6
Sh’vat 5779 / 11-12 January 2019
Parashat
Bo
Torah: Exodus
10:1 – 13:16
Haftarah:
Jeremiah 46:13-28
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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UNLEAVENED
MITZVOT
"And you shall observe the matzot; for on this very day I brought out your hosts from the land of Egypt; and you shall observe this day for your generations - it is an ordinance forever." Ex. 12:17
"Rabbi Josiah says: Do not read thus (as matzot), rather as, 'And you shall observe the mitzvot.' Just as one should not leaven (chametz) matzah, one may not leaven a mitzvah. Rather, if a mitzvah comes to your hand, perform it immediately." Mechilta D’Rebbi Ishmael, Tractate Pischa, Ch. 9
The Hebrew words "matzot" and "mitzvot" may appear identical when written without vowel marks, as in a Torah scroll. Rabbi Josiah, noting this, goes on to say that just as matzah is observed to assure that it does not rise (from leavening), so must mitzvot be carried out lest they too start to rise. What does it matter if a mitzvah becomes leavened (chametzdik)? For that matter, how can a mitzvah become chametzdik?
Matzah must be baked within 18 minutes of the formation of the dough, or else it may become leavened by airborne yeast. This contamination renders the dough unfit to be baked into matzah for Passover. A mitzvah also can become contaminated by delay - it becomes chametz.
Think of a mitzvah, or any other worthy act, you intended to perform and put off, for whatever reason. The longer you waited, the more you felt guilty about it, the more burdensome it became, until it was no longer desirable to perform. We are all familiar with this type of procrastination. It turns something sweet into something sour. And in fact, 'chametz' is also the word for 'vinegar'.
If you are considering performing any mitzvah, whether it is reciting prayers or kashering your kitchen or giving tzedakah or calling your mother, don't delay. The sooner you do a mitzvah, the sweeter it will be.
Have a wonderful Shabbat full of unleavened mitzvot!
"And you shall observe the matzot; for on this very day I brought out your hosts from the land of Egypt; and you shall observe this day for your generations - it is an ordinance forever." Ex. 12:17
"Rabbi Josiah says: Do not read thus (as matzot), rather as, 'And you shall observe the mitzvot.' Just as one should not leaven (chametz) matzah, one may not leaven a mitzvah. Rather, if a mitzvah comes to your hand, perform it immediately." Mechilta D’Rebbi Ishmael, Tractate Pischa, Ch. 9
The Hebrew words "matzot" and "mitzvot" may appear identical when written without vowel marks, as in a Torah scroll. Rabbi Josiah, noting this, goes on to say that just as matzah is observed to assure that it does not rise (from leavening), so must mitzvot be carried out lest they too start to rise. What does it matter if a mitzvah becomes leavened (chametzdik)? For that matter, how can a mitzvah become chametzdik?
Matzah must be baked within 18 minutes of the formation of the dough, or else it may become leavened by airborne yeast. This contamination renders the dough unfit to be baked into matzah for Passover. A mitzvah also can become contaminated by delay - it becomes chametz.
Think of a mitzvah, or any other worthy act, you intended to perform and put off, for whatever reason. The longer you waited, the more you felt guilty about it, the more burdensome it became, until it was no longer desirable to perform. We are all familiar with this type of procrastination. It turns something sweet into something sour. And in fact, 'chametz' is also the word for 'vinegar'.
If you are considering performing any mitzvah, whether it is reciting prayers or kashering your kitchen or giving tzedakah or calling your mother, don't delay. The sooner you do a mitzvah, the sweeter it will be.
Have a wonderful Shabbat full of unleavened mitzvot!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com
Visit me on Facebook
Twitter: @DrahcirMolf
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is
consent.”
BT Yevamot 88a
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CALENDAR
Candle lighting: 4:46 pm
Friday – Tot Shabbat! at 6:30 pm. Shabbat
Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday – NO Breakfast and Torah study – resume
1/19. Shabbat Morning Service - 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon
follows.
Tuesday – Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Friday, January 18 – Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30
pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday, January 19 – Breakfast and Torah study - 8:45
am. Shabbat Morning Service - 9:30 am. Kiddush luncheon
follows.
Sunday, January 20 – TBH/CBM Sisterhood Movie (“The Zookeeper’s
Wife”) – 2:00 pm. RSVP to synagogue office.
Friday, January 25 – Early Shabbat Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Shabbat
Dinner and Tu Bish’vat Seder – 7:45 pm. RSVP to synagogue office.
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, 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 Emanu), Barbara Levy, David Marks, 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.
