That was some Megilla shpiel! Huge thank you to all who came, to Shiry Turjemanand Shay who helped sponsor the event, the Chazzan who read such a brilliant Megilla rendition (along with silly hiccups for a rather silly King Ahashverosh), Karaoke King Rotem Nahum who had us singing till the wee hours, Lilia Stan from Happy Tots Facepainting who is an amazing artist and all who helped make it the Best Purim possible. Chag Purim Sameach ya all.
Please join us for Friday Night Services March 10, at 7 PM. We’d love to see you!
Shabbat morning services are this Saturday, March 11th, at 9 AM, with the Torah service at 9:45 and children’s services with Morah Shereen at 10:30. We gratefully acknowledge Bob Miller for sponsoring the kiddish in honor of what would have been his parent’s 67 wedding anniversary. We remember Marion z’l with love, and honor our dear Fred Miller.
And THAT SAME NIGHT – our annual PURIM PARTY!!! Saturday March 11 at 7 PM. See Below. It’s gonna be amazing. Huge thank you to Shay and Shiry Turjeman for sponsoring the food!
No Sunday school for Spring break, but Megilla reading Sunday morning at 9 AM.
Special services Monday evening at 7 PM. Cantor Ben-Moshe is completing the 11 month period of saying kaddish for his late father Milton Mann of blessed memory. There will be a minyan at 7 PM at Beth El.
Candle lighting in Austin is at 6:18 PM
Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message
This Shabbat is not only the Shabbat of Parshat Tetzaveh, but also Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat before Purim. On this Shabbat, we read the passage of the Torah commanding us to remember what ‘Amalek did when we were leaving Egypt, and to wipe out the memory of ‘Amalek. To remember and to destroy memory-this is obviously a contradiction in terms. The Hassidic masters suggest that ‘Amalek here is not merely the ancient people of that name, but rather a spirit of violence and bigotry. Haman, the villain of the Purim story, is described as a “Agagi”, a descendant of Agag, the last king of ‘Amalek. However, he may also be described as a spiritual descendant of ‘Amalek, in his bigotry and genocidal intent. The Hassidic masters warn that we all have the potential to embody the spirit of ‘Amalek-to let hatred and bigotry overcome us. This parshah therefore comes to remind us of the horrible consequences of the spirit of ‘Amalek, and to exhort us to eliminate that spirit in ourselves. May we always be motivated by love, and never by causeless hatred, and may the joyous spirit of Purim be the dominant spirit of our lives. Shabbat Shalom, and Hag Purim Sameah.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
All invited to join Congregation Beth El Austin for a Groovy Purim Party! Saturday, March 11, 2017 • 15 Adar 5777
7:00 P.M.
On Purim night, we will read the Megillah at 7:00 PM, to be immediately followed by our Purim Party. This year’s theme is “That ’70s Shul.” Be sure to dress up in your grooviest ’70s threads. Disco Fever… Dynomite! Or, come dressed in your favorite costume.
Party fun for the entire family!
Music with Los Klezmeros, face painting with Lilia (www.facebook.com/happytotsfacepainting/, karaoke, Purim treats and more!
No Sunday school this week – enjoy Spring break and bring your kiddos to PURIM!
Huge thank you to Jennifer Lava for her amazing personal organization class. We loved it and have used many of her tips already. If you need a down to earth and absolutely wonderful personal organizer, please check her out at www.jenniferlava.com.
Community News:
Jewish Family Services:
WHAT COMES
AFTER RETIREMENT?
BABY BOOMERS 101
A NEW EDUCATIONAL SERIES
SUNDAY, MARCH 26
3-5 PM
JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER // AJA LIBRARY
Free of charge
Living With Loss Support Group
April 10, April 24, May 8, May 22, June 5, June 19 11 AM – 12 PM
Jewish Community Center | Room 239 Free of charge
From the Jewish War Veterans:
Please join us as my Honored Guests, to our next JWV Lunch and Meeting: Sunday, March 19th at 10 am – Austin JCC, Room 150-D
Your service to our country is very much appreciated and will be recognized at the meeting. No obligation to join the JWV. Wives and Children are welcome. Rabbi Dan Millner will be speaking and he is in the Navy Reserves as a chaplain.
Please join us for Friday Night Services March 3, at 7 PM. We’re saving a seat for you!
Shabbat morning services are March 11
And THAT SAME NIGHT – our annual PURIM PARTY!!! Saturday March 11 at 7 PM. See Below. It’s gonna be amazing.
