EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY!

Elul 16, 5783 / September 1-2, 2023

Parashat Ki Tavo
Torah: Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1-22 (Sixth Haftarah of Consolation)

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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.
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Barukh Dayan Emet. This d'var torah is offered in memory of Barbara Mazo, longtime member of Temple B'nai Hayim, who passed away on Sunday. The funeral will take place on Friday, September 1, at 11:30 AM, at Mount Sinai Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills. Y'hi zekherah liv'rakhah - her memory is a blessing.
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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. Please Note: NO Lunch and Learn until September 11. Happy Labor Day!
We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. On Monday, September 11, we'll be at BT Shabbat 115b, page 184 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 – "תנו רבנן ויהי בנסוע הארון"  - 'Our Rabbis taught:" And it came to pass, when the ark set forward...”'

Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: https://hebrewbooks.org/9630   
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents  
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 

Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
------------------------------------------------------
Rosh Hashanah is two weeks from this Shabbat! Please submit your Membership/High Holy Day forms ASAP! And your Book of Remembrance forms! And check your mail for our High Holy Day bulletin!
 
My Cheshbon Hanefesh Worksheet 5784 Edition is now available at my blog:
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2023/08/cheshbon-hanefesh-worksheet-personal.html  
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY!

"This very day the Lord your God commands you to perform these decrees and statutes; and you shall observe and do them with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 26:16

Rashi (citing Tanchuma): Every day they should seem new in your eyes, as though on that day you had been commanded concerning them.

"Moses and the priests, the Levites spoke to all Israel, saying, 'Take heed and listen, Israel; this very day you have become a people to the Lord your God.'" Deuteronomy 27:9

Rashi (citing B.T. Berakhot): Every day it should seem in your eyes as though today you enter into the covenant with Him.

Moses Pleading with Israel, the Providence Lithograph Company, 1907. Wikimedia

In my view, one of the very wonderful aspects of Judaism is that one need not dwell on the past in order to live the good life. It is true that one must do teshuvah, repentance or turning oneself around, with both God and human beings in order to ultimately achieve a life of goodness. Having done so, however, one is not required to continue beating oneself forever. Rashi tells us that the commandments and the covenant, and by extension, all of the Torah, are given to us anew, every day. That is a reason often given for the language of the blessings recited before and after reading the Torah - "Blessed are You, O Lord, Who gives the Torah." It seems to have almost a Zen quality to it - we need to live in the "now". The past is ... past. We remember it, we learn from it, we improve ourselves, we move onward.

What does not have a Zen quality is the Torah's view of the future. Year in, year out, the holy days come and go. Week in, week out, Shabbat comes and goes. "Thou shalt ..." "Thou shalt not ..." "And it shall be that on that day, you will ...." The Torah anticipates that at some point in the future, we will be better than we are now. We will be more learned, more observant, more experienced, more spiritual - closer to God and our fellow human beings in every way. And we will always have opportunities to become so - literally, every day.

The philosopher Franz Rosenzweig said that, when asked whether we observe any particular mitzvah, we should answer either "yes" or "not yet". What we do (or fail to do) now has implications for the future, but it does not necessarily determine the future. But when is the best time to start? You already know the answer to that - "this very day"!

Have a wonderful Shabbat!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1

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

GOOD VERSUS EVIL

Elul 9, 5783 / August 25-26, 2023

Parashat Ki Teitzei
Torah: Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-10 (Fifth Shabbat of Consolation)
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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.
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This d'var torah is offered in honor of Oliver Moskin, becoming a bar mitzvah this Shabbat. Mazal Tov!
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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. Please Note: NO Lunch and Learn until September 11.
We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. On Monday, September 11, we'll be at BT Shabbat 115b, page 184 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 – "תנו רבנן ויהי בנסוע הארון"  - 'Our Rabbis taught:" And it came to pass, when the ark set forward...”'

Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: https://hebrewbooks.org/9630   
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents  
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 

Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
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Rosh Hashanah is three weeks from this Shabbat! Please submit your Membership/High Holy Day forms ASAP! And your Book of Remembrance forms! And check your mail for our High Holy Day bulletin!
 
My Cheshbon Hanefesh Worksheet 5784 Edition is now available at my blog:
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2023/08/cheshbon-hanefesh-worksheet-personal.html  
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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GOOD VERSUS EVIL

“When you go out to battle against your enemy, and the Lord your God delivers him into your hands, and you take him captive.” Deuteronomy 21:10

Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 5a comments: R. Levi ben Chama teaches in the name of R. Shimon ben Lakish - A person should always stir up the good inclination (yetzer hatov) against the evil inclination (yetzer hara).
                                                     
R. Isaiah ben Abraham Halevi Horowitz, in his "Shnei Luchot Habrit", says that God helps those who seek to purify themselves. When one challenges his yetzer hara (which is his enemy), God delivers him, by returning his sins to him (which he “captures”).

