Friday, March 5, 2020
4:30 PM
The Conservative Synagogue
of Fifth Avenue
invites you to
Kabbalat Shabbat Services
with our very own
SARAH KING
and
RABBI DAVID GAFFNEY
This Friday afternoon
March 5, 2020 at 4:30 PM
via ZOOM
"The Next Best Thing to Being at CSFA on 11th Street"
Enjoy the beauty of welcoming Shabbat with your CSFA friends and with the beautiful voice of
SARAH KING
and a D'var Torah from
RABBI DAVID GAFFNEY
Friday afternoon at 4:30 PM
Join us at the following ZOOM link
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Weekend Activities
Saturday, March 6, 2021 -
Friday, March 12, 2021
22 - 28 Adar, 5781
Parshat Ki Tisa
SHABBAT PARAH
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Friday, March 5, 2021
Candlelighting is at 5:34 pm
While there are no services taking place at the synagogue, we encourage you to welcome the arrival of Shabbat with prayer and song. Prepare a Shabbat Dinner for yourself, light the Shabbat candles, make kiddush over a glass of wine, and enjoy a Shabbat meal. Allow the peace and beauty of Shabbat to bring you a moment of peace and tranquility during these trying times.
וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר
יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי. וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ וְכָל צְבָאָם
וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים בַּיּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה. וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה
וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ. כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת
סַבְרִי מָרָנָן וְרַבָּנָן וְרַבּותַי
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְרָצָה בָנוּ. וְשַׁבַּת קָדְשׁוֹ בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצוֹן הִנְחִילָנוּ זִכָּרוֹן לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית. כִּי הוּא יוֹם תְּחִלָּה לְמִקְרָאֵי קדֶשׁ זֵכֶר לִיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם. כִּי בָנוּ בָחַרְתָּ וְאוֹתָנוּ קִדַּשְׁתָּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים וְשַׁבַּת קָדְשְׁךָ בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצוֹן הִנְחַלְתָּנוּ
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ מְקַדֵּשׁ הַשַּׁבָּת
(Quietly: Va-y'hee erev, va-y'hee boker.)
Yom ha-shishi. Vay'chulu hashamayim v'ha-aretz v'chol tz'va'am. Vay'chal Elohim bayom hash'vi'i milachto asher asa. Vayishbot bayom hash'vi'i mikol milachto asher asa. Vay'varech Elohim et yom hash'vi'i vay'kadesh oto. Kee vo shabbat mi-kol m'lachto asher bara Elohim la'asot.
Savri maranan v'rabanan v'rabotai. Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p'ri hagafen.
Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'ratza vanu, v'shabbat kod'sho b'ahava uv'ratzon hinchilanu, zikaron l'ma'aseh b'reishit. Ki hu yom t'chila l'mikra-ay kodesh, zaycher l'tziat mitzrayim. Ki vanu vacharta v'otanu kidashta mikol ha'amim. V'shabbat kod-shi-cha b'ahava uv'ratzon hinchal tanu. Baruch ata Adonai, mi'kadesh ha Shabbat.
(Quietly: There was an evening, there was a morning.)
The sixth day: And the Heavens and the Earth and all they contained were completed, and on the seventh day God desisted from all the work that he had done. And God rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on that day he rested from all the work which he had done in creating the world.
[Leader:] By your leave, rabbis, masters, teachers!
[Diners:] To Life!
Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, how has sanctified us with his commandments and favored us, and given us in love and favor his holy Shabbat as an inheritance, as a remembrance of the act of creation. For this day is the beginning of all holy days, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. For you have chosen us and you have blessed us from among all the nations. And you have bequeathed us your holy Shabbat in love and favor. Blessed are you, Lord, who sanctifies Shabbat.
Saturday, February 27, 2021
There are no in person Shabbat Services at the synagogue this weekend because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, we encourage you to make some time for yourself to recite your individual prayers on Saturday morning and read the Parshat Ki Tisa.
FOR THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO WATCH A LIVESTREAM SHABBAT SERVICE, PARK AVENUE SYNAGOGUE IS OFFERING A LIVESTREAM SERVICE ON SATURDAY MORNING AT 9:45 AM.
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Ki Tisa
Torah: Exodus 30:11-34:35
Maftir: Numbers 19:1-22
Haftorah: Ezekiel 36:18-36;
General Overview: The portion discusses the census of the Israelites, the washbasin of the Tabernacle, the anointing oils for the priests and kings, the incense offering, and the Sabbath. The Torah then relates the story of the Golden Calf, G‑d's anger at the Jewish nation, Moses successfully arguing for Divine forgiveness for the sin, the subsequent breaking of the tablets, and the giving of the second tablets.
