Parashat Yitro
Shevat 20, 5780 / February 14-15, 2020
Shevat 20, 5780 / February 14-15, 2020
Torah: Exodus 18:1 –
20:23
Haftarah: Isaiah 6:1
– 7:6; 9:5-6
Calendar and dedications follow below.
For a full calendar of events and other info about Temple B’nai
Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier, check out: www.bnaihayim.com
Please feel free to pass this on to a
friend, and please cite the source.
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YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE
JEWISH ….
And Jethro said,
“Blessed is the Lord, who delivered you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh,
who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.” Exodus 18:10
BT Sanhedrin 94a
teaches: “And Jethro said, ‘Blessed is the Lord who delivered you’; at which a
Tanna (anonymous teacher of 1st-3rd century CE Judea) taught in the name of R.
Pappias: It was a reproach to Moses and the six hundred thousand [Israelites] that
they did not bless [the Lord] until Jethro came and did so.”
About that passage, Rabbi
Shlomo of Radomsk (mid-19th century Poland ) teaches: “This statement seems
strange, because we know the song that Moses and the Israelites sang after the
crossing of the sea was no less a praise of God than Jethro’s words. (See Parashat
Beshallach, which we read last week) Rather, Jethro was an innovator of a new
form of expressing thanks to God. The Israelites praised God for what He did
for them, but Jethro praised God for His loving-kindness to and deliverance of
others. In this he was first.”
Unstated but
understood here is that Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, is NOT an
Israelite. In fact, he is a priest of the Midianite religion. The Talmud seems
to be saying, “You Israelites! You, not the foreigner, should have thought of
this.” Shlomo of Radomsk doesn’t understand the rebuke – the Israelites did
praise God, after all. Instead, he sees something much deeper – two things
really. Jethro the foreigner taught the Israelites a new way to thank God (by
saying “blessed”), and also a new reason to praise God – not just for
themselves, but for other people too. It’s not much of a leap to see that
Judaism has long adopted from other cultures, that Judaism teaches that
everyone, Jew or not, has a path to and can have a relationship with God, and,
that we should bless God for that possibility.
I wish you Shabbat Shalom Uv’rakhah – A Shabbat of Peace and Blessing.
Rabbi Richard A.
Flom
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: 5:17 pm
Friday: Cool
Shabbat Evening Service with Steve Pearlman – It’s A Gas! (Guitar
accompanied service) – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Torah
study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service –
9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows.
Sunday: NO
Religious School or Adult education Classes – Presidents Day
weekend. Rabbi Flom’s “(Re)Introduction to Judaism” will
resume March 8. David Silon’s "History of Israel and the Middle
East" class – resumes March 1.
Tuesday:
Lunch and Learn - 12:30 pm. NOTE TIME CHANGE
Friday,
February 21: Simchah Shabbat Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Complimentary
Shabbat Dinner follows. RSVP to synagogue office.
Saturday,
February 22: Torah
study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service –
9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows.
Friday,
February 28: Shabbat
Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday,
February 29: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning
Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows. Amy Cecil of
Jewish World Watch will deliver a drash during the service and take
questions during lunch.
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 in honor of Lorrie Flom and Jay Goodman, whose wedding anniversary
is Friday, February 14.
This d'var
torah is offered in memory of my aunt, Shirley Schack, whose yahrzeit falls on
Thursday, 25 Sh’vat. Y’hi zikhronah liv’rakhah – May her memory be a blessing.
This d’var
torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Elisheva bat Malkah, Chanah bat Minnie Leah, 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), Bernard Garvin, Leah Granat, Gabor Klein, Philip
Kronzek, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Imanu), Martin Lee, Barbara
Levy, Gail Neiman, Sandra Raab, Josef Sands, Shirley Sands, Gina Seeman, Debra Schugar
Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), 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.
