FIRST THINGS FIRST

Parashat Vayetze
Kislev 12, 5781 / November 27-28, 2020
Torah: Genesis 28:10 - 32:3
Haftarah: Hosea 12:13 - 14:10 (Ashkenazim); Hosea 11:7 – 12:12 (Sephardim)

Candle-lighting for Friday: 4:26 PM PST - Sherman Oaks, CA

This d'var torah is offered in honor of my sister, Lorrie Flom, whose birthday falls on Sunday, November 29. Happy Birthday, Sis! Mazal tov!

This d'var torah is offered in honor of my son, Robert Flom, whose birthday falls on Tuesday, December 1. Happy Birthday, Sonny! Mazal tov!

This d'var torah is offered in memory of Anne Karam, who passed away on Saturday. Anne was the sister of my brother-in-law Jay Goodman. Y'hi zikhronah liv'rakhah – May her memory be a blessing

This d'var torah is offered in memory of Josef Sands, long-time member of Temple B’nai Hayim, who passed away on Sunday. Y'hi zikhrono liv'rakhah – May his memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered in memory of my uncle, Daniel Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Tuesday, Kislev 14. Y'hi zikhrono liv'rakhah – May his memory be a blessing.

Our Refuah Shleimah/Prayer for Healing List can be found at:
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

This week's Yahrzeit List can be found at:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IvKK6of7m1YFiwWATXCfQXrBrjmLMfS_CAM3WhZ_fu4/edit?usp=sharing 

A list of all of our on-line activities can be found below. All our services and programs are available at: https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim      

With the COVID-19 epidemic, SOVA needs your donations more than ever. Please, bring some non-perishable canned and packaged foods and personal items, (no glass) to the lobby of TBH/CBM. Wear a mask, social distance, and help out those in need.

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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FIRST THINGS FIRST

“And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will guard me on this way that I am going, and will give me food to eat and clothing to wear, and I return in peace to my father’s house, then the Lord shall be my God.’” Genesis 28:20-21.

This is a somewhat troubling vow. Jacob seems to be saying that he will accept God as his God only if God grants his request for food, clothing and safety. One might say that, after all, Jacob is only human, and we humans make this kind of bargain all the time. “If I am cured of this disease, I will start putting on tefillin regularly.” “If I pass this exam, I will go the synagogue every Shabbat.” But it is unseemly in one of the Patriarchs.

Rabbi S. Z. Heller says that what Jacob is really saying is, “then I will be able to serve You properly.” He continues: We don’t say “Adon Olam” (Master of the Universe, the concluding hymn on Shabbat morning) until after we have said “Ma Tovu” (How Goodly Are Your Tents, the prayer said upon entering the synagogue). One’s physical needs must be attended to before one can engage in spiritual practice.

This brings to mind the teaching of Rabbi Israel Salanter, the founder of the Musar (ethics) movement. Rather than concerning oneself with one’s own physical needs and the spiritual lives of others, one should first attend to the physical needs of others and one’s own spiritual life. We can’t save souls unless we first save the bodies.

Perhaps what Rabbi Salanter is really telling us is that in saving the physical lives of others, we save our own souls.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
TBH/CBM
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!

Shabbat Evening Service with Steve Pearlman and Rabbi Flom this Friday evening at 6:30 pm PST.

Shabbat Morning Service with Steve Pearlman and Rabbi Flom this Saturday at 10:00 am PST. Torah reading by Steve Pearlman and Warren Trauman. Haftarah chanted by Warren Trauman.

Downloadable and printable Siddur for Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat Ma'ariv, Shabbat/Festival Morning, and more, including the weekly Parashah and Haftarah, all available at:
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/form-download-e-siddur-0
Fill out the form - the download is free.

David Silon’s class “Jewish History” meets every Sunday at 11:00 am PST. But not this Sunday, November 29! Class resumes December 6.


Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 pm PST for Lunch and Learn, a 60-90 minute study session. We're learning Hasidic teachings on the weekly parashah. The study materials for the December 1 class, Parashat Vayishlach, can be found at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14hFjr0OeS4uypWOajgyQ5kS41Fgg6WNK?usp=sharing

Some excellent on-line Jewish resources are available at:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/

You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshivah’s weekly Torah Sparks via email here:
https://www.conservativeyeshiva.org/torahsparks/

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