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Greetings!
Take a look around today - cars stuck all over the place, the kids stuck at home, it's a mess.
Judaism teaches that everything (yes, everything) we experience is presented to us as an opportunity to take a lesson in our life's mission of serving our Maker.
We are all stuck in different ways. We might be stuck in a job we don't love, or in a mediocre relationship, or are faced with a situation or challenge we wish would just go away... Like snow - most personal disappointments in isolation seem rather small, certainly manageable, at least tolerable; it's the accumulation that wears us down. Snow is the same: any handful is powerless against us-it's the buildup that neutralizes us.
So how do we prepare for it, overcome it and grow from it? The first step is information. The weathermen told us it was coming-they told us to get home early, stock up on food and stay off the roads. The experts, generations of Torah scholars, the Rebbe, they warn us about the ferocity of life during these times and the toll it takes on the unprepared. Arrogantly, some think themselves stronger than nature, able to defy its might and thus take no precautions. We assume we can sustain our Jewish identity without stocking up with plentiful supplies of Jewish warmth, energy and study. We think we can make material success and our next vacation our priority and preoccupation, and that our children will still love their Judaism despite our crystal clear display that nothing is more important than materialism. When we are attentive we learn the value of planning ahead, we ready our supplies, invest in mitzvot and enjoy the benefit when the blizzard strikes.
Happy Blizzard & Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel
P.S. Yes - the Shul will be open Shabbat morning for services. Ellen, Lenny and Barbara are making a kiddush to honor their parents' yahrzeit. The weather is expected to clear up so come on down.
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Sunday Mornings | 9:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Living Torah: 9:45-10 AM - Video lesson by the Rebbe, Rabbi Schneerson of righteous memory
Weekly Torah class: 10-11 AM with Rabbi Paltiel
Bagels and coffee served. No charge or rsvp. Just come!
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Mommy & Me | Tuesdays, 9:30 -10:15 am
Join Jaime Lewis, of Kids Can Music together with Sara Paltiel, Director of Florence Brownstein Preschool for music and movement in Chabad's spectacular new Israel-themed immersive indoor playground.
Click here for more info and register. |
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Special Lecture
Sunday, January 12 | 10:00 AM
The Cteen program of Port Washington invites you to join us for a lecture by Bernie Raider, holocaust survivor who will to share his experience. All are welcome!
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NEW JLI: To Be a Jew in the Free World
6 Sundays, Begins February 2 | 10:00 AM
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. One side of the coin promised security, acceptance, and affluence with the escape from anti semitism and discrimination; while the other threatened assimilation, confusion of loyalties, and the possibility of disappearing as a nation.
In To Be a Jew in the Free World, we examine the personal and religious struggles that individuals and communities confronted as they faced the challenges of changing times: stories that provoke debate and shed insight into what it means to live as a Jew today.
Click here for more info and to register. |
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Save the Date: Purim Ball
Saturday Night, March 15 | 8:30 - 11:30 PM
Start planning your costumes and book your babysitters... Join us to celebrate Purim in Costume!
Evening festivities are for adults only. Sponsors and volunteers are welcome.
Contact: [email protected].
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Save the Date | Gala Dinner
Please save the date for Chabad of Port Washington's annual dinner celebrating our 23rd anniversary. The dinner will take place on Monday, June 2, 2014.
Formal invitation to follow. |
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Your Mother Knows...
By: Rabbi Aron Moss | Sydney, Australia
Question:
This question is from my daughter (aged 9 years).
"Why would a supposedly good, just, loving G-d allow so much suffering in the world?"
(I started answering and realized I was not talking on her level. Can you help?)
ANSWER>>
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B"H
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Shabbat Times |
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| Shabbat Candle Lighting: |
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Friday, Jan 3
4:21 pm
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| Shabbat Ends: |
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Shabbat, Jan 4
5:25 pm
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Kiddush Calendar |
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This week's kiddush is sponsored by Ellen & Lenny Schaier and Barbara Newman in honor of the yahrzeits of their parents. Arthur & Jeanette Newman of blessed memory, Jack & Esta Schaier of blessed memory.  Lenny & Ellen Schaier Barbara Newman Click here to let us know if you can sponsor a kiddush.
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| Parshah |
 Moses Believes in You
Pharaoh is the Torah's paradigm for resistance to change. He was addicted to his status quo, even when his behavior became self-destructive.
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| Women |
 When Life Hands Us Lemons
What do we do when our efforts to change our circumstances don't succeed?
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| Feature Article |
 Midrash and Reality
Which world is more real? The world of action, or the world where we perceive the effects of our actions?
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| Video |
 What Jews Believe About Redemption
In this final class in a six-part series, we reach the culminating and most essential concept of Jewish belief-the belief in the perfection of this world. What is universal redemption? How does it come about? How is it connected to-and the fulfillment of-all of the other concepts we have learned about so far?
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A Little Smarter
If G-d were only a little smarter than me,
He wouldn't be my G-d.
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Parshat Bo
The last three of the Ten Plagues are visited on Egypt: a swarm of locusts devours all the crops and greenery; a thick, palpable darkness envelops the land; and all the firstborn of Egypt are killed at the stroke of midnight of the 15th of the month of Nissan.
G-d commands the first mitzvah to be given to the people of Israel: to establish a calendar based on the monthly rebirth of the moon. The Israelites are also instructed to bring a "Passover offering" to G-d: a lamb or kid is to be slaughtered, and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of every Israelite home, so that G-d should pass over these homes when He comes to kill the Egyptian firstborn. The roasted meat of the offering is to be eaten that night together with matzah (unleavened bread) and bitter herbs.
The death of the firstborn finally breaks Pharaoh's resistance, and he literally drives the children of Israel from his land. So hastily do they depart that there is no time for their dough to rise, and the only provisions they take along are unleavened. Before they go, they ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold, silver and garments-fulfilling the promise made to Abraham that his descendants would leave Egypt with great wealth.
The children of Israel are commanded to consecrate all firstborn, and to observe the anniversary of the Exodus each year by removing all leaven from their possession for seven days, eating matzah, and telling the story of their redemption to their children. They are also commanded to wear tefillin on the arm and head as a reminder of the Exodus and their resultant commitment to G-d. |
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