Printed fromChabadofLA.com
ב"ה

Shul Bulletin

Fast of Tishah B’Av

Fast of Tishah B’Av

Monday Night

  • Mincha: 6:15 pm 
  • Fast Begins: 7:55 pm
  • Ma’ariv: 8:30 pm
  • Followed by Megilas Eicha.
  • Followed by Siyum around 9:30 pm.

Tuesday

  • Shacharis: 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 and 10:00 am
  • Midday: 1:00 pm
  • First minyan Mincha:
    Talis & Tefilin at 1:15 pm.
    Korbanos @ 1:30 pm.
    Followed by Siyum around 2 pm.
  • Second Minyan Mincha:
    Talis & Tefilin at 2:00 pm. 
  • Third Minyan Mincha:
    Talis & Tefilin at  7:00 pm.
    Ashrei @ 7:15 pm. 
    Followed by Siyum around 7:40 pm.
  • Maariv: 8:25 pm. 
    Followed by Siyum around 8:35 pm
  • Fast Ends: 8:29 pm
    ***Light refreshments will be served***

For the laws and customs of the fast
Please see the “Chabad Chodesh”.

Announcements - Devarim

  • Click here for this week's Lmaan Yishmeu publication. 
  • Click here for this week’s JEM “Here’s My Story”. 
  • Click here for a list of our ongoing shiurim. 
  • Click here to pay up all your building fund, kibud or yiskor pledges and outstanding membership. Thank you to all of our supporters!!!
  • SIYUMIM TIMES: The Rebbe encouraged everyone to listen to a daily siyum from the beginning of the 9 days through 15 av. 
    Times:
    Motzei Shabbos: around 8:45 pm.
    Sunday night: After Maariv, around 8:30 pm.
    Monday night: After Eicha, around 9:30 pm.
    Tuesday: around 2 pm, around 7:40 pm and around 8:35 pm
    Wed-Thur: After Maariv, around 8:30.
    If you are unable to make it to any of the siyumim, you can call in to listen live to our siyum. Dial (319) 527-9676.
    For reminders via WHATSAPP, please WhatApp Shmuly Gurary- 323-540-0485.

Shabbos Schedule - Devarim

  • Shabbos Candle Lighting: 7:38 pm
  • Last Time To Read Shema: 9:30 am
  • Chassidus for Early Minyan: 8:45 am
  • Shiur Chassidus by Rabbi Raichik: 9:00 am
  • Early Minyan Shacharis: 9:30 am
  • Shacharis: 10:00 am
  • NO Kol Yakov Yehuda during the summer :(((
  • Rabbi Raichik's Pirkei Avos Shiur: 6:35 pm
  • Mincha: 7:35 pm Followed by Pirkei Avos - Perek 3
  • Shabbos Ends: 8:41 pm

Fast of Tishah B’Av

Monday Night

  • Mincha: 6:15 pm 
  • Fast Begins: 7:55 pm
  • Ma’ariv: 8:30 pm
  • Followed by Megilas Eicha.
  • Followed by Siyum around 9:30 pm.

Tuesday

  • Shacharis: 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 and 10:00 am
  • Midday: 1:00 pm
  • First minyan Mincha:
    Talis & Tefilin at 1:15 pm.
    Korbanos @ 1:30 pm.
    Followed by Siyum around 2 pm.
  • Second Minyan Mincha:
    Talis & Tefilin at 2:00 pm. 
  • Third Minyan Mincha:
    Talis & Tefilin at  7:00 pm.
    Ashrei @ 7:15 pm. 
    Followed by Siyum around 7:40 pm.
  • Maariv: 8:25 pm. 
    Followed by Siyum around 8:35 pm
  • Fast Ends: 8:29 pm
    ***Light refreshments will be served***

For the laws and customs of the fast
Please see the “Chabad Chodesh”.

Kiddush Sponsors - Devarim

  • Shnuer Zalman Berkowitz in honor of his birthday. May he have a shnas hatzlocho begashmiyus ubruchniyus.
  • Mr. & Mrs. David Milner for the yahrtzeit of Mr. David Milner’s mother Sheina bas Reb Shlomo ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Gershon Schusterman for the yahrtzeit of Mrs. Chana Rachel Schusterman’s father Reb Yaakov ben Reb Menashe ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Dovid Thaler for the yahrtzeit of Mrs. Ruchama Thaler’s father Reb Yitzchok ben Reb Yakov ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.

Early Minyan Kiddush Sponsors - Devarim

  • Rabbi & Mrs. Simcha Levenberg for the Bar-Mitzvah of their son Yehoshua. May he give them much nachas and may he grow up to be a true chossid yirei shomaim and lamdan.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Shaya Lowenstein in honor of Rabbi Shaya Lowenstein’s birthday. May he have a shnas hatzlocho begashmiyus ubruchniyus.
  • Mr. & Mrs. Mitch Reichman for the yahrtzeit of Mr. Mitch Reichman’s mother Roichel Devorah bas Reb Yaakov ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Menachem Rubinstein for the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Menachem Rubinstein’s grandfather Reb Tzvi Hirsch ben Reb Yechezkel Yaakov ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya. Also for the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Menachem Rubinstein’s uncle Reb Yechezkel Yakov ben Reb Tzvi Hirsh ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.

