Author: shamyr

Yitro (יתרו – Jethro), Exodus 18, 1 to 20, 23

Exodus 19, 20
וַיֵּרֶד ה’ עַל-הַר סִינַי, אֶל-רֹאשׁ הָהָר
And Gd came down to mount Sinai, on top of the mountain

In 1654, twenty-three Jews of Sephardic origin settled in Nieuw-Amsterdam¹. Little by little the Jews settled everywhere in the United States. In 1766, Isaac Pinto published the first bilingual Hebrew and English prayer book in New York. The Jewish population is estimated at 2,500 people during the War of Independence (1775-1783). In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries European emigration accelerated.
In 1906, a group of Central Avenue merchants came together to found the Mount Sinai congregation in Hudson City². The architect Eugène Ciccarelli was then hired to design the building. He built an imposing Romanesque building surmounted by two Moorish copper cupolas in the shape of an onion. On October 11, 1910, former mayor Edward Hoos³ inaugurated it. He unlocks the Table of the Law doors. It is the oldest Orthodox Jewish congregation in Jersey City.

¹ Current New York. In 1750, the city would have 300 Jews and more than one million today.
² Hudson was a city that existed in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, from 1855 to 1870, when it became part of Jersey City.
³ Based on May 3, 1897 to December 31, 1901

Shabbat Shira, Beshalach (בשלח – when he sent away), Exodus 13, 17 to 17, 16.

Shabbat of singing, but we could say songs. When the Bnei Israel cross the sea, Moshe and the men sing a song (Exodus 15, 1 to 18), followed by that of Miriam and the women (Exodus 15, 20 and 21). In the haftarah, Dvorah and Barak also sing (Judges 5, 1 to 31). The parsha also relates the giving of manna by Gd.

Exodus 16, 4
וַיֹּאמֶר יי אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר לָכֶם לֶחֶם מִן-הַשָּׁמָיִם
The Lord said to Moses, I will rain food from heaven for you

The detention camp
As the rise of Nazism, many Jews took refuge in Great Britain. In 1939, when war was declared, the British government, worried that enemy spies had been able to infiltrate, brought together hundreds of families of German origin and made them cross the Irish Sea to incarcerate them on the Island of Man in Hutchinson’s camp, as the British authorities considered them “enemy aliens“. Of the 1,500 Jews arrested in mass roundups, there are many well-known artists, musicians and intellectuals¹.

Isle of Man
Today around 200 Jews still live on the small island, mostly in the capital Douglas². This small community has a Jewish cemetery, but has no rabbi or kosher store, it meets at 30 Allan Street, in a private home. The community is represented at Tynwald³ by Leonard Singer.

¹ Including Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, historian of art and architecture, Lord Arthur Weidenfeld, Baron of Chelsea, publisher, philanthropist and press columnist, Sir Charles Forte, founder of the Forte group, Kurt Schwitters, German painter, sculptor and poet (Dadaism) and pianists Marjan Rawicz and Walter Landauer (piano duo).
² Kirk Douglas, whose real name Issur Danielovitch is the son of Jewish migrants from Tchavoussy who fled Belarus to escape the State anti-Semitism of the Russian Empire. At 74, he returned to Judaism. He died on February 5, 2020 (10 horses) at the age of 103. In 2004, his wife Anne Buydens converted to Judaism.
³ The Tynwald is the parliament of Isle of Man (Manx: Tinvaal means “meeting place” or “place of assembly”.

Parshat Bo (בא – va), Exodus 10, 1 to 13, 16.

Gd unleashes the last three plagues. He prescribes to the children of Israel: to count the month of Aviv¹ as the first month, to sacrifice the paschal lamb, to mark the lintels of the doors and to consume unleavened bread. The children of Israel leave Egypt laden with riches. G‑d commands to consecrate the firstborn to Him.

Exodus 13, 4
הַיּוֹם, אַתֶּם יֹצְאִים, בְּחֹדֶשׁ, הָאָבִיב.
Today you are leaving, in the month of spring.

Nicknamed Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera², Quito enjoys, throughout the year, a temperate and sunny climate and an average temperature of 20°.

In 1914, Julio Rosenstock, originally from Austria, arrived in Ecuador to participate in the construction of the railway. In the 1930s, he returned to his native country as consul for Ecuador. In 1934, he returned to Ecuador and in 1938, he founded the Israelite Association of Quito to welcome European Jews fleeing Nazism. While many countries closed their borders, Ecuador welcomed 4,500 Jews between 1933 and 1945. Due to assimilation and emigration, particularly to Israel, Ecuador had only a thousand Jews left.

