MIZRACHI MATTERS ד סבmizrachi.com.au/sites/default/files/Newsletter 2016... · MIZRACHI MATTERS...

ד"בס MIZRACHI MATTERS

Friday, 28 October (26 Tishrei) SHABBAT BERESHIT (Vol 11, No 4)

EARLY SHABBAT Mincha: 6:15pm

Candle Lighting: 6:35-6:40pm Dvar Torah: R’ Danny Mirvis

LATER SHABBAT Mincha: 7:15pm

Candle Lighting: 7:32pm Dvar Torah: R’ Mottel Krasnjanski

This week’s Newsletter is generously sponsored by Deb Zimmerman in loving memory of her late father Benjamin Gurgiel z”l on his Yahrzeit on Shabbat

Shabbat

29 October 27 Tishrei

Sunday 30 October 28 Tishrei

Monday 31 October 29 Tishrei

Tuesday 1 November

30 Tishrei Rosh Chodesh

Cheshvan

Wednesday 2 November 1 Cheshvan

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan

Thursday 3 November 2 Cheshvan

Friday 4 November 3 Cheshvan

1. Beit Yehuda 2. Beit HaRoeh 3. Kehillat Ohr David/Beit Midrash 4. Bnei Akiva 5. Elsternwick 6. Midrashah 7. Goldberger Hall

Shacharit 7:30am 1 9:30am 1

7:00am 1 8:00am 1 9:00am 4

6:25am 1 7:30am 1

7:00am 1 8:00am 1 9:00am 4

6:20am 1 7:20am 1

6:25am 1 7:30am 1

6:30am 1 7:30am 1

Dawn 5:05am 5:04am 5:02am 5:01am 5:00am 4:59am 4:58am Tallit & Tefillin 5:21am 5:20am 5:18am 5:17am 5:16am 5:15am 5:13am Sunrise 6:17am 6:16am 6:14am 6:13am 6:12am 6:11am 6:10am Sh'ma (גר״א) 9:40am 9:39am 9:39am 9:38am 9:37am 9:37am 9:36am Earliest Mincha 1:39pm 1:39pm 1:39pm 1:39pm 1:39pm 1:39pm 1:39pm

Early Shabbat Early Mincha: Candles between:

6:20pm 6:40-6:45pm

Candles 7:40pm Mincha followed by Maa'riv 7:15pm1 6:15pm1 6:15pm1 6:15pm1 6:15pm1 6:15pm1 7:15pm1

Plag HaMincha (גר״א) 6:27pm 6:27pm 6:28pm 6:29pm 6:30pm 6:31pm 6:32pm Sunset 7:51pm 7:53pm 7:54pm 7:55pm 7:56pm 7:57pm 7:58pm Night 8:33pm 8:35pm 8:37pm 8:38pm 8:39pm 8:40pm 8:41pm Second Ma'ariv 9:30pm3 9:30pm3 9:30pm3 9:30pm3 9:30pm3

Daf Yomi Baba Metzia 34 8:45am

Baba Metzia 35 8:15am





SHIURIM

R’ Leor Broh 9:00am2

R’ James Kennard 9:30am3

Children’s Tefillah 10:30 – 11:30am

Drashot R’ Danny Mirvis 1

R’ Leor Broh2 R’ Chezy Deren 3

Parashat HaShavua Shiur

R’ James Kennard 6:05pm

12 Foundations Bat-Mitzvah

Program Michal Kaufman &

Avital Seifman 4:30pm

Pre Bar-Mitzvah R’ Danny Mirvis Not this week

Post Bar-Mitzvah R’ Danny Mirvis

7:00pm3 Maharal on Pirkei

Avot R’ James Kennard

for University & post University women

8:30pm Dirshu Programme

R’ Yoni Fisher 9:45pm3

NEW SERIES Netziv on the Parsha

for women R’ Danny Mirvis

9:30am6

Contemporary Halacha

R’ Chezy Deren 7/93 Hotham St

8:30pm Sefer Shemot

for women Michal Kaufman (Lewis’ house) Not this week

Dirshu Programme R’ Yoni Fisher

9:45pm3

Scotch & Shiur R’ Danny Mirvis Not this week Ivrit Shiur for

Year 10-12 Girls Michal Kaufman

8:30pm


9:45pm3

“Following in the Footsteps of our

Fathers” for Ladies & Girls

Speaker: Rabbi Aryeh Berlin

7 Morrice St 11.15am

Gary’s Gemara Shiur

8:30pm3


9:45pm3

Lunch and Learn R’ Danny Mirvis

Level 51, 101 Collins St

1:00pm Iyun on Parashah

Doodie Bankier 8:30pm3

Parasha Shiur (Ivrit Kala)

