Friday services, classes and more

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Shalom Chaverim:
We look forward to a beautiful Friday evening of song and prayer at Congregation Beth El tonight, July 18, starting at 7pm. 
Our next Saturday morning services are a week away, Saturday July 26. Please let us know if you would like to sponsor this kidush or upcoming ones.
We have of course resumed our Sunday afternoon Intro to Judaism classes at 3:30 pm withCantor Ben-Moshe.
HOLD THE DATE:  Saturday evening, at 6:30 pm on August 9th, we continue our journey into the world of Crypto Judaism with Rabbi Peter Tarlow of Texas A&M’s Center for Jewish/Hispanic relations. These classes have kept our audiences riveted and we look forward to welcoming Rabbi Tarlow back.
Care and Concern: We would like to wish our beloved Fred Miller a speedy recovery and encourage our congregants to visit him at Emeritus on Spicewood Springs Road, very close to Beth El,  while he is there getting rehab.  Fred had a recent fall and is doing very well, and G-d willing will be home soon.  While there, please also visit our our dear Esther Kadoch  who is in the Assisted Living Section of Emeritus.  The address and number: 4401 Spicewood Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78759 (512) 774-3986
 
Please join our Facebook Group if you haven’t already! It’s Congregation Beth El Austin. Also, don’t forget to check out our website www.bethelaustin.org.
 Of course, we continue to have Israel deep in our hearts and prayers!  Shabbat shalom to you all.
Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message:
This week, Parshat Matoth, is also the first Shabbat of the the Three Weeks leading up to to Tish’ah B’Av, the fast of the Ninth of Av.  At this time, we remember the destruction of the First and Second Temples.  Our Tradition tells us that the First Temple was destroyed for the sin of idolatry, while the Second Temple was destroyed because of causeless hatred.  As we enter this season of mourning, let us make sure that we are not engaging in those same sins-that we are not committing the idolatry of placing things above God, and above our relationships with our fellow human beings, created in God’s image.  Let us also be wary of the sin of causeless hatred, especially at this time of conflict in Israel.  Our hearts are with our brothers and sisters, but let us not fall into the error of directing our anger at those who are not actually our enemies.  As for our real enemies, the murderous fanatics of Hamas, who are a plague to their own people as well as ours, may our soldiers speedily defeat them and return home safely and speedily, and may we see peace and not bloodshed in and near our homeland.  Ken y’hi ratson-may this be God’s will.  Shabbat Shalom. Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
Rabbi Peter Tarlow, Rabbi Emeritus Texas A&M
This week’s parashah is called Matot. You can find it in the Book of Numbers 30:2-33:42.  From a modern perspective, this week’s parashah is more than a bit challenging and at times seems to have gone backwards on several issues. We see this regression on the issue of women’s rights and in the Bible’s narrative concerning the war against the Midianites. It is here that we learn that a group’s collective suffering does not necessarily translate into its future compassion.  Hebrew Scripture does not try to conceal the negative, but rather reports both the good and the bad and forces us to dig deep into the text to find its ethical insights.

The Hebrew reader will pick up a variety of clues throughout this week’s section.  For example, the text does not begin with the normative: “God spoke to Moses saying…” but rather Moses simply begins to speak. The words and concepts are his and his alone. Additionally, Moses does not address the masses but rather the “rashei hamatot: the tribal heads.  Is Matot then a lesson on leadership?  Does Moses speak to the leaders because he knows that their words set a national  tone? Is he teaching us that the way our leaders speak impacts the level of civility within a society? Is the text teaching us that when leaders are divisive, arrogant or refuse to listen, a tone is set that impacts the national dialogue?

The text seems to understand that history is not unidirectional. As a species, we humans both progress and regress, and our political leadership is irregular at best. We humans are capable of caring about our fellow human beings or destroying him, of demonstrating both compassion and selfishness,  It is for this reason that the text teaches us that is not enough simply to believe. The text argues that what counts in life is not what we say but what we do. Is the text teaching us that we are to judge our leaders not by the quality of their oratory but rather by the result of their actions?  This text teaches us the need to unify our words with our actions and asks us to demand that  leaders’ words not become disconnected from their actions.

This week’s section recognizes that all too often human beings  prepared ethically to regress so as to lay claim to power and possessions, rather than develop honest interpersonal relationships. Perhaps that is why the text begins with the admonishment: “Tachel dvaro b’chol ha’yotzey mi piv/he shall not break his word but should do according to all that comes out of his mouth” (30:3)  Not easy words to live by, especially in a society that defines itself by the material rather than by the spiritual. Have we learned the lessons of Matot? What do you think?

