15-16
Nisan 5778 / March 30 – April 1 2018
Torah
Day 1: Exodus 12:21-51
Maftir
Day 1: Numbers 28:16-25
Haftarah
Day 1: Joshua 3:5-7; 5:2 - 6:1; 6:27
Torah
Day 2: Leviticus 22:26 - 23:44
Maftir
Day 2: Numbers 28:16-25
Haftarah
Day 2: 2 Kings 23:1-9; 21-25
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
My “Pesach Resources Guide – 5778 Edition” is available at my blog:
My “Pesach Resources Guide – 5778 Edition” is available at my blog:
Please submit your
authorization form by email to Rabbi Flom no later than 9:00 am Friday, March
30. Needed info: your name and the location (address) of any chametz you wish
to sell.
Please feel free to pass
this on this to a friend, and please cite the source.
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ON CHAMETZ AND THE FIFTH
CHILD
Chaverim Nichbadim/Dear
Friends:
I want to
share some thoughts with you as we prepare for the Festival of Pesach.
We should consider the
nature of the chametz we are commanded to eliminate from our homes and
elsewhere for the duration of the holiday. We generally think of it as bread,
leavening, whisky, beer and the like, which is correct - at one level. But
at a deeper level, our rabbis have taught that chametz is symbolic of pride and
an inflated ego. Just as leavening causes dough to inflate with the creation of
bubbles of hot air, so do our egos often cause us to fill up with pride and the
belief in our own self-importance. Chametz also means vinegar, which is made
sour by fermentation - so only certain types of vinegar are permitted on
Pesach.
The lesson to be learned
is that we need to remove not only the physical chametz, but also the spiritual
chametz - the chametz in our souls. We can shrink our
souls to their most basic components, reducing bitterness and egos so that
we can truly appreciate what it means to be the stranger and to address the
needs of others. "For you know the soul of the stranger" - the suffering
soul of the alienated. That is why the Seder Shel Pesach opens with the words,
"Let all who are hungry, come and eat! Let all who are in need come
and celebrate Pesach!" Pesach is not just about us - it's about us
attending to the physical and spiritual needs of the Other.
We know from the
Hagaddah Shel Pesach that there are four types of children, each of whom is to
be taught a lesson at the Seder - the wise child, the wicked, the simple and
the one who does not know what questions to ask. We often see ourselves
and others in these various models. But there is a fifth child, the one we
don't ever consider, because that child is invisible or not even present! At
least the wicked one is with us, even as s/he causes trouble - that child can
be addressed, challenged, even changed. But the one who is so far removed,
whether by personal choice or by rejection, that s/he is not present - that
child is one that we need to reach out to and bring back to the community - I
believe we are commanded to do so. That effort of keruv, of outreach and
bringing close, requires the elimination of chametz from our very selves,
because the Other is often feared (and fearful), regarded as unapproachable,
undesirable, and unclean.
The Seder Shel Pesach
should be more than a formulaic ritual and a good dinner. It should teach
us and our children that we are obligated to remove the chametz of hubris.
Pesach presents a wonderful opportunity to reconsider and reorganize our lives
into a new Seder - a new order, that will improve the world and make us worthy
of having Eliyahu Hanavi, Elijah the Prophet, knock on our doors.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag
Pesach Sameach!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai
Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
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:
Friday:
6:55 pm
Saturday:
7:56 pm
Friday: Ta’anit
B’chorot - Fast of the First Born – Study and Siyyum with Rabbi Flom – 8:00 am.
All chametz must be sold or destroyed by 12:00 noon. First Seder –
sundown. NO Friday evening service.
Saturday:
Pesach/Shabbat morning service – 9:30 am. NO Breakfast/Torah Study until
April 15. TBH/CBM Community Second Seder – 6:30pm. Sorry –
reservations closed.
Sunday: Pesach
Morning Service – 9:30 am. NO Religious School or Adult Hebrew Class
– resume April 7.
Tuesday: NO
Lunch and Learn – resume April 10
Friday,
6 April: Pesach
7th Day Morning Service – 9:30 am. Pesach Friday
evening service – 7:30 pm.
Saturday,
7 April:
Pesach/Shabbat morning service with Yizkor – 9:30 am.
Next
time you come to TBH/CBM after Pesach, please bring some non-perishable
canned and packaged foods and personal items (no glass) for SOVA.
Check your snail mail for
information about the Installation of Rabbi Flom and Rabbi Van Leeuwen – April
15 - Be There! Or go to our website:
This d'var torah is
offered for a refuah shleimah for Ze’ev ben Adeline, Eilite bat Miriam, Sarah
bat Devorah, Hiroe Andriola, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Jerry Daniels, Maya
Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), 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), Alan Stolzenberg, Jonathan Woolf, Howard
Yudell, 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.
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
To subscribe to
Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah”
to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
Send requests
for dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory
of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
To unsubscribe from
Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”
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