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We pray every week for the leaders of the Jewish Ministry,
Shabbat Shemini
ynyImVv
News
627 1 8 A p r i l / 2 9 N i s s a n 2 0 1 5 / 5 7 7 5
W e e k l yJ e w i s h - A d v e n t i s t
J o u r n a l o f I n f o r m a t i o n
New Haggadah Publishedi I have already presented in this
newsletter Dr Jennifer Berham Lang and her Husband Dr Roger Lang
who have published a book on the Biblical Feasts, they have just
published a Haggadah Shel Pesach. I know it is a little bit late,
but Since Pesach is coming back every year, plan can be made to use
this Haggadah for the next Seder.
Praying for the Jewish Peoplei I received last week a very
interesting tes-timony of the power of prayer. I will not give the
name of the country or the name of the people who send me this
testimony in order to preserve their work. There is a couple of
mem-bers who visited a Jewish orthodox commu-nity of their city, it
was in 2005, and coming back home they decided to pray every day
for this community and their members. after two years of prayers,
they thought that their prayer were not very efficient and they
stop praying. However G-d continued to work among these people, and
few months ago a young Jewish man of this community started to
attend the Jewish Adventist congregation, very recently this young
man, confessed to our members that he believes in Jesus and many
orthodox Jews of his community believe secretly in Jesus too. And
much more, few years ago a young man from this orthodox community
accepted the Tevilah (immersion) and become member of our
community. And according to this young Jewish man, many Rabbis in
the country believe in Jesus, even the great rabbi fo the country
who made a study of the Brit Hachadasha (New Testament). This
testimo-ny is telling us that G-d is working through our prayer.
Each Jewish Adventist congrega-tion should have a strong group of
prayer for the Jews of their cities.
This issueNews P.1
Parashas comments P.2-4Haftara P.4-5
Apostol ic Wri t ings P.5Stor ies P.6
Inspirat ional Corner P.6,7Color Sheet for Kids P.7
Resources: Website:
https://jewishadventist-org.gcnetadventist.org A must website. To
subscribe to our newsletter. To download some resources (Hebrew
Sabbath School, and other documents). To order the book Comfort,
Comfort my people and many other things. Shalom Adventure Magazine
online: www.ShalomAdventure.com If you would like to read articles,
watch videos, learn things about Judaism and Israel, this website
is just for you. Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Jewish-Adventist-Friendship-Center:
If you would like to share with people, this forum on facebook is a
good place for that. Photos on Google+:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jewishadventist: We have posted a lot
of pictures on Internet during the last years. Dont hesitate to
look at them. WebRadio: www.shema-israel-radio.comIf you would like
to listen Jewish or Messianic songs. If you want to be used to ear
modern Hebrew of the Apostolic Writings, it is the right radio to
listen on the web. Adventist Mission Website:
https://jewish-adventistmission-org.lifehopecenters.org/ This
website is the new resource provided by the Office of Adventist
Mission of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists.
Russian Website: http://www.boruh.info/ This website is in Russian,
many articles and the parasha are posted on it every week.
Professional Urban Development:The WJAFC provides:
- Professional Urban training for Jewish Ministry
- Teaching for theological students
- Help to plant new congregations.
- Support for Adventist-Jewish dialogue with scholars and
rabbis
Journal of Information and Training Issue 627 18 April 2 0 1 5 /
2 9 N i s s a n 5 7 7 5
We pray every
week for lead-
ers of the
Jewish Ministry,
According to our
list of prayer for
2015, I suggest
that our partners
pray from April
19 to 26, for
Esther Abba &
Helen De Coteau
Grant who are
the leaders of
the Jewish min-
istry in London,
Lets pray for
their ministry.
