The Sages teach us that Noah is a lesser Tzadik than Abraham and because of this, Abraham is one of the Patriarchs of the Jewish People while Noah is not. The reason they give is because Abraham opened his tent and cared about other people while Noah only cared about his immediate family. He built an ark to save himself and never prayed for the people of his generation.

 

I really struggle with this idea of the Sages. If you think about it, it’s not a fair comparison. Noah built an ark to preserve life through the destruction of the world and then went on to rebuild the entire world. Abraham just builds a tent invites a few guests.

 

How can you even compare the two? Noach’s actions are on a global level while Avraham’s is merely on a personal level. Noah affected the entire world, while Abraham had an influence on some individuals.

Rabbi Tanzer zt”l explains that Avraham Avinu teaches us to look a little more carefully. To notice the person who is standing opposite you. To make the effort to welcome him. To remember that there is a whole world of experience behind the face we see.

 

Rabbi Tanzer then challenges us and says: The world will always have its difficulties. We will not eliminate all the suffering, tension and uncertainty around us. We will not always know what to say, and sometimes we will not be able to do very much at all. But we can decide what sort of presence we want to be in the lives of other people.

 

When someone comes into our home, does he feel that he is interrupting our lives, or that we are glad he is there? When someone speaks to us, does he feel that we are waiting for our turn to talk, or that we are interested in what he has to say? And when we see someone struggling, do we immediately assume that it is somebody else’s responsibility, or do we ask ourselves whether there is something, however small, that we can do?

 

We bring the example of Avraham Avinu into our own lives: not by doing something extraordinary, but by bringing an extraordinary quality of attention to ordinary encounters. We may not change the world. But we might change somebody’s experience of the world And perhaps that is where Avraham Avinu’s legacy begins — not only in the great things we believe, but in the warmth we bring to the people Hashem places in our lives.

 

We cannot give endlessly, and we cannot take responsibility for every difficulty in the world. But perhaps spiritual growth is not measured only by how well we protect our own spiritual lives. It is also measured by whether our presence makes life a little better for somebody else.

Shabbat Shalom,

 

Rabbi Ryan & Nicky Goldstein

Announcements |Lech Lecha |

The Executive and Committee wish you Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Gavriel Ziegler will be officiating this Shabbat. Greg Gelb is our Baal Koreh.

The Maftir and Haftorah shall be read by Iser Bach this Shabbat.

Rabbi’s shiur topic on Shabbat “Blunt his teeth- A Torah approach to cancel culture”

We thank Iser and Arina Bach for sponsoring this weeks Kiddush Bracha in celebration of the 66^th anniversary of Iser’s Bar Mitzvah.

We warmly welcome Ori, the fourth arrival of our bachurim from the Yeshiva of Cape Town. We are looking forward to learning from all of the bachurim this year!

TOTS: Tables of Torah Tuesday Nights starting on 27 October to 17 November at 19:00. Join Rabbi Ryan Goldstein as well as the YCT Bachurim Noam, Nave, Roi and Ori as they delve into the topics of Tanya, Jewish History, Tefilla and Emunah. Poster attached.

Monday Women’s Davening is back! Starting on Monday 26 October at 18:30 in the hall. Come relax and enjoy a cuppa and delicious treats as we discover the precious gems within the pages of the book of Psalms. Ladies of all ages in our community are welcome to join us!

Parsha with Rabbanit Aviva Thurgood on Shabbat day at Mincha time is coming back from 31 October 2026.

We thank our Bracha ladies and our Eyes and Ears team.

 

Upcoming Events and Activities:

The Consecration for the late Grace Pick is set to take place on Sunday 01 November 2026 at 12:00.

Shabbat Vayeira 31 October 2026: Join us and special guest speakers Roniel Lottner at the Shiur as well as at Seudah. More info to follow in the week.

 

“Junie Punie” Children’s service (ages 1-6) takes place at 10h15 on Shabbat mornings.

“Dream Team Activities” Older kids and early teens activities are from 10h15-11h00 am on Shabbat mornings.

“Toddler Time” For the Tiny Tots on Shabbat at 17h30pm. Please bring your kids and have some fun!!

Morasha Wi-Fi code is “Morasha Guest”, and the password is We@rehome31

Parashat Bereshit	Artscroll	Steinsaltz	Living Torah	Hirsch
Torah	54	63	52	60
Maftir	76	89	76	86
Haftarah	1133	1159	1058	825

Earliest Candle Lighting	17:44
Latest Candle Lighting	18:48
Mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat	18:30
Shacharit	08:45
Latest Time for Shema	09:12
Mincha, Seudah followed by Maariv	18:15
Shabbat Ends	19:42

 

Day	Time	Topic	Speaker	Place
Friday Night	Drasha	Drasha	Rabbi Gavriel Ziegler	Shul
Shabbat	Morning	Blunt his teeth- A Torah approach to cancel culture	Rabbi Gavriel Ziegler	Shul
Shabbat	Mincha/Seuda	A lot about Lot	Rabbi Gavriel Ziegler	Shul
Monday- Friday	After Shacharit	25/30 Minute Parsha	Rabbi Ryan Goldstein	Shul
Monday- Friday	Mincha/Maariv	Vort	Rabbi Ryan Goldstein	Shul
Monday	Mincha	Women’s Davening	Miriam Kleynhans	Hall

 

Please be so kind as to return siddurim, chumashim and library books to our bookshelves.

Please take note: The Yahrzeit begins the evening before the date listed below

Name	Yahrzeit for	Date
Roy Bermeister	Sister-in-law	Friday 23 October
Lynton Lurie	Grandmother	Friday 23 October
Lynton Lurie	Grandmother	Saturday 24 October
Sarah Stern	Father	Tuesday 27 October
Matty Saus	Mother	Tuesday 27 October
Debbi Wienburg	Mother	Tuesday 27 October
Tony Wiesenbacher	Great uncle	Tuesday 27 October
Solly Zieff	Father	Tuesday 27 October
Dorothy Zieff	Father-in-law	Tuesday 27 October
Bertha Jowell	Sister	Wednesday 28 October
Warren Fialkov	Father	Wednesday 28 October
Roydon Sacks	Grandfather	Wednesday 28 October
Michelle Shev	Husband	Wednesday 28 October
Hayley Reed	Father	Wednesday 28 October
Joel Silberstein	Father	Wednesday 28 October
David Ginsberg	Grandfather	Friday 30 October
Shirley Stoltzman	Brother	Friday 30 October
Roydon Sacks	Father	Friday 30 October

Anniversaries
Birthdays
Hannah Minnie	Saturday 24 Oct
Gavriel Blecher	Sunday 25 Oct
Richard Harrisberg	Sunday 25 Oct
Debbie Musikanth	Sunday 25 Oct
Jodi Chesno	Tuesday 27 Oct
Emme Kudo	Wednesday 28 Oct
Nadav Lee	Wednesday 28 Oct
Richard Wienburg	Wednesday 28 Oct
Adva Lee	Thursday 29 Oct
Dubbi Rabinowitz	Thursday 29 Oct
Caryn Diamond	Friday 30 Oct