REMEMBER?

Adar 11, 5786 / February 27-28, 2026

Parashat Tetzaveh (Shabbat Zakhor)

Torah Reading: Exodus 27:20 - 30:10
Maftir (Shabbat Zakhor): Deuteronomy 25:17-19
Haftarah (Shabbat Zakhor): 1 Samuel 15:1-34

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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. NO Lunch and Learn on March 2. On Monday, March 9, we'll continue our learning in BT Pesachim in preparation for Passover, commencing on Wednesday, April 1. 

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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:

https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com 

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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

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REMEMBER?

This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Zakhor (Remember) because of the first word of the Maftir, the additional Torah reading, which instructs us to remember what Amalek did to our ancestors on the way out of Egypt. This serves as a connection to the observance of Purim, Monday night and Tuesday, when we commemorate the defeat of Haman, a descendant of Amalek. However, I want to focus on a different kind of remembering, mentioned in the weekly portion for this Shabbat.

"And you shall put the two stones upon the shoulder pieces of the ephod, stones of remembrance for the Children of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a remembrance... And Aaron shall bear the names of the Children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, for a remembrance before the Lord perpetually." Exodus 28:12, 29

"For a remembrance - that the Holy One Blessed Be He should see the tribes written before Him and remember their righteousness." (tzidkatam – their righteousness) Rashi to verse 12, citing Midrash Exodus Rabbah

"Memory is the source of redemption; exile comes from forgetting." Baal Shem Tov to verse 29.

The names of the tribes were engraved on the stones as a reminder - to whom? Rashi teaches that God needs to be reminded of the righteousness of our ancestors. Perhaps it is to remind God of our (inherent?) righteousness (as if!); we also are the Children of Israel. Does God really need to be reminded of anything - as if God could forget! Yet many of the prayers which we regularly offer do just that.

I understand the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chasidism, as saying "no!" We are the ones who need to remember. If we believe we are righteous, we need to remember that we once were not. If we are not righteous, we must remember that we can become so - if we try. Remembering takes on redeeming qualities, because it can compel us to perform acts of righteousness. So it is imperative to remember what you once were; to be reminded of what you have the potential to become; and to do something about it, by performing acts of tzedek and tzedakah, of justice and of righteousness.

Have a wonderful Shabbat! Purim Sameach! Barukh Mordechai; Arur Haman! 

HaRav HaGaon HaTzaddik Abba Reuven Ben Menachem Mendel Flom, Sh’lita

Der Heileger Rebbe of Sherman Oaks - Emeritus

Rosh Yeshivah – Lower Slobbovia Bartender Academy

Slivovitz Taste Tester
משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה

From the beginning of Adar, we increase joy.

BT Ta’anit 29a

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FEEL THE LOVE!

Parashat T'rumah

Exodus 25:1 - 27:19

Haftarah: 1 Kings 5:26 - 6:13

Adar 4, 5786 / February 20-21, 2026

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This d'var torah is offered in memory of my aunt, Mildred Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Friday, February 20 / Adar 3. Y'hi zekherah liv'rakhah - May her memory be a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered in memory of Leonard Foint, whose yahrzeit falls on Friday, February 20 / Adar 3. Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - May his memory be a blessing.

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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. On Monday, February 23, we'll continue our learning at BT Pesachim 105a. You can find it online at:

https://www.sefaria.org/Pesachim.105a.2?lang=bi 

"... רב חנניא בר שלמיא ותלמידי דרב" - "Rav Chananya bar Shelemya and students of Rav ..."

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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:

https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com 

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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.

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FEEL THE LOVE!
 
"And this is the offering you will take from them: gold and silver and brass."  Exodus 25:3
 
The Dubner Maggid taught: "God did not ask for these things in the sanctuary because He loves gold, Heaven forbid, but because they are precious to humans.  When a person donates something that he loves to God, it is as if he is giving his love to God....   It would have been proper to command that each person give God his love, but how can one take something spiritual, namely one's love, which is deep in the heart?  Therefore God commanded that He be given something material, and the love is given along with the object."

Replica of the menorah

I see in the Maggid's teaching an interesting interpretation of the Sh'ma (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).  There, we are told to love God with all the heart, along with all the soul and all the might.  Some Jewish traditions teach that "heart, soul and might" are metaphors for greed, intellect and possessions. By acquiring property through greed, whether in-born or learned, coming to understand through study what God really wants from us, and then giving away our acquisitions to that higher purpose, we do indeed give all our love to God. 

And what is that higher purpose? Since the destruction of the Temple nearly 2,000 years ago, how do we show our love for God? Simple! We give tzedakah - to people in need - the very images of God to whom we are to show and share our love.
 
Feel the love - and then spread it around!

Have a Shabbat of joy and gladness - it's Adar!

 

HaRav HaGa’on Abba Reuven ben Menachem Mendel Flom, Sh’lita

Av Beis Din – Chelm

Slivovitz Taste Tester

משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה

From the beginning of Adar, we increase joy.

BT Ta’anit 29a

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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 
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YOUR FEELINGS ARE NOT NECESSARILY YOUR OWN!

Adar 27, 5786 / February 13-14, 2026

Parashat Mishpatim (Shabbat Shekalim)

Torah: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18

Maftir: Exodus 30:11-16 (Shabbat Shekalim)

Haftarah (Shabbat Shekalim): 2 Kings 12:1-17 (Ashkenazim); 2 Kings 11:17 – 12:17 (Sephardim)

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This d’var torah is offered in honor of my sister and brother-in-law, Lorrie Flom and Jay Goodman, on the occasion of their wedding anniversary this Shabbat, February 14. Happy Anniversary! Mazal tov!

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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. On Monday, February 16, we'll continue our learning at BT Pesachim 103b6. You can find it online at:

https://www.sefaria.org/Pesachim.103b.6?lang=bi  

".... ,כי מטא לאבדולי" - "When it was time for havdalah, ..."

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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:

https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com

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Monday, February 16, is Presidents Day - don't forget to fly Old Glory!

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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source

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YOUR FEELINGS ARE NOT NECESSARILY YOUR OWN!

"And you shall not mistreat a stranger (ger, which can also mean a foreigner or a convert), nor shall you oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Exodus 22:20

“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 23:9

The Alter of Slabodka (Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, founder of the Slabodka Yeshiva (b. Lithuania 1849 – d. Jerusalem 1927), teaches the following on Exodus 23:9:

"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)

"Cities of Refuge" (Providence Lithograph Company, 1901)

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!

 

Rabbi Richard A. Flom, DD (HC)

Rabbi Emeritus

Temple B'nai Hayim

!משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה

With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a)

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Cyber Torah list management (no salesperson will call!):

To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net 

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SAME AS IT EVER WAS

Parashat Yitro

Torah Reading: Exodus 18:1 - 20:23 (some chumashim use different verse numberings)

Haftarah Reading: Isaiah 6:1 - 7:6, 9:5-6 (Ashkenazim); Isaiah 6:1-13 (Sephardim)

Shevat 20, 5786 / February 6-7, 2026

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This d'var torah is offered in memory of my aunt, Shirley Schack, whose yahrzeit falls on Thursday, Shevat 25/February 12. Y'hi zekherah liv'rakhah - Her memory is a blessing.

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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. On Monday, February 9, we'll continue our learning at BT Pesachim 102a. You can find it online at:

https://www.sefaria.org/Pesachim.102a.7?lang=bi 

"... תנו רבנן בני חבורה שהיו מסובין" - "The Sages taught: members of a group who were reclining ..."

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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:

https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/2023/02/14/shavua-tov-black-moses/ 

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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source

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SAME AS IT EVER WAS

"In the third month, when the Children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day they came to the wilderness of Sinai." Exodus 19:1

Rashi: "What is the meaning of 'the same day'? That the words of the Torah should be as fresh to you as if they had been given today."

We learn in the Zohar that when reciting Shirat Hayam (the Song at the Sea), which is read from the Torah on Parashat Beshalach (we read it last week) and on the seventh day of Passover, and in the siddur every morning, that we should rise and sing it with great joy, as if we ourselves were standing at the shore, witnessing the great miracle. Similarly, when Aseret Hadibrot (The Ten Statements [aka Commandments]) are read from the Torah, as we will be doing this Shabbat, we rise and listen with great intensity, as if standing at the foot of Mt. Sinai, hearing them for the very first time.

This is explained in Miginzeinu Ha'atik (“From Our Ancient Genizahs”, quoted in Itturei Torah). "You should not say that the Torah was given in the wilderness nearly 3,000 years ago, and it was only appropriate for that time and the conditions which existed then - 'The same day' - as if they had been given today - the laws of the Torah and our traditions are eternal, and they are relevant in every place and at every time."

This idea that they might be irrelevant is often applied to any number of Torah laws, such as kashruth, Shabbat, and tefillin. And yet, one never hears anyone say that "honor your father and mother" or "you shall not murder" have gone out of fashion. Not to mention loving and caring for the stranger, which appears at least 36 times in the Torah. (Although, to be honest, in some quarters, even those commandments seem to be regarded as optional.) Why is that?  The discussion often turns on notions of personal freedom, the needs of society, and the desire not to stand out - and sometimes, sheer cruelty.

I would suggest that the whole of Jewish law and tradition is a complete, unitary system, subject to debate and changes in circumstances (like the destruction of the Temple), but never irrelevancy. God gives the Torah to the Jews for a very specific reason - "You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Exodus 19:6) We Jews are here, and we receive the Torah, specifically to minister to the world by acting in accordance with its teachings, and to sanctify ourselves and others through that ministry.

Stand up at Sinai! The Torah, which is your blueprint and your job description, is being given, and it hasn't changed!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom, DD (HC)

Rabbi Emeritus

Temple B'nai Hayim

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent"

BT Yevamot 87b

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Cyber Torah list management (no salesperson will call!):

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