IT'S TORAH SEASON!

Parashat Ekev
20 Av 5773 / 26-27 July 2-13
Torah: Deuteronomy 7:12 - 11:25
Haftarah: Isaiah 49:14 - 51:3 (The Second Shabbat of Consolation)

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow. 

Check out our web site at: http://www.bethmeier.org/

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
------------------------------------------------------------
It's Torah Season!

And it shall be, that if you hearken diligently to My commandments which I command you today; to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give rain to your land in its season, the early and the late, and you shall gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. Deuteronomy 11:13-14

Rashi (quoting B. Talmud Sukkah 46b): If you hearken to the old, you will hearken to the new.

Rashi (commenting on Sukkah 46b): If one reviews (and hearkens to) one's previous Torah learning, it will assist one in learning (and hearkening to) new studies.

These opening sentences of the second paragraph of the Shema are generally regarded as typical of the theology of Deuteronomy - if you obey, everything will be all right, but if not, watch out! There is something to that, but not in the way we usually think. Here, the Rabbis see something else altogether - a metaphor for Torah study!

The Torah is often called "mayim chayim" - water of life. A person can not live without water; a Jew can not live without Torah. Grain, wine and oil were staple foods for the Israelites - and without them, there could be no physical connection to God through the sacrificial service. Similarly, without Torah study, we will not have the spiritual wherewithal to properly serve God.

Unlike trigonometry or Beowulf, which most of us studied once (if at all) in high school and promptly forgot, Torah study must be regular and continuous - like the rain that comes in its season, year in and year out. If there is a drought in your learning, you won't have enough food for your soul. Torah is always in season - dig in!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom - ZSRS '00
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
http://www.bethmeier.org/
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
--------------------------------------------
Candle lighting: 7:40 pm

7/26 – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

7/27 – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows services.
7/28 – TBM Congregational Meeting – 4:00 pm. Meet with Rabbi Flom and the Board of Directors for all to share our goals, hopes and dreams for our community.
7/30 – Lunch and Learn – noon - a 90 minute discussion on a Jewish topic of interest. Everyone is welcome to participate. Lunch is provided - donation requested.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Dov Nechemya Hakohen ben Rachel Chaya Sarah, Eve Beatty, John Todd Brosky, Beth Goldstein, Pamela Huddleston, Micah Kosche, Sara Lanxner, Frank Marcovitz, Phil Raider, Helen Reiter, Len Reiter, Judith Sakurai, and Kitty Schmerling.

Please let me know if there is anyone you would like to add to this list, or if anyone's name may be removed from this list.

My weekly d'var torah is also available via free e-mail from Cyber Torah.

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

STANDING AT SINAI - AGAIN AND AGAIN

Parashat Va'etchanan - Shabbat Nachamu

13 Av 5773 / 19-20 July 2013
Torah: Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11
Haftarah: Isaiah 40:1-26

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow.
Check out our web site at: http://www.bethmeier.org/

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
-----------------------------------------------
Standing At Sinai Again - And Again

This week's parashah is packed with some of the most familiar passages in the Torah.  Among them are: the Ten Commandments (5:6-18 - a slight variant from Exodus 20); a verse which has been incorporated into the prayer Aleinu (4:39); the congregational statement when the first aliyah to the Torah is called up (4:4); and the first paragraph of the most important Jewish theological statement, the Shema (6:4-9).

Why has so much of this parashah been taught to us (more than from any other parashah), incorporated into our prayer services, recited morning and evening every day?  It seems as if it has been permanently hardwired into the Jewish brain and soul.  The answer, I believe, is found in other, less well-known verses from this parashah and from Parashat Nitzavim.

"The Lord our God sealed a covenant with us in Horeb (Sinai).  Not with our ancestors did the Lord seal this covenant, but with us, us, who are here today, all of us living."  Deuteronomy 5:2-3

Since the events of Sinai had occurred 38 years previously, Moses could not have meant that the younger, desert generation received the Torah at Sinai, could he?  Well, yes, he did.  Moreover, we learn that he means all of us, all of our ancestors and all the generations yet to come.

