Chazak Chazak ve Nitchazek

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Chazak Chazak Ve Nitchazek! Join us for Friday Night Shabbat Services. We’d love to see you, TONIGHT January 13, at the regular time of 7:00 PM.

Shabbat morning services are THIS Saturday January 14 at 9 AM. The kidish lunch is in honor of our beloved teacher Bev Golden who has taught Kita Gimmel for the last two years.

Sunday school THIS SUNDAY morning January 15 at 10 AM.

Check out all the Friday night melodies on our website:
http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com/education-2/kabbalat-shabbat-songs/

Candle lighting in Austin is at 5:33 PM

Friday January 6, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will likewise be our guest speaker at Beth El.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message

This week we conclude the Book of B’reshit, Genesis, with the reading of Parshat Vayehi. Our parshah takes place in Egypt, with Ya’akov/Yisrael blessing his children before his death, and with the promise that their descendants would one day return to their homeland. Interestingly, the Torah concludes on a similar note-Moshe blessing the Children of Israel before his death, as they are about to enter their homeland after centuries of exile. Moshe even echoes the language which Ya’akov uses in our parshah. The cycle is complete, and God has fulfilled His promise to the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, even though the road to that fulfillment was a long one. We must never give up hope that things will get better-this faith is the essence of Jewish thought. Our Tradition has always taught us not to despair, but rather to have faith that God’s plan will ultimately unfold. As we always say at the end of a book of the Torah, חזק חזק ונתחזק-“Be strong, be strong and we will strengthen ourselves. Shabbat Shalom.

Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

HOLD THE DATES: Guest speakers at Beth El.

Friday January 20, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will be our guest speaker at Beth El.

On the first Friday of February, we welcome Rabbi/Cantor Marie Betcher who will talk about the great work she does as a Police Chaplain.

And the third Friday in February, Jay Rubin, former CEO of Shalom Austin and avid historian will come to speak!

Also coming up in the Spring, Ami Pedhazur, UT Professor in Israel and Diaspora Studies will give a guest talk at Beth El on the 50th Anniversary of the Six Day War. Date to be confirmed.

SO GOOD TO HAVE OUR BERS (Beth El Religious School) BACK!!! Please see the website for the Spring calendar.

http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com/congregational-school/

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Did you see The Jewish Outlook article about Beth El’s sisterhood – it’s on page 55 in this month’s edition: “Congregation Beth El Sisterhood Builds and Nurtures Jewish Life”. Our sisterhood is truly inclusive and open to all. Please join us for any and all events. Thank you to our wonderful Shereen for writing the article.

https://etypeservices.com/…//Magazine151411/Full/index.aspx…

Sisterhood Book Club Event!

**On January 24th at 7:00 p.m. we will be having another book club event, The event will be at the home of Yael Shacham, who has graciously volunteered hosting our evening get together. The name of the book and its author, that we will be discussing, is “A Pigeon and A Boy” by Meir Shalev. PLEASE come even if you haven’t finished the book or are just interested in reading the book. The discussion promises to be lively and inspiring.

Happy January birthdays to Sara Pollack, Javis Howeth, Daniel Freedman, Bev Golden, Idit Katz, Natalie and Shirley Koeller, Idan Nahum, Jay Rubin and Ira Shapiro!

Community News from the J:

* JCC Austin is sponsoring a trip to Spain and Israel October 2017, a Melton Travel Seminar with Dana Baruch and other educators leading the program. Learn more from Dana and Melton Travel Seminars Director Haim Aronovitz on Thursday, January 19 at 7 pm or Friday, January 20 at 9 am. Trip is open to all adults, not limited to Melton students or graduates. Itinerary and cost details at www.shalomaustin.org/MeltonSefarad

or contact Lisa Quay at 512-735-8086 or lisa.quay@shalomaustin.org.
Register now to attend one, some or all of the sessions at this year’s Tapestry: A Day of Jewish Learning on January 29 at the JCC. Day features both morning and afternoon keynotes and 24 other sessions to choose from, including 4 live music performances, provocative speakers and scholars, compelling panel discussions and more! Pre-registration is $10 ($15 at the door). BBYO providing snack and lunch options for sale in the Tapestry Café (cash only please) or come-and-go throughout the day and attend what interests you the most. Full details at www.shalomaustin.org/tapestry

or contact Lisa Quay at 512-735-8086 or lisa.quay@shalomaustin.org.

