Rosh HaShana- The Time to Start Thinking About Aliya |
Sponsored by Vicky Wu In Memory of Jonathan Josef (JJ) Greenberg, z"l, For his love and strength left for
his people and the Every day we say the T’ka B’Shofar prayer in the Shmoneh Esrei about the Ingatheing of the Exiles: Sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the banner to
gather our exiles and gather us together from the four corners of the earth.
Blessed are you God who gathers in the dispersed of His people During the Musaf service of Rosh HaShana, we read a section called “Shofarot” which includes prayers and scriptural readings associated with the shofar. One of the quotes from the prophets comes from Yishayahu 27:13: “And it will be on that day, that a great shofar will be sounded, and they will come- those who were lost in the land of Ashur, and those who were outcasts in the land of Mitzrayim, and they will prostrate themselves to God, on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.” Rabbi Eliezer Eliner (1904-1980, Latvia-Jerusalem) explains that this pasuk teaches that God has to gather the Jewish people from two types of exiles: One type of exile is called “Mitzrayim”, where the Jews are troubled (same root as the word tzarot) and outcasts. The other type of exile is called “Ashur”, where the Jews are happy (same root as osher) yet they are called lost since they are slowly losing their Judaism . Rabbi Eliner understood the impact of these two exiles as he
himself made aliya in 1927 from after studying at the Today, as well we see Jews returning to the State of Israel
from both types of exile. This past week we saw Jews making Aliya from the As we listen to the shofar this Rosh HaShana let’s think of how we can help the Jews who have just arrived in Israel, both those who are fleeing as well as those who are making aliya by choice. As we enter Rosh HaShana and the year Shana Tova and Shabbat Shalom from Yerushalayim! |