THE JEWISH WELFARE BOARD

Upcoming events 

· Chanukah Boys Choir - Let your children come and join the choir led by our experienced yeshivah boys! There will be weekly practice sessions. every   Tuesday until Chanukah (Dec 26th) at 4:30 pm at JBC.       For more info contact David or Yisrael

· JLI: come and join the third session of thesix week course on “fascinating Facts”: exploring the myths & mysteries of Judaism, we’ll share a treasure-trove of ideas & insights on such diverse topics as ‘the evil eye’, ‘what kind of tree was the tree of knowledge’ and do jews believe in satan’.   Monday 21st of November at 8:30 pm at JBC(5th floor)

            To Register, visit www.myjli.com

· Upcoming women’s class: There will be a zumba class with Gali followed by a class on Family Purity, titled “How to like the person you love”. Monday November 28th, 8:00 pm at JBC

· · NEW!: Teenage Girls Social Program -we are excited to announce the launch of the new teenage program for girls, Join us this Sunday 5-8pm at the JBC. For more information contact Nivi Feldman 85715634 or email: nivi.moss@gmail.com

· Save the date: the next meeting for the Teenage Girls Social program will be Sunday, 11th December

· NEW:Starting from next  issue, we are excited to launch a new section in the newsletter. There will be a “recipe of the week”, and  there will also be a “ask the Rabbi” section, where congregants can  send in  any questions they have about Judasim and they will be answered by  Rabbi Abergel, and published anonymously the next week with the answer. All questions can be submitted to asktherabbi.singapore@gmail.com.

Parasha in a Nutshell

 Chayei Sarah: Genesis 23:1–25:18

Sarah dies at age 127 and is buried in the Machpelah Cave in Hebron, which Abraham purchases from Ephron the Hittite for four hundred shekels of silver.

Abraham’s servant, Eliezer, is sent, laden with gifts, to Charan, to find a wife for Isaac. At the village well, Eliezer asks G‑d for a sign: when the maidens come to the well, he will ask for some water to drink; the woman who will offer to give his camels to drink as well, shall be the one destined for his master’s son.

Rebecca, the daughter of Abraham’s nephew Bethuel, appears at the well and passes the “test.” Eliezer is invited to their home, where he repeats the story of the day’s events. Rebecca returns with Eliezer to the land of Canaan, where they encounter Isaac praying in the field.

Isaac marries Rebecca, loves her, and is comforted over the loss of his mother. Abraham takes a new wife, Keturah (Hagar) and fathers six additional sons, but Isaac is designated as his only heir. Abraham dies at age 175 and is buried beside Sarah by his two eldest sons, Isaac and Ishmael.

Weekly Shabbat lunch sponsor

This week's Shabbat lunch is sponsored by :

Mr. Joseph Grimberg in memory of the late Rosie Solomon o.b.m.  whose yartzeit will be commemorated on Friday 25 November 2011.

Seudah Shlishit is sponsored by:

Mr. & Mrs. SH Sameyeh in memory of Mrs. Sameyeh’s late father Abraham ben Rephael o.b.m.  whose yahrzeit will be commemorated on Friday 25 November 2011.

And

 The Klein family

לעילוי נשמת ר‘ שמואל ב“ר יעקב יצחק ז“ל

Our Shabbat lunches offer a beautiful opportunity to meet fellow Jews from all over the world as well as much needed hospitality to young students, guests and visitors who would not otherwise enjoy the Shabbat experience. We hope that you will partner with us in sponsoring these lunches and help us provide much needed hospitality every Shabbat.  Please contact us at :  enquiries@jwb.org.sg

Main article

 The Hebron Purchase

In the 23rd chapter of Genesis we read of the first tract in the Land of Israel to enter into Jewish possession.

