Sefer Bamidbar and Shavuot

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Friday Night Shabbat Services tonight at the usual time of 7:00 PM. Join us for spirited singing and stay after for coffee and cookies.
Candle lighting in Austin is at 8:14 PM

Shabbat morning services are TOMORROW morning
Saturday June 11 at 9 AM. Please join us. A huge thank you to Hal and Elaine for sponsoring a delicious meat kidush in honor of Hal Jacob’s birthday and father’s day!

SHAVUOT is THIS Sunday at 9 AM, with the Torah Service and reading of the 10 commandments and the Book of Ruth at 10 AM. We will be honoring our recent families who have joined the covenant! Please join us in this very special milestone. We had a moving ceremony this week which will culminate in the celebrations on Sunday. A vegetarian meal to follow. Mazal tov to our precious families!

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message
This week, we begin Sefer B’midbar (the Book of Numbers) with the parshah of the same name, and then immediately after, on Sunday, celebrate the Festival of Shavuot. Interesting, there is a juxtaposition in the Torah readings. On Shavuot we read about the People of Israel arriving at Sinai to receive Torah, and in B’midbar we read about the beginning of the journey away from Sinai towards the Land of Israel. Sinai of course was a place of great spiritual significance, the place of Revelation-but we cannot live there permanently. Our Torah teaches that we are to carry our spiritual lessons and experiences into the “real world”, and to live life. Instead of retreating from the world permanently to focus on spirituality, we are to bring spirituality into the world. That is the true Jewish spiritual path. Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameah.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

The sisterhood had an amazing planning meeting this week. We will have an action packed year of events and doing good deeds. Highlights include another Chemist in the Kitchen class with Tamar, book club event with Gail, Art with Sharon, Volunterering at Mitzvah day with Rachael, Jewish yoga (“Oy”ga) fun and much, much more. As always, please send us your ideas and if you would like to help with events.

Thank you to our new board of directors!
Last Sunday afternoon, a wonderful crowd gathered at shul for the annual meeting and kosher cookout. With grace and humor, we heard all about the happenings for the coming year. We welcomed new board members Art Levin, Barry Mann and Juliette Meinstein, who are joining Kevin Koeller, Bob Miller, Bam Rubenstein, Gregg and Michelle Philipson, Elaine Jacobs, Arie Stavchansky and Yosef Aguilar. We even have two youth group representatives who will report to the board about the needs of the youth in our congregation, Sara K. and Vania A. You all are tremendous, inspiring and really appreciated.

Kidish Crew Kudos! Todah rabah to Michelle, Sara, Bo, Iris, Claudia, Vania and Sofia, Mary and Genevieve. You can always join the kidish crew and have some fun. Great summer boredom buster for older kiddos too who just love helping us.

Happy birthday this week to Rinat Levin, Moshe Sananes and Hal Jacobs.
Let us know your special occasion and we’ll give you a Mazal Tov!

SHOMRIM: Please consider this important mitzvah!
Congregation Beth El has for the past few years been a part of Austin shomrim, a group of men and women who help in this amazing mitzvah when someone in the community has passed away. We could use some more volunteers to help this community wide organization. Please email us for more details. Go to the following link for more information and to sign up:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GCJGW7N

                 

Parashat B’hukkotai

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Friday Night Shabbat Services are tonight at 7 PM.

Shabbat morning services are a week away, June 11.

Shavuot services will be Sunday June 12 at 10 AM. Come celebrate the giving of the Torah – Chag Matan Torah with us.

But Before Then: Beth El’s Annual meeting is this Sunday June 5 at 4:45 PM. Come hear all about the shul happenings and have your say, while enjoying a delicious kosher BBQ. To help please bring paper goods, kosher drinks or consider a small donation to help with costs. Also, you may come early and help cook.

Tuesday June 7 at 6 PM, the sisterhood will meet at Beth El for a planning meeting for the coming year. All ideas are welcome.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 8:11 PM

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s weekly message:
This week we read Parshat B’hukkotai, the end of the Book of Leviticus. This parshah contains one of the two tochechot, passages of rebuke, in the Torah. Traditionally, this passage as well as the one in the Book of Deuteronomy are read very quickly and in an undertone, so as not to put an emphasis on the punishments attendant upon disobedience to God’s laws. “Fire and brimstone” preaching is simply not part of normative Judaism. We are enjoined to walk in God’s ways out of love, not out of fear. “V’ahavta et Hashem Eloheikha”-“And you shall love Hashem your God”-this is the model for our relationship with the Divine. May we go about all of our business in the spirit of love, for God, for humanity and for all of Creation. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

NEW AC UNITS FUNDRAISER
The air condition units at Beth El are the original units. Over the past few years, we have had to repair the units several times and they now need to be replaced. Please consider a generous donation to Beth El for these important improvements. Thank you for your continued support.