R’ Danny Mirvis 8:45pm3


9:45pm3

Mishnah Yomit

Terumot 10:3-4 Terumot 10:5-6 Terumot 10:7-8 Terumot 10:9-10 Terumot 10:11-12 Terumot 11:1-2 Terumot 11:3-4

7:05pm Between Mincha and Ma'ariv

Between Mincha and Ma'ariv



Between Mincha and Ma'ariv 6:10pm

EVENTS

B’nei Akiva 5:30pm

Speaker after Mussaf in Beit

Yehuda Major General

Yaakov Amidror Seudah Shlishit

Professor Ephraim Inbar

Holy Bagel 9:00am3

Molad for Cheshvan at 3:24 AM

(5 chalakim) “Regards from

Jerusalem” Speaker:

Chagit Moses At the home of

Geoff & Naomi Bloch (see flyer inside)

8:30pm

Office Closed – Cup Day Public Holiday

Chill ‘n Cholent 9.45pm3

YAHRTZEITS Deb Zimmermann & Ed Gurgiel (Father)

David Slonim (Sister)

Ada Gurgiel (Mother)

Michael Bruce (Mother)

Les Weinberg (Mother)

MAZAL TOV

We wish a hearty Mazal Tov to Menchi Joseph on his Bar-Mitzvah

Mazal Tov to his parents: Mordi & Ruty Joseph Mazal Tov to his Grandparents: George & Shoshana Lowinger and Basil & Vivien Joseph

We wish a hearty Mazal Tov to Jonah Bell

on his Bar-Mitzvah Mazal Tov to his parents: Jonathan & Dr Deborah Bell

Mazal Tov to his Grandparents: Aron & Sara Bell, Linda Langley and Hugh Sorrell

We wish a hearty Mazal Tov to Bnei Akiva’s 2017 Hanhala

Yaniv Cohen – Merakez Ezra Herszberg – Sgan Joel Chester – Gizbar

Sammy Brygel – Rosh Chinuch

BAR MITZVAH ANNIVERSARIES David Brykman, Eitan Cher, Benji Reisner, Daniel Kave, Joshua Slonim, Elliot Szafran, Nadav

Greenberger, Samuel Bruce, Yonnie Lipshatz, Gabriel Max, Ariel Zelwer

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Shabbat: Noah Epstein

Monday: Adrienne Kraus, Alana Hersh Tuesday: Brigetta Paneth

Wednesday: Jeremie Pike (HBD) Thursday: Mark Joel, Rebecca Wein

Friday: Nicole Kohn, Rachel Waysman

If you have an occasion or milestone event that you would like to be mentioned in Mizrachi Matters, please email it to [email protected] by 12:00pm on Thursdays

mailto:[email protected]

NE W S L E T T E R F O R T H E

ELSTERNWICK JEWISH COMMUNITY

ס ב "ד 29 October 2016 27 Tishrei 5777 Shabbat Bereishit

Yahrzeits during the coming week Sharon Lewy (Father) [Sunday] Anne Atlas (Father) [Thursday] Rachel Lissek (Mother) [Tuesday] Vivien Leizerovitz (Father) [Thursday] Shabbat times Candle Lighting this week 7.32 pm Candle Lighting time if attending Kabbalat Shabbat 6.35 pm Kabbalat Shabbat this week 6.30 pm Pre-Shacharit Shiur 9.00 am Shacharit 9.30 am Rabbi’s Shabbat Shiur: Why do Jews ask “Why”? 6.35 pm Mincha at 7.20 pm Shabbat ends at 8.33 pm Candle Lighting next week 7.40 pm Candle Lighting next week if attending Kabbalat Shabbat 6:40 pm Kabbalat Shabbat next week 6.30 pm The Rabbi’s Shabbat Shiurim The early shiur (9.00am, before Shacharit) - come join the Rabbi for cake, coffee and an exploration of the mystical parsha Birthdays this week Simone West turns 20 on 31 October In shule this week … Bernie Simai will be leading Kabbalat Shabbat, Daniel Lowinger will be leading Shacharit and leining, Saul Cohen will be saying the Haftorah, and Alon Symons will be leading Mussaf. Kiddush this Shabbat You are all invited to the kiddush, which will be sponsored by EJC. Weekday times Sunday: Tefillin beginners class, including breakfast 8.00 am Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 6.30 am Friday 6.45 am Movie Night EJC has tickets to see “Rabin in his own words” on Sunday 13 November at 6.40pm at the Classic Cinema. Tickets are $20 each. If you would like to join us, please email Sally-Ann asap: [email protected]

