Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei / Shabbat HaChodesh
Rabbi’s Drosh
It is a time of farewelling and honouring an amazing generation of giants. Last week, we farewelled both Inge Woolf and Ruth Filler, we had the stone setting for Lisa Porus, and next week we have the consecration for Bram Krukziener.
These four great people have more in common than their background of Holocaust survival, they also all shared a commitment of service and generosity to others. How inspiring that those who had lost everything, spent the rest of their lives committed to giving to others.
“Jews love to give! Regardless of whether it is food, opinions, service, money, or the materials for the Mishkan!
Perhaps this need to give comes from a place of having lost so much...”
In this week’s Parasha, we see exactly the same pattern. The people of Israel were slaves in Egypt and that had lost everything and yet when it comes to donating the required materials for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle), the people are so committed to giving that ultimately Moses has stop them!
Last week in lockdown, Deb gave a class on “Great Answers to the Questions our Non-Jewish Friends Ask“ (Full class HERE) One of the questions they addressed is the perception of Jews being rich. Interestingly, one of the contributors to this stereotype is that we are massively overrepresented in philanthropy.
Jews love to give! Regardless of whether it is food, opinions, service, money, or the materials for the Mishkan! Perhaps this need to give comes from a place of having lost so much.
Generation after generation the Jewish people find themselves kicked out of the lands they are in and needing to start again. They do so with generosity, service and commitment to the next generation.
We can learn so much from these giants.
How do we choose to move on from our own trials and tribulations? Do we close ourselves off and hold on tightly and selfishly to what we have, or do we open our hearts and hands and commit to sharing what we have to others.
We mourn the loss of our friends and we celebrate their lives. May Hashem comfort the mourners and may their memories be a blessing to us all.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Friedler
The Friedlers’ Highlights
Honouring Ruth Filler
It was with great sadness that we farewelled our beloved Ruth this week, but also with great joy and laughter that we celebrated her life!
For those who were unable to attend, the service has been made available online.
Lockdown Learning and T’fillah with Kadimah
Many of you will have juggled the joys of home-office and home-schooling during lockdown, but I don’t know how many of you enjoyed it as much as we did!
One of the highlights (for Rabbi and Achiya at least) was T’fillah and learning on Zoom with the Kadimah students.
If you would like to see a little taste of what they do together then click on the link below.
Le Chaim to Our New Ambassador
It was a real pleasure to get to meet with our new Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand His Excellency Ran Yaakoby.
To find out more about him please click below to see his introductory video.
Hot Smoked Salmon in Nelson
I was in Nelson this week with our client’s Regal Salmon. Some of you have spoken to me about whether it would be possible to certify their hot smoked selections and after working with their team, we can confirm that there will be several new Kosher products in the hot smoked range available in NZ supermarkets. Great news!
Rabbi’s Class - Moshe's Horns?!
We made the most of lockdown with some Zoom learning with 20 of our class members zooming in from their lockdown locations.
Click below for a fascinating online class looking at what is happening to Moses’ face when he comes down from Mount Sinai. Should we translate this as ‘radiance’ or ‘horns’? What we can learn from the appearance of Moses' face?
Friday Night Live ReJEWnion
Over 100 of us gathered virtually on Friday and dedicated our service to Ruth Filler who had passed away earlier in the day.
It was also one of the CUTEST Friday Night Live sessions with guest babies Lotem Glick and Lottie Silverman zooming in to meet the community! A special thank you to Alan Brown, Mike Silverman and The Kosher Deli for making it such a special evening.
Mia Making a Difference in Christchurch
Kol Hakavod to Mia Silverman for organising this special event in Christchurch.
The Women’s Kabbalat Shabbat will bring Jewish women together singing the same tunes that we use in Auckland to welcome in the Shabbat.
When Deb and Mia were going through the service together they joked that it was the first time AHC has had a Canterbury branch! But jokes aside, If you have family or friends in the region who would enjoy participating in the Women’s Kabbalat Shabbat, then please do share it with them.
Well done Mia for this beautiful initiative!