Sixty years earlier, G-d had told Abraham: "The entire land that you see, I will give to you and your descendents forever... Arise and traverse the land, in its length and in its breadth, for to you I shall give it." (Genesis 13:15-17). But this was a promise concerning the future -- the land was not yet his, and Abraham took care not to even allow his sheep to graze on Canaanite property (indeed, this was the cause of the split between Abraham and his nephew, Lot -- see Rashi on Genesis 13:7). The first part of the land of Israel to belong to the Jewish people in the actual and legal sense, was the "Machpeila Field and its cave" in the heart of Hebron, which Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite.

As our sages point out, there are three parts of Israel over which the Jewish right of ownership is most powerfully established. Even one who denies the Divine promise quoted above -- and reiterated by G-d tens of times throughout the Bible -- cannot contest the Jewish right over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, purchased by King David from Aravnah the Yebusite (as related in the closing verses of II Samuel), the section ofShechem ("Nablus") purchased by Jacob from the family of Canaanite ruler Chamor (Genesis 33:19), and the Machpeila Field of Hebron, of which we read:

And Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Het, four hundred shekels of silver in negotiable currency...

Then Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpeilah before Mamre, that is Hebron in the Land of Canaan.

The Torah recounts the Ephron-Abraham sale in great detail, including the sum of the purchase price--four hundred silver shekels. Based on this figure, 16th century sage Rabbi Yitzchak bar Yehudah (author of Paaneach Raza) makes an interesting calculation: As per Leviticus 27:16, the value of land in biblical times was 50 silver shekels for a cur, or 75,000 square amot ("cubits"). Thus, the area purchased by Abraham was eight cur, or 600,000 square cubits. A square cubit is the approximate area occupied by an upright human being

The generation of Jews which left Egypt and received the Torah at Mount Sinai numbered some 600,000 heads of households. Our sages tell us that the Jewish nation consists of 600,000 souls, that the soul of every Jew who ever lived is an offshoot of one of these 600,000 "general" souls. Thus the Torah contains 600,000 letters (counting the spaces between letters), for each Jew possesses something of the Torah.

The same is true of the Land of Israel. Israel is the eternal inheritance of the Jewish people, equally the property of every individual Jew. And so it has been from the very first moment of Jewish ownership of the Holy Land: the first plot of land obtained by the first Jew included a share for every Jewish soul.

Elite kosher shop

The Kosher shop stocks a wide range of products such as meats (imported from Australia),
poultry, dairy products, as well as a large variety of wines. 

                        
The Kosher Shop also just received a wide range of products form Israel at very affordable prices such as popular snacks (Bissli etc…), canned foods and much more.

 The Awafi Restaurant

Open for Lunch and Dinner To make a reservation call 6336. 5166
Also serving breakfast every morning after Shacharit.Awafi also provides for outside catering.
 Feel free to contact us at: 6336 5166 

Halacha Corner

Hilchat Rechillut (tail bearing)

One must be very careful not to believe any Rechilut he is told, whether about someone who spoke about him, harmed him, or is planning to harm him; one may only suspect the information to be true.

"Suspect" means that he may act to protect himself from the other person. However, the rumor must not be regarded as anything more factual; the person in question must be treated as a reliable person , assumed not to have insulted or harmed the individual. It is therefore prohibited to act or speak against the rumored wrongdoer, and even prohibited to resent or hate him yet take no action (a violation of Lev. 19:12, "do not hate your brother in your heart").

The listener of the Rechilut should certainly not think this suspicion exempts him from matters in which he is obligated toward the person (i.e. monetary obligations such as paying damages [or repaying a loan]). He is also still obligated to treat the person with kindnesses according to the Torah (e.g. tzedaka/charity, lending money without charging interest, and many other commandments that are "bein adam l'chaveiro" between man and his fellow) as regards any other person. This is because a suspicion does not lower one's status whatsoever.

The halachic authorities [from earlier generations] have written about the principle that a suspicion in this case can only be regarded in order that the listener should protect himself; for any other purpose it is forbidden to suspect [and act on] the information's truth.

Growing Each Day-With Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski

 For this thing (observance of the mitzvos) is extremely close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it (Deuteronomy 30:14).

