Weekly Parsha

This weekly portion is dedicated to the Refuah Sheleima of Esther bat Raizel

Refuah Sheimah: Chaim Moshe ben Esther, Yehuda Baruch ben Sarah, Stephen Waczkiewicz (Shimon ben Sarah), Yossefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon"

Pray for the  "Refuah Shleima"  (rapid recovery) of "  our community" . May G-d deliver us from this crisis quickly and grant a full recovery to those who are sick, Amen!

Beshalach

Exodus 13:17 - 17:16

The Jewish people leave Egypt. Pharaoh regrets letting them go, pursues them leading his chosen chariot corps and a huge army. The Jews rebel and cry out to Moses, "Weren't there enough graves in Egypt? Why did you bring us out here to die in the desert?" The Yam Soof, the Sea of Reeds (usually mistranslated as the Red Sea) splits, the Jews cross over, the Egyptians pursue and the sea returns and drowns the Egyptians. Moses with the men and Miriam with the women -- each separately -- sing praises of thanks to the Almighty.

They arrive at Marah and rebel over the bitter water. Moses throws a certain tree in the water to make it drinkable. The Almighty then tells the Israelites, "If you obey G-d your Lord and do what is upright in His eyes, carefully heeding all His commandments and keeping all His decrees, then I will not strike you with any of the sicknesses that I brought on Egypt. I am G-d who heals you." (This is why the Hagaddah strives to prove there were more than 10 plagues in Egypt -- the greater the number of afflictions, the greater number from which we are protected.)

Later the Israelites rebel over lack of food; G-d provides quail and manna (a double portion was given on the sixth day to last through Shabbat; we have two challahs for each meal on Shabbat to commemorate the double portion of manna). Moses then instructs them concerning the laws of Shabbat. At Rephidim, they rebel again over water. G-d tells Moses to strike a stone (later in the Torah G-d tells Moses to speak to the stone, not here!) which then gave forth water. Finally, the portion concludes with the war against Amalek and the command to "obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens."

* * *

"And the Children of Israel came to Marah. And they were not able to drink the water at Marah for they were bitter" (Exodus 15:23).

Why does the Torah use the word "they" were bitter rather than specifying "the waters were bitter"?

The Kotzker Rebbe explains that "they were bitter" refers to the people themselves. When someone is bitter, then everything tastes bitter. To a bitter person nothing in life is positive. He makes himself miserable and those around him suffer. He thinks that he has valid reasons for his bitterness, but the source is within himself.

Our lesson: Take responsibility for your own life! Work on seeing the positive -- keep a running list of positive things you have to be grateful for from large to small and then prioritize them. This will focus you on the positive. Sweeten your outlook and you'll live in a much sweeter world! ("You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses" -- Ziggy.

Learn character from trees, values from roots, and change from leaves.

 SHABBAT SHALOM!

R. Tank

Fortaleza Jewish Center

Any amount will be welcomed!

I am proud to advertise the launch of the Campaign "Honoring our parents. Building our future". - Aiming, an exciting of an innovative and inspiring accordance for Jewish life in Fortaleza, Brazil. This is unique or even especially a construction campaign.

This campaign aims to ensure that this community will be at the forefront of Jewish life, not only here in Fortaleza, but will serve as an emblem and reference institution of Judaism in Brazil.

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Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College in New York, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is a Jewish Chaplain actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation in the United States and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.

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