Parshat Chukat Schedule

Shabbat Schedule

Friday, June 29

  • 06:50 am – Shacharit
  • 07:00 pm – Mincha
  • 08:07 pm – Candle lighting

Saturday, June 30

  • 07:45 am – Shacharit at Salem Towers
  • 08:45 am – Shacharit
  • 08:59 am – Latest time for Kriat Shema
  • 10:30 am – Jr. Congregation
  • 11:15 am – Kiddush
  • 05:00 pm – Ladies’ Torah class
  • 06:45 pm – Men’s Derech Hashem class
  • 07:40 pm – Mincha and Se’udah Shlishit
  • 09:00 pm – Ma’ariv
  • 09:15 pm – Shabbat Ends

Weekday Schedule

July 1 – 6

Shacharit

  • 08:00 am – Sunday and Wednesday (Independence Day)
  • 06:40 am – Monday and Thursday
  • 06:50 am – Tuesday and Friday

Mincha

  • 08:10 pm – Sunday – Thursday
  • 07:00 pm – Friday

Ma’ariv

  • 08:40 pm – Sunday – Thursday

To print this schedule, click here to go directly to the post, and then press ctrl-P (Windows) or cmd-P (Mac) to print it.

Weekly Words of Torah

The Paradoxical Lesson of the Parah Adumah

Insights into Parshat Chukat of AD Horwitz of Yeshivat Sha’alvim, by Rav Re’uven Ungar of Sha’alvim.

Parshat Chukat begins with the words “זאת חקת תורה” to introduce the parsha of the parah adumah. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l asks why the Torah doesn’t introduce the parsha of the Parah Adumah with something more specific like “זאת חקת המטמא מת.” Rav Moshe answers that the words “זאת חקת תורה” is coming to teach us that the whole Torah is, in a sense, similar to the parah adumah. Paradoxically, the ashes of the Parah Adumah are metaher the tameh (purify the impure; ie, the one who is sprinkled with the ashes), yet they are matemei the tohor (impurify the pure; ie, the kohen who sprinkles the ashes). How is this possible? Are the ashes of the parah adumah matameh or metaher? The answer, obviously, is that it depends which person you are talking about, the kohen or the tameh.

Rav Moshe explains that really all Midot are like this. Any particular midah has equal potential for good or for evil depending on the subject. For example, when it comes to one’s own honor a person must be an anav (humble), but for another’s honor a person must honor him like a baal gaaveh (a braggart). This is “זאת חקת תורה”; anything can be metameh, and anything can be metaher. It all depends on the context.