THE TORAH READING FOR 29 AV 5781 AUGUST 6-7, 2021
AUGUST BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, AND SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
Mazal Tov – Mazal Bueno to all those celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or significant event during the Month of August. If we were together at Temple Kol Hamidbar, we would extend a Tallit over you, recite a special prayer for you, and recite the following blessing (cf Num. 6:24-26):
- May the Eternal One bless you and protect you!
- May the Eternal One deal kindly and graciously with you!
- May the Eternal One bestow favor upon you and grant you peace!
KËIN YEHI RATZON (Let it be so!)
PARSHA
From ReformJudaism.org https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/reih
Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17
R’eih [Re’ëh] (רְאֵה – Hebrew for “see” [This Day I Set Before You Blessing and Curse])
SUMMARY:
- God places both blessing and curse before the Israelites. They are taught that blessing will come through the observance of God’s laws. (11:26–32)
- Moses’ third discourse includes laws about worship in a central place (12:1–28); injunctions against idolatry (12:29–13:19) and self-mutilation (14:1–2); dietary rules (14:3–21); and laws about tithes (14:22–25), debt remission (15:1–11), the release and treatment of Hebrew slaves (15:12–18), and firstlings (15:19–23).
- Moses reviews the correct sacrifices to be offered during the Pilgrim Festivals—Pesach, Sukkot, and Shavuot. (16:1-17)
From Wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re%27eh
In the parashah, Moses set before the Israelites the choice between blessing and curse. Moses instructed the Israelites in the laws that they were to observe, including the law of a single centralized place of worship. Moses warned against following other gods and their prophets and set forth the laws of kashrut, tithes, the Sabbatical [Sh’mita] year [the next one is in 5782], the Hebrew slave, firstborn animals, and the three pilgrim festivals.
Some scholars who follow the Documentary Hypothesis attribute the parashah to two separate sources. These scholars often attribute the material beginning at Deuteronomy 12:1 through the balance of the parashah to the original Deuteronomic Code (sometimes abbreviated Dtn). These scholars then posit that the first Deuteronomistic historian (sometimes abbreviated Dtr 1) added the material at the beginning of the parashah, Deuteronomy 11:26–32, in the edition of Deuteronomy that existed during Josiah’s time.
Isaiah 54:11-55:5 is the third haftarah in the cycle of seven haftarot of consolation after Tisha B’Av, leading up to Rosh Hashanah. This year Rosh Hashanah begins in a little over four short weeks on the evening of Monday, September 6, 2021.
STRUGGLING WITH TORAH
Re’ëh – see
We are now ending the second prologue (Ch. 5-11) and entering the earliest section of Devarim, Chapters 12–26, containing the Deuteronomic Code.
The word “re’ëh” is a form of “ra’ah” (רָאָה), the Hebrew word for “to see; to perceive, to notice, to understand, to determine; to check, to investigate, to examine”. A variety of other words for “see/look” could have been used in this Parsha instead of “re’ëh”, including “hinëh” (here/behold). Although the language used is of reward and punishment, we are asked to carefully consider the consequences of our actions.
The triennial reading is Deuteronomy 12:29-14:29. It includes more warnings and what to do against idolatry; prohibits certain mourning practices; provides criteria for foods that are permitted and forbidden for consumption; and it requires yearly grain tithes to be consumed in a specified place as well as full tithes every three years to remain in their settlements for the Levites, proselytes, orphans and widows.
ROSH CHODESH ELUL
Begins at sundown on Saturday, August 7, 2021 and ends Monday, August 9, 2021. Elul is the sixth month of the Hebrew calendar and the twelfth of the civil calendar, and has 29 days. It signals a period of preparation for Rosh Hashanah.
In the now-fixed calendar, with two exceptions, Jewish months alternate between having 29 or 30 days. If a month has 30 days, then day 30 of that month becomes Rosh Chodesh, as does the following day, which is day 1 of the next month. If a month has just 29 days, then the following month has just one day of Rosh Chodesh, day 1 of the month.
ELUL אֱלוּל
From Wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elul
The name of the month Elul, like the names of the rest of the Hebrew calendar months, was brought from the Babylonian captivity, and originated from the Akkadian word for “Harvest”.
In Jewish tradition, the month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The word “Elul” is similar to the root of the verb “search” in Aramaic. Jewish sources from the 14th century and on write that the Hebrew word “Elul” can be understood to be an acronym for the phrase “Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li” – “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” [Song of Songs 6:3]. Elul is seen as a time to search one’s heart and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgement, Rosh Hashanah, and Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.
CUSTOMS
It is customary to blow the shofar every morning (except on Shabbat) from Rosh Hodesh Elul (the first day of the month) until the day before Rosh Hashanah. [Reciting] Psalm 27 every day from Rosh Hodesh Elul through Hoshanah Rabbah on Sukkot (in Tishrei). [Reciting] selichot (special penitential prayers) [starting with a special service the Saturday night] immediately before Rosh Hashanah, or, if starting [then] would not afford four days of selichot, then the [Saturday night] one week prior [Ashkenazi Reform tradition] or every morning during the entire month of Elul (Sephardi tradition). [In addition, visiting] the graves of loved ones throughout the month in order to remember and honor those people in our past who inspire us to live more fully in the future.
Another social custom is to begin or end all letters written during the month of Elul with wishes that the recipient have a good year. The standard blessing is {“Ketivah Vechatima Tova”} (“a good writing and sealing [of judgement]”), meaning that the person should be written and sealed in the Book of Life for a good year. Tradition teaches that on Rosh Hashanah, each person is written down for a good or a poor year, based on their actions in the previous one, and their sincere efforts at atoning for mistakes or harm. On Yom Kippur, that fate is “sealed.”
PRAYERS
From “Mishkan T’filah / A Reform Siddur”:
’ROSH CHODESH – FOR THE NEW MONTH p.519:
Our God and God of our ancestors, may the new month bring us goodness and blessing. May we have long life, peace, prosperity, a life exalted by love of Torah and reverence for the divine; a life in which the longings of our hearts are fulfilled for good.
FOR OUR COUNTRY p.516
THUS SAYS ADONAI, This is what I desire: to unlock the fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of lawlessness; to let the oppressed go free, to break off every yoke. Share your bread with the hungry, and take the wretched poor into your home. When you see the naked, give clothing, and do not ignore your own kin.
O GUARDIAN of life and liberty, may our nation always merit Your protection. Teach us to give thanks for what we have by sharing it with those who are in need. Keep our eyes open to the wonders of creation, and alert to the care of the earth. May we never be lazy in the work of peace; may we honor those who have [served, suffered or] died in defense of our ideals. Grant our leaders wisdom and forbearance. May they govern with justice and compassion. Help us all to appreciate one another, and to respect the many ways that we may serve You. May our homes be safe from affliction and strife, and our country be sound in body and spirit. Amen.
FOR HEALING
We recite MI SHEBËRACH for the victims of abuse, brutality, conflicts, fear, natural disasters, pandemics, tragedies, violence especially against all minority communities including us, and war; for all those at home alone or lonely; for all those in need of physical, emotional, and mental healing. “R’fuah sh’lëmah” – a complete recovery!
YAHRZEITS/ANYOS
We say KADDISH YATOM for those of our friends and families who have died and been buried this last week; those in the period of Sh’loshim (30 days since burial); those who have died in the last year; and those whose Yahrzeits/Anyos occur at this time; as well as the victims of brutality, conflict, disease, natural disasters, pandemics, tragedies, violence of all kinds, and war.
This coming week, the 22nd through the 28th of Av, we lovingly remember:
David Levitt
TKH Memorial Board – Father of Barry Levitt, Grandfather of David Levitt
Georgia Mesches
Sister of Jane Kolber
Those victims of the Sho’ah (Holocaust) who died at this time of year.
“ZICHRONAM LIV’RACHAH” – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE FOR BLESSING.
TORAH STUDY AND SHAZOOM
Al sh’loshah d’varim ha’olam omëd – The world is sustained by three things: Torah, worship and loving deeds. We will meet as usual at the regular times for Torah Study and Shazoom this evening, Friday, August 6, 2021.
Zoom continues updating its security and performance features. Making sure you have the latest version of Zoom, please join us online this evening:
Topic: Torah Study – Triennial Reading Deut. 12:29-14:29
Time: August 6, 2021 06:00 PM Arizona
and/or
Shazoom – Erev Shabbat Service
Time: August 6, 2021 07:30 PM Arizona
To join the Torah Study and/or Shazoom click on the following link [you may need to copy it into your browser]: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/72510500854?pwd=Z3VQZWF4U1BBZytNYmh3aHFTWkFDZz09
Meeting ID: 725 1050 0854
Passcode: 4NrMk0
Hint: The last character of the password is the number zero.
Shabbat Shalom – Buen Shabbat!
-Ruben