Shul Announcements

May 2, 2015 13 Iyar, 5775 Omer Count: Day 28

Friday Night Mincha: 6:30 PM Shabbat Candle Lighting 7:36PM Morning Services: 9:00 AM Shabbat Mincha & Mussar – 7:25 PM Shabbat ends: 8:37PM

Acharei Mot - Kedoshim

Page 636 (Torah)

Page 1173 (Haftarah)

May Birthdays & Anniversaries

May Birthdays: Aaron Chevinsky (2nd), Marisa Kwoczka (2nd), Hank London (2nd), Sharon Smith (2nd), Javid Hakakian (5th), Ariel Scheer (5th), Jonathan Bravman (6th), Debra Turitz (6

th), Paul

Manis (7th), Carl Rosen (8th), Pamela Gelbert (9

th),

Samantha Messer (9th), Steve Levy (10th), Beena

Levy (11th), Rich Rosenberg (11th), Bryce Zwickel (11

th), Heather Cohen (12

th), Judith Heistein (12

th),

Deborah Goldwasser (15th), Tamar Winters (15

th),

Etti Zeldis (16th), Paula Antin (17

th), Elana Winters

(17th), Jason Cohen (12

th), Henry Goldwasser

(18th), Sherry Pollack (18

th), Debby Brafman (20

th),

Emily Hanrahan (20th), Jeremy Weiss (20

th),

Allyssa Gresser (26th), Justin Shulman (26

th), Ryan

Winter (26th), Oritte Bendory (28

th), Rachel Brandt-

Greenfeld (28th), Sarah Dabah (28

th), Louise

Levine (28th), Yonaton Tammam (28

th), Shayna

Chevinsky (29th), Daniel Spielman (29

th), Daniel

Geary (30th), Andrew Hanrahan ( 30

th), Aaron

Nessel (31st), Zachary Nessel (31

st), Ron

Rubenstein (31st).

May Anniversaries: Richard & Fawn Zwickel (17

th), Jeff & Mimi Czeisler (20

th), Joel & Marla

Katz (25th), Alan & Jennifer Gellerstein (26

th),

Barry Ginsberg & Lauren Cooper (28th), Stuart &

Carol Kerievsky (28th), Rav Menashe & Donna

East (29th).

This Week: May 2: Schmelkin Baby Naming

May 3: Pesach Sheni; Passover Makeup day

May 3: Talmud Study, 9AM

May 5: Hebrew School Open House – tell your friends

May 7: Thursday Torah, 10AM

May 7: Lag Ba’omer Bonfire, Magician and BBQ,

6PM, shul Parking lot…$5/person

Upcoming Events:

May 9: We-Drash – Geoff Lampel and Janet Tammam give a

duo-Drash for Parshat Emor

May 9: April/May Combined Shared Kiddush, contact the

office to be a sponsor.

May 10: Mother’s Day

May 10: Talmud Study, 9AM

May 12: Hebrew School Open House – tell your friends

May 13: Meeting of the Board of Directors, 8PM

May 16: Shabbat Chazzak & Shabbat Mevarchim for Sivan

May 16: Yom Yerushalayim Melavah Malka, details tbd…

May 17: Yom Yerushalayim cont…

May 19: Rosh Chodesh Sivan; Traditional Minyan @

GRTWA, 820AM

May 19: Last Day of Hebrew School; sign up for next year

May 23: Shavuot – sign up to teach a class for our late-night

learning; RSVP for a shul-made dinner;$20/person

May 25: Yizkor & Megillat Ruth – readers sign up…

May 26: NY Mets Israel Appreciation night, 710PM

May 31: Israel Day Parade, join the MFJC Banner, Details

tba

June 2: Interfaith Holocaust Memorial, MFJC, 730PM

June 8: Annual General Meeting, 8PM

MFJC INFO ~ www.mtfjc.org Address: 1209 Sussex Tpk., Randolph 07869

Phone Numbers: Office: 973 895 2100 Rabbi: 973 895 2103; Rabbi’s Cell: 201 923 1107 Rabbi’s Office Hours: Mornings: Tues - Fri, 9-1PM; afternoons/evenings: 3-6PM; or anytime by appt Menashe East rabbi@mtfjc.org Office Hours: M-Th, 10- 5PM; F, 10-4PM David Paris office@mtfjc.org