Sunday school THIS SUNDAY morning March 5. We’re gearing up for a fun-filled Purim class!
Sisterhood class right after, Sunday March 5th at 12:30.
Candle lighting in Austin is at 6:14 PM
Friday January 6, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will be our guest speaker at Beth El.
Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message
This Shabbat we read Parshat T’rumah, which is a detailed list of the materials needed to build the Mishkan, the Tabernacle in the desert. My teacher Rabbi Alan Lew, ז״ל once referred to it as “Parshat Trauma”, since a list of construction materials does not easily lend itself to the construction of a sermon. There is one detail though that our Sages found interesting-the Holy Ark was to be plated with gold inside and out. Even where it couldn’t be seen, there was to be gold. The Rabbis took this to mean that we should conduct all of our private affairs with the same integrity as our public actions. May we always be worthy at all times to be vessels of God’s Torah, no matter where we are or with whom. I look forward to seeing you all next Shabbat, as this weekend I will be with my family in Florida for the unveiling of my late father’s headstone. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
All invited to join Congregation Beth El Austin for a Groovy Purim Party!
Saturday, March 11, 2017 • 15 Adar 5777 7:00 P.M.
On Purim night, we will read the Megillah at 7:00 PM, to be immediately followed by our Purim Party. This year’s theme is “That ’70s Shul.” Be sure to dress up in your grooviest ’70s threads. Disco Fever… Dynomite! Or, come dressed in your favorite costume.
Party fun for the entire family!
Music, face painting, karaoke, Purim treats and more!
Sunday school this Sunday at 10 Am – Lots of Purim fun continues.
SISTERHOOD PERSONAL ORGANIZATION CLASS ON MARCH 4 at 12:30 PM :
We are so excited that Jennifer Lava, Professional Organizer Extraordinaire (and productivity consultant), is going to hold a fun class just for us at Beth El. Jennifer is a past president of the National Organization of Professional Organizers, has had her articles in many magazines like Consumer Reports and Family Circle and has such a creative and innovative style.
Please check out her website : www.jenniferlava.com
The class is Sunday March 5 at 12:30 – right after Sunday school at Beth El.
PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS. Bring a kosher dairy or parev snack to share and come get organized! And if you are super organized already, well just come and hang out with us!
Please send your RSVP to info@bethelaustin.org
Community News:
JFS Passover Food Drive
We are seeking the following items to be donated to families for Passover:
Matzoh, Gefilte Fish (jars), Matzoh Ball & Soup Mix, Horseradish (jars), Macaroons, Candy Fruit Slices, Cake Mixes
Ritual Items such as:
Haggadahs, Matzoh Covers, Kiddush Cups, Candlesticks, Shabbat Candles
Donations can be dropped off at Beth El.
From the Jewish War Veterans:
Please join us as my Honored Guests, to our next JWV Lunch and Meeting: Sunday, March 19th at 10 am – Austin JCC, Room 150-D
Your service to our country is very much appreciated and will be recognized at the meeting. No obligation to join the JWV. Wives and Children are welcome. Rabbi Dan Millner will be speaking and he is in our reserve armed forces as a chaplain. He is a very dynamic speaker – You will not want to miss this.
Free Film Screening & Program: ‘Denial’
Monday, March 6, 6:30 PM
Co-sponsored by Shalom Austin, the Austin Jewish Film Festival, The Harry Ransom Center and Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, the 2016 movie, Denial, will be screened and followed by a discussion with Professor Robert H. Abzug, Director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies. This event is free and will take place at the JCC Community Hall. All are welcome.
Rabbi Peter Tarlow from the Center for Latino-Jewish Relations.
You can find this week’s section, called Trumah, in Exodus: 25:1-27:19. This week’s Torah portion’s style provides a sharp contrast to the last two lofty weekly Bible sections (Yitro and Misphatim). In the last two sections we read of profound ideals, such as the giving of the Ten Commandments and on the way we are to actualize these goals. Now abruptly, the Torah changes course and suddenly goes from grand idealism to stark reality; proud ideas give way to daily necessities. The contrast is noted immediately as the portion begins with the words: “Dabber el Bnai-Yisrael vYikchu li trumah me’et col ish asher yiddbenu libo/Speak to the children of Israel saying that whoever is so willing, that person should bring me an offering.” (25:2). It is a section that deals less with thinking then with doing, less with the philosophical than with the practical.
