Welcome to the DAT Minyan! Shabbat Mevarchim HaChodesh Iyar (Acharei Mot)

May 4, 2019 - 29 Nisan 5779 Joseph Friedman, Rabbi | Mark Raphaely, President

Candle Lighting

Havdalah

7:38 pm 8:41pm

DAT Minyan is a dynamic and friendly Modern Orthodox synagogue for all ages and dedicated to meaningful personal spiritual development, community growth, youth involvement, Torah education, and Religious Zionism.

DAT Minyan - 560 S. Monaco Pkwy., Denver, CO 80224 - 720-941-0479 - www.datminyan.org

D’var Torah with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks If we put together recent discoveries in neuroscience with Midrashic tradition we may be able to shed new light on the meaning of the central mystery of Yom Kippur: the two goats, identical in appearance, over which the High Priest cast lots, sacrificing one as a sin offering and sending the other, the scapegoat, into the wilderness to die.

In past Covenant & Conversation essays on Acharei Mot, we have looked at the scapegoat as it figures in Jewish tradition and, in a very different way, in other cultures. But there are other dimensions of the rite that cry out for explanation. We argued that there were two goats because Yom Kippur represents a dual process of kappara, atonement, and tahara, purification, directed respectively at guilt and shame. But this does not explain why the two animals were required to be as similar as possible to one another, nor does it account for the role of casting lots (goralot). Presumably, these elements were designed to inspire feelings of awe and penitence on the part of the crowds that thronged the Temple on the holiest day of the year, but how and in what way?

Over the centuries, the Sages sought to decipher the mystery. Two animals, alike in appearance but different in fate, suggests the idea of twins. This and other clues led the Midrash, the Zohar, and classic commentators such as Nahmanides and Abarbanel to the conclusion that in some sense, the two goats symbolised the most famous of all the Torah’s twins: Jacob and Esau.

There are other clues too. The word se’ir, “goat,” is associated in the Torah with Esau. He and his descendants lived in the land of Seir. The word se’ir is related to sei’ar, “hairy,” which is how Esau was born: “his whole body was like a hairy garment” (Gen. 25:25). When Rebecca urged Jacob to pretend to be Esau in order to take Isaac’s blessing, Jacob said, “My brother Esau is a hairy [sa’ir] man while I have smooth skin” (Gen. 27:11). According to the Mishnah, a red thread was tied to the scapegoat, and “red” (Edom) was Esau’s other name. So there was a tradition that the scapegoat in some way symbolised Esau. Azazel, the mysterious place or entity for which the goat was intended, was Samael, Esau’s guardian angel.

In particular, the phrase “two kids of the goats,” shnei se’irei izim, mentioned in the High Priest’s rites, reminds us of the very similar expression, “two kids of the goats,” shnei gedi’ei izim, mentioned in Genesis 27, the scene of Jacob’s deception. Isaac had asked Esau to catch him some wild game and prepare him a meal so that he could bless him. Rebecca tells Jacob to “Go out to the flock and bring me two choice kids of the goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, the way he likes it. Such verbal parallels are not coincidental in the Torah. They are part of its sustained intertextuality, its finely woven prose in which one verse sheds light on another.

So the two goats of the High Priest’s service evoke in multiple ways the figures of Jacob and Esau, and specifically the scene in which Jacob pretended to be Esau, dressing in his clothes so that he would feel and smell like his brother. It was then, answering his father’s question, “Who are you, my son?” that Jacob said the words, “I am your firstborn Esau,” leading Isaac to say, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Gen. 27:22).

Who then were Esau and Jacob? What did they represent and how is this relevant to Yom Kippur and atonement? Midrashic tradition tends to portray Jacob as perfect and Esau as an evil-doer. However, the Torah itself is far more nuanced. Esau is not a figure of evil. His father loved him and sought to bless him. The Sages say that in one respect – honouring his father – he was a supreme role model. And in Deuteronomy Moses commands, “Do not despise an Edomite [i.e., a descendant of Esau], because he is your brother” (Deut. 23:8).

