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27th January 2012
3rd Shvat 5772
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שבת שלום ומבורך
Shabbat Shalom
Umevorach
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Stone chumash :
This Torah portion will be read from the Sefer Torah written in memory of the late
Girgee bat Hababa O.B.M
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Shabbat Services
Mincha & Kabalat Shabbat:
6:45 pm
Shacharit & Torah reading:
9:00 am
Mincha & Seuda Shelishit
6:15 pm
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Daily Services
Shacharit:
Monday-Friday:7:30am
Sunday 8:00am
Mincha & Arvit 6:45pm
Pls. note that Monday morning services are at the
Chesed-El Synagogue—2 Oxley Rise. |
Candle Lighting:
7:01 pm
Shabbat Ends:
7:52 pm
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Shema may be recited until
9:38 am
Shekiah (sunset) is at:
7:17 pm
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A Thought to ponder
Stony Light
In this week's Torah reading, the Israelites receive their first mitzvah: "This month shall be to you the head of the months..." (Exodus 12:2). This is the commandment to sanctify the new month upon the appearance of the crescent new moon.
Undoubtedly, the fact that G-d chose this commandment to be the first mitzvah to be given to the Jewish people has special significance. And, indeed, our sages tell us that "[the People of] Israel are similar to the moon, and [therefore] count [their calendar months] according to the moon." On a basic level, this means that just as the moon waxes and wanes, so, too, the condition of Jewry is constantly in flux – at times we are small and oppressed, and eventually we will shine in our full glory with the arrival of the Messianic Era.
On a deeper level, we are compared to the moon because the moon has no light of its own; rather, it reflects the light of the sun. G-d is the source of all energy and sustenance, and we are meant to be the "moon" to His "sun," reflecting the truth of G-d's radiance in a world of darkness.
The sun and the moon both emit light, but there is an intrinsic difference between the two: the sun is composed of hydrogen, a gas which by its nature is conducive to giving off light and energy. The moon, however, is not fuel. It is a mass of solid matter. So actually, the fact that the moon emits light, is more remarkable than the fact that the sun emits light.
With the first mitzvah, G-d conveys the very essence of the Jewish mission, which is accomplished through observing the mitzvot. Yes, we inhabit a world which consists of physical matter, a world which on the surface does not appear to be "fuel" for the holiness of the Torah. And the Jewish soul is clothed in a physical body which has very mundane perceptions, desires, and temptations; seemingly a body which can never radiate the G-dly truth. Yet we have the obligation, and therefore the G-d given extraordinary ability, to cause ourselves and the world around us to glow with spirituality.
The task may appear daunting. Most of us are a long way away from being human reflectors of Torah and mitzvot. But we must remember that we are commanded to sanctify the crescent moon. We must only take the first step on our spiritual journey. Even if we only manage to sanctify a small part of our day or character – we are already sanctified. And eventually, through much effort and self refinement, we too will reach our "full moon"; where our entire being becomes a reflection of G-d's holiness
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Upcoming events
-The second session of the new JLI course on Jewish Business Ethics, entitled “Money Matters” will be continue on Monday the 30th of January. Money Matters will present Judaism’s approach to practical economic dilemmas and monetary quandaries that we face daily in both our personal and professional lives. To register and for more info, visit the website at www.myjli.com
-Come join us for a Community Shabbaton in honor of Tu’ B'shvat, which will take place on Friday night, 3rd of Febuary, after the services. Adult $25, children above 12 years $10, students $15 and nannies $10. Please RSVP to http://singaporejews.com/rsvp.html
-Teenage girls social program: Karaoke, High tea and Mani/Pedi.
Junior High school: Sunday 29th of January, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm.
High School: Sunday 5th of February, 5:00pm-8:00 pm At JBC 5th floor, 24 waterloo st.
