Bulletin Shemini

Welcome • ohtcv ohfurc
Shabbat Shalom • ouka ,ca
Shabbat Parshat Shmini - HaChodesh
27 Adar II 5784 • April 6, 2024
asjv `ca
hbhna
APRIL 14 th
10:00 a.m.
Dr. Jaclynn Faffer
Confidence. Connection. Support:
Three words that represent the pillars of strength we need
to navigate the challenges of life. Dr. Faffer will share when
and how to maximize one’s access to these pillars.
Sponsor a Kiddush
Contact Arleen Sivakoff: 239.455.8811 - dsivakoff@aol.com
Contact Arleen Sivakoff: 239.455.8811 • dsivakoff@aol.com

Yahrtzeiten
Apr 5
Apr 6
Apr 7
Anniversaries
Apr 11 Anne & Martin Rubenfeld (54)
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Apr 6 • 27 Adar II Floryne Myers – Sister of Gayle Levy
Apr 8 • 29 Adar II Joel Reichstein – Father of Lynn Nemes
Apr 9 • 1 Nissan Seymore Graff – Uncle of Stephen Keyser
Louis Michael Bogo – Son of Rosalee & Jerry Bogo
Apr 12 • 4 Nissan Leslie Popkin – Sister of Fred Kamin
Birthdays
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Lewis Baum, Susan Hammerman, Beatrice Schwartz,
Joseph Henson
Zachary Kaye
Jack Zoldan, Stephen Keyser
Shabbat Kiddush Sponsored by:
Sid & Lisa Freund
In appreciation
of the congregation
Mavens: Paulete Margulies & Rosalee Bogo
Assisted by: Beverly Blazer, Rosalee Bogo, Judy Fant,
Shelley Goodman, Evelyn Hecht, Fran Kaufman, Arlene Levin,
Roberta Miller, Lisa Rich, Shep Scheinberg
Challot provided by Larry & Evelyn Hecht
Sponsor a
Kiddush
cuy kzn
Contact Arleen Sivakoff:
dsivakoff@aol.com • 239.455.8811

Torah & Haftarah Readings:
Shabbat Shemini: Leviticus 10:12–11:32 (Cycle 2) (Etz Hayim p. 635)
1. 10:12-15 2. 10:16-20 3. 11:1-8 4. 11:9-12
5. 11:13-19 6. 11:20-28 7. 11:29-32 M. Ex. 12:1-20 (p. 380)
Haftarah: Ezekiel 45:16-46:18 (p.1291)
Torah Commentary
D’var Torah:
Punishment in Search of a Crime - Bex Stern-Rosenblatt
Nadav and Avihu died before God. And Moses quoted God to his brother, the
bereaved father, saying: “Through those close to Me shall I be hallowed and in
all the people’s presence shall I be honored.” And Aaron was silent.
But we are not. From the moment we are informed of their deaths until this
very day, we, “the whole community of Israel, weep over this burning which
God has burnt up.” Where Aaron and his remaining sons cannot mourn, we
break the air with our cries. We cry for these sons of Aaron as if they were our
brothers, our sons, stepping into the roles which the immediate family cannot
fill.
But they are not in fact our sons, our brothers. We did not know them in the
ways that Aaron, Elisheva, Eliezar, and Itamar did. We did not know them even
in the way that Moses did. We cannot mourn them, eulogize them, make their
memories into blessings, in the way that those who knew them could. Rather,
we “weep over this burning which God has burnt up.” We lament death. We
cry out to, for, and against God. We hold God responsible for this death, for
all deaths. We pour out our tears to God, we try to quench the flame of God’s
anger. But we do not cry for Nadav and Avihu. They are reduced to the manner
of their dying. They become the burning, the korban which God takes from us,
the unwilling givers. God is hallowed through them, through their burning,
and honored by us, through our tears.
Ever since Moses climbed up Mount Sinai, the Torah had been exposing the
order of the world to us. We have been told, in excruciating detail, how to
behave. We know what to wear, what to build, what to eat, and how to cook it.
The raw, terrifying power of God, the creator and the destroyer, had seemed to
be tamed. Just so long as we dotted our i’s, crossed our t’s, and refrained from
making golden calves, it seemed we should be able to live happily ever after
with God in our midst.
The story of Nadav and Avihu destroys that notion. The Torah had not been
exposing the order of the world, but rather imposing order onto the world and
onto God. But God cannot be fully contained or fully understood. The world
will not make sense if we just do everything right. Sometimes, really horrible
things happen.
When they do, we do not remain silent. We demand answers, explanations,
order. We want the world to make sense and so we make sense of it.

As Ed Greenstein writes, “most readers view the death of Nadav and Avihu
as an effect and look for a cause.” Surely, Nadav and Avihu must have done
something wrong. After all, the fire was strange or foreign fire. Or perhaps this
is a delayed punishment for Aaron’s formation of the Golden Calf. Or perhaps
we are supposed to learn not to get drunk.
Once we have finished crying out to God for the burning, we cry out to
ourselves. We change that which we can change. We blame those who must
listen to us casting blame on them. We see error in our own ways because, at
least, our own ways are our own. We have control over them and can modify
them. We want to believe we can prevent such a burning from happening
again.
All Are invited to
Join Beth Tikvah
for a fun and
Traditional Kosher
Passover Seder
Monday, April 22 nd
6:30 p.m.
Cost per person: Members $90
Nonmembers $100
RSVP by calling the Synagogue Office
239-434-1818
NAPLES
JEWISH
FILM FESTIVAL
The Nina Iser
Jewish Cultural Center
April 14th 7:00 p.m.
NaplesJewishFilmFestival.org
Beth Tikvah of Naples
1459 Pine Ridge Road
Naples, FL 34109
239 434-1818
Visit us online at
bethtikvahnaples.org
or scan the QR code
to go there directly