First Aliyah: G‑d commands Moses to take a census of the Jewish adult male population by collecting an atonement offering of half a silver shekel from each individual. The collected silver was melted down, and was made into sockets for the beams of the Tabernacle. G‑d instructs Moses to make a copper washstand for the Tabernacle. The priests would use this laver to wash their hands and feet before their service. G‑d tells Moses the recipe for making holy "anointing oil." This oil, which was prepared with various aromatic herbs and fine spices, was used to anoint and sanctify the Tabernacle, its vessels, and Aaron and his sons. The remainder of the oil was put aside, and was used to anoint kings and high priests of future generations. G‑d also gives Moses the formula for the incense which was offered twice-daily in the Tabernacle. The duplication of the anointing oil or incense for personal use is prohibited. G‑d imbues Bezalel with wisdom, and appoints him to be the chief craftsman of the Tabernacle and its contents. G‑d appoints Oholiab as his assistant. This lengthy aliyah concludes with G‑d telling the Jewish people to observe the Shabbat, the eternal sign between Him and the Children of Israel.
Second Aliyah: After G‑d revealed Himself to the entire nation at Mount Sinai and told them the Ten Commandments, Moses ascended the mountain where he remained for forty days. There he was to study the Torah and receive the Tablets. The Jews miscalculate when Moses is supposed to return, and when he doesn't appear on the day when they anticipate him, they grow impatient and demand of Aaron to make for them a new god. Aaron cooperates, all along intending to postpone and buy time until Moses' return, but despite his efforts, a Golden Calf emerges from the flames. The festivities and sacrifices start early next morning. Moses pleads with an incensed G‑d to forgive the Jews' sin. G‑d acquiesces and relents from His plan to annihilate the Jews. Moses comes down with the Tablets, sees the idolatrous revelry, and breaks the Tablets. Moses enlists the Tribe of Levi to punish the primary offenders. Three thousand idol worshippers are executed on that day. Moses ascends Mount Sinai again, in an attempt to gain complete atonement for the sin. G‑d tells Moses to lead the Jews towards the Promised Land, but insists that He won't be leading them personally; instead an angel will be dispatched to lead them. Seeing G‑d's displeasure with the Jews, Moses takes his own tent and pitches it outside the Israelite encampment. This tent becomes the center of study and spirituality until the Tabernacle is inaugurated.
Third Aliyah: Moses asks G‑d to reconsider the matter of the angel leading them. G‑d reconsiders, and agrees to lead them Himself again. Moses then requests that G‑d's presence never manifest itself on any other nation other than the Jews.
Fourth Aliyah: G‑d's agrees to Moses' request that His presence only dwell amongst the Jews. Moses requests to be shown G‑d's glory. G‑d agrees, but informs Moses that he will only be shown G‑d's "back," not G‑d's "face."
Fifth Aliyah: G‑d tells Moses to carve new tablets upon which G‑d will engrave the Ten Commandments. Moses takes the new tablets up to Mt. Sinai, where G‑d reveals His glory to Moses while proclaiming His Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.
Sixth Aliyah: G‑d seals a covenant with Moses, assuring him again that His presence will only dwell with the Jews. G‑d informs the Jewish people that He will drive the Canaanites from before them. He instructs them to destroy all vestiges of idolatry from the land, and to refrain from making any covenants with its current inhabitants. The Jews are then commanded not to make molten gods, to observe the three festivals, not to eat chametz on Passover, to sanctify male firstborn humans and cattle, and not to cook meat together with milk.
Seventh Aliyah: Moses descends Mount Sinai with the second tablets, and unbeknownst to him beams of light were projecting off his face. Aaron and the people are originally afraid of him. Moses teaches the people the Torah he studied on the mountain. Moses wears a veil on his face from that time on, but removes it when speaking to G‑d and when repeating G‑d's words to the people.
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D'var Torah:
The Cranny of the Gym
By Ilana Kurshan
This week’s parsha describes an intimate encounter between God and Moshe that takes place following the incident with the golden calf. Moshe, after pleading with God to forgive the people, entreats God for a private revelation: “O let me behold Your presence” (Exodus 33:18). God rejects Moshe on the grounds that “No man may see Me and live” (33:20). Even so, God compromises with Moshe and grants him a glimpse – and in that moment, we are offered insight into how we, too, can catch sight of God in our world.
