YOU’VE GOT A SECRET!

Elul 28, 5782 / September 23-24, 2022
Parashat Nitzavim

Torah: Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20

Haftarah: Isaiah 61:10 - 63:9 (Seventh Haftarah of Consolation)

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My Cheshbon Hanefesh Worksheet - 5783 Edition, is now available at my blog:
https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2022/08/cheshbon-hanefesh-worksheet-5783.html 
I hope you find it useful.
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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina, Feigel bat Kreina, and Devorah bat Feigel.

This d’var torah is offered in memory of Rachel Robbins, former long-time member and board officer of Burbank Temple Emanu El, who passed away on Sunday. Y’hi zekherah liv’rakhah - May her memory be a blessing.

This d’var torah is offered in memory of my grandmother, Cora Slome, whose yahrzeit falls on Shabbat, Elul 28. Y’hi zekherah liv’rakhah - May her memory be a blessing.

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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 October 4, we'll be at BT Shabbat 15a - page 112 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 - "...אמר רב כהנא" - "R. Cahana said:..." Or, we might do something a little different for Yom Kippur.

There will be NO Lunch and Learn in September due to travel and holy days. We will next meet on October 4, Erev Yom Kippur. 
 
Ein Ya'akov is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 

https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 
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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 
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Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
 
Rosh Hashanah begins Sunday evening! For more info call the temple office at (818) 788-4664. 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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YOU’VE GOT A SECRET!

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God; and those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may observe all the words of this Torah.” Deuteronomy 29:28

"You are standing here this day, all of you."

A number of Midrashim say this verse concerns sins committed in private – we cannot hide them - God still knows about them (and so does our conscience!). Some Chasidic teachers say that a person of great modesty and humility is a “tzaddik nistar”, a hidden tzaddik, who conceals his/her righteousness and good deeds from others, by doing them in secret - but God still knows about them. Both of these understandings tie in quite nicely with the traditional theological theme of Yamim Noraim - the Days of Awe that we are about to enter. That is, God takes an accounting of us, toting up the good, the bad and the ugly, and deciding what to do with us in the coming year.

The great Chasidic teacher Menachem Mendel of Kotzk takes a slightly different tack, and applies the verse to “cheshbon hanefesh”, the self-examination, literally the accounting of the soul, that tradition teaches we are to do at this time of year. The Kotzker says that the tzaddik nistar is one whose righteousness is hidden from the very self - this is someone who has no idea of their own righteousness.

(Along these lines, see my Cheshbon Hanefesh Worksheet - https://rav-rich.blogspot.com/2022/08/cheshbon-hanefesh-worksheet-5783.html 

and הודוי המשלים -  The Supplementary Confession for Good created by Rabbi Binyamin Holtzman and often misattributed to Rav Kook - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QAU7YqdBQDYoQErGpSLKf182ecQBD3oJ/view?usp=sharing)  

The lesson, as I see it, is that each and every one of us is potentially a tzaddik nistar. The trick is not to think that you really ARE such a tzaddik - there's a certain lack of humility. But, by being totally honest with ourselves in our self-evaluation, we may be able to learn how to continue to behave as well as how not to behave, and we can pass on all of that information to our children, directly and by example. If we do something wrong, we teach our children from our mistakes. And if we do something right, then they see it and we encourage them to follow. In short, don’t be overly hard on yourself - you just might be better than you think you are!

SHABBAT SHALOM!

L’SHANAH TOVAH U’METUKAH TIKATEIVU V’TIKHATEIMU!

MAY YOU BE INSCRIBED AND SEALED FOR A GOOD AND SWEET NEW YEAR!

Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
TBH/CBM
Sherman Oaks, CA
".איזה הוא חכם? הלומד מכל אדם"
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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