-Bar-mitzvah Club Event: Football game at the cage, followed by food and drinks. Sunday 5th of February, 4:00-6:00 pm 28 Jalan Benaan Kapal Singapore 399635
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Parasha in a Nutshell

Bo
Exodus 10:1-13:16
The last three of the Ten Plagues are visited on Egypt: a swarm of locusts devours all the crops and greenery; a thick, palpable darkness envelops the land; and all the firstborn of Egypt are killed at the stroke of midnight of the 15th of the month of Nissan.
G-d commands the first mitzvah to be given to the people of Israel: to establish a calendar based on the monthly rebirth of the moon. The Israelites are also instructed to bring a "Passover offering" to G-d: a lamb or kid is to be slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of every Israelite home, so that G-d should pass over these homes when He comes to kill the Egyptian firstborn. The roasted meat of the offering is to be eaten that night together with matzah (unleavened bread) and bitter herbs.
The death of the firstborn finally breaks Pharaoh's resistance and he literally drives the Children of Israel from his land. So hastily do they depart, there is no time for their dough to rise, and the only provisions they take along are unleavened. Before they go, they ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold, silver and garments, draining Egypt of its wealth.
The Children of Israel are commanded to consecrate all firstborn and to observe the anniversary of the Exodus each year by removing all leaven from their possession for seven days, eating matzah, and telling the story of their redemption to their children. They are also commanded to wear tefillin on the arm and head as a reminder of the Exodus and their resultant commitment to G-d.
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Weekly Shabbat lunch sponsor
The Mills family in honor of Dudi’s 40th Birthday, which will be on Shabbat 28th of January, 4th of Shvat. MAZAL TOV!
Our Shabbat lunches offer a beautiful opportunity to meet
fellow Jews from all over the world as well as much needed
hospitality to young students, guests and visitors who would not
otherwise enjoy the Shabbat experience. We hope that you will
partner with us in sponsoring these lunches and help us provide much needed hospitality every Shabbat.
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Main article
The geometry of freedom
History tells us of many revolutions that began with sublime ideals and visions of liberty, only to be followed by deep disappointment and even greater tyranny and oppression.
The French revolution began in a magnificent blaze of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" and rapidly evolved into the Reign of Terror and the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars that so devastated Europe. In the end, the French exchanged bondage of neglect under the Bourbon Monarchs for bondage of abuse under the revolution. True freedom remained as elusive as ever.
The Russian people had suffered under the autocratic rule of the Romanov Czars for centuries. When they rose up in revolution in 1917, they and the world were filled with hope for a life of freedom and a new, more just and equitable society. This hope was slaughtered in the cellars and torture chambers of the Soviet secret police and frozen in the slave camps of the Gulag. The slavery to the Romanovs was paradise compared to the bondage, absolute lack of freedom, and the slaughter of millions in the new soviet state.
Attaining freedom is not merely about leaving a yoke of bondage behind; it is about a clear vision of a new paradigm for a better world. Otherwise, the revolution will be a true revolution -- it will revolve a full 360 degrees and the same ingrained patterns will reassert themselves, and sometimes even worse. A true revolution needs to be one of 180 degrees -- a whole new direction.
We see this theme articulated throughout the Passover story. At the burning bush, G-d tells Moses to instruct Pharaoh "Shalach ami vey'avduni" -- "Let my people go, that they may serve Me." Just letting the people go is not going to accomplish anything in the long run, if they're not going to something -- to something that's the alternative, indeed the antithesis, to Egypt. Most significantly, the encounter at the burning bush takes place at Mt. Sinai where the Jews would be given the Torah -- a truly revolutionary document that would, through the agency of the Jewish people, transform and empower all of humanity.
During the wanderings of the Children of Israel through the desert, we find that every time there were those who shirked their duty, they raised the cry "Let us go back to Egypt." Did they want to suffer again as slaves? Surely not. I think that what the Torah is telling us is that abandoning the new vision and mission leads back to Egypt. Perhaps a new Egypt, but a slavery just the same.
All that is true of nations and world history is true of what the Talmud calls the "small world" of each individual person. Passover is not a commemoration. Passover is reliving and experiencing the liberating power of G-dliness in our lives.
