Do Personal Trainers Make Your Life Miserable?

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Question of the Week: Inspired to Clean for Pesach? I understand (somewhat at least) why Hashem sends people difficulties in life. Life is not meant to be easy. What I'm having a problem with is why He will make it difficult for us when performing a mitzva.  For example, the car breaks down just when you're doing someone a favour, or the oven stops working on Friday when you need to cook for Shabbos, or your boss schedules an important meeting that you must attend, but you can't because of all days it just happens to be on Yomtov.  I've heard answers like Hashem wants you to pray harder, or the harder the mitzva the greater the reward, but these just seem like cop out answers.  The Talmud says Hashem helps people do what they choose to do, whether it be bad or good. If that's the case, why does He put stumbling blocks before people who set out to do good? Answer: Imagine you're in the middle of a heavy work out at the gym. Pretty exhausted, you turn to your personal trainer and say, "You have asked me to lift these dumbbells. I am more than happy to do it. But why do you keep on adding weight to them? You're just making my job harder." The trainer responds, "Yeah, that's the point. Every time you sweat, you burn calories. The heavier the load, the more you burn. I don't just want dumbbells to be lifted, I want you to work for it! The stronger you get, the more resistance you need to make you sweat." It is similar with G-d's commandments. If He just wanted these things to get done, then it would be ridiculous for Him to make it difficult for us. You don't give someone a job and then put obstacles in their way. You don't ask someone to lift something, and then make it heavier.  But our mission is not just to get the mitzvos done, it is to battle evil and change the world for good through doing mitzvos. Every good deed we do brings a ray of divine light into the world. Anything that gets in way of us doing a good deed is a layer of darkness trying to block that light. When we overcome that obstacle, the powers of light have vanquished a little corner of darkness in the universe. And every victory over darkness, no matter how small, is a step closer to the ultimate goal, creating a world of goodness and light.  If you are facing a lot of resistance to doing a mitzvah, that is a sign that you are doing a great job. The more hurdles you jump, the more darkness you banish and the more goodness you achieve. As you win more battles and your light gets stronger, you are sent new obstacles, because you now have the spiritual stamina to overcome them. So expect the obstacles, even welcome them. This is what you are here for, to burn away the darkness and bring more light. So next time your car breaks down and you have to get out and run to do a mitzvah, remember, G-d loves that. Your personal trainer might like it too.   Good Shabbos,  Rabbi Moss  Sources: Zohar Terumah 128 Tanya Chapter 27 To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au      This week a miracle happened. The recent storms caused a flood in the basement of the building. We expected to have lost many tools to water damage, but upon inspection we found that our tools were 1cm above the water level. Some of our tool boxes were even floating on top of the water. Thank G-d we lost nothing to the damage! Shabbat Shalom Brent ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ALL SERVICES AT NEFESH    1 FRANCIS ST BONDI BEACH   (OFF CAMPBELL PDE, BEHIND NOAH'S BACKPACKERS)   Sponsor a Kiddush  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FRIDAY NIGHT  5 April or 3 May: $120 Basic Kiddush      $200 Deluxe Kiddush    SHABBOS DAY 6 April or 4 May:  $350 Standard Kiddush  Email office@nefesh.com.au with any questions SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: Shemini ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, 29 March 2019 |22 Adar II 5779 Candle Lighting............ 6:37pm (Not before 5:44pm) Mincha.........................6:15pm Shabbos Service........... 6:30-7:20pm Kids Program .............. 6:30pm Kiddush sponsored by Lani Elder in honour of her late husband Bertrand Elder.   Shabbos Day, 30 March 2019 |23 Adar II 5779 In depth parsha class ...................... 9:00am Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm Kids Program ................................ 10:30am Kiddush sponsored by Rita Super in honour of her late mother, Ida Flora Bat Aziza Benjamin.   Mincha followed by Seudah Shlishis ......6:30pm Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak..... 7:00pm Shiur with Rabbi Moss......................... 7:15pm Shabbos ends.................................... 7:31pm Followed by Havdalah   WEEKDAY SERVICES Mon - Friday....................................... 7:00am Sunday.............................................. 8:00am Latest Shema this week...................... 10:00am New Moon/ Molad.............. Friday 5 April 1:25:17am Rosh Chodesh Nissan......... Shabbos 6 April   THANK YOU TO OUR PURIM SPONSORS! L'Chaim sponsors: Anonymous, Malka Kurta.  