WJAFCParis
A weekly Journal of information and training published by the
World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center
Under the umbrella of the General Conference Office of Adventist
Mission
English Edition:Richard-Amram Elofer
Russian Edition:Alexandra Obrevko
French Edition:Sabine Baris
Spanish Edition:Jael Wells Cuellar
Portuguese Edition:Carlos Muniz
Dutch Edition:Hubert Paulleta
Emails: English: [email protected]:
[email protected]: [email protected]:
[email protected]
Portuguese: [email protected]: [email protected]
Richard Amram Elofer
Hubert Paulleta Sabine Baris
Alexandra Obrevko
for more information: contact us at www.jewishadventist.org
Credit photos: Richard Elofer, Alexandra Obrevko, Jael Wells
Cuellar
Hubert Paulleta, Laurent Baris and Advent Digital Media
8
S h a b b a t S h a l o m N e w s l e t t e r
Jael Wells Cuellar Carlos Muniz
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The Torah specifies by name those non-kosher animals which have
only one of these two signs. A kosher fish has fins and easily
removable scales. All birds not included in the list of forbidden
families are permitted. The Torah forbids all types of insects
except for four species of locusts. Details are given of the
purification process after coming in contact with ritually-impure
species. Bnei Yisrael are com-manded to be separate and holy like
G-d.
A Day of GloryWe already ex-plained that the Leviticus start
with the service of the Dedi-cation of the Sanctuary, in the
context of the dedication of the Sanctuary Aaron and his sons were
dedicated or or-dained for the service of the Lord. This ordination
process last for seven days, and right now we are on the eighth
day, the day after the process of the ordination was over, that is
why the Parasha starts say-ing On the eighth day Mo-ses called
Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, and he said to Aaron
(Leviticus 9:1).
On the eighth day (Shemini), all was prepared; the Mishkan and
the priests were complet-ed, dedicated, ordained and ready for
service. It was meant to be a glorious day because it would be the
first great day of service performance by Aaron and his sons. And
Moses said, This is the thing that the L-RD commanded you to do,
that the glory of the L-RD may appear to you. Then Mo-ses said to
Aaron, Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your
burnt offer-ing and make atonement for yourself and for the
people,
sign of disrespect towards G-ds people leadership.
3. Since they assumed they had reached their maximum potential,
they felt they could relax, and then they entered the holy area
while intoxi-cated. They confused between sacred work and secular
world.
4. Since they felt they had reached the height of purity, they
no longer needed water to become purified, so they entered the holy
area without first washing their hands and feet.
5. Since they felt they had achieved perfection, they no longer
needed the atonement symbolized by the priestly garments (sins are
covered) (Arachin 16a), so they entered the holy area without
wearing the priestly garments
6. They assumed that, since they had perfected them-selves, G-d
could speak with them at any time as He did with Moses, who
separated from his wife, Tzipporah, due to this consideration
(Num-bers 12:7-8) - so they did not get married.
7. Since they did not get married, they were hala-chically (by
law) forbidden from having children outside of marriage.
It is clear that they dis-
obeyed G-d commandments: That is why before doing something that
is question-able, make certain to consult someone who is older and
wiser. Though you feel you are right, you might overlook or be
unaware of some factors.
Even if you decide to do the same action as someone else,
discuss it with him. Every person has his own take on a situation
and his own motiva-tions. Discussing with a peer can give valuable
feedback. For another person you can be objective, though not for
yourself.
Choose what you desire in LifeThe Torah commands the Cohanim
that: Wine and other in-toxicating beverages you shall not drink
(Lev. 10:9) before coming to do the service. The Midrash Vayikra
Rabbah (a collection of homiletical stories and insights) warns
against alcoholism: If a per-son drinks too much wine, he will end
up selling all that he owns to keep up his addiction to
drinking.
The Midrash continues: The children of a drunk were wor-ried
that they would soon be
penniless. They tied up their father when he was drunk and
placed him in a cem-etery; they hoped that when he became sober he
would be shocked by the experience and become aware of the dan-gers
of drinking.
That day a caravan carry-ing vats of wine was attacked and sped
past the cemetery to outrun the attackers. A bar-rel rolled off the
wagon and when the man woke up from his drunken sleep, he was
sur-prised to find the spigot of the barrel next to his face. And
he continued to drink.
The Almighty leads us in the direction we desire to go. The
greater your desire to do something, the more success-ful you will
be. Therefore, choose well what you desire in life. When you wish
to ac-complish in spiritual matters, build up a strong desire to
ac-complish and the Almighty will lead you in that path!
