Rabbis' Weekly Message

Dear Kol Rinah Family,

Shabbat is coming! We’ll have our family-friendly First Friday Kabbalat Shabbat service at 6pm in the lower auditorium, and we’re starting at 5pm with a craft for kids, followed by candle lighting at 5:30pm (candle lighting time is 5:36pm), then a mac and cheese dinner for kids, followed by services for all at 6pm.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll be in the lower auditorium beginning at 9am. I’ll be leading Torah Talk at 10:10am, where we’ll be looking at the strange way the Torah describes the way women and men came to offer gifts to the Tabernacle (in Exodus 35:22, in case you want to start studying ahead of time). We’ll also be blessing the new month tomorrow.

Mincha Saturday afternoon is at 4:35pm and Shabbat ends at 6:35pm.

As a reminder, we ask people not to wear perfume or cologne at Kol Rinah. We have people who are fragrance-sensitive, in whom fragrances can induce severe migraine headaches. Thank you for helping to make our community welcoming and accessible to all–furthering our tagline of “Building Inclusive Community!”

Saturday night beginning at 7pm is Kol Rinah’s annual Trivia Night. Even if you haven’t signed up, it’s not too late to come-just show up, as we have a few table still needing people! Details here.

Sunday afternoon is a kosher wine tasting and sale at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. Proceeds will benefit the congregation you affiliate with, so go, enjoy, and buy some wine for Passover and the whole year. Details are here.

And now for a little Torah…

What are the general categories of work that are prohibited on Shabbat, and where does that list come from?

The list is found in the Mishna, Shabbat 7:2 .  This is the earliest code of Jewish law we have after the Torah. And while the Torah is vague when it comes to most of the things forbidden on Shabbat, the Mishna becomes much more specific.

But where does the Mishna get this list of “forty minus one” categories of work?

The Talmud explains that they are all the different kinds of work that were done in making the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. Exodus 35:1-3, which we read this week, contains the commandment not to work on Shabbat. Immediately following that is the actual building of the Mishkan, and from that juxtaposition, the rabbis of the Talmud derive that the things involved in building the Mishkan are not to be done on Shabbat, thus the list we have.

What’s one way that you’re needing rest this particular Shabbat? What could you do create a little more of a restful experience for yourself this Shabbat?

Wishing you a Shabbat shalom-a peaceful and restful Shabbat!

See you in shul,

Rabbi NoahArnow