Beit HaLev
Beit HaLev is now conducting services on Zoom. The coronavirus has opened up a new method of communication for those of us who are sheltering in place. Anyone interested in joining the Beit HaLev Zoom community for services and Hebrew lessons, contact the rabbi at (562) 715-0888 for access and instructions on how to use Zoom.
Beit HaLev is continuing to livestream on Facebook and YouTube as well. To attend, go to Facebook.com/galityomtov or YouTube.com (Shabbat Shalom LIVE! channel). Evening services begin at 6 and morning services begin at 10:30. A link to the PDF version of each prayerbook is provided at each service.
This week, Shabbat and Independence Day are colliding. However, Shabbat doesn’t “pause” for national holidays. This week’s reading is a double parashah, “Chukat-Balak.” “Chukat” (law) describes the ritual for purification following contact with a corpse, “Parah Adumah,” the ritual of the Red Cow. The ritual has bewildered Jewish sages because it involves a seemingly endless process: the Kohein, who performs the purification process on the one who is impure then becomes impure and must therefore be purified by another Kohein, and so on, and so on. In the same reading we learn of the deaths of Miriam and Aaron.
In the reading of Balak, we read about the King of Moab, Balak, who hires the prophet Bilaam to curse the Israelites in order to demoralize them so that the Moabites can attack; the highlight of this reading is Bilaam’s interaction with his talking she-donkey.
Rabbi Galit Shirah conducts a weekday Ma’ariv service every Thursday for Sim Shalom, the online synagogue. Sim Shalom presents livestream services Monday-Thursday, with a different rabbi each day. To count the Omer, say Kaddish, pray for healing or to hear a spiritual message, go to: SimShalom. com.
Rabbi Galit Shirah also teaches (currently) online Hebrew (Prayerbook and Conversational) and Cantillation (Torah chanting) for anyone who wants to learn something new. Contact the Rabbi at (562) 715-0888 or duets@icloud.com.
