Parshat Lech-Lecha October 16, 2010 8 Cheshvan, 5771

Rabbi Sacks on Parshat Lech Lecha: The Heroism of Ordinary Life

TORAH
ARTSCROLL, 54 “G-d said to Abram: understated in its account of command comes, is
HERTZ, 45 ‘leave your land, your him. As children we learned willing to offer him as a
birthplace and your that he was the first sacrifice, only to
HAFTORAH father’s house and go iconoclast, the person who, discover that the G-d of
ARTSCROLL, 1133 to the land I will show while still young, broke the truth does not want us to
HERTZ, 60 you.’” These words are idols in his father’s house. sacrifice our children but
among the most But this is a midrash, a to cherish them. But if
consequential in the tradition, inferred from hints we were asked to
AUFRUF
DAVID FISCHER history of mankind. in the biblical text rather than characterize him with
With them a new faith from explicit adjectives, the words
was born that has statement. Abraham does not that spring to mind –
Times
lasted for two thirds of fit any conventional image of gentle, kind, gracious –
Candle Lighting 5:57 pm the course of the religious hero. He is not, are not those usually
civilization and like Noah, the sole survivor associated with the
Friday Mincha 6:00 pm
remains young and of a world hastening to its founder of a new faith.
Haskhama 8:00 am vigorous today. Not destruction. He is not, like They are the kind of
Youth 8:30 am only did Abraham give Moses, a law-giver and attributes to which any
rise to what today we liberator. He is not, like the of us could aspire. None
Parsha Shiur 8:30 am call Judaism. He was later prophets, a man who of us can be an
Main Minyan 9:00 am also the inspiration of spends his life confronting Abraham, but all of us
two other religions, kings, wrestling with his can take him as a role
Beit Midrash 9:15 am Christianity and Islam, contemporaries and model. Perhaps that is
both of which trace “speaking truth to power.” the deepest lesson of all.
Gemorah Shiur 4:50 pm
their descent,
Mincha 5:50 pm biological or spiritual, To be sure, he is a man of In Sincerity and
Shabbat Ends 7:03 pm to him, and which now exemplary virtue. He Authenticity, Lionel
number among their welcomes strangers and gives Trilling made the
Sunday, 7:30/8:30 am them food. He fights a battle
adherents more than following comment: Not
October 17
half the six billion on behalf of the cities of the all cultures develop the
Mon, Thurs. 6:35/7:45 am people on the face of plain in order to rescue his idea of the heroic. I once
the earth. nephew Lot. He prays for had occasion to observe
Tues, Wed, Fri. 6:45/7:45 am them in one of the greatest in connection with
There was no one like dialogues in religious Wordsworth that in the
Mincha 5:50 pm Abraham, yet the literature. He patiently waits rabbinical literature
Sun./Fri. for a child and then, when the
Torah is exceptionally there is no touch of the
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26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11023 (516) 487-6100
heroic idea. The rabbis, in speaking of virtue, never
mention the virtue of courage, which Aristotle
regarded as basic to the heroic character. The
indifference of the rabbis to the idea of courage is the
more remarkable in that they knew that many of their
number would die for their faith. What is especially to
our point is that, as ethical beings, the rabbis never see
themselves - it is as if the commandment which
forbade the making of images extended to their way of
conceiving the personal moral existence as well.
Trilling is not quite accurate. The rabbis did speak of
courage, gevurah. But he is right to say that that
Judaism did not have heroes in the way the Greeks and
other cultures did. A hero is one convinced of his own
importance. He or she is conscious of playing a part on
the world stage affairs under the admiring gaze of their
contemporaries. The rabbis, said Trilling, “would have
been quite ready to understand the definition of the
hero as an actor and to say that, as such, her was
undeserving of the attention of serious men.” Abraham
is the paradigm of an unheroic hero, one who “does
what is right because it is right” and not for the sake of
popularity or fame. If we were to define Judaism in
Abrahamic terms it would be the heroism of ordinary
life being willing to live by one’s convictions though
all the world thinks otherwise, being true to the call of
eternity, not the noise of now. Which brings us to the
key phrase, the first words of G-d to the bearer of a
new covenant: Lekh Lekha. Is there, already in these
two words, a hint of what was to come?
Rashi, following an ancient exegetical tradition,
translates the phrase as “Journey for yourself.”
According to him what G-d meant was “Travel for
your own benefit and good. There I will make you into
a great nation; here you will not have the merit of
having children.” Sometimes we have to give up our
past in order to acquire a future. G-d was already
Great Neck Synagogue
Shabbat Activities Program
Dale Polakoff, Rabbi
Ian Lichter, Assistant Rabbi
Dr. Ephraim Wolf ,z”l, Rabbi Emeritus
Michael Bleicher, Daniel Schwechter, Rabbinic Intern
Zeev Kron, Cantor
Eleazer Schulman, z”l, Cantor Emeritus
Mark Twersky, Executive Director
Joseph Hecht, President
Harold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board
Shabbat Announcements Parshat Lech-Lecha 5771
intimating to Abraham that what seems like a
sacrifice is, in the long run, not so. Abraham was
about to say goodbye to the things that mean most to
us –land, birthplace and parent’s home, the places
where we belong. It was a journey from the familiar
to the unfamiliar, a leap into the unknown. To be
able to make that leap involves trust – in Abraham’s
case, trust not in visible power but in the voice of the
invisible G-d. At the end of it, however, Abraham
would discover that he had achieved something he
could not have done otherwise. He would give birth
to a new nation whose greatness consisted precisely
in the ability to live by that voice and create
something new in the history of mankind. “Go for
yourself.”
Another interpretation, more midrashic, takes the
phrase to mean “Go with yourself” – meaning, by
traveling from place to place you will extend your
influence not over one land but many: When the
Holy One said to Abraham, “Leave your land, your
birthplace and your father’s house . . .” what did
Abraham resemble? A jar of scent with a tight fitting
lid put away in a corner so that its fragrance could
not go forth. As soon as it was moved from that place
and opened, its fragrance began to spread. So the
Holy One said to Abraham, “Abraham, many good
deeds are in you. Travel about from place to place, so
that the greatness of your name will go forth in My
world.” Abraham was commanded to leave his place
in order to testify to the existence of a G-d not
bounded by place – Creator and Sovereign of the
entire universe. Abraham and Sarah were to be like
perfume, leaving a trace of their presence wherever
they went. Implicit in this midrash is the idea that the
fate of the first Jews already prefigured that of their
descendants. They were scattered throughout the
world in order to spread knowledge of G-d
throughout the world. Unusually, exile is seen here
not as punishment but as a necessary corollary of a
faith that sees G-d everywhere. Lekh lekha means
“Go with yourself” – your beliefs, your way of life,
your faith.
 The Jewish Political Education Foundation
GNS MEN’S CLUB and
Sun, October 17: The Great Neck Synagogue Men’s Club
A bus trip to the city, together with Dos Yiddish Vort, to Present
see
FYVUSH FINKLE LIVE
at the Yiddish Theater.
The Root Causes of Anti-US Islamic Terrorism
$65 pp, includes a light supper. Is the US targeted due to its Ties with Israel?
Call Ros Wagner at 487-9795. a presentation by
Yoram Ettinger

