Parashat Ki Tisa (Shabbat Parah)
Adar 18, 5783 / March 10-11,2023
Torah: Exodus 30:11 - 34:35
Torah: Exodus 30:11 - 34:35
Maftir (Parah): Numbers 19:1-22
Haftarah (Parah): Ezekiel 36:16-38
Haftarah (Parah): Ezekiel 36:16-38
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This d'var torah is offered in honor of my mother, Annabelle Flom, celebrating her 92nd (!) birthday on Thursday. Happy Birthday, Mom! Ad me'ah v'esrim!
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 March 14, we'll be at BT Shabbat 55b, page 145 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 - "...מיתיבי ד' מתו בעטיו של נחש" - "It is taught in a Baraitha - Four died in consequence of the instigation of the serpent...”
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria:
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents
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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 March 14, we'll be at BT Shabbat 55b, page 145 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 - "...מיתיבי ד' מתו בעטיו של נחש" - "It is taught in a Baraitha - Four died in consequence of the instigation of the serpent...”
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria:
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents
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My annual Pesach Resources page is now available! Check out:
The page will be updated as needed before Pesach.
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
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/
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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/
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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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WE MIGHT NOT BE PERFECT...
‘The LORD spoke to Moses, "Go, get down; for your people have corrupted themselves, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt!”’ Exodus 32:7
In his midrashic commentary in Humash Etz Hayim on this verse, Rabbi Harold Kushner, z’l says that the words “your people” not only minimize God’s relationship to them, they emphasize Moses’ close relationship to them. He then cites the Mekhilta d’Rebbi Yishmael (Shirata 1) as teaching the following: “Moses devoted his life to three things – the Torah, the people Israel, and the pursuit of justice.”
This brings to mind the teaching of Shimon HaTzaddik: "The world stands on three things: On the Torah, on service to (or worship of) God, and on deeds of lovingkindness." (Pirkei Avot 1:2) This Mishnah from Avot is so well known that it’s become a song that most Jews learn and sing in religious school and the synagogue. But the teaching from the Mekhilta? Not so much.
I’m not proposing that we set the Mekhilta to music. But I do believe that Moses’ life’s devotions should be incorporated with the teaching of Shimon HaTzaddik to give us the following: The Jewish world depends on Jews committed to Torah, service to God, the Jewish people, justice for all, and lovingkindness towards all.
Moses Destroys the Tables of the Ten Commandments (c. 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
All we can do is try to do the best we can to the best of our abilities. We might not always be able to fulfill our commitments, but that does not mean we have failed or that we are corrupt beyond redemption. Because another thing that Rabbi Kushner teaches about this week’s Torah reading, in the Maftir for Shabbat Parah, is that the sacrifice of the unblemished, perfect Red Heifer implies “that perfection does not belong in this world…; this world is given to the inevitably flawed and compromised.” That’s us. But we can make our world a better place by striving to improve ourselves.
I wish you Shabbat Shalom Uv’rakhah – A Shabbat of Peace and Blessing.
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
TBH/CBM
הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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