Parashat Vayetze
Kislev 9, 5783 / December 2-3, 2022
Torah: Genesis 28:10 - 32:3
Haftarah: Hosea 12:13 - 14:10 (Ashkenazim); Hosea 11:7 – 12:12 (Sephardim)
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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Channah bat Feiga, Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of Lynn’s grandfather, Gabriel
Stern, whose yahrzeit falls on Kislev 10, Sunday, December 4. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah
– may his memory be a blessing.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my uncle, Daniel Flom, whose
yahrzeit falls on Kislev 14, Thursday, December 8. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah – may
his 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 December 6, we'll be at BT Shabbat 31a - page 124 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 -ב''ה..." אחורי עובר שהיה אחד :כוכבים בעובד מעשה שוב " - "Again it happened that while a heathen passed by the rear of a synagogue …”
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/
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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FIRST THINGS FIRST
Kislev 9, 5783 / December 2-3, 2022
Torah: Genesis 28:10 - 32:3
Haftarah: Hosea 12:13 - 14:10 (Ashkenazim); Hosea 11:7 – 12:12 (Sephardim)
--------------------------------------
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Channah bat Feiga, 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 December 6, we'll be at BT Shabbat 31a - page 124 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 -ב''ה..." אחורי עובר שהיה אחד :כוכבים בעובד מעשה שוב " - "Again it happened that while a heathen passed by the rear of a synagogue …”
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST THINGS FIRST
“And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will guard me on this way that I am going, and will give me food to eat and clothing to wear, and I return in peace to my father’s house, then the Lord shall be my God.’” Genesis 28:20-21.
This is a somewhat troubling vow. Jacob seems to be saying that he will accept God as his God only if God grants his request for food, clothing and safety. One might say that, after all, Jacob is only human, and we humans make this kind of bargain all the time. “If I am cured of this disease, I will start putting on tefillin regularly.” “If I pass this exam, I will go the synagogue every Shabbat.” But it is unseemly in one of the Patriarchs.
Jacob's Dream (1639 painting by Jusepe de Ribera)
Rabbi S. Z. Heller says that what Jacob is really saying is,
“then I will be able to serve You properly.” He continues: We don’t say “Adon
Olam” (Lord of the Universe, the concluding hymn on Shabbat morning) until
after we have said “Ma Tovu” (How Goodly Are Your Tents, the prayer said upon
entering the synagogue). One’s physical needs must be attended to before one
can engage in spiritual practice.
This brings to mind the teaching of Rabbi Israel Salanter, the founder of the Musar (ethics) movement. Rather than concerning oneself with one’s own physical needs and the spiritual lives of others, one should first attend to the physical needs of others and one’s own spiritual life. We can’t save souls unless we first save the bodies.
Perhaps what Rabbi Salanter is really telling us is that in saving the physical lives of others, we save our own souls.
Shabbat Shalom!
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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