We are Open for Services Tomorrow!!
Services are ON This Week! HURRAY!!!
After consultations with trusted medical experts and closely following the directives of governmental agencies and Rabbinic authorities we will be (safely) opening up this week for services.
Please note that we have invested heavily so as to be able to open up safely and comfortably. In fact, we are exceeding the protocols called for by the governmental agencies. You might say that we, “Answer to a Higher Authority.”
No services will take place indoors for the time being. We are going to install shade ‘sails’ over our patios enabling us to offer more seating outside. We have also bought partitions so that the Torah reader is divided from the person called to the Torah for an Aliyah. Air purifiers have also been bought.
All of these measures taken together with the procedures already established, which include wearing masks at all times, the use of hand sanitizer and handwashing regularly, sanitized prayers books, sanitized restrooms and surfaces etc., will produce a safe experience. With that being said we remind everyone that those who have been exposed to anyone with the virus within the last 14 days, those with symptoms, or those whose doctors advise them not to participate, should not, under any circumstances, come to shul. But rather should pray at home.
If you plan on joining us on Shabbos please let us know by responding to this message.
Working Car Needed
We are currently seeking a car in good mechanical condition. If you, or someone you know, has a car that you can donate please respond to this message. This request is time sensitive. Thank you in advance!
Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs Michoel and Chava Shapiro!
We are excited to announce that Rabbi and Mrs Shapiro welcomed a healthy baby boy into the world last night. The little fella isn’t so little, weighing in at a strapping 10lbs 3oz! Baruch Hashem, mom and baby are doing great!
Weekly Sermon Friday @ 5pm on Facebook Live
Join Rabbi Eilfort this afternoon at 5pm as he gives his weekly sermon as a Facebook Live event. If you have not already done so, please send Rabbi Eilfort (Yeruchem Eilfort) a Friend Request on Facebook!
Membership – Will You Commit?
Dear Friends,
So far the year 2020 has been filled with opportunities. We have been presented with the opportunity to test ourselves as our country and our world has faced the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic. I know that I never thought that I would live in such times, and bet many of you feel the same. The health and wellbeing of each and every one of us has been severely threatened, the economy has undergone a tremendous shock, and a massive strain has been placed on our relationships and this community.
I learned in Yeshiva that tests are indeed opportunities, strange as that may sound. In Hebrew the same word for test, “Nisayon” is the root of the word for miracle, “Nes.” A Nes/miracle is when G-d suspends the rules of nature so as to reveal Himself in a supernatural way. Its root is to raise up. Therefore a test is an opportunity to raise ourselves up to a level otherwise inaccessible to us.
Our community, our beloved Chabad at La Costa, has not been immune to these opportunities. We have striven to rise to the occasion, and because of YOU we have risen to the occasion!
G-d bless all of you who have been instrumental in keeping us going. G-d bless those of you who despite (or perhaps because of) the coronavirus have stepped forward, dug deep, and made meaningful and ongoing contributions to our community.
What have your donations accomplished?
Your donations have fed many people spiritually and physically. Our lights are still on, spiritually and physically. We continue to be here for our community spiritually and physically. Our expenses have not decreased because of the pause in services. In fact, they have increased. Not only have many of our streams of income ceased (like catering and our barbecues, and Aliyah donations, and Hebrew school tuitions) but our expenses have increased as we continue to help people who face financial and spiritual crises. We are teaching more Torah, making more phone calls, counseling more people, and touching the lives of people in meaningful ways.
We therefore turn to you with the following requests: if you need help, let us know! We will do our utmost to help. If you can help others, let us know! If you can find your way to make a monthly contribution to our joint endeavor please demonstrate your commitment by becoming a member now.
We are asking all of those who can – please make a monthly financial commitment to us, to the Jewish community of this area, so that we can continue to serve the Jewish community of this area. We have always been and must always be self-supportive. That means we need you to step forward at this time of great opportunity!
Despite our increased budget we are not increasing our membership rates. Please note that our membership rates are lower than other communities’. It is not that we offer less. In fact, we offer more than we ever have. Those who can afford it and want to give more than the minimum are our heroes!
Please get back to me at your earliest convenience. I will send you this year’s membership form. You can also securely donate immediately by following the link found below. You can choose to make your gift monthly, which is deeply appreciated!
G-d bless you and thank you so much for your friendship and support!