Women's Shabbos Shiur & Farbrengen - Devarim

6:30 pm at the home of Mrs. Sima Berkowitz
435 N Poinsettia Pl.
Speaker: Rabbi Shaya Berkowitz 

Mazal Tov To - Devarim

  • Rabbi & Mrs. Mendel Greenbaum on the Bar-Mitzvah of their son Zalmy. Mazal tov to the grandparents Rabbi & Mrs. Yakov Greenbaum.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Fischel Grossman on the birth of their granddaughter (to Yitzi and Rochie Zakon.)
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Simcha Levenberg on the Bar-Mitzvah of their son Yehoshua.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Yossi Schneerson on the birth of their granddaughter (to Yitzchok & Mussie Abend.) 

Upcoming Birthdays

  • Rabbi Yosef Abramov - 7 Av
  • Rabbi Hershy Mishulovin - 7 Av
  • Rabbi Dovi Goldman - 7 Av
  • Mr. Reuvein Caplan - 8 Av
  • Mendy Lerman - 8 Av
  • Shnuer Zalman Berkowitz - 8 Av
  • Akiva Hoffman - 9 Av
  • Rabbi Moishe Carlebach - 10 Av
  • Mr. Nachum Cherman - 10 Av
  • Moshe Meir Polityko - 11 Av
  • Alexander Sender Labkowsky - 11 Av
  • Nadav Lerman - 11 Av
  • Pesach Newman - 12 Av

Upcoming Yahrtzeits

  • Reb Yechezkel Yakov ben Reb Tzvi Hirsh (Rabbi Menachem Rubinstein’s uncle) - 6 Av
  • Reb Yacov ben Reb Yehoshua (Mrs. Miriam Diller’s grandfather) - 7 Av
  • Reb Yaakov ben Reb Menashe (Mrs. Chana Rachel Schusterman’s father) - 8 Av
  • Reb Yitzchok ben Reb Yakov (Mrs. Ruchama Thaler’s father) - 9 Av
  • Roichel Devorah bas Reb Yaakov (Mr. Mitch Reichman’s mother) - 10 Av
  • Sheina bas Reb Shlomo (Mr. David Milner’s mother) - 11 Av
  • Reb Moshe Aharon ben Reb Noson Notte Hakohen (Rabbi Yitzchok Arnold’s brother) - 12 Av
  • Kaila bas Reb Yedidya (Rabbi Danny Rotenberg’s mother) - 12 Av

Devar Torah - Devarim

Turning the Tables on the Galus
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik

Because of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash the Nine Days, the time of the destruction, are days of mourning. We do not mend or clean our clothes. We do not make weddings or take haircuts. We don't eat meat or drink wine except on Shabbos or for a Bris. 

The Rebbe has emphasized taking a different approach during the Three Weeks and the Nine Days. The Rebbe disrupts the pattern of mourning. Although the Nine Days are  a time of mourning, they are also a time of action. The Rebbe advised us that the Nine Days are a time to focus on the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash and bringing the Geula and thereby do our part to nullify the mourning. We do this by learning about the Beis HaMikdash, making Siyumim, increasing in Ahavas Yisroel, and by adding in learning Torah and  giving Tzedaka.

The approach of the Rebbe to Shabbos Chazon, this Shabbos, has always been one of great simcha. It’s based on a  statement of Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev that on Shabbos Chazon Hashem shows every individual a vision of the Third Beis HaMikdash. This vision gives us the strength to change and to merit to convert the Galus into Geula both spiritually and physically.

Although this sounds so beautiful, practically speaking we still find ourselves still immersed in the Galus. As we await with great anticipation for the emergence of the dawn of our Redemption, far from the vision of the Third Beis HaMikdash, the world seems to be getting darker from one day to the next. How do we rise above our daily experience and go on to see the vision of the Third Beis HaMikdash as described by Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev?

To bring this about the Rebbe advised us to learn about Moshiach and Geula in detail. The Rebbe also guided us to see the Geula and to live with Moshiach already now in our present situation. The fact that the Rebbe provided us with this guidance is a sign that we are fully capable of upgrading our perspective and sharing the Rebbe’s vision that we are in the final generation  of Galus. As we develop and expand more we are able to sense that today is the last day of Galus and this hour to be the final hour of Galus, to the point that Moshiach is arriving now. But how do we, practically speaking, get there in our situation and share in the vision of Geula, Moshiach and the Third Beis HaMikdash?

In the last few articles we have been discussing how each one of us has 3 Souls. The G-dly Soul sees and feels G-dliness but is strapped and entrapped in an animal Soul which pulls it down into the limitedness of this world and its demands keeping it tethered to the darkness of the Galus.

The Rebbe gave us a remedy. Living with Moshiach means to understand the purpose of Moshiach. Learning about the Geula enables us to understand and to envision what  the condition the world will be in with the Geula. The end result of our learning inculcates within us true hope and emunah in the final outcome which motivates our actions to transform that vision into reality.

The more involved and focused we are and the more attention that we give to assure that every deed we do be for the sake of the Geula brings that reality closer. We are partners in the process.  It's hard to live this way at first, but as time goes by we recognise that Geula is the deeper truth, and that with focus and purpose we fulfill our purpose of bringing Moshiach and the rebuilding the Third Beis HaMikdash, today and everyday.

