MUTUAL BENEFIT

Parashat Lekh L'kha
Cheshvan 11, 5783 / November 4-5, 2022
Torah Reading - Genesis 12:1 - 17:27
Haftarah - Isaiah 40:27 - 41:16
 
This d'var torah is offered in memory of Stana Cooper, who passed away on Saturday night. Funeral/shivah private out of state. The community extends condolences to Stana's partner, Jack Howland. Y’hi zekherah liv’rakhah – Her memory is a blessing.
 
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella 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. 
 
NO Lunch and Learn on November 8. We will meet on November 1.
 
On November 1, we'll be at BT Shabbat 28b - page 114 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 -
 "...מאי הוי עלה דתחש" - "What remains of the discussion regarding the so-called badger (Tachash)..."
 
Ein Ya'akov is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 
-----------------------------------------------
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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MUTUAL BENEFIT
 
"Then the Lord said to Avram, 'Get yourself from your land, from your community, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you.'...So Avram went as the Lord had told him..."  Genesis 12:1, 4
 
Rashi:  "Go for yourself" - for your own benefit and your own good.
 
According to Rashi, God was convincing Avram (later to become Avraham) to go to Canaan because of the benefit he would receive - to become a great nation and to be blessed (v. 2). 

Abram's Journey from Ur to Canaan (1850 painting by József Molnár)

But the S'fat Emet, Yehudah Aryeh Leib of Ger, disagrees. He says that this was the first of ten tests of Avram. It wouldn't be much of a test if he received a benefit for listening to God. Rather, Avram went solely because he was commanded to, without thinking of the benefit. Thus, the act of going to Canaan was not contaminated by selfish motives.
 
Very few of us are as pure of heart as the Avram conceived by the S'fat Emet. Everyone wants to know "what's in it for me?" If I am to spend time and/or money, what is the payoff? This cost-benefit analysis is cynical, to say the least. But it need not be so.
 
Feeding the hungry and clothing the naked are not simply for the benefit of the recipients; we make our world a better place for ourselves and for our children when we reduce suffering and strife, even though tzedakah has a cost. The same is true for cleaning up the environment, regardless of the "price". Similarly, doing work for the synagogue community benefits everyone, including the one who does the work.
 
The answer, then, is that doing what God asks of us is always beneficial to us, even when it might seem to be the opposite. The benefits of carrying out God's word can be physically and spiritually uplifting, for ourselves, for those around us, even the whole world! Carry out God's word, and join the mutual benefit society.
 
Shabbat Shalom Uv'rakhah!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
.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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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 

REBIRTH OF MAN – AND GOD

Parashat Noach

Cheshvan 4, 5783 / October 28-29, 2022
Torah Reading: Genesis 6:9 - 11:32
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1 - 55:5 (Ashkenazim); Isaiah 54:1-10 (Sephardim)

This d'var torah is offered in memory of my uncle, Merwin Erenbaum, whose yahrzeit falls on Wednesday, November 2, corresponding to 8 Cheshvan. Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - May his memory be a blessing.
 
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my zayde, Sam Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Thursday, November 3, corresponding to 9 Cheshvan. Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - May his memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella 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. 

NO Lunch and Learn on November 8. We will meet on November 1.

On November 1, we'll be at BT Shabbat 28b - page 114 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 -

 "...מאי הוי עלה דתחש" - "What remains of the discussion regarding the so-called badger (Tachash)..."

Ein Ya'akov is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 
-----------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

REBIRTH OF MAN – AND GOD

"And God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and God caused a wind to blow across the earth, and the waters subsided." Genesis 8:1

In The Five Books of Miriam, author Ellen Frankel suggests that the affair of the Flood is reminiscent of a birth. The waters are amniotic fluid. The ark is an embryo, and contained within that embryo are the seeds of all life. The embryo floats, without direction, in the water. The child is born, and needs to be raised. The child needs food and instruction. These, Noah and his family receive. They learn agriculture, and they are given rules to live by. These are the Seven Noahide Laws, which prohibit, among other things, murder, idolatry, animal cruelty and sexual misconduct, and which require the establishment of courts of justice.