God’s revelation to Moshe is elaborately choreographed. God instructs Moshe to stand near Him so that He may shield Moshe with His hand as He passes before him. God then takes His hand away, so that Moshe catches sight of God from behind. According to the Talmud (Berachot 7a), God grants Moshe a glimpse of the knot of God’s tefillin, worn at the base of the back of the neck. The tefillin are small boxes containing pieces of parchment inscribed with Biblical verses. Earlier in this passage, the rabbis ask what is written on God’s tefillin, and respond that they bear a verse from Chronicles (17:21): “Who is like Your people, Israel, one nation in the land?” That is, God’s tefillin attest to the unique connection between God and Israel. And so when Moshe catches a glimpse of God’s tefillin knot—the Hebrew word for knot, kesher, means bond—he is also being assured of God’s irrevocable bond with the Jewish people.
This revelation takes place in the cranny of a rock – in a hidden place where no one is around to bear witness. It is a private revelation for Moshe alone, in striking contrast to the public display at Sinai. The Torah relates that on Mount Sinai, God appeared in a cloud of fire with thunder and lightning, accompanied by shofar blasts as the mountain trembled violently. According to the Talmud (Shabbat 88b), the people were terrified by the divine voice – with each commandment spoken by God, their souls fled and they recoiled twelve miles to the rear, such that the angels had to help them back to their places. The revelation at Sinai was loud and fiery, in stark contrast to the more quiet and subdued revelation to Moshe in the cranny of the rock.
The contrast between these two revelations reminds me of another revelation that took place in the life of my own family a couple of months ago, at my daughters’ school Chumash ceremony during the fall of second grade. Ordinarily this ceremony is held in the spacious high-ceilinged sanctuary of a local synagogue, because the school auditorium is not large enough to contain all the parents, grandparents, and siblings who come to celebrate the occasion. But my daughters’ Chumash ceremony was very different – it took place in the midst of the Corona pandemic, during a partial lockdown when the schools were open but parents were not allowed to set foot on the premises. Their ceremony was held in the school gym, a cavernous room with only the tiniest windows to let light in through the crannies. Each second grade class was called to the gym at a different time to receive their Chumash from their teacher. The kids sat in the otherwise empty bleachers and chanted a few verses from the opening of the Torah, and then filed back to their classroom to lower their masks and eat their lunches at their desks. I know this because my girls told me about it afterwards; I wasn’t there. When I expressed my disappointment that the school had not even sent a Zoom link, my daughter insisted that “It wasn’t such a big deal, Ima.” But I begged to differ.
It was true that my girls had not experienced all the festivities and fanfare generally associated with this occasion. The revelation they experienced was more akin to Moshe’s private revelation in the cranny of the rock, but it was a revelation nonetheless. Like all the second-grade classes before them, they had also received their own Chumashim, and they would also begin learning the first chapter of Genesis that week. The rabbis teach in Pirkei Avot (3:6) that God is present wherever people sit and study Torah. Even if only one person is engaged in the solitary study of Torah, the divine presence rests upon that individual. As I told my girls, every time they opened their Chumash to learn from it, the divine presence would be right there with them.
Later the school sent pictures of each child receiving his or her Chumash, though I couldn’t fully make out my girls' faces – they were obscured by Corona masks. Our parsha teaches that when Moshe came down the mountain, his face was so radiant that the Israelites shrank back in fear, so Moshe had to cover his face with a veil. A veil is not quite a Corona mask, but then again, no two experiences of revelation are the same. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of God from the grand stage of a communal experience; other times we experience God from a hidden cranny where we learn all alone. May the Torah we study remind us of our unique connection to God and of the many possible ways to experience revelation.
Haftarah Commentary:
Mining for a Heart of Gold
Bex Stern Rosenblatt
What is it that makes me me? If I change, through compulsion or through choice, do I still stay who I am? How can I even consider these questions when, if I do change, I won’t have an outside perspective on myself to allow myself to notice that I have changed? These questions of identity lie at the core of this week’s parasha and haftarah.
In the parasha, Aharon comforts the people at the base of Mount Sinai, agreeing to make them gods to replace Moshe who has disappeared from them. Aharon complies, making the golden calf and proclaiming it the gods that brought them out of Egypt. God sees and threatens to kill these stiff-necked people. God agrees not to kill them only when Moshe reminds God that it would not look good when word reached the Egyptians about what God had done to the people God had liberated. So after some purging of the people by plague, God rewrites the covenant, the Ten Commandments for the people. The people seem not to have changed. They asked for new gods at the first chance they got. But God seems to have become more accepting of who the people are. Moshe ends his argument by reciting the thirteen attributes of mercy of God, summoning forth the identity which would allow God to co-exist with the stiff-necked Israelites.
In the haftarah, it is the people who are changed. The haftarah takes place after the destruction of the First Temple, as Ezekiel addresses the exiled people and gives them hope for return. However, these people are still the same stiff-necked people that they were all the way back during the story of the golden calf. The Book of Ezekiel opens with God’s description of the people as rebellious, just as their ancestors had been rebellious, possessing brazen faces and hard hearts. The idea that the people are hard-hearted appears repeatedly in Ezekiel, usually to express the idea that the people choose to worship idols of stone and wood rather than worshipping God, just as they did with the golden calf.
