LOST AND FOUND

14 Elul 5775 / 29-30 August 2015
Parashat Ki Tetze
Torah: Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-10 (Fifth Sabbath of Consolation)

Calendar of Events and Dedications follow below. For lots more information about our community, visit:  www.bethmeier.org

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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LOST AND FOUND

"Do not see your brother's ox or his sheep go astray and hide yourself from them; you shall surely return them to your brother." Deuteronomy 22:1

Rabbeinu Bachya (Spain, 13th-14th C.) compares this verse with a similar verse at Exodus 23:4, which says, "your enemy's ox." This is to teach us that it's not enough to return the property. He says the mitzvah is properly performed only when one uproots the hatred in one's heart and replaces it with mercy and brotherly feelings. You shall surely return them to your brother - "so that by the time you return the lost property, your enemy has become like your brother."

What great insight! This mitzvah, like every other, is not properly observed if one does it grudgingly or with bad feelings. And it's not simply about returning lost property - it's about good fellowship. Even more, it's about repentance. For the words "hasheiv t'shiveim" - you shall surely return them - come from the same root as "teshuvah" - repentance. In losing one's hatred, one performs teshuvah and finds brotherhood.

Have a wonderful Shabbat!

Rabbi Richard Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

www.bethmeier.org

Visit me on Facebook

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Candlelighting: 7:06 pm

Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows

Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.

Tuesday: NO Lunch and Learn – resume September 8.

Friday, 4 September: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows

Saturday, 5 September: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.

Saturday, 5 September: Selichot Service – 9:00 pm.

Sunday, 13 September: Religious School – 9:30 am. Welcome Back! Rosh Hashanah begins – 6:16 pm.

Trip to Israel – 11 November. It’s on! And there is still space available! Itinerary, brochure and other information are at my blog, http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2015/07/trip-to-israel.html or I can send you a PDF version via e-mail.

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah bat Devorah, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, Jerry Daniels, Howard Ehrlich, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Leonard Foint, Annabelle Flom (Chanah Bella bat Kreina), Gig Flom (Gittel Tobi bat Blanca), Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Philip Kovac, Annie Rivera, and Gil Robbins.

Don’t forget to send in your membership forms and High Holiday ticket orders. It’s later than you think!

My weekly divrei torah are available via free-mail subscription to the Cyber Torah list.

Cyber Torah list management:

To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to:ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah”.

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net  with the heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”.

To dedicate a Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah, send an e-mail to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Dedicate Cyber Torah” and provide details in the message body.

TREES OF LIFE – OR, THAT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU MEAN BY “IS”

7 Elul 5775 / 21-22 August 2015
Parashat Shoftim
Torah - Deuteronomy 16:18 - 21:9
Haftarah -  Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12

Dedications and Calendar or Events follow. For more information about our community, see: www.bethmeier.org

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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TREES OF LIFE – OR, THAT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU MEAN BY “IS”

"When you besiege a city many days, to war against it, to seize it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them, for you eat from them and you may not cut them down; for is the tree of the field a man to come before you in the siege?" Deuteronomy 20:19

One of the most difficult things about the Hebrew language is its lack of the word "is". The word is understood, in context. To make matters more difficult, a Torah scroll is written without punctuation of any kind. There are no periods, question marks, etc., to guide the reader in understanding text. When a series of nouns runs together, it becomes harder still.

However, these same difficulties also make for richly varied alternative readings of text. This week's offering is a case in point.

The translation is given in accordance with the reading of Rashi, who teaches that fruit trees may not be destroyed for the purpose of building siege engines because they are not the enemy. Why should they suffer? Should we not have compassion for God's creation?

Ibn Ezra renders the passage differently – not a question, but a statement - "it is for humanity, the tree of the field which is before you in the siege." The trees are our lives - we need their food to live. In his view, the passage teaches that destroying a fruit tree for no good reason, a scorched earth policy, is suicidal. This is not about compassion, but survival.

Taking this further, Maimonides says the tree is merely an exemplar. There is a mitzvah of "bal tash'chit", do not destroy anything which is beneficial to humanity, unless there is a greater benefit to be had, or greater harm to be prevented.

This utilitarian view may be taken further still. A forest, offering as it does quiet, solitude and beauty, is beneficial as is. Humanity, as well as the plants and animals of the forest, also benefit from the diversity of ecosystem the forest creates. Absent a truly compelling reason, why should something which has "only" an abstract benefit be destroyed?

