Parashat Mishpatim Rosh Chodesh Shekalim
Rabbi’s Drosh
This week is a special one for Jews all around the world. It is one of the few Shabbatot during the year when we take out three Torah scrolls. One is for the weekly portion of Mishpatim, one is for the first of four special Shabbatot that take place in the lead up to the holidays of Purim and Pesach, and one is for the start of the new month.
For us in New Zealand it is also a special week for another reason. Our country marked Waitangi Day on Monday. When I applied for my New Zealand citizenship, I started thinking about what it means to be a Jewish New Zealander (or a Kiwi Jew for short!)? It means that of the 7,874,965,825 people on this earth, we make up a mere 0.0001% of the world population.
How blessed we are to be in the unique position of being part of these two small, but mighty, minority groups, incredibly blessed by Hashem. As Jews we have been blessed for many generations and as Kiwis many are perhaps only fully appreciating how blessed we are now in this generation.
I wanted to share with you the mihimihi I’ve used when I have been privileged to speak on the Marae which uses a Maori famework to share a little about our Jewish heritage and identity:
Our Mountain
I explain that our mountain is Mt Sinai - the place we received the Torah 4000 years ago.
Our River
Our river is the River of Babylon, as it is written, "by the river of Babylon we sat and we wept, where we remembered Zion". This was our river of tears starting from the exile of Babylon through many more exiles, until we returned to our homeland Israel in this generation.
Our Tribes
We are from the 12 tribes of Israel. We are the children of our patriarchs and matriarchs. We are connected to our ancestry.
Last but not least, this is a special week because we will come together for Adam’s Bar Mitzvah! Join us in Shul this Shabbat Mishpatim Rosh Chodesh Shekalim and celebrate with Adam and his family this special Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Friedler
The Friedlers’ Highlights
The Giving of the Torah Class
This week, we took a look at two different readings of what took place at Mt Sinai which run in parallel in Parashat Yitro. It was a high energy class which started with many questions and we discovered some incredible answers.
Catch the class video online via the link below.
Bat Mitzvah Learning
This week Deb had the opportunity to kick off this year’s learning with two more of our 2021 Bat Mitzvah girls.
If you or someone you know has a Bat Mitzvah this year and would like to learn something special for the simcha, please contact the Rabbi and Deb to organise a meeting.
Mazel Tov Jesse
What a wonderful weekend of celebration with the Da Costa family as we joined together for Jesse’s Bar Mitzvah weekend with such a special simcha.
When I told Jesse he needed to speak up and be really loud when he read in Shul, he pointed out to me that this was the opposite of what his parents had always told him “Shhhh Jesse!!!“!
Deli Private Functions - Celebrating in Style!
This week we celebrated with our community “triplets“ - Sylvia, Adina and Diane - who all share the same birthday.
Sylvia and Arnold arranged a kosher-catered fine-dining experience at their place. A real highlight to see what Sam and Deli team can do to cater in a private home.
You too can have fine dining at your place! Please contact Sam at the Kosher Deli for more details.
Palmerston North Kosher Inspections
It was off to Palmy this week for two more clients’ factory inspections.
There are a number of key elements to Kosher certification for our clients. If you would like to learn more about what we do with Kosher Kiwi certifications, click on the link below.
Easier Access for the Small Shul
As you can see in this picture from this week’s Sunday minyan, we have a new addition to the small Shul - a hand rail into the men’s section. Please share the news with those who find stairs challenging but want to come to Shul.