Rabbi Eilfort
Jewish Art Calendar
It is calendar season! Yes, we are running a bit late thanks to our ubiquitous friend the coronavirus. But never fear; we will again offer our gorgeous Jewish Art Calendar! Those who wish to sponsor the calendar, or run an ad/s, or dedicate a date are encouraged to reach out to our Rebbetzin Nechama via email at [email protected], or simply reply to this message for the calendar form.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
In-person High Holidays Services Planned
Our High Holiday plans have been formulated. We will be sending out a form and brochure with all of the details in the near future. Please make sure to save the dates. As of now our plan is to hold services outdoors as per current governmental mandates. If the governmental restrictions are eased we may move indoors pending approval of our medical experts and Rabbinic authorities.
Be prepared for a different looking High Holiday experience. We know that masks are not fun. We also understand that up-tempo services are not what we are used to, especially on the High Holidays. But we also know that Judaism teaches us that the sanctity of life takes precedence over all other considerations.
We appreciate your support and understanding as we navigate this unprecedented situation. We remain steadfastly committed to serving our community and doing so in a safe and secure manner.
If there is a program or if there is something that you need please do not hesitate to contact us!
Article of the Week - Living with the Times
Parshat Ki Teitzei – When You Will Go Out
By: Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort
This week we read the portion titled, “Ki Teitzei,” which means “When you will go out.” The laws about how to treat a female captive are then shared. Later in the portion we are introduced to the idea of a “Milchamat Rishut,” an optional war.
There were different types of war that the Jewish people would engage in. Those wars that entitled conquering the Holy Land were called, “Milchamot Mitzvah,” “Mitzvah” wars, as it was a positive commandment to conquer the land and expel the Canaanites, who were exceedingly evil people. Lest we accuse the Israelites of being colonialists it is appropriate to remember that the Canaanites had driven off the offspring of Noah’s son Shem, from whom the Jewish people trace our roots. In other words, the Jews were simply repatriating the land that belonged to them and which the Almighty had given in a bequest to Abraham our father.
Astonishingly we learn about a different type of war – a war that was optional. The Torah explains that under certain circumstances the Jewish people would be allowed to expand the borders of Israel and fight wars with her neighbors in order to conquer additional lands. Now this does seem like colonialism! Additionally, we understand that war is a dangerous business. Do we not view life as being the ultimate currency? Are we not commanded to transgress almost the entire Torah (other than idol worship, murder, and adultery) to save a life?
This begs the question: why would the Torah allow an optional war?
The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of righteous memory, offers us profound insights into the nature of the relationship of a people to its land as well as the intense human desire to own land, and any other material thing for that matter.
The teaching is based upon the critical premise that reality in this world is a reflection of the desires of G-d; that our reality is a reflection of and emanates from the spiritual reality. When the Creator formed the world and created humanity to populate it, in His perfect wisdom, He created specific lands that were aligned with specific peoples. It was no accident that, for example, the Egyptians populated Egypt, the Babylonians populated Babylon, and the Israelites populated Israel. Each land was conducive to the specific people to whom it was given. Each respective people would bring out the best in its designated land and vice versa. This means that each people had the tools as well as the potential to reveal the G-dliness within its particular land.
This explanation seems to strengthen our question! If a particular people is placed in a particular land who are we to choose to dislodge that people and conquer that land?
We see that the Jewish people were exiled from the Holy Land not once, but multiple times. Why? The exiles were caused by our people not fulfilling their destiny and neglecting to reveal the sparks of G-dliness found within our particular patch of land at a given time. In a manner of speaking, the land itself expunged us. This is how the Torah says it would be and the Prophets also emphasize this point numerous times.
In this regard the surrounding nations mirrored the Children of Israel. There were times when they neglected to fulfill their divinely mandated mission thusly failing to reveal the sparks of holiness within their land. It then became incumbent upon the Jewish people to conquer that land – the optional war was born.
This explanation can be extended to help us understand a very powerful drive with which we are imbued. Most people are driven to own material possessions. From houses to cars to clothing to gadgets we all want more, bigger, better. Most of us realize the need to curb our enthusiasm for material wealth lest we become enslaved to material pursuits at the cost of our spiritual health. The proverbial tail wagging the dog is not viewed in a positive light. But this explanation helps us understand that the underpinnings of this drive are not necessarily evil. When we understand that this drive is created from our desire to reveal the G-dliness found within the material we begin to grasp the massive potential we have to elevate the physical realm!
