Midway Jewish Center
56 Years Young: 1953-2009 !
THE CYBERSHUL

330 South Oyster Bay Road
Syosset, NY 11791
www.mjc.org
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Shabbat	Lekh Lekja
Parashah	Leck Lecka
Secular Date	October 31 2009
Jewish Date	13 Heshvan 5770
Shabbat Begins	5:35pm
Shabbat Ends	6:37pm
MJCyber Shul Minyan	1406
Last Week’s Minyan	1404

TORAH READING

Lekh Lekha

God commanded Abram to leave his father’s home for another land. God lead him to Canaan and said that this land would be for Abram’s heirs. A famine forced Abram to leave and go to Egypt. Abram told his wife, Sarai, to pretend that the two were brother and sister so that none should kill him to obtain her. When Pharaoh innocently takes Sarai for himself his household is afflicted with plagues. Realizing that the plagues were due to Sarai, Pharaoh chastises Abram for the ruse. Abram leaves Egypt exceedingly wealthy. Both Abram and his nephew Lot owned so many flocks, one plot of land could not sustain them. The two separate with Abram remaining in Canaan and Lot traveling to Jordan. Lot was taken captive during a local war. When Abraham hears this, he musters 318 servants and goes to war. He is victorious, returns stolen property to their rightful owners and rescues Lot. Abram, nevertheless, is sad for he is childless. God assures Abram that his progeny would be as numerous as the stars. God reveals to him our enslavement in Egypt as well as the exodus. God makes an eternal covenant with Abram in which He promises all of Canaan to him and his descendants. Sarai gives Abram her maidservant, Hagar, as a concubine. Hagar becomes pregnant. Sarai is distressed over this development and treats Hagar harshly. Hagar flees. An angel tells her that she shall give birth to a son, a wild man, who will have many children. Hagar returns to Sarai. God changes Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. God instructs Abraham to circumcise himself and his household as a sign of the covenant. Abraham circumcised Ishmael at the age of 13 and he circumcised himself at the age of 99.

A SHABBAT THOUGHT

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow. 

~~ Swedish Proverb ~~

WEB OF THE WEEK

Go to this website and click on “Slide Show” for a wonderful look at a new model of the Second Temple, located at Yeshivat Aish HaTorah, right near the Western Wall. 

AURAL TORAH

Slavery--the Upside.wav

God - A Softer, Gentler Version

Just click on the link above to hear this week’s Aural Torah!

The Brit Milah ceremony is the way we welcome Jewish boys into the covenant of Abraham, in which God promised Abraham a home in which to live (Eretz Yisra’el) and children to inhabit it. See this week’s parashah—Genesis 18

Honor or Memorialize Loved Ones for a New Lower Price

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330 South Oyster Bay Road
Syosset, NY 11791

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GOTTA QUESTION?
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DEAR CYBERAV… I’VE GOTTA QUESTION

WHEN NOT TO SAY KADDISH

Dear Cyber Rav,

I hope your weekend with the students was a great one. I have a question for you. Today my husband and son attended a Bar Mitzvah at a Reform synagogue on Long Island. I realize that the Temple is Reform and whenever I attend a Reform service I know that there will be a stark difference. But today was a bit unsettling. We sat through a service primarily composed of quick versions of a limited number of prayers, extremely short Torah and Haftorah portions, untold number of family speeches, an incredible amount of the service in English (the total service was one hour with one hour of family and Bar and Bat Mitzvah speeches) and then the oddest request which resulted in the three of us looking at each other and being confused. We were asked to read the Mourner's Kaddish for all those who have died in our lives, and if we wished, for those who died in the Holocaust (this request is done each week apparently). We stood with the congregation but declined. Perhaps we were more sensitive because of a family medical crisis which has put us all on edge, but we were really uncomfortable. I know that this is not a usual practice because I have never heard of it before, but is it okay? I remember what you told us to say Kaddish only on Yarhzeits. Just wondering.

Konfused Over Kaddish

CYBER RAV ANSWERS

Dear Konfused Over Kaddish,

Thanks for writing. Every congregation is different, even when it comes to Orthodox synagogues. Each one does things a little bit differently, and what they do generally is the result of some process, one fully developed or hastily put together, which brings a congregation to a particular practice or ritual. My sense is that what each congregation does is right for that congregation. And when we are visitors in another congregation and feel uncomfortable with what is going on in that congregation, I would imagine that is as good an indication as any that we would never want to belong to that congregation. And that's okay too. That's why there are many different congregations--the Jewish people need variety.

Our community follows the time-honored Jewish idea that mourning should be limited to specific people and not shared by an entire congregation. The idea here is that if a congregation were to share in mourning all the individuals that deserve to be remembered, it would be forever in mourning. And as a result, we follow the Halakhah, Jewish Law, that seeks to limit mourning to only a father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, or spouse.

In a community as upbeat and joyous as ours, I think this philosophy works. Then again, we are a Conservative congregation and the traditional standards of Halakhic ritual practice will hold greater sway here than in many of our sister congregations within the Reform Movement. I don't mean this last statement to be judgmental, but rather descriptive. In point of fact, the Jewish world is in need of Reform congregations that operate with a greater sense of freedom from traditional practices precisely because those practices may not speak to all Jews with equal power, or because some Jews feel alienated, or ignorant, or in some other way uncomfortable with the tradition. For some, the tradition conjures up some real demons from the past. Life is complicated. But it sounds as if the community you visited has found a way to say Kaddish in a meaningful way--and that is okay for their congregation. It is not, however, something we would do here on a day other than Kristallnacht or Yom HaShoah.

I'm glad that you stood up with everyone else so as not to be disrespectful. And I am glad that you remained silent during that Kaddish. You are following the traditions of your community, and that was a noble act on your part. Kol HaKavod—you deserve much honor! 

Rabbi Rafi Rank
CyberRav

Shabbat Shalom Everyone!!

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