The Brisbane Synagogue

Archive for January, 2023

Last Shabbat afternoon, as we were taking a family walk along the lovely new Mangrove Walk, from the Botanic Gardens to Queens Wharf Plaza, we came across an interesting Aboriginal word ‘Mulwara’, meaning ‘Duty of Care’, as explained on one of the plaques along the walk, which elaborated on the notion that we do not own anything, rather we are all here to care for what has been bequeathed to us from previous generations, in order to preserve and transmit to those who come after us.

This idea resonates with the Jewish concept of ‘Arevut‘ – Communal Responsibility, which we see powerfully being demonstrated within our own community, particularly with regards to the level of volunteering and communal spirit we are so blessed to constantly witness with our relatively small, but active and committed community.

From the amazing energy and spirit demonstrated by our dedicated early Minyan risers, who converged on our beautiful Shul this morning, as most others slept in peacefully, and the Brisbane CBD felt like a ghost town, to the incredible group of women and men of our very special Sunday Morning Cooking Club, who have banded together so graciously, under the capable leadership of Leah Phillips, to give of themselves to help prepare for the special Simchot – celebrations, which are taking place this coming weekend, is truly heartwarming and uplifting.  Kol Hakovod to all concerned, past, present and future, for your magnanimous ongoing ‘Duty of Care’, to secure Jewish vibrancy and continuity in our community.

Please see article below ‘The Far Horizon” by the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l, which illustrates a similar idea as above in the context of this week’s Parsha – Torah portion.

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom and a meaningful Australia Day.

Rabbi Levi & Dvorah Jaffe

The exodus from Mitzrayim – Egypt, is arguably the most well-known and spoken about subject in all of Judaism, as it features over many chapters in the book of Exodus, we are currently reading in the Torah. It appears in many of our daily, Shabbat and Festival  prayers, and one of our most celebrated Jewish Festivals, Pesach – Passover, celebrates our momentous and miraculous freedom from the land of Egypt.

This story is certainly quite remarkable, and demonstrates the incredibly intimate bond between Hashem and the Jewish people, in addition to the awesome responsibility placed upon our shoulders to carry the message of the Torah, and to uphold and transmit its eternal values through the ages.

However, in addition to the above, as we recite in the Hagaddah – the Passover story we read on the Seder night, “In every generation, we should see ourselves as if we personally left Egypt”, meaning that there is a deeply personal message in this story, applicable in all times and places.

The word Mitzrayim – Egypt in Hebrew is etymologically related to the word Meitzarim – limitations. Our mission in life is to constantly strive towards our exodus from our personal limitations and inhibitions, which primarily stem from the egocentric ‘Egyptian’ mentality.

May we all experience our personal and collective Exodus.

Rabbi Levi & Dvorah Jaffe