GUILT-FREE RETURNS

Tammuz 26, 5783 / July 14-15, 2023
Parashat Mattot-Mase’ei
Torah: Numbers 30:2-36:13 (Chazak!)
Haftarah: Jeremiah 2:4-28, 3:4 (Ashkenazim); Jeremiah 2:4-28, 4:1-2 (Sephardim) (Second Haftarah of Admonition
 
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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. 

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Beginning Monday, July 24, Lunch and Learn will move to Mondays at 12:30 PM. 
We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. 
On Tuesday, July 18, we'll be at BT Shabbat 89(a), page 172 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 - "אמר ליה ההוא מרבנן לרב כהנא"- "One of the Rabbis once asked of R. Cahana:…”
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  
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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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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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GUILT-FREE RETURNS

"And the Land shall be conquered before the Lord, and then you shall return, and you shall be guiltless before the Lord and before  Israel ; and this Land shall be your inheritance before the Lord." Numbers 32:22

Because the verse says "before the Lord and before Israel", Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani teaches in the name of Rabbi Yochanan that, just as we must fulfill our obligations to God, we must fulfill our obligations to our fellow human beings (Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim).

Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (aka Maimonides, aka Rambam - a traditional rendering)

Even though Yom Kippur is ten weeks away, I think it is appropriate to consider whether the order in the verse is correct. The verse says "tashuvu", "you shall return", but it can also mean "you shall repent". According to Rambam (Maimonides), in Hilkhot Teshuvah (The Laws of Repentance), we do not truly return to God, guilt-free and forgiven, unless and until we have repented and been forgiven by our fellows. Otherwise, all of our breast beating on Yom Kippur is pointless. All of the promises we make to God are meaningless unless we have already made restitution to our victims for previous violations.

But why wait until Yom Kippur? Today is a perfect day to get straight with your fellows and with God. And you never know what the future will bring. Perhaps that is why Rabbi Eliezer teaches, "Repent one day before your death."  Avot 2:15

Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Rabbi Emeritus - Temple B'nai Hayim

.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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