ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

Parashat Bo

Torah: Exodus 10:1 – 13:16

Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28

Shevat 6, 5783 / January 27-28, 2023

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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. 

On February 7, we'll be at BT Shabbat 33b, page 138 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 -  "שמע רבי פנחס בן יאיר ..." - "Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair heard ...” PLEASE NOTE: NO LUNCH and LEARN on JANUARY 31. 

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

A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 

https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents 

-----------------------------------------------
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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ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

Pharaoh called to Moses and said, "Go - serve the Lord; only your flocks and herds shall remain; even your little ones may go with you." And Moses said, "... And our livestock will go with us; not a hoof will remain; for from it we will take to serve the Lord our God." Exodus 10:24-26

Moses Speaks to Pharaoh - James Tissot, circa 1896-1902

The Yehudi Hakodesh of Pshischa understands this conversation as follows: Pharaoh said, "One may serve God purely in one's mind, without any action. If in truth you desire to serve God, why do you need your animals? Go - serve the Lord, with pure heart and intention, and you will need no animal sacrifices." Moses replied, "Intention alone, with no action associated with it, is unimportant and meaningless. The whole point is the action, which makes the intention profound." The Holy Jew concludes, "It is through action that one is aroused to serve God enthusiastically and to adhere to Him."

Let me be clear - prayer is an important and wholly (holy?) proper way to serve God. That is why we call prayer “avodah” - service. On the other hand, words may be viewed as cheap - we give up nothing, we make no sacrifice, in uttering them. And truthfully, the passive nature of prayer may have no lasting impact on anyone, including ourselves - unless the words ultimately motivate us to action. It’s easy to talk the talk. But walking the walk? Well, that doesn't have to be hard, but it still needs to be done.

If we are to have a positive effect on improving our world itself (tikkun olam), if we are to truly improve ourselves - then it is through the observance of the physical mitzvot. Whether charity, deeds of loving kindness and promoting peace, or kashrut, teaching our children and lighting Shabbat candles - it is through these actions that we truly serve God. In the same vein, positive change in society requires holy action on our part – holy words are not enough! We can improve the world around us and our inner spiritual selves by going beyond ourselves. If you want God to act, you have to act. You too can be an action hero!

Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus

Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT Yevamot 87b
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Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
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CHOLESTEROL OF THE SOUL

Parashat Va’era

Tevet 28, 5783 / January 20-21, 2023

Torah Reading : Exodus 6:2 - 9:35

Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25 - 29:21

Mevarkhim Hachodesh

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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 January 24, we'll be at BT Shabbat 33a, page 133 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 -  "בעון גלוי עריות ..." - "As a punishment for the sin of adultery ...” 
 
Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 

A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 

https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents 

-----------------------------------------------
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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CHOLESTEROL OF THE SOUL

 

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, ...” Exodus 7:3

 

The notion that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart raises great difficulty. What does this say about free will? Rabbi Yochanan asks, “Doesn’t this provide heretics with ground for arguing that he had no means of repenting?” If God caused Pharaoh to refuse to let the Israelites go, if he foreclosed Pharaoh from repentance, if everything is preordained, then how can anyone be held accountable for their actions? To paraphrase Abraham, how can God, the judge of all the world, then claim to be acting justly?

"The Rods of Moses and the Magicians Turned into Serpents" (Figures de la Bible, 1728)

 

For the first five plagues, “Pharaoh’s heart hardened” - he chose to act as he did. But for the last five plagues, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart”. In the Midrash, Resh Lakish says, “Let the mouths of the heretics be stopped up. ‘If to scorners, He will scorn.’ (Proverbs 3:34) When God warns a man once, twice, even three times, and still he does not repent, then God closes his heart against repentance so that He should exact vengeance from him for his sins.” Still, why does God harden Pharaoh’s heart at all? Or does God really do that?

 

Interestingly, in the Talmud, Resh Lakish (Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish) gives a different and more satisfying answer. He says, “What is the meaning of ‘If to scorners, he will scorn; and to the meek he gives favor’? If he tries to defile himself, he is given an opening; if he tries to purify himself, he is helped.” Note the lower case here. Not God, but man. If we turn to scorners, we will scorn. If we turn to the meek, we give ourselves favor. We always have the choice to open our hearts and souls or harden them to the cries of others. If we choose evil, God passively leaves openings, which we can choose to enter - or not. If we choose time and again to harden our souls, it becomes more and more difficult for us to change our ways. But the difficult is not impossible. Because, says Resh Lakish, if we choose goodness, God affirmatively helps us.

 

Unclog the arteries of your soul, and heed the cries of those in need.

