Parashat Ki Tavo and Slichot

Friday Night Services, Tonight 9/4, at 7 PM. Join us for our weekly song-filled kabbalat shabbat.

This Saturday, September 5th, at 9:30 PM, we will be gathering for a beautiful and meaningful Selichot service, as well as Havdallah.

The next Saturday morning services are Saturday, September 12, at 9 am.

And of course, Rosh Hashanah starts Sunday, September 13, at 7 PM.

Please check out the High Holiday schedule on our website: www.bethelaustin.org. We hope that you and your family can come and celebrate with us.

Hebrew School off to a great start! Next class is September 20
This Sunday morning, the BERS started off the year on the right note. We welcomed several new students including Eli G., Sean, Mary and Tamar. Sunday was really a Funday with their morot Shiry, Bev and Anat! Huge thank you to Cantor Ben-Moshe for sounding the SHOFAR and teaching the kiddos all about the meaning of this ancient instrument and rituals around it. For more information, go to info@bethelaustin.org It’s not too late to join the fun.

The Kiddish Crew will be busy next week! We will gather next Thursday, September 10, both in the morning at 11:30 AM and in the evening at 7PM to cook for shabbat and the lovely Rosh Hashanah kiddushes. Please help by cooking, donating needed items and of course, sponsorships.

SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, November 15th. (PLEASE NOTE THE CORRECTED DATE) Join Beth El in a special evening honoring our very own Chazzan, Cantor Ben-Moshe. SUNDAY, 15 NOVEMBER. More details to follow.

Community News:
JCC Senior Rosh Hashanah Luncheon will be Wednesday September 9th at 11:30 AM and is open to all seniors in the Austin Jewish community. Please go to www.shalomaustin.org for more details and e.mail annie.skelton@shalomaustin.org to RSVP or with any questions.

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
This week’s parshah, Ki Tavo, begins with a description of the ceremony for bringing First Fruits, Bikkurim, to the Sanctuary. On Shavu’ot, farmers would bring the first of their crops to the altar, and ceremonially dedicate them to God. The first part of the dedication, “My father was a wandering Aramean who descended to Egypt…” is also found in the Passover Haggadah, by way of providing background to the story of the Exodus. We are now quickly approaching the fall Holiday Season, which culminates in Sukkoth, the harvest festival. At this time, we are also reminded of the other two Pilgrimage Festivals. The cycle of the Jewish year is incontrovertibly linked. May we go into this Holiday Season, inaugurated by the Slihoth Service on Saturday night, in the spirit not only of penitence, but also of joy for all of the blessings which God has bestowed upon us. Shabbat Shalom.Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Rabbi Peter Tarlow’s Weekly Parasha: From the Center for Latino Jewish relations
This week’s parashah is called “Ki Tavo’. You will find it in the Book of Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8. The parashah presents further constitutional provisions, which are to form the basis of Israel’s governing laws. The central theme of this week’s parashah, however, may be less in the specifics and more in the philosophical emotions surrounding the law. Although this week’s parashah at first glance, appears to emphasize the idea of reward and punishment for living within or outside of the law, a second and subtler lesson reveals a more philosophical bent.Starting in chapter 28:47 the reader notes a change in literary tone. This week’s parashah teaches us that pessimism and negative thinking result in a spiritual and ethical sense of hunger and thirst. On the other hand, positive thinking leads to joy and accomplishment. In other words, the parashah challenges us to ask ourselves if we often cause our own problems. Do we choose to see the world through negative or positive eyes? We may see this week’s section as a warning that if we spend so much energy on crises and are stuck in a never-ending decision making mode then in the end we accomplish little.This week’s parashah teaches us that people who serve G’d with joy and gladness find the tenacity to keep on working until in the end they succeed. Throughout this week’s parashah we see that there are two visions of the world: (1) to give up, to be self-centered and to expect the world to serve us or (2) to see the world as an unfolding drama with limitless opportunities in which we make life an ongoing adventure. The first option’s results are to bring failure and defeat upon ourselves; the second option’s results are to find joy and gladness in this world.These are important choices to make as we approach Rosh Hashanah 5776. Which lifestyle will be yours in the New Year?