Golf Manor SynagogueShabboS bulletin

S.E.E.D.Synagogue Education Excellence DirectiveAn initiative of the Jewish Federation

of Cincinnati

Rabbi Yosef Alt rabbi 6442 Stover Avenue, Cincinnati OH 45237Rabbi Stuart Lavenda rabbi emeritus golfmanorsynagogue@gmail.com Rabbi Hanan Balk rabbi emeritus golfmanorsynagogue.orgYosef Kirschner chairman (513) 531-6654

Serving Cincinnati Jewry

since 1901

Keeping the Congregation ConnectedWomen’s group video chat—contact Mrs. Roodman: breadsnspreads613@gmail.com or 516-993-5654.

SponsorshipsShabbos Bulletin is sponsored by Rabbi Dov Aharon & Anne Wise… • in memory of father Izzy Wise, Yisrael ben Avraham Binyamin, whose yahrzeit is 16 b’Iyar. • in honor of Rabbi and Yehuda Wise finishing the perek of Eilu Metzi’os. Mazal tov—may they make many more siyumim together!

Shul AnnouncementsShabbos Sounds—on Friday! Rabbi Alt’s Erev Shabbos message and Rabbi Crystal’s Chumash Class.

Kugels for the Congregation: Thank you to all the volunteers who helped make and deliver a “Good Shabbos” potato kugel to GMS members and friends—production (Shoshana Roodman, Anne Wise, and Yona Malka Gold), delivery (Karen Lavenda, Marilyn Horwitz, Kayla Berger, Adina Gruenhagen, Lori Charron, Andy Nadell, and the Deutches). Sponsored by Menachem & Miriam Deutch; Dr. Jeffrey & Deborah Rubinstein; Rabbi Adi & Shaindel Roland; and Rabbi Stuart & Karen Lavenda, in honor oftheir mothers, Mrs Harriet Lavenda and Mrs Regina Eisenberg, and Karen’s aunt, Dr. Marilyn Sholiton, and all of the GMS mothers, in celebration of Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day: Be on the look-out for a special Mother’s Day e-mail on Sunday, May 10, with artwork prepared by GMS youth for our GMS moms.

Lag B’Omer DYI “bonfire” projects for kids, by the Youth Committee: Place your order by Sunday, May 10 via GMSyouthDepartment@gmail.com or 516-993-5654. Each kit costs $6, and is designed for four children. Pick up on Tues., May 12 at 6616 Meadow Ridge Lane, starting at 2:30 pm.

“Confessions of a Media Junkie: Why Overdosing on News Media is Harmful to our Mental Health and Dangerous for our Society,” with Dr. Nachum Klafter—Tuesday night, May 19, at 9 pm. Presented by GMS & CST.

Parenting course: As a follow-up to Yeshaya Lieber’s powerful session, “Parenting During Quarantine.” Yeshaya will offer a six part, in-depth

course! Space is limited. www.bookwhen.com/gms

COVID-19 Plasma Initiative: Please encourage recovered COVID patients to register at www.covidplasmasavealife.com , or at Cincinnati’s Hoxworth Blood Center: https://bit.ly/covid19plasma .

In the CommunityMazal tov to… • Alter & Chana Raubvogel and their extended family, on the birth of a boy. • The extended Zuroff family, on the b’ris Wednesday of Avraham Gregg.

Health Care Lunches: The Orthodox community demonstrates grati-tude to front-line healthcare workers, and supports our kosher restau-rants, by providing meals for an entire shift. This Wednesday: Amma’s   Kitchen. Next up, our local caterers! Click here to donate; please type  “healthcare meals” in the “add a note” section.

Emor 10 b’Iyar 5780 • Friday, May 8, 2020

Refuah Sh’laima

Bracha Leah bas Rochel Mushka

(Barbara Nagler)

Eitan Chaim ben Elisheva (Ethan Kadish)

Gavriel ben Pesha (Gary Walsh)

Chana Rivka bas Ethel (Juanita Weiss)

Nesanel ben Chaya Rochel

Tzvi Michoel ben Leah (Hirsch Wise)

Chaim Dovid Ephraim ben Chana

Daisy bas Lulu (Mrs. Daisy Kattan)

Z’ev Shmuel ben Malkah Rochel

Reuven ben Malkah

Simcha Leib haLevi ben Devorah

Esther Hitzel bas Gitel (Esther Deutch)

Yitzchok Meir ben Chaya Freidel

(Rabbi Lifshitz)

Chana bas Perel Toba (Sarah Lazarus’ sister)

Shmuel ben Chana (Sarah Lazarus’ nephew)

