Bulletin Ki Teitze

Shabbat Ki Teitze
9 Elul 5783 • August 26, 2023
Welcome • ohtcv ohfurc
Shabbat Shalom • ouka ,ca
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Join us for Selichot Services
Saturday evening September 9 th - 8:00 p.m.
Monday, September 26 | 7:30 p.m. After Nehila
RSVP by September 21 | Cost $25 p/p

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We share the sorrow on the passing of
Helene Krivosha k ”z
Beloved wife of the late Hon. Norman Krivosha k ” z
We extend our condolences to her daughters and relatives.
Yahrtzeiten
May her Memory Be for a Blessing • lurc vrfz hvh
Contributions may be sent to Beth Tikvah’s Chesed Fund.
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120 sg
vfrck oburfz
Aug 26 • 9 Elul Howard Cohen – Father of Gayle Chizzik
Carl Robins – Father of Stacey Baum
Ruth Barber – Wife of Martin Barber
Aug 27 • 10 Elul Joy Mayfield Whisnant – Sister of Jill Valesky
Aug 29 • 12 Elul Esther Lebowitz – Grandmother of Ron Lebowitz
Rose Sherer – Mother of Peter Sherer
Sep 1 • 15 Elul Charles Brinn – Relative of David Siegel
Birthdays
Aug 25
Aug 26
Anniversaries
Fran Alpert
Jacob Poznansky, Stuart Mest
Aug 27 Christine & Bernard Portnoy (45)
Aug 28 Debra & Michael Silow (57)
jna `skuv ouh
Shabbat Kiddush Sponsored by:
cuy kzn
Jill Valesky
In memory of her sister Joy Mayfield Whisnat k”z
Debra & Michael Silow
In honor of their Anniversary
Maven: Steve Chizzik
Assisted by: Rosalee BogoSue & Joe Hammerman, Harvey Jacobson,
Elaine Kamin, Shep & Linda Scheinberg
Sponsor a Kiddush
Contact Arleen Sivakoff: 239.455.8811 • dsivakoff@aol.com

Torah & Haftarah Readings:
Shabbat Re’eh: Deuteronomy 21:10 - 23:7 (Etz Hayim p. 1112)
1. 21:10-14 2. 21:15-17 3. 21:18-21 4. 21:22-22:7
5. 22:8-12 6. 22:13-29 7. 23:1-7 M. 25:17-19 (p. 1135)
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-10 (p. 1138)
Torah Commentary
D’var Torah:
Amalek or Me? - Bex Stern-Rosenblatt
Our parashah finishes with three chilling verses: “Remember what Amalek did to you
on the way when you came out of Egypt, how he fell upon you on the way and cut
down all the stragglers, with you famished and exhausted, and he did not fear God.
And it shall be, when the LORD your God grants you respite from all your enemies
around in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you in estate to take hold
of it, you shall wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens, you
shall not forget.”
As is the case with much of the Book of Deuteronomy, this is Moses’s retelling of prior
events. The first time we heard about Amalek was back in Exodus. The story is very
different there. We read that Amalek came to do battle with Israel, and we learn of
Moses raising his hands up to ensure success in battle, eventually having his hands
supported with stones. But there is no mention of Amalek coming to take advantage
of the weak among us when we were at our worst. Moreover, God says, “Write this
down as a remembrance in a record, and put it in Joshua’s hearing, that I will surely
wipe out the name of Amalek from under the heavens.” In Exodus it is God who will
wipe out God’s name, rather than us, the Israelites, as it is in Deuteronomy.
Biblical scholar Diana Lipton has a fascinating read on why Deuteronomy tells a story
of Amalek as aggressor and Israel as responsible for dealing with Amalek whereas
Exodus presents Amalek as having done nothing exceptionally wrong and holds God
as responsible for wiping out Amalek. By reading the story told in Deuteronomy 25
about Amalek in context with the rest of Deuteronomy 25, Lipton adds a new layer
of meaning. The story becomes a narrative to reinforce the laws mentioned before it
in the parashah, much as in Deuteronomy Moses retells the story of Miriam getting
skin disease when he mentions the laws around skin disease. They become examples,
almost parables, to help us understand the importance of observing the law and how
to do so.
The law cited at length before the story of Amalek is about protecting the weakest
members of society. The law of levirate marriage is intended to protect the widow
and the deceased among the Israelites. Of course, these are the very people that the
Deuteronomy presents Amalek as attacking - Amalek fell upon us and attacked the
stragglers, the weak, those unable to defend themselves. This becomes his great crime
in the Deuteronomic retelling.
Moreover, with levirate marriage, we read that if a husband dies, leaving his wife without
a son, his brother becomes responsible for fathering a child, “in the name of his dead

other, that his name be not wiped out from Israel.” The words used here are identical
to the words found in the story of Amalek in Exodus and echoed in Deuteronomy. In
the case of levirate marriage, the point is to prevent a name from being wiped out. In
the case of Amalek, the point is to ensure that the name and the memory are wiped
out. But, the law of levirate marriage continues, providing instructions for what to
do when a kinsman refuses to do his duty, refuses to prevent the name and memory
of his brother from being wiped out, refuses to protect the widow. Lipton posits that
Deuteronomy is going so far as to imply that a kinsman who would refuse to fulfill
this duty is acting just as the Amalekites did, attacking us at our weakest. The desire to
wipe out the name and memory of Amalek becomes transformed into the desire to
wipe out the desire inherent in ourselves to act this way, to take advantage of the weak
among us rather than supporting them.
Deuteronomy also changes who is responsible for accomplishing this task. In Exodus,
God will wipe out the name of Amalek. In Deuteronomy, we will. Deuteronomy takes
the difficult, seemingly genocidal story of Amalek and transforms it into a parable
of Israelites communal responsibility. It becomes a moralistic tale of why you’d best
support the widow, lest someone accuse you of behaving like Amalek.
5784 – 2023-2024
Selichot with Cantor Brody
Saturday, September 9 th – 8:00 p.m.
Rosh Hashanah
Friday, September 15 th – 6:15 p.m.
First Day:Saturday, September 16 th – 9:00 a.m.
Second Day: Sunday, September 17 th – 9:00 a.m.
Yom Kippur
Kol Nidre: Sunday, September 24 th – 6:00 p.m.
Monday, September 25 th – 9:00 a.m.
Yizkor – 11:30 a.m.
Please send your High Holiday Forms ASAP
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