Times: Shabbat starts Friday night with candlelighting at 6:06pm, ends Saturday night at 7:04pm. The weekly Torah portion for Shabbat is Nitzavim. Go Doggies! Move the clock one hour forward on Saturday night for DST

Rosh Hashana begins on Sunday night with candlelighting at 7:07pm, Second night Rosh Hashanah starts Monday night with candlelighting after 8:06pm. Rosh Hashanah ends on Tuesday night at 8:07pm.
Fast of Gedaliah is on Wednesday (5/10); fast begins at 5:29am, ends at 7:54pm.

Friday Mincha in the CBD: No mincha this week due to Public Holiday. Next week, the Friday “mincha & kugel” at Billing Bureau will be at 1.45pm, using the SMS reminder system.

Lunch & Mincha in the CBD (Monday-Thursday): Next week, mincha will continue at St James (one minyan) as follows:
Wed 5th @ 1.40pm (fast day). Thurs 6th, Mon 10th, Tue 11th, Thurs 13th @ 1.45pm
Note: After Sukkot (i.e. from Wed 26th), daily mincha at 1.45pm will revert to Billing Bureau – 5/459 Collins – until late December.
St. James address: Melbourne Room of St. James complex near the corner of Little Collins Street and Church St. Click here for a map.

Study: Wednesday shiur is in recess until after Sukkot.

Kosher Food in the CBD: Nifla Kosher Catering (KA Hechsher)
Offers Corporate Catering, specialising in individual and board room  lunches. 10% Discount on your first website purchase. Enter promo code “FIRST TIME”. For further details visit www.nifla.com.au
IN A RUSH CAFE-616 St Kilda Road-(Ground Floor-Lowe Lippmann Building)

Thought of the Week with thanks to David Werdiger. One of the features of the Rosh Hashana service is the blowing of the shofar. The shofar ushers in the new year with a wake-up call in which we recognise God as our King. That is the foundation for our lives as Jews.

While the mitzvah is “to hear the sound of the shofar”, for that to happen, someone has to blow it. The shofar blower must first take a deep breath, and then blow out to cause the shofar to produce a sound.
In order to usher in the new year effectively, perhaps all of us (not just the shofar blower) need to first take that deep breath – to let go of the previous year. Rosh Hashana is the ‘reset’ button we all need: to recognise the past as such, unburden ourselves from it, and then move forward to a new year with new energy.

I’d like to thank all of you – JBD members, friends and supporters – and add a special thanks to those who helped with the mincha ‘minyan factory’ at St James this year. Your participation was not just fulfilling your personal prayer obligation, but also an act of helping others with their obligations. I wish you a happy, healthy and successful 5777.