Beth El weekend services – parashat Masei
Dear Congregants and Friends,
We would love you to join us tonight at 7pm for our weekly Kabbalat shabbat services at 7pm. The folks are friendly and the service is meaningful.
Tomorrow morning, July 26th, starting at 9 am, we invite you all to come on over for our Shabbat morning service. The children will have snacks and a story time at approximately 10am, and as always are welcome in the sanctuary.
A special thank you to John and Bev Golden who are sponsoring this week’s delicious kidush lunch in honor of their children’s recent Birthright trip to Israel. Rachael and Jacob had a fabulous trip of a lifetime!
Sunday afternoon at 3:30 pm is the weekly Intro to Judaism class led by Cantor Ben-Moshe. Come for one or all of his classes, you will definitely learn something.
The next sisterhood event is Sunday August 3rd in which we will continue learning the basics of Mah Jong as well as have a fun event for those who just want to come hang out.
A Shabbat Prayer for Israel
As we prepare to light Shabbat candles tonight let us take a moment and pray for Israel.
Pray for the men and woman of the IDF, trying to restore peace and stability.
Pray for our extended family living in and out of shelters, who remain in harm’s way.
Pray for our brave volunteers who are delivering supplies, equipment, and food to those in need.
Pray for the leaders of Israel to be blessed by the Almighty with wisdom and strength.
Pray for peace, the Eternal’s most special gift, to be granted for all.
(Courtesy of Rabbi Tarlow of Texas A&M Center for Jewish-Hispanic relations).
Parashat Hashavua Weekly Torah portion :You will find this week’s section in the Book of Numbers: 33:1 – 36:13. It is the final parashah in the Book of Numbers and on non leap years. according to the Hebrew calendar, we read this week’s section together with last week’s. Because this year is a leap year it is read separately. Last week’s parashah ended with the Children of Israel making camp on the east banks of the Jordan river, their journey home almost completed. In this week’s portion Moses recounts all forty-two sites of Israel’s forty year journey across the Sinai .
This week’s Torah section is called Masei meaning “trips/journeys of..or a long tiring hike, a schlep!” The word tends to have a negative rather than positive connotation. As in the English word for “travel” (derived from the French word “travail” meaning “work’ and based on the Latin word for pitchfork) travel in Biblical times was arduous and dangerous. The Torah’s listing of the various journeys of the Children of Israel from Egyptian slavery to Israel’s freedom is a perfect summary not only of the entire Book of Numbers but also of Jewish history. From Abraham’s initial journeys until our re-entrance into the land of Israel our history has been one of personal and national movement. On the macro level, Jewish history has been a history of journeys, of travails, of seeking to find permanence in a world without stability.
What is true of the macro level is also true on the personal or micro level. All of us are on a journey through time and space. Each of us lives in a permanent state of change and although most people state that they seek stability, change and movement is a ubiquitous theme in most people’s personal journeys. To travel through life is not easy. Our circumstances, our bodies, and our social relationships are ever changing. What was is not what will necessarily be.
As Israel traveled through the miseries of the Sinai desert, there was a goal. That objective was to enter the promised land and to establish a society that would become: “Or la’Goyim/A light to the other nations”. Reality however was different and we soon learned in a post-Torah world, starting with the Book of Joshua, that once we reached our goal, once we crossed the Jordan River then there had to be more. We had to set new goals, and go onto new journeys. Thus, an irony of life is that we seek stability but true stability does not lead to contentment but rather to stagnation.
As we travel along our life’s paths we need to ask ourselves if our challenges are very different from those that faced our ancestors as they entered the land of Israel. Do we have a moral compass? Do we have personal and national goals? Do we have a plan as to what to do once we reach those goals? How afraid are we of change? Do we seek stability or are we satisfied with stagnation? Has our trip through life become one of mere travail or do the challenges of today become the opportunities of tomorrow? These are not easy questions. How would you respond to them?
Cantor Ben-Moshe’s weekly message
This week’s parshah, Mas’ei, gives us something unusual-the date of a yartzheit. While the Torah does not give us the date of death of Moshe or Miriam-our Tradition arrives at the dates through midrash,textual interpretation-Parashat Mas’ei tells us that Aharon, the first High Priest, died on the first day of the fifth month. We call that to date Rosh Hodesh Av, and this year it occurs on Monday, August 28 on the secular calendar. Our Sages teach that the yartzheit of a tzaddiq, a righteous person, is an occasion to remember his or her virtues, as an example to emulate. Hillel teaches that Aharon was “ohev shalom v’rodeph shalom”-“a lover of peace and a pursuer of peace”. The word “rodeph” is actually a very strong word-it connotes chasing, running down. Aharon was someone who not only sought out peace, he tried to bring peace even in the most adverse of circumstances. In these trying times, when extremists take the position that peace is impossible, we are called upon by our Tradition-by God-to do our utmost do bring about peace. While we need to defend ourselves-and we do, capably-we must also work towards the day when we do not need defense. In the second chapter of Pirkei Avot, which we study this Shabbat, Rabbi Tarphon says:”It is not up to you to finish the work-but neither are you free to desist from it”. While peace seems elusive at times, we must always work towards that goal. Shabbat Shalom-may it be a Shabbat of peace for us, for the State of Israel, for the people of Gaza, and all the world.