Friday night services at Beth El and upcoming events – Parashat Toldot

Congregants and Friends,

Please join us for our regular Friday night services , November 1st, at 7pm in which we will usher in Shabbat with our beautiful song filled services.

Upcoming events at Beth El – HOLD THE DATE:

Davening for Dummies
Interested in sharpening your synagogue skills and learning more about the service?  Gabbai Bam Rubenstein will be teaching an ongoing Davening for Dummies class on second Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 pm at Congregation Beth El.
Wednesday, November 13 at 7:00 pm This class will cover the reasons and meaning for saying Kaddish, including sitting Shiva and the mourning period.  The class will also briefly provide an overview of Jewish burial practices.
Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 pm This class will cover and discuss the tallit, t’fellin, and the basis and reasons for a minyan.    Wanting to share his knowledge and help inform and educate the community, Bam Rubenstein is a lively speaker whose classes are sure to be educational and entertaining.  Bam, a native of New York, grew up in Queens, graduated from Hebrew High School at Forest Hills Jewish Center, and attended both extension courses and Torah Leadership Seminars at Yeshiva University.  Bam will share his knowledge and education in this ongoing series. 
Crypto Judaism Lecture – November 16 at 6:30 pm  Rabbi Peter Tarlow of A&M Hillel will continue his ongoing series of lectures on Crypto Judaism, Saturday night November 16, at Congregation Beth El.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message: This week’s parshah, Toldot Yitzhak, deals extensively with the conflict between Esav and Ya’akov, the twin sons of Yitzhak and Rivkah.  The conflict begins in the womb, and as the brothers grow older they take on two distinct personalities. Esav is a hunter, a man of action, but his courage and strength are offset by his impulsiveness and tendency towards violence.  Ya’akov, the younger, is more thoughtful and introspective, but is afraid of direct confrontation, often resorting to trickery and deceit to get his way.  Neither brother is complete-each has good qualities which the other lacks.  It is not until two weeks from now that we will see Ya’akov face his brother head-on, when he earns the name Yisrael and becomes worthy of being the ancestor of the People of Israel.  At that point, the Torah also describes him as ‘shalem’, ‘whole’.  May we, the descendants of Ya’akov/Yisrael, combine intelligence and thoughtfulness with courage, so that we can be shlemim, wholehearted in our devotion to doing God’s work.  Shabbat Shalom.