Parshat Vayikra-Shabbat Hachodesh-Rosh Chodesh Nissan
March 24, 2012 1 Nissan, 5772
Efrat, Israel - "…Anindividual who willsacrifice fromyourself a sacrificialoffering unto theLord…"(Leviticus 1:2)My teacher andmentor Rav Joseph B.Soloveitchik ztz"lwould often speak of the two great Biblicalmountains, Mt.Moriah where Godsent Abraham tosacrifice his belovedson Isaac, and Mt.Sinai, from which Godpresented His theTorah to theIsraelites.Conventional wisdomwould maintain thatMt. Sinai should havebeen the more sacredof the two, sincethere is nothing onearth more sacredthan our Divinelygiven Torah, the verywords of God.Nevertheless, theSages of the Talmudonly endowed eternalsanctity to Mt.Moriah, upon whichour first two Holy Templeswere built and which willbe the foundation for thethird Holy Temple as well.Mt. Sinai, by contrast,sustained its sanctity onlyduring the period whenthe Divine Voiceemanated from itsheights; today it is nolonger sacred, and couldtherefore be given up aspart of Israel's peaceagreement with Egypt.Why does Mount Moriahhave greater sanctity thanMount Sinai?Rav Soloveitchikmagnificently explainsthat whereas on MountSinai, God presentedIsrael with the gift of HisTorah, on Mt. Moriah,Abraham, was willing tosacrifice his beloved sonto God. My teacherinsisted that sanctityrequires sacrifice and thegreater the humansacrifice, the higher thedegree of Divine sanctity.Biblical Judaism tookgreat pains to ensure thatreligion- our God givenvalues and ideals – be
Parshat Vayikra by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
seen as the apex of ourcommunal structure. Itshould be the nationalcommitment towardswhich we all aspire andfor which the individualmust be willing tosacrifice materialcomforts and even his/her own life. It isbecause we took theAbraham- Isaac modelso seriously that ourhistory is so tear-drenched and blood-stained, from theHebrew babies in theRiver Nile at thebeginnings of ourhistory to the presentday Israeli cemeterieswhere so many parentshave buried theirchildren.It is also because of thisthat – paradoxically- wehave survived, andlargely succeeded intransmitting our sacredfaith, until today.Apparently, it is only acommitment to Godwhere we are willing toput our future at riskthat we will secure an
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Hashkama 8:00 amParsha Shiur 8:30 amMain Minyan 9:00 amBeit Midrash 9:15 amTeen Minyan 9:30 amGemorah Shiur 5:30 pmMincha 6:30 pmShabbat Ends 8:02 pmSundayMarch 257:30/8:30 amMon., Thurs. 6:35/7:45 amTues., Wed., Fri. 6:45/7:45 amMincha 7:00 pmLatest Times forShema/Shmoneh EsreiMarch 24
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March 31
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eternal future.But though we must sacrifice our materialcomforts, and even our professional standing onthe altar of our religious ideals; we dare not utilizeour religious ideals as the stepping stones toenhance our personal power and prestige. Oncethat happens, then our religious ideals will becometainted and corrupted, the subjective ego willbecome the goal, and the still-small voice of Godwill be drowned out by the raucous shouts of political power.Hence our Bible attempted to separate thereligious estate from political power andgovernmental structure. The priest-teacherKohanim, were meant to minister in the Temple,not in the palace of parliament, and the Prophetwas totally independent of the monarch, neitherappointed nor supported by any of the king'sagencies.When, in the Hasmonean period of the SecondCommonwealth, the Kohanim became thegovernmental ruling class, it was tragic forJudaism, and presaged the death-knell of theSecond Temple. (See Ramban, Genesis 49:10)The members of the Sanhedrin were not appointedby the ruling powers; they were totallyindependent, their office was determined byscholarship and piety alone. Indeed, in theabsence of the prophet, the king is to be appointedby the Sanhedrin!The Bible does not advocate a separation of religion from state (it was the king who Biblicallyexhorted the Israelites at Hakhel); but it certainlydoes advocate a separation between religion andpolitics, a system whereby the religious leadershipis completely independent of the ruling power, sothat the Chief Rabbinate is a religious and not apolitical appointment. Only an independentprophet like Nathan- devoid of a seat in
26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11023 (516) 487-6100 Shaabbat Announcements Parshat Vayikra-Shabbat Rosh Chodesh 5772
