MONDAY UPDATE: 23 MARCH 2026
Bloomin’ lovely!
If you are looking for a fruit tree
that is currently in blossom, so that you can say the seasonal berachah
over it, we know of two trees that may be of relevance. One is a lemon tree
that stands in the entrance to Narkis 9A (pictured here). The other one is in the courtyard behind the Netzach shul on Ramban.
Selling your chametz?
After Rabbi Kenigsberg’s shiur in
shul this morning on Leil Pesach, he will be available to arrange mechirat chametz
from 11.00 to 11:30 am. For those who are unable to come then—or who would
prefer not to leave their homes at this time—there will be other opportunities
later in the week, both in person and online. We will keep you informed of all
the details.
Calling all early birds!
At precisely 2.00 am in the morning on Friday 27 March we shift from winter to summer time (don’t forget to adjust any of your clocks and watches that don’t already adjust themselves!) This means that we are now offering two services for minchah and kabbalat Shabbat this coming Friday. Precise details have yet to be confirmed but, once again, we will keep you informed.
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SUNDAY UPDATE: 22 MARCH 2026
Preparing for Pesach: online and
in the flesh
Tomorrow (Monday) morning at 10.00
am Rabbi Kenigsberg is giving a special Tzurba shiur on hilchot Pesach, with
special reference to Leil HaSeder. As presently advised, the shiur will be
both live and on Zoom and the link is here.
However, in light of the current
security situation, tomorrow evening’s Pre-Pesach Leil Iyun with OU Israel,
featuring Rabbi Joel Kenigsberg and Rabbi Shalom Rosner, will not now be taking
place in shul. It will instead be made available to you via Google Meet.
Commencement time: 7.30 pm. Click here for details of the event and here for the link.
Shiva details for Uri Gilbert a.h.
Some people have not been receiving
their shul emails in recent days and may have missed the shiva arrangements for
Uri Gilbert, much-loved grandson of our dear members Judy and Geoffrey Gilbert.
The shiva notice can be accessed here.
Do you have a blossoming tree?
Last Wednesday (a.k.a. Rosh Chodesh
Nisan) we posted a piece on the mitzvah of reciting a berachah over the blossom
of a fruit tree, here. If you know of a suitably blessable tree, can you please let us know by email
to bkhanassi@gmail.com so that we can
share its location with some eager members? Thanks!
Watching what you watch
We have just received from YouTube
our monthly report for February on viewing figures for our YouTube channel. The
most viewed clip was Rabbi Kenigsberg’s mini-shiur “Mesillat Yesharim:
three things that threaten Jewish mindfulness -- especially if you use
WhatsApp!”, which you can watch here.
As for March, we still have 10 days to and it’s almost neck-and-neck between
another couple of the Rav’s shiurim, “Parashat Vayakhel: Moshe's argument with
Betzalel -- what's the takeaway message for US immigrants?” (here)
and “Preparing for Purim under wartime conditions: guidance, plus questions and
answers” (here).
So what do you do when you get
the “all-clear”?
At least we know what our enterprising member Heshy Engelsberg does: he nips out into the street to see what everyone else is doing—and then records it for us. His latest creation, “Life Right After the Siren Clears”, can be viewed here. Plot-spoiler: most of what we Jews do is selecting food, buying it and eating it …
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FRIDAY UPDATE: 20 MARCH 2026
Davening arrangements for
this Shabbat: The current Home Front Command restrictions remain in force both
for tonight and tomorrow. This means that we are only allowed a maximum of 50
people in the building. We have a single minyan, downstairs in the Beit
Midrash, starting at 5.35 pm tonight and 8.45 am tomorrow. There will again be
no children’s service.
There is no registration
system but we are trusting our members to be responsible and not to enter the
building if it is plainly crowded. Please do not come to shul if you find it
difficult to go quickly and carefully downstairs to our miklat in the event of
an alarm.
From Obligation to Willingness
If you missed Rabbi Kenigsberg’s
piece in Hanassi Highlights yesterday on Parashat Vayikra, or just
prefer reading it online on The Hanassi Blog, you can catch it here now. To read the same shiur in Ivrit, click here.
Happiness, happenstance and the
forces of good and evil
Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht’s parashah shiur yesterday in honor of the memory of Rabbi Wein zt’l fastened on to the very first word of Sefer Vayikra and extracted from it a host of messages—for Moshe Rabbenu’s time and for ours. To enjoy this shiur, click here.
Bye bye, chametz
In his second mini-shiur on
preparing for Pesach, Rabbi Kenigsberg tackled some of the most popular ways of
disposing of one’s chametz and made some pertinent comments on the practice of
hiding away 10 items of chametz wrapped in silver foil. Join him here.
As for selling chametz, we look
forward to announcing our plans for doing this in person and online early next
week.
Close up and personal
We all want a close relationship
with God, but the big question is “how”?
Are korbanot the right way? And why is salt such an important ingredient
of our offerings? Our member Rabbi Paul Bloom explains.
Muktzeh: is there a cover-up?
For the second shiur in succession, the discussions in yesterday morning’s Zoom shiur on Gemara Beitza conclude inconclusively. Curious to know if you can use something that isn’t muktzeh in order to provide a protective cover for something that is? Click here.
Please feel free to share our divrei Torah with your family and friends!
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