Let’s not shvitz through another hot Austin summer. Every penny donated to Beth El goes towards doing good and doing Jewish in Austin!
http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com/donate/

Rabbi Peter Tarlow’s weekly Parasha from the Center for Jewish Latino relations:
Mixing the practical with the spiritual.
This Shabbat, we finish the yearly reading of the Book of Leviticus. We find the weekly section called Bechukotai starting in Leviticus 26:3 and going until the end of the book.
This section once again deals with a myriad of ideas and concepts, and once again, the text in the subtlest of ways takes us to the theme of balancing the ideal with the practical, the need for holiness with that of economics.
Although not openly stated, Leviticus teaches us in this final chapter that one who lacks idealism becomes nothing more than a human machine and one who lives only by one’s idealism is a fool. Life requires a balance of idealism and the practical, of an understanding of the need to balance one’s friends’ requests against the desires of one’s enemies. The text teaches this important and real life lesson in a number of ways.
For example, we read the subtext of the proper usage of time. If we examine the opening verse we find that it reads “Im-bechukotai telechu/If you will go (through time) by means of my statues”. The verb “telchu”, derived from the root h-l-ch), means “to go/walk and often has a temporal sense. Is the verse teaching us that as we travel through time we are expected to increase our knowledge base even though our time on Earth may be limited? Is this the reason that the classical rabbis understood education to be food for the soul? They emphasized that we must be good stewards not only of our physical resources but also of our temporal resources.
In these final chapters we note that the idealism of the holiness code can only exist if we are both spiritual and practical. To love we must also be strong enough to defend ourselves. Are the results of a lack love cynicism and of too much love is collective suicide?
Leviticus is a book based on the concept of “kdushah”, which means a combination of “that which we sanctify by separating from the rest, that which we make special, or that which we utilize with care”. This final parashah then summarizes the book’s theme by teaching us that as we travel down the path of time we must carefully manage our physical and temporal resources, our spiritual with our economic resources. The weekly parashah teach us that we dare not mismanage any of these or the consequences will be curses rather than blessings. These are important words to consider in an election year. What do you think?

Parashat Behar – Memorial Day weekend

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Friday Night Shabbat Services are tonight at 7 PM.
Candle lighting in Austin is at 8:07 PM

Shabbat morning services are tomorrow morning, May 28, at 9 AM. We will have the Torah service at around 9:45, a children’s story time and kidush lunch immediately following. We would like to gratefully acknowledge this week’s kidush sponsors, Efrain and Carmen Rodriguez, in honor of Efrain’s beloved mother, brother and grandmother. Please join us.

We would like to wish you all a meaningful Memorial Day weekend. Let’s honor the memory of our fallen military heroes this weekend!

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s weekly message:
In this week’s parshah, B’har, we read about the Yovel, the Jubilee year every fifty years, when all real property was to revert to its original owners. The intent was to ensure that tribal territories remained intact, but there was a secondary benefit in that this rule prevented the rise of a landed gentry. No one could accumulate too much land, as all sales were voided after no more than fifty years. While there certainly were rich and poor in Israelite society, the extremes that we see in our own day would have been unheard-of. As always, the Torah, even when it talks about conditions that no longer apply in our time(Jewish society as primarily rural and agrarian), points the way to a more just and equitable society. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

A huge thank you to our terrific and dedicated teachers, Morah Anat, Bev and Shiry. We had an amazing year of Sunday Fundays and packed in a whole lot of learning. We look forward to another wonderful year after the summer break! The BERS Rock! Currently enrolling for next year. We also offer great bar and bat mitzvah preparation.

SAVE THE DATE: Our annual meeting will be held on Sunday, June 5, at 4:45 pm followed by a Kosher cookout. We can’t wait to see you and share all our happenings.

