It's Thursday  2.00am and we've spent the past fourteen hours  driving through West Ukraine. Needless to say, we are exhausted. Covering over 800km we've seen large cities like Zhitomor with a population of over 300,000 and small shtetlach where the way of life is much as it was at the time of the Baal Shem Tov: chickens roaming across the streets, cows snoozing by the road side and goats grazing in cemeteries.

Some of the  houses in the small shtetlach even look like they were been built in the Baal Shem Tov's time - it seems that someone has merely replaced the thatched roofs with metal ones, and on occasion installed the odd satellite antenna. (Poverty and TV seem to go together all over the Third World.)

Still, there is a major difference between the Baal Shem Tov's time and now, and it's not a happy one... Other than pilgrims like us there is no visible sign of Jews living in the small towns (shtetlach) where so much  Jewish history was shaped. They either left, were assimilated by the communists or murdered by the Nazis.

We have come to see the resting places of the founders of Chassidism and are not disappointed. We were in Mezibush with the Baal Shem Tov where we davened mincha in his restored shul,  in Anipooli  with his successor the Maggid, and in Berditchev with the famed R Levi Yizchok...to name just a few.   We prayed in these holy sites for our family, for the success of our mission in our own community and for those who asked us to pray on their behalves. 

However it occurs to us that even more important than visiting the graves of the greats of our past, is seeing their ideas coming to life in the work of the Shluchim. There are forty five Chabad centers, all with shules, many with mikva'ot, almost every one with a school - spread all over the Zhitomir region which spans hundreds of kilometers. This is the work of Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm, an extraordinarily warm and energetic man whose humility is only exceeded by his hospitality. He has achieved all this in just eighteen years! Today we managed to visit just three of the centers, Zhitomir, Chmielnitsky and Berditchev.

Can you imagine moving with your family two hours drive from the nearest support system to service a community of Jews whose ties to Judaism after 70 years of communism are tenuous to say the least? You go not because they want you - unless it's for handouts - but because you want and value them, the remnant of a once proud Jewish community. You go - because the Baal Shem Tov said that Ahavat Yisrael means loving a Jew on the other end of the world whom you have never seen!

Why do the Shluchim do it? So that at least some of these lost Jews will return to their roots and reconnect to Am Yisrael... perhaps even moving to Eretz Yisrael, as a number already have.

The Baal Shem Tov would be so proud of these Chassidim who 250 years after his passing haven't deviated an iota from his mission of reaching out to Jews wherever they may be found.

Time to get some sleep. Tomorrow we're off to Dnepropetrovsk in East Ukraine...1100km in the car plus many stops on the way.

Wishing you all a Good Shabbos  
Benzion and Henya Milecki 

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Important Message
Childrens' Services in Recess

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Please note that Childrens' Services will not operate this Shabbos but will return on Shabbat Matot Masei (next week) when we will celebrate Bless the Kids.

Children aged 0 - 8 be in Shul by 10.15 to receive a blessing, special treat and to make their very own edible Bais Hamikdash in honour of Tisha B'Av.

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KosherChef Moves
Heading for Are You Registered?

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KosherChef has now been CHANGED to WEDNESDAY afternoons!!!

If you haven't registered yet, register quickly!!

Let your child become the KosherChef s/he wants to be! As well as cooking, and having cooking competitions, all participants will learn about Kashrut and the upcoming Jewish Festivals.

Call Brookie to register on 0404-055-643

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Mummy & Me
Now on Twice a Week

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Due to the great demand for this wonderful program from July 23rd Mummy & Me will be on Monday and Thursday mornings from 10am.

Call Brookie on 0404 055 643 or visit our homepage.

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Parasha Sheet
Pinchas

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In Parasha Pinchas many Jewish people are marrying out, and Hashem is not very happy about this. One man, stands up for the Jewish faith and decides to put a stop to this.

Also in this week's Parasha, Hashem shows Moshe the land of Israel, and all the future events that will happen in Israel until the time of Moshiach. 

Please share our Parasha sheet around your Shabbat table and let your family and friends explore the Parasha of the week together with you.

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From the President
Welcome Guest Rabbi - Benjamin Levy

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We are very pleased to welcome to the pulpit on Friday night Rabbi Benji Levy.  

Benji has truly built on the foundations he developed in his formative years as part of South Head Youth and he went on to spread the love for Israel in our community!. 

It was absolutely no surprise to any of us when Benji announced that he would make Aliyah four years ago. In January of 2010, in Israel, Benji stood under a chupah with Renana and laid the foundations of a new Levy family and we are very pleased to welcome them both.

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Shabbat Mevorchim Sponsors

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This Shabbat being Shabbat Mevorchim we are very pleased to have a number of families sponsoring the Shul Kiddush.

We thank the following people and their families:  Ian Charif, Bradley Ellerine, Garry Lavan, David Manne, Rolly Nagel, Rabbi Yehoshua Niasoff and Harold Shapiro.

 

 

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