The Brisbane Synagogue

Archive for February, 2023

This week we read of the most epic event in world history, the moment when ‘heaven kissed earth’, when the Author of the worlds best selling book, The Torah, introduced Himself to His readers on Mt Sinai over 3,300 years ago and we have not stopped reading it, studying it, living it, expounding upon it, and plummeting its infinite depths.

No book has had a more profound impact on humanity and the world than the Torah.

Please join us over the next six weeks, as we familiarize ourselves with over 3000 years of Jewish literature and the authors who have shaped and preserved Jewish life over the millennia, via our upcoming JLI course, ‘Booksmart’, commencing this Monday evening.

As usual the course will be on offer in person, in the CBD, or via Zoom from the comfort of your home.

Please see flyer below regarding the opening of the recently renovated JCCQ this Sunday, which is looking magnificent. Kol Hakavod to all concerned.

Rabbi Levi & Dvorah Jaffe

In today’s world, with such instantaneous access to information and communication, we can do lots of things at once. Obviously, this means we can accomplish much more in less time. And this, in turn, leaves us with much more satisfaction and fulfillment, as well as more time to enjoy it.

While these technological miracles have made possible what was never even imaginable before, at the same time, they have created an intense pressure to have more, do more and be more.

It used to be that we would compare ourselves to the Cohens who lived down the block. The pressure of keeping up with the Cohens was stressful enough. Nowadays we probably don’t even have the time to get to know our Cohen neighbors, but we are aware of the Goldsteins, who built that big, beautiful house in the next suburb or city. And we notice the expensive cars and successful careers, and many observations we associate with “the good life.”

Bombarded from every direction, we can hardly help but respond. We try harder, run faster and work longer, racing at breakneck speed like mad hamsters on a wheel.

The unfortunate paradox is: the faster we run and the more we do, the less satisfied we will probably be.

We certainly do live in unique times, times when we actually can accomplish far more, in quantity and quality, than ever before. This is a wonderful thing. So where are we going wrong?

We have begun to believe that because we can accomplish, we must. That if something desirable exists, and we don’t have it, we aren’t fulfilled. That if there’s some standard out there, and we don’t meet it, we’ve failed. So, first we have to accomplish it all, have it all, “make it,” and then we can relax, kick back, and start to be ourselves.

Within this paradigm, instead of providing us with freedom, our increased opportunities are turning us into slaves.

We all want to be free. Free from debt. Free from worry. Free from stress. But true freedom doesn’t come from outside of ourselves.

Between their liberation from slavery in Egypt and their entrance into the Promised Land, there was a forty-year period where the Jewish people wandered through the desert. Those forty years provided a necessary transition between slavery and freedom, between exile and redemption.

In the desert, there was nothing to eat. So, Hashem lovingly provided a special food, manna, that fell from Heaven each day. The people in the desert didn’t have to do anything to make the manna appear. All they had to do was go out to collect it.

And no matter how much or how little one picked up, when arriving home, one discovered that they received exactly the right amount of manna to satisfy their needs for that day. No more and no less.

This phenomena conveys to us the secret of our ultimate happiness in life, and allows us to be truly appreciative of the blessing we receive each day from above. History has proven that only this type of a lifestyle brings us peace of mind and satisfaction.

This Monday we celebrate Tu BiShvat, the new year for trees, a day on which we customarily enjoy various fruits, particularly those of which the land of Israel is blessed, such as grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates, and many have adopted the practice of planting trees, particularly in Israel.

We also utilize this day to reflect on some of the lessons we learn from trees, such as planting seeds for the future, keeping our roots strong, and being aware of the various negative elements, which threaten to destroy our lives, and to continuously grow, materially and spiritually.

This Shabbat is also known as Shabbat Shirah – song, as we read the famous ‘song of the sea’, which was sung by the Jewish people as they traversed the miraculous splitting of the Sea of Reeds.

Wishing you a meaningful, uplifting and joyful Shabbat Shalom and happy Tu Bishvat.  

Rabbi Levi & Dvorah Jaffe

Thank you Chana Kroll for extracts of the above message