Given the 365 restrictions and prohibitions of the Torah and the demand for performance of 248 mitzvos, how can Moses say that it is not only easy to observe, but that it is extremely close to you; i.e. extremely easy to do?

The answer lies in one simple word that is repeated no less than fourteen times in this short (forty-verse) portion of the Torah: "Today." Moreover, the word appears superfluous; every verse could read just as well without it. The Torah must be telling us that if we concentrate on today's challenges and leave tomorrow's for tomorrow, then this challenge is extremely easy to accomplish.

I have seen this message in my own work. When people who have abused alcohol for decades come for treatment of their alcoholism, they can be extremely frightened by the prospect that they will never again be able to take a drink. Giving up alcohol for life appears to be virtually impossible. The method that works best in overcoming alcoholism is that advocated by Alcoholics Anonymous: since you can do nothing today about tomorrow's sobriety, don't worry today about how you will stay sober tomorrow. You will have ample opportunity to concern yourself tomorrow about tomorrow's challenge. Today, just take care of today.

                                                                 Arseth

21 November/24 Cheshvan

Yaakov Moshe ben Rahel

22 November/25 Cheshvan

Yossef ben Simha

May Their Memory Be A Blessing

Today in Jewish history...

 22 Mar-Cheshvan

The deportation of Budapest Jews was resumed on this date in 1944. During this time, 20,000 Budapest Jews were shot by the banks of the Danube by Hungarian forces. Another 70,000 Jews were forced on a death march to Austria

23 Mar-Cheshvan

In 164 BCE, following the victory of the Maccabees, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was purified and rededicated. The stones of the Temple's altar which had been defiled by the Greeks were removed and placed in a storage chamber on the Temple Mount. In Talmudic times, this day was celebrated as a holiday.

24 Mar-Cheshvan

Yahrtzeit of Baron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934). A member of the Rothschild banking dynasty, he preferred to pursue artistic interests, acquiring an important collection of drawings and engravings that he bequeathed to the Louvre. In 1882, Rothschild became a leading proponent of the Zionist movement, buying land throughout Israel and subsidizing Jewish settlements. He financed the first new Jewish town, Rishon Letzion ("the first of Zion"), as well as Zichron Yaakov, Caesarea and some 30 other settlements. He also established Israel's wine industry when he helped Russian Jews flee pogroms in the 1880s and plant vineyards in Israel. In 1954, Rothschild's remains were re-interred to Israel. To honor his memory, his son paid for the construction of the Knesset building in Jerusalem.

27 Mar-Cheshvan

In 2104 BCE (1657 from Creation), as the Flood waters finally subsided, Noah, his family and the animals left the Ark. On this day, God commanded them to repopulate and resettle the earth.

 The Jews of Singapore

A history of the Jews in Singapore Now available in the Elite Kosher Shop
2nd Level, JBC Or call Kosher Shop 6337 2189

Ongoing Events & Programs

Weekly Minyan, stories and snacks for children after reading of the Torah. For more info contact The boys.
One on one learning with the Yeshiva Boys for adults and children. Contact Mrs. Rivni@ 92327095.
Lunch & Learn Tuesdays at Awafi, JBC. Contact Rabbi Abergel
Talmud class every Wednesday@ 9:00pm in tractate Sanhedrin. Contact Rabbi Abergel
Mikva: Mrs. Simcha Abergel 9673 9184
Mrs. Odelia Rivni 9232 7095
(Appointments at least one day before)

Yeshiva Boys

• Mendy Ash: 9459 8690
• Yisroel Drihem: 9459 8125
• Dovid Knapp: 9459 8152
• Sroli Gutnick: 9384 3236
• Mendel Kranz : 9488 8610
• JWB Offices, Julia: 6337 2189 ext 103
• Awafi Restaurant, Sushil: 6336 5166
• Kosher Shop, Maya: 6337 2189 ext 107

www.singaporejews.com
enquiries@jwb.org.sg