At our Hebrew School award ceremony we were reminded of this week's Torah portion which begins with the Mitzvah of the daily lighting of the Menorah in the holy temple.
The flames of the menorah in the temple were supposed to be lit in a way that when applying the fire to the wick, each flame had to rise to its maximum and be completely lit before the Kohen could move on to the next flame.
This is what we do with Jewish education, with the care and devotion needed to raise spiritually, healthy and proud Jewish kids.
Oftentimes as parents we think we’ve done enough, we get tired, we feel that we put effort in and now it's time for the kids to be independent.
The lesson of lighting the Menorah teaches us that when lighting and inspiring the soul of our children, we must keep the flame applied to the wick until it reaches its fullest height and potential.
Our job as parents, educators, grandparents and role models ends only when we are sure that our children are at their fullest potential.
Parenting is the greatest investment you'll ever make. It’s also the highest yielding return on investment, both for you personally, for the Jewish nation and for the entire world.
Happy Parenting!!
Shabbat Shalom!!
Rabbi Mendel & Elke Zaltzman
Hebrew School End of Year Ceremony
This past Sunday, we joined for an outdoor ceremony, celebrating a great Hebrew School year! Congratulations to all our Hebrew School families! With in person and online classes throughout the year, our children learned and grew in their Jewish education and practice of our traditions with excitement and much pride!
Meet investigative journalist Tuvia Tenenbom, as he shares his fascinating story going undercover into enemy territory and what he experienced with anti-Semitism, love for Palestinians, equal rights for all except Jews and Jewish fear.
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.
Community Calendar 5782
Production of our beautiful, full color community calendar has begun for the new 5782 year.
The new Community Calendar will be published in September 2021 for the new 5782 Jewish year.
The recent growth of our community requires us to print 4000 calendars this year, most of which are mailed free to Jewish homes in the North Jersey area.
Please take a moment to see how you can support this important project.
Four Catholic mothers and a Jewish woman were having coffee.
The first Catholic woman tells her friends, “My son is a priest. When he walks into a room, everyone calls him Father.”
The second Catholic mother chirps, “My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room people call him Your Grace.”
The third Catholic mom says, “My son is a Cardinal. When he enters a room, everyone says Your Eminence.”
The fourth Catholic woman declares, “My son is the Pope. When he walks into a room people call him Your Holiness.”
They all turn to the Jewish woman, and give her a subtle, “Well?”
She replies, “I have a son. He’s argumentative, confrontational, self-centered, narcissistic, impulsive, impossible and irrational. When he walks into a room, people say, Oh My G-d!”
WEEKLY eTORAH
The Jewish people have had a long journey through the wilderness of history. Moving almost ceaselessly from one country to another, sometimes through compulsion and sometimes through choice, they have come in contact with many other peoples and cultures. Their spiritual leaders, an unbroken chain of sages and teachers, have always made valiant efforts to help Jewish individuals and families preserve their identity and maintain contact with Jewish teaching.
People maintain this contact at different levels and in different ways. Yet, at the heart of it all, there is a Jewish "essence" which is the real key to a person's spiritual identity.
Shabbat can be seen as another example of an unchangeable "essence." For some, Shabbat observance is very dedicated and all-encompassing. For others it seems minimal. Yet the power of Shabbat is that even a tincture of Shabbat goes a long way. It is real to the core, and at any time may blossom to the full, so that Shabbat again becomes the day of reflection, peace and inspiration which it can be, giving energy and a sense of purpose to the working days of the week.
The Torah gives another example of a kind of "essence." This is the Manna which came from heaven, the miraculous food which sustained the Jewish people during their forty-year journey through the wilderness. It began appearing shortly after they left Egypt, as the Torah tells us in the 16th chapter of Exodus. Every weekday morning they would gather it, and on Friday, the sixth day, there would be a double portion. On Shabbat the Manna would not be found, but they had sufficient from the double portion they collected on Friday. (This is the reason we have two loaves of bread on Shabbat, commemorating the double portion).
Our Torah reading ("Behaalotecha" — Numbers 8-12) also speaks about the Manna. The Jews complained at the fact that they only had Manna to eat. Although the Manna was something spiritual and sacred, the people wanted other food.
It is interesting that although some people complained about the Manna, it was still there for them. For Moses, Aaron, Miriam and many other Jews in the wilderness, the Manna was something exquisite and holy. Yet there were other people who had a much more materialistic and simplistic view of it. In fact they were fed up with eating it every day and wanted a change.
Despite this, the Manna continued to come. After the inundation of quails described in the Parshah, eventually everyone went back to eating the Manna which sustained them till they reached the Holy Land. In the Manna was the breath of heaven. This quality relates to the "essence," it does not change or disappear, even when it is eaten by someone who complains against it, or who in some other way is behaving in a negative way.
The Manna, Shabbat and, indeed, the Torah itself, all have the quality of the "essence." These concepts help the Jew preserve his or her essence through our long journey through time, towards the time of the Moshiach, when the "essence" of goodness and holiness, instead of being hidden as now, will be revealed.