PLEASE CONSIDER A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO BETH EL: Every penny goes towards doing good and doing Jewish in Austin!http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com/donate/

Lex Talionis and a Passover Cat

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Friday Night Shabbat Services Tonight 5/20, at the regular time of 7:00 PM.
Candle lighting in Austin is at 8:03 PM

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
This week’s parshah, Emor, contains the “Lex Talionis”, the Law of Retribution-“an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Many have decried this as a primitive law. Mahatma Gandhi famously said “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” However, Jewish Tradition has always interpreted this law to mandate proportionality in sentencing and punishment-an “eye for an eye”, not a life for an eye. The Code of Hammurabi, which is from roughly the same time period as the Torah, says that a commoner who maims a noble is to put to death. The Torah says that the punishment must fit the crime. Where English Common Law had the death penalty for theft of livestock, the Torah prescribes monetary compensation-as indeed Halachah does for the loss of an eye, a tooth or a limb. Would that all justice systems were so “primitive”. May we always strive for true justice, in our own lives and in society at large. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Sunday School will be this Sunday at 10 AM with our awesome teachers Morah Anat, Shiry and Bev. We will be having a Lag Ba Omer cookout immediately following to celebrate the end of the school year.

And don’t forget to save the date: Sunday June 5 at 4:45 PM, Beth El’s Annual meeting and kosher BBQ cookout.

Very happy and blessed birthday wishes to Mark Lit, Efrain Rodriguez, Bella B. and to Ruth Stavchansky!

We would all like to wish our own Arthur and Patrice both a refua shlema – a quick and speedy recovery. Our thoughts are with you both.

Grandpa Abe : THE PASSOVER CAT
I have to tell you about our little guy. Little Guy didn’t have a name for the longest time. Being he’s kind of small, the name Little Guy stuck to him. He’s really a funny, lovable and ornery cat. Isn’t that how cats are? We came home one evening and found him sleeping on a box of Matzoh. Yes, on a box of Matzoh! We thought it was so cute of him. We then thought we should move the Matzoh. We moved it to the other side of the kitchen and guess what? He followed it over there. We waited a day or two and moved it back to another spot. He didn’t like it, but he followed it over to there. We could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn’t want to play these games and leave his Matzoh box alone. We even tried to give him a little Matzoh to eat. He would have no part of that. Just the Matzoh box! When he is through outside running around all day, he’ll come inside and sit on his Matzoh box. It really is getting comical as one night we put the Matzoh box away and he howled until we brought it back. Well, I told Little Guy if he really wants to be Jewish, I could take him down to the vet and we could make a bris there. At that point, I got one of his “leave me alone” looks. Well, Passover is over and our empty Matzoh box is still on the counter top accompanying Little Guy as he dreams along. What is he dreaming about? Perhaps freedom as we just celebrated the freedom of the Israelites from Egypt. Perhaps he’s dreaming of the freedom he feels as he roams around outside. Whatever, the Matzoh box is staying where it is!

Community News:

Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning, Celebration of Learning: Tuesday May 24th, 7pm in the Early Childhood Multi-Purpose room. Featuring Keynote by Dr Robert Garcia on: The Crypto Jews of South Texas. Free and open to all.

SPLASH BASH AT THE J: Join the J on Sunday, June 5, from 10 AM-2 PM for a pool party, live music by Johio, inflatables, free sno-cones, prize drawings, and food for purchase. The BERS Sunday school kiddos will be there!

Parashat K’doshim and Vania’s Bat Mitzvah weekend

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Friday Night Shabbat Services Tonight 5/13, at the special time of 6:30 PM.
Vania will celebrate her Bat mitzvah and invites you to a delicious pasta dinner immediately following.

Shabbat morning services are tomorrow at 9 A M.
We will continue our weekend of celebrating Vania’s simcha. Immediately following services, there will be a kosher Mexican kidish! We gratefully acknowledge Vania’s family for sponsoring the shabbat kidush lunch and Friday night dinner and wish them much nachas and blessings on this special day for Claudia, Yosef, Vania, Sofia and Nathan.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 7:59 PM

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
Our parshah this week, K’doshim, presents us with a challenge-“…be holy, for I, Hashem your God, am holy.” We are commanded to be like God, to the extent that this is possible for humanity. This is a high standard, to be sure, and we perhaps cannot completely live up to it-but we are obligated to try.
Last week, we read about the service of Yom Kippur as it was done in ancient times, which is also the reading for the morning of Yom Kippur itself. In many congregations, the beginning of Parshat K’doshim is the reading for the afternoon of Yom Kippur(instead of Lev. 18 with its list of forbidden relationships). When we have spent a night and a morning in repentance, the Holiness Code of our parshah this week is a good signpost to indicate the direction in which to move.
May the pursuit of holiness be our goal this and every week. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

COMMUNITY NEWS:
COME AND CELEBRATE YOM HAATZMAUT IN AUSTIN!
Saturday May 14 at 8 PM on the front lawn of the J. Come for an authentic Israeli sing a long! Bring blankets or lawn chairs, bug spray and your great voices. Guy Ben-Moshe and friends will be leading the shira ba tzibur.
Sunday School will be this Sunday at 10 AM with our super teachers Morah Anat, Shiry and Bev. We look forward to learning more about Israel’s Independence day.
And don’t forget to save the date: Sunday June 5 at 4:45 PM, Beth El’s Annual meeting and kosher BBQ cookout.
We would like to wish our very own Michelle a happy birthday and many, many happy returns!

