The Whole World is a Very Noisy Fridge

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25% FULL AFTER ONE WEEK! BOOK NOW Question of the Week:    How can a rational thinking person believe in G-d, when there is absolutely no evidence for his existence? Today we have x-ray, radar, satellites, infrared photography, ultrasound imaging, gamma-ray telescopes and CCTV, and yet we still have found no trace of G-d. If he is supposed to be everywhere, why is he nowhere to be seen? My logic says, if you are nowhere, you don't exist...   Answer:   Being everywhere doesn't make you easy to find. On the contrary, logic says if you are everywhere, it's as if you're nowhere. A bit like our fridge.   As our family grew we needed more fridge space, so we bought an old fridge online. It was a bargain. We soon found out why. After we plugged it in it started humming quite loudly. At first we thought we couldn't live with this constant, monotonous buzz coming from the kitchen. But in a day or two we didn't even notice it anymore.   You can only hear a noise if that noise sometimes goes silent. But if it's always there, it's like its not there at all. Ask our kids what that buzzing noise is coming from the fridge, and they wouldn't even know what you are talking about. When you live with a noisy fridge, buzzing is silence.   It's the same with G-d. We live in a reality where the buzz of G-d is everywhere. There is no place devoid of Him, no moment when He is absent. So of course we can't detect Him. You can only detect the presence of something if you can detect its absence. The very definition of finding something is knowing where it is, but for that you have to know where it isn't. As the Baal Shem Tov taught, G-d is all and all is G-d. There is nowhere that he isn't. So we never see Him, because we are always looking right at Him.   This leads to an interesting conclusion. It's not that you can't see G-d. You actually can't miss Him. It just depends how you are looking.  Put down your telescope and look at your life. You'll see He's been right there all along.   Good Shabbos, Rabbi Moss  To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au  AUDIO CLASS: Were the Spies Righteous or Wicked?  The Chasam Sofer, the Arizal, the Zohar, the Shem Mishmuel and the Rebbe find the positive side to the story CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE NOW SHABBOS SERVICES TIMES AND COMMUNITY INFO  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, 16 June, 2017 | 22 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 Kiddush sponsored by Eli, Taryn & Larnce Gold in honour of the yohrzeit of their late father and grandfather, David Goldbaum (David ben Baruch) on 22 Sivan- Long Life.   Shabbos, 17 June, 2017 | 23 Sivan 5777 In depth Parsha Class............... 9:00am Children's program.................. 10:45am Shabbos Morning Service ........ 10:00am- 12:20pm  Communal Lunch sponsored by Jerome and David Stern in honour of the yohrzeit their mother Gerda Stern (Yehudit bat Mordechai)- Long Life.   L'Chaim sponsored by Vitali Broyda in honour of the yohrzeit of his grandfather Pinches ben Lipa on 18 Sivan- Long Life.   Mincha with Pirkei Ovos Ch 3 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 ........................... 8:00am Mon - Fri.......................... 7:00am Latest Shema this week...... 9:25am   MAZAL TOV TO Brian & Tanya Poggo on the birth of twin girls, Chava Baila and Maya Razel! Rev and Mrs Amzalak on the birth of a great-granddaughter Leah to Ricky and Mendy Gelman!   HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Justin Rosenberg................ 26 Sivan/ Tuesday 20 June Amber Radus..................... 28 Sivan/ Thursday 22 June Gemma Lessem................... 30 Sivan/ Saturday 24 June   HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO John & Linda Isdale.......... 27 Sivan/ Wednesday 21 June Wendy & Barry Steinberg.. 27 Sivan/ Wednesday 21 June Ben & Melissa Schwarz...... 27 Sivan/ Wednesday 21 June   LONG LIFE TO Jonathan Shapira for his late father Miron Shapira Meir ben Yosef.... 24 Sivan/ Sunday 18 June Anne Sarzin for her late mother Bertha Elizabeth Levy, (aka Betty) Elisheva bat Avraham.... 25 Sivan/ Monday 19 June Jackie Regos for her late father Paul Vertes Henanya Meyer ben Shmuel Yehuda.... 25 Sivan/ Monday 19 June Jerome Stern & David Stern for their late mother Gerda Stern Yehudith bat Mordechai.... 26 Sivan/ Tuesday 20 June Adam Pisk for his late grandfather Alan Kaufman Milston Avraham ben Yaacov.... 28 Sivan/ Thursday 22 June Eric Borecki for his late father Osher Borecki Asher ben Yoseph.... 29 Sivan/ Friday 23 June

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

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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

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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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