Parashat Tzav

Friday Night Shabbat Services Tonight 3/25, at 7:00 PM.

Shabbat morning services are This Saturday March 26 at 9 AM.

We would like to thank our dear friend and congregant Arthur Gurney for sponsoring the kidush in memory of his beloved late father, Samuel Gurney, may his memory be a blessing. Samuel z’l, as well as sharing a passion for basketball with Arthur, was very involved with his shul, Arthur’s swimming, was an Eagle scout, a business owner and an avid reader. Come and enjoy a wonderful meat kidush and share good memories with Arthur.

Candle lighting in Austin is at 7:28 PM

PURIM- was a HUGE hit! Los Klezmeros were amazing, the costumes delightful, hamentaschen all got gobbled up, the megillah reading inspiring and hilarious. A special thank you to Bev Golden and family for sponsoring the event. See our Facebook group and below for photos.

Save the date and get your RSVP’s in! Saturday April 23 at 6:30 PM is our famous 2nd night Seder at Beth El. This event is just beautiful and we fill up fast.

Cantor Ben Moshe’s Message
As we leave Purim behind, we begin the countdown to Passover with Parshat Tzav. Our parshah among other things deals with the rules of the zevah, a sacrifice which was eaten by the person or persons offering it. The meat from a zevah had to be eaten on the same day that it was offered, or in some cases by the next day. The Sages say that this is to encourage sharing, since one could scarcely eat an entire sacrificed animal by oneself. This is certainly the case of the zevah Pesah, the Paschal Offering, which was to be shared among families in order to avoid waste, since it had to be eaten on the night of Passover.Jewish holidays are meant to be celebrated in community, sharing what we have with others. We are enjoined not to keep our blessings to ourselves, but to spread them out. As we approach our Festival of Liberation, let us remember to celebrate that liberation, which was the liberation of the entire People of Israel, and may it someday mark the liberation of all humanity. Shabbat Shalom.
Hazzan Yitzhak Ben-Moshe

Sisterhood event: THIS SUNDAY March 27! 12: 00 noon. Passover baking with THE CHEMIST IN THE KITCHEN. We will have a hands on baking class with Tamar Wiener, blogger at “Chemist in the Kitchen”,
http://chemistinthekitchen.com/
who will be sharing her culinary skills with the sisterhood and Beth El Sunday school. Tamar is a biochemist by day and food enthusiast by night. Event is open to all! Learn how to make Passover creme brulee!

BERS, Sunday school class also March 27 and are welcome to join the cooking class with a parent.

HOLD THE DATE FOR VANIA’S BAT MITZVAH!
May 13 and 14, 2016 is Vania Aguilar’s bat mitzvah!

Cooking kudos to Mary, Rachel and Genny as well as Mr Gregg for bringing cookies galore. And talking of Gregg and Michelle, please check out the wonderful article and exhibit at the Georgetown library:
https://library.georgetown.org/gregg-philipson/

Rabbi Peter Tarlow, Rabbi emeritus at Texas A&M and the Center for Jewish hispanic relations:
This week we study the first two sections of the Torah’s third book, the book of Leviticus. Leviticus begins with the words: “VaYikra el Mosheh vYiddaber elav…/He called out to Moses and said to him…” What follows is a less than inspiring detailed description of the sacrificial codes. These were the “sacrifices”, or in modern parlance, “the fines” that one was to pay for breaking a law. This week’s section expands on the ideas of last week’s parashah. Parashaht Tzav brings together a double theme, it speaks of our offerings to G’d and tells us that uncleanness (ethical mistakes) of deeds leads to impurity of thought. In other word, this week’s parashah gives us the proposition that our negative actions often produce other negative actions, which in turn, lead to the tendency to justify the negative rather than admit a wrong and to correct it.This text also challenges us to judge how we see our place in the world. It forces us to ask if human beings have the tendency to find pretenses to justify their unjustifiable actions. It reminds us that it is easy for the “enslaver” to justify enslavement, or for the taskmaster to show how the whip is not an instrument of torture but of discipline. It reminds us that anti-Semites and racists are always ready to offer or to find a pretext for his or her prejudice(s).This section’s message is that we all too often find ways to justify to ourselves and to others what we do. It reminds us that when we are convinced that someone or something is correct, we justify that person’s actions rather than examine the facts of the case. When we do the unholy or the unclean, we tend to seek ways to convince ourselves that we, are simply not wrong. It is all too easy to say, this is how the world is, or “everyone does it” so I am justified in my actions. The tragedy of Nazi Germany is that all too few people were ready to stand up to hate and evil. Parashat Tzav serves as a warning against this type of sophistry. It argues that actions ought to be born from ethical values rather than finding ethics to justify our actions. It is the parashah that teaches us that everything in life has a price, including our ability to create free and moral societies. What is the price that you are willing to pay?