Parashat Ekev
23 Av 5778 / 3-4 August
2018
Torah: Deuteronomy 7:12
– 11:25
Haftarah: Isaiah 49:14 – 51:3 (Second Haftarah of Consolation)
Haftarah: Isaiah 49:14 – 51:3 (Second 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:
Please feel free to pass
this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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WALKING
THAT GODLY WALK
“For if you diligently observe this entire
commandment which I command you, to do it, to love Adonai your God, to walk in
all God’s ways, and to cling to God...” Deuteronomy 11:22
Sifrei Deuteronomy 49:1 on the above verse
teaches: “’To walk in all God’s ways’ – these are the ways of the Holy One – ‘gracious
and compassionate, patient, abounding in kindness and truth, assuring love for
a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and granting
pardon’”. (citing Exodus 34:6-7)
The verses from Exodus 34:6-7, cited by the Midrash
Sifrei Deuteronomy, describe in part the 13 Middot (character traits) of God. These
traits – grace, patience, kindness, forgiveness, etc. - are the basis for
teaching and developing a virtue-based ethics, as in the Musar Movement in
Judaism. This allows people to make correct moral decisions through character
development, rather than by following a set of action-based rules, as in
Halakhah. To Sifrei Deuteronomy, to walk in God’s ways is to emulate God’s
moral character.
But earlier in this parashah, we have these
verses:
“And now, Israel, what does Adonai your God ask
of you? Only that you should fear the Lord your God, to walk in all God’s
ways, and to love God, and to serve Adonai your God with all your heart and
with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 10:12
“For the Lord … shows no favor and takes no
bribe. God does justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the stranger,
in providing him food and clothing. Therefore you must love the stranger; for
you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:17-19
If we connect this set of verses, we can see
the Torah as teaching that walking in God’s ways is to emulate God’s actions,
directed at our fellow human beings. We are to take no bribes, do justice, and
love strangers by giving them companionship and providing for their physical
needs.
So how do we walk in God’s ways? You already
know the answer – we practice developing our character so we’ll choose to do
the right thing, and we practice doing the right thing so we’ll develop our
character.
Put on those walking shoes!
Shabbat Shalom!
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: 7:34 pm
Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm.
Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Torah study/breakfast – 8:45
am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday: TBH/CBM Open
House – 11:00 am – 1:00 pm.
Come on down with your family and friends who might be interested in joining
our growing community. Schmooze with old friends and make new ones!
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.
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, Hiroe Andreola, Susan Arbetman, Ken
Bitticks, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht
(Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Annabelle Flom (Channah Bella bat Kreina), 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), 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.
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