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

Shabbat starts on Friday at 4:49pm and ends on Saturday at 5:51pm. The weekly Torah portion is Nasso.

Mincha continues at 1pm at A-P GF/459 Collins Mon-Wed, and Thu 1.45pm at L1 Capital using the WhatsApp group to confirm numbers.

Weekly sushi & shiur continues on Wed at 1.10pm (after mincha) at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom. Current topic: King Herod. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Josh Wasbutzki.

In this week’s Torah reading of Naso, we read that each tribal prince voluntarily offers donations (non-tax deductible) to the Mishkan.

Instead of each trying to outdo the other, each offered the exact same set of sacrifices, and they all presented them to Moshe on that day. Instead of offering all of these sacrifices on one day, God instructed Moshe to set aside a special day for each prince. The Torah continues by informing us of how each prince brought his sacrifice over the next twelve days. This show of unity was so important, that the Torah finds it necessary to detail each and every sacrifice of each prince, even though they were identical.

The Torah could have summarised this section by saying what one prince brought, and then say rather that all the other princes brought the same items. However, the Torah goes on to mention what every single tribe brought. The takeaway message – one of unity – should indicate to us that when we are building towards a bigger picture, there is no ‘I’, but rather a bunch of WE’s. We are only as good as our composite parts, and when working together, we should always look at ourselves as an individual seeking to help the bigger cause.