As my family and I pass the anniversary of our arrival here at Beth Jacob, I am reminded of one eerie question. After learning in Yeshiva and preparing to become a pulpit Rabbi, I was asked a question that completely threw me off course. I thought that I was well prepared, at least, for the most basic questions. The Semicha ordination covered laws of family purity, Shabbos, laws of Kosher, festivals, mourning, and all other life cycle events. We were trained for the most difficult situations and to figure out what the proper and appropriate decision would be through analytical derivation.
I was caught off guard when asked a basic fundamental question that, in Yeshiva, we really took for granted and did not really ever expect to receive. A person asked me and said: “Rabbi, what do I get for my membership?” Such a profound question floored me and I was totally flustered. This, they surely did not teach us in rabbinical school! Where does one find or even begin to look for the answer to such a question?
So the obvious address was Rabbi Wein, my Rosh HaYeshiva. After all, it was he who trained us for the Rabbinate; he should surely have the answer. After mustering up the courage to ask such a question of, what do people of a Shul get for their membership, he replied without blinking an eye or taking a breath. He said “membership to a Shul entitles you to a place to daven, to pray.” A synagogue/Shul is not the Jewish community center where we have swimming, social events, basketball, and everything secular and nothing religious. To the contrary, a Synagogue is a place of spirituality where we connect emotionally and spiritually to God. We may have some benefits of the social element at times such as during Kiddush and shalosh seudos. We also cater with activities and programs for the young and old, but that is not the main objective of a Shul. A Shul is a place to daven and pray that connects us with our creator.
There are more than fifteen Hebrew words that describe prayer. One of them is from the beginning of our parsha. The name of our Parsha this week is Va’Eschanan. The parsha begins chapter 3 verse 23: “Va’Eschanan El Hashem . . .” – and Moshe implored God to let him enter into Eretz Yisrael. A derivation of the word Va’Eschanan is chinoon, which comes from the word free. The sages tell us that Moshe was asking for a Matnas Chinam, a free gift, something that is above and beyond what he deserved. There is a storehouse waiting for us to pick up the “free gifts” and in order to receive them all we need to do is ask.
Moshe Rabbeinu is teaching us what membership entitles us to. We gather together in a Beit HaKnesset, to daven and ask Hashem for those precious things that we need, even if we don’t deserve them. One would ask, “If we don’t deserve them then why would God give it to us?” The answer lies in the word VaEschanan, whose numerical value equals five-hundred fifteen, which are the number of times that Moshe recited this prayer in order to go into Israel. Hashem told Moshe to stop and not ask even one more time, otherwise He would have to give in to Moshe and grant his request. We therefore see that our Tefillos will be answered by asking repeatedly over and over again. And even if we do not deserve that which we ask for, God should grant us our request.
Let us realize what a synagogue IS and what it IS NOT, by looking forward to come to Shul to daven and pray; not only to socialize and have a fun time.
Ah Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky
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