Rosh Hashono Times, Hearing Shofar if you can't come to Shul, Kids' Services, Tashlich
ב״ה
18-20 September 2009
1-2 Tishrei 5770 –
Rosh Hashana
Announcements
Rosh Hashana Times
See below for times of services for Rosh Hashana
Friday night 18 September - Sunday 20 September 2009.
Rosh Hashana children’s service
There will be a full children program on Rosh Hashana with refreshments and prises for the kids.
Tashlich
We will be walking to Centennial Park after shul on Sunday to do “Tashlich” at a body of water (pond), in which we ask G-d to "cast away our sins in the depths of the sea. Please join us and bring the kids along.
If you are unable to make it to Shul on Sunday (2nd day Rosh Hashana) to hear the shofar and fulfill the most important mitzvah of the day, please let us know so that we can try to arrange to come to your house to blow the Shofar for you. Please email us before 4pm on Friday, 18 September on
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Shabbos, Rosh Hashana, Fast of Gedaliah Info
Please find candle lighting times and times for Rosh Hashana services below. Times for fast are also below.
This week's Droshe
I hereby forgive everyone who offended or angered me, or sinned against me (Prayer on Retiring).
Since we pray to God to forgive our mistakes, certainly we should be willing to forgive others who have offended us.
Forgiveness must be more than perfunctory. A man once heard his rabbi state that Yom Kippur would not achieve forgiveness from God unless one has forgiven others. This fellow then went over to someone he disliked and said, "I forgive you today, but I want you to know that as soon as Yom Kippur is over, I will despise you as much as before."
When we pray to God for forgiveness, we cite the verse, I have erased your sins like a thick cloud (Isaiah 44:22), which tells us how we should grant forgiveness to others - by removing all traces of resentment.
What good comes from harbouring resentments? We cannot act on them, for the Torah explicitly forbids taking revenge. Since resentments have no practical purpose, and since they are obviously very negative feelings, they can do nothing more than wear down our emotions. When we find a smelly item in the refrigerator, we quickly get rid of it so that it does not contaminate the other foods. We should view negative feelings in the same light, for they can infect all our other emotions with negativity.
Forgiving others and thereby ridding ourselves of resentments is in itself not only a virtuous character trait, for it is considerate of others; more importantly, it works to our own advantage.
Task ...
... try to completely forgive others and realise that failure to do so will leave me with useless negative emotions.
Rabbi Abraham J Twerski
Rosh Hashana and Shabbos Timetable
Rosh Hashana
Time
Friday, 18 September
Candle Lighting for Shabbos and 1st night of Rosh Hashana
5:30pm
Ma’ariv
6:15pm
Saturday, 19 September
Shacharit (morning services)
9:30am
Children’s program
10:00am
Mincha
12:00pm
Ma’ariv (evening service)
6:15pm
Candle lighting for 2nd night of Rosh Hashana (from an existing candle) after Shabbat Ends at
6:25pm
Sunday, 19 September
Shacharit (morning services)
9:30am
Children’s program
10:00am
Shofar Blowing
Mincha
12:15pm
Rosh Hashana ends
6:26pm
Havdalah Sunday night (no havdalah candle or incense).
Monday, 20 September - Fast of Gedalia
Fast starts
4:33am
Fast ends
6:15pm
Shiur Series (2nd Semester)
Date
Time
Topic
Monday Nights
8:30pm
Gemora Shiur
High Holiday Shiur Series
Thurs
27 Aug
8:30pm
Elul -- The King is in the field
Thurs
10 Sep
8:30pm
The Kabbala of Rosh HaShana
Thurs
24 Sep
8:30pm
Yom Kippur -- Repentance
Shabbos Chuckle:
HOW TO STAY SAFE IN THE WORLD TODAY
·Avoid riding in automobiles because they are responsible for 20 percent of all fatal accidents.
