Thursday, October 14, 2010

Yitzi’s Parsha Preview- Lech Lecha




This week’s Parsha Preview is co-dedicated to the refuah of the ‎following people:‎

Men
Reuven Mordechai Ben Chana Batya, Yaakov David Ben Sarah, ‎Avraham Ben Sarah, Menachem Mendel Ben Faigie Ruchel, Gilon ‎Chaim Ben Yonit, Ofek Ben Tali, Shimon Ben Miriam, Avraham ‎Moshe Ben Miriam Tova, Baruch Kalman Ben Leiben Jacobs, ‎Mendel Ber Ben Sarah, Aharon Ben Tamar, Shmuel Baruch Ben ‎Golda.‎

Women
Sarah Bat Channah, Chana Leah Bat Esther, Kreindel Bat Esther, ‎Kreynah Leah Bat Rachel, Simcha Bat Mazel, Sara Bat Hodda, Kyla ‎Chaya Bat Sarah Polson, Leiba Bat Devorah Esther, Tova Rochel Bat ‎Chaya and Yocheved Yaakovite bat Leah.‎

May Hashem grant them all a speedy recovery and a complete ‎healing. ‎

Daven for the release of Gilad Shalit-Gilad Ben Aviva-may Hashem ‎bring him home safe and sound. If you asked to have someone put on ‎the refuah list please update me on how these people are doing. If you ‎would like to add someone to the list please send me an e-mail ‎parshapreview@gmail.com ‎

Once again, you can have this Parshah Preview dedicated in honour ‎or memory of a loved one, you can ask for a refuah or simply ‎acknowledge a milestone. It does not cost a thing all you have to do is ‎ask. ‎

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Happy Birthday to:‎
Alegria Wahnich Tuesday, October 12 ‎
Andre Van Embden Wednesday, October 13 ‎
Malka Jacobs Wednesday, October 13‎
Shlomo Beldeb Thursday, October 14‎
‎“Ad Meyah Vesrim Shannah”‎

Parshah Lech-Lecha - Genesis 12:1-17:27‎
Torah Reading for Week of October 10-16, 2010 - Cheshvan 2-8 5771 ‎Candle Lighting for Toronto is 6:16 P.M.‎
Candle Lighting for Thornhill is 6:16 P.M.‎

Number Of Mitzvot in Parshah Lech-Lecha ‎: 1‎
‎0 Mitzvot Aseh (Positive Commandments) Circumcision ‎
‎0 Mitzvot Lo Taaseh (Negative Commandments-Prohibitions)‎
Many mitzvoth are repeated in this week’s Parsha.‎


Haftora (Additional portion, from Prophets, which is read after the ‎Parsha) Yeshayahu / Isaiah 40:27 ­ 41:16‎

The Torah Reading on Shabbat day is divided into 7 sections. Each ‎section ‎is called an Aliya (meaning to go up) since for each Aliya, one ‎person "goes ‎up" to make a bracha on the Torah Reading. We invite ‎the Cohen first, ‎followed by a Levite who then in turn is followed by ‎an Israelite. When a ‎Cohen is not in attendance we call an Israelite in ‎their place, if a Levite is ‎not in attendance then the same Cohen is ‎called in their place.‎

Parsha Summary – Lech Lecha
Avram is commanded to leave Charan and travel 400 miles to the ‎Land of Canaan. (Charan was 600 miles from Ur Casdim) Upon ‎arriving, they are forced to leave Canaan, due to a local famine, and ‎travel to Mitzrayim in search of food. ‎

Avram plans for his encounter with the immoral and spiritual ‎depravity of Egypt. His and Sarah's confrontation with Pharaoh is ‎detailed. Avram and Sarah return home. ‎

Avram separates from his nephew / brother-in-law Lot, due to Lot's ‎defection from the teachings of Avram. Hashem reassures Avram that ‎he will have children, "like the dust of the earth", who will inherit the ‎Land and carry on his work. ‎

Avram is forced to rescue Lot from captivity. In so doing, he adjusts ‎the balance of power in Canaan and is recognized by the other ‎political leaders for his military and moral strength. His encounter ‎with Malki Tzedek (Shem) is in stark contrast to his confrontation ‎with the King of Sodom. ‎

Hashem again reassures Avram that he will have genetic children (not ‎just followers) who would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. ‎

The colossal "Covenant Between the Halves" takes place during ‎which the next 430 years of Jewish history is revealed. Avram is 70 ‎years old. Sarai instructs Avram to marry Hagar. The story of her ‎conflict with Sarai, her encounter with an angel, and the birth of ‎Yishmael in 2034 is told. Following the birth of Yishmael Avram's ‎name is changed to Avraham. ‎

Avraham is commanded with the Mitzvah of Circumcision. Sarai's ‎name is changed to Sarah, and Hashem assures Avraham he and ‎Sarah will have a son called Yitzchak. It is the year 2047 and ‎Avraham circumcises himself, Yishmael, and his entire household.‎

