Nisan 15-17, 5780 / April 8-11, 2020
Torah Day 1: Exodus 12:21-51
Maftir Day 1: Numbers 28:16-25
Haftarah Day 1: Joshua 3:5-7; 5:2 - 6:1; 6:27
(Ashkenazim); Joshua 5:2 – 6:1; 6:27 (Sephardim)
Torah Day 2: Leviticus 22:26 - 23:44
Maftir Day 2: Numbers 28:16-25
Haftarah Day 2: 2 Kings 23:1-9; 23:21-25
Shabbat Chol Hamo'ed
Torah: Exodus 33:12 - 34:26
Maftir: Numbers 28:19-25
Haftarah: Ezekiel 37:1-14
I will be hosting Torah study and virtual siyyum
(sorry, no Krispy Kreme donuts in my office!) on Wednesday, April 8, at 8:30 am
PDT, streaming at https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim/ and
via Zoom - Call 1 (669) 900-9128; Meeting ID - 600 054 985
We'll be learning Mishnah Pesachim Chapter 10, which you can find on-line at:
https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Pesachim.10?lang=bi
We'll be learning Mishnah Pesachim Chapter 10, which you can find on-line at:
https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Pesachim.10?lang=bi
DON’T FORGET TO REMOVE AND SELL CHAMETZ –
AUTHORIZE RABBI FLOM TO DO SO ON YOUR BEHALF NO LATER THAN 10:00 AM PDT Wednesday,
April 8.
A downloadable, fillable authorization form
which you can email to me at ravflom@sbcglobal.net
is available here:
My recently updated annual Pesach Guide – 5780
Edition, is available at my blog:
The Rabbinical Assembly’s Pesach Guide 5780 can
be read and downloaded at the following site: https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/Pesah%20Guide%205780.pdf
Additional very important Pesach resources from
the Rabbinical Assembly may be found at:
and
Are kitniyot (beans, rice, corn)
permitted on Pesach? Yes! Especially this year! Read the latest from the
Rabbinical Assembly at: http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/2011-2020/Levin-Reisner-Kitniyot.pdf
Candle lighting times:
Wednesday – 7:01 pm
Thursday – 7:58 pm
Friday – 7:02 pm
Please feel free to pass this on this to a
friend, and please cite the source.
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PEOPLE OF DISTINCTION IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
(Moses said to God): "If Your Presence does not go along, do not bring us forward from here. How then will it be known that I have found favor in Your eyes - I and Your people - unless You accompany us, and I and Your people be made distinct from every people on the face of the earth!" Exodus 33:15-16
Moses' plaintive cry to God asks for two things: first, that God's Presence remain with the Children of Israel; they would have preferred staying in the desert rather than going forward without God; and, second, that the Children of Israel be made distinct from every other nation.
There is no question that the second request has been granted. The Jews are unique, and have been for millennia. The first to worship the One God; the recipients, beneficiaries and distributors of God's Torah; the first to observe Shabbat; the only people ever to revive a nation and a language (after two thousand years, no less!) - our practices and beliefs set us apart from the other nations of the world. We are the Choosing People, as well as the Chosen People.
Sometimes, though, it seems that God's Presence is far away - especially this Pesach. With the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us are unable to observe the Seder in the manner we have done our entire lives – with our family and friends, from near and far. Some of us are unable to acquire all the necessary food and other items for the holiday. It might be tempting to ask God, "What have You done for us lately?" The Seder shel Pesach offers its own answer - God has done more than enough for us over our history; even if we are unable to observe Pesach in our regular manner; even if we have to observe it alone – a Seder for one! The Babylonian Talmud at Pesachim 116(a) teaches that you conduct a Seder even if you have to ask and answer the Four Questions of yourself – alone! Dayenu!
That we are still here, that we can celebrate
that history, and that we continue to make history, provide the proof that God's
Presence has not left us – not as a people, and not as individuals. And that is
the greatest distinction of them all.
Chag Pesach Mashm’uti! Mo’adim l’simchah! Shabbat shalom!
Chag Pesach Mashm’uti! Mo’adim l’simchah! Shabbat shalom!
Wishing you a Meaningful Pesach! Seasons of Joy
and a Peaceful Shabbat!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is
consent.”
BT Yevamot 88a
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Our synagogue community, Temple B’nai Hayim in
Association with Congregation Beth Meier, has set up a GoFundMe page to help
support some of our employees and members who are particularly vulnerable due
to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please help us help them with your donation.
This d’var torah is offered for a
refuah shleimah for Elisheva bat Malkah, Chanah bat Minnie Leah, Leah bat Sarah
Imanu, Sheyna D’verah bat Hodel, Sarah bat Devorah, Susan Arbetman, Ken
Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, Mark Brownstein, Stana Cooper, Jerry Daniels, Maya
Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Bernard
Garvin, Leah Granat, Brandon Joseph, Gabor Klein, Philip Kronzek, Tonya Kronzek
(Zlata Malkah bat Sarah Imanu), 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.