Please let me know if I can provide additional information and thank you for your assistance.

Lisa Cohen Quay, LMSW, MPA

Happy New month, New Year and Hannukah

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Friday Night Shabbat Services. We’d love to see you tonight, December 30, at the regular time of 7:00 PM.

Shabbat morning services are two weeks away on Saturday, January 14 at 9 AM.

One week away, Friday January 6, we look forward to welcoming Rabbi Daniel Septimus who will give the Dvar Torah at Beth El and tell us about his role as CEO of the JCC.

Sunday school resumes January 8.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 5:23 PM

Friday January 6, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will likewise be our guest speaker at Beth El.

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
We read Parshat Mikketz, and last week’s cliffhanger is resolved. Joseph is freed from prison and rises to become prime minister of Egypt. The darkness of prison and slavery is dispelled. So too, the darkness of this season is dispelled by our lighting of the candles of Hanukkah. On Saturday night, we will light all of the candles of Hanukkah in a blaze of illumination. Darkness may come at times, as it does in the continuation of the story of the Children of Israel in Egypt, but as we will read in a few weeks, while there is darkness in Egypt, “for the Children of Israel there was light in their dwellings”. May there always be light in our dwellings, in the new month of Tevet, in the secular New Year, and always-and where there is darkness, let us bring light. Shabbat Shalom, Hag Urim Sameah, Hodesh Tov, and Happy New Year.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

HOLD THE DATES: Guest speakers at Beth El.

Next week – Friday January 6, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will likewise be our guest speaker at Beth El.

On the first Friday of February, we welcome Rabbi/Cantor Marie Betcher who will talk about the great work she does as a Police Chaplain.

And the third Friday, Jay Rubin, former CEO of Shalom Austin and avid historian will come to speak!

Huge thank you to the amazing band Los Klezmeros who absolutely helped make this one rocking Hannukah – singalongs, kids drumming away, dancing and fun was had by all. Ben even brought his trumpet. The party was phenomenal and we look forward to many simchas as a community.

Sisterhood Book Club Event!
**On January 24th at 7:00 p.m. we will be having another book club event, The event will be at the home of Yael Shacham, who has graciously volunteered hosting our evening get together. The name of the book and its author, that we will be discussing, is “A Pigeon and A Boy” by Meir Shalev.

We want to wholeheartedly thank all the amazing folks who helped us prepare for the Chanukah party last week, whether you made 200 sufganiots, cooked all day for the scrumptious meal, helped lay the new floor in the social hall, cooked latkes till you dropped and of course donated generously to help us make it so much fun – you are appreciated!!!

Grandpa Abe:
“The Miracle of Children”
I was reading on the internet about a little boy. He looked to be about five and was just adopted. He had his hands up in the air shouting “Hurrah”. He was so delighted to now have a mom and dad. He had previously been in three other foster homes and my opinion would be they were just stopping points and not a place to be loved. I kinda know, or think I know, how this little fellow felt. I was blessed with some miracles also. My wife had lost a child due to a diabetic condition. We had talked about it and decided why not try to adopt. It wasn’t that we didn’t like children. We more than liked them. We felt they were needed in our lives to make them complete. At that time, my wife and I were on a bowling team. I might add that was the only year we bowled. One of the teams had an interesting person on it. I still remember her name. She was Sylvia. I got to talking to Sylvia and it turns out that she worked for the State in the Department of Child Welfare (or some department like that, I don’t remember the name). She suggested we fill out an application and, being we were not very picky of the sex or the age of the children, she thought, along with us, that it might work. Well, the two of us went home and worked over the ten page application. I remember one of the parts in the application was to list how much money you had in the bank. I guess they wanted to know if you can afford a child, if there was such a thing. I told my mother about that and she immediately sent me $300 to put in the bank to show we have a savings. As time went on, I would see Sylvia every week and cordially greet her and smile and talk about everything except the adoption. We felt that she deals with this all day long. She didn’t have to deal with it when she was off work. One day we get a letter. Don’t forget at that time there were no emails. We got a letter that they would like to interview us. I take off work and she took off work and we go for the interview. Both of us, with the blessings and prayers of our co-workers. I can tell you I have never been so nervous in all my life. They asked us every question that you can imagine. We included with our application a picture of us together and at that time I wanted to be a little clever. We sent a picture of both of us wearing coca-cola pants riding on a camel at the San Antonio zoo. At the end of the interview, the woman asked about that picture. She says most of the pictures she receives are so solemn like they were taken by a photographer and does not show the true personality of the people. I explained to her that that is us and that’s how we feel. My intentions were to get your attention and to let you know we are fun-loving people with lots of love to share. She informed me that she thinks I succeeded.

