Thursday, October 25, 2018

Can I Preset My TV for Shabbos?

Question of the Week:
 
When Prayer Doesn't Work
Video:
When Prayer Doesn't Work
I am almost 100% committed to keep Shabbos this week in honor of the world wide Shabbos project. There's just one issue. My favourite TV show screens Fridays 7:30pm. So I was thinking, if it's permissible to set a timer before Shabbos to turn the lights on and off, then why isn't it permissible to set a timer before Shabbos to turn my television on and off? I can't see what the difference is.

Answer:

My favourite show is also on Fridays at 7:30pm. And I never miss it. It's a hilarious reality show, and my kids star in it. We call it "The Shabbos Table."

The formula is pretty standard every week. We eat. We sing. We try to start ameaningful discussion. One of the kids makes a cheeky comment. Everyone laughs. We change the subject. A guest starts talking politics. A heated argument ensues. We change the subject. We share inspiring stories and the kids show off what they learnt at school. We eat more. We sing more. The kids fall asleep on the couch. We say grace after meals. Show's over.

That's the show you should never miss. When you tune in to your own family, when you listen to the people around you, you'll find real life dramas and sitcoms, soap operas and breaking news flashes. This show is unrehearsed, unscripted and messy. But it's real, and it's yours. And there are no ads.

This is what Shabbos is for, to connect to family and friends, to commune with people and G-d. Rather than following the lives of strangers on a screen, we give full attention to the real people who actually matter to us. Rather than wasting our time on the passing fads of pop culture, we immerse in the eternal truths and soulful wisdom of our own culture.

The laws of Shabbos set the tone for this immersion. We are allowed to preset a timer to turn on the lights, because that will enhance our Shabbos. But we can't set a timer to turn on the TV, because that will destroy our Shabbos. Watching television on Shabbos is choosing someone else's reality over your own. The show must go on. But the show must be yours. 

Reality TV is an oxymoron, and fake news is a redundancy. If you want to get real, you need to get Shabbos.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss

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This week's newsletter is sponsored by Menucha Monuments
 
   

I'm happy to say we are back at work :-) Now that most of the plans have been finalised, we are going up and I could not be more proud. Progress always looks so good, and in this case it is no exception. If you have a moment, please come and take a walk past to see our new centre grow together.
Shabbat Shalom!
Brent 

 
 

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SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: VAYEIRA
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Friday, 26 October 2018 | 17 Cheshvan 5779
Candle Lighting............ 6:59pm (Not before 5:58pm)
Mincha........................ 6:15pm
Shabbos Service........... 6:30-7:20pm
Kids Program............... 6:30pm
Friday Night Dinner with guest Speaker Richie Harkham (SOLD OUT)
 
Shabbos Day, 27 October 2018 | 18 Cheshvan 5779
In depth parsha class ...................... 9:00am
Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm
Kids Program ............................... 10:30am
Lunch sponsored by Jacqui Eliovson Rosenberg and Allen Rosenberg to celebrate Karen Holtz's visit from Jerusalem.
 
Special thanks to our team of Nefesh cooks who have contributed so enthusiastically to this week's lunch in honour of The Shabbos Project.
 
No mincha service at Nefesh as we will be joining the JNF Seudah Shlishis program at Mizrachi Shul from 5:15pm - see flyer.
 
Shabbos ends.............................. 7:57pm
 
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Sunday........................................ 8:00am
Mon- Fri....................................... 7:00am
Latest Shema this week................. 9:18am
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Yaron Eitan Morris... 21 Cheshvan/ Tuesday 30 October
 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Tahnya & Jonathan Seifman... 19 Cheshvan/ Sunday 28 October
Michelle & Jeremy Saunders... 23 Cheshvan/ Thursday 1 November
 
LONG LIFE
Todd Gothelf for his late father Ira Gothelf
Yisrael ben Benjamin... 22 Cheshvan/ Wednesday 31 October
 
Anne Sarzin for her late husband, Dr Barney Sarzin
Dov ben Zwi... 23 Cheshvan/ Thursday 1 November
Nefesh Shul, PO Box 7349, 0416 822 832, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026 Australia
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Thursday, October 18, 2018

Why Do Mourners Tear their Clothes?

Question of the Week:
 
What is the reason for the custom of mourners ripping their clothing on the death of a loved one?
 
Answer:
 
The experience of loss arouses several emotions. On the one hand, death is a tragedy. A loved one is lost to their family and friends, who are left feeling a profound sense of separation and distance that seems beyond repair. For this reason, we observe a seven day intense mourning period, during which the family sits at home and feels the pain and loss, followed by a year of mourning. This helps them slowly accept the new reality, that their loved on is gone.
 
But often, the mourners feel that it isn't really true, it didn't really happen, they haven't really gone. This is not just denial. In a way they are right. Death is not the end. Our souls existed before we were born, and they continue to exist after we die. The souls that have passed on are still with us. We can't see them, but we sense they are there. We can't hear them, but we know that they hear us. On the surface, we are apart. On a deeper level, nothing can separate us.
 
So we tear our garments. This has a dual symbolism. We are recognising the loss, accepting the reality, our hearts are torn, and there is a hole in our lives that can never be healed. But that is only true on the bodily level. The loss is a physical one. But the soul lives on.

The body is no more than a garment that the soul wears. Death is when we strip one uniform and take on another. The garment may be torn, but the essence of the person, the soul, is still intact.
 
From our worldly perspective death is indeed a tragedy, and the sorrow experienced by the mourners is real. But as they tear their garments we hope that within their pain they can sense a glimmer of a deeper truth: that souls never die.
 
