02.13.26 - TBE Shabbat Spotlight

Events this Month

Yahrzeits We Remember...

May their memory be a blessing and a lesson for how we can live our lives.

Molly Aksman Rose F. Banks* Freida Bennett Debra Bertoty David Cons* Samuel B. Danto* Norman Feinberg* Buz Fyvolent Frank Getz Seda Glass William Graff* Morris Green* Max Haber Daniel Hirsch Morris N. Jenkins Nat Jurin* Katy Kiley Gwen Lewin* Kenneth Lewin* Fred Lowry*

Ella Mahler* Virginia Negretti Jette Neumark* Joseph Neumark* Kenneth Charles Nobel Sara Pearlman* Julia Rosenbluth* Lee Samler* Harry Schwartz Betty Sembler Milton Shapiro* Brian J. Shavlan* Milton Simmons Shirley Siskin Jules Stern Jonathan Susskind* Gilbert Turner David Waterman Charlotte Weintraub Sylvia Woolf*

the

Shabbat

Spotlight

*Denotes plaque in Memorial Alcove

We’d love to hear from you!

Reach out to us with any questions.

Amy L. Morrison - Rabbi 727-347-6136 - RabbiMorrison@TempleBeth-El.com Tara O’Donnell - Director of Finance & Operations 727-347-6136 - Tara@TempleBeth-El.com Jennifer Hannon - Director of Early Childhood Center 727-350-5885 - JennHannon@TempleBeth-El.com Alexis Kelly - Raymund Family Religious School Principal 727-347-6136 - RaymundRS@TempleBeth-El.com Tracy Nash - Bookkeeper 727-347-6136 - Bookkeeper@TempleBeth-El.com

Parashat Mishpatim Exodus 21:1-24:18

Tovah Feld - Communications & Engagement Coordinator 727-347-6136 - Tovah@TempleBeth-El.com Allison Fowler - Office Administrative Assistant 727-347-6136 - Allison@TempleBeth-El.com Mike Shapiro - Temple President 727-347-6136 - President@TempleBeth-El.com

Rabbi Amy L. Morrison & Joyce Liu #tbestpete

February 13, 2026

A Special Message from

Rabbi Amy L. Morrison

Parashat Mishpatim arrives each year with its dense tapestry of laws— damages, responsibilities, ethical obligations—hardly the stuff of Valentine’s cards. And yet, at its heart beats a profound vision of love. Not love as fleeting romance but love as covenantal responsibility.

“You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex. 22:20). “If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you must return it before the sun sets” (Ex. 22:25–26). Mishpatim insists that love is enacted through justice, through attentiveness to vulnerability. The Torah does not separate ritual devotion from ethical tenderness; it weaves them together.

Just chapters earlier, we stood at Sinai. Here, the revelation becomes relational. ‫—אהבה‬love—is not named explicitly, but it is embedded in ‫הדין‬ (compassion) in the daily choices that honor the image of God in one another. As a liberal Jewish community, we affirm that holiness is found not only in grand gestures but in equitable business practices, in dignified speech, in ensuring no one’s metaphorical cloak is withheld overnight.

On a weekend when our culture celebrates romantic love, Mishpatim calls us to covenantal love—steady, accountable, liberating.

Announcements Saturday, Feb. 14 10am - 11:30am - Market Minyan Tuesday, Feb. 17 2pm - Bereavement Group Thursday, Feb. 19 7pm - Choir Practice Friday, Feb. 20 6pm - Friday Night LIVE! Erev Shabbat Service

Torah Portion

Parashat Mishpatim: Exodus 21:1-24:18 Saturday, February 14, 2026 / 27 Sh’vat 5786 Interpersonal laws ranging from the treatment of slaves to the exhibition of kindness to strangers are listed. (21:1-23:9) Cultic laws follow, including the commandment to observe the Sabbatical Year, a repetition of the Sabbath injunction, the first mention of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals, rules of sacrificial offerings, and the prohibition against boiling a kid in its mother's milk. (23:10-19) The people assent to the covenant. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascend the mountain and see God. Moses goes on alone and spends forty days on the mountain.

(24:1-18)

Suggestions for parents of our youngest congregants

My charge to you this Shabbat: perform one act of ‫( משפט‬laws/justice) infused with ‫( חסד‬compassion). Repair a relationship. Advocate for someone vulnerable. Return someone’s “cloak.” Let love be not only a feeling, but a sacred obligation.

Relax! God put the wiggle in children.

Don’t feel you have to suppress it in our

If you are new to Temple Beth-El, welcome!

OPEN COMMUNITY CREATES ENGAGING & DIVERSE JEWISH PATHWAYS Located in St. Petersburg on Florida's beautiful west coast, Temple Beth-El is a Reform Jewish congregation that has served this area since 1928 and is focused on strengthening relationships and making connections. We are a welcoming Reform community for Jewish and interfaith households to experience an uplifting and joyful sense of belonging as we seek to connect our members with each other and the greater community and world around us.

Enjoy and have a Shabbat Shalom!

sanctuary or chapel.

Sit towards the front where it is easier for your little ones to see and hear what is happening on the Bima. They tire of seeing the backs of other’s heads.

Quietly explain our rituals and sing or clap when appropriate. Children learn liturgical behavior by copying you.

If you need to leave services with your child, do so, but please come back.

Remember that the way we welcome children in synagogue directly affects the way they respond to coming to synagogue, to God, to one another. Let them know that they are welcome in this house of worship, here, at Temple Beth-El.