TORAH READING FOR SHABBAT CHAZON 6 AV 5784 August 9-10, 2024

August 9, 2024 by templekol

OUR HEARTS ARE WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND ALL THE VICTIMS OF CONFLICT

From “Mishkan T’filah / A Reform Siddur” p.98

SIM SHALOM tovah uv’rachah, chën vachésed v’rachamim, alëinu v’al kōl Yisraël ‘amécha, [v’al kōl yoshvëi tëvël, v’imru: Amën.]

GRANT PEACE, goodness and blessing, grace, kindness, and mercy, to us and to all Your people Israel [and all who inhabit the earth, and let us say: Amen.]

PARSHA

From Reform Judaism https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/dvarim

D’varim (דְּבָרִים – Hebrew for “words”) – Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22

These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan. – Deuteronomy 1:1

SUMMARY

Moses begins his final words of instruction to the Children of Israel, focusing first on recounting their physical journey. (1:1-21)
Moses reviews the people’s reactions to the negative reports of the spies and the appointment of Joshua to succeed him. (1:22-45)
Moses recounts that all of the Israelite warriors who left Egypt died, as God had intended, and the people continued their wanderings and defeated their enemies. (2:14-3:11)
Moses reiterates that the Land of Israel was allocated to the Israelite tribes. (3:12-22)

HAFTARAH

Isaiah 1:1-27 – Shabbat Chazon

SHABBAT CHAZON 2024 / שַׁבָּת חֲזוֹן 5784

Shabbat Chazon for Hebrew Year 5784 begins at sundown on Friday, 9 August 2024 and ends at nightfall on Saturday, 10 August 2024.

Shabbat Chazon (“Sabbath [of] vision” שבת חזון, also Shabbat Hazon) is named for the “Vision of Isaiah over Judah and Jerusalem” (Book of Isaiah 1:1-27) that is read as the Haftarah on this Shabbat at the end of the three weeks between dire straits, which precede the mournful fast of Tisha B’Av. It is also called black sabbath due to Isaiah’s prophecy of rebuke predicting the destruction of the first temple in the siege of Jerusalem and its status as the saddest shabbat of the year (as opposed to the white sabbath, Shabbat Shuvah, immediately preceding Yom Kippur).

RECOMMENDED READING

From Reform Judaism https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/dvarim

D’varim: Embracing Contradiction

By: Rabbi Sari Laufer

STRUGGLING WITH TORAH and REFLECTION

We will continue to meet every other Friday for Torah Study to read and discuss selections from Ketuvim, the third section of Tanach (Hebrew Bible), which follows Torah and Nevi’im. Please see the NEW Torah Study-Shazoom schedule below. THIS week we will finish studying Lamentations (אֵיכָה – Ëichah), which is found in Ketuvim (Writings), and traditionally read on Tisha B’Av (this year August 12-13, 2024). Read this week’s Torah Portions at https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.1.1-3.22, and the Haftarah at https://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.1.1-27.

From “The Torah / A Women’s Commentary” edited by Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, Ph.D., Women of Reform Judaism/The Federation of Temple Sisterhoods and URJ Press New York 2008

דברים D’varim – Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22

Contemporary Reflection – Ellen Frankel, pp. 1058-9

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY, dramatically set just outside of the land of Canaan, is comprised of a series of farewell addresses delivered by Moses as he prepares to die, forever barred from the Promised Land. Unlike the previous four books of the Torah, which are narrated in the third person, Deuteronomy is narrated almost entirely in the first person, the “I” of Moses persistently addressing a “you.” However, the “you” that Moses addresses is not always the same: sometimes it refers to all the Israelites who left Egypt, none of whom is still alive to hear these final words; other times it refers to their children, the generation of the wilderness, those now listening to Moses; still other times, it refers to a small group of Israelites, such as the twelve scouts, the two-and-a-half tribes who have chosen to settle on the east bank of the Jordan, or just Joshua and Caleb.

In fact, the word “you” punctuates this parashah like a drumbeat, appearing more than 100 times in slightly more than 100 verses, plus many other instances if the imperative verb form is included. Throughout, Moses primarily focuses on his I-You relationship with the people; yet the relationship is characterized more by conflict and alienation than by intimacy. As he recalls their journey, trying to make sense of the past forty years, he rewrites history, blaming the people for proposing that he send scouts to the land (an action commanded by God in Numbers 13:2) and for provoking him into delegating judicial authority (an idea suggested by his father-in-law Jethro in Exodus 18:17–23). Worst of all, Moses blames the children for the sins of their parents. Although it is the slave generation who has disappointed him, it is the next generation who now suffers Moses’ rancor and regret.

Despite the fact that Deuteronomy is an ancient book, the insights revealed in this parashah resonate with our modern ideas about human psychology. Contemporary psychologists describe a process known as counter-transference, whereby a therapist projects onto her patients certain conflicts still unresolved within her own life story. Parents, too, can be guilty of such unconscious projection, ascribing to their children their own youthful errors and defeats.

Therefore, we can read this first farewell speech as the presentation of a leader who engages in a kind of counter-transference when he reflects back to the people what has transpired between him and them over the past four decades. Standing before them now on the threshold of death, he wonders: What has happened to this people that I led out of slavery? What has happened to our shared resolve? What has happened to me, who was to serve as God’s emissary and representative? Why have the people doomed me–through their lack of faith, their ingratitude, their waywardness–to die without enjoying God’s promise? We can see in Moses’ flawed recollections and chastisement of the people a final attempt to reshape his life story so as to justify the past actions of this metaphoric parent.

Each year at the Passover seder, we Jews re-enact a similar drama, warning the next generation not to act the part of the rasha, the wicked child, in the haggadah’s parable of the Four Children. If we look closely at this exchange between the parent and the wicked child, we can hear in the former’s rebuke of the latter echoes of what we hear in this parashah. As some versions of the haggadah phrase the dialogue: “The wicked child asks: ‘What is this service to you?’… And because these children exclude themselves from the community, you should chastise them, saying: ‘Because of what God did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ‘For me’ and not ‘for them,’ for had they been there, they would not have been redeemed.” This is a painful text for many Jews. Who among us does not know a contrary child, perhaps our own, who feels so alienated from Judaism that she is willing to be excluded from the community?

In order to truly understand what this vignette in fact conveys, we need to probe further. When we look up the original context of the rasha’s question (Exodus 12:26), we discover that the Rabbis have twisted words out of context. In their original setting, these words were intended to reinforce the tradition, not disparage it: indeed, the Torah instructs all Jewish children to pose this question. Why then did rabbinic tradition put this question only in the mouth of the rasha? Weren’t they living proof that it is precisely this kind of personality–skeptical, provocative, contrary–that would best guarantee Jewish survival?

Like the parent of the rasha, Moses (as parashat D’varim presents him) seems ambivalent about his contrary people, and perhaps about himself. During much of his speech, he separates himself from the Israelites, addressing them as “you”; but on occasion he uses “we,” as when reminiscing about battles they fought together (3:12). For that brief moment, he regards them as equals who have shared important decisions about the distribution of land. But before he even finishes the verse, he pulls back, telling them four times how “I [that is, Moses] assigned” the regions of that apportioned land.

The parashah invites us to see that, like most parents, Moses has loved his children even when they have acted the part of the rasha. And like most parents, he has sometimes felt rejected and betrayed when his children have asserted their autonomy. As he now prepares to let them go into the new land, he must decide what his final message to them should be. Tellingly, the parashah concludes with his encouraging words to Joshua, “Do not fear…for it is your God יהוה who will battle for you” (3:22). In the end, Moses recognizes that this is a new generation about to enter the land, and they need his blessing as well as God’s.

TISH’A B’AV 2024 / תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב 5784

Tish’a B’Av for Hebrew Year 5784 begins at sundown on Monday, 12 August 2024 and ends at nightfall on Tuesday, 13 August 2024.

Tisha B’Av (Hebrew: תשעה באב or ט׳ באב, “the Ninth of Av,”) is an annual fast day in Judaism, named for the ninth day (Tisha) of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. The fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 655 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date. [The Expulsion from Spain in 1492, and other tragic events in Jewish history, are also commemorated on this date.] Tisha B’Av is never observed on Shabbat. If the 9th of Av falls on a Saturday, the fast is postponed until the 10th of Av.

PRAYERS

FOR OUR COUNTRY p.376

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.

PRAYER FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL p.552

O HEAVENLY ONE, Protector and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel which marks the dawning of hope for all who seek peace. Shield it beneath the wings of your love; spread over it the canopy of Your peace; send Your light and truth to all who lead and advise, guiding them with Your good counsel. Establish peace in the land and fullness of joy for all who dwell there. Amen.

FOR HEALING – El Na R’fa Na Lah!

We recite MI SHEBËRACH for the victims of abuse, brutality, conflicts, fear, natural disasters, pandemics, tragedies, violence of all kinds especially directed at individuals and specific 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, 6 Av through 12 Av, we lovingly remember:

Doris Alexander

Mother of Holly Sickles

Arnold Funckes

Father of Cynthia Funckes

Rishon ben Yosef Gomez

Brother of TKH member Ruben Gomez

Ceil Kolber

Mother of Jane Kolber

Jeannette Lockhart

Donor of Organ to TKH

Betty Lou Shull

Mother of Keren Ginsburg

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

We will meet as usual at the regular times for Torah Study and Shazoom this evening, Friday, August 9, 2024. Please see the NEW Torah Study-Shazoom schedule below. THIS week we will finish studying Lamentations (אֵיכָה – Ëichah), which is found in the Ketuvim (Writings), and traditionally read on Tisha B’Av (this year August 12-13, 2024).

Zoom regularly updates its security and performance features. Making sure you have the latest version of Zoom, please join us online this Friday evening with wine/grape juice for Kiddush and Challah for Motzi.

Topic: Torah Study – Lamentations Chapter 5

Time: Aug 9, 2024 06:00 PM Arizona

and/or

Shazoom – Erev Shabbat Service

Time: Aug 9, 2024 07:30 PM Arizona

To join 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 – Gut Shabbos!

-Ruben

PS – About Lamentations (אֵיכָה – Eichah) and the NEW schedule through October 2024: