WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Yesterday Yom HaZikaron was observed in Israel to remember those who died in defense of the State of Israel and victims of terror. Today we observe Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day) on the 4^thday of Iyar even though the calendar date was the 5^th day of Iyar, to avoid the celebrations impinging on the holiness of Shabbat. We marvel at the level of development of this state a mere 71 years since it’s founding and are deeply grateful for its sanctuary for Jews the world over in this time of escalating anti-Semitism.

We read the portion of Kedoshim which focuses on the theme of holiness in Torah. How to define a term that by definition has no connection to physicality?

One word that I have found very helpful is “restraint”- when we hold ourselves back from our baser urges, whether it be anger, lust or the like, we are acting in a holy manner. Another word developed by the sages is “separate” like a sacrifice which, when designated, must remain apart from one’s physical possessions. As such, when we are termed the Goy Kadosh (the holy nation) we recognize that we are to live in a manner that in some way that makes us apart, mainly in the realm of ethics and morality that we must maintain in all our affairs.

Celebrating Israel Independence Day at Tribeca Synagogue: 

Neil Wallin Leading Morning Minyan in Hallel

Tribeca Torah Art Project

Congratulations to Danielle and Fred Solomon for the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Willow this weekend at the synagogue!

Register now for Bashert - our Spring Benefit and purchase ads and sponsorship!

We are excited to welcome Launch Math + Science Centers camps to Tribeca Synagogue this summer!  From engineering to electronics, kids learn all about STEM topics through an exciting summer program.  Plus, Tribeca Synagogue members can receive an additional $50 off by using the discount code TRS2019 during checkout!  Click here more information about Launch camps.

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The conclusion of Passover is a holiday but the Torah never explains what the holiday is about. Our sages say we are “celebrating” our salvation at the Red Sea but because it came at the expense of loss of life, even though it was our enemy, our celebration isn’t full bore. We have the same concept with the removal of 10 drops of wine when we recite the 10 plagues at the seder.

Remember to save a piece of matzah and an egg for Eruv Tavshilin today to allow cooking tomorrow for Saturday.

Saturday is Yizkor and there will be one recitation at approximately 11am with the appeal to be delivered by Chava Chalom in memory of her parents:

Aharona Bat Mordecai V’ Kochava Tziona whose yahrtzeit is 24 Nissan and Mayer Ben Esther V’ Eliyahu Halevi whose birthday is 21 Nisan.

Chava is also sponsoring the security detail for the month of Nisan in their memory and in honor of the remarkable lives they lived in their travels and raising a family on 3 continents imbued with the values of Torah and Tzedaka. And also in the hope that others will follow her lead in sponsoring our security in future months!

We are excited to welcome Launch Math + Science Centers camps to Tribeca Synagogue this summer!  From engineering to electronics, kids learn all about STEM topics through an exciting summer program.  Plus, Tribeca Synagogue members can receive an additional $50 off by using the discount code TRS2019 during checkout!  Click here more information about Launch camps.

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This week the portion is entitled Metzora and deals with the procedures necessary to address the skin conditions enumerated in the previous week. It adds, however, that if not addressed, these conditions can affect one’s garments and one’s home. The idea being that if one does not address even a spiritual problem the consequences keep building. This week’s reading is overshadowed by the fact that this is the last Shabbat before Passover and is in fact called Shabbat HaGadol (the big Sabbath) because on that day, as they were about to leave Egypt, they were allowed to safely prepare for the Passover sacrifice against the wishes of their host population.

And of course this weekend is greatly overshadowed by the huge loss we have suffered this week with the passing of our dear friend, Victor Dabah, who will be buried today and will be sorely missed.

Finally, during kiddush we will be hearing a presentation from Joyce Barocas of “Right at Home” regarding services available for the care of one’s elderly or lesser abled relatives and friends. This presentation is brought to us by our new group “SHAR” – Shul Arranging Services.

We remain deeply grateful to Yvonne Chalom who is sponsoring our paid detail security for the month of Nisan in conjunction with the yarhrtzeit of her mother Aharona bat Kochava Tziona which falls in the month of Nisan. Future sponsorship of our security is available for the following months.

Congratulations to our basketball coach Julia Loonin for the birth of her son Samuel Bernard Anthes at 9 lbs. 14 oz this past Tuesday.

 Thank you to our Hebrew School Director Yael Even Esh for a spectacular children’s event this past Sunday

Please register for our communal second seder here:

We are excited to welcome Launch Math + Science Centers camps to Tribeca Synagogue this summer!  From engineering to electronics, kids learn all about STEM topics through an exciting summer program.  Plus, Tribeca Synagogue members can receive an additional $50 off by using the discount code TRS2019 during checkout!  Click here more information about Launch camps.

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There is a scenario in this week’s portion that doesn’t get much attention but actually has a lot to convey. Specifically there was a question regarding how Aaron and his sons should handle certain sacrifices due to their status of mourning for the loss of Nadav and Avihu. Normally kohanim are excluded when they are mourners but Moses thought this should be an exception, and angrily demanded why they held back. Aaron responded with his reasoning for his decision to hold back and the Torah records that Moses humbly yielded. From this the sages derive multiple important messages: firstly the problem of anger, leading to Moses forgetting the law, but secondly the Torah recording Moses’ admitting his mistake.

Our sages have amplified these ideas through their books on Mussar and other places but it all goes back to the main source: the holy Torah given at Sinai!

Congratulations to Saul Goodman and Nathalie Rubens for the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Ruby this weekend at the synagogue!

Congratulations to Jeff and Liubasha Dagowitz for the bris of their son Mordechai this past Monday!

Eli, Yael, Rosalie and Avraham Weiss express their deepest appreciation to us, their wonderful TriBeCa Synagogue family, for the kindness and generosity at this difficult time.

They felt incredibly comforted and supported and wish us all health and nachas.

TriBeCa Torah Pre-Passover Spring Festival Sunday April 7^th 2-4pm. Register here

Please encourage families who have children in need of Hebrew School

Memorial for Marilyn Sontag Tuesday April 16^th at 7pm

The many faces of Purim at TriBeCa Synagogue:

TriBeCa Torah bringing Purim to Brookdale Independent Living

The amazing Schpiel: Oy Veysmia - Thank you, Wendy Friedland!

Open House at the Rabbi’s home

We are excited to welcome Launch Math + Science Centers camps to Tribeca Synagogue this summer!  From engineering to electronics, kids learn all about STEM topics through an exciting summer program.  Plus, Tribeca Synagogue members can receive an additional $50 off by using the discount code TRS2019 during checkout!  Click here more information about Launch camps.

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Now that we have completed the tabernacle the Torah begins the new book describing in detail what was supposed to happen there. We have categories of sacrifices like the elevated offering, the sin offering, the thanksgiving offering and the peace offering. We also have different items to present for each of those offerings like the steer, the sheep, the dove and flour. It’s amazing that this institution was in operation for the better part of 1500 years and then just disappeared. We preserve its memory in two ways: the schedule of our daily services is slated around the schedule of the sacrifices and in the preliminaries of our prayers we have a long section of readings that reprise the details of the sacrifices.

Now, while these details seem to be very distant from the modern mindset it behooves us to make the effort to understand and appreciate the fundamental role this had in our identity as the Jewish nation and then to hope and pray for its restoration bimhayra biyameinu!

This is the second of the 4 Shabbatot leading up to Passover and is called Zachor-recalling the attack of Amalek on the Israelites directly after the splitting of the Red Sea

Congratulations to Polina Liss and Bob Mover for the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Anya this weekend at the synagogue.