Parshat Vayishlach November 20, 2010 13 Kislev, 5771

TORAH Rabbi Sacks on Parshat Vayishlach

ARTSCROLL, 170 Jacob, on his way home Jacob's fear was physical - the fear The rules of defense and self-
HERTZ, 169 after an absence of 22 of death. His distress, though, was defense are not an open-
years, hears that Esau is moral - the fear that he himself ended permission to kill. One
HAFTORAH coming to meet him with a might be forced to kill his brother. is limited to the minimum
ARTSCROLL, 1141 force of 400 men. He is But this, as the commentators force needed to protect
HERTZ, 178 terrified. He knows that note, is puzzling. There is a rule in yourself or another from
many years earlier, his Jewish law that if someone comes danger. Jacob's distress was
brother was merely waiting to kill you, you may kill him first that he might kill someone
AUFRUF for Isaac to die before he (Sanhedrin 72a). This is a basic when mere injury would have
took revenge. His approach principle of self defense, without sufficed. This is the law
STEPHEN which there can be no right to life.
with so large a contingent restricting what is nowadays
RABINOWITZ
of people suggested to called 'collateral damage',
Jacob that Esau was intent Why then was Jacob distressed lest the killing of innocent
on violence. He prepares he kill? If, in the struggle, he was civilians even if undertaken
Times himself. As the sages forced to kill Esau to protect his in the course of self-defense.
noted, he made three types own life, he would be acting fully
Candle Lighting 4:16 pm of preparation. First, he within his rights. This is the The sages heard something
made provisions for war, profound answer suggested by similar in the opening
Friday Mincha 4:20 pm dividing his household into Rabbi Shabbatai Bass (Siftei sentence of Genesis 15. The
two camps in the hope that Chakhamim): previous chapter describes
Haskhama 8:00 am one at least would survive. Abraham's victorious war
Then he prayed to G-d to One might argue that Jacob surely against the four kings,
Youth 8:30 am protect him. Then he sent should have had no qualms about undertaken to rescue his
gifts, hoping to allay Esau's killing Esau, for [the Talmud] nephew Lot. We then read:
Parsha Shiur 8:30 am anger. states explicitly: "If one comes to
kill you, forestall it by killing him." After this, the word of G-d
Main Minyan 9:00 am None the less, Jacob did indeed
One sentence in particular came to Abram in a vision.
caught the attention of the have qualms. He feared that in the He said, "Do not be afraid,
Beit Midrash 9:15 am fray he might kill some of the
sages: Abram, I am your shield.
Esau's men, who were not intent Your reward will be very
Gemorah Shiur 3:30 pm
"Jacob was very afraid and on killing Jacob but were merely great." (Genesis 15: 1)
Mincha 4:05 pm distressed." (32: 7) fighting against Jacob's men. And
even though Esau's men were The question is obvious: of
Shabbat Ends 5:23 pm One of these two phrases is pursuing Jacob's men, and every what was Abraham afraid?
surely superfluous. If Jacob person has the right to save the He had just been victorious
Sunday Nov. 21 7:30/8:30 am was afraid, he was life of the pursued at the cost of in battle. He had no cause for
distressed; if he was the life of the pursuer, none the fear. On this, the midrash
Monday 6:35/7:45 am distressed, he was afraid. less there is a provision: if the comments:
Why use two descriptions if pursued could have been saved my
Tues, Wed, Fri. 6:45/7:45 am one would do? This maiming a limb of the pursuer, but Another reason for Abram's
provided the springboard instead the rescuer killed the fear after killing the kings in
Thursday 7:30/8:30 am for a highly significant pursuer, the rescuer is liable to battle was his sudden
midrash: capital punishment on that realization: "Perhaps I
Late Maariv 8:15 pm account. Hence Jacob was rightly violated the Divine
"Jacob was very afraid - distressed about the possibility commandment that the Holy
Mincha Sun./Fri. 4:15 pm lest he be killed. He was that, in the confusion of battle, he One, blessed be He,
distressed - lest he kill. might kill some of Esau's men commanded the children of
Latest times for (Rashi)" outright when he might instead Noah, 'He who sheds the
Shema/Shmoneh Esrei have restrained them by merely blood of man, by man shall
inflicting an injury.
November 20 9:14/10:02 am
November 27 9:18/10:06 am SEUDAH SHLISHIT
KIDDUSH IS SPONSORED BY IS SPONSORED BY
Next Shabbat LYNN STEINBERG LILLIAN & GARY CHUBAK
Vayeshev
& STEPHEN RABINOWITZ IN MEMORY OF
Candle lighting 4:12 pm IN HONOR OF THEIR HER MOTHER
UPCOMING MARRIAGE MALVINA GRAF Z”LL
Mincha 4:15 pm
26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11023 (516) 487-6100 Shabbat Announcements Parshat Vayishlach 5771
That mood was born thousands of years earlier, when
his blood be shed.' Yet how many people I killed in
Jacob, father of the Jewish people, experienced not only the
battle." (Tanchuma Buber, Lekh Lekha 19).
physical fear of defeat but the moral distress of victory.
Only those who are capable of feeling both can defend their
Another midrash puts it slightly differently and more precisely:
bodies without endangering their souls.
Abraham was filled with misgiving, thinking to himself, Maybe
there was a righteous or G-d-fearing man among those troops
which I slew. (Bereishith Rabbah, 44:4).

