Parashat Kedoshim
26 Nisan 5774 / 25-26 April 2014
Torah: Leviticus 19:1 – 20:27
Haftarah: Amos 9:7-15 (Ashkenazim); Ezekiel 20:2-20
(Sephardim)
Calendar of Upcoming Events follows. For a full calendar
and lots of other information about our community, visit: http://www.bethmeier.org/
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cite the source.
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WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
"You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your fellow as yourself; I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:18
Siddur Sim Shalom has the following brief kavannah - a statement of intent - immediately before Birkhot Hashachar - Blessings of the Morning: "I hereby accept the mitzvah of the Creator - 'Love your fellow as yourself.'" Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the founder of Chabad, placed this kavannah in his siddur as well. The reason, he said, is that the commandment to love one's fellows is the gateway to coming before God in prayer.
I am not entirely certain what he meant by that; nor am I certain what the intent of the editors of Sim Shalom was. But I have an idea. Here are two clues. The first clue can be found in the blessings themselves, as found in Siddur Sim Shalom, and other Conservative siddurim. The second blessing, stated in the first person singular, thanks God for making each and every one of us in God's image.
The second clue is that the only other place in the Torah
that commands us to love is in the Sh'ma, the central prayer of Judaism:
"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
soul and with all your might." Deuteronomy 6:5 We recite the
Sh'ma much later in the Siddur, long after the kavannah and the morning
blessings. I found this quote of an unkown Torah scholar: "To
the extent that one is deficient in 'love your fellow as yourself', one is
deficient in 'love the Lord your God.'"
In short, we cannot hope to approach the Divine, let alone
love the Divine, until we acknowledge the divinity in every other human
being.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
Visit me on Facebook
"For the sake of Zion I
will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem
I will not be still." Isaiah 62:1
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Candle lighting: 7:14 pm
Friday: Shabbat
Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Shabbat
Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday: Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew class –
10:00 am.
Monday: Yom Ha'Shoah - Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day
Monday: Yom Ha'Shoah - Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn
– 12:00 noon. Guest Speaker – Richard Eisenberg, of Mabat Tours and the Israel
Ministry of Tourism will speak on recent archeological discoveries in Israel.
Wednesday:
(Re)Introduction to Judaism class – 7:30 pm – Topic: “Lashon Hara and Teshuvah”.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Blimah
Reizel bat Ruchel, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Eve Beatty, Elsbet Brosky,
Howard Ehrlich, Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Jayne Kaplan,
Steven Kleiger, Frank Marcovitz, Barney Meskin, Gail Neiman, Marshall Neiman,
Phil Raider, Bernie Rubin, and Neil Turbov.
Please let me know if there is anyone you would like to add
to the refuah shleimah list or if there is anyone who may be removed from the
list.
My divrei torah are also available via e-mail from the Cyber Torah list.
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