Parashat Va’et’hanan and back to school ice cream party

Friday Night Shabbat Services
Tonight 7/19, at the regular time of 7:00 PM.
ICE CREAM PARTY! Tonight after services, we have a special back to school bash for all the kiddos and adults who love ice cream. We extend our gratitude to Gregg and Michelle Philipson for sponsoring such a fun event.
Our next Shabbat morning services are Saturday August 27 and will be in honor of Fred Miller’s 90th birthday.
Candle lighting in Austin is at 7:49 PM
Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
With Parshat Va’et’hanan, we move past the mourning for the Temple and Jerusalem, and into the countdown to Rosh Hashanah. There are seven Shabbatot between Tish’ah B’Av and Rosh Hashanah, and on each we read one of the Haftarot of Consolation-prophecies of the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the redemption of the People of Israel. It is important to remember that for all of their solemnity, the High Holidays are a time of hope. We believe that redemption is always possible, and indeed what God desires. God is merciful and forgiving, of us as individuals as well as of our People as a whole. So let us celebrate this Shabbat and the others to come in a spirit of hope and of joy. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
Happy birthday to Tamara Miller, Rachael Golden, Mary Butler and Alice Friedman!
The sisterhood has a book club event on Thursday September 1 at 7PM at the home of Gail Ellenbogen in Steiner Ranch. This event is open to all. Enjoy some summer reading and we will discuss together with a glass of wine. We will even get an inside scoop from Joyce Lit, member of the Jewish Book council who worked with the author of this great book. The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi.
Please RSVP jacel@yahoo.com
Sunday School is fast approaching. August 28 will be our first class of the fall. We welcome Morah Lital Canaani to our terrific team of teachers. The older students with Morah Bev and Cantor Ben-Moshe will have a focus on Jewish ethics as well as bar and bat Mitzvah preparation, while the youngest students will continue their Sunday Fundays and Hebrew with Morah Anat!
Grandpa Abe : Patience and Wisdom
As we go down the road of life, we gain patience and wisdom. This is not obtained at an early age. It only comes with a lot of trial and error. As I look through our congregation, I see a lot of people who demonstrate these qualities. I don’t wish to list them as I’m afraid I might leave someone out. When I was very young, when i say young I was 29 years old, I wished to be on the cemetery committee as I had lost a child and didn’t feel that I was treated fairly by the committee. I had a long talk with the chairperson of the committee and we discussed the problem. It was explained to me that I was entirely too young to be on such a committee. It was somewhat explained to me their reasoning. But now that I’m a more mature person (emphasize on mature), better known as old), I understand. I understand that you’re dealing with families with feelings. You’re dealing with families who you know and can collect the money for the land at a later date, not in advance. I learned that a 29 year old does not have the wisdom, nor the patience, as yet to assist grieving families. These are very special traits that take a long time to achieve. It was this person, who was the head of the committee, who put the seed in my head to start understanding what life is all about. In the picture below, you will see Rascal has learned this with his friend Stinky.
Dor ‘l Dor,
Grandpa Abe
Jewish War Veterans Post 757 presents: “Perspectives on Israel’s Security: Local, Regional and Global Threats,” a Brunch and Panel Discussion. Sunday, August 21st, 2016, at 11 AM at the Shalom Austin JCAA. Panelists include Ami Pedahzur, UT Professor and expert on Israeli special forces; Davida Charney, UT Professor and executive committee member of J Street Austin; and Gregg Philipson, Executive in the technology, communications and security industries and past commissioner of the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission. Cost $10 per person in advance or at the door; RSVP 512-730-1223 or jwvaustin@gmail.com
Rabbi Peter Tarlow’s Weekly Parasha. Director of the Center for Jewish-Hispanic Relations.
Last week we dedicated a part of our Torah analysis to the fast day of Tishah b’Av. This week we turn to Deuteronomy’s second parashah, called Va’Etchanan and found in Deuteronomy 3:23-7:12. This week’s parashah is one of the book’s most powerful portions, and contains both a repetition of the “Aseret Ha’Dibrot” (Ten Utterances or as they are mistranslated into English: the “Ten Commandments”) and the watchword of Judaism, the Sh’mah Yisrael. While there is enough material in this one section to occupy a graduate class for a year’s worth of study, there are certain verses that serve to unify the text.
In Deuteronomy’s second parashah we see a different type of Moses. Now instead of the strong almost mystical an atemporal leader we see the temporal human Moses, a man pleading with G’d to allow him to pass over the Jordan river and enter into the Land of Israel. Here is a man who does not want to die.
What makes this parashah so special is that Moses is realistic enough to admit that it is not easy to die, that although we must all exit the stage of history few of us choose to do so. In this week’s parashah, we catch a glimpse not only into Moses the man, but we are reminded of the basic principles upon which Israel is to be found. Thus, in we find the Aseret Ha’Dibrot, the Ten Commandments in chapter 5:6-5:18 as the basis for Jewish Jurisprudence.
In Chapter 5:26 we read that G’d, speaking of Israel, states: “May they always be of such mind as to revere Me and to follow all My commandments…” It is of note that G’d must “hope” that Israel obeys. The verse implies that Israel is free to disobey. In other words, by giving the people of Israel the right to disobey, the text underscores the idea of free will. G’d can guide us, urge us, even threaten us, but G’d cannot force us to listen or to obey the law. Does this mean that the text implies that we have the freedom to choose wisely or poorly?
From the Bible’s very beginning, what distinguishes us from the other forms of life is that we have the right to listen, to understand, and to choose our own path in life. The Hebrew Bible clearly argues that each of us, as both individuals and as a collective whole, has the right to choose our life’s paths. Having made that decision the text then reminds us that we must accept the consequences of those decisions.
Perhaps that is the reason that in Deuteronomy 4:1 Moses states: Vatah Yisrael shama el ha’chukim v’el ha’mishpatim asher anochi mlamed etchem la’asot l’maan techu/Now Israel, pay attention to the statues and ordinances that I am teaching you so that you may live…” How well are we paying attention, both on an individual and on a collective basis, to what Moses has taught us? What do you think?