Beth El Updates and Services Tonight and Tomorrow
Congregants and Friends,
A reminder of our regular Friday night and Saturday morning services this weekend, August 19th and 20th. Friday night services start at 7:00 pm and Saturday morning start at 9:00 am.
SANCTUARY RENOVATION – Beginning Monday, August 22, we will take our sanctuary out of service while we install new chairs, new carpet, a new ark, and other improvements. During this renovation, we will continue to hold Friday night services in the social hall. If all work goes as scheduled, services will resume in the sanctuary on the weekend of September 16 and 17.
Thank you to everyone who have generously donated, invested time, and helped on these improvements.
Cantor’s Message – This week’s parashah, ‘Ekev, contains the famous words “Man does not live by bread alone”. The Torah is teaching us that material things, while important, are not of ultimate importance. We also need the metaphysical, the spiritual. In a similar vein, the sad observance of Tish’ah B’Av teaches us that the Temple in Jerusalem was not as important as God, to Whom the Temple was dedicated. As we prepare to celebrate our last Shabbat in the current configuration of Beth El’s sanctuary, let us remember that a congregation is much more than the building in which it meets, and that a congregation’s ultimate purpose is the worship of God. Still, we also rejoice in the opportunity to fulfill the hopeful words read at the end of the Book of Lamentations-“renew our days as of old”. Shabbat Shalom.