From mosheb at sefer-torah.com Fri Mar 5 07:00:54 2004 From: mosheb at sefer-torah.com (Moshe Burt) Date: Fri Mar 5 06:51:19 2004 Subject: [Sefer-torah-network-news] The Sefer Torah Network Newsletter, Vol. 1, Number 17 Message-ID: Sefer Torah Network News Volume 1, Number 17 5 March, 2004 Shalom Friends; Welcome to the 17th edition of the Sefer Torah Network News list. -- The Special Purim Edition. The Sefer Torah Recycling Network continues to be active on various fronts despite a major Netscape crash and ISP connection problems as well as a few other foibles resulting from severe underfunding. However, there are a few noteworthy developments to report in The Sefer Torah Network News list. I'm pleased to announce that the Sefer Torah transferred by the Goldstein family of Queens, NY will be placed in Givat Nof Harim hilltop community of Yishuv Eli in the Shomron IY'H during the last week of March. Please watch the website, this newsletter, other Israel-oriented email lists, Arutz-7 etc. for up-to-date news as to the day and time of the Hochnossis Sefer Torah celebration and transportation to get you there and back. Please click here to view pictures from the small Transfer Ceremony which took place on Monday, 19 January, 2004 at the Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem as well as from my recent Shabbos in Givat Nof Harim. The Sefer Torah Recyclng Network expresses it's great appreciation to the Goldstein family for their kindness in providing a Sefer Torah for a needy location in EretzYisrael. The community of Givat Nof Harim, east of Eli in the Shomron, consists of 35 families and has been without a Sefer Torah for a number of years. We look forward placement of the Sefer Torah upon completion of the repairs and to a big Hochnossis Sefer Torah celebration sometime in March IY'H. I hope to see many of you at theHochnossis Sefer Torah celebration, including those currently living in Chutz L'Aretz who happen to be visiting Israel at the time of the celebration. Please note that The Sefer Torah Recycling Network has entered into affilation with CDTorah.com which markets hundreds of Torah lectures and shiurim on standard audio CDs. Now you can help The Sefer Torah Recycling Network with a click-thru from this newsletter, or from The Sefer Torah Recycling Network website to the CDTorah.com site and order audio CD's of shiurim given by notables such as Rabbi Yitzchok Berkowitz, Rabbi Akiva Tatz, Rabbi Paysach Krohn, Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum Rabbi Herschel Schachter, Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz and more. The Sefer Torah Recycling Network is still offering a number of frameable Sefer Torah posters to all who donate $180 or more to the project. These Sefer Torah posters provide donors with incentive and yet another opportunity to impact on the heavenly scales by making needy locations Mokomot Torah and promoting Torah study. We are asking people to help us raise the necessary funds for the restoration of two Sifrei Torah slated for placement in needy locations here in Israel. A Sefer Torah poster makes a beautiful livingroom centerpiece picture. The Sefer Torah poster has a brown Mantel on either side and the 247 Amudim on a blue background. Click here to view a partial scan of the poster. While they last, those donating $180 or more will receive a full Sefer Torah poster including all 247 Amudim. Supply of these posters is limited so, please make your donation NOW!! Please note that the site has undergone some subtle alterations designed to make the message to the viewer more focused and directed. We have placed both the ArtScroll.com and the CDTorah.com sites, with their special directed links, in a more prominent position on the front page and on other pages on the site while changing the positioning of other links and by adding an automatic, one-button method of subscription to this newsletter. These special directed links, both on the site and in this newsletter, enable you to help The Sefer Torah Recycling Network to raise funds while purchasing S'forim, CDs and keeping up with The Daf Yomi. Those wishing to subscribe after reading this edition of the newsletter may do so either by clicking on the website and placing their email address on the email address line and clicking the submit button or by following the subscription instructions at the end of this post. A special page has been added to the site which will deal with an issue of crisis proportion which is near and dear to my heart -- halachic issues regarding Kohanim. We are currently in process of promoting The Sefer Torah Recycling Network to Shuls and Jewish Day Schools with websites and email addresses throughout the US, Canada and elsewhere. Raising the necessary funds for two restorations of Sifrei Torah for Homesh and the kehilla on Bat Ayin is presently THE central focus of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. So far, the project has thankfully received donations from many sponsors but is still far short of the funds necessary to defray these restoration costs. (approximately $ 7,500 still needs to be raised) It is vital that The Sefer Torah Recycling Network receive seed-funding as well as ongoing cash donations and a constant influx of Sifrei Torah. We seek philanthropists who recognize the need for an ongoing clearing house where Sifrei Torah can be donated or acquired, restorations completed and placements of Sifrei Torah made in needy locations throughout EretzYisrael. In this way, The Sefer Torah project will become an active, ongoing, serious organization which solicits and receives donations of Sifrei Torah, or acquires S'forim for cash for placement in needy locations throughout Israel. In the process, such donations will avail ongoing employment to needy Sofrim to repair and restore posul Sifrei Torah for placement in the growing number of needy locations in Israel which request help in acquiring a Sefer Torah. Toward the bottom of this newsletter, please read the brief descriptions of many more such locations throughout Israel currently either without their own Sifrei Torah or lacking sufficient number of Sifrei Torah. This same information is available by clicking on "About The Sefer Torah Recycling Network" page of the website which will provide a history of the project as well as details on the various needy organizations. I ask all of you to please help publicize The Sefer Torah Recycling Network, thereby opening up further possibility of donations of Sifrei Torah and/or funds. I am asking that subscribers pass this edition of the Sefer Torah Network News list to their friends and relatives via email with an invitation to subscribe themselves. (subscription instructions are below.) Perhaps you would also consider printing out hardcopies and posting the Sefer Torah Network News to your Shul's Bulletin Board and/or suggesting a link on your Shul's email list to The Sefer Torah Recycling Network,. Please note that the embedded links may not show up as such on the forwarded copy. However, the URLs will show up next to the words of the links. Additional newsletter subscribers = more traffic to the site = more financial donations, that potential Philanthropic Angel and potential Sefer Torah donors. Subscribers, if you have not already viewed the Arutz-7 story of several months ago, the Article is entitled, "Recycling Torah Scrolls To Israel". (It can be read by clicking on the underlined words.) The Sefer Torah Recycling Network has also received coverage recently in The Jewish Press and in The Capital News (formerly Daf Shemesh). Hopefully, with your help and IY'H additional publicity, the exposure, subscribership and Donations of funds and Sifrei Torah will grow in the weeks and months to come as a result of both initial and ongoing efforts. Continued wishes for a Sweet year and enjoyable reading of the Sefer Torah Network News list. Best Regards, Moshe Burt Founder and Director *************************************************************************************************** Items of Note in this Edition of theSefer Torah Network News . -Shabbos in the Givat Nof Harim Community of Yishuv Eli -Spotlight on two locations slated to receive Sifrei Torah -The Mother of ALL Press leaks; Now Running for Prime Minister of Israel ... -Parsha Tetzaveh -- Where's Moshe?? -Inspiring Sefer Torah Stories from Around the World -Locations in need of their own Sifrei Torah -Up Close and Personal ; Kehilla Beis Tefillah, Ramat Beit Shemesh *************************************************************************************************** Please visit the ArtScroll.com Website and help support The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. A portion of all purchases from the ArtScroll.com website will support the project's mission - only when you click on this link: ArtScroll.com. Sefer Torah Network News selections for this newsletter; The Schottenstein Edition Talmud, The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology Set / 2 Volume Slipcased Set, By Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan and Rabbi Berel Wein's Pirkei Avos: Teachings for Our Times. Please note that you can now place a Standing Order of the Daf Yomi Size Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud and receive every volume of the Daf Yomi Size Schottenstein Talmud as they are Published and help support The Sefer Torah Recycling Network at the same time. **************************************************************************************************** Tehillim for Recovery from Illness Please see that tehillim is said for the following individuals; Moshe Shlomo ben Michal Moshe Shlomo is a little over 1 year old. There were complications at birth which have resulted in slowness in coordination and motor development. Aliza Channa Devorah bat Malka. Aliza is 12 years of age. She is receiving Chemo-therapy treatments for cancer in Hadassah Childrens hospital. She had complained of pain in her right shoulder. Doctors found a tumor and she was diagnosed a few months ago. Please pray hard for her refuah shleimah. This request came to me from her grandparents who live in the U.S. Menucha Mendel Yehudit Rut bat Chaya Zelda; A widow from London who became ill during a visit to EretzYisrael and who is currently recovering from her illness in London. Please pray hard for her refuah shleimah. And please Daven for Good Health for Yehonatan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard) and for his speedy release from American incarceration and his return to his beloved homeland, Eretz Yisrael. **************************************************************************************************** Shabbos in the Givat Nof Harim Community of Yishuv Eli On Friday, 30 January, 2004, I travelled via autobus #474 and arrived on about 2 PM in the afternoon. My contact, Yo'av Amir, the Shul's Gabai, picked me up at the Kikar at Yishuv Eli's main entrance. After a cup of tea, he took me on a tour of the neighborhood as well as a driving tour of the hilltop communities which surround the main Yishuv and which are part of the Yishuv. The views from the Givat Nof Harim are fantastic. From there, you can see the surrounding Yishuvim -- Ma'alei Levona, Shilo, Rachele and even Tapuach. I took numerous pictures during Friday afternoon of the view from the hilltops, the Main Yishuv, the Beit Knesset -- inside and out, the Gan and a converted railroad car which serves as a visitor's center and is located between the main Yishuv and the hilltop communities. Pictures of the community andYishuv Eli will be forthcoming IY'H, by the next edition of this newsletter. I received wonderful, warm hospitality (and great food) throughout Shabbos, having my meals with 3 different families -- Friday night with Yo'av and his wife and baby, Shabbos lunch with a another member of the Shul's Va'ad and Seudat Shlish't with a 3rd family. The community is extremely warm, close-knit and very S'niyut. Davening was nice and the Rav ( Rav Mordechai Haas) is soft-spoken, s'niyut, yet a big Talmud Chacham. Rabbi Haas teaches during the week in a Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He makes himself available throughout the week, via cellphone, to answer Shi'alot for not only the Givat Nof Harim community, but of the entire Yishuv. He gives a Shiur on Friday night after Davening as well as on Shabbos morning before laining and just after Mincha for about 20 minutes. I'm told that Rabbi Haas and his Rebbetzin have 12 children. The people in Givat Nof Harim are serious in their learning. Discussions throughout Shabbos were very stimulating. The people are, for the most part, young in their 20s and 30s, yet very grounded, mature, serious and sincere. The Rav has lived in Eli for 7 years and was among those who began the community. And when he moved to the community, he brought others to the community as well. The Rav spent his childhood in "Bnai Brak" and then learned at "Mercaz-Harav". The Shul was built within the last two years. It is nice, although not fancy. The people live simply and with S'niyut and the Shul is in keeping with their derech. **************************************************************************************************** Spotlight on two locations slated to receive Sifrei Torah (with your help!) ; Homesh, in the Shomron (Sameria) region of Eretz Yisrael amd is located amongst a group of communities including Kedumim, Elon Moreh, Shavei Shomron, Einav, etc. which are in close proximity to the Arab cities of Shechem, Kalkilya, etc. The Yishuv has many Russian olim who have become Ba'al Teshuva in addition to many Dati families who have moved there in recent years from other locations. Upon completion of the restoration of a Sefer Torah donated by a family in Baltimore, its placement in Homesh will be fulfillment of a nearly 5 year old promise to Rabbi Yehoshua Schmidt. I met Rav Schmidt, the Rav of both Yishuv Shavei Shomron and Yishuv Homesh, while living and doing Ulpan on Shavei Shomron. The second Sefer Torah, once funds are raised and the restoration work is completed, will be placed in a Kehilla of Yishuv Bat Ayin which is located in Gush Etzion. It will be the recipient of a Sefer Torah donated by a student of the School of Safrus located there. Just a few words on Bat Ayin. I visited there recently for the first time in many years. The Yishuv has grown 10-fold in the 9 years since The Sefer Torah Recycling Network placed it's first Sefer Torah there in 1995. It was more beautiful then I remember it. Hopefully, I will go there for Shabbos in the near future and will have more to write then. In order to complete the restorations of these Sifrei Torah for placement in these two locations, $7,500 remains to be raised. Please know that your sponsorship donation or purchase of a S'forim or Judaica products via clicking from the ads on The Sefer Torah Recycling Network homepage, the About The Sefer Torah Recycling Network page or the Judaica Page is an act of helping to unify Jewish neshamot of those who have touched, kissed and lained from these Sifrei Torah throughout their lives with those yet to touch, kiss and lain from them during their extended future life. By donating or through purchasing via the ads on the site, you are taking positive action to possess Eretz Yisrael. In these days where talk abounds about dismantlements, unilateral withdrawals and the like, and this talk is seen as a display of weakness discrediting our Divine, eternal legacy of possession of Eretz Yisrael, your donation insures that needy locations become Mokomot Torah and under the protection of Shemayim. Please make your donations by check or paypal -- NOW! ****************************************************************************************** Press Leak!! Press Leak!! Press Leak!! Press Leak!! Flash!! Flash!! Flash!! Flash!! Flash!! Exclusive Report!! Exclusive Report!! Exclusive Report!! In a decision which will reverberate through Israel and world Jewry, a well-placed, unnamed Senior official of Agudas Yisrael has broken an exclusive story on the upcoming Purim announcement of Rav Chaim Zev HaLevy, Sh'lita of Jerusalem/Ramat Beit Shemesh --i.e. that he has tossed his Black Hat into the ring as a Candidate for the Offices of Prime Minister of Israel and both Chief Rabbis. Rav HaLevy, Sh'lita is dismayed and angered by those who seek a return to conditions of pre-1967 which, coincidentally, was the year when the Crock Pot became envogue throughout the world. Rav HaLevy, Sh'lita is running on a platform "An Insert for every Crock Pot", thereby making Hatmana legal according to the psak of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Zt'l. Further, he will act to compell strict enforcement of the Rama's Mitzvah " to store food for Shabbos in a manner that will retain its heat so that there will be hot food to eat on Shabbos, for hot food is something which is an honor and a delight of Shabbos. " (Mishnah Berurah, Hilchos Shabbos, Simon 257.8<49>) Further, Rav HaLevy will press for fulfillment of the dictates of Hilchos Shabbos, namely, that L'Kavod HaShabbos, Cholent shall be a mandatory staple of Shabbos lunch in every home. As enunciated years ago by the Rama, "Whoever does not trust in the words of the Sages and forbids eating hot food on Shabbos may be suspected of being a heretic." Rav HaLevy will also pronounce henceforth, that the Rama in Hilchos Shabbos 329:6 be adhered to."You can't obey the Rama when it comes to Cholent, and ignore him in more weighty matters--more weighty, indeed, even than Cholent." In addition, Rav HaLevy, Sh'lita will make a major policy statement in which he will endorse Israel's immediate annexation of lands with sizeable Jewish Populations -- Lakewood, Borough Park, Flatbush, Queens and Monsey. And finally, he will announce the contestants in the 2004 World Series; the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox. Hallel (without Bracha) will