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

Mincha continues at  1.00pm at A-P GF/459 Collins, using the WhatsApp group to confirm a minyan each day.

Weekly sushi & shiur continues on Wed at 1.10pm at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom. Current topic: dividing common property. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Yudi New.

The key theme of this week’s double portion – Tazriah/ Menorah is Tzara’as, a spiritual malady which appears as coloured markings on one’s skin, clothes and home. There are no internal symptoms.

The primary trigger for Tzara’as is gossip and slander which demonstrate a lack of sensitivity towards peers and community.

Perhaps, this is why it impacts externalities only because the process is about reassessing our respect towards others.

Tzara’as reminds a person that they have veered off course morally and need to spend time outside the community to recalibrate spiritually.

While inconvenient, Tzara’as does not impact a person’s health or wellbeing. Rather than being a punishment, it is an opportunity to return to one’s true self and values.

There is also an internal spiritual component.

The impacted person is called “Adam” which represents humankind’s holiest level in which we are “adameh” – similar to our Creator and before humankind failed its first test.

At our core we are pure good and only want to do good for others. Occasionally, we lose focus and cloak ourselves in externalities which desensitises us to others’ needs and acting with kindness. Even then, the tzara’as process sends us physical reminders to remember who we truly are – created in the image of G-d.

Wishing everyone a meaningful Shabbat and Chodesh Tov.