Rabbi's Blog

Dear All,

I would like to share an inspiring word of Torah with you from this

week's Torah portion. Hopefully it will connect the time and tradition

of our Torah to today's challenging events in our daily lives. I will

try to connect with you on a weekly basis. If you do not want to

receive this in an e mail form you can always find it on our Shul

website at www.bjsd.org.

Wishing you and your family a Shabbat Shalom

Avram Bogopulsky, Rabbi of Beth Jacob Congregation.

PARSHAS YISRO

The image of Moshe Rabbeinu coming down Har Sinai with the luchos is

forever embedded in our minds from our youth. Two tablets side by side

each containing five of the dibros (statements). The right side

representing mitzvos bein Adom La'Chaveiro (commandments between man

and God) and the left side mitzvos bein Adom LaChaveiro (commandments

between man and his fellow man).

One would think that the relationship between man and Hashem is more

important or weighs heavier than the existence between man and his

friend. But to the contrary, we see from the words of the Rambam in

Hilchos Teshuva that we cannot approach Hashem for forgiveness unless

we have settled all outstanding matters between ourselves. Chazal are

replete with the importance of our middos between each other, Hashem

ca tolerate us being disobedient but cannot stand for the injustices

perpetrated against mankind.

It is for this reason that in this week's parsha, prior to the giving

of the Torah the Jewish people responded to Hashem's offer of the

Torah with the words Naaseh V'Nishma. In Shmos 19:8 the verse states

"Vayaanu kal ha'Am yachdav VaYomru kol asher diber Hashem Naaseh And

all the people answered together and said, "All that God has spoken we

will do" The Chidushei Harim remarks that each individual Jew should

have responded e'eseh -"I will do" instead of Na'aseh. The Gerrer

Rebbe says that when the Jews heard about the Torah and realized its

beauty and importance, each individual took upon himself not only to

observe it, but also to be responsible for all other Jews doing so.

Each one responded in the plural "Na'Aseh" meaning "I will do, and

also see to it that other Jews will do.

As it says in the Gemara Shavuos 39a Kal Yisroel Areivin Ze Lazeh

"Each Jew is a guarantor for his fellow".

A second interpretation of why it says Na'Aseh is given by Reb Meir

Simcha of Dvinsk in his classic commentary the Meshech Chochma. He

says that no one Jew can fulfill ALL of the mitzvos of the Torah by

themselves. Since there are certain mitzvos that are designated for

Kohanim, others for Leviim, the King, the Kohen Gadol, to those who

owned fields or a house. Each and every Jew has to fulfill his/her

Mitzva and that's what makes us a complete nation. Furthermore,

learning about that mitzva can fulfill any mitzva that we cannot do

today. Therefore, when everyone responded together that we would do

whatever Hashem says, that's what binds us all as a nation. Only when

the Jewish people do things collectively, and compliment each other by

filling in for each other can we respond together. Otherwise we are

just individuals without the force of a wholesome people.

We are living through difficult and turbulent times. From earthquakes

and natural disasters to young Jewish boys being incarcerated in a

Japanese prison. A young Jewish boy being harassed by the authorities

(after landing) over his wearing Tefillin on a recent plane ride, to

economic hardships all around us we need to focus on our Middos

amongst ourselves.

Hopefully the message of the two Luchos side by side will remind us of

our ultimate responsibilities and bring a salvation to Klal Yisroel

and the world we live in.

To view this article on our blog click here: The old expression that a book speaks volumes or speaks loudly recently came to mind. For my Bar Mitzva gift thirty two years ago, my grandfather bought me a brand new Shas a set of Talmud. It was the top of the line at that time, and was printed in Dublin and supposedly the best, with a guarantee that if you suspended it from a page in the middle of the book it would not rip. The quality of the paper and stitching were that good! Like anything in life, if you don't use it you lose it. For many years this beautiful set of books adorned the book shelves gathering dust. Even years later when I did start to learn and study the Talmud, I never wanted to use "that" set for fear of ruining it. Well, after the last completion of the Talmud I said to myself that I should start to use that set that I got from my grandfather. I am now using it for the second time around. The tractate we started last week was Sanhedrin and the cover cracked off, but the pages themselves are bound in perfectly as they were so many years ago just like new. The expression of never judge a book by its cover has come to life with my gemara, now coverless. Did it lose its value? Absolutely not, to the contrary it looks like a book is supposed to look like, USED and READ In this week's Parsha, Teruma we also read about the Ark that was covered both inside and outside with gold. The Great Rava says in Gemara Yoma 72a that any Torah scholar whose inside is not like the outside is not a Torah scholar. A truly great person acts and looks on the inside as they portray themselves to the outside. Unfortunatel, sometimes that is not the case, and therefore we need to work on ourimage from within. The outside should only be a reflection of the inside and hopefully we show who we really are. There are times when we are not doing the best religiously as we can, but we feel inside that we are still able to be a good and better Jew. As long as the inside is intact then it will help repair the outside image and actually encourage us to fix ourselves on the outside as well. The pintele Yid, as long as the flame is burning inside of us, we can glow on the outside and bring light and warmth to the people and world around us. Let us all make greater attempts to commit ourselves to more Torah study, the fulfillment of more mitzvos and acts of magnanimous kindness to one another and let the Shechina, God's presence dwell in all of us inside and out. Come Join us for our Scholar and Residence program this Shabbos with Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald and next Sunday, February 28th for Purim. For more information please call the office at 619-287-9890 Shabbat Shalom Avram Bogopulsky

