Parashat Chukkat
7 Tammuz 5777 / 30 June –
1 July 2017
Torah: Numbers 19:1 – 22:1
Haftarah: Judges 11:1-33
Dedications and calendar
follow below. For complete listings and lots of other information about
our community, see our web site at: http://bethmeier.org
Please feel free to pass
this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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TAKE NOTE
"The Kohen will take cedar wood, hyssop and crimson thread, and throw them into the burning of the cow." Numbers 19:6
From the description of
the inexplicable ritual of the Red Heifer, Rabbi Simchah Bunim of Pshischa
teaches: The cedar alludes to haughtiness, while the hyssop implies
humility. Every person must have a note in one pocket which says, "I
am but dust and ashes" (Genesis 18:27), and in the other pocket one must
have a note which says, "For my sake was the world created"
(Sanhedrin 37). The wise person knows when to use which.
Yechiel of Alexander
explains that when the Yetzer Hara, the Evil Impulse, wishes to build us up, in
order to make us arrogant and self-centered, we should read the first note.
When the Evil Impulse wants to bring us down in sadness and depression over our
failures, we should read the second note.
But what about the crimson
thread? Perhaps we should tie one around a finger, to serve as a reminder that
the notes are in our pockets. The thread has a unique characteristic
- unlike the cedar and the hyssop, the crimson thread was created by
human beings. This means we have power - the power to resist both
arrogance and despair, the power to improve, the power to control our own
destinies - as long as we are mindful of what those destinies might be.
Shabbat Shalom!
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: 7:50 pm
Friday – Shabbat Evening
Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service –
10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Tuesday – Happy Birthday, United
States of America
Friday, July
7 – Shabbat
Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday,
July 8 – Shabbat
Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, HaRav Tzvi Hersh ben Frimet, 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:
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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.
