Shemot excerpts

שמות

Shabbat Shalom

Compassion on people and fear of Gd is what our tradition is based on. Not shopping at Bloomingdales, H&M or Amazing Savings, is not....That was a good deal and Twizzlers did have compassion when they had the 2 for the price of one sale...We can learn from that.

The midwives- Moshe's mother being one, did not listen to Pharoh's command to kill the baby boys... 

(1:17-21) They didn't fear the King of Egypt. They let the children live.

And it was because of this not killing the children, that the Jews were freed from Egypt...I think we can equate the two.

Because of this fear, H' made for them 'Batim' (Rashi)- Houses of The Priests, of H'. That is how you have houses with commitment to H'- compassion. 

This week's sermon is about compassion, unlike my neighbors who feel it is OK to let their children play baseball in our shared backyard, which they think is shared, when I am trying to sleep...whacking the children with the wiffle ball...and compassion can only come with fear. The kind of fear that Mark's children have for him. Way to sit there Shalom. We are very proud of you...I want the congregation to see that look of fear Mark instill in his kids. Way to go Mark. They are going to be doctors some day.

You people fear cold.  You fear not getting a sale...How many of you weak souls cried in your homes last week 'It is so cold outside? 'I see wet.'

Get over it. Fear H'. Only then can we have compassion on others. Have a community, with a minyan.

And you all have your little reasons. I had no galoshes...then put your plastic bag on your socks.

Yes, you stick it in your shoes. You don't put the bag on top of your shoes...No Eiruv- back in the day people didn't have to carry all the time...They had emunah/ faith. They left their homes with no worries that it would not be ransacked...

Just like Paroh, you ask dumb questions: (1:18) 'Why are you not killing the kids?'

Let me explain this to you Paroh...It is killing...

and you are killing the children...Learning nothing from the message of the midwives....Killing the next generation

 

(2:6) The daughter of Paroh had compassion on the crying baby Moses and it was that compassion that led to the Jewish salvation from Egypt....

It was the basic foundation of compassion that allowed Moses to live, compassion that freed the Jews from Egypt, compassion that gave the rabbi the new tarp over his parking spot with the shules building fund.

THe Jewish people feed off compassion

And you want compassion?! Have compassion on the 80 year old Gabbai who came to shule and saw nobody else last week...You need fear. Compassion takes energy and our Gabbai, like Mark's children, has fear he is going to die....

There is a beautiful story of a rabbi who walks to shule early in the morning on a freezing day right after a blizzard. Somebody asks him why he is up so early, walking to shule with your big boots? The Rabbi answers, 'I am making a path so that the congregants can come.' it shows the compassion this great man had on his congregation...do I have to spell every lesson out for you?.. Your rabbi couldn't make it to shule last week. Yes. And where was the plow last week?! Who was supposed to call the plow company?!!

***These are excerpts from the sermon. For the sermon in its entirety, come see David Kilimnick perform at the Off The Wall Comedy Basement, in downtown Jerusalem.

David also tours as a Maggid with very few stories, if you invite him.

Shabbat Shalom uMvorach