Midway Jewish Center
Going Strong Since 1953
THE CYBERSHUL

We’re Paperless On Purpose—Go Green!

This CyberShul has been dedicated by:

This Week’s Torah Reading

Vayishlah

VAYISHLAH means “Jacob sent” messengers to his angry brother Esau, the man from whom he originally fled 20 years earlier. Anxious, Jacob prepares for battle, prays, and sends his brother gifts. In a mystical passage, Jacob successfully wrestles an angel through the night. The angel renames Jacob “Israel” [meaning: one who has wrestled with God] and Jacob limps away. Jacob and Esau meet, hug and kiss, and diminish tensions. Shechem, a local, rapes Jacob’s daughter Dina. He wants to marry her and have his people intermarry with the Israelites. Jacob’s outraged sons will not intermarry with the uncircumcised. Shechem convinces the local males to undergo circumcision. But Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob’s sons, slay the males while they were recuperating and take Dina back. At Beth El, God promises Jacob children and land. Rachel dies during the birth of her second, Benjamin. At 180 years of age, Isaac dies.  

A Shabbat Thought

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.

~~ Abigail Van Buren, aka—Dear Abby  ~~

Come to Camp Ramah in Ojai, California for Pesach

Early Bird Deadline Extended
Register by December 30, 2008 and get $150 off per adult.

Spend Pesach in beautiful Ojai, CA! Passover at Camp Ramah is an amazing experience; not only do you get the incredible atmosphere, but you leave all of the holiday preparations to us. The food is delicious, the community is warm and welcoming and the location cannot be beat. Your Passover experience will not only be leisurely and fun, but educational as well! Our Scholar-in-Residence this year is Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, a prolific author, nationally recognized teacher and speaker as well as the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University. Bring your family and join us for food, fun, learning and relaxation at Passover Camp! Register by November 30, 2008 and get $150 off per adult.

For more information: (310) 476-8571 or Passover@ramah.org

Web Of The Week

www.thankisraelisoldiers.com

This is a great gift idea for the soldiers we too often take for granted!     

SEND A SOLDIER IN THE ISRAELI ARMY A HANUKKAH GIFT, LIKE A PIZZA—

www.PizzaIDF.org

Hanukkah, the eight day Jewish Festival of Lights, will soon be with us and you can again treat the soldiers to traditional Jelly Donuts (sufganiot), giving them a brief holiday break. Our soldiers always appreciate your gifts and especially your greetings, letting them know that they have support from all around the world and that people understand the importance of their job protecting the Jewish people and leading the fight against terror.

Aural Torah

Hanukkah Gift Giving and Getting

Click on the link to hear the CyberShul!

Honor or Memorialize Loved Ones

DEDICATE A CYBERSHUL IN THEIR NAME!!
For a Few Dollars You can Touch Someone in a Beautiful Way
A CyberShul Dedication—Only:

$125

Send your name, location, and a $125 check made payable to:

Midway Jewish Center
330 South Oyster Bay Road
Syosset, NY 11791

Send CyberShul to All Your Friends!

GOTTA QUESTION?
THE CYBER RAV HAS AN ANSWER AND GOOD NEWS--
THE CYBER RAV IS ALWAYS IN
SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO rafirank@mjc.org
YOUR IDENTITY WILL NOT BE REVEALED
CONFIDENTIALITY IS ASSURED

PRAYING FOR PARNASAH (income)

Dear CyberRav,

Over the past six months, my husband and I have watched our savings plummet by 50%. We can’t quite believe what has happened, but it has, and knowing that others are in the same boat is frankly, small comfort. I am devastated and feel violated by those in whom we trusted these funds. Don’t misread me—I am not materialistic, or at least I never thought I was. Yet now I find myself asking God for help—not strength but actual dollars. And when I catch myself speaking in that way, I am so ashamed. Asking God for money? What does that say about me? How badly have I sinned?

Dear Looking for the Right Prayer,

If asking God for money is what you perceive to be a sin, then I pray that all the wicked of the world sin with that sin alone. The world would be in far better shape.

But the real point here is that you haven’t sinned. If you can’t speak to God with whatever is in your heart, using your own words however inarticulate you may be, then we cannot speak to God at all. And that’s just not the reality. We can always speak to God and we can always pray to God for whatever it is we want. And actually, praying for parnasah, a Hebrew word meaning sustenance or income, is certainly a part of Jewish prayer. We ask for sustenance three times a day when we ask God to render an ecological environment suitable for crop growth and proliferation. That may be more of a farmer than a banker’s prayer, but it is essentially the same idea—income is a blessing.

Judaism is not averse to wealth; it is averse to stinginess. Judaism is not averse to material possessions; it is averse to the ingratitude that so often accompanies the acquisition of abundance. These are tough times and, I believe, tough times that will pass. To ask God for income is not wrong, but better to ask God for the fortitude to endure this economic downturn and the courage to make the sound decisions we need to make now in order to retrieve our losses or at least get our savings to move in the right direction.

Within this dismal economic environment, sins have been committed. But they are sins of greed or sins of excessive risk-taking. There is also the sin of brazen fraud which has now come to light with the arrest of a Wall Street insider for perpetrating a Ponzi scheme resulting in multi-billion dollar losses. Those people have sinned and have much soul searching to engage in if not subject themselves to authorities who ought to prosecute them to the full extent of the law. But a family, such as yours, which has suddenly found itself bereft of its financial safety net, has every right to turn to God in prayer, even if it’s as simple as—God, please help us get our house back into order. That’s no sin—that’s heartfelt prayer.

God bless you and please—do not despair. Remember that as important as money is—and it is!—it is nonetheless not the most important thing in the world, and may not even be within the top ten. There are plenty of other blessings in our lives. Let’s thank God for them without abandoning the necessity to pursue our financial welfare in a smarter way.

Rabbi Rafi Rank
CyberRav

Shabbat Shalom Everyone!!

 To get added to the subscription list, or to be removed, or to change your email address,
click here - cybershul_subscriptions