Parashat Pinhas and weekend services

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Congregants and friends,

We hope you had a great week and will join us to end it on a high note of community and prayer this weekend at Beth El.  We have Friday night services, tonight 7/11 at 7pm!  Tomorrow  morning, 7/12 we will have our Shabbat morning services, which start at 9am, with the Torah service at 9:45am. 
This week we would like to wholeheartedly thank Phil and Keren Harvey for sponsoring the kidush lunch in honor of their recent conversion to Judaism.
We would also like to wish a huge Mazal Tov to our Sunday school teacher Michelle and Adam Kaman and sister Leorah on the birth of baby Shira Yael.
Please note that Sunday July 13 has two special events.  At 1pm, the sisterhood will be meeting for a fun afternoon of Mahjong and healthy noshes. Please e-mail us for more information.  We would love to see you!
Sunday at 3:30 at Beth El, Intro to Judaism resumes with Cantor Ben-Moshe.  Again, this class is free and open to the community and we welcome one and all.
Shabbat shalom and please keep Israel in your thoughts and prayers as she goes through this extremely difficult time.
Cantor Ben-Moshe’s weekly message:
Much of this week’s parshah, Pinhas, is familiar to those who attend services on Shabbat and holidays.  The latter part of the parshah is concerned with the special sacrifices which were offered in the mishkan and later in the Temple for Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh (the New Month), and the various festivals.  Each day had its own specific offering.  While we no longer offer sacrifices of animals, bread and wine as we did in ancient times, we continue to recite the Musaph service on those special days.  We no longer sacrifice material things to God, but now we sacrifice what is perhaps more precious to us in our world of packed schedules-we sacrifice our time.  We take time from our busy lives to praise God and to thank him for the many blessings in our lives.  In these difficult times we also pray for peace for our fellow Jews in Israel, and indeed for all the people of our Land.  May God quickly grant peace in our Land and eternal joy to all its inhabitants, and may love conquer causeless hatred.  Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
Rabbi Tarlow of the Center for Crypto Judaism weekly parasha:

This week’s Parashah is called “Pinchas” (Phinehas in English translation).  You will find it in the Book of Numbers 25:10-29:35.  The section carries the name of one of the high priests who in the previous section discovers an Israelite man having sex with a Midianite woman. Pinchus is so incensed that he takes a spear through them.  The reward for this act of zealousness is the lifting of a plague that had been decimating the children of Israel.  The text forces us to ask when is it proper to be zealous and when can over zealousness lead to tragedy.

The parashah, however, deals with a myriad of topics.  For example, in this section we read about the history of early feminists.  It is here that the daughters of Zelophekhad win for the first time in history the legal right for a woman to inherit property.  It is in this section then that women go from simply being full human beings to entering onto the path toward legal equality.

The parashah also deals with the needs for all of us to know when to say “good-bye”.  It teaches us that perhaps the hardest task in life is knowing when to exit the stage of history, and when to turn the reins of power over to the next generation.  Moses now understands that he will not enter the land of Israel.  Instead of protesting, we read Moses’ moving words asking for G’d’s blessing over those who will follow him: “…v’asher yotziem v’asher yiviam v’lo tihyeh edat Adoshem ca’tzon asher ayn lahem roeh: who takes them out and will bring them in so that the Lord’s community may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”

Had Moses learned the important lesson that part of successful living is the knowledge that life is a series of exits, and we can determined much of life’s sucesses by how well we navigate these exits?  Is he teaching us, as at a later date Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) would teach us, that there is a time to enter the stage of history and a time to exit from it?   Moses could have protested. G’d’s punishment of death for having struck a rock may have seemed to be too severe, but perhaps Moses had come to understand that the punishment was not against him but rather it was a blessing for Israel.  After the incident of the rock we have to ask ourselves if Moses had lost his touch?

Was his exit a way to teach Israel that no leader lasts forever, that new leadership is part of the natural phenomenon of growth and change.  Understanding this necessary principal of life,  Moses began the transferring of leadership to Joshua by investing him with his authority.  The parashah, however teaches us that the mantel of authority is only part of leadership.   Joshua would have to demonstrate that he had earned the nation’s respect and the right to be its leader. Joshua was tasked with demonstration that he had a willingness to lead, a commitment to the nation and its people, and a sense of humility combined with wisdom and caring.
Moses understood that his job was to develop a smooth transition of power. He realized that he could be no more than a link in the chain of history. How much better the world might be if all of us could live our lives to the fullest, prepare the next generation for the future and know that we have not left our loved ones “like sheep that have no shepherd.”  Do you agree?