MFJC SERVICE TIMES:

Weekday – 6:45AM

Weeknight – Upon Request (Yahrzeit)

Sunday & National Holidays – 8:00AM

Shabbat Services – 9:00AM

Fri Eve: Summer – 6:30PM; Winter – Sunset

Mazel Tov Schmelkin Family! Thank you to Steven and Rachel Schmelkin for sponsoring

today’s Kiddush in honor of their daughter’s Baby Naming!

Tzeitchem L’Shalom to the London Family! We wish the London Family farewell and

best of luck as they move away from

Randolph to start a new chapter in life.

MFJC Youth Program Invites You to Celebrate

Lag B’Omer Bon Fire BBQ and Festivities Thursday, May 7th @6:00PM

BBQ @ 6:30PM

@ Mount Freedom Jewish Center – 1209 Sussex Trpk, Randolph

Special Guest Entertainer:

Steve the Magician

$5/person

RSVP to Office@mtfjc.org

Celebrate Shavuot with Mt. Freedom Jewish Center

Festive Holiday Meal, All Night Study, Games for kids, Ice Cream and more!

May 23rd, 24th & 25th @ 1209 Sussex Turnpike

Randolph, NJ

Come for a Shul cooked Shavuot dinner, May 23rd $20pp and $15 for kids under 13. BYOB!

Saturday, May 23rd Monday, May 25th 8:30 PM Evening Services 8:58 Candle Lighting 9:00 AM Morning Services 9:00 PM Shul Cooked Dairy Dinner -- BYOB 10:30 AM Youth Aliyah @ Sinai/Bima 10:00 PM Let the Studying Begin! 11:00 AM YIZKOR 1st Session: Rabbi East leads the opening discussion 11:30 AM Reading of Ruth Followed by a variety of classes led by Congregants – sign up today!!! 5:00 PM Women’s Discussion of Ruth Treats all night long to feed your body while you nourish your soul! hosted by Donna East, 1 Nuko Terr 8:00 PM Afternoon Services 9:00 PM Yom Tov ends Sunday, May 24th 4:00 AM Early Morning Services 9:00 AM Regular Morning Services 11:00 AM Jewpardy & Ice Cream Party 7:00 PM Afternoon/Evening Services 8:59 PM Candle Lighting

Caregiver Support Group

Are you caring for a loved with Alzheimer’s or

Related Dementia Disease?

This group will offer:

Emotional and educational support

An opportunity to network with other caregivers

DATES: Last Thursday of the month - May 28, June 25, July 30,

August 27, September 24

TIME: 1:00 – 2:00 pm

LOCATION: Mt. Freedom Jewish Center 1209 Sussex Turnpike, Randolph, NJ

For more information about the Caregiver Support Group,

please call 973-765-9050

There is no charge for this program.

This group will be co-facilitated by:

Alyson Kaplan, LSW & Alexandra Nagy, LSW, Jewish Family Service of MetroWest

Two Types of Kedusha

Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim represents the transition from the first half of Vayikra to the second. The first half is focused solely on the Temple, its holiness and the sacrifices conducted therein. Tazria-Metzorah, last week's double parasha, continued this theme, detailing the various ritual impurities, the tumot, that would require a person to be sent out of the camp and prevent his or her access to the Temple. This week, in Acharei Mot, the Torah limits access not to the Temple itself, but to the Holy of Holies.

"Speak to Aharon your brother, that he may not enter at all times into the Holy... Only with this may Aharon enter into the Holy" (Vayikra, 16:2-3). Aharon is singled out because he is the Kohen Gadol; normalkohanim are never allowed to enter. Even Aharon is only allowed to enter on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, and only after completing exacting sacrificial rites.