parliament, government office, secretary, carand driver, and driven only by the voice of Godburning within him could have had the courageto stand before King David with the damningwords, "thou art the man;". Only such anindependent and truly spiritual personage couldhave caused the venerated King to descend fromhis throne, weep uncontrollably and declare, "Ihave sinned before the Lord".When religion becomes a traded politicalcommodity, when rabbis use religion to gainpolitical power, instead of sacrificing personalbenefits for religious values, religious values getsacrificed for the aggrandizement of theindividual rabbi-politician.Shame on the "rabbis" who take Torah out of thebeit midrash and into hooligan initiated streetdemonstrations, expressions of political powerwhose ugly shouts drown out the Biblicaldirective; "You shall love the stranger, convert".Shame on the rabbi-politicians who sacrifice thefuture of our land and country to gaingovernmental funds for an educational systemwhich trains able-bodied men to liveunproductive lives, contrary to objective andtruly traditional Torah law (a Torah which wasmeant to be a prescription for life, not asubstitute for life); shame on religious politicalparties who appoint insensitive judges,impervious to the cries of women hopelesslylocked into marital bondage in defiance of theTalmudic directive to be lenient in freeing theagunah.We must free our Holy Torah from the shacklesof petty politics of Torarism, the terrorism of Torah. We must understand that politicscorrupts, and religious politics corruptsabsolutely. We did not sanctify the political; wepoliticized the sacred.
Great Neck SynagogueShabbat Activities Program
Dale Polakoff, RabbiIan Lichter, Assistant RabbiDr. Ephraim Wolf ,z”l, Rabbi EmeritusDaniel Schwechter, Rabbinic InternZeev Kron, CantorEleazer Schulman, z”l, Cantor EmeritusRabbi Sholom Jensen, Youth DirectorMark Twersky, Executive DirectorAvraham Bronstein, Program DirectorJoseph Hecht, PresidentHarold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board
PASSOVER CLASSES
Pre-Passover Night of Learning - Tuesday evening,March 27
th
Rabbi Dale Polakoff
- Contemporary Halachot7:45 – 8:20 pm
Rabbi Ian Lichter –
Insights on the Hagadah8:30 – 9:00 pm
GNS2012
60YearsYoung
FAMILY
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RABBI
SHLOMO
RISKIN
Chief
Rabbi,
Efrat,
Israel
Chancellor,
Ohr
Torah
Stone
Institutions
SATURDAY,
MARCH
24
Sermon
following
services
in
the
Goldwyn
Sanctuary
Shabbat
Luncheon
“Women
in
Halacha:
How
Far
Can
We
Go?”
Seudah
Shlishit
Presentation
“Israel:
The
Enemy
Without,
The
Enemy
Within”
Reservations
Required
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Shabbat
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|
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|
$100
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max
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or
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March
21
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order
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signed
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Rabbi
Riskin’s
“A
Haggadah
Happening”
($25/
I
would
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to
order
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signed
copies
of
Rabbi
Riskin’s
“Listening
to
God”
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SUPPORT OUR SHABBAT LUNCHEON
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The
next
AIPAC
Conference
will
take
place
March
3
‐
5,
2013.
The
full
price
for
the
Policy
Conference
is
$599.
If
you
reserve
before
October
26,
2012
the
price
is
$499,
and
if
you
reserve
before
March
20,
2012
the
price
is
$399
.
This
price
includes
only
the
Policy
Conference
and
does
not
include
transportation
or
lodging.
If
you
want
to
take
advantage
of
these
discounts,
please
call
the
synagogue
office
to
reserve
your
spot.
Payment
must
be
made
in
advance
to
keep
your
reservation.
GREAT
NECK
SYNAGOGUE
is
again
pleased
to
serve
its
membership
with
the
sale
of
Hand
Baked
SHMURAH
MATZAH.
Pick
‐
up
for
Matzah
will
be
on
Wednesday,
APRIL
4,
2012
Between
6:30
pm
&
8:30
pm
All
orders
must
be
prepaid.
Please
make
checks
payable
to
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NECK
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orders
must
be
received
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_____lb.
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