Contact numbers Rabbi Rabbi Chaim Cowen

0433-308-584 [email protected] Chairman Mark Kras

0410-460-970 [email protected] Gabbai Elan Jacobs

0419-527-227 [email protected] Secretary Sally-Ann Jaye

0437-625-350 [email protected] Haftorah requests Dennis Max

9528-6865 [email protected]

Contributions to Newsletter (please) Sally-Ann

[email protected]


Dear Friends, Twice a year Bet Haroeh runs a tzedaka project - Pesach for a local cause and Succot/Shmini Atzeret for Israel. This Yom Tov we are supporting the work of Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon – who recently visited Mizrachi to deliver an amazing series of shiurim. Rav Rimon founded JobKatif immediately following the 2005 disengagement from Gaza, in order to help the 85% of former Gush Katif residents who overnight lost their source of income, in addition to their homes and communities. As the Rambam wrote in “Laws of Charity” (10:7) “The greatest level is to support a fellow Jew by…finding employment for him in order to strengthen his hand until he no longer be dependent upon others.“ Baruch HaShem, JobKatif has largely accomplished their original mission, and even though they are still helping some of the Gush Katif families, they have also expanded our activities to include other sidelined populations rebuild their lives through stable employment: 1. Achotenu – a unique academic nurses training program for young Ethiopians which also addresses Israel’s chronic shortage of hospital nurses 2. Ta’asuchayil – to help impoverished soldiers by finding them employment during authorized “work periods” during their army service, and then help them find stable careers upon discharge from the IDF 3. Tasukati – a specialized program to help chronically unemployed find stable employment As you can see, JobKatif is guided by the Rambam who says that the highest form of tzedaka is to help a person become self-sufficient – the fishing rod, not the fish! Those of us fortunate enough to hear Rabbi Mirvis’ Shabbat Shuva drasha will recall he spoke of the three main elements of Teshuva, Tefilla and Tzdaka. We have done Teshuva, and continue with or Tefilla. Now its time for Tzdaka. At the moment JobKatif are raising funds to buy laptops for their Ethiopian students. Unfortunately, half of the Ethiopian community lives beneath the poverty line, so none of the students has a laptop - an absolutely essential tool to earn a degree today. Each laptop costs $1,000 US, and so far they have raised enough to buy 4 laptops. There are 18 students, and so they need to raise another $14,000. Bet Haroeh has kicked off this project with $2,604 pledged so far. That’s two more computers! We invite all Mizrachi members to add to this total. The gemara in Sunhedrin 37a states that he who saves a life is as if he saved the whole world. The students from JobKatif participating in Achotenu will complete their nursing course. Once qualified, these nurses will go on to save lives. Each of us who donate will be a partner to saving the world! The students will be starting to study after Succot, and we will be sending the collected funds within the next few weeks. Donations can be paid to the account: Bendigo Bank Account Name: Bet Haroeh Minyan BSB: 633-000 Account Number: 149577728 Reference: Katif Please contact Michael Lewis on 0418 218 389 or via email [email protected] if you have any questions.


A LOOK AT SAYING KADDISH AS A BLESSING FOR A WOMAN

WOMEN’S FORUM, SIMCHAT TORAH, 25-10-16

HISTORICAL CONTEXT A twelfth century midrash reveals how Franco-German Ashkenazi Jews developed the custom of reciting the Mourners’ Kaddish as a means of redeeming the souls of their deceased relatives from suffering in hell, and speed the ascent of their souls to Heaven. What was the historical backdrop to this? In 1096, at the dawning of the twelfth century, a deeply traumatic series of massacres of Jews of the Rhineland erupted at the hands of Crusader armies, heading towards the Holy land, wiping out the enemies of Christendom. For today’s travellers to Rome, it is shocking to see the extensive murals in Cathedrals of Crusader armies killing babes in Jerusalem. Tour guides point out the artistic provenance of the art and the artistic merit of the artwork and are taken by surprise by questions about the bleeding babies in Jerusalem. Kaddish has come to epitomise the Jewish response to large scale catastrophes in recent Jewish history such as the Holocaust. Each death in our current lives can be a terrible trial to the individual, and reciting Kaddish is the Jewish response to the death of a parent. It has become customary to appoint a person who has no mother or father to lead services at the conclusion of Shabbat. The custom of a mourner leading the congregation in Kaddish has spread from the original Motsei Shabbat recitation, to the thrice daily routine. It is a son’s obligation but not a daughter’s to recite Kaddish, but there is no injunction against daughters saying Kaddish. A DEATH My mother died on December 14th last year. I decided to say Kaddish once a day, attending mincha/maariv. Shachrit was less easy for me to attend, and I did not feel as comfortable amongst the men donning their tefillin as I had no role in that. And I wasn’t setting out to make myself feel uncomfortable. I found I liked going every day. I am generally the only female in shule, but the men acknowledge me and kindly accept my presence in their midst. In recent months I have been joined by four other women as their misfortune regrettably has joined mine, but being together with others in the same place makes it feel easier.

