CHOLESTEROL OF THE SOUL

Parashat Va’era

Torah Reading: Exodus 6:2 - 9:35

Maftir: Numbers 28:9-15
Haftarah: Isaiah 66:1-24 (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh)

For more info about our community, visit our website:

http://bethmeier.org

Congregation Beth Meier has developed a GoFundMe page:

https://www.gofundme.com/saveourschul

Please visit the page and consider a donation. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow.

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

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CHOLESTEROL OF THE SOUL

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, ...” Exodus 7:3

The notion that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart raises great difficulty. What does this say about free will? Rabbi Yochanan asks, “Doesn’t this provide heretics with ground for arguing that he had no means of repenting?” If God caused Pharaoh to refuse to let the Israelites go, if he foreclosed Pharaoh from repentance, if everything is preordained, then how can anyone be held accountable for their actions? To paraphrase Abraham, how can God, the judge of all the world, then claim to be acting justly?

For the first five plagues, “Pharaoh’s heart hardened” - he chose to act as he did. But for the last five plagues, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart”. In the Midrash, Resh Lakish says, “Let the mouths of the heretics be stopped up. ‘If to scorners, He will scorn.’ (Proverbs 3:34) When God warns a man once, twice, even three times, and still he does not repent, then God closes his heart against repentance so that He should exact vengeance from him for his sins.” Still, why does God harden Pharaoh’s heart at all? Or does God really do that?

Interestingly, in the Talmud, Resh Lakish gives a different and more satisfying answer. He says, “What is the meaning of ‘If to scorners, he will scorn; and to the meek he gives favor’? If he tries to defile himself, he is given an opening; if he tries to purify himself, he is helped.” Note the lower case here. Not God, but man. If we turn to scorners, we will scorn. If we turn to the meek, we give ourselves favor. We always have the choice to open our hearts and souls or harden them to the cries of others. If we choose evil, God passively leaves openings, which we can choose to enter - or not. If we choose time and again to harden our souls, it becomes more and more difficult for us to change our ways. But the difficult is not impossible. Because, says Resh Lakish, if we choose goodness, God affirmatively helps us.

Unclog the arteries of your soul, and heed the cries of those in need.

Shabbat Shalom v'Chodesh Tov.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

http://bethmeier.org

Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com

Visit me on Facebook

Twitter: @DrahcirMolf

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 87b

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Candle lighting: 5:00 pm

Friday – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

Sunday – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew class – 10:00 am.

Tuesday – NO Lunch and Learn – Resume February 7.

Friday, 3 February – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, 4 February – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

Sunday, 5 February – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew – 10:00 am.

Tuesday, 7 February – Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, 10 February – Musical, Guitar-Accompanied Shabbat Service – 6:00 pm, followed by Shabbat Dinner – 7:00 pm. Dinner reservations required. Watch your mail for flyer!

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Zehavah B’rakhah bat Leah, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Sarah bat Devorah, 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, Beth Goldstein, Myra Goodman, Simon Hartman, Fouad Kay (Yehoshua ben Salima), Bonnie Kleiger, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek, Toni Linder, Roy Miller, Carol Rosen (Tsharna Aliza bat Leah), 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”.

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net  with the heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”.

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.

ONE WHO SAVES A LIFE …

Parashat Sh’mot

23 Tevet 5777 / 20-21 January 2017 

Torah: Exodus 1:1 - 6:1
Haftarah: (Ashkenazim) Isaiah 27:6 - 28:13; 29:22-23; (Sephardim) Jeremiah 1:1 - 2:3

This Sunday - Congregational Meeting – 2:00 pm. All members asked to attend or provide a proxy to the Board of Directors.

For more info about our community, visit our website:

http://bethmeier.org

Congregation Beth Meier has developed a GoFundMe page:

https://www.gofundme.com/saveourschul

Please visit the page and consider a donation. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow.

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

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ONE WHO SAVES A LIFE …

"But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, for they kept the male children alive." Exodus 1:17

Rashi - They would supply them with food and water.

