HE Can't Commit? YOU Can't Commit!

Dinner tonight last few spots available

Question of the Week:   You may find it strange that I am writing to you, rabbi. You know I am not very involved in Jewish life. I am very spiritual, just not religious. But I am turning to you because you know my boyfriend very well. We've been so long together and he still won't commit. He says we are fine as we are and don't need to be married. Maybe you can give him a little nudge and explain that a relationship needs commitment to be real?   Answer:   I would be glad to try and bring him around. You are a great couple and he would be a fool to lose you. But I must say, you can't blame him for not committing. You are doing the exact same thing as he is.   When he says, "I love you, but I don't want to marry you," it means he wants the benefits without the obligations. He likes the feeling of being in a relationship, but doesn't want the commitment that marriage demands.   It sounds great, which is why more and more people are choosing love without marriage. But what it really means is he is stuck in himself. He is looking at what he can gain from the relationship, but isn't willing to make himself vulnerable and put himself out for it. That's not love, that's convenience. I would tell him, If you really mean it when you say I love you, then commit. Do it for her.   That's my speech to your boyfriend. But I could give the same speech to you.   When you say you are spiritual but not religious, you sound exactly like him. You are open to spirituality, but not open to the discipline of religion. It's like saying to G-d, "I love You, but I am not ready to commit to You. I will do what feels good to me, but it has to be on my terms. My meditations, my fixing the world, my way. Just don't ask me to do things Your way."   It is sad that so many people miss out on the experience of committing to something higher than self. It is not limiting yourself to say yes to marriage, it is expanding yourself, because your life is not just about you anymore. You are making yourself vulnerable to someone else, and that is at once humbling and exhilarating.   And you aren't limiting yourself when you commit to observing divine commandments. You are opening yourself to the infinite, and going beyond your limits. It's not about feeling good about yourself, it's about doing good for others, no matter what you feel.   So here's the deal. I will talk to your boyfriend, and explain to him the beauty of a committed relationship. And you back me up as a living example of just that, by doing a mitzvah and committing to G-d. Maybe he will do it for you, if you will do it for Him. Good Shabbos, Rabbi Moss To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au  LAST CHANCE TO BOOK CLICK HERE CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE NOW SHABBOS SERVICES TIMES AND COMMUNITY INFO  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, 9 June, 2017 | 15 Sivan 5777 Candle Lighting................................... 4:35pm   Mincha............................................... 4:45pm Making Sense of the Siddur (a class with Rabbi Moss)..................... 5:30-6:00pm Friday Evening Service......................... 6:00pm Followed by Friday Night Dinner with Guest speaker, Shimona Tzukernik   Shabbos, 10 June, 2017 | 16 Sivan 5777 In depth Parsha Class............... 9:00am Children's program.................. 10:45am Shabbos Morning Service ......... 10:00am- 12:20pm  Kiddush sponsored by Michoel and Dassi Brofman in honour of the birth of their daughter Miriam - Mazal Tov!   Mincha with Pirkei Ovos Ch 2 followed by Seudah Shlishis ..............   4:30pm Gematria and story by Rev Amzalak....... 4:55pm Shiur with Rabbi Moss........................ 5:15pm Shabbos ends and Maariv.................... 5:34pm Followed by Havdalah   WEEKDAY SHACHARIS SERVICES Sunday & Monday (Pub. Hol)............... 8:00am Tues - Fri......................................... 7:00am Latest Shema this week....................... 9:22am   MAZAL TOV TO Sarah Green on her recent Bat Mitzvah, to parents Mark and Ariella Green and to grandparents Shula and Nisan Krimhand and Pauline Green.   Pia and Jonathan Ink on the birth of baby girl.   HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Batsheva Ezekiel.............. 16 Sivan/ Saturday 10 June Janine Diamond............... 20 Sivan/ Wednesday 14 June Michelle Streimer............. 21 Sivan/ Thursday 15 June   HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO Moshe & Lucy Greengarten... 17 Sivan/ Sunday 11 June Nick & Carmelle Hedges....... 19 Sivan/ Tuesday 13 June   LONG LIFE TO Alex Bartos for his late father Chaim Ben Shmuel HaCohen 16 Sivan/ Saturday 10 June Eric Melman for his late mother Nellie Melman Necha bat Benzion  19 Sivan/ Tuesday 13 June Larnce Gold for his late grandfather David Goldbaum David ben Baruch 22 Sivan/ Friday 16 June THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR   M Barel Project Management Services 0414 307 703   To advertise your business email office@nefesh.com.au