The Comunidad Judía Del Ecuador synagogal complex was inaugurated in 2000. It includes: a mikveh, two synagogues, a school, a central kitchen, a restaurant and residences for Shabbat, a gym, an indoor swimming pool and a building for the ‘Hevra Kadisha.

¹ He was called Nissan after he returned from captivity in Babylon.
² City of Eternal Spring

Parshat Vaera (וארא – And I Appeared), Exodus 6, 2 to 9, 35.
Gd, send upon Egypt plagues destined to compel Pharaoh to leave from the Hebrews.

Exodus 8, 27
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי, נֹגֵף אֶת-כָּל-גְּבוּלְךָ- בַּצְפַרְדְּעִים.
I am about to infest of frogs throughout your territory.

Frogs:
Until 1900, lamps, called frogs were used in the coal mines of the region mining in the Saar basin. The best-known models: Harz, Westphalian or Saar frogs. They were dangerous and caused many accidents in the mines by gas and dust ignition (firedamp explosion).

Exodus of Jews from Saarlouis:
Jews living in Saarlouis are mentioned as early as 1685, five years after the city was founded by Louis XIV. Saarlouis passed from one owner to another without too much damage to the Jewish community. In 1808, following the decree of Bayonne, the lawyer, Herschel Mordechai¹ took the name of Heinrich Marx. In 1815, by the Treaty of Paris, the Saarland was attached to Prussia. After the war of 14-18, the Saarland was placed under the administration of the League of Nations. Following the referendum² of 1935, the Saarland became German again. Over the next two years, Jews were socially excluded and most Jewish families in Saarlouis left the city for France (Lorraine) or Luxembourg. 

The synagogue :
November 1938, the interior of the synagogue is destroyed. In 1983, the building was demolished. In 1987, a new building was built on the model of the old synagogue.

¹ Born in Saarlouis and died in Trier (1777-1838), the son of the rabbi from Trier, Levy Mordechai and the Karl Marx’s father.
² After the Second World War, the Saarland was attached to the French administration and was returned to Germany in 1957, following the 1955 referendum.

Parshat Shemot (שמות – Names), Exodus 1:1-6:1

Exodus 2:21
וַיּוֹאֶל מֹשֶׁה, לָשֶׁבֶת אֶת-הָאִישׁ; וַיִּתֵּן אֶת-צִפֹּרָה בִתּוֹ, לְמֹשֶׁה
Moshe consented to stay with this man,
who gave him Ziporah, his daughter, in marriage.

Ziporah (ציפורה – bird female) is one of the seven daughters of Jethro.
Zipori¹ is known as the birthplace of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi², Tanna who completed the compilation of the Mishna, around 200.
The synagogue³ dates from the end of the Byzantine period (5th century). The mosaic floor is divided into four themes: the binding of Isaac, the signs of the zodiac, the Mishkan and the Ark of the Covenant. The Jewish quarter has been reconstructed and you can walk there.

¹ The city would have been called Zippori (ציפורי – birds), because it is located on the top of the hill like the birds.
² Rabbi Yehuda hannassi רבי יהודה הנשיא (135-circa 220) known as Rabbi or Rabbenu Haqadosh is a Tanna (plural tannaim). This term comes from the Judeo-Aramaic Chanah (שנה), from which the word Michna (מִשְׁנָה) also derives. It means: repeater [of the opinions of his masters and predecessors].
³ See the panorama on Earth

Parshat Vayechi (ויחי – and he lived) Genesis 47:28–50:26.
This week’s Parsha contains the verses that frame (Genesis 48:20 and 48:16) the blessing of the cohanim (Numbers 6:24 to 26), together which make up the traditional Friday evening blessing of parents to their children1

Genesis, 48:20
יְשִׂמְךָ אֱלֹקים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה
May Gd make you like Ephraim and Menasheh

Numbers 6:24 to 26
יְבָרֶכְךָ יי, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ.
יָאֵר יי פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ.
יִשָּׂא יי פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם.
May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be kind to you.
May the Lord look upon you and grant you peace.

Genesis, 48:16
הַמַּלְאָךְ הַגֹּאֵל אֹתִי מִכָּל-רָע, יְבָרֵךְ אֶת-הַנְּעָרִים, וְיִקָּרֵא בָהֶם שְׁמִי, וְשֵׁם אֲבֹתַי אַבְרָהָם וְיִצְחָק; וְיִדְגּוּ לָרֹב, בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ.
May the angel who delivered me from all evil, bless these young people. May he perpetuate my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. May it multiply infinitely in the middle of the land.

The Bnei Menaché live mainly in Moreh, an Indian town located on the border of Burma in the Indian state of Manipur (northeastern India). They consider their legendary ancestor Hmar Manmasi to be none other than Menaché, son of Joseph.
In 2005, Israel allowed them to make aliyah, after having made a formal conversion. About 3,000 members of the community immigrated to Israel. There are still 7,000 in India.

