Parashat Vayechi
12 Tevet 5775 / 2-3
January 2015
Torah: Genesis 47:28 -
50:26 (Chazak, chazak v'nitchazeik!)
Haftarah: 1 Kings 2:1-12
Calendar and dedications
follow below. For a full calendar of events and other info about Congregation
Beth Meier, check out: www.bethmeier.org
Please feel free to pass
this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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JACOB’S MANTRA
"For Your salvation
do I hope, O Lord!" Genesis 49:18
In the middle of blessing
his sons, between the blessings for Dan and Gad, Jacob cries out this apparent
non-sequitur. Rashi suggests that Jacob is prophesying the moment when
Samson (a Danite), blinded by the Philistines, cries out to God for sufficient
strength to destroy them (Judges 16:28). Other commentators say that it is
a plea for God¹s protection of the tribe of Dan, which was to be the rear guard
during the desert journey. Still others say that Jacob, on his deathbed,
is asking God for help to complete the blessings before his strength gives out.
Until recent times, people
believed that sleep was a bit like death. Because of this, the Rabbis who
compiled the siddur included a prayer to be recited on awakening each morning,
which thanks God for restoring one¹s soul. And in the bedtime prayer,
they included the above verse.
However, one does not
merely recite the verse. The three Hebrew words of the verse are
manipulated so that one recites the following: "For Your salvation do
I hope, O Lord. I hope, O Lord, for Your salvation. O Lord, for Your
salvation do I hope." Many siddurim say that this formula is repeated
three times, so that the verses, and the name of God, are said nine
times. It is, in essence, a Jewish mantra. Perhaps it is symbolic of
the nine months of childbirth, so that when we recite this portion of the
bedtime prayer, we are asking to be "reborn" in the morning.
לִישׁוּעָתְךָ קִוִּיתִי יְהוָה
קִוִּיתִי יְהוָה לִישׁוּעָתְךָ
יְהוָה לִישׁוּעָתְךָ קִוִּיתִי
It is also a plea that God
should safeguard the soul should one die during the night. The bedtime
prayer is replete with this theme - from the opening blessing through the
Hashkiveinu ("cause us to lie down in peace, and to rise up again, our
King") to the concluding verse of Adon Olam: "Into His hand I
entrust my spirit, when I am asleep and awake; and as with my spirit, so also
my body, God is with me and I will not fear."
One need not fear death in
order to derive immense comfort from reciting the bedtime prayer. The
feeling of having communicated to God one's hopes and fears can be a
relaxing conclusion to any day. Recite Jacob¹s mantra, and sleep well.
Shabbat Shalom! Happy and
Healthy 2015!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom –
ZSRS ‘00
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
http://www.bethmeier.org/
Blogging at: rav-rich.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook
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Candlelighting: 4:37 pm
Thursday: Fast of Tevet. Office closed – Federal Holiday. Happy New Year!
Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday: NO Religious School – resume January
11.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 Noon.
Looking ahead:
Sunday, 25 January:
Congregation Beth Meier Annual Members’ Meeting – 2:00 pm.
This d’var torah is offered
for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Boaz ben Dina,
Michah ben Dina, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah Mindel bat
Toby, Bonnie Baird, Jeff Bluen, Elsbet Brosky, John Todd Brosky, Howard
Ehrlich, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben
Gittel), Annabelle Flom, Jerry Forman, Leo Hoenig (Leib ben Bella), Neal
Hoffman (Nachum ben Dina), Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Jayne Kaplan, Lina
Kniter (Lina bat Batya), Jeannie Kottler, Shirley Kronzek, and Annie Rivera.
My
weekly divrei torah are also available by free subscription to the Cyber Torah list.
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an
e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
Send requests for dedications of Cyber
Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah
to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send
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