Dear Kol Rinah Family,
Crime reporting has sold newspapers, and driven news, for a long time. We are endlessly fascinated by the major acts of evil, as well as the small acts of greed, people commit.
One focus of this week's Torah portion, Vayera, is Abraham arguing with God about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, and then we get a visit into Sodom when angels visit Abraham's nephew Lot there, before the cities are destroyed.
Sodom and Gomorrah are obviously wicked cities. But we get curious. How wicked were they? What else and what exactly did people there do? Inquiring minds want to know!
The rabbinic tradition abhors a vacuum, and provides lots of colorful, horrible, reports about the practices of Sodom.
The last in a series of descriptions in the Talmud of the practices of Sodom (Sanhedrin 109b) says, "There was a young woman who would take bread out to the poor people in a pitcher so the people of Sodom would not see it. The matter was revealed, and they smeared her with honey and positioned her on the wall of the city, and the hornets came and consumed her."
The act of feeding the hungry became a capital offense. It sounds like the stuff of dystopian young adult fiction.
However bad you think our society has become, we haven't reached this depth of sin and sickness. But our government, and perhaps our societal consensus, are edging towards increased indifference towards those who are hungry, stepping back from the idea that we are obligated to feed the hungry.
Deuteronomy (15:4), in contrast, has a vision of a society where "there shall be no needy among you." A few verses later (v. 11), it acknowledges that there may be needy people, and we are obligated to open our hand to them.
"What's mine is mine and what's yours is yours" (Pirkei Avot 5:10) is how average people view property rights, our tradition teaches. But some say that this is actually the embodiment of the philosophy of Sodom - where giving charity becomes forbidden--because what's mine is mine and I can't even choose to give it to you.
Abraham, in contrast, greets and welcomes three strangers (angels, God?) at the beginning of our parashah, and feeds them a feast. And they don't even say they're hungry.
How are you doing with your generosity--of spirit, of money and food, of hospitality? Could you up your generosity in the coming days and weeks? Our generosity may not get reported as much as our crimes, but I'd rather be unknown than notorious.
***
This Shabbat, we'll celebrate the bar mitzvah of Simon Leeds. Mazal tov to Simon, his parents, Julie and Zach, his brother Spencer, and his grandparents, Sherri and Bob Daniel, and our members Beth and Steve Leeds.
With the time change, candle lighting tonight is at 4:37pm!
Our Kabbalat Shabbat services tonight (no instruments) will start at 6pm. We'll be trying a couple of different melodies.
Services tomorrow morning will start at 9am. Kiddush will follow. Shabbat ends at 5:35pm.
Sunday, November 16 from 11am-3pm will be our Pop-Up Craft Fair. There will be food, and crafts from over twenty different artists, at all different price points. And it's mostly not Jewish art, fyi. We can also use some volunteers to help. All the info is on the website.
Wednesday, November 19 at 3pm (in person only), will be the first meeting of Overbooked!
Are there books piled next to your favorite chair or towering above your head on the nightstand? Do you search out ideas about what to read next? Are you curious about what others are reading? OVERBOOKED! is perfect for you.
Here's how it works. Each person attending speaks for five minutes about a book, essay or magazine article that interested them. They will also give the reading a letter grade, A-C. A recorder will keep a list of the material presented for distribution to registrants. Anyone presenting a Jewish book/essay will speak first.
Coffee and sweets provided. Details here.
Thursday, November 20 at 2pm on Zoom, we'll be hosting a talk by Professor Yevgeniy Vorobeychik of Wash U's McKelvey School of Engineering, on AI, Privacy and Judaism:
In this lecture, Professor Yevgeniy Vorobeychik's goal is to offer a brief introduction to the history and technical background of privacy policy in the US and Europe, focusing in particular on its philosophical foundations. He will then turn to privacy as it appears in Talmudic tort law, and contrast the Jewish view of privacy with its modern Western conceptualization. Details and registration (required) here.
Both of these events are coming out of our vibrant Community Learning Committee.
For more events later in November and beyond, check our website.
Shabbat shalom and see you in shul,
Rabbi Noah Arnow
ZOOM AND STREAMING LINKS
To join our Zoom Minyanim or classes, click on the desired meeting link, or call into either of the following numbers:
+1 312 626 6799
+1 646 558 8656
Then, when prompted, enter the Meeting ID of the desired minyan/class then press #. Then, when prompted, enter the password then press #.
Services (all times Central)
Evening Minyan on Zoom
Sunday-Thursday evenings at 6pm (but not on Jewish holidays)
Morning Minyan on Zoom
Monday-Wednesday and Friday mornings at 7am; Sunday mornings and national holidays at 8am (not including Jewish holidays)
(Please note that Thursday morning minyan is now being held in-person at 7am (8am on national holidays) and is not on Zoom)
Friday nights and Shabbat mornings
Fridays, 6pm in the chapel (no streaming)
Saturdays, 9:00am (9:30am when we are doing our musical Kol Chadash service)
Click the link below, for the stream, as well as for additional instructions:
https://www.kolrinahstl.org/kr-streaming
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Phone: 314-727-1747