Parashat Re-eh – shabbat shalom

Friday Night Services, Tonight 8/14, 7 PM

The next Saturday morning services are next week, 8/22 at 9 AM

This Sunday August 16 from 10 am onwards, we are having a mini-workday getting the shul ready for the High Holidays. Please stop by and lend a hand; cleaning, sorting, touch up painting and general shul beautifying.

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
This Shabbat begins the month of Elul, and we read Parshat Re’eh. The parshah contains the words “…therefore choose life”. As we begin to enter the High Holiday season, and begin to blow the shofar to awaken us to examine our deeds, we need to see that our choices lead to life. We must live our lives in as positive a way as possible. Therefore choose life-not stagnation, but renewal. Shabbat Shalom v’Hodesh Tov-a peaceful Shabbat and a Good Month for us all.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

MORE SISTERHOOD SUMMER FUN!
THIS Sunday August 16, at 1 PM at Beth El, Shiry will be showing us how to decorate a cake for special occasions or shabbat. Please bring your own undecorated cake – like a simple sponge cake, and get ready to turn it into an edible work of art. All are welcome! Please bring a healthy kosher nosh to share.

Morah Shiry’s Conversational Hebrew class concludes this Thursday August 20
Join us at 7:00 PM for another in the interactive, hands on class with our very own Morah Shiry. This class will feature an awesome ISRAELI Falafel meal from MAOZ ! Students will practice their Hebrew speaking skills as well as eating a yummy kosher meal! At 8 PM, Gabbai Bam will be davening mincha and give a short dvar! It is free and open to all and you will definitely learn something new.
New classes are forming in September so let us know if you are interested.

Hebrew School is gearing up to start on August 30!
We are so excited about the coming year with the BERS (Beth El Religious School). Sundays at 10am the children will be having Sunday Fundays with their morot and sneaking in a whole lot of Jewish learning! For more information, go to info@bethelaustin.org

PLEASE note that the High Holiday Schedule is up: http://bethelaustin.wpengine.com/high-holidays/
Rabbi Tarlow’s weekly Parasha brought to you from the Center for Latino Jewish relations.
The name of this week’s parashah is: “Re’eh” (meaning “See”). You will find it in the Book of Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17. The parashah seems to be one of continual challenges. It challenges us to make the right decisions. It challenges us to develop a sense of group cohesiveness. It challenges us to observe G’d’s festivals. It challenges us to be wise enough to distinguish between ‘false prophets’ (poor leaders/the trends of any particular time) and real prophets (people who place the national good before their own). It asks us to be discerning in what we see and how we interpret what we see. Perhaps its underlying question is: “Should you believe what you see?”This section revolves around two major themes: (1) Seeing is not necessarily believing and (2) too much freedom may lead to anarchy. The parashah seems to be stating that we must create a balance between the individual’s desires and the national good. We are free, but only to a certain point. Throughout this week’s parashah we learn that false leadership can make us believe (Re’eh = See) that good is evil and evil is good. The media’s often poor (or dishonest) coverage of the current events and especially the Middle East is an example of such a warning. How often have the media placed their own agendum ahead of truth or taken facts out of context so as to make good seem evil and evil appear as good? Perhaps what is even more tragic is that when facts get in the way of the media’s politics then facts are simply eliminated. How often do we need to worry more about what we do not see, then what we do see? How often do the media cover up inconvenient facts or issues that go against their narrative? Perhaps this ancient but very modern text is reminding us that what we see/read must be carefully scrutinized with a bit of rational skepticism. How often has Israel suffered due to the media’s falsification of facts? How often do the media simply repeat false ideas or publish misleading headlines and then quote each other? Re’eh is all about consequences. It teaches us that when we allow ourselves to be deceived, when we simply believe without questioning then in the end chaos reigns. Re’eh reminds us not simply to accept a political agendum but to think for ourselves, to ask if the statement is logical and if we are being propagandized by the way that so called facts are presented. Moses warns us of the consequences of believing all that one “sees”. He reminds us that when we allow group-think to overtake rational thought then a society faces an uncertain future. The way that we perceive reality leads to how we act, and those actions then touch not only our personal life, but also the lives of all those with whom we live. What do you think? Do you trust what you see in the media?