B”H
The Chabad Weekly
ue 15
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2
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o
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Candlelighting
(Los Angeles)
5:14 PM
Friday Mincha:
5:25 PM
LATEST SHEMA: 9:28 AM
Shabbat Schedule


Tanya
8:45 AM
Shacharit
9:30AM
followed by
Kiddush,
Cholent &
Farbrengen

Megilas
Esther
4:30 PM

Mincha
5:05 PM
followed by
Seuda
Shlishit

Shabbat
ends
6:14 PM
Announcements:
Seuda Shlishit is sponsored in memory of
Mansour ben Avraham
Rabbanian.
Yartzheits:
Galin bas
Avraham - Shevat 16, Ronia Rand – Shevat 19,
Happy Birthday to Rabbi
Yossi
Lipsker,
Moshe
Chodorow, Yael Cohen,
Moshe Aaron Shusterman, Yosef Zakariaee and
Yehoshua Razi.
This Shabbos, Feb. 11 is
Tu Bishvat
Av Harachomim and
Tzidkoscha are omitted.
GOOD SHABBOS!
Parshas Beshalach
Friday, Shevat 14, 5777 / February 10, 2017
As we read in this week's Torah
portion, Beshalach, the Jewish
people engaged in two conflicts on
their way to receive the Torah at
Mount Sinai. One was a battle
against Pharaoh, and the other was a
war against Amalek.
In connection to the war against
Pharaoh G-d told the Jews, "G-d will
fight for you and you should hold
your peace." However, when it came
to the war against Amalek, G-d said,
"Go out and fight against Amalek."
In what way did the two wars differ?
Why did G-d fight for the Jewish people in one instance, yet command
them to fight for themselves in the
other?
Pharaoh and his army were not preventing the Jews from reaching Mount
Sinai. In fact, the Egyptians were
massed behind them, blocking their
way back to Egypt. Amalek, by contrast, presented the Jews with an
obstacle on their way to receiving the
Torah. Amalek was trying to prevent
their advance. For this reason G-d
commanded them to "Go out and
fight against Amalek."
Whenever someone tries to prevent a
Jew from accessing the Torah, the
greatest efforts must be made to fight
against him. True, waging war goes
against the nature of the Jewish people; the verse "by your sword you shall
live" was said to Esau, not to Isaac.
But if fighting is necessary, we are
obligated to do so.
The victory of the Children of Israel
against Amalek transcended the laws
of nature. According to nature, Amalek should have prevailed. But the
Jewish people weren't fighting out of
a sense of personal power and
strength. They went to war with the
knowledge that they were Moses'
emissaries, that they were fighting to
receive the Torah. And when a Jew
The Shul wishes its
condolences to
Mrs. Shahla Zaghi
on the loss of her
father.
May she know of no
more sorrow.
Chabad of Beverly Hills
fights with the power of Torah
behind him he will succeed.
Amalek confronted the Jews at a
time when they were enthusiastic and were eager to reach
Mount Sinai. Amalek attempted
to cool off that enthusiasm, to dampen
their ardor for receiving the Torah.
Amalek "met you (korcha) by the
way" - from the Hebrew word for coldness, kor.
It is a mitzva to remember Amalek
each and every day. In the spiritual
sense, "Amalek" is anything that discourages our enthusiasm for serving Gd.
From the Biblical war against Amalek
we learn how to defeat him in the
spiritual sense. Whenever something
threatens to cool off our enthusiasm for
G-dliness and holiness, we must do all
in our power to vanquish the enemy
and crush it completely.
Furthermore, in the spiritual battle
against Amalek we must remember
that the power with which we act is
not our own. And when we fight with
the power of Torah, we will certainly
achieve our goal. (Adapted from Likutei Sichot, Volume 1, From: L’Chaim
#603) - lchaimweekly.org
HaYom Yom Shevat 15
When the second part of Torah
Or was about to be printed, Chassidim knew that the Tzemach
Tzedek had written glosses and
commentaries on the maamarim.
They pleaded with him to publish
these with the maamarim, but he
refused. He then dreamt that his
grandfather, the Alter Rebbe,
visited him and asked him to publish them, but he revealed this to
no one. Only after three of his
sons had the same dream and reported this to him did he agree to
have his glosses and commentary
printed with the second part of
Torah Or, which they now entitled
"Likutei Torah."
The Shul wishes its
condolences to the
Kirshenbaum Family
on the loss of their
mother/grandmother.
May they know of no
more sorrow.