Care Package Sponsors: Anonymous, Malka Kurta, Robyn & Irving Weinberg, Lana & Rob Goldshaft, Richard Skimin, Harry Fester, Josh & Shiran Garber, Mandy & Gavin Shnier, Nicola & Justin Rosenberg, Kevin Levine, Dani & Paul Milner, Helene & Gerard Solden, Karen & Michael Martin, Ron & Libby Moss, Stephen Brookes & Robyn Greenstein. General Purim Sponsors: Anonymous, Karin Puels, Michael Basserabie, Harry Fester, Robyn & Irving Weinberg, Henich & Esther Hirschowitz, Ron & Libby Moss, Shlomo Bension, Joshua Susskind, Harriet Ziff, Karen & Gary Lazarus, Rabbi Chanoch & Sarah Chana Sufrin, Marvin Weinman, Dvora Markovits, Yacov Richter, Chaim Bondar, Dovid Deitz, Elka Feldman. Big thank you to Aron Sufrin for his assistance collecting tzedakah! THANK YOU TO OUR CARE PACKAGE VOLUNTEERS! Daniel and Megan Lazarus, Harriet Ziff, Charlotte Ziff, Kirsty White, Mandy Shnier, Gavin Shnier, Maxine Radus, Chana Michla Deitz, Adam Ensly, Malka Kurta, Nadine Saacks, Shiran and Josh Garber, Karen Uziel. Thank you Dov Meguedeche for setting up the Shul for our party! AND A HUGE THANK YOU TO TZVI COHEN for organising, catering and managing our amazingly successful Purim this year!

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Can You Talk Business on a Date?

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WE ARE LOOKING FOR A CAR ...  Nefesh is looking for a car for our rabbinical intern to use. If you have a drivable car which you could gift to Nefesh please be in touch. Question of the Week:    As you know, my wife is a little behind me when it comes to religious observance. One thing she challenged me on and I didn't have an answer. Last week I forgot to leave the light on in the bathroom before Shabbos. She wanted to turn it on, but I said to leave it.  So she asked, What is the big deal if I switch on a light on Shabbos? It isn't such hard work to flick a switch. Will the day of rest be totally disturbed by by me turning a light on? I wasn't sure what to say.... Answer: Here's something I think your wife will relate to.  You are out for a romantic dinner, just the two of you. You make a reservation at a fancy restaurant, a quiet table for two in the corner. Gentle music is playing, lights are dimmed, and the ambiance is just perfect for an evening of romance.  You resolve not to talk about work, not to talk about the kids, rather to take the time to really connect and enjoy each other's company. You laugh together, chit chat, and give one another complete focus and attention.  Then suddenly you say, "Oh, I just remembered something." You take out your phone and call your business partner to remind him to send a report you are waiting for. It all took no more than fifteen seconds. You quickly put your phone away and smile at your wife.  But she's not smiling. You just ruined the moment. You destroyed the atmosphere. Until now it was all about the two of you. As soon as you took out your phone, the ambiance was shattered. You brought the outside world into your intimate space.  You could try explaining that it was just a little phone call and is really no big deal. Good luck with that. If you think you can make a business call on a date night, you just don't get what it means to create an intimate ambiance.  The Shabbos laws are all about creating an ambiance of rest, a moment of spiritual intimacy, when we appreciate G-d's creation as it is without trying to change it. The state of the world when Shabbos comes in is the way it remains, and we do not interfere. If the light was off, it stays off. The flick of a switch, as insignificant as it may seem, would change the ambiance and ruin the moment.  Someone who has never fully kept Shabbos may find this hard to understand. But if you've tasted the profound sense of restfulness that Shabbos can bring, you know how even a slight interruption can make a difference.  We all need date nights and we all need Shabbos. And we need to protect the intimacy of these sacred moments.  Good Shabbos,  Rabbi Moss  To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au      This week we progressed from this:  to this: Mission complete! We are now ready to keep building up. Hope everyone had as great a Purim as my family did. Thanks to Rabbi Moss and Nechama Dina and everyone who made it happen! Shabbat Shalom to all! Brent ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ALL SERVICES AT NEFESH    1 FRANCIS ST BONDI BEACH   (OFF CAMPBELL PDE, BEHIND NOAH'S BACKPACKERS)   Sponsor a Kiddush  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FRIDAY NIGHT  29 March or 5 April: $120 Basic Kiddush      $200 Deluxe Kiddush    SHABBOS DAY 6 April:  $350 Standard Kiddush  Email office@nefesh.com.au with any questions SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: Tzav ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, 22 March 2019 |15 Adar II 5779 Candle Lighting............ 6:47pm (Not before 5:52pm) Mincha........................ 6:15pm Shabbos Service........... 6:30-7:20pm Kids Program ............... 6:30pm Kiddush sponsored by Steven, Karen and Shirley Sher in honour of the Moss Family, for bringing Nefesh to us all!   