Parashat Vayishlach
16 Kislev 5779 / 23-24 November 2018
Torah: Genesis 32:4 – 36:43
Haftarah: Obadiah 1:1-21
Haftarah: Obadiah 1:1-21
Calendar and dedications follow below. For
more information about our community, check out our web site at: www.bnaihayim.com
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend,
and please cite the source.
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NAME CHANGE
'And (the angel) said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." And he said, "No longer will it be said that your name is Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with man and have prevailed."' Genesis 32:28-29
When a person converts to Judaism, the final step is immersion in a mikvah. When the convert emerges, s/he is given a new name. It is a symbol of rebirth, by prevailing in a trial by water, or emerging from the water of the womb, if you will. The change of identity coincides with the change in status. But it occurs only after a lengthy period of study, practice and reflection, confronting the past and facing the future, a struggle with humans and the Divine.
How, then, was Jacob reborn? Other than the change of name, how had he become different? The answer, I think, lies not in the final struggle with the angel, the symbolic trial by combat, but rather in the vast change Jacob had undergone since he left his parents' house 22 years previously. He confronted himself, and no longer cared for his own safety, but for that of his wives and children. He faced down Laban and finally escaped from his clutches. He looked at God face to face and dared to ask for confirmation of the covenant with Abraham and Isaac. The wrestling match and the name change were the culmination of years of personal development, of discerning the ways of God and man.
Each of us is a Jacob. Each of us also has the potential to convert, to change, to grow and improve, to become Israel, one who wrestles with God, with other people and with the self. But we earn the change of name, the rebirth, only if we are prepared to engage in the necessary struggles to change ourselves and our world. It is not about resistance, but gaining knowledge and wisdom, acting in a purposeful way, and living a life of meaning.
Yom L'Todah Sameach - Shabbat Shalom
U'Vrakhah!
Happy Thanksgiving! Have a Shabbat of Peace and Blessing!
Happy Thanksgiving! Have a Shabbat of Peace and Blessing!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Visit me on Facebook
Twitter: @DrahcirMolf
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is
consent.”
BT Yevamot 88a
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Reminder:
Thanksgiving Day derives from the harvest
holiday of Sukkot. To enhance your Thanksgiving table this week, you might
wish to recite Psalm 100 (Mizmor L'Todah, A Psalm of Thanksgiving) or any of
the psalms that are typically recited during Hallel (the Service of Praise –
Psalms 113-118). Or download and read one of the following resources from
the Rabbinical Assembly:
A reading based on Psalm 92, by Rabbi Debra
Cantor: https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/assets/public/jewish-law/holidays/tgiving/tov-l-hodot-ladonai.pdf
Torah and Talmud study sheets, prepared by
Rabbi Ashira Konigsburg:
A Prayer for the Thanksgiving Feast, by Rabbi
Naomi Levy:
CALENDAR
Shabbat Candle lighting: 4:27 pm
Thursday – Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday – synagogue
office closed. NO Shabbat Evening Service.
Saturday – Breakfast
and Torah study – 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service - 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon
follows.
Sunday – NO Religious
School – resume December 2.
Tuesday – Lunch
and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Friday, November 30 – Shabbat
Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, December 1 – Breakfast
and Torah study - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am.
Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday, December 2 – Religious
School – 9:30 am.
Friday, December 7 – Shabbat
Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, 8 December: Breakfast
and Torah study - 8:45 am. Women’s Rosh Chodesh Shabbat Morning
Service – 9:30 am. Attn: all female members – your participation is
needed! Contact Carol Herskowitz or Lynn Kronzek for details. Kiddush luncheon
follows.
Sunday, 9 December: Community
Menorah Lighting, Religious School Hanukkah Play, Reb Jason and his guitar,
Latkes, Sufganiyot, and More! - 5:00 pm. Check our website or weekly bulletin
for details. RSVP to TBH/CBM office.
Next time you come to TBH/CBM, please bring
some non-perishable canned and packaged foods and personal items (no glass) for
SOVA.
TBH Religious School and TBH
Pre-school have open enrollment. Enroll your children now! Contact the TBH
office for information.
And be sure to tell your neighbors, friends,
and relatives about our warm and welcoming community and our programs!
We are looking for volunteers for
services: chant Torah or Haftarah, daven, lead English readings, and have
aliyot and other Torah/bimah honors. Training available! Contact Rabbi Flom by e-mail
for details and to sign up!
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my
uncle, David Flom, whose yahrzeit falls Thursday, 21 Kislev. Y’hi zikhro
liv’rakhah – may his memory be a blessing.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of all
those who have died in the California wildfires. May their memories be a
blessing.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah
shleimah for all those who have suffered losses in the California wildfires.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah
shleimah for Elisheva bat Malkah, Ze’ev ben Adeline, Liora bat Sarah, Eilite
bat Miriam, Sarah bat Devorah, 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), Barbara Levy, David Marks, Debra Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya
Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Irwin Silon, William Sragow,
and Jonathan Woolf.
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 email to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading "Dedicate Cyber Torah" and provide details in the message body.
