THE JEWISH WELFARE BOARD

Upcoming events

 The Third session of the new JLI course on Jewish Business Ethics, entitled “Money Matters” will continue on Monday 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

-Teenage girls social program: Karaoke, High tea and Mani/Pedi. High School girls: 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

-The  memorial service in memory of the late  Jacob Ballas o.b.m.  will be held on Sunday 5 February 2012 after the morning services at the Choa Chu Kang Jewish Cemetery.

-The Hatima in memory of the late  Jacob Ballas o.b.m will be held on Saturday 4 February 2012 during Seuda Shelishit at the JBC, 5^th floor 

On behalf of the entire community and the JWB, we convey our sincere condolences to Mr. Charlie Daniel, Mrs. Reema Akerib & Mrs. Rebecca Solomon on the passing of their late brother Menashe Sion Daniel ben Roza O.B.M. A Hatima will be held in his memory on Sunday 5 February between the afternoon and evening services.

- SAVE THE DATES-

· Wednesday night 7th of March, Megilah reading and dancing

· Wednesday night 7th of March, Teens Purim Party

· Thursday 8th of March, Megilah reading and party at the Shooker home

· Saturday Night 10th of March, Adults purim Party

· Sunday 9th of March, Purim Family day

More details to follow for all Purim Events.

Parasha in a Nutshell

 Beshalach, Exodus 13:17-17:16

Soon after allowing the Children of Israel to depart from Egypt, Pharaoh chases after them to force their return, and the Israelites find themselves trapped between Pharaoh's armies and the sea. G-d tells Moses to raise his staff over the water; the sea splits to allow the Israelites to pass through, and then closes over the pursuing Egyptians. Moses and the Children of Israel sing a song of praise and gratitude to G-d.                                                                       

In the desert, the people suffer thirst and hunger and repeatedly complain to Moses and Aaron. G-d miraculously sweetens the bitter waters of Marah, and later has Moses bring forth water from a rock by striking it with his staff; He causes manna to rain down from the heavens before dawn each morning, and quails to appear in the Israelite camp each evening.                                                                              

The Children of Israel are instructed to gather a double portion of manna on Friday, as none will descend on Shabbat, the divinely decreed day of rest. Some disobey and go to gather manna on the seventh day, but find nothing. Aaron preserves a small quantity of manna in a jar, as atestimony for future generations.                                                                   

Weekly Shabbat lunch sponsor

This week’s Shabbat lunch is sponsored partially by:

The Jewish Welfare Board  in memory of the late Jacob Ballas o.b.m. whose

yahrzeit will be commemorated on Saturday 4 February 2012.

The Seuda Shelishit is partially sponsored by:

 Mrs. Mary Kogan in memory of her late mother Devora bat Dolnikova o.b.m. whose yahrzeit will be commemorated on Monday 6 Feb  2012.

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. Please contact us at :enquiries@jwb.org.sg

Main article

 Tradition

How important is tradition in Judaism? I don't just mean for the Fiddler on the Roof -- I mean for me, you, and all the rest of us. How strong is the need for tradition in the spiritual consciousness of Jews today?

Despite the effects of secularism, I would venture to suggest that there is still a need inside us to feel connected to our roots, our heritage, and our sense of belonging to the Jewish people.

But for vast numbers of our people, tradition alone has not been enough. And that applies not only to the rebellious among us who may have cast aside their traditions with impunity, but also for many ordinary, thinking people who feel that to do something just because "that's the way it has always been done" is simply not good enough.

So what if my grandfather did it? My grandfather rode around in a horse and buggy! Must I give up my car for a horse just because Saba rode a horse? And if my Savta never got a university degree, that means that I shouldn't? So, just because my grandparents practiced certain Jewish traditions, why must I? Perhaps those traditions are as obsolete as the horse and buggy?

There are many Jews who think this way, and who will not be convinced to behave Jewishly just because their grandparents did.

