16 Tevet 5770/1-2 January 2010
Torah - Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 (Chazak, chazak v'nitchazeik!)
Haftarah - 1 Kings 2:1-12
Torah - Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 (Chazak, chazak v'nitchazeik!)
Haftarah - 1 Kings 2:1-12
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Does Your Father Yet Live?
"And when Jacob finished commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into his bed; and he expired and was gathered to his people."Genesis 49:33
Rabbi Yitzchak taught in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: "Jacob our father did not die." In response to the other rabbis' objections, Rabbi Yitzchak explains that just as Jacob's descendants are living, so too is Jacob still living (citing Jeremiah 30:10). This is the message of the song Jewish children learn: "Am Yisrael Chai! Od Avinu Chai!" The People of Israel live! Our father yet lives!
The question we must ask ourselves is: what are we doing to assure that this sentiment will always be true? Do we study Torah regularly? Do we observe Shabbat, keep kosher and perform other mitzvot to the best of our ability and understanding? Do we serve as good Jewish role models for our children?
We are the ones who have the power to fulfill (or not) the promise of God's deliverance of the People of Israel. If we live Judaism, the ancestral inheritance of the community of Jacob (morashah kehillat Ya'akov), in a meaningful way, then indeed, Jacob our father still lives. If we do not, then our descendants will not be the people of Israel.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Richard A. Flom - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Burbank Temple Emanu El
Burbank, CA
http://www.btee.org
"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still"
Isaiah 62:1
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Does Your Father Yet Live?
"And when Jacob finished commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into his bed; and he expired and was gathered to his people."Genesis 49:33
Rabbi Yitzchak taught in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: "Jacob our father did not die." In response to the other rabbis' objections, Rabbi Yitzchak explains that just as Jacob's descendants are living, so too is Jacob still living (citing Jeremiah 30:10). This is the message of the song Jewish children learn: "Am Yisrael Chai! Od Avinu Chai!" The People of Israel live! Our father yet lives!
The question we must ask ourselves is: what are we doing to assure that this sentiment will always be true? Do we study Torah regularly? Do we observe Shabbat, keep kosher and perform other mitzvot to the best of our ability and understanding? Do we serve as good Jewish role models for our children?
We are the ones who have the power to fulfill (or not) the promise of God's deliverance of the People of Israel. If we live Judaism, the ancestral inheritance of the community of Jacob (morashah kehillat Ya'akov), in a meaningful way, then indeed, Jacob our father still lives. If we do not, then our descendants will not be the people of Israel.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Richard A. Flom - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Burbank Temple Emanu El
Burbank, CA
http://www.btee.org
"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still"
Isaiah 62:1
