Pass it Forward

Volunteers are needed to deliver food to needy families during the day. Please contact Barry Libin or the shul office to volunteer.

Simchat Torah Under The Stars

SPECTACULAR CELEBRATION

BRING YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR DANCING SHOES

OCTOBER 10, 2009

8:45  (APPROX. TIME)

on PICADILLY RD.

by MIDDLE NECK ROAD

Sponsors (In alphabetical order): Supporters :

Beith Hadassah                                                                                   Ahavat Shalom                                                                            Shaare Zion of Great Neck                                                           Midrash Ben Ish Hai                                                                         Great Neck Synagogue                                                               Young Israel of Great Neck                                                          Ohel Menachem                                                                                 Kol Israel Achim Congregation                                                     Young Mashadi Jewish Center                                                         Ohr Haemeth                                                                              Shaare Shalom (Mashadi Jewish Center of Great Neck)            In memory of Bonnye Kaufman-Fuks                                        and Gerald Kaufman                                                                 Shaare Rahamim

TO PRESERVE THE SANCTITY OF THE HOLIDAY, CELL PHONE USE IS NOT PERMITTED, IN THE VICINITY OF THE CELEBRATION.

PARKING WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE

Simchat Torah Coordinating Committee, Inc.

Special program for Sukkot

GNS Family Simchat Beit Hashoeva

October 8, 2009

6:00 PM

GNS Family BBQ in the Helene M. Fink Sukkah*

*This program is for GNS members and associate members only*

6:45-7:30 PM

Families and Children, 2nd Graders and under

are invited to our first GNS

Uncle Moishy Concert

in the Mender Auditorium

3rd Graders and up are invited to a

Magic Show in the Braun Youth Center

7:30 PM

All groups will join together with our

High Schoolers & OHEL guests for

Simcha dancing in the gym

Come and Join us for our

Annual Sukkah Celebration

RESERVE IN ADVANCE BY OCTOBER 6th

AND PAY ONLY $18 PER FAMILY

THOSE WITHOUT PRIOR RESERVATIONS

WILL BE BILLED $25 PER FAMILY

CALL 487-6100 or EMAIL MTWERSKY@GNS.ORG

*This program is for GNS members and associate members only*

Within Our Family : October 3-4

Mazal Tov to Ellen & Andrew Allen on the Bar Mitzvah of

their son Paul in Mahwah, NJ.

Mazal Tov to Avigail & Danny Arbusman on the birth of their

granddaughter born to their children Tali & Adam Tantleff.

