Parashat Ekev

45-eikev (1)Kaballat Shabbat services, TOMORROW, Friday August 3rd at the regular time of 7 pm. We’d love you to join our song filled and heart filled Kaballat shabbat. The only thing missing is YOU! Lay led services tonight as the Chazzan is visiting family in Florida.

SAVE THE DATE: Genesis is celebrating her bat mitzvah on Saturday August 25! We can’t wait to celebrate with her and her family.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message:

This week we read Parshat ‘Ekev, the second parshah in the period between Tish’ah B’Av and Rosh Hashanah. As we continue to reflect on what is enduring and what is passing, we read the famous verse “…humanity does not live by bread alone, but rather by that which God speaks does humanity live.” We are not only material beings, but we are created in God’s Image and therefore have a spiritual dimension as well. Both sides of our nature are important, of course: as we read in Pirkei Avoth, “If there is no bread, there is no Torah, and if there is no Torah there is no bread”. We must honor the physical as well as the spiritual part of our nature. And indeed the parshah goes on to say that God is leading us into a fertile and abundant land, and we are to eat and be satisfied-and then praise God for that abundance. We should always strive to find that balance. Shereen from the West Coast and I from the East Coast wish Shabbat Shalom to the entire Beth El family.

Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Shabbat candle lighting times are at 8:05 p.m.

Enrolling now for Hebrew School.

Parents: Don’t let your children forget their Hebrew.

Beth El BERS is now enrolling for our one of a kind Hebrew immersion and regular Sunday school. We have classes for three year olds to teens. The children will continue to build on their Hebrew writing, reading and verbal skills, all while making friends in the friendliest congregation possible. Taught by experienced Israeli teachers – your children will learn through music, dance, cooking and most important, a whole lot of fun!

For more details, contact us at info@bethelaustin.org. Check out our website http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com

הורים ומשפחות יקרות, בית הספר של ימי ראשון ״בבית-אל״ פותח את
ההרשמה לשנת הלימודים הבאה עלינו לטובה 2018-2019.
אל תתנו לילדיכם לשכוח את העברית והצטרפו ללמידה משמעותית וחווייתית שמועברת על ידי מורים ישראלים מנוסים
לגילאי 3-16 בקהילה הכי ידידותית ומסבירת פנים.
הילדים ימשיכו לבנות את אוצר המילים , כתיבה, קריאה ודיבור והכל באווירה מהנה, וקלילה, בהמחשת סיפורים, שירים,
בישול, חגים והוואי ישראלי.
כמו כן הוקמה קבוצה מדהימה לבני העשרה עם תכנים מעשירים. קבוצת הנערים/ נערות (של אחר בר/בת מצווה) נפגשים פעם בחודש .
לפרטים :
Info@bethelaustin.org
Facebook: Beth El Austin

“Bowling with my Buddies” to Kick off Congregation Beth El Men’s Club Events
By Shereen Ben-Moshe

Check out the article in the Jewish Outlook!

http://www.thejewishoutlook.com/…/bowling-with-my-buddies-t…

While Congregation Beth El has existed for more than 36 years in Austin, it was only recently that the Men’s Club has officially taken flight.

The sisterhood has been holding monthly events for several years, and in fact has greatly encouraged the men in the congregation and community to start a men’s club. Last year a few exciting events were held and they proved extremely popular. From Chillin’ and Grillin’, to watching a University of Texas basketball game, there was something for everyone.
According to the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, the role of a men’s club at a congregation includes offering programming for men; enhancing Jewish observance at the synagogue and at home; increasing involvement in the Jewish community and Israel; working on projects to support the congregation; creating camaraderie and ruach as well as providing social and recreational activities. The Beth El Men’s Club strives to do this and more.
Founding Men’s Club member Scott Berman said, “The Beth El Men’s Club helps me to achieve new levels of service, explore my Jewish identity, with leaders of our community who are committed to service in support of our synagogue. It helps to provide quality programs for the men of Beth El where we have a place to socialize and learn. The Men’s Club is a priority for me because of the friends I have made, the community it provides, and the chance to contribute to our synagogue.”
A similar sentiment is shared by all those who have attended this year.
The men’s club is free and open to all in the Austin Jewish community. Join Beth El Sunday, August 19, at Highland Lanes, 8909 Burnet Road, from 1:45 p.m. to 4 p.m., and for any upcoming events throughout the year. ■
For more info on the Men’s Club and all things Beth El, contact info@bethelaustin.org, visit www.bethelaustin.org
, or join the congregation’s Facebook group, Beth El Austin.

Also in Shalom Austin’s Jewish Outlook newspaper:
Congregation Beth El Announces Teen Chai Mitzvah Program
COMMUNITY NEWS, LOCAL SYNAGOGUES
http://www.thejewishoutlook.com/…/congregation-beth-el-anno…

