g n i h t e Som e n o y r e v for E
Hale Shule’s New Look Newsletter
d"sb
Parshat Chayei Sarah
25 Cheshvan 5776 7 November 2015
Service Times Shabbat Kabbalat Shabbat
16:10
(Candle Lighting)
16:10
Shacharit
09:00
Leining
10:00
Artscroll Gutnick Hertz
Mincha follows kiddush Shabbat terminates
17:18
Ma’ariv
17:35
Weekday
Leining Haftarah
Page No.s
106 132 80
1136 1382 90
Thought For The Week
Shacharit
Ma’ariv Only
Sun
09:00
19:30
Mon
07:00
19:30
Tues
07:00
19:30
Wed
07:00
19:30
Thur
06:45
19:30
Sarah dies while she and Avraham are in
Avraham insists that he pay its value.
Fri
06:45
16:00*
Canaan, where they own no land. Avraham
When Efron sees a determined purchaser,
Candle Lighting 16:00 *Mincha & Kabbalat Shabbat
approaches the local tribe of Chet and
he decides to take advantage and sets a
negotiates with Efron to buy a burial cave
very high price – 400 silver shekels, which
near Kiryat Arba, in Chevron.
Avraham willingly pays.
Today these cities are among the most
It is often easy to accept a gift without
fought-over parts of Israel. The cave that
considering the long-term price. Avraham
Avraham bought became the burial place
knew that this land would belong to his
of the three Avot – Avraham, Yitzchak
descendants, and he wanted to establish
and Yaakov – and three of the four Imahot
ownership of Chevron, publicly and clearly
–Sarah, Rivka and Leah. According to
– the facts are repeated and empha-
Midrashim, Adam and Chava were also
sised in the text (Bereshit 23:17-20).
buried there, which explains why Avraham
Avraham didn’t want to become beholden
wanted to buy this piece of land in par-
or indebted to Bnei Chet by accepting
ticular.
their gift, and he wanted to establish his
Who Owns Chevron?
Chayim Arukim
to Brenton Walshaw on the loss of his brother
and to all those who have Yahrtzeit this week as follows שבת
7 November 25 Cheshvan
Sun
8 November 26 Cheshvan
Tues
10 November 28 Cheshvan
Wed
11 November 29 Cheshvan
Fri
13 November 1 Kislev
שבת
14 November 2 Kislev
Ben Solomons Marie Lewis Susan Kaitcer Helen Morris
Brother Father Mother Mother
Gwen Greene Ruth Abisgold
Mother Husband
Joanna Higson Joe Dwek Lauren Davies Anthony Horne
Sister Mother Father Father
David Finestein Father Tony Alex
Mother
indelible footprint in the Jewish land for Jimmy Attias
Mother
The Torah gives us a detailed transcript
all time.
Mazeltov
of the negotiation between Avraham and
Katie Rappaport and Ollie Colmans, together with their respective families, on the occasion of their marriage.
Efron. The Bnei Chet offer to give Avraham
Ginette and Nigel Esterkin on the birth of a grandson.
on buying a piece of land. Efron, the owner,
Shabbat Weather
also tries to give it to him as a gift, but
AM Showers
Kiddushim 7 November Unsponsored
Rabbi Joel Portnoy
a burial site free of charge, but he insists
13o High 14 November Rebecca & David Simon
21 November Community Kiddush
7o Overnight Low
Parsha
verview
First Aliyah - 16 verses Sarah dies at the age of 127, and Avraham identifies a plot in Chevron which is owned by Ephron the Hittite. Avraham pays 400 premium silver coins for the plot, after a lengthy negotiation with the crafty owner, even though he was originally offered the plot as a free gift. Second Aliyah - 13 verses Having buried Sarah, Avraham instructs his servant, Eliezer, to go and find a wife for his son, Yitzchak. He asks him to find a wife in Aram, his native land, and makes him swear an oath that he will not select a Canaanite woman. Third Aliyah - 17 verses Eliezer asks for a Divine sign to help him identify an appropriate wife. This involves drawing water from the well and offering it to Eliezer and his camels. Rivka, the great-niece of Avraham fulfills the criteria he requests. Fourth Aliyah - 26 verses Rivka runs to tell her family about the proposed marriage, and Lavan, her brother invites Eliezer to join them. Eliezer tells them the story about the Divine sign, and they consent to the marriage. Fifth Aliyah - 15 verses They celebrate the proposed marriage, and the following morning, Rivka returns with Eliezer to Canaan to meet Yitzchak. He marries Rivka, and through his love for her, gains consolation for the loss of his mother. Sixth Aliyah - 11 verses Avraham remarries and fathers several children. Before his death, he sends those children away with gifts, and bequeaths the rest of his possessions to Yitzchak. Avraham dies at the age of 175, and is buried by Yitzchak and Yishmael in the Cave of Machpela, next to his wife, Sarah. Seventh Aliyah - 7 verses The Torah lists the descendants of Yishmael, and tells us that he passed away at the age of 137.
