Special Guest Rabbi Marie Betcher
Come to services TONIGHT Friday March 31, at the regular time of 7:00 PM . We are thrilled to have Rabbi-Cantor Marie Betcher come and deliver an inspiring D’var Torah!
Sunday Funday this Sunday April 2 at 10 AM. Lots of learning and research in collaborative groups this week. Their work will be on display during Passover.
Sunday April 8 we will do a major Passover cleaning at Beth El. Please help if you are able.
And Passover is around the corner. We are hosting a second night seder at Beth El Tuesday April 11 at 6:30 PM. With a delicious kosher for Passover meal and Hazzan Ben-Moshe leading, you surely can’t miss this event. Please send us your RSVP as soon as you can as we get full and we’ll save a spot for you. Please also consider a donation to help us sponsor the event. We are also accepting kosher for Passover wine, grape juice, matzah and gelfite fish. The event is open to you and your friends in the Jewish community.
Coming soon… we are doing a class on leading Musaf. The class will start in May so watch this space.
Candle lighting in Austin is at 7:31 PM
Friday January 6, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will likewise be our guest speaker at Beth El.
Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
This week we begin to read the Book of Leviticus, Sefer Vayikra, with the parshah of the same name. Vayikra is sometimes called “Torat Hakohanim”, the Torah of the Priests, as it deals mainly with sacrifices and the laws of purity. Interestingly, this was the first part of the Torah taught to young children in Eastern Europe. While we would tend to start children with the stories in Genesis and Exodus, the thinking of our ancestors was “let those who are pure (children) deal with matters of purity (the Temple Service). Of course, one could only offer sacrifices in a state of purity. While we no longer sacrifice animals as part of our worship of God, let us always strive to approach worship with the purity and innocence of children, in that state that R. Abraham Joshua Heschel called “radical amazement “. In so doing, we will keep ourselves and our service to the Eternal One fresh and young. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
HOLD THE DATES: Guest speakers at Beth El.
TONIGHT, Friday March 31, we welcome Rabbi/Cantor Marie Betcher who will talk about the great work she does as a Police Chaplain. This event was rescheduled from last month.
HAPPY MARCH MADNESS BIRTHDAYS:
Jared B, Richard E, Allene N, Morah Lital, Mike and Morris S, Eden B, Barbara S, Sasi A and Liam J. We love you guys! Mazal tov and until 120!
Passover Learning and Preparation at Beth El’s Religious School this Sunday April 2.
This coming Sunday we will continue what we started last Sunday with our BERS kids. We will take a deeper look into Pesach and its traditions. The children will be divided into mixed-aged groups and each team will research an aspect of Passover, create a project, and then present it. These projects will be on display for our Annual Congregational Seder.
We hope all our BERS families will join other BE families and friends for an interactive, meaningful, and fun seder led by Cantor Ben-Moshe on the evening of April 11.
Sisterhood Passover and Shabbat shefs!
** We’ll meet next Tuesday and Thursday at 11 AM at Beth El. Please come if you can help with preparing for Passover. A mitzvah worth doing. We have a lot to get ready. Mega thank yous already to Michelle, Claudia, Yesenia and Joakin, Doris and Herschel, Elaine, Iris, Lori and Dave……… your name here!