Parashat Sh’mot
Torah: Exodus 1:1 - 6:1
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
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.
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.
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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 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".
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
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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