A Temani (Yemeni Jewish) style shofar made from a horn of the greater kudu (photo by Olve Utne)

The word for "capture", shavah, is used as a play on the word "teshuvah”, which means repentance, or return (to God). This is the verse, he says, from which our Rabbis teach: “Great is teshuvah, through which sins are transformed into merits.”

We are well into the month of Elul. Now more than ever is the time for us to confront and resist the evil inclinations within us, to seek to purify our souls, to gird ourselves for the great day of the shofar. Capture your enemy now!  Rosh Hashanah is just three weeks away!
 
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1

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

EXERCISING JUDGMENT

 

Parashat Shoftim

Torah: Deuteronomy 16:18 - 21:9
Haftarah: Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12 (Fourth Haftarah of Consolation)
Elul 2, 5783 / August 18-19, 0223

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This d’var torah is offered in memory of Lynn’s sister, Janis Devorah Kronzek, whose yahrzeit falls on Thursday, Elul 7 (August 24). Y’hi zikhrah liv’rakhah – her memory is a blessing.

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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.

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

Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. On Monday, August 21, we'll be at BT Shabbat 114a, page 181 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 – "אמר רב אחא בר אבא אמר רבי יוחנן"  - "R. Acha b. Abba in the name of R. Jochanan said:" 

Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: https://hebrewbooks.org/9630   
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents  
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
------------------------------------------------------

Rosh Hashanah is four weeks from this Shabbat! Please submit your Membership/High Holy Day forms ASAP! And your Book of Remembrance forms! And check your mail for our High Holy Day bulletin!

My Cheshbon Hanefesh Worksheet 5784 Edition is now available at my blog:

https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2023/08/cheshbon-hanefesh-worksheet-personal.html  

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

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EXERCISING JUDGMENT

“Judges and officers shall you appoint for you in all your gates that the Lord your God is giving you for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.” Deuteronomy 16:18

The commentary Tol’dot Yaakov Yosef (the first Chasidic work ever published) understands the word “l’kha”, “for you”, to mean “for yourself”. He says, “First, judge yourself. And to the extent to which you judge yourself, also judge others. But you may not be lenient with yourself, forgiving yourself, and yet be strict and meticulous with others, expecting from them that which you are unable to fulfill. In all your gates - in all the measurements of yourself.” (The concluding sentence is a pun - the Hebrew word for “gate” is “sha’ar”, for “measurement” it is “shi’ur”)

This is a nice lesson, but is there anyone who would not say it is obvious? It’s hypocritical and unfair to judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves. We learned that in kindergarten! So why does he teach it here?

We have just entered the month of Elul, the final run-up to Rosh Hashanah. Jewish tradition teaches that in Elul, we are to engage in “cheshbon hanefesh”, literally “an accounting of the soul” – a self-evaluation. It is also a tradition that during Elul, the shofar is sounded each weekday, to remind us that Rosh Hashanah is coming. Why do we need a reminder? We can read a calendar!

When the obvious is unpleasant and goes against our natural tendencies, we tend to avoid it. We need teachers to remind us of our assignments, and we need trumpets to rally us. Thus, Hillel taught, “Do not judge your fellow until you have arrived at his place.” (Pirkei Avot 2:5)

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
-----------------------------------------------------------
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 

Cheshbon Hanefesh Worksheet – 5784 edition

 Cheshbon Hanefesh Worksheet  – 5784 edition

A Personal Inventory for the High Holy Days

Traditionally, cheshbon hanefesh, self-evaluation, literally an accounting of the soul, is undertaken during the Aseret Yamei Teshuvah – the Ten Days of Repentance from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur. The entire month of Elul is even better, but in truth, any time is a good time.

With openness and honesty, giving the benefit of the doubt to yourself without being extravagant, being self-critical without beating yourself up, evaluate the following on an appropriate scale of your choosing. There is no yardstick. Every person is a work in progress – no exceptions! Don't compare yourself to others! It's not a contest! 

Keep notes in a diary and add to them all year. These questions/reflections require much more than a mere score. Please feel free to add any topics you wish to evaluate. Consider both quality and quantity.  Don’t forget to answer the most important questions of all: How have I improved since last year? In what areas do I need to improve? What are my goals in those areas? What will I do to reach them? Of course, there is no right answer to any of this ….. is there?

The People in My Life

How are my relationships with parents, children, spouses/life partners, other family, friends, neighbors, strangers, employers, employees, customers, teachers, et al.?

Who did I injure? Who injured me? How? Why? Does blame matter?

What did I do to make amends? Was it enough?

What did/can/will I do to assure it doesn’t happen again?

Did I apologize?

