21
Elul 5776 / 23-24 September 2016
Parashat Ki Tavo
Torah: Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1-22 (Sixth Haftarah of Consolation)
Parashat Ki Tavo
Torah: Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1-22 (Sixth Haftarah of Consolation)
Rosh Hashanah is one week from Sunday! Please submit your Membership/High
Holy Day forms ASAP! And check your mail for our High Holy Day bulletin.
Congregation
Beth Meier is looking for volunteers for the High Holy Days: to help set up/tear down for
services, chant Haftarah, daven, lead English readings, and, have aliyot and
other Torah/bimah honors. Contact Rabbi Flom at the synagogue office or by
e-mail for details and to sign up!
Dedications
and Calendar of Events follow.
For
our High
Holy Day schedule, and lots of other info about our community, please check out our
web site at: http://bethmeier.org
For
this year’s Cheshbon Hanefesh worksheet, see: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2016/09/cheshbon-hanefesh-worksheet.html
Congregation
Beth Meier has developed a GoFundMe page: Please visit the page and
consider a donation. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!
Please
feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY!
EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY!
"This very day the Lord your God commands you to perform these decrees and statutes; and you shall observe and do them with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 26:16
Rashi (citing Tanchuma): Every day they should seem new in your eyes, as though on that day you had been commanded concerning them.
"Moses and the priests, the Levites spoke to all
Rashi (citing B.T. Berakhot): Every day it should seem in your eyes as though today you enter into the covenant with Him.
In my view, one of the very wonderful aspects of Judaism is that one need not dwell on the past in order to live the good life. It is true that one must do teshuvah, repentance, with both God and human beings in order to ultimately achieve a life of goodness. Having done so, however, one is not required to continue beating oneself forever. Rashi tells us that the commandments and the covenant, and by extension, all of the Torah, are given to us anew, every day. That is a reason often given for the language of the blessings recited before and after reading the Torah - "Blessed are You, O Lord, Who gives the Torah." It seems to have almost a Zen quality to it - we need to live in the "now". The past is ... past. We remember it, we learn from it, we improve ourselves, we move onward.
What does not have a Zen quality is the Torah's view of the future. Year in, year out, the holy days come and go. Week in, week out, Shabbat comes and goes. "Thou shalt ..." "Thou shalt not ..." "And it shall be that on that day, you will ...." The Torah anticipates that at some point in the future, we will be better than we are now. We will be more learned, more observant, more experienced, more spiritual - closer to God and our fellow human beings in every way. And we will always have opportunities to become so - literally, every day.
The philosopher Franz Rosenzweig said that, when asked whether we observe any particular mitzvah, we should answer either "yes" or "not yet". What we do (or fail to do) now has implications for the future, but it does not necessarily determine the future. But when is the best time to start? You already know the answer to that - "this very day"!
Have a wonderful Shabbat!
Rabbi
Richard A. Flom
Studio City
Blogging
at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/
Visit
me on Facebook
Twitter: @DrahcirMolf
"From
the place where we are absolutely right, flowers will never grow in the
spring."
"מן המקום שבו אנו צודקים לא יצמחו לעולם פרחים באביב"
Yehuda
Amichai
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Candle
lighting: 6:29 pm
Friday – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch
follows services. Selichot Service with
Rabbi Flom and Cantor Katz – 9:00 pm.
Sunday - Religious
School
Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – noon - a 90 minute discussion on a Jewish
topic of interest. Everyone is welcome to participate. Lunch is
provided - donation requested.
Friday, 9/30 – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, 10/1 – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch
follows services.
The
congregation extends condolences to Deb Sigel, John McNeil and Elona McNeil on
the passing of Deb’s grandfather/Elona’s great-grandfather Leon Sigel. Funeral
is in Baltimore
This
d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben
Bella, HaRav Yisrael Shimon ben Liebah Breina, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Sarah
bat Devorah, Jackie Aaronson, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky,
Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan
ben Gittel), Leonard Foint (Eliezer Moshe ben Esther), Jerry Forman, Myra
Goodman, Fouad Kay (Yehoshua ben Salima), Stephanie Kane, Philip Kovac, Toni
Linder, Deborah Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya
Feiga bat Kreina), and Naomi Zimmermann (Naomi bat Yorma).
Please
let me know if there is anyone you would like to add to this list or if there
is anyone who may be removed from this list.
My
weekly divrei torah are available through free subscription to the Cyber
Torah e-mail list. No salesman will call!
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.
