Elul 2, 5780 / August 21-22, 2020
Torah: Deuteronomy 16:18 - 21:9
Haftarah: Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12 (Fourth
Haftarah of Consolation)
This d'var torah is offered in honor of Gideon Said,
becoming a bar mitzvah this Shabbat. Mazal tov!
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my
sister-in-law, Janis Devorah Kronzek, whose yahrzeit falls on Thursday, Elul 7
(August 27). Forever 44. Y'hi zichronah liv'rakhah.
Candle-lighting for Friday, August 21: 7:14 PM PDT
Our Refuah Shleimah list can be found at:
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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Rosh HaShanah is four weeks from now! Please submit
your Chaver Registration Form ASAP! You can find it at our all-new website: http://www.bnaihayim.org
And check your snail mail for our High Holy
Day bulletin.
We will be streaming our High Holy Day services live via Zoom. If you need assistance in learning how to access those or any other of our services and programs, please contact Reb Jason Van Leeuwen or Rabbi Richard Flom.
We are looking for volunteers for the High Holy
Days: chant Torah and Haftarah, daven, lead English readings, and, have aliyot
and other Torah/bimah honors. Contact Rabbi Flom or Susan Burke by e-mail for
details and to sign up!
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please
cite the source.
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THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
"Thus (the king) will not act haughtily to his
fellows or deviate to the right or to the left from the commandment
..." Deuteronomy 17:20
In the verses preceding the above, the king
is instructed to always have a personally written copy of the Torah at his
side and to study it all his life. It is to serve as a constant guide
to him, to keep him from straying off the path that is commanded in the
opening verses of this parashah ("Justice, justice you shall pursue"
- 16:20 - found at the entrance to the US Supreme Court)
The past few years have seen an increasing coarseness and
shrillness in our “civil” discourse. Whether discussing political or economic
issues, matters of war and peace, local or international concerns, we seem to
be losing our way in the manner in which we treat each other. “Respect” is
merely a word. Those in power, those who seek power, and those who support
them, at any level of society, more and more often treat those with whom they
disagree as the enemy of all that is right and good. Extreme rhetoric begets
extreme positions beget extreme conduct - it’s a dangerous path.
It is worth remembering that the Torah has a different
approach to how rulers ought to exercise their authority. Staying between
the lines of right and left, traveling down the middle of the lane -
that is the way to go. What happens when a driver goes too far to the
right or to the left? A wreck!
The staking out of extreme positions to placate a
"base" is the exact opposite of what the Torah instructs. Look
at the road - the lanes are wide - the boundary lines at the edges are
narrow. This is why Rambam teaches in Hilchot De'ot (Laws of Character
Traits) 1:3 - "The two extremes of each trait, which are distant from each
other, do not make a proper path. It is improper for a man to follow them
or to teach them to himself." This applies not only to our rulers, but to
each and every one of us!
Extreme moderation - that is the rule of the road.
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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UPCOMING EVENTS AND OTHER USEFUL INFO!
Join our Kabbalat Shabbat Service, with Reb Jason
and Rabbi Flom this Friday evening at 6:30 pm PDT at:
Join our Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason
and Rabbi Flom this Saturday morning at 10:00 am PDT at:
Downloadable and printable Siddur for Kabbalat
Shabbat, Shabbat Ma'ariv, Shabbat Morning, and more, available at:
You can download both Siddur Sim Shalom and Siddur
Lev Shalem at the above link.
For the time being, we will not be posting
separate videos of Torah and Haftarah readings.
Join us every Sunday at 11:00 am PDT for "History
of the Jews of Israel and the Middle East" with David Silon at:
Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 pm PDT for Lunch
and Learn, a 60 minute study session. We're learning the weekly haftarah. Join
us at:
Study materials for Lunch and Learn on August 25 may
be found at:
You can subscribe to the weekly Torah Sparks via
email here:
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will
call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, and receive Cyber
Torah every week in your mailbox, 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
