KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE

Parashat Sh’lach L’kha

26 Sivan 5779 / 28-29 June 2019

Torah: Numbers 13:1 - 15:41
Haftarah: Joshua 2:1-24

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow. Full calendar and lots of other info available at: http://www.bnaihayim.com

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

------------------------------------------------------------------

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE

"And it will be for you as a fringe, that you look at it, and remember all of the Lord's commandments, and do them; and that you do not rove after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you might go astray." Numbers 15:39

"The heart and the eyes, they are the spies of the body, acting as procurers for its sins. The eye sees, the heart covets, and the body sins." Rashi (citing Tanchuma)

This verse, also part of the third, concluding paragraph of the Sh'ma, refers to the commandment to wear tzitzit, fringes, on the four corners of a tallit or other garment. The late, great Torah teacher, Nechama Leibowitz, finds Rashi's statement "rather strange". Why shouldn't we look about at the world, and take it all in? After all, didn't God create it?

The answer may be found in the type of looking that we do. When we look at God's creation, we can appreciate it as something much greater than ourselves, of which we are a very small part; or, we can look at it as something which we covet, believing that we are greater than creation – and its Creator.

Our purpose in the world is not to take whatever we want, whenever we want it. Rather, we are to serve as God's partners, albeit very limited partners, in maintaining, repairing and improving the world - and ourselves! (See Genesis 2:15; Leviticus 25:23). We do this through the performance of mitzvot. Focusing on the tzitzit keeps us on task when our minds start to wander. Put on a tallit, look at the tzitzit, and remember why you are here!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier

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

Visit me on Facebook

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 88a

---------------------------------------------------------

Candle lighting: 7:50 pm

Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday: NO Breakfast/Torah Study – resume July 6. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. A special Shabbat kiddush luncheon in honor of Gina Seeman, as thanks for all her work with Sisterhood and for the TBH/CBM community. RSVP through synagogue office.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Thursday: Synagogue office closed – Independence Day. Raise Old Glory and Let Freedom Ring!

Friday, July 5: Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, July 6: Breakfast/Torah Study – 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Leah bat Sarah Imanu, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Mark Brownstein, Susan Burke, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Annabelle Flom (Channah Bella bat Kreina), Bernard Garvin, Leah Granat, Carol Herskowitz, Diana Hirsch, Brandon Joseph, Gabor Klein, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Imanu), Marilyn Lee, David Marks, Sandra Raab, Marguerite Rassiner, Josef Sands, Debra Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Bernie Seeman, 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.

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 Preschool 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, deliver d’rashot, and have aliyot and other Torah/bimah honors. Training available! Contact Rabbi Flom by e-mail for details and to sign up!

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.

MAY IT BE GOD’S WILLS – AND OURS!

Parashat Beha’alot’kha

19 Sivan 5779 / 21-22 June 2019

Torah: Numbers 8:1 - 12:16
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 - 4:7

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow. Full calendar and lots of other info available at: http://www.bnaihayim.com

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

------------------------------------------------------------------

MAY IT BE GOD’S WILLS – AND OURS!

"And Moses said to him, 'Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His spirit upon them!'" Numbers 11:29

Joshua has just complained to Moses that Eldad and Medad, who were not among the seventy elders selected to prophesy, are in fact doing so, and in the midst of the camp - not at the Tent of Meeting. Joshua then asked Moses to stop them, perhaps, according to Rashi, by incarcerating them. Our verse is Moses' reply.

The modern commentator, Nechama Leibowitz, citing Martin Buber, notes that Moses did not say, "Would that all the Lord's people would prophesy" - a temporary phenomenon, but rather, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets" - a permanent status.

This truly shows the great humility of Moses (see Numbers 12:3). Not only is he not jealous of the sudden, albeit temporary, prophetic frenzy among the 72 men - Moses wishes it were a permanent condition of all of the Israelites - that each and every one of them, and each of us, should have the same merit as he, to have direct communion with God, receiving the word directly from God - without even the Torah as intermediary.

In his relations with God, Moses usually got what he wanted. So why are we not all prophets? I believe the answer is suggested by a teaching of Rabban Gamaliel (Mishnah Avot 2:4): "Do God's will as if it were your will, so that He will do your will as if it were His." Moses' desire for us was not enough. Neither is our desire. But by carrying out God's will, fulfilling the instructions of the Torah and the Prophets, we can hope to influence God's will sufficiently to cause God to speak directly to us.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier

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

Visit me on Facebook

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 88a

---------------------------------------------------------

Candle lighting: 7:50 pm

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.

