Times: Shabbat starts Friday night with candlelighting at 7:26pm; ends Saturday night at 8:21pm. Early Shabbat candlelighting is between 6:30pm-6:35pm. The weekly Torah portion for Shabbos is Vayakhel-Pekudei (Chazak).

Upcoming Events: One more meditation sessions left to help you perform better at work as well as minimise distraction and anxiety. It is ideal for both experienced and inexperienced meditators alike. March 19th. 1pm start time. Fee $10.00. Mercure Grand Hotel, 195 Swanston St (or enter from 265 Lt Bourke St) Lower Ground Floor, Harmony Room. We’d like to get an estimate of how many will attend, so RSVP admin@jbd.org.au but note that this is not required to secure a place.

Mincha in the CBD: Mincha continues daily at 1.59pm using the SMS system.

Study: Mon 12.30 @ East Melb Shule;
Wed shiur @ Billing Bureau;

Kosher Food in the CBD: Nifla Kosher Catering (KA Hechsher)
Offers Corporate Catering, specializing in individual and board room lunches. For further details visit www.nifla.com.au
10% Discount on your first website purchase. Enter promo code “FIRST TIME”.
Kosher sandwiches, muffins and salads are available at the following locations:
CUPP- Manchester Unity Building- Ground Floor-220 Collins Street
CBW EXPRESS-181 William Street.(Entrance Little Bourke St)
IN A RUSH CAFE-616 St Kilda Road-(Ground Floor-Lowe Lippmann Building)

Spot On (KA Hechsher)
Kosher sandwiches and snacks are available at the following location: 
PRONTO ON FLINDERS-335 Flinders Lane
Smoked salmon and cheese sandwich, Tuna sandwich,Cheese and salad sandwich, Egg and tomato sandwich. Natural yoghurt with berries and granola clusters, Mixed berry muffin, Seasonal fresh fruit salad, Pesto pasta salad (new), Greek salad (new).

Thought of the Week with thanks to Geoffrey Bloch. This week’s and last week’s parshas share something in common. Vayakhel opens with such an astonishing outpouring of gifts from Bnei Yisrael to the building of the Mishkan, that Moshe called a stop to it. The Midrash contrasts such generosity with the eagerness of Bnei Yisrael to contribute to the Golden Calf in Ki Tisa. On that occasion, Aharon also called a stop to donations. The Halacha, too, recognises the pitfalls of indiscriminate giving which is why it places an upper limit on tzedakah, just as it demands a minimum limit. It may be counter-intuitive but Tzedakah is therefore obviously a mitzvah where we are expected to exercise our discrimination and judgment carefully and deliberately as to where to direct our compassion. If that is the case with Tzedaka, then how much more so should we be careful to exercise discrimination and judgment with all our other words and deeds?

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