Words From Rabbi White

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! [Well, we didn’t have a total eclipse in New Jersey, but we had an earthquake of 4.8 magnitude last week] (oy vey.)

It has been suggested that the special eclipse glasses could be saved and used for "shemirat `einayim," i,e, protecting the eyes from looking at forbidden things!

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When I went to summer camp, we often sang a meaningful song “viyhudah le`olam teishev, vi-yerushalayim le-dor va-dor.” Meaning: “Yehudah [i.e. what the world calls the West Bank] will dwell forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation.” Later on, I learned that this is one of the last verses in the Prophetic Book of Yoel. And just a few verses before that, the prophet says “the sun and moon have darkened.” (eclipse?)  And so, we pray for the strengthening of the cities of Judah) and Jerusalem!!

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Make sure to attend to selling of Chamets. There is a form available on the Spanish website, or you can look up the Vaad Ha’ir (now known as JCC) website, or just google “mechiras chametz in Montreal.” You shouldn’t wait until the last minute!!! Better to do it now, before it is too late. 

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The parasha of Tazri`a presents unique challenges to the Torah reader. Since there are no vowels in the Torah, and since the feminine “hi’” and masculne “hu’” often look alike in the Torah, and it is often very difficult to know if the antecedent of the pronoun is a masculine or feminine noun, the Torah reader must be very well prepared!

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Beracha alert! We all know that the blessing on a cookie or a cake is “mezonot.” HOWEVER, 

on Passover, many companies nowadays make baked goods with potato flour, rather than matzo meal, to avoid the problem of “gebrokts.,” as chasidim do not use matzo meal on Passover. So... unless you know that your piece of cake is made with matzo meal, the blessing would be “she-hakol.”

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“Beruchah ha-ba’ah,” welcome to the new event coordinator, my former student Rachel Merovitz. 

Shabbat shalom, shalom `al yisrael, 

Rabbi Menahem White