"Not with you alone do I seal this covenant and this oath; but with the one who stands here with us today before the Lord our God, as well as the one not here with us today."  Deuteronomy 29:13-14; see also Babylonian Talmud Sh'vuot (Oaths) 39a

Every time we study the Torah or hear it read, we are standing before God at Sinai, receiving the Torah anew, and reaffirming the covenant with God.  God continually reveals Torah to us, even as we continually uncover new layers of meaning.  Each of us was there then, each of us is there now, each of us will always be there.  See you there!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom - ZSRS '00
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
http://www.bethmeier.org

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
--------------------------------------------
Candle lighting: 7:44 pm
7/16 – 7/22 – Rabbi Flom out of town
7/19 – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Services led by Warren and Melinda Trauman
7/20 – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am.  Ba'al Kriat Torah and Darshan – Moshe Blechman; Ba'alat Maftir – Melinda Trauman. Kiddush lunch follows services.
7/23 – Lunch and Learn – noon - a 90 minute discussion on a Jewish topic of interest. Everyone is welcome to participate. Lunch is provided - donation requested.
7/28 – TBM Congregational Meeting – 4:00 pm. Meet with Rabbi Flom and the Board of Directors for all to share our goals, hopes and dreams for our community.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Dov Nechemya Hakohen ben Rachel Chaya Sarah, Eve Beatty, John Todd Brosky, Beth Goldstein, Pamela Huddleston, Micah Kosche, Sara Lanxner, Frank Marcovitz, Phil Raider, Helen Reiter, Len Reiter, Judith Sakurai, and Kitty Schmerling.

Please let me know if there is anyone you would like to add to this list, or if anyone's name may be removed from this list.

My weekly d'var torah is alaso available via free e-mail from Cyber Torah.
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

x

BEARING AND SHARING THE BURDEN

Parashat Devarim - Shabbat Chazon, the Shabbat of Vision

6 Av 5773 / 12-13 July 2013

Torah: Deuteronomy 1:1 - 3:22
Haftarah: Isaiah 1:1-27

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow. 

Check out our web site at: http://www.bethmeier.org/

Please feel free to 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 personal responsibility. One is actually forbidden to voluntarily take on a burden that might be greater than one can bear, even (particularly?) 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.

But what happens when one refuses to accept any share of the burden for communal needs? R. Yosef Yozl Horowitz 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.”

We are forbidden to take on so much 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 - ZSRS '00
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City , CA
http://www.bethmeier.org
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

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

Candle lighting: 7:48 pm

7/12 - Shabbat Evening Family Services - 7:30 pm. Join us for a joyful service, followed by Oneg Shabbat.

7/13 – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Light Kiddush lunch follows.

7/15 - Congregation Beth Meier joins with Temple B’nai Hayim for Tisha B’Av “seudah mafseket” (the final meal before the fast) and service – meal at 6:45 pm, service with chanting of Megillat Eikhah (Book of Lamentations) at approximately  8:00 PM. Please contact TBH at: bnaihayim@yahoo.com or 818-788-4664 for more information or to RSVP for the seudah mafseket. TBH is located at: 4302 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks , CA 91403 , just south of Ventura Blvd.

7/16 – 7/22 – Rabbi Flom out of town

7/19 – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Services led by Warren and Melinda Trauman

7/20 – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am.  Baal Kriat Torah and Darshan – Moshe Blechman; Baalat Maftir – Melinda Trauman

7/23 – Lunch and Learn – noon - a 90 minute discussion on a Jewish topic of interest. Everyone is welcome to participate. Lunch is provided - donation requested.

7/28 – TBM Congregational Meeting – 4:00 pm. Meet with Rabbi Flom and the Board of Directors for all to share our goals, hopes and dreams for our community.

This d’var torah is offered in memory of my grandmother, Sarah Flom, whose yahrzeit is 10 Av (next Wednesday) and in memory of Lynn’s grandmother, Martha Stern, whose yahrzeit is 12 Av (next Friday). May their memories be blessings.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Dov Nechemya Hakohen ben Rachel Chaya Sarah, Eve Beatty, John Todd Brosky, Beth Goldstein, Pamela Huddleston, Micah Kosche, Sara Lanxner, Frank Marcovitz, Phil Raider, Helen Reiter, Len Reiter, Judith Sakurai, and Kitty Schmerling.

