|
TGIS: Thank G-d It’s Shabbat
|
 |
Shalom Friends!
I hope that you are having a great week and looking forward to a beautiful Shabbat and Yom Tov together. Pesach is certainly the most beautiful of all our Chagim. Sitting at the Seder table, reading the Haggadah and eating our favourite Pesach foods… I can almost taste the kneidlach already! I hope that your hard work of preparing for Pesach is almost at an end and that the excitement is kicking in (I just have a few more shiurim to prepare but getting there), and that you have plenty of delicious Divrei Torah to share at the Seder also.
Our community held its Annual General Meeting on Sunday night and there was some spirited discussion and expression of different views, but all within the framework of a loving community concerned with continuity and restoration. A highlight was the bestowing of 3 honorary life memberships upon:
- Robert and Fruma Kroomer
- Roydon and Elaine Sacks
- David and Maeve Samuels
Mazaltov! As I mentioned on the night, a very appropriate recognition for people who have made immense contributions to our community. Mazaltov and yeshar koach also to those who stood for committee membership, executive positions and trusteeship of our community. (Names in the announcements). Strong and effective lay leadership is the backbone of our community and we are blessed to have it continue in this way.
The Notre Dame fire has raised some painful memories, fascinating parallels and interesting questions. The photos of a house of worship in flames is so clearly reminiscent of our own December conflagration, and so much of the discussion around the rebuilding is similar to our own. Should they do a straight rebuild or modernise the structure? Who should rightly be tasked with leading the rebuilding process? What will the consultation process be? And then you have the international outpouring of support and help to rebuild the structure, even from other faiths – just as we experienced. One glaring difference is that we were (thank God) well-insured, whereas they will now be entirely dependent on donations towards the rebuilding. The question that a number of people have asked me is: How should we view this? There are many who, upon hearing this question, say “It’s obvious!” What comes after that depends on whom you’re speaking to. “Obviously this is a terrible tragedy, we should stand united in sympathy and compassion with those who have lost a house built for the glory and prayer of God, and help them any way we can, including donating towards the rebuilding”, or “Obviously this is the eventual retribution for a building whose courtyard held the public burning of the Talmud that signified the end of Jewish life in France 700 years ago, which has a statue of the blinded and failing ‘synagogue’, which doubtless hosted an abundance of Anti-Semitic sermons, and thus we should see its destruction as Divine justice.” With two such extreme responses (both of which I believe are coherent) I believe that we should take a middle path. The Catholics of today are not the Catholics who burned the Talmud so many centuries ago. The Catholic Church recognises Judaism as a legitimate path to God, and opposes Catholic evangelisation of Jews. Furthermore, Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Amozegh (a great 19th century Italian Rabbi, and father of the “Ben Noach” movement) ruled that not only was Christianity not idol worship (a view in line with the mainstream Ashkenazi opinion, but against the Rambam and many other Sephardi authorities) but that it was permissible to donate towards the building of a Church (and this was long before their conciliatory efforts of Vatican II). Thus, to be hurtful or insensitive towards a group who are essentially friendly to us is not correct. At the same time, however, it would be naive to ignore the legacy of the past and to pretend that this building does not also represent a dark age for the Jewish people (forgive the pun). So, my proposal is to hold both of those realities in our minds, the present and the past. For the present, it is a source of sadness to many people who have lost a spiritual home, as we can well-relate to, and we should indeed express our condolences. For the past, it was not so fantastic to be a Jew in medieval France and the cathedral was probably a source of dread to our ancestors, and perhaps some of them can rest more easily knowing that the building as they knew it is no more. One final point – my point about the past is all well and good in the privacy of our homes, but in the public arena it is appropriate only to speak of sharing the Catholics’ sadness over the loss of their historic Cathedral. What do you think?
Aviva, Shalva, Tzuriya, Azriel and I wish you a Shabbat HaGadol Shalom
Rabbi Sam Thurgood
Weekly Committee Rebuild Update Pesach
The Rebuild Committee has engaged a professional facilitator skilled in community participation processes.
