11 Elul 5774 / 5-6 September 2014
Parashat Ki Tetze
Torah: Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25:19
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-10 (Fifth
Haftarah of Consolation)
For full Calendar of Events and lots
of information about our community, check out our web site at: www.bethmeier.org
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THE FORGETTING COMMANDMENTS
"When you reap the harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, do not return to take it; it shall be for the stranger, orphan and widow, in order that the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hand. When you beat your olive trees, do not go over them again; it shall be for the stranger, orphan and widow. When you harvest your vineyard, do not pick it over again; it shall be for the stranger, orphan and widow. And you will remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing." Deuteronomy 24:19-22
In these verses, as well as in Leviticus 19:9-10 and 23:22 ("for the poor and for the stranger"), we are told to intentionally leave grain, olives and grapes - basic foodstuffs which are also, not coincidentally, essential for offering the basic sacrifices to God. These are the necessities of the Israelites' physical and spiritual lives. And yet, according to the Rabbis, the commandment to leave forgotten sheaves in the field is the only commandment in the Torah that can be fulfilled unintentionally.
There are several rabbinic tales in which people celebrate the fact that they forgot sheaves in the field. But how can they celebrate unless they remember? It seems that what they are celebrating is that they "remembered" to forget! Sheaves on the ground? Forget about them! Olives still in the trees? Don't go back for them! Unripe grapes still on the vines? Don't do a second harvest. Forget about them!
This is all about overcoming human
nature. When gathering in the harvest, anyone would be inclined to go back
and get as much produce as possible - it was hard work to grow it, winter is
coming, and who knows what the future will bring? But by remembering what
it was like to have nothing, we can forget about trying to have everything.
These mitzvot can be fulfilled in a
different way today. Please donate packaged foods to SOVA (we have a bin at
CBM) or the local food pantry of your choice. Don’t forget!
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom - ZSRS '00
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
Visit me on Facebook
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PROGRAM NOTES:
1. Beth Meier RELIGIOUS SCHOOL will
commence Sunday, September 7, at 9:30 am. There has been NO increase in fees
for this year. Please contact Rabbi Flom or the Beth Meier office at (818)
769-0515, or email: office@bethmeier.org
for information and registration.
2. Beth Meier is sponsoring “Team
Selma” for a 5K walk/run in the race to defeat ovarian cancer on Sunday,
September 14. We hope as many members, including our Religious School students
and their families, will join in.
Info at: www.ovariancancerrun.com/
Registration at: www.ovariancancerrun.eventbrite.com/
For “team”, enter “Selma Schimmel”
3. Please get your membership and High
Holy Day ticket forms and fees in to Beth Meier at your earliest convenience.
Yontiff waits for no one!
CALENDAR:
Candle
lighting:
6:55 pm
Friday: Shabbat
Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Join us for a joyful service, followed by Oneg
Shabbat.
Saturday: Shabbat
Morning Service – 10:00 am. Light Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday: Beth Meier Religious
School – 9:30 am.
Tuesday: Lunch and
Learn – 12:00 noon.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah Mindel bat Toby, Bonnie Baird, Elsbet Brosky, Howard Ehrlich, Dr. Samuel Fersht, Jerry Forman, Leo Hoenig, Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Jeannie Kottler, Marilyn Lee, Gail Neiman, Annie Rivera, Irwin Silon, Ruth Silon, and Fran Zimmerman.
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
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