Hashem said to Abram, “Go for yourself from your land, from your ‎birthplace, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show ‎you. I will make you into a great nation; I will bless you and I will make ‎your name great. You will be a blessing, [and] I will bless those who ‎bless you; the one who curses you, I will curse. All the families of the ‎earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3)‎

As I sit in the Airport waiting to board my plane my thoughts turn to ‎the late 60’s. Israel thank G-d had ‎just been successful to the ‎onslaught of the combined Arab nations and the 6 day war ending ‎with the ‎re-unification of Jerusalem and access to the remnants of our ‎Beit Hamikdash restored to us. The call ‎went out to many Jews living ‎in Arab lands. The time has come to leave your homes, the land of ‎your ‎parents, the home of your father, the land where your families ‎are entrenched to a land that I will ‎reveal to you. In my parents ‎situation they had applied to France, Israel and Canada. Canada was ‎the ‎new land that we would be able to live in peace and continue in ‎the ways of our people as generations ‎before us did to serve Hashem.‎

Lech Lecha opens with Hashem's command to Avram to leave the ‎habitual backdrop of his homeland, ‎place of birth and father's ‎familiar surroundings of homeland, birthplace and father's household ‎and ‎journey to an unknown land. He was 75 years old, and from the ‎Talmud and Midrash we learn that this ‎was not the beginning of ‎Avram's devotion to G-d, but merely the start of a new and imposing ‎phase ‎of his career, the culmination of decades of dedication to ‎pursuing--and then spreading to mankind--‎the truth of His rule. Lech ‎Lecha marks the opening of G-d's prophetic revelations to Avram. ‎

Interestingly, Avram's original conclusion that the world was ‎controlled by One Supreme Being was ‎arrived at through ‎independent intellectual inquiry; lacking any teacher in his early ‎years, and ‎surrounded by idol - worshippers in the great city of Ur of ‎the Chaldees, Avram examined the ‎processes of nature and traced ‎them back to an original Cause. As Rambam writes in a famous ‎‎passage from Mishnah Torah ("Hilchot Yeshodei HaTorah"), ‎

"...his mind was busily working and reflecting until he had attained ‎the way of truth, apprehended the ‎correct line of thought, and knew ‎that there is one G-d, that He guides the celestial sphere and ‎created ‎everything, and that among all that exist, there is no god besides Him. ‎He realized that men ‎everywhere were in error, and that what had ‎occasioned their error was that they worshiped the stars ‎and the ‎images, so that the truth perished from their minds...Having attained ‎this knowledge, [at the ‎age of 40, according to Rambam, though the ‎Midrash offers alternative opinions of his age as well] he ‎began to ‎refute the inhabitants of Ur of the Chaldees..." (Yesodei HaTorah: 1, ‎‎2;).‎

Hashem's command to Avram to break with his past represents, ‎obviously, a great and gruelling test of ‎faith. At the same time, ‎Hashem promises him many blessings in return, chiefly the privilege ‎of ‎fathering a great nation dedicated to his own ideals; this is why the ‎Torah does not just say, "lech," ‎which would be a simple command ‎of, "go," but adds the word, lechah (for yourself, literally or as ‎Rashi ‎comments: "for your own benefit, for your good.")‎

Avraham took a real chance; he defied Nimrod who was the emperor ‎of the world. He went against his ‎father who was the supreme idol ‎maker of the world. If we could put things into perspective then it’s ‎‎possible that one of Terach’s idols might have had a stamp on the ‎bottom that read like, “Purveyor of ‎fine quality idols since the time of ‎Nimrod”. Nevertheless a respected member of the high court of ‎‎Nimrod. Finally, Nimrod orders Avrams execution, he is to be placed ‎in a fiery oven. With Hashem’s ‎help Avram is saved. Avram’s faith in ‎Hashem is absolute. After this episode Avram earns the title ‎‎“Ivri”.‎

The Avram from over there. The Avram with the strange ideas that ‎there is one supreme being ‎Melech Malechei Hamelachim-The King to ‎rule all kings. In contrast to the idea that one being ruled ‎the sun, one ‎for the earth, one for the moon……..you get the idea…‎

Avram’s notoriety spread and to this day we have the benefit and ‎merit of Avram’s faith in Hashem. ‎For this reason Hashem commands ‎Avram to leave.‎

Three times daily we invoke Avraham’s name during the Amidah ‎service. G-d its me!!! I am ‎bowing ‎down to your glory-bye the way in ‎case I am not worthy, my forefather was Avraham. If you ‎can’t help ‎‎me then remember Avraham as the only person to recognize your ‎specialness as the “One” ‎and only ‎master of the universe and in his ‎merit help me.‎

May we continue to benefit from Avraham’s merit for many ‎generations to come.‎

Halacha of the Week
Please note that the Halachot discussed here are according to Sephardic ‎Tradition as outlined by The Maran Shulchan Aruch. This is just a ‎summary and in no way deemed as a Halachic ruling. Please contact ‎your local Orthodox Rabbi for help. ‎

