TAKE NOTE

30 Sivan 5774 / 27-28 June 2014

Torah: Numbers 19:1 – 22:1

Maftir: Numbers 28:9-15

Haftarah: Isaiah 66:1-24, 23 (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh)

 

Calendar of Events and Dedications follow. More info about our community is available at: http://www.bethmeier.org

 

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

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TAKE NOTE

 

"The Kohen will take cedar wood, hyssop and crimson thread, and throw them into the burning of the cow." Numbers 19:6

 

From the description of the inexplicable ritual of the Red Heifer, Rabbi Simchah Bunim of Pshischa teaches: The cedar alludes to haughtiness, while the hyssop implies humility. Every person must have a note in one pocket which says, "I am but dust and ashes" (Genesis 18:27), and in the other pocket one must have a note which says, "For my sake was the world created" (Sanhedrin 37). The wise person knows when to use which.

 

Yechiel of Alexander explains that when the Yetzer Hara, the Evil Impulse, wishes to build us up, in order to make us arrogant and self-centered, we should read the first note. When the Evil Impulse wants to bring us down in sadness and depression over our failures, we should read the second note.

 

But what about the crimson thread? Perhaps we should tie one around a finger, in order to serve as a reminder that the notes are in our pockets. The thread has a unique characteristic - unlike the cedar and the hyssop, the crimson thread was created by human beings. This means we have power - the power to resist both arrogance and despair, the power to improve, the power to control our own destinies - as long as we are mindful of what those destinies might be.

 

Shabbat Shalom v’Chodesh Tov!

 

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Congregation Beth Meier - Studio City, CA

www.bethmeier.org

Visit me on Facebook

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Calendar and Dedications

 

Candlelighting: 7:50 pm

 

Friday: Shabbat Evening service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday: Shabbat Morning service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn - Noon. All are welcome. Lunch provided. Donations gratefully accepted.

Friday, 4 July: CBM office closed - Happy Birthday, Uncle Sam! NO Shabbat evening service! Parking impossible due to CBS fireworks.

Saturday, 5 July: Shabbat morning service – 10:00 am.

 

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avram Yisrael ben Channah (Robert Flom), Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Howard Ehrlich, Jerry Forman, Debra Freeman, Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Jayne Kaplan, and Helen Schugar.

 

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

 

My weekly divrei torah are also available via the Cyber Torah e-mail 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

To request dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of loved ones or for a refuah shleimah send an e-mail with your request to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net

ON BEING AND DOING

Parashat Korach

23 Sivan 5774 / 20-21 June 2014

Torah: Numbers 16:1 - 18:32

Haftarah: 1 Samuel 11:14 - 12:22

Full calendar and lots of other info available at: http://www.bethmeier.org

Please feel free to pass this on, and please cite the source.

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ON BEING AND DOING

"They gathered together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, 'It is too much for you! For all of the assembly - all of them - are holy, and the Lord is among them; why do you lord yourselves over the congregation of the Lord?'" Numbers 16:3

Korach and his fellow rebels offer this challenge to the leadership of Moses and Aaron. What makes them holier than everybody else? Korach seems to have a point. After all, God did say to all of the Israelites that "you will be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy." Leviticus 19:2 Even before the giving of the Torah at Sinai, God had told them, "You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy people." Exodus 19:6

The error that Korach and his followers make is that they didn't hear God as clearly as they thought. In the Exodus and Leviticus texts, God spoke in the future tense - "you will (or shall) be holy". It can be viewed as either a promise of future holiness, or as a commandment to become holy. How might holiness be accomplished? By observing God's commandments, of course.

Korach thinks that merely by being a Jew, he has done enough, he is holy. So it is with too many of us. We think that it is enough merely to be a Jew. As Korach fatally learns, to really be a Jew, to really achieve the holiness that God promises us, requires not passivity, but action - Jewish action. One can not simply "be" - one must “do".

There are many paths to the kind of holiness the Torah is talking about. One can kasher one's kitchen or attend prayer services more often or make Shabbat at home regularly. One might attend Jewish education classes or read more Jewish books. It certainly means taking responsibility for one’s actions (or inaction). But in Judaism, it is equally certain that mere belief is not enough. Deeds speak far louder than professions of faith.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

http://bethmeier.org

Visit me on Facebook

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CBM Calendar:

Candle lighting: 7:49 pm

Friday: Shabbat evening service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am.  Kiddush lunch follows.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon

Friday, June 27: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm

Saturday, June 28: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am

This d’var torah is offered in memory of Marshall Neiman, who passed away on Tuesday. Contact me at ravflom@sbcglobal.net for funeral and shivah information. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avram Yisrael ben Channah (Robert Flom), Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Howard Ehrlich, Jerry Forman, Debra Freeman, Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Jayne Kaplan, and Helen Schugar.

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

My weekly divrei torah are also available via the Cyber Torah e-mail 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

To request dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of loved ones or for a refuah shleimah send an e-mail with your request to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net

YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY! OR HAVE YOU?

16 Sivan 5774 / June 13-14 2014

Parashat Sh’lach Lekha

Torah: Numbers 13:1-15:41

Haftarah: Joshua 2:1-24

See our web site at: http://www.bethmeier.org/

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

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YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY! OR HAVE YOU?

