Annual meeting and shabbat services

A lot going on this weekend – please read! We’d love you to join us for our Kaballat Shabbat services, Friday June 8, at the regular time of 7:00 p.m.

Saturday June 9th at 9 a.m. we have our Shabbat morning services. Torah service at around 9:45 a.m. and children’s services with our own Shereen Canady at 10:30 a.m. Kidush lunch immediately following.

Sunday June 10 at 4:30 p.m. is Beth El’s Annual Meeting. See Below.

Watch this space for summer speaker series and summer Talmud classes at Beth El. Our first guest will be David Walker, who studied medieval Hebrew literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Cantor Ben-Yitzhak Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message;

Our Parshah this week, Sh’lah L’kha, deals with the sending of scouts into the Land of Israel, how they brought back a bad report which discouraged the People, and how the People of Israel were condemned to wander for a generation before entering the Land. The parshah concludes with a series of laws, the last of which is to wear tzitIth, the fringes on the corners of ones garment, or tallith. In Biblical times, this was a cloak that was normally worn at all times, but by the Rabbinic Era it was a ceremonial garment, similar to the Roman toga. The purpose of the tzitzith remains the same-as a reminder of God’s commandments. We are to look at the fringes and to remember what we are to do, to be mindful and not distracted. May we always be mindful of our responsibilities and live in the way that God desires. Shabbat Shalom.

Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Shabbat candle lighting times are at 8: 14 p.m.

Our annual “state of the shul” meeting will be held THIS Sunday, June 10, at 4:30 p.m. followed by a Kosher cookout.

We plan to discuss shul business and elect officers for the upcoming year. The meeting is open to all – always a great deal of fun and very inspiring. We are blessed to be part of this small, yet vibrant and truly chesed filled congregation.

You all are invited to the Bat Mitzvah of Sara K. on the weekend of June 16. Iris and Kevin would be deeply honored to have their Beth El family attend. There will be Friday services at 6:30 followed by a dinner and Saturday morning services and a kidush lunch.

Macrame and Margaritas!
Sunday June 24 @ 4pm @ Beth El

Join the Beth El sisterhood for Macrame making with our wonderful teacher Anat Inbar who will show us the ins and outs of this fun craft. And just for fun, we will all be bringing super healthy salads to share and making Margaritas to sip. Open to all! A $5 donation to help cover costs.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

we will also be watching the musical Mama Mia together on June 26 at the home of Juliette and then as soon as Mama Mia, Here We Go Again Comes Out will watch it as a sisterhood!

Sisterhood Book Club.
Judas by Amos Oz –
available in Hebrew and English

Summertime and the reading is easy – or at least incredibly interesting. The sisterhood is reading Amos Oz’s 2016 novel, Judas. We will meet at the end of the summer to have a stimulating discussion, so get your copy soon.

Rabbi Tarlow’s Weekly Parasha:

This week we turn to the section of the Book of Numbers known as “Shalach L’chah”. You will find it in Numbers 13:1-15:41. The parashah’s name is poorly translated into English as “Send forth”. The Hebrew reader will immediately note the inadequacy of this translation. While “Shlach” does mean: “send” the second word (l’chah) being the indirect object pronoun (dative case) means something such as “to yourself; for yourself”. It will immediately remind the Hebrew reader that this section offers a direct parallel between G-d’s commandment to Abraham (Genesis 12:1, Lech l’chah: also mistranslated as “go forth”) and the current commandment to Moses (Shlach l’chah, mistranslated as “send forth”). In both cases, Israel’s greats are commanded to go/send people into the land. The problem then is what does the text mean by its use of the dative pronoun l’chah after the verbal command.
The medieval commentator Rashi (Rabenu Shlomo ben Yitzach) offers a possible explanation. Rashi postulates that the word l’chah used after the verb indicates that it is the subject’s choice as to whether or not to fulfill the command. In fact, Rashi argues that G-d knew that the Israelites were not yet ready to send spies into the land, but gave Moses the option of making his own choice.
What the text may be saying is that in life G-d gives all of us choices. Sometimes we choose wisely and at other times we can only hope to learn from our mistakes. G-d permits each of us to determine our own path and how we choose has a great deal to say about who we are and what we will do/accomplish in life.
Is the text then telling us that both Abraham and Moses had to enter into the land of Israel not for G’-d but for themselves? Do we claim that we do things for others when in reality we are doing taking these actions for ourselves? In a like manner we need to be cognizant that our actions have both personal and group consequences. This week’s section asks us to think of the consequences before we act and then to choose wisely.