be made mandatory upon the final out of the final game and will be sung by "Duaf of Memphis." ***************************************************************************************** Sponsorship Donation Program Lifting Neshamot through Donations of Funds/Sifrei Torah Flash: Special Incentive gift for those Sponsors donating $180 or More* Why not donate a paragraph, or a section or the reading from your Bar Mitzvah, marriage, or some other family event. Principals and Administrators of Religious Day Schools, Talmudei Torah and Yeshiva High Schools; The Sponsorship Donation Program to help restore Sifrei Torah for placement in needy locations in Israel makes an excellent Chinuch and Tzedakah project for your students and their families. Friends, please recommend it to principals and adminstrators for inclusion in their educational programs. Please send me an email stating your level of sponsorship, and what you seek to sponsor. More information is also available on our website. Making a donation, whether a financial donation made through a program such as theSponsorship Donation program, or via the donation of a Sefer Torah, can cause the elevation in Shemayim of the Neshama of the niftar loved one or close friend. Please keep this thought in mind as you consider a donation to The Sefer Torah project. Sefer Torah $ 6,000 25,000 NIS 1 Sefer; i.e. Sefer Breish't $ 1,800 7,200 NIS 1 Parsha $ 180 (10 x Chai) 720 NIS (40 x Chai) 1 Amud $ 54 ( 3 x Chai) 216 NIS (12 x Chai) 1 Posuk $ 10 36 NIS (2 x Chai ) 2 Posukim $ 18 ( Chai) 72 NIS (4 x Chai) 3 Posukim $ 36 ( 2 x Chai) 144 NIS ( 8 x Chai) Why not donate posukim, amudim or the Parsha of your Bar Mitzvah, Marriage, or some other family Simcha? Wnen donating in this way, please send me an email stating your level of sponsership, what Posukim, Amud, Parsha, etc. you seek to sponsor and your method of payment; by check, see directions in method #2 (listed in the "You can help in five ways" section shown below) or via paypal (see next line). In the USA; To receive a USA tax receipt, donors should make their checks out to "Congregation Ahavas Torah Tzedakah Fund." Please note on both the memo line of the check and on the envelope that the check is for: "Mark Burt & Sefer Torah Recycling Network." Be sure to include your address. Upon request, a tax-deductible receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. Mail checks to: Congregation Ahavas Torah Tzedakah Fund, 1425 Rhawn Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19111. In Canada; To receive a Canadian tax receipt, donors should make their checks out to "JBRASS" (BN#864426911RR0001). Please also enclose a note as well as mark the envelope that the check is for "Mark Burt & Sefer Torah Recycling Network." Be sure to include your address. Upon request, a tax-deductible receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. Mail checks to: The Sefer Torah Recycling Network, 46 Meadowbrook Road, Apt. 6, Toronto, Ontario, M6B 2S6 Canada In Israel; Donors in Israel can donate by contacting 067-305-497 or emailing Moshe Burt or for mailing information. Sponsorship Donors can make an Online donation via paypal. Simply copy the email address; , then click on the paypal link, and paste the copied email address onto the "Recipient's email" field. All donors participating in the Sponsorship donation program will receive an attractive, frameable commemorative certificate in recognition of their kind donation. *The Sefer Torah Recycling Network has gained access to a limited number of Sefer Torah posters. Those donating $180 or more will be sent one of these posters which is frameable. It makes a beautiful livingroom centerpiece picture. The Sefer Torah pictured has a brown Mantel on either side and the 247 Amudim on a blue background. Click here to view a partial scan of the poster. While they last, those donating $180 or more will receive a full Sefer Torah poster including all 247 Amudim. **************************************************************************************************** Check out the Updated Sefer Torah Recycling Network website and see all of the new bells, whistles and features which provide you with all necessary information about the project from lists of needy locations to Rabbinic Approbations. **************************************************************************************************** Divrei Torah Parsha Tetzaveh -- Where's Moshe?? By Moshe Burt ** In this week's Parsha Tetzaveh, two questions arise. Why does Moshe's name not appear in the entire Parsha?? And why, when drinking wine and other alcoholic beverages is normally frowned upon in Torah, are we permitted to become sooo drunk that we don't know Haman from Mordechai? Rabbi Wagensberg has, in his Shiurim, brought a number of sources who gave possible explanations for the absence of Moshe's name from the Parsha. The Ba'al HaTurim, for instance, stated that Moshe's name is absent because of his response to Hashem after Cha'it HaEigel. At that time Hashem stated his intention to destroy B'nai Yisrael and start again creating a people from Moshe's seed. Moshe responded that "If you do not forgive their sin, blot me out from the book which you have written." (Midrash Says, Sh'mos, Tetzaveh, P.273) "The Midrash Says" goes on to state that "A Tzaddik's words must take effect (even if the condition attached to them is not fulfilled). Hashem consequently erased Moshe's name from Parsha Tetzaveh." (Midrash Says, Sh'mos, Tetzaveh, P.273) The Gr'a, it is said, stated that during the week of Parsha Tetzaveh, Moshe was niftar and we commemorate his Yahrtzeit. For that reason, Hashem has omitted Moshe's name from the Parsha. However in Biblical Times in Eretz Yisrael, Torah was read in a 3 year cycle and not a 1 year cycle. It's not possible that the Great Vilna Gaon would have overlooked this point. Obviously, something else is at work here. It is also said that since, by the Burning Bush, Moshe seemingly hesitated about accepting the Leadership of B'nai Yisrael, this parsha where we talk about the Vestments of the Kohen Godol, is where Hashem's manifests Moshe's hesitation. Aaron and his sons are mentioned often and with prominence regarding their annointment, their clothing and their respective service in the Beit HaMikdash. It seems as if parsha Tetzaveh is dedicated to Aaron HaKohan. In speaking about the dialogue between Hashem and Moshe Rabbeinu ater the Chait HaEigel, it is said that Moshe Rabbeinu was praying and pleading for the lives of B'nai Yisrael when he asked Hashem to remove him from his book. Rabbi Wagensberg constrasts Moshe Rabbeinu after the Egel with Noach before the Mabul (The Flood) where it is said that he didn't Daven sufficiently for his generation. He continued by saying that after the Mabul, when Noach Davened to Hashem asking that there never again be such a Mabul, that Hashem accepted the Tefillah and told Noach that the world would never again be destroyed by a flood. Rabbi Wagonsberg then offered the possibility that as a Gilgul of Noach -- Moshe Rabbeinu's Tefillah on behalf of B'nai Yisrael was Tikon Olam for Noach's lack of Tefillah. Rabbi Wagensberg then spoke about Purim and why Purim is the one day where are we permitted to drink wine, etc. to excess. Normally, we are commanded to avoid wine, etc. except where we elevate Hashem's name such as by Kiddush or a L'Chaim. We are taught control regarding drinking wine as with other physical activities. In Torah we learn about Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron who died bringing an unsolicited offering to the Kadosh Kadoshim after having drank wine. We also learn about the Elders who ate and drank at Matan Torah and who were killed and replaced by different Elders (the former Jewish taskmasters who felt the pain of Pharoh's whip). And we also learn about the Nazir who witnessed Sota and made a Neder of abstinence. Why then on Purim we are encouraged to drink until we don't know Haman from Mordechai? Rabbi Wagensberg said in the name of the S'fas Emmes as well as most commentators that in the time of Moshiach, the major Chaggim -- Pesach, Shevuot, etc. will become secondary to Purim which will become the Major Yom Tov. Some commentators hold that Yom Kippur will also remain a Major Yom Tov. In fact, the Ari'zal refers to Yom Kippur as Yom Kippurim -- like Purim. So whereas, on Yom Kippur we fast, on Purim we have a Seudah, drink and are merry. He made an equation regarding Purim by speaking of the two methods that on deals with negative impulses -- Itkafia and Ithafcha. Itkafia refers to dealing with the Yetzer Hora by way of waging full all-out, take no prisoners war on the Yetzer Hora. Itkafia is like going 15 rounds in "the squared circle" with the Yetzer Hora. For 14 rounds, you've battered him around the ring, off the ropes, had him in the corner (Oh, I can still hear Howard Cosell!!) and had him on canvas a number of times. By the end of the 14th round, the Ole' Yetzer Hora is blooded and starting to resemble Chuck (the Bleeder) Wepner who's been decked more times than Carter's got peanuts. And yet, after 14 rounds, you've gotten arm-weary and fatigued because Y-H has been playing "rope-a-dope" Ali-style with you. And so, in the 15th round, Ole Yetzer Hora get up off of the canvas and decks you for the count. The second means of dealing with the Yeitzer Hora is Ithafcha. Ithafcha refers to dealing with the Yeitzer Hora by trying to entice him with Torah -- by showing him how great and meaningful Torah is. By using this method, when you are having an "off-day", the Yeitzer Hora is raring to go -- he wants to learn and do Torah. Rabbi Wagensberg equated these two techniques with the posuk in Sh'ma which states; "Place these words of Mine upon your hearts.." What's it mean "upon your hearts?"