May 15th, 43rd day of the omer, National Dance Like A Chicken Day

 

AES RS MAY 11 and 14

1.      The chant!

2.     Online game: bathroom or fruit

3.      Reading https://www.sefaria.org/Siddur_Ashkenaz%2C_Weekday%2C_Shacharit%2C_Torah_Reading%2C_Removing_the_Torah_from_Ark%2C_Berich_Shmei.2?vhe=hebrew|The_Metsudah_siddur,_1981&lang=he

 

4.     NEWS LIMERICS

 

5.     Layout of the camp

6.     Twelve tribes  quiz

7.     Commentary

8.     Pidyon haben

9.    Video

10.  the numbers

11.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwd08M7pr3A

12.  Why not one for girls? – Skolnik

 

 

It used to be great to go try

To live in Israel on dollars, oh my!

Now  each dollar you see,

Is in shekels worth three

Yes, Israel’s currency is trading too __________

 

 

 

Zohran Mamdani’s performance? let’s state

What New York City’s mayor does rate

In the city, among jews

He’s not getting good news

At 40% his rating’s  not________________

 

 

Despite antisemitism that continues to ooze

in Britian’s capitol, good news,

The Community Protection Team

Has 100 cops on the beam

To face assaults and mistreatment of ______________

 

 

Terror group Hezbolah sends buzzing tones

Using fiber optics, they have endless clones

From Lebanon, they attack

In pack after pack

Yes, Israel’s soldiers face death  by armed ___________

 

 

A huge donation appeared with a snap

$200 million a hospital will tap

Jerusalem’s Sharey Z

Thanks him so profusely

That’s Jan Koum, the co-creator of _______ ____

 

 

Israel has made their decision

A  brave singer to meet hate and derision

Noam bettan, a Mensch

Will sing his song mostly in french,

Sure to be booed and cheered at ______________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.jta.org/2026/05/03/ny/40-of-jewish-nyc-voters-rate-zohran-mamdanis-performance-as-mayor-poor-poll-finds

 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/shekel-hits-33-year-peak-hammering-exports-yet-policymakers-are-worryingly-silent/

 

https://www.jta.org/2026/05/06/global/londons-metropolitan-police-launches-new-100-officer-unit-to-protect-jewish-communities

 

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-895734

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-895694

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWCnWSoG8nI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hidden in the 3rd chapter of this week's portion is something that rarely comes up in modern Jewish life.  This week's portion contains verses regarding  the pidyon ha Ben, the redemption of a first born son. 

3:13—

כִּ֣י לִי֮ כׇּל־בְּכוֹר֒ בְּיוֹם֩ הַכֹּתִ֨י כׇל־בְּכ֜וֹר בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֗יִם הִקְדַּ֨שְׁתִּי לִ֤י כׇל־בְּכוֹר֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מֵאָדָ֖ם עַד־בְּהֵמָ֑ה לִ֥י יִהְי֖וּ אֲנִ֥י ה׃ {פ}

For every male first-born is Mine: at the time that I smote every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every male first-born in Israel, human and beast, to Myself, to be Mine, Adonai’s.

 

 

 

 

 

Let's WORK THE NUMBERS!  take 1000 American Jewish families Expecting their first child. Just a smidge under a half of those will, mazaltov,  have a baby girl and plan a zeved bat, brit bat,  simchat bat-- or welcoming a baby girl by another name,  so that leaves us with? 510 baby boys.

On average, 32% of babies born in the United states are born by cesarian section, which disqualifies the infant from requiring a redemption, since the verse says all breachers of the womb belong to me, and the C-section is not what the Torah has in mind in terms of breaching the womb- at least,  not as the Rabbis have interpreted since the 2^nd temple period.    510- 163= 347.

In addition roughly 10% of Jewish men identify as either being kohen or Levi, and all such call kohanim and levi’im being already dedicated to the temple, their sons are exempt from a redemption. They are stuck. Furthermore, even having a mother who was a bat kohen or bat levi removes the infant from those needing a redemption. There is no easy way to be sure of just how many families qualify in this regard but it would not be unreasonable to say it's another 10% who are disqualified this way.  347- 69= 277

now 277  families remain out of our hypothetical 1000.

