Torah Tidbits

11 March 2010 / 25 Adar 5770
Issue 0894
Issue 894 - Parshat B’shalach - Shabbat Shira - Tu BiShvat 5770
January 28, 2010
Lead Tidbits
Guest Article

Tu B'Shvat's Message: You Are My Sunshine - Dedicated to the recovery of Miki Sunshine

The source for TU BiShvat is the opening Mishna of the Talmudic Tractate Rosh HaShana: “The Academy of Hillel taught that the 15th of Shvat is the New Year for the Trees.” - What does that mean, “New Year for the Trees?”

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Aliya-by-Aliya Sedra Summary

Aliya-by-Aliya - Parashat B'shalach

The Midrash tells us that Yosef’s bones had been hidden by the Egyptians in the Nile in order to prevent the Israelites from leaving Egypt. Yosef’s coffin miraculously surfaced just at the right time, so that the People could take it with them when they left. We are taught that Yosef merited being taken out of Egypt for burial in Eretz Yisrael because he had arranged for his father’s burial there. Moshe, in turn, was accorded the highest honor - G-d Himself took care of Moshe’s burial, in reward for the attention he paid to Yosef’s remains.

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Sedra Stats

Sedra Stats - Parashat B'shalach

16th of 54 sedras; 4th of 11 in Shmot
Written on 215.33 lines in a Torah, ranks 17th

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Lead Tidbit

A maidservant, Yechezkel, and Us

TU BiShvat can fall on five different days of the week - Shabbat is the most common one (30% of the time), (For stat-heads: M 28%, Th 20%, W 18%, and Tu 4%. Never on Sun or Fri.)...When it is on Shabbat, that Shabbat is Shabbat Shira. The combination makes for an extra special Shabbat. One that leads us easily to pondering the wonders of G-d and His world.

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Other Tidbits
Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading

It's hard to say, but...

נכחו תחנו על-הים””

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Divrei Menachem

Divrei Menachem - Parashat B'shalach

“Lest the people lament [their new found freedom], when they see war (BIROTAM MILCHMA) and return to Egypt” (Sh’mot 43:7).

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"From Machon Puah"

The Puah Conference

In January, the PUAH Institute hosts its annual conference in Jerusalem. Each year, prominent doctors and rabbis are invited to speak at the event, presenting the latest advances in medicine and/or halachic approaches to medical issues to the conference. The conference is one of the largest annual rabbinic conferences in the world and presents a forum for diverse opinions and strategies in dealing with fertility challenges. This year’s conference, our Tenth, was attended by over 1500 men and women from all walks of life…

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Portion of the Portion

YOSEF'S BONES

This Shabbat is TU BiShvat, the cut off point for counting tree years for Orla. Rabbi Natan from Breslov in his book Likutei Halachot in the section on Orla explains how the mitzva of Orla improves our midot and rectifies the sin of eating from the tree in the garden of Eden. Its very complicated, but one thing he mentions there is a connection to the bones of Yosef. Sh’vat is the eleventh month, Yosef is the eleventh tribe.

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Parsha Points to Ponder

Parsha Points to Ponder for Parsha B'shalach

1) Why does Par’o choose to chase the Jews after hearing that they fled (14:5)? Did he really think that after all the plagues the Jews were going to simply return to slavery after three days?...

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Chizuk and Idud

Chizuk & Idud - Parashat B'shalach

There is a world of significance to this strange sight of a royal sarcophagus being carried out of Egypt by a mass of liberated slaves. What it teaches us is that the life of every Jew, if it is to be historically and spiritually complete must contain somewhere, sometime, somehow a point of contact with the land of Israel.

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Wisdom & Wit

Wisdom & Wit - Parashat B'shalach

World War I caused a tremendous amount of disruption to the Jewish communities of Europe. Tens of thousands of Jews found themselves refugees, having been forced to flee their homes…These people, who had fled without taking a thing with them, were often penniless, and had no money to buy any food.

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Vebbe Rebbe

Putting the Dishwasher on a Timer on Shabbos

Q: May I set up a dishwasher on a timer, so that I will load it on Friday night with the night’s dishes and it will go on overnight? Can I do the same thing in the afternoon so that by the time Shabbat is over, the afternoon’s dishes will have been done?

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Ethical Teachings of the Torah

THE CHALLENGES OF MONEY: Acquiring and Spending Wealth [1]

Economics, financial transactions and business activities, determining how people acquire wealth and what they do with it, have existed since the dawn of history and so have the ethical and spiritual issues that accompany them. While Torah is not a text book on how to make money, it definitely constitutes a value system that details what is permissible and what is forbidden in this sphere, just as it does in all the other fields of human desires and existence.

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Jewish Law

Lesson # 507 - Some Laws of Inheritance (part 1)

The laws of distribution of assets of a decedent upon his death are based on the Torah commands found in Bamidbar 27:6-11 dealing with the laws of intestate succession and in D’varim 21:15-17 dealing with the laws of primogeniture. That is, the laws dealing with the portion given to the firstborn son.

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Word of the Month

Word of The Month - Parashat B'shalach

A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem…

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Candle Lighting and Havdala

Candle Lighting Sponsored By:

Sedra Stats

16th of 54 sedras; 4th of 11 in Shmot
Written on 215.33 lines in a Torah, ranks 17th

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Word of the Month

Last opportunity for Kiddush L’vana this month is Leil Shabbat, Friday night, January 29th - all night long. Generally, we do not say KL on Leil Shabbat or Chag. However, if it is the last opportunity, then it can be said (should be said) on Leil Shabbat.