Parshat Chukas

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It is a scene that still has the power to shock and disturb. The people complain. There is no water. It is an old complaint and a predictable one. Thats what happens in a desert. Moses should have been able to handle it in his stride. He has been through far tougher challenges in his time. Yet suddenly he explodes into vituperative anger: Listen now, you rebels, shall we bring you water out of this rock? Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. (Num. 20: 10-11) It was such egregious behavior, so much of an overreaction, that the commentators had difficulty in deciding which aspect was worst. Some said, it was hitting the rock instead of speaking to it as God had instructed. Some said, it was the use of the word we. Moses knew that God would send water: it had nothing to do with Aaron or himself. Others, most famously Maimonides, said that it was the anger evident in the words Listen now, you rebels.

June 15, 2013 7 Tammuz, 5773

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Parshat Chukas

The question I want to raise is simply: what made this trial different? Why did Moses momentarily lose control? Why then? Why there? This question is entirely separate from that of why Moses was not allowed to enter the land. Although the Torah associates the two, I argue elsewhere that this was not a punishment at all. Moses did not lead the people across the Jordan and into the land because that task, involving a new generation and an entirely new set of challenges, demanded a new leader. Even the greatest figures in history belong to a specific time and place. Dor dor u-parnasav. Each generation has its own leaders (Avodah Zarah 5a). Leadership is time-bound, not timeless. Behind Moses loss of emotional control is a different story, told with utmost brevity in the text: In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. Now there was no water for the community Moses lost control because his sister Miriam had just died. He was in mourning for his eldest sibling. It is hard to lose a parent, but in some ways it is even harder to lose a brother or sister. They are your generation. You feel the angel of death come suddenly close. You face your own mortality. But Miriam was more than a sister to Moses. She was the one, while still a sixyear-old child, to follow the course of the wicker basket holding her baby brother as it drifted down the Nile. She had the courage and ingenuity to approach Pharaohs daughter and suggest that she employ a Hebrew nurse for the child, thus ensuring that Moses would grow up knowing his family, his people and his identity. Small wonder that the sages said that Miriam persuaded her father Amram, the gadol hador (leading scholar of his generation) to annul his decree that Hebrew husbands should divorce their wives and have no more children since there was a fifty per cent chance that any child born would be killed. Your decree, said Miriam, is worse than Pharaohs. He only decreed against the males, yours applies to females also. He intends to rob children of life in this world: you would deny them even life in the world to come (Midrash Lekach Tov to Ex. 2: 1).

Times

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Graduation and Congregational Kiddush

Bima Flowers In the Main Sanctuary and in the Beit Midrash are sponsored by Hindi & Ben Lunzer In honor of the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Shoshana

Seudah Shlishit is sponsored by Hindi & Ben Lunzer in honor of the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Shoshana

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Shabbat Announcements Parshat Chukas 5773

Amram admitted her superior logic. Husbands and wives were reunited. Yocheved became pregnant and Moses was born. Note simply that this midrash, told by the sages, unambiguously implies that a six year old girl had more faith and wisdom than the leading rabbi of the generation! Moses surely knew what he owed his elder sister. She had accompanied him throughout his mission. She led the women in song at the Red Sea. The one episode that seems to cast her in a negative light when she spoke against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for which she was punished with leprosy was interpreted more positively by the sages. They said she was critical of Moses for breaking off marital relations with his wife Zipporah. He had done so because he needed to be in a state of readiness for Divine communication at any time. Miriam felt Zipporahs plight and sense of abandonment. Besides which, she and Aaron had also received Divine communication but they had not been commanded to be celibate. She may have been wrong, suggested the sages, but not maliciously so. She spoke not out of jealousy of her brother but out of sympathy for her sister-in-law. Likewise the sages understood the two events that preceded Moses crisis Miriams death and the absence of water for the community as connected. It was in Miriams merit, they said, that the Israelites had water during the desert years. A well (Miriams well) accompanied them on their travels, and when Miriam died, the water ceased. So it was not simply the Israelites demand for water that led Moses to lose control of his emotions, but rather his own deep grief. The Israelites may have lost their water, but Moses had lost his sister, who had watched over him as a child, guided his development, supported him throughout the years, and helped him carry the burden of leadership by her role as leader of the women. It is a moment that reminds us of words from the Book of Judges said by Israels chief of staff, Barak, to its judge-and-leader Deborah: If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I cannot go (Judges 4). The relationship between Barak and Deborah was much less close than that between Moses and Miriam, yet Barak acknowledged his dependence on a wise and courageous woman. Can Moses have felt less? Bereavement leaves us deeply vulnerable. In the midst of loss we can find it hard to control our emotions. We