409 Foothill Rd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Chabadofbeverlyhills.com
Rabbi Yosef Shusterman
Rabbi Mendel Shusterman
310-271-9063
Tu B'Shvat, the New Year of
the Trees, is upon us. This
year Tu B'Shvat falls on Shabbos, February 11. But what
does that have to do with us, other than
eating some extra fruit, etc?
Let's take a moment to consider the fruit
for which the Land of Israel is blessed as
enumerated by the Torah:
Two of them, wheat and barley, are
grains. The other five, grapes, pomegranates, figs, olives, and dates, are fruits.
One difference between grain and fruit is
that grain is a staple food, necessary for
the maintenance of our well-being. Fruits
are delicacies, eaten for pleasure.
Tu B'Shvat gives us the potential to carry
out our service, not only according to the
very minimum necessary to maintain our
existence, but rather in a manner that
leads to pleasure - our own and our
Creator's.
There is another area in which grains and
fruits differ. When grain is harvested,
though there is an abundant increase in
quantity, the grain is of the same nature
as the kernals which were originally planted. In contrast, the seed of a fruit tree is of
an entirely different nature than the fruit
that is later harvested.
Similarly, in regard to our service of G-d,
the metaphor of fruit trees alludes to a
service which is not limited to the basic
necessities, but rather generates pleasure. It reveals the potential for growth, not
only a quantitative increase, but also, a
leap to a higher level, a new framework of
reference altogether.
Since Tu B'Shvat is the "New Year of the
Trees," it generates new life energy for
those dimensions of a Jew's service which
are compared to trees.
May we all truly avail ourselves of this new
life energy to fulfill our potential in making
this world a fitting home for G-d and
G-dliness. (From: L’Chaim #1406) lchaimweekly.org
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
Sunday 8:00 AM
Gemara – Tractate Sanhedrin
(men)
Monday 8:00 PM
Chumash (men and women)
Tuesday 8:00 PM
Gemara B’Iyun
Tractate Kesuvos (men)
Wednesday 8:30 PM
Halacha and Tanya (women)
Thursday 10:00 AM
Chassidus (women)
Daily
Chassidus 6:45 AM– 7:15 AM
Halacha
Between Mincha
and Maariv
There will be no classes on
Wed & Thurs. Feb. 15-16.
Daily Minyonim
Weekday Shacharis:
6:00 AM & 7:30 AM
Sunday Shacharis:
7:00 AM & 9:00 AM
Mincha/Maariv:
5:35 PM
Splitting the Sea
Along the path to Torah is the
splitting of the sea. What is the
sea? It is the thick blanket of materialism that smothers the fire of
the G-dly soul. With a miracle, it is
ripped away and the truth revealed. Only then can the Torah
be received.
Don't imagine you can keep your
belief in a materialist world and
append a higher consciousness to
it. The sea of concealment has to
part and the world must be seen
for what it truly is: A G-dly place
ever-awaiting miracles.
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe,
of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. Chabad.org
Story of the Week:
Even at the tender age of five, the
previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi
Yosef
Yitzchak
Schneersohn (the "Rayatz"), had a fixed daily
schedule. At eight o'clock in the morning, he jumped out of bed, and half an
hour later he was in the synagogue
praying with the congregation. From
9:30 until 10:00 was breakfast. Then,
for four hours he studied in yeshiva.
Then came lunch for an hour and another hour devoted to writing. From
4:00
until
8:00
there
was yeshiva again, then supper and
some free time to spend in his room,
before
retiring
to
bed.
Shabbat, of course, was different.
Most of the morning was spent praying in shul. In addition, he had a special
treat, a visit to his grandmother, his
father's mother, Rebbetzin Rikva.
There he would find the elder members of the Chasidic community, white
-bearded chasidim who came to pay
their respects to the "Grand Old Rebbetzin." They would stay for a while
and relate stories about the lives of
older chasidim or even of the Rebbe
Maharash, the Previous Rebbe's
grandfather (Rebbetzin Rikva's husband).
When everybody went home to eat
the Shabbat meal, the boy would go
back to the shul. There all the worshippers had long since finished their prayers and gone home - all except his
father, the Rebbe Rashab. He sat with
his head near the ark. He was still
praying. Once, the boy approached his
father quietly in order to listen to his
prayers. His father prayed very slowly,
as if he were counting the words.
Sometimes he paused, and then
would slowly continue.
