One of the most famous

phrases in the Torah

makes its appearance in

this week’s parsha. It has often been used to

characterize Jewish faith

as a whole. It consists of

two words: na’aseh venishma, literally, “we will do and we will

hear” (Ex. 24:7). What does this mean and why

does it matter? There are

two famous

interpretations, one

ancient, the other

modern. The first appears

in the Babylonian

Talmud, where it is taken

to describe the

enthusiasm and whole-

heartedness with which

the Israelites accepted

the covenant with God at

Mount Sinai. When they

said to Moses, “All that the Lord has spoken we

will do and we will hear”, they were saying, in

effect: Whatever God

asks of us, we will do –

saying this before they

had heard any of the

commandments. The

words “We will hear”, imply that they had not

yet heard – not the Ten

Commandments, or the

detailed laws that

followed as set out in our

parsha. So keen were

they to signal their

assent to God that they agreed

to His demands before knowing

what they were.

This reading, adopted also by

Rashi in his commentary to the

Torah, is difficult because it

depends on reading the

narrative out of chronological

sequence (using the principle

that “there is no before and after in the Torah”). The events of chapter 24, on this

interpretation, happened

before chapter 20, the account

of the revelation at Mount Sinai

and the Ten Commandments.

Ibn Ezra, Rashbam and

Ramban all disagree and read

the chapters in chronological

sequence. For them, the words

na’aseh venishma mean not, “we will do and we will hear”, but simply, “we will do and we will obey.” The second interpretation – not the plain

sense of the text but important

nonetheless – has been given

often in modern Jewish

thought. On this view na’aseh venishma means, “We will do and we will understand.” From this they derive the conclusion

that we can only understand

Judaism by doing it, by

performing the commands and

living a Jewish life. In the

beginning is the deed. Only

then comes the grasp, the

insight, the comprehension.

This is a signal and substantive

point. The modern Western

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Mishpatim

mind tends to put things in

the opposite order. We

seek to understand what

we are committing

ourselves to before making

the commitment. That is

fine when what is at stake

is signing a contract,

buying a new mobile

phone, or purchasing a

subscription, but not when

making a deep existential

commitment. The only way

to understand leadership is

to lead. The only way to

understand marriage is to

get married. The only way

to understand whether a

certain career path is right

for you is to actually try it

for an extended period.

Those who hover on the

edge of a commitment,

reluctant to make a

decision until all the facts

are in, will eventually find

that life has passed them

by. The only way to

understand a way of life is

to take the risk of living it.

So: na’aseh venishma, “We will do and eventually,

through extended practice

and long exposure, we will

understand.”

In my Introduction to this

year’s Covenant and Conversation, I suggested

a quite different third

interpretation, based on the

fact that the Israelites are

February 25, 2017 29 Shevat, 5777 Parshat Mishpatim/Shekalim

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Shabbat Mevarchim

Adar

Molad: Sun. Feb. 26

6:20:9 am

Rosh Chodesh:

Sun. & Mon.

Feb. 26 - Feb. 27

Times

Candle Lighting 5:22 pm

Mincha 5:25 pm

Hashkama 8:00 am

Youth Minyan 8:30 am

Parsha Shiur 8:30 am

Main 9:00 am

Beit Midrash 9:15 am

Gemara Shiur 4:15 pm

Mincha 5:15 pm

Shabbos Ends 6:31 pm

R’ Reisman Video 8:00 pm

Sun. Feb. 26 Rosh Chodesh

7:30/8:30 am

Mon. Rosh Chodesh Tues., Wed. & Fri. Thurs.

6:30/7:45 am

6:45/7:45 am 6:35/7:45 am

Mincha 5:30 pm

Latest Times for Shema/Shemoneh Esrei

Feb. 25 9:21/10:17 am

Mar. 4 9:15/10:12 am

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Candle Lighting 5:30 pm

Mincha 5:30 pm

Kiddush is sponsored by

Diane & David Rein

in memory of her mother Helene Fink, z"l,

on the occasion of her 12th Yahrzeit

26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11023 (516) 487-6100 Shabbat Announcements Mishpatim 5777

Great Neck Synagogue

26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck , NY 11023

516-487-6100

Rabbi Dale Polakoff, Rabbi Rabbi Ian Lichter, Assistant Rabbi

Dr. Ephraim Wolf, z”l, Rabbi Emeritus

Zeev Kron, Cantor

Eleazer Schulman, z”l, Cantor Emeritus

Rabbi Sholom Jensen, Youth Director

Zehava & Dr. Michael Atlas, Youth Directors

Mark Twersky, Executive Director

Dr. James Frisch, Assistant Director

Dov Sassoon, President Rabbi Jesse Shore, Rabbinic Intern

Harold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board

Lisa Septimus, Yoetzet Halacha 516-415-1111

Great Neck Yoetzet Halacha Lisa Septimus

Welcomes your questions about mikvah,

observance of taharat mishpacha (halacha relating

to married life) and women’s health, as it connects to Jewish law. Reach out to her at:

Phone: 516.415.1111

Email: greatneckyoetzet@gmail.com.

All conversations and emails are kept confidential.

described by the Torah as ratifying the covenant three

times: once before they heard the commandments and

twice afterward. There is a fascinating difference between

the way the Torah describes the first two of these

responses and the third: The people all responded together,

“We will do [na’aseh] everything the Lord has said.” (Ex. 19:8) When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice,

“Everything the Lord has said we will do [na’aseh].” (Ex. 24:3) Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to

the people. They responded, “We will do and hear everything the Lord has said.” (Ex. 24:7) The first two responses, which refer only to action (na’aseh), are given unanimously. They people respond “together”. They do so “with one voice”. The third, which refers not only to doing but also to hearing (nishma), involves no unanimity.

“Hearing” here means many things: listening, paying attention, understanding, absorbing, internalizing,

responding and obeying. It refers, in other words, to the

spiritual, inward dimension of Judaism. From this, an

important consequence follows. Judaism is a community of

doing rather than of “hearing”. There is an authoritative code of Jewish law. When it comes to halakhah, the way of

Jewish doing, we seek consensus.

By contrast, though there are undoubtedly principles of

Jewish faith, when it comes to spirituality there is no single

normative Jewish approach. Judaism has had its priests and

prophets, its rationalists and mystics, its philosophers and

poets. Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, speaks in a multiplicity of

voices. Isaiah was not Ezekiel. The book of Proverbs comes

from a different mindset than the books of Amos and

Hosea. The Torah contains law and narrative, history and

mystic vision, ritual and prayer. There are norms about how

to act as Jews. But there are few about how to think and

feel as Jews. We experience God in different ways. Some

find him in nature, in what Wordsworth called “a sense sublime / Of something far more deeply interfused, /

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, / And the round

ocean and the living air.” Others find him in interpersonal emotion, in the experience of loving and being loved –

what Rabbi Akiva meant when he said that in a true mar-

riage, “the Divine presence is between” husband and wife.

Some find God in the prophetic call: “Let justice roll down like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing

stream” (Amos 5:24). Others find Him in study, “rejoicing in the words of Your Torah…for they are our life and the length of our days; on them we will meditate day and

night.” Yet others find Him in prayer, discovering that God is close to all who call on him in truth.

There are those who find God in joy, dancing and singing

as did King David when he brought the Holy Ark into

Jerusalem. Others – or the same people at different points

in their life – find Him in the depths, in tears and remorse

and a broken heart. Einstein found God in the “fearful symmetry” and ordered complexity of the universe. Rav Kook found Him in the harmony of diversity. Rav

Soloveitchik found Him in the loneliness of being as it

reaches out to the soul of Being itself.

There is a normative way of doing the holy deed, but there

are many ways of hearing the holy voice, encountering the

sacred presence, feeling at one and the same time how

small we are yet how great the universe we inhabit, how

insignificant we must seem when set against the vastness

of space and the myriads of stars, yet how momentously

significant we are, knowing that God has set His image and

likeness upon us and placed us here, in this place, at this

time, with these gifts, in these circumstances, with a task

to perform if we are able to discern it. We can find God on

the heights and in the depths, in loneliness and

togetherness, in love and fear, in gratitude and need, in

dazzling light and in the midst of deep darkness. We can

find God by seeking Him, but sometimes He finds us when

we least expect it. That is the difference between na’aseh and nishma. We do the Godly deed “together”. We respond to His commands “with one voice”. But we hear God’s presence in many ways, for though God is One, we are all

different, and we encounter Him each in our own way.

CHAVERIM CENTER

SISTERHOOD PURIM PACKAGES, MINI SHABBATON & CHESED

YOUNG FAMILY DINNER & PURIM CARDS

RABBINIC DIALOGUE, WOMEN’S LEARNING, NEWLYWED GAME & BLOOD DRIVE

Men’s Club

Spring Blood Drive

Sunday, March 19, 2017

See David Rein or Michael Kohler

for more information

AIPAC POLICY CONFERENCE 2017

MARCH 26-28 WASHINGTON, D.C.

TO REGISTER, VISIT POLICYCONFERENCE.ORG

JOIN US!!

AIPAC POLICY CONFERENCE

Sharona Abraham

Peyman Ahdout

Kousha Askari

Jonathan Bakshi

Rachel Barnehama

Steven Blumner

Robyn Blumner

Jeroen Bours

Robin Bours

Arnold Breitbart

Viviane Breitbart

Hal Chadow

Deborah Chadow

Gary Chubak

Lillian Chubak

Laura Cohen

Bracha Dayani

Nima Dayani

Tia DiSalvo

Isaac Elyassoff

Jacob Elyassoff

Tova Elyassoff

Jonathan Farhadian

Joseph Farhadian

Mansour Farhadian

Yafa Farhadian

Tom Furst

Debbie Furst

Sharon Goldwyn

Dina Hamerman

Natan Hamerman

Joseph Hecht

Donna Hecht

Erik Herz

Adam Hutt

Didi Hutt

Mitchell Hutt

Rachel Hutt

Rabbi Sean Jensen

Erran Kagan

Lisa Kagan

Leonard Kahn

Leslie Kahn

Marc Kalter

Dalia Katan

Elena Katan

Gloria Kaylie

Jack Khorramian

Ariella Kohansieh

Michelle Kohansieh

Celia Lemonik

Jack Lemonik

Alec Ludwig

Cindy Ludwig

Tina Machnikoff

Adeline Markowitz

Avraham Markowitz

Jaime Mittleman

Jared Ort

Edward Parver

Brenda Parver

Harlan Pittell

Rabbi Dale Polakoff

Ellen Polakoff

Hersel Rabanipour

Payman Rabiei

Amy Reiss

Jonathan Reiss

Ben Rosenberg

Carl Rosenberg

Dov Sassoon

Harriet Schimel

Leon Schwechter

Donna Schwechter

Ronnie Shaban

Daniella Siuni

Charlene Soleimani

Robert Sperber

Cheryl Sperber

Jonathan Spielman

Robert Spitalnick

Karen Spitalnick

Alan Steinberg

Orly Steinberg

Daniel Tavakoli

Devorah Wang

Howard Wolf

Michele Wolf

Information Orientation for Policy Conference 2017

This Sunday, February 26th 10:00 am

“Insights for Newcomers as well as Veterans”

for any questions, contact Steve Blumner

516.639.8941 or stevenblumner@gmail.com.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Y A H R Z E I T

MAZAL TOVS & COMMUNITY NEWS Rabbi Polakoff’s shabbos drasha through 5777 is dedicated in memory of PINCHAS BEN YOSEPH

For other such opportunities please contact

Howard Wolf 212-843-4668

IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO IS MOVING INTO THE GREAT NECK AREA PLEASE LET THE OFFICE KNOW.

OFFICE HOURS FOR RABBI POLAKOFF

Wednesdays 10 am - 12 pm

Thursdays 1 pm - 3 pm

He is available at other times by appointment and can always

be reached by email at dpolakoff@gns.org, or on his cell

at 516-637-3674.

UPCOMING EVENTS

AT GREAT NECK SYNAGOGUE

Feb. 22: Chaverim Center

Mar. 3: Young Family Friday Night Dinner

Mar. 5: Men’s Club Annual Rabbinic Dialogue

Mar. 6: Women’s Learning: Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner

SHAARE ZEDEK EVENTS

Shaare Zedek Medical Center’s Women’s Health Day

Wed. March 15, 2017 at the New York Academy of Medicine.

Sign up at www.acsz.org/healthday. For more info contact

sgoldwyn@acsz.org.

NYC Half Marathon Spots Available

Sun. March 19, 2017 If you would like a spot in the United

Airlines NYC Half Marathon - please join Team Shaare Zedek!

For more info please contact sgoldwyn@acsz.org or

917.287.7334.

