Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candlelighting at 8:12pm, ends Saturday night at 9:12pm. Early Shabbat – light candles between 7:05pm-7:10pm. The weekly Torah portion for Shabbat is Mishpatim.

Upcoming Event: Wednesday, 17 February: Lunchtime lecture with Rabbi Davey Blackman on “The Portrait of Moses” 1:00pm at Wingate, Level 48, 101 Collins Street.  Limited Spots so RSVP early for catering purposes to events@jbd.org.au by Monday, 15th August. For more information click here.

Coming Soon: Wednesday, 2 March: Lunchtime lecture with Captain Ophir Anidjar and Nati Hakashur “For Nati and Ofir the war didn’t end when the fighting stopped.” Hear their miraculous stories of survival and success.More information coming soon.

Mincha in the CBD: Friday summer mincha is on today at 2.10pm using the SMS system to confirm numbers, with kugel and whisky from 2.00pm. Please respond so we can sustain a minyan. Mincha for the other days of the week is in recess until the end of DST.

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)
Thought of the Week with thanks to Geoffrey Bloch. In the closing words of the weekly Torah portion of Mishpatim, God commands Moshe to come up to the mountain to receive the two tablets. We anticipate a climactic meeting and are left hanging in suspense at the end of the parsha, wondering what sublime dialogue will follow at the actual meeting. But we find a very different dialogue at the beginning of the following week’s parsha.

Instead of talking about the marvels of heaven and the great spiritual heights we should strive to achieve, God commands Moshe to tell the Children of Israel to bring Him gifts. As if that is not surprising enough, Hashem then specifies what those gifts must comprise – gold, silver and copper. Instead of suggesting that we should distance ourselves from physical riches, Hashem specifies that He wants the ultimate and most valued of our material possessions. Why?
Dayan Swift answer this question by suggesting that to strive for holiness and perfection, we need not flee from the real world and abandon material possessions and pleasures. Spirituality is achieved not by some intangible, lofty, intellectual exercise. We elevate ourselves by how we live our lives day to day – by how we sanctify or dedicate the material things in life to serving a higher purpose. By doing so, we make it more likely that God’s promise “veshachanti b’tocham”, that He will dwell amongst us, will be fulfilled in our lifetime.