Good Erev Shabbat to all!
This week, the boys had a special treat to celebrate their success in the Brachot Bee. The winning team was treated to lunch at Dougies and the runners-up lunch at Benji's together with their Rebbies (nice places to practice their Brachot). Also, this week we were very proud of our boys who played a fine basketball game against the Shaare Tzion team. Good sportmanship was exhibited by both teams, which, afterall, is the main goal!
In last week’s Parsha, the Torah describes the construction of the Aron Kodesh, the holy ark, the symbol of Torah in the Mishkan. The Torah teaches us that the Aron was plated with a layer of gold both on the outside as well as the inside. The Chazal learn from this that how we appear on the outside must be reflected in our inner being as well. A similar lesson can be derived from the week’s Parsha. One of the garments of Kohanim were the Michnasayim, the breeches, as it states "and you should make for them pants of linen to cover". What was the need of these pants if the Kohen’s Ketonet, his tunic, adequately covered him. The answer is that as important outer modesty is, having inner modestly is equally important. The Gemara relates a story of a woman named Kimchis who had the extraordinary honor of all her sons becoming Kohanim Gedolim. When asked to what she attributed this unbelievable accomplishment she answered that it was in the merit that "even the walls of my house never saw my hair uncovered". Piety is not a show for outside world, but it must permeate into our innermost souls. This is particularly crucial in dealing with children. Children have the uncanny ability to see right through hypocrisy. If we are to serve as proper role models, we must strive to internalize the values we portray, if want them to be absorbed by our children. The same applies to the Ahavah with which we reach out to our children. As our Mashgiach Ruchani Rabbi Hecht, Shlita always reminds us, we must constantly work on ourselves to make our Ahavah genuine, so that it will truly be felt by our students.
Shabbat Shalom!
Donate Now
Donate!
|
|