 Only about 40% of American Jews today affiliate with a synagogue, which is the probably the only way  of a family being connected with their Judaism enough to know of -- or be made aware of Pidyon Haben.  That brings us down to 111 families. 

Now-  Just over 40% of affiliated Jews affiliate with Reform or reconstructionist Judaism, neither of which support or endorse the Pidyon Haben, and they do not perform one. That brings us down to 67 families. 

And of those 67 from the original 1000,  about one third, being part of the Conservative movement more by inertia than by intent,  will not just not bother even if urged  by their rabbi to have a Pidyon.  That brings us to just over 22 families.

Sadly, we must add the really awful things here at the end: Stillbirths and late miscarriages do not disqualify our being compassionate to a family, but they do absolve any boys born after  such awful losses from requiring a Pidyon.   And then add babies born with health problems where after 30 days  after birth the male baby has yet to have a public name,  or a bris,  because  the parents are basically living at the hospital as their boy struggles for life. Or a parent is fighting cancer,  or called up on reserve duty in the USAF  and the Pidyon is pushed away and forgotten. I would suggest that leaves us about 5 in every 1000.

Inheritance, illness, ignorance, all reduce the likelihood of this ancient mitzvah being observed.

5 in 1000.  But we need to lower that to 4 in 1000. There are Jews who are synagogue affiliated, Jewish educated,  ritually obligated, and who reject doing pidyon Haben because they see it as anti-egalitarian and patriarchal; on feminist grounds alone they reject performing this mitzvah.

From 1000 families,  4 will have a pidyon. Maybe.  That’s 0.4%  1 in 250.

 

The arrangement of the Camp of Bnei Yisrael
			North
		Asher	DAN	Naphtali
	Benyamin		Levi-Merari		Yisaschar
West	EPHRAIM	Levi-Gershon	THE MISHKAN	Kohanim	YEHUDA	East
	Manasheh		Levi-Kohath		Zevulun
		Gad	REUVEN	Shimon
			South

 

 

 

12 tribes quiz

 

 

 

1)    The smallest of tribes was Binyamin. What trait were they known for in biblical times?

a.     Being left-handed

b.    Being red-haired

c.     Being taller than the other Jews

d.    Being grouchy and mean

e.     Being the best tuba players in the Jerusalem Symphony

 

2)    The tribe of Joseph was split into two, Ephraim and Menashe.  When do we use their names in Judaism?

a.     At a conversion ritual

b.    At shabbat dinner blessings

c.     As we put the torah away after reading it

d.    During the Passover seder, right at the start

e.     Dude, those names are Greek, not Hebrew.

 

3)    Who was the firstborn son of ya’akov and first among the tribes?

a.     Naphtali

b.    Asher

c.     Zevulun

d.    Re’uven

e.     Yerachmiel Hamusta Sha’ar-yashuv Epidermis  Ochel-Silan Hakuvtaran Baumgarten

 

4)    Levi was one of the original twelve tribes, but they got no land, just cities.  Why?

a.     They angered God at the incident of the fires of Ashpah

b.    They failed to sing the Pazer trope properly

c.     They got jobs helping the kohanim at the Mishkan and later the Temple

d.    They sided with Datan and Abiram at a rebellion against Moses

e.     They made everybody angry one day by talking too much when Moses was teaching, causing everyone to get out of Torah school nearly 30 minutes late, so they were sent back to Egypt

 

 

5)    Yehudah was the largest tribe throughout the Bible’s story.  What happens to that tribe?

a.     They become their own kingdom for five centuries

b.    They fight the Babylonians and lose

c.     They fight the Seleucid Greeks and win

d.    They fight the Romans and lose

e.     They are the source of almost all Jews alive today

 

6)    Zevulun had a special logo, related to where they lived, which was

a.     A ship because they lived on the seashore

b.    A river because they lived on the River Jordan

c.     A sword because they were great fighters

d.    A snake because they ate snakes

e.     An Oreo Milkshake. How can you not love an Oreo Milkshake?

 

7)    Yissaschar’s symbol was the donkey.  Why?

a.     Because as a tribe they were stubborn

b.    Because as a tribe they were lazy and slow

c.     Because as a tribe they were willing to endure burdens

d.    Because as a tribe they were suspicious of horses

e.     Because they stole all 10,000  donkeys of King Sichon of the Amorites, and boy did his friends mock him for letting that happen.

