Tishrei 8, 5781 / September 25-26, 2020
Parashat Ha'azinu (Shabbat Shuvah)
Torah Reading: Deuteronomy 32:1-52
Haftarah (Shabbat Shuvah): Hosea 14:2-10; Joel 2:15-27
Parashat Ha'azinu (Shabbat Shuvah)
Torah Reading: Deuteronomy 32:1-52
Haftarah (Shabbat Shuvah): Hosea 14:2-10; Joel 2:15-27
If you have not already done so, please submit your Chaver Registration Form ASAP! You can find it at our all-new website:
http://www.bnaihayim.org
We will be streaming our Yom Kippur services live via Zoom
only, and the Zoom link is
being provided only to registered Chaverim. 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.
For the past few years, I have created a Cheshbon Hanefesh Worksheet, to help get us ready for the spiritual side of the High Holy Days (sorry, no recipes or floral arrangements!). You can download it from my blog at:
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2020/08/cheshbon-hanefesh-woksheet-5781.html
Also, some excellent on-line resources are available for your Yom Kippur preparations at:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/
Candle-lighting for Sunday, September 27: 6:24 PM PDT
Yom Kippur ends: Monday, September 28: 7:18 PM PDT
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iT0tdp45ITSU6o1tykah41m3IXBxBwLxe8FORSIXzDo/edit?usp=sharing
If you would like to have a name added or removed from this Prayer for Healing list, please write to me at: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
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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E PLURIBUS UNUM?
"The Lord saw and was provoked by the anger of His sons and His daughters. And He said, 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be; for they are a very unstable generation, children in whom there is no faith.'" Deuteronomy 32:19-20
Rabbi Moshe Pollak comments: "God becomes angry at us because of 'the anger of His sons and His daughters' - i.e., because the Jewish people fight among themselves."
Divrei Eliezer suggests what they fight about. Regarding "they are a very unstable generation," he says that the Jewish people are a nation of fast changes and contradictions. Even as they preach and seek peace and brotherhood, there are always many arguments among them. They create many organizations to help those in need, yet have many jealousies between them.
This is both wonderful praise and a stinging indictment! Yes, our Torah and our holy texts are full of exhortations for peace and brotherhood. Many of our people do practice what we preach. And yet, we are about to spend Yom Kippur confessing our individual and communal failure to fulfill those goals, among others. What are we arguing about? Who is the most peaceful? Who defines peace and brotherhood?
As for organizations helping the needy, the Jews are famous for establishing them, and succeeding. But how much more successful would the groups be if they would not engage in turf wars, or be jealous over each other's balance sheet? God knows (so do we all!) that there are enough needy people around - they don't need the helpers to waste precious time and resources in arguing over who needs the most help or who is the most helpful!
There is a lesson to be learned on these points not simply from the Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but the Holy Days yet to come - Sukkot. The sukkah requires us to live a minimalist existence, by the skin of our teeth. It helps us understand the most basic needs of those less fortunate than us. By sharing our sukkah with friends, family and members of the community, we create a sukkat shalom - a tent of peace. At the same time, the lulav and etrog set that is used during the holiday is composed of distinct parts, like the Jewish people, but the mitzvah of lulav and etrog is not fulfilled unless and until the parts are brought together as one - as a unit. Then it is shalem - complete.
Shalem and shalom - one depends upon the other. Only when our people come together in unity will we have truly formed a community of peace.
HaRachaman hu yivarekh otanu kulanu yachad b'virkat shalom - May the Merciful One bless us, all of us as one, with the blessing of peace.
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, Friday evenings at 6:30 pm PDT at:
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim
Join our Shabbat Morning Services with Reb Jason
and Rabbi Flom Saturday mornings at 10:00 am PDT at:
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim
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.
Join us this Sunday at 11:00 am PDT for "History of the Jews of Israel and the Middle East" with David Silon at:
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim
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:
https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim
The study materials for Lunch and Learn on Tuesday, September 29 can be found at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1a_KQUEUY--nXl5T4chnpFvkPg_SL3MM8?usp=sharing
FOR ZOOM LINKS TO OUR SERVICES AND PROGRAMS, PLEASE WRITE TO ME DIRECTLY AT THE ADDRESS BELOW.
You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshivah’s weekly Torah Sparks via email here:
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