Please let me know if there is anyone you would like to add to this list, or if anyone's name may be removed from this list.

My weekly divrei torah are also available via free e-mail subscription to Cyber Torah.

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

KOSHER WORDS, KOSHER THINGS

28 Tammuz 5773 / 5-6 July 2013

Parashat Mattot - Mase'ei
Torah: Numbers 30:2 - 32:42
Haftarah: Jeremiah 2:4-28; 3:4; 4:1-2

Check out our web site at: http://www.bethmeier.org/  

 

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

 

"If a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath prohibiting something to himself, he shall not profane his word; all that has come from his mouth he must do."  Numbers 30:3

 

"Any articles that can withstand fire, you shall pass through the fire, and they shall be pure, except that they shall be purified with the water of sprinkling (water imbued with red heifer ashes); and that which cannot withstand fire you shall pass through the water."  Numbers 31:23

 

Vows and oaths have extraordinary power - they can turn ordinary objects into things of holiness or prohibition.  "I hereby vow to donate this silver cup to the synagogue"; "By my oath, I will not eat meat for six months" - these words have transformative effect over mundane things.  This is why Jewish tradition frowns on the recitation of vows and oaths.

 

Changing the (ritual) nature of objects is accomplished either by words, according to the first verse, or by kashering, making them fit to use, as stated in the later verse.  What about the converse?  What happens if you profane your word? 

 

If an object is kosher, and is used only for kosher purposes, it remains kosher.  If it is defiled, it requires an elaborate process of kashering.  Similarly, if you want to retract a vow, the rabbis devised a ritual for doing so.  If you have already violated your word, you must do teshuvah - the steps of repentance.  Just as it is far easier to maintain the kashrut of an object by not defiling it, so is it easier to maintain the purity of our words by fulfilling them. 

 

So perhaps it is not coincidental that the Hebrew word for "things" and the Hebrew word for "words" is the same word - "devarim".  Our words have meaning and power that are tangible.  Be a man or woman of your word.

 

Peace and blessings.  Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom - ZSRS '00Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City , CA
http://www.bethmeier.org

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

--------------------------------------------
Candlelighting: 7:49 pm

 

The Beth Meier office will be closed on Thursday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. Happy Birthday, USA !

 

I will be conducting my first services as rabbi of Congregation Beth Meier on July 5 & 6.  Shabbat evening service - 8:00 pm; Shabbat morning service – 10:00 am. Please join us!

 

Lunch and Learn

On Tuesdays at noon, I lead a 90 minute discussion on a Jewish topic of interest.  Next meetings are on July 9, July 23 and July 30. Everyone is welcome to participate. Lunch is provided - donation requested.

  

Our readings for the next few sessions are an article by Professor Leon Kass and responses to the article, available at:

  

http://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2013/06/the-ten-commandments/ 

  

http://mosaicmagazine.com/supplemental/2013/06/loyalty-service-and-the-god-of-israel-a-response-to-leon-r-kass/

  

http://mosaicmagazine.com/supplemental/2013/06/decalogue-and-liberal-democracy/ 

  

http://mosaicmagazine.com/supplemental/2013/06/love-particular-and-universal/

  

http://mosaicmagazine.com/supplemental/2013/06/the-decalogue-and-the-identity-of-god/

  

http://mosaicmagazine.com/supplemental/2013/06/response-to-the-commentators/  

 

 

Congregation Beth Meier Membership Meeting  

 

Save the date for a Congregational meeting on Sunday, July 28 at 4:00 pm.  This is a great opportunity for CBM congregants to meet me and share and discuss our hopes, dreams and goals for our Beth Meier community.

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

 

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Dov Nechemya Hakohen ben Rachel Chaya Sarah, Eve Beatty, Beth Goldstein, Pamela Huddleston, Micah Kosche, Sara Lanxner, Frank Marcovitz, Phil Raider, Helen Reiter, Len Reiter, Judith Sakurai, and Kitty Schmerling.

  

Please let me know if there is anyone you would like to add to this list, or if anyone's name may be removed from this list.

 

My weekly divrei torah are also available via free e-mail subscription to Cyber Torah.

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