12:00pm Tefillah Class on Zoom; 6:00pm Kabbalat Shabbat Services on Zoom
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Feb 27
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Feb 28
9:00am Davening on Zoom; 9:30 Maimonides Class on Zoom; 10:00am Religious School on Zoom
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Mar 5
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Sun.
Mar 7
9:00am Davening on Zoom; 9:30am Maimonides Class on Zoom; 10:00am Religious School on Zoom
We make many jokes about the importance of food in Jewish life, but in this week’s parsha, Parshat Tetzaveh, food is serious business. We read the following in the context of ordaining Aaron and his sons as priests:
וְאָכְל֤וּ אֹתָם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר כֻּפַּ֣ר בָּהֶ֔ם
And they shall eat those things with which atonement was made (Ex. 29:33)
From this we learn that the priests eat, and consequently the owners of the offerings achieve atonement. (Talmud Bavli Pesachim 59b)
The mechanism for atonement seems to be the consumption of the offerings made as part of the process. In other words, the pomp and circumstance of the ritual- preparing and burning and spritzing- are all secondary to the actual act of eating in the process of clearing and elevating the people who will be responsible for overseeing the ritual purity and atonement of the entire people as part of the process.
Without the food, there is no atonement. Without atonement, there is none to perform the rituals needed for the entire people Israel on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis.
But I see not just a message about the general importance of food, or the technical elements of the Tabernacle system. I also see a powerful statement about the importance of taking ownership of our own individual practice and behavior as a vehicle for communal service.
Let me bring in a Chassidic story to help make the point:
Three Tzadikim were staying in the home of Reb Yisrael, the Maggid of Koznitz. They were: Yitzhak of Pshischah, better known as Yid Hakadosh (the Holy Jew), Reb Fishele of Strikov, Reb David of Lelov.
Being ill at the time, the Maggid sat up in bed with his table drawn up next to it. For a simple meal he asked to have prepared for his guests, he seated the Yid next to himself, and the others sitting opposite each other on the other sides of the table. The Maggid and the Yid exchanged whispered secrets of treasures hidden in Torah, while Reb Fishele attempted to listen and share in the source of their delight. But Reb David did his own thing: the ate a slice of bread and butter.
The Maggid said to Reb Fishele: “Why don’t you learn from this young man? He’s sitting and eating bread and butter. There is divine service for you! What he is doing is accounted as a veritable sacrifice in the Temple. Another slice of bread and butter- and there you have another Temple sacrifice!” (Adapted from A Treasury of Chassidic Tales on the Torah by Rabbi S.Y. Zevin).
While it is praiseworthy to seek to learn at the feet of great masters, and to be eager to learn from others, this story drives home the importance of tending to your own needs and being committed to your own path. Reb David demonstrates that atonement, holiness, and fulfillment come not only from absorbing the wisdom of others but from focusing on your own task in each moment. Reb Fishele is not doing anything wrong, per se, but he is abandoning the power of intention and presence where his dining partner Reb David is not.
As we celebrate Purim, and indulge in the many sweets and pleasures of the day and the month of Adar generally, may we not abandon the significance of the moment for the prospect of what we think we ought to be doing instead. Eat well, eat mindfully, and make the most of this time of joy with the intention and attention it deserves.
Shabbat Shalom, and Hag Purim Sameach
Rabbi Brodie
Prayers are needed for Chaim Laib ben Esther, brother of Walter Berkey; Alexander Moshe HaLevi ben Rivkah, father of Regina Fischer; Brenda Carson, sister of Rebecca Toledo;Donnie Carson, brother-in-law of Rebecca Toledo; Roberta Rosenberg (Rivkah Fradel bat Sara);Shimson ben Etel, father of Florence Wibel; Irene Simpkins (Yocheved bat Miriam); Barbara Tricoci (Baila bat Rifka); Elazear ben Dreisyl; Eric Taylor; Sid Brodsky (Zundel Be'er ben Esther); Allen Simon (Aaron Hirsch ben Ceil);Rijon Erickson; Chano Ruven ben Shaina Chaya; Matthew Werdean, friend of Regina Fischer; David ben Sarah, father of Rabbi Aberson; Jack Heller; Liba Yetta bat Tova; Ilana bat Bella, sister of Ruti Keren; David Ramirez, brother of Louis Ramirez; Pasha bat Fayge, friend of Gloria Windmiller; Moshe ben Hana, brother-in-law of Ruti Keren; HaRav Haim Baruch ben Chana; Raphael ben Rebekah, friend of Alan Sapakie; Jack Rosenberg (Ya'acov Avram ben Sarah Ruchel); Walter Berkey (Yossel Velvel ben Esther); Sarah Caliandro (Sarah Nechama bat Leah); Ingrid Gallegos;Alex Shekhel;Mordechai Shimon ben Sarah, brother of Roberta Rosenberg; Chana Nassia bat Civia; Aharon Shmuel bat Tzinyah;Juliette Harvey (Zarie bat Esther); Annie Jimenez;Rachel Yehudit bat Rifkah;Ben Zion Sarfati benAvraham; Sarah King; Suzanne Bazarian, sister of Jack Rosenberg; Alex Plado; Steve Aaron, friend of Jack Rosenberg; Tom Garcia, friend of Jack Rosenberg.
Roda Rubenstein, mother of Jill Glickman Murray Leitner, father of Rabbi Ken Leitner Jerome Berger, father of Donna Zegerson Mara Mizrachi, mother of Janet Mizrachi Martin Sodomsky, husband of Marilyn Sodomsky
and father of Rebecca Berkowitz Samuel Dolins, father of Gloria Windmiller Walter Keer, father of Michael Keer Inessa Krichevsky, mother of Regina Fischer Bernard Munter, father of Andrew Munter
HaMakom yenakhem etkhem b'tokh she'ar avelei Tzion Virushalayim.
May God comfort you together with all the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem
