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President's Message: 6/24/22

Dear friends,

This week, Parshat Shlach recounts the story of the spies that Moses sent to scout out the land of Canaan. As we all know, the reports from 10 of the 12 spies were very negative, causing the Jewish people to second-guess the plan, resulting in forty years of wandering and death in the desert. Only the following generation merited entry into the Land of Israel.

The quick take on the story is that the spies lied to the Jewish People, but a closer inspection shows that they did, in fact, tell the truth. The problem was in the framing. In his discussion of the Parsha, Rabbi Mordechai Kaminetzsky quotes the Steipler Gaon, who states that poor attitudes help forge opinions that are diametric to the truth. The spies were against going into Israel so they spoke of fruit being so large it couldn’t be carried and of a plague killing off the people. They could have concentrated on the bounty of the land, and the fact that, because of the plague, the spies were able to go about undetected.

We can look at events in an unbiased way and appreciate the benefits, or we can wear blinders, stick to our guns and pout because things are not how we want them to be. Rabbi Kaminetzky concludes with the thought that when people have sour opinions and only want to see doom and gloom, then even a ray of light will blind them. We have to guard ourselves from only seeing one perspective, and always assuming that our own perspective must be the correct one. 

I’ll be traveling for the next few weeks. We’re planning out the events for the rest of the year and once they are firmed up I will report on them here. 

Wishing you all a peaceful and meaningful Shabbat Shalom from Israel,

Steven Inker

President's message 6/17/22 

Dear friends,

This week’s Parsha, Bahalotcha, is very special to me, as it’s my father's bar mitzvah Parsha. Growing up, I always knew this was his Parsha, but the words he insisted on repeating to us were the final words of the Haftorah: “chen, chen la” (grace, grace to it).

The context of the phrase is in two prophesies, one about Joshua the Kohen Gadol, and the second about Zerubavel, the leader of the Jewish People at the time. But how to build a Dvar Torah around this phrase? 

The prophesy of Joshua involves the need for him to remove sin from himself, manifested as his filthy robes, in order to be worthy of achieving redemption. The prophecy of Zerubavel involves a menorah that apparently burns continuously by receiving oil from two olive trees on either side of it, without human intervention.

The message is that, at the time of the redemption, everything will be divinely controlled, and will not require the efforts of man. The final phrase states that mountains will fall before Zerubavel and will be like flat land. This will cause the nation to see Hashem’s intervention everywhere. Grace, grace to this realization! We must put in the effort to achieve change, but at the end of the day, we are where Hashem wants us to be.

• • • 

We have certainly expended a lot of energy in the past couple of months to organize and pull off our annual fundraiser and Gala, and we have, with God’s help, succeeded. Deep thanks to all who contributed both financially and in time and effort to make this endeavor as successful as it was.

I realize that I have not reported recently much about the Shul planning and the workings of the Board. Now that the Gala is behind us, I hope to make up for that over the next few weeks. We have a Board meeting in a month, and I’ll be sending out the agenda prior. In addition, if there are any topics that members want the Board to discuss, please contact me, or any member of the Board.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish Mazal Tov to Orna Sofer on the birth of Gilad to David and Erin. Many of us watched David grow up in the the Shul and we all share in their joy. May he grow in Torah and mitzvot. 

Wishing you all a peaceful and meaningful Shabbat Shalom,

Steven Inker

Update this content.

Our 33rd annual Gala was our most successful ever!

Thanks to all who contributed so generously to our synagogue this year, we are truly and deeply grateful for your support!

And thanks for all who attended our red carpet VIP cocktail party, it was a fun opportunity to gather together once again.

Mon, April 28 2025 30 Nisan 5785