Esau in the Torah is not the epitome of evil. Rather, he is the man of impulse. We see this in the scene in which he sells his birthright to Jacob. Coming in one day exhausted by the hunt, he sees Jacob making lentil broth:

He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!”… Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. (Gen. 25:30–34)

This vignette of Esau’s impetuosity – selling part of his heritage for the sake of a bowl of soup – is reinforced by the unique description of the action in the staccato form of five consecutive verbs (literally, “he ate, he drank, he rose, he left, he despised”). Every time we see Esau we have the impression of an impulsive figure always driven by the emotion of the

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Shabbat Schedule (All services take place in the BMH-BJ Fisher Hall, 560

S. Monaco Pkwy)

Please help make our prayer service more meaningful by refraining from talking during the service.

FRIDAY

6:10 pm: Mincha / Kabbalat Shabbat / Maariv

(Earliest time for candlelighting 6:29 pm)

(Shema should be recited after 8:40 pm)

SHABBAT

Parasha: Page 636 / Haftarah: Page 1173

7:50 am: Hashkama Minyan

8:20 am: Daf Yomi

Tefillah Warm-up with Ellyn Hutt resumes 5/18

9:00 am: Shacharit with Derasha by Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Deena Zimmerman following Musaf, “Yom Kippur and Yom Ha’Atzmaut”

(Shema should be recited before 9:26 am)

Today’s kiddush is co-sponsored by the DAT Minyan with Rabbi Friedman and Melissa in

memory of the Rabbi’s mother, Vera Friedman Revesz, Sarah bat Rav Yehuda, on her yahrzeit

10:00 am: Class for women by Dr. Deena Zimmerman, “Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Mikvah But Were Afraid to Ask”

10:30 am: Remarks by Senator Cory Gardner

6:15 pm: HS Boys’ Gemara Class will meet with Nathan Rabinovitch at the Rabinovitch home

6:15 pm: Class with Dr. Deena Zimmerman, “What Does a Yoetzet Bring to a Community?: An Introduction to the Yoetzet Program”

7:35 pm: Mincha followed by Seudah Shlisheet, with presentation by Dr. Deena Zimmerman, “Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, Torat Yisrael”

8:41 pm: Maariv / Havdalah ——————————————————

Weekday Schedule (Weekday services Sunday through Friday morning take place at DAT School, 6825 E. Alameda Ave. )

SHACHARIT Sunday: 8:00 am (Rosh Chodesh Iyar) Monday: 6:25 am (Rosh Chodesh Iyar) Tuesday through Friday: 6:35 am

MINCHA/MAARIV Sunday - Tuesday, Thursday - Friday: 6:15 pm Wednesday: 7:15 pm (Maariv Chagigit 8:30 pm)

D’VAR TORAH CONTINUED

Please help make our prayer service more meaningful by refraining from talking during the service.

moment, be it hunger, filial devotion, a desire for revenge or, at last, generosity of spirit.

Jacob is the opposite. He does not give way to his feelings. He acts and thinks long-term. That is what he does when he seizes the opportunity to buy Esau’s birthright, when he works for seven years for Rachel (a period that “seemed to him but a few days”), and when he fixes terms with Laban for payment for his labour. Rebuking his son Joseph for the seeming presumptuousness of his dreams, the Torah tells us that the brothers were jealous of Joseph “but his father kept the matter in mind.” Jacob never acts impulsively. He thinks long and hard before deciding. Not only is impetuosity alien to him, he is also critical of it when he sees it in his children. On his death bed, he curses his three eldest sons in these words:

Reuben, you are my firstborn…. Unstable as water, you will not excel…. Simeon and Levi … Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel!” (Gen. 49:3–7)

Acting on the basis of anger and impetuosity is for him the sign of an unworthy personality with which he does not wish to be associated. What does all this have to do with sin, transgression, atonement, and two goats?

Recent years have seen a revolution in our understanding of the human brain, and with it, the human mind. One key text was Antonio Damasio’s book Descartes’ Error. Damasio discovered something unusual about patients who had suffered brain damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Their ability to think remained unchanged, but their ability to feel dropped to almost zero. The result was that they found it impossible to make decisions. They would reason endlessly but fail to make their mind up on one course of action rather than another.

Much subsequent work has shown that Descartes and Kant were wrong in their assertion that we are, first and foremost, rational animals. David Hume was right in his view that we are primarily emotional beings who make decisions on the basis of feelings, desires, and drives of which we may be barely conscious. We justify our choices, but brain scans show that we may have made those choices before being aware that we had done so.