make mistakes. We act rashly. We suffer from a momentary lack of judgment. These are common symptoms even for ordinary humans like us. In Moses case however, there was an additional factor. He was a prophet, and grief can occlude or eclipse the prophetic spirit. Maimonides answers the well known question as to why Jacob, a prophet, did not know that his son Joseph was still alive, with the simplest possible answer: grief banishes prophecy. For twenty-two years, mourning his missing son, Jacob could not receive the Divine word. Moses, the greatest of all the prophets, remained in touch with God. It was God, after all, who told him to speak to the rock. But somehow the message did not penetrate his consciousness fully. That was the effect of grief. So the details are, in truth, secondary to the human drama played out that day. Yes, Moses struck the rock, said we instead of God, and lost his temper with the people. The real story, though, is about Moses the man in an onslaught of grief, vulnerable, exposed, caught in a vortex of emotions, suddenly bereft of the sisterly presence that had been the most important bass-note of his life, Miriam, the precociously wise and plucky child who had taken control of the situation when the life of her three-month old brother lay in the balance, undaunted by either an Egyptian princess or a rabbifather, Miriam who led the women in song, sympathized with her sister-in-law when she saw the price she paid for being the wife of a leader, Miriam in whose merit the people had water in a parched land, the quiet heroine without whom Moses was temporarily lost and alone. The story of Moses and the rock is ultimately less about Moses and a rock than about a great Jewish woman, Miriam, appreciated fully only when she was no longer there.

Great Neck Synagogue Shabbat Activities Program

Dale Polakoff, Rabbi Ian Lichter, Assistant Rabbi Dr. Ephraim Wolf ,zl, Rabbi Emeritus Zeev Kron, Cantor Eleazer Schulman, zl, Cantor Emeritus Rabbi Sholom Jensen, Youth Director Zehava & Michael Atlas, Youth Directors Mark Twersky, Executive Director Rabbi Avraham Bronstein, Program Director Dr. Scott Danoff, President Harold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board

GreatNeckSynagogueMensClub

GOINGFISHING(again!)Haveafunday,bringthewholefamily OntheCAPT.PETEfromFreeport,NY(30minutesfromGreatNeck)onSunday,JUNE30,2013 Theboatwillbedepartingat9:00am,withthereturntodockat1:30pm Thecost,whichincludesbreakfastandlunch,is$48perperson $36forchildren612(nochildrenunder6) (thefirst6kids12andunderfreewithpayingadult1perfamily) ContactSteveBlumner6398941,MarkFriedman4821062orHillyMilun4484890 Iamgoingfishing!Childrenunder17MUSTbeaccompaniedbyanadult

Name____________________________________Phone#___________________ Numberofadultsandteenagers_________at$48perperson$_______________ Numberofchildren12andunder_________at$36each$_______________ Total(CheckattachedmadeouttoGNSMENSCLUB)$_______________

ANNOUNCEMENTS
GNS UPCOMING EVENTS
WOMENS TEFILA There will be a Womens Tefila program this Shabbat in honor of the Bat Mitzvah of Shoshana Lunzer. Kiddush will be sponsored by Hindi & Ben Lunzer in her honor. Davening will begin at 6:15 pm. HASHKAMA KIDDUSH Kiddush is sponsored by Hindi & Ben Lunzer in honor of Shoshanas Bat Mitzvah. MENS CLUB UPCOMING EVENTS June 12 & 13 Wed. and Thur. DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE: Reduce your auto insurance premiums and points on your license by taking the Defensive Driving Course, which will be held over two evenings from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. Limited Seating. $17.00 for AARP members and $19.00 for non-members. Please make checks payable to AARP. Please call Al Leiderman 516-482-0628 for reservations. TUES. JUNE 18, 8Pm The third in our Medical Forum series features two Gastroenterologists, Dr. Robert Herman and Dr. Alex Novogrudsky. They will educate and inform you on subjects from prevention of Heartburn and Acid Reflux down to why and how often should you have a colonoscopy. See page three. SUN. JUNE 30: Annual Fishing trip. $48.00 per person, $36.00 for children 6-12. (first 6 children free) for more information contact Steve Blumner, Mark Freidman or Hilly Milun. See bottom of page three. UPCOMING EVENTS SAVE THE DATE June 15: Annual Graduation and Congregation Kiddush. $100 per family. Please call the office or email mtwersky@gns.org.See form on page three. JUNE CHESED COLLECTION Ohel and Camp Kaylie are in great need of new and gently used sports equipment. The equipment will be utilized for special needs programs and after school programs. Please drop off Monday-Friday only at the home of Hedva & Edmund Kessler, 9 Vista Drive, Great Neck. There will be a box at the front door. See page 2. The May Chesed Collection of Glasses, Cell Phones and Shoes will continue to June 16. Please drop off at the Blumner home 88 old pond Rd. or at the Heisler home, 71 Bayview Ave. SUMMER LEARNING PROGRAM Our summer learning program will be taking place this summer Beginning July 2. Dates for the remaining classes are July 9, 23 and 30th and August 6 and 13. Sponsors are welcome. To sponsor or dedicate a day of learning at $180 please contact Rabbi Lichter at ilichter@gns.org or mtwersky@gns.org. General sponsorships are available at $100 per family. ROSH HASHANAH SCOPE MAGAZINE Please submit all articles, advertisements, photos, and recipes for the Rosh Hashanah SCOPE magazine edition by Monday, July 1st to Diane Rein at drein@verizon.net. Thank you. We invite you to become a SCOPE sponsor for three issues $100 or a single issue $36.Rosh Hashanna greetings are also welcome at $36 each. HIGH HOLIDAYS With the High Holidays taking place right after Labor Day, we are asking that all members take care of their outstanding financial obligations in a timely manner to insure that seats for the holidays will be able to be sent out. Those in arrears will not be able to obtain their seats unless arrangements for payment have been made. If you have any questions please speak to Mark Twersky or Elie Cohen our Treasurer. SPONSORSHIPS To sponsor a Kiddush, Seudah Shlishit, Sunday Breakfast, Youth Event, Bima Flowers or a leaf on the Tree of Life in honor or in memory of a loved one, please call Mark Twersky in the Synagogue office 487-6100 or email mtwersky@gns.org.

