Friday night services and so much more

Shalom Congregants and friends,

We are getting ready for our lovely weekly Kabbalat Shabbat service tonight at 7pm. Same time, same place, we’ll save a seat for you.  Rabbi Gisser will be giving the Dvar Torah.

Sunday morning at 10am we are restarting the Hebrew school with both our old students, some new ones and three wonderful teachers We welcome back Morah Michelle and welcome/ bruchot habaot to Morah Shiry and Morah Anat.

Of course, Sunday afternoon sees the weekly Intro to Judaism class at 3:30 pm, and again, this class is free and open to all levels. Just bring a love and thirst for knowledge.

As you may have noticed, we have started a mid week Mincha/Maariv evening service at 7pm.  Every Wednesday we will be there for this inspiring service available to you all.  Come check it out!

Work Day – Sunday September 14 from 1-3 pm we will have a work day at Beth El.  We will bring the tools, please come and help us

Dues statements were sent out last week.  Please help support our congregation by sending in the dues and if you are not a member, please consider becoming one this year or sending in a donation. We are truly the most affordable congregation and make great efforts to remain affordable to everyone. If the full dues are  hardship, please contact us directly (bethelaustin@yahoo.com).

We look forward to seeing you all soon and wish you and your families a Shabbat Shalom.

This week’s parshah, Ki Tetzeh, contains a large number of laws and regulations, both ritual and civil, dealing with issues such as inheritance, ritual cleanliness, divorce and many others.  Of especial interest is the rule towards the end of the parshah-“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, large and small.  You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, large and small.  You shall have only a full and honest weight; you shall have only a full and honest measure, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”(Deut. 25:13-15). Our Sages teach that when we die and come to our final judgement, the first question asked of us is not did we pray every day, nor is it about our observance of Shabbat and kashrut, but rather, “Did you conduct your business affairs honestly and fairly?”  Before anything else, we must treat each other in an ethical manner-only then do we worry about our “religious” practice.  “Mitzvot bein adam l’havero”, commandments concerning relations with other people, actually take precedence over “mitzvot bein adam la-Maqom”, commandments concerning relations with God, or ritual commandments.  Just as we are taught to seek forgiveness first from our fellow human beings and only then from God, even at the end our relationships with each other are prioritized-a good thing to remember in this season of reflection and repentance.  Shabbat Shalom.