Parashat - Ki Teitzei (when you go) Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19
HafTorah - Isaiah 54:1-10
Dear friends,
With the High Holy Days only a little over two weeks away, we help prepare for them this Shabbat weekend with the reading studying of the portion of Ki Teitzei from the book of Deuteronomy.
Moses implores us to remember everything that we have encountered, both the good and the bad to help us become better people as individuals and as a society. This reading is also full of laws which form the code of legal and moral behavior necessary for the children of Israel as they prepare to enter the holy land and begin self-governance. This series of miscellaneous laws, mostly governing civil and domestic life, including ordinances regarding a beautiful captive of war, inheritance among the sons of two wives, a wayward son, the corpse of an executed person, found property, coming upon another in distress, rooftop safety, prohibited mixtures, sexual offenses, membership in the congregation, camp hygiene, runaway slaves, prostitution, usury, vows, gleaning, kidnapping, repossession, prompt payment of wages, vicarious liability, flogging, treatment of domestic animals, levirate marriage, weights and measures. The reading ends with the admonition to blot out the memory of Amalek which we also read on Purim and to which we have permanently rolled the Holocaust era Torah on display in our sanctuary. This reminds us to always blot out evil whenever and wherever we encounter it.
This week's Haftorah is the fifth Haftorah of Consolation following the observance of Tisha B'Av. Once again, we learn from the Prophet Isaiah of G-d's everlasting mercy with the famous ending:
כִּ֤י הֶהָרִים֙ יָמ֔וּשׁוּ וְהַגְּבָע֖וֹת תְּמוּטֶ֑ינָה וְחַסְדִּ֞י מֵאִתֵּ֣ךְ לֹא־יָמ֗וּשׁ וּבְרִ֤ית שְׁלוֹמִי֙ לֹ֣א תָמ֔וּט אָמַ֥ר מְרַחֲמֵ֖ךְ יְהֹוָֽה׃ For the mountains may move And the hills be shaken, But my loyalty shall never move from you, Nor My covenant of friendship be shaken —said the LORD, who takes you back in love.
Please join us at services both in-person or on Zoom tonight at 7:30 pm and tomorrow morning at 9:30 am as we prepare for the holidays and join in communal worship and sstudy. And, a reminder that next Shabbat weekend, we will be holding our Selichot service on Saturday evening, August 28th. If you will be participating on Zoom and need a prayer book pamphlet, please visit the synagogue to pick one up or call Marie so that she can mail you one right away. We will be using the 1985 printing (blue cover) of the Prayer Book Press edition of Rabbi Morris Silverman's compilation of Selichot: Prayers for Forgiveness.
Then on the following day, Sunday, August 29th, please join us at one of the cemeteries (Beit Olam in Trinity at 11 am; Grace Memorial in Hudson at 12:15 pm; or the National Cemetery in Bushnell at 2 pm) to recite the Eil Molei Rachamim memorial prayer in memory of those family members and friends who came before us.
See you in shul!
Ron Becker,
Spiritual Leader
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FRIDAY:
JCC is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Shabbat Service
Time: Aug 20, 2021 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
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SATURDAY:
JCC is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Saturday Morning Service
Time: Aug 21, 2021 09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 497 903 0958
Passcode: 5QdVaA
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