Shabbat graphic
  Shabbat Shalom  
from
Temple  Beth El
Friday, July 21, 2017 / 27 Tammuz, 5777
Parashat Matot/Mas'ei  Numbers 30:2-36:13

Dear Friends,

Enthusiastic discoveries can take many forms. Three recent examples:

My dad, Rabbi Larry Mahrer, sends a weekly Shabbat email message to hundreds of friends. This week, he recalls the story of a family who came to his synagogue's Religious School from a distant town. The first time the young daughter came to the building, she queried her parent about the building, what it was all about, and what happened there. Her parent said that the synagogue was "where God was."  Since my dad was the only person she saw as she entered the building, she began to greet him with "Hi, God!" and "Bye, God" when she left. Finally, one Sunday morning, she came running back into the building and shouted "I always knew you weren't really God!" [Dad has used her affirmation as the title of a book filled with such wonderful stories].

 

I spent the last two weeks of June on faculty at URJ Camp Newman, as I do most summers. The enthusiasm of the campers with whom I spend time (3rd and 4th graders) knows no bounds. The educational theme for our session was "Superheroes" and we worked to figure out how we could each use our own "super powers" to show that we, indeed, are created in the image of God. 

 

Campers scoured the camp to find one of our missing adult superheroes (counselors in costume), collecting tokens along the way to "free the captive." They went on a blind-folded trust walk in the vineyard to concretize their understanding of "lifting up the fallen." Perhaps the toughest task was putting the individual rungs of Maimonides' "Ladder of Tzedakah" in order-but they did it!

 

During our closing program, they made their own "superhero" shields or golden [Wonder Woman] bracelets adding their own designs to their "Tzedek League" member badges and "mission statement": (Tzedek, tzedek tirdof-Justice, justice, you shall pursue). Their conversations in group discussions manifest deep insight, curiosity and an age-appropriate amount of silliness.


 
Not to be outdone in the enthusiasm department-our diligent group of Thursday Torah Study participants regularly inspire me. Their vocabulary is certainly richer and their thoughts more sophisticated than my campers'...but this group loves to delve into our most sacred text, turning it and turning it to allow this ancient text to speak to our modern experiences. Yesterday, we turned to the last two portions of the book of Numbers, and tackled several conundrums in the text. Here are but two of them:


As the Israelites end the wandering in the desert and realize the fulfillment of the original Divine promise--arrival to the Land of Israel--why does the text depict in almost excruciating detail how our people left one place, camped in another; left that place, and camped in yet another-recalling each of the 42 stops in the desert on the way to the Promised Land? Why recall so much of the past rather than look toward the promised future?

How can the tribes of Reuben and Gad choose to establish their holdings outside of the established boundaries of the Promised Land? How can they balance their career/personal advancement and the lofty mission set forth by God for the Israelites?

Hazak Hazak v'nit-hazek
May we continually be strengthened
through our (enthusiastic) study of Torah.

Shabbat Shalom
Debi M. Rowe,
Director of Education and Programs
Refuah Sh'leimah
For those recovering from an illness:
Barbara Mozlin
Vivian Rigler
Jack Lebental
Irene Tyson 
Elaine Grove
Beth Wahba
Andy Kauffman  
Wendy Waterman
Jackie Grossman
Josie Morris
Steve Morris
Susan Bernard

To add a name to this list, please contact the TBE Office. We will not add names until we are notified by the family. Thank you.  
MAZAL TOV

We wish  Mazal Tov to Marilyn Ortner on the birth of her third grandchild,
Matthew Isaac Ortner , born on July 8th to parents Andy Ortner and Genny Hutchison
and big brother, Avery. 
Upcoming Services
TONIGHT - Friday, July 21
6:30 p.m. Musical Shabbat Service featuring
the Moody Jews

Saturday, July 22
10:00 a.m. Torah on the Trails walking Alta Vicente Ecological Reserve Trail
Meet in the parking lot of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall, located at 30940 Hawthorne Blvd., RPV. We will walk from the parking lot to the trail head.

Friday, July 28
7:30 p.m. Shabbat Service with Torah reading
Celebrating adult birthdays and anniversaries with an aliyah to the Torah.

Friday, August 4
4:00 p.m. Half Pint Havurah & Hallah Bake
5:30 p.m. Shabbat Dinner
6:30 p.m. Family Shabbat Service in the TBE Courtyard
Shabbat Service including birthday blessings for children under 13. Services are outside, please dress accordingly. RSVP for Shabbat dinner ($5 per person) to Carrie in the TBE Office.

Saturday, August 5
10:00 a.m. Refuat HaNefesh-Healing Service

Friday, August 11
7:30 p.m. Shabbat Service with Torah reading
Celebrating adult birthdays and anniversaries with an aliyah to the Torah.

Saturday, August 12
9:30 a.m. Lay-Led Shabbat Shaharit (morning) Service
We hope to see you soon at Temple Beth El.
Find us on the web at: www.bethelsp.org
Call the office for more information: 310-833-2467  
Or drop by for a visit:   1435 W. 7th Street, San Pedro 90732
 
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