Did I ask for forgiveness? Was I forgiven? How do I feel about that? Was I not forgiven? How do I feel about that?

Did I forgive those who asked for forgiveness? How do I feel about them?

Is our relationship the same – better – worse? Reconciliation?

What did I do to heal the people in my life?

Did I help others reconcile with each other? Am I a rodef shalom?

Did I make promises I didn't keep? Did I intend to keep them? Did I not? 

Are there patterns, habits, addictions in my life I need to change? Are there good patterns and habits in my life that I should utilize even more?

Do I really hear and understand other people – their needs, hopes and dreams? How can/do I encourage them? Do I encourage them?

Do I accept others for who they are, even if they aren’t what I want them to be? Do I have the right to want them to be other than who they are?

Lashon Hara/Rechilut – Slander, gossip, offensive speech (These make up a significant proportion of the sins for which we seek forgiveness in the Yom Kippur liturgy)

            Did I speak/write it?

            Did I read/listen to it?

            Did I prevent others from spreading it?

God in My Life

Is God in my life?

Do I ever contemplate the Divine?

Do I ever contemplate holiness? Can I be holy? Do I see the holiness in other people?

Do I engage in regular prayer and/or meditation?

            Tefillin

            Daily prayer service/private worship

            Bedtime Sh’ma (teach your children well)

            Blessings for Mitzvot

            Blessings for food/drink

Can I really imitate God?

Did I do teshuvah?

Did I forgive God for what happened to me? Can God cause anything to happen to me?
Do I have a personal theology?

Jewish Ritual/Jewish Observance

Kashruth

            Biblical

            Halakhic - whose halakhah?

            Home

            Out

            Vegetarian

   Vegan

How are my Shabbat and Holy Days (general)?

            Know the stories/reasons

  Candles

            Kiddush

            Family Blessings

            Zemirot – table songs

            Guests

            Refraining from Work

            Attending Services

            Torah Study

            Reflection

            Havdalah

            Fulfilling/meaningful/involved/indifferent

How are my holy days? Do I observe them in some fashion? Do I know what the tradition says? How do I find meaning? Can I/May I/Should I create new traditions?
Specific holy days

            Rosh Hashanah

                        Tashlikh

                        Shofar

            Yom Kippur

                        Fasting

                        Contemplation

                        Teshuvah

            Sukkot

                        Built/ate/studied/slept in a Sukkah

                        Ushpizin – honored visitors

               Lulav and Etrog

            Shemini Atzeret

            Simchat Torah

            Chanukah
                         Chanukiyah/menorah

            Tu BiShevat

            Purim

                        Megillah Reading

                        Shlach Manot

                        Tzedakah

            Pesach

                        Bedikat Chametz

                        Seder

                        No chametz during holiday

            Yom Hashoah

            Yom Ha’atzma’ut

            Shavuot

            Tisha B’Av

            Yizkor – Do I remember those who have gone before me?

Mitzvot – Mitzvah means commandment – or is it a good deed?

            Have I taken on more mitzvot?

            Have I improved my observance of mitzvot I was already doing?

            Have I ceased mitzvot I was already doing?

            How?

            Why?
            Do I find fulfillment in their observance? Am I supposed to?

Judaism - Do I preach it, teach it, live it?

Study

Do I engage in regular Torah study?

Do I read Jewish books and/or periodicals?

What do I know about Judaism generally?

            History

            Holy Days

            Texts – Tanakh, Talmud, Midrash, etc.

            Culture

            Zionism - what is it? Are there "Zionisms"?

            Personalities

            Beliefs/tenets/philosophy

            Practices

            Halakhah

            Hebrew language

Israel

The State of Israel

The government of the State of Israel

The people (citizens, residents)of the State of Israel

The People Israel (am yisrael - the Jewish people)

The Land of Israel - these five are all called "Israel" in different contexts - do we understand the differences?

Travel – ever; recently; soon

Support (whatever that means, in whichever way one sees fit)

            How? When? Where? Should these matter?

            Israel Bonds

            JNF

            Israeli products

            Rallies

            Letter writing

            AIPAC

            J Street

            Peace Now

            New Israel Fund
            Other groups

            What do I think about the settlements?

            What do I think about the Occupation?

            What do I think about peace with the Palestinians?

            What do I think about the rabbanut?

            What do I think about non-Jewish Israelis?
            What do I think about BDS?

Criticize (whatever that means, in whichever way one sees fit)

             How? When? Where? Should these matter?

Zionism - political - types

Zionism - religious - types

Tzedakah/Gemilut Chasadim/Volunteerism

Do I view others as B'tzelem Elohim - in the image of God?

