Friday Night Services and Kabbalah Class

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Friday night services tonight, February 1 at our regular time of 7:00 pm.

Kabbalah – Saturday February 2 at 7:00 pm  Rabbi Monty of Congregation Shalom Rav will be giving a lecture on Kabbalah. Rabbi Monty, the Educational Director and Rabbi for Congregation Shalom Rav, teaches classes on a variety of Jewish topics and his discussion on February 2 will cover Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish wisdom that reveals how the universe and life work. On a literal level, the word Kabbalah means receiving or received tradition and its teachings are meant to explain the relationship between the eternal and the finite. Currently popular with many Hollywood celebrities, come to find out what Kabbalah is really about. The lecture will be held in memory of Freddie Grant z”l, an avid member of Beth El and the Austin Jewish community.

Sunday February 3rd: Join the Beth El sisterhood as we learn to make Patrice’s famous Challah and other Jewish delicacies. Congregation Beth El, 1pm.

Next Friday Night, February 8th, Scout Shabbat: Services at start at 6:30 pm followed by a community dinner in honor of Scout Shabbat

Cantor Ben Moshe Message: This week’s parshah, Yithro, contains one of the most famous passages in the Bible-‘Asereth HaD’varim, the “Ten Commandments”. It is not widely known that this passage was originally part of the daily liturgy, recited along with the Sh’ma. The Sages removed ‘Asereth HaD’varim centuries ago, however. They were concerned that people would consider these the only commandments in the Torah, or at any rate the most important. Our Tradition teaches that all the mitzvoth are of equal value-that putting a rampart around a roof for safety is just as much a mitzvah as refraining from covetousness. Our Tradition is too big to fit on two stone tablets.

Ilana’s Famous Whiskey Cake

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Everyone loved Ilana’s whiskey cake that was served at Isaac’s bar mitzah and many people asked for the recipe.  Accordingly, we are posting on our web page.  ENJOY.
 
****WHISKEY  CAKE****
5                      large                eggs
3/4                   cups                 oil
1                      3.5 oz. box      vanilla instant pudding
1/2                   cup                  sour cream
1/2                  cup                  Whiskey.
1                      box                  Duncan-Hines Yellow cake mix.
1                      cup                  chopped walnuts or pecans
12 oz.              Pkg.                 Nestle semi sweet chocolate morsels
12 oz.              Pkg.                 Nestle butterscotch morsels.
Grease well an Angel Cake tube pan [I use baker’s joy spray]. Heat oven to 350F. 
In mixer beat eggs add oil – beat, add pudding – beat, add sour cream – beat, add whisky – beat, add cake mix.
Beat well. Fold in morsels and nuts.
Put cake in a preheated oven. Bake 1-1 1/4 hours.
Cool 60m [ if not cool cake will separate]. Take cake out of pan.
If you want chocolate cake use chocolate pudding instead of vanilla pudding.

Services 1/11 and 1/12 Parasha Va-era

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A reminder of our regular Friday night and Saturday morning services this weekend, January 11th and 12th.  Tonight, Friday night services start at 7:00 pm. Tomorrow, Saturday morning services start at 9:00 am with the Torah reading around 10:00 am, with a children’s service during the Torah service.  As special thank you to Hal and Elaine Jacobs for sponsoring the kidush lunch.

Our popular, Cycling with the Cantor, has been scheduled for this Sunday January 13th at 3:30 pm. The bike ride will be through northwest Austin led by the Cantor. The route will not be too hilly. We will meet at Beth El, 8902 Mesa Drive. Bring your bike, a water bottle, and a good spirit. Please pass on to friends. The event is free and open to the community. You do not have to be a member of Beth El to join us on the bike ride.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message: This week we read Parshat Va’era, during which the Ten Plagues begin, and the Liberation from Egypt is set in motion. This Shabbat is also Rosh Hodesh, the beginning of the New Month of Sh’vat. In ancient times, Rosh Hodesh was a minor holiday, with feasting and special sacrifices. In our day, the observance is limited mostly to the recitation of Hallel and Musaph, and in refraining from certain expressions of mourning. One aspect of Rosh Hodesh that is still relevant in our time is its status as a day of repentance, much like Rosh Hashanah. Once a month we are reminded of our capacity to start over in a positive manner. While Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanos taught that every day is proper for penitence, on Rosh Hodesh we can be especially mindful. Shabbat Shalom and Hodesh Tov, a peaceful Shabbat and a Good Month to all.

