JBD – Jews of the Melbourne CBD is now on LinkedIn. Follow us here.
Condolences to Sam Seigel and family on the passing of his father Abraham Seigel.
Times: Shabbat starts on Friday at 5:07 pm and ends on Saturday at 6:07 pm. The weekly Torah portion is Pinchas and Shabbat Mevarchim Av. Rosh Chodesh is on Friday, which is the start of the Nine Days.
Mincha in the CBD: On Mon/Tue, Mincha is at ABL – 21/333 Collins, on Wed at Warlows Legal – 2/430 Lt Collins, and on Thu at L1 Capital – 28/101 Collins. Join the WhatsApp group to stay across the latest details.
Study: The Weekly Shiur continues on Wednesday at about 1.15pm (after mincha) at Warlows Legal – 2/430 Lt Collins – and via Zoom. Current topic: employee eating rights. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.
Thought of the Week with thanks to Geoff Bloch. In this week’s Torah reading, Pinchas received a covenant of peace for slaying Zimri and Cozbi. A javelin through their bodies was somewhat anti-social, to put it mildly. History, as does our parasha, teaches the ironic truth that peace is earned by those who fight for it.
Auschwitz was not liberated by pacifists holding placards at peace rallies. The Third Reich was defeated by soldiers with tanks, artillery and guns. Tragically, the reverse is also true. Peace will never be achieved through endless negotiations without a willingness to fight. Chamberlain and, more recently, Obama and Biden, come to mind.
Their policies of appeasement saw the abandonment of Afghanistan and were at least partially responsible for Putin’s aggression in Crimea and Ukraine. Under Obama’s watch, we witnessed the rise of ISIS and other Muslim terrorist groups decimating ancient Christian communities in the Middle East while the Pope, the paradigm pacifist, railed against climate change.
The same holds true to the culture wars being waged today against the Western world from within, by progressives. Peace and harmony will only be restored when resolute action is taken in support of historical societal norms and by arresting the countless concessions which have undermined them.