Thursday, September 29, 2016

ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER

28 Elul 5776 / 30 September – 1 October
Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilekh
Torah: Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20
Haftarah: Isaiah 61:10 - 63:9 (Seventh Haftarah of Consolation)

Important note: If you have no place to worship for the High Holy Days, or any day of the year, or if you think you cannot afford tickets or membership, please, please join us for services. You can pay whatever you can afford later. No one is turned away! Ever!

Rosh Hashanah begins Sunday evening! Please submit your Membership/High Holy Day forms ASAP! Or call the synagogue office! 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, 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 complete 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

An older, slightly different, version will be distributed at High Holy Day services.

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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ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER

These final few days leading up to Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Awe and through Yom Kippur ought to be a time of introspection and repentance. Jewish tradition teaches that during this time, we should repent and make amends for all of the wrongs we have done, to God, to our relatives, to our friends, to everyone with whom we have a relationship. The Hebrew word for repentance is "teshuvah". The root of this word, "shuv", appears seven times in our parashah, at Deuteronomy 30:1-10. The word connotes repentance, turning, returning, turning around, and recalling. It has active and reflexive forms.
"... and you shall recall (v'hasheivota) them to your mind ..." 30:1
"and you shall return (v'shavta) to the Lord your God ..." 30:2
"and the Lord your God will return (v'shav) your captivity and have compassion upon you, and will return (v'shav) and gather you from all the peoples ..." 30:3
"and you shall return (tashuv) and hearken to the voice of the Lord ..." 30:8
"... for the Lord will return (yashuv) to rejoice over you for good ..." 30:9
"... if you turn (tashuv) to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." 30:10

R. Shlomo of Radomsk once asked, if the Torah states in verse two that "you shall return to the Lord your God", implying repentance, why does it say so again in verse eight? He answers that before a person begins to repent, he doesn't even know what offenses he has committed - he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Only after the first steps of teshuvah, through the process of cheshbon hanefesh (accounting of the soul) does he realize the enormity of his wrongs. So he begins to ascend, step by step, in his spiritual development. It's not a one-shot deal.

What R. Shlomo doesn't say, perhaps because it was obvious to him, is the role that God plays in all of this. It's a two-way conversation. We turn toward God; God turns toward us. We move closer to God; God moves closer to us. We repent; God draws us into greater repentance.

How do we start? The answer is found in the concluding sentence of "Etz Chaim", recited at the conclusion of every Torah service. "Bring us back (hashiveinu), Lord, to You, and we will return (v'nashuvah); renew our days as of old." Lamentations 5:21. We seriously ask God to help us repent, and we are on our way!

Shabbt Shalom! L'shanah Tovah Umetukah Tikateivu V'tichateimu - May you be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet new year!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City
, CA
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: 6:20 pm

Friday – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows services
Sunday - Religious School – 9:30 am. If you have or know of any Jewish children ages 6-13 in need of a warm and welcoming Jewish education in a small setting, bring them on down! Or call Rabbi Flom or Elaine Kleiger at the synagogue office. Adult Hebrew with Barry Glass and Lynda Foster – 10:00 am. Move and set up High Holy Day ark, Torah scrolls, books and other materials to First Christian Church – 1:00 pm – volunteer helping hands needed! Come on down!

Rosh Hashanah Services
Sunday – 6:30 pm – Candle lighting 6:17 pm
Monday – 8:30 am, followed by Tashlich – Candle lighting 7:10 pm
Tuesday – 8:30 am – Yom Tov ends 7:10 pm

Friday 10/7 – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday 10/8 – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows services.

This d’var torah is offered in memory of Shimon Peres, former Israeli Prime Minister and President, who passed away on Wednesday. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah – May his memory be a blessing and an inspiration.

This d’var torah is offered in memory of my grandmother, Cora Slome, whose yahrzeit is this Shabbat, 28 Elul. After 34 years, her memory remains and will always be a blessing.

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

HOLY AFIKOMAN!

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