There is a story of a king who decided to make a party. He told everyone to be prepared for the announcement that the party would commence. There were two types of subjects in the land, the wise and the fools. The wise ones wanted to be prepared and ready with clean and proper clothing for the party at the moment that the announcement would be made. The fools said to themselves that there would be plenty of time until the king gets around to announcing the party. Even after the announcement there would be plenty of time to go home, wash up and change clothes. Therefore the fools didn’t pay attention and continued with their regular work schedule.  When the announcement from the king came, it came suddenly without notice. The king ordered everyone to enter immediately, as they are, into the palace for the party. The wise ones entered with their clean clothes ready to celebrate while the fools entered embarrassed, with their dirty garments.

Getting ready for the Geula and having an attitude of expectancy that it could come at any moment comes from learning about Geula and Moshiach. We have done our job when galus is in our eyes as the dream and the Geula  it is no longer a dream, it is reality.

A Good Shabbos

Chabad Chodesh - Menachem-Av

The new issue of the "Chabad Chodesh"
is now available online by clicking here

Siyumim

The rebbe encouraged everyone
to listen to a daily siyum 
from the beginning of the 9 days through tu b’av.

You can participate in a siyum every night in shul after maariv.

For those who live out of town
and are unable to make it to a siyum
you can call in to listen live to our siyum
Dial (319) 527-9676

STARTING TONIGHT!!!
Sunday, L'Erech 8:35-8:40 pm

If you would like to receive nightly reminders via WHATSAPP 
please WhatApp Shmuly Gurary- 323-540-0485 your name and number.

Thank you to all those who volunteered to make siyumim.  
If you have a siyum to make, Please contact Rabbi Levi Raichik

Announcements - Matos-Masei

  • Click here for this week's Lmaan Yishmeu publication. 
  • Click here for this week’s JEM “Here’s My Story”. 
  • Click here for a list of our ongoing shiurim. 
  • Click here to pay up all your building fund, kibud or yiskor pledges and outstanding membership. Thank you to all of our supporters!!!

Shabbos Schedule - Matos-Masei

  • Shabbos Candle Lighting: 7:43 pm
  • Shabbos Mevarchim Tehillim: 8:15 am
  • Followed by Rabbi Raichik’s Shiur Chassidus 
  • Tehillim Club: 9:00 am 
  • Last Time To Read Shema: 9:28 am
  • Early Minyan Shacharis: 10:00 am
  • Shacharis: 10:15 am
  • NO Kol Yakov Yehuda during the summer :((
  • Rabbi Raichik's Pirkei Avos Shiur: 6:40 pm 
  • Mincha: 7:40 pm Followed by Pirkei Avos - Perek 2
  • Shabbos Ends: 8:46 pm
  • Molad of Chodesh Menachem Av: Sunday, 29 Tammuz/July 23, 10:00 pm and 14 chalokim. 
  • Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av: Monday, July 24.

Kiddush Sponsors - Matos-Masei

  • The Gaboim of the Shul in honor of Shabbos Chazak. May they and the entire community be blessed with kol tuv se’ela.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Chaim Burston for the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Chaim Burston’s father Reb Yehuda Shmuel ben Reb Yitzchok ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Michy Rav-Noy in honor of Rabbi Michy Rav-Noy’s birthday. May he have a shnas hatzlocho begashmiyus ubruchniyus.

Early Minyan Kiddush Sponsors - Matos-Masei

  • The Gaboim of the Shul in honor of Shabbos Chazak. May they and the entire community be blessed with kol tuv se’ela.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Simcha Levenberg for the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Simcha Levenberg’s father Reb Velvel Efraim ben Reb Yisroel Halevi ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • Mr. & Mrs. Steve Zipp in honor of their anniversary. May they have many more happy years together.

Women's Shabbos Shiur & Farbrengen - Matos-Masei

6:30 pm at the home of Mrs. Rivky Raichik
145 S Mansfield Ave.
Speaker: Mrs. Ruth Devorah Wallen

Mazal Tov To - Matos-Masei

Upcoming Birthdays

  • Mr. Doron Israeli - 28 Tammuz
  • Chaim Israeli - 28 Tammuz
  • Rabbi Michy Rav-Noy - 28 Tammuz
  • Moshe Schneerson - 28 Tammuz
  • Yoel Newman - 29 Tammuz
  • Rabbi Mendel Eichenblatt - 29 Tammuz
  • Mendel Lerner - 29 Tammuz
  • Mendel Stroll - 2 Av
  • Rabbi Tzemach Rosenfeld - 2 Av
  • Rabbi Shaya Lowenstein - 3 Av
  • Dr. Sholom Fine - 3 Av
  • Mr. Ephraim Levy - 3 Av
  • Daniel Avraham Goldman - 4 Av
  • Eliyahu Tzvi Lipsker - 4 Av
  • Mr. Dennis Blauner - 5 Av
  • Aharon Moshe Grossman - 5 Av
  • Rabbi Avrohom Wagshul - 5 Av

