Our condolences to Reuven Blecher and family on the passing of Mr Efroim Blecher o’bm, husband of Malka and father of Carl & Reuven. HaMakom Yenachem Etchem Betoch She’ar Aveilei Tzion Vi Yerushalayim.

Mazal Tov to Henry Lanzer for the Queen’s Birthday honour of AM.

Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candlelighting at 4:49pm; ends Saturday night at 5:50pm. The weekly Torah portion for Shabbos is Shelach. Rosh Chodesh Tammuz is on Wednesday (17/6) and Thursday (18/6)

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 Yehuda Gottlieb.  The opening Rashi of this week’s Torah reading Shelach discusses why the episode of the spies follows on directly from the story at the end of last week’s parsha where Miriam spoke lashon hara about Moshe. He explains that the spies had seen first-hand the consequences of speaking lashon hara from the severe punishment of Miriam, and despite this they still proceeded to slander the land of Israel.

Looking deeper at this it is difficult to see how the spies would have learned this lesson. Miriam slandered her brother, Moshe Rabbeinu, the leader of the Am Yisrael. The spies spoke lashon hara about the land – an inanimate object that has no feelings or life to it. The Oznayim L’Torah writes that from here we see that the land of Israel is not like all other lands which are just earth and rocks. The land of Israel is watched over by G-d and has an active ‘life force’. We are told that the land must rest in Shemittah, and the land itself is one that can ‘spit out’ its inhabitants if they do not follow Hashem’s will. So too we see here, that when the spies brought back a negative report on the land they deserved to be punished as Miriam was as they spoke lashon hara about something truly ‘alive’.