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Bar Mitzvah Violence

NEXT FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER WITH GUEST SPEAKER

CATCH THE EARLY BIRD BOOK NOW Question of the Week:   Here's a question I struggle with: every year 13-year old bar mitzvah boys in synagogues around the world will intonate the Torah's commandment to stone people to death, including rebellious sons who fail to yield to their parents commands (however unreasonable they may be, Deut 22:18-21); and our "very own brother, son or daughter, or beloved wife" if they suggest worshipping alternate gods" (however that may be proven, Deut 13:6-11).   I struggle with these passages because they promote such incommensurate violence. If I am blessed with a son and he has to read one of these verses for his bar mitzvah, I will find myself seriously conflicted. Even if there is an alternate, non-literal interpretation to these passages, a 13-year old boy may not have the maturity to understand it. Aren't we teaching our sons to be violent?   Answer:   Bar mitzvah boys have been reading these passages that you say "promote incommensurate violence" for the last 3000 years. This is not a new phenomenon. So let's examine, what affect has that had on them? Are boys who read these passages more violent than those who don't have a bar mitzvah at all? Has Torah study been a negative influence on them? Have violent acts of crime been attributed to the negative impact of bar mitzvah lessons?   It can be easily proven that even you don't believe this. Imagine you were walking down a dark alley late at night, and a bunch of youths came out of a building just ahead of you and were walking your way. You are alone, unarmed and outnumbered.  Would it calm you or alarm you to find that they were a group of yeshiva students, who study Torah all day long, just leaving a lecture? Can you honestly say that you would not breathe a sigh of relief if you saw Torah books under their arms, books containing the very verses you quoted? When it comes to your basic survival instinct, I think you would agree that you would feel safe.   But we don't need to rely on such anecdotal evidence to prove that Torah promotes goodness and not violence. We have statistics. Bnei Brak is a mostly religious city in the Tel Aviv area of Israel. It has the highest poverty rate in the country. Yet violent crime is almost non-existent there. There are plenty of bar mitzvah boys in Bnei Brak. Almost 50% of its population is under 18, and they all learn Torah. But it seems they don't learn violence. I am not suggesting Bnei Brak is utopia and it certainly has its share of social issues, but teenage violence is simply not one of them.    It is easy to pluck a verse out of context and show how violent Torah is. It is much harder to find people who have become violent as a result of learning Torah. Religion is all in the teaching. What seems like a religion of peace can turn into a cult of death, and what looks like a book of violence can be interpreted as a masterpiece of kindness. The application of the law, not the letter or the law, is what counts. It's not what's in the books, its what's in people's hearts.    Among the many influences in a teenage boy's life, his bar mitzvah lessons are far more likely to temper his aggression than aggravate it. If your son does end up learning one of those passages for his bar mitzvah, I would have no qualms meeting him in a dark alley any time. Good Shabbos, Rabbi Moss To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au  SHABBOS SERVICES TIMES AND COMMUNITY INFO  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, June 2, 2017 | 8 Sivan 5777 Candle Lighting....................... 4:36pm   Mincha................................... 4:45pm Making Sense of the Siddur (a class with Rabbi Moss).......... 5:30-6:00pm Friday Evening Service.............. 6:00pm  Followed by Kiddush.   Shabbos, June 3, 2017 | 9 Sivan 5777 In depth Parsha Class............... 9:00am Children's program................. 10:45am  Shabbos Morning Service ........ 10:00am- 12:20pm     Mincha with Pirkei Ovos Ch 1 Call-up for Adam Finger and Loren Blumgart ..... 4:30pm Gematria and story by Rev Amzalak...................4:55pm Shiur with Rabbi Moss..................................... 5:15pm  Shabbos ends and Maariv................................. 5:35pm  Followed by Havdalah    WEEKDAY SHACHARIS SERVICES Sunday................................. 8:00am Mon-Fri................................. 7:00am Latest Shema this week............ 9:21am   HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Nicholas Maksimovich............. 9 Sivan/ Saturday 3 June Alison Brown....................... 10 Sivan/ Sunday 4 June   HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO Larnce & Ruth Gold................. 12 Sivan/ Tuesday 6 June Noach & Keshet Kessel............... 15 Sivan/ Friday 9 June   LONG LIFE TO Allen Rosenberg for his late wife Anita Louise Rosenberg  Channah bat Laizer ...9 Sivan/ Saturday 3 June Abie Greengarten for his late mother Musia Greengarten Chana Miriam bas Shlomo Halevi... 10 Sivan/ Sunday 4 June Danny Kidron for his late father Leslie Kidron Zalman ben Zwi... 13 Sivan/ Wednesday 7 June Elias Reuben for his late father Solomon Reuben, Shlomo Reuven ben Eliyahu Saltoon... 14 Sivan/ Thursday 8 June Alex Bartos for his late father Chaim Ben Shmuel HaCohen...16 Sivan/ Saturday 10 June HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR SHAVUOS SPONSORS   All Night Learning; Cheesecake, Red Bull, Hot Drinks & Snacks bar; In honour of Ester Miriam bat Pinchas on 3 Sivan, sponsored by her grandson; The Hedges family in honour of a Refua  Shelema for Shaindel bas Chana, Karen & Michael Martin, Kevin Levine in honour of his late parents A"H and gratitude to Hashem for all their blessings, and Helene & Gerard Solden in honour of Gerard's grandfather's yortzheit.   Kids Ice Cream Truck; The Ezekiel family   Kids Kiddush and Yom Tov Program; Vitali Broyda & Karen Uziel and Dovi & Janine Diamond.    Dairy Kiddushim over Yom Tov; Lance & Loren Suntup, Jessica & Symon Tsipris, Jack & Leyat Reuben and Jeremy & Nikki Kinstlinger.

