MAKING ROOM FOR SHABBAT

Parashat Ki Tisa

16 Adar 5778 / 2-3 March 2018

Torah: Exodus 30:11 - 34:35
Haftarah: Ashkenazim - 1 Kings 18:1-39; Sephardim - 1 Kings 18:20-39

Calendar and dedications follow below. For a full calendar of events and other info about Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier, check out: www.bnaihayim.com

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MAKING ROOM FOR SHABBAT

"And the Children of Israel shall keep the Shabbat; to do the Shabbat for all their generations; it is an eternal covenant between Me and the Children of Israel; a sign forever ..." Exodus 31:16-17

This passage should be familiar. We chant it Friday evening during the Shabbat Maariv service, and again Shabbat morning prior to kiddush.

Rebbe S. A. Taub of Modzhitz asks, “Why is Shabbat stated twice?” He suggests that the answer is found in the B. Talmud Shabbat 118b: “If Israel would only keep two consecutive Shabbatot according to their laws, they would be instantly redeemed.” That is an awesome reason to keep Shabbat! But he thinks there is another answer as well.

He says that there are two unique dimensions to Shabbat. One is sitting and doing nothing - resting, refraining from any prohibited activities, and the like. That is “keeping”, or “observing” Shabbat. The second is actually doing something - studying Torah, eating a festive meal, singing z’mirot, and so forth. That is “doing”, or “making” Shabbat.

All of this observing and doing, though, has to be done not only in accordance with the positive and negative commandments concerning activity, but also within a specific framework of time. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, in his book “The Sabbath”, tells us that our daily lives are all about the physical world - “building castles in space”, he calls it. But Shabbat is metaphysical - by refraining from work for twenty-five hours, we are actually building “castles in time”. By observing Shabbat and doing Shabbat, we transcend the physical world, putting us somewhere else on the space-time continuum – or taking us beyond it altogether. The Rabbis say that, by “keeping” and “doing” this particular covenant with God, we get a taste of eternity now. Try it - you’ll like it.

Have a wonderful Shabbat!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier

Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/

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Twitter: @DrahcirMolf

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 88a

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Candle lighting: 5:33 pm

Friday – A Capella Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm – followed by Oneg Shabbat.

Saturday – Breakfast and Torah study - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

Sunday – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew – 10:00 am.

Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, March 9 – Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm – followed by Oneg Shabbat.

Saturday, March 10 – Breakfast and Torah study - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

Saturday, March 17 – Women’s Rosh Chodesh Shabbat Morning Service. Contact Carol Herskowitz or Lynn Kronzek for details.

Check your snail mail for information about the TBH/CBM Second Seder and the Installation of Rabbi Flom and Rabbi Van Leeuwen.

Next time you come to TBH/CBM, please bring some non-perishable canned and packaged foods and personal items (no glass) for SOVA.

This d'var torah is offered in memory of Gil Robbins, who passed away last Thursday. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah – May his memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Ze’ev ben Adeline, Eilite bat Miriam, Sarah bat Devorah, Hiroe Andriola, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Jerry Forman, Bernard Garvin, Myra Goodman, Leah Granat, Simon Hartmann, Brandon Joseph, Gabor Klein, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Emanu), Lyndia Lowy (Leah bat Sarah), David Marks, Debra Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Alan Stolzenberg, Jonathan Woolf, Howard Yudell, and Meagan Yudell.

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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