It wasn’t long after, I’d say a month or two, you know how the State works, that we get a letter to come in again. Being I always think positive, I’m very over-joyed. At this meeting they explained to us that there is a brother and sister that they are looking to place. To the best of my recollection, I think the girl was 2 1/2 and the boy was a year old. Well, I was very over-joyed. Didn’t even occur to me how I was going to go from two paychecks and two people down to one paycheck and four people. But my wife told me that she had full confidence in me. If I could keep that old car of mine running, I could certainly figure this out. Well, this would make a good end to this story except I get a call this time that there are twin boys that they are looking to place. I was so over-joyed. I told her that I would have to speak to my wife and let her know tomorrow morning. Well, I remember the look on her face. WHAT? We talked, we cried, we thought about it and you know the outcome. We now had four children. For most people this would be unthinkable. But, by the grace of God, we made it. The kids grew up being loved, being disciplined and being loved some more. Now they’re all married, have children of their own and our daughter even has grandchildren. I think of my children quite a bit along with the grandchildren and the latest great-grandchildren. Times are so hectic now. Families are getting larger and I don’t get a chance to see them as often. The closest one is nearly two hours from me. It would be nice if I could see them more often, but you know God made that mother bird outside my window have the instinct to teach the baby birds to fly and be on their own. That’s what I have done. I don’t like it. I love my children and my grands, but that’s how life goes. I’m very happy that I’ve had this opportunity to raise these children.
Dor ‘l Dor Grandpa Abe

Hannukah 2016 3

Love Cookies – By Grandpa Abe – Parashat Vayeshev

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Lots going on this weekend. Please join us for Friday Night Shabbat Services December 23, at the regular time of 7:00 PM.

Shabbat morningHannukah 2016 2 services are THIS Saturday December 24 at 9 AM, with the Torah service at 9:45 and children’s story time with Morah Shereen at 10:30. Kidish lunch following services.

THE HANNUKAH PARTY IS THIS SUNDAY. Please join us this Sunday December 25 at 5 PM at Beth El for one cool Hannukah party. Live music with Los Klezmeros, Kosher food including hotdogs and chicken and Guy’s famous Israeli sufganiot and candle lighting! Thank you to Avigail Adaky for sponsoring the party in honor of her 80th birthday! Mazal tov Avi – Ad 120! We’ll be there all Sunday afternoon cooking if you want to help make our famous Hippy Latkes.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 5:17 PM

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
This week’s parshah, Vayeshev, features an unnamed character who is actually pivotal to the narrative. Joseph is looking for his brothers near Sh’chem, and an anonymous stranger tells him that they are near Dothan, some distance away. Had Joseph not encountered this stranger, the rest of the story-Joseph’s sale into slavery in Egypt and everything that followed-could not have occurred.
Jewish folklore is full of stories of a stranger who appears at a pivotal time, who turns out to be the prophet Elijah. The purpose of these tales is to teach that we don’t know how important anyone we meet actually is. Anyone could be a vital part of our life’s story-any encounter might be a turning point, which we only recognize in retrospect. May we always strive to look for the possibility that every encounter with every person could be significant in some way. Shabbat Shalom and Hag Urim Sameah, Happy Hanukkah.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

HOLD THE DATES: Guest speakers at Beth El.