 

Shabbat Shalom v'Chodesh Tov.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT Yevamot 87b
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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 
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ONE WHO SAVES A LIFE …

Parashat Sh’mot

Torah: Exodus 1:1 - 6:1

Haftarah: (Ashkenazim) Isaiah 27:6 - 28:13; 29:22-23; (Sephardim) Jeremiah 1:1 - 2:3

Tevet 21, 5783 / January 13-14, 2023

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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 January 17, we'll be at BT Shabbat 32b, page 131 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 -  "בעון ביטול תרומות..." - "The punishment for the sin of neglecting laws concerning Terumah...” 
 
Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 

A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 

https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents 

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

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

ONE WHO SAVES A LIFE …

"But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, for they kept the male children alive." Exodus 1:17

Pharaoh and the Midwives - James Tissot, ca. 1900

Rashi - They would supply them with food and water.

Rabbi Nissan Puchinski - The implication is that had they not supplied them with food and water, they would be considered as murderers, because preventing someone from being saved is considered similar to murder.

Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 - "One who takes a single human life; it is as if he destroyed an entire world. One who saves a single human life; it is as if he saved an entire world."

In its classic form, the Kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum relates to God withdrawing or contracting in order to make room for the physical universe. However, according to Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg, after the Shoah, tzimtzum was necessary in order for human beings, no longer willing or able to operate only as God's servants under an imposed mandatory covenant system, to instead become God's partners in a voluntary covenant. God has "self-limited", he says, "contracting divine power in order to empower humanity." Under this theory, every Jew is a "Jew by choice". The purpose of the partnership agreement is tikkun olam - the restoration of a shattered world.

God may have withdrawn from visibly active participation in the physical world, but God is still present in healing shattered hearts and comforting the suffering. God acts through us, as we are told in Isaiah 43:12, "You will be my witnesses." Witnessing is NOT merely watching; it means undertaking action to fulfill the terms of the partnership and improving the world to its ideal state. It is our empowerment with independent action which makes every human being truly "in the image of God". 

Please, donate your time and/or money as generously as you can to organizations that feed the hungry, house the homeless, provide medical care to the needy – you get the idea. Now more than ever - join the partnership! Use your power to save life.

Shabbat Shalom!
 
Rabbi Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT Yevamot 87b
------------------------------------------------------
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 

HOW AND WHY TO BLESS THE CHILDREN

Parashat Vayechi

Tevet 14, 5783 / January 6-7, 2023

Torah: Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 (Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazeik)
Haftarah: 1 Kings 2:1-12

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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 January 10, we'll be at BT Shabbat 32a (last line) - page 129 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 -  "תניא רבי נתן אומר:" - "We are taught that R. Nathan says:” 
 
Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 

A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 

https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents 
-----------------------------------------------
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.

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

HOW AND WHY TO BLESS THE CHILDREN

And (Jacob, aka Israel) blessed them that day, saying, "In you shall Israel bless, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and Menashe'" ... Genesis 48:20

This is the beginning of the blessing over sons. For both sons and daughters, the rest of the blessing is the same - the threefold blessing of the Kohanim (Numbers 6:24-26). Why do we start the blessing of the sons this way? What's so special about Joseph's sons? Indeed, the blessing for daughters starts out, "May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah." Why not bless sons with "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"?

"Jacob Blessing Ephraim and Menashe" - Antonio María Esquivel, 1832

The Yalkut Yehudah (Yehudah Leib Ginsburg, Russia and US, 1888-1946) addresses this, in part. He says that Jacob was a prophet who foresaw the exile of his descendants. He knew that their Jewishness was endangered. Therefore, he said that sons should be blessed to be like Ephraim and Menashe - the first Jewish men who were born, raised and educated in exile (Egypt), in spite of which they remained faithful Jews (Jacob says, "Like Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine." - Gen. 48:5) And here we are today, keeping the faith, though we are born, raised and educated outside of the Land of Israel.

But what about daughters? Why are they blessed in the names of the four ancestral mothers? I believe it has to do with several points. First, they also were born outside the Land of Israel, in Haran. Second, Jewish tradition teaches that mothers are the ones who instill religious practice and belief in children, because they are their first teachers. In addition, the Midrash teaches that it was the women who kept the men's spirits up during the days of slavery in Egypt. Finally, according to tradition, it is the women who maintain the Jewishness of the home, particularly with regard to kashrut and Shabbat observance (e.g., Sarah was the first to kindle Shabbat lights). So our daughters are blessed in the names of the Matriarchs.

Of course, all of this is irrelevant - unless you make it a regular practice to bless your children on Shabbat and Yom Tov evenings, and to follow the teaching of the Yalkut Yehudah! Whether your children are like Ephraim and Menashe, or like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, bless them every Shabbat evening - keep the faith, baby!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 87b

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My weekly divrei torah are available through free subscription to the Cyber Torah e-mail list. No salesman will call!

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To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net  with the heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah”.

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