Parshas Ki Sisa Erev Shabbos Shabbos Day Mincha 6:35pm Shacharis 9:00am Plag Hamincha 6:51pm Latest time for Shema 10:13am Latest Candle lighting 7:57pm Shabbos Mincha 4:30 / 7:45pm Shkiya 8:15pm Shabbos Ends 8:57pm Reminder - please register for Shabbos Kiddush This weeks Kiddush has been kindly sponsored by John Fleischmann on the occasion of his anniversary Short Vort on the Parsha After the sin of the Golden Calf, Bnei Yisroel were informed that instead of Hashem accompanying them along their journey He would be sending an angel in His place. "The people heard this bad tiding and they became grief stricken" (Shemos 33:4). Rashi explains that the bad tiding refers to the fact that Hashem would not be residing amongst them nor journeying along with them. Rav Wolbe comments that this pasuk really defines the essence of good and bad. "Good" is anything which brings a person closer to Hashem, while "bad" is anything which distances a person from Him. Thus, the knowledge that Hashem would not be traveling along with them was most certainly a bad tiding. As the Ramchal writes, our mission in this world is to create the strongest connection possible with our Creator. It makes sense that anything which aids a person in accomplishing their mission is "good" while anything that impedes him from achieving his goal is "bad." The formula for making correct decisions is often very simple. We must ask ourselves: Is this action going to bring me closer to Hashem or distance me from Him? It's a small question that can yield tremendous dividends.