Congregation Beth El is offering Austin Jewish teenagers an opportunity to meet each other, learn together and volunteer to do mitzvot through its Teen Chai Mitzvah Program.
The hands-on leadership program includes texts to spark discussions, suggestions for increasing meaning in ritual observances and examples of volunteer opportunities for each topic that can inspire the group towards creative ideas for social action.
Upon completion of the 9-month program, through Beth El’s partnership with Jewish National Fund, participants will have trees planted in Israel in their honor. Each participant will receive a tree certificate.
The Teen Chai Mitzvah Program is open to the Jewish community. Participant families do not need to belong to Congregation Beth El.
Chai Mitzvah Study Sessions are held on the second and fourth Saturdays each month from 10 to 11 a.m. Teens and their families are welcome to join in on Shabbat morning services and kiddush lunch after the class. Teens may be dropped off as early at 9 a.m. and picked up by 1 p.m.
The mitzvah project is typically held one Sunday per month. Teens can earn volunteer hours for this day.
For those who find two study sessions per month too much of a commitment, program leaders encourage participating on one Shabbat per month and a Sunday mitzvah day.
The Teen Chai Mitzvah Program will begin September 8. Cost is $150. A sibling discount and tuition assistance are available. ■
For more information, contact info@bethelaustin.org

A Personal Journey to Share with Friends

Coming Soon – Join our
Chai Mitzvah Adult study group!

Chai Mitzvah combines study, ritual and social action, providing the framework for a meaningful Jewish journey.
There are five components to the nine-month Chai Mitzvah experience:
Group study – meet monthly with a set curriculum
Independent study – choose a Jewish topic you would like to explore
Ritual – choose a ritual or spiritual practice to incorporate into your life
Social Action – either individually or as a group, choose a local volunteer opportunity
Celebrate! At the end of the nine months, acknowledge the journey with a celebration, receive a certificate, and have a tree planted in Israel in your honor through Chai Mitzvah’s partnership with Jewish National Fund.

To learn more, or to join our Chai Mitzvah group, contact Shereen Ben-Moshe, info@bethelaustin.org.

Huge thank you to Marty and Katie Price who came to services last Friday night, and Marty who spoke about the wonderful organization, Hebrew Free Loan Association of Austin. Please check out their website!

www.hfla.org

How Proverbs says goodbye!
Sandy Kress

“She does not fear snow for her household, for all her household is clothed in scarlet…Strength and majesty are her clothing, and she laughs at future days. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of loving-kindness is on her tongue.” Proverbs 31:21, 25-26

We come to the end of our study of Proverbs. And we do so, appropriately, in a final, compelling look at the woman of valor. She gives us just the right send-off. What do we find?
First, as we’ve seen in previous encounters with her, our heroine works with vision and great effort to care for herself and those in her world. She clothes them, all of them, in garments of scarlet, warm and life protecting. Understood one way, this action on her part assures that all are physically clad, protected in body from the elements. At another level, it suggests that she’s helping all take proper, even regal, care of their souls, with the covering of wisdom, love, and good deeds.
What does it mean to be protected from snow? The best answer I’ve seen is from Toras Emes. There we learn that one approach the Evil Inclination takes to tempt people is to cool a person’s desire to do good, telling the person, “You will be mediocre at best. You will never become truly great, so why bother?” So, read in that spirit, the woman of valor may be clothing her household to keep warm their ardor, in order that they become their best selves.
Next, we see that the woman of valor has strength and majesty as her own clothing. What does that mean?
In part, it may mean that she has strong moral character and the discipline of behavior, a sort of dignity or integrity, to stay true to Godly principles. The text, moreover, helps us go deeper: we learn that “she laughs at future days.” This is hugely important. Let’s dive into a few of the interpretations that the verse has spawned.
Some say it means that her clothing – both physical and spiritual – are lasting and help prepare her for old age.
Some say that she is prepared for death. As the sage Rashi teaches, she faces death without fear, indeed joyously, because she has lived in love and righteousness, with God’s honor.
I believe that we also learn here that she lives in faith. As with the psalmist, she fears no evil. She has trust in God’s nearness and protection. In other words, she has peace of mind and is confident and prepared for all the days that may come and all that they may bring. She’s done her part, conducting a well-spent life in virtue, and now finds strength in God’s beneficent providence.
We take leave of the woman of valor with the image of her speaking, perhaps speaking to each of us. She opens her mouth with wisdom and has the teaching of loving-kindness on her tongue. As we wave her our goodbyes, she wants us to think of, and always remember, the wisdom she and the Book of Proverbs have imparted to us. And, she wants us to know that the final taste we have of the experience should be one of loving-kindness.
Let’s keep today’s ideas in mind as we close out our yearlong study of Proverbs, and, in our learning, seek to emulate the woman of valor. We’ll do our part to know and live true to God’s teaching. We’ll approach the future with faith in God. And, to the end of our days, we’ll busy ourselves in acts of speaking God’s wisdom, with the intention that the after-effect of it all is loving-kindness.

Making Love Last!

ShellyKaballat Shabbat services, TONIGHT, Friday July 27th at the regular time of 7 pm. We’d love you to join our song filled and heart filled Kaballat shabbat. Maybe we can all watch the super blood moon right after services together!

THIS Saturday at 9 AM, we’d be delighted if you joined us for Shabbat morning services. Torah service at around 9:45 and a light kidish lunch immediately following. Yosef’s “Cuban Rice and Beans” are promised to be on the menu, served with a huge side of friendliness and kibitizting. Come one and all!

Sunday evening please join the Austin Jewish Community in honoring an amazing Jewish Leader, Shelly Prant who is moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico to be the CEO of the JCC there, Mazal tov dear Shelly!

