Parshat Mishpatim/ Shabbat Sh’kalim

This week’s parashah, Mishpatim, begins:  “These are the laws that you shall place before them.”  The word lif’nei-hem (“before them”) literally means “before their faces.”  Perhaps the Torah’s point is that to teach (whether Torah or anything else) means to address particular human beings, with unique features. It is only when we truly see the faces of those to whom we speak and serve as models – when we truly know who they are – that we can teach in such a way that they can learn.  Only when our students feel known and recognized can the insights that we are trying to transmit find a home, a place within them.

We are all teachers, whether we are aware of it or not.  We are constantly communicating what we know – and more importantly, who we are – to those around us. May we be the kind of teachers who can truly see who we are teaching, every day, so that our teaching may bring blessing to the world.

• Candle lighting this Friday evening February 17 is at 5:56 pm. Shabbat ends on Saturday night at 6:52 pm.
• The New Shul’s Shabbat morning service is from 9 to about 11:45 am, followed by a kiddush-lunch open to all. This Shabbat, February 18, the kiddush-lunch is sponsored by Deena and Matt Golab in honor of Deena’s 40th birthday.
• Minyanim during the week are on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am, and on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm. Kabbalat Shabbat is on Friday evenings at 6 pm (usually at our rabbis’ home – please contact us for directions).
• Join us for a family hamantaschen-baking party on Sunday February 19 at 3:30 pm. Bring your children and grandchildren. (for more information, contact us).
• Purim begins on Monday evening March 6. Join us at The New Shul for our megillah reading and shpiel at 7 pm.
• On the Shabbat of March 17-18, our guest teacher will be Rabbi Shai Held, President and Dean of the Hadar Institute in New York.