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RABBI YEHUDA MOSES, Rav HaKehillah/Senior Rabbi
RABBI MICHAEL ABRAHAM, Executive Director/Associate Rabbi/Hazan
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Erev Shabbat - JULY 26
Candle Lighting 7:41 pm
Shir Hashirim 6:15 pm
Mincha/Arvit 6:30 pm
SHABBAT
Rabbi Moses Parasha Shiur 8:15 am
Shacharit 8:45 am
Teen Minyan 9:30 am
Rabbi Moses Shiur 6:30 pm
Mincha/Arvit 7:20 pm
(Followed By Seudah Shlishit)
Havdalah 8:35 pm
SUNDAY
Shacharit 8:00 am & 9:00 am
(Followed By Breakfast) Rosh Chodesh Av Friday August 2
Monday - Friday
Shacharit 6:30 am
Sunday - Thursday
Mincha/Arvit 7:45 pm
Erev Shabbat - AUGUST 2
Candle Lighting 7:36 pm
Shir Hashirim 6:15 pm
Mincha/Arvit 6:30 pm
IMPORTANT HALALHIC TIMES
Earliest Talit & Tefillin 5:06 am
Last Time for Shema M”A 8:47 am
Last Time for Shema GR”A 9:30 am
Latest Tefillah M”A 10:11 am
Latest Tefillah GR”A 10:40 am
Hazot Hayom 01:00 pm
JULY 26 - AUGUST 1, 2019 23 TAMMUZ - 29 TAMMUZ * 5779
Parashat Pinchas SHABBAT MEVARCHIM
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Parashat Shemot
The Customary Prohibition of Haircuts During The Three Week’s! As a result of the mourning observed during the “Three Weeks,” the Ashkenazi custom is to abstain from shaving and taking haircuts begin-ning from the Seventeenth of Tammuz until the Tenth of Av. The Sephardic Custom Nevertheless, the Sephardic custom is not as stringent and follows the letter of the law established by a Tannaic enactment (following the de-struction of the Bet Hamikdash) which is to prohibit taking haircuts and laundering clothing during the week during which Tisha Be’av falls out. The Rambam and Maran Ha’Shulchan Aruch rule likewise. The week during which Tisha Be’av falls out refers to the very week the fast of Tisha Be’av is observed, beginning from Sunday of that week. For in-stance, if Tisha Be’av occurs on Wednesday, all of the mourning cus-toms associated with the week during which Tisha Be’av falls out begin from the previous Sunday. The Week During Which Tisha Be’av Falls Out this Year, 5779 This year, 5779, Tisha Be’av falls out on Shabbat. Therefore, the fast of Tisha Be’av is postponed to the following day, Sunday. Thus, the laws of the week during which Tisha Be’av falls out do not apply this year based on the ruling of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l (Chazon Ova-dia-Arba Ta’aniyot, page 223) and as we shall explain further, G-d-willing. All of the customs unique to the week during which Tisha Be’av falls out, such as taking haircuts and laundering clothing, do not apply this year besides for the day of Tisha Be’av itself during which it is cer-tainly forbidden to take a haircut or launder clothing. Haircuts for Women Regarding a woman taking a haircut during the week during which Tisha Be’av falls out or during the “Three Weeks” according to the Ash-kenazi custom, this depends on a related disagreement among the Poskim, as follows: The Poskim disagree regarding whether a woman who is in mourning for one of seven relatives (father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, or husband) is forbidden to take a haircut just as it is forbidden for a male mourner or does this prohibition not apply to women. Halachically speaking, Maran Ha’Shulchan Aruch, whose rulings are followed by Sephardic and Middle Eastern Jews, writes that the prohibi-tion to take a haircut does not apply to women. Thus, immediately fol-lowing the initial seven days of mourning (Shiva), a woman may take a haircut. Nevertheless, the Rama, whose rulings are followed by Ashke-nazi Jews, writes that the prohibition to take a haircut applies to women as well. It therefore seems that according to Maran Ha’Shulchan Aruch and the Sephardic custom, the prohibition to take haircuts observed in mourn-ing the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash does not apply to women ei-ther. However, according to the Rama and the Ashkenazi custom, women are also included in this prohibition. Hagaon Harav Moshe Fein-stein zt”l and other great Poskim rule likewise. On the other hand, there are Ashkenazi Poskim who write that although women are prohibited to take haircuts while in actual mourning for a relative, nevertheless, woman may, in fact, act leniently and take hair-cuts during the “Three Weeks,” for this (not taking haircuts throughout the entire “Three Weeks”) is not as much a halachic prohibition accord-ing to the letter of the law as it is a custom which has been accepted. However, during the week during which Tisha Be’av falls out, when it is an actual prohibition to take a haircut based on the edict of the Sages of the Mishnah and not merely customary, there is no distinction be-tween men and women. Nevertheless, halachically speaking, the prohibition of taking hair-cuts does not apply this year at all according to the Sephardic custom besides for the day of Tisha Be’av itself. According to the Ashkenazi custom, however, several great Poskim rule stringently and write that even women should not take haircuts.
