FRIDAY UPDATE: 6 FEBRUARY 2026
Change the theory, not the
facts!
The title speaks for itself—but if you didn’t read Rabbi Kenigsberg’s devar Torah for this week in yesterday’s Hanassi Highlights, you can still pick it up online here and read it in Hebrew here.
The giving of the Torah—and
whatever happened before Sinai?
Rabbi Kenigsberg dipped into Rabbi
Wein zt’l’s BiMessilah Na’aleh in yesterday evening’s mini-shiur and
explored what it means to say that the Avot kept the Torah before it was given.
The shiur is on YouTube here;
Rabbi Wein’s favorite joke about Matan Torah (cited in the shiur), as told in
Yiddish by Professor David Weiss Halivni a.h., here.
Yitro: a one-man enigma
What was passing through Yitro’s mind when he met up with Moshe? And what was his emotional state? Why does it matter to us—and what is his legacy? Our member Rabbi Paul Bloom sketches out some significant answers, here.
Yitro and antisemitism
Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht’s parashah shiur yesterday morning to honor the memory of Rabbi Wein zt’l, “Parshas Yisro: Understanding Antisemitism”, is already available on TorahAnytime and you can access it here.
This week’s sponsorship:
breaking news
Thank you, Joel and Harriet Kaplan,
for stepping in to sponsor kiddush this Shabbat in memory of Harriet's father
Shmuel Avraham ben Tzvi. And a prospective thank-you to our as-yet unknown
sponsor for se’udah shelishit (please make yourself known to Ronny Wachtel on 050-440-3214
and he will be the first to offer our thanks).
Before you eat that piece of
untithed fruit…
…do consider whether Shabbat has designated your food as being fit for ma'aser purposes even before it is fully ready to eat. If this means something to you, you’ve probably learned Gemara Beitza already. For elucidation (and the chance to admire an unusually long Rashi) listen to Rabbi Kenigsberg’s Zoom shiur from yesterday, here.
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THURSDAY UPDATE: 5 FEBRUARY 2026
Na’aseh venishma: a fresh
perspective
What really happened at Har Sinai? What did our noble ancestors really agree to when they said: “We will do—and we will listen”? And why did they say it? Our member Rabbi Steven Ettinger puts the words of the Torah under close scrutiny—and this is what he finds.
משנים את התיאוריה, לא את
העובדות
Rabbi Kenigsberg’s devar Torah for this Shabbat is all about what to do when the facts don’t fit the theory. It appears in English in today’s Hanassi Highlights, but you can also read it in Hebrew, thanks to AI, here.
When it’s good to talk
Starting from a disagreement between Rambam and Ramban, Rabbi Kenigsberg’s mini-shiur yesterday afternoon spoke of the danger of making our prayers routine and the importance of talking to God even between regular prayers. Tune in here for more.
O Jerusalem, Eternal City
Our video-talented member Heshy
Engelsberg just can’t get enough of our wonderful capital. Here, in his latest
production—“O Jerusalem, Eternal City”—Heshy shares his passion with us.
Guest speaker this Shabbat
Rabbi Kenigsberg will be away this Shabbat and will not therefore be giving the upstairs minyan his customary drasha after davening. We will however be welcoming in his place Rabbi Dov Kidron, who will offer us some words of Torah on which we can dwell over lunch. For details of Rabbi Kidron click here.
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WEDNESDAY UPDATE: 4 FEBRUARY
2026
Shimshon Pattashnick a.h.
We now have the names of the other
aveilim following the passing of Shimshon Pattashnick a.h., father of our dear
member Deborah Schachter. They are Deborah’s mother Shoshana Pattashnick,
and her brothers Yehuda Kasriel, Mordechai Yehudah and Yisroel Nissim
Pattashnick Szczupakiewicz. We offer our sincerest condolences to all the
family.
Relating to God: a new angle
We connect with God through prayer
and, when we connect, we ask Him things and tell Him things too. Now what if,
when we don’t tell Him your problems, He pretends He doesn’t know them? Rabbi
Kenigsberg discusses this notion in yesterday evening’s mini-shiur on tefillah,
here.
Our trip down South—latest
bargain offer
For those couples who want to save some money, there is a 300 nis reduction to anyone who is willing to occupy one of the rooms in the Tamar Hotel that has yet to be renovated. Contact Menachem Marcus (058-686-8151) for further information. All trip details and documentation can be accessed here.
The seamless web that is Torah
When you learn Gemara, you really come to appreciate the extent to which, like life itself, every facet of our Torah connects to others. In this morning’s Zoom shiur on Genara Beitza, Rabbi Kenigsberg seeks to untangle the threads that draw muktzeh to ma’aser and shmita, here.
After all the excitement of Tu biShvat
…
… we don’t have any sponsors lined
up for this coming Shabbat for kiddush or se’udah shelishit, so take note. This
week’s Torah reading, Parashat Yitro, underlines the firm link between food and
Torah by relating how Moshe and Aharon dined with Yitro and the elders of Israel
before going on to describe the giving of the Ten Commandments. Help us link
our physical survival with our spiritual sustenance by being one of this week’s
sponsors. Just call Ronny Wachtel on 050-440-3214 and he’ll do the rest.
Reminder: Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht will be giving his parashah shiur in honor of the memory of Rabbi Wein zt’l tomorrow at 10.00 am.
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