Friday January 6, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will likewise be our guest speaker at Beth El.

On the first Friday of February, we welcome Rabbi/Cantor Marie Betcher who will talk about the great work she does as a Police Chaplain.

And the third Friday, Jay Rubin, former CEO of Shalom Austin and avid historian will come to speak!

Huge thank you to Art, Yosef and Kevin for the new flooring in the social hall. Come check it out – you will be amazed. They were ably helped by Eden, Natalie and Sara. You can still find them there this morning finishing up if you want to lend a hand! Pictured below taking a well earned break.

Sisterhood Book Club Event!

**On January 24th at 7:00 p.m. we will be having another book club event, The event will be at the home of Yael Shacham, who has graciously volunteered hosting our evening get together. The name of the book and its author, that we will be discussing, is “A Pigeon and A Boy” by Meir Shalev.

Shabbat shefs was a blast this week rocking to Hannukah music while preparing a delicious kidish. Thank you to Claudia, Doris and Herschel, Michelle, Shereen, Javis, Iris, Yesenia and Genesis and Iris. Sunday afternoon at 1 PM onwards come on over to help make the latkes.

Love Cookies – By Grandpa Abe
Well, it’s a special time of the year. This is the time of the year that we get special things for the kids on Hanukkah and, if you’re lucky enough to be a special kid adult, you’ll get something also. it’s the time to play with dreidels and let’s not forget that chocolate gelt. The other day we went to our local heb to get some Hanukkah candles. For some unknown reason, we always have partial boxes left over. Some day we’re going to have enough to make a set of candles. For all of you who don’t know how many are in a set, there are 44 (I read the box.) While I was with my lovely wife doing some grocery shopping and getting, to me, the necessities of life like Hanukkah candles, I was reflecting on this time of year. There were many times I wasn’t home. Such as, I was in the military or my job had me living in another state. But my heart was always where my mom and dad were. It doesn’t matter how old I got. They were very special. I know you are probably saying isn’t your wife special? Yes, my wife is special. She is a different special than my mom and dad. I was going to visit my brother and my sister over the holiday season. There wasn’t anything I thought I could bring them. Both of them have anything they would want or they could obtain it. But I wanted to bring something. That is what mom had inbred in us. Out of the blue I thought the chocolate coconut cookies that mom would make. I remember being in Europe and in February getting my care package sent in December. This care package always consisted of these chocolate coconut cookies. I might add, if the enemy ever invaded me, I could use these cookies to kill them. They were as hard as a rock and so much appreciated. Not for what they were, but what they stood for. I knew they were made with lots of love and care. At that time, they were packed in wax paper. You hardly see that anymore. Well, I spoke to my precious wife and I said,”Let’s make some for my sister and brother. It was many, many years since our lips touched these cookies.” I called my sister and asked her if she had a copy of the rare recipe. Her answer was, “I do have it.” In the next day’s email I had it in my hands. Well, Grandma and Grandpa started to make these cookies. After much discussion, and not knowing anything about anything, the two of us decided on making four recipes. If you people do not know how much four recipes is, it’s just shy of feeding the whole block where you live. We had cookies and we had cookies. Well, they were good. We got it down to an assembly line. Each tray of cookies had to be in the oven for 10 minutes. That was good. That gave us just enough time to get a pan out of the oven, take one of my brand new putty knives that had been cleaned and take them off the cookie pan and onto a broiler pan. We didn’t have one of those cooling racks that my mother used to have, but this worked fine. It wasn’t quite to the point one for me and one for the box, but it was getting close. Came lunch time, we weren’t hungry as you could imagine why. We filled two aluminum pans that have covers on them that you buy at the heb store. When we were all done, as we sat there hugging each other, we were so pleased that we accomplished something. We made mama’s cookies with LOVE, like she would make. After these cookies were made, I sat there laughing as I’m thinking that Mom also added pecans, but I can’t remember. But anyways, the recipe for these cookies are 90% love and 10% ingredients!
Have a Happy Hanukkah and may the dreidel always keep spinning in your favor.
Dor ‘l Dor Grandpa Abe

Parashat Vayishlach

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Please join us for Friday Night Shabbat Services
December 16, at the regular time of 7:00 PM.

