IT'S TORAH SEASON!

Parashat Ekev
Av 23, 5782 / August 19-20, 2022
Torah: Deuteronomy 7:12 - 11:25
Haftarah: Isaiah 49:14 - 51:3 (The Second Shabbat of Consolation)
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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Jay Goodman, Minnie Leah bat Channah Bella, Chanah Bella bat Kreina, Feigel bat Kreina, and Devorah bat Feigel.
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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 August 23 we'll be at BT Shabbat 12(b) - page 110 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 - - "Shebnah of Jerusalem upon entering would say 'Shalom'" - 

"שבנא איש ירושלים בכניסתו אומר שלום"

Ein Ya'akov is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
HebrewBooks.org Sefer Detail: Ein Yakkov Vol 1 -- S. H. Glick 
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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 should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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IT'S TORAH SEASON!
 
And it shall be, that if you hearken diligently to My commandments which I command you today; to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give rain to your land in its season, the early and the late, and you shall gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. Deuteronomy 11:13-14

The Seven Species of the Land of Israel - wheat, barley, date, grape, fig, pomegranate, olive

Rashi (quoting B. Talmud Sukkah 46b): If you hearken to the old, you will hearken to the new.
 
Rashi (commenting on Sukkah 46b): If one reviews (and hearkens to) one's previous Torah learning, it will assist one in learning (and hearkening to) new studies.
 
These opening sentences of the second paragraph of the Shema are generally regarded as typical of the theology of Deuteronomy - if you obey, everything will be all right, but if not, watch out! There is something to that, but not in the way we usually think. Here, the Rabbis see something else altogether - a metaphor for Torah study!
 
The Torah is often called "mayim chayim" - water of life. No person can live without water; no Jew can live an authentic Jewish life without Torah. Grain, wine and oil were staple foods for the Israelites - and without them, there could be no physical connection to God through the sacrificial service (through the most basic minchah grain/oil offering and the wine libation). Similarly, without Torah study, we will not have the spiritual wherewithal to properly serve God by improving ourselves and our world.
 
Unlike trigonometry or Beowulf, which most of us studied once (if at all) in high school and promptly forgot, Torah study must be regular and continuous - like the rain that comes in its season, year in and year out. If there is a drought in your learning, you won't have enough food for your soul. Torah is always in season - dig in!
 
Shabbat Shalom!
 
Rabbi Richard A. Flom - Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B'nai Hayim
http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/  

.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם

Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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