Thursday, June 25, 2020

What If You Found Out They're Not Your Children?

Meet Nechama Dina, a devoted mother, communal figure and unapologetic champion of big families, who shares her easy-to-implement parenting tricks that are good for one kid or eleven. Hear her unique perspective on tantrums, over-population, giving attention, and deciding whether or not to have another child.

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Question of the Week  
 
I have a dark secret. I have an anger problem. And I never knew it until I became a parent. Because the only people I take my anger out on are my own kids. I never had a temper before, but sometimes when my children misbehave and I am at my limit I just explode and lose control. I don't like myself at those moments and know it is wrong. And yet I haven't been able to control it. Any pointers on how to not lose it with my kids?
 
Answer:
 
Your dark secret is the dark secret of every parent. We all have our weak moments, when a combination of lack of sleep, pressures of life and our imperfect hearts conspire to make us lose it. And who are the poor victims of our fury? Those we love the most, our children. 
 
If it is happening frequently or if you are really harming your kids, you need urgent professional help. But if you are overall loving and good to your kids, just now and then you snap, then you are human. That doesn't excuse your behaviour, it just means you need to work on yourself like everybody does.

Here are some wise words the Rebbe offered to a father who held the same dark secret.
 
The Rebbe asked, "If your neighbour dropped off their kids to your house to look after while they went out, and during that time the neighbour's kids misbehaved, would you lose your temper with them?"
 
The father had to admit that no, when it is someone else's kids misbehaving, we don't allow ourselves to lose control, because they are not our kids. How could we face our neighbour when they return to pick up their kids, only to find them crying and hurt? We don't feel free to lose ourselves when the kids aren't ours.
 
"Well," continued the Rebbe, "your children are not yours either. They are
G-d's children. He has entrusted them with you for a while to take care of. And you are answerable to G-d for how you treat them."
 
This simple but profound insight redefines the parents' role. Children are not our property, they do not belong to us. They belong to G-d, and we have been honoured with the heavy responsibility of caring for them in their young years and guiding them for their future. If we'd be embarrassed to return our neighbours children having hurt them, then how much more should we recoil from the thought of hurting G-d's children.
 
Parents need to discipline their kids, that is an essential part of our role. But that must come from a place of love, not anger. It must be deliberate and thought out, not impulsive and reactive.
 
This is all easy to say when we are calm and well rested. But what do you do when after a few weeks of sleepless nights, and you haven't had three minutes to yourself since your five year old was born, and there's pressure at work and your sister-in-law has been driving you crazy about her silly issues, everyone is hungry and dinner is late, and just then your little boy kicks his soccer ball (which he knows he isn't allowed to do indoors) and it knocks the platter of chicken onto the floor that was just mopped by the over-priced cleaning lady who told you she's not coming back as she got a permanent job, and as it smashes into a thousand pieces your daughter says, "Good, I don't like chicken," and your other son says "Can we go out for dinner now?" What do you do then?
 
You say to yourself two words: G-d's kids.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss

To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au
THIS WEEK'S PODCASTS
Missing Your Child's Wedding - when absence is more powerful than presence

The Rebbe's parents couldn't attend his wedding due to border closures. The impassioned letter his father wrote gives some perspective for those in similar situations today.
SHABBOS SONGS AUDIO
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To help you recreate the holy energy of shul in your home, here are recordings of the Friday night tunes we sing at Nefesh, created by the super-talented Zalmy Okunov. Download and listen to them during the week, so when it comes to Shabbos, you can be the chazan! Note: they are not to be played on Shabbos itself - nothing can replace your own voice on Shabbos.

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Zooming My Father's Funeral?



Question of the Week: 
 
My father just passed away in London. I couldn’t fly to be there with him in his last days. I won’t be able to be there for his funeral. My family won’t be able to sit shiva together, as they are all over the world and borders closed. To be honest, I am at peace with his passing. He lived a long and good life. But how can I come to terms with not being there for him at the end? 

