Rabbi Yechiel Spero and Rabbi Jonathan Rietti will be speaking on the fast day of Shiva Asar B’Tammuz, Thursday, July 9 at Merkaz HaSimcha, 1898 Bay Avenue (near Avenue M and East 18th Street) in Flatbush. The program organized by Torah Connections, will begin with Mincha at 6:45 P.M. Rabbi Spero will speak after Mincha at about 7:15 P.M. and will be followed by Rabbi Rietti. Maariv and light refreshments will complete the program.
The purpose of the Three-Week Programs (Shiva Asar B’Tammuz and Tisha B’Av) which have been conducted in Flatbush by Torah Connections for more than 25 years is to sensitize the Jewish community to the causes and consequences of our long Exile from Eretz Israel, and our responsibility to take steps to end the Galus quickly.
Rabbi Spero is a rebbi at Baltimore’s Talmudic Academy and author of the popular ArtScroll “Touched by a Story” series. ArtScroll has just this month published Rabbi Spero’s “Touched by Their Tears – A Kinos Companion.” The topic of his talk is “The Three Weeks: A Time of Sadness, Suffering and Strength.”
Rabbi Rietti, a direct descendent of the great Sephardic Torah leader, the Ben Ish Hai, is a senior lecturer for Gateways Seminar Program. He has delivered hundreds of lectures throughout the Jewish world on all aspects of Torah life. The focus of Rabbi Rietti’s lecture will be “Preparing for the Geulah.”
Admission to the Shiva Asar B’Tammuz program is $10 per person or $30 per family. In view of the difficult economic situation, the admission fee will be waived for those families who bread winner recently lost their jobs.
The day-long Tisha B’Av program is scheduled for Wednesday night and Thursday, July 29-30 at the Ocean Parkway Jewish Center, 550 Ocean Parkway (between Ditmas Avenue and 18th Avenue). To help subsidize the enormous costs of organizing the Shiva Asar B’Tammuz and the Tisha B’Av programs or to make special dedications, please contact Torah Connections at (718) 998-5822.
{Article by Daniel Keren/Matzav.com Newscenter}
