13 Tishrei 5779 / 21-22 September 2018
Parashat Ha’azinu
Torah: Deuteronomy 32:1-52
Haftarah: 2 Samuel 22:1-51
Haftarah: 2 Samuel 22:1-51
15-16 Tishrei / 24-25 September
Sukkot
Torah: Leviticus 22:26 – 23:44 (both days)
Maftir: Numbers 29:12-16 (both days)
Haftarah day 1: Zechariah 14:1-21
Haftarah day 2: 1 Kings 8:2-21
Dedications follow below. For more
information about our community, visit:
Some excellent on-line resources are
available for Sukkot/Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah at:
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend,
and please cite the source
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E PLURIBUS UNUM?
"The Lord saw and was provoked by the
anger of His sons and His daughters. And He said, 'I will hide My face from
them, I will see what their end will be; for they are a very unstable
generation, children in whom there is no faith.'" Deuteronomy 32:19-20
Rabbi Moshe Pollak comments: "God becomes angry at us because of 'the anger of His sons and His daughters' - i.e., because the Jewish people fight among themselves."
Rabbi Moshe Pollak comments: "God becomes angry at us because of 'the anger of His sons and His daughters' - i.e., because the Jewish people fight among themselves."
Divrei Eliezer suggests what they fight
about. Regarding "they are a very unstable generation," he says that
the Jewish people are a nation of fast changes and contradictions. Even as they
preach and seek peace and brotherhood, there are always many arguments among
them. They create many organizations to help those in need, yet have many
jealousies between them.
This is both wonderful praise and a stinging indictment! Yes, our Torah and our holy texts are full of exhortations for peace and brotherhood. Many of our people do practice what we preach. And yet, we just spent Yom Kippur confessing our individual and communal failure to fulfill those goals, among others. What are we arguing about? Who is the most peaceful? Who defines peace and brotherhood?
This is both wonderful praise and a stinging indictment! Yes, our Torah and our holy texts are full of exhortations for peace and brotherhood. Many of our people do practice what we preach. And yet, we just spent Yom Kippur confessing our individual and communal failure to fulfill those goals, among others. What are we arguing about? Who is the most peaceful? Who defines peace and brotherhood?
As for organizations helping the needy, the Jews are famous for establishing them, and succeeding. But how much more successful would the groups be if they would not engage in turf wars, or be jealous over each other's balance sheet? God knows (so do we all!) that there are enough needy people around - they don't need the helpers to waste precious time and resources in arguing over who needs the most help or who is the most helpful!
There is a lesson to be learned on these points not simply from the Holy Days just past, but the Holy Days to come - Sukkot. The sukkah requires us to live a minimalist existence, by the skin of our teeth. It helps us understand the most basic needs of those less fortunate than us. By sharing our sukkah with friends, family and members of the community, we create a sukkat shalom - a tent of peace. At the same time, the lulav and etrog set that is used during the holiday is composed of distinct parts, like the Jewish people, but the mitzvah of lulav and etrog is not fulfilled unless and until the parts are brought together as one - as a unit. Then it is shalem - complete.
Shalem and shalom - one depends upon the other. Only when our people come together in unity will we have truly formed a community of peace.
HaRachaman hu yivarekh otanu kulanu yachad
b'virkat shalom - May the Merciful One bless us, all of us as one, with the
blessing of peace.
Shabbat Shalom! Chag Sukkot Sameach!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
"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:
Friday - 6:32 pm
Sunday (Sukkot 1): 6:30 pm
Monday (Sukkot 2): 7:28 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 luncheon follows.
Sunday: Religious
School – 9:30 am. Sukkah Final Construction – 9:30
am. Sukkot begins at 6:30 pm.
Monday: Sukkot
Morning Service – 9:30 am. Light kiddush lunch follows in sukkah.
Tuesday: Sukkot
Morning Service – 9:30 am. Light kiddush lunch follows in sukkah. NO Lunch
and Learn – resumes October 9.
For full schedule for Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret,
and Simchat Torah, see:
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, Liora bat Sarah, 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), Stuart Lytton, David Marks, Debra
Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat
Kreina), Irwin Silon, William Sragow, 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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