What is going on in these sources? For this we need to borrow

a concept from philosophy, namely, the idea of a moral dilemma.
This phrase is often used imprecisely, to mean a moral problem,
a difficult ethical decision. In fact it means something more
specific. Moral problems are often of the form: what is the right
thing to do in the circumstances? A moral dilemma is different.
It arises in cases of conflict between right and right, or between
wrong and wrong - where, whatever we do, we are doing
something that in other circumstances we ought not to do. SAVE THE DATE
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Terumot 8) describes one such case,
where a fugitive from the Romans, Ulla bar Koshev, takes refuge
in the town of Lod. The Romans surround the town, saying: Hand GREAT NECK
over the fugitive or we will kill you all. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi
persuades the fugitive to give himself up. This is a complex case, SYNAGOGUE
much discussed in Jewish law, but it is one in which both
alternatives are tragic. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi acts in accordance
with Jewish law, but the prophet Elijah asks him: "Is this the way
of the pious? [Ve-zu mishnat ha-chassidim?] 59TH ANNUAL
Jean-Paul Sartre, speaking of existential decisions, gave the DINNER
example of a Frenchman during the war who has an elderly and
ailing mother with no one else to look after her. Should he stay
with her, or should he join the resistance?

Life presents us with many such decisions. They are particularly

GUESTS OF HONOR
common among those in public life, who are sometimes faced
with courses of action that are in the long-term public good, but
with which they may feel profoundly uneasy as private
individuals. There are no easy answers in such cases. If there
SHARON GOLDWYN
were, they would not be dilemmas. AND
It is one of the tests of a moral code that it does not present
moral choices as easier than they are. There are moral dilemmas.
MICHAEL & MINDY
They are a fact of the moral life. There are times when a good
human being, even if he or she does the right thing, will still
LEVENTHAL
experience (not remorse but) regret. We will still suffer pangs of
conscience even though we know we are justified in what we do.

One of the most profound examples of this is the remarkable

BONEH HABAYIT AWARD
book, The Seventh Day, that emerged from discussions among
Israelis after the Six Day War. Although they had achieved one of
PHYLLIS WEINBERG
the most stunning military victories in history, the prevailing tone
is one of distress that they had been forced to kill in order to
defend their country and people. Never, I suspect, has a less
militaristic work emerged from a victorious army. SATURDAY EVENING,
JANUARY 15TH, 2011
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 Interns
Zeev Kron, Cantor
Eleazer Schulman, z”l, Cantor Emeritus
Mark Twersky, Executive Director
Joseph Hecht, President
Harold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board
 59th Annual Dinner
Saturday evening, January 15, 2011
Honoring
Sharon Goldwyn
Mindy & Michael Leventhal
Boneh Habayit
Phyllis Weinberg

Gold Page $10,000*

2011 JOURNAL CONTRACT Silver Page 7,500*
YES! Please place my message in the Bronze page 5,000*
GREAT NECK SYNAGOGUE’S 59th Twice Chai 3,600*
DINNER JOURNAL. Enclosed is my Parchment 2,500*
check in the amount of $________________ Chai 1,800*
for the space indicated. Full Page 1,000*
Half Page 550*
Name____________________________ Quarter Page 250
Listing 100
Address__________________________ * Includes two reservations to dinner
Please make check payable to:
City_________ State___________Zip___ Great Neck Synagogue
26 Old Mill Road
Solicited by_________________________ Great Neck, NY 11023

