Mazel Tov to Zak and Miera Maresky on the b i r t h o f a b a b y b o y. M a z e l To v t o grandparents Nolene & David Maresky and Sandra & Jimmy Srebrolow. In honour of this Simcha, there will be a Shalom Zachor in the Maresky home this Friday October 25th after 9pm at 4 Tillingham Keep. We regret to inform you of the passing of Goldie Aiken, mother of David Aiken. The funeral was this past Sunday. Shiva visits 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Shacharit will take place daily at 7:30 a.m. and on Sunday at 8:15 a.m. Mincha/Maariv will take place daily at 6:00 p.m. Shiva Location: Kensington Place Retirement Residence (6th Floor - Penthouse), 866 Sheppard Ave. W., M3H 2T5. Shiva concludes Monday morning, October 28th. May the family know no further sorrow. Bnei Akiva SNIF IS BACK. Join them at 5:00pm at Or Chaim. Shacharit week of Oct 28th only will be at 6:40am. Have an hour or more to volunteer? Please let us know at https://www.orchaim.com/form/volunteer The Or Chaim Minyan AGM will be held on date to be announced. The O book club will be meeting on November 2, 2019 at the home of Marcia Shumacher, 9 Fairgate Close at 4:45 pm to review the book “Prisoner of Tehran” by Marina Nemat. The author will be present to discuss her book with us. All are welcome to attend. The next selection will be announced at this time.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT OCM

KIDDUSH SPONSORS

Kiddush th i s Shabbat i s minyan sponsored.

Upcoming Kiddush Toranut Oct 26: Goldman F/M & Greenberg Nov 2: Grinfeld & TBD Nov 9: Kanner & Katzman Nov 16: Kurtz & Lax Nov 23: Blumenfeld & Glassman

ANNOUNCEMENTS

SHABBAT BERESHEIT

27 TISHREI 5780 | OCTOBER 26, 2019

Main Minyan Candle Lighting 6:01 pm Mincha/Maariv: 6:00 pm Shacharit: 8:45am Mincha: 5:45 pm Maariv: 6:55pm Shabbat Ends: 7:03 pm

Children & Youth

9:15am Youth Minyan: CANCELLED Kids Program 0-6 years: 9:15 am 6-9 years: 9:30 am Bnei Akiva SNIF: 5:00 pm

Devar Torah and Shiurim Greeter Toranut Rotation this Shabbat: 8:45-9:15 Eric Stutz 9:15-9:45 Natan Kohon 9:45-10:15 Dan Rabinovitch 10:15-10:45 Moe Davidovits

8:00 am Shiur: R. Eitan Aviner Devar Torah: R. Eitan Aviner Shiur after Kiddush: R. Chaim Kowalsky 4:45 pm Shiur: R. Jay Kelman Shalosh Seuda Shiur: R. Eitan Aviner

Yahrzeits Observed Last Week

Ann Winter (Father) 23 Tishrei - Oscar Hershtal - Yehoshua ben Zev

Ruby Judelman (Father) 25 Tishrei - Emanuel Tannenbaum

Yahrzeits Observed This Week

Joseph Edell (Brother) 27 Tishrei - Norman Edell נחום בן ברוך שלמה זלקא

David Newman (Father) 29 Tishrei - Tzvi Meir ben Chaim

Michal Grinfeld (Father) 3 Cheshvan - Natalio Alfie - Natan Ben Fardose

YAHRZEITS SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

VISIT US AT WWW.ORCHAIM.COM

President: Alan Simon To sponsor a Kiddush: https://www.orchaim.com/

kiddushsponsor To submit an announcement: https://www.orchaim.com/

announcements To make a donation: https://www.orchaim.com/payment.php

To lain contact Daniel at daniel@grodzinskibakery.com To give a Devar Torah or Shiur contact Jeff at

jdorfman@sympatico.ca

Candle Lighting

Friday Mincha

Shabbat Mincha

Motzei Shabbat

Mincha/Maariv Week

Following

Oct 26 - Beresheit 6:01 PM 6:00 PM 5:45 PM 7:03 PM 6:00 PM

Nov 2 - Noach 5:51 PM 5:50 PM 5:35 PM 6:53 PM 9:30 PM

Nov 9 - Lech Lecha 4:42 pm 4:40 pm 4:30 PM 5:44 PM 9:30 PM

Nov 16 - Vayera 4:34 PM 4:35 PM 4:20 PM 5:37 PM 9:30 PM

Nov 23 - Chayei Sara 4:29 PM 4:30 PM 4:15 PM 5:31 PM 9:30 PM

Nov 30 - Toldot 4:25 PM 4:25 PM 4:10 PM 5:28 PM 9:30 PM

Dec 7 - Vayetzei 4:23 PM 4:25 PM 4:10 PM 5:26 PM 9:30 PM

Dec 14 - Vayishlach 4:23 PM 4:25 PM 4:10 PM 5:26 PM 9:30 PM

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Shiur 8:15 AM R. Aviner

5:45 AM R. Engel

6:20 AM R. Engel

Shacharit 7:45 AM 6:40 AM 6:40 AM 6:40 AM 6:40 AM 6:40 AM

Mincha 6:00 PM 6:00 PM 6:00 PM 6:00 PM 6:00 PM 5:50 PM

Candlelighting 5:51 PM

LAINING AND SHIUR AVAILABILITY

Nov 2 - Noach Nov 9 - Lech Lecha Nov 16 - Vayera Nov 23 - Chayei Sara Nov 30 - Toldot