SISTERHOOD PURIM BASKETS & CARDS

Sisterhood is once again selling Purim baskets and cards to be

sent to your loved ones. The baskets are $20 and the cards

can be purchased for $3 each or 10 for $25. Contact Vivian

Kron at Vivian@vikron.com or 516.244.6330 or Judy Lillien at

516.487.6845.

SCOPE

SCOPE magazine is interested in you and your families. The

happy news and the less than happy - please send the

background stories behind the marriages, engagements, bar/

bat mitzvahs and birth announcements. We also want to

remember and honor those who died and share their life story.

Please email submissions to SCOPE Contributing Editor, Zach

Dicker at zdicker@verizon.net.

MEN’S CLUB & SISTERHOOD NEWLYWED EVENT

NEW DATE!! - Sat. night, March 18th at 9:00 pm,

“Newlywed Game”, hosted by Rabbi Polakoff. Cost for members of Men’s Club/Sisterhood is $30 and $36 for non-

members. RSVP at the GNS office.

YOUNG FAMILY FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER

Please join us Friday Night, March 3rd with a Tot

Shabbat Program, Family minyan, Friday night dinner and a

juggling and magic show. Cost is $100 and $125 for non-

members. Sign up at gns.org or call the office.

SAVE THE DATE

The North Shore Hebrew Academy’s Annual Dinner will take place on Sunday, April 2, at Old Westbury Hebrew

Congregation. The Guests of Honor are Cheryl & Ronald Sil-

verman, in loving memory of Markus Orbach, z’l and Drs. Laura and Scott Danoff and Mrs. Susan Newborn, Distin-

guished Faculty Award. Those wishing to serve on the Dinner

committee, please contact aflatow@nsha.org or call the Busi-

ness Office at 487-8687 ext 2.

Adelaine Markowitz would like to thank Rabbis Polakoff & Lichter and the entire community for their outpouring of support following the loss of her beloved father, Leon Perlman.

Saturday, 29 Shevat

Ben Jampel for Henry Jampel

Murray Rabinowitz for Lea Rabinowitz

Stephen Rabinowitz for Lea Rabinowitz

Judith Weinstein for Fanny Weisman

Sunday, 30 Shevat

Ken Magida for Abraham Bilsky

Victor Ancelson for Carolina Galateanu

Pamela Bilfeld for Arline Grant

George Schuman for Bernard Schuman

Monday, 1 Adar

Ronald Braun for Emile Braun

Paul Brody for David Brody

Paul Brody for Rabbi Abraham Brown

Ada Berkowitz for Aliza Hass

Lili Weiss for Zeev Krendel

Hindi Lunzer for Ruchel Mermelstein

Joyce Dacher for Marvin Wolfman

Tuesday, 2 Adar

Michele Wolf for Philip Berman

Cantor Ze’ev Kron for Menachem ben Ze’ev Kron

Wednesday, 3 Adar

Milton Mitzner for Pearl Ducker

Leon Schwechter for Israel Schwechter

William Wolff for Rebecca Rachel Wolff

Thursday, 4 Adar

Steven Berkowitz for Jack Berkowitz

Donna Hecht for David Gad

Lev Dynkin for Shasha Nidel Lider

Rabbi Dale Polakoff for Lenora Rosen

Milton Mitzner for Anne Shapiro

Friday, 5 Adar

Brenda Parver for Ida Altman

Shellie Zuckerman for Aaron Feinerman

SUNDAY BREAKFAST

Sunday Breakfast is sponsored by Harry Lumerman in

memory of his father Todrus ben Zvi Sheimi, z"l.

PURIM VIDEO

Join us for video taping for this year’s Purim Video this Wednesday night, Feb. 22nd from 5:30-7:30 pm.

Mazal Tov to Jessica & Anton Feingold on the birth of a son.

Mazal Tov to Paul Marcus who has published his 19th book,

The Psychoanalysis of Career Choice, Job Performance, and

Satisfaction (Routledge).

Mazal Tov to Richard & Dorothy Reiser on the birth of a

grandson, born to their children, David & Sara Reiser.

AIPAC POLICY CONFERENCE 2017

This Sunday, February 26th 10:00 am

Information Orientation for Policy Conference 2017

“Insights for Newcomers as well as Veterans”

HASHKAMA KIDDUSH

Hashkama Minyan Kiddush is sponsored by Dina &

Mehran Sharifian to thank all of the members for their

kindness and friendship with special thanks to Jeffrey

Freedman and Asher Davoudpour.