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ALL SERVICES AT NEFESH 
 
1 FRANCIS ST BONDI BEACH
 
(OFF CAMPBELL PDE, BEHIND NOAH'S BACKPACKERS)

 
SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: SHABBOS LECH LECHA
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Friday, 19 October 2018 | 10 Cheshvan 5779
Candle Lighting............ 6:53pm (Not before 5:53pm)
Mincha........................ 6:15pm
Shabbos Service.......... 6:30-7:20pm
Kids Program............... 6:30pm
Followed by Kiddush
 
Shabbos Day, 20 October 2018 | 11 Cheshvan 5779
In depth parsha class ......................9:00am
Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm
Kids Program ............................... 10:30am
Kiddush sponsored anonymously in honour of the Yorztheit of Helen Kleinlehrer this Sunday. We wish Mr Aron Kleinlehrer and family long life.
 
Lechaim sponsored by Tzvika Berhman in honour of his Bar Mitzvah anniversary - Mazel Tov!
 
Mincha followed by Seudah Shlishis ........6:50pm
Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak....... 7:10pm
Shiur with Rabbi Moss........................... 7:30pm
Shabbos ends...................................... 7:53pm
Followed by Havdalah
 
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Sunday............................................... 8:00am
Mon- Fri.............................................. 7:00am
Latest Shema this week........................ 9:23am
 
MAZEL TOV
Mike and Sophie Stern and their families on the birth of a baby boy!
 
MAZEL TOV
Julian and Tal Levin on the birth and naming of their baby girl!
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Iliana Lavecky... 13 Cheshvan/ Monday 22 October
 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Rob & Lana Goldshaft..... 14 Cheshvan/ Tuesday 23 October
Carly & David Zalcberg... 16 Cheshvan/ Thursday 25 October
 
CONDOLENCES  
Darren Zelazne and family on the passing of his father Norman Zelazne 
 
LONG LIFE
Stephen Etkind for his late sister, Michelle Holzman... 11 Cheshvan / Saturday 20 October
 
Diane, Ruth, David and Jonathan Shteinman for their late husband and father Boris Lazarus Shteinman, Boruch ben Eliazar... 11 Cheshvan/ Saturday 20 October
 
Aron Kleinlehrer for his late wife Helen Kleinlehrer
Esther Bat Yaacov...12 Cheshvan/ Sunday 21 October
 
Gilda Cohen-Shapira for her late sister Brenda Maraney
Batya Ita bat Moshe Ya'acov... 16 Cheshvan/ Thursday 25 October
 
Nefesh Shul, PO Box 7349, 0416 822 832, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026 Australia
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Thursday, October 11, 2018

What If You Swim Against the Tide?

Question of the Week:

If you really believe the Torah to be the ultimate truth and the word of G-d, how do you explain the fact that the story of Noah's ark and the flood is replicated in myths of almost every culture around the world? Does G-d copy and paste?

Answer:

Let me follow your logic. If a book claims that an event happened all over the world to the common ancestors of every nation, and then every nation has a version of this event among their folk tales, this proves that the book is a forgery. Huh?

Peoples as diverse as Sumerians and Siberians, Maoris and Masai, Chaldeans and Cherokees all tell a strikingly similar story: the world was destroyed by a massive flood, leaving a few survivors to start the human family again. Either they all copied and pasted, or it really did happen. I would think this tradition shared by all peoples testifies to its own validity.

But the one thing distinguishes the Torah's account from all others is the reason Noah survived. In all the flood tales from around the world, the survivors lived on because they were mighty warriors, or powerful kings, or they just happened to make it through the flood for no apparent reason. In the Torah, Noah and his family survived because they were moral people in an immoral world. The story is not a tale of the survival of the fittest, but the survival of the righteous.

The message is clear. Our world may be flooded with false ideas and evil ideologies. I don't have to subscribe to the beliefs of a foolish majority. Noah teaches us, if just one good family has the guts to go against the tide, they can rebuild the world.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ALL SERVICES AT NEFESH 
 
1 FRANCIS ST BONDI BEACH
 
(OFF CAMPBELL PDE, BEHIND NOAH'S BACKPACKERS)

 
SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: SHABBOS NOACH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, 13 October 2018 | 3 Cheshvan 5779
Candle Lighting............ 6:48pm (Not before 5:49pm)
Mincha........................ 6:15pm
Shabbos Service.......... 6:30-7:20pm
Kids Program............... 6:30pm
Followed by Kiddush
 
Shabbos Day, 14 October 2018 | 4 Cheshvan 5779
In depth parsha class ...................... 9:00am
Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm
Bar Mitzvah of Tyler Menachemson
Kids Program ............................... 10:30am
Followed by Kiddush in honour of Tyler's Bar Mitzvah- Mazel Tov!
 
Mincha and Seudah Shlishis ........................ 6:45pm
Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak............. 7:05pm
Shiur with Rabbi Moss................................. 7:25pm
Shabbos ends............................................ 7:44pm
Followed by Havdalah
 
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Sunday.................................................... 8:00am
Mon- Fri................................................... 7:00am
Latest Shema this week............................. 9:28am
 
CONDOLENCES
Long life to Henny Reuben on the passing of her sister Helene Violet Nasiem, Helene Violet Bat Julet in Indonesia. Long Life as well to Jack Reuben and the extended family.

MAZEL TOV 
Jack & Charlene Klein, Brad & Daniella Menachemson and the entire extended families on Tyler's Bar Mitzvah.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Lucia Meyer... 8 Cheshvan/ Wednesday 17 October
 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Karen & Roger Berman... 28 Tishrei/ Sunday 7 October
 
LONG LIFE
Les Pozniak for his late mother Elisabeth Pozniak... 9 Cheshvan/ Thursday 18 October
Nefesh Shul, PO Box 7349, 0416 822 832, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026 Australia
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