"Tzedek, tzedek tirdof" - Justice, justice you shall pursue

Feed the hungry

Clothe the naked

Defend/care for the stranger in our midst

Hear the cries of others

Charitable donations

            How much tzedakah? (according to Torah and halakhah, tithing [10%] expected)

            Are some forms of tzedakah more important than others? Are some recipients more important than others? (e.g., from your Jewish values perspective, how important is your synagogue in comparison to the local symphony?)

Donations of Time/Volunteer work

            Congregation

            Other organizations

Donations of Self/gemilut chasadim - acts of lovingkindness

            Bikur cholim - visiting/care for the sick

            Comforting mourners

            Comforting the afflicted

Jewish Community

Do I belong to a Jewish community?
How do I belong?
Supporting without belonging?

Belonging without adequately supporting?
How active in congregation?

            Affiliates

            Religious school/teaching

How active in other Jewish groups?

Reaching out to other Jews

Captive Jews
What about everybody else?

My Body, My Self

Exercise

Diet

Self-abuse (drugs, alcohol, tobacco)

Self-control

Care of the body

Care of the soul

Care of the mind

What did I do to heal myself?

Take reasonable advantage of the pleasing things in this world – art, music, good food and drink, travel, etc.

The Physical World Around Me

The environment – b’al tashchit – do not destroy; cleanup; conservation; climate change; recycling; downsizing

Kindness to animals (tza'ar ba'alei chayim); fostering/adopting versus breeding

Stop and smell the roses/meditate on the wonder of Creation?

Tikkun olam?

A Few Final Thoughts for Your Consideration

Do I deserve another year because I have been good?

Do I deserve another year because I will be better? I promise!

Am I prepared to do teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah?

© Rabbi Richard Flom - 2022

rev. 2023

TO HAVE AND TO BEHOLD

Parashat Re'eh

Torah - Deuteronomy 11:26 - 16:17
Haftarah - Isaiah 54:11 - 55:5

Av 25, 5783 / August 11-12, 2023

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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.

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

Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. On Monday, August 14, we'll be at BT Shabbat 113b, page 180 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 – - "תן לחכם ויחכם עוד" "Give instructions to the wise and he will become yet wiser”

Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: https://hebrewbooks.org/9630   
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents  
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
------------------------------------------------------

TO HAVE AND TO BEHOLD

"Behold (you - singular), I give before you (plural) a blessing and a curse." Deuteronomy 11:26





Many have wondered - why the change in number? Menachem Mendel, the Kotzker Rebbe, says the Torah was indeed given to "you all" - but that each person beholds in it only that which s/he is capable of seeing and only to the extent of his/her understanding. I would add that this implies the uniqueness of every person’s understanding of the Torah!

Hillel taught: Do not say, "It is impossible to understand this", for ultimately it will be understood. Do not say, "When I have leisure, I will study", for you may never have leisure. Avot 2:5

As a people, we have the gift of the Torah. True, each of us is limited by our ability to understand it. But that gives no excuse to refuse to learn! In the end, each of us can understand it, do it to the best of our ability and transmit our understanding to others - but only if we first take the time to behold it!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
-----------------------------------------------------------
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 

ONE HUMBLE MITZVAH

 

Parashat Ekev
Av 18, 5783 / August 4-5, 2023
Torah: Deuteronomy 7:12 - 11:25
Haftarah: Isaiah 49:14 - 51:3 (Second Haftarah of Comfort)

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

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.

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

Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. On Monday, August 7, we'll be at BT Shabbat 113b, page 180 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 – - "תן לחכם ויחכם עוד" "Give instructions to the wise and he will become yet wiser”

Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: https://hebrewbooks.org/9630   
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents  
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
------------------------------------------------------

ONE HUMBLE MITZVAH

"And your heart will be haughty, and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery." Deuteronomy 8:14

There is an old joke that goes something like this: A noted scholar and philanthropist was being honored at a gala dinner. Speaker after speaker extolled his virtues - knowledge, wisdom, generosity, kindness, righteousness, etc. He reached up and tugged on the sleeve of one of the speakers, and said, "Don't forget my humility."

Commenting on the first part of our verse, the Ba'al Shem Tov says that there is nowhere in the Torah a commandment to be humble. If there were, there would be those who would attempt to fulfill it by reciting a statement of intent ("Behold, I am prepared to perform the mitzvah of humility ..."), then a blessing (".... and commanded us to be humble."), and then … commence to be humble? It would become a conceit – the belief that, in addition to fulfilling the other commandments, they were observing the commandment to be humble. Unlike any other mitzvah, one would fail to observe it merely by believing that one was attempting to fulfill it or had observed it. "I can say with all humility that I have been humble." It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

Of course we know that a lack of humility can often be damaging to relationships. We tend to forget that neither we nor our accomplishments exist in a vacuum. Even praise for one’s humility can be a bit dangerous. Perhaps the only way to be truly humble is to run from any suggestion that one is humble.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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