EXPLORING THE GARDEN

Adar 4, 5780 / February 28-29, 2020

Parashat T’rumah

Torah: Exodus 25:1 – 27:19

Haftarah: 1 Kings 5:26 – 6:13

NEWS FLASH!

PURIM IS COMING!

Anyone who wishes to take part in our annual Purimspiel (Beach Boys theme) is invited to come for to our next rehearsal – Tuesday, March 3 at 7:00 pm. Contact Rebecca Marcus at rebecca.marcus@hotmail.com for info, including script and music. No one will be turned away. Purim dinner, spiel and megillah reading will be Monday, March 9, at 6:30 pm. Rebecca Marcus for putting together and directing 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: http://www.bnaihayim.com 

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

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EXPLORING THE GARDEN

"And you will make curtains of goats’ hair to be a covering of the sanctuary; you shall make eleven curtains.” Exodus 26:7

Rabbi Yitzchak Nissenboim offers the following comment: “All the beauty of the sanctuary was inside – gold-covered beams, blue and scarlet curtains, gold vessels with precious stones, etc. But outside was a covering of simple goats’ hair. This is to teach us that one’s principal beauty should remain inside, with no conspicuous display of one’s wealth, so that jealousy and hatred will not be aroused.”

It is curious that he sees wealth as a form of beauty, although both wealth and physical beauty can be the objects of jealousy and hatred. What I see here is something a bit different. There is the idea that what lies within a person is the true essence – if physical beauty (or plainness or ugliness) is only skin deep, then looks can be deceiving. Outward appearance gives no indication of the depths of personality, intelligence and character - they do not manifest themselves on the surface.

As with people, so also with the Torah. We might read verses about the design of the sanctuary and wonder what any of this has to do with us in our modern world. Not every verse of the Torah is immediately uplifting. The externalities, the plain meaning of the text may do little to motivate us, or charge our spiritual batteries.

The Rabbis used the word “pardes” (an ancient Persian word for a walled garden, the root of the word “paradise”) as an acronym to describe the Torah and its depths – P’shat (simple or obvious meaning), Remez (hint, allegory), D’rash (drawn out, homiletic) and Sod (secret, mystical). Peeling away the layers (the method used above) allows one to explore and enjoy the complexities of Torah – and of our fellow human beings!

The inner beauties can be found – if we dig deeply and long enough. And getting to know more on the way is just as enjoyable and rewarding.

Have a wonderful Shabbat!

HaRav HaGaon HaTzaddik Abba Reuven ben Menachem Mendel Flom, Sh’lita

Der Heileger Sherman Oaks Rebbe

Av Beis Din – Chelm

Purim Shpieler

Slivovitz Taste Tester

משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה

From the beginning of Adar, we increase joy.

BT Ta’anit 29a

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Candle lighting: 5:30 pm

Friday: Shabbat Rocks! Evening Service – with Reb Jason and the Shul of Rock - 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows.

Sunday: Religious School – 9:30 am. Adult education Classes - David Silon’s "History of Israel and the Middle East" class meets at 11:00 am. Rabbi Flom’s “(Re)Introduction to Judaism” will resume March 15. 

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn - 12:30 pm. NOTE TIME CHANGE Purimspiel Rehearsal – 7:00 pm. We need more people! Everyone welcome to participate!

Friday, March 6: Cool Shabbat Evening Service with Steve Pearlman – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, March 7: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows.

Sunday, March 8: Religious School hamentaschen bake and Mishloach Manot assembly – 9:30 am. David Silon’s "History of Israel and the Middle East" class meets at 11:00 am.

Monday, March 9: Purim Dinner, Purimspiel, and Megillat Esther reading – 6:30 pm. RSVP a must for the dinner.

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 for a refuah shleimah for Elisheva bat Malkah, Chanah bat Minnie Leah, 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), Martin Lee, Barbara Levy, Gail Neiman, Sandra Raab, Josef Sands, Shirley Sands, Gina Seeman, 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.

WHO COMES FIRST?

Parashat Mishpatim

Shevat 27, 5780 / February 21-22, 2020

Torah: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18

Maftir: Exodus 30:11-16 (Shabbat Shekalim)
Haftarah: Ashkenazim - 2 Kings 12:1-17; Sephardim - 2 Kings 11:17 - 12:17

This coming Tuesday and Wednesday are Rosh Chodesh Adar. Mishenichnas Adar, marbim b’simchah! – With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy!

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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WHO COMES FIRST?

