eblasts

Upcoming Programs and Services....

Avrum's Shiur

• Tonight at 7:00 pm

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• Wednesday November 27 at 6:30 pm

• Special guest speaker Nohad Mansour, Druze-Israeli paratrooper
• Friday December 13 at 6:00 pm

• Sunday December 15 at 10:00 am

Avrum's Shiur

Please join us tonight for the Chavruta Shiur, when we'll learn the Torah portion of 
Chaya Sarah.  The shiur is in memory of the IDF soldiers and hostages who have
lost their lives since October 7th. And we pay tribute to the parents of all the chayalim 
and chayalot, and of the hostages. 

May all peoples, throughout the world find peace and a purposeful way of life.
Tonight, we'll discuss the death of Sarah E'mainu (Our Mother) and the negotiations
Avraham had to go through in order to secure a burial place. Think about the
importance of Sarah in the Torah, and Judaism. She was the founding rebettzin
of the Jewish people. She was a righteous person, full of kindness and caring. Her
death is very stark, and according to the rabbis was connected to shock she
experienced hearing about her son Isaac's slaughter by Avraham. Of course, Isaac
was not killed by Avraham but it seems that that news had not reached Sarah. 

Within this, we can't help but feel the frequent stress, sadness and great
challenges leadership feels. 

Did Sarah have any sense when she left Ur of Chaldees, that this would be her life,
building a people with her husband, but doing so without all the facts and eventual
tribulations? While God instructed Avraham, and by extension Sarah, to leave Ur, he
did not tell either of them where they were going until later on. 

The unknown, it seems, would be Sarah's lot (no pun intended) since she
accepted her leadership position and the love of her man. 

The Akedah (binding of Isaac) was a part of the spiritual blindness Sarah would
constantly walk into. Nobody, it seems, asked for her input or to be part of God's test
to kill her only son, and the child of her years. Nobody, suggested she should come
along for the walk, at least, to the altar where Isaac would be offered.  

And Sarah was not part of the dialogue with the angel, sent to destroy Sodom, where
her nephew Lot was living. It was as if she was invisible, a feeling frequently felt
by leadership, in particular female leadership in the Torah and society. 

I think though, that it is our task, the learner, to bring Sarah out of invisibility. I believe
we do that through learning about this magnificent woman who at 90 years old tended
to strangers, gave birth to her son, and supported Avraham in his task of bringing
Judaism and monotheism to the world. Through a chavruta, through discussion about
her character, her role on the 'originals', bringing spirituality to a world full of idol
worship, child sacrifice and hamas, thievery, we indeed help Sarah to be seen. 

We bring Sarah to life within our discussion about Rashi on pasuk (Torah line)
23:1, who says:  when Sarah died at one hundred, 'she was as sinless as a
twenty-year-old, and at twenty she had the wholesome beauty and innocence
of a seven-year-old. 

And while we learn and bring Sarah out of invisibility, we do the same so for female
leadership throughout history. We do this by recognizing the sacrifice so many women, Jewish and non-Jewish, have made to enhance our world and humankind. Harriet Tubman (1822–1913) is one such example.
She was an abolitionist, humanitarian, and political activist. Tubman escaped slavery
and then risked her life to lead others to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
She later worked as a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War. 

Simply, by mentioning Harriett Tubman here, by talking about her, remembering
her - we bring her out of invisibility. And we do that with Sarah. God bless their souls.
We thank them.

Please join us this evening at our Chavruta Shiur. Nobody is muted so all students
have the opportunity to express themselves freely; to bring themselves out of
invisibility.  Am Yisrael chai. Proud to be a Jew!!!
 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
WATCH PARSHA & PROSE WITH RABBI SHLOMO GEMARA ON PARSHAT CHAYA 
 SARA AND 'PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB9aKKdDaVI&t=2432s
 
ENJOY, SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
THE ZOOM LINK
Please join us tonight (Thursday night) at 7 pm, for our Chavruta Shiur.
We look forward to learning with you! 
 
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88996555587?pwd=o9ZeWU6uG11Om0NJ7cLr
3t​​​​​​​ejmAo86M.1
 

Click on the flyer to register for the Mitzvah Market. Registration is free.

Congregation Habonim of Toronto
5 Glen Park Ave.
Toronto, ON M6B 4J2