Parashat Ekev
Kaballat Shabbat services, TOMORROW, Friday August 3rd at the regular time of 7 pm. We’d love you to join our song filled and heart filled Kaballat shabbat. The only thing missing is YOU! Lay led services tonight as the Chazzan is visiting family in Florida.
SAVE THE DATE: Genesis is celebrating her bat mitzvah on Saturday August 25! We can’t wait to celebrate with her and her family.
Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message:
This week we read Parshat ‘Ekev, the second parshah in the period between Tish’ah B’Av and Rosh Hashanah. As we continue to reflect on what is enduring and what is passing, we read the famous verse “…humanity does not live by bread alone, but rather by that which God speaks does humanity live.” We are not only material beings, but we are created in God’s Image and therefore have a spiritual dimension as well. Both sides of our nature are important, of course: as we read in Pirkei Avoth, “If there is no bread, there is no Torah, and if there is no Torah there is no bread”. We must honor the physical as well as the spiritual part of our nature. And indeed the parshah goes on to say that God is leading us into a fertile and abundant land, and we are to eat and be satisfied-and then praise God for that abundance. We should always strive to find that balance. Shereen from the West Coast and I from the East Coast wish Shabbat Shalom to the entire Beth El family.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
Shabbat candle lighting times are at 8:05 p.m.
Enrolling now for Hebrew School.
Parents: Don’t let your children forget their Hebrew.
Beth El BERS is now enrolling for our one of a kind Hebrew immersion and regular Sunday school. We have classes for three year olds to teens. The children will continue to build on their Hebrew writing, reading and verbal skills, all while making friends in the friendliest congregation possible. Taught by experienced Israeli teachers – your children will learn through music, dance, cooking and most important, a whole lot of fun!
For more details, contact us at info@bethelaustin.org. Check out our website http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com
הורים ומשפחות יקרות, בית הספר של ימי ראשון ״בבית-אל״ פותח את
ההרשמה לשנת הלימודים הבאה עלינו לטובה 2018-2019.
אל תתנו לילדיכם לשכוח את העברית והצטרפו ללמידה משמעותית וחווייתית שמועברת על ידי מורים ישראלים מנוסים
לגילאי 3-16 בקהילה הכי ידידותית ומסבירת פנים.
הילדים ימשיכו לבנות את אוצר המילים , כתיבה, קריאה ודיבור והכל באווירה מהנה, וקלילה, בהמחשת סיפורים, שירים,
בישול, חגים והוואי ישראלי.
כמו כן הוקמה קבוצה מדהימה לבני העשרה עם תכנים מעשירים. קבוצת הנערים/ נערות (של אחר בר/בת מצווה) נפגשים פעם בחודש .
לפרטים :
Info@bethelaustin.org
Facebook: Beth El Austin
“Bowling with my Buddies” to Kick off Congregation Beth El Men’s Club Events
By Shereen Ben-Moshe
Check out the article in the Jewish Outlook!
http://www.thejewishoutlook.com/…/bowling-with-my-buddies-t…
While Congregation Beth El has existed for more than 36 years in Austin, it was only recently that the Men’s Club has officially taken flight.
The sisterhood has been holding monthly events for several years, and in fact has greatly encouraged the men in the congregation and community to start a men’s club. Last year a few exciting events were held and they proved extremely popular. From Chillin’ and Grillin’, to watching a University of Texas basketball game, there was something for everyone.
According to the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, the role of a men’s club at a congregation includes offering programming for men; enhancing Jewish observance at the synagogue and at home; increasing involvement in the Jewish community and Israel; working on projects to support the congregation; creating camaraderie and ruach as well as providing social and recreational activities. The Beth El Men’s Club strives to do this and more.
Founding Men’s Club member Scott Berman said, “The Beth El Men’s Club helps me to achieve new levels of service, explore my Jewish identity, with leaders of our community who are committed to service in support of our synagogue. It helps to provide quality programs for the men of Beth El where we have a place to socialize and learn. The Men’s Club is a priority for me because of the friends I have made, the community it provides, and the chance to contribute to our synagogue.”
A similar sentiment is shared by all those who have attended this year.
The men’s club is free and open to all in the Austin Jewish community. Join Beth El Sunday, August 19, at Highland Lanes, 8909 Burnet Road, from 1:45 p.m. to 4 p.m., and for any upcoming events throughout the year. ■
For more info on the Men’s Club and all things Beth El, contact info@bethelaustin.org, visit www.bethelaustin.org
, or join the congregation’s Facebook group, Beth El Austin.
Also in Shalom Austin’s Jewish Outlook newspaper:
Congregation Beth El Announces Teen Chai Mitzvah Program
COMMUNITY NEWS, LOCAL SYNAGOGUES
http://www.thejewishoutlook.com/…/congregation-beth-el-anno…
Congregation Beth El is offering Austin Jewish teenagers an opportunity to meet each other, learn together and volunteer to do mitzvot through its Teen Chai Mitzvah Program.
