Emor 5760

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Emor (Leviticus 21-24 )

GOOD MORNING!  The time has come for another "Russin Appeal." No, not a Russian Appeal -- A Russin Appeal! You may remember last year that my friend, Dr. David Russin, advised me
that when cash flow is low and slow, "Not everyone wants to or is able to be a Friend of the Shabbat Shalom for $54, so just ask everyone to send in $10 and you'll be surprised!" So ... please send in $10 ... to Aish Shabbat Shalom, 3150 Sheridan, Miami Beach, FL 33140. Thank you! And so we wait ... for the immortal
words of Gomer Pyle ... "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"

Mother's Day is coming up Sunday, May 14th on the American Holiday Schedule. (In the Jewish Holiday Schedule, every day is Mother's Day!) Therefore, I thought I'd share with you the following beautiful piece which was edited, revised and sent to me by Y. Homnick whose 96 year old mother feeds 132 families each week for Shabbos in Jerusalem!

WHEN GOD MADE MOMS

By the time the Almighty made mothers, he was into His sixth day and working overtime. An Angel appeared and said "Why are You spending so much time on this one?"

And the Almighty answered and said, "Have you seen the spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic, have 200 movable parts, all replaceable, run on black coffee and leftovers, have a lap that can hold three children at one time and that disappears when she stands up, have a kiss that can
cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart, and have six pairs of hands." The Angel was astounded at the requirements for this one. "Six pairs of hands! No Way!", said the Angel.

The Almighty replied, "Oh, it's not the hands that are the problem. It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers must have!" "And that's just on the standard model?", the Angel asked.

The Almighty responded, "Yep, one pair of eyes are to see through the closed door as she asks her children what they are doing, even though she already knows. Another pair in the back of her head are to see what she needs to know even though no one thinks she can. And the third pair are here in the front of her head. They are for looking at an errant child and saying that she understands and loves him or her without even saying a single word."

The Angel tried to stop the Almighty. "This is too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish." "But I can't!", the Almighty protested, "I am so close to finishing this creation; it's so close to my own heart.

The Angel moved closer and touched the woman. "But you have made her so soft, Almighty." "She is soft", the Almighty agreed, "but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish." "Will she be able to think?", asked the Angel.

The Almighty replied, "Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason, and negotiate." The Angel then noticed something and reached out and touched the woman's cheek. "Oops, it looks like you have a leak with this model. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one."

"That's not a leak", the Almighty objected, "That's a tear!"

"What's the tear for?" the Angel asked.

The Almighty said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her disappointment, her pain, her loneliness, her grief, and her pride."

The Angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Almighty. You thought of everything. WOMEN are truly amazing!"


Torah
Portion of the Week

Emor

This week's portion sets forth the standards of purity and perfection for a Cohen; specifies the physical requirements of sacrifices and what is to be done with blemished offerings; proclaims as holidays the Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh
Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.

It reminds the Jewish people to provide pure olive oil for the Menorah and designates the details of the Showbread (two stacks of 6 loaves each which were placed on the table in the portable sanctuary and later in the Temple once a week upon Shabbat).

The portion ends with the interesting story of a man who blasphemed God's name with a curse. What should be the penalty for this transgression? Curious? Lev. 24:14.

 

Dvar Torah
based on Love Your Neighbor by
Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

The Torah states, "And you shall not profane My holy name, rather shall I be sanctified among the Children of Israel; I am the Lord Who sanctifies you." (Leviticus 22:32). What does this mean?

The Rambam, Maimonides, writes in Hilchos Yesodei Torah 5:11): "There are other things that are a profanation of God's name. When a pious Torah scholar does things which cause people to talk against him, even if the acts are not transgressions, he profanes God's name. Examples of this are when such a person
buys something and does not pay promptly when he is able to pay and the seller asks him for payment, or when he does not speak pleasantly to others and does not receive them with a pleasant facial expression, but is quarrelsome and easy to anger. The greater the man, the more careful he must be with his behavior.
Such a person should go beyond the letter of the law in his dealings with others.

"If a Torah scholar will be careful about his behavior, will speak pleasantly to people, act friendly towards them, receive them with a pleasant facial expression, will refrain from retorting when he is insulted, will honor even those who treat him with disdain, will be honest in his business dealings, will constantly devote himself to Torah study, will always go beyond the letter of the law, and will
avoid extremes and exaggerations, then he will be praised and beloved and others will desire to emulate him. This man has sanctified God. About him it is written, 'And He said to me, "You are my servant, O Israel, in who I shall be glorified." ' "(Isaiah 49:3)

And now you know how to sanctify God's name ... and how to be a credit to your Creator!

CANDLE LIGHTING - May 12:

Jerusalem 6:47   Miami 7:40  New York 7:46
L.A. 7:27  Hong Kong 6:35  Singapore 6:48
Guatemala  6:04  Honolulu   6:42  J'Burg 5:12
Melbourne 5:06  Moscow 8:08  London 8:21
Atlanta 8:12  Toronto 8:16


QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

A hug is a great gift...
one size fits all.
It can be given for any occasion
and it's easy to exchange.

Dedicated by...

In Loving Memory of
Burt Harrold
we all miss you!

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