Parashat B'midbar
Sivan 2, 5784 / June 7-8, 2024
Torah: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20
Haftarah: Hosea 2:1-22
Shavuot 1
Sivan 6, 5784 / June
11-12, 2024
Torah: Exodus 19:1 –
20:22; Numbers 28:26-31
Haftarah: Ezekiel
1:1-28; 3:12
Shavuot 2
Sivan 7, 5784 / June
12-13, 2024
Book of Ruth
Torah: Deuteronomy 15:19
– 16:17; Numbers 28:26-31
Haftarah: Habakkuk
3:1-19
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Program notes:
Reb Jason is off this Shabbat. Steve Pearlman and I will be conducting Cool Shabbat Evening services (Zoom and Facebook only) at 7:00 PM.
I will also be conducting Shabbat Morning services with Steve Pearlman (in person and on-line) at 9:30 AM.
I will be offering some teaching, along with Reb Jason, for Tikkun Leil Shavuot, on Tuesday, June 11, at 8:00 PM (on-line only.
TBH Shavuot morning services with Yizkor are on Wednesday, June 12, at 9:30 AM, in person and on-line.
Email me for links.
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This d’var torah is
offered in memory of my beloved father, Martin Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on
Sivan 7 (Shavuot 2)/June 13. Y’hi zikhro barukh – his memory is a blessing.
This d’var torah is
offered in memory of my beloved grandfather, Jacob Slome, whose yahrzeit falls
on Sivan 8 /June 14. Y’hi zikhro barukh – his memory is a blessing.
This d’var torah is offered
for a refuah shleimah for Sarah Raizel bat Elisheva, Elie Ya'akov ben
Pesha Leah, and Yaffa bat Blimah.
This d’var torah is
offered for a refuah shleimah and a speedy and safe return of all the
hostages being held by Hamas.
This d’var torah is offered
for a refuah shleimah for all who have been wounded in the terrorist
attacks and in fighting against the terrorists, as well as innocent
non-combatants caught in the crossfire
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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook
Live. On June 10, we'll be at BT Shabbat 152b, page 211 of Ein Ya'akov
(Glick edition) Volume 1:
'...א"ר אבוהו כל
שאומרים בפני המת'
"R. Abuhu said:
"Whatever is said in the presence of a dead body..."
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Please pass this on to a friend - and please cite the source.
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THE MOSAIC
“Every man with his own
standard, with ensigns according to their fathers’ houses, so shall the
Children of Israel pitch the camp; at a distance from the tent of meeting shall
they encamp.” Numbers 2:2
One should not for a
moment believe that this verse is a license for each of us to go our individual
ways. We are indeed to maintain our individual identities, but only within the
context of the larger community.
The commentary Bet
Aharon (Rabbi Aaron of Karlin, 1736-1792, disciple of Rabbi Dov Ber of
Mezeritch) makes this point in an interesting way. “Every Jew must know and
think that he is unique in the world, and there has never been another person
exactly like him. If there had been someone just like him, there would have
been no need for him. In truth, every person is someone new in the world, who
needs to improve his character and his Torah for the sake of his soul, until
the entire world has been repaired through the effort of the Jewish people.”
Let me expand upon Bet
Aharon. In my view, this applies to every member of the human race. We live in
a broken world - each of us can make a unique contribution toward improving it
through our moral and ethical development and then by putting our learned principles
into action.
Moses with Tablets of the Ten Commandments - Rembrandt, 1659
It’s a pretty tall
order. Look at it this way. Each of us is a "work-in-progress", an
accumulation of mosaic tiles (nature, nurture, experience, education, relationships,
etc.) that needs to be assembled into a complete, functional, and autonomous
moral being; each of us is then a tile in a much vaster communal/societal
mosaic for which we have individual and joint responsibility to assemble. When
we put together the pieces of our own lives and our own souls, and place the
tiles of our individual selves into the mosaic of the community, we are
contributing to the improvement of the world as well.
It all starts with you.
Have a wonderful
Shabbat! Chag Shavuot Sameach! See you at Mount Sinai!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple
B’nai Hayim
.הרחמן הוא יברך אותנו
כולנו יחדי בברכת אחוה ובברכת אהבה ובברכת שלום
May the Merciful One
bless us, all of us as one, with the blessing of brotherhood, the blessing of
love, and the blessing of peace.
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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.
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