The hands-on leadership program includes texts to spark discussions, suggestions for increasing meaning in ritual observances and examples of volunteer opportunities for each topic that can inspire the group towards creative ideas for social action.
Upon completion of the 9-month program, through Beth El’s partnership with Jewish National Fund, participants will have trees planted in Israel in their honor. Each participant will receive a tree certificate.
The Teen Chai Mitzvah Program is open to the Jewish community. Participant families do not need to belong to Congregation Beth El.
Chai Mitzvah Study Sessions are held on the second and fourth Saturdays each month from 10 to 11 a.m. Teens and their families are welcome to join in on Shabbat morning services and kiddush lunch after the class. Teens may be dropped off as early at 9 a.m. and picked up by 1 p.m.
The mitzvah project is typically held one Sunday per month. Teens can earn volunteer hours for this day.
For those who find two study sessions per month too much of a commitment, program leaders encourage participating on one Shabbat per month and a Sunday mitzvah day.
The Teen Chai Mitzvah Program will begin September 8. Cost is $150. A sibling discount and tuition assistance are available. ■
For more information, contact info@bethelaustin.org
A Personal Journey to Share with Friends
Coming Soon – Join our
Chai Mitzvah Adult study group!
Chai Mitzvah combines study, ritual and social action, providing the framework for a meaningful Jewish journey.
There are five components to the nine-month Chai Mitzvah experience:
Group study – meet monthly with a set curriculum
Independent study – choose a Jewish topic you would like to explore
Ritual – choose a ritual or spiritual practice to incorporate into your life
Social Action – either individually or as a group, choose a local volunteer opportunity
Celebrate! At the end of the nine months, acknowledge the journey with a celebration, receive a certificate, and have a tree planted in Israel in your honor through Chai Mitzvah’s partnership with Jewish National Fund.
To learn more, or to join our Chai Mitzvah group, contact Shereen Ben-Moshe, info@bethelaustin.org.
Huge thank you to Marty and Katie Price who came to services last Friday night, and Marty who spoke about the wonderful organization, Hebrew Free Loan Association of Austin. Please check out their website!
www.hfla.org
How Proverbs says goodbye!
Sandy Kress
“She does not fear snow for her household, for all her household is clothed in scarlet…Strength and majesty are her clothing, and she laughs at future days. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of loving-kindness is on her tongue.” Proverbs 31:21, 25-26
We come to the end of our study of Proverbs. And we do so, appropriately, in a final, compelling look at the woman of valor. She gives us just the right send-off. What do we find?
First, as we’ve seen in previous encounters with her, our heroine works with vision and great effort to care for herself and those in her world. She clothes them, all of them, in garments of scarlet, warm and life protecting. Understood one way, this action on her part assures that all are physically clad, protected in body from the elements. At another level, it suggests that she’s helping all take proper, even regal, care of their souls, with the covering of wisdom, love, and good deeds.
What does it mean to be protected from snow? The best answer I’ve seen is from Toras Emes. There we learn that one approach the Evil Inclination takes to tempt people is to cool a person’s desire to do good, telling the person, “You will be mediocre at best. You will never become truly great, so why bother?” So, read in that spirit, the woman of valor may be clothing her household to keep warm their ardor, in order that they become their best selves.
Next, we see that the woman of valor has strength and majesty as her own clothing. What does that mean?
In part, it may mean that she has strong moral character and the discipline of behavior, a sort of dignity or integrity, to stay true to Godly principles. The text, moreover, helps us go deeper: we learn that “she laughs at future days.” This is hugely important. Let’s dive into a few of the interpretations that the verse has spawned.
Some say it means that her clothing – both physical and spiritual – are lasting and help prepare her for old age.
Some say that she is prepared for death. As the sage Rashi teaches, she faces death without fear, indeed joyously, because she has lived in love and righteousness, with God’s honor.
I believe that we also learn here that she lives in faith. As with the psalmist, she fears no evil. She has trust in God’s nearness and protection. In other words, she has peace of mind and is confident and prepared for all the days that may come and all that they may bring. She’s done her part, conducting a well-spent life in virtue, and now finds strength in God’s beneficent providence.
We take leave of the woman of valor with the image of her speaking, perhaps speaking to each of us. She opens her mouth with wisdom and has the teaching of loving-kindness on her tongue. As we wave her our goodbyes, she wants us to think of, and always remember, the wisdom she and the Book of Proverbs have imparted to us. And, she wants us to know that the final taste we have of the experience should be one of loving-kindness.
Let’s keep today’s ideas in mind as we close out our yearlong study of Proverbs, and, in our learning, seek to emulate the woman of valor. We’ll do our part to know and live true to God’s teaching. We’ll approach the future with faith in God. And, to the end of our days, we’ll busy ourselves in acts of speaking God’s wisdom, with the intention that the after-effect of it all is loving-kindness.