We need to tell them why their grandparents did it. They need to understand that their grandparents' traditions were not done just for tradition's sake, but there were very good reasons why their forebears practiced those traditions. And that those very same reasons and rationales still hold good today.

Too many young people were put off tradition because some cheder or Talmud Torah teacher didn't take their questions seriously. They were silenced with a wave of the hand, a pinch of the ear, the classic When you get older, you'll understand, or the infamously classic Just do as you're told.

There are answers. There have always been answers. We may not have logical explanations for tsunamis and other tzoris, but all our traditions are founded on substance and have intelligible, credible underpinnings. If we seek answers we will find them in abundance, including layers and layers of meaning, from the simple to the symbolic to the philosophical and even mystical.

This week's Parshah features the Song of the Sea, sung by Moses and the Jewish people following the splitting of the sea and their miraculous deliverance from the Egyptian armies. In its opening lines we find the verse,1 This is my G-d, and I will glorify Him; the G-d of my fathers, and I will exalt Him.

The sequence is significant. First comes my G-d, and only thereafter the G-d of my fathers. In the Amidah, the silent devotion which is the apex of our daily prayers, we begin addressing the Almighty as Our G-d and the G-d of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Again, our G-d comes first. So it is clear that while the G-d of our fathers -- i.e. "tradition" -- most definitely plays a very important role in Judaism, still, an indispensable prerequisite is that we must make G-d ours, personally. Every Jew must develop a personal relationship with G-d. We need to understand the reasons and the significance of our traditions, lest they be seen as empty ritual to be discarded by the next generation.

Authentic Judaism has never shied away from questions. Questions have always been encouraged and formed a part of our academic heritage. Every page of the Talmud is filled with questions -- and answers. You don't have to wait for the Passover Seder to ask a question.

When we think, ask, and find answers to our faith, then the traditions of our grandparents become alive, and we understand fully why we should make them ours. Once a tradition has become ours, then the fact that this very same practice has been observed uninterruptedly by our ancestors throughout the generations becomes a powerful force that can inspire us and our children for all time.

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.

 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 

Halacha Corner

 Oaths - Shevuot

1) False oaths: It is forbidden to swear falsely, as it says "And you shall not swear falsely in My name". One who swears an oath about a past or future event and is wrong has sworn a false oath, provided the event is something that it is possible (and not forbidden) for him to do or know about. This type of oath is called an "oath of expression" (shevuat bitui), as it says "Or if a person swears, expressing with his lips, for evil or for good".

2) Vain oaths: It is forbidden to swear vainly, as it says "You shall not take the Name of Ha-Shem your G-d in vain". There are four types of vain oaths: swearing that a well-known thing is or is not so; swearing not to observe a commandment; and swearing to do something that it is not possible to do. Swearing to observe a commandment is not forbidden, but such an oath is not valid.

3) Oaths about deposits: If anyone has someone else's real, movable property in his posession by deposit, loan, theft, extortion, or loss and it is demanded of him he is forbidden to deny it, as it says "You shall not deceive"4; and there is a further prohibition against swearing falsely about it, as it says "And you shall not lie one to another". If one swears such a false oath  he must pay 5/4 of the amount and [as it says "If a person sins... and deceives another regarding deposited property or a pledge or theft, or extorts from another or finds lost property and denies it, and swears falsely... he must return what he stole or what he extorted or what was deposited with him or the lost thing that he found or whatever he swore falsely about, and pay it in full and add a fifth to it..."].

Growing Each Day-With Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski

 A righteous person eats to satisfy his soul (Proverbs 13:25).

When children have poor table manners, their parents will likely reprimand them and say: "You're eating like an animal."

While animals lack the finesse of Emily Post, we can say this much for them: they eat only for their bodily needs. Animals do not overeat, nor do they indulge in the pleasures of eating the way that humans do. Titillating the palate is a uniquely human obsession.