"It is a Tree of Life to those that hold fast to it, and all its supporters are happy."Proverbs 3:18 (Window at Valley Beth Shalom) 

Destruction of any of God's creation is thus prohibited.  So we come nearly full circle, because of "is".

If the Torah is the tree of life, then these readings are its branches. We should be careful how we prune our trees.

Have a wonderful Shabbat!

Rabbi Richard Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

www.bethmeier.org

Visit me on Facebook

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Candlelighting: 7:15 pm

Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows

Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.

Tuesday: NO Lunch and Learn – resume September 8.

Friday, 28 August: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows

Saturday, 29 August: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.

Saturday, 5 September: Selichot Service – 9:00 pm.

Trip to Israel – 11 November. It’s on! And there is still space available! Itinerary, brochure and other information are at my blog, http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2015/07/trip-to-israel.html or I can send you a PDF version via e-mail.

This d’var torah is offered in memory of my sister-in-law, Janis Devorah Kronzek, whose yahrzeit falls this Shabbat. Her memory is a blessing.

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah bat Devorah, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, Jerry Daniels, Howard Ehrlich, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Leonard Foint, Annabelle Flom (Chanah Bella bat Kreina), Gig Flom (Gittel Tobi bat Blanca), Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Philip Kovac, Annie Rivera, and Gil Robbins.

Don’t forget to send in your membership forms and High Holiday ticket orders. It’s later than you think!

My weekly divrei torah are available via free-mail subscription to the Cyber Torah list.

Cyber Torah list management:

To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to:ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah”.

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net  with the heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”.

To dedicate a Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah, send an e-mail to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Dedicate Cyber Torah” and provide details in the message body.

THE END OF POVERTY IS IN YOUR HANDS

Parashat Re'eh
30 Av (1 Rosh Chodesh Elul) 5775 / 14-15 August 2015
Torah: Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17
Haftarah: Isaiah 66:1-24 (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh)

Dedications and Calendar or Events follow. For more information about our community, see: www.bethmeier.org

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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THE END OF POVERTY IS IN YOUR HANDS

"However, there shall be no needy among you ..... If there should be a needy person among you … you shall not harden your heart or close your hand against your needy brother ... For the needy shall never cease to exist in the land; therefore I command you saying, 'You shall open your hand to your brother, to your poor and to your needy in your land.'" Deut. 15: 4, 7, 11

What is Moses trying to teach us here? In two brief paragraphs, he tells us there will be no needy people, then tells us what to do should there be needy people, then says there always will be needy people. The answer is found, in part, in the verses I did not quote. If only you hearken to the voice of the Lord, observe this commandment, etc. - then there will be no needy. So why does he conclude by saying that the needy will always exist?

Moses is a cynic. He suspects that not everyone will obey the commandment to give tzedakah (charity, from the Hebrew root meaning "justice" or "righteousness"), or lend under a social regime in which all debts are forgiven every seven years. He's correct, of course, which is unfortunate. It means that those who do give, who do obey this commandment (and the related commandments concerning corners of the field, tithing, etc.), bear an unfair share of society's burden.

In Psalms 41:2 we are told: “Fortunate is one who is thoughtful to the poor." According to Rabbi Yehudah Nachshoni, one who observes these laws "cannot live by exploitation or by using money for evil purposes." To him, it is self-evident. This is not feel-good pop psychology. Money is morally neutral. It's what we do with it that counts. I learned the first time I took a nickel to the candy store that spending money is a zero sum game. If we use our money for evil, it does no one any good; if we use it for good, we can not possibly use it for evil.

This is easy enough to prove to yourself. If you have a problem with tobacco, drugs or alcohol, or any other bad habit, every time you are about to spend money on it, drop the money in a tzedakah box instead. You'll be surprised to see how much good can come from avoiding evil. No bad habits? Create a good habit. Anybody reading this can afford to put something in a tzedakah box on a regular basis. Prove Moses wrong! We can end poverty not with fists, but only with open hands.

Shabbat Shalom! Chodesh Elul Tov!

Rabbi Richard Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

www.bethmeier.org

Visit me on Facebook

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Candlelighting: 7:23 pm

Friday: Family Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows

Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Bat Mitzvah of Sarah Reiff. Mazal tov! Kiddush lunch sponsored by Ethan and Xinhua Reiff follows.

