CANCELLED due to a funeral.  To be rescheduled soon.  Cycling With The Cantor,  Join us on Sunday, December 2, at 3:30 pm for our first casual hour and a half  bike ride  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.                     

Hanukkah Party

Please plan to join us for our annual Hanukkah party on Sunday, December 9, at 5:00 pm.   We will be serving Barry’s famous latkes, singing and having a festive time.  Please plan to bring a dairy or parve dish.
In December, Saturday Morning Services will be held on 12/08 and 12/22.  Friday night services are held every Friday night at 7:00 pm.

Cantor Ben Moshe Message: This week we read in Parshat Vayishlah of the Patriarch Jacob’s return home to Canaan after twenty years. Ya’akov is older now and wiser, and we see the change in his style of prayer from last week’s parshah. At the beginning of Parshat Vayetze, Ya’akov says that *if* God does certain things for him, *then* he will worship God and tithe his belongings. This time, before his confrontation with his brother Esav, Ya’kov makes no demands-he only expresses gratitude for what he has been given up until then, and humbly asks for God’s aid in facing his possibly vengeful brother. This is the prayer of an adult-not treating God as “a cosmic bellhop”, in the phrase of R. Abraham Joshua Heschel, but rather pouring out his heart to the Creator of all. May we follow his example, approaching God with due humility, and recognizing all that God has done, and continues to do, for us.
We look forward to seeing everyone at Kabbalat Shabbat services tomorrow, Friday night, 11/28, at our regular time of 7:00 pm.