Adar Hasheni 23, 5782 / March 25-26, 2022
Parashat Sh'mini – Shabbat Parah
Torah: Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47
Parashat Sh'mini – Shabbat Parah
Torah: Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47
Maftir: Numbers 19:1-22 (Shabbat Parah)
Haftarah: Ezekiel 36:16-38 (Ashkenazim - Shabbat Parah); Ezekiel 36:16-36 (Sephardim - Shabbat Parah)
Mevarkhim Hachodesh (Blessing of the New Month)
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Installation of Rabbi Jason van Leeuwen (Reb Jason) as Rabbi/Spiritual Leader of Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier this Sunday, March 27, 2022, at 7:00 PM. For more info, go to:
https://bnaihayim.org/rabbi-installation/
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Community Second Seder! In Person! (And virtual). And Seder Meals To-Go! For more info, go to:
https://bnaihayim.org/passover/
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PESACH IS COMING!
My 5782 Pesach Resources - Pandemic Edition #2 is available at:
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2022/03/pesach-resources-5782-pandemic-edition-2.html
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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Feigel bat Kreina and D'vorah bat Feigel.
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at: https://bnaihayim.org/
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 March 29, we'll be at pages 19-20 (my pagination) of Chapter 5 of Berakhot (33b) - "...אמר רבי חנינא (מגילה כה) הכל בידי שמים" - "R. Chanina said: "Everything is in the hands of Heaven...” The reading may be found at:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18naYXIfd37WqagfJ5UfJoH84amqt2-tA/view?usp=sharing
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", which you can read here:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you can read here:
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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THE ORDER OF THE TORAH
“This is the law (torah) of the beast, of the fowl, and of every living creature that moves in the waters and of every creature that swarms upon the earth. It is to separate between the impure and the pure, and between the living thing which may be eaten and the living thing which may not be eaten.” Leviticus 11:46-47
Rabbi Simlai taught that just as the creation of humanity came after that of all the animals, the Torah of humans comes after the Torah of the animals. He was referring to the readings for the next two weeks, Tazria and Metzora, as well as to this week’s reading. Here, the kosher (clean; permitted to be eaten) and tahor (ritually pure) animals, on the one hand, and the treif (unclean; forbidden to be eaten) and tamei (impure) animals are discussed. In Tazria-Metzora, various conditions of ritual purity and impurity of human beings are described. For each condition, just as with the animals, the Torah concludes with the words “this is the law” - “zot hatorah”.
The Chatam Sofer (c. 1830), by Josef Kriehuber (1800 -1876) - Eigenes Foto einer Originallithographie der Albertina (Wien),
The Chatam Sofer (Moses Schreiber, aka Moshe Sofer; 1762-1839), teaches that the reason the animals come first, in creation and in matters of purity, is to knock us humans down a peg. An animal can become impure only after it is dead, by happenstance. But we become impure (physically, ritually and spiritually) while we are alive, through our thoughts and deeds. It is our arrogance and our pride in believing and acting as if we are the rulers of the world and of all creation that cause our impurity. Not only do we treat animals in that way, but we all too often treat each other that way. Consider this: how do human violence, hate, pride, greed, narcissism, etc., make us superior to animals?
It's time to reorder our priorities. We cannot change the Torah to make ourselves come first. But we can change ourselves to make the ethics of the Torah come first.
Shabbat Shalom! Chodesh Nisan Tov!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT Yevamot 88a
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