LET ALL THE PEOPLE GO!

Parashat Bo
Shevat 10, 5781 / January 22-23, 2021

Torah: Exodus 10:1 – 13:16

Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28

This d'var torah is offered in memory of long-time community member Shirley Sands, who passed away on Wednesday. The Temple B'nai Hayim - Congregation Beth Meier Community extends condolences to the Sands family. Funeral and memorial arrangements are pending. Y'hi zekherah liv'rakhah - May her memory be a blessing. 

Candle-lighting: 4:55 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 Refuah Shleimah/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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LET ALL THE PEOPLE GO!

"... (Pharaoh) said to (Moses and Aaron), 'Go, worship the Lord your God! Who exactly is going?' And Moses said, 'With our young and old we will go; with our sons and daughters, with our flocks and herds we will go, for it is a festival to the Lord.'" Exodus 10:8-9.

 

In Chumash Etz Hayim, Rabbi Harold Kushner asks why Moses emphasizes "young and old." He cites several commentators as answering: "because no celebration is complete without children"; "a child without parents is an orphan, but a nation without children is an orphan people"; and, "We will go with our old people who feel rejuvenated at the prospect of living in freedom."

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was this past Monday - we should pause to reflect on what this passage, and the entire Exodus story, must have meant to African-Americans during their 350-year struggle for freedom. It was only 155 years ago when an entire people was enslaved in America .Individual slaves might from time to time be set free - without their spouses, children, parents or siblings. This is similar to what Pharaoh would ultimately propose to Moses and Aaron - that only the adult men should go and worship God. What did "freedom" mean to those lucky few, in America or in Egypt , who were set free? What did it mean to those who remained in slavery? Dr. King knew, just as Moses did, just as we all know, that freedom means little, if anything, under those circumstances, because a person can not be truly free as long as others around him/her are slaves.

We may be fortunate, indeed, to live in a time and place when we have more freedom, religious and otherwise, than our ancestors could possibly have imagined. But from a spiritual standpoint, with that freedom comes an obligation - to bring our young and old, our sons and daughters, along with us. Everybody is invited to God's party - but the celebration simply can not be complete unless we bring everyone along with us.

Shabbat Shalom! Tu Bish'vat 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!

This Sunday, January 24, we're having a kid/family/everyone friendly on-line Tu Bish'vat Seder at 9:00 am. You can download, and print if you like, the Haggadah for this program at:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1y5HfAhVBthBOrsDiWS4amDEjZXIn3i0R?usp=sharing 

All our services and programs are available at: 

https://www.facebook.com/BnaiHayim 

Shabbat Evening Service with Reb Jason 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. 

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. 

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