We are more driven by emotion and less by reason than Enlightenment thinkers believed. This discovery has led to new fields of study like behavioural economics (what people actually do rather than what theory says they do), emotional intelligence, and interdisciplinary studies linking neuroscience to morality and politics.

We have, in fact, a dual-system or twin-track brain. This is what Daniel Kahneman is referring to in the title of his famous book Thinking, Fast and Slow. One track is rapid, instinctive, emotional, and subconscious. The other is slower, conscious, deliberative, and calculating. The former allows us to react quickly to situations of immediate potential danger. Without it, we and our ancestors would not have survived. Many of our instinctive reactions are benign. It is natural to have empathy, and with it the tendency to feel other people’s pain and come to their aid. We develop a strong sense of attachment that leads us to defend members of our family or community. But not all instincts are benign. Anger, envy, jealousy, fear, hate, and the desire for revenge may once have been functional, but they are often deeply destructive in social situations. That is why the ability to “think slow,” to pause and reflect, matters so much. All animals have desires. Only human beings are capable of passing judgement on desires – of asking, should I or should I not satisfy this desire?

These recent discoveries in neuroscience and related fields do not tell us something new. Rather, they have vindicated an ancient insight that was often obscured by Enlightenment rationalism. We cannot live, choose, or love without emotion. But one of the fundamental themes of Genesis is that not all emotion is benign. Instinctive, impulsive behaviour can lead to violence. What is needed to be a carrier of God’s covenant is the ability to “think slow” and act deliberatively. That is the contrast between Isaac and Ishmael (of whom it was said, “He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him,” (Gen. 16:12). Even more so, it is the contrast between Jacob and Esau.

Which brings us to Genesis 27 and the moment when Jacob dressed up in Esau’s clothes and said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.” The two goats of the High Priest’s service and the two goats prepared by Rebecca symbolise our duality: “The hands are the hands of Esau but the voice is the voice of Jacob.” We each have an Esau and Jacob within us, the impulsive, emotional brain and the reflective, deliberative one. We can think fast or slow. Our fate, our goral, our life-script, will be determined by which we choose. Will our life be lived “to the Lord” or “to Azazel,” to the random vicissitudes of chance?

This is the moral drama symbolised by the two goats, one dedicated “to the Lord,” the other “to Azazel” and released into the wilderness. The power of ritual is that it does not speak in abstractions – reason versus emotion, instinctual deferral rather than gratification. It is gripping, visceral, all the more so when it evokes, consciously or otherwise, the memory of the twins, Jacob and Esau, together at birth yet utterly divergent in their character and fate.

Who am I? That is the question Yom Kippur forces us to ask. To be Jacob, we have to release and relinquish the Esau within us, the impulsiveness that can lead us to sell our birthright for a bowl of soup, losing eternity in the pursuit of desire. Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Sacks (Continued from Page 1)

This Day in Jewish History - 4 May / 29 Nisan

May 4, 1910 - The modern housing estate known as Ahuzat Bayit, located on the outskirts of the ancient port city of Jaffa, officially changes its name to Tel Aviv. Founded in 1909, Tel Aviv was envisioned as Israel’s futuristic modern city, to serve as a contrast to what was perceived as the poor and unsanitary conditions of neighboring Arab towns. The name “Tel Aviv” came from the Hebrew title of the book “Altneuland” (Old New Land) by Theodor Herzl. Since “aviv” is Hebrew for spring, the founders felt it was symbolic of the concept for a renewed city in the ancient Jewish homeland.

29 Nisan 5705 (1945) - The Sixth Armored Division of the United States Third Army liberates the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, near the town of Weimar, Germany. Approximately 250,000 prisoners were incarcerated in this camp during the 8 years it existed until its liberation. They included Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel. Among Buchwenwald’s liberators was Jewish Denverite, Sergeant David Allen. On this same day, the International Red Cross took over the administration of the camp at Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia.

May 4, 1970 - Allison Beth Krause, a Jewish student at Kent State University, is one of four students killed by the Ohio National Guard during a nonviolent demonstration against the Vietnam War. Krause was a committed Jew and the daughter of a Reform Jewish family, who opposed the US war against Vietnam. The shootings at Kent State led to protests and a national student strike, causing hundreds of college campuses to close. In the end, Allison’s family received a “Statement of Regret” and $15,000 from the state of Ohio for the loss of their daughter.

