Kabbalah Thought for this week
"The ego is like a leg iron that anchors us to this physical dimention and its influences. Humility is a key trait that can unlock the shackles."
Psalm 94: Psalm for Yom Revi'i, Wednesday, Fourth day of the week, timely for current events
Each morning, Jews end their Shacharit, or morning service, with a psalm of the day. It is chosen to correspond with that day of creation, as well as keep track of the days leading up to Shabbat. Considering the brutality that Hamas inflicted against innocent Israeli civilians, and the corresponding denial of those who spew hate against the Jewish nation, this psalm is especially timely in addressing that:
Psalm 94
God of retribution, LORD,God of retribution, appear! Rise up, judge of the earth,give the arrogant their deserts! How long shall the wicked, O LORD,how long shall the wicked exult, shall they utter insolent speech,shall all evildoers vaunt themselves? They crush Your people, O LORD,they afflict Your very own; they kill the widow and the stranger;they murder the fatherless, thinking, “The LORD does not see it,the God of Jacob does not pay heed.” Take heed, you most brutish people;fools, when will you get wisdom? Shall He who implants the ear not hear,He who forms the eye not see? Shall He who disciplines nations not punish,He who instructs men in knowledge? The LORD knows the designs of men to be futile. Happy is the man whom You discipline, O LORD,the man You instruct in Your teaching, to give him tranquillity in times of misfortune,until a pit be dug for the wicked. For the LORD will not forsake His people;He will not abandon His very own. Judgment shall again accord with justiceand all the upright shall rally to it. Who will take my part against evil men?Who will stand up for me against wrongdoers? Were not the LORD my help,I should soon dwell in silence. When I think my foot has given way,Your faithfulness, O LORD, supports me. When I am filled with cares,Your assurance soothes my soul. Shall the seat of injustice be Your partner,that frames mischief by statute? They band together to do away with the righteous;they condemn the innocent to death. But the LORD is my haven;my God is my sheltering rock. He will make their evil recoil upon them,annihilate them through their own wickedness;the LORD our God will annihilate them.
Psalm 95
Come, let us sing joyously to the LORD,raise a shout for our rock and deliverer; let us come into His presence with praise;let us raise a shout for Him in song! For the LORD is a great God,the great king of all divine beings.
Announcements
-Office Hours
-This week’s 10-Minute
-Events
-Candle Lighting Times for Shabbat (Ontario, CA)
-Shabbat Services
-School
Calendar
This is an overview of upcoming events. Details of each event are below
Sunday, 10 December 2023-Hebrew School
Sunday, 10 December 2023-General Congregation Meeting
Monday, 11 December 2023-Torah Study
Wednesday, 13 December 2023-Rosh Chodesh Tevet 2023 /5784 רֹאשׁ חוֹדֶשׁ טֵבֵת
Thursday, 14 December 2023-Judaic Studies
Friday & Saturday, 15 & 16 December 2023-Shabbat Services
Sunday, 17 December 2023-Hebrew School
Monday, 18 December 2023-Torah Study
Thursday, 21 December 2023-Judaic Studies
Friday & Saturday, 22 & 23 December 2023-Shabbat Services
Sunday, 24 December 2023-Hebrew School (?)
Monday, 25 December 2023-Christmas Holiday
Thursday, 28 December 2023-Judaic Studies
Friday & Saturday, 29 & 30 December 2023-Shabbat Services
Sunday, (TBA) January 2024-Miller Course
Monday, 15 January 2024-Sofer-On-Site
*For your information, I have included below my schedule, including office hours for the next two or three weeks and specific classes in which I am involved.
**For your convenience and information, Zoom links will be provided in separate emails for security purposes.
***I continue to update our Mi Sheberach מי שברך list for those in need of healing. For your convenience, I am attaching this revised list to this email that only goes to members of Temple Sholom of Ontario. Thank you.
Office Hours for the next few weeks:
I am conducting Hebrew School from my office and making Sunday an office day to be more available.
Thursday, 7 December 2023 - Friday, 15 December 2023 Chanukah 2023 / חֲנוּכָּה 5784
Sunday, December 11, 2023 9:00am - 2:00pm (Hebrew School 10:00am - 11:30am)
Monday, December 12, 2023 9:00am - 2:00pm
Friday, December 15, 2023 2:00pm - 7:30pm (Friday Night Shabbat Ma'ariv @ 7:30pm)
Sunday, December 17, 2023 9:00am - 2:00pm (Hebrew School 10:00am - 11:30am)
Monday, December 18, 2023 9:00am - 2:00pm
Friday, December 22, 2023 2:00pm - 7:30pm (Friday Night Shabbat Ma'ariv @ 7:30pm)
Sunday, December 24, 2023 (No school. Holiday weekend.)
