BEIT TORAH JEWISH CONGREGATION -

an Unaffiliated Jewish Community serving the Tri-city area of Prescott, Prescott Valley, and Chino Valley & surrounding areas.

Kabbalat Shabbat zoom 4 pm MST/ PDT, 5 pm MDT, 7 pm EDT during Daylight Savings Time Time every Friday eve unless otherwise noted here! please email ansheitorah@gmail.com to request link.

Parashah summary below at end.

Greet every person with a pleasant face.

Receive every person in a cheerful manner.- Ethics of the Fathers 1:15; 3:16"

Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein

"We have not inherited the earth from our ancestors --- we have borrowed it from our children." - ancient proverb.

The pandemic is now endemic epidemic and continuing with the omicron variants! and then there are the flu and other respiratory challenges...Get vaccinated and boostered! Use masks when prudent. BE SAFE!

NEW!!! 5786 Free Calendars now available!

Please call if you want one. Anyone needing a visit or meal, please call to arrange.

ALSO: FREE 100% COTTON FACE MASKS AVAILABLE FOR PICK UP COURTESY OF THE COUNTY.

all email is answered. if you do not get a prompt response, please write again... the gremlins may have been eating the mail...RSVP 928-227-0582 or Beit Torah 237-0390 or ansheitorah@gmail.com

We exist thanks to the donations of our members and other interested parties. We are all volunteers and have no paid staff. If you would like to give a donation to help us continue our good works and pay for our overhead, please send your donations to:

Beit Torah c/o, 2004 Shoshone Dr., Chino Valley, AZ 86323

At present, we have weekly zoom Friday evening Kabbalat Shabbat service. Please contact for zoom access information. There is no Saturday morning service at the moment although Rabbi Adele has an open house policy for Torah Study all day of Shabbat - just let her know when you want to come.

Please contact Beit Torah 237-0390 for info or to arrange for special requests.

Our goal is to provide a safe place for people to go for spiritual enrichment and good company, in short a respite away from everyday concerns during the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

Also: Please be respectful of people with allergies and medical sensitivities by helping us make all activities free of fragranced products and other adverse odors such as tobacco smoke/residues, paint solvents, bug spray, etc.

Please note that we are meeting in private homes. Anyone willing to volunteer their home or with other ideas on where we can meet, please call 237-0390 or write ansheitorah@gmail.com -

Although we are led by Rabbi Adele, we welcome topic suggestions for these events as well as volunteers to help conduct the services and programs. We offer the opportunity for you to practice being a Jewish Lay Leader with hands-on experience!

Bar/Bat Mitzvah training as well as Hebrew lessons can be arranged on an individual basis. Topics to be covered will be based on requests. Conversational Hebrew, Basic Hebrew reading and prayers may be taught if requested. Call Beit Torah to arrange. For further information or directions to specific events, please call Beit Torah at (928)237-0390 or write ansheitorah@gmail.com

Shabbat Chukat/Balak Shalom! eve 6/26 thru 6/27/26. Friday zoom service for Kabbalat Shabbat 7 pm EDT/ 5 pm MDT, but 4 pm PDT and MST-AZ Please email or call for link. We encourage all to be prudent, cautious, and safe!

The 5786 calendars are available- call to arrange to get a free one! Torah services/ study also can be arranged.

Call 928-237-0390!

In this parasha, Chukat, we find an overwhelming concern with death. At the beginning we find the mysterious laws of the Red Heifer, a very rare animal which is burnt in a special fire outside the camp. Its ashes are then used to ritually purify those who have become impure due to contact with a dead body. The portion then jumps 38 years to the end of the Israelites' wandering in the desert. We read the brief description of the death of Miriam, the prophetess who was the older sister of Moses and Aaron, and then an incident about the people's need for water. These two events are in fact connected by the Rabbis, who notice that stories with Miriam are always associated with water. The people complain about thirst, and Moses is instructed by G!d to speak to a rock, which will then produce water. Seemingly frustrated and saddened by his sister's death, Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it. Water does flow, but Moses is chastized by G!d for his lack of trust, and he is told that he will not be allowed to lead the people into the Promised Land. We then read of Aaron's death, and the people's mourning for him for thirty days. The portion ends describing a number of battles the Israelites must fight as they travel through the wilderness.

Parashat Balak contains one of the most fully developed stories in the entire Torah. The story is really about Bilaam, a prophet who is hired to curse the Israelites by Balak, the Moabite king. Having heard the tales of their other battles, Balak perceives Israel as a threat. HaSHem makes it clear to Bilaam that he is not to curse Israel, whom HaShem has blessed. But, after a number of approaches, Balak makes Bilaam an offer he cannot refuse. HaShem permits Bilaam to go, but only with the knowledge that Bilaam will have no control over the words that will come out of his own mouth. On his way to curse Israel, Bilaam's donkey stops and refuses to move. The donkey can see an angel blocking the way which the man cannot see. A conversation results between man and donkey, one of only two talking animals in the Bible (ten points to anyone who knows the other!). Finally, Bilaam reaches his destination and opens his mouth to curse Israel. But instead of curses, words of blessing are spoken. This blessing Mah Tovu is now part of the daily morning service. At the end of the parasha, the Israelites get in trouble by consorting with foreign women and worshipping a foreign deity. Pinchas, Aaron's grandson, known as a great zealot, appeases HaShem's anger over this idolatry by killing an Israelite who was flaunting his salacious [as later interpretation would have it] activities with a Midianite woman [who also happened to be his wife as well as daughter of a Midianite Priest. According to Josephus, they were killed in their sleeping tent... Like David, there are reasons we might not want to like Pinchas and his actions.].