BEING MINDFUL OF BEING THERE

Parashat Mishpatim/Shabbat Rosh Chodesh/Shekalim
Adar 1, 5781 / February 12-13, 2021
Torah: Exodus 21:1 – 24:18
7^th Aliyah for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh: Numbers 28:9-15
Maftir for Shabbat Shekalim: Exodus 30:11-16
Haftarah for Shabbat Shekalim: 2 Kings 12:1-17
 
This d’var torah is offered in honor of Jackie Aaronson, celebrating a big birthday on Thursday, 2/18. Ad meah v’esrim – until 120! Mazal tov!
 
This d’var torah is offered in honor of all the women of TBH/CBM who are conducting our services this Shabbat. Mazal tov!
 
SPECIAL BULLETIN! PURIM IS COMING!
A virtual Purim spiel and megillah reading will be Thursday, February 25 at 7:00 pm on-line. Thanks to Reb Jason for creating this year’s spiel!
 
Candle-lighting: 5:16 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/1iT0tdp45ITSU6o1tykah41m3IXBxBwLxe8FORSIXzDo/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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BEING MINDFUL OF BEING THERE

'And the Lord said to Moses: "Come up to Me to the mountain; and be there; and I will give you the stone tablets and the Torah and the commandments that I have written, that you may teach them."' Exodus 24:12

Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (aka The Kotzker Rebbe; Poland, 1787-1859) says, "There is a difficulty here. If Moses went up the mountain, of course he would be there! Perhaps this is to show that one may struggle to climb the peak, being able to arrive there, yet not really be there. He may be standing at the summit, but his head is in another place. The main thing is not the ascent, but to be there, and only there, and not to be going up and down at the same time."

This is more than a rejection of the notion that the journey is more important than the ultimate goal. For the Kotzker, "being there" is not just physical, to be in a specific location. Being there is temporal and spiritual. The mind, heart, and soul, having struggled to reach God, must remain focused on the moment - what came before, and what will come after, are not then relevant. If this seems very much like the Buddhist concept of mindfulness - it is - and you can be pretty sure the Kotzker Rebbe never had any exposure to Buddhism. Mindfulness is equally a Jewish concept, and always has been so.

When engaged in prayer, when lighting the Shabbat candles, when reciting Kiddush, when blessing your children, when performing any mitzvah - be there. When you are fully present in the present, you experience the wonder of the moment. The awesomeness of the summit can only be experienced - and only for so long as one does not think about how one got there or how one will get down or what it all means. Our ancestors knew this. That is why they said, "All that the Lord has said, we will do and we will hear." Exodus 24:7. In short - do it, experience it - then try to understand.

Have an awesome Shabbat!
 
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
 
Shabbat Evening Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Friday evening at 6:30 PM. 
 
Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Morning Service with women from TBH/CBM with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom assisting this Saturday at 10:00 AM. 
 
NO Religious School Sunday, 2/14. Resume on 2/21.
 
Downloadable and printable Siddur for Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat/Festival Ma'ariv, Shabbat/Festival Morning, and more, including the weekly Parashah and Haftarah, all available at: 
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/form-download-e-siddur-0 
Fill out the form - the download is free. 
 
David Silon’s on-going class “Jewish History” meets Sunday at 11:00 am. 
 
Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 pm for Lunch and Learn, a 60-90 minute study session. We're learning Hasidic and classic 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   
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