-- Plural. It means both your Yetzer HaTov and Yeitzer Hora. Rabbi Wagensberg equated Yetzi'at Mitzrayim -- HaMakat Choshech - Plague of Darkness where 4/5ths of B'nai Yisrael died because of their lack of Emunah and Har Sinai where the Mountain was held over their heads when they were asked to accept Torah -- with the method of Itkafia. He then equated the coming of Moshiach and the Ge'ula Shlaima, when all negative traits will be removed and the Yetzer Hora inspired and converted to doing good, with Ithafcha. An example of the method of Ithafcha was presented; the case of King Achashverosh,who hated the Jews more than even Haman, but who turned from Rah to Tov toward the Jews. So why do we drink on Purim?? Rabbi Wagensberg seems to indicate that we don't really know how each person works. How a person acts when drinking will give a strong indication of what the character of the person is. If a person, when drinking, becomes nasty, cruel, etc., he is seen as having the characteristic of Itkafia -- forcing himself to be someone out of character with who he really is. Whereas another person who drinks may become sorrowful or regretful that he may not have done sufficient Mitzvot, etc. We drink so that even the bad becomes good and that we don't know if we are blessing Haman or Mordechai. Rabbi Wagensberg returned to speaking about why Moshe Rebbeinu is not mentioned in the Parsha. Moshe's name was not removed out of punishment or out of fulfillment of a curse. The fact that Moshe Rabbeinu's name is removed or concealed from our Parsha was the result of Hashem's eulogizing him. Moshe was selfless in wanting the Leadership, the Kahunah to be given to his brother Aaron, who was older and who was the reigning Navi. Moshe Rabbeinu, the Gilgul, the Tikon Olam of Noach, turned negative energy to positive energy and rose to the highest spiritual level. Moshe was not openly mentioned in Parsha Tetzaveh but rather concealed -- Nistar. Parsha Tetzaveh has 101 posukim. And, if you count the inside, concealed letters of Moshe's name (Mem, Mem; Shin, Yud, Nun; Hay, Aleph), You find Mem = 40, Yud = 10, Nun = 50 and Aleph = 1. Hashem, it seems, omitted Moshe's name from the Parsha not out of anger for Moshe but out of anger at B'nai Yisrael who were far beneath Moshe's level of Selflessness and Spirituality. And so, this Purim, we must strive to raise ourselves up to be worthy that Hashem's Shechina will reside eternally within all of us and so that all that is Nistar shall be revealed. But we must strive and aspire to reach the high level of perfection of Mitzvot, of Chessed, of Tzedakah, of Ahavat Chinom for our fellow Jews on all levels -- personal, business, learning, etc. If we will ALL intensify our Derech and our other Mitzvot so each day we are accepting Yiddishkeit as if we were all Ger'im and as if Yiddishkeit were brand new, then we'll be zocha to have our Tefillah reach Shemayim, unimpeded, ungarbled. As Rabbi Moshe Ungar would say each Thursday evening at his Gemara Shuir back in Phildelphia, in "the old country", that then we'll be zocha to demand, compel Hashem to do "what he wants to do, to bring us the Moshiach and the Ge'ula Shlaima, bim hay v'yameinu -- speedily, in our time", like Achshav -- IMMEDIATELY, Chik Chuk, Meiyad, Etmol!!! **This Parsha HaShevua includes and is built around thoughts from a Shiur given by Rabbi Aba Wagensberg. Rav Wagensberg squeezes a lot into a one hour Shiur, often bring citings and points faster than I have the ability to write or later recall. Therefore, it should be said here that the points that I bring from Rav Wagonsberg's Shiur are as I received, relate to and understand them. *************************************************************** Another Innovation from The Sefer Torah Recycling .Network; SimchaVort Do you need help in developing a word of Torah for your Simcha? If so, SimchaVort can help. Kindly send an email to telling me what the Simcha is, who it's for and what Parsha it's in. In exchange for your kind donation to The Sefer Torah Recycling Network, I'll be glad to help with ideas. For an example, please click on SimchaVort. . **************************************************************************************************** Donors in the US, please make tax deductible donation checks out to "Congregation Ahavas Torah Tzedakah Fund", with a note on both the Memo line of the check and on the envelope "Mark Burt & Sefer Torah Recycling Network" and mail to "Congregation Ahavas Torah Tzedakah Fund", 1425 Rhawn Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19111. Be sure to include your address. Upon request, a tax-deductible receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. Donors in Canada, please make your tax deductible checks out to "JBRASS" (BN#864426911RR0001) and mail to; "The Sefer Torah Recycling Network", 46 Meadowbrook Road, Apt. 6, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6B 2S6. Please mark on the envelope (and if possible attach a stick'em memo to the check) saying "Mark Burt & Sefer Torah Recycling Network." Upon receipt, a tax-deductible receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. Donors can make an Online donation via paypal. Simply copy the email address; , then click on the paypal link, and paste the copied email address onto the "Recipient's email" field. **************************************************************************************** Inspiring Sefer Torah Stories from Around the World "I Brought the Torah Scrolls with Me From Syria!" - The story of how a Syrian Jew smuggled Torah Scrolls into Israel. The Sefer Torah which Flew on the Columbia. The Story of the Torah scroll which accompanied Israel's Astranaut, Ilan Ramon OBM on that fateful Columbia Shuttle Mission. A Sefer Torah Story from "GUARDIAN OF JERUSALEM" the life and times of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld is entitled "Solving The Crime." Click on the link and arrow down to the story. "Purchasing Justice" - between rich and poor, by Rabbi Scheinerman. A lesson for all of B'nai Yisrael. Sifrei Torah in Iraq In surfing the net looking for pertinent sites related to Sifrei Torah, I stumbled upon this site, which has apparently been inactive since fall, 2002. It is called "The SCRIBE" . You can view the site and it's interesting stories by clicking on the title. More Sefer Torah Stories I feel that this inspiring story written by Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn which appears on the Jewish World Review website bears repeating. It is entitled "Healing a trampled sole". But Rabbi Krohn's story is not the only such Holacaust Sefer Torah/Shoe story. The Amcha (Israel Center for Holacaust Survivers) site features another such story, "My Shoes", by Rachel. Click on the link and arrow down to the story. ******************************************************************************************* Did you know that you can now help in five ways to assist in locating donors of Sifrei Torah and raising funds to accomplish our mission? 1/ Talk to your friends, relatives and acquaintances about The Sefer Torah Recycling Network and about the many needy communities in Eretz Yisrael who do not possess their own Sifrei Torah. Many Shuls have aging Congregations and Sifrei Torah in their Aron HaKodesh laying idle, not being lained from. Many active Shuls have excess Sifrei Torah which are not in use due to restoration work needed or because the Shul has newer Sifrei Torah. These S'forim, if in Kosher or restorable condition, are desperately needed by communities in EretzYisrael who do not have the financial resources to acquire new Sifrei Torah and would greatly appreciate the donation of a used Sefer Torah. 