTEMPORARY MEANING
As we all know, there is...Read more...
METSORA' 5784
04/19/2024 12:49:46 PM
Dear mitpallelim/llelot,
It was a great pleasure for me to attend the wedding of Yehonatan and Chayii, conveniently held in the nearby town of Passaic. The chuppah concluded with a most inspirational prayer for the hayyalim, recited by our hazzanim uncle Yaakov and father Dr. Yehoshua Haimovici.
To the chatan and kalla: may you merit to see...Read more...
TAZRI'A 5784
04/12/2024 02:45:16 PM
thoughts on the eclipse:
You were better off than we were in Teaneck, as we had only about 90% totality, which did not give us the same feeling as you had in Montreal. I came out of doors four times to look. The first time, the sun looked like an orange banana. The second time, it had diminished to a smiley face, the third time it diminished to a dot, the 4th time it was gone!...Read more...
SHEMINI/HA-CHODESH 5784
04/05/2024 01:27:25 PM
To my dear friends in Montreal,
A couple of nights ago, we witnessed here in Teaneck another disgusting, noisy protest of the “River to Sea” crowd. This was I believe the 4th such attempt at intimidation here since October 7. This time, their motive was really despicable, as they came to interrupt a presentation in a local shul, given by members of Zaka. How could any decent...Read more...
TZAV/PARAH 5784
03/29/2024 11:04:31 AM
Dear congregants,
As I sit down to write these lines, we have learned of the passing of former Senator Joe Lieberman. An Orthodox Jew, he was a model of integrity, and reached high office while remaining a shomer mitsvot. His memory will surely be for a blessing. “chaval `al de’avdin.”
*****
This week...Read more...
VAYIQRA' 5784 - PARASHAT ZACHOR
03/22/2024 11:18:45 AM
To get into the Purim spirit, here are some thoughts. I was cleaning up my email, and found these from about 20 years ago.
1. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.....
2. Atheism is a non-prophet organization..
3. If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?
Read more...
PEQUDEI 5784
03/15/2024 11:18:36 AM
This Shabbat, Simcha and Shulamit Foxman are sponsoring the kiddush in memory of her father, Rabbi Mordecai Singer. May his memory be for a blessing.
SADNA' DE'AR`A HAD HU'
The above quotation, in Talmudic Aramaic, literally means that pieces of land (alternatively: tree trunks) are the same throughout the world. The phrase is used to mean...Read more...
VAYAQHEL/SHEQALIM 5784
03/08/2024 10:56:52 AM
Dear mitpallelim,
Oh no, say it ain’t so! Look how pervasive “wokism” has become. I saw this week that the authorities at Merriam-Webster have “paskened” that a preposition is something that you can end a sentence with! (sic) [I know that we all have been careless in our everyday speech with the old rule of not ending with a preposition, but still it is important to know...Read more...
KI TISSA 5784
03/01/2024 12:01:21 PM
Dear mitpallelim,
Rabbi Yitschak Zilberman is one of the leading rabbinic authorities in Bnai Berak, and a prolific author of rabbinic isssues. To the best of my recollection, I saw the following in one of his “seforim.” A man made a kiddush one shabbat in shul, because the man had been spared from serious injury while crossing the street. This kiddush is called a “se’udat...Read more...