Rabbi's Message
Thank You All!

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Dear [first_name],

My mother, sister and I, together with all our family, have been absolutely overwhelmed by the huge level of support that we have received from you, our community, over this past week and a half. Your calls, texts and emails have helped soften the pain of our father's unexpected passing. (Although our father was 92, he was regaining muscle strength after a serious fall and the week before his passing began walking again. Until the end he was mentally astute and amazingly positive notwithstanding his total blindness.)

Although it has not yet been possible to respond individually to your warm messages, please be assured that we have read them all. The fact that so many of you have taken the time to write has meant a lot to us and has been a huge source of comfort.

May we all be spared further sorrows, and experience only Simchas from now on.

This week is Shabbat Nachamu. In my father's memory I would like to share with you my brief summary of beautiful letter that the Rebbe wrote to Arik Sharon after he suffered the loss of a child. The letter is a threefold answer of why we say to mourners, "May G-D comfort you among all those who mourn for Zion and Jerusalem".

Briefly:
a) It is much easier to handle suffering when you are not the only one suffering. Or as sages tell us, "the pain of the many is half a consolation". We therefore say to the mourners: "Remember you are not alone. If you look just a little beneath the surface you will realise that in a very real sense we are all in mourning. The Temple has been destroyed. G-d's Presence is not manifest. The Jewish people continue to suffer from baseless hatred. And many, many people of all stripes suffer emotionally, mentally and spiritually in this imperfect and unredeemed world".

b) Zion and Jerusalem may have been physically destroyed by the Romans but spiritually they have always remained perfectly intact. Through our 2,000 years of Exile Jews have never ceased praying in the direction of Zion, realising that while its buildings may have been destroyed, it's soul is ever present. So too, we say to the mourners: "While the body may have passed, the soul remains alive, and in a very real sense, is even more accessible after death. You can and should continue to communicate with your loved one wherever you are. He sees and hears you now, even more than when he was alive. His love towards you is greater and purer now than before, and so too your love towards him."

c) Although Zion (the Temple) may have been destroyed we unquestionably believe that it will be miraculously rebuilt as the Third Temple in the Messianic Era. So too, we say to the mourners: "Although your loved one's body may have returned to the earth, it will be miraculously come back to life at the time of the Messianic Resurrection (Techiat HaMeitim) - as stated in the Bible, the Talmud and in Rambam's 13th Principle of Faith. You will see your loved one again, not only in your mind's eye, but physically!"

As we approach Shabbat Nachamu - the Shabbat of Comfort - let's turn to Hashem in unison and ask that He hasten Moshiach so that as our Prophets have foretold, "those who reside in the earth will awaken and sing" the praises of G-D Al-mighty.

With best wishes for a good, happy and comforting Shabbat, on behalf of the Rebbetzen and all of us at South Head

Rabbi Benzion Milecki OAM

P.S. I will be remaining in Melbourne this Shabbos to give my mother - may she live a long, healthy and happy life - some comfort.

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South Head Speakers Forum
Israel and the House of Saud: An Emerging Partnership?

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Keep NSW Safe
Sign This Petition!

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Last Wednesday about 35 ethnic community leaders gathered at State Parliament to issue a statement urging the state government to honour its commitment to overhaul the state’s race-hate legislation. The law is completely ineffective, and not a single person has been charged since it was introduced over a quarter of a century ago.

The Keep NSW Safe coalition of communities is urging every member of South Head Synagogue to send a letter to their state Member of Parliament urging the state government to overhaul the legislation. Almost 1000 letters have been submitted to date, but we need thousands to be sent in. The government needs to hear from as many people as possible that this is an issue which affects and concerns us all. All you have to do is go to www.keepnswsafe.com and type your name and post code, and a letter will automatically be sent to your MP and the Premier.

“The government won’t change the law unless it hears from the people of NSW – which means every member of the community. We urge everyone to do it, tell your friends and family to do it and like our Facebook. Every letter can make a difference.”

The statement which the coalition of communities issued has been signed by 24 ethnic organisations, from Armenian, Hellenic, and Indian to Chinese, Hindu, Indian, Korean, Assyrian and Vietnamese, as well as the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.

Rabbi Benzion Milecki OAM & James Hochroth - President

www.keepnswsafe.com

Pictured below: Keep NSW Safe spokesperson and NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff (centre) reads out the statement calling on the state government to overhaul the state’s race-hate legislation, flanked by members of the Keep NSW Safe coalition.

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President's Message
Tisha B'Av Presentation

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Last Saturday night I watched the Tisha b’Av presentation at our synagogue of the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation, the same program that was shown this year (2016 or 5776 in the Jewish calendar) all over the world. It was a powerful collection of talks by leading rabbis on the theme of “opening the door,” how to defeat loshon hora and sinus chinum (baseless or unexplained hatred). I want to share some of the thoughts of a few of the presenters.

HaRav Shmuel Kamenitsky, Rosh Yeshiva of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, focused on what can we do to bring klal Yisroel together. Something that you hate, you should not do to your friend: be careful not to hurt someone else, try to be friends, show dignity, always think about others, what you can do for others. If we behave this way, then the Moshiach will come.

Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman is the chief rabbi of Migdal HaEmek in Israel. He received the Ahavas Yisroel award in 1983 and the Israel Prize in 2004 and is regarded as a great humanitarian. He says that the key to the Torah is to love your brother as you love yourself. For God the whole of the Jewish people are his children. You do not need to do big things but you do need to care. Love of Am Yisroel involves honouring and caring about your brother and every Jew is your brother. Read More

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New Zealand Shabbat
Pay Tribute To The Shule's Kiwi Members

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Youth News
Programs For Your Children

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This week is Roli's last Shabbat at South Head before he heads back to South Africa. We thank him for all his hard work and wish him much success in his future endeavors.

Wishing you and your family Shabbat Shalom,
Tzemach & Roli

For all information on upcoming youth events please contact us on 9371 7300 ext 3 or 0412 482 770 or youth@southhead.org

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Community Affairs
Rabbi Avraham Leizerson

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"He said to me, “Why are you wasting your time with communal work? Your father was completely immersed in Torah study, and you should be, as well. Open a Kollel, invite young married men to study together. If you do that, I will make a deal with you – I will fund your Kollel for several years.” Read More

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Parasha Sheet
Parashat Vaetchanan

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Q. This week’s Torah portion contains the Shema, the fundamental prayer of Jewish liturgy. What is so special about the Shema? Why is the Shema prayer the message associated with our people’s martyrs?

A. When a person recites the Shema, he is not merely declaring that there is only one G-d. He is stating that all existence, everything in the world is one with Hashem! Judaism does not believe that the spiritual and physical can be separated from each other. We do not believe that Hashem sits in the heavens and allows the world to function on its own. Rather, we believe that the spiritual and physical are both manifestations of a single unity. Read more

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Communal Events
Support The Community!

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