Another week is drawing quickly to its conclusion; where do the days go? I have to tell you; last Shabbat was wonderful for me. The energy and joy at our services was palpable. I hope you felt even a fraction of what I did! I hope you'll come and be a part of this week's helping.
- Friday evening at the Southport Community Centre, Room F5, at 6.30PM. Service to welcome Shabbat, followed by an Oneg featuring your culinary offerings. $15 per person requested donation and bring a dish to share.
- Saturday at the Levy home. 11.00AM Service followed by lunch provided by Clara. Then, after lunch a bit of Pirkei Avot. $15 per person requested donation.
Remember that we now have EFTPOS facility for accepting debit and credit cards when you attend, if you prefer to donate/pay that way. But the 'old' methods still work: cash, cheque (to 'Jewish Journeys'), or bank transfer.
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We're going to hold a fund-raising garage sale on Sunday, 28 June at Paul's home: 142 Morala Avenue in Runaway Bay. Got any stuff just taking up space? Of course you do...Clara and I have only been here three years, and even WE do! So...donate your surplus items to Jewish Journeys to sell at our Garage sale and raise a bit of cash for the treasury. Bring small items when you attend Friday evenings or Saturday mornings until then. For large items, talk to Paul or me about dropping them off; if you haven't the capability to transport them, we'll pick them up from your place.
Help out with your precious, surplus goods, but also plan to come and help - and have a good time doing so! - on the day. We'll be selling food and drink, and talking to people about Judaism and Jewish Journeys. Paul tells me that his street sees a lot of traffic on Sundays, so this will raise our profile. In the coming weeks, we'll circulate signup sheets to enable you to volunteer to cover cooking and greeting during specific times, but for now just mark your calendars for Sunday 28 June and stand by for additional information.
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As I said last week, the next series of weekly thoughts will be in the area of Shemirat Lashon, literally 'Guarding the Tongue' but referring to the vast body of Jewish law concerning forbidden communications via speech or writing of any kind.
I believe with all my heart that this is THE problem in the Jewish community today, and its pervasiveness makes a mockery of all our efforts to practice Jewish religion. The essence of the laws is that we are forbidden to convey any adverse information about someone else except in very limited circumstances. And those allowable circumstances are so limited that they only occur in very rare circumstances.
I promised last week, that this week I would dive into the teachings of the Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (1839-1933), who published extensively on the subject and indeed is considered the all-time master teacher on what the Torah has to say about it.
But if you'll indulge me, before we delve into the Chofetz Chaim, I'm going to offer some background from theWritten Torah.
If you'll look at the Torah, in the book Vayikra (Leviticus),Parashat Kedoshim, chapter 19 verse 16, you'll find the following Negative Commandment: לא תלך רכיל בעמיך -Don't go about as a tale-bearer among your people. The word 'rachil,' tale-bearer is the equivalent of 'gossip.' It means to spread any information that is not positive, about someone else. Does this mean that you can't tell others, when some mutual friend of acquaintance is (for example) unwell? No. As long as you're sure that the person in question does not desire to keep that information private, for whatever reason, there is no prohibition on the spreading of such information when it is clearly for the purpose of letting people know of the distress of someone else for the purpose of getting them to provide support.
Likewise, if the information is clearly positive and is presented in that spirit, then there's no prohibition on relaying such information. As an example, you've heard that so-and-so's son is getting married.
But where there's any doubt about the information being taken as positive, then to go about repeating it is tantamount to being a rachil, a tale-bearer.
But keep reading in the verse: ולא תעמוד על דם רעיך - so you don't stand upon you neighbour's blood. The Torah is clear; to be a rachil is tantamount to being a murderer. That's strong language, but if you think about it, it is not an exaggeration. The damage that tale-bearing can and willdo to someone's character, their reputation, their ability to earn a living...is immeasurable.
The final clause of the verse is ויראת מאלוקיך אני השם - so you shall revere your G-d, I am Hashem. The message is clear; if we revere G-d - and we are commanded to do so - then we must comply with this difficult principle. The Torah invokes this clause wherever a commandment that is expected to be difficult to obey, is presented.
I hope that everybody is having a great week and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Shabbat!
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