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Dear friends,

This week’s Parsha, Bahalotcha, is very special to me, as it’s my father's bar mitzvah Parsha. Growing up, I always knew this was his Parsha, but the words he insisted on repeating to us were the final words of the Haftorah: “chen, chen la” (grace, grace to it).

The context of the phrase is in two prophesies, one about Joshua the Kohen Gadol, and the second about Zerubavel, the leader of the Jewish People at the time. But how to build a Dvar Torah around this phrase? 

The prophesy of Joshua involves the need for him to remove sin from himself, manifested as his filthy robes, in order to be worthy of achieving redemption. The prophecy of Zerubavel involves a menorah that apparently burns continuously by receiving oil from two olive trees on either side of it, without human intervention.

The message is that, at the time of the redemption, everything will be divinely controlled, and will not require the efforts of man. The final phrase states that mountains will fall before Zerubavel and will be like flat land. This will cause the nation to see Hashem’s intervention everywhere. Grace, grace to this realization! We must put in the effort to achieve change, but at the end of the day, we are where Hashem wants us to be.

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We have certainly expended a lot of energy in the past couple of months to organize and pull off our annual fundraiser and Gala, and we have, with God’s help, succeeded. Deep thanks to all who contributed both financially and in time and effort to make this endeavor as successful as it was.

I realize that I have not reported recently much about the Shul planning and the workings of the Board. Now that the Gala is behind us, I hope to make up for that over the next few weeks. We have a Board meeting in a month, and I’ll be sending out the agenda prior. In addition, if there are any topics that members want the Board to discuss, please contact me, or any member of the Board.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish Mazal Tov to Orna Sofer on the birth of Gilad to David and Erin. Many of us watched David grow up in the the Shul and we all share in their joy. May he grow in Torah and mitzvot. 

Wishing you all a peaceful and meaningful Shabbat Shalom,

Steven Inker