Chief Rabbi Mirvis recently wrote an article endorsing women be given the opportunity to say Kaddish if that is what they would like. Henrietta Szold founder of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organisation of America, wrote a letter in 1916 to Hayim Peretz, rejecting his offer to say Kaddish after her mother as she felt she must say it herself. The earliest record of a woman’s desire to say Kaddish is found in the seventeenth century responsa of Rabbi Yai’ir Hayim Bacharach. He gave arguments for and against it. In Germany, Rabbi Yaakov Reicher, (1670-1733) in his response took it for granted a daughter may recite Kaddish in the presence of a minyan in the privacy of her home. Rabbi Yosef Henin (1881-1973) ruled that woman may recite Kaddish in the women’s section of a synagogue. Rabbi Joseph Soleveitchik (1903-1993), Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University for 50 years, having ordained close to 2,000 rabbis, permitted a woman in the modern era, to recite Kaddish by herself in synagogue. So it is certainly not without precedent. But debates and uncertainties continue. I continue to ponder what it is that makes me want to continue, and why it offers such profound meaning. Well: in the middle of summer, it felt good to sit in the cool, air conditioned ambience of shule when it was 35 degrees outside. So turn on the cooling at home, someone retorted. When I returned to work, it felt good to drop everything at the appointed time in the evening, put on a hat and skirt, and read Hebrew for half an hour. WE know chanting feels good and helps people meditate. Saying Kaddish becomes a rhythmic chant. I became more practised at reciting Kaddish, and increasing task mastery feels positive. It also felt like I was having an education as I had never learned all the tefillah from start to finish of a service. I began attending Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat morning services, and the service and it ’s pattern began to seem familiar, ordered, predictable, so the process felt less mysterious and inaccessible. In the past I had entertained the thought that perhaps I needed a shiur in Tefillah to learn how and what to say in Shule, but what I was learning was that all you needed to do was start doing it regularly, and you learn. Repetition is actually a good way to internalise something and really learn it. At times I read some of the tefillah in translation with interest and alarm: Baruch Atah adoshem elokeinu melech ha alom she lo asani isha. I have not discovered when the alternative brachia was added: Baruch atah adoshem elokhenu melech ha alom she asani ke ratsono. But I have been told it was not for feminist reasons, but that saying a redundant blessing is, well redundant. Perhaps the explanation for this blessing can be found in the rather alarming reference in the MISHNA read on Kabbalat Shabbat after Kaddish Yatom, in Bameh Madlikin:

Al shalosh averot nashim metot be sha- at lei datan: she einan zehirot be nida, be challah oo be hadlakhot ha ner. Women die in childbirth for three transgressions: failure in care of family purity/menstruation, failure in burning the tithe of the challah dough and failure to light candles. Indeed might a man bless the fact he was not made a woman! I also enjoyed noticing Hebrew words in the tefillah and Chumash readings on Shabbat, now also part of modern Hebrew usage. I enjoy reading Hebrew and learning Hebrew. Nonetheless, I still felt I couldn’t really answer the question as to why I liked saying Kaddish daily. Then I read a book about Blessings. Rachel Naomi Remen writes that in blessing something, we are recognising a spark of holiness in it. When we bless someone she says we touch the unborn goodness in them and wish it well. A prayer is about our relationship to G-d. A blessing is our relationship to the spark of G-d in another. Those who bless and serve life, find a place of belonging and strength, a refuge from living in ways that are meaningless and empty. Her grandfather was a Kabalistic scholar and Rabbi. Her parents were secular academics who served others and her siblings and herself were doctors who served people. She sees a parallel between blessing and serving others. I related to these words because of all the blessings said in Mincha and maariv and of course shachrit which I go to less often. Perhaps positive feelings have emanated from saying all these blessings I pondered, from expressing gratitude, acknowledging one isn’t necessarily the author of one’s destiny. Rachel Naomi Remen also says blessings strengthen life and feed life, that blessings move us closer to our authentic selves. This could be taken from a treatise on Mindfulness Meditation that has been adopted by western Mental Health workers from Buddhism and the spiritual domain in general. In our modern world, mastery and control, self sufficiency and competence are given emphasis. Vulnerability and dependence are disavowed. These have to be given emphasis to many of the unhappy people who present for psychotherapy. Rachel Naomi Remen has worked for many years as a counsellor for people with chronic illness and those who are dying. She has seen cancer forcing people deeply into their vulnerability, enabling them to touch the place of

