Parashat Pinchas
Tammuz 19, 5786 / July 3-4, 2026
Torah: Numbers 25:10 - 30:1
Haftarah: Jeremiah 1:1 - 2:3 (Because it is after 17 Tammuz, we read the
haftarah for Parashat Mattot)
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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom
and Facebook Live. NO LUNCH AND LEARN IN JULY. We're continuing to read
and discuss Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Book of Genesis. On August 3, we'll be at:
It is recommended that you also have with you a chumash
with commentaries.
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Please pass this on to a friend - and please cite the
source.
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FORGIVENESS? IT’S
LATER THAN YOU THINK!
If I ever got around to it, I would be the first to admit
that I am a procrastinator. So it is with some trepidation that I read in
this week's parashah the following:
"In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a
holy convocation for you; you shall do no laborious work; it shall be a day of
shofar sounding for you." Numbers 29:1
The Torah is talking about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and the Ten Days
of Repentance (Aseret Yamei Teshuvah) leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of
Atonement. But wait, you say, this is only Tammuz, the fourth
month. We still have over two months to go until the High Holy
Days. Why is the rabbi dreying my kop (spinning my head) with this
already?
It's because we are all procrastinators when it comes to doing the spiritual
work necessary for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It's less than three
weeks until Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, and the anniversary of the destruction
of the holy temple in Jerusalem and of many other Jewish disasters throughout
our history. The Rabbis taught that God destroyed His own house because of
baseless hatred between people. That is something that each of us needs to
consider even, perhaps especially, in the present day.
Three weeks later, we begin the month of Elul, during which, our tradition
teaches, we should each perform cheshbon hanefesh, an accounting of the
soul. We should examine our deeds (good and bad) of the past year, and
begin to make amends for the wrongs we have committed against God and, more
importantly, against each other. The shofar is sounded once every weekday
morning during Elul, to warn us of the approaching holy days.
By the start of the new year and the Ten Days of Teshuvah, we should be
actively seeking forgiveness from our fellows whom we wronged during the
previous year, in order that we may then (and only then!) ask God for
forgiveness. So, you ask, with all of this time and all of these
opportunities, why should I be thinking about teshuvah now?
Because this discussion reminds me of Rabbi Eliezer's teaching: ‘Repent one day
before your death.’ (Mishnah Avot 2:15) Since none of us is perfectly
righteous, each of us, every day, should be doing teshuvah. Don't wait -
it's later than you think.
Have a meaningful Independence Day this Saturday.
Peace and blessings. Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom - DD (HC)
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim
הרחמן הוא יברך אותנו כולנו יחד בברכת אחוה, ובברכת אהבה,ובברכת שלום
May the Merciful One bless us, all of us as one, with the blessing of brotherhood, the blessing of love, and the blessing of peace
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