JBD – Jews of the Melbourne CBD is now on LinkedIn. Follow us here.

Shabbat starts on Friday at 7:59pm and ends on Saturday at 9:04pm. The weekly Torah portion is Chayei Sara.

Mincha is now in recess for the summer. There is usually a minyan at L1 Capital on Thurs at 1.45pm following lunch & learn. Join the WhatsApp group for any updates.

Weekly sushi & shiur continues Wed at 1.20pm at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom. Current topic: strata titles. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Levi Rosenbaum.

Avraham’s life is referred to as seemingly superficial adjectives: “old” and “advanced in years“. “Old” refers to acquiring wisdom. “Ba bayamim” – “he comes with all of his days” – refers to someone who infused every day with his divine service. The first aspect refers to someone’s personal development, while the second refers to how efficiently the worldly constructs of time and space are used, making every day count.

Before Avraham and Sarah, righteous people devoted their lives either to self-development, or to refining the world, not both. Avraham and Sarah’s ability to focus on both aspects were their greatest strength, and therefore the epitome of their legacy.

The message to us, their children, is to invest in spiritual growth while simultaneously seeking to improve our physical environment. Though, of the two aims, a greater emphasis is placed on refining the world, which indicates our dedication to creating a physical dwelling place for G-d.