knowing that this is a universal experience. This facilitates them to emerge with greater compassion and altruism. She has concluded from her work that blessing life might be a final step in a natural process of healing from suffering. Lip service is paid to this in Medicine, but in a busy medical practice or hospital it may be very hard to find. I reflected on the practice of blessing our children on a Friday night. Remen maintains that we can only bless others when we feel blessed ourselves. A parent who is able to bless his children on a Friday night is thus celebrating his life. And this must permeate the children. This is a gift indeed worth bestowing on our children, perhaps an inoculation against meaninglessness and despair. So: Blessing life then is more about learning how to celebrate life, and not how to fix life. People who are dying can’t be fixed, but they may still be able to celebrate their life and the lives of their children. After death in the family the lesson that things can’t be fixed is well learned. At a time when sadness and despair threaten to overwhelm, kaddish gives one the opportunity to say many blessings. So, is this what I like about saying Kaddish: that one can celebrate life in the shadow of death? In the book Kaddish, Women’s voices (editors Michal Smart and Barbara Ashkenaz), women describe their experiences saying Kaddish. From their stories I was able to distil the following themes, most of which I have described in my own experience: 1. Saying Kaddish gave them an appointed time each day to grieve and celebrate the life of the departed 2. Kaddish provided the opportunity to continue the conversation with the departed 3. If the relationship with the deceased had been difficult and complicated, saying Kaddish offered an

opportunity for reparation. Grief is a sorting process that enables one to let go of the pain and appreciate the good 4. The experience of being part of a community is healing 5. Saying Kaddish facilitates connection to a spiritual domain 6. Saying Kaddish enables one to contemplate death, to “look at the sun”, (after Irving Yalom’s book of the same name dealing with facing death) and thereby begin the process of facing one’s own mortality I therefore felt I wanted to convey this idea of viewing the recitation of Kaddish as a potential blessing for a woman, and not only as an obligation for men. Kaddish also offers a portal for connecting with previous generations of Jews over the past millennium as does the celebration of Pesach or Succoth. So my reciting of Kaddish in the last ten months has been overwhelmingly positive.

Perhaps it is meant to elevate the soul of my mother to Heaven, this is unknowable, but my soul certainly feels uplifted as a result. As I am approaching the final days of saying Kaddish, the next question is: how will I stop? Indeed, there are practical things that start to take up your time, LIFE gets in the way, yet there are many men for whom the experience introduces a permanent change to frequency of attendance at Synagogue, and intensification in the valency of prayer. Perhaps this is the case for some women as well… AS for me, time will tell. MEMORY I just want to share a memory of my mother in her last months in her aged care facility. She was weak and infirm but her mind was clear. I left the container of my spectacles in her room. It was clear plastic with half torn off stickers on it. It looked untidy. My mother was very neat and tidy. She scraped off the stickers with her finger nail and used her nail brush to make it pristine. When she returned it to me she said: You do so much for me, I wanted to do something for you. It was intensely moving for me as I saw it as a deep expression of her love and gratitude. Being so infirm, it was difficult for her to express her gratitude in the way she preferred but she found a way. I think expressions of love and gratitude are all around us, but might be overlooked and missed. It is meaningful to notice them, and this is an experience of being blessed. DEDICATION I just want to express my gratitude for the support I have received in my year of avelut from my husband Philip, from the men saying Kaddish, as well as the men in the minyan who were supportive in various ways, such as walking upstairs with the zeddakah box so the ladies could contribute zedakka during mincha, a role sometimes taken by Rabbi Mirvis and Althea’s children, Raphael and Leora. And finally I would like to acknowledge the wonderful women who have sat with me saying Kaddish. ILANA CHESTER

GUEST SPEAKERS THIS SHABBAT 29 OCTOBER

FOLLOWING MUSAFIN BEIT YEHUDA:

MAJOR GENERAL ( Res) YAAKOV AMIDROR

TOPIC: CHANGING MIDDLEEAST LANDSCAPE,PROBLEMS ANDOPPORTUNITIESSEUDA SHLISHIT:

PROF. EFRAIM INBAR

TOPIC: ISRAELCHALLENGES TODAY

MAJ.- GEN.

YAAKOV AMIDROR

PROF. EFRAIM INBAR

Former NationalSecurity Adviser to

Israeli PrimeMinister

Netanyahu, SeniorFellow at the BESA

Centre

Author, Director ofthe BESA Centre

for StrategicStudies at Bar- Ilan

University Israel

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