Zmanim
Mincha 6:15 pm
Candle Lighting Not before 6:33 pm(early)
Candle Lighting 7:47 pm(regular)
Sheki'ah8:05 pm
Kerias ShemaAfter 8:55 pm
Shacharis8:15 am
Mincha 7:15 pm
Maariv 8:42 pm
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We would like to welcome Rabbi and Mrs. Ari Mintz to our Kehillah for Shabbos.
Rabbi Mintz will be speaking after Kabbolas Shabbos.
There will be an Oneg Shabbos Friday Night at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dovid Malcmacher 4298 University Pkwy @ 9:00
Rabbi Mintz will be delivering a Drasha Shabbos morning before laining, and he will be saying a Shiur after Kiddush.
There will be a Shiur for women at the home of Mrs. Tzippy Adler 14443 Summerfield @ 6:00
Seudas Shlishis, sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Adam Pollack, with a question and answer session, will follow Mincha.
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Dvar Torah
By: Rabbi Avrohom Adler
NOT TO FORGET
In this week's Parsha, Ki Savo, we find that when performing the mitzvah of "Viduy Ma'aser" one states "...I have not transgressed any of your commandments, and I have not forgotten" (Devorim 26:13). The obvious question is--forgotten what? Rashi, quoting Chazal, teaches that I have not forgotten to make the appropriate Bracha on the mitzvah when separating the Ma'aser.
Why does the Torah use the term "I have not forgotten" to describe the necessity to make the Brocha before the Mitzvah? The Sifsei Chaim (Middos V'Avodas Hashem 1, p. 479) writes that there is a great lesson to be derived here with respect to all Mitzvos and all Brachos. A person can perform a Mitzvah out of rote, with little or no thought behind the act. A bleary-eyed Tefillin placement in the morning, or a very hungry individual eating (pouncing upon?) a festive Leil Shabbos meal would be two examples.
The Bracha before the Tefillin, or the Kiddush before the Seudah, are intended for us to focus us on the "Ata" and the "V'Tzivanu"-- i.e., that we are performing a Mitzvah in front of Hashem. The Bracha, then, prevents us from "forgetting" Hashem more than the Mitzvah itself can! Just as the Bracha over food reminds us that it is Hashem who graced us with the food, so too, does the Bracha on a Mitzvah cause us "not to [otherwise] forget" that Hashem is before us as we perform it. At this time of year, as we focus on raising ourselves up spiritually, we should recognize that perhaps one of the best ways to accomplish this is to sense that Hashem is with us at all times. As we recite the words "Baruch Ata" (approximately 100 times a day!), they should serve as an incredible gift, a wonderful reminder, for us "not to forget"--both who we are, and where we are!
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Insights into Torah and Tefillah
WHERE TO START AND WHERE TO STOP
The Mishna lists statements that must be made in Hebrew. One of them is the bikkurim (the first ripe fruits which had to be brought to the Beis Hamikdosh in Yerushalayim) recitation. When he brings the fruits to the Beis Hamikdosh to be given to the Kohanim, he recites several verses from Devarim. Rashi writes that he says the verse beginning with Arami oved avi, An Aramean tried to destroy my father [Devarim 26:5], and he continues until the end of the passage.
In truth, however, he does not complete the entire passage. As a matter of fact, he stops in middle of verse 10, whenhe says asher nasatah li Hashem, that You have given me, Hashem. The Rambam in Hilchos Bikkurim states this explicitly.
The commentators ask that the last words of this recital conclude in middle of a verse and this is against the dictum of stopping in a place that Moshe did not stop. The Gemora Brochos (12b) rules that any place in the Torah that Moshe Rabbeinu did not pause; we are forbidden to pause as well. How could they institute to stop the recital in middle of a verse.
Reb Yaakov Kaminetzky in his sefer Emes L’Yaakov in Parshas Ki Savo answers that this ruling does not apply by mitzvos, such as bikkurim. It is only a concern when verses are being recited because of Torah.
There are other examples where this principle may be applicable. The Gemora in Rosh Hashanah (31a) discusses the hymns that were recited by the Levites in the Beis Hamikdosh on Shabbos. The Gemora concludes that they would divide Parshas Haazinu into six segments, and one segment was recited each week by the korban mussaf.
The Turei Even asks from the aforementioned Gemora in Brochos. How were the Levi’im permitted to stop in places that Moshe did not stop? He answers that since they intended to complete it the next week, it is not regarded as interrupting the portion (even though there will be different Leviim the next week). According to Reb Yaakov, we can suggest that the hymns of the Leviim were not being sung as Torah; but rather, as a part of the mitzvah of the bringing of korbanos. They therefore were permitted to stop and start in the Torah, even in the middle of a passage.
Magan Avrohom (O”C 282) asks this question as well, inquiring into different verses from the Torah that we recite during tefillah which are incomplete. He also answers that we only apply the principle that one cannot interrupt in middle of a verse when one is engaged in Torah study or reading from the Torah. If, however, one is reciting verses for the purpose of prayer or mitzvah observance, there is no prohibition of interrupting in middle of a verse.
Rav Nosson Grossman states that perhaps through this principle, we can answer the Turei Even’s question. The Leviim are not reciting these pesukim as Torah, rather they are being said on account of shirah, song, and therefore it will not be subject to the prohibition of stopping in an incorrect place. However, it would seem evident that the Magen Avrohom will not concur with this, since he states that principle, and nevertheless, does not apply it to the Levi’im’s shirah.
It would seem that many other Acharonim do not agree with this qualification of that rule. The tefillah which is recited when the Sefer Torah is raised in shul is a combination of two different verses. There are those who stop after saying, “lifnei B’nei Yisroel,” for the next part (al pi Hashem b’yad Moshe) is not a complete verse. This reason is brought in the name of Reb Chaim Volozhiner. Once again, according to the qualification mentioned above, we could have explained that there is no concern during tefillah; it is only when we are reciting Torah for the sake of Torah where the dictum applies.
The Chasam Sofer in his Teshuvos (O”C 10) discusses why during kiddush, do we begin with the verse, Va’yehi erev va’yehi boker,” when that is the middle of a verse in the Torah. He explains that the first part of the verse has a reference to “death,” and we did not want that alluded to during kiddush. It is evident that the Chasam Sofer as well did not concur with this qualification.
