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FAST OF THE SEVENTEENTH OF TAMUZ

PRAYER & CLASS SCHEDULE

This Thursday July 9^th

Fast begins - 4:05 am

Shahrit - 6:15, 7:00, 8:00 & 9:00 am

Please join us in the morning for a

short class after each minyan.

 

Minha & Arbit with Tefilin

Jemal Building - 7:45 & Safra Building - 8:00 pm

Fast Ends - 8:57 pm

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Five great catastrophes occurred in Jewish history on the 17th of Tammuz:

1. Moshe Rabenu broke the tablets at Har Sinai – in response to the sin of the Golden Calf.
2. The daily offerings in the First Temple were suspended during the siege of Jerusalem, after the Kohanim could no longer obtain animals.
3. Jerusalem's walls were breached, prior to the destruction of the Second Temple.
4. Prior to the Great Revolt, the Roman general Apostamos burned a Torah scroll.
5. An idol was placed in the Sanctuary of the Holy Temple – a terrible desecration.

 

This fast begins the Three Week period between the Seventeenth of Tamuz and Tisha B’Ab

We refrain from having parties with music or weddings during this time.

May we merit to see the Final Redemption Speedily in our time!

Shabbat Pinehas Schedule

Shabbat Pinehas * July 10 & 11 2020 Prayer & Class Schedule

Friday night Minha & Kabalat Shabbat

6:45 pm Safra Building Main Sanctuary

7:30 pm Jemal Building Main Sanctuary

Candle Lighting 8:08 pm

Shabbat Shahrit

6:15 am Safra Building Lower Level

6:45 am Jemal Building Main Sanctuary

8:00 am Safra Building Main Sanctuary

Rabbi Leon Hazan & Rabbi Nathan Escava-

Shabbat Morning Classes after 6:15 minyan

Shabbat Minha Gedolah 2:00 pm Jemal Building

Classes:

Rabbi Eliyahu Farhi – (aprox 11:00 am) “You be the Judge” Cases in Monetary Laws

Rabbi Nathan Escava – perasha class - 6:30 pm

Rabbi Leon Hazan – Perasha Issues in Depth - 6:30 pm

Rabbi Isaac Farhi -Lessons from the Perasha 7:00 pm

Rabbi Victor Antebi – 7:00 pm

Shabbat Minha - Safra & Jemal Buildings Main Sanctuaries 7:45 pm

Seuda Shelisheet followed by Arbit 8:50 pm

Shabbat Ends 9:08 pm

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WEEKDAY PRAYER & CLASS SCHEDULE

Weekday Shahrit:

6:15, 7:00, 8:00 & 9:00 am (9:30 am – Sunday only)

Rabbi Nathan Escava -Early Morning Daf Yomi Class

Sun. & Fri. 6:15 till 7:00 am & Mon. through Thurs. 5:15 till 6:15 am

Please join us every morning for a short class after each minyan

Rabbi Isaac Farhi – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday

Rabbi Yehuda Saban - Sunday, Monday & Friday

Rabbi Shlomo Haber – Sunday & Thursday

Rabbi Eliyahu Farhi – Monday through Friday 7:15 – 7:55 am Gemara Berachot

Weekday Minha & Arbit

6:45 & 7:30 pm

Evening Classes:

Rabbi Isaac Farhi - Wed. evenings 8:00 pm Perasha – Zoom Class ALL ARE WELCOME!!

Wednesday - Rabbi Eliyahu Farhi 7:00 pm Young Adult Class – Inside Out – Meaningful messages from the Perasha

Rabbi Nathan Escava - Gemara - Sunday through Thursday 8:45 till 9:45 pm

 

 

Know that we don’t Always Know

The perasha begins "this is the statute (hok) of the Torah" and proceeds to discuss the laws of the red heifer (Parah Adumah), a misvah which is impossible to understand according to human logic. The Ohr Hahayim asks why this misvah is called the 'hok of the Torah;' it would have been more appropriate to say 'this is the hok of purity' because it relates to the laws of purity and impurity.

He answers that the Torah is alluding to us that if we fulfill this misvah even though it has no reason to it, then the Torah considers it as if we have fulfilled the whole Torah, because it shows that we are willing to follow G-d's will unconditionally.

Our Rabbis teach us, that when a person fulfils a misvah that has an obvious reason to it, it could be that he is doing it because it makes sense to him. However, once he performs a misvah that is without obvious logic that proves that he keeps all the misvot simply because G-d commanded them.

This is a fundamental principle of the Torah - we accept that we must follow G-d's will without making calculations according to our own logic. It demonstrates that we acknowledge that G-d's wisdom is beyond our own and that there are reasons that we do not have the capacity to understand, behind His commandments. Once we recognize in our own minds that there is an All-Powerful G-d who gave the Torah at Mount Sinai then we should be willing to accept the misvot that are included in that Torah. The fact that we cannot always fathom those reasons does not mean that they do not make sense.

Many of the greatest Torah scholars such as the Rambam and Sefer HaHinuch and, more recently, went to great lengths to explain the 'reasons' behind the misvot. How can anyone claim to understand a 'reason' for any given misvah if King Solomon, the wisest man, could not?!

Rabbi Y. Gefen explains that the commentaries are not claiming to understand the ultimate reason behind the misvah - we can have no concept of the genuine reason for any misvah. However, G-d, in His Infinite wisdom 'arranged' it so that each misvah can make sense on many different levels. For example they can help a person develop desirable character traits and can enhance relationships.

It is true that we keep the misvot because G-d instructed us to, however, it is not sufficient that we merely do the misvah robotically, without any thought as to what we are doing. Misvot are intended to change us into better people, and the way that they do this is through the reasons behind the misvot. The Sefer HaHinuch tells us the root reason for every misvah - why? So that we can have an idea of what we are supposed to gain from performing each misvah and we can work towards achieving that benefit. 

Looking forward to seeing more and more of you each day!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Isaac Farhi