Parashat Ki Tetze
14 Elul 5776 / 16-17 September 2016
Torah: Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-10; 54:11 –
55:5 (Fifth Haftarah of Consolation, followed by Third Haftarah of Consolation
– because the Third was not read two weeks ago due to Rosh Chodesh)
Rosh Hashanah is
two weeks from Sunday! Please submit your Membership/High Holy Day forms ASAP!
And check your mail for our High Holy Day bulletin.
Congregation Beth Meier is looking
for volunteers for the High Holy Days: to help set up/tear down for
services, chant Torah and Haftarah, daven, lead English readings, and, have
aliyot and other Torah/bimah honors. Contact Rabbi Flom at the synagogue office
or by e-mail for details and to sign up!
Dedications and Calendar of Events follow.
For our High
Holy Day schedule, and lots of other info about our community,
please check out our web site at: http://www.bethmeier.org
For this year’s Cheshbon Hanefesh worksheet,
see: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2016/09/cheshbon-hanefesh-worksheet.html
Congregation Beth Meier has developed
a GoFundMe page: Please visit the page and consider a donation. Your
generosity is greatly appreciated!
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend,
and please cite the source.
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MEMORIES ...
"Remember what Amalek did to you, on the way when you were leaving Egypt… you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven - don't forget!" Deuteronomy 25:17, 19
Ba'al Shem Tov: "Memory is the source of redemption; forgetting is oblivion."
We Jews are a people of
memories. We are told to remember Shabbat in numerous passages, such as the Ten
Commandments. Shabbat and the various Holy Days, we are told by the Torah, are
in memory of the Exodus from Egypt. On many Holy Days, we have a special
Yizkor (Memorial) service. Israel has established its own Yom Hazikaron,
Memorial Day. We are told to remember what our most dreadful enemies did
to us, then to erase the memory of that enemy, then not to forget to remember
to erase the memory.
Memory has power - the power
to redeem, the power to generate incredible emotions, and the power to transform
those with whom memories are shared. When you tell someone of your memory
of another person, you bring the listener into the story - into your life, and
into the life of the person you are talking about. In a very real way, you
bring the subject of the memory back to life. This is the reason the Torah
tells us to erase the memory of Amalek - so that Amalek will not live on in the
memories of others. The way to finally kill a person is to forget that
s/he ever lived. Regardless of how one may feel about life after death,
few of us can disagree with the notion that people continue to live so long as
they are remembered. In that way is memory the source of redemption - from
oblivion.
God commands us to remember, and perhaps that is why the Amidah, the central prayer of every service, contains the following blessing - "Blessed are you, O Lord, who gives life to the dead." By remembering our loved ones, we act as God's agents in bringing them to life. Not magic - but what Lincoln called "the mystic chords of memory."
Even as the scientists try to figure out the bio/chemical processes which create and store memories in our brains, we are driven to create memories in our very hearts and souls. Ah, memories…
God commands us to remember, and perhaps that is why the Amidah, the central prayer of every service, contains the following blessing - "Blessed are you, O Lord, who gives life to the dead." By remembering our loved ones, we act as God's agents in bringing them to life. Not magic - but what Lincoln called "the mystic chords of memory."
Even as the scientists try to figure out the bio/chemical processes which create and store memories in our brains, we are driven to create memories in our very hearts and souls. Ah, memories…
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
Studio City, CA
http://www.bethmeier.org
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook
Twitter: @DrahcirMolf
"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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Candle lighting: 6:39 pm
Friday – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch
follows services.
Sunday - Religious School – 9:30 am. If you have or know of any
Jewish children ages 6-13 in need of a warm and welcoming Jewish education in a
small setting, bring them on down! Or call Rabbi Flom or Elaine Kleiger at the
synagogue office. Adult Hebrew with Barry Glass and Lynda Foster – 10:00 am.
Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – noon - a 90 minute discussion on a
Jewish topic of interest. Everyone is welcome to participate. Lunch
is provided - donation requested.
Friday, 9/23 – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, 9/24 – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch
follows services. Saturday, 9/24 – Selichot Service with Rabbi Flom and Cantor Katz – 9:00 pm.
Sunday, 9/25 – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew – 10:00 am.
This d'var torah is offered in
memory of Lynn’s sister, Janis Kronzek, whose 15th yahrzeit was last
Shabbat. I last published this d’var torah, in slightly different form, on
September 1, 2001, just a few days after her death. Y’hi zichronah liv’rakhah –
May her memory be a blessing.
This d'var torah is offered for a
refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, HaRav Yisrael Shimon
ben Liebah Breina, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Sarah bat Devorah, Jackie
Aaronson, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, Jerry Daniels, Maya
Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Leonard
Foint (Eliezer Moshe ben Esther), Jerry Forman, Myra Goodman, Fouad Kay
(Yehoshua ben Salima), Stephanie Kane, Philip Kovac, Toni Linder, Deborah Schugar
Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), and
Naomi Zimmermann (Naomi bat Yorma).
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”.
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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
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