28 Elul 5778 / 7-8 September 2018
Parashat Nitzavim
Torah: Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20
Haftarah: Isaiah 61:10 - 63:9 (Seventh
Haftarah of Consolation)
Important note: If you have no place to worship for the High
Holy Days, or any day of the year, or if you think you cannot afford tickets or
membership, please, please join us for services. You can pay whatever you can
afford later. No one is turned away! Ever!
Rosh Hashanah begins Sunday evening! Please submit your Membership/High Holy Day
forms ASAP! Or call the synagogue office!
Dedications and Calendar of Events follow. For
our complete High Holy Day schedule, and lots of other info about our community, please check out our web site
at: http://bnaihayim.com
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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ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER
These final few days leading up to
Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Awe and through Yom Kippur ought to be a time of
introspection and repentance. Jewish tradition teaches that during this
time, we should repent and make amends for all the wrongs we have done, to God,
to our relatives, to our friends, to everyone with whom we have a relationship. The
Hebrew word for repentance is "teshuvah". The root of
this word, "shuv", appears seven times in our parashah, at
Deuteronomy 30:1-10. The word connotes repentance, turning, returning,
turning around, and recalling. It has active and reflexive forms.
"... and you shall recall (v'hasheivota)
them to your mind ..." 30:1
"and you shall return (v'shavta)
to the Lord your God ..." 30:2
"and the Lord your God will return (v'shav)
your captivity and have compassion upon you, and will return (v'shav)
and gather you from all the peoples ..." 30:3
"and you shall return (tashuv)
and hearken to the voice of the Lord ..." 30:8
"... for the Lord will return (yashuv)
to rejoice over you for good ..." 30:9
"... if you turn (tashuv) to the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." 30:10
R. Shlomo of Radomsk once asked, if the Torah
states in verse two that "you shall return to the Lord your God",
implying repentance, why does it say so again in verse eight? He answers
that before a person begins to repent, he doesn't even know what offenses he
has committed - he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Only after the first
steps of teshuvah, through the process of cheshbon hanefesh (accounting
of the soul) does he realize the enormity of his wrongs. So, he
begins to ascend, step by step, in his spiritual development. It's not a
one-shot deal.
What R. Shlomo doesn't say, perhaps because
it was obvious to him, is the role that God plays in all of this. It's a
two-way conversation. We turn toward God; God turns toward us. We move
closer to God; God moves closer to us. We repent; God draws us into greater
repentance.
How do we start? The answer is found in
the concluding sentence of "Etz Chaim", recited at the
conclusion of every Torah service. "Bring us back (hashiveinu),
Lord, to You, and we will return (v'nashuvah); renew our days as of
old." Lamentations 5:21. We seriously ask God to help us repent,
and we are on our way!
Shabbt Shalom! L'shanah Tovah Umetukah
Tikateivu V'tichateimu - May you be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet
new year!
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: 6:52 pm
Friday: A
Cappella Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: NO Torah
study/breakfast this Shabbat. Shabbat Morning Service –
9:30 am. Minimal kiddush follows – no lunch
Sunday: Rosh
HaShanah Evening Service – 7:30 pm.
Monday: Rosh
HaShanah Morning Service – 9:00 am.
Tuesday: Rosh
HaShanah Morning Service – 9:00 am.
Lunch and Learn will resume Tuesday, October 9.
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 in memory of Rabbi
Meier Schimmel, whose yahrzeit is this Thursday, 26 Elul. Y’hi zikhrono liv’rakhah
– May his memory be a blessing.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my
grandmother, Cora Slome, whose yahrzeit falls on Saturday, 28 Elul. Y’hi
zikhronah liv’rakhah – May her memory be a blessing.
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, Janice Ross, Debra Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat
Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Barbara Shear-Hill, 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.
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
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