Shabbat morning services are a week away Saturday December 24.

Sunday school THIS Sunday December 18. Lots of fun activities and Ms. Carol Rubin coming to sing with the children.

HOLD THE DATE : THE HANNUKAH PARTY OF THE YEAR! Now only a week away, plan to join us on Sunday December 25 at 5 PM at Beth El for one cool Hannukah party. Live music with Los Klezmeros, Kosher food including Guy’s famous Israeli sufganiot and candle lighting! Free and open to the community. Thank you to Avigail Adaky for sponsoring the party in honor of her 80th birthday!

Candle lighting in Austin is at 5:15 PM

Please consider an end of year donation to Congregation Beth El, where good deeds and mitzvoth are taken seriously! Every dollar donated goes towards providing a meaningful and joyful Jewish experience for the community.
http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com/donate/

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
This week in Parshat Vayyishlah, we read much about names. Ya’akov is renamed Yisrael-twice-but is otherwise consistently referred to as Ya’akov. Ya’akov twice renames the place where he first encountered God as Beith El-for a total of three times. And finally, the youngest son of Rahel and Ya’akov has his name changed from Ben-Oni to Benyamin.
Names have great significance in the Torah, and in Jewish Tradition. The naming of a baby is an important ceremony, a Jew By Choice is given a new name when he or she joins the Covenant, and we even have a custom of changing the name of one who is gravely ill. To name a person is to determine their character, to change a name is in essence to change the person or the place. We should always try to live up to the best of our names, and we should always strive to make a good name for ourselves. Shabbat Shalom
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
HOLD THE DATES: Guest speakers at Beth El.

Friday January 6, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will likewise be our guest speaker at Beth El.

On the first Friday of February, we welcome Rabbi/Cantor Marie Betcher who will talk about the great work she does as a Police Chaplain.

And the third Friday, Jay Rubin, former CEO of Shalom Austin and avid historian will come to speak!

Photo of the tour graciously led by Gregg and Michelle Philipson of the Bob Bullock Museum last Sunday afternoon. It was an extremely powerful and meaningful afternoon hearing about the power and horror of Nazi propaganda.

Sisterhood Book Club Event!

**On January 24th at 7:00 p.m. we will be having another book club event, The event will be at the home of Yael Shacham, who has graciously volunteered hosting our evening get together. The name of the book and its author, that we will be discussing, is “A Pigeon and A Boy” by Meir Shalev.

Shabbat shefs and anyone who would like to help us prepare for the channukah party please come next Thursday at 11AM.

http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com

Parashat Veyetze and Bob Bullock Museum exhibit tour

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bob bullock museumPlease join us for Friday Night Shabbat Services
December 9, at the regular time of 7:00 PM.

Shabbat morning services are THIS Saturday December 10 at 9 AM. Children’s service at 10:30 led by Morah Shereen with a lovely kidush lunch following. This week the kidish is kindly sponsored by Doris and Herschel Hochman in honor of their late, beloved mothers,
Helen (Hochman) Cohen (Herschel’s Mother) and
Celia Hochman (Doris’ Mother) and in a lovely coincidence, Doris ended up keeping her maiden name of Hochman, even though the two Hochman families were not related! Thank you also to Doris and Herschel for being part of the “Shabbat shefs” and helping prepare the lunch!

Sunday school THIS Sunday December 11.

Also this Sunday December 11, at 3 PM we are having a personal tour of the Bob Bullock Museum’s Nazi Propaganda exhibit, graciously led by Gregg Philipson whose memorabilia is on exhibit at the museum. This will indeed be a special and personal guide. Please let us know if you can come, purchase tickets at the box office there and meet us at the star in the lobby at 3 PM.

