SHABBAT EMOR - Congregation Mogen David

SHABBAT EMOR
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS & EVENTS:
Bnei Akiva Events: Shabbat 5/21: Snif Shluchot, 6:55pm at
Beth Jacob (walking groups LEAVE Airdrome and Canfield at 6:35pm); Snif Saad, 7:30pm at Yavneh. Upcoming:
6/1/16 - IDP weekend in New York. For more info contact
Eyal at (310) 220-1459.
May 20 & 21, 2016 • 13 IYAR 5776
Ashkenaz Minyan
Yoetzet Halacha Shoshana Samuels: Will receive the first
Nishmat Miriam Glaubach Center Award on Wed, 6/1, at
a Gala Dinner in NYC celebrating Nishmat, which
educates and certifies all Yoatzot Halacha. To share the
celebration, call 201 525-5100 or log on to
www.nishmatgala.org.
Sephardic Minyan
Erev Shabbos
Erev Shabbat
Mincha: 6:30 pm
Mincha: 6:30 pm
Candlelighting: 7:33 pm
Candlelighting: 7:33 pm
Shabbat
Shabbos
Hashkama Minyan: 7:45 am
OU Annual Awards Banquet: 6/21, at the Beverly Hills
Marriott at 5:45pm. Email westcoast@ou.org for info.
Mishna w/ Rabbi Elias: 8:45 am
Parsha Drasah w/ Rabbi Moses: 8:15 am
Shacharis: 9:00 am
Shacharit: 8:45 am
The Ezra Network: WEDNESDAYS: FREE Social Services @
KMD. Make your appointment by contacting: Rochelle,
Social Worker, 323.229.0235; Giselle, Jobs, 323.761.8888
x8998; Emily, Legal Counselor, 323.549.5827.
Mincha: 7:20 pm
Shiur w/ Eliyahu Binyamin Moses: 5:45 pm
Ma’ariv: 8:27 pm
Shiur w/ Rabbi Moses: 6:30 pm
Havdalah: 8:34 pm
Shir Hashirim w/ Rabbi Abraham: 6:30 pm (boys only)
Synagogue Based Bereavement Support Group: @ KMD
every Wed, at 3:00 pm. For info, contact: Ezra Network
Social Worker Rochelle Shapiro at (323) 229-0235
Bet Zedek Legal Services: If you are looking for legal help,
whether it has to do with applying for Holocaust
reparations, an eviction notice or elder abuse, the Ezra
Network is here for you. The legal counselor can assist
you, at no cost. If the legal counselor cannot assist you
directly, the attorney will provide referrals to other agencies that may be able to assist. Contact 323-549-5827. All
information provided is confidential.
Moshava California: - Bunks are filling up - don't miss out!
Sign up today for an athletic, creative, inspiring, AMAZING
summer of sports, arts, nature, friendship and ruach. For
more info: office@moshavacalifornia.org or 855MOSHAVA
5 Day Yosemite Camping Adventure for High School boys:
(14-17) Aug 21-25, 2016. Experience Redwood trees &
Waterfalls, Hiking, BBQ’s, Tefilos & Shiurim. Transportation
and Meals provided. Contact: Mordechai Lalehzari
310-927-6417, or outdoorstitch@gmail.com.
IN MEMORIAM: MAY 20– MAY 26/ 12-18 IYAR
Jeff Krone • Yechiel Chaim Rosenwald • Klonimoss Reiss •
Abe Schechter • Rabbi Allan Summers • Jack Tabacznik •
Shlomo Sadetzki • Yafa Wacht • Steven L. Weiss • Myna
Jaffe • Ellen Weinberg
Mincha: 7:15 pm (followed by Seudah Shlishit & Arvit)
Weekday
Havdalah: 8:34 pm
Shacharis: Sun @ 8:00 am; Mon-Fri @ 6:30 am
Weekday
Mincha & Maariv: 7:40 pm
Shacharis: Sun @ 8:00 am; Mon-Fri @ 6:30 am
Mincha & Maariv: 7:40 pm
THIS SHABBAT. . .