Monday, December 25, 2023 (Holiday.)
Friday, December 29, 2023 2:00pm - 7:30pm (Friday Night Shabbat Ma'ariv @ 7:30pm)
(Subject to change. Please call for appointments)
This week's 10-Minute Torah (16 December 2023): Parashat Miketz 5784
Chanukah 2023 / חֲנוּכָּה 5784
Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of rededication 🕎
Chanukah for Hebrew Year 5784 begins at sundown on Thursday, 7 December 2023 and ends at nightfall on Friday, 15 December 2023.
Hanukkah (Hebrew: חֲנֻכָּה, usually spelled חנוכה pronounced [χanuˈka] in Modern Hebrew, also romanized as Chanukah or Chanuka), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.
Chanukah Day 3 / חֲנוּכָּה יוֹם ג׳ Sunday, 10 December 2023 / 27 Kislev 5784
Torah Portion: Numbers 7:24-35
1: Numbers 7:24-26 · 3 p’sukim ·
2: Numbers 7:27-29 · 3 p’sukim ·
3: Numbers 7:30-35 · 6 p’sukim ·
Chanukah Day 4 / חֲנוּכָּה יוֹם ד׳ Monday, 11 December 2023 / 28 Kislev 5784
Torah Portion: Numbers 7:30-41
1: Numbers 7:30-32 · 3 p’sukim ·
2: Numbers 7:33-35 · 3 p’sukim ·
3: Numbers 7:36-41 · 6 p’sukim ·
Chanukah Day 5 / חֲנוּכָּה יוֹם ה׳ Tuesday, 12 December 2023 / 29 Kislev 5784
Torah Portion: Numbers 7:36-47
1: Numbers 7:36-38 · 3 p’sukim ·
2: Numbers 7:39-41 · 3 p’sukim ·
3: Numbers 7:42-47 · 6 p’sukim ·
Chanukah Day 6 / חֲנוּכָּה יוֹם ו׳ Wednesday, 13 December 2023 / 1 Tevet 5784
Torah Portion: Numbers 28:1-15, 7:42-47
1: Numbers 28:1-5 · 5 p’sukim ·
2: Numbers 28:6-10 · 5 p’sukim ·
3: Numbers 28:11-15 · 5 p’sukim ·
4: Numbers 7:42-47 · 6 p’sukim ·
Chanukah Day 7 / חֲנוּכָּה יוֹם ז׳ Thursday, 14 December 2023 / 2 Tevet 5784
Torah Portion: Numbers 7:48-59
1: Numbers 7:48-50 · 3 p’sukim ·
2: Numbers 7:51-53 · 3 p’sukim ·
3: Numbers 7:54-59 · 6 p’sukim ·
Chanukah Day 8 / חֲנוּכָּה יוֹם ח׳ Friday, 15 December 2023 / 3 Tevet 5784
Torah Portion: Numbers 7:54-8:4
1: Numbers 7:54-56 · 3 p’sukim ·
2: Numbers 7:57-59 · 3 p’sukim ·
3: Numbers 7:60-8:4 · 34 p’sukim ·
December 10th, 2023 12:30 p.m.
Annual congregational meeting. There will be a bagels/lox lunch
provided.
10 de diciembre de 2023 12:30 p.m.
Reunión congregacional anual. Se proporcionará un almuerzo de bagels/salmón ahumado.
Adult Torah Study Class
Next Session: Monday, December 11 at 7:30 pm PT
Zoom Links sent in separate email Monday morning. Please reply if you do not receive them.
Parashat Miketz 5784 / פָּרָשַׁת מִקֵּץ
16 December 2023 / 4 Tevet 5784
Parashat Miketz is the 10th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading.
Torah Portion: Genesis 41:1-44:17
Miketz (“After”) follows Joseph as he interprets Pharaoh's dreams and rises to become second-in-command to Pharaoh. When Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt seeking food during a famine, Joseph accuses them of spying. He insists that they return with their youngest brother, Benjamin, and later plants a goblet in Benjamin’s bag. [1]
Commentary and Divrei Torah
Hertz Chumash: pp. 158 – 163 Triennial Year 2 (Full Kriyah pp. 155 – 166)
Artscroll Chumash: pp. 230 – 243 Triennial Year 2 (Full Kriyah pp. 222 – 249)
Etz Chaim Chumash: pp. 257 – 265 Triennial Year 2 (Full Kriyah pp. 250 – 270)
Rosh Chodesh Tevet 2023 / רֹאשׁ חוֹדֶשׁ טֵבֵת 5784
Start of month of Tevet on the Hebrew calendar 🌒
Rosh Chodesh Tevet for Hebrew Year 5784 begins at sundown on Tuesday, 12 December 2023 and ends at nightfall on Wednesday, 13 December 2023.