Shabbos Pirkei Avos chap. 4

Candle Lighting .........earliest: 7:10 pm 20 min: 8:18 pm

Repeat Shema and count Sefira 3) after 9:19 am

Last Shema (Gr”a) ...................10:02 am

Earliest Mincha .......................... 2:10 pm

Sunset ...........................................8:39 pm

3! Shabbos ends (40 min.) ..... 9:19 pm

Lag ba’Omer: Omit Tachanun on Monday afternoon and Tuesday

Virtual Beis Midrash

Now on our home page!www.golfmanorsynagogue.org

Understanding G-d’s WorldMondays ........................... 8–8:40 pm

Pasuk 2 P’sakMondays ........................... 9–9:45 pm

Hands-On HalachaTuesday .............................8:20-9 pm

Beginners’ TalmudTuesday ............................9–9:4o pm

Daf Yomi has its own link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3179258587

Sunday .................................... 7–8 am

Monday—Friday .............6–6:30 am

Shmuel Plotsker’s classes:712-770-4945,

access code 664943#

Intro to Midrash (Shir haShirim)Sundays ......................... 8:45–9:45 am

Hebrew Reading OFF till regular classes resume

Torat Eretz Yisrael Mondays ..... 1–2 pm

Tanach Tuesdays (M/W)I Kings 15 ..................7:30–8:30 pm

Finding a PlaceIN THE END OF THIS WEEK’S PARSHA, THE TORAH TEACHES us the tragic story of the Mekallel, the man who cursed Hashem’s name. (He will be referred to here as “the Mekallel,” because the Torah does not identify him by name.) The Torah gives us very little background to the story. It tells us that there was a man, born to a Jewish mother named Shlomis bas Divri, from the tribe of Dan, and a non-Jewish (Egyptian) father. He got into a fight with another Jewish man, and afterwards he cursed Hashem’s name. He was put in prison until Hashem told Moshe that he should be executed, by stoning, for his offense. What was the fight about? What angered this fellow so much that he cursed Hashem’s name? The p’sukim do not tell us.

Rashi fills in the back story: The Mekallel wanted to join one of the tribes of Israel, and re-

ceive rights to a portion of the land of Israel as a member of that tribe. He had approached the tribe of Dan, because his mother was a member of that tribe; his father, being a non-Jew, had no place in any of the tribes of Israel. But the Mekallel had been greeted with rejection. The tribe of Dan had argued that tribal inheritance follows the paternal lineage; because the Mekallel had no Jewish father, he would not get an inheritance in the land of Israel at all. This had been the cause of the fight between the Mekallel and “the Jewish man.”

The matter had been brought before the Beis Din of Moshe Rabbeinu for a formal ruling. Moshe Rabbeinu had ruled in favor of the man from the tribe of Dan, that rights to a portion in the land of Israel are determined by the paternal lineage, and the Mekallel should get nothing. The Mekallel had been so enraged by this conclusion that he had left the Beis Din and cursed the name of Hashem—a very terrible sin.

One of my rebbeim in Ner Israel, Rabbi Ezra Neuberger, once explained the depth of the Mekallel’s pain and frustration. It wasn’t merely a matter of not getting what he wanted. The situation had left him with the feeling that he had no place at all. There was nowhere for him to go, nowhere he belonged.

The feeling of acceptance and belonging is a core need for every person.

The Mekallel was worse off than a convert. A convert joins the Jewish people from outside. His or her quest to find a place within the Jewish people is one of an outsider coming in, so the expectations are totally different. The Mekallel, on the other hand, was a Jew from birth—but he had no place among the Jewish people! His frustration was too much for him to bear.

Rabbi Neuberger explained that this understanding of the Mekallel can help us understand why the Torah placed his story at the end of Parshas Emor, amid a list of laws that seem to have no connection to the Mekallel at all.

Rabbi Neuberger said that, if we broaden our scope and look at Parshios Kedoshim, Emor, and Behar from a distance, we

will discover one continuous theme: the three dimensions of kedusha, sanctity.

Kedoshim teaches us the first dimension, kedushas ha’adam, the sanctity of mankind, and specifically the Jewish people. This is the theme of the many mitzvos of Parshas Kedoshim. This week’s parsha, Emor, continues that theme, beginning with the kedusha of the kohanim and all the special mitzvos a kohen must observe to protect his high level of kedusha.

Our parsha then continues with the second dimension of kedusha, kedushas ha’zman, the sanctity of time. Different times throughout the year are infused with different levels of kedusha.This is manifest in the Mo’adim, the list of Holidays that appears in this week’s parsha.

