Parashat Hayyei Sarah 19-Nov-11

Candle lighting time for Friday, November 19, 2011, 4:38 p.m.   

1. (24:10-28) Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, has been sent to Haran to find a wife for Isaac.  He arrives in Haran, and finds Rebecca at a well, where she passes his “test” of compassion and diligence.
2. (24:29-49) Eliezer recounts his journey’s purpose, and his experiences, to Laban, Rebecca’s brother, and how God led him to find Rebecca for Isaac.
3. (24:50-52) Laban and Bethuel agree to allow Rebecca to go with Eliezer

The servant ran to meet her and said: Pray let me sip a little water from your pitcher! She said: Drink, my lord! And in haste she let down her pitcher on her arm and gave him to drink. When she had finished giving him to drink, she said: I will also draw for your camels, until they have finished drinking. In haste she emptied her pitcher into the drinking-trough, then she ran to the well again to draw, and drew for all his camels. (Gen. 24:17-20)  

You will find that whatever the righteous undertake, they carry out with dispatch. Of Abraham it is written, Avraham hastened into his tent to Sara and said: Make haste! Three measures of choice flour! Knead it; make bread-cakes! Avraham ran to the oxen, he fetched a young ox, tender and fine, and gave it to a serving-lad, that he might hasten to make it ready (Gen 18:6-8). We are told of Rebecca, In haste she emptied her pitcher into the drinking-trough. Cooenting upoi the vers, And the woman made haste and ran, and told her husband (Judg. 13:10), the Midrash adds, “We may learn that the deeds of the righteous are always performed expeditiously; no time is lost in undertaking a Mitzvah or in the execution thereof” (Num. Rab. 10:5). (Mesillat Yesharim, Rabbi Moses Hayyim Luzatto, chapter 7)  

To be zealous means to attend promptly to the performance of the mitzvot, and to fulfill all their particulars. Thus say our Sages, “Those who are zealous perform a Mitzvahat the earliest possible opportunity” (Pesachim 4A)… It should be born in mind that it is the nature of man to be inert, and that the earthiness of the physical element in him acts as a weight upon him. Man, therefore, seeks to avoid all toil and effort. Accordingly, a man who desires the privilege of serving the Creator must be able to prevail over his own nature, and act with strength and energy. If he yields to his inertia, he cannot possibly succeed. Thus a Tanna said, “Be as strong as a leopard, light as eagle, fleet as a hart, strong as a lion, to do the will of your Father in heaven” (Avot 5:20). (Mesillat Yesharim, Rabbi Moses Hayyim Luzatto, chapter 6)  

The quality of zerizut — alacrity in the fulfillment of one’s obligations — may be said to take two different forms. The first, is the sort of zerizut which is necessary even before beginning to carry out the desired act. When it initially occurs to an individual to do a good deed, a mitzvah, he mustn’t delay, rather he should hurry to do it immediately. “Those who posses zerizut,” the sages tell us, “race to fulfill the commandments,” “A person should always hurry to do mitzvot— even on Shabbat (when one is commanded to rest),” and “When a mitzvah presents itself —  don’t put it off.”  

The second form of zerizut is that which is employed after one has begun to perform a mitzvah. One must not to stop in midstream, rather he should continue to hurry and finish the good deed. With regards to this the sages said, “A mitzvahis judged only upon its completion.” (Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed)  

Jews’ Next Dor Holiday Toy Drive   

Sheldon and Richard Balk Memorial Camp Scholarship  

Hadashot Religious School – On announcement page on WIKI  

Next General Board Meeting is Wednesday, November 30th – following minyan  

Annual Christmas Luncheon for the Homeless  

Earn Money for Beth David While You Shop  

UPCOMING EVENTS  

Saturday, November 19: Shabbat Afternoon Torah Discussion - at approximately 1:30 p.m.  

Sunday, November 20: Creation of a Religion: Israelite Cult Practice and Development of Judiasm - 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.  

Sunday, November 20: Jewish Cub Scouts Pack 504 Activities – 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. 

Monday, November 21: Grandparent’s Circle - 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. 

Thursday, November 24: Saratoga Community Interfaith Service - 10:00 a.m.  

Friday, November 25: Jews’ Next Dor Shabbat Hol HaMoed Yom Turkey Potluck - 7:00 -10:30 p.m.  

Saturday, November 26: Wisdom and Witdom with Doug Brook: If the Shoe Fits, Chafetz – at approximately 1:15 p.m. 

Thursday, December 1: Job Help and Training Session – 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. 

Thursday, December 1: Informational Meeting for Summer Israel Tours – 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. 

Saturday, December 3: Ask the Rabbi - after Shabbat Kiddush lunch (about 1:15 p.m.)  

Saturday, December 3: SABABA Concert at JCC - 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. 

Saturday, December 3: Sausy 80s Workout Theme Broomball - 9:30 – 11:15 p.m. 

Sunday, December 4: Threads of Tradition – 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. 

Sunday, December 4: Sunday Night Movie: Mother Night - 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 4: Ramah Outdoor Adventure Information Sessions - 2:00 & 7:00 p.m. Ramah Outdoor Adventure is the only Kosher Outdoor Adventure camp in the country with an intensive Jewish program.

Thursday, December 8: CBD Membership Committee Meeting - 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. 

Sunday, December 11: Hanukkah Mishpaha Program: Hanukkah, Heroes and Hofa’ah - 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. 

Sunday, December 11: HAZAK Hanukkah Social Extravaganza - 5:00 p.m. 

Saturday, December 17: Sausy Hanukkah Party – 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. 

Sunday, December 18: CBD Annual Meeting - 10:00 a.m. 

Daily Minyan – Sunday 9:30 am & Monday – Thursday 7:00 p.m.  

COMMUNITY EVENTS  

Be a Shining Light This Hanukkah – Volunteer at JFS  

Sunday, November 20: 100 Voices: A Journey Home – 3:00 p.m.
* Following the film Rabbi Ohriner will be joined by Cantor Devorah Felder-Levy and Cantor Meeka Simerly in a concert performance   

Sunday, November 20: Unmasked: Judeophobia - 7:00 p.m. 

Monday, December 5: Following Ezra - 7:30 p.m. 

Sunday, December 11: Hanukkah Palooza & Holiday Boutique at JCC - 12:00 p.m. 

Tuesday, December 20: Celebrate the First Night of Hanukkah at Santana Row – 5:00 p.m.