The Rebbe's son wondered why it
took his father so long with the prayers, which even he, a boy of five, knew
so well and could read so fluently. But
his heart throbbed as he listened to
the soulful melody which his father
hummed now and again, and the singsong of the words.
He asked his uncle, Rabbi Zalman
Aaron, his father's brother. "Why does
Father
pray
so
slowly?"
His uncle smiled as he answered with a
twinkle in his eyes, "Your father finds
it difficult to read the words from the
siddur very quickly. He has to say each
word separately, and can't pray very
fast. That's why it takes him so long."
The boy turned away without saying
another word. But he felt a deep pain
and a burning shame that his father
couldn't
pray
more
fluently.
The following Shabbat, he silently approached his father and listened carefully. His father was saying the Shema.
"Shema Yisrael..." His father said slowly,
then he paused. The son was startled to
hear his father sobbing. His father said
another couple of words, and sobbed
again, and when he said "Hashem Echad
- G-d is One" the words seemed to burst
from his heart, with a flood of tears.
The son couldn't listen any more. His
heart was bursting with pity for his
father. He went home, and with tears in
his eyes, appealed to his mother,
"Mother, Father is crying in the shul.
Why does he pray so slowly, and why is
he crying? Come, see for yourself. I can't
bear it."
"There is nothing to be worried about,"
his mother consoled her little son. "Go
to your grandmother and tell her about
it. She is a very wise lady, maybe she will
be able to explain it to you."
The boy lost no time and went to his
grandmother, certain that the wise, old
Rebbetzin would find a remedy to help
his father learn to read the prayers
more quickly, perhaps even as quickly as
all the other Jews in the synagogue.
When he came to his grandmother, the
child told her about his poor father's
difficulty saying the prayers. "Mother
said that you could do something about
it,"
he
concluded
hopefully.
Grandmother looked at him seriously
and said, "Your father is a great chasid
and a righteous man. Before he reads
any word from the prayerbook, he
thinks about it carefully. What it means
and to Whom he is saying it. And when
he thinks about the holy words of the
prayers, his heart is filled with love for G
-d, just as a son loves his dear father
who is near and yet far away. So your
father longs to be closer to Him and the
tears just come. I cannot tell you more
now, but when you grow older you will
understand this better, and you will
know how it feels."
With his grandmother's explanation, the
boy felt as if a tremendous weight came
off his heart. So it wasn't that his father
couldn't read the prayers quickly. It was
because his father was such a great
person that he prayed differently. Yes,
he realized that his father was different,
in the way he spoke, the way he acted,
the way he studied, the way he prayed.
That very day, the Rebbe Rayatz recounted, he resolved that as the only
child of such a great person, he too
must act differently, to merit being his
child. (Ascentofsafed.com)
Manna in a Basket
By Tzvi Freeman
In truth, there are two possible
channels by which to receive your
livelihood, according to the perspective you take in life:
You could decide to become just
another element of nature, chasing
after your bread in the chaos, running the race of survival of the
fittest.
And the fact is, you may even do
well taking this route --in the short
run. In the long run, however, your
soul is being denied its nourishment, and your body, too, will never feel satisfied.
Or you could see your life as an
intimate relationship with the
Source of Life Above --as though all
your livelihood was no more than
manna from heaven, handed to you
personally and lovingly straight
from the hand of your G-d and partner in all you do.
Then your main job is to keep the
basket where your manna will fall
sparkling clean, insuring that no
one is being hurt or misled by your
business. To spend the profits you
are granted on spreading kindness
in the world.
Maybe you'll get rich this way. Maybe you won't. But you will always
be satisfied. - chabad.org
And the people believed in G-d, and in
Moses, His servant (Ex. 14:31)
"A person who believes in the leader
of the generation has faith in 'He
Who Uttered and the world was
brought into being.' Every single Jew,
regardless of his spiritual attainments, must cleave to the Moses who
exists in every generation, for
through him he cleaves to G-d Himself. (Likutei Torah)(From:L’Chaim #1207)
And the Children of Israel ate the
manna for forty years (Ex. 16:36)
When Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk was a
boy studying about the manna that
the Jews ate, he asked his teacher: "If
each and every person received his
sustenance in abundance through the
manna, how did the Jews perform the
mitzva (commandment) of charity?"
Before his teacher could give a reply,
the young student offered his own
answer: "It would seem that they
fulfilled the mitzva of charity with
words of wisdom and knowledge; one
who had greater Torah knowledge
"gave charity" by teaching someone
who had less knowledge. (From: L’Chaim #
907) - lchaimweekly.org