Parashat Trumah

Please 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?