“Now these are the laws which you shall set before them.” Exodus 21:1

“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 22:20

The rules set forth in this parashah are primarily two types: civil and criminal legislation, and humanitarian matters. This follows last week’s receiving of Aseret Hadib’rot (the ten utterances, aka “Ten Commandments”). The Torah here continues to deal with matters arising between humans, such as: how to treat slaves, strangers, converts, widows and orphans; the requirement to pay damages for personal injuries; protecting others from dangerous livestock and conditions of property; and, much more. Some brief laws regarding sacrifices and the observance of the holidays come later in the parashah.

The Chasidic Master Simcha Bunim of Pshischa wonders why the first verse says “before them”. He suggests that “them” is not the Israelites. Rather, he reads it as “those”, to teach us that the commandments between fellow humans (mitzvot bein adam l’chavero) come before the commandments between humans and God (mitzvot bein adam la’Makom). Not just literally, as in the text, but in terms of importance as well. Heresy? Hardly.

Simcha Bunim is on to something. What is the point of rigid ritual observance as a form of worshiping God, if one is going to mistreat fellow human beings, who are made in God’s very image? It's not only hypocritical; it's a chillul hashem (a desecration of God's name).

The commentary Avnei Azel makes a similar point. It raises the question, why do the mitzvot bein adam l'chavero immediately follow commandments concerning the altar (at the end of last week's parashah)?  The response: Just as the sacrifices were the worship of God in the Temple, observing the "civil" mitzvot (charity, lovingkindness, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, etc.) is also the worship of God.

Regarding our second verse, Rabbi Eliezer the Great (BT Bava Metzia 59b), says that the Torah warns 36 times, and some say 46 times, that we should not mistreat the stranger. This person is often identified as “the stranger (or alien) within your gates”. Add Rabbi Eliezer’s teaching to those of Simcha Bunim and Avnei Azel, and we know that the Torah way of treating the strangers and aliens among us is perhaps the most important of all the mitzvot bein adam l’chavero. The Torah doesn’t demand their papers – and neither should we. It commands us to treat them the same way we would like to be treated – not the way we were treated in Egypt! It’s the law!

I wish you Shabbat Shalom Uv’rakhah – A Shabbat of Peace and Blessing.

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: 5:23 pm

Friday: Simchah Shabbat Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Complimentary Shabbat Dinner follows. RSVP to synagogue office.

Saturday: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows.Amy Cecil of Jewish World Watch will deliver a drash during the service and take questions during lunch.

Sunday: Religious School – 9:30 am. NO Adult education Classes - Rabbi Flom’s “(Re)Introduction to Judaism” will resume March 8. David Silon’s "History of Israel and the Middle East" class – resumes March 1. Purimspiel Rehearsal – 12:00 noon. We need more people! Everyone welcome to participate!

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn - 12:30 pm. NOTE TIME CHANGE

Friday, February 28: Shabbat Rocks! Evening Service – 6:30 pm. With Reb Jason and the Shul of Rock. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, February 29: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon 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 for a refuah shleimah for Elisheva bat Malkah, Chanah bat Minnie Leah, 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), Martin Lee, Barbara Levy, Gail Neiman, Sandra Raab, Josef Sands, Shirley Sands, Gina Seeman, 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.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE JEWISH ….

Parashat Yitro
Shevat 20, 5780 / February 14-15, 2020

Torah: Exodus 18:1 – 20:23

Haftarah: Isaiah 6:1 – 7:6; 9:5-6

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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YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE JEWISH ….

And Jethro said, “Blessed is the Lord, who delivered you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh, who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.” Exodus 18:10

BT Sanhedrin 94a teaches: “And Jethro said, ‘Blessed is the Lord who delivered you’; at which a Tanna (anonymous teacher of 1st-3rd century CE Judea) taught in the name of R. Pappias: It was a reproach to Moses and the six hundred thousand [Israelites] that they did not bless [the Lord] until Jethro came and did so.”

About that passage, Rabbi Shlomo of Radomsk (mid-19th century Poland ) teaches: “This statement seems strange, because we know the song that Moses and the Israelites sang after the crossing of the sea was no less a praise of God than Jethro’s words. (See Parashat Beshallach, which we read last week) Rather, Jethro was an innovator of a new form of expressing thanks to God. The Israelites praised God for what He did for them, but Jethro praised God for His loving-kindness to and deliverance of others. In this he was first.”

Unstated but understood here is that Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, is NOT an Israelite. In fact, he is a priest of the Midianite religion. The Talmud seems to be saying, “You Israelites! You, not the foreigner, should have thought of this.” Shlomo of Radomsk doesn’t understand the rebuke – the Israelites did praise God, after all. Instead, he sees something much deeper – two things really. Jethro the foreigner taught the Israelites a new way to thank God (by saying “blessed”), and also a new reason to praise God – not just for themselves, but for other people too. It’s not much of a leap to see that Judaism has long adopted from other cultures, that Judaism teaches that everyone, Jew or not, has a path to and can have a relationship with God, and, that we should bless God for that possibility.

