Home

​​​​​​​

Shabbat Yitro
Week of February 14th, 2025
Shevat 5785
Wishing you and your family 
Shabbat Shalom!

Friday February 14th ,2025 * Shevat 16,  5785

• Erev Shabbat: Candle lighting at 5:11 pm

• Shacharit Services in Shul will begin promptly at 9:30 am, followed by a Kiddush at 12:00pm, all are welcome!
  Kiddush this week is sponsored by Aliza and David Deutsch in honor of David's father - Yisroel Zvi z"l, ben Simcha Bunim HaLevi whose yahrzeit  was on the 14th of Shvat. We thank them for their generosity.
  If you would like to sponsor Kiddush in the future, please reach out to info@stantonstshul.com.​​​​​​​
• StantonKIDS from 10:30 am to12:00 pm, downstairs in the Beit Midrash. We hope to see many familiar faces and also new ones! 
  ​​​​​​​

• Presidents' Day

• Weekly Shiur with Rabbi Birkeland- in person and on  ZOOM ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Birthdays:
Shabbat, February 15, 2025   •   17 Shevat 5785
 Parsha Anniversary to Larissa Nahari

Sunday, February 16, 2025   •   18 Shevat 5785
 Happy Birthday to Larissa Nahari
Monday, February 17, 2025   •   19 Shevat 5785
 Happy Birthday to  Alan Roditi!
 

Torah Inspiration with Rabbi Birkeland

Dear Friends,

This week we read Parshas Yisro. The parshah is roughly divided into two stories. The first half of the parshah recounts the visit of Moshe’s father in law, Yisro, to the Israelite camp, along with Tzipora and her and Moshe’s two sons whom he had sent away upon entering Egypt. Yisro joins Moshe and the elders in rejoicing over the exodus and all the good that God did for the Children of Israel. He then shares some advice for judicial and administrative reform that Moshe heeds before Yisro returns to Midian. The Second part of the parshah recounts the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai where the Israelites prepare to and then encounter the Divine.

In many respects this is the real climax of the exodus, and maybe of the entire Chumash, wherein this fledgling people forges a new relationship with the God of their ancestors by accepting the Torah. It was for this reason that we were brought out of Egypt and this Torah has been the core of our spiritual, religious, and civil life ever since. Considering this, and considering that next week’s parshah is largely a continuation of the giving of the Torah, it is interesting that we didn’t start this week’s parshah with the revelation at Sinai but rather started with Yisro’s visit, as recounted above. The question only grows stronger when we learn that the Talmud debates whether Yisro’s visit occurred before or after the giving of the Torah. If his visit was after the giving of the Torah, then we really have to wonder why the Torah recounts it beforehand. Different commentaries have offered different answers but I’d like to suggest the following. 

The Torah says that on the day after Yisro arrived, he observed Moshe sitting and adjudicating disputes between the Israelites from morning until evening. When asked what he was doing, Moshe explained that the people come to him for judgement and he in turn judges between them and publicises God’s decrees and teachings. This is surely an incredible opportunity and resource for the people. Short of hearing the law from God, what is better than learning Torah directly from Moshe? He was essentially the perfect conduit for God’s perfect Torah. Yisro recognized, however, that this model of engagement was unsustainable. Yisro tells Moshe “you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone” (Ex. 18:18). For everyone’s sake, it would be better to share the burden.

Bringing other people into the judicial process is some degree of a compromise and it opens up more room for mistakes and human error. Rather than going right to Moshe, the people would now have to go to those who were taught by Moshe or perhaps even those who were taught by those who were taught by Moshe. Despite this, Moshe recognizes the wisdom and importance of Yisro’s suggestions and implements them wholeheartedly. Though Torah is perfect, it is a work given to human beings who are definitionaly imperfect. Yisro recognized that as important as it is to relay Torah as purely and directly as possible, it is at least as important to do so in a way that considers and allows for our humanity. If we refuse to do so, we risk serious burn out and unsustainable engagement with our source of sustenance. It is only once Moshe and the people recognize this that the Torah can then be revealed.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Birkeland        
 

Women's Tefillah Group
GET READY FOR PURIM!!!


We will gather together on March 13, 2025 for a Megillat Esther Reading. We hope you join us!
If you would like to layn, lead services, or give a d'var Torah with us, or if you have questions, please be in touch!

StantonKIDS
Shabbat Programming for 5785

Dear Stanton Community, 
Thank G-d in recent weeks we have been welcoming back Israeli hostages returning from Gaza. Israeli citizens, among them Americans, are still hostages in Gaza. You can find information on them and on their families' efforts to release them  here. Over 1,800 Israelis are dead with many more wounded. There are also innocent civilians caught in the line of fire in Gaza and Lebanon. 
 
This has been an unprecedented and the most deadly attack on Israel in a generation. We must take action!

In addition to our prayers, we ask you to consider making a generous donation to one of the listed causes.
 
The One who makes peace on high,
may He bring peace down below to us.
Amen

ONLINE ARCHIVES

If you missed services this past shabbes, or arrived too late to hear the drasha, you can go to our archives and read a copy! 
Click here for an archive of shiurim
Click here for an archive of drashot
Click here to go to our YouTube Channel for an archive of all of our ZOOM classes

{{shulcloud_footer_left}}

{{shulcloud_footer_right}}