Schedule 3Jan , Friday

Candle Lighting 4:22 pm

Evening Service 4:25 pm

Saturday, Jan 4 Morning Service

9:30 am Evening Service

4:22 pm Shabbos Ends

5:27 pm

WEEKLYNEWSLETTER Shabbos January 4, 2020 7 Teves 5780

Parshas Vayigash

Weekly Schedule of Services:

Morning Services: Sunday: 8:15 am Monday - Friday:

6:30 am Evening Services:

(Mincha & Maariv) Sunday - Thursday: 4:35 pm

Office Hours

Sunday: Hebrew School Hours Monday - Thursday: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Friday: 9:00 am - 12:30 pm

UPCOMING EVENTS

WEEKLY CLASSES Monday 8-9pm - Tanya - Chassidik Philosophy Wednesday 8-9pm - Gemara - Talmud Tuesday 8-9pm- Halacha - Jewish Law

The final two portions of the book of Genesis leave us with mixed feelings. On the one hand, Jacob was fi-nally at peace; his family was re-united and his son Joseph was the leader of Egypt, the world’s su-perpower. For the first time in decades Jacob was living in tran-quility. Joseph granted Jacob and his family Egypt’s best real estate, the region of Goshen, where they lived a worry-free, peaceful, exis-tence. On the other hand, it was a sad story. There was a dark cloud hanging over their tranquil life in the land of Goshen. The children of Israel were heading toward a period of terrible slavery. The Torah, with a carefully se-lected Hebrew word, alludes to the complex reality of life in the Goshen region of Egypt. The final verse in this week's To-rah portion describes the Jewish people thriving: And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, and they acquired property in it, and they were prolific and multiplied greatly. The Hebrew word for “acquired property” is “Va’ye’ah’chazu”, which is from the word ”Achuzah” which is commonly translated as estate. In our story the word is telling us that the Israelites acquired an estate in the land of Goshen. The word “Achuzah”, however, has another meaning as well. It is from the

root word “Achaz” which means to grasp. “Achuzah”, can also mean that the land grasped the Israelites. That in some way they were trapped by the land. The word “Va’ye’ah’chazu”, then, has different and opposing meanings. It can mean “acquiring an estate”, which is a symbol of freedom, or it can mean being “grasped” by the land, which im-plies being trapped and enslaved. The two meanings of the word “Achuzah” - “estate” and “grasped” - teach us an eternal message. It is a les-son about what our attitude toward Egypt should be, and what our general attitude toward the world we live in should be. When our soul descends into this world, it enters a foreign land. When we are exiled from Israel, we are in foreign territory. The purpose of the journey to this foreign territory is to “acquire an estate”. It is to find and to elevate the sparks of holiness which are in every material object and in every corner of the planet. We elevate the sparks by using physical objects for a meaningful purpose, thus infusing the world with holiness. Wherever we find ourselves in the journey of life we are charged with transforming that place into an estate for holiness, an oasis of spiritual-ity. G‑d sends each of us to “exile” with a mission to find and elevate the thirsting sparks. And yet, there is a danger in the jour-ney. The danger is that instead of ele-vating the material, we are grasped by it. That instead of our possessions serving us, we serve our possessions.

That instead of enjoying our estate, we are trapped by it. The essence of exile, then, is “Achuzah”, grasped and trapped by the land. Yet “Achuzah”, as in estate, also cap-tures the essence of redemption and freedom. We are all in the metaphorical land of Goshen. We may feel that we are enslaved by the lure of the material, that we are trapped by its grip. Yet, the Torah reminds us that we have the power to free ourselves from its gravitational pull. That the physicality which held us down yesterday can be redeemed and become the building blocks of a spiritual edifice, of an es-tate of holiness. -adapted from www.chabad.org

A Word Of Torah

Page 2

the Kings and Queens in Bible times. But there is even a higher power. Can anybody here tell me what it is?" 8 year old David instantly puts up his

One Sunday morning, Aaron, a Hebrew School teacher, says to his young pupils, "OK chil-dren. We've been learning this morning just how powerful were

hand and shouts out, "Aces, teacher!"

A Biselleh Humor

Baruch Dayan Emet Blessed is the Judge of

Truth It is with tremendous sorrow

that we inform you of the passing of

Tolik Rekhtman.

Shiva will be held at Toliks house 41-28 Christine Court in Fair

Lawn NJ Saturday Night

6:00pm - 11:00pm Sunday

9:00am - 5:00pm

Minyan Times at Toliks home Sunday 8:15 am Shacharis Sunday 4:20pm Mincha

Judah approaches Joseph and begs him to free Benjamin. He even of-fers himself as a slave—yes he of-fers to stay in Egypt as Joseph's slave instead of Benjamin!--as long as Benjamin is set free and allowed to return to his father's home in Canaan. At this point, when Jo-seph sees how much his brothers care about one another, he can no longer hold back his feelings. He sends all his servants and guards out of the room, and when he and his brothers are left alone he cries and says "I am Joseph, is my father still alive?" The brothers are silent. They are shocked and terrified. Is this man, the second to most powerful man in all of Egypt, really their brother?