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What Keeps You Up At Night?

Kabbalah Meditation this Sunday

SHAVUOS DINNER BOOKINGS CLOSING CLICK HERE Question of the Week:   I am from a somewhat traditional Jewish family, and yet the festival of Shavuos is completely unknown to us. We always had Seder on Pesach and fasted on Yom Kippur, but we never did anything to celebrate the giving of the Torah. All my friends did the same. I would have thought that this would be an important event to commemorate. So why is Shavuos the forgotten festival?   Answer:   The reason why Shavuos is the least celebrated Jewish festival is a startling one. It is the least demanding. The easier the festival, the less it is observed.   The most difficult festival to observe is Yom Kippur, on which we abstain from food and drink altogether and pray all day. And yet, this rather grueling holyday is the most widely observed. The easiest festival to observe is Shavuos. All that is expected of us is to have a day of rest and eat lots of cheesecake. How hard can that be? And this pleasurable festival is the most neglected.   There's a surprising lesson there. We value things that require effort. If something comes too easy, it is taken lightly. But if it's demanding, it is more compelling. A tough diet will be taken seriously. A difficult work project will be given more attention. We invest ourselves where we feel what we are doing actually matters. When we are given serious responsibilities we step up to the role.   You would expect the opposite to be true. Indeed, there have been well meaning voices in Jewish history that have suggested that the best way to stem the tide of assimilation is by easing the laws of Judaism to make it more appealing. It makes sense. Lower the bar, lighten the burden, and people will be more willing to stay Jewish. But the result was the opposite. The Jewish movements that demanded less from their constituents have more often than not been a gateway out of Judaism rather than a way in. Quite simply, if Judaism asks nothing of me, then that's what Judaism will get.   We don't need to dilute Judaism to make it attractive. We just need to make it accessible. Jewish souls are thirsting for a Judaism that will ask something of them, demand their allegiance to a higher cause, stretch their minds to think deeper, challenge them to live with a sense of purpose and mission.   Perhaps this is one reason why the kabbalists introduced the custom of staying awake all night on Shavuos. Just eating cheesecake was too easy. Let's ask ourselves to give something up on Shavuos to show that it really matters to us. Fluffy Judaism is a tranquilliser. A demanding Judaism keeps us wide awake.  Good Shabbos, Rabbi Moss To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au  SHAVUOS AUDIO CLASS Mountain Over Your Head - 6 perspectives BOOKINGS CLOSE TODAY CLICK HERE TO BOOK NOW  SHABBAT SERVICES TIMES AND COMMUNITY INFO  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, 26 May, 2017 | 1 Sivan 5777 Candle Lighting....................... 4:38pm   Mincha................................... 4:50pm Making Sense of the Siddur (a class with Rabbi Moss).......... 5:30-6:00pm Friday Evening Service.............. 6:00pm Followed by Kiddush.   Shabbos, 27 May, 2017 | 2 Sivan 5777 In depth Parsha Class............... 9:00am Children's program................. 10:45am Shabbos Morning Service ........ 10:00am- 12:20pm  Kiddush sponsored by Rabbi Zalman & Rivka Leah (nee Cylich) Popack on the occassion of their wedding- Mazal Tov!   Mincha with Pirkei Ovos Ch 6 followed by Seudah Shlishis ..............   4:30pm Gematria and story by Rev Amzalak....... 4:55pm Shiur with Rabbi Moss......................... 5:15pm Shabbos ends and Maariv.................... 