rosh hashana edition - Camp Moshava Ennismore

ROSH HASHANA
5772
ENNISMORE
Tishrei 1-2 – September 29-30, 2011
Volume 10 Number 3
A MSUANTDT Programming Project
Shana Tova Torah and Bracha - By Rabbi Cutler
In Parshat Ki Tavo, we are introduced to the “new” Brit that Hashem makes with Am Yisrael by the
plains of Moav. There is an elaborate discussion of these Curses and Blessings on Mount Eival and
Mount Grizim. All the meforshim ask, why do we need to make a new brit- what is different from
Kabbalat Hatorah at Sinai? Rav Neventzol, the Chief Rabbi of the Old City, points out that this Brit
is special for Eretz Yisrael. (See Abarbanel who also states this) What is special about the Jewish People coming into her homeland that we need a new convenant with God? For brevity sake, I will point
out one idea even though there are many more.
Rav Heller (a friend and Rebbe with me in Yeshivat Hakotel) points out that on Mount Sinai we were
passive spectators. Furthermore, one can track the roots of many of the evils of the generation of the
Desert to this state of passivity. Here we have to go up the mountains to receive the blessing and
curses. This represents a more active role. Here we are “homeowners”- we need to be more active
and take responsibility for our home.
Yom Tov Times
Jerusalem: 5:59/ 7:04
Moshava : 5:43/6:42
Toronto: 6:46 /7:45
Montreal: 6:23 / 7:23
New York: 6:26 / 7:23
Los Angeles: 6:23 / 7:17
Ramat Gan: 6:09/ 7:05
This first message is important for all staff and campers of Camp Moshava. In camp, it’s like Mount
Sinai, We have so many pleasures handed to us, whether it’s Menucha Beit Medrash, Meir’s questions
on the Parsha , hopping into Melechet Yad to make a great art projects etc. It’s one big warm family.
Now as we close the year an begin a new year, we need to be more active to build those relationships.
For example, send emails to one’s campers or counsellor. We have to be more active in our local
communities and Bnei Akiva! May Hashem give us the strength to be proactive in building and
strengthening our relationships with Hashem, fellow campers and staff as we approach the new
year. Shanah Tova
Rabbi Cutler
Ha’Azinu Stats
Dead Sea Scrolls go online
Israel's national museum, international web giant Google make world-famous
Dead Sea Scrolls available online 2,000 years after they were written, decades after being found in desert caves Associated Press
Two thousand years after they were written and decades after they were found in desert caves, some
of the world-famous Dead Sea Scrolls are available online.
Israel's national museum and the international web giant Google are behind the project, which put five
scrolls online Monday. The scrolls include the biblical Book of Isaiah.
Watch Dead Sea Scrolls:
Google's technology allows surfers to search the scrolls for specific passages and
translate them into English.
The scrolls available online were purchased by Israeli researchers between 1947
and 1967. They were originally found by Bedouin shepherds in the Judean Desert.
They are held at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Google is also working with Israel to make the first comprehensive and searchable database of the
broader collection of scrolls.
53rd of the 54 sedras; 10th
of 11 in D'varim
Written on 92 lines in a Sefer Torah, ranks 51st
3 Parshiyot; all open (extra
open!)
52 p'sukim - ranks 51st (8th
in D'varim)
614 words - ranks 52nd (9th
in D'varim)
2326 letters - ranks 52nd
(9th in D'varim)
P'sukim are among the
shortest in the Torah
MITZVOT
The Chinuch does not count
any mitzvot in Ha'azinu;
Rambam counts 1 - YAYIN
NESECH. This is the only
mitzva on Rambam's whole
list of 613 mitzvot that the
Chinuch does not count
We’ve arrived at crunch time. Part of our task on Rosh Hashana is recrowning Hashem as our King. We declare again that Hashem is our true
and only King, we pray that regardless of how poorly we may have acted
over the last year, he bless us for a year of life and success. It’s interesting, though, to consider that we have been declaring Hashem as our king
all year. Every day during Kedusha we say Yimloch Hashem, (Hashem
will rule forever) and on every Shabbat we sing Melech Malchei HaMelachim (King of Kings). Rather than being perhaps redundant, on Rosh
Hashana it gives us a huge advantage. The truth is that no one is perfect.
We need Hashem to cut us a lot of slack in order to look past our shortcomings and bless us anyway.
Imagine a king that has servants around him all the time. He knows that
they care about him and even though they may make mistakes, the fact
that they are at his side every day tells him that their intentions are good.
Imagine if we didn’t praise Hashem all year and now suddenly we show
up on his doorstep in our hour of need. While we would hope He would
accept our tefillot in any event, the fact that we’ve been declaring him our
King all along makes our case more sincere.
So on one hand, our praising Hashem in our tefillot all year makes the
massive task of crowing Hashem as King on Rosh Hashana more do-able.
On the other hand, it is still a lot of work. We need to re-emphasize our
kavvanah. We cannot let our tefillot become automatic. We know that
Hashem wants us to raise the bar and keep on improving ourselves.
This is one of the reasons that the Torah reading of Rosh Hashana is the
story of Akeidat Yitzchak. Avraham Avinu was the original
“Kingmaker.” After all a king can only be a king when he has subjects. Noone told Avraham that Hashem was King. He was the
original servant who recognized Hashem’s rule of the world on his own. Once he accepted Hashem as his King, he then spent the rest
of his life teaching others to do the same. When Hashem chose to test Avraham, it couldn’t be something too easy to accomplish. Had
Hashem told Avraham for his big test to invite 500 people to dinner and teach them it would not have been a challenge for him. Avraham’s big test had to be the Akeidah, which otherwise went against everything that he stood for and spent his life teaching.
Hashem will give us challenges in our lives and situations that will require us to raise our level of commitment in order to pass. If we
are going to continue to declare Hashem as our King every day and every week, then He wants us not just to say the words. He wants
us to take our relationship to the next level. When we re-declare Him as our King on Thursday, we need to figure out how we can improve ourselves so that we don’t just stay as servants saying and doing the same thing day in and day out. That is what Rosh Hashana is
for.
Thoughts on Rosh HaShana by: Meir Balofsky
Mazal Tov to Jeremy Segal
and Tova Rosenzweig on
their engagement.
MOSHAVA NEWS
Don’t miss the Moshava 50+ years Gala
Event in November!
This week’s SHOUT-OUT goes out to Rosh Hashana tables
who don’t have a fish or sheep head on it because they don’t
have the guts….get it… they don’t have the guts!!