13 Tishrei 5777 / 14-15 October 2016
Parashat Ha’azinu
Torah: Deuteronomy
32:1-52
Haftarah: (1 Samuel
22:1-51)
Dedications and
Calendar of Events follow.
For more info about our
community, visit our website: http://bethmeier.org
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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YOU CAN’T GIVE UP!
“For from afar, you
will see the land, but you will not come there, to the land I am giving the
children of Israel.” Deuteronomy 32:52
Rabbi Tarfon taught:
“It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task; neither are you free to
refrain from it.” Avot 2:16
Moses already knows he
is going to die – before he is able to completely accomplish the assignment he
had been given forty years before – leading the Israelites into what will thereafter
be known as the Land of Israel. Yet, even to his dying day, he continues to
carry out his duties as the leader of the Israelites, still asking God to
permit him to go into the land with them. Once he knew he would not be allowed,
he didn’t throw in the towel – he didn’t say, “Well, there’s no further reason
to do this anymore, since I can’t finish the job.”
That’s how it is to be
a Jew – that’s how it is for every human being. It’s up to every one of us to
strive to accomplish our work as long as we are able. Others will pick up where
we have left off. Moses knew that Joshua would take up the mantle of leadership
afterward – that’s one of the reasons he continued to serve as Joshua’s mentor.
Similarly, we should all know that if we give up on the holy enterprise of
living lives of meaning and goodness, our children and our community might well
assume that there is no point to that task at all – pursuing the work means it
will continue after us.
Another way to
understand Rabbi Tarfon is this: The Israelites’ release from Egyptian bondage
created the freedom to act on, rather than to reject, the responsibility to
willingly serve others.
Don’t give up!
Shabbat Shalom! Chag
Sukkot Sameach!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
Studio City, CA
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: 6:01 pm
Friday – Family Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 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. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
– to set up the sukkah at the synagogue – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew – 10:00 am. Sukkot begins at 5:59 pm.
Monday – Sukkot Morning Service – 10:00 am.
Tuesday – Sukkot Morning Service – 10:00 am.
CBM Board Meeting – 7:30 pm.
Friday 10/21 – Shabbat Chol Hamoed Evening
Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday 10/22 – Shabbat Chol Hamoed Morning
Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows services.
Sunday 10/23 – Religious School – 9:30 am. PIZZA IN
THE HUT at home of Rabbi Flom and Lynn Kronzek – 1:00 pm. Watch for e-vite!
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,
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), Philip Kovac, Toni Linder, Monte Mazo (Mottel ben
Minnie), 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.
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are available through free subscription to the Cyber Torah e-mail list. No salesman will call!
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