Parashat Pinchas
There is a difference of opinion among the commentaries when the five daughters of Tzlafchad approach Moshe with their question as to whether daughters inherit their fathers in the absence of sons. Their is "give us an inheritance among our father's brothers" (Bamidbar 27:4). The Yalkut Shimoni learns that the incident took place in the 2nd year of their being in the desert, immediately after the sin of the spies. Fol-lowing Aharon's death, they started traveling in the opposite direction, away from Israel back towards Egypt. Regardless of the timing, what is most exemplary on the part of these five righteous women is that at a time when the popular tide and trend of the nation was "let us appoint a leader and let us return to Egypt" they requested an inheritance in the Land of Israel. The Yalkut derives a most important principle from the above: one who lives in a society that is practicing evil, but has the integrity and commit-ment to counter the system and do what is right, not only receives his or her due reward, but also all the potential reward and blessings that could have been accrued by the generation. Thus, just as Noach at the time of the flood, Avraham at the generation of the haflaga (Tower of Babel) and even Lot in Sedom, received the potential reward of their generations, so to the daughters of Tzlafchad not only received their reward for their love of the Land, but received the reward that was po-tentially awaiting the rest of the generation. The above Yalkut Shimoni teaches that not every mitzvah is created equally. Often the timing and environment of the mitzvah, and whether it is popularly observed with relative ease or requires major sacrifice to rise to the occasion, will determine the significance of the mitzvah. For example,today, most persons have little difficulty timing a job that al-lows them to observe Shabbat. Moreover, the law prohibits today reli-gious discrimination. But this was not always the situation in America. Similarly, Kashrut at one time was a major challenge. It's hard to be-lieve that there really was a time when kosher pizza, Chinese, Mexican, sushi, and every other cuisine, was not available. Timing and sacrifice play a significant role. The mishna in Pirkei Avot (5:3) teaches that Avraham received "sechar kulam"- the reward that was potentially due to the ten generations, be-tween Noach and Avraham. Rabbeinu Yonah explains that this does not mean that he took their sechar in a literal sense, but rather he that filled the gap that they left in their neglect, and his living a life of mitzvot accomplished and had the value of all of theirs' combined. The daughters of Tzlafchad displayed a tremendous love of Eretz Yis-rael and appreciated its importance in theirAvodat Hashem and its cen-tral placement for all of Jewish history afterwards. Baruch Hashem, it is not so difficult to travel to Ertez Yisrael nowadays and many are blessed to visit multiple times a year. But even a short stay in and out of Artzeinu HaKodesh shows HaKadosh Baruch Hu how much we value Eretz Yisrael in our lives and its importance in our rela-tionship with Hashem. I am right now zoche to be on a short visit to Eretz Yisrael and I can tell you I breath a different air when I am here. It offers me a spiritual recharge that lasts for many months afterwards. I hope soon to update the Kehillah when I return about my experiences here and what I believe I have gained by even spending one Shab-bat in the Land of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yakov. I am excited to see everyone when I return!
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Yehuda Moses Rav HaKehillah/Senior Rabbi
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