The Rov will be giving a shiur in Hilchos Tefillah on Shabbos afternoon at 5:30. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend.
We are very excited to announce that we are going to hold a Chodesh Elul Kiddush, the first in many months! Women and children are welcome to attend. It will be held outdoors with pre-packaged foods in order to maintain a safe environment. We ask everyone to please maintain caution and follow social distancing protocol so as to be able to continue to hold the Kiddush.
We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Yitzy Labowitz for sponsoring the Kiddush in honor of the Rov Shlita, Shai Meyerowitz, and the entire amazing kehilla.
A number of table-top shtenders were left in the shul since before shul closed, and are now located in the closet in our new room. If your shtender is there, we ask that you please take it home with you at your earliest opportunity.
As we usher in the month of Elul, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are rapidly approaching. We are very happy to be able to share that we were fortunate enough to secure a location for Yomim Nora'im tefillos. It will be located in the beautiful, comfortable, and very spacious K'hal Chassidim, "the Chassidish Kollel", located on Park Heights. Accordingly, we would like to begin arranging the seating for Yomim Nora'im. If you have a preference where you would like to sit in the shul, please state that as well. You can make payments online. Seating will not be reserved until payment is received so please be prompt in responding.
Please click here for seating reservations.
Have a wonderful Shabbos!
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Dvar Torah
The Pasuk in this week's Parsha states, "If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, or between lesion and lesion, words of dispute in your cities, then you shall arise and go up to the place the Lord, your God, chooses." (17:8) The Gemara in Yoma (9b) tells us, "The first Temple, why was it destroyed? Because in that generation, Jews were guilty of the three cardinal sins, idolatry, adultery, and murder. The second Temple, why was it destroyed? Because of baseless hatred.” The Maharal explains the reason why humans have the temptation to sin is an outcome of the original חטא committed by Adam and Chava. Before eating from the forbidden fruit, the evil inclination was not an internal force in their make-up. It was an external force that didn’t have as much control over them. Once they ate from the forbidden fruit, the evil inclination became an internal force and now was able to get the humans to confuse the good with evil and vice versa. Idol worship is a sin done through the mind of the person, adultery is a sin done through the body, and murder is a sin done by taking away a soul. Each one takes effect because of the confusion between good and evil. The idol worshiper believes that the idol has the power to help him, the adulterer fantasizes the key to happiness is unrestricted pleasures of this world, and the murderer imagines the person who he is attacking is the source of his challenges in life. To combat the confusion in all three areas, the Torah commands us, “If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood,” alluding to the soul, “between judgment and judgment,” alluding to the mind, “or between lesion and lesion,” which refers to the body. All three correspond to the three causes of the destruction of the first Temple. “words of dispute in your cities,” refer to the baseless hatred, which was the cause of שני בית חורבן. “then you shall rise and go up to the place the Lord, your God, chooses." מקום המקדש .Nowadays, when we don’t have the Bais Hamikdash, the Gemara tells us Hashem’s dwelling place is where Torah scholars learn Halachah. הלכה של אמות ד אלא בעולמו לו אין” .And you shall come to the Levitic Kohanim and to the judge who will be in those days, and you shall inquire, and they will tell you the words of judgment.” (17:9) So too, for future generations, we should come to the Gedolei Yisroel and inquire, and they will tell us the words of judgment and help us gain the clarity we need. We should be זוכה to work on our גאווה ,which is the root of evil mixed into our decisions. And have the humility to nullify our minds to the mind of the Gedolim, to have complete clarity of what is right and be able to follow it wholeheartedly.
Good Shabbos!
Shmuel (Ilan) Khoshnood
Source: Sefer Shem MiShmuel