Thus according to the Bi-ble, the priests had to abstain from
drinking alcohol before performing their service for Hashem. A
legitimate ques-tion is who are the priests of today? Reading the
Brit Hachadasha we discover that if Mashiach is our high priest in
the heavenly sanctuary, his
Parasha for this Week
Shemini ynyImVv
Leviticus 9: 1-11:47
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer
and
put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized
fire
before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came
out from before the LORD and
consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (Leviticus
10:12)
2 3
Parasha OverviewShemini
On the eighth day of the dedica-tion of the Mishkan, Aharon, his
sons, and the entire nation bring various korbanot (offerings) as
commanded by Moshe. Aharon and Moshe bless the nation. G-d allows
the Jewish People to sense His Pres-ence after they complete the
Mishkan. Aharons sons, Nadav and Avihu, innovate an offer-ing not
commanded by G-d. A fire comes from before G-d and consumes them,
stressing the need to perform the command-ments only as Moshe
directs. Moshe consoles Aharon, who grieves in silence. Moshe
directs the koha-nim as to their behavior during the mourning
period, and warns them that they must not drink intoxicating
bever-ages before serving in the Mishkan. The Torah lists the two
characteristics of a kosher animal: It has split hooves, and it
chews, regurgitates, and re-chews its food.
and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for
them, as the L-RD has com-manded. (Leviticus 9:67). After
performing their service Aaron blessed the people of Is-rael,
entered the tabernacle with Moses and came back again to bless
Israel (22-23). On this day a revelation was promised, a revelation
that would convey a message of forgiveness to the entire nation,
and most particu-larly to Aaron and his family. And fire came out
from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces
of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted
and fell on their faces. (Leviticus 9:24).
Changed in a Day of TearsBut suddenly the celebra-tion turned to
morning, the joy in tears. Appar-
ently, something went terribly wrong, and the anticipated
for-giveness to bitter punishment. Two of Aharon sons were
sud-denly dead. The Torah states, Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of
Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on
it and offered unau-thorized fire before the L-RD, which he had not
commanded
them. (Leviticus 10:1). Nadav and Avihu, two of Aarons sons, who
bring an unauthorized fire in the sanctuary. This was not
acceptable for G-d so that a fire consumed them on the spot and
they died. G-ds reaction is very surprising for a modern mind thats
why it is important to try to understand what is be-hind this
story.
According to the Jewish Mi-drash (Yalkut Shimoni 524) Na-dav and
Abihu thought they were great people, they were aware of their high
spiritual level with arrogance. Yet they felt they had already
reached the pinnacle of their achieve-ment. It is in this context
that the Jewish tradition sees in this story seven faults or sins
com-mitted by Aarons sons.
1. Nadav and Avihu felt they had reached completion and
perfection, so it seemed fitting for them to take over leadership
of the Jewish people. Thats why one of the first problem is that
they were impatient for Moses and Aaron to die so that they could
take over leadership of the people of Israel.
2. They felt they had achieved the epitome of Torah knowl-edge
so they made religious le-gal decisions in front of Moses, their
rabbi, without consulting Moses and the Elders, it was a
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Haftara Overview
2 Samuel 6:1-7:17In the text of the parasha
the L-rd wants to impress Israel about the services in the
sanctuary, they are holy; we must be careful on how to offer them
to our G-d, Aarons sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his censer, put
fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered unholy fire
before the L-RD, such as he had not commanded them. And fire came
out from the presence of the L-RD and consumed them, and they died
be-fore the L-RD. (Leviti-cus 10:1, 2). The text tells us that they
under the influence of alcohol when they performed their holy
service. Because of this unholy act, the L-rd asked his people not
drink alco-hol before performing the temple service.
In the text of the Haf-tara the people of Israel forgot the
lesson given by G-d to Nadab and Abihu and David went to
Baale-Judah to bring the Ark of the Covenant to his house in
Jerusalem, The con-sequences of this move were dramatic, David and
all the house of Is-rael were dancing before the LORD with all
their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tam-bourines and
castanets and cymbals. When they
came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his hand
to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. The
anger of the L-RD was kindled against Uzzah; and G-d struck him
there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there
beside the ark of G-d. (2 Samuel 6:5-7).
This text asks a question about our own relationship to G-d, his
temple and the manner we lead the holy service on Shabbat. Do we
perform the service, do we worship our Lord re-membering that we
are all standing before the kind and the creator of the
uni-verse?
