Congregants and Friends,
Please join us for our special Friday night services tonight, February 7 at 7pm.
Our regular Saturday morning services will be tomorrow Saturday February 8th, starting at 9am with the Torah service at 10 am.
The children will be having story time and songs as well as participating in the regular services. We will have a lovely dairy kidush after.
Sunday, February 9, 2014, at 2 pm: Please join us as we go to the Women’s Basketball Game at the University of Texas against Iowa State. Admission is $4.00 for the game and $5.00 for parking. Please let us know if you plan to attend.
Enhance your Davening! Wednesday February 12
Interested in sharpening your synagogue skills and learning more about the service? Gabbai Bam Rubenstein will be teaching the ongoing Davening class on the second Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 pm at Congregation Beth El. This coming week, February 12th, Bam will be delving into the reasons for Kidush, Kippa and Tefillin.
Wednesday, February 12 at 12:00 noon: Sisterhood get-to-gether at Austin Terrier, 3435 Greystone Drive, Austin. Kids are welcome. There is a kids menu. Ladies, you can come for lunch, coffee, dessert or just to say hello. They serve sandwiches, salads, sweets, etc. Please RSVP to Elaine Jacobs at jaqel@yahoo.com
Community News: Please consider attending:
B’nai B’rith Austin Presents: Warsaw Ghetto and Holocaust Survivor Max Glauben Sunday, March 2 11:30 AM- 1 PM Temple Beth Shalom, 7300 Hart Lane Free and Open to the Community
In addition to Mr. Glauben’s presentation, we will show a special video “Plagues of the Soul.” Max is an extraordinary speaker and a beloved person who speaks throughout the country and continues to lead groups to Europe. Glauben says”The story of the Holocaust has to be told to the new generation, but it needs to be delivered in a manner that does not create hate.” .
CANTOR BEN-MOSHE’S MESSAGE: This week’s parshah, Tetzaveh, contains a description of the vestments of the Cohen Gadol, the High Priest, as well as the clothing of ordinary priests. The latter was to consist of a belted linen tunic, linen breeches and a linen cap. This was the outfit worn by cohanim from the time of the Exodus until the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE. Interestingly, that garb is now once again being worn, by students at the ‘Ateret Cohanim yeshivah in the Old City of Jerusalem. This yeshivah consists entirely of cohanim, who concentrate their studies on the laws of the Temple Service, in order to be prepared if and when the the Third Temple is built. They walk the streets of Jerusalem today, wearing linen tunics, breeches and caps-a bit of our Torah still living today. Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Tarlow of Texas A&M’s Center for Crypto Judaism:
This week’s parashah, called “Tzaveh” (Exodus 27:20-30:11) is not easy to read nor to understand. When we first read the week’s parashah we see what appears to be an endless amount of detail concerning the clothing that the high priest (ha’cohen ha’gadol) was to use. Seeing the endless detail, it is not unfair for the modern reader to wonder about the relevance of this section to his/her life. Today’s reader may well ask what spiritual value the parashah has to offer us. A closer reading of the text in Hebrew, however, reveals a great number of insights into the meaning of life and provides us with a great many spiritual challenges.
From the very beginning of the portion the Hebrew reader will suspect that the text has a great deal more to tell us than at first meets the eye. For example, the text begins with the words: “V’Atah Tetzaveh/You shall instruct/command ,,,”. This phrase does not seem unusual in translation, but the Hebrew reader will immediately note its strange grammatical construction. We would expect the verse to read either “Tzaveh” or the more common V’Tzivatah” (meaning: “command” or perhaps here “instruct”) In other words, normative Hebrew would express this idea with some form of the imperative voice, but not with a phrase such as: “V’atah tetzaveh”. This phrase might better be translated as “Now concerning you (Moses), you definitely are to command …” The careful reader is bound to ask: Why such an unusual and emphatic command concerning the High Priests’ garments?
Those who study the Bible know that there is always a reason for a particular Hebrew grammatical construction. Extra words are never used and a change of syntax always means that there is more to the verse than at first meets the eye. Is the text using the issue of clothing as a way to teach us that what we see is not always reality? Does the text speak about garments (clothing) as a way to teach us something else? The word used is for clothing is “beged” derived from the verb root “b.g.d” meaning: to be treacherous/to betray/to hide for reasons of treason. Do we use clothing not only to adorn our bodies but also as the way that we portray our bodies to be different from what they are? Do we use clothing to cover up what we do not want seen? Do we also use our words as “clothing for our thoughts” or as ways to chatter without saying what we really mean? Read from this perspective we might ask if this week’s portion less about clothing and more about what each of us desires to cover-up/ to hide? How often do we feel betrayed by people allowing us to believe they meant X but in reality they were saying Y?
Perhaps the text is indicating that religious and political leaders have a responsibility not to use a form of Orwellian double-speak in their communication. Is the text teaching us that there are both lies or omission as much as there are lies of commission? Is that the reason that the text begins with the emphatic “V’Atah tetzaveh/You most definitely will instruct the children of Israel to..” In other words, when we hide what we mean to say, when we cover over our thoughts with garments meant to hide reality, then in the end good turns to bad and the sacred becomes profane. Do you agree?