This radical change in both the tone of the Hebrew text and the ideas expressed in it leaves us somewhat in a state of intellectual bewilderment. Why after all of the fire and glory connected to the giving of the Ten Commandments, does G’d’s next sentence state that He desires nothing more than for us to bring Him a gold and precious skins? Furthermore, where were we to find precious animal skins in the midst of the Sinai Peninsula Is there a hidden meaning that lays beneath the surface of the text? Perhaps the answer to our dilemma is found in the building materials that we are asked to provide for the construction of the Tabernalcle. The text tells us that the materials requested are to create a covering for the Mishcan (Tabernacle). The Hebrew verbal root used,s-c-h, is the same verbal root used in the tale of the “Egel Masechah” (the golden/molten calf). What might the text be teaching us by this subtle use of this same verbal root?
Is there more to this strange flow of ideas than we might at first imagine? The Torah recognizes that all humans make mistakes. Even nations err, such as in the case of the golden calf. Is going astray a part of being human? From the Torah’s perspective the issue is not that we err, but rather what we do to repair the damage after we have erred.
The Hebrew Bible is wise teaches us that words are often all too easy to say. In modern society we tend to ask forgiveness as an excuse for not doing. Contrary to this position the Torah teaches us an important lesson: that change comes not from words, but from the way we live our lives. To err is human, but to repeat the same error is to be sinful.
Is the text teaching us that the offering requested is not our gold or precious skins, but rather our willingness to make the sacrifices to change course in life and to be willing to rebuild broken relationships?
The text seems to indicate that what we say or even believe is a lot less important than what we do. In this age of heighten political sensitivities might the Torah be telling us that we all need to speak less and do more? Lofty words are no more than droplets of sounds racing across the seas of energy. This week’s portion teaches us that instead of rubbing salt on wounds it is time to let past wounds heal, to stop the political bickering and sniping that seem to emanate throughout the political system and to start collectively building. What do you think?
SCOUT SHABBAT, WEEKEND SERVICES, PURIM AND MORE:
We’d love you to join us for Friday Night Services February 24, at the special time of 6:30 PM. It’s also Scout shabbat so please come one and all as we honor our Austin and Beth El scouts. Jay Rubin, former CEO of Shalom Austin and avid historian will deliver a lovely Dvar Torah. A delicious pasta dinner will be served immediately after services.
Shabbat morning services are this Saturday February 25 at 9 AM, with the Torah service at around 9:45 and children’s story time and services with Morah Shereen Canady at 10:30. We gratefully acknowledge Hal and Elaine Jacobs for generously sponsoring a special kosher meat kidish in honor of Elaine’s birthday. Mazal tov dear Elaine and Ad 120! Thank you to you and Hal for all you do for our shul and community!
Sunday school THIS SUNDAY morning February 26. We’re gearing up for a fun-filled Purim class!
Candle lighting in Austin is at 6:09 PM
***Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message
This week we read Parshat Mishpatim, and the special reading for Shabbat Sh’kalim. Mishpatim begins with the words “Ve’eleh hamishpatim”-“And these are the laws”. Our parshah is a direct continuation of Revelation at Mt. Sinai. The seemingly mundane laws, civil and criminal, contained in our parshah are no less important than any other mitzvoth. The Torah concerns itself with building a righteous society, so all of our actions, no matter how “secular”, are spiritually important. Let us commit ourselves to conducting all of our affairs in a way that befits our status as a “kingdom of priests and a holy people”. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
***Sunday school this Sunday at 10 Am – Lots of Purim fun and even Hamentaschen baking with Rachel Union.
SISTERHOOD PERSONAL ORGANIZATION CLASS ON MARCH 4 at 12:30 PM :
We are so excited that Jennifer Lava, Professional Organizer Extraordinaire (and productivity consultant), is going to hold a fun class just for us at Beth El. Jennifer is a past president of the National Organization of Professional Organizers, has had her articles in many magazines like Consumer Reports and Family Circle and has such a creative and innovative style. Please check out her website : www.jenniferlava.com
The class is Sunday March 5 at 12:30 – right after Sunday school at Beth El.
PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS. Bring a kosher dairy or parev snack to share and come get organized! And if you are super organized already, well just come and hang out with us! Please send your RSVP to info@bethelaustin.org
Beth El Purim Party: Saturday March 11 at 7PM
HOLD THE DATE for an exciting Purim party, an energetic Megillah reading with our very own Hazzan, music with Los Klezmeros and face painting with professional face painter Lilia! So much fun for he whole family – young and old. Please don’t miss!