Clearly, gaining access to the Temple, the place of God's presence, is not a trivial matter. With the Temple so inaccessible - at times both geographically and ritually - it would stand to reason that a person may want to reach out to God by bringing a sacrifice without the Temple. This option is denied as well, as the bringing of such sacrifices is prohibited in the middle of Acharei Mot. That the first half of Vayikra ends with this prohibition underscores just how difficult it is to connect to God through the Temple.

Beginning the second half of Vayikra, Kedoshim presents a radically different approach to holiness and to connecting with God. "Speak to the entire congregation of Israel and say to them: Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Vayikra, 19:2). To access the holy is not to enter the Temple, it is to strive to become holy. To connect to God is not to enter into the Holy of Holies, but to strive to be like God. It is through such striving that we actualize the holiness, the divine, the tzelem elohim, that is in each and every one of us.

There are, then, two types of holiness, two types of kedusha. There is the kedusha of Acharei Mot and the kedusha of kedoshim ti'hiyu, "you shall be holy." In other words, there is a kedusha that conceives of God as residing in a place, and there is a kedusha that perceives of God as residing in each and every person.

The first represents the attempt to draw close to God, to enter into God's abode. It is thus a kedusha that is restrictive, one of limited access. For what human being can leave this world and enter into the place where God dwells? The second is holiness whose goal is not to leave this world to be close to God. Its goal is to actualize the divine within us, to bring God and Godliness into this world. It is a kedusha that is accessible by all.

Kedoshim opens not with "daber el Aharon achikha," "Speak to Aharon your brother," but "daber el kol adat benei Yisrael," "speak to the entire congregation of Israel." All of you - man, woman, child, ritually pure, and ritually impure - each one of you can become holy, can become like God. This is a holiness that includes rituals and rites to be sure, but it is also a holiness of morality, a holiness that touches on every act, religious or interpersonal. It touches every detail of how we live our lives.

WEEKLY PARSHA By Rabbi Dov Linzer, Rosh HaYeshiva and Dean

of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Parshat Acharei Mot - Kedoshim | May 1, 2015 / 13 Iyar 5775

How does one live such a life of holiness? One strives for Godliness in all actions. One does not only connect to God during ritual or "religious" activity; one also brings an awareness of God into his or her interpersonal exchanges.Kedoshim ti'hiyu is a holiness that demands ethical behavior in all spheres.

Thus we find that Kedoshim opens with two mitzvot: the mitzvah to have awe and respect for one's parents and the mitzvah to keep Shabbat, an ethical commandment and a religious one. The foundation of our interpersonal behavior in life is laid in the home; it starts with and is shaped by how children interact with their parents. And the foundation of holiness is not the Temple with its difficult and limited access; it is Shabbat, a staple of our week, a holiness that all can experience, a welcoming of the Divine Presence into our homes.

The rest of Kedoshim presents a dense and varied listing of mitzvot, with almost every other verse ending with the refrain, "ani Hashem eloheikhem," "I am the Lord your God." This echoes the opening verse, "Be holy, for holy am I the Lord your God." The Torah is telling us: This is what it means to be holy, to be like God. If we are to live a life of this type of holiness, then we must bring God into our harvesting of grain, our buying and selling, our hiring and paying of workers, our dealing with the disadvantaged, our speaking of others, and our feelings towards others. To have access to God everywhere means that we cannot compartmentalize our religious life away from our "normal" life. God can be found in every activity, thus we must strive to find God in all parts of our lives.

In his introduction to Vayikra, Ramban notes that the purpose of constructing the Mishkan was to recreate Har Sinai in the Israelite camp. Just as God's presence came down onto Har Sinai, God's presence filled the Mishkan. Just as boundaries were set around the mountain to prevent the people from "bursting through," impure people were kept outside the Temple. And, one might add, just as Moshe and Aharon alone were allowed to go to the top of the mountain, only Aharon is allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies.

So ends Ramban's parallel, but one thing is missing. For after God descends on Har Sinai, something important happens: the Torah is given. The purpose of the descent was not so that we might go up the mountain to draw close to God's presence; the purpose of the descent was so that God may command us in the mitzvot of the Torah.