I wish you Shabbat Shalom Uv’rakhah – A Shabbat of Peace and Blessing.

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: 5:17 pm

Friday: Cool Shabbat Evening Service with Steve Pearlman – It’s A Gas! (Guitar accompanied service) – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows.

Sunday: NO Religious School or Adult education Classes – Presidents Day weekend. Rabbi Flom’s “(Re)Introduction to Judaism” will resume March 8. David Silon’s "History of Israel and the Middle East" class – resumes March 1.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn - 12:30 pm. NOTE TIME CHANGE

Friday, February 21: Simchah Shabbat Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Complimentary Shabbat Dinner follows. RSVP to synagogue office.

Saturday, February 22: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows.

Friday, February 28: Shabbat Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, February 29: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows. Amy Cecil of Jewish World Watch will deliver a drash during the service and take questions during lunch.

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 in honor of Lorrie Flom and Jay Goodman, whose wedding anniversary is Friday, February 14.

This d'var torah is offered in memory of my aunt, Shirley Schack, whose yahrzeit falls on Thursday, 25 Sh’vat. Y’hi zikhronah liv’rakhah – May her memory be a blessing.

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Elisheva bat Malkah, Chanah bat Minnie Leah, 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), Martin Lee, Barbara Levy, Gail Neiman, Sandra Raab, Josef Sands, Shirley Sands, Gina Seeman, 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.

SING A NEW SONG

Sh’vat 13, 5780 / February 7-8, 2020

Parashat Beshallach

Torah: Exodus 13:17-17:16 (Shabbat Shirah)
Haftarah: Judges 4:4-5:31 (Ashkenazim); Judges 5:1-5:31 (Sephardim)

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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SING A NEW SONG

"Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song ..." Exodus 15:1

"And Miriam chanted to them ..." Exodus 15:21

"And the women dancing with their timbrels, Followed Miriam as she sang her song" Miriam's Song by Debbie Friedman

The well-known Song at the Sea, Exodus 15:1-18, has become part of the daily liturgy. This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shirah, the Shabbat of the Song, in honor of the song. But Miriam also sang a song, only one verse, according to the Torah, to which the women danced and played musical instruments.

Ellen Frankel, in her Torah commentary The Five Books of Miriam, notes that modern biblical scholars "believe that Miriam's song was censored or lost, due to a later generation's uneasiness with female leadership." Curiously, this week's haftarah includes the Song of Deborah and Barak (Judges 5:1-31). This is after Barak had told Deborah (at 4:8), "If you will go with me, I will go (to fight the Canaanites); if not, I will not go." Over the centuries, the idea of leadership by such charismatic women as Miriam and Deborah became lost. Whatever ritual rights and obligations may have existed became lost as well.

In the past generation, Jewish women have fought to regain their proper place on the bimah, as b'not mitzvah, and as rabbis, cantors, and synagogue leaders. Now, egalitarianism is a given in most non-Orthodox congregations. Sadly, it is also taken for granted.

If Jewish women wish to retain the rights they fought so hard to achieve, they must recapture their song, and like the men, sing it every day! Whether it be tallit, tefilin, or public reading of the Torah, those rights are meaningless if never exercised. And that goes for the men, too! If BEING Jewish is to have any meaning, you should be DOING Jewish! "Sing to the Lord a new song!" Psalms 96:1; 98:1

Shabbat Shalom U'vrakhah - A Shabbat of Peace and Blessing

Tu BiSh’vat Sameach!

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: 5:10 pm

Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows.

Sunday: Religious School – 9:30 am. Religious School Tu BiSh’vat Seder – 10:30 am. Rabbi Flom’s “(Re)Introduction to Judaism” class is on hiatus for the month of February. Class will resume March 8. 9:30 am. David Silon’s "History of Israel and the Middle East" class – 11:00 am.

Tuesday: Lunch and Learn – 12:30 pm. NOTE TIME CHANGE

Friday, February 14: Cool Shabbat Evening Service with Steve Pearlman and his guitar – 6:30 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday, February 15: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows.

Friday, February 21: Simchah Shabbat Evening Service – 6:30 pm. Complimentary Shabbat Dinner follows. RSVP to synagogue office.

Saturday, February 22: Torah study/breakfast - 8:45 am. Shabbat Morning Service – 9:30 am. Kiddush Luncheon follows. Amy Cecil of Jewish World Watch will deliver a drash during the service and take questions during lunch.

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 Shirley Kronzek, whose yahrzeit is this Wednesday, 17 Sh’vat. Y’hi zekherah liv’rakhah – May her 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), Barbara Levy, 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.