Candle Lighting: 5:50 PM Havdalah: 6:57 PM SHABBAT WORKS Friday night October 24 Saturday October 25 2014 01 Cheshvan 5775 Shabbat Rosh Chodesh PARASHAT HASHAVUA Parashat Noach Genesis 6:9 - 11:32 (pp. 12-25 in the Stone Tanakh) Special Haftarah: Isaiah 66: 1-24 (pp. 1066-1069 in the Stone Tanakh) Thank You Kiddush Sponsor... Yardenna Hurvitz in honor of the birth of her grandson, Van Sherwood, on Tuesday, October 14. RSVP Today! SHABBAT Service Schedule SATURDAY MORNING 9:00 AM Birkot HaShachar Early Morning Blessings 9:10 AM - 9:40 AM Rabbi Finley’s Morning Study Session Doors Close (no wandering in and out) 9:45 AM 10:30 AM Morning Prayer Service Doors remain open for the remainder of the morning 10:45 AM Torah Service 11:15 AM - 11:45 AM Rabbi Finley’s Torah Study 12:00 PM Concluding Prayers 12:15 PM Kiddush, HaMotsi 12:30 PM Lunch 1:00 PM Lunch & Learn Amidah The Standing Prayer Teachings Led by Rabbi Mordecai Finley Community Chazzanim Vocal Accompaniment Community Torah Readers Community Gabbai’im Jacob Kantor Belinda Lams Rabbi Mordecai Finley Julie Giuffrida Rebecca Pidgeon Joshua Abarbanel Curt Biren Pianist Arie Salma Percussion & Keyboard Jeff Lams Accordionist Art Shane Join us for the return of Sophos nights! RSVP today! Parashat Noach FOR OUR MEMBERS AND GUESTS MINHAG HAMAKOM* ATTIRE Men and boys must wear kippot/yarmulkes while attending Ohr HaTorah. Please dress up a little to respect and honor the Sabbath (no blue jeans, t-shirts, flip-flops, shorts, cut-offs, immodest dress, etc.) ELECTRONICS Cell phones, pagers, cameras, and other electronics must remain off in the sanctuary. If you must make or receive a call, find a private place. YOUNG CHILDREN All parents with infants are kindly requested to leave the service when their child needs immediate attention. We ask that parents with young children sit in the back rows to help minimize any disruption to the service. MORNING STUDY SESSION The Morning Study Session (9:10-9:40AM) is part of the Adult Education Program at Ohr HaTorah. It is open to members, prospective members and visitors for their first few times at Ohr HaTorah. If you are a visitor or prospective member, please sign in on the guest sign-in sheet at the front table in the lobby. Rabbi Finley’s Morning Study Session begins at 9:10 AM sharp. Please arrive early enough to be seated when study begins. Doors close at the beginning of Rabbi’s 9:10 AM study session, so that people do not continuously walk into the sessions the Rabbi is teaching. Anyone leaving the session will not be readmitted until the study session is completed. Doors reopen after the study session and remain open through the rest of the morning. Those entering during the Rabbi’s Torah study (approximately 11:15-11:45AM) should be seated in the back, and not seek a seat in the front of the sanctuary. *THE LOCAL CUSTOM (FOR SHABBAT) Synopsis of the Torah Portion Genesis 6:9 - 11:32 1. Description of Noah 6:9 2. The earth is corrupted; the decree of the flood 6:11-13 3. The orders to Noah concerning the ark he is to build 6:14-21 4. The flood 7:1-23 5. The flood aftermath; the waters recede, the raven, the dove 8:1-14 6. Leaving the ark; the offering of Noah, God’s promise not to destroy the earth 8:15-20 7. The beginning of new life; commandments against eating blood and bloodshed 9:1-7 8. The covenant of the rainbow 9:8-17 9. Noah and his sons; the shaming of Noah 9:18-28 10. Genealogy after Noah; the seventy nations 10:1-32 11. Tower of Babel; dispersion and multiplicity of language 11:1-8 12. The ten generations from Noah to Abraham 11:10-32 Synopsis of the Haftarah (prophetic reading) Isaiah 66: 1-24 In our Haftarah, we have a series of poems. One concerns the irony of God’s omnipresent and the human desire to situate God; it includes a castigation of (false) sacrifice. Another images God, and alternatively Zion, as a mother giving birth to a renewed Israel. The final poem is one of great redemption by God in which a new heaven and a new earth are created. Month by month at the New Month and week by week on the Sabbath all humankind will bow down to the One God. So every Rosh Hodesh (New Month) we remind ourselves of prophecy concerning the End of Times when all people will be united in their knowledge of the One God. Soul and Divine Wisdom Rabbi Mordecai Finley Dear Friends, Last week at our morning study, I began what will be a brief series on the idea of the soul. I speak a great deal about the higher self, and its role in regulating the ego self. In the further reaches of the higher self, we find the meditative and spiritual ecstatic realms, and even the knowledge of the Divine. Where does the word “soul” fit into all of this? For this Shabbat, I want to expand on some of my ideas from last week. I think to understand our souls, we have to start with a deep understanding of our personalities, how our ego self is built. I think the personality, at least in part, is a manifestation of the structure of our archetypal, deeply structured unconscious (think of Freud and Jung). Those deeper parts of the self, I believe, are mostly experienced in non-linguistic ways. The language of the soul is expressed, among other means, through metaphor, symbol, music, art, poetry and dance. The soul is experienced in the body, as well as in the mind. It is in the realm of the soul that we experience love and grace. The