Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candle lighting at 5:52pm, and ends Saturday night at 6:49pm. The weekly Torah portion is Vayelech / Shabbat Shuva. Yom Kippur begins on Tuesday night at 5:55pm, and ends Wednesday night at 6:53pm.

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

Study: There will be no shiur and lunch this week due to Yom Kippur.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Rabbi Leon Anaf. Good Yom Tov! Yom Kippur is a Yom Tov! The Mishna relates that “there were no more joyous days for Israel than Yom Kippur and the 15th of Av”.

Yet how many people feel Yom Tovdik? How many people are excited to fast? The Torah says in two places “and you shall afflict your souls”. So where is the joy?

The joy of Yom Kippur is that of being given a second chance.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement is the great fast of the Jewish year. It is the day that we once again stand before God and beat our breasts over the fact that we have not yet perfected ourselves, and at the same time we smile because our Merciful Father is still encouraging us to stand up and keep on trying.

Over the ten days of repentance we need to look into our souls and expose our shortcomings and weaknesses and remember that on Yom Kippur all sincere penitents are guaranteed a second chance.

So as we enter the day of Yom Kippur let us all be b’simcha as we stand up with a clean slate and a pure soul. Let’s also be sure to give everyone around us a second chance.

May God grant us all a new kind of year – where the sounds of our souls will be a sound of unmistakable joy.