 

8)   The tribe of Dan is known for living far to the north and for being the home of this Biblical Hero-

a.     Sampson the Strong

b.    Solomon the Wise

c.     Deborah the Judge

d.    Chuldah the Prophet

e.     Harper the Ignorant

 

9)    Asher is a tribe known only for what statement from Moses?

a.     “You grew fat and gross and coarse, and abandoned the God who made you.”

b.    “May you be the favorite of his brothers, and your security last all your days.”

c.     “Your brothers will come to you for sauces, your sisters will travel to you for mustard and prunes.”

d.    “May the eggs of Asher bear dragons, may they roast the enemies of your people with fire.”

e.     “He is tardy to class, his assignments are past due, His work is sloppy, Maude the AI could have done better.”

 

10)                    What item represented the twelve tribes as a whole people?

a.     The Tambourine of Miriam, which had twelve sides

b.    The Sword of Joshua, which had twelve edges

c.     The staff of Moses, upon which all twelve names were written

d.    The chest-plate of Aaron the Kohen Gadol, which had twelve gems

e.     The twelve fingers of our Glorious Supreme Leader of the People’s Democratic Republic of North Korea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay on target! Almost there....

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-5hFUyxMTQ

Facts to Match

1. Many Jews sit on low chairs or stools as a sign of mourning.
2. This holiday is sometimes called the Jewish Day of Love.
3. This day celebrates the beginning of a new Hebrew month.
4. The walls of Jerusalem were broken on this day before the Temple was destroyed.
5. The shofar begins being blown during this month before the High Holidays.
6. This is considered one of the saddest days on the Jewish calendar.
7. In ancient times, people celebrated in vineyards on this holiday.
8. Many people avoid weddings and celebrations after this fast day.
9. This holiday remembers the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem.
10. This holiday takes place during the Hebrew month of Av.
11. This month is connected to reflection, repentance, and preparing for Rosh Hashanah.
12. This holiday includes a daytime fast from sunrise to sunset.
13. Special prayers are added in services on this occasion.
14. People traditionally wore white clothing during celebrations on this day.
15. People fast for about 25 hours on this day.
16. This day marks the beginning of the “Three Weeks,” a mourning period in Judaism.

Answer Key

17th of Tammuz 

• 4
• 8
• 12
• 16

Tisha B’Av

• 1
• 6
• 9
• 15

Tu B’Av

• 2
• 7
• 10
• 14

Rosh Chodesh Elul

• 3
• 5
• 11
• 13

Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel,  a teacher of two generations of rabbis and a friend of Dr. Marting Luther King Jr.,  once came from NYC to speak at Northwestern University, and a member of the philosophy department picked him up at the airport.  On the way back to campus, the professor said “Dr. Heschel, actually, I’m Jewish too.”  “That’s wonderful,” Heschel replied. “And what do you do about it?”

 

A)  What do you do about being  Jewish during the summer?   Charity, camp, bnei mitzvah, shabbat? Israel Trips? Write down five examples, even if they include things that are part of the summer camp you go to, are special events such as a Bat Mitzvah coming up,  or are Jewish things you do the rest of the year as well as during the summer.

 

B)  Of those things, which  you like the most?  And what are the most challenging?

 

 

C)   What is one mitzvah, custom,  or practice you would like to add to that list of what you do about being Jewish during the summer? (If your answer is “nothing”  or something similar, you must  give three substantive, supporting sentences to explain why.)

Liberty and Curses

 

-Zeh or Zeh Meod

-Reading- https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.90.1?lang=he

Parsha Summary Word bank

Bell Quiz!

Verse. Shemitah and Yovel.  Commentary on Yovel

 Yiddish Curses!

