Thursday, September 6, 2018

You Are Good. You Are Very Good.


Question of the Week:

We have this silly debate every year. Do we eat apples dipped in honey only on the first night of Rosh Hashana, or also on the second? I think it is just the first but I can't remember why...

Answer:

You can eat apples and honey any time you like. But the custom is to eat them on the first night of Rosh Hashana only. Perhaps we can suggest a deep reason why.

Rosh Hashana is the day Adam and Eve, the first humans, were created. So what was G-d doing the night before? He was about to introduce into the world a dramatic and unprecedented phenomenon - free beings who will be able to determine their own destiny and impact the direction of the world. The long and turbulent relationship between G-d and man was about to start tomorrow morning. So what was going on that fateful night?

The Midrash teaches that on the day man was created, there was a stormy debate in heaven. Some angels were all for the idea, and others were dead against. The Angel of Love supported the creation of man, because people will do acts of love. The Angel of Truth opposed, because people will be full of falsehood. The Angel of Justice argued for the affirmative, claiming that man will bring justice. But the Angel of Peace countered that people will be argumentative and fight all the time.

But all these arguments were useless. G-d had already made up His mind the night before. He declared, "Man is very good." Not just good, but very good. He anticipated the sweetness that humans would generate, and He could already taste the apples (good) and honey (very good) of human goodness. So He created us.

G-d saw the incredible beauty that only humans can create. Yes, we are fallible and imperfect beings, but that just makes our achievements even more special. Every day all over the world, ordinary people do extraordinary things. A busy mother delivers a meal for a family going through a crisis. A group of teenagers bring a smile to their unwell classmate's face. A community comes together to raise funds for a needy couple. A family sits around their kitchen table, and in all the messiness and noise of life, they share the warmth of human caring and goodness of a life with purpose. This is the sweetness G-d tasted before He made us, which is why He made us.

So like G-d, we eat apples and honey the night of the new year. We declare in advance that things are going to be good. Very good. Our life is very good. Our world is very good. Our children are very good. And we are very good. If G-d believes in us, knowing our imperfections, we can believe in ourselves too.

Good Shabbos and Good Yomtov, may you be inscribed in the book of life for a good and sweet new year!
Rabbi Moss
  
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NEFESH HIGH HOLIDAYS SERVICES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erev Rosh Hashana at FLOOD STREET
Sunday 9 September, 2018
Light Candles ............................... 5:24pm
Mincha ........................................ 5:35pm
Rosh Hashana evening Service: ...... 6:00-6:30pm
 
First Day Rosh Hashana at FLOOD STREET
Monday 10 September, 2018
Morning Service: ............................9:00am - 1:00pm
Children's Program, ages 0-12 yrs: ..10:30am
Sermon followed by Shofar: ........... 11:00am

The Mincha and Maariv service will be back at Nefesh Francis St
Mincha ................. 5:00pm followed by Tashlich
Candlelighting....... after 6:20pm
Evening Service..... 6:15pm-6:45pm

Second Day Rosh Hashana at FLOOD ST
Tuesday 11 September, 2018
Morning Service: ..............................9:00 am - 1:00pm
Children's Program, ages 0-12 yrs:.... 10:30am
Sermon followed by Shofar: ............. 11:00am
 
The Mincha and Maariv service will be back at Nefesh Francis St
Mincha ................... ......... 5:30pm
Followed by Nigunnim and words of Torah
Maariv and Yom Tov ends... 6:21pm


    
Now we have solid ground to build on, we will give the neighbours a couple of weeks of peace and quiet for the Jewish festival season. We hope that won't be the case next year :)
 
Shabbat shalom and Shana tova to all,
Brent 

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

 
SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: NITZOVIM
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Friday, 7 September 2018 | 27 Elul 5778
Candle Lighting.................................... 5:23pm
Mincha................................................ 5:30pm
Shabbos Service................................... 6:00-6:50pm
Kids Program....................................... 6:00pm
Followed by HOT soup kiddush.
 
Shabbos Day, 8 September 2018 | 28 Elul 5778
In depth parsha class ........................... 9:00am
Shabbos Service.................... 10:00am-12:20pm
Kids Program ...................................... 10:30am
Lunch & Farbrengen sponsored by Nechama Dina Moss, in honour of the yortzheit for her late father R' Yisroel Yoel ben Pinchas Hakohen on 27 Ellul; and by Reverend Amzalak in honour of the yortzheit for his late mother Fanny Amzalak (Fanny bat Yitzchak) on 28 Elul- Long Life.
 