May 4, 2006 - After serving in the capacity of Acting Prime Minister for four months, as a result of a stroke suffered by Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert presents his new government to the Knesset and officially becomes the 12th Prime Minister of Israel. Olmert had previ-ously served two terms as mayor of Jerusalem, from 1993 to 2003. Amid hugely unpopular ratings over his policies and charges of corruption and bribery, Olmert eventually resigned but remained in office until he was replaced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2009.

DAT MINYAN NEWS, EVENTS AND MILESTONES

Please help make our prayer service more meaningful by refraining from talking during the service.

Our thanks to Dr. Deena Zimmerman for joining us this Shabbat as our Scholar-in-Residence. In addition to the Shabbat opportunities to hear Dr. Zimmerman listed on Page 1 of the Newsletter, she will join us for a breakfast and class following Shacharit services on Sunday (approximately 8:40 am at DAT), on the topic “Chazal’s Understanding of the Perspective of the Patient.”

Thanks so much to Senator Cory Gardner for being with us this Shabbat and his support of our community!

Mazal Tov to Lisa and Lawrence Stroll on the engagement of their son Yitzy to Chayala Rosenberg, daughter of Sruli and Nechama Rosenberg and Shia Chaim and Rivka Weisz of Brooklyn, New York!

Celebrate Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’Atzmaut with the DAT Minyan and Denver Academy of Torah, 7:15 pm, Wednesday evening, May 8th at DAT, with a special Israel Memorial Day program, flag raising and Israel Independence Day festivities. Stay with us following a Maariv Chagigit for a delicious Flafel Bar. $10 per person, $30 per family.

Join the DAT Minyan at the Mountain States Jewish National Fund Breakfast for Israel on Thursday, May 9th, 7:30 am at Wings Over the Rockies. To register, https://secure.jnf.org/site/Ticketing;jsessionid=00000000.app204a?view=Tickets&id=36273 and designate DAT Minyan as your Table Captain, or call the synagogue office at 720-941-0479 .

Our annual Graduation Kiddush will take place Shabbat, May 25th. Sponsorships and graduation tributes can be registered online at www.datminyan.org/form/graduation-kiddush-2019 .

We are delighted to welcome Rebetzen Rivka Alter as our Scholar-in-Residence the weekend of May 24th - 25th.

Thank-you to all of those who contribute to our Shabbat services by signing up to help with our weekly leining. We remain in need of continued help with this and all able-leiners are encouraged to please volunteer! In addition, with a goal of expanding our roster of Haftarah readers, we have now opened up the weekly Haftarah portions for sign-up as well. The sign-up website is www.datminyan.org/laining. Slots are open from now through May. Please contact Steve Hutt for questions and additional information.

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS The Denver Chapter of Hadassah presents “Zionism: It’s Not a Dirty Word,” a program featuring a panel of experts who will discuss

Israel and the world, Israel and the US, and the rise of antisemitism in today’s politics, Monday, May 6th, 6:30 pm at Temple Sinai. The panel will be moderated by ADL Mountain States Regional Director, Scott Levin. Register at http:www.hadassah.org/events/zionismitsnotadirtyword .

The Coalition Against Global Genocide presents its 8th Annual Breakfast program, “When Will the Sun Rise on a World Without Genocide,” Friday, May 10th, 8:00 am to 9:30 am at the Mile High United Way CoBank Leadership Center, 711 Park Avenue West. Guest speaker is Professor Ved Nanda, Founder and Director of the Ved Nanda Center for International and Comparitive Law. RSVP to Roz Duman, 303-856-7334, rozduman@aol.com .

Kol Nashim, the women’s choir of the Colorado Hebrew Chorale, presents Woman to Woman 2019, a concert for women only benefitting the Jerusalem Shelter for Battered Women, Thursday, May 23rd, 7:00 pm at Temple Sinai, 3509 S. Glencoe St. To purchase tickets: www.coloradohebrewchorale.org .

Please join Merkaz Torah V’Chesed & Kehilas Bais Yisroel in welcoming Rabbi Motty and Rebbetzin Twerski to Denver for a community-wide Shabbos-shel-Chizuk, hosted by local shuls and organizations. Shabbos Parshas B’Chukosei, May 31st – June 1st. The Shabbos will include communal davening, meals, and Divrei Torah from Rabbi and Rebbetzin Twerski. For more information: emailinfo@merkaztorah.org or 720-881-2741 .