2/ Donors in the US, please make tax deductible donation checks out to "Congregation Ahavas Torah Tzedakah Fund", with a note on both the Memo line of the check and on the envelope "Mark Burt & Sefer Torah Recycling Network" and mail to "Congregation Ahavas Torah Tzedakah Fund", 1425 Rhawn Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19111. Be sure to include your address. Upon request, a tax-deductible receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. >>>NEW<<< Donors in Canada, please make your tax deductible checks out to "JBRASS" (BN#864426911RR0001) and mail to; "The Sefer Torah Recycling Network", 46 Meadowbrook Road, Apt. 6, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6B 2S6. Please mark on the envelope (and if possible attach a stick'em memo to the check) saying "Mark Burt & Sefer Torah Recycling Network." Upon receipt, a tax-deductible receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. 3/ Donors can participate in a Sponsorship Donation program. 4/ Donors can make an Online donation via paypal. Simply copy the email address; , then click on the paypal link, and paste the copied email address onto the block called "Recipient's email". 5/ The Sefer Torah Network currently has affiliations with Artscroll and Soncino publishers, CDTorah.com and Ahuva Judaica whereby subscribers to the Sefer Torah Network News list as well as surfers to the The Sefer Torah Recycling Network website can now help finance the project's mission simply by purchasing S'forim, Torah lecture CDs or Judaica from these publishers and Judaica Suppliers. All it takes is clicking on any of the above links or the links on the website. We have also recently added an affiliation link to IDT (as shown above.) The Sefer Torah Network continues to seek affiliations with other Judaica publishers as well as with other online Judaica merchants in order to generate funds toward defraying project costs. Please give your Support, Financial Donations/ Donations of Used Sifrei Torah. Make Needy Locations throughout Israel Mokomot Torah *********************************************************************************************** Locations in need of their own Sifrei Torah; I want to relate to you the contents of emails which have been received describing some of the newest needy locations. Among the new locations writing of their need for a Sefer Torah are Tzur Hadassah -- only a short distance from Ramat Beit Shemesh. They lack an Ashkenaz Sefer Torah. It is a Yishuv of 2,000 people. It is popiulated mostly by Secular/Traditional, but has a small, but growing religious population. They have S'fardi, joint Ashkenazi-S'fardi and Ashkenaz Minyanim. The Ashkenaz Minyan which is in need of a Sefer Torah a mix of Olim (incl US, Australia, UK, Swiss, Belgian, France) as well as veteran Israeli, all leaning towards Dati Leumi. In Betar, the Main Beit Knesset is lacking two Sifrei Torah. There are two other Batei Knesset which need one each. Beitar's Main Beit Knesset's Sefardi Minyan, is a combination of North African, Syrian, Yerushalmi, Bavli & European S'fardim. The other two Betar Batei Knesset are Ashkenazi/Hassidi with a varied mixture of men from all over the world. In Yishuv Meitzad, the home of the Goldstein family who founded the Diaspora Yeshiva in the Old City, in Jerusalem, an AshkenazSefer Torah is needed. In Ramat Beit Shemesh "Aleph", Beit Knesset Kehillat Beis Tefillah which currently davens in an enclosed area in back of the building next to my building, but who recently broke ground for building a Beit Knesset, needs it's own Sefer Torah as the two S'forim in their Aron HaKodesh are both on loan. Also in Ramat Beit Shemesh "Aleph", Kehillah Ahavat B'Simcha, a Carlebach Minyan is in need of a Sefer Torah. In Jerusalem, Yeshiva Machon Meir is in need of an Ashkenaz Sefer Torah. These are just a few of the many locations all over Israel in need their own Sifrei Torah. To view more such locations, please view The Sefer Torah website. As one lover of Eretz Yisrael to another, I'm sure that you share my wish that every location in Eretz Yisrael, regardless of economic means, be Mokomot Torah (a place of Torah). And imagine the level of Kedusha when all of the neshamot who have lained from, touched and kissed a Sefer Torah in the past, in it's previous home, unite with all of the neshamot yet to lain from, touch and kiss the Sefer Torah here in EretzYisroel. At this time in history, with the advent of the latest Oslo spin-offs, "Geneva" and the mis-directed "Roadmap" both of which endanger Israel, the kedusha of Eretz Yisrael, Jewish Sovereignty and very survival, we need your help, both by way of donations of Sifrei Torah and by way of donations of funds in order to fulfill our mission of placing Sifrei Torah in needy locations throughout Israel, thus possessing Our Land, IY'H insuring our survival. We hope to raise seed funds in order to set up an Amutah or a Non-Profit Company in Israel, to employ Sofrim to restore Sifrei Torah, to locate donors of, or economically purchase Sifrei Torah via all medium. The plan is also to eventually establish a 501-C3 Non-profit organization in the US and thus establish The Sefer Torah Recycling Network an ongoing, serious project. Your Support, Financial Donations & Donations of Sifrei Torah Will Help Needy Locations throughout Israel **************************************************************************************************** Up Close and Personal: Kehilla Beis Tefillah, Ramat Beit Shemesh; A link has been added on the links page of the site for a very special Beit Knesset in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel; Kehilla Beis Tefillah. Land has been broken, preliminary retaining wall work has been completed and the Shul is moving ahead with the building of a new Beit Knesset structure to be completed sometime next year. Ramat Beit Shemesh is the fastest growing community in Israel and Kehilla Beis Tefillah, led by Rav Chaim Malinowitz, among it's most dynamic Shuls. Friends, when you make your pilot trips in the course of your Aliya planning, have your Aliya date at hand or have arrived and are searching for a wonderful community and full-service Beit Knesset (Tefillah, Kesher, an outstanding Rav, daily Night Seder and dynamic Learning Programs, Avos U'Bonim, Youth Mishmar and American warmth, caring and closeness), your first stop's gotta be Kehillat Beis Tefillah. Financial donations toward the Shul's building fund are greatly appreciated. When donating, please tell them that you read about the Shul here. *************************************************************************************************** End High Phone Bills & Get 300 FREE Minutes! Click and see how!! Eliminate annoying pop-ups with Alexa Toolbar Click and see how!! Merchants; When you signup for PayPal, you can start accepting credit card payments instantly. As the world's number one online payment service, PayPal is the fastest way to open your doors to over 31 million members worldwide. Best of all, it's completely free to sign up! To sign up or learn more, click here. ******************************************************************************************************** Subscription Instructions You are invited to tell your friends about The Sefer Torah Recycling Network and to encourage them to subscribe online to the Sefer Torah Network News list. Subscription is accomplished simply by either viewing The Sefer Torah Recycling Network website and clicking on the subscribe button on the homepage or sending an email to: Sefer-torah-network-news-request@sefer-torah.com with subject - "subscribe". To unsubscribe, user will send an email to: Sefer-torah-network-news-request@sefer-torah.com with subject - "unsubscribe". -- Moshe Burt Founder and Director The Sefer Torah Recycling Network Rechov Nachal Dolev #34/12 Ramat Beit Shemesh 99000 Israel 02-9996496, 067-305-497 Do a Chessed for Needy communities in Eretz Yisrael. Click on; http://www.sefer-torah.com Please help with your kind donations! Eliminate annoying pop-ups with Alexa Toolbar Now you can donate on-line, Click on; https://www.paypal.com, copy & paste to the email block email address; mosheb@sefer-torah.