Weekly Newsletter

Shabbat Vayera
Week of November 14th, 2024
Cheshvan 5785
Wishing You and your family Shabbat Shalom and a good week!

Erev Shabbat Friday November 15th, 2024 (14th BeCheshvan, 5785)
Candle Lighting at 4:19 pm

Shabbat November 16th, 2024 (15th of Cheshvan, 5785)
Shacharit Services in Shul at 9:30 am, followed by a Kiddush open to everyone.
This week's Kiddush is sponsored by our member Eva Lina Morales in memory of her dear friend Eliana Letzter z"l ( Eliana bas Emanuel Shalom v'Meira Bracha). We would like to thank Lina for her generosity!

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Birthday:
November 14th- Yom Huledet Sameach to Margie Segal on her birthday!

Misheberach 
Rachel Devorah bat Elke
Cecile Cohen זיאסל מלכה בת אסתר 
Manny Kaplan מאיר ראובן בן לאה        
Chana Mera bat Fruma Henna
Gitche bat Honcha
Ella bat Leah
Chaya Malka bat Esther Leia
Nolan Rhodes נתן צבי בן פרידה
Ashlynn Elizabeth Helen Coffman
 Moshe Asher Ben Esther Sarah
Chaim Yechezkel Ben Leah
Reuven ben Rochel
Rivka bat Miriam Sara
Eliyahu Natan ben Shayndel
Shayna bat Chana Kayla 
Yitzhak Calev ben Leetza Tzvia
Ashira bat Yosef
Chaim Yonah ben Dubrah
Efraim Ben Sore
Shimon Sumer HaLevi Ben Malka
Jim Lee
Leah Zahava Bat Elka
Barry Feldman
​​​​​​​Yaacov Ben Chaya Gitza
Rochel Ben Chaya Gitza

We pray that all who are sick may have a full recovery. We are especially sending prayers to those who are wounded and in need of healing in Israel and Gaza, and daven for the safe return of those who are still unaccounted for.

To add a name to our communal misheberach prayer list, email us.

If you have a Yahrtzeit, birthday, anniversary or other milestone coming up, please reach out!
We'd like to update our Yahrtzeit database. Please send us your yahrzeit details. If you don't know the exact Hebrew date, just let us know the date of passing, and we will figure it out and add it to the Shul Cloud calendar.

Our Annual Membership Drive Is Ongoing!

** Membership Invoices have been sent out to all who held Memberships last year (2023-2024) and have not yet paid for the 2024-2025 year. Please reach out with any questions about renewing your membership or beginning a new membership.**
Thank you to all members who have submitted payments. Your dues allow us to be the welcoming place we are.

Dear Friends,

This week we read Parshas Vayerah in which God destroys the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The prophet Yechezkel sheds light on what was so bad about these cities so as to bring about such destruction. He says “Only this was the sin of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquility; yet she did not support the poor and the needy” (Ez. 16:49). Though they were a society of plenty, they were a society that hoarded their wealth and did not share even with each other, let alone with others in need.
The Midrash offers a number of examples to illustrate this selfishness. One such example involves Kallah, a daughter of Lot. In Bereishis Rabbah chapter 49 it says “once there was a poor man in Sodom who was dying of hunger. Kallah, a daughter of Lot, would go to draw water from the well. She would hide bread in her jug and bring it to the poor man. The people of Sodom said “how is it that this man is still living?” They looked into the matter and found out that Lot’s daughter was feeding him. What did they do? They covered her in honey and the bees and the flies ate the honey, biting her until she died.” Their disdain towards providing for the needy was such that they killed Kallah, in an unimaginably barbaric way, for bringing bread to a starving man. 
The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos (5:11) presents four ways that people relate to property: “One that says: ‘what’s mine is mine, and yours is yours’: this is a commonplace type; and some say this is the character-type of Sodom. [One that says:] ‘what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine’: is an am haaretz; [One that says:] ‘what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is yours’ is a pious person. [One that says:] ‘what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine’ is a wicked person.” The first type is identified as both the typical approach to property as well as Sodom’s approach to property. The Torah allows for private property, which is seemingly the ethos expressed in the statement “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours”, and so how can that also be the ethos of Sodom?
In his commentary on this mishnah, R’ Menachem Nochum Friedman of Itscan ultimately answers this question in the following way: “if a person says ‘“what’s mine is mine” and I have no obligation to give any of it away to others- to my fellows who are poor -or to support them in a time of trouble; and “what’s yours is yours” and if a poor allotment came to you and you are poor and destitute, what is it to me and to you? I’ll be happy in my good allotment and you in yours. “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours”’, that is certainly the approach of Sodom.” To summarize his point, if a person says “what’s mine is only mine and only what’s yours is yours”, that person is acting in accordance with the ethos of Sodom. 
We live in a society of plenty; probably the wealthiest society in human history. But we also live in a society where poverty is on the rise. What’s more, we live in a society where there are those who seek to penalize the homeless and impoverished and obstruct the path of those who try to help them. Such societal currents are nothing short of catastrophic. To build a stable society (let alone a just one) it is not enough to build wealth and surplus. It is crucial to use that wealth and surplus to meet the needs, even and especially, of the most needy among us. We are certainly entitled to wages earned and property amassed through legitimate means but not to the extent that some of us have more bread than we know what to do with and some of us are starving for want of one loaf. We see in this week’s parshah that a society that operates in such a manner is doomed to destruction. On a fundamental level, the remedy is simple. It is ever incumbent upon us to cultivate a society where everyone’s needs are met and where we are happy to share whatever bounty we have been blessed with. This is not simply just, but is even a pragmatic pillar of any lasting and stable society. We have been blessed with the means and so all that is left is to strengthen the awareness and the will. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Birkeland

StantonKIDS
Shabbat Programming for 5785

The Tishrei 5785 Bulletin is Ready for Viewing!

Click here to view.

Attend an Upcoming Jewish Art Exhibit, Featuring Community Member David Wander

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Dear Stanton Community, 
 
We are shaking from the ongoing war in Israel. 101 Israeli citizens, among them 7 Americans, are still hostages in Gaza. You can find information on them and on their families' efforts to release them  here. Over 1,200 Israelis are dead with thousands more wounded. There are also innocent civilians caught in the line of fire in Gaza and Lebanon. 
 
This is 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

Women's Tefillah Group

Thank you to all who have joined us for services this year! 
Our schedule for 5785 is below:
Shabbat Parshat Chayei Sarah - November 23
Shabbat Parshat Beshalach - February 8
Megillat Esther Reading - March 13
Shabbat Parshat Emor - May 17
Shabbat Parshat Nasso - June 7
Shabbat Parshat Korach - June 28
​​​​​​​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!

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