19 Sivan 5779 / 21-22
June 2019
Torah: Numbers 8:1
- 12:16
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 - 4:7
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 - 4:7
Dedications and Calendar of Events follow. Full calendar and
lots of other info available at: http://www.bnaihayim.com
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the
source.
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MAY IT BE GOD’S WILLS –
AND OURS!
"And Moses said to
him, 'Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were
prophets, that the Lord would put His spirit upon them!'" Numbers 11:29
Joshua has just complained to Moses that Eldad and Medad, who were not among the seventy elders selected to prophesy, are in fact doing so, and in the midst of the camp - not at the Tent of Meeting. Joshua then asked Moses to stop them, perhaps, according to Rashi, by incarcerating them. Our verse is Moses' reply.
The modern commentator, Nechama Leibowitz, citing Martin Buber, notes that Moses did not say, "Would that all the Lord's people would prophesy" - a temporary phenomenon, but rather, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets" - a permanent status.
This truly shows the great humility of Moses (see Numbers 12:3). Not only is he not jealous of the sudden, albeit temporary, prophetic frenzy among the 72 men - Moses wishes it were a permanent condition of all of the Israelites - that each and every one of them, and each of us, should have the same merit as he, to have direct communion with God, receiving the word directly from God - without even the Torah as intermediary.
In his relations with God, Moses usually got what he wanted. So why are we not all prophets? I believe the answer is suggested by a teaching of Rabban Gamaliel (Mishnah Avot 2:4): "Do God's will as if it were your will, so that He will do your will as if it were His." Moses' desire for us was not enough. Neither is our desire. But by carrying out God's will, fulfilling the instructions of the Torah and the Prophets, we can hope to influence God's will sufficiently to cause God to speak directly to us.
Joshua has just complained to Moses that Eldad and Medad, who were not among the seventy elders selected to prophesy, are in fact doing so, and in the midst of the camp - not at the Tent of Meeting. Joshua then asked Moses to stop them, perhaps, according to Rashi, by incarcerating them. Our verse is Moses' reply.
The modern commentator, Nechama Leibowitz, citing Martin Buber, notes that Moses did not say, "Would that all the Lord's people would prophesy" - a temporary phenomenon, but rather, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets" - a permanent status.
This truly shows the great humility of Moses (see Numbers 12:3). Not only is he not jealous of the sudden, albeit temporary, prophetic frenzy among the 72 men - Moses wishes it were a permanent condition of all of the Israelites - that each and every one of them, and each of us, should have the same merit as he, to have direct communion with God, receiving the word directly from God - without even the Torah as intermediary.
In his relations with God, Moses usually got what he wanted. So why are we not all prophets? I believe the answer is suggested by a teaching of Rabban Gamaliel (Mishnah Avot 2:4): "Do God's will as if it were your will, so that He will do your will as if it were His." Moses' desire for us was not enough. Neither is our desire. But by carrying out God's will, fulfilling the instructions of the Torah and the Prophets, we can hope to influence God's will sufficiently to cause God to speak directly to us.
Shabbat Shalom!
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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Candle lighting: 7:50 pm
Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 7:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Breakfast/Torah Study – 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30
am. Kiddush luncheon follows.
Sunday: Education Committee Meeting - 10:00 am. Contact Warren Trauman
for details.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Saturday, June 29: A special Shabbat kiddush luncheon
in honor of Gina Seeman, as thanks for all her work with Sisterhood and for the
TBH/CBM community. RSVP through synagogue office.
This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Leah
bat Sarah Imanu, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Mark
Brownstein, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht
(Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Annabelle Flom (Channah Bella bat Kreina), Bernard Garvin,
Leah Granat, Carol Herskowitz, Diana Hirsch, Brandon Joseph, Gabor Klein,
Philip Kovac, Tonya Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Imanu), Marilyn Lee, David
Marks, Sandra Raab, Marguerite Rassiner, Josef Sands, Debra Schugar Strauss
(Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Bernie
Seeman, 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.
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, deliver d’rashot, and have
aliyot and other Torah/bimah honors. Training available! Contact Rabbi Flom by
e-mail for details and to sign up!
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”.
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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
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