Chanukah Q & A
07/12/2012 01:56:44 PM
Q. How are the candles lit?
A. On the first night we light the candle on the extreme right of the Chanukah Menorah. The next night we insert a new candle to the left of the first. We light the new candle first and then the old one....Read more...
Dates to Remember? November 29, 1947 & 2012
30/11/2012 03:38:12 PM
What A Jew Does Matters
23/11/2012 09:46:52 AM
It's Not What They Say .. It's What Jews Do.
It matters not only to her and those closest to her. It matters to the entire world.
When a Jew does a mitzvah, he accomplishes two things.
a)...Read more...
What's Pulling Your Needle?
16/11/2012 09:52:15 AM
In parasha Toldos we read something really quite shocking: Isaac has become old (senile?), his eyes have become dim (perhaps with cataract?), and as a result he wishes to bless his older son Esau - a man whose values are far removed from those of his...Read more...
How a Jew Responds to Tragedy
08/11/2012 06:13:46 PM
When Sarah dies, Abraham does what any devoted husband would do - but more so. Not only does he bury her with the honour that was her due; he uses her passing to acquire the first Jewish property in Israel, the country that is called the Land of Life (Eretz HaChaim).
Read more...
As Great as the Stars
05/11/2012 10:20:46 AM
And G-d said to Avram: "Go outside and count the stars.. if you can count them, so will be your descendants."
The normative meaning of this verse is that G-d blessed Abraham with being the father of a numerically superior nation.
Read more...
Jew and Non-Jew: Similarities and Differences
26/10/2012 02:15:16 PM
In Parsha Lech Lecha we read about the first Jew, Abraham. However, before coming to grips with the meaning of being...Read more...
Lift Your World
23/10/2012 09:20:18 AM
Tuesday Oct-23rd marks the Seventh of Cheshvan. In the times of our Holy Temple, when pilgrims would return from Jerusalem after the holiday period, the Seventh of Cheshvan represented the day that those who lived furthest from Jerusalem would reach their homes.
In a symbolic kind of way, today too, the Seventh of Cheshvan represents a return to the "Real World" after the euphoria of the High Holy Day period and the Festival of Succot...Read more...
Tears Tempered by Joy
21/09/2012 12:43:09 PM
Whatever prayers are said, the words should be said slowly and with sincerity. A person, standing before a mortal king, would certainly not mumble his petition, how much more so in the presence of the King of kings. It is far better to say a little with intent, than much without intent.
Throughout the Ten Days of Repentance we say Chapter 130 of Psalms before Borchu. This chapter commences with the words, "Out of...Read more...Final Preparations
14/09/2012 10:55:34 AM
We conclude the series of guidelines to help you get the most from your Shul experience this Yom Tov
Three Books are opened on Rosh HaShanaAlthough the central theme of Rosh HaShana is
G-d's sovereignty over the entire world, Rosh HaShana is also the Day of Judgment. In the Talmud we are told that three books are opened on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, and that our fate for the forthcoming year is...Read more...
Guidelines for Inspiration
07/09/2012 02:39:15 PM
In order to help you be inspired on these holiest days of the Jewish calendar coming up, here are some more guidelines to help you get the most from your Shule experience this Yom Tov.
Prayer on Rosh HaShana G-d's kingship There is a Midrash which tells of how after a new king conquered a country, his new subjects immediately asked him to issue decrees. The king however replied that only after the...Read more...Preparing for the Days of Awe
31/08/2012 01:07:05 PM
Every year, men and women are drawn to Shule on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, souls wishing to be inspired on these holiest days of the Jewish calendar.
Often, however, they come away disappointed, voicing a litany of complaints about the quality of the service. While not understating the need for the synagogue to provide an inspiring service, it must be pointed out that it takes more than this to make the High Holy Days...Read more...Tree and Man
31/08/2012 08:51:39 AM
In Parasha Shoftim we are told that "Man is like the Tree of the Field" and on this basis the Talmud and commentaries expound upon the many similarities that exist in both Tree and Man.
Among my favorites is the following: It is only possible to ignite a large piece of wood by first getting the fire going with small branches and chips. So too, explain our rabbis, the teachers of the generation depend for...Read more...Mission Accomplished
24/08/2012 01:56:40 PM
Date: 9 July 2012
Topic: At the Bobbe's grave The first thing we did when we arrived in Warsaw was head for the cemetery to find the Bobbe's (my grandmother's) grave. With our cousin Richard Mileck's directions we did manage to...Read more...Jewish Life - Here and There, Then and Now
10/08/2012 11:21:14 AM
There is however little comparison to what once was - where all you would have to do was step into the street and you would know...Read more...
Vilna - A City of Ghosts
03/08/2012 11:26:48 AM
Read more... A Cry That No One Hears
27/07/2012 11:24:19 AM
The Shabbat of Vision
24/07/2012 03:54:03 PM
This Shabbat is Shabbat Chazon, literally The Shabbat of Vision. The famous Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev explained that on Shabbat Chazon Hashem shows each and every one of us a vision of the glorious Third Temple and says to us: Keep this image in front of your eyes - it is yours if you strive for it. As we approach this very holy Shabbat, let us try to understand how this relates to each and everyone of us...Read more...
Careful How You Judge
23/07/2012 10:28:06 AM
Azaria and the Jews
Posted 12 June 2012 by Rabbi Milecki on Facebook after the NT Coroner handed down her finding that Azaria died as a result of having been taken by a dingo.
Mazal Tov Lindy and Michael!
It's hard to...Read more... From Moscovitch to Lubavitch...
20/07/2012 02:07:03 PM
The Baal Shem Tov Comes Alive!
20/07/2012 10:00:45 AM
Tracing Our Roots
20/07/2012 09:54:25 AM
Next week (from July 8th) the Rebbetzen and I will be travelling to Poland, Ukraine and Russia to trace our family roots, to visit the grave of our grandmother, oleho hashalom in the old Warsaw cemetery and the resting places of our Kedoshim, martyred during the Holocaust. We also wish to witness first-hand the renaissance of Jewish life in the former Soviet Union. An important highlight...Read more...
Mind Your Own Business
11/07/2012 09:51:08 AM
"Ma Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov" - "How Goodly are Your Tents, O Jacob" - is a verse that is familiar to many of us. Appearing in the parasha of Balak, it is one of Bilaam's blessings to the Jewish People. But what does it mean? Many would be aware that it is recited upon entering the Synagogue. And as the Midrash and commentaries explain, the "Tents of Jacob" can be interpreted to mean the...Read more...
The Torah's Uncommon Sense
04/07/2012 02:41:57 PM
Seventeenth of Tamuz
04/07/2012 02:29:45 PM
The 17th of Tammuz marks the beginning of The Three Weeks period of mourning which culminates on the 9th of Av. It commemorates the conquest of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Holy Temple and the dispersion of the Jewish people.
This 21 day period is also referred to as bein ha- metzarim - "within the straits," based on the verse (Eichah 1:3) which states: All of her pursuers overtook her within the...Read more...
Adapting to Change
30/06/2012 11:24:43 PM
Everyone knows about Moses hitting the rock. It was, as they say, an expensive mistake. It cost him his visa into the Land of Israel.
What is not readily understood is why hitting the rock was considered such a terrible sin. After all, when the Israelites first entered the desert and were in need of water, G-d Himself told Moses to hit the rock Now, forty years into their walk in the wilderness, Miriam dies...Read more...
The Rebbe's Far Reaching Vision
21/06/2012 01:00:13 PM
This week we will commemorate the 18th anniversary of Gimmel Tammuz, the day on which the Lubavitcher Rebbe moved on to a much higher plane of existence. Even after all these years, I cannot say “passed away”. I do not want to send the Rebbe away. I want...Read more... Immersing Vessels
14/06/2012 11:05:38 AM
The Jewish table is likened to an altar, its holiness compared to that of the Beit Hamikdash (the Holy Temple). Before dishes and utensils can be used in thekosher kitchen, they must acquire an additional measure of holiness which is conferred through the ritual immersion...Read more...
Sinners of the World - Unite!
03/05/2012 11:08:33 AM
In this week’s parasha we read of the special mitzvah that Kohanim have to bless the people.
But what if the Kohen is not particularly worthy? What if he is unobservant of the important mitzvot of our faith? Would we then allow him to bless us? What would his blessings be worth?
Addressing a case such as this, the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) rules unequivocally that he must still bless us. In the colourful language of the Talmud “we don’t tell a person who has eaten garlic and whose mouth now stinks, to eat more garlic so that his mouth should smell even more.” In other words, we don’t encourage a person who sins to sin even more. Blessing the people is a mitzvah - a Divinely ordained command and responsibility - not a right. It is a sin for the Kohen not to bless the people. It is bad enough that he commits other sins, should he now be encumbered with the sin of not blessing the people?
Should you then ask: what power could the blessing of such a sinful person have? The blessings do not originate from the Kohen but from G-d. G-d blesses us through the Kohanim. And G-d has chosen to deliver his blessings thrRead more...
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Sylvia Tuback, South Head Libarian
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