25 Cheshvan 5779 / 2-3 November 2018
Parashat Chayei Sarah
Torah - Genesis 23:1 - 25:18
Haftarah - 1 Kings 1:1-31
Torah - Genesis 23:1 - 25:18
Haftarah - 1 Kings 1:1-31
This Shabbat will be “Solidarity Shabbat – We Stand With
Pittsburgh”. We’ll have some special learning, additional parts to our service,
and discussion with our own Reb Jason Van Leeuwen, hospice chaplain and grief
counselor. Please join us for services – and bring a friend.
For a complete Calendar of Events, as well as lots
of other information on our community, check out our website at:
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please
cite the source.
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LOVE CONQUERS HATE AND DESPAIR
‘Then Abraham rose up from beside his dead
(his wife Sarah), and spoke to the Hittites saying, “I am a stranger and a
resident with you; sell me a burial site from with you, that I may bury my
dead.”’ Genesis 23:3-4
It has been a sad state of affairs for Jews
though much of their history that even among their non-Jewish friends and
neighbors, those among whom they reside, they have been regarded as strangers.
Perhaps that is why Abraham buys a local cave/tomb for Sarah – to demonstrate
that he wishes to remain among the local people – even though he may have
different practices and customs than they.
Unfortunately, there are those in our beloved
United States of America, and in many places around the globe, who can not even
tolerate having Jews residing among them, let alone being citizens with all the
rights and responsibilities citizenship entails.
I confess, I despaired over this past Saturday
night and Sunday morning. And I am still crying. But I was heartened on Sunday
afternoon, and again on Tuesday evening, thanks to an outpouring of love and
comfort and encouragement from so many of our friends and neighbors – and
strangers we do not know.
On Sunday, we attended an Interfaith Solidarity
March in the far west corner of the San Fernando Valley. The march had been
previously planned to support the homeless in Los Angeles, a community with
more urgent and immediate needs than the Jewish community. But the organizers
turned it into a rally of support for both communities. We began at a synagogue,
and sang along with the cantor, then with a mini-choir from a local church led
by a former music director for Aretha Franklin. (Hey, this is LA!) We were
strengthened by the words of a number of Christian ministers. We marched to a
Presbyterian Church, where activists for the homeless told us how we could do
more for that community. We then ended our march at a beautiful mosque. There
we were all welcomed by the spiritual leader, who explained that their
particular branch of Islam was dedicated to love for and equality of all
peoples. The ceremonies concluded with a blessing from a Buddhist monk,
followed by a meal prepared and served by the local Sikh community. We heard
many languages, some of which we recognized, some not. But they all spoke with
the same voice and vision – love is stronger than hate, and it is love which
will bind us up.
Tuesday, we attended a candle-light vigil held
by the Burbank Human Relations Council at City Hall. It was a generous
outpouring of concern and comfort from our friends and neighbors from so many
of the faith communities in Burbank, as well as a host of local politicians. From
the Talmud to Saint Francis of Assisi, we learned the wisdom of loving the stranger
and resisting fear and hate of the Other.
So, I no longer despair.
Near the end of
our parashah, we read: “Isaac then brought her into the tent of his mother
Sarah, and he took Rebekah as his wife. Isaac loved her, and thus found comfort
after his mother’s death.” Isaac and Rebekah married - second cousins whom
had never met before, as much strangers to each other as anyone – yet it was
through love that he found comfort in the loss of his mother and she found
comfort despite the distance from her home and family. May it be so for all of us.
Harakhaman hu yivarekh otanu kulanu yachad
b’virkat shalom.
May the Merciful One bless us, all of us,
together as one with the blessing of peace.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
Silence in the face of wrongdoing is
consent.”
BT Yevamot 88a
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Candle lighting: 5:41 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. Before retiring tonight: turn back your clocks
one hour.
Sunday: Religious
School – 9:30 am.
Tuesday: Lunch
and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Looking Ahead - Community Menorah Lighting,
Hanukkah Play, Latkes, Sufganiyot, and More! Sunday, December 9 - 5:00 pm.
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 Joyce
Fienberg, Rich Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David
Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving
Younger. Y’hi zikhronam liv’rakhah – may the memories of those who died as
kiddushei Hashem, sanctifiers of God’s holy name, be a blessing to all.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah
shleimah for Daniel Leger, Andrea Wedner, Officer Anthony
Burke, Officer Tim Matson, Officer Dan Mead, Officer Tyler Pashel, Officer John
Persin, and Officer Michael Smigda, all wounded at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh.
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, Elsbet Brosky
(erach bat Miriam), 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),
Barbara Levy, 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.
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
To 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
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