Parashat
Sh’mot
Tevet
21, 5780 / January 17-18, 2020
Torah:
Exodus 1:1 - 6:1
Haftarah: (Ashkenazim) Isaiah 27:6 - 28:13; 29:22-23; (Sephardim) Jeremiah 1:1 - 2:3
Haftarah: (Ashkenazim) Isaiah 27:6 - 28:13; 29:22-23; (Sephardim) Jeremiah 1:1 - 2:3
CASTING
CALL! PURIM IS COMING!
Anyone
who wishes to take part in our annual Purim Spiel is invited to come for a read
through of this year’s spiel, based on Beach Boys tunes – Tuesday, February 11
at 7:00 pm. No one will be turned away. Purim dinner, spiel and megillah
reading will be Monday, March 9, at 6:30 pm. Thanks to Reb Jason and Rebecca
Marcus for creating this year’s spiel!
Calendar
and dedications follow below. For a full calendar of events and other info
about Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier, check out: www.bnaihayim.com
Please
feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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ONE
WHO SAVES A LIFE …
"But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, for they kept the male children alive." Exodus 1:17
Rashi - They would supply them with food and water.
Rabbi Nissan Puchinski - The implication is that had they not supplied them with food and water, they would be considered as murderers, because preventing someone from being saved is considered similar to murder.
Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 - "One who takes a single human life; it is as if he destroyed an entire world. One who saves a single human life; it is as if he saved an entire world."
In its classic form, the Kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum relates to God withdrawing or contracting in order to make room for the physical universe. However, according to Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg, after the Shoah, tzimtzum was necessary in order for human beings, no longer willing or able to operate only as God's servants under an imposed mandatory covenant system, to instead become God's partners in a voluntary covenant. God has "self-limited", he says, "contracting divine power in order to empower humanity." Under this theory, every Jew is a "Jew by choice". The purpose of the partnership agreement is tikkun olam - the restoration of a shattered world.
God may have withdrawn from visibly active participation in the physical world, but God is still present in healing shattered hearts and comforting the suffering. God acts through us, as we are told in Isaiah 43:12, "You will be my witnesses." Witnessing is NOT merely watching; it means undertaking action to fulfill the terms of the partnership and improving the world to its ideal state. It is our empowerment with independent action which makes every human being truly "in the image of God".
"But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, for they kept the male children alive." Exodus 1:17
Rashi - They would supply them with food and water.
Rabbi Nissan Puchinski - The implication is that had they not supplied them with food and water, they would be considered as murderers, because preventing someone from being saved is considered similar to murder.
Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 - "One who takes a single human life; it is as if he destroyed an entire world. One who saves a single human life; it is as if he saved an entire world."
In its classic form, the Kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum relates to God withdrawing or contracting in order to make room for the physical universe. However, according to Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg, after the Shoah, tzimtzum was necessary in order for human beings, no longer willing or able to operate only as God's servants under an imposed mandatory covenant system, to instead become God's partners in a voluntary covenant. God has "self-limited", he says, "contracting divine power in order to empower humanity." Under this theory, every Jew is a "Jew by choice". The purpose of the partnership agreement is tikkun olam - the restoration of a shattered world.
God may have withdrawn from visibly active participation in the physical world, but God is still present in healing shattered hearts and comforting the suffering. God acts through us, as we are told in Isaiah 43:12, "You will be my witnesses." Witnessing is NOT merely watching; it means undertaking action to fulfill the terms of the partnership and improving the world to its ideal state. It is our empowerment with independent action which makes every human being truly "in the image of God".
Please,
donate your time and/or money as generously as you can to organizations that
feed the hungry, house the homeless, provide medical care to the needy – you
get the idea. Now more than ever - join the partnership! Use your
power to save life.
Shabbat
Shalom!
Rabbi
Richard A. Flom
הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who
is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben
Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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Candle
lighting: 4:50 pm
Friday: Simcha Shabbat
Service and Dinner - 6:30 pm. We celebrate all the January simchas
with special blessings and a complimentary Shabbat dinner!
Saturday: Torah
study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service –
9:30 am. Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday: Religious School –
9:30 am. Rabbi Flom’s “(Re)Introduction to Judaism” class –
9:30 am. David Silon’s "History of Israel and the Middle
East" class – 11:00 am.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn –
12:00 noon.
Friday,
January 24:
Shabbat Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday,
January 25: Torah
study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service –
9:30 am. Junior Congregation – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch
follows.
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 David Marks, who passed away on Tuesday. Following
cremation, a memorial service and interment of remains will take place at Rose
Hills Memorial Park, 3888 Workman Mill Road, Whittier, CA 90601 on Thursday,
January 23, at 9:00 am. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah – May his memory be a blessing.
This
d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Leah bat Sarah Imanu, Sarah
bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, Mark Brownstein,
Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan
ben Gittel), Bernard Garvin, Leah Granat, Gabor Klein, Philip Kronzek, Tonya
Kronzek (Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Imanu), Ina Labowitz, Barbara Levy, Stuart
Lytton, Gail Neiman, Sandra Raab, Josef Sands, Shirley Sands, Debra Schugar
Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), 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.
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
