THE KISS

22 Tishrei 5778 / 12 October 2017
Shemini Atzeret (The Eighth Day of Assembly)
Torah: Deuteronomy 14:22 - 16:17; Numbers 29:35 - 30:1
Haftarah: 1 Kings 8:54-66

23 Tishrei 5778 / 13 October 2017
Simchat Torah (Joy of the Torah)
Torah: Deuteronomy 33:1 - 34:12 (V’zot Hab’rakhah); Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 (Bereishit); Numbers 29:35 - 30:1
Haftarah: Joshua 1:1-18

24 Tishrei 5778 / 14 October 2017

Parashat Bereishit

Torah: Genesis 1:1 – 6:8

Haftarah: Ashkenazim - Isaiah 42:5 – 43:10; Sephardim – Isaiah 42:5-21

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, Ze’ev ben Adeline, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Eilite bat Miryam, HaRav Tzvi Hersh ben Frimet, Sarah bat Devorah, Hiroe Andriola, Susan Arbetman, Stuart Barth, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky (Serach bat Miriam), 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 Gavin, Myra Goodman, Leah Granat, Simon Hartman, 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:

Wednesday - 6:05 pm (and yahrzeit candle if appropriate)

Thursday - 7:00 pm

Friday - 6:03 pm

Thursday – Shemini Atzeret Morning Service (including Yizkor) 9:30 am (light kiddush only – no lunch). Simchat Torah Celebration – 6:30 pm.  Friday – Simchat Torah Morning Service – 9:30 am (light kiddush only – no lunch).  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!

Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.

Friday, October 20 – Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm (Oneg Shabbat follows).

Saturday, October 21 – Women’s Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Morning Service – 9:30 am. Attention all TBH/CBM women of all ages! Contact Carol Herskowitz or Lynn Kronzek to sign up for a part – many still available. Kiddush luncheon follows.

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!

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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THE KISS

"So Moses the servant of God died there, in the land of Moab, by the mouth of the Lord. He buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, near Beth-Peor; and no one knows his burial place to this very day." Deuteronomy 34:5-6

This parashah has one of the most touching scenes in the Torah. Moses has spent the entire book of Deuteronomy (I call it "The Long Goodbye") recounting his life and times, as the leader of the Israelites and as the intercessor between them and God. Moses' relationships with the people and with God were fiery. He shepherded the Israelites, protected them from God's wrath, and castigated them.

In their conversations with each other, Moses and God seemed in a strange way like an old married couple - reminding each other of the old days, both good and bad; blaming each other for the faults of the Israelites, like parents arguing over children; seeking deeper understanding of each other; and finally, saying goodbye in a tender way. The Babylonian Talmud says that when Moses died, God took his soul by kissing him.

Today, many of us, whether Jewish or not, say we are seeking spirituality - we may want religious services to be spiritually uplifting, or we may want to feel closer to God in some way. But virtually all of us want it on our terms. It reminds me of my second year in rabbinical school, when there was an early attempt to develop a spirituality program for the students. We used to joke that the program required that "you will be spiritual every Thursday at 10".

What we need to acknowledge is that spiritual life can be like a lovers' relationship - it has its ups and downs, passion, loneliness, anger, intimacy, forgiveness. Why should our relationship with God be easier than our relationships with people? Like any other relationship, it takes a commitment of time, learning and emotion to develop a spiritual life. The payoff is that we know that at the end of our days, we will be able to look back at a life fulfilled; ending in a warm embrace from those we love.

Chag Shemini Atzeret V’Simchat Torah Sameach V'Shabbat Shalom!

These are the seasons of our joy!

Shabbat Shalom! 

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

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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