Dear Shaare Family,
The world is mourning the passing of Queen Elizabeth II earlier today. We are not British subjects, but the Jewish community all over the world owes her a debt of gratitude for her support of and friendship with the Jewish community for seven decades. As a new era begins with the accession and Coronation of King Charles III, we wish him long life in his reign-may he follow in the steady and principled footsteps of his illustrious and beloved mother.
This week, I am grateful for all the people who came together to make the AYA New Teachers Shabbaton happen this week at Shaare. This was a collaborative effort and there are many names to thank, but at the risk of inadvertently omitting anyone, the following individuals deserve our gratitude:
Rebbetzin Julie and Rabbi Wolk, Rabbi Chananya Englesman, Terri Rohan, Sara and Natan Verschleisser Pittinsky, Emily Prengler, Stephanie and Jimmy Davis, Gil and Dahlia Abramov, Malka and Rabbi Maury Grebenau, Talia and Gavi Wolk and Rebbetzin Dr. Jessica Rackovsky. Special thanks as well to AYA for sponsoring the Kiddush. In the spirit of the month of Elul, if I omitted anyone, I ask in advance for your forgiveness. Join us for an unforgettable Shabbos, hearing words of Torah and joining in Tefillah with the new teachers at AYA, Rachel and Rabbi Adiel Nachshoni, and Chen and R’ Evyatar Ifergan, and their families.
Rabbi’s Recommendations
1. This week, we began studying the second chapter of Masechet Bava Metzia in our daily Mishnah study between Mincha and Maariv. For this, we netted major “parsha points” because the mishnah deals with the laws of returning lost objects, which is also discussed in this week’s Parshah (Devarim 22:1-3). I highly recommend that you take a few moments and read this truly amazing story by my colleague Rabbi Akiva Males of the Young Israel of Memphis, about the potential far-reaching ramifications of returning lost items (you may recall that I told this story six years ago at the Bat Mitzvah of Sydney Denn).
2. Our Sephardic brothers and sisters have been saying Selihot for nearly two weeks (my Sephardic friends say they prefer a month of their Selihot to a week of ours!). One of the reasons I think the Sephardim enjoy their Selihot so much, and why so many participate in them, is that the text is identical, every day- and every tefillah is highly tuneful and interactive. This is a link to a complete Selihot service on the eve of Erev Yom Kippur from the Kotel, led by the legendary Sephardi Hazzan Moshe Habusha (actual Selihot begins at about 21 minutes).
Shul Trivia of the Week
Last week’s winner is Perrin White, who correctly identified the mystery shul as the splendid Great Synagogue of Basel, Switzerland, site of the first Zionist Congress of 1897, and the 125th of 2022. Runners up include Susanne Goldstone Rosenhouse, Moshe Levi, Ruth Solomons and Rabbi Mike Friedman.
Some of you have felt reticent being declared winners when you simply performed a Google Image Search. I appreciate that, but the goal is not necessarily to stump people- but to encourage learning about so many amazing shuls all over the world. However, in order to increase the “thrill of the hunt,” I am going to employ a different method from time to time-including this week. I will give some clues, but will not include a picture- identify the mystery shul based on these. The winner, and a picture of the shul, will be included in the following week’s Rabbi’s Resources.
Mystery Shul of the Week:
This shul was the site of the first-ever chapter of NCSY, and what may be the largest work of hand-painted synagogue art in North America. Name the city and the shul.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky
