ק׳ ק׳ שׁערי תפילה
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THIS SHABBAT
we take out 2 Sefarim
(1) Parashat Vayakhel
(2) Parashat Shekalim
The haftara THIS week will be the
Hafatara of Shekalim
with
the 1st and last פסוק of Machar Chodesh
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is שבת מברכים
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The funds raised were primarily used to purchase cattle for the communal sacrifices. The leftover monies were used for a variety of communal purposes, including providing salaries for the judges and maintenance of the Temple, its vessels, and the city walls.
This annual tax, known as the machatzit hashekel, was due on the 1st of Nissan. One month earlier, on the 1st of Adar, the courts began posting reminders about this Biblical obligation. In commemoration, the Shekalim is the first of four readings added during or immediately before the month of AdarTorah reading of the Shabbat that falls on or before Adar is supplemented with the verses (Exodus 30:11-16) that relate G‑d's commandment to Moses regarding the first giving of the half-shekel.
The Shekalim haftarah (II Kings 11:17-12:17) continues on the same theme, discussing the efforts of King Jehoash (9th century BCE) to earmark communal funds for the upkeep of the first Holy Temple.
(We too give a commemorative half shekel to charity—on the Fast of Esther.)
“Parshat Shekalim” is the first of four special readings added during or immediately before the month of Adar (the other three being Zachor, Parah and Hachodesh).
The Shekalim reading is also related to the upcoming holiday of Purim. According to the Talmud, Haman's decree was averted in merit of the mitzvah of machatzit hashekel.
Haftara
II Kings 11:17-12:17.
The Parshat Shekalim Torah reading discusses the annual obligation for every Jew to give half a shekel to the Temple coffers. The haftorah discusses the efforts of King Jehoash (9th century BCE) to earmark these communal funds for the upkeep of the first Holy Temple.
Background for this haftorah: Because of an alliance with the Northern Kingdom of Israel, idol worship had become rampant in the erstwhile righteous Davidic dynasty-controlled Southern Kingdom. When the king of the Southern Kingdom, Ahaziah, was killed, his mother Athaliah murdered the remainder of the royal family and seized the throne. During her brief reign, she actively promoted idolatry. Unbeknownst to her, one of Ahaziah's sons, a small baby, was hidden and survived. When he became seven years of age, Jehoiada the High Priest led a successful revolt against Athaliah, and installed the child king, Jehoash, as the new King of Judea.
The haftorah begins with the new king renewing the people's covenant with G-d. They destroyed all the pagan altars and statues and appointed officers to oversee the Holy Temple. Jehoash then instructed the priests regarding all the funds that were donated to the Temple. According to his plan, all the funds would be appropriated by the priests. In return, the priests would pay for the regular maintenance of the Temple. In the 23rd year of Jehoash's reign, the priests neglected to properly maintain the Temple. Jehoash then ordered that all monies should be placed in a special box that was placed near the Temple altar, and these funds were given directly to the workers and craftsmen who maintained the Temple
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Rosh Chodesh Adar SHENI is TWO days
Motzae Shabbat Night 09 / 03 / 24 ~ Sunday 10 / 03 / 24
& Monday 11 / 03 / 24
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לוח זמני תפלה לחורף תשפ״ד
Winter Timetable 5784 – 2023/24
מוצאי שבת | ערבית | שקיעה | מנחה שבת | סוף זמן קריאת שמע | הדלקת נרות | מנחה וקבלת שבת | תאריך | שבת פרשת |
Shabbat Ends | Arbit | Sunset | Minha | Shema before | Candle Lighting | Minha & Kabbalat Shabbat | Date | Parasha |
PM | PM | PM | PM | AM | PM | PM |
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6:52 | 6:48 | 6:01 | 5:25 | 9:28 | 5:45 | 5:45 | 8/9 Mar | ויקהל (שקלים) (ש''מ) |
קרבנות
8:45 am
הודו
9:00 am
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Moshe Rabbeinu exhorts the Bnei Yisrael to keep Shabbat, and requests donations for the materials for making the Mishkan. He collects gold, silver, precious stones, skins and yarn, as well as incense and olive oil for the Menorah and for anointing. The princes of each tribe bring the precious stones for the Kohen Gadol's breastplate and ephod. G-d appoints Betzalel and Oholiav as the master craftsmen. Bnei Yisrael contribute so many resources, such that Moshe begins to refuse donations. Special curtains with two different covers were designed for the Mishkan's roof and door. Gold-covered boards in silver bases were connected, forming the Mishkan's walls. Betzalel made the Holy Ark (which contained the Tablets) from wood covered with gold. On the Ark's cover there were two figures facing each other. The Menorah and the table with the showbreads were also of gold. Two Altars were made: a small incense Altar of wood, overlaid with gold, and a larger Altar for sacrifices, made of wood covered with copper.
Ohr Somayach Institutions www.ohr.edu
חלות מתוקות
בהלכה הקודמת ביארנו שיש חיוב לאכול פת בשיעור כביצה (חמישים וארבעה גרם) בכל אחת מסעודות השבת. וכעת נדון לענין חלות מתוקות שרבים נוהגים לבצוע מהן בסעודות השבת, האם ברכתן המוציא לחם מן הארץ וממילא יוצאים באכילתן ידי חובת סעודות שבת, ולאחריהן יש לברך ברכת המזון, או שברכתן בורא מיני מזונות כמו עוגה וממילא לא יוצאים באכילתן ידי חובת סעודות שבת, וברכתן האחרונה היא על המחיה.
מרן בשלחן ערוך (סימן קסח) כתב, פת הבאה בכסנין (היא הפת שנאמר עליה בגמרא שברכתה בורא מיני מזונות) יש אומרים שהיא עיסה (בצק) שעירב בה דבש או סוכר או שמן ותבלין, והוא שיהיה טעם התערובת ניכר בעיסה. וכן הלכה שנותנין עליה דין פת הבאה בכסנין. כלומר שברכתה מזונות. וכתב על זה הרמ”א, ויש אומרים שזה נקרא פת גמור (וברכתו המוציא לחם מן הארץ) אלא אם כן יש בה הרבה דבש כמיני מתיקה שקוראים “לעקיך” שהדבש והתבלין עיקר. וכן נוהגים באשכנז.
ומכאן נבא לדון אודות החלות המתוקות במצויות בזמנינו, שאמנם מורגשת בהן היטב המתיקות, אבל בודאי אי אפשר לומר ש”הדבש והתבלין עיקר” אלא מטרת הדבש או הסוכר רק לתת טעם טוב בחלה. ולפיכך לדעת הרמ”א ולמנהג אשכנז ברכת החלות המתוקות היא המוציא לחם מן הארץ, ויוצאים בהן ידי חובת סעודות שבת. וכן גם כתב הרמ”א בדרכי משה (אות ב') שבשבתות וימים טובים מברכים המוציא וברכת המזון על החלות המטובלות הרבה, והתבלין (כגון סוכר וכדומה) ניכרים בהם בטעם ובמראה. אולם לדעת מרן הבית יוסף, לא קבעו חכמים ברכת המוציא וברכת המזון, אלא על לחם שנעשה מעיסה שנילושה במים, אבל כל שיש בה תערובת ממי פירות (כגון מיץ תפוזים) או תבלין (כגון סוכר ודבש), אם טעם התערובת ניכר בעיסה ברכת הפת הזו בורא מיני מזונות. אולם ברור שאף לדעת מרן, אם לא עירבו בעיסה אלא מעט שמן וסוכר, באופן שטעמם אינו ניכר כלל, כמו בלחמים המצוים בזמנינו, בודאי שברכתם המוציא לחם מן הארץ, ורק אם ניכר טעמם ממש, כמו בחלות מתוקות, ברכתם בורא מיני מזונות.