The parallel to the Giving of the Torah is not the Mishkan; it is Parashat Kedoshim. Many commentators have already noted that the mitzvot at the beginning of Kedoshim parallel the Ten. More than that, parashat Kedoshim serves as the culmination and translation of all that came before. The purpose of the Mishkan was not for the sake of "with this Aharon may enter the sanctum". Its purpose was so that God may dwell in our midst, so that we can live a life of holiness. The kedushaof Acharei Mot serves to bring about the kedusha of Kedoshim.

Even in our religious strivings, as we try to come close to God, the ultimate kedusha is a life of mitzvot, a life of actualizing the divine within us; a life in which God is accessible to every person, a life in which God is present in all of our actions.

Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbat Shalom Parshat Acharei Mot - Kedoshim (Leviticus 16:1 – 20:27)

Efrat, Israel – “You must surely instruct your colleague, so that you not bear the brunt of his sin” (Leviticus 19:17)

Judaism teaches us that “every Israelite is responsible for the other.” Except for the State of Israel, where the Jewish

population continues to grow, Jews in the rest of the world suffer from internal “hemorrhaging.” How do we “inspire” our

Jewish siblings so that they remain within —or return to—our Jewish peoplehood? We have recently celebrated the festival of

Passover, and we are “counting” each day towards the festival of Shavuot. The Hebrew term for the counting issefira, a word

pregnant with meaning. Its root noun is the Hebrew sappir, which is the dazzling blue—as the Bible records immediately

following the Revelation at Sinai: “Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders of Israel then went up. And

they saw the God of Israel, beneath whose ‘feet’ was something akin to the creation of a sapphire stone, like the essence of the

heavens as to its purity” (Exodus 24: 9-10).

From this perspective, the days of our counting are a period of spiritual growth and development, of a connection between

Passover and Shavuot. But when and how does this spiritual journey begin? It begins with Passover, God’s encounter with His

nation Israel at its conception. And the Hebrew sefira (counting/ sapphire) is also based on the Hebrew noun sippur, a tale, a

story, a re-counting – the very essence of the Passover Seder evening experience: “And you shall tell (haggada, telling a story)

your child on that day saying…” (Exodus 13:8) The Israelites came into Egypt as a family, the seventy descendants of Jacob.

Hence the recounting of the story of our enslavement and eventual redemption is the recounting of family history. A nation is a

family writ large: in a family, there are familial memories of origins; in a family there is a sense of commonality and

community togetherness; in a family there are special foods and customs, special holidays and celebrations; in a family there

are mandated values and ideals, that which is acceptable and that which is unacceptable “in our family”; and in a family there

is a heightened sense of a shared fate and shared destiny.

Eda is the biblical word for community (literally “witness”), and every community attempts to recreate a familial collegiality.

The relationship within the family is largely horizontal (towards each other ) rather than vertical (connected to a transcendent

God). And familial rites of togetherness are largely governed by family customs rather than by a Divinely ordained legal code.

Most importantly in families – as well as communities – every individual counts (once again, sefira). Passover is our family-

centered, communal festival, at the beginning of our calendar, at the very outset of our history, at the early steps towards

our sefira march. On that first Passover we had not yet received our Torah from God, and we had not yet entered our Promised

Land.

The Passover Sacrifice (Ex. 12) emphasizes our willingness to sacrifice for our freedom from slavery—our sacrifice of the

lamb which was a defiant act of rebellion against the idolatrous Egyptian slave-society—and it attests to our uncompromising

belief in human freedom and redemption even before we became a faith ordained at Mount Sinai. In order for every

person/community to really count, large communities must be subdivided into smaller—and more manageable—familial and

extra-familial units, “a lamb for each household” or several households together. Special foods, special stories and special

songs define and punctuate the close-knit nature of the event. The ticket of admission is that you consider yourself a member

of the family and wish to be counted as such; this entitles you to an unconditional embrace of love and acceptance, to inclusion

in the family of Israel.

