Shabbat Shalom and we so look forward to seeing you all tonight at 7 PM via zoom and in person in our beloved shul. Please let us know if you would like to attend in person services? All health and safety measures will be in place.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/847168183
Meeting ID: 847 168 183
Password: 010620
Hazzan Ben-Moshe’sWeekly Message:In Pirkei Avoth 5:19 we read “A controversy for Heaven’s sake will have lasting value, but a controversy not for Heavens sake will not endure. What is an example of a controversy for Heaven’s sake? The controversy (debates) of Hillel and Shammai. What is an example of a controversy not for Heaven’s sake? The controversy (rebellion) of Korah and his confederates.”
This saying points to our parshah this week, Parshat Korah, which recounts the attempt of Korah the Levite and Dathan and Aviram of the Tribe of Reuven to wrest leadership from Moshe and Aharon. Theirs was a very different “controversy” from that of Hillel and Shammai. The latter honestly disagreed about several points of Jewish Law, and debated their viewpoints. Ultimately, each accepted the outcome of those debates, whether they won or lost. Korah, Dathan and Aviram were interested only in self-aggrandizement, and thus when they lost their defeat was total. This saying also points out a logical fallacy which is all too common-the propensity to blame both sides in a dispute. It is very easy to use the words of Mercutio in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”-“A plague on both their houses!” It feels to us unfair to take one side over another-but sometimes one side is absolutely in the wrong. Korah et al were wrong-there was nothing in their rebellion that was justified, even though they falsely claimed overreach on the part of Moshe and Aharon. We should certainly try to judge fairly at all times-but sometimes fair judgement requires coming down firmly on the side of righteousness and justice. Shabbat Shalom.Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
Candle lighting in Austin at 8:19 PM.
Annual Meeting July 12Also, save the date. Our annual “state of the shul” meeting will be held on Sunday, July 12, at 4:30 p.m. .
We plan to discuss shul business and elect officers for the upcoming year. To nominate a current member as an officer, please send an email to Bob Miller, secretary and chair of the nominating committee at
bmiller111158@gmail.com
Nominations should be submitted as soon as possible and no later than 7 days before the board meeting. The meeting is open to all – they are always a great deal of fun and very inspiring. We are blessed to be part of this small, yet vibrant and truly chesed filled congregation.
Again, we would like to send Shannon and Jay our deepest condolences on the loss of Shannon’s beloved mom Marlene Hyatt. We have such fond memories of Marlene joining us at the High Holidays and wish the whole Shapiro family many beautiful memories and comfort in these hard days.
Mazal Tov to Bam Rubenstein on his ordination to the Rabbinate this week. We are so proud of your huge accomplishment. We are all looking forward to when we can bring out the Torah and celebrate as a congregation by giving you an aliya as Rav Yehuda Leib ben Rafoel v’Shoshana!
Save the Date. Let’s have a fun afternoon at Town Lake this summer, where each family rents a canoe or kayak and enjoys each other’s company together. The prefect Social Distance event.
Gone….But not….
by Jared Brudno
Please take the opportunity to visit us here and explore and share in what we have discovered. I promise you you won’t be disappointed. There’s so much more I can say and so much more I would like to say. But let’s save that for another time. Just know how much we feel and know that you at Beth El are as much a part of all this as we are. That’s kind of mysterious but absolutely true. It’s a blessing we could never imagine. It’s a blessing we will hold dear for the rest of our lives. Our journey is your journey and yours is ours. That’s the wondrous thing about our nation is that we are all traveling together to the same destination. Thank you for traveling with us and for allowing us to travel with you.
One last note. My father Walter’s, of blessed memory, yahrzeit was on Adar 16 near Elaine Shapiro’s passing. I meant to get to minyan for Kaddish Yaton, but alas didn’t. So in his honor I just want to say a few brief things about my father and mother Benetta of blessed memories and also about the founders of Beth El. I think it also relates to the recent passing of Elaine Shapiro of blessed memory and all those of our founders and ancestors who preceded her. My father was a good Jew, a soldier, and a lawyer. He and my mother upheld the highest levels of truth, morality and justice their whole lives. My father was an assistant prosecutor at the War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg and presented the case against Alfred Rosenberg and his agency of the nazi campaign whose mission was to loot and destroy Jewish and other cultures completely. My mother was an art historian at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts for many years, so they were like-minded in cultural affairs. They knew how grievous cultural crime was and continued to fight similar attacks on our culture and others and on moral humanity their whole lives. In the 1950’s and 1960’s they were outspoken opponents of McCarthyism, the American Nazi party, the John Birch society, and the KKK in Dallas, so much so that we had to leave town for a while for a couple of years because of terroristic threats against us. My father you see had openly publicly debated them on their values and left them looking foolish. We left because his associates and our friends warned us that if we stayed our lives were at risk. One of his associates remarked, “Walter you need to get out of town for a while because if you stay they are going to kill you.” I used to see some of the threatening postcards in a little box on the desk in our house saying things like “why don’t you get your Jewish Commie ass out of town?” My father was a magnificent orator and a master in debate. My mother was also very clever and outspoken against anything she perceived as not being good and correct.
I say all of this to remind myself and hopefully you as well how important all those who came before us and all of us are. The founders of Beth El made a courageous decision to maintain the traditions of Traditional Conservative Judaism. I’m sure it cost them a price socially and in other ways which we may never know of. I know it cost them a lot of time, money and effort. There’s lots of different ways to approach Judaism, but our founders wanted to make sure that the values of antiquity were preserved, treasured, and unsullied. As some of our last founding members leave us, I think it’s important for us to remember what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how those before us made it possible. If not for our ancestors and their unwavering courage and dedication to stay close to the truth of Torah no matter what, where would we be? I see what the founders did in establishing Beth El in the same courageous manner and aspect that my parents did in revealing untruths, maintaining morality, and speaking out, no matter what the cost. Ashreinu, Ma Tov Chelkeinu, U’ma Noim Goroleinu, U’ma Yofo Y’rushoseinu. Translation: We are happy, how goodly is our lot, and how pleasant is our fortune and how beautiful our heritage.
Maybe I’ll have courage and understanding to fight the same corrosive ideologies in our world and our time to preserve and restore the treasure of our ancestors. The Parsha near the week of my father’s yahrzeit spoke about the new Tablets Moshe made. Defending the people standing in harm’s way, willing to sacrifice everything for everyone, so it was for Moshe, so it was in some way for my father and mother, although I’m not in anyway comparing them to Moshe and so it was for Elaine and Morris Shapiro and all the other founders and leaders and congregants at Beth El. So may it be for us b’Ezrat Hashem. Without you where would we all be?
Beth El can now accept donations of stocks through a brokerage account. Please contact our treasurer at bethelaustin@yahoo.com.