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message;

This Shabbat is called Shabbat Nahamu, after the first word of the haftarah. The first of the Seven Haftaroth of Consolation from the Book of Isaiah, chanted between the Fast of Av and Rosh Hashanah, this haftarah enjoins us, the People of Israel, to be comforted after the destruction of Jerusalem and Exile, since God assures is that we are still loved. This idea is found in the parshah, Vaet’hanan as well-Moshe warns the People that disloyalty to God would lead to exile, but that God would accept our repentance and return us to our home. Right now, our home is in a tense state-with shots fired across the border of Gaza. May Israel, and indeed all nations, soon be at peace, and may freedom and justice be found everywhere. Shabbat Shalom.

Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Shabbat candle lighting times are at 8:10 p.m.

Enrolling now for Hebrew School.

Parents: Don’t let your children forget their Hebrew.

Beth El BERS is now enrolling for our one of a kind Hebrew immersion and regular Sunday school. We have classes for three year olds to teens. The children will continue to build on their Hebrew writing, reading and verbal skills, all while making friends in the friendliest congregation possible. Taught by experienced Israeli teachers – your children will learn through music, dance, cooking and most important, a whole lot of fun!

For more details, contact us at info@bethelaustin.org. Check out our website http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com

הורים ומשפחות יקרות, בית הספר של ימי ראשון ״בבית-אל״ פותח את
ההרשמה לשנת הלימודים הבאה עלינו לטובה 2018-2019.
אל תתנו לילדיכם לשכוח את העברית והצטרפו ללמידה משמעותית וחווייתית שמועברת על ידי מורים ישראלים מנוסים
לגילאי 3-16 בקהילה הכי ידידותית ומסבירת פנים.
הילדים ימשיכו לבנות את אוצר המילים , כתיבה, קריאה ודיבור והכל באווירה מהנה, וקלילה, בהמחשת סיפורים, שירים,
בישול, חגים והוואי ישראלי.
כמו כן הוקמה קבוצה מדהימה לבני העשרה עם תכנים מעשירים. קבוצת הנערים/ נערות (של אחר בר/בת מצווה) נפגשים פעם בחודש .
לפרטים :
Info@bethelaustin.org
Facebook: Beth El Austin

Save the Date Guys!
Bowling with my Buddies –
Join the Men’s Club August 19 for an afternoon of fun, bowling and camaraderie. Open to all!

ALSO ENROLLING FOR CHAI MITZVAH TEENS!

Teen Chai Mitzvah Program
Congregation Beth El
Shereen Ben-Moshe
info@bethelaustin.org

Come meet other teens in the Austin Jewish community, learn together and volunteer your time to do good!
The teen program includes texts to spark discussions, suggestions for increasing meaning in ritual observances, and examples of volunteer opportunities for each topic that can inspire the group towards creative ideas for social action.

Upon completion of the 9-month program, through our partnership with Jewish National Fund, participants will have trees planted in Israel in their honor. Each participant will receive a tree certificate.

Hands-on leadership program:
Social Action opportunities
Builds self-esteem
Builds Jewish identity
Builds Jewish Literacy
Connects with other Jewish teens and with the community
Provides opportunities for positive personal expression
Open to the Jewish community.

When?
Chai Mitzvah Study Sessions – 2nd & 4th Saturdays each month 10AM – 11AM
(Teens are welcome to join in on Shabbat morning services following our class. We also invite you to join us for a delicious Kiddush lunch. Teens may be dropped off as early at 9 AM and picked up by 1:00. Families are invited to come for services and lunch as well. If twice per month is too much for your teen’s schedule, we encourage one Shabbat per month and our Sunday mitzvah day!)
Mitzvah Project -1 Sunday per month 10AM – 1:00PM to participate in a monthly community service project.
(Subject to change based on our mitzvah project or trip of the month. Teens can earn volunteer hours for this day.)

Cost: $150
(Sibling discount and tuition assistance available.)

A Personal Journey to Share with Friends

Coming Soon – Join our
Chai Mitzvah Adult study group!

Chai Mitzvah combines study, ritual and social action, providing the framework for a meaningful Jewish journey.
There are five components to the nine-month Chai Mitzvah experience:
Group study – meet monthly with a set curriculum
Independent study – choose a Jewish topic you would like to explore
Ritual – choose a ritual or spiritual practice to incorporate into your life
Social Action – either individually or as a group, choose a local volunteer opportunity
Celebrate! At the end of the nine months, acknowledge the journey with a celebration, receive a certificate, and have a tree planted in Israel in your honor through Chai Mitzvah’s partnership with Jewish National Fund.

To learn more, or to join our Chai Mitzvah group, contact Shereen Ben-Moshe, info@bethelaustin.org.

Huge thank you to Marty and Katie Price who came to services last Friday night, and Marty who spoke about the wonderful organization, Hebrew Free Loan Association of Austin. Please check out their website!

www.hfla.org

Making Love Last – Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
Parashat Hashavua

Over the past few months I’ve been having conversations with leading thinkers, intellectuals, innovators and philanthropists for a BBC series on moral challenges of the 21st century. Among those I spoke to was David Brooks, one of the most insightful moralists of our time. His conversation is always scintillating, but one remark of his was particularly beautiful. It is a key that helps us unlock the entire project outlined by Moses in Sefer Devarim, the fifth and final book of the Torah.
We had been talking about covenants and commitments. I suggested that many people in the West today are commitment-averse, reluctant to bind themselves unconditionally and open-endedly to something or someone. The market mindset that predominates today encourages us to try this, sample that, experiment and keep our options open for the latest version or the better deal. Pledges of loyalty are few and far between.
Brooks agreed and noted that nowadays freedom is usually understood as freedom-from, meaning the absence of restraint. We don’t like to be tied down. But the real freedom worth having, in his view, is freedom-to, meaning the ability to do something that’s difficult and requires effort and expertise.[1] So, for example, if you want to have the freedom to play the piano, you have to chain yourself to it and practise every day.
Freedom in this sense does not mean the absence of restraint, but rather, choosing the right restraint. That involves commitment, which involves a choice to forego certain choices. Then he said: “My favourite definition of commitment is falling in love with something and then building a structure of behaviour around it for the moment when love falters.”
That struck me as a beautiful way into one of the fundamental features of Sefer Devarim specifically, and Judaism generally. The book of Deuteronomy is more than simply Moses’ speeches in the last months of his life, his tzava’ah or ethical will to the future generations. It is more, also, than Mishneh Torah,[2] a recapitulation of the rest of the Torah, a restatement of the laws and history of the people since their time in Egypt.
It is a fundamental theological statement of what Judaism is about. It is an attempt to integrate law and narrative into a single coherent vision of what it would be like to create a society of law-governed liberty under the sovereignty of God: a society of justice, compassion, respect for human dignity and the sanctity of human life. And it is built around an act of mutual commitment, by God to a people and by the people to God.
The commitment itself is an act of love. At the heart of it are the famous words from the Shema in this week’s parsha: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5). The Torah is the foundational narrative of the fraught, sometimes tempestuous, marriage between God and an often obstinate people. It is a story of love.
We can see how central love is to the book of Deuteronomy by noting how often the root a-h-v, “to love,” appears in each of the five books of the Torah. It occurs 15 times in Genesis, but none of these is about the relationship between God and a human being. They are about the feelings of husbands for wives or parents for children. This is how often the verb appears in the other 4 books:

Exodus 2
Leviticus 2
Numbers 0
Deuteronomy 23

Again and again we hear of love, in both directions, from the Israelites to God and from God to the Israelites. It is the latter that are particularly striking. Here are some examples:
The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you … (Deut. 7:7-8)
To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set His affection on your ancestors and loved them, and He chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. (Deut. 10:14-15)
The Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. (Deut 23:5)
The real question is how this vision is connected to the legal, halakhic content of much of Devarim. On the one hand we have this passionate declaration of love by God for a people; on the other we have a detailed code of law covering most aspects of life for individuals and the nation as a whole once it enters the land. Law and love are not two things that go obviously together. What has the one to do with the other?
That is what David Brooks’ remark suggests: commitment is falling in love with something and then building a structure of behaviour around it to sustain that love over time. Law, the mitzvoth, halakhah, is that structure of behaviour. Love is a passion, an emotion, a heightened state, a peak experience. But an emotional state cannot be guaranteed forever. We wed in poetry but we stay married in prose.
Which is why we need laws, rituals, habits of deed. Rituals are the framework that keeps love alive. I once knew a wonderfully happy married couple. The husband, with great devotion, brought his wife breakfast in bed every morning. I am not entirely sure she needed or even wanted breakfast in bed every morning, but she graciously accepted it because she knew it was the homage he wished to pay her, and it did indeed keep their love alive. After decades of marriage, they still seemed to be on their honeymoon.
Without intending any precise comparison, that is what the vast multiplicity of rituals in Judaism, many of them spelled out in the book of Deuteronomy, actually achieved. They sustained the love between God and a people. You hear the cadences of that love throughout the generations. It is there in the book of Psalms: “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water” (Ps. 63:1). It is there in Isaiah: “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed” (Is. 54:10). It is there in the siddur, in the blessing before the Shema: “You have loved us with great love / with everlasting love.” It is there, passionately, in the song, Yedid Nefesh, composed in the sixteenth century by Safed kabbalist Elazar Azikri. It remains there in the songs composed year after year in present-day Israel. Whether they speak of God’s love for us or ours for Him, the love remains strong after 33 centuries. That is a long time for love to last, and we believe it will do so forever.
Could it have done so without the rituals, the 613 commands, that fill our days with reminders of God’s presence? I think not. Whenever Jews abandoned the life of the commands, within a few generations they lost their identity. Without the rituals, eventually love dies. With them, the glowing embers remain, and still have the power to burst into flame. Not every day in a long and happy marriage feels like a wedding, but even love grown old will still be strong, if the choreography of fond devotion, the ritual courtesies and kindnesses, are sustained.
In the vast literature of halakhah we find the ‘how’ and ‘what’ of Jewish life, but not always the ‘why.’ The special place of Sefer Devarim in Judaism as a whole is that here, more clearly than almost anywhere else, we find the ‘why.’ Jewish law is the structure of behaviour built around the love between God and His people, so that the love remains long after the first feelings of passion have grown old.
Hence the life-change idea: if you seek to make love undying, build around it a structure of rituals – small acts of kindness, little gestures of self-sacrifice for the sake of the beloved – and you will be rewarded with a quiet joy, an inner light, that will last a lifetime.

Tisha B’Av Services this Motzei Shabbat

Tisha B%5c'AvKaballat Shabbat services, TONIGHT, Friday July 20th at the regular time of 7 pm. We’d love you to join our song filled and heart filled Kaballat shabbat.