Former Israeli Consul General,

Former Congressional Affairs Attache,
Israeli Embassy, Washington, DC
Wednesday, October 27th, 7:45 PM
Great Neck Synagogue
26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck
Admission Free - Free Parking

SISTERHOOD DINNER
Tuesday, October 26th will be the Annual Sisterhood Dinner at Chatanooga Restaurant with guest speaker
Slovie Jungreiss Wolff, daughter of Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis
and author of "Raising a Child With Soul."
This year there will be a charge of $18/person (includes 1 raffle ticket) for all annual and lifetime members in
order to offset our costs for this event.
We also welcome event sponsorship - bronze $18, silver $36 or gold $72.

Women’s Rosh Chodesh Night Out Please help us alleviate the current blood shortage.
We need your help.

Every month on or around Rosh Chodesh, LONG ISLAND BLOOD SERVICES IS URGING
we will gather to learn together and hear RESIDENTS TO DONATE BLOOD NOW TO
a Torah presentation that brings ENSURE CONTINUED CAPABILITY TO SERVE
insight to our daily lives. AREA HOSPITALS.....

Please call the Synagogue office and let us

To celebrate the month of Cheshvan,
the first gathering will be Thursday night,
October 14th at 8:00 pm., at the home of
Rabbi Ian & Katie Lichter, 76 Berkshire Rd.
The first speaker will be Katie Lichter.
Future opportunities for sponsorships
and hosting are available.
know if we can count on your help.
Please come to the Great Neck Synagogue, on
Sunday, October 31, between the hours of
8:15-1:15pm. ..
.Please eat and drink plenty of fluids on the day
that you donate. Please remember that to
make a blood donation you need to be in good
health, have I.D., know your Social Security
number, and weigh at least 110 lbs.

