Weekly Newsletter

Week of January 29th, 2021
16 Shevat 5781
​​​​​​​Parashat Beshalach, Shabbat Shira

Thank you to this week's DONORS
We are grateful to have such a committed community
The following congregants contributed to the Mishloach Manot 2021 Project:
Richard Bell • Rebecca Betensky & Jeremy Newberger • Dara Freed • Dana Friedman • Jeff Katz • Phyllis & Paul Ruffer
Moshe Bloxenheim in honor of his parents, Rav Chaim and Sonia Bloxenheim
Jeff Katz and Phyllis Ruffer for General Donations in honor of Rabbi Leead & Shoshana's impressive cooking class 
Talor Trusty for General Donations in honor of Marc Schwartzberg

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.  

Was Rambam a sinner?
While the question seems inflammatory, it is, in fact, one of hot debate over generations of the tradition. Of course, the label “sinner” might be hyperbole, as the sin in question is one very specific and niche prohibition found in this week’s Parashah. As the Jews are about to cross the Dead Sea and escape Egypt, Moses tells them (14:13):

כִּ֗י אֲשֶׁ֨ר רְאִיתֶ֤ם אֶת־מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ הַיּ֔וֹם לֹ֥א תֹסִ֛יפוּ לִרְאֹתָ֥ם ע֖וֹד עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃
“For as you see Egypt today, you shall not see it ever again.” 

While this verse does not seem like the typical form in which commandments are given in the Torah– really more of a general observation about the state of destruction that is about to befall Egypt– our Rabbis actually learn this verse to be a prohibition. More specifically, this verse is learned as the basis of a Torah prohibition for a Jew to live in Egypt. The Yerushalmi in Succah records our Passuk as one of three instances of this prohibition in the Torah, and the Bavli (Succah 51b), expanding on that idea, explains that the large and thriving Jewish community of Alexandria was wiped out for violating this prohibition by living in Egypt. 
If that’s the case, and there is a prohibition to live in Egypt, does that make Rambam– as well as rabbinic greats such as the Radvaz hundreds of years later, and Rav Ovadiah Yosef in our own time– sinful for having lived in Egypt? In fact, the Sefer Kaftor UFerach, a fourteenth century rabbinic work about the land of Israel, quotes in the name of Rambam’s grandson that Rambam himself would regularly amend his own signature with the preface, “he who violates three prohibitions every day.” According to this shocking account of the Kaftor UFerach, Rambam himself agreed that his life decision was sinful, but nonetheless continued living in Egypt! ...continued

Click HERE to read the Rabbi's full Drasha

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. 

We wish Mr. Jay Kitainik, Yechiel Ben Ita, the father of Neil Kitainik, a speedy and full recovery.

This week, David Deutsch who commemorated his father's yahrzeit on 14 Shevat, brought together our first in-person maariv and shacharit minyanim since last Purim! Thank you to all who joined us, and yashar koach to David for spearheading and leading the minyanim.

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. 

Cooking with Rabbi Leead & Shoshana in honor of Tu b'shevat was a wild success and the treat of the season. Within an hour and a half, and very limited counter space, the rabbi whipped up salt encrusted baked delicata squash with spicy petita salsa sauce, a Sheva Minim salad with feta cheese, and a fruit tart with a graham cracker crust. The piece de resistance was not the dessert but a short drusha on the holiday itself. Rabbi Leead shared pro tips as well, including insights on the chemistry and physics of the cooking process. A recording is available on Stanton Street's YouTube channel, along with many other classes and shiurim.
Stay tuned for upcoming cooking classes!

Rabbi Leead Staller hosts 
Parshat haShavuah Beshalach
Tuesday, February 2nd, 7:00 - 8:00pm via ZOOM
To join by phone, dial 1-(929) 205 6099 and enter Member ID: 847 9509 7605

AND Tefillah Shiur
Wednesday, February 3rd, 7:00-8:15pm via ZOOM
To join by phone, dial 1-(929) 205 6099 and enter Member ID: 894 9535 0094

David Deutsch's Three-Part Lecture Series: 
From Antisemitism to Extermination - the Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy

Mondays at 7:00pm via ZOOM

Although it is believed by many that the Final Solution was the culmination of a decades-long plan on the part of the Nazi leadership, the consensus of modern historians is that it arose out of wartime circumstances.

January 25th Germany and Hitler's Antisemitism: The Place of Jews in Weimar Germany and the Nazi Consciousness
February 1st Judenfrei: Nazi Jewish Policy in the 1930's
February 8th German Military Ambitions, Failures, and the Adoption of the Final Solution

To participate by phone, dial 1 929 205 6099 and enter Meeting ID: 845 3085 7476

Be Happy! It's Adar

Women's Tefillah Group Rosh Chodesh Services
February 12th at 8am via ZOOM
By women for women. To lead any part of the service, email us. 
By phone, dial 1 929 205 6099 and enter Meeting ID: 852 1655 6353
Sponsorships available at $36 or higher.

PRE-PURIM PROGRAMS

CHESED OPPORTUNITIES

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.

Nishmat, the Advanced Torah Study Center in Jerusalem
Online Beis Midrash for Women
Tanach Class about the Five Megillot on Wednesdays 7 - 9amEST 
In Hebrew, it is 50% chevruta/50% lecture and is lead by Rabbi David Sabato
Email  Tziporah Templeman or Malki Sinensky for more info.

Virtual Travel: Inside Destroyed Historic Jewish Sites
American Jewish University
Women's Seder Night Sugiyot- Basic Gemara Tools
Hadar Virtual Beit Midrash Calendar . 
JTS Torah online by clicking here ​​​​​​.
92nd St Y 

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