Parashat Devarim
Torah: Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22
Haftarah: Isaiah 1:1-27 (Shabbat Chazon –
Shabbat of Vision)
Av 6, 5784 / August 9-10, 2024
Tisha B’Av reading: Megillat Eikhah –
The Book of Lamentations
---------------------------------------------------------------
This Shabbat is Shabbat Chazon, the
Shabbat of Vision, so-called because we read on Shabbat morning the rebuking
vision of Isaiah, leading into the observance of Tisha B’Av on Tuesday night
and Wednesday, August 12-13, and the reading of the horrifying vision of the Book
of Lamentations (Megillat Eikhah). Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av,
commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, and
numerous other calamities which have befallen the Jewish people on the same
date.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of Sarah
Labovitz Flom (my grandmother) and Martha Gottschalk Stern (Lynn's
grandmother), whose yahrzeits fall Wednesday, August 14 (10 Av), and Friday, August 16 (12 Av), respectively. Both were US immigrants and asylum seekers, escaping
antisemitic persecution from Romania (1902) and from Nazi Germany (1937 via
France 1934). Their memories are blessings.
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunch and Learn will not meet until September 9. Rabbi Flom on vacation.
---------------------------------------------------------
Please pass this on to a friend - and please cite the source.
-------------------------------------------------------------
BEARING AND SHARING THE BURDEN
"How (eikhah in Hebrew) can I alone
bear your vexation and your burden and your strife?" Deuteronomy 1:12
Rashi: "Even if I were to say that I will
do so in order to receive a reward, I may not do so."
Rashi offers the traditional Jewish take on
the limits of personal responsibility. One is actually forbidden to voluntarily
take on a burden that might be greater than one can bear, even (especially?) if
one does so in order to receive a reward from God and/or the community. One may
not voluntarily injure oneself (except to save a life); also, too much
responsibility assumed by one person can actually do damage to the community.
Moses Speaks to the Israelites (Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux)
But what happens when one refuses to accept
any share of the burden for communal needs? R. Yosef Yozel Horowitz (1847-1919 - aka The Alter of Novardok) takes
Rashi's comment and stands it on its head. He says, "Traditionally, this
verse is read to the melody of Lamentations (Megillat Eikhah, from the first
word of Lamentations), to teach us that if a person refuses to assume the
responsibility for community needs, and thinks that by doing so he makes things
easier for himself, he will in the end find out that matters will be worse for
him, and he will remain alone and isolated. How (eikhah) does one dwell
alone?" (From Itturei Torah) As John Donne said: “No man is an
island entire of itself.”
We are forbidden to take on so much
responsibility that we become a burden on the community. On the other hand, we
are forbidden to neglect our obligations to the community. These two teachings
together offer a great insight, summed up by Rabbi Tarfon: "You are not
obligated to finish the task, neither are you free to neglect it." Avot
2:21 If we share the burden, it's easier to bear. That's community spirit!
Shabbat Shalom! And have a meaningful fast.
Rabbi Richard A. Flom - Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B'nai Hayim
הרחמן הוא יברך אותנו כולנו יחד 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.
----------------------------------------------------------
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
