Another week! Shabbat approaches fast. Here's your weekly reminder of what we're doing here on the Gold Coast to celebrate this week:
- 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. Then, after lunch a bit of Pirkei Avot. $15 per person requested donation.
Sound familiar? Looking forward to seing you!
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So here's a tzedaka opportunity.
If you've been with us that long, you'll remember that we started out last winter using the small, gray-cover Gates of Prayer for Shabbat and Weekdays because, fortuitously, I had enough copies in my personal library for the group to use. As we grew, I realised we were running short of books and I sounded out my colleagues in the Reform rabbinate to see if any congregations had copies of this book they were willing to give up. Several congregations did, and we were able to obtain a large cache of these books just for paying for shipping, from a large congregation in Oklahoma USA. The books are vitually new: not previously used at all. The Rudd family, Mavis and Mervyn, very generously underwrote the cost of the shipping of these books to us.
I like using GOPSW because they are compact and easy to handle, and yet they include all the material needed. What they don't have is material for the major and minor festivals and fast days. Therefore, when we gathered recently for the end of Pesach, and then Shavuot, I had to ask those of you who have personal copies of Mishkan T'fillah to bring them. Of course, some forgot, but this is not meant as a scolding! Still, I knew I needed to do something about this issue.
Fortunately, the same congregation that gave us the GOPSW, offered us a large quantity of Mishkan T'fillah for weekdays and festivals, also unused, under the same terms, and I had them send six boxes for a total of 72 books. The boxes began arriving this week. So now I'm looking for sponsors to donate for the shipping of these books.
They're somewhat larger and heavier than the GOPSW; the cost of shipping a single book when converted to Australian dollars is about $18. The bill for the entire shipment is almost $1300 and I know that a donation of that size is beyond most people's reasonable ability. (However, if it isn't...) But an entire box of a dozen, cost $216 to ship, and that is more in the realm of possibility for a number of us. So I'm asking you today...who will sponsor one box of books? And if you can't do an entire box, how about two books for $36? Please let me know what is within your capability.
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We haven't yet set a new date for the Yard Sale, but we're still willing to take your unused stuff off your hands. Let me know.
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We're now in a series of weekly thoughts 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; its pervasiveness makes a mockery of all our claims of the mantle of Torah. The essence of the laws is that we are forbidden to convey any adverse information about someone else except in very limited, rare circumstances.
I'm bringing to you 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.
Rabbi Kagan teaches: It is forbidden to relate something about a person's past which either the speaker or the listener might consider shameful. even if objectively it is no cause for shame.
The classic example of this is regarding the ba'al teshuva, one who in the past was not especially observant religiously but who more recently has become religious even to the point of fanaticism. If that person wishes to disclose to others how he attained s deeper snd more satisfying spiritual path through his teshuva, in order to inspire others to do the same, that is his business. But for someone else to inform others that the person used to be non-religious, even if his intent is to use that person as a positive inspiration for others, is forbidden because it is not up to any one of us to 'out' someone else regarding their past by making known something that might be considered unsavoury.
It is important to be ultra-careful when conveying any information about another person. As the Chofets Chayim points out to us repeatedly in these lessons, even when we don't think it is adverse information, it may be taken as such. And if so, then we are forbidden to repeat it.
I hope that everybody is having a great week and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Shabbat!
Rabbi Don
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