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://server.alefhost.com/pipermail/sefer-torah-network-news_sefer-torah.com/attachments/20040305/b6dab1b9/attachment-0001.htm From mosheb at sefer-torah.com Sun Mar 14 07:56:09 2004 From: mosheb at sefer-torah.com (Moshe Burt) Date: Sun Mar 14 09:37:23 2004 Subject: [Sefer-torah-network-news] The Sefer Torah Network Newsletter, Vol. 1, Number 18 Message-ID: Sefer Torah Network News Volume 1, Number 18 14 March, 2004 Shalom Friends; Welcome to the 18th edition of the Sefer Torah Network News list. -- The Special Hochnossis Sefer Torah Edition. I'm pleased to announce that the Hochnossis Sefer Torah party celebrating placement in the Givat Nof Harim hilltop community of Yishuv Eli of the Sefer Torah transferred by the Goldstein family of Queens, NY will take place IY'H on the 24th of March at 8:15 PM. Please view the website, this newsletter (below), other Israel-oriented email lists, Arutz-7 etc. for up-to-date news as to transportation arrangements to get you there and back. Please click here to view pictures from the small Transfer Ceremony which took place on Monday, 19 January, 2004 at the Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem as well as from my recent Shabbos in Givat Nof Harim. The Sefer Torah Recyclng Network expresses it's great appreciation to the Goldstein family for their kindness in providing a Sefer Torah for a needy location in EretzYisrael. The community of Givat Nof Harim, east of Eli in the Shomron, consists of 35 families and has been without a Sefer Torah for a number of years. The Sefer Torah Recycling Network invites everyone to a gala Hochnossis Sefer Torah Party on Wedneday evening, 24 March, 2004 at 8:15 PM in the Givat Nof Harim neighborhood of Yishuv Eli. Autobus transportation will be leaving from Jacobs Pharmacy, located at Nachal Dolev #82 in Ramat Beit Shemesh "Aleph" at 6:30 PM, making a stop in Jerusalem at Binyanei Homa (sign on the bus -- "Givat Nof Harim" or "Eli") at approximately 7 PM and going on to the Givat Nof Harim neighborhood of Yishuv Eli with ETA (estimated time of arrival) slated at 8:15 PM. Transportation will be leaving Givat Nof Harim for return to Jerusalem and Ramat Beit Shemesh at 10:30 PM. The cost per person will be 20 NIS for the roundtrip. Please notify Moshe Burt of your intention to join us so that we can estimate the numbers of people needing transportation for purposes of calculating the transportation costs. Dancing will begin at 8:15 PM followed IY'H by a Seudas Mitzvah featuring speeches by Rabbi Mordechai Haas, Sh'lita -- The Rav of Givat Nof Harim, as well as Rabbi Chaim Zev Malinowitz, Sh'lita, Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik, Sh'lita, Rabbi Kalman Menachem Shapira, Sh'lita -- Admor Piaseczna and representatives of the local Moetza. For participants arriving via (regular Egged) transportation, there will be Ha'sa'ot up to Givat Nof Harim. For vehicular traffic, there will be cellphone #s that people can call for directions from the entrance to Eli to Givat Nof Harim. Looking forward to seeing many of you on the 24th of March, including those currently living in Chutz L'Aretz who happen to be visiting Israel at the time of the celebration. As Alf says, "Be There or Be Square!" The Sefer Torah Recycling Network continues to be active on various fronts despite a major Netscape crash and ISP connection problems as well as a few other foibles resulting from severe underfunding. With this comment, I'll segue to the following; It is vital that The Sefer Torah Recycling Network receive seed-funding as well as ongoing cash donations and a constant influx of Sifrei Torah. For this reason, we seek philanthropists, philanthropic "Angels" who recognize the need for an ongoing clearing house where Sifrei Torah can be donated or acquired, restorations completed and placements of Sifrei Torah made in needy locations throughout EretzYisrael. In this way, The Sefer Torah project will become an active, ongoing, serious organization which solicits and receives donations of Sifrei Torah, or acquires S'forim for cash for placement in needy locations throughout Israel. In the process, such donations will avail ongoing employment to needy Sofrim to repair and restore posul Sifrei Torah for placement in the growing number of needy locations in Israel which request help in acquiring a Sefer Torah. I hold that donating a Sefer Torah, or donating the funds necessary in order for The Sefer Torah Recycling Network to become an ongoing, serious organization which places Sifrei Torah in many of the hundreds of needy locations throughout EretzYisrael is to tangibly act to possess EretzYisrael as your own. There are other noteworthy developments to report in The Sefer Torah Network News list beyond the upcoming Hochnossis Sefer Torah Party. Please note that The Sefer Torah Recycling Network has entered into affilation with CDTorah.com which markets hundreds of Torah lectures and shiurim on standard audio CDs. Now you can help The Sefer Torah Recycling Network with a click-thru from this newsletter, or from The Sefer Torah Recycling Network website to the CDTorah.com site and order audio CD's of shiurim given by notables such as Rabbi Yitzchok Berkowitz, Rabbi Akiva Tatz, Rabbi Paysach Krohn, Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum Rabbi Herschel Schachter, Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz and more. The Sefer Torah Recycling Network is still offering a number of frameable Sefer Torah posters to all who donate $180 or more to the project. These Sefer Torah posters provide donors with incentive and yet another opportunity to impact on the heavenly scales by making needy locations Mokomot Torah and promoting Torah study. We are asking people to help us raise the necessary funds for the restoration of two Sifrei Torah slated for placement in needy locations here in Israel. A Sefer Torah poster makes a beautiful livingroom centerpiece picture. The Sefer Torah poster has a brown Mantel on either side and the 247 Amudim on a blue background. Click here to view a partial scan of the poster. While they last, those donating $180 or more will receive a full Sefer Torah poster including all 247 Amudim. Supply of these posters is limited so, please make your donation NOW!! Please note that the site has undergone some subtle alterations designed to make the message to the viewer more focused and directed. Both the ArtScroll.com and the CDTorah.com sites, with their special directed links, are now placed in a more prominent position on the front page and on other pages on the site. An automatic, one-button method of subscription to this newsletter has been added. These special directed links, both on the site and in this newsletter, enable you to help The Sefer Torah Recycling Network to raise funds while purchasing S'forim, CDs and keeping up with The Daf Yomi. Those wishing to subscribe after reading this edition of the newsletter may do so either by clicking on the website and placing their email address on the email address line and clicking the submit button or by following the subscription instructions at the end of this post. Raising the necessary funds for two restorations of Sifrei Torah for Homesh and the kehilla on Bat Ayin is presently THE central focus of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. So far, the project has thankfully received donations from many sponsors but is still far short of the funds necessary to defray these restoration costs. (approximately $ 7,500 still needs to be raised) Toward the bottom of this newsletter, please read the brief descriptions of many more such locations throughout Israel currently either without their own Sifrei Torah or lacking sufficient number of Sifrei Torah. This same information is available by clicking on "About The Sefer Torah Recycling Network" page of the website which will provide a history of the project as well as details on the various needy organizations. I ask all of you to please help publicize The Sefer Torah Recycling Network with your friends, associates, by posting a copy on the bulletin board of your Shul, etc. thereby opening up further possibility of donations of Sifrei Torah and/or funds. I am asking that subscribers pass this edition of the Sefer Torah Network News list to their friends and relatives via email with an invitation to subscribe themselves. (subscription instructions are below.) Please note that the embedded links may not show up as such on the forwarded copy. However, the URLs will show up next to the words of the links. Additional newsletter subscribers = more traffic to the site = more financial donations, that potential Philanthropic "Angel" and potential Sefer Torah donors. Hopefully, with your help and IY'H additional publicity, the exposure, subscribership and Donations of funds and Sifrei Torah will grow in the weeks and months to come as a result of both initial and ongoing efforts. Continued wishes for enjoyable reading of the Sefer Torah Network News list. Best Regards, Moshe Burt Founder and Director *************************************************************************************************** Items of Note in this Edition of theSefer Torah Network News . -Shabbos in the Givat Nof Harim Community of Yishuv Eli -Spotlight on two locations slated to receive Sifrei Torah -Parsha Ki Sisa, 5764 -- Eretz Yisrael, B'nai Yisrael & Torah Principles. -Inspiring Sefer Torah Stories from Around the World -Locations in need of their own Sifrei Torah -Up Close and Personal ; Kehilla Beis Tefillah, Ramat Beit Shemesh *************************************************************************************************** Please visit the ArtScroll.com Website and help support The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. A portion of all purchases from the ArtScroll.com website will support the project's mission - only when you click on this link: ArtScroll.com. Sefer Torah Network News selections for this newsletter; The Schottenstein Edition Talmud, The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology Set / 2 Volume Slipcased Set, By Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan and Rabbi Berel Wein's Pirkei