Upcoming Yahrtzeits

  • Reb Hershel Tzvi ben Reb Avraham (Mr. Richard Rosenbloom’s father) - 28 Tammuz
  • Chaika bas Reb Yosef (Mrs. Sarah Goldstein’s mother) - 28 Tammuz
  • Reb Tzvi Hirsch ben Reb Yechezkel Yaakov (Rabbi Menachem Rubinstein’s grandfather) - 29 Tammuz
  • Reb Zalman Yudah ben Reb Shalom Yeshaya (Mrs. Rochel Eisenberg’s father) - 29 Tammuz
  • Reb Shimon ben Reb Yaakov Reuven (Mr. Maayan Kerbel’s grandfather) - 1 Av
  • Reb Velvel Efraim ben Reb Yisroel Halevi (Rabbi Simcha Levenberg’s father) - 1 Av
  • Malka bas Reb Yitzchok Yosef (Mrs. Chani Rotenberg’s mother) - 2 Av
  • Reb Yehuda Shmuel ben Reb Yitzchok (Rabbi Chaim Burston’s father) - 4 Av

Devar Torah - Matos-Masei

The Tanya is not the Tale of two Souls, 
it's the Story of our Life!
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik

This week is the double parsha of Mattos-Massei which begins with the laws of vows. When someone makes a vow and regrets it or needs it to be annulled, a Chacham who knows the laws of has the authority to release him from the vow's obligation. But why do we make vows in the first place? Vows make something that is permitted into something forbidden. Why would someone want to disallow something that the Torah has allowed? The real practical purpose for a vow is to regain control over oneself. If for example someone is having trouble with his food intake or the way he speaks or acts and is unable to get control over the habit, he has a tool called a vow to help. By forbidding oneself with a vow he has added the power and strength of the Torah to overcome his struggle. Nevertheless it is preferable to deal with it conventionally and to avoid making a vow.

So how can we be successful in our service of Hashem without the aid of a vow?

In last week's we discussed the three souls, which are three parts or aspects that make up every person. There is the G-dly soul which lives and desires only to be one with Hashem and wants nothing other than to learn the Torah and to daven. The animal soul is out for itself to fulfill it's desire for fun and pleasure. It's only interest is benefiting itself. This is the tug-of-war that goes on within each and everyone of us. A successful outcome is when the G-dly soul uses the intellectual soul to explain and eventually convince the animal of two things. First, he teaches the animal soul not to live like an animal any longer. Secondly he convinces the animal soul to use its life energy in the service of Hashem.

Chassidus says: "What is forbidden is forbidden. What is permitted is unnecessary." The G-dly soul convinces the animal soul that everything in the world is here and provided to us in order to serve Hashem, otherwise it's basically unnecessary. When animal soul really understands this, he doesn't just think that it's true but also feels it too. Therefore he doesn't need anything that doesn't serve his life's purpose which is to serve Hashem. How do we actualize this thinking and feeling in our daily life?

We accomplish this by first explaining to the animal soul and making him aware what it means to be an animal and how different and removed that is from being connected to G-dliness. Then the animals soul needs to know how we truly don't want to be just an animal, how unacceptable that is. Once the Alter Rebbe was being escorted by the son of the Maggid, Rav Avraham HaMalach on his way home from Mezritch. As they were traveling on the wagon the Alter Rebbe heard Rav Avraham saying to the wagon driver: "You need to whip the horse that it should realize that it's a horse." Later he said further to the wagon driver "You should whip the horse so that he should no longer be a horse." The Alter Rebbe understood the lesson for each one of us and how it applies to our animal soul.

So again how do we do this in a practical way? We accomplish this by learning Chassdus and then applying what we learn to our own lives with the realization that we are in the midst of an intense struggle between our G-dly soul and our animal soul. This battle is neither academic nor theoretical, it's real. When we learn through the first twelve chapters of the Tanya well we come to realize that the Tanya is not a tale of two souls its the story of our lives, here and now today. Once the boundaries of our battle are clear and defined we can go on to tame our animal soul through the practice of hiskafia, bending our animals soul towards a higher purpose. Now we can no longer just dismiss our mistakes by saying that we are sorry for what we have done because it was beyond our control. Once we have taken control and are engaged in the struggle it's no longer an option to look the other way.

As we come closer to Moshiach and as we increase in learning about Geula and Moshiach in depth it becomes far easier to see what's really happening. When we look around at the world today and we see so clearly how so many people, especially the leaders are running after their personal agendas and self-serving philosophies and are turning a blind eye on truth, fairness, and the collective good.

Ashreinu mah tov chelkeinu, how lucky we are that we have the Torah as our guide and can live a good life like a mentch as we prepare for the times of Moshiach and live the times of Moshiach now to the best of our ability.

A Good Shabbos

Anash Lecture Series: The Pursuit of Happiness

 Anash - Rabbi Schochet with bleed.jpg

Anash - The Series with bleed 3.jpg 

Bd"e: Levaya TODAY. MINYAN NEEDED

The Levaya for Mr. Faivel Borukhov
Uncle of Mr. Shaul Raigorodsky
will be TODAY 3pm at
Beit Israel cemetery:
1068 S Downey Rd. LA 90023

Help with minyan needed

Announcements - Pinchas

  • Click here for this week's Lmaan Yishmeu publication. 
  • Click here for this week’s JEM “Here’s My Story”. 
  • Click here for a list of our ongoing shiurim. 
  • Click here to pay up all your building fund, kibud or yiskor pledges and outstanding membership. Thank you to all of our supporters!!!
  • SUNDAY FOR MEN: Annual Yarchei Kallah 8 am to 9 pm at YOEC. Click here for more info
  • SUNDAY FOR WOMEN: 1st class about the Bais HaMikdash. 10 to 11 am, at the home of Etty Bastomski, 418 N. Fuller. 
  • WEDNESDAY:  Anash Lecture Series: The Pursuit of Happiness. For men & women. With Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet. Click here for more info.