We will be holding a Community Participation Session on Wednesday 1 May, 1:30-–5:30pm, at the Sephardi Shul Hall, to which the entire Community is invited.
This is the first step in a structured communication cycle for ideas, information and feedback to be exchanged in a productive manner and we encourage all to attend. Refreshments and childcare facilities will be available.
Torah Reading Page Numbers – Pesach
|
|
|
|
|
Shabbat Yom Tov Times – Pesach
|
Weekday Times Pesach
|
Announcements – Pesach
The Rabbi, Rebbetzin, Chairman and (new) Committee wish you Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.
We wish Rene Borstrock, Ivan Klitzner and their families a long life on the passing of their eldest brother Nathan Klitzner.
The Childrens bracha is kindly sponsored by the Zive family to celebrate Seraphine’s 2nd birthday
We wish Tao Klitzner and Bev Shrand mazaltov on their graduation.
New Standing committee
| Chairman | Evan Robins |
| Vice-Chairman | Shaun Borstrock |
| Vice-Chairman | Michael Jowell |
| Treasurer | Amnon Melzer |
| Trustee | Lnace Katz |
| Trustee | David Samuels |
| Committee | Andy Blecher, Rob Kroomer, Owen Futeran, Michi Bachmann, Ivan Klitzner, Neebashnee Kristnasamy, Malcolm Siegel |
There will be Siyum after Shacharit tomorrow (Friday) followed by a light breakfast.
Burning of Chametz: There will be a fire for burning your Chametz at Sephardi Shul Tomorrow (Friday) between 8.30am – 9.30 am
Daily Mincha changes to 5:45pm from Monday 22 April.
Please note that the gate on Kloof Road will be closed from 1:30pm on Shabbat and will open again before Mincha.
Shabbat services: Herzlia Weizmann Primary School Hall. Entrance 40 Kloof Rd or 65 Regent Rd.
Weekday Mincha/Maariv: Sephardi Shul. Entrance 40 Kloof (parking available) or 65 Regent Roads.
Weekday Shacharit: Sunday, Monday and Thursday in Sephardi Hall; Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday in Sephardi Shul. Entrance 65 Regent Road only.
Community learning programme in honour of our shul: http://hadranalach.com/692 Choose Tanach, Mishna or Talmud – let’s achieve another great milestone together.
Join Junie-Punie for great Children’s Services every Shabbat at 10:15am – share brachot, Parsha of the week and special Children’s stories. All ages up to Grade R.
Join The Dream Team at 10:15am on the AstroTurf for children’s service.
Wendy is on leave until Monday 6 May. Susan Freeman will be in the office before and after Pesach from 8:30am – 12:30pm. The Morasha office is closed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during Pesach.
YahrzeitsThe Yahrzeit begins the evening before the date
|
Birthdays
|
Anniversaries
| Cedric and Marina Nainkin | Friday 19 April |
| Jonathan and Avital Lang | Monday 29 April |
| Adrian and Elana Chiger | Wednesday 1 May |
Weekly Learning Pesach
|
Security – Pesach
We thank the following teams for doing security duty this Shabbat/Pesach and next week Pesach and Shabbat.
| 19/04/2019 | 20/04/2019 | Team 5 | Pesach |
| 20/04/2019 | 21/04/2019 | Team 6 | Pesach |
| 25/04/2019 | 26/04/2019 | Team 1 | Pesach |
| 26/04/2019 | 27/04/2019 | Team 2 | Pesach |
If you are not able to do your duty, please swap with someone else.
Meet the Family
Every week, we feature a member or family of Beit Midrash Morasha and tell you a little about them. If you would like to be featured, or if you have a suggestion of someone whom you would like featured, please let us know!
| CONTACT US E: info@morasha.co.za T: 021 434 8680 F: 021 434 3014 |
BANK DETAILS First National Bank Sea Point Branch 201809 Current Account Number: 50240085164 |
FACEBOOK Click the button above |