Sunday: Education Committee Meeting - 10:00 am. Contact Warren Trauman for details.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Saturday, June 29: A special Shabbat kiddush luncheon in honor of Gina Seeman, as thanks for all her work with Sisterhood and for the TBH/CBM community. RSVP through synagogue office.

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Leah bat Sarah Imanu, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Mark Brownstein, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Annabelle Flom (Channah Bella bat Kreina), Bernard Garvin, Leah Granat, Carol Herskowitz, Diana Hirsch, Brandon Joseph, Gabor Klein, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Imanu), Marilyn Lee, David Marks, Sandra Raab, Marguerite Rassiner, Josef Sands, Debra Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Bernie Seeman, 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.

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 Preschool 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, deliver d’rashot, and have aliyot and other Torah/bimah honors. Training available! Contact Rabbi Flom by e-mail for details and to sign up!

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.

WHAT IS MINE ISN’T MINE – WHAT WAS MINE IS MINE

Parashat Naso

Sivan 12 5779 / June 14-15 2019

Torah: Numbers 4:21-7:89

Haftarah: Judges 13:2-25

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow. Full calendar and lots of other info available at: http://www.bnaihayim.com

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT IS MINE ISN’T MINE – WHAT WAS MINE IS MINE

"Each person's holy things shall be his; whatever a person gives to the priest, it shall be his." Numbers 5:10

The Talmud (Berakhot 63a), citing this verse, suggests that one who does not donate to the sanctuary ultimately ends up needy, while one who does donate becomes wealthy. There are several ways to look at this. One might read the Talmud literally; it also says that for the one who donates, "much money will be his" (they are talking about more than tax breaks!). Perhaps the Talmud is referring to spiritual need and wealth - the failure to give results in spiritual emptiness, but donating creates spiritual fulfillment. 

Rabbi Y.Y. Tronk of Kutno says that a miser is not the master of his money; only someone who is willing to part with his money is the master of it. Only by giving it away does he show that the money is "his"; i.e., it is under his control. Of course, the ability to give up that which is permitted and desirable demonstrates self-control as well.

Thus, the verse may be read as: “A person’s holy things will be for his benefit; so that which he gives to the priest benefits the giver.”  Tithes become holy when they are set aside, but do not impart their holiness, do not benefit either donor or donee, until they are actually donated.

Judaism does not prohibit the accumulation of wealth, nor does it require self-denial. But it does prohibit the complete retention of wealth and it does require self-control. So, all of the viewpoints are correct. When we make donations to our synagogue, we literally make our community wealthier. We also assure that when we require the synagogue to fill our spiritual needs, it will be there for us. Nor can we deny the inner sense of well-being that comes from donating to an institution we believe in, for we are gaining something of value as well. It feels good to know that we are helping to build and maintain something greater than ourselves. Finally, in doing so, we demonstrate that we truly are the masters of our selves.

When we donate holy things for a holy purpose, we increase our own holiness.

Shabbat shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier

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

Visit me on Facebook

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 88a

---------------------------------------------------------

Candle lighting: 7:48 pm

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.

Tuesday: NO Lunch and Learn – resume June 25.

Sunday, June 23: Education Committee Meeting - 10:00 am

Saturday, June 29: A special Shabbat kiddush luncheon in honor of Gina Seeman, as thanks for all her work with Sisterhood and for the TBH/CBM community. RSVP through synagogue office.

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Leah bat Sarah Imanu, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Mark Brownstein, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Annabelle Flom (Channah Bella bat Kreina), Bernard Garvin, Leah Granat, Carol Herskowitz, Diana Hirsch, Brandon Joseph, Gabor Klein, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Imanu), Marilyn Lee, David Marks, Sandra Raab, Marguerite Rassiner, Debra Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Bernie Seeman, 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.

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 Preschool 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, deliver d’rashot, and have aliyot and other Torah/bimah honors. Training available! Contact Rabbi Flom by e-mail for details and to sign up!

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.