Avos: Teachings for Our Times. Please note that you can now place a Standing Order of the Daf Yomi Size Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud and receive every volume of the Daf Yomi Size Schottenstein Talmud as they are Published and help support The Sefer Torah Recycling Network at the same time. **************************************************************************************************** Tehillim for Recovery from Illness Please see that tehillim is said for the following individuals; Moshe Shlomo ben Michal Moshe Shlomo is a little over 1 year old. There were complications at birth which have resulted in slowness in coordination and motor development. Aliza Channa Devorah bat Malka. Aliza is 12 years of age. She is receiving Chemo-therapy treatments for cancer in Hadassah Childrens hospital. She had complained of pain in her right shoulder. Doctors found a tumor and she was diagnosed a few months ago. Please pray hard for her refuah shleimah. This request came to me from her grandparents who live in the U.S. Menucha Mendel Yehudit Rut bat Chaya Zelda; A widow from London who became ill during a visit to EretzYisrael and who is currently recovering from her illness in London. Please pray hard for her refuah shleimah. And please Daven for Good Health for Yehonatan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard) and for his speedy release from American incarceration and his return to his beloved homeland, Eretz Yisrael. **************************************************************************************************** Shabbos in the Givat Nof Harim Community of Yishuv Eli When the page appears, arrow down to "Shabbat in Givat Nof Harim." **************************************************************************************************** Sponsorship Donation Program Lifting Neshamot through Donations of Funds/Sifrei Torah Flash: Special Incentive gift for those Sponsors donating $180 or More* Why not donate a paragraph, or a section or the reading from your Bar Mitzvah, marriage, or some other family event. Principals and Administrators of Religious Day Schools, Talmudei Torah and Yeshiva High Schools; The Sponsorship Donation Program to help restore Sifrei Torah for placement in needy locations in Israel makes an excellent Chinuch and Tzedakah project for your students and their families. Friends, please recommend it to principals and adminstrators for inclusion in their educational programs. Please send me an email stating your level of sponsorship, and what you seek to sponsor. More information is also available on our website. Making a donation, whether a financial donation made through theSponsorship Donation program, or via the donation of a Sefer Torah, can cause the elevation in Shemayim of the Neshama of the niftar loved one or close friend. Please keep this thought in mind as you consider a donation to The Sefer Torah project . Sponsorship Donors can make an Online donation via paypal. Simply copy the email address; , then click on the paypal link, and paste the copied email address onto the "Recipient's email" field. All donors participating in the Sponsorship donation program will receive an attractive, frameable commemorative certificate in recognition of their kind donation. *The Sefer Torah Recycling Network has gained access to a limited number of Sefer Torah posters. Those donating $180 or more will be sent one of these posters which is frameable. It makes a beautiful livingroom centerpiece picture. The Sefer Torah pictured has a brown Mantel on either side and the 247 Amudim on a blue background. Click here to view a partial scan of the poster. While they last, those donating $180 or more will receive a full Sefer Torah poster including all 247 Amudim. **************************************************************************************************** Check out the Updated Sefer Torah Recycling Network website and see all of the new bells, whistles and features which provide you with all necessary information about the project from lists of needy locations to Rabbinic Approbations. **************************************************************************************************** Divrei Torah Parsha Ki Sisa, 5764 -- Eretz Yisrael, B'nai Yisrael & Torah Principles. By Moshe Burt ******************************************************************************************* Another Innovation from The Sefer Torah Recycling .Network; SimchaVort Do you need help in developing a word of Torah for your Simcha? If so, SimchaVort can help. Kindly send an email to telling me what the Simcha is, who it's for and what Parsha it's in. In exchange for your kind donation to The Sefer Torah Recycling Network, I'll be glad to help with ideas. For an example, please click on SimchaVort. . **************************************************************************************************** Spotlight on two locations slated to receive Sifrei Torah (with your help! ) ; Homesh, in the Shomron (Sameria) region of Eretz Yisrael amd is located amongst a group of communities including Kedumim, Elon Moreh, Shavei Shomron, Einav, etc. which are in close proximity to the Arab cities of Shechem, Kalkilya, etc. The Yishuv has many Russian olim who have become Ba'al Teshuva in addition to many Dati families who have moved there in recent years from other locations. Upon completion of the restoration of a Sefer Torah donated by a family in Baltimore, its placement in Homesh will be fulfillment of a nearly 5 year old promise to Rabbi Yehoshua Schmidt. I met Rav Schmidt, the Rav of both Yishuv Shavei Shomron and Yishuv Homesh, while living and doing Ulpan on Shavei Shomron. The second Sefer Torah, once funds are raised and the restoration work is completed, will be placed in a Kehilla of Yishuv Bat Ayin which is located in Gush Etzion. It will be the recipient of a Sefer Torah donated by a student of the School of Safrus located there. Just a few words on Bat Ayin. I visited there recently for the first time in many years. The Yishuv has grown 10-fold in the 9 years since The Sefer Torah Recycling Network placed it's first Sefer Torah there in 1995. It was more beautiful then I remember it. Hopefully, I will go there for Shabbos in the near future and will have more to write then. In order to complete the restorations of these Sifrei Torah for placement in these two locations, $7,500 remains to be raised. Please know that your sponsorship donation or purchase of a S'forim or Judaica products via clicking from the ads on The Sefer Torah Recycling Network homepage, the About The Sefer Torah Recycling Network page or the Judaica Page is an act of helping to unify Jewish neshamot of those who have touched, kissed and lained from these Sifrei Torah throughout their lives with those yet to touch, kiss and lain from them during their extended future life. By donating or through purchasing via the ads on the site, you are taking positive action to possess Eretz Yisrael. In these days where talk abounds about dismantlements, unilateral withdrawals and the like, and this talk is seen as a display of weakness discrediting our Divine, eternal legacy of possession of Eretz Yisrael, your donation insures that needy locations become Mokomot Torah and under the protection of Shemayim. Please make your donations by check or paypal -- NOW! ************************************************************************************************************ Inspiring Sefer Torah Stories from Around the World "I Brought the Torah Scrolls with Me From Syria!" - The story of how a Syrian Jew smuggled Torah Scrolls into Israel. The Sefer Torah which Flew on the Columbia. The Story of the Torah scroll which accompanied Israel's Astranaut, Ilan Ramon OBM on that fateful Columbia Shuttle Mission. A Sefer Torah Story from "GUARDIAN OF JERUSALEM" the life and times of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld is entitled "Solving The Crime." Click on the link and arrow down to the story. "Purchasing Justice" - between rich and poor, by Rabbi Scheinerman. A lesson for all of B'nai Yisrael. Sifrei Torah in Iraq In surfing the net looking for pertinent sites related to Sifrei Torah, I stumbled upon this site, which has apparently been inactive since fall, 2002. It is called "The SCRIBE" . You can view the site and it's interesting stories by clicking on the title. More Sefer Torah Stories I feel that this inspiring story written by Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn which appears on the Jewish World Review website bears repeating. It is entitled "Healing a trampled sole". But Rabbi Krohn's story is not the only such Holacaust Sefer Torah/Shoe story. The Amcha (Israel Center for Holacaust Survivers) site features another such story, "My Shoes", by Rachel. Click on the link and arrow down to the story. ******************************************************************************************* Did you know that you can now help in five ways to assist in locating donors of Sifrei Torah and raising funds to accomplish our mission? 