Please contact Katie Lichter at

katielichter@gmail.com.
 ANNOUNCEMENTS
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Joseph Hecht is very happy to hear any of your suggestions or
concerns. He welcomes the participation of all the congregants.
However, he has one request. Please do not approach him on Shabbat
or at a Kiddush. This is not the appropriate environment for these
types of discussions. Joseph can not write things down, and he also is
not guaranteed to remember the details of the discussion. Joseph
prefers that the membership utilize e-mail to communicate with him.
He would love to hear from you, so please contact him via e-mail at
joey@gns.org
CHANUKAH SCOPE DEADLINE
The deadline for all articles, advertisements, recipes, and photos for
the Chanukah issue of Scope magazine is Monday, October 18th.
Tonight at GNS
October 12, Tuesday, 7:45 p.m.
Film: The Forgotten Refugees,
Produced by the David Project
Produced by The David Project for Jewish Leadership and Isra TV,
“The Forgotten Refugees” explores the history, culture, and forced
exodus of Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities in the
second half of the 20th century. Using extensive testimony of refugees
from Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, and Morocco the film recounts the
stories - of joy and suffering - that nearly one million individuals have
carried with them for so long. The film weaves personal stories with
dramatic archival footage of rescue missions, historic images of
exodus and resettlement, and analyses by contemporary scholars to
tell the story of how and why the Jewish population in the Middle East
and North Africa declined from one million in 1945 to several thousand
today.
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
Is sponsored by the Eckstein & Mogilner families in memory of
Herbert Eckstein, z”l.
GNS YOUTH BASKETBALL
Another season of basketball has arrived. Games are played Tuesdays
starting at 4:30 pm. Children grades 6-8 are invited. Sign-up for
$125.00 for members and $250.00 for non-members.
For additional information, leave message for Rabbi Jensen in office.
SISTERHOOD
Tuesday, October 26th will be the Annual Sisterhood Dinner at
Chatanooga Restaurant with guest speaker Slovie Jungreiss Wolff,
daughter of Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis and author of "Raising a Child
With Soul." Thank you to co-chairs Judy Lillien and Anne Sandler for
organizing this event. Please help them obtain raffle prizes in the
stores and businesses that you patronize! Thank you! This year there
will be a charge of $18/person (includes 1 raffle ticket) for all
annual and lifetime members in order to offset our costs for
this event. We also welcome event sponsorship -bronze $18,
silver $36 or gold $72. We appreciate your generosity!
Tuesday evening, November 9th from 5:00pm to 9:00pm will be
the Sisterhood Chanukah Boutique in the Braun Youth Center. Thank
you to Lisa Kagan for organizing this event.
SAVE THE DATE
The North Shore Mikvah Association Melava Malka in recognition of
Sharon Goldwyn, Mindy Hercman, Trudy Justin, Hindi Lunzer, and
Rama Seltzer will take place Motzei Shabbat, October 16th 2010 8:30
pm at the Great Neck Synagogue. Please send in your reservations as
soon as possible. For more information, please email
NSMikvah@gmail.com
MENS CLUB UPCOMING EVENTS
Sun, October 17: A bus trip to the city, together with Dos Yiddish
Vort, to see FYVUSH FINKLE LIVE at the Yiddish Theater. $65 pp,
which includes a light supper. Call Ros Wagner at 487-9795.
Tues, October 19: An "End of Life" Symposium, which once again
brings together Rabbi Polakoff, a Trusts and Estates Attorney and
representatives from Sinai Chapels and Sprung Monuments, to discuss