rational mind can take us so far in grasping the concerns of the soul. From there, language gives out, and a different kind of meaning takes shape. For this morning’s study session, I want to continue this discussion. For our Torah study last week, we studied a bit of Midrash together. For those in attendance, it came to be a truly sublime moment. The Midrash is not interpretive anecdotes on the Torah. The Midrash is, among other things, how the ancient rabbis did philosophy. In the little piece we studied last week, we saw the ancient rabbis delve into the idea of reality being emanated from the mind of God, and our holding place for the mind of the God is Torah. Our Five Books of Moses is not what it appears to be. Its surface appearance, the text, holds in place an entry into divine wisdom. This week we will review that teaching, and go on to the next little piece, where we are oddly told not to study this material at all. I might say a few words about the Torah portion, Noach; we’ll see. COMMUNITY Mazal Tov... Bettina and Jonathan Khorsandi on the birth of their daughter, Levana Nordahl Khorsandi, on Wednesday, October 15. Our Condoldences to... Friends and Family of member, Lori Peikoff, who passed away Tuesday, October 21. Coming Up @The HUB on Venice Saturday, October 25 Religious School, 9AM After Shul Movie Theatre, 12:30PM Lunch & Learn, 1:00PM Tuesday, October 28 Religious School, 4PM iHIP, 4PM Hebrew Reading & Language w/ Meirav Finley, 5PM Wednesday, October 29 Spiritual Formation & Moral Psychology, 12:30PM Thursday, October 30 Mommy & Me - Toddlers, 9:30AM Mommy & Me - Infants, 11:00AM iHIP, 4PM Saturday, November 1, 6PM Paris at The Sophos Cafe, 7:30PM Monday November 3 Hebrew Immersion w/ Meirav Finley, 6PM Thursday, November 6 iHIP, 4PM Hebrew Immersion w/ Meirav Finley, 6PM Friday, November 7 Shabbaba, 5PM Saturday, November 15, 6PM Three of a Kind Sophos Cafe, 7:30PM Want more information? Visit www.thehubonvenice.com The Ohr HaTorah staff is available to assist you during office hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 4:00pm 11827 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90066 (Corner of S. Barrington) Phone: (310) 915-5200 Fax: (310) 915-5792 Email: info@ohrhatorah.org BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Rabbi Mordecai Finley, Co-CEO rabbifinley@ohrhatorah.org Vice-President, Secretary Meirav Finley, Co-CEO Meirav@ohrhatorah.org Second Vice-President Sheri Porath-Rockwell, Legal Liaison Sheri@ohrhatorah.org Treasurer Pamela Mahoney Pam@ohrhatorah.org Director at Large Sheila Coop Human Resources Sheila@ohrhatorah.org OFFICERS OF THE CONGREGATIONAL COUNCIL Josh Abarbanel, Gabbai, Religious Service Leader Stacey Abarbanel, Community Outreach Hadas Abouaf, Officer at Large Keith Abouaf, Officer at Large Alex Abramovici, Officer at Large Pam Abramovici, Officer at Large Endre Balogh, Community Photographer, Music Committee Adela Barnett, Torah Study Group Chairperson Helena Barry, Membership Danielle Behar, Community Outreach, Early Childhood Wesley Bilson, Officer at Large Curt Biren, Gabbai, Religious Service Leader Larry Bogatz, Men’s Group Co-Chair and Earthquake Preparedness Paul Brooks, Men’s Group Co-Chair Malcolm Brown, Officer at Large Neisha Cohen, Membership Bettina Chokron, Social Media, Marketing Raqueli Dahan, Community Outreach, Early Childhood Gloria Delia, Shabbat Lunch Co-Chair, Fundraising Events Tamara Effron, Religious School, Membership Committee Ilan Efrati, Officer at Large Janet Ehrenberg, Community Outreach Matt Ehrenberg, Community Photographer Karen Feldman, G’milut Chassadim, Membership Committee Chairperson Julie Giuffrida, Programming, Publications David Goldsmith, Officer at Large Noam Gonen, Sound Engineering Stephen Grynberg, Community Outreach David Guth, Membership Vincent Hartung, Sound Engineering Jessica Kahn, Community Outreach Nadav Kahn, Community Outreach Harvey Kaner, Officer at Large Jacob Kantor, Cantorial Leader, Music Committee Julia Kantor, Music Committee Denise Kaufman, Music Committee Jonathan Khorsandi, Social Media, Marketing Larry Klein, Music Committee Luciana Klein, Music Committee Janny Kummer, Fundraising Events Belinda Lams, Music Committee Jeff Lams, Sound Engineering Jerry Leichtling, Community Outreach Jeff Linnetz, HHD Committee, Garage Sale Chairperson Sandra MacDonald, Fundraising Events, Garage Sales Co-Chair David Mamet, Building Committee Co-Chair Sheri Manning, Torah Study Group Committee Debra McGuire, Fundraising Events Bill Meyers, Shabbat Lunch Committee Jilla Moradzadeh, Community Outreach Masoud Moradzadeh, Fundraising Events, Religious Service Committee Arnold Porath, Building Committee Rebecca Pidgeon, Music Committee Jim Ries, Building Committee Co-Chair Linda Ries, Gift Shop Melinda Rosenthal, G’milut Chassadim Committee Debbie Ryan, Silent Auction Arie Salma, Music Committee, Web Design Arlene Sarner, Silent Auction Arthur Shane, Music Committee Rina Shapira, Officer at Large Andrea Spector, Officer at Large Ross St. Phillip, Shabbat Lunch Committee Robb Strom, Legal Counsel Yolanda Strom, Flowers Coordinator, Fundraising Events Eric Taub, Lighting Committee Chrisann Verges, Officer at Large Please Note: All materials for the Weekly Update, as well as flyers for Shabbat, must be in the OHT office no later than the end of business hours the preceding Monday!