Parashat Miketz
28 Kislev 5775 / 19-20 December 2014
Torah: Genesis 41:1 –
44:17
Maftir: Numbers 7:30-35 (Hanukkah
4)
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 –
4:7 (Shabbat Hanukkah)
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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NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
"Now let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt." Gen. 41:33
Rabbi Shalom Schwadron asks this question: Why was a "discerning and wise man" needed to oversee the collection of provisions during the seven years of plenty?
He suggests that gathering and saving food during a time of abundance in preparation for a famine in the future requires true wisdom and understanding, because it is against human nature. He quotes the Talmud (Tamid 32a): "Who is wise? One who has foresight." What is more, Joseph had to convince Pharaoh and the entire Egyptian nation to share in this foresight, which required even further wisdom on his part.
In our own lives, we often look back at missed opportunities. For example, when our children are young, we have many chances for teaching them about our heritage. There are Shabbat and Holy Day observances, religious school education, and what the educators call "teaching moments" which can arise at any time. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. It's true that Shabbat comes every week, and the festivals come annually, but _this_ Shabbat and _this_ religious school class will never come again.
As we and our children grow older, the missed opportunities begin to pile up. Work, school, activities and the like begin to take over, and the religious and spiritual education begins to take a back seat. At some point, we look back and tell ourselves that we know too little and that it is too late to get the education. We begin to wonder why our children know so little, and do not practice the religion of our ancestors.
Of course, it's never too late to learn! Nevertheless, we need to bank learning and practice now, for the famine of opportunity which we know will come. The difference between us and Joseph is that he knew exactly when the famine would begin. We are not that wise. But we are wise enough to know that there is no time like the present to begin to add to our stores of knowledge and observance. In doing so, we avoid spiritual starvation in the lean years to come.
Happy Hanukkah and Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom – ZSRS ‘00
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
Visit me on Facebook
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Candlelighting: 4:28 pm
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: NO Lunch and Learn – resume
December 30.
Thursday: Office closed. Federal holiday.
Friday,
26 December: Shabbat
Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday,
27 December: Shabbat
Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.
Looking
ahead:
Sunday,
25 January 2015:
Congregation Beth Meier Annual Members’ Meeting – 2:00 pm.
This d’var torah
is offered in honor of Robert Flom, whose Hebrew birthday and bar mitzvah
anniversary are this Shabbat.
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), 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 theCyber Torah list.
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
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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
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