Parashat Korach
30 Sivan 5777 / 23-24 June
2017
Torah: Numbers 16:1 -
18:32
Maftir: Numbers 28:9-15
Haftarah (Shabbat Rosh
Chodesh): Isaiah 66:1-24, 23
Dedications and calendar
follow below. For complete listings and lots of other information about
our community, see our web site at: http://www.bethmeier.org/
Please feel free to pass
this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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ON BEING AND DOING
"They gathered
together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, 'It is too much for
you! For all of the assembly - all of them - are holy, and the Lord is
among them; why do you lord yourselves over the congregation of the Lord?'"
(Numbers 16:3)
Korach and his fellow
rebels offer this challenge to the leadership of Moses and Aaron. What
makes them holier than everybody else? Korach seems to have a point. After
all, God did say to all of the Israelites that "you will be holy for I,
the Lord your God, am holy." (Leviticus 19:2) Even before the giving
of the Torah at Sinai, God had told them, "You will be for me a kingdom of
priests and a holy people." (Exodus 19:6)
The error that Korach and
his followers make is that they didn't hear God as clearly as they
thought. In the Exodus and Leviticus texts, God spoke in the future tense
- "you will (or shall) be holy". It can be viewed as either a
promise of future holiness, or as a commandment to become holy. How might
holiness be accomplished? By observing God's commandments, of course.
Korach thinks that merely
by being a Jew, he has done enough, he is holy. So it is with too many of
us. We think that it is enough merely to be a Jew. As Korach fatally
learns, to really be a Jew, to really achieve the holiness that God promises
us, requires not passivity, but action - Jewish action. One can not simply
"be" - one must “do".
There are many paths to
the kind of holiness the Torah is talking about. One can kasher
one's kitchen or attend prayer services more often or make Shabbat at home
regularly. One might attend Jewish education classes or read more
Jewish books. It certainly means taking responsibility for one’s actions
(or inaction). But in Judaism, it is equally certain that mere belief is
not enough. Deeds speak far louder than professions of faith.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Congregation Beth Meier
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: 7:50 pm
Friday – Shabbat Evening
Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday – Temple B’nai Hayim Women’s
Rosh Chodesh Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Note the time. Men, be there
too‼ We will not have a
separate service at Beth Meier this Shabbat morning – we’ll be at B’nai Hayim!
B’nai Hayim is located at: 4302 Van Nuys Blvd. 91403 Ventura Blvd.
Tuesday – NO Lunch and Learn –
resume July 11.
Friday, June
30 – Shabbat
Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday,
July 1 – Shabbat
Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
This d'var torah
is offered in honor of the women of Temple B’nai Hayim and Congregation Beth
Meier, who are taking on Jewish action.
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, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet
Brosky (Serach bat Miriam), Jerry Daniels, Bryon Fendrich (Berel ben Chanah),
Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel),
Leonard Foint (Eliezer Moshe ben Esther), Jerry Forman, Myra Goodman, Simon
Hartman, Dena Kosche (Dena bat Sarah Emanu), Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata
Malkah bat Sarah Emanu), Toni Linder, 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.