The past few weeks Torah portion has focused on the redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt. From the ten plagues, to the splitting of the sea and on to Mount Sinai and the giving of the Torah. Ultimately, we would be led to Israel to live as a free nation in our land and to follow the laws of the Torah. It only takes a small reminder that we are in golus, exile.

The Torah teaches us to follow the laws of the land and we are obligated to be good law abiding citizens no matter where. The laws of Dina D'Malchusa Dina, the laws of the land have to be followed. One major difference between the laws of the United States and the Torah is the implementation and the carrying out of the punishment.

In this week's parsha Mishpatim the Torah says Makeh Ish Vames Mos Yumas, whoever strikes a man dead shall surely be put death. According to the Torah, in order to exercise capital punishment, the perpetrator had to be warned and be premeditated with witnesses, yet in America that is not the case. A sharp reminder that we are in the exile will be witnessed (hopefully avoided) this coming Tuesday, February 16th when a Jewish man is scheduled to be executed in Florida. Martin Grossman was only nineteen years old when he killed a wildlife officer in 1984.

The following is a letter from Alan Dershowitz to his fellow Jews regarding the plight of Martin Grossman: Michoel Yechiel Ben Miriam Sorah <blockquote>As you may or may not know, a Jewish man is slated for execution in Florida next Tuesday.

Martin Grossman was convicted of killing Margaret Parks, a Florida Wildlife Officer, in 1984, when he was 19 years old.

He did so while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and in an act of panic, not premeditation.

He has conducted himself as a model prisoner since his incarceration some 25 years ago and has shown profound remorse and regret for his actions.

National Council of Young Israel has joined other Orthodox Jewish groups including Agudath Israel of America and the Orthodox Union, in asking Florida Governor Charlie Crist to grant clemency , from the death penalty to life in prison, to Mr. Grossman, and we have also requested a meeting in person with Governor Crist to discuss the matter.

But it is important that the Governor hear from the grassroots as well - certainly from people who live or spend significant time in Florida, but even from non-Floridians.

His e-mail address is Charlie.Crist@myflorida.com , his phone number is

(850) 488-7146 and he can be faxed at 850-487-0801.

Letters and calls should be polite to the Governor to take into account Mr. Grossman's youth and impairment at the time of the crime and his good behavior and remorse in the years since.

And the request should be that Mr. Grossman be permitted to serve his debt to society by serving the rest of his life in prison.

May we have happier occasions to demonstrate our achdus and ahavas Yisroel.

"Even those who strongly support capital punishment would limit it to recidivists or people who commit the most heinous of crimes. Martin Grossman fits neither of those categories. He does not belong on death row. His crime, committed when he was a teenager, was unplanned, unpremeditated and impulsive—the product of a serious mental illness, that can now be proved by medical technology that was unavailable at the time of his sentencing. He has been in prison for more than a quarter of a century, during which time he has been a model prisoner who has shown great remorse for what he did. All that he is seeking now is a 60 day postponement of his execution, so that his supporters can martial the evidence and present his case for clemency. No one should be rushed to execution while doubts remain unresolved. Justice demands that he be given the 60 days to prove that he does not deserve to die at the hands of the state."</blockquote> PLEASE PRAY FOR MICHOEL YECHIEL BEN MIRIAM SORAH

WE ARE STILL IN GOLUS. LET MOSHIACH COME SPEEDILY IN OUR TIME

Shabbat Shalom, Avram Bogopulsky

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