However, the haftarah offers a way out of this problem. If the hearts of the people have been hard for generations, leading the people to stray again and again, now, God is replacing those hard hearts. In Ezekiel 36:26-27, God says, “And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you: I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit into you. Thus I will cause you to follow my laws and faithfully to observe my rules.” This heart of stone, this dead thing reminiscent of stone idols, stiff-neckedness, and Pharaoh, will be replaced with a heart of flesh. Humanity is recreated in the image of the living God. The stone tablets on which the covenant, the Ten Commandments, had been written is transformed. Rather than acting as a stone in our chests, weighing us down with its impositions, we receive a living heart which allows us to choose to follow those commandments. The next verse completes the covenant ceremony, “You will be my people and I will be your God.”
Are we still the same people we were before? No - we’ve changed, we’ve grown and improved. God has functioned as the outside perspective, allowing us to let go of the qualities we no longer need while trusting that we will not be losing ourselves in the process. As we begin the transition from Purim to Pesach, may we allow ourselves to trust in that outside perspective, to feel held enough to change. In the words of Psalm 51:11, “Create a pure heart within me, oh God.”
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Saturday Night
March 6, 2021
6:50 PM
PLEASE NOTE
TIME OF 6:50 pm.
SHABBAT IS NOW BEGINNING TO GET LATER EACH WEEK. WATCH FOR UPDATED TIMES.
"LIVE ...
FROM NEW YORK...
IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT"
CSFA HAVDALAH WITH
SAM SWARTZ AND
SARAH KING.
That is right... CSFA is proud to present Havdalah with Sarah and Sam.
Say "Good bye to Shabbat with your CSFA friends.
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Tuesday,March 9, 2021
12:00 noon
The Conservative Synagogue of
Fifth Avenue
is proud to announce
an online class
taught by
RABBI SAMUEL ROSENBERG
PIRKEI AVOT
"THE ETHICS OF OUR FATHERS"
Tractate Avot in the Mishnah (Pirkei Avot), is different from all the other Tractates of the Mishnah. The Tractate is a collection of sages' sayings on matters of morality and worship. We will read the tractate in order, and while studying we will try to understand the world of the sages and their Philosophy.
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This class will meet on
TUESDAYS at 12:00 noon
Tuesday,
March 9, 2021
The Zoom Link Follows:
or
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Tuesday, March 9, 2021
7:30 PM
Board of Trustees Meeting
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Wednesday, March 10, 2021
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
THE TALMUD AND PASSOVER
CONTINUED
מסכת פסחים
with
Rabbi Daniel Shibley
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We will continue a pause from our tour of rabbinic stories and personalities and focus on texts related to Pesach.
We will continue our study of chapter ten of Mishna Pesachim. It is the jumping off point for the seder itself and many subsequent discussions. Terse language leaves open the possibility for questions and interpretations.
At the same time, we will continue to sharpen our ability to understand passages from the Talmud.
No prior experience with Mishna or Talmud is necessary, all texts will be translated, and each session will stand on its own.
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"Virtual Zoom Class on
WEDNESDAY,
MARCH 10, 2021
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
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Rabbi Daniel Shibley is originally from Washington, DC. He holds a B.A. in Sociology from Clark University, and an M.A. in Security and Diplomacy Studies from Tel Aviv University. Daniel has learned at Yeshivat Hadar, Pardes, and Yeshivat Har Etzion. He made aliyah to Jerusalem in 2012 and completed military service in a combat unit. Rabbi Shibley received rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes in 2016 and was a member of the faculty at Pardes in Jerusalem until August, 2019. Daniel is now adjunct faculty at Pardes, a Hebrew tutor, and is pursuing a master's degree in international relations at New York University. Daniel enjoys cooking, gardening, and long distance running. |
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Wednesday, March 10th, 2021
8:00 PM
Here is information about an online series connecting you to the people, food, and culture of Israel over
16 Wednesday evenings. Click on the links below.
THIS WEEK IS THE 9th EPISODE
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Thursday, March 11, 2021
12:00 noon
PARSHA HASHAVUA
WITH
RABBI SAMUEL ROSENBERG
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A STUDY OF THE WEEKLY PARSHA
Thursday, March 11, 2021
12:00 noon
PARSHA VAYAKHEL/PEKUDE
SHABBAT HACHODESH
Please Join Us!
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CSFA MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
If you have received your dues invoice, please respond as quickly as you are able. If you did not receive an invoice, please contact the synagogue office. Your demonstration of support of CSFA by paying your membership dues is critical at this time.
If you prefer to pay online, you can use the following links:
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