Shabbos Day, 23 March 2019 |16 Adar II 5779 In depth parsha class ......................9:00am Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm Kids Program ............................... 10:30am Followed by Kiddush   Mincha followed by Seudah Shlishis .............6:40pm Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak............ 7:10pm Shiur with Rabbi Moss................................ 7:25pm Shabbos ends........................................... 7:40pm Followed by Havdalah   WEEKDAY SERVICES Mon - Friday..............................................7:00am Sunday.................................................... 8:00am Latest Shema this week............................. 9:58am   THANK YOU TO OUR PURIM SPONSORS! A complete list will be posted next week HAPPY JEWISH BIRTHDAY Ruth Cromer............................................ 17 Adar II/ Sunday 24 March Michael Lenn.............................................18 Adar II/ Monday 25 March Jack Reuben............................................. 18 Adar II/ Monday 25 March Russell Klein............................................. 19 Adar II/ Tuesday 26 March   HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Leah & David Dennes.................................. 17 Adar II/ Sunday 24 March Brandon & Deborah Rieders.......................... 21 Adar II/ Thursday 28 March Danny & Romy Lessem................................. 22 Adar II/ Friday 29 March   LONG LIFE Gary Lazarus for his late father,  Avraham Yitzchak ben Chaim ... 20 Adar II/ Wednesday 27 March Michael Franks for his late father, Leopald Franks Ephraim ben Shlomo... 22 Adar II/ Friday 29 March Darren Segal for his late brother Ryan Segal Shalom Yisroel Ben Zalmen... 22 Adar II/ Friday 29 March

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What is the Real Cause of Antisemitism?

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WE ARE LOOKING FOR A CAR ...  Nefesh is looking for a car for our rabbinical intern to use. If you have a drivable car which you could gift to Nefesh please be in touch. Question of the Week:    It seems like antisemitism is everywhere these days, and almost becoming acceptable again. Why do so many people hate Jews? Why is antisemitism still flourishing today, even in modern society? And what can we do about it? Answer:    The deepest analysis of antisemitism can be found in a deceptively simple Talmudic passage. It is discussing the story of Purim. And its wisdom rings true until today.  Haman was an antisemitic minister in ancient Persia who wanted to see the Jews annihilated. He approached King Achashverosh and offered to pay him a hefty sum in return for permission to fulfil his vile wish to kill the Jews. The King responded, "Keep your money and do with the Jews what you want!" The Talmud explains the king's response with a parable: A farmer had a problem. There was a big mound of dirt in the middle of his field. His neighbour had a different problem, he had a ditch in the middle of his field. The owner of the ditch saw the mound and thought, "I would pay money for his mound to fill my ditch." The owner of the mound thought, "I would pay money to get rid of my mound in his ditch." The two finally met, and the ditch owner asked to buy the mound. The mound owner said, "Please take it for free!"  So too, when Haman offered to pay the king to rid his kingdom of Jews, the king said go ahead! No need to pay. Achashverosh saw the Jews as a mound sticking out in his kingdom. But what Haman saw was a hollow ditch, a deep hole.  And that is the story of antisemitism. Achashverosh and Haman represent two layers of hatred, the conscious and the subconscious. On the surface, antisemites hate Jews because they are a mound. But deep down, they hate Jews because they hate the ditch.  Antisemites make all types of contradictory statements about why they hate Jews. Jews are rich and own everything, or Jews are poor and stateless; they are religious extremists or they are secular cosmopolitans; they assimilate or they stay separate. Jew-haters say, "Go back to Israel!" and they say, "Get out of Palestine!" They say, "The Nazis should have finished the job" and they say, "The Holocaust never happened." All of these accusations are really saying the same thing: the Jews are a mound in our field. You are in the way. You don't belong here. You are an obstacle, an eye-sore, a blot on humanity. But these are all just pretexts and excuses. None of these is the real reason for antisemitism. The true cause of antisemitism is not the mound, it is the ditch.  At their core, those who hate others actually hate themselves. Beneath their macho exterior lies a profound emptiness, a vacuous hole in their soul. They subconsciously sense that their ideology is false, their beliefs empty, their lives void of meaning. And when you are empty, you hate those who are full. When you lack meaning, you envy those who have it. And there is no people that represent higher purpose and eternal truth than the Jewish people. This is why there are antisemites who have never even met a Jew. It's nothing personal. Their hatred is a symptom of their anger at themselves, which they refuse to face, so they project it on an other. And the ultimate other is the Jew, the eternal Jew who has watched civilisations come and go, who has outlived all the ditch owners that tried to wipe him out.  