Curses

Commentary on curses

 

 

 

 

 

קַר 

חַם

מְאוֹד

 

 

גָּדוֹל

קָטָן

מְאוֹד

 

קָרוֹב

רָחוֹק

מְאוֹד

 

 

 

1.      Which of the following is not a cause that was associated with the Liberty Bell?

a.      American Independence

b.      Women’s suffrage (right to vote)

c.      Abolition of slavery

d.      Unifying the nation after the Civil War

e.      Purging America of the “Six-Seven” meme

 

2.      John Pass and John Stow are known for doing what to the Liberty Bell?

a.      Stealing it 

b.      Making it

c.      Trying to fix the crack

d.      Making the crack

e.      Coating the bell with layers of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate cream to make it easier to eat

 

3.      Who rings the Liberty Bell on the 4^th of July?

a.      Winners of the Liberty Bell Essay Contest

b.      Descendants of the first ten presidents

c.      Descendants of Declaration of Independence  signers  

d.      Winners of the Medal of Honor

e.      Winners of the famous “Fist of Liberty” mixed martial arts tournament

 

4.      In August of  1777 The Liberty Bell was removed from the city and hidden in the floorboards of the Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania,  Why?

a.      Because the Confederate soldiers invading from the south would melt it down for Cannon balls.

b.      Because the British soldiers invading from the north would melt it down for Cannon balls.

c.      Because the French soldiers invading from Louisiana would melt it down for Cannon balls.

d.      Because the Native American tribes invading from the west would melt it down for Cannon balls.

e.      Because the North Koreans were parachuting down from their Space Shuttle to capture the Liberty Bell before Abraham Lincoln arrived with the new Plasma Cannons needed to stop them.

 

5.      Where was the Liberty Bell placed originally?

a.      Congress in Washington DC

b.      City Hall in New York City

c.      The Pennsylvania State House

d.      The center of the Boston Commons

e.      Underwater in Boston Harbor, to scare away British Attack Dolphins.

 

6.      What was the Liberty Bell doing in Philadelphia?

a.      It was made there

b.      It was stuck there

c.      It was ordered for the state house there

d.      It was not wanted by anyone else

e.      It was cursed by a warlock who survived the Salem witch trials.

 

7.      What was the Liberty Bell rung for in 1776?

a.      The reading of the Preamble of the Constitution

b.      The reading of the Bill of Rights

c.      The reading of the will of George Washington

d.      The reading of the Declaration of Independence

e.      The reading of the famous “You’ll Be Back” speech  of King  George III after the Revolutionary War.

 

8.      The last and biggest crack that made the Bell no longer ring-able happened on what occasion?

a.      The 3^rd wedding of Thomas Jefferson in 1793

b.      The 114^th birthday of George Washinton in 1846

c.      At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861

d.      The death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865

e.      The first halftime show the Super Bowl in 1967

 

9.      Who has the Liberty Bell been “tapped” in honor of since 1986?

a.      John F. Kennedy, Jr

b.      Carrie Fisher

c.      Harvey Milk

d.      Martin Luther King Jr

e.      Comic book collector Melvin Kaplinsky of  his parent’s basement at 253  Schuller Parkway,  Brooklyn

 

10.   What phrase or statement is on the Liberty Bell that gives it is name?

a.      Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death!

b.      Depart From Evil And Do Good, Seek Liberty And Pursue

c.      There Is No Liberty Without The Law, And No Law Without Liberty!

d.      Proclaim Liberty Throughout All The Land, To All Who Dwell In It!

e.      Forsooth, Liberty Thompson of Philadelphia Oweth Us Ninety Seven Pounds And Four Shillings

 

11.   Where is this phrase from?

a.      Shakespeare

b.      The Torah

c.      The Magna Carta

d.      The Code of Hammurabi

e.      Our glorious leader of the People’s Democratic Republic of North Korea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּ֗ם אֵ֣ת שְׁנַ֤ת הַחֲמִשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּקְרָאתֶ֥ם דְּר֛וֹר בָּאָ֖רֶץ לְכׇל־יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָ יוֹבֵ֥ל הִוא֙ תִּהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם וְשַׁבְתֶּ֗ם אִ֚ישׁ אֶל־אֲחֻזָּת֔וֹ וְאִ֥ישׁ אֶל־מִשְׁפַּחְתּ֖וֹ תָּשֻֽׁבוּ׃

You are to make different the year, the fiftieth year,

and proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants;

it shall be Homecoming for you!

You are to return, each person to their holding,

each person to his family you are to return.

