Shemot Excerpts

שמות

Shabbat Shalom 

It is about names...Not saying any, but we had a fiasco in the pre-school this week.

The Shabbat Abba and Ima. The Kimpetsky twins. Started screaming at everybody. Before they made Kiddush they had already kicked all the other kids out and we just watched as they ate in silence, looking across from each other at the table. Then one of the kids said something about Donal Trump and they started throwing dishes...

Flood in the shul. We had to daven in the kiddush room. But I want to thank Frank for cleaning it up, because he doesn't like davening...You could have helped him Bernie. You all could have helped him. None of you like davening.

(4:18) Yitro hears from Moshe that he wants to go back to Egypt to check on his brothers, and he says to him, 'Go in peace.' That is a mensch. Somebody who understands when somebody else has something they have to do and gives them their blessing. I had to clean up the shul from the flood this week. Yes. None of you are paying your dues, and the flood wasn't just today. Nobody cared....When snow melts...Now Frank is by his lonesome. At least wave to him...That was nice. But none of you care when somebody else has a task. Counseling the Kimpetsky family...I have other things to do. Neither of you said, 'Go in peace.' The imprecations were worse than the Shabbat Abba and Ima at nursery...

Frank was relaxed, unlike the Kimpetsky twins. Way to go Frank. We do not know what is going on at their home. But we can be sure that mom and dad are yelling a lot. We did an ink blot test and the kids said each one looked like an empty Shabbat table. And when asked where the children were, they said they were sent to their rooms for not singing correctly. One of the kids even said that it looked like a brisket. Why? Because they love brisket and never get it at the house...

(4:19-21) H' adds some information. First of all, the people who wanted Moshe dead for giving them musar are dead. Moshe can feel safe going back. I have no idea why I returned from Chanukah vacation. I called the office and nobody told me that any of the congregants were not going to be returning.

And now Moshe hears that Paroh will not go for the wonders that the Jews believed you with, as Paroh's heart will be hardened by H.' Even wondrous miracles could not help this congregation, because it is stuck in its ways. Like Paroh. Not helping Frank while he cleans the floor by himself, so that we can have kiddush in the sanctuary. Hardened to paying dues so we can fix the piping. The building fund is still sick.

(4:24-26) When lodging, they had a son who had not been circumcised, and Moshe's life was in danger. So, Tziporah circumcised the child and said, 'You are the cause of my husband's bloodshed.'

That's a lot to put on a child who was just born. The Kimpetsky twins did use that curse for the first three other kids they kicked out of the Shabbat table...Bloodshed happens when we don't keep the mitzvot. Waking up parents. No Shalom Bayis...

Bloodshed is not brisket. That is how families get broken.

But the family is bigger than just your spouse and children. Moshe has to continue for his people. Unlike the selfish Einwitz family. Always jumping into the herring. You know it is one piece of herring a person...Children do not eat herring. You can't put it on your child's plate for yourself...

(4:27-30) Aharon goes to meet Moshe in the desert. They kiss, and then Moshe tells Aharon about the signs. Aharon then tells the people all that H' told Moshe, and Moshe did the signs H' told him to do (I am assuming this).

Teamwork. Moshe doesn't go in alone. He goes in with the leader, Aharon. But not a surprise. You show up to let your teamate know you are there for them. Aharon goes out to see Moshe.

Families run to see each other. Kids get up off the couch to say 'Hi' to their uncles and aunts. They kiss them. They get off their phones...Right now, I would like to call the Kimpetsky family up here...The show of love. Hugging...Let's get the congregation up here. I want all of you to greet each other...

With all of this hardship for the Jewish people, Aharon was with Moshe.

(4:31) The children of Israel believed Moshe, because they heard that H' saw their affliction...

When you see somebody's hardness, they are with you.

Nobody sees how hard this shul has it. How hard I have it with the board. How much cleaning I have to do during the week...The custodian is an angry man. I can't tell him what to do, he'll get mad. We need a shul intervention on that...You fire him Bernie. I am not risking my...Does anybody have his rap sheet?..

It wasn't the wonders, but the empathy. That is why the people listened.

Do we see the Kimpetsky affliction they put on their kids?
Do we see Frank in the back there, helping out the congregation for the first time?
Do we see Israel, our brethren and sisterin?

***These are excerpts from the sermon. For the sermon in its entirety, come see Rabbi David Kilimnick perform in Jerusalem. David also tours as a Maggid around the world, with his comic-in-residence program with very few stories (see www.davidkilimnick.com).

Shabbat Shalom