Bnei Buzz (Ki Teitzei)

Newsletter: 19 | Parsha: Ki Teitzei
Candle Lighting: 5:37pm | Motzei ShabbAs: 6:45pm
In This Edition
Who is the Maddie of the week? (page 4)
Picture of the Week


Letter from the Editor
Hello all you bnei buzzers
How you doing? How was your week? Are you in the most incredible mood because you finally signed up
for Machane Nitzavim Hayom and you are so beyond pumped for the best summer camp of your life? If not, early bird ends THIS Sunday...so what are you waiting for??
“ ִכּי־יִ ֽ ְהיֶ֣ה לְ ֗ ִאישׁ ֚ ֵבּן סוֹ ֵ֣רר וּמוֹ ֶ֔רה“
‘If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son’
In this weeks Parsha it talks about the Ben Sorer Umore- the Rebellious son.
A rebellious son is one who repeatedly steals money to buy meat and wine. He eats this meat and drinks this wine in a disgusting and repulsive manner. The Ben Sorer Umore is then brought in front of the Beit Din and faces the death penalty.
The reason the Beit Din puts him to death now, even though he has not really don’t anything illegal is because this kind of son becomes extremely rebellious and the Torah predicts that he will become violent and a sinner.
According to one opinion in the Gemara, the case of Ben Sorer Umore never actually happened. The reason for this is because in order for a rebellious son to actually be a Ben Sorer Umore, he needs to practice EVERY detailed requirement, of which there were far too many for one person to fulfil.
Q. If this is true, why then did Hashem find it necessary to place this situation in the torah?
A. The Ben Sorer Umore is charged with the death penalty. Not because of the intensity of his sins, but because his behaviour demonstrates that he will become a monstrous human being for whom there is just no hope.
Here, the Torah teaches us that a person like this, for which there is no hope, WILL NEVER EXIST!
If you were created and were born into this world, then you have hope. And not only do you have the potential for hope, but you have the absolute potential to become great.
The problem with this in the society that we live in and the insanly critical human beings that we are, is that we may fall, and then convince ourselves that we are failures. If we try something a few times and it never seems to get going or we never seem to get it right, we then believe that we cannot be successful. But, the truth is in fact the exact opposite.
King Shlomo wrote: ‘ Ki Sheva Yipol Tzaddik Vekam U’Resha’Im Yichashlu Bera’ah’
‘ A righteous person falls 7 times, yet rises again’
Some may assume the meaning of what King Shlomo says is that greatness can be achieved despite experiencing an occasional stumble.
However, the real intention is to instruct us that the very path to greatness is only reached by the actual stumbling itself, and then the rising again from it. We see from here that stumbling is certainly not a sign of failure. But rather an opportunity for greatness.
Story:
Thomas Edison was considered to be one of the greatest inventors of his time. He was responsible for over 1000 different ideas. Thomas failed to refine the light bulb so many times, that it took him 10 000 attempts to perfect it! However, rather than accepting failure after try number 9999, he is quoted as saying “I have not failed. I have just found 9999 ways that do not work”. In his mind failure was simply another step into the light ;)
So, each time you fall, just know, that you are one step closer to becoming great!! ;) Shabbat Shalom Holy People
Hannah Swartz
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A vort in short (Hachshara 2017)
As the Hebrew month of Elul approached, all of North America witnessed the eclipse of the sun. For a very short moment in time it appeared as though the light of the sun had disappeared. Despite not being able to see the sun during an eclipse, we all know that it is still there. Similar to the period right after total darkness, when God moves the moon and reveals once again the powerful light of the sun, Elul is a special time when G-d makes it easier for us to rekindle our relationships and spiritual connection to him.
The Hebrew letters that form the word "Elul"- aleph, lamed, vav and lamed- are an acronym for the phrase- "ani l'dodi v'dodi li" -Which means "I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me". The month of Elul is the month when G-d is most accessible.
The sounding of the shofar is the alarm bell. It is capable of penetrating even the most dormant hearts and souls and has done that to Jews for thousands of years.
Before I write about what the wake-up calls demand of us, I would like us to focus on the shofar – which during this month of Elul is sounded every day in the shul, reminding us of our ability to change and the gift of having a second chance to re-establish connections.
G-d is coming closer to us every day of this month. He is beckoning us to look below the surface and fall backwards into His arms. I am to my Beloved and my Beloved is to me. He wants us to let go and trust Him. In order to get to this level of trust we need to prevent blindness. Rav Noah Weinberg asked a simple question:" If you put an envelope full of a million dollars in a homeless person’s cart, but he doesn’t realize that it’s there: is he rich or poor?" Similarly, if you have thousands of gifts in your life but you are too indifferent and distracted to notice them, then do you really have those gifts?
Technically, the homeless person with the million dollar envelope is rich. And you do still have thousands of gifts in your life even if you don’t notice them. But if you don’t look inside the envelope, you can’t use what you have. This can be where we start- acknowledgement. Perhaps the greatest secret to change is gratitude.
This month is all about connection. Connection to God. Connection to each other. Connection to yourself. Connection to the intricacies of life itself. Therefore when we are grateful, we feel connected. And when we are grateful we are aware of what we have- our gifts from HaShem. We can use them to grow. I can’t believe that yesterday I didn’t even know what was right in front of my eyes. I didn’t even see what was inside the envelope. I didn’t even know how much G-D loves me. Now I know. And that changes everything. That changes me.
Let this month of Elul be the month where you choose to actively see and acknowledge your blessings from God, be grateful and become great.
Shabbat Shalom
Tali sher
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Get to know your maddie
Maddies Name: lori rabinovitch Shichva: Morasha
Q. Lori, what Shichva are you from? A. Hagvurah
Q. Choose a movie title for the story of your life? A. ‘Bad Teacher’
Q. What was your childhood nickname? A. Lolo
Q. If you could be anything but human, what would you be? A. Frankie
Q. At which store are you most likely to max out your credit card? A. The Educational Toy Shop
Q. Do you have any strange phobias?
A. A street light falling on me when I'm driving.
Q. What’s your favorite TV series? A. This Is Us
Q. Which emoji do you use most often? A. "
Q. What are 3 adjectives that best describe you? A. Tall, Dark and Handsome
Q. 1 interesting fact that you should know about me is...? A. I'm The Other Rab
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Shichva Shoutouts
Gurim
A. I wish I could say Despacito but the Spanish is a bit heavy! Unfortunately I'm going to have to admit it's the Barney theme song!
Have yourselves the most spectacular Shabbos...and to the rest of Bnei Akiva...watch this space cause Gurim is about to go extreme! Yours truly BENDER
Roim
A. Work by Rihanna Shabbat Shalom Roim, hope your week has been filled with too much gees, shofar blowing and L'david saying! Continue being the tzadikim and tzadeikot that you all are and imbuing the world with love and happiness.
Luv u all
JESS LEIBOFF
Moledet
A. Goo goo dolls - Iris MOLEDET TO DO LIST
Q. Everybody has 'that ' song that they know EVERY single word to. What's yours?
Orot
A. We're all in this together from high school musical
Shabbat shalom Orot. Keep going with Camp sign ups!
YUVI HH
Morasha
A. That one song that I know EVERY single word to has to be my childhood favourite "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne. MORASHA-BBAT SHALOM Just something to think about as we move into the second week of Elul. Each year Hashem presents us with the gift of Elul, a special time of Divine good will and mercy, when "The King [Himself] is in the field" and is close at hand. Every year Hashem gives us the opportunity to reflect on our past year and change our ways so that we can return to our true selves. As we move closer to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur the question we should be asking ourselves is how will we make use of this time? Shabbat Shalom Morasha
CAY
Tzion
כולם כולם כולם כולם
A. Know every single word to the Hannah Montana sound track! What a banger!
✨
Tzion, I'm getting keener by the week! Get signed up and ready to rock ( EMDIN
-Be legends
✅ .✅
-Get excited -Get pumped ✅
-Start the countdown ✅ You know what to do!
#SIGNUP⚡⚡
amazing Shabbos legends!!
#MoledetMadness
JOSH KAPLAN
Could never forget that
⚡Have an

