Friday, May 10 — Sivan 1 5773Mincha – 7 p.m.Candle lighting – 7:10 p.m.Candle lighting B’Zman – 7:44 p.m.Shkia – 8:02 p.m. Saturday, May 11 — Sivan 2 5773Shacharit – 9 a.m.MinyanimSunday Shacharit - 8:15 a.m.Mon./Th. Shacharit - 6 a.m.Tue./Wed. Shacharit - 6:10 a.m.Listserv UpdateOhr Torah moved its Listserv to Google Groups. Shul e-mails will now show the actual sender and will be addressed to notices@congregationohrtorah.org. If you are not receiving shul e-mails, please contact Marc Goldberg for assistance. Thanks to Marc Goldberg and Shawn Holt for setting up the new Listserv. Members can…

Why do we say Yizkor on the last day of Pesach? In the Prayers of "Yizkor," we ask Hashem to "remember" the souls of our loved ones who have passed away. These include all of our primarily family members who have passed on and our extended family including who have perished in the Holocaust or other national tragedy. Being that Hashem never forgets, Yizkor is really an opportunity for us to bring to mind intensely, to re-create, if only for a few brief moments, connections that once existed between ourselves and loved ones, who have passed away. The original custom was to recite Yizkor only …

A few years ago, a close friend was attempting to get his four year old daughter to sleep after a very busy Purim day. After lying down for a just a brief moment, she bolted down the stairs towards the kitchen. Upon looking at the kitchen table filled with all types of cookies, sweets and little toys one more time before she had to go to sleep she turned to her father and proclaimed, "Dad, this is the greatest day of my life!!"  I can recall that same feeling. When I was a child, right before Purim, we had a family discussion about how we were going to get rid of all the chumetz that we would…

In this weeks, Parsha Vayechi, Yaakov speaks to his sons before his death. The Torah introduces this by saying (Genesis 49:2)  הִקָּבְצוּ וְשִׁמְעוּ, בְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב; וְשִׁמְעוּ, אֶל-יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲבִיכֶם.  Which can be translated as “Gather together and hearken, sons of Jacob; and hearken to Israel your father.” The repeated term “hearken” implies not only blessing but as Rabbi Avigdor Miller points out it implies admonishment to learn and benefit from the teaching and rebuke. One example of this is Shimon and Levi were severely rebuked here for their wrathfulness. Later on in the Torah we see …

D'Var Torah:"Yaakov became very frightened and it distressed him..."(32:7) Rashi comments that Yaakov was frightened that he would be killed and he was distressed that he may have to kill Eisav. The Talmud teaches that "haba lehorgecha hashkeim vehorgo" - "If a person comes to kill you it is permissible to kill him in self-defense." Many commentators raise the following question: Why should Yaakov be distressed by the possibility that he may have to kill Eisav? Golda Meir once commented at a press conference in London in1969, “When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the …

Schedule of ServicesFriday, Oct. 26, 2012 – Cheshvan 10 Light Candles............. 5:42 p.m.Mincha .......................5:45 p.m.Shkia ..............................6 p.m. Shabbos, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 Cheshvan 11Parsha…………………Lech L’chaLatest Sh’ma ..............10:01 a.m.Mincha ……................... 5:30 p.m.Maariv……..................... 6:34 p.m.Shabbat Ends ...............6:41 p.m. Daily Minyanim Sunday....................................8:15 a.m.Mon/Thurs...................................6 a.m.Tues/Wed/Fri ......................6:10 a.m. D'Var Torah for Lech L'chaOn my list of the …

Of all the days in the Jewish year, the three weeks and nine days leading up to Tisha Bav is usually considered a big inconvenience and a big relief when it is all over so we can go back and truly enjoying the summer. Rav Solovietchik once wrote “Human happiness does not depend on comfort. The American Jew follows a philosophy which equates religion with making Jewish life more comfortable and convenient. It enables the Jew to have more pleasures in life. This is a philosophy that de-emphasizes Jewish spiritual values.”  What is striking about Tisha bav is it is the one day that we actively …

