Question of the Week:

Why are there so many different synagogues in our community? I know of six within a one kilometre radius of my house! Wouldn't it be more economical if we pool our resources into one big shul rather than so many smaller ones?

Answer:

I was just thinking a similar question: Why are there so many restaurants in our neighbourhood? Shouldn't there just be one place to go eat? I have counted a dozen on one street!

Would we be better off with just one big restaurant? I don't think foodies would agree. Some love Thai, others prefer Italian. The formal dining experience in one place suits some, while others seek a casual night out. Family friendly fast food joints will not attract the fine diners, and fancy plates with a tiny little gourmet morsel in the middle will not be popular with hungry adolescents. Vegans don't seem to enjoy steak houses. Carnivores don't always go for quinoa burgers.

The wide choice of restaurants caters to all the varied tastes and moods. There can't be a one-size-fits-all eatery.

It's the same with synagogues. Each one presents Yiddishkeit with a different taste and unique angle. There are Sephardi and Ashkenazi variants, shuls that sing and shuls that don't, informal and intimate communal synagogues and grand pompous ones, kid friendly and mature audience only. Long sermon, short sermon, no sermon. Every community style fills a niche and attracts different souls. Each custom has its customers. This is not factionalism or doubling resources. It is opening doors and giving options.

The Jewish people are made up of twelve tribes. Each had their own slightly different way of praying, and yet were all one people with one common Torah. Even the Temple in Jerusalem had twelve different gates for each tribe to enter in their own way. But everyone ended up in the same Holy Temple. Every shul, with its unique style, is a gateway to that Temple.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss
 
PS. The answer above applies to sizable communities with a critical mass that can sustain many shuls. Smaller communities may not have that luxury. Either way, when we are committed to Torah observance and Jewish unity, we can pray all together or in our own communities and remain one people. 
 
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Welcome to our kitchen! Thanks to the clear weather we were able to successfully fit off the plumbing. The black pipes are made of an extremely high grade (and expensive) plastic used in laboratories that can withstand the chemicals and other products and wastes that go through commercial kitchens on a weekly basis.
Shabbat Shalom. Brent.
 

 

 
   

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SHABBOS TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: PINCHAS
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Friday, 6 July 2018 | 23 Tammuz 5778
Candle Lighting........................................... 4:41pm
Mincha....................................................... 4:50pm
Learning with the Bochrim............................ 5:30pm
Kids Program ............................................. 6:00pm
Shabbos Service.................................. 6:00-6:50pm 
Followed by Kiddush sponsored in honour of Bentzion Sufrin's 11th birthday this week- Mazel Tov!
 
Shabbos Day, 7 July 2018 | 24 Tammuz 5778
In depth parsha class ..................... 9:00am
Kids Program ............................... 10:30am
Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm
Communal Lunch and Farbrengen with special guest Rabbi Mendel Polichenco in honour of the Nefesh Bochrim graduating and receiving their semicha - Mazel Tov!
 
Mincha and with Pirkei Ovos Chapter 1
followed by Seudah Shlishis ........................ 4:40pm
Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak............. 5:10pm
Shiur ....................................................... 5:25pm
Shabbos ends............................................ 5:40pm
Followed by Havdalah
 
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Mon- Fri............................................ 7:00am
Molad/ New Moon- Friday 13 July.......... 6:49:8am
Rosh Chodesh Av................................ Friday 13 July
Latest Shema this week....................... 9:28am
 
CONDOLENCES
Long Life to Mike Barel and family on the passing of his grandmother
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Chana Moss......... 25 Tammuz/ Sunday 8 July  
Elimelech Moss.....25 Tammuz/ Sunday 8 July  
Misha Lavecky..... 26 Tammuz/ Monday 9 July
Erna Frankfurter.. 27 Tammuz/ Tuesday 10 July
Bentzion Sufrin.... 28 Tammuz/ Wednesday 11 July
Phoenix Radus..... 29 Tammuz/ Thursday 12 July
Victoria Hoch....... 29 Tammuz/ Thursday 12 July
 
LONG LIFE
Joseph Newman for his late uncle Cyril Moshe Shostak ... 23 Tammuz/ Friday 6 July
 
Jon Shapira for his late mother Judith Esther Shapira
Yehudith Esther bat Shmuel... 23 Tammuz/ Friday 6 July
 
Brian Schwartz for his late mother Rebecca (Becks) Schwartz
Sara Rivka bat Moshe... 24 Tammuz/ Saturday 7 July
 
Rebecca Steiner-Carrion for her late friend Anna Fisher
Channa bat Leib ... 25 Tammuz/ Sunday 8 July
 
Rev Amzalak for his late father 
Reb Yizchak ben Reb Avraham...27 Tammuz/ Tuesday 10 July
 
Tauba Tanchum for her late brother Leslie Kaplan 
Eliezer ben Tevia...1 Av/ Friday 13 July
 
 
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