Vayeitze 5777

 Hale’s 5-Star Weekly Newsletter

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Parshat Vayeitze 9 Kislev 5777 9 December 2016

Shabbat Kabbalat Shabbat

15:30

(Candle Lighting)

15:30

Shacharit

09:00

Leining

10:00

Power Kiddush

11:00

Shabbat Ends

16:48

Ma’ariv

17:05

followed by Musaph & Mincha

Weekday

Security team: Red

Page No.s Artscroll Gutnick Hertz

Leining

Haftarah

144 180 106

1139 1386 118

Thought For The Week

Shacharit

Ma’ariv

Sun

09:00

19:30

Mon

07:00

19:30

Tues

07:00

19:30

Wed

07:00

19:30

When Yaakov falls asleep, he dreams of a

greatness or we will fall away and become

Thurs

07:00

19:30

ladder whose base is fixed to the ground

insignificant. It is up to each of us to decide

Fri

07:00

16:00

and whose top reaches heaven. (Bereishit

in which direction we are moving on the

28:12) The Rabbis teach us that what

ladder which represents our lives.

Candle Lighting

15:30*

* Mincha & Kabbalat Shabbat

Hashem was showing Yaakov in the dream

Chayim Arukim

to all those who have Yahrzeit this week as follows

Sun 11 December

Jeremy Hart Michael Gould Harvey Burman

Mother Sister Father

Mon

Fiona Berg Philip Braunstein

13 December 13 Kislev

Jeremy Arnold

Wed

11 Kislev

Stairway To Heaven

was the nature of the nation who would

But a ladder is only usable if it is standing

descend from him.

firmly and will not fall. Just as the ladder in Yaakov’s dream was ‘mutzav artzah’ – fixed

The Gemara (Megilah 16a) says that the

in the ground - so we must be firmly rooted

Father Mother

Jewish people are compared to dust and to

in the ground of our lives: the everyday ritu-

stars – referring to a previous prophecy to

als of relationships, work, and responsible

Father

Avraham. When the Jewish people are on a

citizenship. We cannot be totally spiritual

Jonathan Koslover Mother Lynda Arron Husband

downwards path they descend to dust, but

and self-obsessed, sitting meditating on a

when they go up they ascend all the way

mountain top. We must have our feet firmly

Louise Burman

Father

to Heaven.

on the ground in order to have our head in

16 December 16 Kislev

Murray Patt

Father

‫שבת‬

Irene Varley Sheilah Sheldon

Husband Brother

12 December 12 Kislev

Tues

14 December 14 Kislev

Thus

15 December 15 Kislev

Fri

17 December 17 Kislev

the clouds, so that we can reach the great A ladder is the perfect representation of

things we strive for without falling.

the Jewish people. No one ever remains standing on a ladder – its purpose is to

Kiddushim

enable us to travel up or down to reach

10 December Power Kiddush

something. That is what the Jewish people

17 December Sara & Raymond Crammer 24 December Unsponsored

Rabbi Joel Portnoy

are all about. We are a nation that cannot

Shabbat Weather

remain stagnant. We can either ascend to

AM Showers 11o High 6o Overnight Low

Parsha

verview

First Aliyah - 13 verses Jacob heads towards Charan, to his uncle Lavan. While traveling, Jacob encounters the Temple Mount and lays down to sleep.

He sees his famous dream with a ladder reaching up to heaven. G-d informs him that He will bequeath the entire land to his descendants.

Second Aliyah - 17 verses Jacob arrives at a well located in the outskirts of Charan. He sees Rachel arriving with her father’s sheep. Jacob helps give water to the entire flock. Lavan rushes out to greet Jacob. Jacob spends a month with Lavan and is offered the job of tending to his herds.

Third Aliyah - 31 verses Jacob serves Lavan for seven years in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage. Lavan gives Leah instead of Rachel. Lavan offers to give Rachel for another seven years of service. One week later Jacob marries Rachel, and begins serving seven more years. Leah has four children, Reuven, Shimon, Levi, and Judah. Rachel and Leah give their handmaids as concubines, and they give birth to Dan, Naftali, Gad and Asher Fourth Aliyah - 14 verses Leah gives birth to Yissachar and Zevulun, and one daughter, Dinah.

Eventually, Rachel gives birth to Joseph. At that point, Jacob asks Lavan for permission to return to Canaan.

Fifth Aliyah - 32 verses Lavan deceives Jacob with his wage payment, and after a further six years, Jacob is finally able to leave.

Sixth Aliyah - 26 verses Jacob and his family slip away from Lavan but he pursues them.

Rachel steals one of his idols.

Seventh Aliyah - 15 verses Lavan and Jacob make a peace treaty, signified by a stone monument. Lavan returns to Charan, and Jacob continues on his journey towards Canaan.

If Esav had been ould righteous he w ah Le d ie rr have ma 12 e th lit sp and b.