Mincha and with Pirkei Ovos ............. Chapters 5 & 6
followed by Seudah Shlishis ........................ 5:15pm
Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak............. 5:40pm
Shiur with Rabbi Moss................................. 6:00pm
Shabbos ends............................................ 6:19pm
Followed by Havdalah
 
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Sunday Selichos, Shachris, Annulment of Vows....... 8:00am
Wed- Fri............................................................ 7:00am
 
Fast of Gedaliah, Wednesday 12 September
Fast begins..................................................... 4:41am
Fast Ends....................................................... 6:10pm
Latest Shema this week................................. 8:58am
 
MAZEL TOV
Nick, Lilach, Ariel and Etai Weininger on the occasion of Omri's Bar Mitzvah this Shabbos in Israel!
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Vitali Broyde...... Saturday 8 September (6 Ellul) 
Lior Hedges...... 28 Elul/ Saturday 8 September
Eli Jones.......... 29 Elul/ Sunday 9 September
Brian Schwartz..29 Elul/ Sunday 9 September
Ari Dabscheck.....5 Tishrei / Friday 14 September
 
LONG LIFE
Mark Gindin and Faina Strier for their late mother Yevgenia Gindin
Hannah bat Leib... 28 Elul/ Saturday 8 September
 
Reverend Amzalak for his late mother Fanny Amzalak,
Fanny bat Yitzchak... 28 Elul/ Saturday 8 September
 
Anne Sarzin for her late grandmother Fanny Levy, Feige ... 29 Elul/ Sunday 9 September
 
Anne Sarzin father Bartlett Arunicus Levy, (aka Ronnie)
Aaron ben harav Avraham Halevi... 1 Tishrei/ Monday 10 September
 
Julie Nathan for her late mother Liba Luba Silberberg
Liba bat Yoel... 2 Tishrei / Tuesday 11 September
 
Nurit Eckowitz for her late father Martin Wieder, Mordechai...2 Tishrei/ Tuesday 11 September
 
Nicky Golan for her late father Henry Herman Golan
Hersch Tsvi ben Avraham... 4 Tishrei/ Thursday 13 September
 
Nefesh Shul, PO Box 7349, 0416 822 832, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026 Australia
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Thursday, August 30, 2018

Why Do We Wash Hands After a Funeral?


Question:

What is the reason for washing hands after leaving a cemetery? And is it correct that you are not supposed to dry the hands on a towel, but just let them dry on their own? If so, why?

Answer:

Death is one of those topics we usually prefer to avoid. It is not pleasant to be reminded of our mortality and of those whom we have lost. And yet, it is a part of life that we cannot avoid. A healthy attitude towards death can in fact be life-enhancing. The washing and non-drying of the hands helps to illustrate this.

There are several reasons given for washing and not drying the hands after a funeral or visiting a cemetery.

1. A corpse is ritually impure, and anyone who's been close to a dead body contracts some of that impurity. Washing the hands cleanses us of this touch with death, and we don't want to pass this unholy spirit onto a towel, so we leave our hands to dry themselves.

2. We want to arouse kindness and mercy on the departed when they are judged in heaven. Water represents kindness, as it falls from the heavens to irrigate the earth. So pouring water on our hands symbolises the kindness that we pray should be poured down on the departed in heaven. We want this kindness to be everlasting, so we don't dry the hands.

3. Washing is a reminder for the living that now is the time to purify ourselves and ensure we have clean hands and a pure heart. We should remember our own mortality and cleanse ourselves while we still have the chance. By not drying the hands, we take the message of own mortality with us.

We wash our hands after contact with the dead to express our desire to stay away from death and to embrace life. We don't dry the hands to state that death, and its urgent message, are always with us. We can't avoid death. So let it remind us to celebrate life.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss

Source:
Maavar Yabok, Sifsei Renonos 19, by 17th century Kabbalist Rabbi Aharon Berechia of Modena, Italy. There he adds another reason: we are washing our hands of any negligence in the passing of our loved ones. We did all we can. We need to cleanse ourselves of survivor's guilt.
  
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Ground floor slab being poured
Ground floor slab being poured. Watch as the workers pour the concrete at the front, another worker at the back is already walking on concrete that had been poured just 6 hours earlier 
   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ALL SERVICES AT NEFESH 
 
1 FRANCIS ST BONDI BEACH
 
(OFF CAMPBELL PDE, BEHIND NOAH'S BACKPACKERS)
 
SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: Ki Savo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, 31 August 2018 | 20 Elul 5778
Candle Lighting.................................... 5:18pm
Mincha............................................... 5:30pm
Shabbos Service...................................6:00-6:50pm
Kiddush sponsored by Harry Fester in honour the yortzheit for his late father Mendel Fester on 16 Elul/ Monday 27 August- Long Life.
 
