We’re All In This Together

Parashat Yitro
Torah: Exodus 18:1 - 20:23
Haftarah: Isaiah 6:1 - 7:6; 9:5-6 (Ashkenazim); Isaiah 6:1-13 (Sephardim)

22 Shevat 5773 / 1-2 February 2013

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Yitro said to Moses (his son-in-law): “The thing you are doing is not right. You will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. Now listen to me, and God be with you! You represent the people before God; you bring the disputes before God, and enjoin upon them the laws and the teachings, and make known to them the way they are to go and the practices they are to follow. You shall also seek out capable people who fear God, trustworthy people who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, and let them judge people at all times…. Let them share the burden with you. If you do this – and God so commands you – you will be able to bear up; and all these people too will go home unwearied.” Exodus 18:17-23

In a way, this sounds like the establishment of an army. But it also looks like a model for setting up a synagogue – a rabbi, a board of directors and committees. The difference is that, usually, but not always, the rabbi does not choose the board of directors – the congregation does. And unlike Moses, the rabbi is not sent by God – the congregation, directly or through the board, chooses the rabbi.

Yitro sees a necessary separation of management and spiritual leadership. My colleague and friend Rabbi David Greenspoon says that the difference between leadership and management is that leadership is doing the right thing, and management is doing the thing right. Sometimes leadership, doing the right thing, requires going out on a limb. Management, he says, is the antithesis of going out on a limb. Doing the thing right requires management to be sure that processes and outcomes have consensus. It’s often about risk avoidance and shared responsibility. The modern synagogue is a bit more complicated – rabbis must be managers, and managers must be leaders. And always, everyone should share the burden!

Yet, the Israelites have problems. When the system breaks down, bad things happen. Sometimes Moses fails to lead, sometimes the managers go beyond their authority. When Aaron’s sons, the “managers” Nadav and Abihu, try to usurp Moses and Aaron, God punishes them – they are struck down. When Moses fails to rebuke the Israelites while the Moabite women are enticing them, the result is a civil war and a plague among the Israelites. But ultimately, they all manage to get through the desert together, because they take care of each other. They fight for each other, not with each other.

Leaders, managers, followers, workers – we all must join in the Jewish enterprise together, as a unified people – even when we disagree. This is how it is explained by Pirkei Avot. “Kol Yisrael arevim zeh lazeh” – All Israel are responsible one for the other. We either build each other up, or we tear each other down. 

I wish you Shabbat Shalom Uv’rakhah – A Shabbat of Peace and Blessing.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom - ZSRS '00

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"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still." Isaiah 62:1
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Addendum

There is another way in which the system can break down. Public criticism, especially non-constructive criticism of leaders, managers, followers and workers, leads to embarrassment and animosity. Angry words are exchanged. Feelings are hurt, with no positive purpose. Positions harden. Threats are made.

The Torah tells us we should indeed rebuke others. Leviticus 19:17. But halakhah tells us we are prohibited from doing so in public. “A person who rebukes his fellow – whether because of a wrong committed against him or because of a matter between his fellow and God – should rebuke him privately. He should speak to him patiently and gently.” Maimonides (Rambam), Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot De’ot – The Laws of Character, Chapter 6, Halakhah 7.

The Torah tells us that God can create or destroy with words. So can we. We need to turn down the angry rhetoric in our lives – in the synagogue, in the public square, in our homes and in our workplaces. Say what it is that you want. Do not criticize others who want something else. Criticize the idea, not the person espousing it. And whatever you want to say, take Rambam’s advice. Or, as my father, alav hashalom, said often, “If you have nothing nice to say – say nothing.”

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This Shabbat, Rabbi Flom will be conducting morning services at Mishkon Tephilo, 206 Main Street, Venice 90291. Service begins at 9:30 am. Kiddush lunch and Torah study follow. 

Lunch and Learn is an ongoing program of Beit Midrash Shalom that meets most Tuesdays to discuss Jewish texts and other topics of Jewish interest. It is open to all regardless of affiliation. Next meeting is Tuesday, February 5, 12:00 noon, at Congregation Beth Meier, 11725 Moorpark St., Studio City 91604. PLEASE DO NOT BRING ANY FOOD UNLESS IT IS IN ITS ORIGINAL SEALED CONTAINER AND BEARING A HEKHSHER AS DAIRY OR PAREVE. Lunch will be provided by Congregation Beth Meier. Donations gratefully accepted.

Beit Midrash Shalom also meets the first Tuesday of each month at Congregation Beth Meier for text study led by Rabbi Aaron Benson and Rabbi Flom. Next meeting is February 5 at 8:00 pm. Donations gratefully accepted. 

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Connie Axelson, Deb Berenbach, Selby Horowitz, Pamela Huddleston, Micah Kosche, Sara Lanxner, Emily Levin, Frank Markowitz, Helen Reiter, Len Reiter, Rachel Robbins, Judith Sakurai, Kitty Schmerling and Helen Tomsky.

Rav Rich's Lil' Ol' Blog is also available by subscription (no charge, of course!) as the Cyber Torah list.

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 for a refuah shleimah, in honor of a simchah, or in memory of a loved one to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
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SING A NEW SONG
 
 
 
This week's Cyber Torah is dedicated to Jewish women always and everywhere, for holding up half the sky.
 
Parashat Beshallach (Shabbat Shirah)
Torah: Exodus 13:17 – 17:16
Haftarah: Judges 4:4 - 5:31 (Ashkenazim); Judges 5:1-31 (Sefardim)
15 Shevat (Tu B’Shevat) 5773 / 25-26 January 2013
 
Please pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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Sing A New Song

"Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song ..." Exodus 15:1

"And Miriam chanted to them ..." Exodus 15:21
 
"And the women dancing with their timbrels,
Followed Miriam as she sang her song"
Miriam's Song by Debbie Friedman
 
The well-known Song at the Sea, Exodus 15:1-18, has become part of the daily liturgy. This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shirah, the Shabbat of the Song, in honor of the song. But Miriam also sang a song, only one verse, according to the Torah, to which the women danced and played musical instruments.
 
Ellen Frankel, in her Torah commentary "The Five Books of Miriam", notes that modern biblical scholars "believe that Miriam's song was censored or lost, due to a later generation's uneasiness with female leadership." Curiously, this week's haftarah includes the Song of Deborah and Barak (Judges 5:1-31). This is after Barak had told Deborah (at 4:8), "If you will go with me, I will go (to fight the Canaanites); if not, I will not go." Over the centuries, the idea of leadership by such charismatic women as Miriam and Deborah became lost. Whatever ritual rights and obligations may have existed became lost as well.
 
In the past generation, Jewish women have fought to regain their proper place on the bimah, as b'not mitzvah, and as rabbis, cantors, and synagogue leaders. Now, egalitarianism is a given in most non-Orthodox congregations. Sadly, it is also taken for granted.
 
If Jewish women wish to retain the rights they fought so hard to achieve, they must recapture their song, and like the men, sing it every day! Whether it be tallit, tefilin, or public reading of the Torah, those rights are meaningless if never exercised. And that goes for the men, too! If BEING Jewish is to have any meaning, you should be DOING Jewish! "Sing to the Lord a new song!" Psalms 96:1; 98:1
 
Shabbat Shalom U'vrakhah - A Shabbat of Peace and Blessing
 
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
 
Visit me on Facebook

"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still." Isaiah 62:1
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Candle lighting: 4:58 PM
 
Lunch and Learn is an ongoing program of Bet Midrash Shalom that meets most Tuesdays to discuss Jewish texts and other topics of Jewish interest. It is open to all regardless of affiliation. Next meeting is Tuesday, January 29, 12:00 noon, at Congregation Beth Meier, 11725 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604. PLEASE DO NOT BRING ANY FOOD UNLESS IT IS IN ITS ORIGINAL SEALED CONTAINER AND BEARING A HEKHSHER AS DAIRY OR PAREVE.

Thi Shabbat is Tu B'Shevat, the 15th day of Shevat, also nown as The New Year of the Trees. This Sunday, plant a fruit tree, take a hike, express gratitude for the beautiful world around you and do something to keep it that way - or make it better. Shanah Ilanot Tovah!

Refuah Shleimah: Connie Axelson, Selby Horowitz, Pamela Huddleston, Micah Kosche, Sara Lanxner, Emily Levin, Frank Markowitz, Yitzchak Simcha ben Bayla, Helen Reiter, Len Reiter, Rachel Robbins, Judith Sakurai, Kitty Schmerling and Helen Tomsky.


Rav Rich's Lil' Ol' Blog is also available by subscription (no charge, of course!) as the Cyber Torah list.

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

Let ALL the People Go!

Parashat Bo

Torah: Exodus 10:1 - 13:16
Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28

8 Sh’vat 5773 / 18-19 January 2013

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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Let ALL the People Go!

"... (Pharaoh) said to (Moses and Aaron), 'Go, worship the Lord your God! Who exactly is going?' And Moses said, 'With our young and old we will go; with our sons and daughters, with our flocks and herds we will go, for it is a festival to the Lord.'" Exodus 10:8-9.

In Chumash Etz Hayim, Rabbi Harold Kushner asks why Moses emphasizes "young and old." He cites several commentators as answering: "because no celebration is complete without children"; "a child without parents is an orphan, but a nation without children is an orphan people"; and, "We will go with our old people who feel rejuvenated at the prospect of living in freedom."

With Martin Luther King, Jr. Day coming on Monday, we should pause to reflect on what this passage, and the entire Exodus story, must have meant to African-Americans during their 350-year struggle for freedom. It was less than 150 years ago when an entire people was enslaved in America. Individual slaves might from time to time be set free - without their spouses, children, parents or siblings.  This is exactly what Pharaoh would ultimately propose to Moses and Aaron - that only the adult men should go and worship God. What did "freedom" mean to those lucky few, in America or in Egypt, who were set free? What did it mean to those who remained in slavery? Dr. King knew, just as Moses did, just as we all know, that freedom means little, if anything, under those circumstances, because a person can not be free as long as others around him/her are slaves.

