Mazal Tov to Mendel & Raizel Jaffe on the birth of their baby boy.
JBD – Jews of the Melbourne CBD is now on LinkedIn. Follow us here.
Shabbat starts on Friday at 7:50pm and ends on Saturday at 8:54pm. The weekly Torah portion is Chayei Sara and Shabbat Mevarchim Kislev. Rosh Chodesh is on Friday.
Mincha continues at 1.45pm 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 1.20pm (before mincha) at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom. Current topic: governance of charity collectors. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.
Thought of the Week with thanks to Yudi New.
The Talmud teaches that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob each established a daily prayer.
The morning prayer (Shacharit) is attributed to Abraham who rose early for the Akeida (binding of Isaac) and the evening prayer (Maariv) to Jacob who prayed and rested after the sun set at (what today is known as) the Temple Mount.
In this week’s portion Chayei Sarah, “Isaac went to the field to converse towards the evening”. The Rabbis derive that Isaac established the afternoon prayer (Mincha).
Rabbi Zevin (1888-1978 Minsk/Jerusalem) observes that Isaac deliberately established Mincha in the field. The person, place and time are all significant.
Mincha epitomises the conflict between our spiritual and mundane lives and the opportunity to unite them for a higher purpose.
Unlike morning and evening prayers which do not clash with the workday, Mincha falls squarely within it and usually at the busiest time.
Isaac was a very successful farmer. He could have easily rationalised limiting his prayer to outside work hours. Yet, Isaac recognised that his financial success was dependant on G-d’s blessings.
Further, despite appearances, the material world is designed as a conduit and not a contradiction to G-d consciousness. Isaac chose the field for this prayer because it is underpins the economy, requires significant human endeavour and is subject to the elements.
The lesson is clear. Pursuing and achieving material success need not be at the expense of living a purposeful spiritual life. In fact, by infusing our busy afternoons with a few minutes of prayer, we can spiritually repurpose our entire enterprise.
(For those who interested JBD has regular mincha services throughout the week).
Wishing everyone a spiritually infused yet materially pleasant Shabbat.