Mazal Tov to Ron and Yael Burdo & family on the birth of a daughter.

Condolences to the family of Eugene Berkovic on his untimely passing. Eugene was a founding board member of JBD.

Condolences to Morry, Alan and Danny on the passing of Mrs. Margaret (Baba) Schwartz.

Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candlelighting at 4:49pm, ends Saturday night at 5:51pm. The weekly Torah portion is Shelach.

Mincha in the CBD: Mincha continues at 1:00pm. using the SMS system as a reminder.

Study: Wednesday shiur & lunch is on Wednesday at about 1.15pm at Billing Bureau, following mincha.

Kosher Food in the CBD: Unfortunately, due to lack of demand there is no longer kosher food being sold in the CBD. Glicks, we want you back!!

Thought of the Week with thanks to  Isaac Balbin. Trying to find meaning behind the masoretic requirement to have a ‘blue’ thread amongst the white ones on tzitzis, the Rav (Y.D Halevi Soloveitchik) zt’l explains that the white threads symbolise “clarity, rationality and that which is self-evident.” The blue “focuses our thoughts on the grand mysteries of human experience which elude our precise understanding.” The Rav brings proof from our Rabbis for the insight. Applying this to life:

1. In the scientific realm. Sciences associated with mathematical precision and exactitude are akin to white threads. Spiritually, the blue thread is where man is humbled by the mystery of existence needing the guidance of revelation and the religious perception of the soul.

2. In our personal lives. We experience periods of planned rational events. These are the white threads. However we also experience upheavals that we are not able to understand rationally. These are the blue threads.

3. Jewish history. Here we are peppered with blue string. It is a miracle (irrational) that we have lasted and now re-built a magnetic homeland. The powerful white stringed countries with no existential threat, a huge army and economy, do not understand the mystery (blue thread) of our unstoppable momentum.

The tzitzis are a constant reminder of elements of our existence that lie within our comprehension, as well as those that lie beyond. They are, in the words of the Chafets Chaim, the Godly uniform.