We may be fortunate, indeed, to live in a time and place when we have more freedom, religious and otherwise, than our ancestors could possibly have imagined. But from a spiritual standpoint, with that freedom comes an obligation - to bring our young and old, our sons and daughters, along with us. Everybody is invited to God's party - but the celebration simply can not be complete unless we bring everyone along with us.

Shabbat shalom. 

Rabbi Richard A. Flom - ZSRS '00
Blogging at: rav-rich.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook

"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still." Isaiah 62:1

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Lunch and Learn is an ongoing program of Bet Midrash Shalom that meets most Tuesdays to discuss Jewish texts and other topics of Jewish interest. It is open to all regardless of affiliation. Next meeting is Tuesday, January 22, 12:00 noon, at Congregation Beth Meier, 11725 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604. PLEASE DO NOT BRING ANY FOOD UNLESS IT IS IN ITS ORIGINAL SEALED CONTAINER AND BEARING A HEKHSHER AS DAIRY OR PAREVE.

In memory of Pearl Lipner, whose funeral was today. May her memory be a blessing.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday is observed this Monday.

Refuah Shleimah: Connie Axelson, Selby Horowitz, Pamela Huddleston, Micah Kosche, Sara Lanxner, Emily Levin, Frank Markowitz, Yitzchak Simcha ben Bayla, Helen Reiter, Len Reiter, Rachel Robbins, Judith Sakurai and Helen Tomsky.

Speech Impediment   Parashat Va'era Torah: Exodus 6:2 – 9:35 Maftir: Numbers 28:9-15 Haftarah: Isaiah 66:1-24 (Rosh Chodesh) 1 Shevat 5773 / 11-12 January 2013 Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source ---------------------------------------------------------------- Speech Impediment "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Go, speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt , that he should send the Israelites from his land.' And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, 'Behold, the Israelites would not listen to me; why then should Pharaoh listen to me, a man of impeded speech?'" Exodus 6:10-12 Rashi: This is an example of a kal v'chomer (a rule of logic for Torah study, an inference from the less obvious to the more obvious - i.e., "if THEY won¹t listen to me, then for sure PHARAOH won¹t listen to me"). The question arises, what did Moses mean by "impeded speech"? The Hebrew says literally, "uncircumcised lips", and the Midrash says that Moses had a physical speech impediment that he developed as a child. However, the Sfas Emes, the third Gerer Rebbe, has a completely different understanding of Moses' statement. He says that if Jews do not listen to their leaders, there can be no leaders who are able to speak on their behalf. By refusing to listen to Moses, the Israelites made it impossible for Moses' words to reach Pharaoh's ear -­ they deprived him of his ability to lead and represent them - because they "impeded" his speech. We see this in our everyday lives, whether it has to do with political, business or spiritual leaders, teachers or parents, you name it. Anyone trying to lead another person in a particular direction can not lead if the other person will not listen. The leader¹s speech is impeded, and so is leadership. For that matter, perhaps after a time the leader is no longer able to properly hear those whom s/he would lead. Refusal to hear can “lead” to a kind of deafness on everyone’s part. The Sfas Emes quotes Psalms 50:7, "Pay heed my people, and I will speak." Only so long as there are those who will listen, can there be those who would speak. Sh'ma Yisrael ... Shabbat Shalom! Chodesh Tov! Rabbi Richard A. Flom - ZSRS '00 Blogging at: rav-rich.blogspot.com/ Visit me on Facebook "For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still." Isaiah 62:1 ----------------------------------------------- Rabbi Flom will be conducting services this Shabbat morning at Mishkon Tephilo, 206 Main Street, Venice 90291. Services begin at 9:30 am. This week we'll be welcoming children and families from the Preschool with songs and blessings. Torah study follows kiddush. Lunch and Learn is an ongoing program of Bet Midrash Shalom that meets most Tuesdays to discuss Jewish texts and other topics of Jewish interest. It is open to all regardless of affiliation. Next meeting is Tuesday, January 15, 12:00 noon, at Congregation Beth Meier, 11725 Moorpark St. , Studio City , CA 91604 . PLEASE DO NOT BRING ANY FOOD UNLESS IT IS IN ITS ORIGINAL SEALED CONTAINER AND BEARING A HEKHSHER AS DAIRY OR PAREVE. Refuah Shleimah: Connie Axelson, Bobbie Chasen, Selby Horowitz, Pamela Huddleston, Micah Kosche, Sara Lanxner, Emily Levin, Frank Markowitz, Yitzchak Simcha ben Bayla, Herman Rassp, Helen Reiter, Len Reiter, Adin Ring, Gil Robbins, Rachel Robbins, Judith Sakurai, Helen Tomsky, Betty Varon and Seymour Waterman.