Saturday evening – at 9 PM, we will gather to have a lovely Havdallah service followed by Tisha B’Av services. This is one of the most touching services of the year. Come and experience this beautiful service with us at Beth El. We’ll be sitting on the floor, reading the book of Lamentations and having a meaningful discussion about this special holiday.

And for those that missed Sandy Kress’ amazing talk last Friday evening, here is a link. It was riveting and we look forward to welcoming him back to talk again soon.

https://sandykress.wordpress.com/…/can-there-be-hope-again…/

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message;

This week we begin the reading of Sefer D’varim with the parshah of the same name. This book is sometimes called “Mishneh Torah”, the Recapitulation of the Torah, since it goes over the events and even quotes some of the passages of the other four books. “D’varim” means either “things” or “words”, coming from the root DBR, to speak. One of the words in this parshah is especially evocative-the word “eichah”, “how”. Moshe says “How (eichah) can I bear alone your burden, and your toil and your quarrels?” The word “eichah” also begins the Book of Lamentations-“Eichah yashvah badad”, “How lonely she sits”, speaking of the desolation of Jerusalem. Parshat D’varim is always read on the Shabbat before Tish’ah B’Av, the day for mourning the destruction of Jerusalem and our long exile from our home in Israel. This is a time when we let a note of mourning enter even the joyous day of Shabbat, when we read Isaiah’s prophecy of the Destruction to the cantillation of Lamentations. That cantillation is he opposite (minor key versus major) of the cantillation of Megillath Esther. Esther talks about Purim being a day which switched from “grief to joy, and from mourning to celebration”. May this be true of Tish’ah B’Av as well-may this day someday soon mark not tragedy and exile, but redemption and repatriation. Shabbat Shalom, and may Jerusalem be at peace.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

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

Enrolling now for Hebrew School.

Parents: Don’t let your children forget their Hebrew.

Beth El BERS is now enrolling for our one of a kind Hebrew immersion and regular Sunday school. We have classes for three year olds to teens. The children will continue to build on their Hebrew writing, reading and verbal skills, all while making friends in the friendliest congregation possible. Taught by experienced Israeli teachers – your children will learn through music, dance, cooking and most important, a whole lot of fun!

For more details, contact us at info@bethelaustin.org. Check out our website http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com

הורים ומשפחות יקרות, בית הספר של ימי ראשון ״בבית-אל״ פותח את
ההרשמה לשנת הלימודים הבאה עלינו לטובה 2018-2019.
אל תתנו לילדיכם לשכוח את העברית והצטרפו ללמידה משמעותית וחווייתית שמועברת על ידי מורים ישראלים מנוסים
לגילאי 3-16 בקהילה הכי ידידותית ומסבירת פנים.
הילדים ימשיכו לבנות את אוצר המילים , כתיבה, קריאה ודיבור והכל באווירה מהנה, וקלילה, בהמחשת סיפורים, שירים,
בישול, חגים והוואי ישראלי.
כמו כן הוקמה קבוצה מדהימה לבני העשרה עם תכנים מעשירים. קבוצת הנערים/ נערות (של אחר בר/בת מצווה) נפגשים פעם בחודש .
לפרטים :
Info@bethelaustin.org
Facebook: Beth El Austin

Save the Date Guys!
Bowling with my Buddies –
Join the Men’s Club August 19 for an afternoon of fun, bowling and camaraderie. Open to all!

ALSO ENROLLING FOR CHAI MITZVAH TEENS!

Teen Chai Mitzvah Program
Congregation Beth El
Shereen Ben-Moshe
info@bethelaustin.org

Come meet other teens in the Austin Jewish community, learn together and volunteer your time to do good!
The teen program includes texts to spark discussions, suggestions for increasing meaning in ritual observances, and examples of volunteer opportunities for each topic that can inspire the group towards creative ideas for social action.

Upon completion of the 9-month program, through our partnership with Jewish National Fund, participants will have trees planted in Israel in their honor. Each participant will receive a tree certificate.

Hands-on leadership program:
Social Action opportunities
Builds self-esteem
Builds Jewish identity
Builds Jewish Literacy
Connects with other Jewish teens and with the community
Provides opportunities for positive personal expression
Open to the Jewish community.

When?
Chai Mitzvah Study Sessions – 2nd & 4th Saturdays each month 10AM – 11AM
(Teens are welcome to join in on Shabbat morning services following our class. We also invite you to join us for a delicious Kiddush lunch. Teens may be dropped off as early at 9 AM and picked up by 1:00. Families are invited to come for services and lunch as well. If twice per month is too much for your teen’s schedule, we encourage one Shabbat per month and our Sunday mitzvah day!)
Mitzvah Project -1 Sunday per month 10AM – 1:00PM to participate in a monthly community service project.
(Subject to change based on our mitzvah project or trip of the month. Teens can earn volunteer hours for this day.)

Cost: $150
(Sibling discount and tuition assistance available.)

A Personal Journey to Share with Friends

Coming Soon – Join our
Chai Mitzvah Adult study group!

Chai Mitzvah combines study, ritual and social action, providing the framework for a meaningful Jewish journey.
There are five components to the nine-month Chai Mitzvah experience:
Group study – meet monthly with a set curriculum
Independent study – choose a Jewish topic you would like to explore
Ritual – choose a ritual or spiritual practice to incorporate into your life
Social Action – either individually or as a group, choose a local volunteer opportunity
Celebrate! At the end of the nine months, acknowledge the journey with a celebration, receive a certificate, and have a tree planted in Israel in your honor through Chai Mitzvah’s partnership with Jewish National Fund.