People who sincerely believe they were put on earth solely in order to serve God will eat in order to sustain life and to have the energy to carry out their assignment on earth. While they may enjoy eating, they neither indulge themselves nor constantly seek ways to enhance their food. These people are unlikely to develop obesity, because they would not consume more food than is necessary to maintain optimum bodily function.

In the thirteenth century, Maimonides stated that the majority of human ills come from unhealthy eating practices. Modern medical science substantiates his assertion. However, modern people, instead of develing more body-conscious eating habits, apply their genius to seeking ways to stuff themselves without becoming overweight.

It is a humbling thought that if humans did eat like animals, they would live longer and be healthier.

Arseth

 11 Shvat/4 February

Yaacov Shua Ballas ben Girgee

13 Shvat/6 February

Nissim Saleh Nissim

Hayeem Eliyahu Saltoon

Devorah bat Dolnikova

May Their Memory Be A Blessing

Today in Jewish history...

 10 Shevat

-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. 

12 Shevat

-Nazis provoked the first anti-Jewish riots in Amsterdam, 1941. The Jews successfully fought off their attackers. Two years later, 1943, to the day (12 Shvat), Jews in the Warsaw ghetto put up their fist resistance to the Nazi effort at liquidation. We years later, to the day, the Russian army liberated 2819 survivors of Auschwitz.

13 Shevat

-French National Assembly granted full and equal citizenship to the Portuguese and Avignonese Jews, 1790. France was the first European country to pass such liberal legislation.

14 Shevat

-Yosef b. Issachar Suesskind Oppenheimer, financial expert, was executed in Vienna, 1738. (One example of many "court Jews" whose financial expertise was valued and used by nobility, who were able to use their high positions to improve conditions for their fellow Jews, and who, when they fell out of favor, were summarily disposed of.)

-Yahrzeit of the P'nei Yehoshua, 1756.

15 Shevat

-Rosh HaShana for trees.

-First round of Daf Yomi celebrated a siyum, 1931.

-First session of the Knesset in Jerusalem, 1949.

Ask The Rabbi

Question:

We read in Exodus 16:15 that the heavenly bread fell, and “when the children of Israel saw [it], they said to one another, ‘It is manna,’ because they did not know what it was.” But what does “manna” mean?

Response:

In the original Hebrew the word is מן, more accurately transliterated as man. So what does man mean? There are a number of schools of thought.

Some say that man means a portion of food. (Rashi) They did not know what it was, but they knew that it was a portion of ready-to-eat food, so they called it just that.

Others explain that man is Egyptian for “what.” (Rashbam). Over the 200-plus years that they had lived in Egypt, a fair amount of Egyptian had crept into their lexicon. Thus, when they said, “It is manna,” what they were actually saying was, “What is it?” Eventually, that became the name of the mystery food that they had found.

A third interpretation is that the root word of man means status or importance (Haketav Vehakabalah) In other words, they saw the stuff fall from heaven, did not know what it was, but were absolutely sure that it was something special.

The Weekly Recipe

Creamy Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups cooked wide egg noodles
1 (5-ounce) can tuna, packed in water and drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8×8-inch baking dish.
In a small sauté pan, cook onion in olive oil over medium high heat until translucent, about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine onion with noodles, tuna, cheese, sour cream, dry mustard and paprika. Stir well to mix everything together.
Transfer to prepared baking dish and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through and top is lightly browned. Serve with potato chips.

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)

Yeshiva Boys

• Mendy Ash: 9459 8690
• Yisroel Drihem: 9459 8125
• Dovid Knapp: 9459 8152
• Sroli Gutnick: 9384 3236
• Mendel Kranz : 9488 8610
• JWB Offices, Julia: 6337 2189 ext 103
• Awafi Restaurant, Sushil: 6336 5166
• Kosher Shop, Maya: 6337 2189 ext 107

www.singaporejews.com
enquiries@jwb.org.sg