Parashat Vayechi (Chazak!)
Torah: Genesis 47:28 - 50:26
Haftarah: 1 Kings 2:1-12
Dedications and this week’s calendar are below. For more information about our community, visit: http://bethmeier.org
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Shver tzu sein a Yid?
"And Jacob called to his sons, and said, 'Gather yourselves together, and I will tell you what will happen to you at the end of days.'" Gen. 49:1
Rashi: "He desired to reveal the end ofIsrael
The Sefas Emes, Yehudah Aryeh Leib, asks why the reckoning of the end of the exile was suddenly withheld from Jacob. He answers that the exile was to serve to cleanseIsrael
Putting aside the notion that human suffering is a form of punishment or atonement, the Sefas Emes seems to be saying that if we know that our condition, whether physical, emotional, spiritual, economic, etc., is going to improve on or before some certain date, then we suffer less. Perhaps we don't suffer at all; we simply endure until that time. It's not that we know that our suffering will end, but that we might fix a date that bothers the Sefas Emes.
Consider a painful physical condition that can be cured by surgery. If we know that the surgery will occur on a certain date, we more easily bear the pain, because we know that the pain will have a finite duration. A condition that can not be cured, however, we deal with in one of several ways. We give up all hope and die, or we suffer with resentment against the real or imagined source of the suffering, or we adjust our attitudes and move on with improving our lives as best we can.
Now consider children studying for their b'nai mitzvah. They often regard the preparations as a form of punishment, to be endured until the happy day when they will not have to go toReligious
School
The analogy fails, of course, because being a Jew and living Jewishly is not a burden, unless we make it so. It is, instead, a privilege and a joy to be a Jew, and in our society, it is actually quite easy to be a Jew. We are free to worship as Jews, kosher food is readily available, we can usually arrange our schedules to observe Shabbat and Yom Tov, etc. Our Torah and other holy texts give us a path to "the good life", which is to say, a life of goodness. Jewish observance brings us deeper into our partnership with God in the enterprise of "tikkun olam" (improving the world), grounding us in the ethical traditions of our people and one of the oldest civilizations on earth. We have rituals that are full of light and song and wisdom, if we open our eyes and ears and minds.
I believe, to put it bluntly, that the Shekhinah withdrew from Jacob because he brought his children toEgypt
Shabbat Shalom!
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Shver tzu sein a Yid?
"And Jacob called to his sons, and said, 'Gather yourselves together, and I will tell you what will happen to you at the end of days.'" Gen. 49:1
Rashi: "He desired to reveal the end of
The Sefas Emes, Yehudah Aryeh Leib, asks why the reckoning of the end of the exile was suddenly withheld from Jacob. He answers that the exile was to serve to cleanse
Putting aside the notion that human suffering is a form of punishment or atonement, the Sefas Emes seems to be saying that if we know that our condition, whether physical, emotional, spiritual, economic, etc., is going to improve on or before some certain date, then we suffer less. Perhaps we don't suffer at all; we simply endure until that time. It's not that we know that our suffering will end, but that we might fix a date that bothers the Sefas Emes.
Consider a painful physical condition that can be cured by surgery. If we know that the surgery will occur on a certain date, we more easily bear the pain, because we know that the pain will have a finite duration. A condition that can not be cured, however, we deal with in one of several ways. We give up all hope and die, or we suffer with resentment against the real or imagined source of the suffering, or we adjust our attitudes and move on with improving our lives as best we can.
Now consider children studying for their b'nai mitzvah. They often regard the preparations as a form of punishment, to be endured until the happy day when they will not have to go to
The analogy fails, of course, because being a Jew and living Jewishly is not a burden, unless we make it so. It is, instead, a privilege and a joy to be a Jew, and in our society, it is actually quite easy to be a Jew. We are free to worship as Jews, kosher food is readily available, we can usually arrange our schedules to observe Shabbat and Yom Tov, etc. Our Torah and other holy texts give us a path to "the good life", which is to say, a life of goodness. Jewish observance brings us deeper into our partnership with God in the enterprise of "tikkun olam" (improving the world), grounding us in the ethical traditions of our people and one of the oldest civilizations on earth. We have rituals that are full of light and song and wisdom, if we open our eyes and ears and minds.
I believe, to put it bluntly, that the Shekhinah withdrew from Jacob because he brought his children to
Shabbat Shalom!
Tonight: (Re)Introduction to Judaism class – 7:30 pm.
Friday: Fast of Tenth of Tevet – Dawn - Dusk. Family Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Led by our
Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Torah: Warren Trauman; Haftarah: Melinda Trauman. Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday:
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – noon. Beth Meier Trip to
Wednesday: (Re)Introduction to Judaism class – 7:30 pm.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Blimah Reizel bat Rachel, Boaz ben Dina, Dov Nechemya Hakohen ben Rachel Chaya Sarah, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Eve Beatty, John Todd Brosky, Howard Ehrlich, Joshua Erenmark, Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Lizzie Legnine, Gloria Loera, Frank Marcovitz, Barney Meskin, Marshall Neiman, Colleen Pierce (Chaya Shoshanah bat Sarah Emanu), Phil Raider and Rachel Robbins.
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