In order to keep these desires harnessed, to make sure that we view the material world and its riches as a means to an end rather than the end itself we need the direction of the Torah. Our desire to accrue material wealth does not trump the laws of the Torah which describe how we are to attain wealth legally. We may not steal, and if we do (Heaven forfend), that G-dly spark in that bit of material wealth will not be elevated. On the other hand, when we follow the rules, for example when we have fair weights and measures, and when we have the right intention, meaning to generously share our accrued material wealth with those less fortunate, we are promised success to a degree that borders on the miraculous. Thereby we have successfully navigated the sea of materialism gleaning the best from the world around us and harnessing it to reveal its underlying holiness.
When we can do this we have revealed our G-dly spark and we literally uplifted our material surroundings demonstrating the truth – that the Almighty is indeed right here!
Wishing everyone an uplifting, joyous, and HEALTHY Shabbos!
No Chicken Soup & Challah This Week
Our volunteers need a break so we are taking this week off but will return the next week. We are extraordinarily proud of the fact that we have provided chicken soup and challah from the beginning of the pandemic. During this time we have distributed thousands of challahs and servings of soup, at no cost, to our community and those in need. We have been able to do this due to the generosity of our sponsors (best in the world!) and our outstanding volunteers. Let’s face it; we are blessed to have such a beautiful community!
Sponsors Appreciated (And Needed)
These are extraordinary times. Many people are reaching out for help and, Baruch Hashem / thank G-d, we are HERE to help! ‘We’ means YOU and US, TOGETHER. It is an amazing partnership that we have!
We are extremely grateful to those who have reached out to help fund us, enabling us to serve others.
We would like to specifically acknowledge at this time:
Channah Hale for her generous sponsorship of the Challahs. Channah has been absolutely phenomenal in her generous sponsorships! We thank her for her kindness and love.
We are seeking additional sponsors for the following dedications:
Next week’s Loaves of Love.
Next week’s Chicken soup.
Next week’s Torah classes.
Note About Sponsorships
You may have noticed that we seek multiple sponsors for the Challah, Soup, and Torah classes. We do this because we need to find ways to cover our budgetary shortfall that has been caused by the coronavirus. The donations coming to the shul have been dramatically reduced. We greatly appreciate those of you who are still supporting us! G-d bless you! We greatly appreciate your understanding as we seek ways of propping up the income necessary to keep things afloat. Your ideas about additional income streams are likewise greatly appreciated!
Ways to Give
We would be nowhere without the generous support of our community. Please know that your support is profoundly appreciated!
There are many ways to donate besides for checks and cash. Following please find a list of the various other ‘platforms’ that are available for secure donations that go directly and entirely into the synagogue account.
1. PayPal [email protected] or PayPal.me/Neilfort
2. Venmo @Nechama-Eilfort
3. Cashapp $nechamae
4. Zelle (Bank of America) [email protected]
5. Personal credit card chabadatlacosta.com/donate
Easy Fundraising Opportunity
First, let us take this opportunity to thank all of those who have had Facebook Birthday Fundraisers for Chabad at La Costa! I cannot tell you how much Nechama & I appreciate it! The money we have received through these fundraisers has helped our shul continue with programming, delivering soup and challah as well as other activities.
Do you have a birthday coming up? We would be honored if you would consider making our shul the recipient of your birthday fundraiser. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to celebrate your birthday and do a wonderful Mitzvah at the same time? Thank you for your consideration and Happy Birthday!
Havdala Live with Rabbi Yossi
Join Rabbi Yossi Rodal on Facebook Live on Saturday night at 8:30pm for a meaningful Havdalah service. Following Havdalah Rabbi Yossi will share an uplifting Chasidic story as is traditional on Saturday night.
Haftarah Thought - From: Chabad.org
Isaiah 54:1-10.
This week's haftorah is the fifth of a series of seven "Haftarot of Consolation." These seven haftarot commence on the Shabbat following Tisha b'Av and continue until Rosh Hashanah.
Forsaken Jerusalem is likened to a barren woman devoid of children. G‑d enjoins her to rejoice, for the time will soon come when the Jewish nation will return and proliferate, repopulating Israel's once desolate cities. The prophet assures the Jewish people that G‑d has not forsaken them. Although He has momentarily hid His countenance from them, He will gather them from their exiles with great mercy. The haftorah compares the final Redemption to the pact G‑d made with Noah. Just as G‑d promised to never bring a flood over the entire earth, so too He will never again be angry at the Jewish people.
"For the mountains may move and the hills might collapse, but My kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of My peace collapse."
