23
Adar 2 5776 / 1-2 April 2016
Parashat
Shemini
Torah:
Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47
Maftir:
Numbers 19:1-22 (Shabbat Parah)
Haftarah:
Ezekiel 36:16-38 (Ashkenazim - Shabbat Parah); Ezekiel 36:16-36 (Sephardim -
Shabbat Parah)
Calendar
and dedications follow below. For a full calendar of events and other info
about Congregation Beth Meier, check out: www.bethmeier.org
The Rabbinical
Assembly’s Pesach Guide 5776 can be read and downloaded at the following
site:
Additional
Pesach resources from the Rabbinical Assembly may be found at:
My
annual Pesach Guide – 5776 Edition, is available at my blog:
Please
feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
--------------------------------------------------------------
IT’S
NOT MILLER TIME!
And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, "Wine and intoxicants you shall not drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die; it is an everlasting law throughout your generations. And to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the impure and the pure." Leviticus 10:8-9
The Midrash, Leviticus Rabbah 12.3, comments on this verse with the following quote: "The precepts of the Lord are just, rejoicing the heart" (Psalms 19:9). Rebbe Simchah Bunem questions the Midrash and wonders how it could be that Aaron and his sons, the priests, are forbidden to imbibe alcohol before performing the sacrificial rites. After all, he says, "wine cheers the hearts of men" (Psalms 104:15), and we use wine every Shabbat and Yom Tov for kiddush (the word "kiddush" means "sanctification"). He answers that when the Kohanim (the priests) enter the Tent of Meeting, and later, the Temple, to perform the sacrificial service, they should have a feeling of exaltation and happiness that comes solely from the joy of knowing that they are fulfilling God's commandments.
But there is no sacrificial rite today, and even if there were, most of us are not Kohanim anyway. What has this got to do with us? I believe we do have the same obligations as the Kohanim. We learn elsewhere in the Torah that God wants us to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). Each of us, when we pray, when we make kiddush, when we perform any mitzvah, is drawing closer to God. Each of us has the opportunity to perform "the service of the heart." The holiness of such an encounter should not be tainted by synthetic joy. Using the direct approach toward fulfilling the will of God, without any artificial stimulation, can itself bring the purest kind of joy.
Have a purely joyful Shabbat!
And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, "Wine and intoxicants you shall not drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die; it is an everlasting law throughout your generations. And to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the impure and the pure." Leviticus 10:8-9
The Midrash, Leviticus Rabbah 12.3, comments on this verse with the following quote: "The precepts of the Lord are just, rejoicing the heart" (Psalms 19:9). Rebbe Simchah Bunem questions the Midrash and wonders how it could be that Aaron and his sons, the priests, are forbidden to imbibe alcohol before performing the sacrificial rites. After all, he says, "wine cheers the hearts of men" (Psalms 104:15), and we use wine every Shabbat and Yom Tov for kiddush (the word "kiddush" means "sanctification"). He answers that when the Kohanim (the priests) enter the Tent of Meeting, and later, the Temple, to perform the sacrificial service, they should have a feeling of exaltation and happiness that comes solely from the joy of knowing that they are fulfilling God's commandments.
But there is no sacrificial rite today, and even if there were, most of us are not Kohanim anyway. What has this got to do with us? I believe we do have the same obligations as the Kohanim. We learn elsewhere in the Torah that God wants us to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). Each of us, when we pray, when we make kiddush, when we perform any mitzvah, is drawing closer to God. Each of us has the opportunity to perform "the service of the heart." The holiness of such an encounter should not be tainted by synthetic joy. Using the direct approach toward fulfilling the will of God, without any artificial stimulation, can itself bring the purest kind of joy.
Have a purely joyful Shabbat!
Rabbi
Richard A. Flom
Congregation
Beth Meier - Studio City, CA
Website: http://bethmeier.org
Blogging
at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com
"From
the place where we are absolutely right, flowers will never grow in the
spring."
"מן המקום שבו אנו צודקים לא יצמחו לעולם פרחים באביב"
Yehuda
Amichai
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Candlelighting: 6:56 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 Class – 10:00 am.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon
Friday, 8 April: Family Shabbat Evening
Service – 7:30 pm. Rabbi Flom will be away. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, 9 April: Shabbat morning service
– 10:00 am. Rabbi Flom back. Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday, 10 April: Religious School
– 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew Class – 10:00 am. Movie Nite! – 7:00 pm – “The
Gefilte Fish Chronicles”. Snacks provided. No charge, but donations accepted.
Tuesday, 12 April: Lunch and Learn –
12:00 noon
Saturday, April 23: Congregation Beth Meier Community Second Seder – 7:00
pm. Watch your mail for details.
Next time you come to Beth Meier, please bring some non-perishable
canned and packaged foods and personal items (no glass) for SOVA.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Yaakov Rani Ben
Margalit, Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Miriam Minya bat Alisa
Batya, Sarah bat Devorah, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet
Brosky, Peter Chernack (Pesach ben Idit), Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht
(Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben
Gittel), Leonard Foint (Eliezer Moshe ben Esther), Jerry Forman,
Stephanie Kane, Philip Kovac, Suzanne Rosenthal (Sima Devorah bat Chanah),
and Deborah Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga).
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 available through free subscription to the Cyber Torah e-mail
list. No salesman will call!
Cyber
Torah list management:
To subscribe to
Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with
the heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah”.
To unsubscribe from
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To dedicate a
Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a
refuah shleimah, send an e-mail to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with
the heading “Dedicate Cyber Torah” and provide details in the message body.
