Shabbat Shalom GRJC
Weekly Emails to the Congregation
Parshat Ekev 2007
Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,
This evening, we light candles at 7:52
PM. Friday night services begin at 8 PM and Saturday morning
services will begin at 9 AM.
Tonight we will celebrate all AUGUST BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES.
Come and join us for a special blessing and songs for August
simchas!
We read this week from parshat Ekev in the Book of Devarim
(Deuteronomy). In last week’s Torah reading, we had two notable
passages: The Ten Commandments, and the Shema and Ve’ahavta.
In this week’s reading we have the second paragraph of the Shema,
Deuteronomy Chapter 11: 13-21.
The second paragraph of the Shema presents a theology that
connects our faithfulness to God’s Torah and commandments with the
rain that the Land of Israel depends upon for agriculture. The
verses preceding the passage that comprise the 2nd paragraph of
the Shema establish for us the basis for the connection between
God and the rain.
The basis for the contrast between the way the Israelites pursued
agriculture in Egypt and in the Holy Land emphasizes God’s power
over the rain, the vital natural resource for successful
agriculture in the Land of Israel:
“For the land you are about to enter and possess is not like the
land of Egypt from which you have come. There the grain you sowed
had to be watered by your own labors…but the land you are about to
cross into…a land of hills and valleys, soaks up its water from
the rains of heaven. It is a land which the Lord your God looks
after…”(Deut. 11:10-12)
These verses suggest that instead of depending upon the Nile and
its irrigation systems as in Egypt, the Israelites will depend
upon God’s will for rain to facilitate their farming.
The message here goes beyond the contrast between farming methods
in Egypt and in the Land of Israel. For the Egyptians, the Nile
was the lifeblood of the country, and it was a central feature in
their religion. The annual floods were a reenactment of their
creation story.(See Encyclopedia Judaica Vol 12, p. 1162) The
underlying message for us as Jews is that we moved from a Land
dominated by the religion and gods of another people to a Holy
Land of our own in which we relied only upon our God for
sustenance. The Israelites, when they entered the Holy Land, no
longer had to hope that the Pharaoh and the river would support
them, rather the God of our ancestors would now be our help and
support, provided that we remained faithful to the covenant that
we entered into at Sinai.
Note that the second paragraph of the Shema is in the plural. It
suggests we are all responsible for maintaining the covenant with
God. It is up to us to foster a community in which there is
unity and kindness between people, a community that cares for all
people, that sees each person as having a spark of the Divine
presence. Our tradition teaches that each of us is made in God’s
image.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. Annual BBQ, August 10 – Please send or deliver your forms for
the annual BBQ soon so that we can put in our food order. Join us
for a relaxed evening and a special Kabbalat Shabbat and Mariv
service under the tent.
2. Donations in memory of Christopher Barron – This week we mourn
with the family of Christopher Barron, a young man who attended
the Coleman School and tragically succumbed to cancer. Donations
in his memory can be made to: Make-A-Wish Foundation, 1034 Salem
Road, P.O. Box 4028, Union, NJ 07083 or to Tomorrow’s Children
Fund, C/O Hackensack University Medical Center, 30 Prospect
Avenue, Hackensack, NJ 07601
With wishes for a happy and restful Shabbat
Rabbi Tow
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