The Hebrew word for Egypt, Mitzrayim, means "constraints." We suffer under the constraints of the habits we maintain simply because we had them yesterday. We are slaves to ingrained pathways of our lives and our world, because we are too busy dusting the covers of our Book of Life to read its pages.
On Passover, and especially at the seder, we put all else aside to concentrate on receiving the power of freedom that flows from G-d to each one of us. But for this experience to have a lasting effect, we need to remember that not only do we have to leave the old habits ("let my people go"), we need a vision and program of the new ("that they may serve Me"). Otherwise, we end up not far from where we started from.
The Hebrew term vey'avduni -- "that they may serve Me" -- actually means "That they may transform themselves thorough Me." When we look to the Torah -- the receiving of which is the sole purpose of the Exodus -- we discover that the freedom to realize the potential of every aspect of our being lies within its Mitzvot. Every area of life stands ready to yield purpose, meaning and fulfillment if we are willing to dare to be truly free. "Truly free" is not freedom from the bondage of whichever pharaoh, king or czar happens to be oppressing us at the moment, but freedom from the bondage of all self-imposed limits on our capacity to truly realize our G-dly potential.
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Elite kosher shop
The Kosher shop stocks a wide range of products such as meats (imported from Australia),poultry, dairy products, as well as a large variety of wines. 
The Kosher Shop also just received a wide range of products form Israel at very affordable prices such as popular snacks (Bissli etc…), canned foods and much more.
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The Awafi Restaurant
Open for Lunch and Dinner To make a reservation call 6336. 5166
Also serving breakfast every morning after Shacharit.Awafi also provides for outside catering.
Feel free to contact us at: 6336 5166

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Halacha Corner
1. Circumcision - Milah
We are commanded to circumcise male children on the eighth day after they are born [as it says "And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised"].
Circumcision was the basis of G-d's covenant with Abraham, as it says "And I will make my covenant between Me and you... [you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and you; every male of all your generations shall be circumcised at the age of eight days...]".
The responsibility rests on the father; if he does not do it the courts are responsible; and when the child grows up the responsibility devolves on him. If the child is not well his circumcision is postponed until he recovers. Circumcision consists of cutting away the foreskin and peeling off the membrane under it.
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Growing Each Day-With Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski
Man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7).
Rabbi Leib, the son of the Chassidic master Rabbi Mordechai of Nesh'chiz, related that he remembered being a small child sitting on his father's lap. His father told him, "The Targum (Aramaic translation of the Torah) interprets living soul as a speaking spirit. In other words, people acquire the capacity to speak by virtue of the Divine soul that is instilled within them. Inasmuch as God is truth, the Divine soul, which is part of God, is also truth. Since people's souls are linked with this ability to speak, speech can only be truth. That is why," the Rabbi continued, "if someone lies, that is not speech, only meaningless noise."
"Ever since then," Rabbi Leib said, "whenever someone lies to me, all I hear is undistinguishable sounds, just noise. I cannot make out words, and I cannot understand what the person is saying."
How wonderful it would be if we too could so refine our hearing that our ears could perceive only truth, and that untruths would be just scrambled sounds! Still, if we cannot rise to the spiritual heights of Rabbi Leib, we may nevertheless understand that if we lie, we are not really speaking, but only making noise. To lie is to distort the God-given gift of speech into meaningless sounds that cannot possibly achieve anything truly beneficial to us.
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Arseth
27 January/ 3 Shvat
Loolo bat Girgee
2 February/ 9 Shvat
Tifaha bat Habiba
May Their Memory Be A Blessing
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Today in Jewish history...
3 Shvat
-Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, 1933. The same day saw the founding of the Society of Youth Aliya, which brought to Israel over 115,000 children 12-16.
7 Shvat
-Jews no longer required to attend conversionist services, 1430 Fifth Aliya began, 1930.
8 Shvat
-The period of the Elders (Z'keinim, the contemporaries of Yehoshua) came to an end; marked by an ancient fast day.
-Public execution of 9 Jews in Damascus, 1969.
9 Shvat
-Yahrzeit of Rabbi Eliezer Silver, leader of American Orthodox Jewry, 1968.
10 Shvat
-Yahrzeit of the "Previous" (Chabad) Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchak Shneerson 1950,And the Day the The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneersohn O.B.M assumed the mantle of leadership of the Chabad Movement
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Ask The Rabbi
Question:
Why is Judaism passed down through the mother? I understand in olden times it was easy to know who your mother was and there was no way of proving fatherhood. But these days we have DNA testing, so why can't someone be Jewish even if only their father is Jewish?
Answer:
Jewishness is not in our DNA. It is in our soul. The reason it is passed down through the maternal line is not just because it is easier to identify who your mother is. It is because the soul identity is more directly shaped by the mother than the father. From a purely physical perspective, a child is more directly connected to their mother. The father's contribution to the production of a child is instantaneous and remote. The mother, on the other hand, gives her very self to the child . The child is conceived inside the mother, develops inside the mother, is sustained and nourished by the mother, and is born from the mother.
This is not to say that a father and child are not intimately attached. Of course they are. But as deep and essential as the bond between father and child may be, the child's actual body was never a part of her father's body. But she was a part of her mother. Every child begins as an extension of their mother's body.
This is a simple fact. It doesn't mean she will be closer to her mother, or more similar to her mother, or follow her mother's ways. We are not discussing the emotional bond between parent and child, but rather the natural physical bond. There is a more direct physical link between mother and child, because a child starts off as a part of her mother.
The body and its workings are a mirror image of the workings of the soul. The physical world is a parallel of the spiritual world. And so, the direct physical link between mother and child is a reflection of a soul link between them. While the father's soul contributes to the identity of the child's soul, it is the mother's soul that actually defines it. If the mother has a Jewish soul, the child does too.
If the mother is not Jewish but the father is, his Jewish soul will not be extended to the child. There may be a spark of Jewishness there, but if it was not gestated in a Jewish mother, the child will have to go through conversion for their Jewishness to be activated.
Jewishness is passed down by the mother because being Jewish is a spiritual identity, it defines our very being. And our very being we get from our mother, both in body and in soul.
The Weekly Recipe
Banana Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
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4 Eggs
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2 Cups Sugar
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1 Cup Vegetable Oil (or sub Apple Sauce)
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2 Medium Ripe Bananas (Mashed ~ 1 cup)
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3 Cups All-purpose flour
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1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
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1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
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1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
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1 tsp Salt
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1 1/2 Cups Shredded unpeeled zucchini
Directions
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Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350.
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In a bowl, beat eggs. Blend in sugar and oil. Add bananas and mix well.
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Stir in zucchini until combined.
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Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, stir into egg mixture.
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Bake 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
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Ongoing Events & Programs
Weekly Minyan, stories and snacks for children after reading of the Torah. For more info contact The boys.
One on one learning with the Yeshiva Boys for adults and children. Contact Mrs. Rivni@ 92327095.
Lunch & Learn Tuesdays at Awafi, JBC. Contact Rabbi Abergel
Talmud class every Wednesday@ 9:00pm in tractate Sanhedrin. Contact Rabbi Abergel
Mikva: Mrs. Simcha Abergel 9673 9184
Mrs. Odelia Rivni 9232 7095
(Appointments at least one day before)
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Jewish Women's Circle:
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JWB Contact Info:
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Rabbi Mordechai Abergel: 9731 2181
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Rabbi Netanel Rivni: 9232 7096
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Yeshiva Boys

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Mendy Ash: 9459 8690
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Yisroel Drihem: 9459 8125
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Dovid Knapp: 9459 8152
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Sroli Gutnick: 9384 3236
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Mendel Kranz : 9488 8610
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JWB Offices, Julia: 6337 2189 ext 103
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Awafi Restaurant, Sushil: 6336 5166
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Kosher Shop, Maya: 6337 2189 ext 107
www.singaporejews.com
enquiries@jwb.org.sg
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