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?