I will be reviewing the laws concerning Shabbat observance. ‎

Asking a Gentile to Activate or Deactivate an Air Conditioner on ‎Shabbat
‎ ‎
Is it permissible to ask a gentile to turn off the air conditioner in the ‎synagogue if it is too cold in the room? Many synagogues set the air ‎conditioner on a timer, so that it goes on during the day for the ‎Shabbat morning service. It occasionally happens that the air ‎conditioning is set on a timer, but the weather turns sharply colder, ‎such that the air conditioning makes it very uncomfortable in the ‎synagogue. In such a case, would it be permissible to ask a gentile to ‎turn off the air conditioning?‎

Rav Moshe Feinstein (Russia-New York, 1895-1986) addresses this ‎question and rules that one may, indeed, ask a gentile to turn off the ‎air conditioning if it is too cold in the synagogue. Rav Feinstein notes ‎the ruling of the Shulhan Aruch that people are at risk of taking ill ‎due to exposure to the cold, and this concern overrides the prohibition ‎of Amira Le’nochri (asking a gentile to perform an activity forbidden ‎for Jews). Moreover, he writes, uncomfortable conditions in the ‎synagogue may likely cause people to leave, and they will miss the ‎Torah reading, Kaddish, Kedusha and so on. Rav Moshe cites a ‎ruling of the Mishna Berura (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, ‎‎1839-1933) that one may ask a gentile to fix a dismantled Erub on ‎Shabbat, as this is necessary to prevent Jews from violating Shabbat. ‎Similarly, Rav Moshe writes, it would be permissible to ask a gentile to ‎deactivate the air conditioning in the synagogue to prevent people ‎from leaving.‎

In one’s home, there is even greater reason to permit asking a gentile ‎to deactivate the air conditioning in such a case, since one has nowhere ‎else to go. When the air conditioning causes discomfort in the ‎synagogue, one might have claimed, we should perhaps instruct ‎people to return home, rather than ask a gentile to turn off the air ‎conditioning. If this happens in one’s home, however, Halacha would ‎certainly not require him to go somewhere else. Therefore, if Halacha ‎allows asking a gentile to deactivate the air conditioning in the ‎synagogue, then certainly one may ask a gentile to turn off the air ‎conditioning in one’s home if it causes uncomfortably cold conditions.‎

Is it permissible to ask a gentile to turn on the air conditioning if it is ‎uncomfortably hot in the synagogue, or in one’s home? The Shulhan ‎Aruch allows asking a gentile to turn on the heat due to the fact that ‎people are sensitive to exposure to the cold and may become sick. ‎Would this also apply to turning on the air conditioning under ‎uncomfortably warm conditions?‎

The Minhat Yishak (Rav Yishak Weiss, 1902-1989) addresses this ‎question and notes an interesting story told in the Talmud ‎Yerushalmi. The Yerushalmi relates that Antoninus, the Roman ‎emperor, once embarked on a trip, and before he left he asked his ‎friend, Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, to pray on his behalf. Rabbi Yehuda ‎prayed that God should protect the emperor from cold weather.‎

‎“I don’t need a prayer for protection against the cold,” Antoninus ‎said, “because if it gets cold I can put on a warm coat!”‎

Rabbi Yehuda then prayed that God should protect the emperor from ‎the heat. Antoninus thanked him for the prayer, noting the verse in ‎Tehillim (19:7), “Nobody can hide from His heat” (“Ve’en Nistar ‎Me’hamato”). There is no method of protecting oneself from heat, as ‎opposed to cold, from which one can shield himself by wearing layers ‎of clothing.‎

This story, the Minhat Yishak comments, demonstrates that heat ‎poses an even greater risk than cold. Therefore, if Halacha allows ‎asking a gentile to turn on the heat under cold conditions, then ‎certainly one may ask a gentile to turn on the air conditioning under ‎hot conditions. The Minhat Yishak further notes that activating an air ‎conditioner might constitute a Rabbinic prohibition (as opposed to a ‎Torah violation), and Halacha allows asking a gentile to perform an ‎act which the Sages forbade if this is necessary to alleviate discomfort. ‎Therefore, under uncomfortably hot conditions, one may ask a gentile ‎to activate the air conditioner. This applies both at home and in the ‎synagogue. This is also the ruling of the Yalkut Yosef.‎

Of course, if the home or synagogue can be made comfortable by ‎opening a window, this should be done instead of requesting the ‎services of a gentile. Our discussion here relates to especially hot ‎weather, under which conditions open windows will not alleviate the ‎discomfort.‎

This Parsha Preview is sponsored by Cars And Trucks 4 Less, Sales, ‎Leasing and Financing. If you are in the market for a New or Used ‎Vehicle give us a call “we will steer you in the right direction”. Please ‎call 416-829-1761.‎

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Shabbat Shalom Umevorach-A peaceful and Blessed Shabbat
Yitzchak Alloul

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