Iyar 1, 5780 / April 24-25, 2020
Torah: Leviticus 12:1 – 15:33
Maftir (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh): Numbers 28:9-15
Maftir (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh): Numbers 28:9-15
Haftarah: Isaiah 66:1-24 (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh)
Candle lighting: 7:13 pm
Kabbalat Shabbat Service this Friday evening at 6:30 pm
PDT on Zoom (Meeting Number 418 318 664) or at https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim/
Downloadable and printable Siddur for Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat Ma'ariv, Shabbat Morning, and more, available at:
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/form-download-e-siddur-0
Hallel and Torah Reading for this Shabbat can be viewed and heard, or downloaded, and sung along with at:
https://zoom.us/rec/play/u5ErdbipqDs3TtaQtQSDBaMqW9W9Jv6sgHQeqKUOyx7hBXIDOlClNedGa-TXROC-LDtnBX9YpokP_MJs?startTime=1587678894000&_x_zm_rtaid=GklF76A4TJ-b60XzgVUWPA.1587686436108.37cc8e084ef0b20577a7b46f2948f4cd&_x_zm_rhtaid=655
Haftarah for this Shabbat, chanted by Susan Burke, can be viewed and heard, or downloaded, at: https://zoom.us/rec/play/vsV-Irih-j03HdPA5gSDA_R9W425KvqshCger_QOmUfmBXQBMVrzYeYQZbQnX1bqhuZtBOGIy7C4rGko?startTime=1587676839000&_x_zm_rtaid=GklF76A4TJ-b60XzgVUWPA.1587686436108.37cc8e084ef0b20577a7b46f2948f4cd&_x_zm_rhtaid=655
This week's Torah Sparks from the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem is available here: https://uscj.org/blog/parshat-tazria-metzora5780
You can receive a fresh Torah Sparks every week via email by subscribing here: https://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/torahsparks/
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TAKE A SECOND LOOK
If ever there were appropriate Torah verses ...
“And the person with tzara’at, in whom there is
affliction, his clothes shall be torn, his hair shall go uncut, and he shall
cover over his lips; and ‘Contaminated! Contaminated!’ he will call out. All
the days the affliction is in him, he will be contaminated, he is contaminated;
he will dwell in isolation, his dwelling will be outside the camp.” Leviticus
13:45-46
We are all at risk for contracting the affliction; we are
all at risk for spreading the affliction. Regard yourself and everyone else as
contaminated. Stay home; stay safe; be well.
Actually, COVID-19 is not what I want to discuss. We have
another issue in the way we treat each other, and that is making surface
judgments about those we don’t know.
“And the priest will look on the nega (plague)
in the skin of the flesh, and if the nega has turned white and
the appearance of the nega is deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is
a nega of tzara'at (usually translated as
"leprosy"); and the priest will look on him, and pronounce him
impure." Leviticus 13:3
Rabbi Y. Y. Tronk of Kutno (1820-1893, author of Yeshu'ot
Malko ) teaches: This is a hint that when one looks at a person, one should
not see only the bad points - where he has been afflicted - but should look on
him as a whole, including the good points. This is why it first says,
"the priest will look on the nega", and afterward it
says, "The priest will look on him" - as a whole human
being. (Quoted in Itturei Torah)
Just as beauty may be only skin deep, so might ugliness such
as that of tzara'at be only at the surface. Who knows
what wonders lie within? We don't judge a book by its cover – we look inside -
why do less for a human being? Perhaps this is why Pirkei Avot
says, "When judging any person, give the benefit of the
doubt" (1:6) and "Do not judge your fellow until you arrive to
his situation" (2:5).
Look twice before judging others.
Shabbat Shalom! Chodesh Iyar Tov!
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 in
honor of the women of Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier, who by all
rights, would have been conducting services, chanting Torah and haftarah, and
giving the drashah this Shabbat in our sanctuary. We are not permitted to meet there,
but we honor them nevertheless. Thank you all for your service and dedication.
This d’var torah is offered for a
refuah shleimah for Avram Yisrael ben Channah, 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, 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, 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.