Grandpa Abe : TODAY YOU WILL BE A WOMAN
It was many long years ago that a 120 pound kid was called to the bimah. He had been prepared for this day, with his proud mother and father at his side. At this point, this was his second most important event on his journey in Judaism. The first he can’t remember as he was only 8 days old. He was told that this was going to be the start of his Jewish journey. He was to become a man. In what shape or form he was to be, he had no idea. At 13 years old, not fully developed physically nor mentally, he was told he is now a man. What it meant was he was being trained to take care of himself and things he would encounter on his journey. As years have gone by, he now can understand and relate to being a man from that day on. He had responsibilities to study Torah, respect people and be a proud Jew in the community.
We have a young lady who is being Bat Mitzvahed. Her name is Vania. This lovely event is the equivalent of a Bar Mitzvah only it’s celebrated by girls generally at the age of 12 or 13, according to your custom. She will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah at services where she reads the week’s Prophetic portion aloud and is expected by that point on to assume the responsibilities of a young Jewish woman. From what I have seen, this young lady is certainly ready to take on these responsibilities. I am so happy to be able to comment on this joyous occasion. It’s not like she did not have the best teachers in getting her where she is now. Her dad and mom, who are two of the special people in our congregation, and along with the Hazzan taught her the foundations she needed to learn. With great pride, the congregation welcomes her into our family.
Dor L’Dor, Grandpa Abe

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK FOR ANOTHER INSTALLMENT FROM GRANDPA ABE.

Rabbi Tarlow’s Weekly Parashah From The Center for Latino-Jewish Relations:
In year’s past I have dedicated the weekly parashah that comes immediately before Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) to Israel’s many accomplishments. This year, I will dedicate my commentary to just one special accomplishment: how Israel helps the world. The Youtube section will provide several videos on how Israel in its short history has lived up in so many ways to the Biblical injunction of being an “Or la’Goyim – A Light unto the Nations”.
The term, “Or la’Goyim” comes from the Book of Isaiah where it is written: “Yea, He saith, Is it too light a thing for you to be My servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the offspring of Israel? I shall give you as a light to the (other) nations, that My salvation (doings/blessings) will reach the ends of the Earth” (Isaiah 49:6). Ever since Abraham brought us to the land of Israel over 3,000 years ago we have understood that Israel as a nation has an obligation to act with compassion, justice and charity. To be an “Or la’Goyim” is to help others when needed and to seek to make the world a better place.
Like all nations, Israel, being composed of human beings has not always lived up perfectly to this ideal, but few nations have been so generous and done so much for the world with scant resources as has modern Israel. Here are just a few examples of how Israel during the last 68 years has strived to make the world a better place:
Israel is the world’s leader in water technology. From drip irrigation to waterless toilets, Israel has found ways to conserve water and to purify wastewater. It has become the world’s superpower in water technology and an example to nations around the world on how to turn deserts into farmland.
When earthquakes stuck Haiti, Japan. Nepal, Turkey and most recently Ecuador, other nations talked about what they would do. Tzahal’s (Israel Defense forces) medical teams were on the ground almost immediately and having set up field hospitals. While the world talked, Israel did.
Across Africa Israeli specialists are helping Africans to have an assured food supply and how to hold onto the grain that they have already harvest.
Israeli scientists are teaching their American and European counterparts how to use algae to turn carbon dioxide emitted by power plants into fuel and nutraceuticals.
Israeli medical techniques are world famous and among the best in the world. Israel is not only the only nation that permanently opens its arms to children sick from radiation caused by the Ukrainian nuclear disasters, but the only nation to receive sick children and soldiers from an enemy nation, Syria, and save their lives.
Airports around the world are a great deal safer now, thanks to a technology developed by Israel’s XSight Systems, which detects foreign object debris (FOD) on the runway – that is birds, small animals and fragments that break off planes.
The list of Israel’s accomplishments is almost endless. These are just a few of the ways that modern Israel has continued to be more than the land of the Bible, It is also working to make Biblical principles into realities. Perhaps that is why Israel’s national anthem is called:Ha’Tikvah/Hope.

Chag Yom Ha’Atzmaut Sameach! Happy Independence Israel!