The Stanton Street Weekly Newsletter: Parshat Mevarchim Vayeshev
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Parshat Mevarchim Vayeshev Week of December 12, 2025 22 Kislev 5786 Wishing you and your family Shabbat Shalom!
The month of Kislev represented in the Mazalot in our Sanctuary.
Friday, December 12, 2025 • 22 Kislev 5786
Candle lighting at 4:11pm
Shabbat, December 13, 2025 • 23 Kislev 5786
Shacharit services in shul will begin promptly at 9:30am
Services will be followed by Kiddush at 12:00pm. Everyone is welcome! Kiddush is sponsored by the house.If you want to sponsor Kiddush, please email info@stantonstshul.com
Havdalah at 5:14pm
We have security for all services from 9:30am to 1:00pm.
Sunday, December 14, 2025 • 24 Kislev 5786
Chanukah begins tonight! Wishing you a holiday full of light!
Light candles after 4:53pm.
Next week - Shabbat Chanukah Community Dinner! Please join us!
Join us on Friday, December 19, to welcome Shabbat, Chanukah, and Rosh Chodesh (all in one evening - and it's the longest Friday night of the year... wouldn't you rather be at Stanton than at home?)! There will be candles, prayer, great company, a delicious dairy meal, and lots and lots of latkes! 4:10pm candle lighting and services, 5:30pm dinner
We all appreciate that Stanton gives with an open hand. In order to allow as many people as possible to join us, please consider sponsoring the community dinner. $72 sponsorship for two people comes to just $36 per meal. Thank you for all you do to make Stanton a warm, welcoming community!
Dear Friends,
This week we read Parshas Vayeshev in which we are introduced to the conflict between Yosef and his brothers. This conflict leads the brothers to sell Yosef to a passing caravan and he is brought down to Egypt as a slave, setting off a series of events that ultimately brings the rest of the family to Egypt. This troubling course of events is in keeping with God’s promise to Avraham that his descendants would be oppressed in a land not their own but that God would judge said land and free them from their bondage (Gen. 15:13-15).
I want to focus on a particular aspect of the aftermath of Yosef’s sale. Once Yosef is sold, the brothers slaughter a goat and dip Yosef’s tunic in its blood. They bring the tunic back to Yaakov, giving the impression that Yosef was consumed by a wild animal. We are told that Yaakov mourned for “many days” (37:34) and that when all his children tried to comfort him, he “refused to be comforted” (37:35). On a simple level, we are witnessing Yaakov’s extreme distress at the loss of his favored son. I am sure many of us have lost close loved ones and have never been quite the same since. Certain losses are simply that painful.
At the same time, Judaism has a whole system of mourning which guides us through the intensity of the immediate loss and helps us, with time and support, to ease back into some semblance of normalcy. The Sages even warn against being overly consumed with grief. On a certain level, excessive mourning can be seen as a lacking in faith as well as a refusal to truly accept the reality of the loss. The Sages, then, are understandably struck when we are told that Yaakov refused to be comforted. When this question is asked in Bereishis Rabbah, R’ Yossi answers that people are comforted with regards to the dead but not with regards to the living. Yosef was alive and Yaakov would not be consoled.
Rabbi Sacks relates to this potentially spooky midrash in a way that is both down to earth and profound. A bloodied shirt sure looks bad but it is also inconclusive. Rabbi Sacks understands the midrash to be saying that Yaakov was refusing to give up hope that Yosef was still alive. This hope certainly takes a toll on Yaakov but that is the nature of hope. “When the prophets saw evil in the world, they refused to be comforted; those who hope refuse to be comforted while the hoped-for outcome is not yet reached” (Koren Chumash pg. 272). Yaakov’s deep distress was not a sign of defeatism and nihilism but rather quite the opposite and though it took many difficult years, Yaakov did in fact live to see his wildest hopes realized.
Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Birkeland
StantonKIDS Shabbat Programming 5786
Join us 10:30am-12:00pm for free play, davening, parsha, songs, movement, a hands on activity, and delicious kiddush! Here is our schedule for the rest of the 5786 school year:
December 20 January 17, January 24 February 7, February 28 March 14, March 28 April 18, April 25 May 9, May 16 June 6, June 13
Women's Tefillah Group Programming Schedule
Come Daven With Us in 5786!
Parshat Shemot & Slater Schwartzberg’s Bat Mitzvah - January 10 Parshat B'shalach - January 31 Megillat Esther Reading - March 2 Parshat Emor - May 2 Parshat Nasso - May 30 Parshat Korach - June 20
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!
We remember Robert Tennen, partner of Judy Josephs (22 Kislev) Harry Josephs, father of Judy Josphs (24 Kislev)
Misheberachs (we wish a full recovery to):
Arella Hana bat Haya Liba Ashlynn Elizabeth Helen Coffman Barry Feldman Cecile Cohen זיאסל מלכה בת אסתר Chaim Tzvi ben Leah Chaim Yonah ben Dubrah Chana Mera bat Fruma Henna Chaya Malka bat Esther Leia David Menashe HaLevi ben Rochel Efraim Ben Sore Eliyahu Natan ben Shayndel Ella bat Leah Gitche bat Honcha Hiam Zelig Ben Sarah Rifka Israel Yakov ben Esther Jim Lee Leah Zahava Bat Elka Liba Miriam bat Channah Devorah ליבה מרים בת חנה דבורה Manny Kaplan מאיר ראובן בן לאה Moshe Asher Ben Esther Sarah Nolan Rhodes נתן צבי בן פרידה Rachel Devorah bat Elke Reuven ben Rochel Rivka bat Miriam Sara Rochel Ben Chaya Gitza Shayna bat Chana Kayla Shimon Sumer HaLevi Ben Malka Shoshana bat Esther שושנה בת אסתר Yaacov Ben Chaya Gitza Yisroel ben Edlah Yitzhak Calev ben Leetza Tzvia
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.
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. Pleasesend 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.
For those of you who have not yet renewed your membership with us, kindly pay your dues online or mail a check to: The Stanton Street Shul P.O. Box 1008 NY, NY 10002
YOUR FEEDBACK WANTED!!
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If you missed services this past Shabbos, 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 Clickherefor an archive of drashot Clickhere to go to our YouTube Channel for an archive of all of our ZOOM classes
