Iyar 15, 5780 / May 8-9, 2020
Torah: Leviticus 21:1 - 24:23
Haftarah: Ezekiel 44:15-31
Haftarah: Ezekiel 44:15-31
Candlelighting: 7:24 pm
This d'var torah is offered in honor of all our mothers because this Sunday is Mother’s Day. Be good to your mother. Don’t take her out to a restaurant for brunch! Maintain recommended health protocols, be safe and be well so you can celebrate Mother’s Day next year too.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of Steven Kleiger z”l, whose yahrzeit falls on Sunday, 16 Iyar. His memory is a blessing.
Links to all of our on-line activities can be found below.
This d'var torah is offered in honor of all our mothers because this Sunday is Mother’s Day. Be good to your mother. Don’t take her out to a restaurant for brunch! Maintain recommended health protocols, be safe and be well so you can celebrate Mother’s Day next year too.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of Steven Kleiger z”l, whose yahrzeit falls on Sunday, 16 Iyar. His memory is a blessing.
Links to all of our on-line activities can be found below.
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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SPEAKING AND SAYING
And the Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the
priests the sons of Aaron, and say to them, 'None may be defiled for the dead
among his people.'" Leviticus 21:1
Rashi, quoting B. Talmud Yevamot 114a:
"Speak" and "say" - to admonish the big ones regarding the
little ones.
Porachat Altah Nitzah:
This is to warn leaders (literally, "those standing at the head of the
people") to make themselves small, so that they do not step on the heads
of this holy people, that they not be prideful and lord it over the people.
(Quoted in IttureiTorah)
Our commentators see in the linguistic
redundancy a hint at something more. Rebbe Elimelekh of Lizhensk is even more
forceful. He suggests that the more powerful and influential one is, the more
scrupulous one needs to be about even the least significant obligation or
character fault. (Quoted in Itturei Torah)
More and more frequently, it seems, we hear
political leaders, captains of industry and other powerful figures in our
society tell us we must "tighten our belts" even as they make excuses
for their excesses (that necessitated the belt tightening!) and justify them as
entitlements that come with their positions. Even worse, they all too
frequently demand sacrifices of others while carving out exemptions from those
sacrifices for themselves and their friends.
Lord Acton wrote: "Historic
responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends
to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." He might have been
referring to this week's parashah - the unbridled exercise of power causes one
to be defiled, one whose sacrifices (and good works) are thereby unacceptable
to God, one whose soul can be irreparably damaged.
We need leaders - but we need leaders who know
and respect their limits. How much more so as we in the United States go deeper
into this year’s political season, and with the cloud of a pandemic hanging
over our heads. Authority without responsibility is a license to do unmitigated
damage. When will we ever "get it"?
Speak to our leaders, and say to them.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
"From the place where we are absolutely right, flowers will never grow in the spring."
"מן המקום שבו אנו צודקים לא יצמחו לעולם פרחים באביב"
Yehuda Amichai
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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.
https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/maot-hittin-bread-to-the-afflicted?utm_campaign=oc&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=crowdrise&fbclid=IwAR2D1ZzLUwc1iYjSci4SXjRjxXqetRfZvfWSl-LzymYsj2pFpBR9ZZVUQYw
https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/maot-hittin-bread-to-the-afflicted?utm_campaign=oc&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=crowdrise&fbclid=IwAR2D1ZzLUwc1iYjSci4SXjRjxXqetRfZvfWSl-LzymYsj2pFpBR9ZZVUQYw
This week's Torah reading, chanted by Reb Jason Van Leeuwen and with commentary by Rabbi Flom, can be viewed here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/tcB8dumoqmk3HIKQ5gSDAfV8W9W4L6Os1CYb_PMPzRm3UngDM1GlYbUUYrDQN8pd3XrPDd5UFfnzcREp?startTime=1588889541000&_x_zm_rtaid=hCge6rBkRjmQ4lL7AQ0RIA.1588901230299.a834c493c3c5766e5c26bda595973269&_x_zm_rhtaid=489
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/tcB8dumoqmk3HIKQ5gSDAfV8W9W4L6Os1CYb_PMPzRm3UngDM1GlYbUUYrDQN8pd3XrPDd5UFfnzcREp?startTime=1588889541000&_x_zm_rtaid=hCge6rBkRjmQ4lL7AQ0RIA.1588901230299.a834c493c3c5766e5c26bda595973269&_x_zm_rhtaid=489
This week's Haftarah, chanted by Barry Glass, can be viewed here:
Join our Kabbalat Shabbat Service, with Reb Jason Van Leeuwen and Rabbi Flom 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:
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
Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 pm PDT for Lunch and Learn, a 90 minute study session. We're learning the weekly haftarah. On May 12 we'll be learning Haftarat Behar-Bechukotai, Jeremiah 16:19 - 17:14. Join us on Zoom (Meeting Number 637 834 304) or at:
Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 pm PDT for Lunch and Learn, a 90 minute study session. We're learning the weekly haftarah. On May 12 we'll be learning Haftarat Behar-Bechukotai, Jeremiah 16:19 - 17:14. Join us on Zoom (Meeting Number 637 834 304) or at:
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim/
This week's Torah Sparks from the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem is available here: https://uscj.org/blog/torah-sparks-parashat-emor5780
You can receive a fresh Torah Sparks every week via email by subscribing here: https://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/torahsparks/
This week's Torah Sparks from the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem is available here: https://uscj.org/blog/torah-sparks-parashat-emor5780
You can receive a fresh Torah Sparks every week via email by subscribing here: https://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/torahsparks/
