Parashat Ki Tavo August 24, 2013

By Lynn Crocker Shabbat Bulletin August 22, 2013

Candle lighting time for Friday, August 23, 2013, 7:23 p.m.

Parashat Ki Tavo

18 Elul, 5773 /August 24, 2013
Triennial Cycle III: Deut. 27:11-29:8
Humash Etz Hayim, page 1146
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1-22, page 1160

(27:11-26) The covenant ritual at Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal.
(28:1-14) The blessings for keeping the covenant terms: the mitzvot.
(28:15-69) The tokhehah, or rebuke: the list of curses that will befall those who break the covenant.
(29:1-8) A review of the good things God did for Israel since the Exodus.

DRASH

Texts taken from “Day By Day”
edited by Chaim Stern

Core Text:
Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying: Observe all the Instruction that I enjoin upon you this day. As soon as you have crossed the Jordan into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones. Coat them with plaster and inscribe upon them all the words of this Teaching. Deuteronomy 27:1-3

Be a Lover of Torah:
Rav Huna’s son refused to study with Rav Chisda, who was known to be a great teacher. Rav Huna asked his son: how is it that you do not learn from Rav Chisda?
His son replied: I have gone to him. I saw that he does not teach Torah. He talks only of worldly things like eating and excreting, and how one should act in connection with such matters.
That is true, said his father. Rav Chisda does teach of worldly things. He speaks of the life of God’s creatures, and you distain him! This is our world and Rav Chisda is just the one you should be learning from. Talmud

Be a True Teacher:
They asked Dov Baer of Mezeritch: There are many teachers, and each has a particular way of teaching Torah. Which is best? After a while he replied: The great teacher teaches as a flower gives off its fragrance – you must be a voice for your teaching, not the other way around. As soon as you hear yourself talking, stop. Hasidic Literature

The disciples of the Baal Shem Tov heard that a certain man was a sage. Some of them were anxious to see and hear his “Torah.” The master gave them permission to go, but first they asked him: How will we know that he is a true teacher? The Baal Shem replied: Ask him for advice on how to pray and learn without distraction. If he answers, you will know there is nothing to him. Stories of the Baal Shem Tov

Be a Wise Person:
Education is that which remains when one has forgotten everything learned in school. Albert Einstein

Education does not mean teaching people what they do not know. It means teaching them to behave as they do not behave. It is not teaching the youth the shapes of letters and the tricks of numbers, and then leaving them to turn their arithmetic to roguery, and their literature to lust. It means, on the contrary, training them into the perfect exercise and royal countenance of their bodies and souls. It is a painful, continual and difficult work, to be done by kindness, by watching, by warning, by precept and by praise, but above all – by example. John Ruskin (19th century English Art Critic)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CBD Photo Directories are in – expanded pick up times!

High Holy Days Information

CBD Board of Director’s Vacancy

Seeking Candidates for 2014 Board of Directors

Jewish Youth Education

Candle Fundraiser

Mitzvah a Month

JFS Food Drive

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

UPCOMING SERVICES

Tot Shabbat – August 24th, 11:15 a.m.