Dear Friend,
Just as the FBI warns of credible threats on Synagogues in New Jersey we learn in the daily Torah readings about the covenant that G-d made with Avraham, an eternal bond with him and his children forever.
We read about how Avraham was not afraid and did not cower but went to fight against four mighty kings to save his nephew.
We read about how G-d promises Avraham and Sarah a son and they shall name him Yitzchak, who would be the father of a great nation.
Yitzchak means laughter, because both the birth of Yitzchak, his survival and that of his children the Jewish people was laughable at that time simply because it was not possible for Sara to have a child at the age of 90. Nor was it possible for her to nurse that child, raise him, or for him to survive. The whole idea was laughable.
Yet here we are, still being laughed at by some people 4000 years after the birth of Yitzchak.
So who is doing the laughing?
The impossible child of Avraham and Sarah was the progenitor of laughter for his people who would always be laughed at, but who would always be the ones to survive and have the last laugh.
The Jew is never afraid, not because we have nothing to fear, rather because we are connected with life itself, we were promised that we would exist forever, and 4000 years of history have proven that to be true.
There always are those who want to have a laugh at our expense, so they make threats, noise, wave fists and say nasty things.
We will do what we need to protect and defend ourselves and we will never fear, back down, give up or allow threats to interfere with our way of life.
In the face of antisemitism, do another Mitzvah, go to shul, put on a Kippah, light shabbat candles, speak to your children about who they are and being proud of that.
Now is the time to increase our Synagogue attendance. Synagogues will have so much security now that they are safer than ever.
Let's laugh all the way to shul.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Mendel & Elke Zaltzman
Shabbos Times
Friday, November 4
Candle Lighting: 5:31pm
Evening service: 5:30pm
Saturday, November 5 Morning service: 10:00am
Kiddush Brunch: 12:00pm Evening service: 5:30pm
Shabbos ends: 6:30pm
Kiddush Sponsored by The Kiddush Fund
A BISSELE HUMOR
After seventy years of communist oppression and seven hours of flying, Boris, a burly immigrant from Moscow steps off the plane in a free land to begin his new life in his new home, Israel. Standing at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, a young and enthusiastic Israeli reporter plunges a microphone in front of him with a level of excitement that is only seen when an inside scoop is about to be caught. The reporter asks with focus: “Tell me, what was life back in Russia like?”
To which the Russian immigrant replies: “I couldn’t complain.”
An obviously unexpected answer, the young reporter continues to probe: “Well how were your living quarters there?” To which the Russian responds “I couldn’t complain.”
Not expecting this answer either, the reporter decides to hit him with a question that is bound to get the answer he is looking for: “What about your standard of living?” To which the Russian replies again: “I couldn’t complain.”
At this point, the reporter’s frustration with the new immigrant’s answers reaches a crescendo, and so in a derogatory tone the reporter yells out, “Well, if everything was so wonderful back in Russia, then why did you even bother to come here?” To which the new immigrant replies with gusto: “Oh, here I can complain!”
WEEKLY eTORAH
In Parshat Lech Lecha, G‑d promises Abraham (who was still childless at the time) that he will go on to father a great nation.
“And He took him outside and said, “Gaze now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”
G‑d was promising Abraham that not only would he bear a son, but that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Can you count the stars? Of course, as kids we always tried to. But we know it’s actually impossible.
Now, Abraham did of course become the founding father of our nation, but are we really as numerous as the stars? It is believed that there are 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (200 billion trillion) stars in the universe. Just a single galaxy has some 100 billion stars. Even if you add up every Jew that ever existed in our 3000-year history, we’ve never even come close to that number! So how did G‑d make a promise that seems so wildly exaggerated?
G‑d’s message to Abraham was not that we would be greater than others numerically, but that, like the sun, we would outshine others, regardless of our numbers. All the stars in the universe cannot compete with the great luminary.
To us, quality has always been more important than quantity. We see today quite empirically how smaller is stronger. A little drone can accomplish what a big fighter jet may not be able to do. A smartphone is small enough to fit in your pocket, but it’s got an entire office inside.
We Jews have never been into numbers. For us, quality is much more valuable than quantity. We represent no more than 1% of the world’s population, but when it comes to Nobel Prize winners, we can claim over 22% as our own. Israel is a tiny country but has become a global leader in medical and technological advances, shining brightly in the darkness.
So don’t worry about numbers. We’re not into numbers. Never feel depressed about being outnumbered. Moshe Dayan didn’t look at the speedometer and neither should we (metaphorically, that is). We have never taken the speedometer of life too seriously. Statistically, we shouldn’t even exist at all.
We will continue to march to our own beat as we have since the days of Abraham. May we continue to shine in the heavens and on earth. Please G‑d, we will stand out and sparkle materially, spiritually, academically, morally, ethically, and Jewishly, an eternal source of pride to G‑d and to ourselves.
