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Table of contents
1) Perashat Hashavoua - Rabbi Eli Mansour
2) Halakhat Hashavoua (Halakhot related to day to day life) By Hazzan David Azerad -
Kiddush over Wine - Peninei Halacha
3) Holy Jokes!
4) For KIDS
This Week's Parasha Insight with Rabbi Eli Mansour
Parashat Noah- The Raven and Paranoia
The Torah in Parashat Noah tells the famous story of the flood that destroyed the earth, and how Noah and his family survived the flood on the ark, together with members of every species of animal. We read that after the flood, Noah sent an Oreb, a raven, from the ark, to determine whether the earth had dried and become habitable once again. Oddly enough, the Torah tells, the raven flew continuously around the ark, and never returned to Noah. Noah then decided to send a dove, which flew from the ark and then returned to Noah, indicating that water still filled the earth. When Noah dispatched the dove the second time, it returned with an olive leaf, indicating that the world was habitable.
Rashi makes an astonishing comment to explain why the raven encircled the ark, rather than fulfilling the mission on which it was sent. He writes that the raven suspected that Noah sent it out of the ark because he desired its mate. The raven was intent on not allowing Noah to carry out this nefarious scheme, and so it flew continuously around the ark, peering in to ensure that Noah made no attempt to take the female raven.
How are we to understand this incident? What would lead the raven to believe that Noah desired its mate? Do humans desire relations with birds? What logic was there in the raven’s suspicion?
Very often, when our Sages depict seemingly bizarre images such as this one, they are making a subtle observation about us, about people. Sometimes the Hachamim teach us directly, by stating explicitly what we need to do and what we need not to do, but in many instances they teach and instruct by way of analogies and parables. When the Sages described the raven in the ark, they were not talking about the raven – they were talking about us, and, specifically, the tendency of many people to be paranoiac, to always think the worst and suspect that others are conspiring against them.
A woman walks into a wedding hall and sees two friends whispering to each other and giggling. When they see her, they stop speaking to each other. Immediately, the woman reaches the conclusion that they were speaking about her. Thoughts begin flying around her head, trying to determine what kind of negative comments were made about her. In an instant, her relationship with those friends is broken.
A twenty-year-old girl wakes up one morning, looks in the mirror and sees a pimple on her forehead. She cancels her plans for the next week, petrified by the thoughts of what people might say about her when seeing her in her appalling state of physical deformity.
Our Sages reveal to us the absurdity of this kind of thinking through the story of the raven’s suspicion of Noah. Noah sent the raven on a simple, straightforward mission – and it immediately begins conjuring up imaginative scenarios and conspiracy theories. The raven’s paranoia is, unfortunately, not all that different from the paranoia that plagues many of us, the tendency to grow unreasonably suspicious of people around us.
In order to overcome this tendency, it is important for us to understand its origins. Paranoia is rooted in arrogance, in our inflated egos. People become paranoiac when they see themselves as occupying the center of the world, the axis around which it turns. From this perspective, everything that goes on around a person, by default, revolves around him. If two people are talking privately, it must involve him. And because everybody’s attention is focused on him, any blemish will immediately be noticed and become the primary topic of conversation at everybody’s dinner table.
The best antidote to paranoia is remembering that we each occupy but a very small place in the universe. We are not at the center of everyone’s attention. People are busy with their own lives, and have many, many other things to worry about besides what we look like, what we say and what we do. By keeping things in perspective, and remembering who we are and who we aren’t, we can overcome this damaging tendency of suspicion. We have no reason to assume that we are the topic of other people’s conversations – no more than the raven had reason to assume that Noah desired its mate!
Halachot this week are selected and Translated by Hazzan David Azerad
Kiddush over Wine - Peninei Halacha
The Sages instituted the recitation of kiddush over wine because it is the most dignified beverage, as it provides both nourishment and good cheer. They similarly instituted that a berakha be recited over a cup of wine at other joyful mitzvot, such as weddings (when seven blessings – Sheva Berakhot – are recited), and brit mila. The special status of wine is also expressed in the fact that a special berakha was instituted for it. Before drinking most beverages, we recite the general berakha of She-hakol, and after finishing the drink we recite the short berakha aĥarona, Borei Nefashot. When it comes to wine, however, we recite Ha-gafen before drinking and Al Ha-gefen afterward. Another law gives expression to the special status of wine. Although its berakha is different from that of other drinks, reciting Ha-gafen over wine exempts the person drinking from making berakhot over any other drinks.
Ideally, to glorify the mitzvah, kiddush should be made over a fine wine, one the person making kiddush enjoys. If wine is unavailable, one should make kiddush over bread on Friday night and over an alcoholic beverage such as beer or vodka on Shabbat day. If no such drink is available, he may make kiddush over bread during the day as well.
The recitation of kiddush over wine has profound significance. Generally, holiness comes to expression in the spiritual world somberly, while evil inclinations toward lust, arrogance, and mockery are more evident in the material world. Therefore, we Am Yisrael sanctify Shabbat with wine to express the holiness of Shabbat, which reveals itself in both the spiritual and material worlds. Joy and jubilation, when properly directed, can be our true partners in revealing holiness in the world. This is the point of Shabbat – to reveal holiness through Torah study, festive meals, prayer, and kiddush over wine. This accords with the statement of the Sages: “One who recites kiddush over wine on Friday night is granted a long life in this world and in the World to Come” (Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer 19).
Bevirkat Shabbat Shalom Umevorach
David Azerad
3) HOLY JoKeS!!
Selection of funny snippets, loosely related to this weeks parashah or current events, to brighten your day
Q. Which animal on Noah's Ark had the highest level of intelligence?
A. The giraffe.
Q. Why did Noah have to punish and discipline the chickens on the Ark?
A. Because they were using "fowl" language.
Q. On the Ark, Noah probably got milk from the cows. What did he get from the ducks?
A. Quackers.
Q. When was the first meat mentioned in the Bible?
A. When Noah took Ham into the ark.
Q: Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A: Noah - he was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
Q: What kind of lights were on the ark?
A: Floodlights.
Q: Did all the animals on the ark come in pairs?
A: No the worms came in apples.
Q: Why didn't Noah go fishing?
A: He only had two worms!
Q: How do we know that they played cards in the ark?
A: Because Noah sat on the deck.
Q: What animal could Noah not trust?
A: The Cheetah.
Q: What money did Noah carry into the ark?
A: Bucks and doe.
Q: Why were the horses aboard the ark Pessimistic?
A: They were always saying neigh.
Alice: Grandma, were you on Noah's ark?
Grandma: No.
Alice: then how did you survive the flood?
4) FOR KIDS
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