Sponsorships: Sukkot

Kiddush on the 1st Day of Sukkot in the

Helene M. Fink Sukkah

is sponsored by Diane & David Rein

in memory of Helene M. Fink z”l

______________________________________

Kiddush on the 2nd day of Sukkot

is Sponsored by the Mittleman  Family

in honor of Myles’ 60th Birthday

___________________________________________

Bima Flowers for Sukkot are sponsored by the

Frumkin and Notovitz Families

In Memory of Miriam Frumkin z”l

_______________________________________________

Seudah Shlishit is sponsored by

Marilyn & Jeff Freedman

In Memory of his father George

Ellen & Mitchell Siegel

In memory of his father David

Shabbat Announcements, October 3, 2009

October 3, 2009

Parashas Ha’azinu 5770 Stephen Rabinowitz, MD B”H

Our parasha features a poetic song by Moshe Rabbeinu. As Moshe reviews Jewish national history, HaShem speaks directly to us to refute all forms of idolatry and to promise respite to Klal Yisroel. Here we find a posuk, Devorim 32:39, that is unusual in using the word “Ani (I)” four times. What does this remarkable verse teach us?
רְאוּ עַתָּה, כִּי אֲנִּי, אֲנִּי הוּא, וְאֵין אֱלֹ הים
עִּמָּדִּי: אֲנִּי אָמִּית וַאֲחַיֶּה, מָּחַצְתִּי וַאֲנִּי
אֶּרְפָּא, וְאֵין מִּיָּדִּי מַצִּיל.
See now, that I, I am He, and no (other) god is with Me; I will kill, and I will bring to life; I struck down, and I will heal; and there is no rescuer from My hand.
Rashi (1040 - 1105) - Understand from the punishment which I brought upon you that no one else could aid you. Know also from the victory that I will bring you, that there is none to block Me. I lower and I elevate. No god like Me stands opposed to Me to protest.
R. Abraham ibn Ezra (1089 or 93 - 1164 or 67) - The first two words “Ani” mean that I am the same One, I have not changed. Only our perceptions of HaShem change. Also, Pesachim 68a says this verse is a Torah source for resurrection, since it first says “kill,” and then says, “bring to life.
Rabbeinu Bachya (1255 - 1340) - Names for HaShem such as “Ani, Atoh, Hu (I, You, He)” express existence and presence. Describing Himself in the first person and in the third person hints that what has been scattered to distant lands can be gathered. Resurrection will follow redemption, says Sanhedrin 90.
R. Ya’akov ben Asher, Baal haTurim (1269 - 1343) - Israel endured four exiles: by Babylonia, Media/Persia, Greece, and Edom/Rome. The first three words “Ani” correspond to the first three exiles. The word “va’Ani” as it occurs also in Yecheskel 1:1 “va’Ani b’soch haGoloh…” refers to the ongoing fourth exile. We learn from this that HaShem always has been and still is with us in all of our exiles. The word “mi’yodi (from My hand)” has the numerical gematria value of 64, equivalent to the word “din (judgment)” to teach that no one will avoid Judgment Day.
R. Ovadiah Sforno (1470 or 75 - 1550) - I am He Who brought punishment upon you in Exile. It did not emanate from princes above or heavenly hosts. I wounded you with the terrible punishment of being a fugitive and a wanderer, but I will heal and will even bring you up out of your graves.
Or HaChaim (1696 - 1742) - One kind of idolator is wholly committed to serving idols for their own sake. A second kind only serves idols for his own gain. The first two occurrences of the word “Ani” address both prohibited forms of idolatry. No intermediaries exist between HaShem and His creatures. No one should believe that a benevolent force and a destructive force vie for power in the world. HaShem is the only G-d.
R. Eliyahu, the Vilna Gaon (1720-1797) - R. Nosson Nota Shapira of Crakow (1585-1633) in Megaleh Amukos writes that heaven contains 955 levels. Most contain angels, but the upper 55 are empty except for HaShem’s Presence. Says Devorim 10:14 “hen l’HaShem Elokecha” - they (the heavens and the earth) belong to HaShem your G-d. All of creation belongs to HaShem, but the gematria of “hen” is 55, hinting that the upper 55 levels are exclusively His. The Gaon explains that with each verse of Devorim that Moshe taught, his soul ascended to the next level of the heavens, concluding with the 955th verse, when he reached the greatest heights possible. Our verse is the 901st. As Moshe prepared to say it, he looked around at the celestial level he had just reached and noticed a place completely empty of any being other than HaShem’s Divine Presence. Although it hadn’t been apparent in the lower levels, from his new vantage point it was clear that HaShem is One, and there are no other powers with Him!
R. Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai (Chida) (1724-1807) (in Talelei Oros) - The first and last parts of this posuk are in the future tense, but the middle portion is in the past tense. We learn from this that those who
