Hayyei Sarah

Friday Night Kaballat Shabbat Services, Tonight 11/6, at 7:00PM. Join us for a soulful, song filled prayer service to end your week.

Our Shabbat morning services are the second and fourth Saturdays. The next two are November 14 and 28. Both kiddushes have been kindly sponsored by Lori and David Henderson.

TEN DAYS AWAY FROM THE CANTOR’S DINNER:
*The Cantor’s dinner is almost full! What a lovely response so far. PLEASE RSVP ASAP if you have not done so yet. Thank you to everyone who has already done so! Catered kosher dinner, silent auction and entertainment. Included in the silent auction are tickets to Ballet Austin, Zach Scott Theatre, Mom’s Best Friend babysitting, Nutrition Therapy session, Esther’s Follies tickets, a variety of amazing pieces of artwork, Judaica, personal Yoga session, personal training, handcrafted Jewelry and amazing silver and glass ornaments from Israel donated by Jacob Gilboa, an 18 carat gold ring from Kruger’s, a custom made tallit by Bam and much, much more.*
We want everyone to come! It will be a special and meaningful night. Thank you to the many volunteers, spearheaded by our very own Elaine Jacobs, who are working to make this absolutely magnificent!

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
Our parshah this week, Hayyei Sarah, deals with the death and burial of our Ancestress Sarah, but curiously begins with the words “And this was Sarah’s life….” Death is not the focus, but rather life. This is of course characteristic of Jewish tradition-to focus on and to revere life. While our tradition does not shrink from death, and our customs regarding death and mourning deal squarely with the reality of death and do not try to sanitize it, we do not fetishize death. Hebrew has no special word equivalent to “martyr”, and our greatest heroes are not those who died for Judaism, but those who lived for it. We are saddened by death, not inspired by it. Our enemies-Hamas, Hizbullah and others-like to boast that they will win because we celebrate life while they celebrate death. The opposite is true-we will ultimately prevail because of the imperative in our Torah “Therefore choose life”. Along with all others who choose life over death, we will win over the forces of violence and destruction. We believe that God desires life and not death, and while we accept death as inevitable, we do not seek it out. Let us always affirm life, even in the face of death. Then we may merit to be like our Mother Sarah-“as beautiful at 100 as she was at 20, and as pure at 20 as she was at 7”. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Hebrew school Sunday Funday, November 8 continues this Sunday at 10 am! Check out all the cool photos on our Facebook group! Always something new. Join the BethElAustin FACEBOOK group if you’re not on there already.

LOVE TO RUN? JOIN Team “BETH EL BANDITS” for the Turkey Trot this year. On Thanksgiving day, November 26, Beth El will be entering its own team of runners, merry makers and cheerers. Please let us know if you would like to enter the Turkey Trot with us. It promises to be a lot of fun. info@bethelaustin.org to save your spot on the team.

BETH EL’S ANNUAL CHANUKAH BASH!
SATURDAY NIGHT, DECEMBER 12 at 6PM, come celebrate with us as we do Havdallah followed by our super fun annual Chanukah party. Activities for kids, live music and more. Bring your menorah!

Community News:
Snout by Snout West this Sunday at the J!
Family-friendly community dog festival• groups & local shelters will display dogs in need• $5 for Adults, FREE for Kids and Dogs

Jewish Austin Men Dinner & Speakers Forum
Texas Politics: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
Wed, 9 Dec, 2015 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Featuring Harvey Kronenberg; For more info contact: Amanda Tofflemire: 512-735-8014 amanda.tofflemire@shalomaustin.orgCalendar

Austin Jewish Business Network’s monthly networking & educational meetings are on the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 6:30-8:30pm at Frisco Diner 6801 Burnet Rd., Austin, TX in the glass atrium on the Burnet Rd. side of the building. On Tuesday, November 17th Deb Gabor will host an “Elevator Pitch Clinic”!Learn how to talk about yourself and the value you bring to employers and clients in a compelling and polished way.To RSVP and for complete details of all AJBN Meetings and Events go to: http://www.meetup.com/Austin-Jewish-Business-Network/