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:
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
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.
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
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!
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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.
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
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