Answer:

It must be so hard to miss your father’s final days. And watching a funeral on Zoom can’t be the same. But perhaps there is some comfort you can find in this difficult time. 

During this pandemic we have been forced to connect virtually. We have learnt that tuning in to a live event can really make you feel a part of it. It takes some focus and a bit of imagination, and of course it isn’t the same as face to face contact, but on some level you really are there.

This has profound ramifications. It’s not just a technological step forward, it’s a step forward in our consciousness. We have become less bound by the limits of physicality. We can be on two different sides of the world and yet share an intimate moment almost as if we were side by side. 

We have the ability to transcend spatial distance because we have a soul, and the soul is not limited to space. Only the body is stuck to one place. The soul can be anywhere any time. On a soul level, connection is not virtual, it is real. 

Your father has moved to a higher world, beyond the one that we inhabit. But we have the technology to connect to that world from ours. When you say Kaddish in his memory, when you give charity in his honour, when you remind your children of his ways and continue the Yiddishkeit he instilled in you, you are connecting to him at those moments. You are zooming in on his soul. 

He is not physically here anymore. And that is painful. But his soul is as alive as ever. You can still share space with him. When you connect more to your soul, when you enter a more spiritual state, you will feel his presence, as he feels yours. 

Perhaps this is a deeper meaning of the blessing we give to mourners, Hamakom Yenachem Etchem - G-d should bring comfort to you. The name we use for G-d is unusual: Hamakom, which literally means “The Place.” 

G-d is the place in which everything exists. He is the all inclusive space within which creation resides. And that is the comfort. No matter where we are - Sydney or London, on earth or in heaven - we all share the exact same space, Hamakom, G-d’s embrace. 

You were always there for your father. You are there for him now. And he is there for you.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss


To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au
THIS WEEK'S PODCASTS

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Do You Remember Your Past Lives?

Question of the Week: 
 
If it is true that we are all reincarnated souls and have been here before, why don't we remember our previous lives? Wouldn't it be helpful to know what you were in a past life so you know what to fix in this one?
 
Answer:

Personally, I find it hard enough to remember where I put my car keys five minutes ago, let alone what I did in a previous life. But there have been very holy individuals who were aware of their past lives. One example is Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Ujhely, who said he remembers his past three lives.

Previous to his current life as a Rabbi in 18th century Hungary, he said he lived in the times of the first Temple in Jerusalem in 587 BCE. He was the prophet Jeremiah, who foresaw the destruction of the Temple. For that reason Rabbi Moshe was famous for his constant yearning for the redemption and rebuilding of the third Temple. 

He also recalled an even earlier incarnation, when he was a witness to the debate between Moses and Korach, which took place during the Israelite sojourn in the desert, some three thousand years ago.

But Rabbi Teitelbaum remembered further back, all the way to the time of the patriarchs. He said that when our forefather Jacob tended the sheep of his father-in-law Lavan, his flock numbered 600 000 sheep. They contained the souls of the future nation of Israel. Your soul and mine were there. We just don't remember. But Rabbi Moshe did.

"I remember being a sheep in Jacob's flock," Rabbi Moshe told his students. "I even remember the song Jacob would sing to gather us together." And he would sing this most beautiful and haunting song, the song Jacob our forefather sang to our souls hidden in the sheep. The song is still known to this very day.

Rabbi Moshe is an exception. Most of us have no conscious memory of our previous lives. But somewhere deep down, we do remember. We have a sense of what our mission is and what we need to fix. Our mission is usually found in the very area of life that we find the most challenging. Our soul knows that this is what we have to face. That's why it's so daunting. 

There are certain people in our lives who push our buttons. There are particular weaknesses in our character that we loath to face. And there are mitzvahs that we know we have to do but are scared to do them. These are the faint memories of our past lives. These are what we need to fix in this life. 

And if you're not sure that you believe in all this, listen to Jacob's song. Its heavenly melody just might arouse some hidden memory in the recesses of your soul. Tell me you're not moved by it.