The searing critic Ambrose Bierce once defined education as “that which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.” Yet, being a little less cynical, I would like to discuss Jewish education in terms of tachlis. Rava in the Gemara in Brochot 17b defines Tachlis of wisdom as Teshuva, the transformation of personality and ma’asim tovim, good deeds. In contemporary terms, Rabbi Norman Lamm defined the goal of Jewish education as a commitment to Jewish action and a sense of Jewish identity.Living life in a Jewish manner Jewish educators must endeavor to …

Things normally slow down as summer approaches, but congregants at Congregation Ohr Torah continue to keep busy with multiple events, lectures, classes and services.  Here’s just a small listing of what’s happening at Ohr Torah in the next few weeks: • The Sisterhood graduation kiddush will take place on June 23rd. Anyone wishing to honor graduating family members and friends — whether graduating from college, high school, elementary school, preschool or any other program — may become a sponsor of the graduation Kiddush for $18. RSVP by Friday June 15 and send information and a check payable …

Friday Evening, March 16Candle Lighting: 6:39 p.m.Mincha 6:45 p.m.Sh’kia: 6:57 p.m. Shabbat, Saturday, March 17Shacharit: 9 a.m.Teen Minyan: 9:15 a.m.Sof Zman Kriat Shema: 10:05 a.m.R. Grosberg shiur: 5:15p.m.Mincha: 6:15 p.m.Maariv: 7:41 p.m.Shabbat ends: 7:48 p.m. WeekdaySun. Shacharit: 8:15 a.m.Mon./Th. Shacharit: 6 a.m.Tues./Wed./Fr. Shacharit: 6:10 a.m.Sun.- Th. Mincha/Maariv 7 p.m. Kiddush Kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored by the shul To sponsor a Shabbat Kiddush or Seudah Shlishit, please contact Sarah Diamond at schedule@congregationohrtorah.org.Thank You Ron Teichman and his family …

It’s a busy time at Congregation Ohr Torah. The following events, classes are coming up: New kids groupNew kids group from 9-10 a.m. Saturdays: For parents who would like to bring their kids to Shul early. There will be a free-play group led by one of our group leaders starting at 9 a.m. in the classrooms. This group will end at 10 a.m. when the regular groups begin. Junior CongregationJunior Congregation will be meeting this week at 9:45 a.m. All children below the age of bar/bat mitzvah are invited to participate. Rabbi Spivak’s Torah ClassesOn Wednesday night, Feb. 15 night at 7, Rabbi …

Teen MinyanThere is a teen minyan this Shabbat at 9:15 a.m.  Junior CongregationJunior Congregation will be meeting this week at 9:45 a.m. All children below the age of bar/bat mitzvah are invited to participate.  Rabbi Spivak’s Torah ClassesOn Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Rabbi Spivak offers a class for teenage girls (at rotating houses). At 8 p.m. on Wednesday night Rabbi Spivak’s class on Chumash Methodology and Commentators takes place at the shul.  Mishnah Berurah ClassRabbi Grosberg’s Mishnah Berurah class for teenagers meets on Shabbat between Mincha and Maariv. News from the Youth …

As the end of summer quickly approaches, Congregation Ohr Torah, a modern Orthodox synagogue in the heart of the Pleasantdale-Redwood neighborhoods, is beginning to prepare for the upcoming Yamim No'raim (High Holidays). Reservations for seats for the High Holidays have been sent to our members and the seats are slowly filling up. Seats are also available to non-members who would like to join us for our services.  Please check our website,www.congregationohrtorah.org for the updated seating chart as well as all information pertaining to seats, membership and the weekly minyan schedule.  In …

 Congregation Ohr Torah of West Orange will be celebrating the 18th anniversary of its founding at a gala dinner on June 20th at the synagogue located at 270 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange. Located in the Pleasantdale section of West Orange, Congregation Ohr Torah was formed by a handful of families in order to establish an Orthodox synagogue at the northern end of West Orange. Before that time, residents of the area north of Woodland Avenue had to walk almost two miles to one of the area’s other Orthodox synagogues.  With the growth of available housing north of Eagle Rock Avenue, the …