1/ Talk to your friends, relatives and acquaintances about The Sefer Torah Recycling Network and about the many needy communities in Eretz Yisrael who do not possess their own Sifrei Torah. Many Shuls have aging Congregations and Sifrei Torah in their Aron HaKodesh laying idle, not being lained from. Many active Shuls have excess Sifrei Torah which are not in use due to restoration work needed or because the Shul has newer Sifrei Torah. These S'forim, if in Kosher or restorable condition, are desperately needed by communities in EretzYisrael who do not have the financial resources to acquire new Sifrei Torah and would greatly appreciate the donation of a used Sefer Torah. 2/ Donors in the US, please make tax deductible donation checks out to "Congregation Ahavas Torah Tzedakah Fund", with a note on both the Memo line of the check and on the envelope "Mark Burt & Sefer Torah Recycling Network" and mail to "Congregation Ahavas Torah Tzedakah Fund", 1425 Rhawn Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19111. Be sure to include your address. Upon request, a tax-deductible receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. >>>NEW<<< Donors in Canada, please make your tax deductible checks out to "JBRASS" (BN#864426911RR0001) and mail to; "The Sefer Torah Recycling Network", 46 Meadowbrook Road, Apt. 6, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6B 2S6. Please mark on the envelope (and if possible attach a stick'em memo to the check) saying "Mark Burt & Sefer Torah Recycling Network." Upon receipt, a tax-deductible receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. 3/ Donors can participate in a Sponsorship Donation program. 4/ Donors can make an Online donation via paypal. Simply copy the email address; , then click on the paypal link, and paste the copied email address onto the block called "Recipient's email". 5/ The Sefer Torah Network currently has affiliations with Artscroll and Soncino publishers, CDTorah.com and Ahuva Judaica whereby subscribers to the Sefer Torah Network News list as well as surfers to the The Sefer Torah Recycling Network website can now help finance the project's mission simply by purchasing S'forim, Torah lecture CDs or Judaica from these publishers and Judaica Suppliers. All it takes is clicking on any of the above links or the links on the website. The Sefer Torah Network continues to seek affiliations with other Judaica publishers as well as with other online Judaica merchants in order to generate funds toward defraying project costs. Please give your Support, Financial Donations/ Donations of Used Sifrei Torah. Make Needy Locations throughout Israel Mokomot Torah *********************************************************************************************** Other Locations in need of their own Sifrei Torah; I want to relate to you the contents of emails which have been received describing some of the newest needy locations. Among the new locations writing of their need for a Sefer Torah are Tzur Hadassah -- only a short distance from Ramat Beit Shemesh. They lack an Ashkenaz Sefer Torah. It is a Yishuv of 2,000 people. It is popiulated mostly by Secular/Traditional, but has a small, but growing religious population. They have S'fardi, joint Ashkenazi-S'fardi and Ashkenaz Minyanim. The Ashkenaz Minyan which is in need of a Sefer Torah a mix of Olim (incl US, Australia, UK, Swiss, Belgian, France) as well as veteran Israeli, all leaning towards Dati Leumi. In Betar, the Main Beit Knesset is lacking two Sifrei Torah. There are two other Batei Knesset which need one each. Beitar's Main Beit Knesset's Sefardi Minyan, is a combination of North African, Syrian, Yerushalmi, Bavli & European S'fardim. The other two Betar Batei Knesset are Ashkenazi/Hassidi with a varied mixture of men from all over the world. In Yishuv Meitzad, the home of the Goldstein family who founded the Diaspora Yeshiva in the Old City, in Jerusalem, an AshkenazSefer Torah is needed. In Ramat Beit Shemesh "Aleph", Beit Knesset Kehillat Beis Tefillah which currently davens in an enclosed area in back of the building next to my building, but who recently broke ground for building a Beit Knesset, needs it's own Sefer Torah as the two S'forim in their Aron HaKodesh are both on loan. Also in Ramat Beit Shemesh "Aleph", Kehillah Ahavat B'Simcha, a Carlebach Minyan is in need of a Sefer Torah. In Jerusalem, Yeshiva Machon Meir is in need of an Ashkenaz Sefer Torah. These are just a few of the many locations all over Israel in need their own Sifrei Torah. To view more such locations, please view The Sefer Torah website. As one lover of Eretz Yisrael to another, I'm sure that you share my wish that every location in Eretz Yisrael, regardless of economic means, be Mokomot Torah (a place of Torah). And imagine the level of Kedusha when all of the neshamot who have lained from, touched and kissed a Sefer Torah in the past, in it's previous home, unite with all of the neshamot yet to lain from, touch and kiss the Sefer Torah here in EretzYisroel. At this time in history, with the advent of the latest Oslo spin-offs, "Geneva" and the mis-directed "Roadmap" both of which endanger Israel, the kedusha of Eretz Yisrael, Jewish Sovereignty and very survival, we need your help, both by way of donations of Sifrei Torah and by way of donations of funds in order to fulfill our mission of placing Sifrei Torah in needy locations throughout Israel, thus possessing Our Land, IY'H insuring our survival. We hope to raise seed funds in order to set up an Amutah or a Non-Profit Company in Israel, to employ Sofrim to restore Sifrei Torah, to locate donors of, or economically purchase Sifrei Torah via all medium. The plan is also to eventually establish a 501-C3 Non-profit organization in the US and thus establish The Sefer Torah Recycling Network an ongoing, serious project. Your Support, Financial Donations & Donations of Sifrei Torah Will Help Needy Locations throughout Israel **************************************************************************************************** Up Close and Personal: Kehilla Beis Tefillah, Ramat Beit Shemesh; A link has been added on the links page of the site for a very special Beit Knesset in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel; Kehilla Beis Tefillah. Land has been broken, preliminary retaining wall work has been completed and the Shul is moving ahead with the building of a new Beit Knesset structure to be completed sometime next year. Ramat Beit Shemesh is the fastest growing community in Israel and Kehilla Beis Tefillah, led by Rav Chaim Malinowitz, among it's most dynamic Shuls. Friends, when you make your pilot trips in the course of your Aliya planning, have your Aliya date at hand or have arrived and are searching for a wonderful community and full-service Beit Knesset (Tefillah, Kesher, an outstanding Rav, daily Night Seder and dynamic Learning Programs, Avos U'Bonim, Youth Mishmar and American warmth, caring and closeness), your first stop's gotta be Kehillat Beis Tefillah. Financial donations toward the Shul's building fund are greatly appreciated. When donating, please tell them that you read about the Shul here. *************************************************************************************************** End High Phone Bills & Get 300 FREE Minutes! Click and see how!! Eliminate annoying pop-ups with Alexa Toolbar Click and see how!! Merchants; When you signup for PayPal, you can start accepting credit card payments instantly. As the world's number one online payment service, PayPal is the fastest way to open your doors to over 31 million members worldwide. Best of all, it's completely free to sign up! To sign up or learn more, click here. ******************************************************************************************************** Subscription Instructions You are invited to tell your friends about The Sefer Torah Recycling Network and to encourage them to subscribe online to the Sefer Torah Network News list. Subscription is accomplished simply by either viewing The Sefer Torah Recycling Network website and clicking on the subscribe button on the homepage or sending an email to: Sefer-torah-network-news-request@sefer-torah.com with subject - "subscribe". To unsubscribe, user will send an email to: Sefer-torah-network-news-request@sefer-torah.com with subject - "unsubscribe". -- Moshe Burt Founder and Director The Sefer Torah Recycling Network Rechov Nachal Dolev #34/12 Ramat Beit Shemesh 99000 Israel 02-9996496, 067-305-497 Do a Chessed for Needy communities in Eretz Yisrael. Click on; http://www.sefer-torah.com Please help with your kind donations! Eliminate annoying pop-ups with Alexa Toolbar Now you can donate on-line, Click on; https://www.paypal.com, copy & paste to the email block email address; mosheb@sefer-torah.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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