Parashat Ki Tavo
Elul 21, 5778 / August 31 – September 1, 2018
Torah: Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1-22 (Sixth Haftarah of Consolation)
Elul 21, 5778 / August 31 – September 1, 2018
Torah: Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1-22 (Sixth Haftarah of Consolation)
Calendar and dedications follow below. For a full calendar of
events and other info about Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier, check
out:
Rosh Hashanah begins the evening of Sunday, September 9. Please get your
membership and ticket orders in to the office ASAP. Also, if you want to
remember your friends and loved ones in the Book of Remembrance, contact
the office ASAP.
For the past few years, I have created a Cheshbon
Hanefesh Worksheet, to help get us all ready for the
spiritual side of the High Holy Days (sorry, no recipes or floral
arrangements!). You can pick up a hard copy at TBH/CBM, or download it from my
blog at:
Also, some excellent on-line resources are available for your Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur preparations at:
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the
source.
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GAVE TITHES YET?
"When you have set aside the full tenth
part of your crop - in the third year, the year of the tithe - and you have
given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan and the widow, that they may
eat their fill in your settlements, you shall say before the Lord your God: 'I
have cleared out the holy portion from the house ...; I have not transgressed Your
commandment and I did not forget.'" Deuteronomy 26:12-13
With the destruction of the Temple, the end of
the sacrifices, and the Kohanim and Levites therefore no longer entitled to
tithes, one might think that the practice of tithing had ended. But this tithe,
the one for the poor and propertyless, remains as the obligation
of tzedakah. In truth, it has replaced all of the other tithes, so that
one is obligated to give every year, not just one year out of seven - and not
just from crops, but from earnings.
As the above declaration indicates, the tithe
is holy. But note that, unlike virtually any other mitzvah, there is no
blessing or statement of intent before performing the act - there is only an
affirmation afterward.
One reason for this may be that the tithe has
to be separated out first - if I say a blessing and then begin measuring out
the tithe, I might be distracted and never fulfill the mitzvah, or I might
decide that I can't or won't give the full amount. Then the blessing would have
been said in vain, making me a liar.
A second, and perhaps more compelling reason,
is that when people are in need, when they are hungry - they shouldn't be made
to wait while we tell God that we are going to help them. Actions speak louder
than words.
With this year coming to a close, now is the
time to dole out the full measure of tzedakah, so that our prayers for a
good new year will have merit behind them.
Have
a wonderful Shabbat, a meaningful Selichot, and a Happy Labor Day!
Rabbi
Richard A. Flom
Temple
B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
Silence
in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT
Yevamot 88a
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Candle
lighting: 7:02 pm
Friday: Shabbat Evening
Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Shabbat Morning
Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush lunch sponsored by Ann Signett, in
celebration of her 90th birthday (!) follows. Selichot Service
with Rabbi Jason Van Leeuwen – 9:00 pm.
Tuesday: NO Lunch
and Learn – Rabbi Flom out of town. Due to Holy Days, we will not
resume until October 9 – yikes!
See
our website for full High Holy Day schedule, or check your tickets or other
correspondence from the synagogue.
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 Elisheva bat Malkah, Ze’ev ben
Adeline, Eilite bat Miriam, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks,
Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan
ben Gittel), Bernard Garvin, Leah Granat, 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),
Barbara Shear-Hill, Irwin Silon, and Jonathan Woolf.
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
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