YOU CAN’T GIVE UP!

Tishrei 12, 5786 / October 3-4, 2025

Parashat Ha'azinu (Shabbat Shuvah) 
Torah Reading: Deuteronomy 32:1-52
Haftarah: 2 Samuel 22:1-51

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SUKKOT is coming! Get your hut built and your lulav/etrog before sundown, Monday, October 6. And of course, there will be PIZZA IN THE HUT at the home of Rabbi Flom and Lynn Kronzek on Sunday, October 12, at 4:00 PM. Please RSVP (essential) to the Temple B'nai Hayim office:

temple@templebnaihayim.org or (818) 788-4664

No cost, but we need to know if you'll be coming to the event to be sure we have enough food and drink. Address and contact info provided when you RSVP.

Chag Sukkot Sameach!

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This d'var torah is offered in memory of the victims of Hamas who were murdered by the terrorists on October 7, 2023. Y'hi zikhronam liv'rakhah - Their memories are a blessing.

This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah and a speedy and safe return of all the hostages being held by Hamas.

This d’var torah is offered for an end to the hunger crisis in Gaza.

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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. 

On October 13, we'll be at Ein Ya'akov Yevamot, p. 44 (BT Yevamot 63b) - 

'...אמר רבא אשה רעה מצוה לגרשה'   - 'Raba said: "It is meritorious to divorce a bad wife ..."'

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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“For from afar, you will see the land, but you will not come there, to the land I am giving the children of Israel.” Deuteronomy 32:52
 
Rabbi Tarfon taught: “It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task; neither are you free to refrain from it.” Avot 2:16

The Death of Moses, Deuteronomy 34:1-12. Illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company. Wikimedia

Moses already knows he is going to die – before he is able to completely accomplish the assignment he had been given forty years before – leading the Israelites into what will thereafter be known as the Land of Israel. Yet, even to his dying day, he continues to carry out his duties as the leader of the Israelites, still asking God to permit him to go into the land with them. Once he knew he would not be allowed, he didn’t throw in the towel – he didn’t say, “Well, there’s no further reason to do this anymore, since I can’t finish the job.”
 
That’s how it is to be a Jew – that’s how it is for every human being. It’s up to every one of us to strive to accomplish our work and to fulfill our obligations for as long as we are able. Others will pick up where we have left off. Moses knew that Joshua would take up the mantle of leadership afterward – that’s one of the reasons he continued to serve as Joshua’s mentor. Similarly, we should all know that if we give up on the holy enterprise of living lives of meaning and goodness, our children and our community might well assume that there is no point to that task at all – pursuing the work means it will continue after us.
 
Another way to understand Rabbi Tarfon is this: The Israelites’ release from Egyptian bondage created the freedom to act on, rather than to reject, the responsibility to willingly serve others. And Moses was their model to follow.
 
Don’t give up!

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sukkot Sameach!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim

.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם

Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.

Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1

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