 LEVITICUS 25:11

 

 Chizkuni, Leviticus 25:10:2

לכל יושביה, “for all its inhabitants;” seeing that the Torah wrote: ושבתם איש אל אחוזתו, “each man of you is to return to his ancestral heritage,” it might have sounded as if women did not possess ancestral land in Israel. Therefore the Torah also had to write: לכל יושביה, lechol yoshvehah, to all of its inhabitants no matter which gender. 

 

Haamek Davar on Leviticus 25:10:1

And proclaim freedom throughout  the land. This includes the soldiers of war who leave their homes to guard in the service of the king and the matters of state; in the Jubilee year they return to their homes and ancestral land.  And each person shall return to their holding — even if he has no ancestral land each goes back to their family and all the family heads are gathered together.

The Torah; A Women's Commentary, Leviticus 25:10:2

Proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants. This verse sums up the goal of the laws in the parashah: to ensure the fundamental freedom from economic oppression. Return to your holding…return to your family. The jubilee system aims principally at reuniting families and allowing them to live on their land.

 

And now, A Selection of Curses from Nahum Stutchkoff's Thesaurus of the Yiddish Language

     

    Shteyner zol zi hobn, nit kayn kinder.

    She should have (kidney) stones and not children.

      

    Oyskrenkn zol er dus mame’s milakh.

    He should get so sick as to cough up his mother’s milk.

    

    Oyf doktoyrim zol er dos avekgebn.

    He should give it (his fortune) all away to doctors.

     

 

    A meshugener zol men oyshraybn, un im araynshraybn.

    They should free a madman, and lock him up.

     

    

    A kleyn kind zol nokh im heysn.

    A young child should be named after him.

  

    

  Er zol hobn paroys makes bashotn mit oybes krets.

    He should have Pharaoh’s plagues sprinkled with Job’s sores.

     

    Es zol dir dunern in boykh, vestu meyen az s’iz a homon klaper.

    Your stomach will rumble so badly, you'll think it was Purim grager.

 

Khasene hobn zol er mit di malekh hamoves tokhter.

    He should marry the daughter of the Angel of Death.

 

     Got zol gebn, er zol hobn altsding vos zayn harts glist, nor er zol zayn geleymt oyf ale ayvers un nit kenen rirn mit der tsung.

    God should bestow him with everything his heart desires, but he should be a quadriplegic and not be able to use his tongue.

    

    Migulgl zol er vern in a henglayhter, by tog zol er hengen, un bay nakht zol er brenen.

    He should be transformed into a chandelier, to hang by day and to burn by night.

 

 

•  Have you ever heard anyone refer to God as “angry” or “vengeful” in the Torah?
• Why might someone say this?
• How do you feel about these labels?
• Throughout the parshiyot we’ve studied, we’ve seen both blessings and curses from God ?  Which do you think there are more of? 

From our Parasha:

And you I will scatter among the nations;

I will unsheath the sword against you,

so that your land becomes a desolation and your cities become a wasteland.

Now those that remain among you—I will bring faintness into their hearts, in the lands of their enemies,

they will be set-in-pursuit by the sound of a driven leaf,

they will flee as if in flight from a sword and will fall, though there is no pursuer!

rather, you will perish among the nations—

it will devour you, the land of your enemies! 

 

 

Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra (Of Zaragosa, Spain, 1092 -1167) wrote: "There is an empty-headed claim that there are more curses than blessings in this portion, but this is not true. Rather, the blessings are set forth in general terms, while the curses are specified in detail, so as to frighten the listeners. A good look [at the verses] will confirm this." 

 

Moses Winefeld (Professor at Hebrew University,  1925-2009)  says that if we look at  documents from the era when such scholars think the Torah was written (7^th cen BCE), we find  they also contain threats of horrible nature. Contrast  Duet. 28:23, “I will make the skies above you brass and the ground below you iron,”  with the  Essarhaddon documents: “”May the gods make your ground like iron so that no one can cut it. Just as the rain does not fall from a brass heaven, so may rain and dew not come upon your fields and pastures.”   Just as chapter 28 threatens famine and hunger, so too does the treaty of Aššurnirari V if it is violated: “May Haddad, the inspector of heaven and earth, destroy this land through constant want, hunger and famine.”  Be it the Esarhhadon treaties or the Aššurnirari documents,  they use the same language.  It’s just exageration, the style of the time,  used only to stress the seriousness of the covenant at hand.  

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