·Do not stay at home because 17 percent of all accidents occur in the home. (that's 37 % already)
·Avoid walking on streets or sidewalks because 14 percent of all accidents occur to pedestrians. (now that's 51%)
·Avoid travelling by air, accidents involve these forms of transportation account of 16% of all fatalities. (that's 67%)
·Of the remaining 33 percent, 32 percent of all deaths occur in hospitals. Above all else avoid hospitals.
NOW
·You will be pleased to learn that only 0.01 percent of all deaths occur in a synagogue, and these are usually related to previous physical disorders. Therefore, logic tells us that the safest place to be at any time is in Synagogue services.
·Torah Study is even safer. The number of deaths during Torah Study is too small to register. For safety's sake, go to Shul as often as possible, and attend Torah Study. It could save your life!
Come join us with your little ones for a mommy and me get-together in honour of the upcoming high holiday Rosh Hashanah. There will be toys, crafts, singing with a guitarist and lots of fun. Please RSVP (0420 306 770) by Sunday, 13 Sept so we can plan accordingly. Infants to 4yrs are welcome.
When: Tues., Sept. 15, 10 am - 11 am
Cost: $5 per child
Rosh Hashana Shiur Series
Topic:The Kabbalah of Rosh Hashana
When: Thursday, 10 Sept at 8:30pm
Rosh Hashana Times
See below for Times of Service of Rosh Hashana
Friday night 18 September - Sunday 20 September 2009.
Rosh Hashana children’s service
There will be a full children program on Rosh Hashana with refreshments and prizes for the kids.
The Baal Shem Tov taught that everything we see, whether good or bad, is really a reflection of ourselves. If it was not, we’d simply not see it.
This phenomenon is part of a merciful way that G-d has of teaching us lessons in life. Most of us have a difficult time hearing from others that we have a flaw which we ourselves don’t recognize. Therefore, G-d sets us up to have a confrontation with a person who exhibits that same flaw in some form. We see it and we say “how terrible.” But then it dawns on us that we exhibit the same behavior, though perhaps in different form.
The same is true for positive things. We recognize a positive characteristic in others because we have it in ourselves. If we didn’t have any element of it, we wouldn’t recognize it.
In other words: You are what you see. And you see what you are.
Many Jews living in Germany in the 1930s didn’t recognize the evil of the German people because they had none of it in themselves. They couldn’t fathom that anyone could murder them in cold blood. If you are incapable of a crime, it’s impossible to imagine that someone else is capable of it.
There are atrocities that we can’t even relate to because we’re not capable of doing such a thing ourselves.
The same is true for goodness or holiness.
Many of us are cynical because we never met anyone truly holy or truly pure. So we don’t believe that it’s possible to be that way because it’s not part of our own experience.
Ask yourself: Are you cynical about the holiness of others? Do you see the goodness around you? When confronted with a behavior that you dislike are you able to see the same flaw, in some form, in yourself?
Exercise for the day:
- Of the events of the past day, select a positive experience and identify how the goodness you encountered is embodied in you.
- Of the events of the past day, select a negative experience and identify how this reflects a negative characteristic that you possess.
A man goes into a cinema with his dog to watch a film.
It's a romantic comedy and when there's a funny scene the dog starts laughing.
A little later on there's a sad part and suddenly the dog starts crying.
This goes on throughout the entire film, laughing and crying at all the right places.
A man sitting a few rows back has witnessed the entire thing and decides to follow the man out.
In the foyer, he approaches the dog owner and says, "That's truly amazing!"
"It certainly is," the dog owner replied, "He hated the book!"
Kensington Shul is only possible because of your kind generosity and we thank you for it. Should you wish to donate to Kensington Shul, you can always do so by emailing
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Shabbos Newsletter 4 September 2009 - 15 Elul 5769 – Parsha Ki Tavo
Shabbos Newsletter 4 September 2009 - 15 Elul 5769 – Parsha Ki Tavo
Rabbi's Messages 