Shabbos Schedule - Pinchas

  • Shabbos Candle Lighting: 7:47 pm
  • Last Time To Read Shema: 9:25 am
  • Chassidus for Early Minyan: 8:45 am
  • Shiur Chassidus by Rabbi Raichik: 9:00 am
  • Early Minyan Shacharis: 9:30 am
  • Shacharis: 10:00 am
  • NO Kol Yakov Yehuda during the summer :(((
  • Rabbi Raichik's Pirkei Avos Shiur: 6:45 pm
  • Mincha: 7:45 pm Followed by Pirkei Avos - Perek 1
  • Shabbos Ends: 8:50 pm

Kiddush Sponsors - Pinchas

  • Anonymous for the zechus of the yortzeit of Mrs. Bracha Chava Leah bas Reb Shmuel Finkelstein ob”m. Our dear friend who was a member of our shul for many years. She should be a gutteh better'n for us all.
  • The Bastomski Family for the yahrtzeit of Rebbitzen Freida Bastomski’s father Reb Chaim Zeev ben Reb Moshe ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • The Elharar, Goldman & Siboni Families for the yahrtzeit of their mother Simcha Chaya bas Reb Yosef ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • The Grossman Family for the yahrtzeit of Mrs. Dorothy Grossman’s mother Genendel bas Reb Noach ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • Mr. & Mrs. Shaul Raigorodsky for the yahrtzeit of Mr. Shaul Raigorodsky’s father Reb Dovid ben Reb Feivel ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Yosef Shagalov for the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yosef Shagalov’s father Reb Schneur Zalman ben Reb Yitzchok Elchonon ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.

Early Minyan Kiddush Sponsors - Pinchas

  • Rabbi & Mrs. Levi Lesches in honor of Rabbi Levi Lesches’s birthday. May he have a shnas hatzlocho begashmiyus ubruchniyus.

Women's Shabbos Shiur & Farbrengen - Pinchas

6:30 pm at the home of Mrs. Tzirel Frankel
109 S Vista St.
Speaker: Mrs. Fradel Bukiet, and others

Mazal Tov To - Pinchas

  • Mr. & Mrs. Reuven Solomon on the engagement of their granddaughter Devorah Leah Solomon to Dovi Fehler.

Upcoming Birthdays

  • Mr. Moshe Sufrin - 21 Tammuz
  • Menachem Mendel Lipsker - 21 Tammuz
  • Menachem Asher Ratner - 21 Tammuz
  • Nochum Zalman Gorelik - 24 Tammuz
  • Gavriel Abraham Gutierrez - 26 Tammuz
  • Moshe Dov Berger - 26 Tammuz
  • Rabbi Levi Lesches - 26 Tammuz
  • Mr. Yanky Bloch - 27 Tammuz

Upcoming Anniversaries

  • Mr. & Mrs. Steve Zipp - 26 Tammuz

Upcoming Yahrtzeits

  • Reb Shlomo Binyomin ben Reb Dovid Leib Halevi (Mrs. Debbie Fine’s father) - 21 Tammuz
  • Reb Yechiel ben Reb Yisroel Yitzchok (Mr. Dennis Blauner’s father) - 21 Tammuz
  • Genendel bas Reb Noach (Mrs. Dorothy Grossman’s mother) - 21 Tammuz
  • Reb Schneur Zalman ben Reb Yitzchok Elchonon (Rabbi Yosef Shagalov’s father) - 21 Tammuz
  • Reb Yehoshua ben Reb Tzvi Elimelch (Rabbi Yisroel Hecht’s grandfather) - 22 Tammuz
  • Reb Boruch ben Reb Eliyahu (Rabbi Yisroel Hecht’s grandfather) - 22 Tammuz
  • Simcha Chaya bas Reb Yosef (Mrs. Milka Elharrar’s mother) - 23 Tammuz
  • Yocheved bas Reb Mordechai (Mrs. Varda Rav-Noy’s mother) - 23 Tammuz
  • Reb Chaim Zeev ben Reb Moshe (Mrs. Freida Bastomski’s father) - 24 Tammuz
  • Reb Dovid ben Reb Feivel (Mr. Shaul Raigorodsky’s father) - 25 Tammuz
  • Batyah bas Reb Shlomo Halevi (Mrs. Miryam Koch’s mother) - 25 Tammuz
  • Sara Relka bas Reb Nochum (Mrs. Fradel Bukiet’s mother) - 26 Tammuz

Devar Torah - Pinchas

To Listen to Absorb and then to Apply what we learn
is the key to our Success
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik

The Hayom Yom for the 18th of Tammuz states:

“The Alter Rebbe said of R. Moshe Vilenker: "Moshe has mochin d'gadlut, magnitude of intellect and in his ten years of toil, he has attained through his labors a powerful, capacious, wide-ranging intellectuality - (mochin rechavim)."

For three years R. Moshe Vilenker prepared himself for yechidus with the Alter Rebbe. Afterwards he remained in Lyozna for seven years to translate the yechidus into actual avoda.”

