Words From Rabbi White

Dear readers of the bulletin,

The yahrzeit of the patriarch of the Haimovici family, Yeshu`a ben Hayyim, is 21 Shevat.

The yahrzeit for my mother, Chana bat Tsvi Hirsch, is 20 Shevat.

May the neshamot have `aliya, and may they be melitsot yosher for the people of Israel.

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Last week, after going to press, I heard the wonderful news of the engagement of Ian Langleben to Mettaneh Jacobson.  Be-sha`ah tovah u-mutslahat!  May they have much happiness together.

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I would like to suggest that the theme of this week's parasha is the stupidity and arrogance of Pharoah. He had seen, in last week's parasha, how his people and country had been pummeled by the10 plagues. And yet, he has his top chariots and their drivers chase after the Benei Yisrael, only to have his army drown in the Yam Suf, such an arrogant fool! And likewise, nowadays, throughout the world, people are marching to "stop the genocide."  Of course, stop the genocide. But in their Orwellian universe, the marchers are pointing their arrows in the opposite direction. The villain is not Israel, but Hamas! The marchers are the intellectual heirs of Pharoah! If only Hamas could stop their genocidal desires! Israel's aim was always to live in peace with Arab neighbours. Thgat idea is enshrined in Israel's declaration of independence.

By the way, I heard an interesting analysis [I'm not sure who first noticed this] Compare the Pharoah of Yoseph with the Pharoah of the Exodus. The former couldn't sleep because he had a troubling dream. As the leader of his people, he assumed that it had something to do with his nation, and he was willing to rely on a Hebrew slave/prisoner to help him out. The latter got up in the middle of the night, only because all of the Egyptians were screaming. He didn't take any preemptive action to help his people. If only today's Gazans had a leader who really cared about his (or her?) people!

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To say another word about the "mission" on which I participated recently. One of the first Hebrew songs I learned as a young boy was "'anu banu artsah livnot u-le-hibbanot bah." "We came to Israel to build and to be built up through it." Obviously, on a 6-day trip there is a limit as to what we can accomplish. Nevertheless, we felt that we were able to offer help and encouragement, and we certainly were inspired by the resolve and attitude of the people. If you hear of such a "mission" leaving from Montreal, and are able to participate for a week or two, I would highly recommend it.

And by the way, despite the extremely busy schedule we had in visiting sensitive places, meeting important people, making meals for soldiers, helping the economy by shopping and donating, etc., I did have time to meet with my brother and his wife (at "captives square" in Tel Aviv,) with my granddaughter who is studying at seminary in Jerusalem, to host my niece who lives in Metula up north, who came to Jerusalem with her son who was on leave from miluim, to meet with my nephew Ari [who, as you may remember, used to frequently come to Montreal on business, and to host for Shabbat meal my grandson and his fiancée.

We pray for good news.

Shabbat shalom, shalom `al Yisrael,

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT As you may know, our good friend Malcolm Moscovitch has been a resident of the Jewish Eldercare Centre (the JEC), Victoria entrance, for the past couple of years. Prof. Ron Gehr and I arranged some time ago for a wonderful woman to attend to his needs. She is desperately looking to rent a basement in the general area, as of February. If perchance you know of something, you can contact me at whitemenahem @hotmail.com or text/call me at 551-206/0395.   "tizku le-mitsvot"