To learn more, or to join our Chai Mitzvah group, contact Shereen Ben-Moshe, info@bethelaustin.org.

Parashat Masei – Life is Growth – Sandy Kress special guest

chaiKaballat Shabbat services, TOMORROW, Friday July 13th at the regular time of 7 pm. We continue with our summer speakers by welcoming distinguished educator Sandy Kress to deliver a Dvar Torah! Please join us – Sandy is a great speaker!

Shabbat morning Services are also this week, July 14th, starting at 9 a.m., with the Torah service at around 9:45 a.m. We will have a light kidish after.

About Sandy Kress: Sandy Kress received his bachelor’s degree with great distinction from the University of California at Berkeley and his law degree with honors from the University of Texas at Austin. After a long career in law and public service, Sandy began a few years ago to devote most of his time and energy to study, writing, and teaching on religious and ethical matters. He now teaches weekly in a variety of synagogue, church, university, and neighborhood group settings.

Sandy’s weekly blog on Jewish wisdom and topics in the Tanach can be found at https://sandykress.wordpress.com.

Lesson plans, handouts, and audios of his full course on the 613 mitzvot, the entire Torah cycle, and a variety of other courses on Jewish topics at the Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church can be found under the Hebrew Bible Studies tab at https://www.thirdwell.org.

Sandy has begun podcast series, A Shared Word, with his good friend, Mark Charbonneau, pastor at the Vine in Austin. The first on Proverbs and other wisdom sayings can be found at https://itunes.apple.com/…/podc…/a-shared-word/id1375838631…
.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message;

This Shabbat we end the reading of Sefer B’midbar, the Book of Numbers, with the combined parshot of Mattoth/Mas’ei, and on Friday we begin the month of Av. The Sages taught “When Av enters, we decrease joy”. We are of course on the cusp of Tish’ah B’Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av (this year observed on the Tenth, since the Ninth falls on Shabbat). We remember the destruction of the First and Second Temples, as well as other calamities that have befallen our People. This month’s mourning is directly opposite the rejoicing of the month of Adar, the month in which Purim falls, when disaster was averted. May we never know any more disasters, and may mourning be a matter of distant memory. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Shabbat candle lighting times are at 8:17 p.m.

Dive into the Talmud!
Next class TONIGHT July 12 at 7pm.

The Talmud has been compared to a vast sea, in which one can swim forever. The Talmud is a vast compilation of law, legend and scholarly discussions, which also gives us a window into the lives of our ancient ancestors.

Come dip a toe into the sea of Talmud as we begin to explore Massecheth B’rachoth, the Tractate of Benedictions, which deals with prayer. The class, led by Chazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe, will meet on alternate Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM, July 12, July 26, August 16, August 30, September 6.

Save the Date Guys!
Bowling with my Buddies –
Join the Men’s Club August 19 for an afternoon of fun, bowling and camaraderie. Open to all!

Enrolling now for Hebrew school starting in the Fall! Save your spot! Let your friends know about our amazing little school!

ALSO ENROLLING FOR CHAI MITZVAH TEENS!

Teen Chai Mitzvah Program
Congregation Beth El
Shereen Ben-Moshe
info@bethelaustin.org

Come meet other teens in the Austin Jewish community, learn together and volunteer your time to do good!
The teen program includes texts to spark discussions, suggestions for increasing meaning in ritual observances, and examples of volunteer opportunities for each topic that can inspire the group towards creative ideas for social action.

Upon completion of the 9-month program, through our partnership with Jewish National Fund, participants will have trees planted in Israel in their honor. Each participant will receive a tree certificate.

Hands-on leadership program:
Social Action opportunities
Builds self-esteem
Builds Jewish identity
Builds Jewish Literacy
Connects with other Jewish teens and with the community
Provides opportunities for positive personal expression
Open to the Jewish community.

When?
Chai Mitzvah Study Sessions – 2nd & 4th Saturdays each month 10AM – 11AM
(Teens are welcome to join in on Shabbat morning services following our class. We also invite you to join us for a delicious Kiddush lunch. Teens may be dropped off as early at 9 AM and picked up by 1:00. Families are invited to come for services and lunch as well. If twice per month is too much for your teen’s schedule, we encourage one Shabbat per month and our Sunday mitzvah day!)
Mitzvah Project -1 Sunday per month 10AM – 1:00PM to participate in a monthly community service project.
(Subject to change based on our mitzvah project or trip of the month. Teens can earn volunteer hours for this day.)

Cost: $150
(Sibling discount and tuition assistance available.)

