Parshat Hukkat

Shabbat shalom to all our facebook friends! Lovely, lay-led Friday Night Shabbat Services tonight at the usual time of 7:00 PM. Kudos to Yosef Aguilar for leading and Gregg Philipson for the Dvar Torah. Vania will lead us in song! The Cantor is in Florida celebrating his wedding to Shereen Canady and we look forward to seeing him next week!

Shabbat morning services are a week away SATURDAY, July 23rd! The kidish is being sponsored by Bam Rubenstein. Please let us know if you would like to help defray kidish costs by the mitzvah of sponsoring an upcoming kidish.

CANTOR BEN-MOSHE’S WEEKLY MESSAGE: This week we read Parshat Hukkat, which details the beginning of the conquest of the Land of Israel. The Parshah starts with a description of the purification rituals for coming into contact with the dead, a necessity for warriors in battle according to Jewish Tradition. Warriors returning from the field of battle had to spend a week outside the camp, undergoing purification, rather than holding a triumphal parade or the like. From the very beginning, our Tradition has avoided glorifying war. War may be sometimes an unfortunate necessity, but never a cause for celebration. May we always continue in this tradition of being lovers and pursuers of peace. Shereen, Ilan, Eden, Cayla and Julia all join me in wishing Shabbat Shalom to the entire Beth El family. Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

COMING SOON: PLEASE WATCH THIS SPACE FOR AN EXCITING YOGA and essential oils class. Kimberly Bernstein will lead us in a relaxing and spiritual Jewish Yoga class – we have rescheduled the class for August when more folks are in town.
Sunday school resumes in the fall, on August 21. Currently enrolliing students for the coming year to join our BERS and their awesome teachers. Bar and Bat mitzvah prep classes also continue. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@bethelaustin.org

Thank you to the kidish crew this month of Claudia and company who made a delicious meal for Saturday morning services! The front lawn again looks amazing thanks to Yesenia and Efrain and also to the countless folks who help tidy up, clean and spruce Beth El up

COMMUNITY NEWS FROM TEXAS HILLEL FOR INCOMING COLLEGE STUDENTS:

I am excited to share with you a unique opportunity for any recently graduated high school seniors (and their parents) who are planning to attend the University of Texas at Austin (Austin Community College, St. Edward’s University or Texas State University) this fall.

Texas Hillel will be hosting an Open House in Austin on Monday, August 15th at 7:30pm at Texas Hillel. Students and parents will have the opportunity to meet current Texas Hillel students and staff, and will hear about Texas Hillel, how to get involved and all that it offers in terms of Jewish life on campus today.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could help us get the word out about this event and pass on this information to your community. I have attached a copy of the event invitation that can be forwarded to folks who you think might be interested. Alternatively, if you could provide us with names and contact information for students and parents, we can reach out directly.

We would also like to invite you to attend this event as we understand the importance of continuing to connect with these students (and their parents) once they leave home to attend college.

You can RSVP for the event by emailing RSVP@texashillel.org.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by phone (512-476-0125) or email (dseptimus@hillel.org).

Thank you in advance for your help. I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the event in August!

Hook’Em,
Rabbi Daniel Septimus