27
Shevat 5779 / 1-2 February 2019
Parashat
Mishpatim
Torah:
Exodus 21:1 - 24:18
Haftarah: Jeremiah 34:8-22, 23:25-26
Haftarah: Jeremiah 34:8-22, 23:25-26
Dedications
and this week’s calendar are below. For more information about our community,
visit: http://bnaihayim.com
Please
feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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BEING
MINDFUL OF BEING THERE
'And the Lord said to Moses: "Come up to Me to the mountain; and be there; and I will give you the stone tablets and the Torah and the commandments that I have written, that you may teach them."' Exodus 24:12
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (aka The Kotzk Rebbe; Poland, 1787-1859) says, "There is a difficulty here. If Moses went up the mountain, of course he would be there! Perhaps this is to show that one may struggle to climb the peak, being able to arrive there, yet not really be there. He may be standing at the summit, but his head is in another place. The main thing is not the ascent, but to be there, and only there, and not to be going up and down at the same time."
This is more than a rejection of the notion that the journey is more important than the ultimate goal. For the Kotzker, "being there" is not just physical, to be in a specific location. Being there is temporal and spiritual. The mind, heart and soul, having struggled to reach God, must remain focused on the moment - what came before, and what will come after, are not then relevant. If this seems very much like the Buddhist concept of mindfulness – it is; and you can be pretty sure the Kotzker Rebbe never had any exposure to Buddhism. Mindfulness is equally a Jewish concept, and always has been so.
When engaged in prayer, when lighting the Shabbat candles, when reciting Kiddush, when blessing your children, when performing any mitzvah - be there. When you are fully present in the present, you experience the wonder of the moment. The awesomeness of the summit can only be experienced - and only for so long as one does not think about how one got there or how one will get down or what it all means. Our ancestors knew this. That is why they said, "All that the Lord has said, we will do and we will hear." Exodus 24:7. In short - do it, experience it - then try to understand.
Have an awesome Shabbat!
'And the Lord said to Moses: "Come up to Me to the mountain; and be there; and I will give you the stone tablets and the Torah and the commandments that I have written, that you may teach them."' Exodus 24:12
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (aka The Kotzk Rebbe; Poland, 1787-1859) says, "There is a difficulty here. If Moses went up the mountain, of course he would be there! Perhaps this is to show that one may struggle to climb the peak, being able to arrive there, yet not really be there. He may be standing at the summit, but his head is in another place. The main thing is not the ascent, but to be there, and only there, and not to be going up and down at the same time."
This is more than a rejection of the notion that the journey is more important than the ultimate goal. For the Kotzker, "being there" is not just physical, to be in a specific location. Being there is temporal and spiritual. The mind, heart and soul, having struggled to reach God, must remain focused on the moment - what came before, and what will come after, are not then relevant. If this seems very much like the Buddhist concept of mindfulness – it is; and you can be pretty sure the Kotzker Rebbe never had any exposure to Buddhism. Mindfulness is equally a Jewish concept, and always has been so.
When engaged in prayer, when lighting the Shabbat candles, when reciting Kiddush, when blessing your children, when performing any mitzvah - be there. When you are fully present in the present, you experience the wonder of the moment. The awesomeness of the summit can only be experienced - and only for so long as one does not think about how one got there or how one will get down or what it all means. Our ancestors knew this. That is why they said, "All that the Lord has said, we will do and we will hear." Exodus 24:7. In short - do it, experience it - then try to understand.
Have an awesome Shabbat!
Rabbi
Richard A. Flom
Temple
B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Blogging
at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com
Visit
me on Facebook
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence
in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT
Yevamot 88a
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CALENDAR
Candle lighting: 5:06 pm
Friday – Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg
Shabbat follows.
Saturday – Breakfast and Torah study -
8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service - 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday – Religious School – 9:30 am. TBH/CBM Sisterhood Meeting – 11:00
am.
Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – 12:00
noon.
Friday, February 8 – Shabbat Evening
Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows. B’nai Mitzvah of Adi and Eitan
Buchnik – Mazal tov!
Saturday, February 9 – NO Breakfast and Torah
study – Resume February 16. Shabbat Morning Service - 9:30 am. B’nai
Mitzvah of Adi and Eitan Buchnik – Mazal tov! Kiddush luncheon sponsored
by Jodi West and Gabriel Buchnik follows.
Next time you come to TBH/CBM, please bring some non-perishable
canned and packaged foods and personal items (no glass) for SOVA.
TBH Religious School and TBH Preschool have
open enrollment. Enroll your children now! Contact the TBH office for
information.
And be sure to tell your neighbors, friends, and relatives about
our warm and welcoming community and our programs!
We are looking for volunteers for services: chant
Torah or Haftarah, daven, lead English readings, and have aliyot and other
Torah/bimah honors. Training available! Contact Rabbi Flom by e-mail for
details and to sign up!
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, Beverly Erenbaum (Blimah bat Sarah), Maya
Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel),
Annabelle Flom (Chanah Bella bat Kreina), Bernard Garvin, Leah Granat, Brandon
Joseph, Gabor Klein, Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah
Imanu), Marilyn Lee, Barbara Levy, David Marks, Frank Sorkin, Debra Schugar
Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina),
Bernie Seeman, 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.
My
weekly divrei torah are available through free subscription to the Cyber
Torah e-mail list. No salesman will call! Cyber Torah list
management:
To subscribe to
Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with
the heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah”.
To unsubscribe from
Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with
the heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”.
To dedicate a
Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah in memory of a loved one or for a refuah
shleimah, send an e-mail to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with
the heading “Dedicate Cyber Torah” and provide details in the message
body.