Noah and the Rainbow - Marc Chagall

Thus, the human race is reborn, with knowledge and guidelines which Adam and Eve did not have. I would suggest that God is “reborn” as well. After the disobedience of the first humans, God simply drives them away. In the face of the "corruption of the world", a world inhabited by lawless people, God destroys nearly everyone. But God "reinvents" God’s Self. God remembers - God remembers that God too must have rules, and so God makes a covenant with Noah not to destroy the world again. God finally "gets it" - God understands that those created (merely) in the image of God, the human race, cannot survive without God's guidance.

It's a symbiotic relationship, if you will. God needs us to perfect the world, and we need God to tell us how to do it. Put God's words into action - you might even be reborn.

Have a wonderful Shabbat!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 

FUTURE PERFECT

Parashat Bereishit

Tishrei 27, 5783 / October 21-22, 2022

Torah Reading - Genesis 1:1 - 6:8

Haftarah - Isaiah 42:5 - 43:10 (Ashkenazim); Isaiah 42:5-21 (Sephardim)

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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.

This d'var torah is offered in honor of Adam Snyder, becoming a bar mitzvah this Shabbat. Mazal tov to Adam and his family!

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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. 

NO Lunch and Learn on October 25 or November 8. We will meet on November 1.

On November 1, we'll be at BT Shabbat 28b - page 114 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 -

 "...מאי הוי עלה דתחש" - "What remains of the discussion regarding the so-called badger (Tachash)..."

Ein Ya'akov is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 
-----------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FUTURE PERFECT

"And the heavens and the earth and all their hosts were finished. And by the seventh day God finished all God's work that God had done, and God rested on the seventh day from all the work that God had done. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because on it God rested from all the work of creating that God had done." Genesis 2:1-3.

The above verses are chanted in the synagogue and at the Shabbat evening table as the lead-in to Kiddush. In their book, "Five Cities of Refuge", Rabbi Lawrence Kushner and playwright David Mamet point out that work and Shabbat observance go together – they are inseparable. Like God, we can truly bless our work only by refraining from it for a day, and then by reflecting on the work we have done.

They also point out that the chapter and verse structure of the Torah is a construct, which artificially separates Shabbat (Chapter 2) from the rest of Creation (Chapter 1). This is symbolic, they suggest, of our broken world. And it is a reason why we silently say the concluding words of Chapter 1, "and there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day", before chanting Kiddush.

I would note that the Jewish mystics have taught that a way to repair the world is through "yichidut", the Unification of God's Holy Name. One way we can “repair” Shabbat, then, might be to reunify Shabbat with the rest of the week - not by working on Shabbat, not by resting all week, but by realizing that our work, which is never done, can have meaning for us only if we take time off to contemplate that which we have not created - and understand that we play a role, however minor, in perfecting that Creation.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 

IT SHOULD ONLY COME TO PASS

Tishrei 20, 5783 / October 14-15, 2022

Shabbat Chol Hamo'ed Sukkot 

Torah: Exodus 33:12 - 34:26 

Maftir: Numbers 29:26-31

Haftarah: Ezekiel 38:18 - 39:16

Book of Ecclesiastes 

Tishrei 22 / October 16-17
Sh’mini Atzeret
Torah: Deuteronomy 14:22 – 16:17
Maftir: Numbers 29:35 – 30:1
Haftarah: 1 Kings 8:54-66
 
Tishrei 23 / October 17-18
Simchat Torah
Torah:  23 Deuteronomy 33:1 – 26; Genesis 1:1 – 2:3
Maftir: Numbers 29:35 – 30:1
Haftarah: Joshua 1:1-18

Some excellent on-line resources are available for Sukkot/Sh’mini Atzeret/Simchat Torah at:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/ 

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This d'var torah is offered in memory of my aunt, Helen Schugar, who passed away on Tuesday. Y'hi zikhronah liv'rakhah - Her memory is a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah 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 October 18, we'll be at BT Shabbat 22a - page 114 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 -

 "...אמר רב כהנא דרש רב נתן בר מניומי" - "R. Cahana said that R. Nathan b. Minyumi expounded:..."

 
NOTE: Yes, we are meeting on the second day of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah. Our community is now following the Land of Israel calendar for Yom Tov observances, so for us the second day of Yom Tov is Chol Hamoed, or in the case of Tishrei 23, Isru Chag (the day after a festival). I have identified the Torah/Haftarah readings for the Diaspora calendar for the benefit of those who observe that custom.  