Start of month of Tevet on the Hebrew calendar. Tevet (טֵבֵת) is the 10th month of the Hebrew year, has 29 days, and corresponds to December or January on the Gregorian calendar. רֹאשׁ חוֹדֶשׁ, transliterated Rosh Chodesh or Rosh Hodesh, is a minor holiday that occurs at the beginning of every month in the Hebrew calendar. It is marked by the birth of a new moon.
Judaic Studies
Next session: Thursday, December 14, 2023 @ 7:30pm
Since there will NOT be a meeting of the Temple Sholom Board of Directors next week (because there’s a congregational meeting this coming Sunday the 10th at 12:30), Sandy and I thought, there’s no longer a reason not to hold class.
So we will meet on Zoom next Thursday, December 14, 7:30 PM. We will be continuing with our study of the Biblical Book of Job. We'll send the Zoom link next week, closer to the class time.
In our study of Job, we have now read the prologue, Job’s lament, and the exchange between Job and one of his “helpful” friends. What next?
First, we will look at a few more brief selections from the middle of the book of Job, helping to set the scene for the famous climax in which God answers Job from out of the whirlwind. I attach a two-page PDF file of those brief selections from chapters 13, 27, and 31 of Job.
Then we will go to the last five chapters of the Book, God’s answer to Job, Job’s replies to God, and, finally, to the epilogue, that brings this drama about human suffering and about our relationship to God, to its close. I attach a PDF file of all of those five concluding chapters. We will not read them all together; we will study together by reading a (not-yet-finally-chosen) selection of highlights. Feel free to read any or all of these five concluding chapters, but, as usual, reading ahead is NOT required. We’ll look at the text together online.
My guess is that we’ll need probably two, or possibly even three, more classes to get through the chosen material, but we’ll see. And then we’ll go back to the “what do we study next?” drawing board.
Judy and Sandy thank everybody who has attended for insightful contributions so far to the discussions of this challenging but fascinating topic. Hope to see you on line on the 14th. And Happy Hanukkah to all.
Shabbat Times for Ontario, California, USA
🕯️ Candle lighting / הדלקת נרות Friday, December 15⋅4:24 – 4:24pm
✨ Havdalah (50 min) / הבדלה - 50 דקות Saturday, December 16⋅5:24 – 5:24pm
Powered by Hebcal Shabbat Times
Upcoming Services
Shabbat Ma'ariv Service Friday, December 15, 2023 @ 7:30 pm
Shabbat Shachrit Service Saturday, December 16, 2023 @ 9:30 am
Zoom Links sent in separate email Friday afternoon. Please reply if you do not receive them.
We are now incorporating guitar accompaniment with our Friday Night Shabbat Ma'ariv
Parashat Miketz 5784 / פָּרָשַׁת מִקֵּץ
16 December 2023 / 4 Tevet 5784
Parashat Miketz is the 10th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading.
Torah Portion: Genesis 41:1-44:17
Triennial year 2
1: 41:53-57 · 5 p’sukim ·
2: 42:1-5 · 5 p’sukim ·
3: 42:6-18 · 13 p’sukim ·
4: 42:19-28 · 10 p’sukim ·
5: 42:29-38 · 10 p’sukim ·
6: 43:1-7 · 7 p’sukim ·
7: 43:8-15 · 8 p’sukim ·
maf: 43:11-15 · 5 p’sukim ·
Haftarah: I Kings 3:15-4:1 · 15 p’sukim
Commentary and Divrei Torah
Hertz Chumash: pp. 158 – 163 Triennial Year 2 (Full Kriyah pp. 155 – 166)
Hebrew School at Temple Sholom of Ontario
Sunday, December 17, 2023 Hebrew School 10:00am - 11:30am
Classes will be conducted via Zoom. Links sent out Saturday night after sunset
We will have two sessions:
10:00am - 10:40am Learning Hebrew and Hebrew Reading for more advanced students
10:50am - 11:30am Discussing the weekly Torah parashat and other Bible topics
Next Miller Course
We are planning our next Miller Course to start tentatively in January 2024.
Stay tuned for more information.
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