The Brisbane Synagogue

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Dear Daniel,

In recent conversation with our dear former President of the BHC, John Goldman, who now resides in Melbourne with his wife Sharryn and family, we were discussing about one of the differences between the Brisbane and Melbourne Jewish communities, namely that due to the relatively limited resources we have up here, we witness a greater proportion of our members volunteering their services to help support our communal organizations, which is truly heartwarming and a beautiful feature of our relatively small, but growing community.
We have now entered the joyous and redemptive month of Nissan, in which we celebrate the wonderful and uplifting Chag – Festival of Pesach – Passover, which reminds us of the unique relationship that the Jewish nation has enjoyed, since our inception as a people, with Hashem creator of the universe, who miraculously freed the Jewish people from ancient Egypt, in a story the likes of which no nation on earth has ever experienced in the annals of its history.
One of the most powerful sentences in the Hagaddah is the following “In every generation, each individual is obligated to see themselves, as if one is personally coming out from Egypt”. Our sages point out that the word Mitzrayim – Egypt comes from the same word as Meitzarim – limitations, or constraints, meaning that we must rise above those negative thoughts and feelings, which may pull us down and constrain our spirit.
As Israel and the Jewish people are currently going through challenging times, it is critical that we remain strong in our faith and confidence in the knowledge that, as we read in the Hagaddah, “in every generation they stand up to destroy us, yet the Holy One Blessed be He saves us from their clutches”. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us all to strengthen one another, and to ensure that we prepare ourselves for Pesach with optimism and joy, with prayerful wishes that although, on the surface circumstances may indeed seem to be quite perturbing, may we once again witness open miracles and the transformation of all captives to freedom, and darkness to light.
In the Hagaddah on the Seder night, we discuss about four different characters who are present, let us not forget about the fifth child who, for various reasons may not attend, or may not even be aware that it is Pesach, and ensure that no Jew will be without a place to celebrate. Please see information below about the communal Sedarim (seders) being held at the Brisbane Synagogue, and please share the Holiday observances and spirit with your family and friends.
Since Simchat Torah, over six months ago, we have witnessed a great revival of the Jewish spirit and faith, and an arousal of Jewish people around the world to stand up and be counted as Jews and return to their roots. we invite you to choose one small additional Mitzvah in honour of the safe return of the remaining hostages, and for them to sit with their families by the Seder table, THIS year in Jerusalem!
Wishing you and your family Shabbat Shalom and Chag Kasher Vesameach – A Happy and Kosher Passover.

Rabbi Levi & Dvorah Jaffe

With just over two weeks until Pesach – Passover, and the commencement of the festive Jewish month of Nissan, next Tuesday, we will be reading the fourth and final special Torah reading this Shabbat namely, Hachodesh – ‘The Month’, in which we highlight the uniqueness of the month on Nissan, being the first of the months. This raises a question as the Jewish calendar commences on Rosh Hashanah, which is the first day of Tishrei, not Nissan.

Like a sphere with two poles, the Jewish year has two “heads” or primary points of reference, each of which is equally its beginning. Our annual journey through time is actually two journeys, one of which commences in Tishrei, on Rosh Hashanah, and another commencing in Nissan. Every day on the Jewish calendar can be experienced on two different levels, for it simultaneously exists within these two contexts. Thus, the first of Tishrei is Rosh Hashanah, “the Head of the Year,” while the month of Nissan is designated as “the head of months.”

The “Head of the Year” — the one on which we sound the shofar and pray for a healthy and prosperous year—occurs on the first of Tishrei, which is the anniversary of G‑d’s creation of the universe, particularly His creation of man. On this day we reaffirm our commitment to G‑d as our Creator and King, and ask that He inscribe us in the book of life, which represents the first day of human history. The month of Nissan marks the birth of Jewish time, when G‑d commanded His first mitzvah to the fledgling nation of Israel—to establish a calendar based on the monthly lunar cycle. On the fifteenth of that month, the Jewish people exited the land of Egypt and embarked on their seven-week journey to Mount Sinai.

The Jew is a citizen of G‑d’s world—a status he shares with all other peoples and all other creations. As such, his head of the year is the first of Tishrei, the birthday of man and the Rosh Hashanah of the natural world. But the Jew also inhabits another reality—a reality born of the supra-natural events of the Exodus, the splitting of the Red Sea and the divine revelation at Sinai. This dimension of his life has its own “head”—the miraculous month of Nissan.

As the creator of the heavens and the earth, G‑d as the author of nature, is the G‑d that Israel shares with the rest of creation. At Sinai, however, G‑d did not speak to us as the G‑d of creation, but as the G‑d of the Exodus. At Sinai, a new chapter was opened in divine-human relations, as G‑d and the people of Israel committed themselves to a miraculous relationship—a relationship that does not recognize the dictates of convention and normalcy.

The natural and the miraculous time-systems are mutually interconnected, each serving as the basis for the other.

As Jews, we follow both cycles, straddling both worlds. On the one hand, even the most natural aspects of our lives are predicated upon the miraculous and are permeated with a norm-transcending vision. On the other hand, our most miraculous achievements are grounded in the natural reality.

Our mission in life is to transform the very nature of reality; in the words of the Midrash, to build “a dwelling for G‑d in the lower realms.””—that we transform the lower realms (i.e., the natural, material world, which by its nature conceals the face of its Creator) into an environment receptive to the divine truth, into a place in which the goodness and perfection of G‑d is at home and is the dominant reality.

To achieve His aim in creation for a dwelling in the lower realms, G‑d created the Jew, a hybrid of the Tishrei and Nissan realities. For only in incorporating both these time-cycles in our lives, combining a norm-defying approach with a natural-pragmatic modus operandi, can we achieve the redemption of ourselves and our world. Only by drawing from above to change from within can we make our world a home for G‑d.

As we bless, this Shabbat, and enter the redemptive and miraculous month of Nissan, may we witness the miraculous release of the remaining hostages and enduring peace in Israel and throughout the world!

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov,