Parshat B’har-B’hukotai 19-May-12

Shabbat Bulletin (May 2012)

Announcements Drash Readings
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Candle lighting time for Friday, May 18, 2012, 7:55 p.m.     

Parshat B’har-B’hukotai    

20 Iyar, 2772 / May 19, 2012
Triennial Cycle Year II: Leviticus 25:39-26:46
Humash Etz Hayim, page 744
Haftarah: Jeremiah 16:19-17:14, page 762
  
  1. (25:39-55) Laws governing slaves, limiting the power of the owner over the slave and increasing the number of ways he could be freed, all this because “the Israelites are My slaves.”
  2. (26:1-2) Laws against idolatry and for the observance of the Shabbat.
  3. (26:3-13) This section forms a conclusion to the whole Book of Leviticus. If we understand the Torah as a contract/covenant, then this section, and Deuteronomy 28-30, function as the reward and penalty clauses. This first part describes the abundant blessings of peace and prosperity that Israel will receive if they will follow the way of Torah and mitzvot.
  4. (26:14-45) This longer section describes the curses and punishments that will be inflicted upon Israel if the violate the covenant, including defeat in war, famine, and exile. The last part contains words of comfort: even though punished by God, if the people of Israel will return to God in repentance, God will forgive them.
  5. (26:46) The conclusion to the part of Leviticus known as the Holiness Code, which began with chapter 17
One Who Acquires a Slave Acquires a Master
By Rabbi Daniel Pressman
If your kinsman under you continues in straits and must give himself over to you, do not subject him to the treatment of a slave. He shall remain with you as a hired or bound laborer; he shall serve with you only until the jubilee year. (Lev. 25:39-40)
  
He shall remain with you— “With you” as regards food; “With you” as regards clean apparel, that you should not dine on white bread while he dines on black; you should not drink old wine while he drinks new; you should not sleep on a featherbed while he sleeps on straw. (Sifra, earliest Rabbinic commentary on Leviticus)
 
Scant few passages in Scripture attest to an antislavery idealism, but they indicate its existence. The prophets, for example, rail against the brutalities of slavery, but they do not advocate its abolition. Yet “I will even [Hebrew gam, “also”] pour out my spirit on male and female slaves” (Joel 3:2) surely evinces an egalitarian tendency, and “[Did I ever brush aside the case of my servants, man or maid, When they made a complaint against me?...Did not he who made me in my mother’s belly make him?” (Job 31:15) argues for it.
 
…do not make him work as a slave. Lo ta`abod bo `abodat `abed, literally “do not enslave him with the enslavement of a slave.” The threefold use of the root `bd indicates the revulsion at the institution of slavery in the mind of the writer….The rationale for this prohibition is given at the end of this periscope: the Israelite cannot be the slave of any person because he is God’s slave (v. 42; cf. v.55). Philo (Laws 2.83) expounds: “Do not harness him like an unreasoning animal, nor oppress him with weights too heavy and too numerous for his capacity, nor heap insults upon him, nor drag him down by threats and nuances into cruel despondency.”
The rabbis prefer to specify: “He should not have to carry his (the master’s) things before him when going to the bath house, nor support him by his hips when ascending steps, nor wash his feet, nor tie his shoes, nor carry him in a litter, chair or sedan chair as [Roman] slaves do.” (Mekhilta Mishpatim, Nezikin 1; Sifra Behar 7:2) (Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus)
 
It is estimated that there are 27 million slaves in the world today. Here are some organizations that are working to end slavery:

www.slaveryfootprint.org has a calculator to help you determine (by looking at your consumption) how many slaves are working for you.

www.freetheslaves.net has a great deal of information, and a useful working definition of slavery today: “People forced to work without pay, under threat of violence and unable to walk away.”

www.iabolish.org is the web site of the American Anti-Slavery Group

http://www.iabolish.org is a remarkable organization founded by a former child slave, to provide education for freed child slaves and intervention to prevent enslavement. American Jewish World Service is one of its sponsors.

*Talmud Tractate Kiddushin 20a

 
ANNOUNCEMENTS

DUCK RACE! Support Beth David. Click here to buy a Duck.
Learn all about the Duck Race   

The library is in the process of testing a new online database. Click here to give it a try.   

Sign Up to Help for Faith in Action Rotating Shelter Coming in June 2012  

Relay for Life - Team Samantha  

View/Print May D’var   

Hadashot Religious School – On announcement page on WIKI   

Mitzvah a Month   

UPCOMING EVENTS  

Saturday, May 19: Shabbat Afternoon Torah Discussion – after Shabbat Kiddush lunch about 1:30 p.m  

Sunday, May 20: Sisterhood Gift Shop Open – 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.  

Sunday, May 20: Kadima Shavuot Chaotic Dinner - 5:00 – 7:30 p.m.  

Tuesday, May 22: Conversations in Jewish Learning – 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.   

Wednesday, May 23: General Board Meeting – 7:45 – 9:45 p.m.  

Friday, May 25: Wine? Cheese? Shabbat? Why Not? – 6:00 – 6:30 p.m.  

Friday, May 25: Jews’ Next Dor Potluck Shabbat - 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.  

Saturday, May 26: Wisdom and Witdom with Doug Brook – after Shabbat Kiddush lunch about 1:30 p.m  

Saturday May 26 – Sunday May 27: Tikkun Leyl Shavuot Community Wide All Night Study - 9:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.  

Thursday, May 31: Hazak Bocce Ball – 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.  

Saturday, June 2: Religous School Moving Up Ceremony and Hebrew High Graduation - 9:30 a.m.  

Saturday June 2: Ask the Rabbi - after Shabbat Kiddush lunch about 1:30 p.m  

Sunday, June 3: Kadima End of the Year Pool Party and Elections - 1:00 – 4: 00p.m.  

Thursday, June 7: Jews’ Next Dor Steering Committee Elections - 8:00 – 10:00 p.m.  

Saturday, June 9: Jewish Book Discussion Group - after Shabbat Kiddush lunch about 1:30 p.m  

Sunday, June 10: Book Discussion Group Planning Meeting - 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.  

Sunday, June 17: Jews’ Next Dor Pool Party - 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.   

Tuesday, August 14 – Jewish Heritage Night at AT&T Park   

Daily Minyan – Sunday 9:30 am & Monday – Thursday 7:00 p.m.    

COMMUNITY EVENTS    

New Hebrew PJ Library Program Launches!
Wednesday, May 23 – Yavneh Day School  Parent Coffee and Open House - 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.   

Sunday, May 20 – SPHDS Monte-Carlo Night - 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.   

Sunday, May 20 – BBYO Concert to Raise Awareness of teen suicide – 4:00 p.m.   

Monday, May 21 – Mesibah! Family Fun Day – 3:00 to 5:00 pm   


    

    

  

 

 

 

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