SAME AS HE EVER WAS

Parashat Vayiggash

Tevet 11, 5781 / December 25-26, 2020 

Torah: Genesis 44:18 - 47:27

Haftarah: Ezekiel 37:15-28

Candle-lighting for Friday: 4:32 PM PST - Sherman Oaks, CA 

This week's Cyber Torah is offered in honor of my wonderful life partner Lynn Kronzek, as we celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary (!) on Monday, December 28. Happy Anniversary, my dear!

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:

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 

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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SAME AS HE EVER WAS

‘And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me,” and they came near; and he said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.”’ Genesis 45:4.

Menachem Mendel, the Kotzker Rebbe, interprets our verse in this way: “I am the same Joseph that I was when you sold me into Egypt. I did not change in this corrupt country, and you do not have to be afraid that you caused me to become corrupted. I am Joseph your brother, the son of Jacob, just as then, when ‘you sold me into Egypt.’”

Joseph appeared to be an Egyptian. He spoke the language. He dressed like Egyptian royalty. He had power equivalent to that of Pharaoh. In order to do his job properly, he had to be more than passingly familiar with and sensitive to Egyptian religion, culture, politics, etc. He was an Egyptian. And yet, in his essence, he was the same Joseph he had always been - the son of Jacob, loyal to the God of Israel.

 

The United States is not Egypt, thank God. But there is no question that America creates danger for Jews in terms of total assimilation and the end of Jewish identity. However, one can be a serious and practicing Jew and still actively take part in the larger secular, non-Jewish culture. But it requires fortitude and an awareness of boundaries, as well as education in Judaism. The Midrash tells us that Joseph thought constantly of his heritage, of his father and of his God. By doing so, Joseph maintained his identity (and his sanity!), despite being a stranger in a strange land.

 

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!

All our services and programs are available at: https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 

Kabbalat Shabbat Evening Service with Reb Jason Van Leeuwen tis Friday evening at 6:30 PM PST. 

Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason Van Leeuwen this Saturday at 10:00 AM PST. 

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. 

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. NOTE: Lunch and Learn will be on hiatus until January 5, 2021, as Rabbi Flom will be on vacation. 

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

You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshiva’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  

DESPAIR AND HOPE IN THE CORN

Parashat Miketz 

Tevet 4, 5781 / December 18-19, 2020 

Torah: Genesis 41:1 – 44:17 

Haftarah: 1 Kings 3:15 – 4:1

Candle-lighting for Friday: 4:28 PM PST - Sherman Oaks, CA

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

Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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DESPAIR AND HOPE IN THE CORN

"Now Jacob saw that there was food (shever) in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, 'Why are you looking at each other?' And he said, 'Behold I have heard that there is food (shever) in Egypt. Go down there and buy (shivru) for us from there, and we will live and we will not die.'" Gen. 42:1-2

The Midrash goes to great lengths, using multiple puns and misspellings, to teach us that Jacob was prophetic. The word "shever" means both "food" and "brokenness" (literally, "rupture"). "Shivru" comes from the same root as "shever". And the Hebrew word "sever" (spelled with the letter "sin" rather than "shin") means "hope". In an unpointed Hebrew text, such as a Torah scroll, "shever" and "sever" are identical.

"It says that Jacob saw brokenness (and hope) in Egypt. There was brokenness, that was the famine. There was hope, that was the plenty. There was brokenness, that Joseph had gone down to Egypt. There was hope, that Joseph was in charge. There was brokenness, that there would be slavery and poverty. There was hope, that afterward they would come out with great wealth... For it had been revealed to Jacob that Joseph was alive." Midrash, at B’reishit Rabbah 91

Jacob is not only prophetic; he also gives a valuable lesson. One can find hope even in despair. Both despair and hope somehow arise in the same place, as a kernel within our souls. The result, despair or hope, really depends on how we nurture the seed. Even when we think there is no hope – there is hope.

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!

All our services and programs are available at: https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 

Kabbalat Shabbat Evening Service with Reb Jason Van Leeuwen and Rabbi Flom Friday evening at 6:30 PM PST. 

Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason Van Leeuwen and Rabbi Flom Saturday at 10:00 AM PST. 

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.

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. NOTE: Lunch and Learn will be on hiatus until January 5, 2021, as Rabbi Flom will be on vacation.

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

You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshiva’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 

THE SECRET?

Parashat Vayeishev

Torah: Genesis 37:1 – 40:23

Maftir: Numbers 7:18-23 

Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 - 4:7

Kislev 26, 5781 / December 11-12, 2020

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

Light your Hanukkiyah first, then your Shabbat candles

How to Light Your Hanukkiyah/Menorah:

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hanukkah-candle-lighting-ceremony/ 

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: 

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 

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

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THE SECRET?