Sunday: Movie Night! 7:00 pm. We’re showing “Above and Beyond”, the story of the founding of the Israeli Air Force. Popcorn, candy and soft drinks provided.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, 21 August: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows

Saturday, 22 August: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.

Saturday, 5 September: Selichot Service – 9:00 pm.

Trip to Israel – 11 November. It’s on! And there is still space available! Itinerary, brochure and other information are at my blog, http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2015/07/trip-to-israel.html or I can send you a PDF version via e-mail.

This d’var torah is offered in honor of Sarah Reiff, becoming a bat mitzvah this Shabbat. Mazal tov!

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah bat Devorah, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, Jerry Daniels, Howard Ehrlich, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Leonard Foint, Annabelle Flom (Chanah Bella bat Kreina), Gig Flom (Gittel Tobi bat Blanca), Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Philip Kovac, Annie Rivera, and Gil Robbins.

Don’t forget to send in your membership forms and High Holiday ticket orders. It’s later than you think!

My weekly divrei torah are available via free-mail subscription to the Cyber Torah list.

Cyber Torah list management:

To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to:ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah”.

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net  with the heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”.

To dedicate a Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah, send an e-mail to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Dedicate Cyber Torah” and provide details in the message body.

ONE HUMBLE MITZVAH

Parashat Ekev
23 Av 5775 / 7-8 August 2015
Torah: Deuteronomy 7:12 - 11:25
Haftarah: Isaiah 49:14 - 51:3 (Second Haftarah of Consolation)

Dedications and Calendar or Events follow. For more information about our community, see: www.bethmeier.org

Don’t forget the important Israel trip meeting this Sunday, August 9 at 4:00 pm. See below for more info.

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source

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ONE HUMBLE MITZVAH

"And your heart will be haughty, and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery." Deuteronomy 8:14

There is an old joke that goes something like this: A noted scholar and philanthropist was being honored at a gala dinner. Speaker after speaker extolled his virtues - knowledge, wisdom, generosity, kindness, righteousness, etc. He reached up and tugged on the sleeve of one of the speakers, and said, "Don't forget my humility."

Commenting on the first part of our verse, the Ba'al Shem Tov says that there is nowhere in the Torah a commandment to be humble. If there were, there would be those who would attempt to fulfill it by reciting a statement of intent ("Behold, I am prepared to perform the mitzvah of humility ..."), then a blessing (".... and commanded us to be humble."), and then … commence to be humble? It would become a conceit – the belief that, in addition to fulfilling the other commandments, they were observing the commandment to be humble. Unlike any other mitzvah, one would fail to observe it merely by believing that one was attempting to fulfill it or had observed it. "I can say with all humility that I have been humble." It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

Of course we know that a lack of humility can often be damaging to relationships. We tend to forget that neither we nor our accomplishments exist in a vacuum. Even praise for one’s humility can be a bit dangerous. Perhaps the only way to be truly humble is to run from any suggestion that one is humble.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

www.bethmeier.org

Visit me on Facebook

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Candlelighting: 7:30 pm

Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows

Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.

Sunday: Informational meeting on Israel trip with Rabbi Mark Hyman – 4:00 pm. Please come if you are interested in learning more – no commitment. Itinerary, brochure and other information are at my blog, http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2015/07/trip-to-israel.html or I can send you a PDF version via e-mail.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, 14 August: Family Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows

Saturday, 15 August: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Bat Mitzvah of Sarah Reiff. Mazal tov! Kiddush lunch follows.

This d’var torah is offered in honor of Stuart and Fran Zimmerman, who became grandparents again. Mother and baby are well and the bris is on Friday. Mazal tov!

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 bat Devorah, Sarah Mindel bat Toby, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, Jerry Daniels, Howard Ehrlich, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Leonard Foint, Annabelle Flom (Chanah Bella bat Kreina), Gig Flom (Gittel Tobi bat Blanca), Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Philip Kovac, Annie Rivera, and Gil Robbins.

Don’t forget to send in your membership forms and High Holiday ticket orders. It’s later than you think!

My weekly divrei torah are available via free-mail subscription to the Cyber Torah list.

Cyber Torah list management:

To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to:ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah”.

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net  with the heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”.

To dedicate a Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah, send an e-mail to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Dedicate Cyber Torah” and provide details in the message body.