Parashat Pinchas
Torah: Numbers 25:10 -
30:1
Haftarah: Jeremiah
1:2-2:3 (First Haftarah of Rebuke)
Tammuz 24, 5779 / July 26-27,
2019
IMPORTANT NOTE:
We are changing our Shabbat Evening Service
time for the month of August! On August 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, Shabbat
Evening services will begin at 6:30 pm. This will give those who do
not wish to drive at night, or who would like to have Shabbat dinner after
services, or simply a more relaxed evening, the chance to do so. We’ll see you
here!
Calendar of Events and
Dedications follow. Full calendar and lots more info about our community
available at: www.bnaihayim.com
Please feel free to pass
this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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ZEALOTS NEED NOT APPLY
"Let the Lord, the
God of the spirits of all flesh, set over the congregation a man who will go
out before them, and who will come in before them, and who will lead them out,
and who will bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be
like sheep which have no shepherd." Numbers 27:16-17
Rashi, quoting Tanchuma:
"Appoint over them a leader who will be patient with each and every one
according to his mind."
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of
Kotzk: When Moses saw how great Pinchas was, he was afraid that he would be
chosen as leader, but he was not pleased with the prospect of having such a
zealot as the leader of the Jewish people. He therefore asked God that the
leader be a tolerant man and not a zealous one.
It seems curious that
Moses would not want a zealot to lead the people after his death. This would
seem particularly true in the case of Pinchas, who was, after all,
"zealous for his God". (Numbers 25:13) What could be wrong with
a man who is zealous on behalf of God?
Zealots are, in the words
of Eric Hoffer, "true believers" who are intolerant of any view other
than their own. Anyone who disagrees with them is “the enemy”. Intolerance all
too often leads to hatred and war. Regardless of religious or political
persuasion, all who worship at the altar of their particular god of hate and
who destroy (not only physically, but spiritually, emotionally, or otherwise) those
with whom they disagree, are to be opposed – but within limits.
We should resist the
zealots and the true believers in our midst, particularly in our discussions of
the great issues of the day. We must also avoid extremism and intolerance
ourselves, lest we become that which we fight against. This past Sunday
was 18 Tammuz, a deferred fast day from 17 Tammuz, associated with the fall of
Jerusalem to the Babylonians. We would do well to remember that the Talmud
teaches that Jerusalem fell because of sinat chinam - baseless
hatred. So it could be with our own society as well. Rabbi B. Y. Natan,
quoted in Itturei Torah, says, "It appears that the verse here
hints that the way of peace is always better and more effective than that of
zealotry and war." To which verse is he referring? "Therefore say,
'Behold, I give him my covenant of peace.'" (Numbers 25:12)
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: 7:41 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 lunch follows.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:00 noon.
Friday, August 2: Shabbat Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat
follows. (NOTE TIME CHANGE FOR AUGUST!)
Saturday, August 3: Torah study/breakfast – 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning
Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush lunch follows.
Tisha B’Av is coming. We will have a light dinner (before the start of the
fast), a study session, and evening service with chanting of Eichah (Book of
Lamentations) on Saturday, August 10, commencing at 7:15 pm.
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, 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, and William Sragow.
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.
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!
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
Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah”
to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