Serving the L-rd in a proper way is a great bless-ing The ark of
the L-RD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Git-tite three
months; and the L-RD blessed Obed-edom and all his household. (2
Samuel 6:11).
Then David understood that he must perform the service of the
L-rd follow-ing the Bible instructions and with respect, So Da-vid
and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with
shout-ing, and with the sound of the trumpet (2 Samuel 6:15).
believers are made priest. Yo-chanan, one of Yeshuas dis-ciple
said To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his
blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:56). We
are a kingdom, priests to his G-d. However, we dont serve anymore
in the Temple, the temple does not exist anymore; our service is to
serve the L-rd, to testify about Jesus everyday, every-where and at
anytime, that is why the rule G-d has given to the priests to
abstain from drinking alcohol still applies today. Rabbi Mordechai
Ka-menetzky said and alcoholic drinks When one looks for outside
stimulants, even in the service of Hashem, he looks for more than
is necessary to fulfill his mission. He is bath-ing himself in what
he thinks is cleanser, but it is not. It will unnecessarily alter
the perfect facilities that Hashem gave him, and that is no
benefit, it is rather even harmful. When entering the perfect
service of Hashem, one must be perfect with ones self. Those who
can accept Hashems decrees in perfect harmony and live with
whatever Hashem has bestowed upon them need no
This year I would like to start a new study of the Brit
Hachadasha or Apostolic writings based on the gospel of Mark. Mark
was the first gospel written. Gospel or Besorah in Hebrew means the
Good news, the gospel are the narration of the story of
Ye-shua.
The gospel of Mark has also another particularity, some scholars
believe that this gos-pel has been written for the first Jewish
community who believes in Yeshua who were accustomed to read every
Shabbat the parashot during their services and therefore this
gospel was written in paral-lel with the parashot read in the
synagogue by the Jewish people. According to this point of view,
the gospel of Mark can be divided in 52 portions which can be read
in parallel with the parashot.
As we know, the Jewish reading of the parashot starts at the
beginning of the Jew-ish calendar at the end of the feast of Sukkot
(September/October). But it seems that the reading of the gospel of
Mark started on the biblical calendar, which starts on the first of
Nis-san (Exodus 12:1) just before Pesach.
The parasha read on the first Nissan (this year: March 21) was
Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1-5:26) = Mark 1:1-8. the second parasha was
Tsav (Leviticus 6:1-8:36) = Mark 1:9-15, then we had two Shabbats
of Pesach April 4 and 11, and on April 18 we will read parashat
Shemini and Mark 1:16-28.
The full list of the parashot in connection with the gospel of
Mark and the sources and copyright can be consulted in
our website: www.jewishad-ventist.org.
Parashat Shemini tells the first service of Aaron and his four
sons: two pairs of brothers first: Nadab and Abihu, and later
Eleazar and Ithamar, after the seven days of dedication of the
Sanctuary and of their or-dination as Priests. It was on the eighth
day (Shemini in He-brew) that they offered the first sacrifices and
the glory of the Lord was manifested accepting their service (Lev
9:24). This glorious episode is opposed to the sin of Nadab and
Abihu who introduced a strange fire in the Sanctuary. It is said
then that the same fire that came from the presence of G-d and
consumed the burned offering in Leviticus 9:24, consumed also Nadab
and Abihu in Le-viticus 10:2.
After this dramatic event, the parasha introduces to Aar-on and
the priests the holiness of their role and the holy rules they will
have to follow when they will enter in the sanctu-ary or will make
their services Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with
you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die.
(Le-viticus 10:9).
in the gospel of Mark we have the first call or service of
Yeshua with also two pairs of broth-ers Passing alongside the Sea
of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a
net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them,
Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. (Mark
1:1617). The first who were called were Peter and Andrew his
brother, Yeshua called them to follow him in order to be fisher of
man. and
then Yeshua continued his walk in the border of the lake and saw
a second pair of brothers And going on a little farther, he saw
James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their
boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them (Mark 1:19,
20). The obedience of Peter and Andrew is opposed to the sin of
Nadab and Abihu: And immediately they left their nets and followed
him. (Mark 1:18). And exactly as Eleazar and Ithamar were obedient
James and John too they left their father Zebedee in the boat with
the hired ser-vants and followed him (Mark 1:20).
