Parashat Bamidbar
5 Sivan 5778 / 18-19 May 2018
Torah: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20
Haftarah: Hosea 2:1-22
Shavuot 1
6 Sivan 5778 / 19-20 May 2018
Torah: Exodus 19:1 – 20:22; Numbers 28:26-31
Haftarah: Ezekiel 1:1-28; 3:12
Shavuot 2
7 Sivan 5778 / 20-21 May 2018
Book of Ruth
Torah: Deuteronomy 15:19 – 16:17; Numbers 28:26-31
Haftarah: Habakkuk 3:1-19
Calendar and dedications follow below. For a full calendar of events and other info about Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier, check out:
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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THE MOSAIC
“Every man with his own standard, with ensigns according to their fathers’ houses, so shall the Children of Israel pitch the camp; at a distance from the tent of meeting shall they encamp.” Numbers 2:2
One should not for a moment believe that this verse is a license for each of us to go our individual ways. We are indeed to maintain our individual identities, but only within the context of the larger community.
The commentary Bet Aharon (Rabbi Aaron of Karlin, 1736-1792, disciple of Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch) makes this point in an interesting way. “Every Jew must know and think that he is unique in the world, and there has never been another person exactly like him. If there had been someone just like him, there would have been no need for him. In truth, every person is someone new in the world, who needs to improve his character and his Torah for the sake of his soul, until the entire world has been repaired through the effort of the Jewish people.”
Let me expand upon Bet Aharon. In my view, this applies to every member of the human race. We live in a broken world - each of us can make a unique contribution toward improving it through our moral and ethical development and then by putting our learned principles into action.
It’s a pretty tall order. Look at it this way. Each of us is a "work-in-progress", an accumulation of mosaic tiles (nature, nurture, experience, education, relationships, etc.) that needs to be assembled into a complete, functional, and autonomous moral being; each of us is then a tile in a much vaster communal/societal mosaic for which we have individual and joint responsibility to assemble. When we put together the pieces of our own lives and our own souls, and place the tiles of our individual selves into the mosaic of the community, we are contributing to the improvement of the world as well.
It all starts with you.
Have a wonderful Shabbat! Chag Shavuot Sameach! See you at Mount Sinai!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
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"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:
Friday 7:32 pm
Saturday: After dusk from a transferred flame
Sunday: After dusk from a transferred flame
Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Breakfast/Torah Study – 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon follows. Tikkun Leil Shavuot - an evening of Torah study for Shavuot - 9:00 pm, with Rabbi Flom, Reb Jason, and some nice refreshments.
Sunday: Shavuot Morning Service - 9:30 am
Monday: Shavuot Morning Service, with Yizkor - 9:30 am.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.
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 my beloved father, Martin Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Monday. Y’hi izkhro liv’rakhah - his memory is a blessing.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my beloved grandfather, Jacob Slome, whose yahrzeit falls on Tuesday. Y’hi izkhro liv’rakhah - his memory is a blessing.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Ze’ev ben Adeline, Eilite bat Miriam, Sarah bat Devorah, Hiroe Andreola, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Annabelle Flom (Chanah Bella bat Kreina), Bernard Garvin, Leah Granat, Brandon Joseph, Gabor Klein, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Emanu), David Marks, Debra Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), and Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina).
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.
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
Send requests for dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
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