Parashat Lekh L'kha
8 Cheshvan 5778 / 27-28 October 2017
Torah Reading - Genesis 12:1 - 17:27
Haftarah - Isaiah 40:27 - 41:16
Calendar and dedications follow below. For more information about
our community, check out our web site at:
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the
source.
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MUTUAL BENEFIT
"Then the Lord said to Abram, 'Get yourself from your land,
from your community, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show
you.' .... So Abram went as the Lord had told him..." Genesis 12:1, 4
Rashi: "Go for
yourself" - for your own benefit and your own good.
According to Rashi, God was convincing Abram to go to Canaan
because of the benefit he would receive - to become a great nation and to be
blessed (v. 2). But the S'fat Emet, Yehudah Aryeh Leib of Ger, disagrees. He
says that this was the first of ten tests of Abram (later Abraham). It wouldn't
be much of a test if he received a benefit for listening to God. Rather, Abram
went solely because he was commanded to, without thinking of the benefit. Thus,
the act of going to Canaan was not contaminated by selfish motives.
Very few of us are as pure of heart as the Abram conceived by the
S'fat Emet. Everyone wants to know "what's in it for me?" If I am to
spend time and/or money, what is the payoff? This cost-benefit analysis is
cynical, to say the least. But it need not be so.
Feeding the hungry and clothing the naked are not simply for the
benefit of the recipients; we make our world a better place for ourselves and
for our children when we reduce suffering and strife, even though tzedakah has
a cost. The same is true for cleaning up the environment, regardless of the
"price". Similarly, doing work for the synagogue community benefits
everyone, including the one who does the work.
The answer, then, is that doing what God asks of us is always
beneficial to us, even when it might seem to be the opposite. The benefits of
carrying out God's word can be physically and spiritually uplifting, for
ourselves, for those around us, even the whole world – that’s what tikkun olam
is all about. Carry out God's word, and join the mutual benefit society.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi
Richard A. Flom
Visit
me on Facebook
Twitter: @DrahcirMolf
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence
in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT
Yevamot 88a
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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel
Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Ze’ev ben Adeline, HaRav Chana
Rivka bat Doronit, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Eilite bat
Miryam, HaRav Tzvi Hersh ben Frimet, Sarah bat Devorah, Hiroe Andriola,
Susan Arbetman, Stuart Barth, Ken Bitticks, Stana Cooper, Jerry Daniels, Maya
Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Leonard
Foint (Eliezer Moshe ben Esther), Jerry Forman, Bernard Garvin, Myra Goodman,
Leah Granat, Simon Hartmann, Brandon Joseph, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata
Malkah bat Sarah Emanu), Lyndia Lowy (Leah bat Sarah), Stuart Lytton, David
Marks, Deborah Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya
Feiga bat Kreina), Bernard Seeman, and Meagan Yudell.
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.
CALENDAR
Candle lighting: 5:46 pm
Friday – Shabbat
Evening Service – 7:30 pm (Oneg Shabbat follows).
Saturday – Breakfast
and Torah study - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am.
Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday –
Religious School – 9:30 am. Sign up the kids and bring ‘em on
down! Would you like to learn to read Hebrew, or how to lead davening, or
to chant Torah or Haftarah? Join Adult Hebrew with Lynda Foster at
9:30 am and Barry Glass at 10:00 am! TBH/CBM Sisterhood Meeting – 11:00
am. RSVP to Gina Seeman.
Tuesday – Lunch
and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Friday,
November 3 – Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg
Shabbat follows.
Saturday,
November 4 – Breakfast and Torah study - 8:45
am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday,
November 5 – Farewell Get-together at Congregation Beth Meier – 2:00 –
5:00 pm. We’ll share memories, look at pictures, take pictures, and bid fond
farewell to that sweet little domed building. All are invited! No charge, but
RSVP essential to Elaine at office@bethmeier.org or
(818) 769-0515.
Friday,
November 17 – Shabbat Evening Service at 6:30 pm, followed by Annual Turkey
Dinner at 7:15 pm. RSVP deadline November 10 – Adults $25, Children 5-12 $10,
under 5 no charge.
TBH Religious School and TBH Pre-school have
open enrollment. Enroll your children now! Contact the TBH office for
information.
And be sure to tell your neighbors, friends, and relatives about our
warm and welcoming community and our programs!
We are looking for volunteers for services: chant Torah or
Haftarah, daven, lead English readings, and have aliyot and other Torah/bimah
honors. Contact Rabbi Flom or Susan Burke by e-mail for details and to sign up!
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.
