NAME CHANGE

Parashat Vayishlach
Kislev 19, 5781 / December 4-5, 2020
Torah: Genesis 32:4 – 36:43
Haftarah: Obadiah 1:1-21

Candle-lighting for Friday: 4:25 PM PST - Sherman Oaks, CA 

This d’var Torah is offered in memory of my uncle, David Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Monday, Kislev 21. Y’hi zikhrono liv’rakhah – may his memory be a blessing.

Chanukah is coming! First light is Thursday, December 10, at or after sundown. Chag urim sameach!

Community Chanukah Celebration and Latke Happy Hour (!) Saturday, December 12, at 7:00 PM PST. Visit https://bnaihayim.org/special-events/  for details.

Our Refuah Shleimah/Prayer for Healing List can be found at: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iT0tdp45ITSU6o1tykah41m3IXBxBwLxe8FORSIXzDo/edit?usp=sharing

If you would like to have a name added or removed from this Prayer for Healing list, please write to me at: ravflom@sbcglobal.net 

This week's Yahrzeit List can be found at: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IvKK6of7m1YFiwWATXCfQXrBrjmLMfS_CAM3WhZ_fu4/edit 

A list of all of our on-line activities can be found below. All our services and programs are available at: https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim  

With the COVID-19 epidemic, SOVA needs your donations more than ever. Please, bring some non-perishable canned and packaged foods and personal items, (no glass) to the lobby of TBH/CBM. Wear a mask, social distance, and help out those in need. 

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

'And he (the angel) said to him, "What is your name?" And he replied, "Jacob." And he (the angel) 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, if you will; or perhaps by symbolically emerging from the waters of the womb. 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 the self, with humans, and with the Divine.

How, then, was Jacob reborn? Other than the change of name, how did he become different? The answer, I think, lies not in the final struggle with the angel, a 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 feared 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 asked 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 change, to grow, to become Israel, the one who wrestles with God and with man 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 rather gaining knowledge and wisdom, acting in a purposeful way, and living a life of meaning.
 
Shabbat Shalom! 

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

TBH/CBM

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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UPCOMING EVENTS AND OTHER USEFUL INFO! 

Cool Shabbat Evening Service with Steve Pearlman and Rabbi Flom Friday evening at 6:30 PM PST. 

Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason Van Leeuwen and Rabbi Flom this Saturday at 10:00 AM PST. Haftarah chanted by Susan Burke. 

Community Chanukah Celebration and Latke Happy Hour (!) Saturday, December 12, at 7:00 PM PST. Visit https://bnaihayim.org/special-events/  for details.

Downloadable and printable Siddur for Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat Ma'ariv, Shabbat/Festival Morning, and more, including the weekly Parashah and Haftarah, all available at: 
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/form-download-e-siddur-0 
Fill out the form - the download is free.

David Silon’s class “Jewish History” meets every Sunday at 11:00 am PST. 

Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 pm PST for Lunch and Learn, a 60-90 minute study session. We're learning Hasidic teachings on the weekly parashah. The study materials for the December 8 class, Parashat Vayeishev, can be found at: 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/128I73NhL_37q3msBz1h6AMjnsSMcN3Wu?usp=sharing 

Some excellent on-line Jewish resources are available at: 
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/ 

You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshiva’s weekly Torah Sparks via email here: 
https://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/torahsparks/ 

Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!): 
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, and receive Cyber Torah every week in your mailbox, 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