REFUAH SHLEIMAH:
Cantor Leopold Szneer • Mordechai ben Simcha • Efriam
ben Ida • Avraham ben Dolat • Raphael David ben Ella •
Ruven ben Raisel • Shlomo ben Raizel • Levi Yakov ben
Maytal Ha’Kohen • Shimon Dov ben Shifra • Yitzchak ben
Kalomeera • Haim Menachem ben Hena Raizel • Moshe
Mordechai ben Rachel • Baruch Pelech ben Chana •
Yoseph Shmuel Chaim ben Brana • Aaron Yosef ben
Chana • Ozer ben Leah • Rochel bat Miriam • Chana
Ruhal bat Selma • Eshter bat Chana • Matana bat
Rachel • Habiba bat Rahel • Tzvia Nechama bas Chana
Rochel • Bracha Hena bat Rivka • Rachel bat Chana •
Sara bat Etta • Rivkah bas Chemda • Elana bat Rachel •
Miriam bat Sarah • Villis bat Fruma • Chava Golda bat
Rachel Leah • Sarah bat Elka • Shifra bat Chaya •
Marcello ben Rivka • Silvia Neche bat Rosa • Esther
Shayna bat Chave • Abraham ben Shlomo • Chaya
Rachel bat Simcha
KEHILAT MOGEN DAVID • 9717 W PICO BLVD, LA, CA 90035 • 310.556.5609 • WWW.MOGEN-DAVID.ORG
We welcome Rabbi Tzvi Koren, Rabbi of Kehillat
Kinor-David & Head of the Beit Midrash for Jewish
Thought in Beit Hillel, who will speak on the topic of
“Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and Torat Eretz Yisrael” as
part of the 2nd Annual Beit Hillel Shabbaton. The theme
of the Shabbaton is “Contemporary Challenges Facing
Modern Orthodoxy in Israel and the Diaspora.”
Kiddush this week is sponsored by David Kashanian in
memory of the hazkarah of his father, Habib ben
Yehezkel.
Seudah Shlishit is sponsored by Hertzel & Karin Kohan in
honor of the birth of their son last week.
Shacharit on the morning of May 30th, Memorial Day, will
begin at 8:00 am for both minyanim.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING:
Lag B’Omer is Wednesday Night & Thursday, May 25 & 26.
Sunday, June 19 @ 11:00 am
Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the Omer count, is a festive
day on the Jewish calendar. It is celebrated with outings,
bonfires, and other joyous events.
Open to all 2015-2016 Paid-in-Full Members (if you are
unsure of your status please call the office in advance of
the meeting)
AVY AZEROUAL, President
RABBI GABE ELIAS, Senior Rabbi/Executive Director
NOEY JACOBSON, Cantor
RABBI YEHUDA MOSES, Rav Kehila, Sephardic Minyan
RABBI MICHAEL ABRAHAM, Assistant Rabbi/Hazan
RABBI NISSIM AFRIAT, Hashkama Minyan
Parashat Emor closes with one of the most famous and
controversial pronouncements in the Torah:
When asked about the contents of our Parsha, many people
would most likely first think about Parshat HaMoadim. Lying
smack in the middle of the Parsha, and familiar through the fact
that it is read on both Pesach (second day) and Succot (first
day), the parsha describes the various holidays and the special
korbanot which were offered on each one. It also describes the
defining characteristics of each Moed. (Interestingly, the parsha
does not describe the korban Mussaf of each chag. This is left for
Parshat Pinchas). When further pressed, we would probably
remember the beginning of the parsha, which deals with the
question of the holiness of the Kohanim. We also might
remember the end of the Parsha, which tells the story of the son
of an Egyptian father and Jewish mother who publicly curses in
Hashem's name, and the punishment (stoning) which is meted
out to him.
In this parsha we read of the important duties and abstinences of
the kohanim (priests) in the performance of their official
tasks. The Torah demands that a person who has a physical
defect, or is blind, lame or crippled in some way cannot perform
as a kohain even if he be of the priestly family. At first glance, this
seems cruel and unjust. Certainly, many great leaders in our
society have been and are able to fulfill the duties of their
leadership, disregarding their physical handicaps. Upon closer
scrutiny, however, we find these rules were necessary to fulfill the
requirements of holiness. How could we expect the Jews to
select perfect animal specimens for their meals, if those who
prepare the foods have defects, many of them unknown in
origin? For Israel in those days the setting of a good example
was extremely important. Today, our rabbi's explain that the
defects outlined here are no longer applicable to the visible
physical defects of a person, so we must be concerned with the
moral and ethical character of our leaders.