JFS Passover Food Drive
We are seeking the following items to be donated to families for Passover:
Matzoh, Gefilte Fish (jars), Matzoh Ball & Soup Mix, Horseradish (jars), Macaroons, Candy Fruit Slices, Cake Mixes
Ritual Items such as:
Haggadahs, Matzoh Covers, Kiddush Cups, Candlesticks, Shabbat Candles
Donations can be dropped off in our donation boxes
at the ECP and JCC Welcome Desk or the
JFS Office 11940 Jollyville Rd. Suite 110 S Austin, TX 78759
From the Jewish War Veterans:
Please join us as my Honored Guests, to our next JWV Lunch and Meeting: Sunday, March 19th at 10 am – Austin JCC, Room 150-D
Your service to our country is very much appreciated and will be recognized at the meeting. No obligation to join the JWV. Wives and Children are welcome. Rabbi Dan Millner will be speaking and he is in our reserve armed forces as a chaplain. He is a very dynamic speaker – You will not want to miss this.
Free Film Screening & Program: ‘Denial’
Monday, March 6, 6:30 PM
Co-sponsored by Shalom Austin, the Austin Jewish Film Festival, The Harry Ransom Center and Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, the 2016 movie, Denial, will be screened and followed by a discussion with Professor Robert H. Abzug, Director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies. This event is free and will take place at the JCC Community Hall. All are welcome.
Rabbi Peter Tarlow from the Center for
Latino-Jewish Relations.
This week’s parashah is called “Mishpatim.” You will find it in the Book of Exodus 21:1-24:18. To a great extent, this week’s section is the mirror image of last week’s parashah. Last week we studied Yitro, a parashah filled with broad general concepts/theories of law. Although general concepts are essential, they must be fleshed out with detail. To think without detail is to never realize a goal, to think only in detail is to lack a goal.
This week’s section takes us from the macro level to the micro level, from the general to the specific. Mishpatim is not like other ancient Middle Eastern systems of law. For example, the parashah begins with the question of “avdut” meaning: “slavery” or “indenture servitude.” Not only does this week’s code begin with the rights of a slave, but quickly progresses to one of the stranger sections of the code. In chapter 21, verses 5-6, the reader learns that if the slave is set free but chooses not to accept his freedom, then his master is to “bring him to a door and pierce his ear with an awl..” How come? Such a position seems to be counter intuitive and even if the slave did not want to leave his wife and/or children, once free there was nothing from preventing him from earning enough money to buy his loved ones out of slavery and give them their freedom.
Perhaps the answer is found in the fact that we tend to read the word “avdut” too narrowly. In its broadest meaning, avdut may not only refer to bodily servitude but also to a state of mental stagnation. Is the text pointing out that far too many people fear accepting the price of freedom, personal responsibility? How many people seek eternal childhood; how many of us choose the “imprisonment of certainty” over the “exhilaration of exploration?” How many of us are “stuck” (slaves to) in a job because we prefer to be in “comfortable pain” rather than the uncertainty of freedom?
We can link the word “avdut” to another Hebrew word ‘hitmakkrut” (addiction) which is derived from the verb “lhitmakker” meaning “to sell oneself.” The slave sold himself to the comfort of certainty and the addict has sold himself to the comfort of his or her addiction. In other words, an addiction is the act of selling oneself into the “slavery of desire and paid for by the loss of self-control.”
Unfortunately, too many of us seek the certain and the comfortable, rather than the challenge of personal growth. How many prefer the comfort of slavery instead of trials and tribulations of freedom? How many prefer someone to tell them what to do, then to make a choice and then accept the consequences of their actions?
To be free is to judge oneself, to face the challenges of life, to explore the depths of our souls and to have faith in the future. In that sense, the pursuit of ignorance is the desire to stay a slave. How many desire to construct the walls of our mental imprisonment and avoid being free? Do you？
We’re saving a seat for you at Friday Night Shabbat Services TONIGHT February 17, at the regular time of 7:00 PM.
Best way to end a stressful week and uplift your soul!
Shabbat morning services are next Saturday February 25.
NO Sunday school THIS SUNDAY morning February 19. Enjoy President’s day weekend BERS.
NEXT WEEK – Friday February 24, we will proudly host Scout Shabbat for the Austin Jewish Community. Join us as we honor Beth El and Jewish community scouts at Scout Shabbat. Services will be at 6:30 PM followed by a fun pasta dinner. Jay and Carol Rubin will be our special guests.