the important subject of proper planning for the inevitable.
Wed, October 27: A talk by Ambassador (ret.) YORAM ETTINGER,
The Jewish Political Education Foundation is co-sponsoring the evening.
Sun, October 31: The semi-annual BLOOD DRIVE. See page 3
In The Family
Mazal Tov to Judy & Abe Soleimani on the birth of a granddaughter,
Emma born to their children, Benjamin & Dr. Kimmy Soleimani.
Mazal Tov to Lori & Ira Rosenfeld on the birth of a grandson, born to
their children Elisheva & David Rosenfeld.
Mazal Tov to Hilda Schulman on the birth of a great-grandson,
Natanel born to her grandchildren, Dina & Jason Asher.
Mazal Tov to Gail & Maurice Setton on the Bar Mitzvah of their son
Max.
Mazal Tov to Jacqueline & Stanley Fischer on the upcoming marriage
of their son David to Rachel Zinaman, daughter of Arline & Bob
Zinaman of New City.
Mazal Tov to Hadassah & Jacob Wachstock on the birth of a
grandson, born to their children, Esther & Oren Wachstock in
Buffalo, NY.
WHEELS OF LOVE
GNS will have members who will participate in the Alyn Hospital, Wheels
of Love 5 day, 300 mile bike ride in Israel. ALYN Hospital is one of the
world’s leading specialists in the active and intensive rehabilitation of
children, GNS members Cori and Nathan Franco, and Laura and Scott
Danoff will participate. Donations can be made online at www.wolusa/
greatneckteam . Checks can also be submitted and made out to
“American Friends of ALYN Hospital”. Please write Team Great Neck
in the memo section. Checks will be collected by Dr. Scott Danoff at
49-33 Little Neck Pkwy., Little Neck, NY 11362.
FYI
North Shore Towers Cinema is showing the film which depicted the nazi
propaganda against Jews titled: A Film Unfinished.
MY MOTHER MADE ME DO THIS WEEKEND!
If you grew up in Great Neck and are between the ages of 23 and 33, you
and your friends are invited to participate in an exciting social
networking event, Shabbat Chaye Sarah, October 30th. Simply bring
a friend of the opposite sex to Great Neck that shabbat and introduce
him/her to your childhood friends. This is a joint Great Neck Synagogue/
Young Israel of Great Neck program. The cost is $50 per person which
includes shabbat meals at YIGN and GNS. Please call the Young Israel's
office at 516-829-6040 ASAP to register.
SAVE THE DATE!!! The North Shore Hebrew Academy's Early Childhood
Center will be holding a parlor meeting on Saturday evening,
October 30th for parents of children turning 2 - 5 years old at the home
of Avery and Ellen Modlin, 55 Bluebird Drive. Details to follow.
IRANIAN AMERICAN FEDERATION DINNER
The Iranian American Federation will hold its annual dinner on Tuesday,
November 9th at 7 pm. All money raised goes to Israel. For info
please call 516-466-8947
TODDLER NEWS
The service will be every Shabbat in Room 110 (mommy & me)
10:30-11:15. For Parents and Infants-Kindergarteners, specifically those
who will not separate. Kiddie Kiddush to follow service.
Participation encouraged.
Saturday, 8 Cheshvan
Pauline Loewenstein for Emanuel Rutta
Ira Lubin for Nathan Lubin
Y Brian Smith for Francine Smith
Sunday, 9 Cheshvan
A Mr. & Mrs. Herman Davidovicz for Samuel Davidovicz
Monday, 10 Cheshvan
H Miriam Bader for Sarah Fleshel
Tuesday, 11 Cheshvan
R Osnass Shein for Simchat Charchat
Joyce Swartz for Geraldine Zeff
Z Wednesday, 12 Cheshvan
Anne Lupkin for Mary Fischler
E Irene Wineman Marcus for David Wineman
Hillel Milun for Nancy Milun
I Thursday, 13 Cheshvan
Dr. Stanley Dacher for Samuel Dacher
T Yaacov Mizrahi for Dalia Mizrahi
Esther Nysenbaum for Micheline Singer
Morris Seidman for Kalma Seidman
Jerrald Weinstein for George Weinstein
Friday, 14 Cheshvan
Dr. Paul Brody for Ruth Schaeffer
Irving Forman for Rose Forman