We would like to thank our Legacy Society donors for investing in our future by naming the DAT Minyan with a gift in their will, trust, retirement account or life insurance policy. Our Legacy Society includes:

Rob Allen Graeme and Irit Bean

Myndie Brown

Steve and Ellyn Hutt Nathan and Rachel Rabinovitch

Mark and Sarah Raphaely Harley and Sara Rotbart

Michael Stutzer Steve and Lori Weiser

You can add your name to this list with a legacy gift to the DAT Minyan. To arrange for your gift or for more information about our Legacy Society program, please contact any of the following Committee Members: Rob Allen, Myndie Brown, Sarah Raphaely or Steve Weiser.

THANK YOU FOR INSPIRING FUTURE GENERATIONS WITH YOUR GENEROSITY

DAT Minyan acknowledges the following milestones* of our members this Shabbat and in the coming week:

Rina Freedman, Ellice Goldberg, Cindy Halpern, Jake Kark, Laura Kark, Jacqueline Lampert, Noelle Lustig, Jacki Cooper Melmed, Mari Sartin-Tarm, Karen Schottenstein, Aaron Segall, Max Toys

Sally Dworkin - Sat., 5/4/19 (29 Nisan) Frieda Makovsky Englard - Wed., 5/8/19 (3 Iyar) Leonard Somers - Wed., 5/8/19 (3 Iyar)

*These details were obtained from the DAT Minyan database, which contains information provided by the members when they joined. We apologize for any omissions or errors. For changes, please log on to your account and update the information as needed, or contact the

synagogue office at 720-941-0479.

Refuah Shelayma Please include the following names in your prayers. May each be granted a Refuah Shelayma. Names are kept on the list until the next Rosh Chodesh. Help us keep the list accurate by verifying the necessary details each month on the Cholim Document

at https://goo.gl/aeyJG2.

Bella bat Malka

Benyamin ben Hinda Sarah

Eliyahu Chaim ha Cohen ben

Sara Rifka

Eliyahu Dovid ben Ita Sheiva

Gitel Sarah bat Ita Golda

Guy Chaim ben Rita

Karit Elisheva bas Sarah

Leibel ben Harriet

Levick Yitzchak ben Bracha

Leya bat Sara

Mascha bat Rus

Mayer Benya ben Nechama

Meir Leib ben Sarah

Mendel Ila ben Frida Miriam

Michel ben Leah

Michoel Zisel ben Barbara

Noach ben Minna Batsheva

Raphael Lior ben Miriam

Roshka bat Bryna

Yonatan Zeev ben Netaa

Learning Opportunities @ the DAT Minyan

• Kitzur Shulchan Aruch: Daily, after Shacharit

• Daf Yomi Shiur (30 min): after Shacharit on Sun through Fri , and 8:20 am on Shabbat

• Mishnayot: Daily, between Mincha and Maariv

• Halacha Chaburah: Sun, 10:00 am—11:00 am, returning soon

• “Short & Sweet Talmud Class” (30 min-never longer): Wed, 9:20 am, DAT Minyan offices at BMH-BJ (men only)

• Rabbi Friedman Wed. Night Class: returning soon

EDUCATIONAL AND YOUTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

All teens are invited to join us this Shabbat for

“Morning Motivation”

10:30 am in the Library

We welcome all children through 6th grade to join our Junior Congregation Program.

ALL youth groups meet at 9:00 am

If you or someone you know (college age and above) is interested in working in the Youth

Groups Program, please contact Mor at youth@datminyan.org.

Please help make our prayer service more meaningful by refraining from talking during the service.

Important Security Reminder

For the safety and security of everyone attending the DAT Minyan, we

ask that all children either be in attendance at one of our childrens’

programs or with a parent AT ALL TIMES when in the building. Children

may not be left unescorted to roam hallways.

Israel Memorial Day

followed by

Israel Independence Day The program begins at 7:15 with Mincha, followed by the lowering of the flag and the Yom HaZikaron Program. At 8:00, the flag is raised, and the Yom Ha’Atzmaut festivities begin! At 8:30, there will be a Maariv Chagigit, followed by a Falafel Bar ($10/person, $30/family)!

The event will be held in the MPR at the Denver Academy of Torah

Commemorate and Celebrate with the DAT

Minyan and the Denver Academy of Torah