The Bnei Ephraim live in Kothareddy Palem, an Indian village located on the shore of Lake Bhavanasi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (coastal region in southeastern India).
The Bene Ephraim or Telugu Jews claim to be descendants of the tribe of Ephraim. They are not recognized to this day as Jewish by the rabbinate of Israel.

Genesis 50:24
ויי פָּקֹד יִפְקֹד אֶתְכֶם, וְהֶעֱלָה אֶתְכֶם מִן-הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב
Know that the Lord will direct you and bring you back from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

1 For the girls, Ephraim and Ménaché were replaced by Rivka, Ra’hel and Lea
2 Kuki, Chin, The Israelite Origin of Mizo-Hmar; Myth or reality? By Lal Dena (link is external)

Parshat Vayigash (ויגש – and he drew near), Genesis 44:18–47:27.

Genesis 47:12
וַיְכַלְכֵּל יוֹסֵף אֶת-אָבִיוְאֶת-אֶחָיו, וְאֵת כָּל-בֵּית אָבִיו-לֶחֶם, לְפִי הַטָּף
Joseph feeds his father, his brothers and all his father’s house,
giving food according to the needs of each family.

The synagogue was built in 1875. At that time, Vesoul was the seat of the consistory of eastern France. It was decommissioned in 1945, then became the property of Restos du Cœur¹ years later. It was the subject of a registration as a historical monument in 1984.

The Jewish community of Vesoul, between the 13th and 14th centuries, was the largest in the county of Burgundy. In 1324, the Countess of Burgundy expelled the Jews from the city and confiscated their property. Around 1808, the community was reconstituted, then strengthened in 1870 by the arrival of Alsatian Jews. During the Second World War, the community disappeared².

In 1914, Raymond Samuel, known under the pseudonym of Raymond Aubrac³, son of Jewish merchants, was born not far from this synagogue.

¹ Charitable association created by Michel Colucci, dit Coluche (1944-1986) in 1985.
² Raymond Aubrac’s parents, Albert and Hélène Samuel and his brother Paul, as well as 104 other people are arrested as Jews, sent to Drancy, then murdered in Auschwitz.
³ Raymond Aubrac (1914-2012), married in 1939 to Lucie Bernard (1912-2007), both members of the Liberation resistance movement.

For the reading of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh of Chanukkah, we take out 3 Sefrei-Torah:
1^st sefer, reading of the current Shabbat parsha, in 2022, Miketz (מקץ – at the end of), Genesis 41.1 to 44.17
2^nd sefer, reading of the passage from Rosh Chodesh, Numbers 28.1 to 28.15
3^rd sefer, reading for Chanukkah, from the passage of the inauguration of the Mishkan, Numbers 6.22 to 8.4
The reading of the haftarah is done in Zechariah 2.14 to 4.7.

When two mitzvot present themselves to us, which one to choose?
It is a fundamental principle of halakha¹: whenever two mitzvos occur together, the one that is practiced most often has priority over the other.
Exceptionally this principle is not applied for Chanukkah, because the message of Chanukkah must reach the greatest number.

Zechariah 4.2
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי, מָה אַתָּה רֹאֶה; ויאמר (וָאֹמַר) רָאִיתִי וְהִנֵּה מְנוֹרַת זָהָב כֻּלָּο
וְשִׁבְעָה נֵרֹתֶיהָ עָלֶיהָ–שִׁבְעָה וְשִׁבְעָה מוּצָקוֹת, לַנֵּרוֹת אֲשֶׁר עַל-רֹאשָׁהּ
And he said to me: “What do you see?” I answered: “I see a candlestick all in gold its vessel on its top, its seven lamps lined up and seven conduits for the lamps which crown the top.

The center is built in the shape of a seven-branched synagogue candelabrum (menorah). It consists of seven marble towers, the highest of which is 20 stories (77 m.) tall. The construction has total floor area of about 50,000 sq.m. There are a synagogue, museums, office premises, shopping spaces, publishing house, art galleries, kosher restaurants and cafes, conference halls, banquet halls, a luxury hotel, youth hostel, classrooms, tourist information center, visa center of Israel. General project design was made by architect Alexander Sorin.

¹ Berachot 51b, tadir velo tadir = תדיר ולא תדיר = often and not often.

Parshat Vayechev (וישב – And he settled down), Genesis 37:1-40:23
Yossef won the favor of Potifar, his master, but also aroused the lust of women. Yossef refuses the advances of Potifar’s wife who, out of spite, accuses him of rape. Yossef is thrown in prison.

Genesis 39:20
וַיְהִי-שָׁם, בְּבֵית הַסֹּהַר
and he remained there, in the prison.

