Parshat Bo Week of January 23, 2026 5 Shvat 5786 Wishing you and your family Shabbat Shalom!
The month of Shvat represented in the Mazalot in our Sanctuary.
Friday, January 23, 2026 • 5 Shvat 5786
Candle lighting at 4:44pm
Shabbat, January 24, 2026 • 6 Shvat 5786
Shacharit services in shul will begin promptly at 9:30am
Kiddush will be at 12:00pm - all are welcome! Kiddush is sponsored by the house. (If you would like to sponsor kiddush, please email info@stantonstshul.com.)
Havdalah at 5:47pm
StantonKIDS has been cancelled this week due to cold weather.
Shabbat morning services will be held downstairs in the Beit Midrash. We have security for all services from 9:30am to 1:00pm.
Dear friends,
This week we read Parshas Bo. After the first seven plagues in last week’s parsha, Bo recounts the final three, including the most tragic of all the plagues, the death of the Egyptian firstborn. We are then told about the very beginning of the Israelites’ departure from Egypt. The Egyptians urge them to leave quickly. They do not have time to let their dough rise and so they take it with them on their backs and subsequently bake it into matzos for the journey ahead. All of this is very familiar to us as it is the original Pesach. Each year we recount and relive this night, as the verses in our parshah demand, and we mark the end of centuries of slavery and oppression in Egypt.
I want to focus, however, on an unexpected interjection in the middle of the narrative. After Moshe warns Pharaoh of the impending final plague, the Torah shifts its attention and tells us the following: “(1)HaShem said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: (2)This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you” (Ex. 12:1-2). This is the mitzvah to mark the changing of months and to set up a calendar and we understand this to be the first mitzvah given to the Israelites. Though this is important, no doubt, it seems like a non-sequitur and a strange thing to focus on as the Israelites are preparing to leave Egypt. But if we think about the nature of time and our relationship with it, it is actually very apt and teaches us something very deep.
In his treatment of this question, Rabbi Sacks quotes Rav Pam, former Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Vodaas. He says the following: “The difference between a slave and a free human being does not lie in how long or hard each works. Free people often work long hours doing arduous tasks. The difference lies in who controls time… Control over time is the essential difference between slavery and freedom. Control over the calendar gave the Israelites authority over time.” Just as the slavery in Egypt was about to end, God commanded us to take mastery over our own time, thus gaining true freedom. As Jews we live by our calendar, counting Shabbos to Shabbos and holiday to holiday. Every time we recite an evening kiddush, whether it is Shabbos, Pesach, or any other holiday, we mention that the day is a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. The very fact that we are able to mark these important days is itself a testament to our freedom and a reminder that God delivered us with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. 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:
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 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!
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 Risha bat Sarah 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!!
We encourage your particiation and love to hear from you! Do you have ideas or feedback to share? You can reach us at:
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