לפיכך, לדעת מרן הבית יוסף שקבלנו הוראותיו, אין לברך על חלות מתוקות ברכת המוציא אלא ברכת מזונות, כדין עוגה, ולפיכך אין להן דין לחם כלל ואין יוצאים באכילתם ידי חובת סעודות שבת. ולמנהג אשכנז דין החלות הללו כדין לחם לכל דבר ויוצאים באכילתם ידי חובת סעודות שבת.
ולהלן אי”ה נוסיף עוד מעניין זה.
Sweet/Egg Challah
We have explained in the previous Halacha that there is an obligation to eat an egg’s volume of bread (fifty-four grams) during each of the Shabbat meals. We shall now discuss the status of “Sweet Challot” which many customarily use as bread for the Shabbat meals. Are they considered bread and hence one eating them would fulfill his obligation to eat bread during the Shabbat meals and would be obligated to recite Birkat Hamazon after eating them or is “Boreh Minei Mezonot” the appropriate blessing for them, like cake and the like, and one eating them would not fulfill his obligation of eating bread during the Shabbat meals and their after-blessing would be “Al Ha’Michya”?
Maran writes in his Shulchan Aruch (Chapter 168): “Kisnin bread (which is the bread that the Gemara says requires the Mezonot blessing): Some say that this refers to dough in which honey, sugar, oil, or spices were mixed and the taste of the item mixed in the dough is recognizable in the dough.” This is indeed the Halacha and such an item is given the halachic status of Kisnin bread on which a “Boreh Minei Mezonot” blessing is recited. The Rama notes: “Some say this is considered actual bread (on which a “Hamotzi” blessing is recited) unless there was a copious amount of honey mixed into it similar to a sweet baked good which we call “Lekach” (Yiddish for honey cake) in which the honey and spices are primary. This is indeed the prevalent custom (in Ashkenazi countries).”
We must now determine the status of the “Sweet Challah” present nowadays, for although the sweetness can most definitely be tasted, nevertheless, we certainly cannot say that “the honey and spices are primary”; rather, the honey or sugar are only present to give the Challah a good taste. Thus, according to the Rama’s opinion and the Ashkenazi custom, the blessing on such Challah is “Hamotzi Lechem Min Ha’aretz” and one eating them would fulfill one’s obligation of eating bread during the Shabbat meals. Indeed, the Rama in his Darkei Moshe (Section 2, ibid.) writes “that on Shabbat and Yom Tov we recite ‘Hamotzi’ and Birkat Hamazon on Challot which are heavily spiced and the spices (such as sugar and the like) are noticeable in them by taste and appearance.” However, according to the opinion of Maran Ha’Bet Yosef, our Sages enacted that the “Hamotzi” blessing and Birkat Hamazon are to be recited only on bread which was made of dough with only water mixed into it; nevertheless, if fruit juices (such as orange juice) or spices (such as sugar or honey) are mixed into the dough and the foreign taste is detectable in the dough, the blessing on such bread is “Boreh Minei Mezonot.” Nevertheless, it is clear that even according to Maran, if only a small amount of oil or sugar was mixed into the dough such that their taste is completely undetectable, which is indeed the case with many breads we have today, their blessing is certainly “Hamotzi Lechem Min Ha’aretz.” Only if their taste is actually discernible, as is the case with “Sweet Challah,” is their blessing “Boreh Minei Mezonot.”
Thus, according to the opinion of Maran Ha’Bet Yosef, whose rulings we have accepted, one should not recite the “Hamotzi” blessing on “Sweet Challah”; rather, the blessing on such Challah is “Boreh Minei Mezonot,” like cake. This is not considered bread at all and one does not fulfill one’s obligation of eating bread during the Shabbat meals at all by eating them. According to the Ashkenazi custom, such Challot are considered bread for all intents and purposes and one would fulfill his obligation of eating bread during the Shabbat meals by eating them.
We shall, G-d-willing, broaden our discussion on this topic in the following Halacha.