Parashat
Vayikra (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh; Shabbat Hachodesh)
1
Nisan 5775 / 20-21 March 2015
Torah: Leviticus 1:1 - 5:26; Numbers 28:9-15; Exodus 12:1-20
Torah: Leviticus 1:1 - 5:26; Numbers 28:9-15; Exodus 12:1-20
Haftarah:
Ezekiel 45:16 – 46:18 (Ashkenazim); Ezekiel 45:18 – 46:15 (Sephardim)
Calendar
and dedications follow below. For a full calendar of events and other info
about Congregation Beth Meier, check out: www.bethmeier.org
My
annual Pesach Resources Guide is available at my blog:
A
very enjoyable and useful video tour of the Kasher L’Pesach section of the
grocery store conducted by my colleague, Rabbi Gabriel Botnick, can be seen on
YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sH4T7DoDAs&feature=youtu.be
The Rabbinical
Assembly’s Pesach Guide 5775 can be read and downloaded at the following
site:
Please
feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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SACRIFICING ONE’S APPETITES
"And he shall slaughter it before the Lord; on the north side of the altar ..." Leviticus 1:11
Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl teaches: This verse is a metaphor. What one is really slaughtering is one's yetzer hara - the evil inclination. The word translated here as "side" also means “thigh" - this alludes to lust. "Altar" refers to gluttony, because "a person's table is like an altar" (BT Chagigah 27a). "North" refers to avarice, the desire to accumulate wealth, for we learn "one who desires wealth should turn north" (BT Bava Batra 25b). (Menachem Nachum adds that we often hold most dear those character traits which are the most destructive - they are part and parcel of our very selves, as modern psychiatry would say some 125 years later.)
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SACRIFICING ONE’S APPETITES
"And he shall slaughter it before the Lord; on the north side of the altar ..." Leviticus 1:11
Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl teaches: This verse is a metaphor. What one is really slaughtering is one's yetzer hara - the evil inclination. The word translated here as "side" also means “thigh" - this alludes to lust. "Altar" refers to gluttony, because "a person's table is like an altar" (BT Chagigah 27a). "North" refers to avarice, the desire to accumulate wealth, for we learn "one who desires wealth should turn north" (BT Bava Batra 25b). (Menachem Nachum adds that we often hold most dear those character traits which are the most destructive - they are part and parcel of our very selves, as modern psychiatry would say some 125 years later.)
We
usually understand "sacrifice" as the giving up of something of
considerable worth, particularly within the context of ritual worship. The
Hebrew word for sacrifice, korban, is from the root word k-r-b, meaning “to
come close”. By offering up a valuable item, we show our dedication and our
desire to draw near to God. Our tradition, however, teaches that the sacrifices
have been replaced by tzedakah and gemilut chasadim - charity and deeds of
loving kindness.
Rabbi
Elazar said: Doing deeds of charity is greater than all of the sacrificial
offerings. BT Sukkah 49b
Rabban
Yochanan ben Zakkai taught: How does one make atonement in the absence of
sacrifice? We have another way of gaining atonement which is equal to
it. What is it? Deeds of loving-kindness, as it is written: 'For it
is loving-kindness I desire, and not sacrifice.'" Avot D’Rabbi Natan
11a, quoting the prophet Hosea.
Don't
be retentive! Slaughter those bad habits and appetites, and replace them
with your inner power to do good and improve the world!
Shabbat
Shalom! Chodesh Tov!
Rabbi
Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier - Studio City, CA
www.bethmeier.org
Congregation Beth Meier - Studio City, CA
www.bethmeier.org
Visit
me on Facebook
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Candle lighting: 6:46 pm
Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat
follows.
Saturday: Rosh Chodesh Women’s Group Shabbat
Morning Service– 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday: Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult
Hebrew and Leyning Class – 10:00 am. Pesach Workshop - 10:00 am
– Our topic: “Exploring the Haggadah”. This is also the DEADLINE
to RSVP for Community Second Seder.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Friday, March 27: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat
follows.
Saturday, March 28: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush
luncheon follows.
Sunday, March 29: Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult
Hebrew and Leyning Class – 10:00 am. RS Model Seder – 11:00 am
Tuesday, March 31: NO Lunch and Learn
Thursday, April 2: Bedikat Chametz (Search for Chametz) –
evening.
Friday, April 3: Erev Pesach – Ta’anit Bechorim Torah
Study and Siyyum with Rabbi Flom – 8:00 am. Sale/Destruction of
Chametz – 12:00 noon. First Seder – light candles, Pesach begins before
sundown. NO evening service.
Saturday, April 4: Shabbat/Yom Tov Morning Service – 10:00 am. Community Second
Seder at CBM – 8:00 pm. RSVP by March 22!
Sunday, April 5: Yom Tov Morning Service – 10:00 am.
Tuesday, April 7: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Friday, April 10: Yom Tov Morning Service – 10:00 am. NO evening
service.
Saturday, April 11: Shabbat/Yom Tov Morning Service with Yizkor –
10:00 am. Pesach ends – 8:00 pm.
Sunday, April 12: Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew and
Leyning Class – 10:00 am.
This d’var torah is offered in honor of all the women of Congregation
Beth Meier who are participating in the Rosh Chodesh Women’s Shabbat Morning Service
this Shabbat. Mazal Tov!
This d’var torah is offered in memory of my father-in-law, Abraham
Kronzek, whose yahrzeit falls on 1 Nisan, this Shabbat. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah –
his memory is a blessing.
This d’var torah is offered in memory Roza Blady, whose yahrzeit fell
last Shabbat, and in whose memory the Rosh Chodesh Women’s Service is
dedicated. Y’hi zikhrah liv’rakhah – her memory is a blessing.
Mazal tov to Martin and Marilyn Lee on the birth
of their granddaughter!
This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel
Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Naomi bat Yorma, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah
Mindel bat Toby, Stewart Benkle, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, John Todd Brosky,
Jacob William Cohen, Howard Ehrlich, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel
Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Gig Flom (Gittel Tobi bat Blanca), Jerry
Forman, Pamela Huddleston, and Annie Rivera.
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