Parashat Vayiggash – Shabbat services

Please note that we have our lovely Friday night services at 7:00 P.M. tonight, Friday December 22

Shabbat morning services this Saturday December 23 at 9 a.m. with the Torah service at 9:45 a.m. Children’s story time at 10:30 as well as a delicious lunch courtesy of the shabbat shefs at noon. See you there!

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s weekly message:
This week we read in Parshat Vayiggash about the reunion of Yoseph and his family, and of Ya’akov’s migration to Egypt. One can only imagine how our ancestors felt as they came from the provincial backwater of Canaan to Egypt, the most advanced civilization of the ancient world. For all of them, Yoseph included, the temptation must have been great to abandon their own language and culture and to assimilate into Egyptian society. Of course, they did not, but rather maintained their identity. The Sages teach that it was the preservation of their identity which made them worthy of redemption. As we conclude Hanukkah, the celebration of our People’s refusal to assimilate into the advanced Hellenic culture of 2000 years ago, let us resolve to remain Jews as our ancestors did, and to let our culture and our spiritual teachings enrich the world. Shabbat Shalom.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 5:18 p.m.

Photos of the lovely Hanukkah party at Beth El. Thank you to the tireless latkes makers, Caleb, Dani, Herschel and Doris, Yosef and Kevin; hotdog griller extraordinaire Nathan; Guy the awesome sufganiot maker; and all who helped in so many ways, big and small! The music by Mark, Michel and Guy Ben-Moshe of Los Klezmeros was amazing and we had such a lovely and meaningful evening. See you next year!

Sisterhood get together and book club event is scheduled for January 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Anita Lavie – close to Beth El. Please let us know if you need a ride and we will happily find you one. We don’t want you to miss!

2018 Beth El Planning Meeting –
Sunday January 7 at 7 p.m. at Beth El
Please plan to attend and help us vision for an excellent 2018! Open to all members of Beth El – please come!

Beth El Men’s Club Event:
Wednesday January 10 UT Men’s Basketball game – UT vs TCU. Game at 8 p.m. RSVP to info@bethelaustin.org Open to all in the Jewish community.

Parashat Hashavua from Rabbi Peter Tarlow Rabbi Emeritus of Texas A&M and Director of the Center for Jewish Hispanic Relations.
This week’s parashah is called “VaYigash”. You will find VaYigash, toward the end of the Book of Genesis in chapters 44:18-47:27.
This section deals with the great climax of the Joseph stories, that of Joseph’s revealing himself to his brothers and the reunification between Joseph and his father, Jacob. The text is layered with meanings and filled with questions. One could write whole books just about this week’s parashah.

The text informs us that after Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, he sends them back to Canaan to bring Jacob to him. In chapter 45:24 we read “Vayishlach et achiv vyelchu, vayamru alehem “al tirgzu baderech!” It is hard to hear the tones or cadences of the Hebrew in a foreign tongue, but the verse might be translated as: “So he sent his brothers back to Canaan saying to them: ‘behave now, do not get into any arguments along the way.'”

This statement raised multiple questions. For example, why did it take Joseph so long to tell his father that he was alive? Surely he knew that his father, believing that his favorite son was dead had to be suffering. In a like manner, there is a certain irony in the fact that the younger brother is now speaking to his older brothers as if they were children, telling them not to fight. For the most part the brothers got along well with each other; it was Joseph with whom they had a problem!

Was Joseph playing the role of a petulant parent toward his older brothers or was this statement a giant put down? Perhaps Joseph was being a psychologist realizing that siblings often do quarrel. Often we become angry at those whom we love the most. Joseph seems to be warning his brothers to remember their task is to save their father from the grips of a famine and not to r-g-z (get angry, blow up, lose one’s temper).

Perhaps the text is teaching us that we need to remember the purpose of our tasks. Is the text reminding us that we should not get distracted by side issues nor should we allow petty grievances to blind us to our ultimate goals? As such, this part of the Joseph story has a great deal to teach all of us including the world’s leaders. How would you interpret this tale?