In the parasha Moses is pre-sented as the great teacher, the one
who receives instructions from G-d, but who is humble enough to
listen: And when Moses heard that, he approved. (Leviticus 10:20),
in the gospel of Mark It is Yeshua who is the great teacher: he
entered the synagogue and was teaching. . . . he taught them as one
who had authority, and not as the scribes. (Mark 1:2122). Another
paral-lel between the parasha and the gospel is about the unclean
in the parasha it is about the un-clean animals of the chapter 11
of Leviticus: you shall not de-file yourselves with them, and
become unclean through them. (Leviticus 11:43) in the gos-pel
appear the unclean spirits (Mark 1:23-26). The last invita-tion of
the parasha is to be holy You shall therefore be holy, for I am
holy. (Leviticus 11:45) In the gospel, it is Yeshua who gives us
this example of holiness And at once his fame spread everywhere
throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. (Mark 1:28).
This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature
that moves
through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground,
to make a
distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the
living creature that may be eaten and the living crea-ture that may
not be eaten. (Leviticus
11:4647)
Apostolic Writings Mark 1:16-28
4 5
stimulants. Outside intoxicants dont clean the mind; they add
confusion. And those who live in holy partnership of their pure
selves and the joy of the Al-mighty, are worthy of carrying the
banner of understanding, silence, solitude, and perfect
unadulterated serenity
Moses Loved Wisdom and TruthAfter the death of Nad-ab and Abihu,
Moshe (Moses) gave new in-structions to Aaron and his two sons
Eleazar and Ithamar: Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat
of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! (Le-viticus
10:16). But Eleazar and Ithamar did not follow Moses order, and
Moshe was not happy and upset: And he was angry with Eleazar and
Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, Why have you not
eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanc-tuary, since it is
a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the
iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the
LORD? (Leviticus 10:1617). As Moses was ready to pun-ish Eleazar
and Ithamar for not obeying to his order, Aaron, the Cohen Gadol
spoke to Moses: And Aaron said to Moses, Be-hold, today they have
offered
their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and
yet such things as these have happened to me! (Leviticus 10:19).
Aaron explained why his action was proper, he received a revelation
from G-d how to make this burn offering. Then, the Torah reports,
And Moshe heard and it was good in his eyes (Leviticus 10:20). What
lesson for life can we learn from Moshes reaction?
Many people, when they find out that they are wrong, become
defensive. They are embarrassed by their mistake and then try to
defend themselves or attack the other person on a character basis,
rather than dealing with the facts. If we are aware of this
tendency, we can check the urge in ourselves and respond more
appropriately. The goal of dis-cussions should be clarity and
truth, not defending egos.
Rabbi Obadia Sforno says that Moshe felt joy upon hear-ing the
reasoning of Aharon. He had pleasure that Aharon was correct in his
decision.
This is a wonderful and high-level response. Moshe so loved
wisdom and truth and his brother Aharon that he took great pleasure
even though he himself was wrong and embar-rassed. Our goal is to
strive for truth and clarity and to keep our egos in check.
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Inspirational Corner
v At the hour of worship, as the prayers and praise of the
people were ascending to G-d, two of the sons of Aaron took each
his censer and burned fragrant incense thereon, to rise as a sweet
odor before the L-rd. But they transgressed His command by the use
of strange fire. For burn-ing the incense they took common instead
of the sacred fire which G-d Himself had kindled, and which He had
com-manded to be used for this purpose. For this sin a fire went
out from the Lord and devoured them in the sight of the people. (PP
359).
Inspirational Corner
v Nadab and Abihu would never have com-mitted that fatal sin had
they not first become partially intoxicated by the free use of
wine. Their minds became confused and their moral perceptions
dulled so that they could not discern the difference between the
sacred and the com-mon. To Aaron and his surviving sons was giv-en
the warning: Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons
with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest
ye die: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations:
and that ye may put differ-ence between holy and unholy, and
between unclean and clean; and that ye may teach the children of
Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken. The use of
spirituous liquors has the effect to weaken the body, confuse the
mind, and debase the morals. (PP 361)
Do As Much As you CanRabbi Chanina ben Dosa once saw a
beau-tifully shaped rock which he very much wanted to bring as a
gift to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. How-ever, the rock was too
heavy and he couldnt afford to pay porters to deliver it to
Jerusa-lem.