What does this Hayom Yom teach about how to live today? How does recounting the lofty spiritual goals and attainments of the great Chassidim of yesteryear impact us to the point that Rebbe decided to place it in the sefer Hayom Yom for us to learn? Was the Rebbe only trying to show us greatness of the Alter Rebbe’s Chassidim and no more, or is there an additional lesson?

We see that the Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe had a feeling that their private audience with the Rebbe would provide the all important personal guidance their lives depended upon. They knew that in order for this audience to be effective they had to be prepared and ready not only to hear, but also to absorb and then to apply what they learned into their daily living. They were sensitive to and acutely aware that their entire being would need to be drafted into this effort to facilitate a goodly outcome. How does all of this kind of thinking, feeling and acting apply to us living in a generation that seems so removed from their spiritual stature?

We begin by approaching the study of Chassidus not as a subject whose knowledge we need to absorb as we would other forms of information. Rather we look to Chassidus as our life concern. From Chassidus we come to realize and know who we are, it is how we come to feel our purpose in life and come closer to Hashem.

Chassidus  teaches us that we are made up of  three parts. We have a G-dly soul that wants only to serve Hashem, an animal soul which wants nothing other than to take part in the pleasures of life, and then we have an intellectual soul. Our mission to fulfill is for the G-dly soul to work with our intelligent soul to facilitate its dominance over the animal soul. Our purpose in this world to overcome the power and inclination of the animal soul to indulge in worldly pleasures and instead harness it's energy and channel it to fulfill the will of Hashem and make His presence apparent to all.

Take for example this week's parsha of Pinchas which includes a section about the daily sacrifice, the korban tamid. There were two daily sacrifices brought, one in the morning and then one in the afternoon, first at the beginning and then at the end of the day. They correspond to the daily prayers of Shacharis and Mincha.

 

The Rebbe explains that the beginning of our day starts with the recitation of the Modeh Ani which is similar to the first daily sacrifice of the day. We admit and realize that Hashem is real and is sovereign over the entire world. He gave us our soul and entrusted us to fill the purpose for which we were created.

The Hayom Yom mentioned above teaches each one of us as an individual that when i woke up that it is my neshama that was returned to me by Hashem to fulfill my purpose. That Modeh Ani, that morning sacrifice is the cornerstone that will shape the entire day.

When we learn but we don't internalize what we learn, when we view our studies as information instead of what it is meant to be, direct communication, it's because our G-dly soul is not communicating with our animal soul. This happens when we don't relate to it as if it's personal guidance directed towards us. This Hayom Yom encourages us to treat it properly, in a way that our  life depends upon it to succeed in its mission in this lifetime, just as the Chosid R. Moshe Vilenker did. This is what the lives of the Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe and R. Moshe Vilenker teaches us today as brought in the Hayom Yom for the 18th of Tammuz. We learn to have a personal stake in how we internalize the Torah we learn, Chassidus in particular and the mitzvos we do. This is how we carry our life mission to fruition and this is why this is such a relevant message today more than ever. By listening, absorbing and then applying what we learn we achieve our life's mission and purpose.

Although we may seem so far off course from this ideal, especially when we look back at all of the great Chassidim of yesteryear their stature and their achievements such as R. Moshe Vilenker, nevertheless Hashem has placed us in this situation in our specific condition for a purpose. When we take to heart all that we learn and apply it with Hashem’s help and the Rebbe’s guidance and brochos we are able to transform our lives  into what it was designed by Hashem to be,we fulfill our purpose which is to bring about the revelation of a Moshiach Now!

A Good Shabbos

Classes about the Bais HaMikdash - for Women

To commemorate the Three Weeks
and to fulfill the directive of the Rebbe
to learn about the Bais HaMikdash at this time,
Rabbi Yossi Bukiet will be teaching
the Rambam's Laws of the Bais HaBechira
on the next three Sundays:
Sunday, 22 Tammuz ( July 16),
Sunday, 29 Tammuz (July 23),
and Sunday, 7 Menachem Av (July 30),
from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.,
at the home of Etty Bastomski, 418 N. Fuller.

"All those who study the laws of the Bais Hamikdash, it's as if the Bais HaMikdash was built in their time." (Tractate Menochos)

Tuesday:Fast of Shiva Asar Betammuz

Tuesday, 17 Tammuz/July 11

Fast of Sheva Asar B’Tammuz

  • Fast Begins: 4:20 am
  • Minchah: 2:00 & 7:40 pm
  • Fast Ends: 8:41 pm

Special Beis Hamkidash Video Presentation

Special Beis Hamkidash Video Presentation
By Rabbi Chai Cohen

TONIGHT, Monday, 16 Tammuz/July 10.
For men & women in shul

2 Part Presentation
Part 1 - 7:00 - 7:45 pm
Part 2 after maariv - 8:45 - 9:30 pm

Beis Hamikdosh

Gross Shiva

Mrs. Miriam Gross
is sitting shiva in NY on the passing of her father 
Reb Moshe Lemberger ob"m

Phone: 323-551-8579
Email: [email protected]

Hamakom Yenachem Eschem B'soch Sheor Avalei Tzion V'yerushalayim.
Vehukeetzu Veranenu Shochnay Ufur vehu besochom!