Ein Ya'akov is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 
-----------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IT SHOULD ONLY COME TO PASS
 
“V'zot Hab'rakhah” is the concluding parashah of the Torah, and it is not read on a Shabbat, but only on the holiday of Simchat Torah. It is also notable for being chanted on the night of Simchat Torah (the only nighttime Torah reading of the year). The opening words are, "And this is the blessing by which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death." Deuteronomy 33:1

"The Death of Moses" - Providence Lithograph Company, 1907

Near the conclusion of his blessing, Moses says the following: "And Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone; in a land of corn and wine, yea, his heavens shall drop down dew." Deuteronomy 33:28

Some of the classic commentaries on the above verse suggest that the Jewish people were to dwell solitarily, as punishment for their sins. According to them, this was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple as described in the Book of Lamentations, and the subsequent Babylonian Exile. 

However, Rashi (who was also a vintner) rejects such a reading, and has a very different understanding of the verse. He comments: "Each individual will be dispersed under his own vine and fig tree, without any need of coming together out of fear of the enemy."

This seems much more in keeping with the idea of a blessing. What a blessing it would be if everyone, Jew, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, any religion, no religion, not to mention various political positions, could reside in peace and tranquility under the Biblical symbols of plenty, the vine and the fig tree. We should also note the conjunction of this parashah and the Festival of Sukkot, which concludes on Sunday. We will have spent a week praying that God would shelter us within God’s Sukkat Shalom, the Tent of Peace.
 
So, in the spirit of Rashi, I offer this simple prayer: Harachaman hu yivarekh otanu kulanu yachad b'virkat shalom - May the Merciful One bless us, all of us together as one, with the blessing of peace.
 
Mo’adim L’Simchah! Chagim Uz’manim L’sason! Shabbat Shalom! Chag Shemini Atzeret Sameach! Chag Simchat Torah Sameach!
 
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 

WHAT EXACTLY ARE SUKKOT?

Sukkot 1 and 2 - Tishrei 15-16, 5783 / October 9-11, 2022

Sukkot 1 and 2 - Torah: Leviticus 22:26 - 23:44; Maftir: Numbers 29:12-16
Sukkot 1 - Haftarah: Zechariah 14:1-21
Sukkot 2 - Haftarah: 1 Kings 8:2-21

Some excellent on-line resources are available for Sukkot/Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah at:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/

-------------------------------------------------
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina, Feigel bat Kreina, and Devorah 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 October 11, we'll be at BT Shabbat 15a - page 112 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 - "...אמר רב כהנא" - "R. Cahana said:..."

NOTE: Yes, we are meeting on the second day of Sukkot. Our community is now following the Land of Israel calendar for Yom Tov observances, so for us the second day of Sukkot is Chol Hamoed. I have identified the Torah/Haftarah readings for the Diaspora calendar for the benefit of those who observe that custom.  

Ein Ya'akov is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 

https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 
-----------------------------------------------

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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT EXACTLY ARE SUKKOT?

"So that your generations will know that I caused the Children of Israel to dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 23:43

There is an interesting dispute among the Rabbis concerning the nature of the sukkot in which our ancestors dwelt. In the Talmud (Sukkah 11b), Rabbi Eliezer says the sukkot were "the clouds of glory" (ananei hakavod) that surrounded the Jews in the desert. But Rabbi Akiva says, "They built for themselves actual booths" (sukkot mamash). One might understand from Rabbi Eliezer that the Shekhinah, the Divine Presence, surrounded them in the desert - that is something truly spectacular! Rabbi Akiva is a realist - they lived in flimsy structures, just like we build today.

What makes the discussion more interesting is that in the midrashic text Mekhilta D'Rebbi Ishmael (Pischa 14), Rabbi Eliezer says they were actual booths and Rabbi Akiva says they were clouds of glory! Which text is correct and which rabbi is correct?

The answer is - they all are! Sukkot are physical and metaphysical. It comes to teach us that when we spend a week fulfilling the mitzvah of residing in a flimsy hut, we surround ourselves with the Shekhinah. Spend some time in a sukkah, and get your head in the clouds!

May we all dwell in sukkot shalom – shelters of peace.

Shabbat Shalom! Chag Sukkot Sameach! Mo'adim L'Simchah!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
".איזה הוא חכם? הלומד מכל אדם"
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1

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