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Parsha Pop Quiz
Questions:
1. When Bnei Yisrael defeated an enemy, and a man saw a woman captive he wanted to take, what was he to do?
2. If a man committed a sin for which he was put to death by hanging, what was the procedure for dealing with his body and why?
3. If one saw a bird’s nest with eggs or young in it, was it allowed to take them for food? What was the procedure in this kind of situation?
4. If a man was found lying with a married woman, what was the punishment?
5. Bnei Yisrael are told not to hate an Edomite. Why is that?
6. The Parsha states that neither an Ammoni nor a Moavi could ever be allowed to enter an assembly
of Hashem. Why was that?
7. We are told not to oppress a hired servant whether he was a brother or a stranger. What is the
oppression as described in this Parsha?
8. If a wicked man was to receive a judgment that required a beating, what was the maximum number
of lashes he could receive and why?
9. If a man’s brother died and he as yet had no children, what was required of the living brother and
what was that called?
Answers:
1. He was to take her to be his wife. First, he would take her to his home where she would shave her head and cut her nails. She would remove the clothes of her captivity and mourn the loss of her parents for a full month. Then the man could marry her
2. His body must not remain all night upon the tree, but he must be buried the same day as he was hanged. His body is an offense to Hashem, and leaving the body unburied would be a defilement.
3. The eggs or young birds could be taken, but only after the mother bird was scared off
4. They were both to be killed
5. Because Edom is a brother to the Bnei Yisrael. Esav was the father of the Edomim.
6. When the Bnei Yisrael passed by their territories on the way from Egypt, the Ammonim and Moabim
refused them any bread or water; also they hired Balaam to put a curse on Bnei Yisrael
7. The oppression would be to fail to pay him his entire wages before the sun set
8. The maximum number of lashes was 40. If he received more than 40 lashes, it would dishonor him
before your eyes
9. The living brother must marry the brother’s widow so that his family line would not become extinct.
This is called a levirate marriage
.
Parshat Ki Teitzei
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Pictures of The week
MTA & Limmud 2017 Gap year Pictures
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Fun and Games
Riddles Questions:
1. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?
2. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?
3. I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
Excuse the Pun...
Do you know sign language? You should learn it, it’s pretty handy
A cross eyed teacher couldn’t control his pupils
I used to be afraid of hurdles, but I got over it
How do trees access the internet? They log on
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Riddles
Answers:
A1. Yesterday, today & tomorrow
A2. Charcoal A3. A pencil


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Shabbat Shalom
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011 485 1695 | [email protected] | www.bnei.co.za
See you next week
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