Weekly Newsletter

Shabbat Ki Tisa
Week of March 14th, 2025
Adar 5785
Wishing you and your family 
Shabbat Shalom and a Happy Purim!
Mishenichnas Adar, Marbin B'Simcha

Friday March 14th ,2025 * Adar 14, 5785

• Erev Shabbat: Candle lighting at 6:43 pm

• Shushan Purim
  9:30am Shacharit Services in Shul 
  12:00pm Kiddush. The kiddush this week is sponsored by the house. All are welcome!

• 10:30am - 12:00pm StantonKIDS 

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

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Jonah Sampson-Boyarin
  
  

•  Sora Gitel Katz Barsky z"l, grandmother of Jeffrey Kat
  

About Purim with Rabbi Birkerland

With Purim upon us, I want to take this opportunity to share a basic review of the mitzvos and practices of the day. As always, if any of it is unclear, or if you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out at stantonrabbi@gmail.com.

Zecher LeMachatzis HaShekel- There is a minhag to give charity on the afternoon before Purim, in memory of the half-shekel that was collected each year in the times of the Beis HaMikdash. The Ashkenazi custom in America is to donate three half dollars. We will provide three half dollars in shul that can be used in exchange for a conventional buck and a half.   

There are four core rabbinic mitzvos on Purim itself:

• Megillah- It is a mitzvah to read or to hear Megillas Esther at night and during the day. We will be offering a communal and a women’s reading on Purim night as well as a communal reading on Purim morning. 
• Seudah- It is a mitzvah to have a festive meal, celebrating the heroic acts of Esther and Mordechai as well as the deliverance and victory of the Jews of Persia. Famously, the gemara says there is a requirement to drink wine at this meal until one is unable to distinguish between “blessed is Mordechai” and “cursed is Haman”. One can fulfill this requirement simply by drinking a little bit more than they normally would and then taking a nap. Someone who struggles with alcoholism has no requirement at all to drink on Purim and the community should be supportive of their decision not to drink. With Purim falling on Friday this year, the timing of the seudah is less straightforward than in other years. There are two basic practices, namely, the practice of the Ramah (start the seudah in the morning) and a practice referred to as “poreis mappa” where you do a combined Purim-into-Shabbos seudah. Like the Ramah, we will be doing a morning seudah in the shul and encourage everyone to come celebrate together. For those who are doing a seudah at home, I am including a link to a useful article from the OU. The article does a good job describing both practices but it strongly favors the Ramah’s approach. I have done “poreis mappa” with one of my rebbeim in yeshiva and so in my humble opinion, that’s a perfectly good option if that works better for you than a morning seudah. https://www.ou.org/holidays/purim-on-a-friday/
• Mishloach Manos- It is a mitzvah to give two kinds of food to one other Jew on the day of Purim. The foods should be ready to eat (i.e. not raw/in an inedible state) with the idea that they can be used for that person’s seudah. Drinks count as well. It is certainly permitted to give out food to more than just one person, as is the common practice, but the fundamental requirement is fulfilled with just one.
• Matanos La’Evyonim- Perhaps the most important of the day’s mitzvos is that of matanos la’evyonim, or gifts to the poor. If there is a choice between adding more to your seudah or giving more to the poor, one should prioritize the giving. One should give monetary gifts to at least two different people on Purim day and should ideally give each person enough money to buy a meal. If you are contributing to a Purim fund, you can give before Purim (to be handed out on Purim) and should ideally give an amount that would allow two people to buy a meal. 

As in years past we are partnering with Rabbi Bellino at Sixth Street Synagogue. He is collecting for a number of charities here and in the US. and you can contribute in one of three ways:
You can donate at  Sixth Street Synagogue
You can also  VENMO (be sure to specify Purim Charity!)
You can also bring in a check (made out to Sixth Street Community Synagogue Rabbi's Discretionary) or cash before or on Purim

The mitzvos of the day really are an exercise in building community. They embody the concluding verse of the Megillah in which we are told that Mordechai sought the good of his people and advocated for their welfare. They stand as a testament to the fact that in order to answer those who seek to divide and destroy, we must connect and to build. On Purim we celebrate Esther and Mordechai who were unafraid to stand up to power and who, with the help of the hidden hand of God, turned Haman’s evil decree right on its head.

Through our celebration and observance of the day, may we merit to see the evil decrees of our own age turned on their heads and may we wake up to a world turned back onto its feet.

Shabbat shalom and a freilechn Purim,
Rabbi Birkeland

Dear friends,
The Stanton Street Shul invites the public to remember with us all those who perished in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Please join us on Shabbat, March 22nd, 2025, to honor their memory on the Lower East Side with a traditional kiddush to mark the Yahrtzeit (anniversary) of their passing (sponsored by Dr. Elissa Sampson and Prof. Jonathan Boyarin.) We will be reciting special memorial prayers during our regular services and the kiddush will be preceded by words of remembrance from our distinguished board member, Barry Feldman along with other shul members. We know that many of those who died lived in close proximity to our Shul. Their ongoing struggle to earn a living as poor immigrants reminds us of the special importance and ever pressing need to defend immigrant rights, and the rights of poor people today. May their memory be a blessing for all of us.

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


We will gather together  tonight, 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 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. 
​​​​​​​
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