Jewish Things & Thoughts in Harrison NY For the Week of May 25th – May 31st Iyar 25 – Sivan 2; parasha Naso

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

On the first day of Shavuos, Wednesday, June 4th, the Young Israel of Harrison, New York (YIOH) will be hosting a dairy lunch after morning services.  The cost is $18 for adults and $9 for children.  Please RSVP to elayne512@aol.com.  Please make checks payable to Young Israel of Harrison and mail them to Elayne Riskin,, 18 Lambert Rd, White Plains, NY 10605.

The Celebrate Isreal Parade will take place on Sunday, June 1st, from 11AM to 4PM The Parade will go up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue from 57th to 74th Streets.  Please turn out to show your support for the only true democracy in the middle east and America’s strongest ally. 

Those are some of the Jewish things taking place in Harrison, here is a Jewish thought.

This week we read the Tora portion (“parasha”) known as “Naso” (Numbers 4:21-7:89).  There are several valuable lessons we can learn from this week’s parasha. 

One of the overriding themes of this week’s parasha is the concept of peace.  At first we find the importance of peace hiding in an odd section of the parasha.  That location is the Sotah ritual.  The Sotah ritual was a procedure in Temple times used when a husband became insanely jealous of his wife and thought she had violated the terms of their marriage.  As part of the ritual G-d’s (HaShem’s) name was written on a piece of parchment and then dissolved in water.  Normally we cannot erase HaShem’s name, but here HaShem commanded we do so since it might help bring a husband and wife back together.  This shows how important is peace.  For the sake of peace HaShem will even allow his name to be erased.  So also should we be willing to be slighted if it can bring about peace.

At the end of the parasha we read of the gifts the leader of the tribes brought during the dedication of the Tabernacle, the Mishkan.  The gifts were all identical.  Obviously, the leaders could have brought different gifts and try to outdo one another.  Instead they all brought the same items so no one would be jealous of another.  They put their pride aside to bring about peace.

In between these two parts of the parasha we read about the blessing (bracha) the Priests, the Cohanim gave to the people.  That bracha has three parts.  1) May HaShem bless you and guard you.  2) May HaShem cause His face to shin light upon you and be gracious to you.  Third and final part of the blessing is about peace:  3) May HaShem lift up His face to you and give you peace.  יִשָּׂא יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם  Peace is the ultimate gift.  This is reflected in the very last entry in the Mishna (The compilation of the Oral teaching concerning Jewish practice which serves as the basis for the discussions and debates found in the Talmud).  In that Mishna (Uktzim 3:12) Rabbi Shimon the son of Chlaphta said:  “The Holy One, Blessed is He, did not find a vessel strong enough for the blessings for Israel other than peace, as it says: ‘The L-ord will give strength unto his people, The L-rd will bless his people with peace (Psalms 29:11).

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