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This Week’s Torah Reading

Emor

eMOR begins with the restrictions a koHEN (priest) must abide by. The koHEN may not: mourn for anyone but the closest relatives; shave his head; or marry a divorcee or widow. The officiating koHEN cannot be blind or lame or have any other physical defect. Sacred donations may not be used by a common Israelite, and even a koHEN must use such donations only in a state of purity. Israel's animal offerings must also be free of defect. Injured or maimed animals are not permitted. No animal may be slaughtered on the same day with its young. The paraSHAH also reviews the Jewish calendar, urging the people to faithfully observe Shabbat, Pesah, the days between Pesah and Shavu'ot known as the Omer, Shavu'ot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Finally, the paraSHAH concludes with the law of the mekaLEL or blasphemer, that is, one who curses God. He is stoned by all those who heard the blasphemy. Capital punishment is sanctioned as is that famous law: "eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

A SHABBAT THOUGHT

I always throw my golf club in the direction I’m going.

~~ Ronald Reagan ~~

WEB OF THE WEEK

http://www.aish.com/movies/60Years.asp

IN HONOR OF ISRAEL-- 60 Years in 60 Seconds

UJC/Federation Supports JDC's Myanmar Relief Effort

UJC's overseas partner, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), has opened an emergency mailbox to raise relief funds for victims of Cyclone Nargid, which devastated portions of Myanmar on May 3. Funds are being collected for non-sectarian aid for the estimated several hundred thousand cyclone victims left without shelter and safe drinking water. The efforts are part of JDC’s International Development Program, which responds to natural and man-made disasters, providing immediate emergency relief and long-term assistance. Federations may download Web banners, found in UJC's central library, for use on their Web sites to help support the JDC efforts. For more information on the Web tools, contact UJC's Andy Neusner.

AURAL TORAH

Omer--A Spriritual Discipline

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A Kiddush After a Bris?

Dear CyberRav,

Can you clarify something for me? My daughter had a little boy—thank God!—and everyone is well. I told my rabbi that we wanted, obviously, to have a kiddush after the bris with the blessing over the wine and the cutting of a hallah, but he said that we don’t do kiddush on a Wednesday morning. Now the ole’ brain may not be working like it used to but it seems to me that every bris I’ve ever gone to whether it was on a Wednesday or a Friday or a Sunday always has a kiddush following it. What am I missing here?

CYBER RAV ANSWERS

Dear Kiddush Challenged,

First of all, Mazal Tov! Another Jew has entered the world and we pray that he grow up to be a blessing to his family, his community, and to Am Yisrael, the People of Israel.

I think I know what your rabbi is saying. Kiddush means “Sanctification” and refers to a specific blessing recited on Shabbat evening and Shabbat afternoon. It is a blessing that typically uses wine or grape juice in a sort of toast to this special day called Shabbat. And, in fact, when concluding the Friday night kiddush, we praise God for being mekadesh haShabbat or sanctifying the Sabbath.

Sometimes, when people speak about kiddush, they talk about it as if it were a meal with herring and gefilte fish, like in the statement—I’ll see you at the kiddush over a cup of coffee and a brownie. It’s true that kiddush is used in this sense, as a sort of meal, but those “kiddushes” were so dubbed precisely because they began with kiddush or the blessing over the wine.

When using language in a very precise manner, we would refer to the repast after Shabbat morning services as kiddush, during which we actually recite a kiddush. We would refer to the repast after Shabbat evening services as an Oneg Shabbat, meaning the “Joy of Shabbat,” since we don’t recite kiddush at that little repast, but do socialize in a fun and uplifting manner. And a repast that follows a brit milah would be a se’udah shel mitzvah, a “meal following a mitzvah,” but not a kiddush.

Do you need a hallah at a brit milah? Not necessarily. It’s nice to have as a festive bread, but hamotzi (the blessing for bread) over a piece of rye bread will more than suffice. Do you need wine at a bris? Again, not necessarily. It’s nice to have as part of the festive meal, but not integral to the meal. When it comes to Kiddush on Shabbat, however, the wine and the hallah are more integral to that ritual. So, your rabbi is telling you Mazal Tov, have a nice se’udah, a nice meal after the bris, but just be aware of the fact that technically, it’s not a kiddush.

Rabbi Rafi Rank
CyberRav

Shabbat Shalom Everyone!!

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