In every generation there are evil ideologies. They take on various facades, but they share one common feature, they all hate the Jews. If you want to know which ideology is the destructive force of the age, look at the ones that embrace antisemitism. No matter how cultured and intelligent they look, at their core lies a nihilistic ditch, and they are dangerous.  So what should Jews do about antisemitism? What can anyone do about someone else's existential emptiness?  We take our cues from the Purim story. The Jews of the time, under threat of annihilation, did not become less Jewish, but more so. We don't fight emptiness by becoming more empty, and we don't make someone else's problem into our problem. In the face of irrational hate, we stay proudly and defiantly Jewish, trusting in G-d and loyal to our people.  But the Jews of Persia also took political and military measures to protect themselves. Because while we hope that all those haters will one day find some meaning to fill their void, we will not sit by and be victims of those who haven't.  Haman never filled his ditch. But he gave us Purim. And this year like every year, Jewish children will celebrate and make noise when they hear Haman's name read in the Megillah. Because we won't be swallowed into somebody else's dark ditch. We will continue to fight evil and emptiness, by bringing more light to the world. Good Shabbos,  Rabbi Moss  Sources: Talmud Megillah 14a The Rebbe, Sichos Kodesh Purim 5725  To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au      FEW SEATS LEFT - GRAB THEM FAST! We prepared everything this week and were ready to pour concrete yesterday (a week ahead of schedule!). Then last minute we had to cancel because of the storm (look at those clouds...). G-d willing we will pour on Monday and accelerate into the future! Shabbat Shalom Brent ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ALL SERVICES AT NEFESH    1 FRANCIS ST BONDI BEACH   (OFF CAMPBELL PDE, BEHIND NOAH'S BACKPACKERS)   Sponsor a Kiddush  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FRIDAY NIGHT  29 March or 5 April: $120 Basic Kiddush      $200 Deluxe Kiddush     SHABBOS DAY 23 March or 6 April:  $350 Standard Kiddush  Email office@nefesh.com.au with any questions SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: VAYIKRA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, 15 March 2019 |8 Adar II 5779 Candle Lighting............ 7:05pm (Not before 6:08pm) Mincha........................ 6:15pm Shabbos Service........... 6:30-7:20pm Kids Program .............. 6:30pm Kiddush sponsored by Vitali Broyda & Karen Uziel in honour of their first wedding anniversary! Mazal Tov   L'Chaim sponsored by Michelle & Omer Farhy in honour of Shai's Bar Mitzvah on Thursday- Mazal Tov!   Shabbos Day, 16 March 2019 | 9 Adar II 5779 In depth parsha class ...................... 9:00am Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm Reading of Parshas Zachor 11am All men women and children should be in Shul! Kids Program ............................... 10:30am Kiddush sponsored by Reverend Amzalak in honour of the Yortzheit for his late brother, Chaim ben Yitzchak A"H on 9 Adar - Long Life.   Mincha followed by Seudah Shlishis ............6:50pm Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak........... 7:20pm Shiur with Rabbi Moss............................... 7:35pm Shabbos ends.......................................... 7:50pm Followed by Havdalah   WEEKDAY SERVICES Mon - Friday................................................ 7:00am Sunday........................................................ 8:00am Latest Shema this week................................. 9:57am HAPPY JEWISH BIRTHDAY Lee-Anne Whitten................. 09 Adar II/ Saturday 16 March Vicki Lever........................... 12 Adar II/ Tuesday 19 March Lisa Peles............................ 12 Adar II/ Tuesday 19 March Adam Ensly.......................... 13 Adar II/ Wednesday 20 March Keshet Kessel........................14 Adar II/ Thursday 21 March   HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Lance & Liza Friedman............10 Adar II/ Sunday 17 March   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Purim Service and Megillah Reading Times: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wednesday 20 March, 2019 | 13 Adar II   Fast of Esther   Fast begins........ 5:39am   Shachris............ 7:00am   Mincha.............. 7:00pm   Maariv and Megillah Reading (in fancy dress)... 7:30pm   Fast Ends........... 7:33pm   Late Megillah reading at Rabbi Sufrin's home ... 9:30pm     Purim Day   Thursday 21 March, 2019 | 14 Adar   Shachris ........................7:00am   Megillah reading.............. 7:30am    Child Friendly Megillah Reading ...... 10:00am at Wellington St   Child Friendly Megillah reading ..... 4:30pm at Nefesh

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