Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candlelighting at 7:17pm, ends Saturday night at 8:12pm. Early Shabbat – light candles between 6:20pm-6:25pm. The weekly Torah portion for Shabbat is Vayikra and Parshat Zachor. Fast for Esther is on Wednesday (23/3). Fast begins 6:09am; Fast Ends 7:53pm. Purim begins Wednesday night (23/3) and is on Thursday (24/3). Shushan Purim is on Friday (25/3).
Upcoming Event: Monday, 21 March: Purim themed lunchtime Lecture with The Honourable Ray Finkelstein QC, “Punishment and the Law” 1:00pm at Marshalls and Dent, Level 21, 570 Bourke Street. Please note this event is full.
Wednesday, 6 April: Feed your soul and feed your body with a lunchtime lecture from Rabbi Davey Blackman. 12:30pm-1:30pm with Mincha following lecture at Wingate Level 48, 101 Collins Street. RSVP for catering purposes to events@jbd.org.au by Monday, 4th April.
Mincha in the CBD: Cholent (1.45pm) and mincha (1.58pm) is on today using the SMS system to confirm numbers (which should be pretty easy).
Study: Wed Shiur @ Billing Bureau: summer time of 1:40pm, followed by mincha at 1.59pm using the SMS system to confirm numbers.
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:
1932 Café- Ground floor –Manchester Unity Building- 220 Collins Street. Melbourne.
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 Rabbi Menachem Wolf. This weeks parshah is Tzav – ‘Command’. A classic Jewish title to a Torah reading, one that has justified Judaism being represented as a system of commandments that would please G-d. Classically ‘mitzvah’ has been translated as commandment and hence the root word tzav means command. But it is just as accurate to translate ‘tzav’ as ‘connect’ and hence ‘mitzvah’ becomes connector and ‘mitzvot’ become connections.
With our new and still accurate albeit not ‘conventional’ translation, let’s reframe the Torah and its mitzvot. G-d says something like “Moses, go and connect with the people. Moses teach the people these connectors and connections”. We are no longer guilt driven servants to some ancient angry G-d; we are partners with the Creator, finding methods of meaningful and spiritual interaction and engagement that bring spiritual purpose and consciousness to the creations of Hashem. Food, people, animals, plants, activities and words all become spiritually infused through us and our methods of connection.