TORAH, COFFEE AND COMMENTARY
We study Torah at 11:15 every Saturday morning. Come for all or part of the service, and share in the coffee and commentary. Your presence and point of view is always appreciated and honored. Services are led by Rabbi Malka Drucker and Hazzan Cindy Freedman, often with participation and Torah leyning by community members. Shabbat services begin at 9:45 AM.
TORAH PORTION JULY 31 Ekev Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25 Etz Hayim p. 1037
Haftarah Isaiah 49:14-51:3 Etz Hayim p. 1057;
Moses tells the people that if they obey the commandments, God will reward them. With God’s help they are to destroy the Canaanite nations and to take particular care in demolishing all their idols.
Moses calls on the Israelites to remember both the hardships of the wilderness years and how God provided for them there. Be very careful, he tells them, that once you enter the good land you do not forget that God is still the source of all you have. Abandoning God’s commandments can lead only to tragedy.
Moses reminds the people that nothing that God has done and will do for them is a reward for their virtue and merits. He speaks about the many times when they defied and angered God, most notably the sin of the Golden Calf. Moses describes how he prayed for mercy for the people, so that God ultimately responded by inscribing a second set of tablets to replace the ones that Moses shattered.
Moses again charges the Israelites to keep God’s commandments and teaches them the second paragraph of the Shema.
Source: www.USCJ.Org
Source: www.naomiocean.com