Bnei Akiva Dallas

Shabbat Jan. 9, 2016; Tevet 21 5776

BNEI-AKIVATON
Times | Shabbat Information | Upcoming Events | Awesomeness

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Shabbat/Bnei Akiva
Zmanim
Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Maariv-

A Dvar Torah on Va'era by Benji Zo!er"

5:20pm

Shabbat beginsShabbat Morning Minyanim-

5:19
8/9am

Mincha-

5:05

Snif~

5:25

Maariv~

6:05

Motzei Shabbat-

6:20

Weather for Shabbat

Friday:
High-68 Low-39
Sunny

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!
!

Shabbos Kodesh :
High-45 Low-27
Sunny

!!
!

Upcoming Dates

January 23- Snif

January 24- Bnei Akiva Tu

B'Shevat Festival

Facebook page:
facebook.com/
bneiakivadallas

Instagram:
BneiAkivaDallas

The human voice is the most

powerful sound in the world.
Through speech, people can build
or break relationships, share ideas,
and inspire. However, a good
speaker does not automatically
create change. In fact, in this
week's parsha, Parshat Va'era,
Moshe gives the Jews a riveting
and impactful speech, but they
simply do not listen (Shmot
6:6-9). However, as Rav Ezra Bick
teaches, Moshe's goal is to
"awaken the slumbering tzelem
Elokim (image of God) of human
dignity within them." The Jews
don't even bother to try to
understand what he's trying to tell
them.$
Moshe may have had a brilliant
idea, but there was one thing he
didn't take into account: his
audience. When considering his
plan of action, it seems that
Moshe forgets to remember that
the Jews were no ordinary people
they were slaves. As the pasuk
explains, "They did not listento
Moshebecause of [their]
shortness of breath and because of
[their] hard labor" (ibid 9).
However, Moshe still blames it on
his own oratory faults. He does
not care or even notice the Jewish
state of mind; all he can think
about is hisinadequacies.$
God, unlike Moshe, sees the
larger picture and has a better
plan in mind.In the
psukimwhich immediately
follow, Hetells Moshe, "Come,
speak to Pharaoh, the king of

Egypt, and he will let the children

of Israel out of his land" (ibid.
11).Rather than inspiringthe
Jewish hearts through speech,
God knows that Moshe must
show them. God thus instructs
Moshe to go to Pharaoh with a
certain plan in mind:to crush
the oppressors of the Jewsslowly
and publicly.$
For Moshe to create the
change within his people, his
words could not kindle their
downtrodden hearts. On the
contrary, as Rav Bick explains,
"The inner workings of the soul is
a hidden process, responding to
events in the outside world."
What the Jews saw, rather than
what they heard, would act as
their inspiration. Only when the
Jews were able to see and
acknowledge the Hand of God
forming their path to freedom,
could they begin to act and think
like free people.$
Inspiring change is one thing;
causing it is another. Though
speech can arouse the heart and
soul, in order to lift people up
from the lowest of lows and teach
them their potential, one must
first lend a hand and show them
the way.$

Bnei Akiva Dallas

Shabbat Jan. 9, 2016; Tevet 21 5776

Song of the week: Chamol

Al Ma'asecha
, ,
, ,
. .
.

Have mercy upon thy

creations, rejoice in they
works. $

Transliterated: (tune can be found on YouTube)$

Chamol al maasecha vtismach bmaasecha,
vyomru lecha chosecha. btzadekcha amusecha,
tukdash adon al kol maasecha.Ki makdishecha
bikdushatcha kidashta, naeh lkadosh per
mikdoshim.
thou sanctified over all thy works! $
For thou dost bestow thy holiness
upon those who hallow thee,
praise from holy people is sweet
to the Holy One.

Let those who trust in

thee exclaim: O Lord be

Israel Update: Tel Aviv

Shooting
Nashat Milhem, a 29-year-old Arab Israeli
resident of the northern village of Arara, is
still on the loose after shooting civilians at the
popular Simta Bar in Tel Aviv on Friday
afternoon, leaving two dead and seven injured,
some critically.$
The murdered victims were Alon Bakal, 26,
manager of the pub who had just completed
his fourth year of law school and Shimon
Ruimi, 30, a resident of the southern town of
Ofakim who was celebrating a birthday with
four childhood friends. Police and security are

on a manhunt for the killer, who they fear is

likely to repeat the act and could decide to
take hostages.

This week in Jewish

History: 21 Tevet!
On this day, Eliezer Ben Yehuda was born
in the small town of Lushki in the province
of Vilna, Lithuania, where he received a
traditional Jewish education. Realizing
that he would not be accepted in a
Russian university because of
discriminatory laws against Jews, Ben
Yehuda went to the University of Paris. In
1879 Ben Yehuda published his first
Hebrew article in Hashahar (The Dawn),
the foremost Hebrew monthly of the time.
He presented the then novel idea of the
return to Zion and revival of the ancient
Hebrew tongue as the spoken language
of a resurrected people. His children were
the first in modern times to speak Hebrew
as their mother tongue. Ben Yehuda
concentrated his efforts on his
monumental lifework, The Dictionary of
the Hebrew Language, Old and New. The
Hebrew language, which has become the
national tongue of Israel, today serves as
a connection between all Jews.

Bnei Akiva word of

the week!
Piturim verb \Pe-toor-eem\
:This is a phrase used to mean that
everybody is dismissed. It is used after
giving instructions to groups of people
and dismissing people to meals, along
with many other situations.

Joke of the week!

Parsha

  Word

  Search
Words:$
beasts $
blood$
boils$
darkness$
death $
Egypt$
flies$
frogs$
Goshen$
hail $
lice$
locusts$
Nile $
Pharaoh$
red sea$

Who was the best

businesswoman in the
Bible?
Pharaoh's
daughter,
she pulled a
profit out of
the water.