The rasha (wicked child) of the Haggadah is the one who seems to exclude himself from the family – and even s/he is to be

invited and included! How do we engage our unaffiliated Jews so that they do not defect and fall away from us? We must

embrace them as part of our family, love them because we are part of them and they are part of us, regale them with the stories,

songs and special foods which are expressed in our biblical and national literature that emerged from our challenging fate and

our unique destiny, share with them our vision and dreams of human freedom and peace, and accept them wholeheartedly no

matter what.

A personal family postscript: My paternal grandfather was an idealistic and intellectual communist. He ate on Yom Kippur and

truly believed that religion “was the opiate of the masses.” Nevertheless, he conducted a Passover Seder each year—which I

attended as a young child—with matza, maror, haroset, and the first part of the Haggada. He would add passages from the

Prophets, the Talmud and Shalom Aleichem which dealt with consideration for the poor and underprivileged, and checked that

I could space my fingers properly for the Priestly Benediction, cautioning me to understand that the blessing was for world

peace.

Despite my tender years, I noticed that there were still bread and rolls in the house which, if a grandchild wished, he received. I

couldn’t understand the contradiction. And then I was riding on a train with my grandfather, and there were two elderly ultra-

Orthodox Jews sitting opposite us, speaking Yiddish. Two young toughs walked into our compartment and began taunting the

hassidim.

At the next stop my grandfather – who was fairly tall and strong – lunged forward, grabbed the toughs, and literally threw

them out the open door. When he returned to his seat, I asked, “But grandpa, you’re not at all religious!” He looked at me in

dismay. “What difference does that make? They are part of our family—and I am part of their family!” Then I understood…

Shabbat Shalom

A Sanctified Life

In the middle of this week’s double portion, Achrei Mot-Kedoshim, the Torah lists a Mitzvah that will be restated two more times after this in the Torah; once, in the second portion of this Shabbat and again in Deuteronomy. Jews are enjoined to retain our identity: ‘Like the actions of Egypt do not do, and the actions of the Canaan do not do – in their practices do not follow. [Rather] My judgements you shall do and My statutes you shall observe to follow them.’

Maimonides book of Mitzvoth lists this as one of his negative commandments (#30). The warning here is in order to prevent people from following heretical practices. This would extend even to the way we dress. The Midrash extends the meaning of statutes – Chukkim – to manners that have been ingrained for generations. The Midrash, elsewhere, extends the prohibition of mimicking the other to cultural practices as well – the theater, going to circuses etc…

On the converse, following God’s word means following God’s judgements and statutes. The Talmud defines the meaning of judgements as matters that are intuitively known to be correct – the prohibition against idolatry, murder, adultery, theft – if God hadn’t written these instructions in the Torah, we would have known that these should have been included.

Statutes, by contrast, are commandments that we would not know as obvious extensions of God’s will. In the Talmud’s language, these are practices that the Satanic voice inside of us says: ‘Eating pork, wearing wool and linen, purifying the leper – those are senseless commandments.’ But God instructs us to follow these statutes, even if we don’t understand them. (TB Yoma 67b)

These two poles of religious life are fairly representative of the Jewish religious experience. The book of Psalms phrases it thus: ‘Avoid evil, and perform good.’ That neatly encapsulates the commands of our portion. Avoid the influence of the other; follow the words of God.

However, the concluding section upends this tidy message: ‘You shall live in them.’ The ironic rabbinic exposition of this idea – living in God’s word – is that if a person’s life is in danger, we must break Shabbat to help him live. (TB Yoma 85b) Here, living the word of God means, sometimes, breaking the word of God. This sentiment is echoed, centuries later, by the Hasidic movement which could find true devotion to God even in the violation of Torah and would critique rigorous adherence to Torah and Jewish law as self-centeredness.

In his code of law, Maimondies read this verse with slightly different emphasis. If a person favors life at the expense of Torah, the exceptions to this rule notwithstanding, he has not broken the laws of the Torah; he has, rather, upheld a deeper truth of Torah. (Laws of Foundation of Torah, 5:1) Namely, the Torah is synonymous with life. The sanctity of life is our most Godly expression.

Shabbat Shalom Umevorach, Rabbi Menashe East