And so Joseph begs them to come closer and repeats himself. "I am Jo-seph!" The brothers finally realize that it is true, this is their brother, but they are so ashamed at what they have done to him, that they sold him into slavery. But Joseph comforts them and makes them feel comfortable, telling them that it was G‑d's will that he end up in Egpyt so that he would become powerful and have a chance to save the entire family from the terrible famine which was still going on at that time. Joseph then sends his brothers home to tell Jacob that he is alive as well as to invite him to come to Egypt where he will be able to live in peace. Pharaoh sends along carriages to help Jacob move. When Jacob sees the wagons and hears the good news, he is overjoyed and

stops the long 22 years of mourning for his beloved son Joseph. Jacob trav-els to Egypt together with his entire family, exactly 70 people (the 70th is born as they enter the city gates, the newborn is Jocheved, mother of Moses). On his way to Egypt G‑d promises Jacob that He will make Jacob's children into a great nation, and that He will take them out of Egypt. Joseph goes out to meet his father as he gets closer to Egypt and when they meet, Joseph hugs and kisses Jacob. They then go to meet Pharaoh who gives the land of Goshen to Jacob, which is where Jacob and his family will live throughout the next generations. Jacob blesses Pharaoh.

Kids Parasha Lesson

Page 3

Darkness Strikes Back There are dark jewels in this world that can be salvaged, puri-fied and taken as precious bounty for the good.

And there is darkness itself, the ab-sence of light, that must only wait its time to expire. How can we tell between them? If the darkness fights back, there is

hope. It means there is something there worth fighting for.. By Tzvi Freeman

News

Jteens Chanukah Bash Jteens joined to celebrate Chanukah together with bowling, arcades, meno-

rah lighting, dreidel games and dinner!

City Hall Menorah Lighting In a public display of Jewish pride, the menorah was lit on the grounds of the Fair Lawn Municipal building, with mu-

sic, donuts, hot chocolate and Chanu-kah gelt for all!

Daily Dose

Dreidels & Drinks An elegant evening for adults, with lots of laughter, celebrating Chanukah to-gether with a sushi bar, top shelf bar,

desserts, menorah lighting, Chanukah inspiration, drinking dreidel games and Jewish trivia.

Rabbi Berel & Leah Zaltzman Rabbi Mendel & Elke Zaltzman Bris Avrohom of Fair Lawn 30-02 Fair Lawn Avenue. Fair Lawn, New Jersey 07410 201-791-7200 | Office@JewishFairLawn.org

We are your center for every-thing Jewish, whatever your need may be, do not hesitate to contact us. Our ever popular holiday celebrations will enable you and your family to celebrate the Jew-ish holidays in style, with fun and educational ideas helping to make Judaism relevant to our youth. Our Torah classes will give you a second opinion on any subject or matter you may be dealing with, our Holiday programs will allow you to celebrate your Jewish pride with your family and friends. Our fun Hebrew School and Day Camp will fill your children with an educated sense of what it means to be Jewish and our synagogue services will give you the opportunity to pray, be in-spired and experience spirituality. From pregnancy and baby cele-brations to weddings and after life services including Kaddish and unveiling, we will be there for you and help create a meaningful and memorable experience. We are here to help you and serve you and look forward to seeing you soon!

Bris Avrohom of Fair Lawn

Find out more & join online at www.JewishFairLawn.org/

Partnership

Consider a convenient online donation to help support your center for Jewish life. www.JewishFairLawn.org/Donate

Meatballs Ingredients: 1 lb. (450 grams) ground white turkey ½ tsp. dried oregano ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley 2 eggs ½ tsp. kosher salt ⅔ cup plain breadcrumbs ⅔ cup water Spicy Marinara Ingredients 3 tbsp. olive oil

1 medium-large onion 1 28-oz (800-gram) can whole tomatoes 2 cups water 1 tsp. dried oregano 1 sprig basil 1 red chili pepper (use two for extra heat) 6 cloves garlic, sliced Salt, to taste Black pepper, to taste Optional: 1 tsp. sugar

Spicy Turkey Meatballs By Miriam Szokovski

This bulletin, and all archived weeks, are available on our website as well! http://www.jewishfairlawn.org/shabbos-bulletins.html

Weekly Events

Meatballs Directions: 1. Make the sauce first. While it is simmering, prepare the

meatballs. 2. Place the turkey in a medium-sized bowl. Gently mix through

the oregano, parsley, eggs, and salt. 3. In a separate small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and water

and let it stand for a minute or two. You want it to thicken but still be soft and loose enough to mix into the turkey. If you let it sit too long, it will become too firm.

4. With your hands, mix the breadcrumb mixture into the turkey mixture so that it is thoroughly combined and there are no large chunks of the crumbs.

5. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. 6. Roll the mixture into evenly-sized balls. Wetting your hands

between every few meatballs will help keep them smooth. 7. Once the sauce has finished cooking (recipe below), bring it

back to a low boil and drop the rolled meatballs in. Use a wide, deep frying pan. The meatball mixture is quite soft and using a deep pot may cause them to fall apart. Return to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Do not move the meatballs around roughly with a spoon while they are cooking, or they may fall apart. Cover the pan and cook 20-30 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through (cut one or two open to

check). 8. Serve with fresh parsley or basil over the top. Goes well with

rice. Spicy Marinara Directions: 1. Slice the onion into very thin half rounds. 2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat (do not use a pot).

Add the onions and fry until translucent. 3. Slice the hot pepper and saute with the onions for a couple of

minutes to extract the heat. 4. Add the canned tomatoes, water, oregano, and garlic. Mix so

the ingredients are evenly distributed. Place the basil sprig on top.

5. Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 30-45 minutes. Mash the tomatoes and garlic slices with your mixing spoon as they soften.

6. Remove the basil sprig and discard. 7. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Salt will help make

the other flavors sing, so add a pinch even if you think it doesn’t need it.

8. Optional: If you feel your sauce is too acidic, add a teaspoon of sugar. Blend your sauce so that it’s mostly smoothe, but not fully pureed. Return sauce to the pan.