Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candlelighting at 4:57pm The weekly Torah portion for Shabbos is Bamidbar. Shavuot starts on Saturday night immediately after Shabbat; light candles after 5:56pm. Second night of Shavuot on Sunday night; light candles after 5:56pm. Shavuot ends on Monday night at 5:55pm.

Upcoming  Events: TODAY: Lunchtime lecture with Rabbi Moshe Taragin “Why doesn’t the Torah mention the afterlife?” at the special early time of 12:15pmat Arnold Bloch Leibler, Level 21, 333 Collins Street. For more information click here for the JBD website or here for the JBD Facebook page. 

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 Ezra May.  The tribe of Levi contained the holiest Divine servants, yet it numbered only 22,000 (Bamidbar 3:30), substantially less than any other tribe. Why? There are several answers offered:

Ramban explains that when the Egyptians enslaved the Jews, Hashem blessed them to become even more numerous (Exodus 1:12). As the tribe Levi was exempt from the slavery, they didn’t merit the blessing of giving birth to six children at a time.
The Ohr HaChaim answers that when Pharaoh decreed all Jewish male babies were to be drowned in the Nile , Amram – a Levite leader, divorced his wife, and the rest of the Levites followed. Even though Amram subsequently remarried his wife, many of the other Levites did not, and therefore their population was smaller.

The Beis HaLevi suggests that because Levi was sustained by the gifts of tithes, Hashem purposefully made them smaller so as not to overburden the rest of the tribes.

The Netziv posits that as Levi was already selected to serve Hashem, they were therefore judged more harshly and their numbers were reduced due to their sins for which they were punished immediately.
Finally, Rav Elchonon Wasserman writes that Hashem created the world where everything Holier is rarer. Accordingly animals outnumber people and non-Jews outnumber Jews. So too are there more non-Levites than Levites.