26 Nisan 5777 / 21-22
April 2017
Parashat Shemini
Torah: Leviticus 9:1
– 11:47
Haftarah: 2 Samuel 6:1 – 7:17 (Ashkenazim); 2 Samuel 6:1-19 (Sephardim)
Haftarah: 2 Samuel 6:1 – 7:17 (Ashkenazim); 2 Samuel 6:1-19 (Sephardim)
IMPORTANT
REQUEST: I and Lynn
will be out of town Shabbat of April 28-29. Several CBM members have volunteered
to conduct services, chant Torah and Haftarah, etc. If you would like to take
an active role in those services, please let me know ASAP. And of course,
please make every effort to attend one or both of those services to assure a
minyan and a complete and meaningful service.
Dedications and a Calendar
of Upcoming Events follow. For a full calendar and lots of other information about
our community, visit:
Please feel free to pass
this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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CRUEL KINDNESS
“… They shall not be eaten…. the stork …” Leviticus 11:13, 19
The Torah refers to non-kosher birds as an abomination. Interestingly, Rabbi Yehudah taught that the stork is called chasidah (the kind one) because it acts with chasidut (kindness) toward its fellows. On the other hand, Rambam (Maimonides) taught that every non-kosher bird is naturally cruel. So, why is the stork considered not kosher?
Chidushei Ha-Rim ("Insights of Rabbi Yitzchak Meir", the first Gerer rebbe) says it is because the stork helps only “its fellows”, other storks, and no others. He continues, “One must help all others, for a person who helps only his own is not kind, but cruel.”
The Gerer’s teaching is a logical extension of the more familiar teaching of Hillel: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” (Avot 1:14)
CRUEL KINDNESS
“… They shall not be eaten…. the stork …” Leviticus 11:13, 19
The Torah refers to non-kosher birds as an abomination. Interestingly, Rabbi Yehudah taught that the stork is called chasidah (the kind one) because it acts with chasidut (kindness) toward its fellows. On the other hand, Rambam (Maimonides) taught that every non-kosher bird is naturally cruel. So, why is the stork considered not kosher?
Chidushei Ha-Rim ("Insights of Rabbi Yitzchak Meir", the first Gerer rebbe) says it is because the stork helps only “its fellows”, other storks, and no others. He continues, “One must help all others, for a person who helps only his own is not kind, but cruel.”
The Gerer’s teaching is a logical extension of the more familiar teaching of Hillel: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” (Avot 1:14)
Indeed, neither the
quality nor the timing of our kindness should depend upon our attitude toward
or our relationship with the one who requires kindness. The bottom line is
taught in Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your fellow (human being, who is,
after all) like yourself.”
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier
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: 7:11 pm
Friday – Shabbat Evening Service –
8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service –
10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday – Religious School
Tuesday - Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Friday, April
28 – Shabbat
Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, April
29 – Shabbat
Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday, April
30 –Religious
School – 9:30 am. Adult Education – 10:00 am.
Tuesday, May
2 – NO Lunch
and Learn. Resume May 9.
This d'var torah
is offered in memory of The Six Million.
This d'var torah
is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Yaakov
Rani Ben Margalit, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Kyree
Beacham, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky (Serach bat Miriam), Jerry Daniels, Byron
Fendrich (Berel ben Chanah), Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht
(Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Annabelle Flom (Chanah Bella bat Kreina), Leonard
Foint (Eliezer Moshe ben Esther), Jerry Forman, Myra Goodman, Simon Hartman,
Fouad Kay (Yehoshua ben Salima), Elaine Kleiger, Dena Kosche (Dena bat Sarah
Emanu), Philip Kovac, Evan Kronzek, Philip Kronzek (Pinchas Yosef ben Sarah),
Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Emanu), Toni Linder, Roy Miller, Leo
Pomerantz, Deborah Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), and Helen
Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina).
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.
