14 Tevet 5779 / 21-22 December 2018
Parashat Vayechi
Torah: Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 (Chazak, chazak v'nitchazeik!)
Haftarah: 1 Kings 2:1-12
Parashat Vayechi
Torah: Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 (Chazak, chazak v'nitchazeik!)
Haftarah: 1 Kings 2:1-12
Calendar and dedications follow below. For more information
about our community, check out our web site at: http://www.bnaihayim.com
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite
the source.
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DOES
YOUR FATHER YET LIVE?
"And
when Jacob finished commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into his bed;
and he expired and was gathered to his people." Genesis 49:33
We
learn in the Talmud, Ta’anit 5b:
Rabbi
Yitzchak taught in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: "Jacob our father did not die."
He
[Rabbi Nachman] objected: “Was it for nothing that he was bewailed and embalmed
and buried?” The other replied: “I derive this from the verse, as it is said –
‘Therefore do not fear, O Jacob, My servant, says the Lord; neither be
dismayed, O Israel, for, lo, I will save you from afar and your seed from the
land of their captivity.’”
The
verse likens him [Jacob] to his seed [Israel]; as his seed will then be alive
so he too will be alive.
In
response to the other rabbi’s objections, Rabbi Yitzchak explains that
just as Jacob's descendants are living, so too is Jacob still living (citing
Jeremiah 30:10). This is the message of the song Jewish children learn:
"Am Yisrael Chai! Od Avinu Chai!" - The People of Israel
live! Our father yet lives!
The
question we must ask ourselves is: what are we doing to assure that this
sentiment will always be true? Do we study Torah regularly? Do we observe
Shabbat, keep kosher and perform other mitzvot to the best of our ability
and understanding? Do we serve as good Jewish role models for our
children?
We
are the ones who have the power to fulfill (or not) the promise of God's
deliverance of the People of Israel. If we live Judaism, the ancestral
inheritance of the community of Jacob (morashah kehillat Ya'akov), in a
meaningful way, then indeed, Jacob our father still lives. If we do not,
then our descendants will not be the people of Israel.
Shabbat
Shalom!
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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CALENDAR
Candle lighting: 4:30 pm
Friday – Cool Shabbat Evening Service – It’s a GAS
(Guitar-accompanied service) – with Steve Pearlman and Rabbi Flom - 7:30 pm.
Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday – Breakfast and Torah study - 8:45 am.
Shabbat Morning Service with Steve Pearlman and Rabbi Flom - 9:30 am.
Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday – NO Religious School - on break after this until
January 6.
Tuesday – NO Lunch and Learn 12/25 and 1/1 – Federal
holidays. Resume 1/8
Friday, December 28 – Shabbat Evening Service
– 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, December 29 - Breakfast and
Torah study – 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service - 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
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 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), Bernie Seeman, 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 e-mail to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Dedicate Cyber Torah”
and provide details in the message body.
