TALK IS CHEAP

 

Parashat Vayakhel

Torah: Exodus 35:1 – 38:20

Maftir (Shekalim): Exodus 30:11-16

Haftarah (Shekalim): 2 Kings 12:1-17 (Ashkenazim); 2 Kings 11:17 - 12:17 (Sephardim)

This coming Thursday and Friday are Rosh Chodesh Adar HaSheni. Mishenichnas Adar, marbin b’simchah! – With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! What about Second Adar? See below for my Purim contest!

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Feigel bat Kreina and D'vorah bat Feigel.
 
Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We’re continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov. On February 22, we'll be at page 16 (my pagination) of Chapter 3 of Berakhot (28b) - "Amar lei Eliyahu, l'Rav Yehudah..." - "Elijah, the brother of R. Sala Chasida, said to R. Juda...” The reading may be found at: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TpQwHh2XyWT9XYQ5OAjwxDbuVpXbzIDY/view?usp=sharing  

Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at: https://bnaihayim.org/  
 
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", but there is no post this week due to the passing of his mother.  
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משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar, marbin b’simchah! – With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a) 
 
HERE'S A LITTLE PURIM TORAH CONTEST 
As this is a Jewish Leap Year, it raises a question, and the person who gives me whatever I believe to be the best answer will be awarded one slightly used bottle of slivovitz (the decision of the judge and the amount of slivovitz remaining after he drinks from the bottle are in his sole discretion and are final): Since we are instructed by our rabbis to be joyful in Adar, and Adar is twice as long this year, does that mean that we will have twice as much joy in total this year than in non-leap years, or, does it mean that on any given day in the months of Adar, we are only half as joyful as we would have been in a non-leap year because our joy must be spread over twice as many days? There is no right or wrong answer! Be creative with proof texts!
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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source

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TALK IS CHEAP

 

‘And Moses assembled together all of the congregation of Israel and said to them: “These are the things the Lord has commanded, to do them.”’ Exodus 35:1

 

Miginzeinu Ha’atik: “There is no problem when it comes to gathering people together: there are countless committees and conferences, meetings and sessions ... they speak, debate, argue, and discuss endlessly. That is why Moses commanded “to do them.” The purpose of your meetings must be action!”

 

‘(Moses said,) ... “(God) has endowed (Bezalel) with the spirit of God, with wisdom, ability and knowledge, ... and inspired him to make artistic works in gold, silver and copper.”’ Exodus 35:31-32

Betzalel and Ohaliav Making the Ark of the Covenant

 

Rabbi Y. Avida says that money can elevate people or bring them down to the lowest depths. With it, one can build a Tabernacle for God or construct an idol. The reason God endowed and inspired Bezalel is because one needs great wisdom to know how to use gold and silver properly.

 

Similarly, on the half shekel given by every Israelite towards the construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 30:13), the Jerusalem Talmud says that God showed Moses a fiery coin and said, “Like this one will they give.” Indeed, money is like fire - you can use it to heat your house, or you can use it to burn down the house.

 

Judaism’s teaching is clear - money itself is morally neutral. How you get it and what you do with it are what matter - that is how you determine the kashrut of money. Ultimately, regardless of countless discussions about how much money the synagogue needs, the end result is a lot of hot air, unless we take action, and we actually donate money to the causes that move us. Talk is cheap. Operating a synagogue, or any charitable organization, is not. If we talk the talk, but use our money for some ignoble purpose, all we do is bring down the house - God’s House.

 

Shabbat Shalom U’Mevorakh - A Peaceful and Blessed Shabbat!

 

Be Happy – It’s Adar! Shabbat Shalom!

HaRav HaGa’on Abba Reuven ben Menachem Mendel Flom, Sh’lita

Der Heiliger Shlabodkieville Rebbe

Av Beis Din - Chelm

Slivovitz Taste Tester

משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה

From the beginning of Adar, we increase joy.
BT Ta’anit 29a
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Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, 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 

MAKING ROOM IN SPACE AND TIME FOR SHABBAT

 
Parashat Ki Tisa
Adar Harishon 18, 5782 / February 18-19, 2022
Torah: Exodus 30:11 - 34:35
Haftarah: Ashkenazim - 1 Kings 18:1-39; Sephardim - 1 Kings 18:20-39

This d'var torah is offered in memory of Susan Pearlman, mother of our chaver Dr. Steve Pearlman (Charlene) and grandmother of our chaverah Sarah Pearlman. Susan passed away on Shabbat. Funeral took place on Thursday. For shivah information, please contact me at: ravflom@sbcglobal.net   Y'hi zekherah liv'rakhah - May her memory be a blessing.
 
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Feigel bat Kreina and D'vorah bat Feigel.
 
Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We’re continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov. On February 22, we'll be at page 16 (my pagination) of Chapter 3 of Berakhot (28b) - "Amar lei Eliyahu, l'Rav Yehudah..." - "Elijah, the brother of R. Sala Chasida, said to R. Juda...” The reading may be found at: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TpQwHh2XyWT9XYQ5OAjwxDbuVpXbzIDY/view?usp=sharing  

Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at: https://bnaihayim.org/  
 
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", but there is no post this week due to the passing of his mother.  
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משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar, marbin b’simchah! – With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a) 
 
HERE'S A LITTLE PURIM TORAH CONTEST 
As this is a Jewish Leap Year, it raises a question, and the person who gives me whatever I believe to be the best answer will be awarded one slightly used bottle of slivovitz (the decision of the judge and the amount of slivovitz remaining after he drinks from the bottle are in his sole discretion and are final): Since we are instructed by our rabbis to be joyful in Adar, and Adar is twice as long this year, does that mean that we will have twice as much joy in total this year than in non-leap years, or, does it mean that on any given day in the months of Adar, we are only half as joyful as we would have been in a non-leap year because our joy must be spread over twice as many days? There is no right or wrong answer! Be creative with proof texts!
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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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MAKING ROOM IN SPACE AND TIME FOR SHABBAT
 
"And the Children of Israel shall keep the Shabbat; to do the Shabbat for all their generations; it is an eternal covenant between Me and the Children of Israel; a sign forever ..." Exodus 31:16-17
 
This passage should be familiar. We chant it Friday evening during the Shabbat Ma’ariv service, and again Shabbat morning prior to kiddush.
 
Rebbe S. A. Taub of Modzhitz asks, “Why is Shabbat stated twice?” He suggests that the answer is found in the B. Talmud Shabbat 118b: “If Israel would only keep two consecutive Shabbatot according to their laws, they would be instantly redeemed.” That is an awesome reason to keep Shabbat! But he thinks there is another answer as well.

He says that there are two unique dimensions to Shabbat. One is sitting and doing nothing - resting, refraining from any prohibited activities, and the like. That is “keeping”, or “observing” Shabbat. The second is actually doing something - studying Torah, eating a festive meal, singing z’mirot, and so forth. That is “doing”, or “making” Shabbat.
 
All of this observing and doing, though, has to be done not only in accordance with the positive and negative commandments concerning activity, but also within a specific framework of time. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, in his book “The Sabbath”, tells us that our daily lives are all about the physical world - “building castles in space”, he calls it. But Shabbat is metaphysical - by refraining from work for twenty-five hours, we are actually building “castles in time”. By observing Shabbat and doing Shabbat, we transcend the physical world, putting us somewhere else on the space-time continuum – or taking us beyond it altogether. The Rabbis say that, by “keeping” and “doing” this particular covenant with God, we get a taste of eternity now. Try it - you’ll like it.

Keep Shabbat! Do Shabbat! Live Shabbat!
 
HaRav HaGa’on Abba Reuven ben Menachem Mendel Flom, Sh’lita
Av Beis Din – Chelm
Slivovitz Taste Tester
משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה
From the beginning of Adar, we increase joy.
BT Ta’anit 29a
------------------------------------------------------
Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, 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 

ETERNAL LIGHT OF TORAH

Parashat Tetzaveh

Adar Rishon 11, 5782 / February 11-12, 2022

Torah: Exodus 27:20 – 30:10

Haftarah: Ezekiel 43:10-27

This d'var torah is offered in honor of my sister and brother-in-law, Lorrie Flom and Jay Goodman, celebrating their wedding anniversary on Monday, February 14. Mazal tov!

This d'var torah is offered in memory of Temple B'nai Hayim founding member Esther Rose, who passed away on Thursday. Y'hi zekherah liv'rakhah - May her memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Feigel bat Kreina and D'vorah bat Feigel.

Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We’re continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov. On February 15, we'll be at page 13 (my pagination) of Chapter 3 of Berakhot (28b) - "T'nu rabbanan k'shecholeh Rebbi Eliezer" - "The Rabbis taught that when R. Eliezer was ill...'” The reading may be found at: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TpQwHh2XyWT9XYQ5OAjwxDbuVpXbzIDY/view?usp=sharing

 

Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 

Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:

https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 

Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", available this week at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UWr5OaZb3eCrZgePWKBeNisyBYoiItNT/view 

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משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar, marbin b’simchah! – With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a) 

HERE'S A LITTLE PURIM TORAH CONTEST 

As this is a Jewish Leap Year, it raises a question, and the person who gives me whatever I believe to be the best answer will be awarded one slightly used bottle of slivovitz (the decision of the judge and the amount of slivovitz remaining after he drinks from the bottle are in his sole discretion and are final): Since we are instructed by our rabbis to be joyful in Adar, and Adar is twice as long this year, does that mean that we will have twice as much joy in total this year than in non-leap years, or, does it mean that on any given day in the months of Adar, we are only half as joyful as we would have been in a non-leap year because our joy must be spread over twice as many days? There is no right or wrong answer! Be creative with proof texts!

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

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ETERNAL LIGHT OF TORAH

 

“You shall command the Israelites to bring you olive oil, beaten clear, for the lamp (the menorah); to kindle the light always.” Exodus 27:10

Rabbi Yitzchak Meir of Gur (in Chidushei HaRim), relying on Rashi's comments on other, related verses in the Torah, points out the impossibility of literally following this commandment. Once a lamp is lit, one cannot be _always_ lighting it! Rather, what the kohanim did was to out in fresh oil and then rekindle the lamp every day. Not "always", but "regularly".

