Congregants and Friends,
We hope to see you tonight, Friday February 14, at our regular Friday night services at 7pm. Show your love for Beth El and attend our inspiring Kabalat Shabbat services, with all your favorite Shabbat tunes and some awesome folks in the seats.
HAZZAN BEN-MOSHE’S WEEKLY MESSAGE:
This week we read in Parshat Ki Tissa of the infamous incident of the Golden Calf which the Israelites made while Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the original tablets of the Decalogue. We all know of the anger of God and Moses at this act of idolatry. However, we should also bear in mind the aftermath of the story-Moses’ plea for mercy for the People of Israel, and God’s forgiveness. At the end of the narrative, the Torah gives us the 13 Attributes of God: “Adonai, Adonai, a compassionate and Forgiving God, patient and abounding in lovingkindness and truth, granting kindness to thousands, bearing sin and wrongdoing and misdeeds, and cleansing….” The Golden Calf should not be seen merely as an account of the failings of our ancestors, but also of Divine love even despite those failings. The readiness to forgive is one of God’s chief traits that we can perceive. It is also one which we should strive to imitate in our own dealings with our fellow human beings. Shabbat Shalom.
HOLD THE DATE: Purim is only a month away, starting the evening of March 15 and Sunday March 16. We hope to see you then. Sunday morning especially promises to be lots of fun for kids, grown ups, and kids at heart.
Rabbi Tarlow of Texas A&M Center for Hispanic/Jewish relations:
This week’s parashah takes on a true emotional roller coster ride. Called “Ki Tisah” (Exodus 30:11-34:34) it begins with the rules for the taking of a census. Then in a true roller coster fashion it moves on to the theory of the Sabbath (Shabbat), carries us to the emotional heights of our having received the Ten Commandments, and then suddenly lowers us to the tragedy of the golden calf. Finally, we learn of the encounter between Moses and G’d coupled with an analysis of the authentic and the inauthentic. To add to the parashah’s complexity the Hebrew is rich in nuance and its words have layers of meanings. Scholars will find within these chapters enough material to write several books. There is simply no way that an adequate summary can be made for a parashah that requires a lifetime of study.
It would not be inappropriate to ask why is this parashah, so rich in meaning, nestled between four weekly sections that seem to be anything but inspirational. Is the text teaching us that life is an emotional roller coster? Are we to learn from this week’s parashah that just as in this week’s parashah, so too are our lives are filled with facts and with emotions, with high points and low points? Is the text reminding us that life is not only the data that we have but the way we choose to look at those data?
Perhaps when we read the text it ought to remind us that modern life may not be as unhealthy as we tend to believe it is. Often we live a subtext that states that all in modernity is bad. Is this really the case? Yes, we need to take care of ourselves, but we also need to work hard. We do need to personal time, but we also need time to be with others. We need community but we also need personal space. In other words, this week’s parashah presents us with many diverse concepts as a way to teach us that a life well-lived is a life of moral, ethical, intellectual and spiritual balance.
To understand this need to balance, note that the text begins with a report dealing with census data. From a superficial reading of the text it would appear that this is information is totally irrelevant to the modern reader. However, in Biblical times the census was the most common pretext for imposing new taxes. Is the text teaching us not to listen to what politicians say, but rather what they do? Is the text reminding us that the world is filled with people who often stretch the truth? Does the text want us to lear that when nations fail to take note of the inconsistencies among their leaders then they are prone to enter into dangerous periods of self-delusion?
This week’s parashah argues that truth (emet) is a subset of “chesed” compassion (34:6). It also argues that the counter point to the egel masechah (the molten calf or the inauthentic god), is the
authenticity that Judaism teaches of a compassionate and gracious G’d, one who does not destroy, but creates, one whose law should lead each of us to a sense of mutual respect, trust, and, truthfulness In a like manner this week’s portion warns us that that we dare not fail to demand the same of ourselves and of our governmental leaders. Do you agree?
Sisterhood Tamales making class. 