Parshat Balak
Parshat Balak Friday 3rd July 2015
Shabbat 4th July 2015
Candle Lighting Maariv
Shacharit 9.00am Mincha 4.20pm Maariv 5.39pm followed by Havdalah
4.40pm 6.30pm
A word from the Rabbi IS THERE ANYTHING INSIDE? Those who can’t be great, belittle. In this week’s parsha we are introduced to Bilaam, a charismatic yet devious prophet who attempted to destroy the Jewish nation through corrupting it. Balak, the king of Moab, sought out Bilaam’s expertise in cursing nations. It was hoped that this would not only make Israel vulnerable to attack, but in fact bring about its downfall. Balak could have asked for success in battle, wealth and prosperity. Why waste the blessings of a prophet by making him a tool of negativity rather than one of prosperity? Positivity necessitates that a person first acknowledge their own self-worth and unrealised potential. A blessing can act as a catalyst to draw out the potential and exercise it. But first there needs to be self-worth. If a person cannot see any residual potential within, then a blessing is fruitless and meaningless. The individual can only hope that others fail more dismally than him. He therefore asks the prophet to curse the others, rather than bless him. We all need blessings, be they from Hashem, a parent or a mentor. Someone who, like us, senses that there is more to us than is currently visible. The sense that “we can do it” is a powerful emotional experience, but first we have to believe in ourselves. We have to believe that in us there is something worth believing in.
Shabbat Shalom We wish a hearty Mazal Tov on your wedding anniversary to: Malcolm and Heidi Danilewitz Ian and Robyn Satill
Len and Cecile Radomsky Hilton and Susan Seskin
We wish a hearty Mazal Tov on your Bar/Bat Mitzvah anniversary to: Michael Brown Rebecca Michels Michael Subel
Adam Krowitz Dylan Munitz David Teperson
Eliot Levin Jake Shofer David Wainstein
We wish long life to the following Members who commemorate Yartzeit this week: Anne Pogroske Howard Coleman Larry Cornofsky Malcolm Danilewitz Lewis Folb Dianne Fuchs Lydia Lazarus Lovelle Israelson Denise Kassel Rennie Chertkow Sylvia Katz Mervyn Katz Nadine Joel Bertie Miller Sandra Perry Jennifer Jodeikin and Howard Sandler Belinda Levy Sharon Melnick Rodney Tobiansky Yitzchak Traurig
for her father for his father for his mother for his father for his father for her mother for her mother for her husband for her father for her father for her husband for his father for her father for her father in law for her sister
Alec Bank Joseph Coleman Bernice Cornofsky Arthur Danilewitz Wilfred Folb Helene Greenblo Fay Hurwitz Matthew Israelson Matthew Israelson Aron Joffe Solly Katz Solly Katz Colin Koseff Cecil Miller Joyce Rosenberg
for their father for her grandfather for her mother for his father for his daughter
Vivian Sandler Joseph Sher Rachel Sonik George Tobiansky Rivka Traurig
Shabbat 4th July 2015
Candle Lighting Maariv
Shacharit 9.00am Mincha 4.20pm Maariv 5.39pm followed by Havdalah
4.40pm 6.30pm
A word from the Rabbi IS THERE ANYTHING INSIDE? Those who can’t be great, belittle. In this week’s parsha we are introduced to Bilaam, a charismatic yet devious prophet who attempted to destroy the Jewish nation through corrupting it. Balak, the king of Moab, sought out Bilaam’s expertise in cursing nations. It was hoped that this would not only make Israel vulnerable to attack, but in fact bring about its downfall. Balak could have asked for success in battle, wealth and prosperity. Why waste the blessings of a prophet by making him a tool of negativity rather than one of prosperity? Positivity necessitates that a person first acknowledge their own self-worth and unrealised potential. A blessing can act as a catalyst to draw out the potential and exercise it. But first there needs to be self-worth. If a person cannot see any residual potential within, then a blessing is fruitless and meaningless. The individual can only hope that others fail more dismally than him. He therefore asks the prophet to curse the others, rather than bless him. We all need blessings, be they from Hashem, a parent or a mentor. Someone who, like us, senses that there is more to us than is currently visible. The sense that “we can do it” is a powerful emotional experience, but first we have to believe in ourselves. We have to believe that in us there is something worth believing in.
Shabbat Shalom We wish a hearty Mazal Tov on your wedding anniversary to: Malcolm and Heidi Danilewitz Ian and Robyn Satill
Len and Cecile Radomsky Hilton and Susan Seskin
We wish a hearty Mazal Tov on your Bar/Bat Mitzvah anniversary to: Michael Brown Rebecca Michels Michael Subel
Adam Krowitz Dylan Munitz David Teperson
Eliot Levin Jake Shofer David Wainstein
We wish long life to the following Members who commemorate Yartzeit this week: Anne Pogroske Howard Coleman Larry Cornofsky Malcolm Danilewitz Lewis Folb Dianne Fuchs Lydia Lazarus Lovelle Israelson Denise Kassel Rennie Chertkow Sylvia Katz Mervyn Katz Nadine Joel Bertie Miller Sandra Perry Jennifer Jodeikin and Howard Sandler Belinda Levy Sharon Melnick Rodney Tobiansky Yitzchak Traurig
for her father for his father for his mother for his father for his father for her mother for her mother for her husband for her father for her father for her husband for his father for her father for her father in law for her sister
Alec Bank Joseph Coleman Bernice Cornofsky Arthur Danilewitz Wilfred Folb Helene Greenblo Fay Hurwitz Matthew Israelson Matthew Israelson Aron Joffe Solly Katz Solly Katz Colin Koseff Cecil Miller Joyce Rosenberg
for their father for her grandfather for her mother for his father for his daughter
Vivian Sandler Joseph Sher Rachel Sonik George Tobiansky Rivka Traurig