Events in January 2013

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We have many wonderful events coming up that will help make Beth El 2013 a truly fabulous year. We have something for everyone at Congregation Beth El, so we hope you can join us in as many events as you can.
As every Friday night, services will be tonight, Friday January 4 at 7pm.  In January, Saturday morning services will be on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month which are 1/12 and 1/26.   Our Kiddush luncheon on 1/12 will be sponsored by Hal and Elaine Jacobs.  A special thank you to the Jacobs family!  Please let our congregation know if you would like to sponsor a kiddush in the coming year.

Our popular, Cycling with the Cantor, has been scheduled for Sunday January 13th at 3:30 pm.  The  bike ride will be through northwest Austin led by the Cantor. The route will not be too hilly. We will meet at Beth El, 8902 Mesa Drive. Bring your bike, a water bottle, and a good spirit. Please pass on to friends. The event is free and open to the community. You do not have to be a member of Beth El to join us on the bike ride.
Congregation Beth El will be holding a Tu Be Shevat Seder and dairy/parev potluck dinner on Friday January 25 at 6:30pm. Please bring your family and friends to our ever popular potlucks and celebrate this special Jewish holiday with us.

Highlights for February include a guest lecture and discussion by Rabbi Monty Eliasov in honor of the late Freddie Grant (z’l).  Join us on February 2 for havdallah service at 7:00 pm followed by a discussion on Kabbalah.  On Saturday March 2, we will continue our visiting lecture series with Rabbi Peter Tarlow of Texas A&M University who will give a talk about the fascinating topic of crypto-Judaism.  Additional details to follow by email.

Community Events in January:

  • An Evening of Comedy returns to the JCC on Saturday, January 26 at 8 PM. The cabaret evening features internationally renowned comedian MODI sharing funny life stories, shticks and giggles, one-liners, head shaking and general meshugas. The program opens with local favorites Shana Merlin & Merlin Works Improv Comedy. Tickets, which include general admission seating and one drink ticket, are $25 before January 23 at 5 PM and $30 after January 23 and at the door. Register online at www.shalomaustin.org/comedy.
  • Tapestry of Jewish Learning is celebrating its eleventh year of excellence in Jewish adult education and features 28 engaging classes led by dynamic experts, academics and area clergy on Sunday, January 27 at 10 AM at the JCC. The Chip Rainey Memorial Lecture features Dr. Leonard Saxe discussing “The Jewish Future in America: Musings of a Social Scientist.” Saxe is a Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies and Social Policy at Brandeis University, where he directs the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and the Steinhardt Social Research Institute. Registration is $25 before January 23 at 5 PM and $30 after January 23 and at the door and includes a kosher lunch for all participants. Register online at www.shalomaustin.org/tapestry.

Cantor Ben- Moshe’s weekly message:  This week we begin the Book of Shemot (Exodus) with the parshah of the same name. The Sages explain the first verse as follows-“These are the names (shemot) of the Children of Israel who came to Egypt”. This refers to the fact that they kept their own names, and more generally their culture, and did not assimilate into Egyptian society. As a result, when Moses came to tell their descendants that the God of their ancestors had sent him, they knew the God to whom he was referring. Our survival as a people over the last 2000 years of exile has depended upon our preservation of our own culture-even when we take names in the language of the country in which we live, we preserve our Hebrew names for religious purposes. The Rabbis said that the fact that the Israelites preserved their names made them worthy of redemption from slavery. May we, their descendants who live in far better circumstances, also preserve our Jewish names as well as the rest of our culture, and may we be as worthy of redemption.

Shabbat Services 12/21 and 12/22

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Congregants and Friends,

We are having our regular Friday night and Saturday morning services this weekend, December 21 and 22.  Tonight, Friday night services start at 7:00 pm. Tomorrow, Saturday morning services start at 9:00 am with the Torah reading around 10:00 am.  Tomorrow, we are going to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Adam and Ilana Heller’s grandson Isaak Heller.  We wish Adam, Ilana and his whole family a hearty Mazal Tov.  Please join us in this exciting simcha.

Cantor Ben Moshe Message:  In this week’s parshah, Vayigash, we see one of the most beautiful turns of phrase in the Torah. Judah, explaining to Joseph why he cannot face his father’s grief if he fails to bring Benjamin home, says “…nafsho k’shurah b’nafsho”, “…their souls are bound together”. Indeed, our souls are bound together with those of our loved ones-we share in their joy as well as in their grief. If we take a wider view, the souls of all of the People of Israel are bound together, and those of all the human family.  Our souls are bound up with those of those families affected by last week’s horror in Newtown, CT-not only the Jewish family that lost a child, but all of those whose loved ones were senselessly taken from them. May God comfort them along with all those who mourn, and may we as a society take every possible step to ensure that events like these never reoccur.