Dear Friend,
If there's one thing that 2020 has shown us is that even the reliable things in our lives can disappear very quickly. I'm not talking about broadway or our favorite social activity, although we do miss those and pray that those people can get their jobs back asap.
I'm talking about being able to be with the people we love like family, friends and community, the relationships in our lives that have been interrupted because our in person time together has been limited or is completely non existent for almost a year now.
So let’s appreciate the important and simple things in our lives, our relationships and the time we have together. It is usually the simple things that are the most valuable, especially those that money cannot buy — like love, family and each other.
However, we should not value the basic simple things that money cannot buy because of it's fragility and our fear of losing it, rather it's the fragility that exposes how valuable these things really are.
One important Jewish value is appreciation, and gratitude.
Let’s go out of our way to show someone and communicate with them how much we value and appreciate them. Because after 2020 we sure know how valuable the people in our life really are.
Thank G-d for what we have and for each other.
SHABBOS TIMES
Friday, January 1
Candle Lighting: 4:21pm Evening service: 4:25pm
Saturday, January 2
Morning service: 10am
Kiddush Brunch 12pm Evening service: 4:25pm
Shabbat ends: 5:26pm
FAIR LAWN JEWISH DAY CAMP
SUMMER CAMP IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF A CHILD'S EDUCATION REGULAR EALRY BIRD HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO JAN 4 Sending your child to Fair Lawn Jewish Day Camp helps raise an independent child, it means teaching responsibility, encouraging exploration and providing a safe environment to make decisions independently. FLJDC nurtures all three of these elements in a Jewish environment, while having fun and making new friends. 2021 DATE & RATES | ENROLL NOW | NEW REFUND POLICY
WEEKLY TANYA CLASS
Tanya Class- Tuesdays at 8pm
Discussing life in the light of Chabad Philosophy
On Zoom:
Meeting ID: 895 6598 0718
Passcode: tanya
Presented in English by Rabbi Mendel Zaltzman
Bat Mitzvah Club
Sunday, January 10, 2:00-5:30pm
We will be heading for an exciting trip to The Palisades Mall for a Jewish Scavenger Hunt and to Sareka On Saddle and Babka Bakery & Cafe in Airmont, NY.
Join for a live puppet show, book reading and craft.
Kids will learn about the Mitzvah of Kindness in an exciting and interactive way.
Social distancing and masks necessary.
No charge for this event, but registration required to attend in person.
If you cannot attend in person, you may participate live on Zoom or Facebook live.
For boys and girls in Grades 6th- 8th
At each weekly program MVP's will prepare special personalized packages for seniors that will be delivered safely in time for Shabbat.
Join the weekly meetings at the Bris Avrohom of Fair Lawn location, to prepare and personalize the packages and have some treats and fun while we work.
A BISSELE HUMOR
Old Moishe Applebaum arrived at the post office with a post card in his hand. He approached the employee at the desk and said, “I'm sorry to bother you but could you address this post card for me? My arthritis is acting up today and I can't even hold a pen."
"Certainly sir,' said the younger postal employee, "I'd be glad to."
He wrote out the address and also agreed to write a short message and sign the card for old Moishe. Finally, the postal employee asked, "Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"
Old Moishe thought about it for a moment and said, "Yes, at the end could you just add, 'PS: Please excuse the sloppy hand-writing.'"
WEEKLY eTORAH
This week's Parshah, Vayechi, concludes the entire Book of Genesis. What connection can we find between the beginning and end of the first book of the Torah? The first part of the book tells the story of Creation while the end deals with the passing of Jacob and the Children of Israel down in Egypt.
What is Creation? Not just a Big Bang or even Intelligent Design, but an expression of a much higher and deeper purpose. The mystics teach that G‑d was not content to have angels in heaven singing His praises. He wanted earthly beings, men and women of flesh and blood with earthly passions and temperaments living physical lives, who will nevertheless be capable to rise above the moment to experience the spiritual purpose of it all. He desired human beings who would be exposed to all the distractions associated with the physical condition and still remain focused on the spiritual.
When we endow our material lives with spiritual value, with a sense of higher purpose, meaning, destiny and eternity, then we fulfill the Creator's original plan to bring heaven down to earth and build a home for G‑d in the physical, often crass, world below.
And therein lies the connection of the beginning of the Book of Genesis with its ending. To be a good Jew in the Holy Land is one thing. To remain holy and heavenly in the fleshpots of Egypt is another. Egypt represented the epitome of decadence of in that time. For the Children of Israel to go there and still remain faithful to the G‑dly way of life is bringing heaven down to earth big time. To live an upright, moral life in a morally degenerate society is to validate and justify the whole idea of creation and the Creator's decision to bring into existence mortal beings endowed with the freedom to choose how they will live their lives.
Perhaps this is the reason Jacob chose to bless the children of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, with the words, By you shall Israel bless (their children), saying May G‑d make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. Indeed, this is the traditional blessing we give our children to this day, that they grow up to be like Ephraim and Manasseh. But why? Why should Jacob promise that for posterity Jews would bless their children to be like Joseph's children? Why not to be like his own children, the twelve tribes of Israel?
One answer is that of all the 70 children and grandchild of Jacob mention in the Torah, Ephraim and Manasseh were the only ones to have been born in Egypt and to have lived there all their lives. Jacob knew that in generations to come Jews would again be wandering through their own Egypts and exiles. He understood that Jewish history was destined to be filled with hostility and challenge. Thus, the role models for young Jews would need to be people like Ephraim and Manasseh who were born and bred in Egypt and yet remained faithful to the traditions of Jacob; who courted with the Pharaoh and still lived righteous Jewish lives.
Joseph's boys negotiated the tricky turf of Egyptian palace intrigue while never forgetting who they really were. When kids will still be spiritually connected to the Creator's heavenly way, then we will have made that dwelling place for G‑d in the lower realms for which the whole world was created for in the first place.