Shabbos Day, 1 September 2018 | 21 Elul 5778
In depth parsha class .................................... 9:00am
Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm
Kids Program .............................................. 10:30am
Kiddush sponsored by Nurit Eckowitz in honour of the yortzheits of her late parents Hedy & Martin Weider on 18 Elul and 2 Tishrei respectively - Long Life.
 
Mincha and with Pirkei Ovos .............. Chapters 3 & 4
followed by Seudah Shlishis ............... 5:15pm
Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak.... 5:35pm
Shiur with Rabbi Moss........................ 5:55pm
Shabbos ends................................... 6:14pm
Followed by Havdalah
 
Farbrengen - Lechaim, Stories and Song ......10:00pm
Selichos service ........................... 11:55pm-12:25am
 
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Mon- Fri.................Selichos 6:40am, Shachris 7:00am 
Latest Shema this week............ 9:03am
 
MAZEL TOV
Ralph and Jackie Zeltzer on the birth of a baby girl!
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Jason Ross.....................20 Ellul/ Friday August 31
Mendel Sufrin.................20 Ellul/ Friday August 31
Aron Sufrin....................20 Ellul/ Friday August 31   
Nick Hedges.................. 24 Elul/ Tuesday 4 September
Michelle Samuel............. 24 Elul/ Tuesday 4 September
Nisan Krimhand............. 25 Elul/ Wednesday 5 September
 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Morice & Allan Levenstein....... 22 Elul / Sunday 2 September
Andrew & Lee-Anne Whitten... 26 Elul / Thursday 6 September
 
LONG LIFE
Sandi Einstein and Michael Martin for their late mother and grandmother
Tsira Basa Bas Hirsch Leib ...... 21 Elul/ Saturday 1 September
 
Jeanette Kidron for her late father Ken Sorger
Menachem Mendel ben Jacob... 25 Elul/ Wednesday 5 September
 
Jeffrey Conway and David Conway for their late mother Suzanne Conway
Rivka bat Yisrael..................... 25 Elul/ Wednesday 5 September
 
Jeffrey Conway and David Conway for their late father Lawrence Conway
Eliazer ben Yehuda ha'Cohen.... 27 Elul / Friday 7 September
 
SPONSORING A KIDDUSH!
 
FRIDAY NIGHT:  SOUP $75 | BASIC $120| DELUXE $200
 
SHABBOS DAY: STANDARD $350 | LUNCH *FROM $450
 
DATES AVAILABLE: SEPTEMBER: Fri Night 7, Sat 8 Sept, Fri Night 14, Sat 15.  
 
Nefesh Shul, PO Box 7349, 0416 822 832, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026 Australia
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Thursday, August 23, 2018

Can a Departed Soul Live Again?





When I first saw the rolling hills and green pastures of Jamberoo, I felt an instant connection. My wife and I were looking for a venue for a weekend retreat, and we knew Jamberoo was it the minute we arrived. This Shabbos for the third year running we are holding our Shabbaton retreat in Jamberoo.

I decided to do a little bit of research on the history of the area. Something caught my eye in the Wikipedia entry on Jamberoo. It has a list of famous Jamberoo personalities. On the
Solomon Herbet Hyam
list was a certain Solomon Hyam (right). The name piqued my interest, as it had that familiar ring to it. So I looked into who he was. Solomon was a politician in the 1800's, and of course he was Jewish. He was born in Jamberoo. So Jamberoo has a Jewish history!

But there's more.

Solomon's father was Michael Hyam. A bootmaker and horse enthusiast, Michael came to Australia from London in the early 1800's. He was granted land in the Kiama district by the govenor of New South Wales. Michael Hyam the Jew is considered the founder and first settler of Jamberoo. He named it Sara's Valley.

Michael Hyam
On further research I discovered that Sarah was his mother's name. It seems that he named the land in honour of his mother back in England. He opened an inn in Sarah's Valley which he named David's Harp. Of course the biblical King David was known to play the harp, but the name had a more of a personal significance for Michael. His father's name was David.

I was amazed to discover that this beautiful piece of rural Australia that we keep coming back to was first settled by a Jew. Even the Aboriginals did not live here before him. Michael Hyam turned an uninhabitable forest into Sarah's Valley.

But there's more.

I discovered that Michael Hyam was not just incidentally Jewish, but a proud and observant Jew. He was the first mohel to practice in Australia, and traveled near and far to perform this holy duty. Though isolated from community, he lived a religious life. For the High Holidays he would make the long trip into Sydney with his family to pray with the community.

Sarah Hyam
As I got more enthralled by this story, I found another piece of trivia that almost made me fall off my chair. Michael had a daughter, named Sarah. She married a Jewish man by the name of..... Henry Moss!!! 
Henry Moss


I was starting to feel a deep connection to this man, and wanted to take it further. So I checked the burial records and found that Michael Hyam was buried in the Jewish section of Rookwood Cemetery.