This year for Thanksgiving you can really give thanks and be giving!
Buy a Thanksgiving Dinner for a resident at Arrandale Senior Housing and make your parents proud of
you. $18 can sponsor a dinner in honor of/in memory of your parents

Name:_______________________________
Email:______________________________
Meals purchased in memory/ in honor of:
_____________________________________

Amount enclosed:______
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Co-Sponsored by: GNS Hunger Initiative, Sisterhood & Women’s Tefila

For more info: call Nechama at 516-773-3572 or email lisslev@verizon.net
Please return to: GNS, 26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, Neck, NY 11023

SAVE THE DATE

Shlock Rock is coming to Great Neck Synagogue
Thursday evening December 2, 2010
Stay tuned for more details.
Sponsorships for preferred and priority seating are available
Details to follow. For more information please see Rabbi Ian Lichter
 ANNOUNCEMENTS
THANKSGIVING DRIVE
GNS Sisterhood, Women’s Tefila and The Hunger Initiative are once
again sponsoring Thanksgiving at Arrandale Senior Housing. To donate
a meal in honor or in memory of loved ones, please send your check
for $18 to GNS. Please call Nechama Liss-Levinson at 516-773-3572
or email at lisslev@verizon.net.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
The Sisterhood of Great Neck Synagogue would like to thank
Lisa Kagan very much for organizing a hugely successful Chanukah
Boutique this week! Everyone had a wonderful time shopping for
Chanukah gifts, participating in the raffle and enjoying the delicious
fruit provided as a courtesy by Everfresh Supermarket. Thank you
very much to Roz Davidovics, Erica Zucker Heisler, Cindy Hodkin, Amy
Kalter, Vivian Kron, Shahnaz Malekan and Nurit Weiss for all their
help. Also, special thank you to Dario & staff for all their help on this
event.
LUNCH & LEARN FOR WOMEN ONLY
Wednesday, Dec. 8, from noon to 1pm at the home of Dr. Laura
Danoff, 4 Vista Drive, GN Estates.
There will be a lecture “For the Woman on the Go with a Desire to
Know”, How the parsha of the week will influence one’s life.
RSVP by Dec. 3 to openwyd613@aol.com.
SISTERHOOD
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
The Sisterhood presents a Shalom Bayit lecture with Rabbi Polakoff
and Rabbi Lichter on Wednesday evening, November 17th at 8 pm.
This event is sponsored by David and Diane Rein in memory of their
beloved and dear friend Judy Sokol z”l. For more information, please
contact Susan Sheena at Susheena@aol.com or (516) 353 6158 or co-
chair Ina Greszes (516) 482-3642. See page three.
COMBINED SISTERHOOD MEETING
Please join the Combined Sisterhood meeting on Monday morning,
December 13th at 10:00am at Temple Israel (Blue Room) to start
planning the Annual Combined Sisterhood Event. We welcome your
ideas and help!
SOLES4SOULS SHOE DRIVE
Did you know that over 300 million children worldwide are without
shoes? Join us in helping Soles4Souls, a non-profit charity that collects
new and gently-used shoes for distribution to people in over 125
countries that have experienced natural disasters or extreme poverty.
Your extra pair of shoes could be someone’s first. From now until
December 5, bring your new or gently-used shoes, sandals, sneakers
or boots to the Soles4Souls bin outside the synagogue office
(please be sure to attach each pair together). Questions? Please
contact Jordan Rosman (jrosman@nshahs.org) or Micah Spielman
(mspielman@nshahs.org), or visit the Soles4Souls website
(http://www.soles4souls.org/)
HUNGER INITIATIVE Regular Food drop off’s continue Friday’s at
18 Birchwood Lane . Drop off hours are between 10 am and 1 pm.
Kindly place your food in the cooler. Also, soup containers are avail-
able in the Shul office for those wishing to make soup for the Hunger