Next week’s parsha, Behar, discusses the third dimension, kedushas ha’makom, sanctity of space. The Torah teaches us that there are physical spaces with special levels of kedusha, and unique laws and restrictions, such as Eretz Yisrael, Yerushalay-im, and Har haBayis.

Rabbi Neuberger said that we find two terms used to de-scribe that which is lacking kedusha: chulin and chillul. The words chulin and chol represent something that is mundane in nature and is not supposed to have any kedusha, as in sh’chitas chullin, the slaughter of non-sacrificial meat, and y’mos hachol, the mundane days of the week. The words chillul and challal refer to something that is supposed to have kedusha but is devoid of that kedusha, as in chillul Hashem, profaning the name of Hashem, or challal, a corpse without a soul.

Amid the Torah’s panorama of the three dimensions of ke-dusha, we are taught the story of the Mekallel. The Mekallel is a metaphor for chillul—something that is supposed to have kedu-sha, but it is missing, leaving a painful and disturbing void. The Mekallel was born a Jew, but something was missing. He had no place. He didn’t belong. And what was his sin? Chillul Hashem! He cursed Hashem’s holy name, stripping it of its kedusha.

The lesson of the Mekallel is very appropriate for our times. As we continue to live our lives in isolation, we are reminded of the significance of a healthy social life. Now is the time to use this experience to awaken ourselves and relate to the many people who struggle to find their places. We all know someone who could use a friend, someone who feels alone, who feels that he or she doesn’t belong.

I came across a powerful story printed in “Teen Pages” (a supplement to Mishpacha magazine, Chanukah 5780, issue 64), that illustrates this reality. In it, a mother shares her difficul-ty raising her daughter, who struggles with social acceptance.

(continues on next page)

Parshas Acharei–Kedoshim 

V’Dibartah bam

200 Shabbosim

50 weeks a year

4 years of high school

Yes, I repeat:

200 Shabbosim.

That nobody called my daughter to get together,

200 Shabbosim that I watched nobody knock on the door.

200 Shabbosim that we met groups of girls who

Greeted us so warmly on the streets as they were all heading

Over to someone’s house and waved as they kept on going, never inviting her to join.

For somebody’s birthday celebration

To study together for a Navi test

To just hang out.

The girl in the grade who has special needs and struggles to just blend in.

The girl in the class who nobody includes in color war preps or yearbook committees.

The girl in the class who knows enough to know she’s different.

Has no idea how to get herself included. Doesn’t get the sarcasm, the inside jokes, the half sentences.

What she does get is that in her heart she can’t understand why everyone isn’t her best friend. Nobody is anything but really nice—but it never goes beyond the surface.

She also gets that since nobody is interested in spending more than a few minutes making chitchat, she finds that her best companions are on a screen, in books, and in videos.

These characters accept her unconditionally. She never feels any rejection. She never feels less or small.

This beautiful girl knows other girls have friends.

Friends who confide in each other, who make plans to get together, who discuss their camp choices, but never with her.

As the Mom, I can’t do more than pretend that this is acceptable. As the Mom after years of bearing the pain, I would love to think of a way to promote the awareness.

The reality is there is an awareness but it’s just easier to ignore.

No, she will never go off the derech.

Therefore, she’s really not a societal issue. Much more pressing issues to be addressed.

The high-functioning child with special needs, falling through the cracks. Doesn’t really fit in anywhere.

Not fully welcomed anyplace.

Such a shame that nobody deemed her worthy enough to befriend and perhaps have benefitted so much from the relationship.

Such a shame that she doesn’t know what she has missed to have never had a friend who thought she was worth the effort.

High school is coming to an end-everyone is off to seminary and then hopefully the natural course of events.

What about my child?

The count begins anew.

The next set of 200 Shabbosim (or is it thousands of Shabbosim?) trying so hard to convince ourselves it’s fine.

Problem is, fine is just not good enough.

This is one of many stories. Many people struggle socially, and it is a very painful experience for each and every one of them. We are experiencing temporary isolation, but there are some people who live their whole lives in isolation. The temporary isolation that we are all experiencing should help us appreciate what many others go through. Let us not forget that we are all in this together. We are all isolated, and in a way that helps us to feel that we are not missing anything at all; it’s “just the way

it is” for now. Individuals who struggle with social acceptance are much more alone. Let us take inspiration from this expe-rience to feel the pain of others and reach out to them. Let us contact those lonely souls, and make sure that they know that they have a friend. Let us make sure that everyone knows that they do belong, and that they have a place.

Good Shabbos,Rabbi Yosef Alt