Parashat Hukath

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We look forward to seeing you all this Friday night, June 27 at 7pm for our lovely Kaballat Shabbat services.

Saturday June 28, we will hold our Shabbat morning services, starting at 9am, with the Torah service at approximately 9:45am. This week the Koeller family is sponsoring the kidush after services in honor of Kevin’s birthday – mazal tov to you and thank you for all you do.  We hope you all can join us. This is also a special Shabbat in which several of our congregants again read from the Torah.

Sunday June 29th, there will be no Intro to Judaism class. The class will continue on July 13th.

Please note, that although next Friday night is July 4th, come rain or shine or even fireworks, we will still be welcoming in Shabbat at the regular time.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message:

This week’s parshah, Hukath, includes the record of the death of Miriam the Prophetess, older sister of Aharon and Moshe.  The Torah relates in the next paragraph that the People of Israel didn’t have water, and began complaining of thirst.  This juxtaposition led the Midrash to posit that there was a miraculous well which followed B’nei Yisrael in the Wilderness during Miriam’s lifetime, and which disappeared after her death.  In recognition of the vital role which Miriam played in the Exodus and the period of wa ndering, many Jews now place a cup of water on the table at the Passover Seder, in memory of Miriam’s well and in honor of the leadership of Miriam. As her life was a blessing to the People of Israel, may the courage and leadership of Jewish women throughout the ages be a blessing and an inspiration to us.  Shabbat Shalom. Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Rabbi Tarlow of Texas A&M’s Center for Crypto Judaism Weekly Parasha:

This week’s parashah presents us with one of Hebrew Scripture’s most perplexing sections. The section’s name is “Chukat (law of.. )” and you will find it in the Book of Numbers 19:1-22:1. This week’s section deals with three issues that at first glance seem to be unrelated: (1) the issue of the “parah adumah” or as it is know in English “the red heifer,” (2) the death sentence imposed by G’d on Moses and Aaron, and (3) the copper snake that will serve to heal the nation of illnesses brought about by poisonous snake bites.  In other words in each case there is a crisis and a remedy found within the crisis.  Throughout the parashah one overriding question seems to dominate the text: How do we trust G’d even when we do not understand what is happening?  When is trust appropriate and when is it foolish?

Trust is a difficult concept to comprehend.  It tales years to develop trust and only a few seconds to lose it.  Is trust a return to an almost Eden-like state of innocence or naivete? Without proper communication does trust die?  It is noteworthy that the word  “Parah Adumah” (Red Heifer) is, in linguistic terms, closely related to the “Parah Masechah/the Golden (Molten) Calf”.  Additionally, the term “nachash (snake)” reminds us of the snake with poisonous words in the Garden of Eden.  Now the copper snake will cure the people of the poison introduced into their bodies due to a their lack of trust in G’d.  How come? What is the connection? Is the text using a “how” rather than a “what” to teach us an eternal insight into the nature of humanity?

What the text may be teaching us then, is that trust placed in the right sources can lead to holiness and goodness, but trust misplaced leads to sin and destruction. Is this text teaching us something about leadership and reminding us that leaders who believe they are gods poison a society?   Is trusting an issue of in what we trust, how we trust, of where we place our trust?  Is trust a concept that matures with time, that is as we mature we trust may trust people less and trust G’d more, or does trust lie outside of our personal time?  Might it be that this week’s lesson in the subtlest of ways is about Israel’s growth from teenager toward adulthood?

Perhaps this week’s section is a way to remind us that the difference between an adult and a teenager is not in the body’s development but in the development of personal character. To be an adult is to know how to limit oneself. to know whom to trust and who not to trust.  When does too much trust makes us naive and when too little trust makes us cynical?  Might the lessons of the Red Heifer be teaching us that we need to judge people and leaders not by what they say, but rather by what they do?  How gullable are we?  How do we learn when to trust and when not to trust?  What do you think?