Initiative for Friday delivery to 18 Birchwood Lane. For those wishing
to provide food on Sundays, call Jackie Nissan 482-2697.
SNOW BIRDS
Please notify the synagogue office BEFORE you leave Great Neck so
we can change our records and forward your mail.
DOS YIDDISH VORT celebrates Chanukah on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at
1:30. Enjoy a potpourri of Yiddish melodies with Judy Hirsch, a
Chanukah mayse and sufganiot. All welcome. For more information,
call Roz Wagner at 516 487-9795.
CHEVRA KADISHA
During these difficult last few weeks our Chevra Kadisha has been
there for many families in their time of need and we have a great deal
to be proud of, but we cannot do it alone. We are asking for just two
hours of your time to serve as a Shomer when the need arises. Please
call or e-mail Brenda Parver (516) 829 8079-bparver@gmail.com or
Rona Jutkowitz at (516) 504-1644 - rjut@aol.com and let them
know that you want to be part of this important mitzvah.
Within Our Family
Mazal Tov to Lynn Steinberg & Stephen Rabinowitz on
their upcoming marriage. Mazal Tov to Elizabeth Katzwer
and Marion & Milton Rabinowitz on the marriage of their
children. Mazal Tov also to the entire Steinberg and Rabi-
nowitz families.
Mazal Tov to Gisella Steigman and Karen & Robert
Spitalnick on being honored at the Emunah Dinner Saturday
night.
WOMEN’s TUESDAY LEARNING
Women’s Tuesday learning is starting Tuesdays at 10 am in The Braun
Youth Center. Amit Yaghoubi will be teaching the Shemoneh Esrei from
start to finish with commentaries. Please sign up for 5 weeks in the shul
office for $50.00. You may also attend individual classes at a cost of
$12.00 per class.
FYI
Debbie Wang Etzion will speak at The Jewish Genealogy Society of Long
Island on Sunday, November 21, at 2:00 pm at the Mid-Island Y JCC, 45
Manetto Hill Road Plainview, New York.
Her topic: “What to do with all that data” tells us what we can do with all
the research data that we have collected and what our family can learn
PARLOR MEETING
On Tuesday evening, November 16th, at 8pm, at the home of Sarita &
Ben Greszes at 65 Emerson Drive, there will be a Fine Israeli Wine Tast-
ing & hors D’oeuvres event on behalf of One Israel Fund. The guest
speaker will be Marc Prowisor, director of security projects for One Israel
Fund. Proceeds raised from the evening will help purchase advanced
life-saving medical kits (ALS Kits) for the security and medical personnel
throughout Judea and Samaria. For more information regarding the event
on November 16th, contact Scott Feltman at One Israel Fund. Please call
516.239.9202 or email info@oneisraelfund.org.
THE NSHA BOOK FAIR
It will take place at Cherry Lane on Nov. 21, from 11am-4pm.
PAINTING EXHIBIT AT GN LIBRARY BY CHAVA SHALMON
Still Life and Landscape Oil Paintings on Canvas Exhibit
October 20-November 15th, 2010 at the Great Neck Library
(Main Branch), Lower Level.
Saturday, 13 Kislev
Susan Castle for Bronia Kalt
Dr. Samuel Friedman for Ezra Friedman
Dr Robert Glaser for Jack Glaser
George Zobel for Georgina Zobel
Sunday, 14 Kislev
Martin H. Sokol for Sadie Sokol
Lili Weis for Hanah Krendel
Monday, 15 Kislev
Dr. Lev Dynkin for Rabbi Aryeh Leib Shifman
Y Semyon Dynkin for Rabbi Aryeh Leib Shifman
Marvin Greenwald for Emanuel Greenwald
A David Lax for Zeev Rosenberg
H Barry Maher for Faizollah Maher-Afarin
Tuesday, 16 Kislev
R Dr. Lorraine Buchsbaum for Leon Shkolnick
Dr. Lillian Chubak for Malvina Graf
Z Margery Libin for Florence Mandell
E Wednesday, 17 Kislev
Eliezer Noy for Ahron Ben Yitzchak
I Risa Pulver for Bernie Shapiro
T Thursday, 18 Kislev
Pearl Ginsburg for Irving Helfman
Gedale Horowitz for Abraham Horowitz
Rita Silverman for Harris Schwartz
Friday, 19 Kislev
Gail Mizrahi for Rosalind Sussman
Morris Nasser for Tova Djemal
Israel Rosenzweig for Jacob Bladow
Ellen Siegel for Marnie Bluestein