will be resurrected will at first have the illnesses and blemishes that they suffered during life, so that all will recognize them, and then they will be healed.
R. Moshe Schreiber, the Chasam Sofer (1763-1839) - With “Ani, Ani Hu,” HaShem reminds Moshe that He has fulfilled the promise of Shmos 3:14 “Eh’yeh asher Eh’yeh,” I will be with you now and in the future.
R. Shlomo Kluger (1783 - 1869) (in Ma’ayanah shel Torah) - Any time the Torah says “Ani HaShem” it means “I am certain to reward this mitzvah or to punish this sin.” Why is the mercy-Name HaShem used for a punishment instead of the justice-Name Elokim? Our posuk answers this question: I only use punishment to promote life and to further good on earth. I wound only to bring about healing.
R. S. R. Hirsch (1808 - 1888) - Everything else you trusted has been useless and futile. Help and salvation are nowhere to be seen. See now, therefore, that I alone am the Absolute, dependent on nothing, Who will never change. All else is insignificant. I am the eternal Source of all life. You thought you would escape Me by worshipping other powers. I didn’t abandon you, but brought you by long, roundabout paths, even with suffering and death, back to Me.
R. Mordechai Leifer of Nadvorna (1835-1894) in Ma’amar Mordechai - “V’ein mi’yodi matzil” - When one is humble, “v’ein,” he considers himself as negligible, “mi’yodi matzil,” he will be spared the punishment of My hand.
R. Zalman Sorotzkin (Oznaim laTorah) (1881-1966) - Sanhedrin 39a teaches: Were there two powers in the world, how would people die? Would the two powers agree to kill them at the same moment? HaShem says “I kill and I bring to life,” to show that “there is no god with Me” who gives life to the world. We also see that the final generation at the time of redemption will not be the only ones who are rewarded. Jews of all generations will enter the world-to-come.
R. Elie Munk (The Call of the Torah) (1901-1978) - Among many Names for HaShem, 72 are each made of three Hebrew letters. We use two of them, “Ani Vaho” in praying for salvation on Hoshana Rabbah. As Israel was about to cross the Red Sea, HaShem told Moshe not to pray, but to urge the people forward. Yeshaya 65:24 recalls this episode with a double use of the word “Ani.” This suggests that the double Name emphasizes HaShem’s quality of caring, of answering our unspoken prayers. Another point is the use of the word in our verse, “mochatzti,” which is translated to mean “I struck down.” Midrash Koheles Rabbah translates this word to mean “I made a mechitzah/partition between heaven and earth in the form of the evil inclination, the yetzer ha-roh, which impairs man’s ability to reach spiritual heights. At the final redemption, I will remove death from this world and remove the yetzer ho-roh from the world-to-come.
R. Gedaliah Schorr (1910-1979) (quoted by R. Frand) - Kabbalah teaches that HaShem deals with the world in two ways, the revealed (gilui) and the hidden (hester). The revealed way is “Ani” — we can see clearly that it is “I - G-d” who is dealing with us. The hidden way is “Hu” — the third person, as if it were not G-d acting, but another force — “Him” not “I”. The meaning of “Ani, Ani, Hu” is that the attribute that deals with you as “Ani” is in fact identical to the attribute that deals with you as “Hu”. When G-d deals with us in a mysterious way, such that we cannot understand His Ways, we must nevertheless believe that it is the same Force; the same Ribbono Shel Olam (Master of the World) as the one Whose Presence is clearly evident to us. During this period of the year, we beat our breasts with the confession for the “sins we have committed against You with simhon levav.” The meaning of “simhon levav” is that we have “semihos (questions)” because we have not seen the Ribbono Shel Olam as the First Person (I), but as the Hidden Third Person (Hu); we have failed to believe with a complete belief that the Hidden and the Revealed manifestations are from one and the same Ribbono Shel Olam.

Within Our Family: Sept. 26

Mazal Tov to Hilda Schulman on the birth of a greatgrandson, born to her grandchildren Ariella & Craig Weitzman, children of Debbie & Gary Schulman.

Mazal Tov to Janet & Ken Greenhut on the birth of a granddaughter, born to their children Pam & Eric Greenhut.

Mazal Tov to Lynn Steinberg on the engagement of her son Noah to Jessica Salzberg daughter of Dena & Mark Salzberg of Newton, Mass. Mazal Tov also to grandmother Elizabeth Katzwer.

Job Networking

Great Neck Business and Job Networking Event will take place Thursday, September 24th friom 7:30-9:30PM at Temple Beth El of Great Neck, Atrium, 5 Old Mill Road, Great Neck. No Charge! No RSVP necessary.

Sponsorship

Bima Flowers for Rosh Hashana are sponsored by Maxine Nasser in memory of Jay Nasser.

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