Laining Jeff Weiss Available R. Seth Grauer Available Available

7 min Devar Torah Available Yair Rosenberg R. Seth Grauer Available R. Aaron Adler

Shiur after Davening Available Yair Rosenberg R. Seth Grauer Chaim Kowalsky R. Aaron Adler

Kiddush Sponsor Available Available Grauer Bat Mitzvah Available Available

Dec 7 - Vayetzei Dec 14 - Vayishlach Dec 21 - Vayeshev Dec 28 - Miketz

Laining Available Available Eric Stutz Available

7 min Devar Torah Jacob Samson Rabbi Torczyner Jeffrey Stutz Dr. Mordechai Alfie

Shiur after Davening Available Rabbi Torczyner Eric & Tamar Stutz Available

Kiddush Sponsor Available Available Stutz Bat Mitzvah Grinfeld Auf Ruf

Oct 19 - Chol Hamoed Oct 21 - Shmini Atzeret Oct 22 - Simchat Torah Oct 26 - Beresheit

Laining Barry Pakes Jeff Weiss Available Eli Magder

7 min Devar Torah Barry Pakes R. Eddie Shostak R. Noah Sonenberg R. Eitan Aviner

Shiur after Davening Lila Kagedan R. Jay Kelman R. Jay Kelman Chaim Kowalsky

Kiddush Sponsor Pakes Available Available Available

Jan 4 - Vaigash Jan 11 - Vayechi Jan 18 - Shemot Jan 25 - Vaera

Laining Available Available Available Available

7 min Devar Torah Available Available Available Available

Shiur after Davening Available Available Available Available

Kiddush Sponsor Available Available Available Available

RABBI JAY KELMAN DEVAR TORAHBreisheet: Purposeful Ambiguity

"G-d said: What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is screaming to Me from the ground" (Breisheet 4:10).

G-d approached Cain after the murder of Hevel with a question, hoping that Cain would do teshuva for the murder of his brother. Did he? The text is unclear: "And Cain said to G-d: gadol avoni mi'n'so, [Is?]my sin is too great to bear" (Breisheet  4:13). Whether this is a question or statement of fact is unclear; without hearing the tone of voice that Cain used, we are left in the dark.

Not surprisingly, our two great commentaries were also divided on this question. Rashi claims that these words should be read as a question, with Cain asking G-d "is my sin too great to bear?" There is no teshuva here with Cain seeing little value in human life and little wrong with what he had done.  The Ramban disagrees, claiming that this was a statement, an expression of true remorse for a sin that is just too great to bear.    Cain accepted the fact that he would need to be severely punished for his actions.

These interpretations would seem to be mutually exclusive, with  each commentator having a very different understanding of what happened. Who is right?

While many who study Torah are inclined to bring proofs supporting one view or the other, ultimately—from the perspective of the Torah—it really does not matter. The Torah, here and in so many other places, is purposely ambiguous, encouraging and even demanding of us that we see events from different perspectives, each providing crucial life lessons.

It is  not be really important to know  whether in actual  fact  Cain truly repented. But it is crucial to understand the implications of both approaches. Rashi and Ramban each realized that the verse could be understood in two ways; each one focused on the one approach that felt more correct to him.

This purposeful ambiguity abounds in the Chumash. There is hardly a verse where all is clear. Was Noach truly righteous or only relatively so? Did Yaakov and Eisav have a true reconciliation or did Eisav feign brotherly love? Was it

the brothers or Midianite traders who sold Yosef? Even the refrain we say over and over again on Yom Kippur, "and Hashem passed before him and proclaimed" (Shemot 34:6), has engendered debate; was it Moshe or G-d who proclaimed His name?

Ambiguity begins with the first verse of the Torah. Should it be read as "In the beginning, G-d created the heaven and the earth" as the Ramban does or as Rashi understands it, "In the beginning of G-d's creation"? The Torah clearly wants us to study, and attempt to understand  the text using many possible interpretations. It takes great understanding and wisdom to figure out which interpretation is most applicable to our lives. And the interpretation that is right for one may not be right for another.

Although translations of Torah have their place in the modern world, these nuances of text that allow for ambiguity in the original are lost in translation. It was not for naught that our Sages ordained a three-day fast when the Torah was translated into Greek.

Not only are many, perhaps most,  verses of the Torah open to alternate interpretations, whole stories in the Torah are left for us to decipher, to apply their meaning to our lives today. What exactly was wrong with building the tower of Bavel? Did Abraham sin in leaving Israel when famine struck soon after he arrived? Did Jacob sin in deceiving his father, or was it a great mitzvah? Did Shimon and Levi act correctly in avenging the rape of their sister, or were they guilty of a horrific crime? Did Yosef act correctly in not revealing himself to his brothers sooner? And for good measure, exactly what did Moshe do to incur the surprisingly severe punishment that barred him from entering the land of Israel? 

There are no definitive answers to the above questions. Nor should there be. Our Sages have taught that there are 70 faces to Torah (Bamidbar Rabba 13:15). The Torah is multifaceted and is the paradigm for life itself. Let us study and reflect on its constant beauty, relevance and meaning for us today.