Announcements - Balak

  • Click here for this week's Lmaan Yishmeu publication. 
  • Click here for this week’s JEM “Here’s My Story”. 
  • Click here for a list of our ongoing shiurim. 
  • Click here to pay up all your building fund, kibud or yiskor pledges and outstanding membership. Thank you to all of our supporters!!!
  • SUNDAY: 15 Tammuz/July 9: Annual Yarchei Kallah at YOEC. 

Shabbos Schedule - Balak

  • Shabbos Candle Lighting: 7:49 pm
  • Last Time To Read Shema: 9:23 am
  • Chassidus for Early Minyan: 8:45 am
  • Shiur Chassidus by Rabbi Raichik: 9:00 am
  • Early Minyan Shacharis: 9:30 am
  • Shacharis: 10:00 am
  • NO Kol Yakov Yehuda during the summer :(((
  • Rabbi Raichik's Pirkei Avos Shiur: 6:50 pm
  • Mincha: 7:50 pm Followed by Pirkei Avos - Perek 6
  • Shabbos Ends: 8:52 pm

Tuesday, 17 Tammuz/July 11
Fast of Sheva Asar B’Tammuz

  • Fast Begins: 4:20 am
  • Minchah: 2:00 & 7:40 pm
  • Fast Ends: 8:41 pm

Sholom Zochor - Balak

Yossi & Dassy Eilfort
Invite the community to a Sholom Zochor
at the Raeburn's home: 451 N Poinsettia Pl.
(between Rosewood and Oakwood)

Kiddush Sponsors - Balak

  • Dr. & Mrs. Zeev Rav-Noy for the yahrtzeit of Mrs. Varda Rav-Noy’s father Reb Avrohom ben Reb Yitzchak Elimelech ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
  • Friend of Mr. David Milner in honor of his birthday. May he have a shnas hatzlocho begashmiyus ubruchniyus.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Dovid Thaler for the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Dovid Thaler’s mother Priva bas Reb Yisroel Dovid ob"m. May the neshomo have an aliya.
    Also in honor of Rabbi Dovid Thaler’s birthday. May he have a shnas hatzlocho begashmiyus ubruchniyus.

Early Minyan Kiddush Sponsors - Balak

  • Rabbi & Mrs. Yossi Eilfort in honor of the birth of their son. May they be zoche to bring him leberiso shel avrohom avinu metoch Simcha vetuv leivav, and may they have much nachas from him and may he grow up to Torah, to Chupa and to Maasim Tovim.
    Also in honor of Rabbi Yossi Eilfort’s birthday. May he have a shnas hatzlocho begashmiyus ubruchniyus.
    Also for all the miracles and kindness Hashem has shown their family. May Hashem continue to shower them and the entire community with kol tuv sela.

Women's Shabbos Shiur & Farbrengen - Balak

6:30 pm at the home of Mrs. Chana Weiss
411 N Martel Ave.
Speaker: Rabbi Shaya Berkowitz

Mazal Tov To - Balak

  • Rabbi & Mrs. Yossi Eilfort on the birth of their son.
  • Rabbi & Mrs. Sholom Ber Levine on the marriage of their granddaughter.
  • Mr. & Mrs. Reuven Solomon on the engagement of their granddaughter Minna Solomon yo Pinchas Silberstein. 

Upcoming Birthdays

  • Rabbi Moshe Raichik - 14 Tammuz
  • Yosef Yitzchak Plotke - 14 Tammuz
  • Mr. David Milner - 14 Tammuz
  • Zev Yisroel Cherman - 16 Tammuz
  • Rabbi Yossi Eilfort - 16 Tammuz 
  • Shmuel Dovid Raichik - 17 Tammuz
  • Rabbi Yrachmiel Wolowik - 18 Tammuz
  • Mr. Joseph Gertz - 20 Tammuz
  • Yosef Yitzchak Plotke - 20 Tammuz
  • Eliyahu Ratner - 20 Tammuz

Upcoming Anniversaries

  • Mr. & Mrs. Shimon Zeifman - 14 Tammuz - 40th Anniversary
  • Rabbi & Mrs. David Diamand - 14 Tammuz
  • Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Gertz - 18 Tammuz

Upcoming Yahrtzeits

  • Reb Leima ben Reb Avrohom Yaakov Halevi (Mrs. Chani Rotenberg’s brother) - 14 Tammuz
  • Reb Yaakov Naftoli ben Reb Shlomo Zalmen (Rabbi Danny Rotenberg’s father) - 14 Tammuz
  • Reb Noson Kalmen ben Reb Tzvi Meir (Mrs. Etty Bastomski’s father) - 15 Tammuz
  • Reb Yitzchok ben Reb Moshe (Mrs. Chana Ganzburg’s father) - 16 Tammuz
  • Zlota Zelda bas Reb Yaakov (Mrs. Shoshana Plotkin’s mother) - 18 Tammuz
  • Esther Fruma bas Reb Sholom (Rabbi Nachman Kreiman’s mother) - 18 Tammuz
  • Reb Tzemach ben Reb Yitzchok (Mrs. Fayge Estulin’s father) - 18 Tammuz
  • Priva bas Reb Yisroel Dovid (Rabbi Dovid Thaler’s mother) - 19 Tammuz
  • Reb Yechiel ben Reb Chaim (Mrs. Shoshana Brocha Plotke’s father) - 19 Tammuz
  • Reb Avrohom ben Reb Yitzchak Elimelech (Mrs. Varda Rav-Noy’s father) - 19 Tammuz

Devar Torah - Balak

Building Constant and Everlasting Bonds:
Living with a sense of urgency
and focus upon our children's best interest;
a good Jewish education.
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik

This week we celebrated Yud Beis and Yud Gimmel Tammuz which commemorates the arrest and liberation of the previous Rebbe. The main reason for his arrest was his involvement in Jewish education, supporting underground Yeshivas throughout the Soviet Union. When the Rebbe was liberated one of the great miracles was that the very same men that arrested him were the ones who were forced to free him.

