Friday

6:15 PM

Shabbat Evening Services

In-person and live-streamed

Saturday

9:30 AM

Shabbat Morning Services

followed by Kiddush Luncheon

sponsored by

Mark & Diane Schleifstein

in honor of their

50th wedding anniversary

In-person and live-streamed

Saturday

10 AM

Babysitting

Sunday

9 AM

Shul School

Sunday

9:15 AM

Minyan with Men's Club

In person and available on Zoom

Translations are products of the time in which they are written. Pick up the old Silverman Siddur that anyone raised in a Conservative synagogue would recognize and take a look at the English. Published in 1944, it was beautiful in its day, elegantly laid out and very straightforward to follow. Unfortunately, being written at a time when referring to G-d with ordinary pronouns was considered disrespectful, the prayer book is peppered with enough “thee’s”, “thy’s” and “thou’s” to make Shakespeare blush. The Lev Shalem we use today has done away with this convention, no longer in vogue in our own day. Volunteer English readers of all ages rejoice!



Changes in translation can be noted not only in the siddur but also in the Chumash. This week’s Torah portion, Tzav, continues where its predecessor Vayikra left off by describing the various Tabernacle (and later Temple) sacrifices. One in particular is called an olah, mentioned at the very outset of the portion. Older versions of the Bible translates this as “holocaust.” This actually makes sense, for the term holocaust combines the Greek terms holos (entirely) and kostos (immolated). In contrast to other offerings, an olah was completely burned upon the altar, as we read in the following passage from 12^th century Midrash Aggadah (6.11.1):

• This is the doctrine of the olah : Why was it called the olah? Because it is supreme over all the sacrifices. If a person brings a sin-offering, the priest may eat a certain designated portion. If a person brings a meal-offering, or a peace-offering, he/she may eat the animal together with the priest overseeing the sacrifice.  But the olah ascends to the Most High, therefore it is called ascending (the sense of olah is to go up, like an Aliyah to the Torah or relocation to Israel), and as a consequence is burned entirely upon the altar. It is sacrificed to G-d, who is the Most High. 

In the aftermath of the Shoah, obviously the term “holocaust” had to be removed from all Bible translations. But the irony should be lost on no one that while the original “holocaust” was the pinnacle of holiness, our own “Holocaust” was the nadir of historical suffering. 

Our Sages tell us that “the Torah speaks in layman’s terms”, that is, it “speaks” the way we do. The sea change to Jewish self-perception in the aftermath of the Holocaust led us to rethink many aspects of our theology, our practices – and our Bible translations. 

- Rabbi Scott Hoffman

Parashat Tzav

Shabbat HaGadol

Torah: Leviticus 6:1 - 7:10

Maftir: Leviticus 7:7-10

Haftarah: Malachi 3:4-24

The Torah reading for this week is in the panel above. If you do not have a Chumash at home, you can find it on the link below. We are reading Triennial Year 1, but you might like to read the full portion (“Full Kriyah”).

Our Shabbat brochure with yahrzeits and simchas for this week is attached. You might wish to take special notice of those who are sick, and take a moment to direct your thoughts towards them.

Thank you to all those listed below who performed the mitzvah of supporting our community this past week.