Parashat
Vayechi
12
Tevet 5778 / 29-30 December 2017
Torah:
Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 (Chazak, chazak v'nitchazeik!)
Haftarah:
1 Kings 2:1-12
Calendar and dedications follow below. For a full
calendar of events and other info about Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth
Meier, check out: www.bnaihayim.com
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please
cite the source.
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JACOB’S
MANTRA
"For
Your salvation do I hope, O Lord!" Genesis 49:18
In
the middle of blessing his sons, between the blessings for Dan and Gad, Jacob
cries out this apparent non-sequitur. Rashi suggests that Jacob is
prophesying the moment when Samson (a Danite), blinded by the Philistines,
cries out to God for sufficient strength to destroy them (Judges
16:28). Other commentators say that it is a plea for God¹s protection of
the tribe of Dan, which was to be the rear guard during the desert journey. Still
others say that Jacob, on his deathbed, is asking God for help to complete the
blessings before his strength gives out.
Until
recent times, people believed that sleep was a bit like death. Because of
this, the Rabbis who compiled the siddur included a prayer to be recited on
awakening each morning, which thanks God for restoring one¹s soul. And in
the bedtime prayer, they included the above verse.
However,
one does not merely recite the verse. The three Hebrew words of the verse
are manipulated so that one recites the following: "For Your
salvation do I hope, O Lord. I hope, O Lord, for Your salvation. O
Lord, for Your salvation do I hope." Many siddurim say that this
formula is repeated three times, so that the verses, and the name of
God, are said nine times. It is, in essence, a Jewish
mantra. Perhaps it is symbolic of the nine months of childbirth, so that
when we recite this portion of the bedtime prayer, we are asking to be
"reborn" in the morning.
It
is also a plea that God should safeguard the soul should one die during the
night. The bedtime prayer is replete with this theme - from the opening
blessing through the Hashkiveinu ("cause us to lie down in peace, and to
rise up again, our King") to the concluding verse of Adon Olam:
"Into His hand I entrust my spirit, when I am asleep and awake; and as
with my spirit, so also my body, God is with me and I will not fear."
One
need not fear death in order to derive immense comfort from reciting the
bedtime prayer. The feeling of having communicated to God one's hopes
and fears can be a relaxing conclusion to any day. Recite Jacob¹s
mantra, and sleep well.
Shabbat
Shalom! Happy and Healthy 2018!
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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Candle lighting: 4:34 pm
Friday – Shabbat Evening Service at 7:30 pm, followed
by Oneg Shabbat.
Saturday – Breakfast and Torah study - 8:45
am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Lunch sponsored by Lynn Kronzek and Rabbi Flom in honor of their wedding anniversary.
Sunday – NO Religious School or Adult
Hebrew until January 7 – Winter Break
Monday – TBH office closed – Federal holiday - Yom Sylvester Sameach!
Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon
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, Ken Bitticks, 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, Gabor Klein, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata
Malkah bat Sarah Emanu), Lyndia Lowy (Leah bat Sarah), David Marks, Debra
Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat
Kreina), Jonathan Woolf, 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.
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