The Jewish communists knew that they could never be successful if the Rebbe continued with his work on behalf of Jewish education.

Baruch HaShem that we aren't in that predicament today. Nevertheless we do have challenges of our own. The Rebbe wants that every Jewish child in the world should have a proper Jewish education. The Rebbe's opinion is that it's a matter of our survival; its a matter of pikuach nefesh. The Rebbe once wrote in a letter that a debt can be paid off but we don't know know when we can make up for the loss of Jewish education. Once the opportunity is lost we don't know when it will come again.

In an article a long time ago we wrote about how the Rebbe told my father to check up on his son, my brother Abba who was studying at the Yeshiva in Montreal at that time. The Rebbe was involved in his upbringing and in his education. A year later when he was in the Yeshiva of Newark, the Rebbe reminded my father to go again and see him. From this we see the Rebbe's concern and desire for my father's involvement in the education of children. On his trip to Newark my father told Rabbi Herson that he wasn't planning on leaving Newark until Abba's educational needs were fully settled. That year Rabbi Meilich Tzweibel spent much time one on one learning with Abba. The Rebbe told my father "Over there (meaning Newark) are our good friends" (that can help). The Rebbe used the word "our" because the Rebbe was part of it. When Rabbi Tzweibel heard this comment he took Abba under his guidance. From this story we learn about the tremendous effort required to take care of the education of each and every one of our children both male and female throughout their lives. From this story we also learn what an essential and irreplaceable roll a parent plays in every child's upbringing. There is no such concept as "out of sight out of mind" rather a sustained involvement together with teachers, educators and administrators is just what our children need.

Even later when our children grow up and go out on shlichus in various places around the world underneath the operation of various shluchim our involvement is essential to their success. Once again there is no concept of "out of sight out of mind". Where they are, what their influences are, who their roommate is, and how they spend their day are questions that we need answers to, even at this stage of life.

Just sitting together, talking over the phone, consulting with their educators and visiting them on a regular basis creates the connection they need to get through things. Sometimes if they're suffering they won't tell us because they don't feel comfortable. If we have a good relationship our chances are much better that they will allow us to help.

There used to be a time when we could send our children away to Yeshiva check on them from time to time and things would work out. Those days are over. Aside from doing all that we can we need to say extra Tehillim give extra Tzedaka and hope that it will work out. And then we need to do so much more. It's challenging because the influences are coming from 360° from every corner of the environment as well as from within.

Hopefully our children don't have unrestricted devices with which to roam wherever they like on the Internet. If for some reason our children do have devices and we aren't monitoring them, then we are engaging in child-abuse. I know that it's hard not to throw our hands up and just give up because they'll get these things anyway and it's a losing battle. If we try there's a possibility that it could be different. Nowadays there are parental control apps that allow us to monitor everything our children do on their smart phones. Just the fact alone that we are so concerned and share those concerns with our children and act upon them has a tremendous impact.

The truth is we will never be able to turn back the clock on technology. The Rebbe has encouraged us to use technology to its utmost in the service of Hashem. Although the invasive nature of technology has penetrated into the inner lives of our children in ways that we would have never imagined, nevertheless we need to learn to harness this as an opportunity for growth. Just as social media and the Internet are with our children and involved intimately on a moment to moment basis, we need to be involved even more. By building stronger bonds of love and kindness between ourselves and our children we as parents have the solution that will give our children the inspiration to choose to harness these technologies for the good, for the sake of others and for spreading the Torah and mitzvos. Although the best thing is they don't have these devices so that they can live without distraction once it's already here we can use it as an opportunity for growth. Just as the previous Rebbe's detractors later were the very ones that freed him, hopefully with Hashem's help and our efforts technologies will eventually enable us to have maximum connection to our children and impact the spreading the Torah and mitzvos to the world.

Just as it was in the times of the previous Rebbe, nothing stopped or got in the way of the Rebbe's efforts to fight for Jewish education so too in our days we are involved in hand to hand combat to stay the influence of our day and to persevere and be victorious in the field of Jewish education. With Hashem's help, in the zechus if our Rabbeim we will be successful. From the geula of Yud Beis Yud Gimmel Tammuz we will march forward with our children to greet Moshiach!

A Good Shabbos

Yud Beis Tammuz Farbrengen in Beis Betzalel

IMG-20170703-WA0023.jpg

Yud Beis-Yud Gimmle Tammuz Farbrengen for men with Rabbi Mendel Schapiro

Farbrengen for Men in the Shul

Wednesday night, night of 12 Tammuz/July 5,
immediately after maariv (9:00 pm)

in honor of Yud Beis - Yud Gimmle Tammuz

71.jpg

Guest speaker: Rabbi Mendel Schapiro
Mashpia at YOEC

50636_news_13072011_4426.jpg

Looking for older posts? See the sidebar for the Archive.