Please join us for Kiddush lunch this Shabbos, June 17
in honor and celebration of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's life and continued positive influence in our commnity and the world.
10am: Prayer Service
11am: Torah reading and Rabbi's Sermon
12pm: Kiddush lunch, Le'chaim and song
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Mendel & Elke Zaltzman
Directors
Shabbos Times
Friday, June 16 Candle Lighting: 8:12pm
Evening service: 7:30pm
Saturday, June 17 Morning service: 10:00am
Kiddush Brunch: 12:00pm Evening service: 8:15pm
Shabbos ends: 9:22pm
Kiddush sponsored by The Kiddush Fund Donors
In honor of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Join us!
Daily Minyan Times
June 18 - June 23
Sunday Morning: 8:00am
Monday- Friday Morning: 7:00am
Sunday- Thursday Evening: 8:20pm
College Student Network
Connecting students going into college, in college and post college.
Starting from students in 11th grade and through college.
First meeting Thursday June 22 7:00-8:00pm.
Dinner will be served
Our new calendar for the upcoming new Jewish year is now in design phase. This will be completed in a few weeks and then it’s off to the printer.
Please support this great project and show the community that your business cares.
A BISSELE HUMOR
The story is told of a famous child psychologist who spent many hours constructing a new driveway at his home. Just after he smoothed the surface of the freshly poured concrete, his small children chased a ball across the driveway, leaving deep footprints. The man yelled after them with a torrent of angry words. His shocked wife said, "You're a psychologist who's supposed to love children."
The fuming man shouted, "I love children in the abstract, not in the concrete!"
WEEKLY eTORAH
Some conclusions are more obvious than others. Sometimes the most obvious conclusion isn’t necessarily correct. Drawing our own conclusions can often be a risky business.
Take the case in this week’s Parshah. The spies sent by Moses return from their reconnaissance mission of the Promised Land with a frightening report about the fierce warrior nations of Canaan. The Jewish people are dejected and frightened, and even weep at the thought of their impending invasion, convinced it can only be a suicidal mission impossible. The Almighty is angered, the people are punished for their lack of faith in His promise, and the spies go down in history as the villains in the story.
But why? What, in fact, was their sin? Moses asked for a report of the land. They came back and reported exactly what they had seen. They told no lies. The land was formidable. The inhabitants were huge and powerful. The fruits were extraordinarily large. They even brought back samples to prove it. So, if it was all true, why were they punished?
The answer lies not in the report, but in their conclusion. The facts as the spies presented them were entirely accurate. The sin was their conclusion, “We will not be able to go up to that people, for it is too strong for us.” Moses had sent them on a fact-finding mission. Their job was to bring back information. Nobody asked them for their personal opinions. The whole point of their mission was to gather the data necessary for the Israelites to find the best way of conquering the land. That they would do so was a given. G‑d had promised them the land, told them of its natural beauty and assured them of success.
The same G‑d who just miraculously delivered you from Egypt, the mightiest superpower on earth; split the sea for you; and revealed Himself in all His glory to you at Sinai—has now said that the Promised Land is there waiting for you. And, after all He has done for you, you turn around and publicly doubt His power to help you succeed? This is not only a mistake in judgment. This is shameful, sinful and faithless. The spies’ report was correct, but their conclusion was disastrous.
The facts are there for all of us to see. The question is how to interpret them. If we have a preconceived position and then manipulate the data to draw conclusions that suit us, we may come off clever at first, but in the end we may well go the way of the spies. Without faith, even the most accurate information can lead to the wrong conclusion.