Rabbi Chanina prayed to G-d. Soon five angels in the form of
people appeared and offered to help. He told them that he would
like them to carry the stone to Jerusalem, but he couldnt pay them.
The five an-gels immediately offered to car-ry the rock to
Jerusalem, but on condition that Rabbi Chanina put his finger to
the rock and help them carry it.
Our sages explain that, al-though the angels didnt need Rabbi
Chaninas help, G-d wants us to do as much as we can. Then G-d will
take care of the rest.
Helping other is Helping yourselvesThe year is 1917, the
com-munists take over Rus-sia and begin their ty-rannical campaign
to wipe out religion and Judaism. In Minsk, a rabbi, Reb Shiah,
vows no matter the cost, he is going to continue performing the
To-rah and helping others perform the Torah. After an amazing 4
years without interference from the Communists, the rabbi is
invited to an interview with the Chehka, the secret police. Knowing
what the invitation means, he puts his affairs in or-
der, says good-bye to his family and prepares for the worst.
At the secret police head-quarters, he is ushered into a room.
The interrogator greets him cordially in Yiddish, Reb Shiah, would
you like to have a seat? This is not how these sessions were
described to him by the people who had survived them! Seeing the
rabbi frozen in indecision, the interrogator tells him to please
sit down. He then asks, Reb Shiah, perhaps you and your family
would like to go to Palestine? Reb Shiah doesnt know what to
answer. If he says Yes, then he is a dis-loyal citizen. He doesnt
answer.
The interrogator sees that he is getting nowhere, so he reach-es
into a drawer and pulls out a five inch thick file and puts it down
in front of the rabbi. Reb Shiah, this is your file. It details
everything - every Mitzvah, ev-ery child you taught, every Bris
that you performed. Reb Shiah looks at the file and trembles.
Reb Shiah, says the interro-gator, for the last four years I
have been assigned to your case. It is I who has protected you and
watched out for you. Now I am being promoted and there is no way it
will go well for you with a record like this. The best I can do for
you is to help you and your family get to Palestine. I see that you
dont recognize me. He then tells the rabbi his name and the rabbi
is shocked - the interrogator is the son of a famous rabbi who died
young.
The interrogator continues, I want you to know why I have been
protecting you. After my father died, it was very difficult for our
family. One Friday, be-
fore Shabbat, my mother came running to your home with me in her
arms. She cried out to you, Reb Shiah, what are we going to do? We
have nothing in the house! You were dressed in your long black
Shabbat robe and you had a beautiful gold watch and chain. Without
a moments hesitation, you reached down, grabbed the watch, handed
it to my mother and said, Take this! For months we lived from the
money we got for the watch and I have never forgotten it!
Concludes Rabbi Dishon, the teller of this story, Dont think
that when you are helping someone that you are only help-ing him
sometimes you are also helping yourself!
How to Serve G-dOnce as Rabbi Sholem Dov Ber of Lubavitch was
waiting to board the coach for a trip, he no-ticed the driver
greasing the wheels after the wagon was already loaded. Rabbi
Sholem Dov Ber said to the coach-man, Wouldnt it be easier if you
greased the wheels be-fore the wagon was loaded?It is true, Rebbe,
that it is more difficult to grease the wheels now, replied the
coachman. However, if I grease it now its more effective and lasts
longer.Rabbi Sholem Dov Ber turned to the Chasidim and said, This
is a lesson in the service of God. Whatever comes easy doesnt last.
However, when we serve God in situations which are difficult, the
advantage is greater and last longer.
These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in
the wa-ters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the
rivers, you may eat. But anything in the seas or the rivers that
does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the
waters and of the living crea-tures that are in the waters, is
detestable to you. You shall regard them as detestable; you shall
not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses.
Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is
detestable to you. (Leviticus 11:912)
Kids Parasha sheminiynyImVv
stories and traditions
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Leviticus 9:1-11:47