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "Send for yourself men to scout out the Land of Canaan that I give to the Israelites; send one man from each of the ancestral tribes, each man a prince." Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran at the word of God; all of them heads of the Israelites. Numbers 13:1-3

Rashi: Why does God say "send for yourself" and not simply "send"? "I am not commanding you - if you want, you may send."

Rabbi Ephraim of Lunshitz (1550 - 1619), author of the noted commentary Klei Yakar, takes Rashi one step further, and questions another word. He asks, why doesn't God want Moses to send "men"? He recalls the Rabbinic teaching that the Israelite men despised the Land, and wanted to return to Egypt. But the Israelite women loved the Land so much, their demand for an inheritance led to a change in the law as it was understood at that time (the daughters of Tzeloph'chad - Numbers 27). And because God knew what was going to happen (the spies would spread fear among the Israelites), He would have preferred that Moses send women. The women would have kept better faith with God, and not spread lies about the Land.

Historically, Jewish women were denied the right to observe many of the mitzvot, such as tallit and tefillin, or to engage in many Jewish rites of passage, like b'nai mitzvah. At the same time, as we see here, there was a strong undercurrent of Rabbinic teaching regarding the spiritual superiority and commitment of Jewish women.

The Torah, and all Jewish learning, is more of an open book than ever. There are a larger number of Jewish learning opportunities, more diverse in scope, than ever before. Jewish learning is for everyone, not a limited number of yeshivah bochers. How ironic it is, then, that now that more Jews than ever are free to practice Judaism without fear or hardship, a diminishing percentage of Jews (men and women) are taking advantage of these opportunities. In truth, like the Land of Israel, the landscape of modern Judaism indeed flows with milk and honey. Spy out the land, eat of its fruit, and be satisfied!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Congregation Beth Meier - Studio City, CA 

www.bethmeier.org

Visit me on Facebook

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CBM Calendar:

Candle lighting: 7:47 pm

Friday: Family Shabbat evening service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am.  Kiddush lunch follows.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, June 20: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm

Saturday, June 21: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am

This d’var torah is offered in honor of Miriam Freilich Mazo, becoming a bat mitzvah this Shabbat. Mazal tov!

This d’var torah is offered in honor of Barry Glass, Melinda Trauman, and Warren Trauman, in thanks for their leyning, davening, and overall assistance in CBM’s services. Rov todah!

This d’var torah is offered in memory of my uncle, Hans Schack, whose yahrzeit falls this Shabbat. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah.

This d’var torah is offered in memory of Steven Kleiger, whose shloshim (30 days since burial) falls this Shabbat. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avram Yisrael ben Channah (Robert Flom), Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Howard Ehrlich, Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Jayne Kaplan, Frank Marcovitz, Marshall Neiman, Phil Raider, and Helen Schugar.

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

My weekly divrei torah are also available via the Cyber Torah e-mail 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

To request dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of loved ones or for a refuah shleimah send an e-mail with your request to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net

TANSTAAFL

Parashat Beha'alot'kha

9 Sivan 5774 / 6-7 June 2014

Torah: Numbers 8:1 - 12:16

Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 - 4:7

 

Dedications and calendar follow below. For complete listings and lots of other information about our community, see our web site at: www.bethmeier.org

 

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

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TANSTAAFL*

 

"The riffraff in their midst surely felt a craving; and then the Israelites wept and said, 'If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic. Now our bodies are wasting, there is nothing at all except this manna to look at.'" Numbers 11:4-6

 

Rashi: "For free" means freely, without the obligation of the mitzvot.

 

Sefat Emet: They craved a craving.

 

The people did not actually crave meat.  In truth, they sound like people with a substance abuse problem - looking back wistfully at their days of slavery.  Addiction isn't freedom.  They craved a lifestyle in which they were not responsible for themselves or to God.  They preferred to be slaves to their physical desires than to be servants of God.  Who needs responsibility when one can be led by one¹s nose by masters - masters that are human, or created by humans?  It is often difficult to cope with real freedom, because with freedom comes responsibility.

 

The punishment the Israelites receive is to be buried under a mountain of the stuff they claim to crave ­- until it comes out of their nostrils.  They were sickened by their craving, and struck by a plague from God.  Alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling - these are plagues from humans, but the lesson is the same.  Like the Israelites, one is cured - one can get to the Promised Land - only once one accepts the responsibility that comes with freedom.

 

*TANSTAAFL - There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!

 

Rabbi Richard Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

www.bethmerier.org

Visit me on Facebook

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CBM Calendar:

 

Candle lighting: 7:43 pm

 

Friday: Shabbat evening service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am.  Kiddush lunch follows.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, June 13: Family Shabbat Evening Service –7:30 pm

Saturday, June 14: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am

 

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avram Yisrael ben Channah (Robert Flom), Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Howard Ehrlich, Jerry Forman, Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Jayne Kaplan, Frank Marcovitz, Marshall Neiman, Phil Raider, and Helen Schugar.

 

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

To request dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of loved ones or for a refuah shleimah send an e-mail with your request to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net