WITHIN OUR FAMILY

Mazal Tov to Goldie & Howard Lorber and Rachel & Michael Singer on the Bat Mitzvah of their granddaughter Emma Lorber, daughter of Jennifer & Mark Lorber. Mazal Tov to Hindi & Ben Lunzer on the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Shoshana. Mazal Tov to Ann Gold on the birth of a great-granddaughter born to her grandchildren Francie & Jason Goldberg. Mazal Tov to Anne & Ray Sandler on the birth of a grandson born to their children Shlomit & Adam Sandler.

PARLOR MEETING FOR CAMP SHALVA There will be a Scotch & Wine Tasting with a sushi buffet on Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. to benefit Camp Shalva, a summer program for Israeli children with special needs. The event will be held at the home of Adina and Josh Geller, 15 Gould Street, Great Neck, NY. To RSVP call (516) 305-4734, adina.geller@gmail.com or jgeller@curtis.com. or see Marla or Micah Lemonik for more info. SAVE THE DATE: Monday, June 17th, Yeshiva Har Torah's 13th Annual Golf Classic- at NS Country Club, Glen Head, N.Y. with great golf, breakfast, BBQ on course lunch, full cocktail party and buffet dinner. For additional information and sponsorships/participation please contact Alan Steinberg at Asteinbergyht@aol.com or call (718) 343-2533. PARLOR MEETING There will be a Parlor Meeting for RCCS Refuah Cholim Cancer Society on Monday June 24, 7:30 pm at the home of Magda & Sam Yehaskel, 23 Old Mill Road. SAVE THE DATE: Monday July 1, Fresh Meadows Country Club the NSHA will be holding its 10th ANNUAL GOLF, TENNIS, MAHJONGG & SPA CLASSIC for great golf (11:30 am shotgun), tennis (ladies at 9:30am followed by lunch & men's at 2:30pm), card games/mahjong lessons, brunch, BBQs and a sunset cocktail party with our million dollar Jet Blue Challenge followed by a buffet dinner, with prizes, raffles and auctions. This years honorees are Karen & Robert Spitalnick. For additional information re: sponsorships/participation please email Arnie Flatow at aflatow@nsha.org or call 487-8687 ext 133.

Y A H R Z E I T

Saturday, 7 Tammuz Barry Libin for Paula Libin Sunday, 8 Tammuz Charlene Milun for Suzanne Berchowitz Howard Wolf for Carrie Wolf Monday, 9 Tammuz David Birnbaum for Rhoda Birnbaum Laura Cohen for Marvin Lieberman James Frisch for Rozsa Frisch Rita Gordonson for Leon Gershkowitz Ruth Kraft for Mosche Bogatyrow Tuesday, 10 Tammuz Jerrald Weinstein for Leonard Greenberg Wednesday, 11 Tammuz Oded Daskal for Eitan Daskal Mansour Farhadian for Avraham Sohayegh Frederick Shaw for Lillian Shaw Thursday 12, Tammuz Gilbert Aronowitz for Richard Luchansky Elain Berger for Murray Sobol Joan Katz for Bessie Sadinoff