Rabbi Nissan Puchinski - The implication is that had they not supplied them with food and water, they would be considered as murderers, because preventing someone from being saved is considered similar to murder.

Mishanah Sanhedrin 4:5 - "One who takes a single human life; it is as if he destroyed an entire world. One who saves a single human life; it is as if he saved an entire world."

In its classic form, the Kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum relates to God withdrawing or contracting in order to make room for the physical universe. However, according to Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg, after the Shoah, tzimtzum was necessary in order for human beings, no longer willing or able to operate only as God's servants under an imposed mandatory covenant system, to instead become God's partners in a voluntary covenant. God has "self-limited", he says, "contracting divine power in order to empower humanity." Under this theory, every Jew is a "Jew by choice". The purpose of the partnership agreement is tikkun olam - the restoration of a shattered world.

God may have withdrawn from visibly active participation in the physical world, but God is still present in healing shattered hearts and comforting the suffering. God acts through us, as we are told in Isaiah 43:12, "You will be my witnesses." Witnessing is NOT merely watching; it means undertaking action to fulfill the terms of the partnership and improving the world to its ideal state. It is our empowerment with independent action which makes every human being truly "in the image of God". 

Please, donate your time and/or money as generously as you can to organizations that feed the hungry, house the homeless, provide medical care to the needy – you get the idea. Now more than ever - join the partnership! Use your power to save life.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

http://bethmeier.org  

Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com

Visit me on Facebook

Twitter: @DrahcirMolf

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 87b

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Candle lighting: 4:53 pm

Friday – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

Sunday – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew class – 10:00 am. Game Day is being rescheduled. Congregational Meeting – 2:00 pm. All members asked to attend or provide a proxy to the Board of Directors.

Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, 27 January – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, 28 January – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

Sunday, 29 January – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew – 10:00 am.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Zehavah B’rakhah bat Leah, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Sarah bat Devorah, 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, Beth Goldstein, Myra Goodman, Simon Hartman, Fouad Kay (Yehoshua ben Salima), Bonnie Kleiger, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek, Toni Linder, Roy Miller, Carol Rosen (Tsharna Aliza bat Leah), 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”.

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net  with the heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”.

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.

HOW AND WHY TO BLESS THE CHILDREN

Parashat Vayechi

Torah: Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 (Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazeik)
Haftarah: 1 Kings 2:1-12

16 Tevet 5777 / 13-14 January 2017

For more info about our community, visit our website:

http://bethmeier.org

Congregation Beth Meier has developed a GoFundMe page:

https://www.gofundme.com/saveourschul

Please visit the page and consider a donation. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow.

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

-----------------------------------------------------------

HOW AND WHY TO BLESS THE CHILDREN

And (Jacob, aka Israel) blessed them that day, saying, "In you shall Israel bless, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and Menashe'" ... Genesis 48:20

This is the beginning of the blessing over sons. For both sons and daughters, the rest of the blessing is the same - the threefold blessing of the Kohanim (Numbers 6:24-26). Why do we start the blessing of the sons this way? What's so special about Joseph's sons? Indeed, the blessing for daughters starts out, "May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah." Why not bless sons with "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"?

The Yalkut Yehudah addresses this, in part. He says that Jacob was a prophet who foresaw the exile of his descendants. He knew that their Jewishness was endangered. Therefore, he said that sons should be blessed to be like Ephraim and Menashe - the first Jewish men who were born, raised and educated in exile (Egypt), in spite of which they remained faithful Jews (Jacob says, "Like Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine." - Gen. 48:5) And here we are today, keeping the faith, though we are born, raised and educated outside of the Land of Israel.

But what about daughters? Why are they blessed in the names of the four ancestral mothers? I believe it has to do with two points. First, they also were born outside the Land of Israel, in Haran. Second, Jewish tradition teaches that mothers are the ones who instill religious practice and belief in children, because they are their first teachers. The Midrash teaches that it was the women who kept the men's spirits up during the days of slavery in Egypt. Finally, according to tradition, it is the women who maintain the Jewishness of the home, particularly with regard to kashrut and Shabbat observance (e.g., Sarah was the first to kindle Shabbat lights). So our daughters are blessed in the names of the Matriarchs.