 

"And Judah said to his brothers, "What advantage is there if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?" Genesis 37:26

 

A traditional understanding of this verse is that Judah sees an opportunity to get rid of Joseph and profit at the same time (while saving his life). That is why the brothers ultimately decide to sell Joseph into slavery. But Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Kotzk has a very different take on the verse.

 

The Kotzker focuses not on the profit motive, but on the idea of hiding the deed. He says, "If we are forced to conceal the matter and to keep it secret, that is a sign that it is wrong. Every secret is like a type of theft."

 

In the Kotzker's view, Judah is saying there is no benefit whatsoever in eliminating Joseph, since it will be a guilty secret among the brothers forever. Indeed, we see later in the Torah that the brothers become wracked with guilt and recrimination when they are confronted by the vizier of Egypt (the disguised Joseph), who seems omniscient in his penetrating questions and demands of them.

 

My father, z’tz'l, whose name also was Menachem Mendel, taught me a very simple lesson on the issue. "Don't ever say or do anything that you would not want on the front page of the newspaper."

 

There's no such thing as a secret.

Shabbat Shalom! Chag Urim Sameach!

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! 

Kabbalat Shabbat Evening Service with Reb Jason Van Leeuwen and Rabbi Flom Friday evening at 6:30 PM PST. On Zoom or at: 

https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 

Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason Van Leeuwen and Rabbi Flom Saturday at 10:00 AM PST. Haftarah chanted by Robert Flom. On Zoom or at: 

https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 

Community Chanukah Celebration and Latke Happy Hour! Saturday, December 12 at 7:00 pm PST. Have your menorah, your dreidel, and your latkes or sufganiyot (or both) ready for a singalong and show-and-tell and more!  

https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 

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. 

https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 

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 15 class, Parashat Miketz, can be found at: 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oeH5r6321-U_KmqEeITlPLJ96dX7nUqQ?usp=sharing 

Join us on Zoom or at: https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 

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

You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshiva’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 

NAME CHANGE

Parashat Vayishlach
Kislev 19, 5781 / December 4-5, 2020
Torah: Genesis 32:4 – 36:43
Haftarah: Obadiah 1:1-21

Candle-lighting for Friday: 4:25 PM PST - Sherman Oaks, CA 

This d’var Torah is offered in memory of my uncle, David Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Monday, Kislev 21. Y’hi zikhrono liv’rakhah – may his memory be a blessing.

Chanukah is coming! First light is Thursday, December 10, at or after sundown. Chag urim sameach!

Community Chanukah Celebration and Latke Happy Hour (!) Saturday, December 12, at 7:00 PM PST. Visit https://bnaihayim.org/special-events/  for details.

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 

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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NAME CHANGE

'And he (the angel) said to him, "What is your name?" And he replied, "Jacob." And he (the angel) said, "No longer will it be said that your name is Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with man and have prevailed."' (Genesis 32:28-29)

When a person converts to Judaism, the final step is immersion in a mikvah. When the convert emerges, s/he is given a new name. It is a symbol of rebirth, by prevailing in a trial by water, if you will; or perhaps by symbolically emerging from the waters of the womb. The change of identity coincides with the change in status. But it occurs only after a lengthy period of study, practice and reflection, confronting the past and facing the future, a struggle with the self, with humans, and with the Divine.

How, then, was Jacob reborn? Other than the change of name, how did he become different? The answer, I think, lies not in the final struggle with the angel, a symbolic trial by combat, but rather in the vast change Jacob had undergone since he left his parents' house 22 years previously. He confronted himself, and no longer feared for his own safety, but for that of his wives and children. He faced down Laban and finally escaped from his clutches. He looked at God face to face, and asked for confirmation of the covenant with Abraham and Isaac. The wrestling match and the name change were the culmination of years of personal development, of discerning the ways of God and man.

Each of us is a Jacob. Each of us also has the potential to change, to grow, to become Israel, the one who wrestles with God and with man and with the self. But we earn the change of name, the rebirth, only if we are prepared to engage in the necessary struggles to change ourselves and our world. It is not about resistance, but rather gaining knowledge and wisdom, acting in a purposeful way, and living a life of meaning.
 
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! 

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

Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason Van Leeuwen and Rabbi Flom this Saturday at 10:00 AM PST. Haftarah chanted by Susan Burke. 

Community Chanukah Celebration and Latke Happy Hour (!) Saturday, December 12, at 7:00 PM PST. Visit https://bnaihayim.org/special-events/  for details.

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. 

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 8 class, Parashat Vayeishev, can be found at: 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/128I73NhL_37q3msBz1h6AMjnsSMcN3Wu?usp=sharing 

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

You can subscribe to the Conservative Yeshiva’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