We may not remember exactly who we were before, but one thing we know. We are all Jacob's sheep. We each have a soul that matters, we each have a mission to accomplish, and we each have a song to sing. 
 
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss

To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au 

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THIS WEEK'S PODCASTS

THIS WEEK'S VIDEOS

Are the riots our business?
DILEMMA: Do I Have to Pay for a Shop's Mistakes?
DILEMMA: Do I Have to Pay for a Shop's Mistakes?
SHABBOS SONGS AUDIO
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To help you recreate the holy energy of shul in your home, here are recordings of the Friday night tunes we sing at Nefesh, created by the super-talented Zalmy Okunov. Download and listen to them during the week, so when it comes to Shabbos, you can be the chazan! Note: they are not to be played on Shabbos itself - nothing can replace your own voice on Shabbos.


SHABBOS SERVICES & COMMUNITY INFORMATION: SHABBOS BEHAALOSCHA
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The Nefesh community looks forward to getting back together! In the meantime, make your Shabbos special by doing your own little service at home. Here are some instructions. Page numbers are from the blue Chabad Siddur. Don't have one? You can download it here and print it.

We will run a minimal Friday Night Service tonight and minyan with Torah reading tomorrow. To register CLICK HERE

Friday 12 June - 20 Sivan
Light Candles.............. 4:35pm
Before 4:53pm:........... Mincha p101
After 5:21pm............... Shabbos evening service p154
Kiddush....................... p179

Saturday 13 June - 21 Sivan
Morning Service for Shabbos:
p5-25, p181-219, Torah reading Behaaloscha, Mussaf p234, Kiddush p248.
 
Virtual Lechaim 1:30pm - raise a glass and have us all in mind!
 
This week's Virtual Lechaim sponsored by Michael & Karen Martin in honour of Harper's Birthday- Mazal Tov!
 
Before 4:53pm ................. Mincha p253
Pirkei Avos ...................... Chapter 2 p273
After 5:21pm ................... Maariv p161
Shabbos Ends................... 5:34pm
Havdala p297
Latest Shema this week...... 9:24am
 
MAZAL TOV
Gilda Cohen-Shapira and Jon Shapira on the birth of a grandson in London! Mazal Tov to parents Natalia and Robert and sister Maya.
 
BIRTHDAYS
Harper Martin............. 21 Sivan/ Saturday 13 June
Michelle Streimer........ 21 Sivan/ Saturday 13 June
Justin Rosenberg........ 26 Sivan/ Thursday 18 June
Sarah Weisz.............. 27 Sivan/ Friday 19 June
 
ANNIVERSARIES
John & Linda Isdale.............. 27 Sivan/ Friday 19 June
Wendy & Barry Steinberg...... 27 Sivan/ Friday 19 June
Claudia & Murray Foltyn........ 27 Sivan/ Friday 19 June
Ben & Melissa Schwarz......... 27 Sivan/ Friday 19 June
 
YORTZHEITS
Tania Hasanoff for her late aunt Thelia Hasanoff, 
Tzela...21 Sivan/ Saturday 13 June

Larnce Gold for his late grandfather David Goldbaum, 
David ben Baruch...22 Sivan/ Sunday 14 June

Robyn Tsipris for her late mother Anne Brandon, 
Channah bat Bension...23 Sivan/ Monday 15 June

Jonathan Shapira for his late father Miron Shapira
Meir ben Yosef...24 Sivan/ Tuesday 16 June

Anne Sarzin for her late mother Bertha Elizabeth Levy, (aka Betty)
Elisheva bat Avraham...25 Sivan/ Wednesday 17 June

Jackie Regos for her late father Paul Vertes,
Henanya Meyer ben Shmuel Yehuda...25 Sivan/ Wednesday 17 June

Jerome Stern & David Stern for their late mother Gerda Stern,
Yehudith bat Mordechai...26 Sivan/ Thursday 18 June
 
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