iezer Even though El ter, ac ar ch y ke is a t no his name does is th in ce appear on . ha rs pa ’s week
S L E W
JE
M S I DA
U J F O
Delve into the deeper side of Judaism This week we focus on Abraham in his later years
Growing Old With Style Avraham was now an old man. He was full of Torah knowledge, in complete control of his Yetzer Harah, and blessed with every blessing which can be granted to a human being in this world. Even though Avraham was old, he still looked young. Until Avraham’s time, people showed no outward signs of aging. They looked youthful until their deaths. Since Yitzchak looked very similar to his father, Avraham was not readily distinguishable from him. Avraham said to Hashem, “Master of the Universe! If Yitzchak and I enter a place together, people do not know whom to honour. If you would alter a man’s appearance in old age, people would know whom to honour.” “Very well,” Hashem replied. “You asked for a good thing. You will be the first one to see fulfillment of your request!” The signs of old age then appeared on Avraham. Four factors cause a man to age:
Fear Aggravation about children A bad wife War
We find examples of all four in Tanach: David aged due to fear, as it says (Divrei Hayamim 21:30), “He was terrified because of the sword of the angel of Hashem,” and immediately afterwards
Four factors cause a man to age: Fear, aggravation about children, a bad wife, and war. it states (ibid. 23:1), “and David was old.” About Eli it states, “And Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did to Yisrael.” (Samuel 2:22). He became old on account of the aggravation that his children caused him.
Of King Solomon it is said that his wives served idols in his old age and he failed to protest (Kings 11:4).His idolatrous wives caused Solomon to become old.
About Joshua it states that, “He waged war against thirty-one kings” (Joshua 12:24), and immediately afterwards (ibid. 13:1), “and Joshua was old”.
Even though it states about Avraham that he was old, none of the above causes applied to him; his wife held him in high esteem, his sons followed in his ways, and he was blessed with good fortune in this world. Abraham’s aging was a crown of glory and honour. Since he was old and was sensing that his end may be near, he did not want to delay his plan to find a wife for Yitzchak any longer. Since Hashem had announced to him that Yitzchak’s future wife had been born into his own family, he sent his servant, Eliezer, to Charan to search for her.
Based on ‘The Midrash Says’ by Rabbi M. Weissman
Parsha Stats Chayei Sarah is the 5th of 54 sedras 5th of 12 in Bereshit Written on 171 lines in a Torah (ranks 37th) 105 verses - ranks 32nd (11th in Bereshit) 1402 words - ranks 37th (11th in Bereshit) 5314 letters - ranks 36th (11th in Bereshit)
Did You Know There are 17 Parshiyot in the Torah that do not contain a single mitzvah. Chayei Sarah is one of them. However there are plenty of lessons about developing character. Tradition teaches us that Sarah died from the shock of finding out about the Akeidah.
Sale & District Hebrew Congregation
QA &
Read through the Parsha in English and find answers to the questions. LOLLIPOPS WILL BE AWARDED TO ANYONE WHO READS THROUGH IT, AND TELLS RABBI NICK THE CORRECT ANSWERS!
What was the name of Ephron’s father? How many camels did Eliezer take with him on his journey? What was the name of Rivka’s father? What gifts did Eliezer present to Rivka? How many sons did Avraham have after marrying Keturah? What was Yitzchak doing when Rivka met him for the first time?
Avraham made Eliezer swear an oath to find a wife for Yitzchak from Aram, because he was secretly hoping that Avraham would let Yitzchak marry his daughter. Avraham intentionally paid for the burial plot in Chevron, so that it could never be claimed that the land doesn’t belong to the Jews.
Just For Fun Question: Who was the smartest man in the Torah? Answer: Abraham... he knew a-Lot!
L
KING AHEAD
NEW CLASSES
EDUCATION
In The Spotlight Remembrance Sunday There will be Remembrance Sunday services both in Hale Barns and Hale and this year Rabbi Portnoy will be present and participate in the service at both venues. Prayers will be recited at both services on behalf of the Jewish Community. Services will be held at Hale Barns at 10:45am at the War Memorial at the junction of Hale Road/Wicker Lane. Once again we are hosting the wider community back at Shule after the ceremony. It is important that members of our own Kehilla are there as well as the wider community; please make the time to join us. Children are a crucial part of an act of commemoration so we request parents with children of secondary school age to drop them off at Shule at 10:30am on their way to the cenotaph where they will meet Rabbi Nick & Shira in order for them to form up and arrive at the ceremony all together.
BEYOND HALE Cheshire Friends of ALYN invite you to ‘Shopping, Mooching, Coffee & Catch Up’. Tuesday 10th November - 12.30pm-7.30pm Wednesday 11th November - 9.00am-5.00pm •
Suka Style Fashion Boutique • • Jewellery by Deanne • • Linen Loft • • Funky Readers • • And much more •
Motley Bank, South Downs Rd, Bowdon, WA14 3HB
If you would like to sponsor an edition of ‘Something For Everyone’, in honour of a simcha or for a yahrtzeit, or for any reason, please contact the Shule office on 0161 980 8846 or admin@hale-community.org.uk
At Hale, the service will begin with a procession leaving Hale Library, Leigh Road at 2:55pm – the service itself is at the War Memorial at the junction of Broomfield Lane and Hale Road at 3:15pm. Whilst the afternoon service in Hale is primarily focussed on AJEX, the morning service is about mutual co-operation and co-existence with the wider community (which we should never take for granted) and is when the participation of our Kehilla is of equal importance in the proceedings. We urge those of you who are available to make the effort to attend at least one of the services and join in representing the Jewish Community.