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
on the weekly Parasha:

Etre ailleurs, “To be elsewhere – the great vice of this race, its great and secret virtue, the great vocation of this people.” So wrote the French poet and essayist Charles Peguy (1873-1914), a philosemite in an age of Anti-Semitism. He continued: “Any crossing for them means the crossing of the desert. The most comfortable houses, the best built from stones as big as the temple pillars, the most real of real estate, the most overwhelming of apartment houses will never mean more to them than a tent in the desert.”[1]
What he meant was that history and destiny had combined to make Jews aware of the temporariness of any dwelling outside the Holy Land. To be a Jew is to be on a journey. That is how the Jewish story began when Abraham first heard the words “Lech Lecha”, with their call to leave where he was and travel “to the land I will show you.” That is how it began again in the days of Moses, when the family had become a people. And that is the point almost endlessly repeated in parshat Masei: “They set out from X and camped at Y. They set out from Y and camped at Z” – 42 stages in a journey of forty years. We are the people who travel. We are the people who do not stand still. We are the people for whom time itself is a journey through the wilderness in search of the Promised Land.
In one sense this is a theme familiar from the world of myth. In many cultures, stories are told about the journey of the hero. Otto Rank, one of Freud’s most brilliant colleagues, wrote about it. So did Joseph Campbell, a Jungian, in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Nonetheless, the Jewish story is different in significant ways:
[1] The journey – set out in the books of Shemot and Bamidbar – is undertaken by everyone, the entire people: men, women and children. It is as if, in Judaism, we are all heroes, or at least all summoned to an heroic challenge.
[2] It takes longer than a single generation. Perhaps, had the spies not demoralised the nation with their report, it might have taken only a short while. But there is a deeper and more universal truth here. The move from slavery to the responsibilities of freedom takes time. People do not change overnight. Therefore evolution succeeds; revolution fails. The Jewish journey began before we were born and it is our responsibility to hand it on to those who will continue it after us.
[3] In myth, the hero usually encounters a major trial: an adversary, a dragon, a dark force. He (it is usually a he) may even die and be resurrected. As Campbell puts it: “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”[2] The Jewish story is different. The adversary the Israelites encounter is themselves: their fears, their weaknesses, their constant urge to return and regress.
It seems to me, here as so often elsewhere, that the Torah is not myth but anti-myth, a deliberate insistence on removing the magical elements from the story and focussing relentlessly on the human drama of courage versus fear, hope versus despair, and the call, not to some larger-than-life hero but to all-of-us-together, given strength by our ties to our people’s past and the bonds between us in the present. The Torah is not some fabled escape from reality but reality itself, seen as a journey we must all undertake, each with our own strengths and contributions to our people and to humanity.
We are all on a journey. And we must all rest from time to time. That dialectic between setting out and encamping, walking and standing still, is part of the rhythm of Jewish life. There is a time for Nitzavim, standing, and a time for Vayelekh, moving on. Rav Kook spoke of the two symbols in Bilaam’s blessing, “How goodly are your tents, Jacob, and your dwelling places, Israel.” Tents are for people on a journey. Dwelling places are for people who have found home.
Psalm 1 uses two symbols of the righteous individual. On the one hand he or she is on the way, while the wicked begin by walking, then transition to standing and sitting. On the other hand, the righteous is compared to a tree, planted by streams of water, that gives fruit in due season and whose leaves do not wither. We walk, but we also stand still. We are on a journey but we are also rooted like a tree.
In life, there are journeys and encampments. Without the encampments, we suffer burnout. Without the journey, we do not grow. And life is growth. There is no way to avoid challenge and change. The late Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l once gave a beautiful shiur[3] on Robert Frost’s poem, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,’ with its closing verse:
The woods are lovely dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
He analyses the poem in terms of Kierkegaard’s distinction between the aesthetic and ethical dimensions of life. The poet is enchanted by the aesthetic beauty of the scene, the soft silence of the falling snow, the dark dignity of the tall trees. He would love to stay here in this timeless moment, this eternity-in-an-hour. But he knows that life has an ethical dimension also, and this demands action, not just contemplation. He has promises to keep; he has duties toward the world. So he must walk on despite his tiredness. He has miles to go before he sleeps: he has work to do while the breath of life is within him.
The poet has stopped briefly to enjoy the dark wood and falling snow. He has encamped. But now, like the Israelites in Masei, he must set out again. For us as Jews, as for Kierkegaard the theologian and Robert Frost the poet, ethics takes priority over aesthetics. Yes, there are moments when we should, indeed must, pause to see the beauty of the world, but then we must move on, for we have promises to keep, including the promises to ourselves and to God.
Hence the life-changing idea: life is a journey, not a destination. We should never stand still. Instead we should constantly set ourselves new challenges that take us out of our comfort zone. Life is growth.

Parshat Pinhas

Let's Go BowlingKaballat Shabbat services, TONIGHT, Friday July 6th at the regular time of 7 pm. Cantor and Shereen Ben-Moshe are out of town this week, so this week’s Kaballat shabbat services are lay led.

Huge thank you to David Walker for such an interesting talk last week – below you will find the English translation of the fascinating “Case of the Animals”, by
Qalonymos.

We continue with our summer speakers on July 13, when we welcome distinguished educator Sandy Kress to deliver a Dvar Torah.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message;

In this week’s parshah, Pinhas, we read that Pinhas Ben El’azar HaCohen is rewarded for his summary execution of Zimri Ben Sallu and his Midianite paramour Kozbi Bat Tzur, stopping the plague that afflicted the People of Israel at Ba’al Peor. The Rabbis commented that God had to specifically reward Pinhas, as otherwise his action and his zealotry would have been considered criminal.

We are now in the Three Week’s, the period of semi-mourning leading up to the Fast of Av, when we grieve for the destruction of the Temples and the long centuries of exile from our Land. The Sages teach that the Temples, especially the Second Temple, were destroyed because of hatred and violence. We must always remember that force is only legitimate to defend human life and human rights, and not in the service of human greed or hatred. May violence and tyranny soon vanish from the Earth, and peace and justice prevail.

