Jewish Things & Thoughts in Harrison for the Week of April 27th – May 3rd Nisan 27– Iyyar 3; Parasha “Kidoshim”

We would like people to be aware of some of the Jewish things and thoughts taking place in Harrison NY.

With Passover having concluded the Young Israel of Harrison, New York (YIOH) will return to its regular schedule.  Rabbi Bienenfeld will give a Talmud class this Monday at 7 PM.  On Tuesday at 7 PM Rabbi Bienenfeld will give a class concerning the Portion of the Tora (The Five Books of Moshe) which will be read in the synagogue this coming Saturday.  Classes are held at the YIOH located at 91 Union Avenue in Harrison New York.

Those are some of the Jewish things taking place in Harrison, here is a Jewish thought.

This week we read the Tora portion (“parasha”) known as “Emor” (Leviticus 21:1-24:23).  There are several valuable lessons we can learn from this week’s parasha. 

In this week’s parash we come across the law known as Pe’ah.  This is the requirement not to harvest the corners of a field in order that the crop in the corner can be taken by the poor.  Also in the parasha is the law of Leket, the law that says if you drop one or two stalks of wheat you must also leave that behind for the poor.  These laws appear in the middle of a discussion about holy days.  The Tora places these laws between the discussion of Shavout and the discussion of Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur and Succot.  The question must be asked why interrupt the discussion of the holidays with the laws of Pe’ah and Leket.  Rashi (Rabbi Solomon the son of Issac (1040-1105)), the great medieval commentator, tells us that this is done to teach that whoever gives Lecket and Pe’ah to the poor HaShem considers it as if that person built the Holy Templ (Bet HaMigdash) and offered sacrifices there.  But there is another explanation as well.  The laws of Pe’ah and Lecket, laws about helping the poor come before the mention of Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur to teach us that if we want G-d (HaShem) to judge us favorably and deal kindly with us on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur we must be kind to those who are less fortunate than us, we must help others before we can ask HaShem to help us.

The Young Israel of Harrison, New York (YIOH) is a Modern Orthodox synagogue offering an intimate religious and communal experience.  Sabbath morning services begin at 9 am, mincha/maariv services on Friday and Saturday vary with sundown, and services on Sunday morning are held at 8 am.  For those who would like more information or would like to spend Shabbos in the area, visit the Young Israel of Harrison’s website at www.yioh.org or email Yiohnews@aol.com

Rabbi Bienenfeld gives weekly Talmud and Chumash classes at 7:00 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings, respectively.  Please check the calendar posted on YIOH.org to confirm the schedule.

© W. Fraenkel 2014