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 Gaby Silver.

In this week’s Torah reading of Bamidbar, the Jewish people are counted individually before beginning their journey through the wilderness. On the surface, a census seems like a bland, administrative function. However, delve a little deeper and we can start to see that the Torah’s counting of every Jew reveals something far more profound: every single soul possesses infinite value and an irreplaceable earthly mission.

The Midrash compares G-d’s counting of the Jewish people to a person repeatedly counting a treasured possession. Furthermore, the counting took place specifically in the desert, a barren and lifeless wasteland. Spiritually, the wilderness represents moments in life that feel confusing, spiritually dry, or directionless. Yet it is precisely there that the Jewish people received their structure, their flags, their camps, and their sense of purpose.

Holiness and a fiery love for Torah and Yiddishkeit are rarely created in ideal conditions. A Jew’s task is to transform the imperfect, dry “midbar” (desert) itself into a dwelling place for G-d. Even in environments that seem spiritually empty, a person can bring Torah, kindness, dignity, and light through actualising their love for G-d and passion for Torah and Mitzvot.

Bamidbar reminds us that no Jew is anonymous. Every person is counted. Every soul matters. And every journey through the wilderness contains the potential to reveal holiness.