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
 
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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
 
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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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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.


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