We light our Shabbat candles this week at 7:26 pm. Friday
evening services will be at 8 pm, and Saturday morning services
will be at 9 am. The Druker family invites the entire
congregation to participate in services this Shabbat as Ilana
becomes a Bat Mitzvah.
Next Shabbat, Elaina Hirsch will become a Bat Mitzvah.
We read this week from Parshat Ekev in Sefer Devarim, the Book
of Deuteronomy. An idea that appears in this week’s reading
appears to contradict one that appears toward the beginning of
the Torah in the early chapters of Genesis.
We read the following in this week’s portion, “When God brings
you into a good land…a land in which you will never eat bread in
poverty, you will lack nothing in it…when you eat and you are
satisfied.”(Deut. 8: 7-10)
In Genesis, after Adam and Eve have eaten from the forbidden
tree, God says, “The Land will be cursed due to what you did.
With painstaking labor shall you eat from it all the days of
your life. Thorn and sting-shrub will be what grows for you
when you seek to eat the plants of the field…”(Gen. 3:17-18)
There seems to be a contradiction here between the productivity
that humans can expect from the land. While we might argue that
Adam and Eve were not living in the Land of Israel itself,
whereas this week’s portion focuses on the Land of Israel, in
both cases the land in question is holy and under God ’s
supervision.
How then do we resolve the apparent contradiction between these
two passages in the Torah? On the one hand, the Torah teaches
that land will produce more than enough for people to live and
thrive, and on the other hand land appears to be cursed and will
not produce anything except sorrow.
There is a way to solve this conundrum through a method taught
by Rabbi Yishma’el, found in a collection of rabbinic midrash:
“When there are two Torah passages that contradict one another,
a third passage will decide between them.” In other words, an
outside source can step in to solve an apparent contradiction.
I think one potential “third passage” is a familiar one to us
from the Shema, specifically the second paragraph, “If you will
keep the mitzvoth in earnest, love and serve God with all your
heart and soul, then I [God] will favor your land with rain at
the proper season…and you will have an amp harvest of grain and
wine and oil…Take care lest you forsake God and turn to false
gods…For then God will be angry and hold back the rain; the
earth will not yield its produce.”(Deut. 11)
We see here that faith in God and a commitment to the values and
teachings of the Torah can make the difference between a
successful crop and an unsuccessful one. For us today, we may
not all be farmers in fields, but we are farmers in another way,
caring for others and ourselves and making sure that others and
we grow and thrive. We learn from the interplay between the
Torah passages that in order to be our best, it can help us to
have a source of strength other than our own muscles and will.
God can be a source of strength, inspiration, and guidance for
us in whatever way we believe that God exists and relates to
humanity. God was, is, and will be. This idea can be a
starting point for faith as we look to what is eternal in this
world for reassurance and motivation to reach our potential.
A special note: At the most recent Rosh Chodesh group, there
was a discussion about Michal bat Cushi, a woman mentioned in
the Talmud as one who wore tefillin, even though tefillin,
according to the Talmud, is a mitzvah for men. Rashi, the
medieval commentator, explains that Michal bat Cushi is the same
person as Michal bat Sha’ul, that is Saul the first king of
Israel. The identification of these two individuals as the same
person comes from a comparison suggested by the opening of Psalm
7, “…concerning Cush of the Benjamin tribe.” Saul came from the
tribe of Benjamin, and the Talmud elsewhere identifies Cush and
Saul basically as the same person, or at least as very similar
people. Another question that arose in the recent Rosh Chodesh
group is: Why are tefillin black? The answer to this question
appears to be that the tefillin, as well as the outside of the
leather straps, were always painted black, as far back as the
earliest tefillin discovered at the Dead Sea caves. The black
color became a tradition, and lends uniformity to the ritual.
With blessings,
Rabbi Tow
ANNOUNCEMENTS
REMEMBER TO RETURN:
Membership Registration Forms
Book of Remembrance Forms
Whitewater Rafting (9/14) Reservation Forms
Art from the Heart (9/14) Reservation Forms
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR:
High Holiday Mailing (including tickets)
September GRJC Bulletin
We’ve one more quiet “summer week” ahead before the calendar
starts filling up with programs, events and holidays:
There will be two more Senior Aerobics classes on Tuesday and
Thursday, August 26 and 28, 10am (Social Hall)
The Adult Choir will rehearse with Cantor Freedman on Thursday,
August 28, from 7:30-8:30pm (Youth Lounge)
The GRJC will be closed on Monday, Sept 1, Labor Day.
Looking Ahead to September:
Our Membership Committee is sponsoring an Open House for
prospective members and new members on Sunday, Sept. 7, 9:00 –
11:30 am. This coincides with the first day of Religious
School. Please spread the word to friends and neighbors who may
be looking to affiliate with a synagogue.
Pre-High Holiday class, September 18th, 8 pm – with Rabbi Tow –
Exploring the Akedah/Binding of Isaac. We will delve into the
meanings of this powerful, and challenging, story that is the
reading for the second day of Rosh Hashanah.
The Adult Education Committee is sponsoring a Hebrew Literacy
Class on Thursday nights at 7:30 pm, beginning September 18.
The 10-week course is aimed at intermediate learners, and, like
the beginner’s course offered last year, will be taught by
Ritual Committee co-chair Michael Goodman. Contact Michael at
mgood831@optonline.net if you are interested in
signing up or have any questions about the course.
Please refer to our website calendar (www.grjc.org
--click on calendar link) or the Summer GRJC Bulletin for times
and details on the following September programs and events:
Sept. 2 – GRJC monthly Board of Trustees Meeting
Sept 2-5 -- Nursery School Parents Orientation, Visiting Day,
first days of class
Sept 7 – GRJC Open House
First day of Religious School
Sept 8 -- Melton II Adult Ed Class begins
Sept 9 – Fall Mommy & Me sessions begin
Sept 11 – Widow & Widowers Chavura
Sept 14 – Whitewater Rafting
50+ Club Open House with speaker
Art from the Heart
Sept 18 – Hebrew Literacy Class begins
Sept 20 – Selichot Program and Service with Cantor Freedman and
Rabbi Tow
Sept 22 – Men’s Club Golf Outing
Sept 29 – Erev Rosh Hashanah
Sept 30 – First Day, Rosh Hashanah
Finally, two umbrellas were left at Rabbi Tow and Rabbi
Schwartz’s home after the BBQ last Friday night. Their owners
can drop by the Jewish Center to pick them up.
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