YOU HAVE TO BE THERE TO BE COUNTED

Parashat Bamidbar

Sivan 5 5779 / June 7-8 2019

Torah: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20

Haftarah: Hosea 2:1-22

Shavuot 1

Sivan 6 5779 / June 8-9 2019

Torah: Exodus 19:1 – 20:22; Numbers 28:26-31

Haftarah: Ezekiel 1:1-28; 3:12

Shavuot 2

Sivan 7 5779 / June 9-10 2019

Book of Ruth

Torah: Deuteronomy 15:19 – 16:17; Numbers 28:26-31

Haftarah: Habakkuk 3:1-19

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow. Full calendar and lots of other info available at:  http://www.bnaihayim.com/ 

---------------------------------------------

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AND INVITATION!

Dear fellow congregants and friends:

We are pleased to announce that we will be holding a Religious School graduation for David Danhi, Adi Buchnik, and Eitan Buchnik this Sunday, June 9, during our Shavuot service, beginning at 9:30 am. These three young men, and also their younger Religious School classmates, will also be leading portions of our service. We hope you can join us for this joyful event and service. Kiddush luncheon in honor of all our children follows.

Shabbat Shalom! Chag Sameach!

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

YOU HAVE TO BE THERE TO BE COUNTED

In Hebrew, this book of the Torah is titled “Bamidbar” - “In the wilderness”. However, the old name was “Chamesh - Hapekudim” - “one fifth (of the books of the Torah), that of the countings”. The English name of Bamidbar is “the Book of Numbers”, because the initial subject of the book is the numbering of the Israelites. One must wonder why God instructs Moses to take a census of the entire Israelite community, listing the names, head by head. (Num. 1:2)

Rashi says, "Because they were dear to Him, He counted them (literally) every hour. When they left Egypt, He counted them (Ex. 12:37); when [many] fell because [of the sin] of the golden calf, He counted them to know the number of the survivors (Ex. 32:28); when He came to cause His Divine Presence to rest among them, He counted them. On the first of Nissan, the tabernacle was erected, and on the first of Iyar, He counted them." 

God is like a shepherd, constantly counting the flock. But there is more to it, according to Rambam (Maimonides), who says, "God brought them out according to the number of their hosts, God called all of them by name." The idea that God called every Israelite by name speaks volumes about the importance of every Jew. The commentary Bet Aharon says that every Jew is obligated to know and consider his/her uniqueness in the world. There has never been another identical Jew, for if there had been, one of them would have been superfluous. Each of us is an entirely new creation. Each of us has a unique perspective of the Torah. Each of us has a Torah to share with everyone else. This is because each of us was, and is, present at the giving of the Torah, and each of us saw, and sees, it from a unique point of view. When we conclude the blessing over the reading of the Torah, we refer to the giving of the Torah in the present tense - Blessed are You, Lord, the One who gives the Torah.

God is constantly giving us the Torah, through our own study and through our fellow Jews. But to be counted, to receive your Torah, you have to be there, you have to be at your Sinai. If you are not open to receiving God's Torah, you won't be counted, and the loss will not only be yours, but that of every other Jew. If your children do not receive Torah, then their Torah, and the Torah of their descendants, will be lost as well. This Saturday evening through Monday, we will be celebrating Shavuot, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah. Go to the synagogue, study and consider the Ten Commandments, read the Book of Ruth, receive your Torah. Let you and your Torah be counted.

Shabbat shalom v'chag sameach!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier

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

Visit me on Facebook

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 88a

---------------------------------------------------------

Candle lighting:

Friday 7:45 pm

Saturday: After 8:46 pm from a transferred flame

Sunday: After 8:46 pm from a transferred flame

Friday: A Capella 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.

This d'var torah is offered in honor of David Danhi, Adi Buchnik, and Eitan Buchnik, graduating from TBH/CBM Religious School this Sunday morning during Shavuot service. Mazal tov!

This d'var torah is offered in memory of my beloved father, Martin Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Monday. Y’hi zikhro 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 zikhro liv’rakhah - his memory is a blessing.

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Leah bat Sarah Imanu, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Mark Brownstein, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Annabelle Flom (Channah Bella bat Kreina), Bernard Garvin, Leah Granat, Carol Herskowitz, Diana Hirsch, Brandon Joseph, Gabor Klein, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Imanu), Marilyn Lee, David Marks, Sandra Raab, Marguerite Rassiner, Debra Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Bernie Seeman, 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.

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 Preschool 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, deliver d’rashot, and have aliyot and other Torah/bimah honors. Training available! Contact Rabbi Flom by e-mail for details and to sign up!

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.