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Candle lighting time for Friday, August 6, 7:53
Triennial Cycle III: Deut. 15:1-16:17
Humash Etz Hayim, page 1076
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:11-55:5, page 1085
- (15:1-6) Laws concerning the shemittah, or sabbatical year.
- (15:7-11) Laws concerning tzedakah and help for the poor.
- (15:12-18) Laws concerning the Hebrew slave.
- (15:19-23) Laws concerning the first-born of animals, which were dedicated to God.
- (16:1-17) The celebration of the three Pilgrimage Festivals: Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.
Deuteronomy 14:22-23
“You shall set aside every year a tenth part of all the yield of your sowing that is brought from the field. You shall consume the tithes of your new grain and wine and oil, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the Lord your God, in the place where He will choose to establish His name, so that you may learn to be in awe of the Lord your God forever.”
Abarbanel (15th C, Portugal)
What is the point of one setting aside this tithe (maaser sheni) from his produce when he himself will ultimately partake of it?
R. Moses Alshikh (16th C, Greece/Eretz Yisrael)
It may be asked how can eating, drinking, and abundance of rejoicing teach people to be in awe of God?…Perhaps the Holy One Blessed Be He commanded them to take a tithe of all their possessions to Jerusalem to deter them from taking for granted the source of their bounty. They should realize that this wealth did not originate with the power of their own hands. It was as if they were giving the king his portion…They were partaking of the table of the Most High.
Abarbanel
In the first sections of this parashah, Moses admonished Israel to serve God loyally on the ideological plane, and then on the physical, through dietary restraints, in accordance with the text: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” In this final section he came to teach the Israelites how to serve God with their money and produce, in fulfillment of the text “with all your might”.
Summer Talmud Class Cancelled : Classes will resume Friday August 27, 8:30 am.
Jr. Kadima: Golfland and Waterslides Event – August 15 Raging Waters Event (SJ) – August 22
Sr. Kadima: