The Mitzvah of a Minyan

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Come to services tonight and end your week in a warm and comforting setting, with friends old and new, songs from the heart and a whole lot of spirit. TONIGHT Friday March 17 , at the regular time of 7:00 PM. You can even wear Green!

Shabbat morning services are next Saturday March 25 at 9 AM.

Inaugural Men’s Club event – Saturday night March 25! A night at the rodeo! Get your cowboy boots on and join the men of Beth El for an exciting night at the Austin Rodeo. This event is open to all the guys at Beth El and their friends and anyone else who wants to come. See below for more details.

No Sunday school due to Spring break.
Sunday school resumes March 26.

We are ordering some plaques for our yahrzeit board. Please let us know ASAP if you would like to have your beloved departed family member included. The suggested donation is still only $100, but reply to this email to send us the information.

And Passover is around the corner. We are yet again hosting a second night seder at Beth El Tuesday April 11. 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.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 7:23 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 read Parshat Ki Tissa as well as the special maftir for Shabbat Parah. There is much to say about these two readings, but what often gets overlooked is the end of the parshah, which contains the first of three iterations of the commandment “Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.” This is of course the basis of our practice not to eat meat and milk together, and in fact to strictly separate them. Most scholars believe the commandment to original refer to some sort of Canaanite fertility sacrifice. In any case, we can look at this commandment today as a way to be mindful of cruelty to animals-to eat an animal along with the milk that nourished it when it was young can betray a callousness that our Tradition seeks to have us avoid. Let us always be mindful in all that we do, including our eating and drinking. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

HOLD THE DATES: Guest speakers at Beth El.

On the last Friday of March, 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.

Ami Pedhazur, professor at UT Austin, will also be giving a special talk about the six day war in the Spring.

HAPPY MARCH MADNESS BIRTHDAYS:

Jared B, Richard E, Allene N, Morah Lital, Mike and Morris S, Eden B, Barbara S. We love you guys! Mazal tov and until 120!

Beth El’s Newly formed Men’s club:
Please join the guys at Beth El and friends for the first official event of the Beth El Men’s Club!
On Saturday evening, March 25, the guys will saddle up and go to the Austin Rodeo. for the PRO RODEO FINALS & KEVIN FOWLER concert. Please reply to kevin_koeller@yahoo.com to sign up and let’s make this a night to remember. The men’s club is open to all Jewish men in Austin and like the sisterhood at Beth El, is truly a welcoming place. Invite all your friends.

Please come if you can help with preparing the shabbat kidish and general setting up for shabbat. A mitzvah worth doing.

We want to wholeheartedly thank all the amazing folks who helped us prepare for the Purim party last week! From the shabbat shefs of Doris, Herschel, Claudia, Shereen and Michelle, to Anat and Rotem Nahum who did an amazing job with the karaoke and photo booth, to Shiry and Shay Turjeman who sponsored the food at Purim, Lilia Stan from Happy Tots Facepainting (https//www.facebook.com/happytotsfacepainting/) for the incredible facepainting and all who came on a very rainy night to make for one crazy action packed Purim.

Grandpa Abe:
“The Mitzvah of a Minyan”
It is said to be a great mitzvah to be the tenth man for a minyon. I don’t look at it that way. It should not be any more important to be the tenth man or the third man. It’s equally as important to see that our synagogue has a minyon. It’s most important that as a Jewish person you attend services. You need to worship and there’s no better place to do it that at our synagogue. We have been extremely grateful for all the people who show up for a minyon. I can’t remember when we were unable to make a minyon. At one time, I thought, Aw! We don’t have a minyon! I can go home early! Then it dawned on me. Why am I here? I’m here to worship, not to go home early. I come when the weather is inclement, when I have other things that I could do such as watching sports on television or visiting my friends. I had a long talk with myself one day and the outcome of the talk was worshiping at the synagogue comes first, way ahead of whatever is in second place. When I leave the synagogue, I never regret my time spent in such a wonderful house of worship. There is an old saying. Is it better to be on the golf course thinking about being in synagogue or being in synagogue thinking about being on the golf course? Well, many of you might have different answers for this. There really is only one answer. You need to be in synagogue. The rabbi once told me because there might be something you might learn or pick up while you’re in synagogue. He was so right. I’ve never gone to synagogue that I didn’t learn something. Next time you’re at home and it’s time to leave to go to synagogue and you have a dilemma, should I go play tennis or watch television or be part of the congregation in my synagogue? I hope that I will see you at Beth-El worshiping.
Dor’ l dor,
Grandpa Abe

Parashat Vayachel – Pkudei

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Come to services TONIGHT Friday March 24 , at the regular time of 7:00 PM and end the week on a great note!

Shabbat morning services are THIS Saturday March 25 at 9 AM. We will have the Torah service at around 9:45 and a lovely children’s service at 10:30 with our wonderful Morah Shereen Ben-Moshe. There will be a delicious meat kidish and cholent immediately following services. HUGE Toda Raba to Bev Golden for sponsring the kidish in honor of her son Jacob’s completion of Air Force Training. Mazal Tov to Jacob!

Sunday Funday this Sunday March 26 at 10 AM. If parents or congregants would like to come and help with Passover cleaning, please plan to stay.

Sunday April 8 we will do a major Passover cleaning at Beth El. All hands on deck as we make the shul sparkle.

And Passover is around the corner. We are yet again hosting a second night seder at Beth El Tuesday April 11. 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.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 7:27 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 read the combined parshot of Vayak’hel-P’kudei, as well as the special reading for Shabbat Hahodesh, the Shabbat closest to the New Month of Nissan. Vayak’hel and P’kudei close out the Book of Exodus by detailing the construction and assembly of the Mishkan, the Holy Tabernacle. The Torah repeats itself in describing all of the components of the Mishkan and how they were put together-perhaps as a way of imprinting the image of this remarkable structure upon us, who now live three millennia after it was replaced by Solomon’s Temple, itself now a memory.
Jewish Tradition and practice have moved on since the time of the Mishkan. We have evolved past the slaughter and burning of animals as a means of drawing close to God (the word for sacrifice, קרבן, is from the Hebrew root meaning “close). Nonetheless, we retain the memory of these things-we do not forgot from where we came, and we honor our ancestors even as we do things differently than they did. Ultimately, the goal is the same-whether through sacrifices in the Mishkan and the Temple, or through prayers in the synagogue, we seek as a community to draw close to the Divine which is the source of our being. May we always seek for God, wherever our paths take us. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

HOLD THE DATES: Guest speakers at Beth El.

NEXT FRIDAY, 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.

Ami Pedhazur, professor at UT Austin, will also be giving a special talk about the six day war in the Spring.

HAPPY MARCH MADNESS BIRTHDAYS:

Jared B, Richard E, Allene N, Morah Lital, Mike and Morris S, Eden B, Barbara S. We love you guys! Mazal tov and until 120!

Sunday school this Sunday March 26. We have missed all our BERS and look forward to resuming Sunday Funday with our super teachers and Cantor.

Sisterhood Passover and Shabbat shefs!

** We’ll meet next 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.

RABBI PETER TARLOW OF THE CENTER FOR LATINO JEWISH RELATIONS: WEEKLY PARASHA
This week we read the Book of Exodus’ final portions, a double Torah portion: Parashat Vayakel (Exodus 35:1-38:20) and Parashat Pkudey (Exodus
38:21-40:38). Traditionally, readers have viewed these final chapters of Exodus as some of the most difficult parts of the book. Yet beneath the text’s surface, the careful reader can grapple with some of political science’s most important principles. If we move beyond the details and concentrate on the principles, then we soon see that these issues are very much with us today.
A summary of these final sections presents to us two overarching philosophical issues.
The first issue is: how does leadership translate ideas and concepts into the pubic domain? In other words, there is a difference between talking and doing, between being destructive and constructive. In the case of Exodus we note that until now the dialogue concerning the building or the Mishcan (Tabernacle) has been between G’d and Moses. Now it becomes Moses’ task to “translate” this vision to the nation, to go from the talking to the doing.
The second political issue that these sections raise is: how does leadership chose between two conflicting “goods”? The choice between “good” and “evil” is not difficult, but when the choice is between “good” and “good,” then the problem becomes much more profound. The text notes that in the case of having to choose between “good” and “good” at least one “good” is sacrificed for the other “good”. How do we protect the individual when these needs place a society in danger? The Bible illustrates this dilemma in the debate over should there be Tabernacle construction on Saturday. The text calls both goals “kadosh/holy”, both are Divinely mandated, and both serve a greater good. The question then is should the nation delay the Tabernacle’s construction to honor the Sabbath? It is not hard to make a case for both sides of the argument. How does the text solve the problem?
Perhaps one clue is in the order that these two concepts have been given in the Torah. Note that over the past few weeks we have seen the following literary plan: Tabernacle Construction then the Keeping of the Sabbath (Shmirat-Shabbat) then the Golden Calf Crisis followed by additional laws regarding the Keeping of the Sabbath and finally once again laws concerning the Tabernacle’s Construction.
Reviewing the order we note that the building of the Tabernacle is always furthest from the Golden Calf. Is this order a message teaching us the principle that “materialism not controlled by spirituality becomes idolatry”? The text makes it clear that the work (melachah) on the tabernacle is to be stopped in honor of the Sabbath. Is the Torah teaching us that we humans are often so interested in the material that we forget the spiritual side of life?
How often do most of us sacrifice the spiritual for material wealth? In a sense this section forces us to ask questions such as, how do we resolve two conflicting political goods? When do we sacrifice one good to uphold another?
These are hard questions that touch the very root of our civil society. In a strange way, these two difficult portions, which seem at first to be bogged down in detail, summarize the ethical lessons of one of the world’s greatest pieces of literature: “Sefer Shmot/The Book of Exodus”. What conflicting “goods” are there in your life and how do you resolve the conflict?

What a Purim!

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Purim 2017 3shiry purimpurim 2017 1That was some Megilla shpiel! Huge thank you to all who came, to Shiry Turjemanand Shay who helped sponsor the event, the Chazzan who read such a brilliant Megilla rendition (along with silly hiccups for a rather silly King Ahashverosh), Karaoke King Rotem Nahum who had us singing till the wee hours, Lilia Stan from Happy Tots Facepainting who is an amazing artist and all who helped make it the Best Purim possible. Chag Purim Sameach ya all.

Parashat Tetzaveh

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sisterhood personal orgPlease join us for Friday Night Services March 10, at 7 PM. We’d love to see you!

Shabbat morning services are this Saturday, March 11th, at 9 AM, with the Torah service at 9:45 and children’s services with Morah Shereen at 10:30. We gratefully acknowledge Bob Miller for sponsoring the kiddish in honor of what would have been his parent’s 67 wedding anniversary. We remember Marion z’l with love, and honor our dear Fred Miller.

And THAT SAME NIGHT – our annual PURIM PARTY!!! Saturday March 11 at 7 PM. See Below. It’s gonna be amazing. Huge thank you to Shay and Shiry Turjeman for sponsoring the food!

No Sunday school for Spring break, but Megilla reading Sunday morning at 9 AM.

Special services Monday evening at 7 PM. Cantor Ben-Moshe is completing the 11 month period of saying kaddish for his late father Milton Mann of blessed memory. There will be a minyan at 7 PM at Beth El.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 6:18 PM

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message
This Shabbat is not only the Shabbat of Parshat Tetzaveh, but also Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat before Purim. On this Shabbat, we read the passage of the Torah commanding us to remember what ‘Amalek did when we were leaving Egypt, and to wipe out the memory of ‘Amalek. To remember and to destroy memory-this is obviously a contradiction in terms. The Hassidic masters suggest that ‘Amalek here is not merely the ancient people of that name, but rather a spirit of violence and bigotry. Haman, the villain of the Purim story, is described as a “Agagi”, a descendant of Agag, the last king of ‘Amalek. However, he may also be described as a spiritual descendant of ‘Amalek, in his bigotry and genocidal intent. The Hassidic masters warn that we all have the potential to embody the spirit of ‘Amalek-to let hatred and bigotry overcome us. This parshah therefore comes to remind us of the horrible consequences of the spirit of ‘Amalek, and to exhort us to eliminate that spirit in ourselves. May we always be motivated by love, and never by causeless hatred, and may the joyous spirit of Purim be the dominant spirit of our lives. Shabbat Shalom, and Hag Purim Sameah.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe
All invited to join Congregation Beth El Austin for a Groovy Purim Party! Saturday, March 11, 2017 • 15 Adar 5777
7:00 P.M.
On Purim night, we will read the Megillah at 7:00 PM, to be immediately followed by our Purim Party. This year’s theme is “That ’70s Shul.” Be sure to dress up in your grooviest ’70s threads. Disco Fever… Dynomite! Or, come dressed in your favorite costume.

Party fun for the entire family!
Music with Los Klezmeros, face painting with Lilia (www.facebook.com/happytotsfacepainting/, karaoke, Purim treats and more!

No Sunday school this week – enjoy Spring break and bring your kiddos to PURIM!

Huge thank you to Jennifer Lava for her amazing personal organization class. We loved it and have used many of her tips already. If you need a down to earth and absolutely wonderful personal organizer, please check her out at www.jenniferlava.com.

Community News:

Jewish Family Services:
WHAT COMES
AFTER RETIREMENT?
BABY BOOMERS 101
A NEW EDUCATIONAL SERIES
SUNDAY, MARCH 26
3-5 PM
JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER // AJA LIBRARY
Free of charge

Living With Loss Support Group
April 10, April 24, May 8, May 22, June 5, June 19 11 AM – 12 PM
Jewish Community Center | Room 239 Free of charge

From the Jewish War Veterans:
Please join us as my Honored Guests, to our next JWV Lunch and Meeting: Sunday, March 19th at 10 am – Austin JCC, Room 150-D
Your service to our country is very much appreciated and will be recognized at the meeting. No obligation to join the JWV. Wives and Children are welcome. Rabbi Dan Millner will be speaking and he is in the Navy Reserves as a chaplain.

Parashat Trumah

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Purim 2017Please join us for Friday Night Services March 3, at 7 PM. We’re saving a seat for you!

Shabbat morning services are March 11

And THAT SAME NIGHT – our annual PURIM PARTY!!! Saturday March 11 at 7 PM. See Below. It’s gonna be amazing.

Sunday school THIS SUNDAY morning March 5. We’re gearing up for a fun-filled Purim class!

Sisterhood class right after, Sunday March 5th at 12:30.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 6:14 PM

Friday January 6, Rabbi Daniel Septimus CEO of the Austin JCC will be our guest speaker at Beth El.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Message
This Shabbat we read Parshat T’rumah, which is a detailed list of the materials needed to build the Mishkan, the Tabernacle in the desert. My teacher Rabbi Alan Lew, ז״ל once referred to it as “Parshat Trauma”, since a list of construction materials does not easily lend itself to the construction of a sermon. There is one detail though that our Sages found interesting-the Holy Ark was to be plated with gold inside and out. Even where it couldn’t be seen, there was to be gold. The Rabbis took this to mean that we should conduct all of our private affairs with the same integrity as our public actions. May we always be worthy at all times to be vessels of God’s Torah, no matter where we are or with whom. I look forward to seeing you all next Shabbat, as this weekend I will be with my family in Florida for the unveiling of my late father’s headstone. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

All invited to join Congregation Beth El Austin for a Groovy Purim Party!
Saturday, March 11, 2017 • 15 Adar 5777 7:00 P.M.

On Purim night, we will read the Megillah at 7:00 PM, to be immediately followed by our Purim Party. This year’s theme is “That ’70s Shul.” Be sure to dress up in your grooviest ’70s threads. Disco Fever… Dynomite! Or, come dressed in your favorite costume.

Party fun for the entire family!
Music, face painting, karaoke, Purim treats and more!

Sunday school this Sunday at 10 Am – Lots of Purim fun continues.

SISTERHOOD PERSONAL ORGANIZATION CLASS ON MARCH 4 at 12:30 PM :

We are so excited that Jennifer Lava, Professional Organizer Extraordinaire (and productivity consultant), is going to hold a fun class just for us at Beth El. Jennifer is a past president of the National Organization of Professional Organizers, has had her articles in many magazines like Consumer Reports and Family Circle and has such a creative and innovative style.
Please check out her website : www.jenniferlava.com
The class is Sunday March 5 at 12:30 – right after Sunday school at Beth El.

PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS. Bring a kosher dairy or parev snack to share and come get organized! And if you are super organized already, well just come and hang out with us!
Please send your RSVP to info@bethelaustin.org

Community News:

JFS Passover Food Drive
We are seeking the following items to be donated to families for Passover:
Matzoh, Gefilte Fish (jars), Matzoh Ball & Soup Mix, Horseradish (jars), Macaroons, Candy Fruit Slices, Cake Mixes
Ritual Items such as:
Haggadahs, Matzoh Covers, Kiddush Cups, Candlesticks, Shabbat Candles
Donations can be dropped off at Beth El.

From the Jewish War Veterans:
Please join us as my Honored Guests, to our next JWV Lunch and Meeting: Sunday, March 19th at 10 am – Austin JCC, Room 150-D
Your service to our country is very much appreciated and will be recognized at the meeting. No obligation to join the JWV. Wives and Children are welcome. Rabbi Dan Millner will be speaking and he is in our reserve armed forces as a chaplain. He is a very dynamic speaker – You will not want to miss this.

Free Film Screening & Program: ‘Denial’
Monday, March 6, 6:30 PM
Co-sponsored by Shalom Austin, the Austin Jewish Film Festival, The Harry Ransom Center and Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, the 2016 movie, Denial, will be screened and followed by a discussion with Professor Robert H. Abzug, Director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies. This event is free and will take place at the JCC Community Hall. All are welcome.

Rabbi Peter Tarlow from the Center for Latino-Jewish Relations.
You can find this week’s section, called Trumah, in Exodus: 25:1-27:19. This week’s Torah portion’s style provides a sharp contrast to the last two lofty weekly Bible sections (Yitro and Misphatim). In the last two sections we read of profound ideals, such as the giving of the Ten Commandments and on the way we are to actualize these goals. Now abruptly, the Torah changes course and suddenly goes from grand idealism to stark reality; proud ideas give way to daily necessities. The contrast is noted immediately as the portion begins with the words: “Dabber el Bnai-Yisrael vYikchu li trumah me’et col ish asher yiddbenu libo/Speak to the children of Israel saying that whoever is so willing, that person should bring me an offering.” (25:2). It is a section that deals less with thinking then with doing, less with the philosophical than with the practical.
This radical change in both the tone of the Hebrew text and the ideas expressed in it leaves us somewhat in a state of intellectual bewilderment. Why after all of the fire and glory connected to the giving of the Ten Commandments, does G’d’s next sentence state that He desires nothing more than for us to bring Him a gold and precious skins? Furthermore, where were we to find precious animal skins in the midst of the Sinai Peninsula Is there a hidden meaning that lays beneath the surface of the text? Perhaps the answer to our dilemma is found in the building materials that we are asked to provide for the construction of the Tabernalcle. The text tells us that the materials requested are to create a covering for the Mishcan (Tabernacle). The Hebrew verbal root used,s-c-h, is the same verbal root used in the tale of the “Egel Masechah” (the golden/molten calf). What might the text be teaching us by this subtle use of this same verbal root?
Is there more to this strange flow of ideas than we might at first imagine? The Torah recognizes that all humans make mistakes. Even nations err, such as in the case of the golden calf. Is going astray a part of being human? From the Torah’s perspective the issue is not that we err, but rather what we do to repair the damage after we have erred.
The Hebrew Bible is wise teaches us that words are often all too easy to say. In modern society we tend to ask forgiveness as an excuse for not doing. Contrary to this position the Torah teaches us an important lesson: that change comes not from words, but from the way we live our lives. To err is human, but to repeat the same error is to be sinful.
Is the text teaching us that the offering requested is not our gold or precious skins, but rather our willingness to make the sacrifices to change course in life and to be willing to rebuild broken relationships?
The text seems to indicate that what we say or even believe is a lot less important than what we do. In this age of heighten political sensitivities might the Torah be telling us that we all need to speak less and do more? Lofty words are no more than droplets of sounds racing across the seas of energy. This week’s portion teaches us that instead of rubbing salt on wounds it is time to let past wounds heal, to stop the political bickering and sniping that seem to emanate throughout the political system and to start collectively building. What do you think?