Elul 21, 5779 / September 20-21, 2019
Parashat Ki Tavo
Torah: Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1-22 (Sixth Haftarah of Consolation)
Parashat Ki Tavo
Torah: Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1-22 (Sixth Haftarah of Consolation)
Calendar and dedications follow below. For a full
calendar of events and other info about Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth
Meier, check out:
Rosh Hashanah begins the evening of Sunday,
September 29. Please get your membership and ticket orders to the
office ASAP. Also, if you want to remember your friends and loved ones in
the Book of Remembrance, contact the office ASAP.
For the past few years, I have created a Cheshbon
Hanefesh Worksheet, to help get us ready for the spiritual
side of the High Holy Days (sorry, no recipes or floral arrangements!). You can
pick up a hard copy at TBH/CBM, or download it from my blog at:
Also, some excellent on-line resources are available for
your Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur preparations at:
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please
cite the source.
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FULL OF JOY
"And you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you. When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and they will be filled." Deuteronomy 26:11-12
Rabbi Barukh Brofman: ‘This is a reference to Birkat Hamazon (Blessing after the Meal) - "Do not let us need the gifts of flesh and blood". For this we thank God. Specifically - "You shall rejoice in every good thing - which the Lord has given you."’
Tiferet Shlomo: ‘The Torah adds "and they will be filled" to teach us that one must give generously - otherwise there is no blessing in it.’
Most of us do not rely upon charity (tzedakah) - and we SHOULD be thankful for that. But our thanks (through Birkat Hamazon) are empty ritual if we do not do what we can to help others be in a position of thanking God as well. As the first verse implies, God has given every good thing to everyone - so it's up to us that actually have those things to make sure that they are also distributed to those that do not yet have them.
We learn on Yom Kippur in Unataneh Tokef that "tzedakah reduces the severity of the decree". (See also Proverbs 10:2 and BT Baba Batra 10a – “charity delivers from death”) It does not mean that our charity saves us – rather, our tzedakah reduces the severe decree that might otherwise be imposed on others, the recipients of our gifts.
Celebrate through giving - then you and they will be filled - with joy.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Visit me on Facebook
הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from
every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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Candle lighting: 6:35 pm
Friday: Shabbat Evening Service –
6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Torah study/breakfast –
8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush lunch
follows. Selichot Service – 9:00 pm. Havdalah, traditional Selichot service,
and snacks. Join us to get in the High Holy Day mood!
Sunday: Religious School – 9:30 am.
TBH/CBM Open House – 10:00 am.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00
noon.
Friday, September 27: Shabbat Evening
Service – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, September 28: NO Torah
study/breakfast. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush
lunch follows.
Sunday, September 29: Rosh Hashanah
starts tonight!
This d’var torah is offered in memory of Rabbi
Meier Schimmel, founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Meier, whose yahrzeit falls
on Thursday, Elul 26. Y’hi zekher tzaddik liv’rakhah.
This d’var torah is offered for a refuah
shleimah for Leah bat Sarah Imanu, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken
Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, 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, Gabor Klein, Philip Kovac,
Philip Kronzek, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Imanu), David Marks,
Sandra Raab, Josef Sands, Debra Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga),
Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Anne Signett, and William Sragow.
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.
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!
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
To unsubscribe from Cyber
Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”
to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
