KOSHER WORDS, KOSHER THINGS

28 Tammuz 5777 / 21-22 July 2017

Parashat Mattot - Mas'ei
Torah: Numbers 30:2 - 32:42
Haftarah: Jeremiah 2:4-28; 3:4 (Sephardim add Jeremiah 4:1-2)

NOTE: Membership letters and dues forms for the coming year were sent today to all Congregation Beth Meier members. Please return them to the CBM office as soon as possible. We are in the final stages of completing our agreement to join with Temple B’nai Hayim. However, contrary to our previous communications, our Friday, July 28, and Saturday, July 29 Shabbat services will be held here at Congregation Beth Meier. Assuming that the agreement is finalized in the next week or so, all services commencing Friday, August 11, will be conducted at Temple B’nai Hayim, 4302 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks 91403. Note also that at B’nai Hayim, all Shabbat Evening services commence at 7:30 pm, and all Shabbat Morning services commence at 9:30 am. Shabbat Morning service will generally be preceded by Torah study and light refreshments at 8:45 am. Check calendar below or website for details. And PLEASE READ YOUR EMAILS AND SNAIL MAIL LETTERS FROM BETH MEIER!

Dedications and calendar follow below. For complete listings and lots of other information about our community, see our website at:

http://bethmeier.org

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

"If a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath prohibiting something to himself, he shall not profane his word; all that has come from his mouth he must do." Numbers 30:3

”Any articles that can withstand fire, you shall pass through the fire, and they shall be pure, except that they shall be purified with the water of sprinkling (water imbued with red heifer ashes); and that which cannot withstand fire you shall pass through the water." Numbers 31:23

Vows and oaths have extraordinary power - they can turn ordinary objects into things of holiness or prohibition. "I hereby vow to donate this silver cup to the synagogue"; "By my oath, I will not eat meat for six months" - these words have transformative effect over mundane things. This is why Jewish tradition frowns on the recitation of vows and oaths.

Changing the (ritual) nature of objects is accomplished either by words, according to the first verse, or by kashering, making them fit to use, as stated in the later verse. What about the converse? What happens if you profane your word?

If an object is kosher, and is used only for kosher purposes, it remains kosher. If it is defiled, it requires an elaborate process of kashering. Similarly, if you want to retract a vow, the rabbis devised a ritual for doing so. If you have already violated your word, you must do teshuvah - the steps of repentance. Just as it is far easier to maintain the kashrut of an object by not defiling it, so is it easier to maintain the purity of our words by fulfilling them.

So perhaps it is not coincidental that the Hebrew word for "things" and the Hebrew word for "words" is the same word - "devarim". Our words have meaning and power that are tangible. Be a man or woman of your word.

Peace and blessings. 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: 7:43 pm

Friday – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Bat Mitzvah of Jayme Drapkin – Mazal tov! Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Bat Mitzvah of Jayme Drapkin – Mazal tov! The entire congregation is invited to this joyous event! RSVP to CBM office. Kiddush luncheon sponsored by Danny and Teresa Drapkin follows.

Sunday, July 23 – Open House at Beth Meier TO BE RESCHEDULED TO A LATER DATE 

Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, July 28 – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, July 29 – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush luncheon follows services.

Monday, July 31 – Tisha B’Av Service – 8:00 pm. Reading of Megillat Eicha – Book of Lamentations. AT TEMPLE B’NAI HAYIM - 4302 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks 91403

Tuesday, August 1 – Tisha B’Av - NO Lunch and Learn! Resume August 8.

This d'var torah is offered in honor of Jayme Drapkin on becoming a Bat Mitzvah! Mazal Tov!

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, Kerry Katz, Dena Kosche (Dena bat Sarah Emanu), Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Emanu), Toni Linder, Senator John McCain, 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.