KVETCHING BY THE SEA

Parashat Beshallach (Shabbat Shirah)10 Shevat 5774 / 10-11 January 2014
Torah: Exodus 13:17 - 17:16
Haftarah: Judges 4:4 - 5:31 (Ashkenazim); Judges 5:1-31 (Sephardim)


Dedications and this week’s calendar are below. For more information about our community, visit: http://bethmeier.org/


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Kvetching by the Sea


This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shirah, the Shabbat of Song, for it contains the beautiful Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:1-19), in which the Israelites praise God for saving them. They certainly changed their tune from what it had been only a few verses previously:


And they said to Moses, “Were there no graves in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, taking us from Egypt? Was it not this very thing that we had told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us be, and we will serve the Egyptians, for it is better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness?'"  Exodus 14:11-12


But the good feeling after the song doesn't last. No sooner are the Egyptians dead, then the Israelites start complaining about the lack of water and food. One very modern view, by Edward Sorel, in a cartoon entitled "Exodus Outtakes", suggested that even as they were crossing the Reed (not Red) Sea, the Israelites were kvetching: “Some miracle!  If I don't get pneumonia from all this, that'll be a miracle”; “You mind telling me where he thinks he's going?”; “You call this parting the sea? Look! The water is up to my ankle!”; “If he's so smart, why doesn't he make these dead fish disappear?"; and so on.


Isn't that the way of it? Whether it's God, Moses, religious leaders, political figures, all the people in our lives, you name them, if they aren't at peak performance all of the time, we complain. No matter what they have done for us in the past, no matter what they will do in the future, even no matter what they might be doing right now, it's never enough. We always find something to complain about. It doesn't have to be that way.


How different the world would be if, after each and every miracle, after each and every act of kindness, even after each and every day, even if it had not been perfect, we would sing a song of praise for the One Who allowed us to experience it! It is noteworthy that no one ever thanks Moses for leading them through the wilderness. How different might that experience have been had "thank you" been uttered occasionally? Perhaps it would have been forty days instead of forty years!


Memo to self and to all: We are all on a journey together. How each of us chooses to react to the bumps and hazards, as well as the beautiful scenery, will effect the experience of all of us. Let's make the most of it, by singing more, and kvetching less.


Rabbi Richard A. Flom
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
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Candle lighting: 4:44 pm


Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Come on down for a joyful way to bring in Shabbat! Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday: Tu B'Shevat Seder at 10:00 am for the Religious School and entire congregation. Join us for snacks and songs of Eretz Yisrael (no cost but RSVP required). Adult Hebrew Class – 10:00 am.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn - noon.
Wednesday: (Re)Introduction to Judaism class – 7:30 pm. This week’s topic: The Ten Commandments – The Ten Suggestions?


This d'var torah is offered in memory of Colleen Pierce, who passed away last Shabbat. Y’hi zikhronah liv’rakhah – May her memory be a blessing.


This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Blimah Reizel bat Ruchel, Dina bat Sarah Emanu, Dov Nechemya Hakohen ben Rachel Chaya Sarah, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Connie Rosen Axelson, Eve Beatty, John Todd Brosky, Jo Cardona, Howard Ehrlich, Joshua Erenmark, Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Steven Kleiger, Lizzie Legnine, Gloria Loera, Frank Marcovitz, Sheldon Mazo, Marshall Neiman, and Phil Raider.


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


My weekly divrei torah are also available by e-mail from the Cyber Torah list.
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