Friday services – Parashat Korah

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Chaverim/ Dear Congregants,
We would love you all to join us tonight, Friday June 20 at 7pm for our inspiring Kabalat Shabbat services.
Sunday at the JCC, there is another in the popular summer Splash Bashes!  The event is free and open to the community.  There will be kosher food for purchase, sno-cones, swimming and bouncy water slides!  We hope you can bring your familes.
Sunday afternoon June 22,  at 3:30 pm at Beth El we continue our journey exploring the rich culture, religion and heritage of the Jewish people with Cantor Ben-Moshe and his wonderful Intro to Judaism class.
Our next Saturday morning services are in a week’s time, Saturday, June 28.
We wish you a peaceful Shabbat and we pray, along with the Jewish community in Israel and worldwide, for the safe and speedy return of our three kidnapped boys in Israel, Naftali Fraenkel (16), Gilad Shaar (16) and Eyal Yifrah (19).  
Hazzan Ben-Moshe’s Weekly message:
 This week’s parshah, Korah, deals with a serious challenge to the leadership of Moshe and Aharon-their cousin, Korah, challenges them for the religious leadership of the People of Israel, while Dathan and Aviram of the tribe of Re’uven claim political primacy.  While the rebels cloak their rebellion in high-sounding words, saying that all of the People are holy, so who are Moshe and Aharon to claim leadership-it is clear that their real motivation is a sense of entitlement.  Korah feels entitled to leadership because, as the Midrash tells us, he is the richest of all the Israelites (“as rich as Korah” is a common phrase in Hebrew even today).  Dathan and Aviram seem to think that because they are descended from Re’uven, Ya’acov’s first-born, that leadership is theirs by right.  This sort of thinking is dangerous, of course.  No one is inherently entitled to leadership, but rather one becomes a leader (ideally) because of one’s talents.  Furthermore, leadership should only be taken up for the right reasons. As Rabban Gamliel son of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi would say, “Let all who work for the community do so for the sake of Heaven, and thus the merit of their ancestors will aid them and their righteousness will endure forever”. (Pirkei Avoth, 2:2).  May all who exercise authority do so for the sake of Heaven, and not out of a sense of entitlement.  Shabbat Shalom
Weekly Torah Portion from Rabbi Peter Tarlow of  Texas A&M Center for Crypto Judaism.

This week’s Torah portion is one of the Bible’s most interesting sections. It is also perhaps one of its most relevant to our modern world.  Called Korach after the name of the failed coup d’état’s leader, you will find it in the Book of Numbers 16:1-18:30.
In this week’s portion we read about Korach’s attempt to overthrow Moses. Korach comes close to bringing the nation to a state of civil war.  As in all revolutions, Korach bases his revolt around an ideology that at first appears to be “fair” but upon deeper reflection we soon discover that his policies would lead to anything but fairness.  Korach’s argument is based around the principal that: “col ha’edah culam kdoshim/all of the members of the community are holy”. At first Korach’s proposition appears to be reasonable, but upon further examination we soon discover that it is political theater that in which not only are all people are presumed to have the same skills, but talent is sacrificed to expediency
Korach supposedly fought for social and power redistribution.  Yet if we read his words carefully it becomes clear that what Korach was really suggesting was a return to anarchy. In Korach’s world there would be no difference between equity and equality.  In other words, Korach wanted a world in which to excel is to be unfair to others; a world in which life would be lived at the level of the lowest denominator, and where creativity should be replaced by conformity.  His statement that we are all holy demonstrates the fallacy in his thought.  To be holy is to be special; if all are holy then none are holy. That is the reason that we derive the Hebrew word for holy (kadosh) from the root K-d-Sh meaning to “set apart”. From this same root we derive words such as Kiddush, the prayer over wine and kiddushin meaning marriage. In all cases we make something holy, special, by setting it apart.
The Bible tells us that Moses’ and G’d’s reaction to Korach’s revolt was swift and precise, the social cancer would be totally eliminated.  Is the Torah teaching us that unless we fight a war to win it, then it is better not be involved?  Is the text teaching us that leaders who live in a world of the make-believe or “shoulds”, rather than in the world of “is” in the long run cause more harm than good?  Does this week’s parashah teach us that the consequences of a leader’s mistakes are visited upon the innocent and the guilty alike?
The text clearly does not mean to imply that G’d was pleased by the innocent shedding of blood, but rather it is teaching us that: leaders must be extremely careful in what they do and do not do, that we must be wise enough to look beyond the political rhetoric and realize that words unexamined may lead to tragedies that impact generations to come.
What do you think? Do you agree with the rabbinic interpretation that living in a world of “should” rather than “is” creates a perception of weakness permitting evil to turn into bloodshed?