 I decided that I wanted to find his grave. I went to Rookwood armed with a map of the exact whereabouts of his grave. It is in a 200 year old section of the cemetery. Most of the tombstones are in the state of sorry disrepair, and many of them are broken, worn and hard to read. It was difficult to actually locate the grave of Michael Hyam. But eventually I spotted it. The tombstone had fallen and broken in two. But it was still legible. I could make out the Hebrew inscription that read:
Michael Hyam's fallen tombstone

Here lies
Michael Ben David
Passed away 4 Ellul 5638  (1878)
Aged 79

I was dumbstruck. The date of his passing corresponded to the exact timing of our annual Shabbaton, the beginning of the month Ellul.

I realised that we were making a pilgrimage to Sarah's Valley, to David's Inn, to the land of Michael Hyam, right around his yorzheit. Who would have thought that 140 years after his passing, a group of Jews would be celebrating Shabbos together on the land where he and his family kept Shabbos all alone?

Michael Hyam was physically isolated from the Jewish community, but spiritually so connected. He maintained his Yiddishkeit with passion and depth. In his honour we can live as he did, proud Jews in the beautiful land Australia.

The name Hyam is an anglicised version of Chaim. That means life. This Shabbos we say Lechaim, in honour of Michael ben David.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss
  
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COHEN CRASH COURSE A SMASHING SUCCESS!

This past Monday we made history, running the world's first ever Cohen blessing crash course! Ten eager priests from around Sydney came to hear Rabbi Chaim Koncepolski explain in clear detail the steps required to give the very holy and ancient Priestly Blessing. We hope this will encourage more Cohanim to step up and make the blessing with confidence. And we plan to do it again...
VIDEO CLASS:  
Where Is Moshiach Now?
Who Is the Mother Bird?
Who Is the Mother Bird?

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This week we have worked very hard to complete the form work, lay the steel mesh and also the post tensioning cables. After the concrete is poured, the post tension cables will be pulled very very tight. This will compress the concrete together and suspend the slab almost like a bridge. This is what allows us to have the nice big open spans downstairs without annoying columns in the way.

To all who are going away for the Shabbaton have a wonderful weekend, and Shabbat Shalom to all.
 
Brent
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ALL SERVICES AT NEFESH 
 
1 FRANCIS ST BONDI BEACH
 
(OFF CAMPBELL PDE, BEHIND NOAH'S BACKPACKERS)
 
SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: Ki Seitzei
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, 24 August 2018 | 13 Elul 5778
Candle Lighting................................... 5:13pm
Mincha............................................... 5:25pm
Shabbos Service.................................. 6:00-6:50pm
No Kids Program this week
Followed by Kiddush
 
Shabbos Day, 25 August 2018 | 14 Elul 5778
Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm
No Kids Kids Program this week 
Followed by Kiddush
 
Mincha and with Pirkei Ovos .............. Chapters 1 & 2
followed by Seudah Shlishis ............... 5:10pm
Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak.... 5:25pm
Shabbos ends................................... 6:10pm
Followed by Havdalah
 
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Mon- Fri.................................. 7:00am
Latest Shema this week............ 9:09am
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Mem Eichenblatt..... 14 Elul/ Saturday 25 August
Kevin Smaller......... 15 Elul/ Sunday 26 August
Claude Sandler....... 15 Elul/ Sunday 26 August
Judi Redelman....... 17 Elul/ Tuesday 28 August
Mendel Sufrin......... 20 Elul/ Friday 30 August
Aron Sufrin............ 20 Elul/ Friday 30 August
Dafna Behrman...... 20 Elul/ Friday 30 August
 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Daniel & Stephanie Nadel.... 15 Elul/ Sunday 26 August
Jethro & Melanie Marks....... 19 Elul/ Thursday 30 August
 
LONG LIFE
Mildred and Tanya Stocks for their late husband and father Alfred (Freddy) Stocks
Avrom ben Haim... 14 Elul / Saturday 25 August
 
Fester family for the late Mendel Fester, Mendel ben Michael...16 Elul/ Monday 27 August
 
Nurit Eckowitz for her late mother Hedy Wieder, Chava bat David18 Elul/ Wed 29 August

SPONSORING A KIDDUSH!
 
FRIDAY NIGHT:  SOUP $75 | BASIC $120| DELUXE $200
 
SHABBOS DAY: STANDARD $350 | LUNCH *FROM $450
 
DATES AVAILABLE: SEPTEMBER: Sat 1, Fri Night 7, Sat 8 Sept, Fri Night 14, Sat 15.    
 
Nefesh Shul, PO Box 7349, 0416 822 832, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026 Australia
Sent by rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au in collaboration with
Constant Contact