Parchat, A word from the Rabbi, and more! October 2017

A MESSAGE FROM OUR RABBI

I am excited to remind you about our Artist-in

-Residence weekend at the end of October. You

already viewed many of her beautiful pieces

over the course of Rosh Hashanah and Yom

Kippur. Debra Band, our featured artist, will be

commenting on some of her artwork during the

weekend of Oct. 27 - 29. Debra will be

speaking during Friday evening

services, Saturday morning services and

conducting a special workshop on

Sunday morning. The art workshop is a special

program exclusively for Shul members.

The art workshop is geared for teenagers

and adults. This activity is not for young

children. To sign up please send a check for

$36 to the office by Oct. 8. A check must be

received by Oct. 8 so that we have time to

purchase the special materials. PAYMENT

AND RSVPs ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS

ART PROJECT. There is a limit of 20

participants.

A few of Debra’s special areas of interest

include art, mysticism, Bible, and the role of

women in liturgy and Bible. Debra works

extensively with the Women’s League of

Conservative Judaism. She travels frequently to

address Women’s League events as well as

other groups including inter-religious dialogue

organizations. Involved in Medical ethics

review, she is a lay member of the

Neurosciences Institutional Review Board of

the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda,

MD.

I am very pleased that we are able to invite

the Temple membership to enjoy Debra’s

special presentations during Friday and

Saturday services. As a community we must

come together in learning, recreation and

worship. Please encourage your Temple friends

to join you during Friday and Saturday services

for the weekend of October 27 - 29, 2017. We

all grow from shared Jewish experience.

Debra Band has two books which she will

be selling. Both are stunningly beautiful:

Kabbalat Shabbat, regularly priced at $50, will

be $40. Arise usually priced at $40 will be $35.

These books are beautiful presentations of her

artwork and incorporate eye-opening comments

on prayer and Jewish women. What a great

Chanukah gift idea!

I hope everyone takes part in this rare

opportunity to grow artistically and Jewishly.

Please feel free to invite any and all Jewish

friends to the Friday evening and Saturday

morning programs. Please reserve your place

and that of a Shul friend in the art workshop. I

suggest you visit her website. You will be

entranced by her artwork’s beauty:

http://dbandart.com/

I look forward to seeing you during the

weekend!

Torah Tidbits and Haftarah Highlights

By Rabbi Steven Silberman

(All page numbers refer to Etz Hayim)

Oct. 7 - Shabbat Sukkot - pp. 724 - 730

This passage is read on all three major holidays

(Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot). What is the

reason found in Torah for us to have a sukkah?

See p.730.

Haftarat Sukkot - pp. 1253 – 1255

Prophet Zechariah lives at a troubled time in

Israel when many ancient Jews are forgetting

basic Judaism. He teaches the importance of

living in a sukkah for the holiday and he

stresses that all peoples will embrace

monotheism. For Zechariah a sukkah

symbolizes a peaceful and harmonious

existence. He teaches that nations which do not

embrace this Israelite value will suffer.

Oct 14 - Parshat Beresheet - pp. 13 - 29

Famously, the serpent is described as being a

perennial enemy of people. Why do you think

God placed the first couple in a garden in the

first place?

Haftarat Beresheet - pp. 36 - 40

Why does Isaiah bring ‘singing’ into the world?

What is he trying to accomplish? Look at verse

10 on page 37.

Oct. 21 - Parshat Noach - pp. 48 - 58

Noach is chosen to be the father of humanity

because he is a righteous man. He is described

as pure. After the flood God commands Noach

to refrain from one behavior. Which command

does God issue to Noach? Why? See p. 50

verses 4-5.

Haftarat Noach - pp. 65 – 68

Isaiah lives many centuries after Noach. He

employs a poetic phrase that God has made a

promise to his fellow Israelites in his own time

(2,700 years ago) and this promise is as

enduring as the vow God made to Noach. What

is Isaiah trying to say? Look at p. 67 and read

verses 11-14.

Oct. 28 -Parshat Lech Lecha - pp. 77 – 85

A battle between two groups of kings spills

beyond the immediate battle line and

collaterally affects the people living in Sodom.

Abram sticks his neck out to help strangers.

Why does Torah include this passage?

Haftarat Lech Lecha - pp. 95 - 98

A beautiful text from Isaiah names Abraham

and Jacob as ‘friends’ of God. Why is this

Haftarah read in connection with this Torah

reading? How do you feel when you hear Jacob

and Abraham called ‘friends’ of God?

Shabbat Thoughts, Torah Tidbits and Haftarah Highlights, A Message From the Rabbi

We are witnesses to destruction. The overwhelming loss from Hurricane Harvey is beyond measure. While the grief is beyond description, already heroes and ordinary people have begun to rescue people in distress and to begin the clean-up, setting in motion the first of the preliminary stages of rebuilding. With flood waters still encroaching upon our friends’ homes, individuals are helping to guide the beleaguered communities of Texas, in some way, towards living one more day. Caring action will spread hope throughout the lives of many who are on the edge of despair. Communal support will take root and eventually will counter misery.

       How are we to respond to such a catastrophe? Helpless to prevent a monster hurricane and at a loss for words, I turn to a strange Midrash and find comfort. 

       An old Jewish commentary on the nature of existence reads as follows:

God created the world and it was beautiful -but it was found wanting. Time  and again God created world after world, each more beautiful than the previous. Yet, still God  found each world lacking and destroyed it and then resumed creating and ultimately created many worlds { some say 1,000 worlds} and then left off of the destruction and this world is the final in creation. (Genesis Rabbah 3:7 and other sources).

       This compelling Midrash does not specify why this world stood out in God's eyes as the pinnacle of all creation but I have an idea. This cryptic text does not elaborate on the contents of the world and I have a sneaking suspicion that there were no people in the prior worlds. This current world, our world, contains people  and people have the compassion necessary to uplift each other in crisis; thereby making a lasting difference in each other’s lives. Kindness and concern for others differentiated our world to such an extent as to incline God to say “this is the world I shall keep”.

       We are the unique ingredient, incomparable amidst all existence, because we can understand each other. True enough, we bear the technical capacity to right a capsized vessel and to rebuild dwellings. More importantly, though, we can empathize with one another and bear the hurt of the heart and the wounds of the spirit of individuals and communities.

And it is this essential component of creation which nothing else in the universe possesses.

May we lend our spirit to all - and our nation will do its part to uplift Texas and each other.

A Message From the Rabbi

Our calendar tells a story. January derives from the

Roman two-headed god Janus, representing the act

of looking forward and backward into time as people

begin a new year. September (7th), October(8th),

November (9th) and December (10th) indicate our

ancient solar calendar contained ten months until

Julius and Augustus Caesar came along and wanted

to be memorialized. Each inserted a month into the

calendar in his own honor and presto – 12 months.

Roman gods (Janus and Mars), practicality in

counting, and human ego underlie our modern

system of record-keeping.

The Hebrew calendar tells a different story.

Torah numbers the months. Passover is so important

that it imbues its month with the stature of being

number one. Because the first month falls in spring

we could read a phrase in Exodus as naming

Passover’s month ‘springtime’. No other months are

named in the Torah. Interestingly, three other

months are mentioned in the Biblical book of Kings

(Etanim, Ziv and Bul). Yet, even though these

names are recorded in Tanakh, they are no longer in

use today.

About 2,600 years ago the Jewish people were

taken captive by Babylonia. After settling in

Babylonia and learning the local language, our

ancestors adopted the names of the Babylonian

months. For them Tishri and Elul were as much part

of their daily experience as February or October are

part of ours.

We are approaching the Jewish year of 5778.

The High Holy days, which usher in a 10-day period

of personal spiritual evaluation, are the pinnacle of

Jewish individual and communal self-scrutiny.

Strikingly, our High Holiday month of Tishri is not

even a Hebrew word. Perhaps the name of the

month does not need to be Jewish. More important

than naming a month a Hebrew word is the

commitment to improve our lives by bringing Jewish

values and principles into our daily experience. May

we so live in the upcoming year.

L’Shanah Tova. May you and your loved ones be

inscribed for a good year.

G’mar Chatimah Tovah. May you be sealed for life

in the coming year.

Torah Tidbits and Haftarah Highlights

Sept. 2 - Parshat Ki Teitzei - pp. 1112- 1123

What does caring for a mother bird have to do with

taking a woman captive during a battle? Torah

demands ethical treatment of all creatures, human

and animal.

Haftarat Ki Teitzei - pp. 1138 - 1139

Why does God promise Israel that God will take

care of Israel using the words ’the waters of Noach’s

flood’ ? Just as there would never be another flood,

so, too, does God reassure Israel that God and Israel

will always be close.

Sept. 9 - Parshat Ki Tavo - pp. 1140 - 1146

If you and I were farmers and we struggled to bring

forth food from the earth, upon a successful harvest

we would probably brag “Look what I did!”

Excitedly we would showcase our produce. Why

does the Torah stipulate that a small portion of the

first fruits be given to the Cohen?

Haftarat Ki Tavo - pp. 1161 - 1163

Imagine naming your neighborhood ‘Success’,

‘Prosperity’ or ‘Achievement’. Imagine a foreign

king or queen volunteers to be your babysitter.

Isaiah proclaims such great light will be glowing

throughout Israel that no home will need

illumination. How would you feel living during this

experience?

Sept. 16 - Parshat Netzavim-Vayelech –

pp. 1165 - 1179

Moses delivers his concluding speech to the

Israelites. If you were Moses what would you

include in your final speech?

Haftarat Netzavim - Vayelech –

pp. 1181 - 1183

To a community beset by war Isaiah promises that

‘you will be wearing clothing of beauty and glory,

splendor and majesty’. He is not speaking of thread

or fibers. What goes through your mind when you

hear such a promise?

Sept. 23 - Parshat Ha-azinu - pp. 1185 - 1195

This entire Torah reading is a poem. Why does

Moses speak to the Israelites poetically?

Haftarat Ha-azinu or Haftarah of Shuvah

(Return) - pp. 1235 - 1238

This Haftarah has a special name. Because it is

between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur it is called

Haftarah of Shuvah (Return). Why do we call this

Haftarah the Haftarah of return?

Sept. 30 - Please join us in Shul for Yom Kippur.