Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candlelighting at 4:51pm; ends Saturday night at 5:53pm. The weekly Torah portion for Shabbos is Chukat.
Upcoming Events: Melbourne Hebrew Congregation together with Wingate present ORA The Sounds of Winter, An evening of Cantorial, Operatic, and Israeli Music. Melbourne Synagogue at 7:30pm, Tuesday 11th August 2015. For more information or tickets call 9866 2255, email concerttickets@mhc.org.au. Tickets are also being sold at Golds World of Judaica.
Mincha in the CBD: Mincha continues at 1.00pm Monday-Thursday.
Study: Wed shiur @ Billing Bureau: 1:15pm
Kosher Food in the CBD: Nifla Kosher Catering (KA Hechsher)
Offers Corporate Catering, specializing in individual and board room lunches. For further details visit www.nifla.com.au
10% Discount on your first website purchase. Enter promo code “FIRST TIME”.
Kosher sandwiches, muffins and salads are available at the following locations:
CUPP- Manchester Unity Building- Ground Floor-220 Collins Street
CBW EXPRESS-181 William Street.(Entrance Little Bourke St)
IN A RUSH CAFE-616 St Kilda Road-(Ground Floor-Lowe Lippmann Building)
Spot On (KA Hechsher)
Kosher sandwiches and snacks are available at the following location:
PRONTO ON FLINDERS-335 Flinders Lane
Smoked salmon and cheese sandwich, Tuna sandwich,Cheese and salad sandwich, Egg and tomato sandwich. Natural yoghurt with berries and granola clusters, Mixed berry muffin, Seasonal fresh fruit salad, Pesto pasta salad (new), Greek salad (new).
Thought of the Week with thanks to Geoffrey Bloch. After the Jews speak ill of Hashem and Moshe, Hashem sent ‘seraphim’ (serpents) to fatally bite the offenders. After Moshe prays for the plague to end Hashem commanded Moshe to fashion a copper snake on a post so that any person bitten who looked up at the snake would live (Bamidbar 21:8).
How can we reconcile this episode with the prohibition against the fashioning of idols? Somewhat similarly, how could Moshe’s raised hands give the gift of life in the war against Amalek (Shmot 17:11)?
According to Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 3.8) the common denominator was not the
copper snake or Moshe’s hands. Rather, looking upward toward the heavens is the
critical ingredient to survival. If we, metaphorically, cast our eyes upwards to Hashem and live honourable lives according to His mitzvot, our lives gain meaning and relevance and, iy”h, some reward both in this world and beyond.