Of course, all of this is irrelevant - unless you make it a regular practice to bless your children on Shabbat and Yom Tov evenings, and to follow the teaching of the Yalkut Yehudah! Whether you are like Ephraim and Menashe, or like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, bless your children Shabbat evening - keep the faith, baby!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

http://bethmeier.org

Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com

Visit me on Facebook

Twitter: @DrahcirMolf

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 87b

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Candle lighting: 4:47 pm

Friday – Family Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. A song-filled, guitar-accompanied service with Cantor Kerry Katz. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

Sunday – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew class – 10:00 am.

Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, 20 January – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, 21 January – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

Sunday, 22 January – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew – 10:00 am. Game Day is being rescheduled.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Zehavah B’rakhah bat Leah, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Sarah bat Devorah, 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, Beth Goldstein, Myra Goodman, Simon Hartman, Fouad Kay (Yehoshua ben Salima), Bonnie Kleiger, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek, Toni Linder, Roy Miller, Carol Rosen (Tsharna Aliza bat Leah), 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”.

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net  with the heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”.

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.

DISHONOR BEFORE DEATH?

Parashat Vayiggash

Torah: Genesis 44:18 - 47:27

Haftarah: Ezekiel 37:15-28

9 Tevet 5777 / 6-7 January 2017

For more info about our community, visit our website:

http://bethmeier.org

Congregation Beth Meier has developed a GoFundMe page:

https://www.gofundme.com/saveourschul  

Please visit the page and consider a donation. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow.

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

-----------------------------------------------------------

DISHONOR BEFORE DEATH?

"And Joseph could not restrain himself before all who stood by him, and he called out, 'Remove everyone from before me!' So no one remained with him when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers." Genesis 45:1

Rashi - He was unable to bear that Egyptians should stand by him and hear the humiliation of his brothers when he revealed himself.

A modern commentator, Z. Ron wonders how Rashi could possibly know what Joseph was thinking. Since he was the viceroy, maybe he did not want to embarrass himself before the Egyptians when he began crying. I might add that perhaps he would not want the Egyptians to know that this disheveled band of starving shepherds was his kin. The answer, according to Z. Ron, is in the next verse - "And he wept loudly, and Egypt heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard." Thus, he says, Rashi is right - Joseph chose to embarrass himself rather than his brothers.

Jewish tradition teaches that publicly embarrassing another person is a form of murder. That's why we have the phrase "character assassination". Words, like arrows, cannot be recalled once they go forth. Joseph chose to suffer whatever dishonor there might have been in displaying weakness, rather than have his brothers suffer the "death" of public humiliation.

As it turns out, there was no embarrassment for Joseph at all. That Joseph's brothers had come "... was pleasing in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants." (45:16) Sparing others from humiliation, and risking it for oneself, reaps respect, not dishonor. We gain respect by respecting the dignity of others.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Congregation Beth Meier

Studio City, CA

http://bethmeier.org

Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com

Visit me on Facebook

Twitter: @DrahcirMolf

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 87b

-----------------------------------------------

Candle lighting: 4:40 pm

Friday – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows. Our guest Torah reader and darshan will be Rabbi Gary Charlestein – Barukh haba!  

Sunday – NO Religious School or Adult Hebrew class – both resume 1/15. Movie, Pizza and Ice Cream Bar Night – 7:00 pm. We’ll be showing “Defiance ”, the true story of the Bielski brothers during WW II.

Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, 13 January – Family Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. A song-filled, guitar-accompanied service with Cantor Kerry Katz. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, 14 January – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.

Sunday, 15 January – Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew – 10:00 am.

The congregation extends condolences to Dena Kosche on the passing of her father, Richard Guerry. May his memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Sarah bat Devorah, Zehavah B’rakhah bat Leah, 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, Beth Goldstein, Myra Goodman, Simon Hartman, Fouad Kay (Yehoshua ben Salima), Bonnie Kleiger, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek, Toni Linder, Roy Miller, 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”.

To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net  with the heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”.

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.