Weekly Newsletter

Week of December 25th, 2020
10 Tevet 5781
Shabbat Vayigash

Thank you to this week's DONORS
We are grateful to have such a committed community

Nancy Miller renewed her Out-of-Town Membership
The following congregants contributed to the End-of-Year Fund:
Alexis Adler In honor of the birth of Rose Marie Bergman • Richard Bell • 
Paul & Ellen Silverstein
Deena Markowitz to the Eruv Fund
Simon Chafetz to the Building Fund in honor of Jeff Katz for his ongoing leadership at Stanton and on the LES
Richard McBee for an Aliyah
Sandra Lachter for Pre-Chanukah Cooking Class
Margie Segal in Honor of Slater Schwartzberg & Jill Slater's Birthdays

COVID Protocols
As cases rise nationally, and New York City tightens restrictions, we reemphasize the need to abide by the CDC guidelines. If you feel sick, please stay at home. If you attend in-person services, please wear a mask and register for services in advance. Thank you everyone for your cooperation as we all work together to ensure a safe service. 

Because many of us are not able to attend shul in person, the Rabbi has agreed to share his shabbat morning drashah in advance. Here is the first half of it. To read the full drashah, click here and it will take you to what will become a rich archive of all of Rabbi Staller's drashot.  

Given the events of the past several months– full of difficulty, tragedy, and unexpected surprises– it is perhaps fitting that we conclude this year with an unusual and unexpected act of solemnity: fasting on Shabbat. While generally we never fast on Shabbat, as Shabbat is a joyous day characterized by festive meals and celebration, the two exceptions to this rule are Yom Kippur, which supersedes Shabbat, and Assarah BeTevet, which this year fell out yesterday, Erev Shabbat, and extended an hour into Shabbat– ultimately dictating the earliest time we were allowed to say Kiddush. And while this year we only fasted an hour into Shabbat, the Halakha is that if Assarah BeTevet were to fall on Shabbat itself, we would fast all of Shabbat. But how can it be that this one, minor, rabbinic fast trumps Shabbat? Why don’t we just push off Assarah BeTevet to Sunday like we do when Tisha B’Av falls on Friday/Saturday? 

Rav Yosef Kairo, in his Beit Yosef– an earlier and lengthier codification of Halakha that would later be summarized into the Shulchan Aruch– quotes the Abudraham as the source for this peculiar halakha. The Abudraham explains that, while generally fast days are pushed off for Shabbat, since the fast of Assarah BeTevet commemorates Nebuchadnezzer’s first act of siege against Jerusalem, and in describing that siege the prophet says it occurred “BeEtzem HaYom HaZeh,” in the midst of that very day, we see that, like Yom Kippur, the day itself is important and non-negotiable. Therefore, even if it falls out on Shabbat, we must observe Assarah BeTevet on its proper day, and fast on Shabbat. Yet, while the Abudraham brings a verse to support himself, he hardly explains why Assarah BeTevet should be any different. Isn’t the precise date of every fast day important? Indeed, based on this difficulty, the Beit Yosef concludes that he is unsure about this Abudraham. Yet, despite R’ Yosef Kairo unsurety we all clearly have adopted the Halakhic practice of following the Abudraham. So what is special about Assarah BeTevet that it breaks the normal rules and forces us to fast on Shabbat?
... continued

Click HERE to read the Rabbi's full Drasha

Please take a moment to fill out the Chesed/Social Action Committee's Survey. Share your interest, with Committee Chairs, in chesed, or acts of kindness, including volunteer opportunities and providing support to community members during lifecycle events; and educational opportunities for social action, specifically focused on racial justice efforts.

Misheberach: We pray that all who are sick may have a full recovery. To add a name to our communal misheberach prayer list, email us. 

• Minya bat Sarah, Risa Gerstein’s sister
• Moshe ben Miriam, Risa Gerstein’s son-in-law

Mazel Tov to grandparents Dory and William Bergman, long-time Stanton members, and to Adam and Donna Gordon of Flatbush, on the birth of their granddaughter, Rose Bergman to Raphael and Rachel Bergman. We look forward to the day when we can celebrate together with a festive kiddush in Rose's honor.

Happy Birthday to Dana Friedman!

Five Years of Art from Yiddish New York
Tine Kinderman and Deborah Ugoretz, participating artists and oft curators of Stanton art shows in partnership with Yiddish New York, have put together a virtual retrospective: "FINF Yor"! Five Years of Art from Yiddish New York.

The show is part of YIDDISH NEW YORK, which will be virtual as well this year and run from December 26th - 30th. 

Wrap-up: Thank you to Dr. Michelle Friedman for a special evening of informative and helpful tools for coping with the effects of the ongoing Covid pandemic. If you missed that event, click here for a recording of Preparing for a COVID Winter. 

SPONSOR A CLASS
Please sponsor a virtual class in honor of oneself, the Shul, a yahrzeit, an anniversary, a birthday, or in the name of a friend or someone who sustains the Shul with their hard work.  Sponsorships begin at $36, but there is no maximum. All sponsorships benefit the Shul and are very much appreciated. 

Rabbi Leead Staller hosts weekly Parshat haShavuah Vayigash
Tuesday, December 29th, 7:00 - 8:00pm
via ZOOM with pswd: 614725
To join by phone, dial 1-(929) 205 6099 and enter Member ID: 847 9509 7605

AND Tefillah Shiur
Wednesday, December 30th, 7:00-8:15pm 
via ZOOM with pswd: 785886
To join by phone, dial 1-(929) 205 6099 and enter Member ID: 894 9535 0094

The Weekly Chesed Roundup
Looking for a local or remote chesed opportunity this week?
Here are some ways you can help individuals in need:

ONLINE ARCHIVES
Click HERE for an archive of shiurim by Rabbi Staller
Click HERE for an archive of drashot by Rabbi Staller
Click HERE to go to our YouTube Channel for an archive of our ZOOM classes

Rabbi Staller Encourages and Welcomes Your Feedback and can be reached by email or by phone/text at (917) 282-7643. Alternatively, you may reach out, confiedentially, to our Rabbinic Advisory Committee. Contact committee chair Jeff Katz or committee members Paul Ruffer, Margie Segal, Marc Schwartzberg, and Ellen Silverstein. We welcome your input.

We at The Stanton Street Shul and beyond have the incredible opportunity to learn Torah from the comfort of our own homes every week! Hear Rabbi Staller's fresh perspective on the weekly parsha on Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM and his innovative approach to understanding Tefillah (prayer) on Wednesdays at the same time. All Stanton classes are free and recorded for your review, but it is the live interchange between rabbi and participants that energizes these classes and makes them special. 

For important resources during this COVID-19 era, please  CLICK HERE.