Shabbat starts tonight at 4:49pm, and ends on Saturday night at 5:51pm. The weekly Torah portion is Naso.
Mazel Tov
Wishing Joey Borensztajn a huge Mazel Tov for his Order of Australia honour.
Condolences
Our sincere condolences to Steven Casper and his family on the passing of his father, Michael Casper.
Mincha in the CBD Mondays to Fridays
Mincha, whisky and kugel today 1:00 pm. Mincha continues at 1:00 pm Monday to Friday using the SMS reminder system.
Weekly Shiur
The Wednesday shiur and lunch starts at about 1:15 pm after mincha.
Thought of the Week
With thanks to Avi Gordon
In addition to being the longest Parsha in the Torah, this week's Torah reading of Naso is unique in that it compiles a number of seemingly unrelated items one after the other with no apparent connection.
It starts with a discussion of the duties of Levite families Gershon and Merrori, followed by the Sotah (suspected adulteress), then the Nazir (who vows not to drink), the priestly blessing and finally concludes with length description of each tribal prince’s sacrificial offering.
What is the significance of the juxtaposition?
The answer is Shalom - peace. Peace exists where each element in the system is valued as a vital part of the system as a whole and where there is no discord between them. The various provisions of Naso are all about bringing peace in this sense.
Gershon and Merori were happy with their lot and duties in contrast to Kehos's descendant Korach, who rebelled
The laws of Sotah allowed for the destruction of G-d’s name if it was to achieve martial harmony.
The Nazir provides an opportunity to every Jew, irrespective of tribe to become priestly.
Each prince and their respect offerings was accorded its own passage to ensure equality and harmony.
And perhaps the most obvious of all- the priestly blessing which is fundamentally underpinned by peace.
May we all be blessed that all parts in our lives find their peace. (R’Sacks)
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