From the shores of the Pacific, Shereen and I wish Shabbat Shalom to all the Beth El family.

Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Shabbat candle lighting times are at 8: 19 p.m.

Dive into the Talmud!
Next class July 12 at 7pm.

The Talmud has been compared to a vast sea, in which one can swim forever. The Talmud is a vast compilation of law, legend and scholarly discussions, which also gives us a window into the lives of our ancient ancestors.

Come dip a toe into the sea of Talmud as we begin to explore Massecheth B’rachoth, the Tractate of Benedictions, which deals with prayer. The class, led by Chazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe, will meet on alternate Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM, beginning on June 21, July 12, July 26, August 16, August 30, September 6.

Save the Date Guys!
Bowling with my Buddies –
Join the Men’s Club August 19 for an afternoon of fun, bowling and camaraderie. Open to all!

Article from this month’s Jewish Outlook: Check Beth El in te local news! Please subscribe to this wonderful, free, Jewish resource in Austin.

Congregation Beth El Kicks Off Summer with Adult Education
LOCAL SYNAGOGUES, COMMUNITY NEWS
http://www.thejewishoutlook.com/…/congregation-beth-el-kick…

Translation into English of Qalonymos ben Qalonymos’ translation of the Case of the Animals
Chapter 5

On the Answer of the Mule, Spokescritter for Animals against the words and views of the Ishmaelite speaker

The King said “You heard, you families of animals, the words of the man, his views and his received prophecy on what he claimed about you? Do you have an answer to his words?”
And there arose an advocate which they had appointed that day as their spokescritter, namely, the mule, and he said “Here I am, my lord, to dispute his words”
The King said, “speak.”
And he said “A prayer to the Living God, the Most Powerful, the Singular, the Ancient, the Victorious, who existed before all existence—outside of time and place, who at the beginning of His Creation said “Let there be light, and there was light blazing from Him from His hidden place and He created from the light the foundation of fire and air. And he created the sea and dry land to be the inheritance of all creation. And he created from the splendour of his glory stars and planets, and He gave them governance. And he spread out the great sea and made the mountains appear. Praised be the One who set the higher world as a dwelling for His servants. Day by day they offer Him His Psalms. And the earth He set as a place for vegetation and living things according to their kind, and he provided nourishment for them. He created the man as dust and ash, as it is found written in the book (Qur’an 32, 7 and 8)…and he planted his seed in the earth to settle it, but not to grow it, to keep and to feed the animals, that he should receive some benefit not that he should rob every one that he hasn’t murdered.
Now that I have extolled the Deeds of my Creator, I shall turn to the human’s words and say that there isn’t in it any claim of this man in the words of prophecy (he cited) nothing of the view which validates what he thought—that they are the lords and we are their servants. Although they say that pious ones relate the words of the prophecy—“They are for your enjoyment…” it is like the sun, the moon, the cloud and the wind that they are also for your enjoyment. Does it teach that they are servants for them, that they are their property? And know, our Lord, the King, that the Creator, May He Be Blessed, created everything which is in the heavens and earth and if he put some of them to some purpose, the Rock made animals for man—this was for their benefit and not to their harm, as I shall make plain after this, not as He intended it, contra what the humans think. And here, what he said that they are masters and we are servants is all burden and oppression.
And the mule added, as spokesman o the animals, to speak to the ears of the King, and said: “Our Lord the King, Here we and our forefathers lived in the land before the creation of mankind, settled in all corners, moving and roaming about all sides, we were going and coming in the land to seek our livelihood, and we use could use a restoration/return to our former lives. Every one turns back and forth in a good place or in a suitable settlement to dwell in it—from deserts to lakes or mountains. Or in a forest meadow or the banks of rivers, or valleys. And every type of us collaborates with others of our kind, and we occupy ourselves with raising our offspring and feeding our young ones with good food from what was apportioned to us of the food and water, and we dwelled securely, carefree in his life, happy and joyous to do the will of our master. We praised and glorified Him nightly and daily, we didn’t stray from it. And many days passed thus, and the Rock, Just in His Deeds, placed man in the land and his seed increased in the land, and he took the corners of the land and filled the sea and the dry land, and the mountain was laid low, until they pressed us from our places and separated us from our dwellings and took from us the sheep and the cow and the camels and the horses and the mules and the donkeys and wearied them with hard work and with burdens, and they made us serve in them in silly tasks and in difficult transport—in the carrying of their riders, and to pull carts and turn mills and to drag a plough, besides beatings…and all manner of curses and reviling words hurled at us. Which we suffer in whispers all the days of our lives until we escape from them—whomever can, escapes to deserts and to wilderness, and to mountaintops. And these people desire to pursue after us and to capture us with all manner of crafty plans. And whomever among us falls into their hands woe to him for his misfortune, for he shall be imprisoned and bound and cast down, and slaughtered and skinned and his body dismembered and plucked and shorn. And if that wasn’t enough sorrow, they prepare them in cold containers, put them on skewers, and devour them in all manner of affliction in ways beyond the power description. And those of us who remain are silent and suffer and don’t avenge our spilt blood. And even so, we don’t run away from these people and even held our hand while they claimed that this was our obligation to them for they are our masters, and we bowed to them. And whomever escaped from them, he is a rebel. And I don’t recognize their view, and their claim and proof, only their strength and victory. Judge, our Lord, between us and them.”