Mazal tov to Chanoch & Sarah Jacob on the birth of their baby boy. Mazal tov to the grandparents.
Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candlelighting at 7:55pm, ends Saturday night at 8:59pm. The weekly Torah portion is Vayeira.
Upcoming Event: Tuesday 29 November: Lunchtime lecture with Professor Shlomo Biderman and Liat Weiss-Shahaf on “Beyond the Startup Nation: How Social Business Entrepreneurship is used to fight social disparities and improve solidarity in Israel”. Lunch and Lecture at 12.30pm; Mincha at 1.45pm. Juilliard Group, Level 31, 459 Collins Street, Melbourne. RSVP for catering purposes to events@jbd.org.au by COB Friday 25th November. For more information click here for the JBD website and click here for Facebook.
Friday Mincha in the CBD: Friday “mincha & whisky” at Billing Bureau will be on today at 1.45pm (food from 1.30pm), using the SMS reminder system to confirm numbers.
Mincha in the CBD: Daily mincha at 1.45pm is now at Billing Bureau – Level 5 South/459 Collins – until late December, using the SMS system to confirm numbers.
Study: Wednesday shiur & lunch continues on Wednesday at 1.15pm at Billing Bureau.
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 Michelle Coleman. Do what I do (not what I say)!
“Ma’aseh avot siman lebanim” – the actions of our forefathers (and mothers!) are a sign for the children. In this week’s Torah reading, Va’yeira, we learn much from Avraham about the mitzvah of hosting guests, namely greeting them cheerfully, offering them food and drink, ensuring they are comfortable and so on. But one ‘small’ detail that is often overlooked is to be found in the following pasuk:
“And Avraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the lad, and he hurried to prepare it” (Bereishit 18:7). Avraham involves his son, Yishmael, in fulfilling the mitzvah.
We know from Avraham’s entire attitude towards the mitzvah that he couldn’t possibly be getting Yishmael involved because he needed the help, or because he couldn’t be bothered to do it himself. Rather, he involves Yishmael in order to educate his son about the importance of the mitzvah, by doing it with him. It is a powerful lesson in parenting: The most effective way to teach our children is to model the behaviour, and do the mitzvah with them, rather than simply telling them to do it.
May we all emulate Avraham and seek opportunities to do mitzvahs not only for our sake but also for our children’s!