He says this is similar to reciting the Sh’ma. According to the Talmud, “Even if a person merely reads the Sh’ma in the morning and evening, he has fulfilled the obligation found at Joshua 1:8 – ‘This Torah shall not depart from your lips’ (which implies that one should be studying Torah all day). The Rim explains: the verse in Joshua concludes with, “You shall meditate on it day and night.” So, if a person recites the Sh’ma with such feeling of awe that it carries through the day, it is as if he studied Torah day and night.

There is a bit of danger in his teaching. Reliance solely on the recitation of the Sh'ma as the fulfillment of the obligation to study can cause complacency - and illiteracy. It should be seen as the bare minimum and only occasionally. One need not be a great scholar, single-mindedly dedicated to study all day. But we have at least the obligation to learn regularly, sufficient to keep the light of Torah burning within us.  

It’s okay to light up!

Have a Shabbat of light and happiness - it's Adar!

 

HaRav HaGa’on Abba Reuven ben Menachem Mendel Flom, Sh’lita

Av Beis Din – Chelm

Slivovitz Taste Tester

משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה

From the beginning of Adar, we increase joy.

BT Ta’anit 29a

------------------------------------------------------

Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):

To subscribe to Cyber Torah, 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 

YOU GOTTA WANT IT!

Adar Rishon 4, 5782 / February 4-5, 2022

Parashat T'rumah

Torah: Exodus 25:1 - 27:19

Haftarah: 1 Kings 5:26 - 6:13

This d'var torah is offered in memory of my aunt, Mildred Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Friday, February 4/Adar Rishon 3. Y'hi zekherah liv'rakhah - May her memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered in memory of Leonard Foint, whose yahrzeit falls on Friday, February 4/Adar Rishon 3. Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - May his memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Feigel bat Kreina and D'vorah bat Feigel.

Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We’re continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov. On February 8, we'll be at page 8 (my pagination) of Chapter 3 of Berakhot (27b) - "Tanya Rebbi Eliezer omeir hamitpallel ..." - "We are taught that R. Eliezer says 'He who prays...'” The reading may be found at: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TpQwHh2XyWT9XYQ5OAjwxDbuVpXbzIDY/view?usp=sharing

 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 

Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 

Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", available this week at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18UGlvo5ea6SMR5XoPbZ3ZFWsaxtXKC1W/view 

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משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar, marbin b’simchah! – With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a) 

HERE'S A LITTLE PURIM TORAH CONTEST 

As this is a Jewish Leap Year, it raises a question, and the person who gives me whatever I believe to be the best answer will be awarded one slightly used bottle of slivovitz (the decision of the judge and the amount of slivovitz remaining after he drinks from the bottle are in his sole discretion and are final): Since we are instructed by our rabbis to be joyful in Adar, and Adar is twice as long this year, does that mean that we will have twice as much joy in total this year than in non-leap years, or, does it mean that on any given day in the months of Adar, we are only half as joyful as we would have been in a non-leap year because our joy must be spread over twice as many days? There is no right or wrong answer! Be creative with proof texts!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

--------------------------------------------------------

YOU GOTTA WANT IT!

“And you shall make a menorah of pure gold; of hammered work the menorah shall be made, its base and its shaft; its cups, its calyxes and its flowers shall be of one piece with it... Look and do; according to their pattern which is shown to you on the mountain.” Exodus 25:31, 40

Rashi, citing B. Talmud Menachot 29: "'Look and do.' Look here, on the mountain, the pattern that I show you. This tells that Moses was perplexed by the construction of the menorah, until the Holy Blessed One showed him a menorah made of fire.”

Rashi, citing Midrash Tanchuma: “'Of hammered work the menorah shall be made' -­ of itself (i.e., it was spontaneously created by itself, and not by humans). Moses was so perplexed by it that the Holy Blessed One said to him: 'Cast the gold into the fire’ (i.e., the fiery pattern on the mountain); thus it is not written, 'You shall make’ but ‘it shall be made’." 

 

Yehudah Aryeh Leib (the Sefas Emes, aka the Gerer Rebbe) asks in his book Gur Aryeh, “If the menorah was made spontaneously, why did God show Moses a menorah made of fire (as a pattern for making it)?” He answers that human beings are unable to completely fulfill the will of God. But through a person’s innermost and heartfelt yearning to fulfill God’s will, God helps in fulfilling the desire. The Gerer concludes, “The yearning of a person influences a given undertaking so that it can actually complete itself.”

 

If you really want to fulfill a mitzvah that is difficult for you, it will in the end seem to happen by itself - but only if you try, only if you want it, and only if you let God meet you halfway, to show you how to complete it. If you want it, here it is, come and get it.

 

Have a Shabbat of light and happiness - it's Adar!

 

HaRav HaGa’on Abba Reuven ben Menachem Mendel Flom, Sh’lita

Av Beis Din – Chelm

Slivovitz Taste Tester

משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה

From the beginning of Adar, we increase joy.

BT Ta’anit 29a

Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, 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