16 Sivan 5774 / June 13-14 2014
Parashat Sh’lach Lekha
Torah: Numbers 13:1-15:41
Haftarah: Joshua 2:1-24
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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
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier - Studio City , CA
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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 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.
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