Parashat
Tetzaveh (Shabbat Zakhor)
9 Adar
5775 / 27-28 February 2015
Torah:
Exodus 27:20 - 30:10
Maftir:
Deuteronomy 25:17-19
Haftarah: 1
Samuel 15:1-34 (Sephardim - Ashkenazim omit verse 1)
Calendar and dedications follow below. For a full calendar of
events and other info about Congregation Beth Meier, check out: http://www.bethmeier.org
Please
feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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ETERNAL LIGHT OF TORAH
“You shall command the Israelites to bring you olive oil, beaten clear, for the lamp (the menorah); to kindle the light always.” Exodus 27:10
Rabbi Yitzchak Meir of Gur (Chidushei HaRim) points out the impossibility of literally following this commandment. Once a lamp is lit, one cannot be _always_ lighting it! Rather, what the kohanim did was to put in fresh oil and then rekindle the lamp every day. Not “always”, but “regularly”.
He says this is similar to reciting the Sh’ma. According to the Talmud, “Even if a person merely reads the Sh’ma in the morning and evening, he has fulfilled the obligation found at Joshua 1:8 – ‘This Torah shall not depart from your lips’ (which implies that one should be studying Torah all day). The Rim explains: the verse in Joshua concludes with, “You shall meditate on it day and night.” So, if a person recites the Sh’ma with such feeling of awe that it carries through the day, it is as if he studied Torah day and night.
There is a bit of danger in his teaching. Reliance solely on the recitation of the Sh'ma as the fulfillment of the obligation to study can cause complacency - and illiteracy. It should be seen as the bare minimum and only occasionally. One need not be a great scholar, single-mindedly dedicated to study all day. But we have at least the obligation to learn regularly, sufficient to keep the light of Torah burning within us.
It’s okay to light up!
Shabbat Shalom! Have a freiliche Purim!
--------------------------------------------------------
ETERNAL LIGHT OF TORAH
“You shall command the Israelites to bring you olive oil, beaten clear, for the lamp (the menorah); to kindle the light always.” Exodus 27:10
Rabbi Yitzchak Meir of Gur (Chidushei HaRim) points out the impossibility of literally following this commandment. Once a lamp is lit, one cannot be _always_ lighting it! Rather, what the kohanim did was to put in fresh oil and then rekindle the lamp every day. Not “always”, but “regularly”.
He says this is similar to reciting the Sh’ma. According to the Talmud, “Even if a person merely reads the Sh’ma in the morning and evening, he has fulfilled the obligation found at Joshua 1:8 – ‘This Torah shall not depart from your lips’ (which implies that one should be studying Torah all day). The Rim explains: the verse in Joshua concludes with, “You shall meditate on it day and night.” So, if a person recites the Sh’ma with such feeling of awe that it carries through the day, it is as if he studied Torah day and night.
There is a bit of danger in his teaching. Reliance solely on the recitation of the Sh'ma as the fulfillment of the obligation to study can cause complacency - and illiteracy. It should be seen as the bare minimum and only occasionally. One need not be a great scholar, single-mindedly dedicated to study all day. But we have at least the obligation to learn regularly, sufficient to keep the light of Torah burning within us.
It’s okay to light up!
Shabbat Shalom! Have a freiliche Purim!
HaRav
HaGa’on Abba Reuven Flom, Sh’lita
Rosh
Yeshivah - Shlabodkieville
Mishenichnas
Adar, Marbim B’Simcha.
From
the beginning of Adar, we increase joy.
http://www.bethmeier.org
Visit
me on Facebook!
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Candle lighting: 5:29 pm
Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00
am. Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday: Religious School – 9:30 am; Adult Hebrew – 10:00 am.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 Noon.
Wednesday: Fast of
Esther. Sundown: Purim! Join us for an abbreviated Megillah and a Purim Shpiel
by our Religious School – 7:00 pm. Hamentaschen and other refreshments, of
course! Wear a costume and bring your favorite noise maker!
Thursday: Purim!
Sunday,
March 15: Beth Meier’s Third Israel Wine Tasting (and Tapas) – 2:00 pm.
Carmit Becker, Israel wine broker, will have wines for tasting and for sale –
all Kosher for Passover. $20 in advance/$25 at the door. Contact the office for
details.
This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel
Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Naomi bat Yorma, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah
Mindel bat Toby, Stewart Benkle, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, John Todd Brosky,
Howard Ehrlich, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan
ben Gittel), Gig Flom (Gittel Tobi bat Blanca), Jerry Forman, Leo Hoenig (Leib
ben Bella), Pamela Huddleston, Jayne Kaplan, Lina Kniter (Lina bat Batya),
Avremi Manzur, Chelsea Omoss, and Annie Rivera.
My weekly divrei torah are also available by
free subscription to the Cyber Torah list.
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salesman will call!):
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send an e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah” to:ravflom@sbcglobal.net
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