Parashat Shlach Lecha – Weekend Services

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Chaverim/ Dear Friends,

We hope you can make services tonight, Friday June 13th at 7pm.

Tomorrow morning, Saturday June 14, starting at 9am, we have our Shabbat morning services.  We will have a Torah reading at approximately 9:45 am and a children’s story time too. We are very grateful to Hal and Elaine Jacobs who are sponsoring a very special Father’s Day kidush in honor of their family Hannah, Jo and David.  Please join us for a delicious kidush and weekend of inspiring services.

Sunday June 15, at 3:30pm, we continue our Intro to Judaism class at Beth El.  This class is open to all in the community and it is not too late to join.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message:

This week we read in Parshat Sh’lah L’kha of the major turning point of the narrative of the People of Israel in the desert-their condemnation to an us  generation of wandering before reaching the Promised Land.  To me, this parshah equals the conclusion of the Torah, with its tale of the death of Moses on the borders of the Land, within sight of his goal.  To come so close, and to be so far away, is heartbreaking.  Unfortunately, it seems that B’nei Yisrael weren’t spiritually equipped to enter the Land of Israel- sometimes, there needs to be a transitional generation between slavery and true freedom.  The bodies of the Israelites were liberated, but slavery still had too strong a hold on their minds.  We know that early trauma can have a lasting effect on a person’s psyche.  It goes without saying that We should all be careful to avoid inflicting such harm, but we should also do everything within our power to help those who have so suffered, so that they can reach towards their full potential.  Shabbat Shalom.

From Rabbi Peter Tarlow of Texas A&M Center for Crypto Judaism

This week’s Torah section is: “Sh’lach L’chah meaning: Send forth”.  You will find it in the Book of Numbers 13:1-15:41.  Reading this week’s parashah we cannot help but connect its name to an earlier section found in Genesis: “Lech L’chah meaning Go forth”.  In Lech l’chah G’d tells Abraham to change the place where he lives and to change his life. In this week’s parashah, it is not G’d commanding Abraham to move but Moses who commands the Israelites to send forth twelve spies to scout out the land that generations back G’d had given to the people of Israel.  In the case of Lech l’chah, Abraham obeys the command, successfully moves from Ur to Canaan and from moral darkness to spiritual light.  In this week’s case, the twelve spies will fail.  It is fear and lack of faith in themselves and in G’d that will turn success into failure.


Are not these two Torah portions different sides of the same coin?  Both leaving Ur and Sinai required acts of courage and the need to leave the familiar and accept risk. Both Bible portions share a common theme: that without an optimistic sense of faith, we lack the courage to dream and thus become eternal slaves of fear.


In this week’s section the text teaches us that ten of the spies brought back a highly negative

and pessimistic report stating: the enemy is too strong, the land cannot be conquered. From their perspective Jewish history would die before it was born. As in the case of most pessimists they were excellent in presenting the problem, but offered no alternative solution. Pessimists, despite what they may claim, tend to become frozen in their fear of success.

Realistic optimists take a very different approach to life. Thus, two of the twelve spies take state: “Im chafetz banu ha’Shem v’hevi otanu el ha’aretz ha’zot utnah lanu eretz asher hi zavat chalav udvash/if the Lord so desires it, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, for it is a land flowing with milk and honey.” (14:8). The two positive spikes knew the task would not be easy but with strength of faith and a sense of dedication G’d would not abandon them and they would succeed. These two spies, Caleb and Joshua, teach us an important lesson: Pessimism accomplishes nothing.  Indeed, pessimists not only hold themselves back, but also destroy the spirit of those with whom they associate. Pessimists are not realists. Realists offer solutions, pessimists  offer only fear but never alternative solutions.

Judaism is not a religion for pessimists. We Jews are commanded to be persons of faith; not to be deniers of faith. Judaism insists that we have faith in oneself and in G’d. Is not our history a 5,000 year journey of faith and optimism? Ours is the story of a small people refusing to give into “the reality of the pessimist.”  It was only with faith that even as we faced the horrors of Nazi Europe, we were willing to rebuild a modern nation from the ashes of Europe’s bigotry.
To be an optimist is to sanctify the past and to embrace the future.  As a people of faith we have no other choice then to remember the words of Joshua and Caleb “be strong and to be of good courage” for  like our ancestors in Sinai we have no alternative. Are you a person of optimistic faith or negative pessimism?