JBD – Jews of the Melbourne CBD is now on LinkedIn. Follow us here.
Shabbat starts on Friday at 8:23pm and ends on Saturday at 9:29pm. The weekly Torah portion is Vayeshev. Chanukah starts on Wednesday night and continues until the following Wednesday night/Thursday.
This newsletter is going into summer recess until Jan. 23, 2025. Wishing everyone a restful, safe and enjoyable break.
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 is in recess for the summer will continue Jan 29 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 Rabbi Dovid Gutnick.
Yaakov wanted to live his final years in tranquillity. Until now he had lived a life of turmoil and torment. Finally, back in the land of his ancestors surrounded by family he could wish for his twilight years to be lived out in serenity and calm. And then the biggest upheaval of all came his way: the kidnap of his treasured son, Yosef.
Was it wrong to ask for respite? Surely not. Yaakov wasn’t selfish. He wasn’t looking for a holiday to lie in a hammock and sip G&Ts whilst watching the cricket. He wanted the spiritual service that comes with tranquillity not the one that comes with turmoil. He was weary of the life of struggle.
But this world is one of complex challenges, of shadow and light, of wrestling with men and angels. There is a world of tranquillity and bliss that awaits in olam habah (either the Moshiach or afterlife definition). Here we wage an endless battle against the raging tempest. Solomon tells us that the human on this world was born to toil.
There are two great rules to consider as we navigate the unforgiving, windswept plains that are the days of our life.
The first is “kassis la’ma’or.” The crushed olive produces the virgin oil for illumination. The tribulations and challenges are extracting our power and light. The second is “vayehi erev vayehi boker.” In the Jewish calendar night comes before day. As we navigate the “darkest evening of the year” inevitably dawn shall triumph and it shall be light.
Push on! Like Yaakov, you are a warrior of illumination. Yisrael shall be your name for you have wrestled and triumphed. The serenity will eventually arrive as it did for Yaakov. Perhaps not precisely when and how you asked for it but commensurate with the toil is the reward. Good times are coming!