Jewish Things & Thoughts in Harrison NY For the Week of June 8st – June 14th Sivan 10 to Sivan 16; parasha Shelach

For the Week of June 8st – June 14th    Sivan 10 to Sivan 16; parasha Shelach

We would like people to be aware of some of the Jewish things and thoughts taking place in Harrison NY.

Here is a Jewish thought.

This week we read the Tora portion (“parasha”) known as ““Shelach” (Numbers 13:1-15:41).  There are several valuable lessons we can learn from this week’s parasha. 

In this week’s parasha we read the story of the Twelve Spies.  Moshe sent 12 representatives to scout out, or spy out, the Land of Israel.  One of these 12 was Moshe’s assistant or student.  This person’s original name was Hoshea.  The meaning of this name is Salvation.  Before Moshe sent him off with the other eleven scouts to see the Land of Isreal Moshe changed Hoshea’s name to Yehoshua (Joshua in English).  Yehoshua means “G-d (HaShem) will save.”  Moshe made the name change as a way of blessing Yehoshua to protect him from the bad advice of the spies.  But we have to ask a question, if Moshe only changed the name now, two years after the Children of Israel (“Beni Ysroel”) left Egypt, why has the Tora always referred to this man, Moshe’s assistant or student, as Yehoshua?  Once possible answer is the Tora wants us to understand that HaShem is always with us, HaShem will always save us but often we do not recognize this fact until something bad almost happens to us.  This also provides an explanation as to why the parasha contains the commandment of Tzitzit, the commandment to attach fringes to any four cornered garment worn by men.

In Biblical and Talmudic times the Tzitzit were colored with a dye called “tehelet.”  Techelet was blue in color.  The Tzitzit, particularly the blue color was to remind us of HaShem’s commandments, the Mitzvot.  The blue color of tehelet is similar to the color of the sea, the sea is similar to the sky and the sky is similar to the Hashem’s Throne of Glory.  A portion of the Throne of Glory was seen by Beni Ysroel when HaShem gave us the Ten Commandments.  The sight of the tehelet should remind us of the Throne of Glory, which in turn should cause us recall the commandments we heard HaShem utter at Mount Sinai (“Har Sinai”).  Thus, the titzit are a constant reminder of the mitzvot.  If we keep the mitzvot them we can be certain of HaShem protecting us just as he always protected Yehoshua 

The Young Israel of Harrison, New York (YIOH) is a Modern Orthodox synagogue offering an intimate religious and communal experience.  Sabbath morning services begin at 9 am, mincha/maariv services on Friday and Saturday vary with sundown, and services on Sunday morning are held at 8 am.  For those who would like more information or would like to spend Shabbos in the area, visit the Young Israel of Harrison’s website at www.yioh.org or email Yiohnews@aol.com

Rabbi Bienenfeld gives weekly Talmud and Chumash classes at 7:00 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings, respectively.  Please check the calendar posted on YIOH.org to confirm the schedule.

© W. Fraenkel 2014