Shelach Excerpts

שלח

Shabbat Shalom

All shul sports are cancelled. Too many fights at the shul league basketball game last week. 

People will not daven in other people's shuls anymore. The whole league has been cancelled. Even the Chicago division. Sports has caused for too much sinat chinam, baseless hatred...You can't hate somebody because they got a rebound and hit a three-point shot...You hit him in the face, Frank...

Word has gotten to the Jewish camps, and the only sports that will be played at Moshava are wiffle-ball and matkot.  

Some of the sports that have come up as other causes for scuffles around our shul are ping-pong and paper football. Competition has been bad...

(15:17-21) H' tells Moshe to tell Israel that when they come to the land, they have to take Challah. 

That can kill the enjoyment for the community. When this community was told they had to give charity from their meals, they decided to not eat for two weeks. The protest went on and the food collection bin went nowhere. It is still empty, and the Schwanzinger family is still starving.

The first commandment for when they come into the land, expressed here, is to give a portion of the Challah to H.' Something you bake. Not tithing. Separating something you make. A little piece of their blessing. You can learn to share. You don't have to starve. You all can stop with the hunger strike, and give the people down at Congregation Anshei Kamtzan a little tuna can with each of your meals...Just giving a little something. That is all H' asks of us. A bissel Challah.

That was an even bigger problem, when the main players on the Anshei Emes uSefilah, our own shul, did not pass the ball. Shlomi at center, at 5'10" had his ego take over....

You get the food and you give a little. You share. And that is not something our community is learning from sports...You share with the other team too, Bernie. It is called Midot. It is not all about winning.

Get over the game Mark. You guys lost. That is why the shul is packed today. Because you are all ashamed to abandon your shul and go to the other shul. You lost to them.

Challah baking night. Did anybody take Challah? Yes. You all ate it. But did you take Challah from the Challah...It gets very complicated when you call the Challah Challah and you have to take the Challah from it...

(15:24-26) Bring sacrifices for unintentional sins. You still have to sacrifice. You still have to atone. 

You all sin. I am supposing it is unintentional, like your loss last night.

'I didn't do it on purpose.' Nobody cares, you apologies...You hit the guy from the other team and he goes down, you don't start standing over him and taunting him with a MiShebeyrach LCholim. You got a technical for that Frank, and we lost the game.

The youth doesn't clean up. But she spilled the toys...Who is cleaning it now little Karen? It was an accident that you played with the toys?...They are learning from you.

Unintentional sin of eating and not giving your food. That was intentional. You even stopped eating.

Unintentional sin of hitting the other players on the basketball courts, because they daven at other shuls....

They are forgiven for this communal sin of idol worship, with the public sacrifice, because it was done as a community, due to improper teachings. Given, the coach was the Chazin, and he can't even lead in a Kaddish. But taking Challah? Were you not supposed to take a little. Maybe even give your Challah, after you took Challah, to somebody in need...It is figurative Bernie. Sadie knows the food bank won't take cooked foods...

What communal sins have been done because of the Gabai? Because of the Chazin?

How many times have we not had Challah here? At least decent Challah?! Should we not have decent Challah, if everybody is taking it...

To hate people for not taking Challah is a question we will have to deal with next time. But next week, we are going down, with Challah, to Beis Knesses Anshei Kamtzan, with some Challah. Because we all play for the same team, and we all give the same charity, and we all gave sacrifices for the same unintentional sins...

They are sinner too.