Equally if not more important is the period between Pesach and
Shavous, the festivals of liberation and the giving of the
Torah. This period is marked by the "Counting of the Omer". In
a sense the festival of Shavous is a fulfillment, a climax, of
Pesach. In terms of the Jewish people the significance is obvious,
Israel was not a nation by virtue of its freedom alone but the
virtue of receiving the Torah. Freedom for the Jew is a release,
from oppression but not from self-control. Pesach permits man to
develop freely, with no interference by anyone with his/her
religious activities. This freedom became real only when it was
given direction, when the Torah showed us what we can
become. Now we understand that Pesach and Shavous are
complementary festivals, deliberately connected by the
counting of the Omer to stress their inseparability. Let us
celebrate the upcoming holiday of Shavout together as one
nation under one G-d, together unified as one people like we
rejoiced at Mt. Sinai.
Rabbi Gabe Elias
If anyone maims his fellow, as he has done so shall it be
done to him; fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for
tooth. Just as he inflicted an injury upon a person, so
shall it be inflicted upon him. (VaYikra, 24:19-20)
On the surface, the idea of punishing assault by physically
harming the perpetrator makes a certain kind of sense. The
threat of physical punishment would have likely been an
effective deterrent for many potential assailants and it fulfills an
instinctual desire for fairness and revenge, as the perpetrator
must experience exactly the same pain and physical limitation
he inflicted. Yet for most people, this Mitzvah is deeply
disturbing. Many of us reject its suggestion of violence as an
ethical tool for meting out justice.
The Gemara also found this law problematic. Despite what
seems to be the clear meaning of the pasuk, the Rabbis refuse
to accept that the Torah could say such a thing. The Gemara,
Bava Kama Daf 84a spends more than a page tying itself into
knots in order to reject the law’s plain meaning, bringing textual
evidence and practical objections to prove its deliberate
misread of “ayin tachat ayin” as falling within Dinei Mamonot,
monetary retribution.
By shifting from physical retribution to financial repayment, the
Chachamim preserved the best elements of the original law
while freeing themselves of the most dangerous. The new
system held on to the wisdom that victims of violence need to
see punishment of the perpetrators in order to heal. But by
removing the element of violence, the Rabbis prevented the
perpetuation of cycles that could lead to further assaults in
retribution. Most importantly, in this new model the victims
actually benefit from the punishment by receiving financial
compensation, including reimbursement for their medical care
and lost wages ( as explained in Bava Kamma Daf 83).
With the Chag of Shavuot approaching, it's important to
recognize that the marriage of Torah Shebichtav and Torah She
-Ba'al Peh is indissoluble. During this time we should redouble
our efforts in Limmud HaTorah, in order to fully understand the
Divine wisdom of the Torah and each Halacha--L'havin
U'L'haskil!
KOLLEL & CLASSES
Daily Classes:
Sun-Fri: Chok Le’Yisrael
w/ Haim Dayan Sun @ 8:45 am; Mon-Fri @ 7:30 am
Weekly Classes:
Sun: Shiur
w/ Rabbi Adler following Shacharit
Sun: Guide to Belief
w/ David Sacks @ 9:30 am
Mon: Parsha Class
w/ Rabbi Elias @ Pico Café 7:45 am
Wed: Lunch & Learn (Parsha)
w/ Rabbi Elias @ 12:00 pm
Thur: Gemara Class
w/ Rabbi Moses @ 8:00 pm
Kollel Classes are Sponsored by Avy and Sandra Azeroual;
Dedicated in memory of ADA BAT HANNA AZEROUAL; and in
dedication to the memories of JACK E. GINDI and ESKANDAR
RASHIDI DOOST.
We offer the opportunity to sponsor a week of Kollel learning for $180
as a way to commemorate a Yahrtzeit or Hazkarah, to celebrate a
joyous Simcha, or to help and support the Torah learning at our Shul.
Please call or email the office to choose a week to sponsor a class.
Mazal Tov to Navid & Melissa Bayanfar
on the birth of a baby girl!
May they merit to raise him to Torah, Chuppah, and
Maasim Tovim!
(20) AVA ABERGEL • YONATHAN SAOUR • STEVEN
SIMONS • (23) ABIGAIL BAMELA • JONATHAN MIZRAHI •
TOVA TODD • (24) RUDI BASSMANN • (26) RAYMOND
BEYDA • LIORA ENGEL • BENJAMIN ZAOUI •
May
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yehuda Moses
(24) ROY & ALIN LANSKY
(26) RAYMOND & EREES BEYDA
May