Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candlelighting at 5:16pm; ends Saturday night at 6:13pm. The weekly Torah portion for Shabbos is Acharei-Kedoshim. Pesach Sheini is on Sunday (3/5). Lag b’Omer is on Thursday (7/5).

Mincha in the CBD: Mincha continues at 1.00pm Monday-Thursday.

Study: Wed shiur @ Billing Bureau: 1:15pm

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 Dr. Isaac Balbin. In the various homilies of Rabbis throughout the ages, we are exposed to the term Ahavat Chinam (love for no extraneous or particular reason). This type of love is meant to stand in contradistinction to the type of love that is tied to an obvious and easily observable reason, for example, the love that is linked to a manifest social reason. This can include many examples: such as the love between a brigade commander and his platoon; the person who has helped one out of a sticky financial position; the person who gave a wonderful piece of investment advice, and more. None of these are Ahavat Chinam. That love is predisposed and fuelled by actions or elements of affection resulting from an important visible act of love directed towards us. This is why the idea of a loving God is often difficult to digest given that often the only manifest exposure is to acts of humans who do not follow His ways, and those for whom Darwin’s theory of chaotic creation and the lack of cause and effect, find it unfathomable to insert God into their life equation. Yet, we are exhorted to display untarnished or unadulterated love to someone who has wronged us, as an antidote to Sinat Chinam (hate for no discernible or good reason).

Rav Kook rejected the notion of Ahavat Chinam and considered them contradictory words. He felt that the Jew who is able to start with his intellect and seek out the redeeming features of another Jew, will end up loving that Jew for real and majestic reasons. This is not Chinam (void of reason). This love is for the element of Godliness ever present in any Jew. Accordingly, Rav Kook explains that the true challenge is for the brain to be smart enough to detect these possibly subterfuged qualities and allow them to penetrate the heart. That is no easy task, but were we put on this world for a holiday?