5:36pm Followed by Havdalah   WEEKDAY SHACHARIS SERVICES Sunday................................. 8:00am Mon, Tues & Fri...................... 7:00am Latest Shema this week............ 9:17am SHAVUOS TIMES  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tuesday 30 May Candle Lighting .................. 4:37pm Mincha................................4:45pm Shavuos Evening Service...... 5:30pm Catered Dairy Dinner- BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL... 6pm All Night Learning.......... 9:00pm-5:00am   Wednesday 31 May | 6 Sivan Shavuos, Day 1 Morning Service.....................10:00 am Reading 10 Commandments  and Ice Cream Party .............. 10:30 am Followed by Dairy kiddush! Early Mincha after Kiddush KIDS TEN COMMANDMENTS READING AND ICE CREAM PARTY WITH JEMS 4-5pm Candle Lighting...................after 5:35 pm Shavuos Evening Service............. 5:35 pm   Thursday 1 June | 7 Sivan Shavuos, Day 2 Morning Service.....................10:00am Yizkor-Memorial Service..........11:00am Followed by Kiddush Mincha...................................4:45 pm Shavuos ends & Maariv.............5:35 pm   MAZEL TOV TO Reverend and Mrs Amzalak on the engagement of their granddaughter Nechama Moskowitz (Ukraine) to Mendel Levitin (Israel)!   HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Sabrina Tsipris...... 2 Sivan/ Saturday 27 May Lilah Hedges......... 5 Sivan/ Tuesday 30 May Wayne Kaplan....... 6 Sivan/ Wednesday 31 May   LONG LIFE TO Mrs Amzalak for her late father Moshe Tuvia ben Abraham Aaron 2 Sivan/ Sat 27 May Eric Borecki for his late brother David Borecki, David Ben Osher 4 Sivan/ Mon 29 May Gabor Palanszky for his late sister-in-law Georgina Palansky, Georgina Bat David....... 5 Sivan/ Tuesday 30 May Judi Berman for her late grandfather Hyman (Ray) Segal  Chaim ben Leib... 6 Sivan/ Wednesday 31 May Martine Springer for her late grandfather Hyman (Ray) Segal Chaim ben Leib... 6 Sivan/ Wednesday 31 May Richelle Goldshaft and Robert Goldshaft for their late father and grandfather Leon Israel Rosenthal, Leib Yisrael ben Shmuel 7 Sivan/ Thursday 1 June Mark Gindin & Faina Strier for their late father Ilya Gindin Eliyahu ben Mordechai... 7 Sivan/ Thursday 1 June Rosalie Cohen, Gilda Cohen-Shapira and Lee-Anne Whitten for their late husband, brother and father Edward Cohen, Tuvia ben Moshe      8 Sivan/ Friday 2 June Nicholas Levy for his late grandmother Ruby Levy Rifka bas Daniel... 8 Sivan/ Friday 2 June KIDDUSH SPONSORSHIP If you have a birthday, yorzheit, special occasion or just because, we'd love you to sponsor a kiddush. Just tell us the date and kiddush type you'd like and we look after the rest. CURRENT DATES AVAILABLE   First Day Shavuos 31 May CHEESECAKES, BLINTZES AND SALAD BAR HELP US FUEL THE SHAVUOS FUN -          Sponsor an hour of learning (+coffee, red bull and cake) in honour of someone or something $45 -          Sponsor the whole night of learning (+hot drink and snack bar) in honour of someone or something $360 -          Kids ice cream truck cosponsor $50 (SOLD) -          Cheesecake sponsor $54 -          Cosponsor dairy kiddush $180 (3 more neeeded)  Friday night 2 June Shabbos Day 3 June Friday night 9 June FRIDAY NIGHT KIDDUSH OPTIONS Herring & L'Chaim-$60 + B.Y.O Whisky HOT Soup kiddush- $75 | Basic Kiddush - $100   Deluxe Kiddush - $180 SHABBOS DAY KIDDUSH OPTIONS Herring & L'Chaim- $90 + B.Y.O Whisky   Standard Kiddush - $300    Simply email office@nefesh.com.au    For special or larger kiddushim, we recommend you engage an external kosher caterer to provide all the food, drinks and disposables. Just email the office for assistance with this option.

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