The Brisbane Synagogue

Archive for December, 2021

This week we complete the book of Bereshit – Genesis, with Parshat Vayechi – the portion entitled Vayechi, meaning “And He Lived.”, referring the last seventeen years of Jacob’s life in the land of Egypt. The Parshah continues with the details of Yaakov’s passing: his last will and testament and blessings to his children, the twelve Tribes of Israel, his funeral, and his internment in Hebron in the Holy Land.

Why would a Parshah that concentrates on a person’s last days on earth and his burial be entitled “And He Lived?”

The answer, explain our sages, is to emphasize that the test of true life for a Jew is whether he lived an authentic, consistent Jewish life and remained faithful to his value system until the end, witnessing the continuity of the family traditions being passed on to one’s children.

Complacency is dangerous. There are no guarantees. One must constantly “live” — i.e., grow and attempt to improve oneself — lest one falter before the finish line.

That’s why at the end of this week’s Parshah, which also concludes the Book of Genesis, the congregation and Torah reader will proclaim Chazak, chazak v’nitchazek — “Be strong, be strong, and we will all be strengthened.” Because the tendency when we finish a book is to take a breather before we pick up the next one. Such is human nature. But a book of the Torah is not just any book. Torah is not just history or biography. Torah is our source of life, and we dare not ever take a breather from life.

Truth is consistent, from beginning to end. May our lives be blessed to be truly alive — with authenticity, faithfulness and eternal fulfillment.

The above message is particularly relevant as we enter the summer break when many of us go away for a well deserved vacation. We encourage you to consider adding more spiritual depth to your summer holiday and take along a meaningful Jewish book, Siddur, Tefillin and traveling Shabbat candles.

For those of you remaining in town, please make an effort to join us at Shul so we can ensure  regular Minyanim for services on Shabbat and during the week.

Shabbat Shalom and may we share good news

Levi and Dvorah Jaffe

This coming Tuesday will be the fast of Tevet, which marks the day in 425 BCE, when the armies of the ancient Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem.

For the past eighteen months or so, we have all experienced somewhat of a siege, which has caused all of humanity to feel a kinship with our fellow besieged. After all, we’re in this together.

A young gentleman came to see me today with a worried look on his face, and he asked me if I am able to please share with him my perspective on Covid and the meaning of this great challenge to our world.

A hallmark of Judaism and, in particular from the Chassidic perspective, is to seek out the spark of joy hidden within the most oppressive sadness, and to unearth the core of goodness languishing within the most sinister evil.

The point of this is not that the sadness is thus diminished. On the contrary: a tragedy is all the more tragic because it represents a potential joy in malformed garments. Even as we fight evil and mourn tragedy, we simultaneously engage the negativity in our world on another, more inner plane: by reclaiming its positive core.

When faced with a tragedy we mourn. But we also dig deeper. We ask ourselves: what positive element lies buried within this negative experience? For we believe that the essence of every thing, force or phenomenon in G‑d’s world is good. We cannot always see it. But we always look for it.

The fast of Tevet commemorates the siege of Jerusalem, which led to a series of events leading to the destruction of the Holy Temple and the exile of the Jewish people from the Land of Israel. It is thus a day of fasting and repentance — a day in which we mourn the tragic events of the day, contemplate their deeper causes in our own souls and deeds, and work to correct them.

Without detracting in any way from the need to mourn and rectify the negativity of the events of Tevet 10, we must also zero in on the positive core at its heart.

Coming under siege is a horrible experience. A literal siege brings famine, plague and bloodshed. But also figurative “sieges” are predominantly negative, engendering feelings of helplessness and victimization. Beneath all that negativity, however, lies the liberating and empowering realization: We’re in this together! Despite our differences, despite the animosities and quarrels that strive to drive us apart, we share a common fate, a common identity, a common goal. Being under siege brings to light a truth that was always there but which we had hitherto been prevented from or have avoided seeing — the truth that we are all one.

The trick, of course, is to grasp this truth, to hold on to it and possess it, without its negative trappings. To rid ourselves of the negativity of Tevet 10 and retain only its positive core.

This is a constant challenge for us all as we charter through the vicissitudes of life, and one of the greatest examples of one who shined brightly with such a perspective was the hero of this week’s Parsha, the Biblical Joseph who, in the face of all the negativity and abuse he endures, was always able to recognize and acknowledge the loving hand of Hashem guiding towards a bright and blessed future for his family and for humanity.

As we enter the summer months, during which time many of our members and friends will be away, particularly with the the long-awaited opening of our interstate borders, please be aware that we will be struggling with our numbers to secure a Minyan, on Shabbat and during the week. Please consider joining us for some of these services, to enable those reciting Kaddish for their loved ones, to continue performing this great Mitzvah.

Shabbat Shalom and may we share good news

Levi and Dvorah Jaffe