The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia was built in 1829. The Gothic Revival style penitentiary is built in the shape of a star¹. The imposing medieval-style wall that surrounds it is intended to intimidate the new occupant.
In 1924, a synagogue was built there. It will be used without interruption until the closing of the penitentiary in 1971. The penitentiary is abandoned and the premises are deteriorating.
In 1994, after its restoration, the penitentiary was opened to the public as a National Historic Landmark. The synagogue has been restored as it was in 1959, with its dark wooden pews surrounding the room, a beautiful archway, a reader’s table, a plaster Star of David and an eternal flame. The workshops adjoining the synagogue have been converted into a memorial on Jewish life at the penitentiary, The William Portner Memorial Exhibit on Jewish Life at Eastern State Penitentiary.

¹ In 1929, Al Capone was imprisoned there for illegal possession of a weapon. This first stay in a prison is in fact a shelter. He had his cell located in the center of the star fitted out in a luxurious way (carpeting, tapestries, paintings and antique furniture). He was released after ten months in prison.

Parshat Vayishlach (וישלח – And he sent), Genesis 32:4–36:43.
In this parsha, it is written that Ya’akov buys a piece of land in Shechem (Genesis 33,19), at the very place where G‑d promised Avram (Avraham) that the land of Canaan would be given to his descendants (Genesis 12.6-7). Shechem is also the burial place of Yosef HaTsadiq (Yehochu’a 24.32), as well as one of the 6 cities of refuge (Yehochu’a 21.21, see also Chronicles I 6.52). In 930 ^BCE, when the Kingdom of Israel separated into two states (the Kingdom of Samaria¹ and the Kingdom of Judah), Shechem became the capital of the Kingdom of Samaria (Chronicles II 11,1 et seq.).

The centuries-old attempts to erase the Jewish history² of this city have been so successful that many people today have never heard the name Shechem (שְׁכֶם). They only know that of Nablus, a name derived from Flavia Neopolis (Greek: Flavia Νέο πόλης – Flavia New City). In 72, the Roman emperor Vespasien, gave this name³ to Chkhem, to destroy the Jewish identity⁴ of the city.

¹ Also called Northern Kingdom or Kingdom of Israel.
² Located in zone A, the city is forbidden to Jews.
³ Dedication for his wife Flavia Domitilla who died in 69.
⁴ Just like the Roman emperor Hadrian, gave the name of Palaestina to the region to punish the Jews for their revolt of 132-135. Or as UNESCO is trying to do by denying the Jewish identity of certain places in the land of Israel.

Genesis 33.19
וַיִּקֶן אֶת-חֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה, אֲשֶׁר נָטָה-שָׁם אָהֳלוֹ, מִיַּד בְּנֵי -חֲמוֹר, אֲבִי שְׁכֶם–בְּמֵאָה, קְשִׂיטָה.
He acquired the portion of land where he pitched his tent,
from the hand of the children of Hamor, father of Chkhem percent kesita.

Genesis 12, verses 6 and 7
ויעבֹר אברם בארץ עד מקום שכם עד אלון מורה והכנעני אז בארץ
וירא יי אל-אברם ויאמר לזרעך אתן את-הארץ הזאת ויבן שם מזבח ליי הנראה אל
Avram advanced into the country as far as the territory of Chkhem, as far as Elon Morhé;
the Canaanite then inhabited that country.
The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I make this land for your descendants.
He built there an altar to G‑d who had appeared to him.

Yehochu’a 24:32
וְאֶת-עַצְמוֹת יוֹסֵף אֲשֶׁר-הֶעֱלוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְריִם
קָבְרוּ בִשְׁכֶם בְּחֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר קָנָה יַעֲקֹב מֵאֵת בְּנֵי-חֲמוֹר אֲבִי-שְׁכֶם
בְּמֵאָה קְשִׂיטָה; וַיִּהְיוּ לִבְנֵי-יוֹסֵף, לְנַחֲלָה
As for the bones of Yossef, which the children of Israel had carried away from Egypt, they were buried at Chchem, in the piece of land which Ya’akov had acquired, for a hundred kecita, from the sons of Hamor, father of Chchem, and which became the property of Yossef’s children.

Yehochu’a 21:21
כא וַיִּתְּנוּ לָהֶם אֶת-עִיר מִקְלַט הָרֹצֵחַ, אֶת-שְׁכֶם וְאֶת-מִגְרָשֶׁהָ–בְּהַר אֶפְרָיִם; וְאֶת-גֶּזֶר, וְאֶת-מִגְרָשֶׁהָ.
They were given the city of refuge for the murderer, Chkhem with its suburbs,
in Mount Ephraim; Ghezer, with its suburbs;