HOLD THE DATE : THE HANNUKAH PARTY OF THE YEAR! Only a couple of weeks away, plan to join us on Sunday December 25 at 5 PM at Beth El for one cool Hannukah party. Live music with Los Klezmeros, food including Guy’s famous Israeli sufganiot and candle lighting! Free and open to the community.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 5:13 PM

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
This week we read in Parshat Vayyetze how our ancestors Ya’akov and Rahel met at the well used by the shepherds of Haran. Finding a wife at a well is a recurring theme in the Torah-Avraham’s servant finds Rivkah, who would become the wife of Yitzhak, at a well, and Moshe and Tzipporah meet at a well in Midian. Water of course symbolizes life itself. Without water, humans die within a couple of days, especially in the hot arid climate of our homeland. May we always respect and protect the wonderful gifts that God has given us and continue protecting the land we share. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

HOLD THE DATES: First Friday speakers at Beth El.

Friday January 6, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will likewise be our guest speaker at Beth El.

On the first Friday of February, we welcome Rabbi/Cantor Marie Betcher who will talk about the great work she does as a Police Chaplain.

And the third Friday (OK, just to change it up a bit), Jay Rubin, former CEO of Shalom Austin and avid historian will come to speak!

Photo of the sisterhood painting class last Sunday afternoon. It was indeed a fun and meaningful afternoon. All the paintings are displayed at Beth El currently. We are immensely grateful to Sharon Yam-Sananes for not only teaching, but sponsoring the event. It was so good that we are planning another one in the coming months.

Sisterhood Book Club Event!
**On January 24th at 7:00 p.m. we will be having another book club event, The event will be at the home of Yael Shacham, who has graciously volunteered hosting our evening get together. The name of the book and its author, that we will be discussing, is “A Pigeon and A Boy” by Meir Shalev.

Rabbi Peter Tarlow, Rabbi Emeritus Texas A&M and the Center for Jewish Hispanic Relations
This week’s section, (Va’Yetze: Gen: 25:10-32:3) deals with Jacob’s famous dream scene. Jacob is now fleeing Canaan and the wrath of his brother Esau. During his journey he dreams of ladder on which angles both ascend and descend on it. The dream ends with the famous verse and difficult verse to translate: “VaYomer: achen, yesh Adoshem baMakom ha’zeh v’Anochi lo yadati/He then stated: thus, G’d is in this place and I did not know it” (25:16)
Many a Biblical commentator has noted the reverse order of the dream, that is to say that instead of the angles descending and ascending the dream reverse the order. Others have focused on Jacob’s statement about G’d’s presence, presented in a Hebrew syntax filled with a myriad of nuances. Dreams often tell us a lot about ourselves. From the Talmud to Freud and beyond we have wondered if dreams express our unconscious hopes and fears, predict the future, or merely state in their special way the obvious
The Bible, in some of its verses, takes dreams seriously. For example, Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams is his key not only to getting out of jail, but also to his upward climb to success. Yet,in other verses (see Deuteronomy) the text speaks against dream interpretations. Thus, we see that the text, like dreams themselves, vacillates between seeing dreams as the “door to the unconscious” and simply the left-over feelings of our daily lives.
Perhaps we may never know the inner reason for dreams. Like Jacob we may exclaim that G’d was there and we did not know it. What may be clearer is that how we chose to see our dreams tells us a great deal about ourselves. Are we dreamers who base our lives on fictional hopes rather than on hard data? On the other hand, can anyone truly claim to be “alive” without a dream? To have no dreams is to leave the realm of the human and become merely a machine. Most of us, like the Biblical text, vacillate between wanting our dreams to be our entrance into the world of the subconscious continuum connecting past and future and fearing that dreams may be merely wishful thinking.
Perhaps the real issue is not what we dream, or what appears in our dreams, but if we use these dreams as exercises in positive or negative thinking. Are we smart enough to know when G’d is in our world and we know it?

Please consider a generous donation to our shul.