Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candle lighting at 5:46pm, and ends Saturday night at 6:43pm. The weekly Torah portion is Nitzavim. Rosh Hashanah begins on Sunday night at 5:47pm, and ends Tuesday night at 6:46pm. Light candles after 6:46pm on Monday night from a pre-existing flame.

Mincha in the CBD: Whisky and Kugel Fridays is on today at 1.00pm using the SMS system to confirm numbers. Mincha (Wed-Fri) continues next week at 1.00pm with the SMS reminder.

Study: The Wednesday shiur & lunch continues this week at Billing Bureau, following 1.00pm mincha. .

Thought of the Week with thanks to David Werdiger. This week’s Torah reading starts with the words “You stand this day, all of you, before God – your tribal heads, elders, officials … from the woodchopper to the water carrier”. As we approach Rosh Hashanah, there are two important messages here. Firstly, that all roles within society are important: we are as incomplete without water carriers as we are without leaders. Secondly, from God’s perspective, no matter what our role in society, each one of us are a part of “all of you”, and therefore before God, we are equal. This verse also alludes to us standing in judgment before God on Rosh Hashanah (“this day”), and when we do this, no one person’s prayers are more precious to God than anyone else’s. We are all equal.

I’d like to thank everyone for their ongoing support of JBD’s activities. We have several new initiatives in the works for the coming year, and am looking forward to announcing them in the coming months.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and successful 5779.