YOUR FEELINGS ARE NOT NECESSARILY YOUR OWN!

1 Adar 1, 5784 / February 9-10, 2024
Parashat Mishpatim (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh)
Torah: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18
Maftir: Numbers 28:9-15
Haftarah (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh): Isaiah 66:1-24
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my mother, Annabelle Flom, on the occasion of shloshim since her passing. Y’hi zekherah liv’rakhah – Her memory is a blessing.
 
This d'var torah is offered in honor of the women of Temple B’nai Hayim on the observance of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh 1 Adar.

(This Shabbat morning, 2/10, Lynn and I are sponsoring a kiddush lunch in memory of my mother and in honor of the women of Temple B'nai Hayim. All are welcome to join us. If you intend to come to services in person and stay for lunch, please let us know by Thursday, 2/8, by email - ravflom@sbcglobal.net - or call the TBH office at (818) 788-4664, so we can be sure to have enough food and drink.)
 
This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for all who have been wounded in the terrorist attacks and in fighting against the terrorists, as well as innocent non-combatants caught in the crossfire.
 
This d'var torah is offered in memory of all the victims of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah. Y’hi zikhronam liv’rakhah – May their memories be a blessing. And may the memory of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah and all their supporters be forever erased.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. On Monday, February 12, we'll be at BT Shabbat 129b, page 199 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 –  "... אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבהו אמר רב"  - "Rav Nachman said in the name of Rabbah bar Abuhu in the name of Rav ....”

 
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  
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
----------------------------------------------------------------
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 
------------------------------------------------------

!משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה - With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a) 

 
This Friday and Shabbat are Rosh Chodesh Adar 1.  

SO HERE'S A LITTLE CONTEST 

As this is a Jewish Leap Year, it raises a question, and the person who gives me whatever I believe to be the best answer will be awarded one slightly used bottle of slivovitz (the decision of the judge and the amount of slivovitz he drinks from the bottle are in his sole discretion and are final): Since we are instructed by our rabbis to be joyful in Adar, and Adar is twice as long this year, does that mean that we have twice as much joy this year than in non-leap years, or, does it mean that on any given day in the months of Adar, we are only half as joyful as we would have been in a non-leap year because our joy must be spread over twice as many days? There is no right or wrong answer! Be creative with proof texts!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
--------------------------------------------------------
YOUR FEELINGS ARE NOT NECESSARILY YOUR OWN!
 
“You shall not oppress a stranger (ger, which can also mean a foreigner or a convert), for you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 23:9 (See also a similar statement at Exodus 22:20)



 
The Alter of Slabodka (Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, founder of the Slabodka Yeshiva, b. Lithuania 1849 – d. Jerusalem1927 - his yahrzeit is this week, Shevat 29/February 8) teaches the following:
 
"Please do not explain this according to the simple meaning, that we are not permitted to oppress a stranger because we, too, had been strangers and had been oppressed, and thus know the taste of oppression. Rather, the reason is that a person is required to feel and participate in the joy and distress of his fellow, as if these had affected him personally. (my emphasis) "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18) - exactly as yourself. A person's relationship to others is not complete unless he feels their joys and sorrows with them, without any differentiation." (from Itturei Torah)
 
It seems like nothing is ever simple with rabbis! For the Alter of Slabodka, merely not oppressing the Other is not enough! Yes, we Jews know oppression - but we need to have the greatest empathy for the Other, for the oppressed, in their joy, in their sorrow, and, I would suggest, in their day to day lives. This, he believes, is the only way to have a completely loving relationship with another. 
 
This is a tough, some might say impossible order to follow. But consider how this deep, deep sharing/experiencing of emotions with the Other will create within us and within them the Truth - that they are indeed "exactly as yourself". 
 
Shabbat Shalom! Chodesh Adar Sameach!
 
Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B'nai Hayim
Sherman Oaks, CA
!משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה
With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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