Tribes with Jaco

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 the first time Jacob met his future wife, Rachel

Speed Dating When Jacob arrived in Charan, he noticed the shepherds were gathered around a well whose opening was blocked by a tremendous stone. The well had been purposely covered with a big boulder because at that time, all the other water sources of the city were contaminated, and the entire city was dependent on this well for water. The inhabitants therefore decided to place a stone over its opening so that access should be limited. It was only possible to procure water at certain hours, after the stone was rolled off by the united efforts of all the shepherds. The shepherds explained that they were waiting for everybody to arrive so that they could roll the stone off the well. While they were waiting, Rachel appeared with Lavan’s sheep. It was Hashem who had sent Rachel out to meet Jacob, since she was destined to become his mate.

which way it occurs, they must meet if it has been decreed by Heaven.

A Roman noblewoman asked Rabbi Yossi bar Chalafta, “How long did it take Hashem to create the world?”

“Six days,” he replied.

“And what has He been doing since then?” she inquired.

There is no G-d like your G-d!

Your Torah is truthful, beautiful and praiseworthy.

“He matches husbands and wives,” Rabbi Yossi informed her.

“I could do that too! I possess a great number of male servants and maid servants and would be able to marry them off to each other in no time!”

line. They were all married in one night.

But when they returned to work the next morning, they were a sorry sight to see! One came with an injured head, another’s eye was missing, the foot of another was broken.

None of the matches had been successful!

The noblewoman immediately sent for the Rabbi.

When he appeared before her, she admitted, “There is no G-d like your G-d!

Your Torah is truthful, beautiful and praiseworthy. When you explained to me that Hashem is busy making matches, you spoke wisely!”

The noblewoman originally thought that the world is able to exist without Hashem’s Providence, but at the end she had to admit that the world needs Hashem’s constant guidance.

Based on ‘The Midrash Says’

by Rabbi M. Weissman

After the Rabbi left, the In some cases, the wife noblewoman formed rows travels to meet the husof servants and maids, a band. In other instances, thousand in each row, and the husband travels to started pairing them off find her. But no matte as she walked down the If you would like to share your words of wisdom, please submit your article of no more than 500 words to nick@hale-community.org.uk

Parsha Stats Vayeitze is the 7th of 54 sedras 7th of 12 in Bereshit Written on 235.3 lines in a Torah (ranks 12th) 148 verses - ranks 6th (3rd in Bereshit) 2021 words - ranks 4th (3rd in Bereshit) 7512 letters - ranks 5th (3rd in Bereshit)

Did You Know There are 17 Parshiyot in the Torah that do not contain a single mitzvah. Vayeitze is one of them. However there are plenty of lessons about developing character.

Vayeitze is the longest, single paragraph in the whole Torah.

This fits with the fact that it is a continuation of the story from Parshat Toldot.

Jacob only waited one week after marrying Leah, before being able to marry Rachel. He served his extra seven years after the wedding.

Tip #7 Clear Your Mind

TEFILLAH TIPS

For a change of pace, try and change the way you walk to Shule. Take some time during your journey to focus on the fact that you are coming to pray.

Halacha recommends that one should not read the newspaper, or even talk to others before talking to G-d in the morning, so that our minds can

be clear and focused on the upcoming conversation we will have with Him. While this may work for some, at the very least, one can utilise part of the journey to channel their mind and concentration to aid in an effective prayer service.

Although we understand the place that Jacob spent the night as being the Temple Mount, the Torah only refers to it as “the Place”.

Just For Fun Question: How do you know Lavan’s sheep were terrible at playing hide and seek?

Answer: Because every time he looked for them, they were spotted!

2

L

KING AHEAD YOUTH

EDUCATION

In The Spotlight Charlotte Buchalter Charlotte recently won Young Volunteer of the Year. This award recognises a young individual who is not only actively involved in the voluntary sector but who has excelled in a leadership role.

Apart from her work with the Friendship Circle, who nominated her for the award, Charlotte volunteers for Allingham House and St Ann’s Hospice. She started the Manchester branch of BBYO and has taken part in all of their leadership programmes.

Charlotte volunteers for The Friendship Circle as a ‘buddy’ for a child with learning difficulties. They paid tribute to her, describing her as a volunteer who “clearly stands out”. They said “regardless of how important her school work is to her future, her commitment to her weekly volunteering is inspiring and she never fails to see her buddy on a weekly basis. At the beginning of their relationship, her buddy would shy away from the door when Charlotte arrived.

Now she runs to the door when she hears Charlotte ringing the bell and calls her ‘her best friend‘. The family of the buddy described Charlotte as “a lovely, special girl, who communicates well, is always polite, and has a huge smile on her face.”

Mazaltov to If you would like to sponsor an edition of ‘Something For Everyone’, in honour of a simcha or for a yahrzeit, or for any reason, please contact the Shule office on 0161 980 8846 or admin@hale-community.org.uk

Sharon & Ian Buchalter on Charlotte’s Young Volunteer of the Year Award.

Leah Madnick and Jennifer & David Zucker on Rachelle’s Batmitzvah.