Candle lighting in Austin is at 6:03 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 read Parshat Yithro, which mainly concerns itself with the Revelation at Mt. Sinai. The Torah tells us that at first Hashem speaks to all of the People of Israel, but they are overwhelmed, and ask Moshe to be the go-between, to relay the Divine Word to them. One can only imagine the feeling of direct contact with the Divine-we dimly feel it when we are awed by the grandeur of a storm, or by the small miracle of new life coming into the world. May our hearts always be open to receive God’s Presence, even in small ways-and may we experience Revelation every day. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
HOLD THE DATES: Special events at Beth El.
On Friday February 24 February, Jay Rubin, former CEO of Shalom Austin and avid historian and his wonderful wife Ms. Carol will come to Beth El! Jay will give our Dvar Torah and celebrate Scout Shabbat with us.
In March we will welcome Rabbi-Cantor Marie Betcher, who among other things is a Police Chaplain, ordained Rabbi and Cantor, as well as a former Opera Singer.
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.
Join us for Scout Shabbat, Friday February 24 at 6:30 PM. Show your support for Jewish scouts in Austin, including several girls in our own shul! Jay and Carol Rubin will also be our special guests as we celebrate shabbat with our wonderful Scouts.
No Sunday school this weekend as it’s President’s day weekend, but thank you to the teachers and students at Beth El Religious School (BERS) who continue to make the shul rock on Sunday mornings. We love you guys! Pictured above are the students rocking to Tu Be Shevat Higiya with Morahs Anat, Shereen and Iris!
SISTERHOOD PERSONAL ORGANIZATION CLASS COMING ON MARCH 4 at 12:30 PM – Please join us as Jennifer Lava,
Professional Organizer & Productivity Consultant and volunteer with the Austin Jewish Business Network comes and helps us GET ORGANIZED.
Happy February birthdays to Rachael and Arie, Emma and Talia, Barry, Brucha, Gregg, Sara, Marina, Carol , Mirit, Tamar and Elaine J. Please shoot us an email if we don’t have your birthday and it’s this month!
Check out the Friday night tunes on our website:
http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com/education-2/kabbalat-shabbat-songs/
And please donate generously to your shul! A Jewel in the Austin Jewish Community.
www.bethelaustin.org/donate
Community News:
FAMILY FUN DAY AT THE ECP:
Spend an exciting morning with our community to enjoy many interactive games, rides and activities. Money will be raised through wristband sales and sponsorships. . #ECPFun17
Rabbi Peter Tarlow’s weekly Parashah – from the Center for Jewish Latino relations:
The name of the parashah for this week is: “Yitro”. You can find it the Book of Exodus 18:1-20:23. Named after Moses’ father-in law, the parashah provides us with some of the greatest wisdom found within the Book of Exodus. It is in this parashah that we read the Aseret Dibbrot, or as they are commonly known in English mistranslation, the Ten Commandments. The text does not start with the Ten Commandments but with Moses’ meetings with his father-in-law Yitro. It is Yitro who recognizes that Moses cannot create a nation totally by himself. Liberating Israel from slavery was one thing, but creating a viable nation would be quite another task. Watching Moses being consumed by his work, Yitro states: “…ki caved mimchah ha’davar lo lo tuchal asehu l’vadchah/the “task” is too heavy even for you, you cannot do it alone” (18:18).
Yitro taught Moses that leaders must learn the art of inspiring others to help in nation building. Yitro understood that good leaders do not have to be brilliant, but need to know how to choose brilliant people and then get out of their way and let them do their job.
Judaism recognizes that none of us is G’d, and all of us have our weak points. Moses wanted to form Israel into a nation by himself, but it was Yitro who taught him that great accomplishments come about when we place our egos on hold and work together. To delegate, to involve others, to trust others to accomplish collective goals is never an admission of weakness but rather of strength. These principles are as valid today as they were then. It is as if Yitro were speaking directly to any new government, and providing it with an outline for success.
Yitro taught Moses that no one person has a monopoly on wisdom, that greatness is based not on going it alone but rather on sharing the experiences of others and applying this experience to the common good. Only after Moses learned the lesson of collective wisdom was he able to find the courage to bring Israel the not only the Ten Commandments, but also the outlines of a national constitution. It is from this insight that Jews were able to establish the world’s premier legal system, based not on strength but rather on the protection of the common good. What do you think?