13
Iyar 5778 / 27-28 April 2018
Parashat
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
Torah:
Leviticus 16:1-20:27
Haftarah:
Amos 9:7-15
Calendar and dedications follow below. For a
full calendar of events and other info about Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation
Beth Meier, check out:
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO, GOT TO DO WITH
IT?
"You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your fellow as yourself; I am the Lord." (Leviticus 19:18)
Siddur Sim Shalom has the following brief kavannah - a statement of intent - immediately before Birkhot Hashachar – The Blessings of the Morning: "I hereby accept upon myself the mitzvah of the Creator - 'Love your fellow as yourself.'" Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the founder of Chabad, placed this kavannah in his siddur as well. The reason, he said, is that the commandment to love one's fellows is the gateway to coming before God in prayer. I think what he means by that is that we cannot stand before the One we are commanded to love (Deuteronomy 6:5) until we have demonstrated our love for our fellow human beings – who are, after all, created in the Divine image. I found this quote of “an unknown Torah scholar” in Itturei Torah: "To the extent that one is deficient in 'love your fellow as yourself', one is deficient in 'love the Lord your God.'"
In Or Hadash, his commentary on Siddur
Sim Shalom, Rabbi Reuven Hammer cites the famous story of Hillel teaching
the Torah to a proselyte while standing on one foot: “Whatever is hateful to
you, do not do to others. The rest is commentary. Go and learn it!” (BT Shabbat
31a) Rabbi Hammer adds that Hillel believes our religious practices are
intended to lead us to treating our fellow human beings in this loving way. He
concludes: “Thus, the ultimate test of a religious person is not specific
observances, but the influence that these observances have upon that person’s
actions toward others.”
The second blessing of the morning, as
it appears in Siddur Sim Shalom and other Conservative siddurim, says:
“Blessed are you, Lord our God, who has made me in His image.” We thank
God for making each and every one of us in the Divine image.
In summary, we cannot hope to approach
the Divine, let alone love the Divine, until we acknowledge the divinity
in every other human being.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Visit me on Facebook
"From the place where we are
absolutely right, flowers will never grow in the spring."
"מן המקום שבו אנו צודקים לא יצמחו לעולם פרחים באביב"
Yehuda Amichai
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Candle lighting: 7:17 pm
Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Breakfast/Torah Study – 8:45 am. ShMA (Shabbat Morning
Adventure) Service – 9:30 am. Guitar-accompanied children and family friendly
service led by Steve Pearlman. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday: Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew Class – 10:00
am. TBH/CBM Sisterhood meeting – 11:00 am. Contact Gina Seeman for details.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Friday, May 4: Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, May 5: Breakfast/Torah Study – 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am.
Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday, May 6: Religious School – 9:30 am – concluding session - with Reb
Jason! Adult Hebrew Class – 10:00 am.
Next time you come to TBH/CBM,
please bring some non-perishable canned and packaged foods and personal
items (no glass) for SOVA.
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), 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”
to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
