BBQ DINNER, SONGS & DRUM CIRCLE  ROUND THE BONFIRE

Question of the Week:
 
What's the idea of having big bonfires on Lag Baomer? I know it is the day of the passing of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the "father of Kabbalah." But even Moses doesn't get bonfires on the day of his passing...
 
Answer:
 
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai spent the last moments of his life doing what he always did: teaching. The mystical ideas that he shared with his devoted students that day were the deepest and most revolutionary teachings he had ever revealed.
 
But as he conveyed  this parting message, there was tension in heaven. Rabbi Shimon's death was ordained to be that day before sundown. As the afternoon stretched on and evening approached, he had not yet finished sharing his final wisdom. The day would soon be over, but the lesson was not. Rabbi Shimon refused to return his soul until he had revealed all the secrets that it held. His life could only come to end when his mission came to an end. But time was running out.
 
And so the day didn't end. The setting sun slowed down, and daylight was extended to allow Rabbi Shimon to say all he needed to say. Only after he had completed his lesson did his holy soul depart and the sun finally set.
 
On the anniversary of that day each year, in honour of Rabbi Shimon and the light he brought to the world, we brighten the night with bonfires. There is a powerful symbolism in this. Rabbi Shimon's teachings are there to bring light when it would otherwise be dark.
 
You can be a good person without studying Kabbalah. But only the wisdom of Rabbi Shimon in the Zohar, and the great works of the mystics and Chassidic masters that came after him, have the power to transform  the moral darkness of the world around us, and the darker recesses of our own inner world, into a fiery light. 

So next time you get the feeling that the sun is coming down on you, the world seems dark and you feel confused, study some inner Torah, and let it light the bonfire within you. 
 
Good Shabbos (from Jerusalem),
Rabbi Moss

Source:
Zohar Haazinu 291a

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Although its not completely apparent from the photo, the stairs are a great success!!!!
 
What an amazing feat!
 
Shabbat Shalom, Brent.

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SHABBOS SERVICE TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: EMOR
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Friday, 17 May 2019| 12 Iyar 5779
Candle Lighting.................................... 4:44pm
Shabbos Service .................................. 6:00-6:50pm
Kids Program ...................................... 6:00pm
Followed by HOT soup Kiddush sponsored by Friends of Nefesh
 
Shabbos Day, 18 May 2019 |13 Iyar 5779
NEW parsha class with Tzvi Cohen........ 9:00am
Shabbos Service.................................... 10:00am-12:20pm
Kids Program & Kiddush ........................ 10:30am
Followed by Kiddush sponsored by Jack Klein in honour of the yortzheit for his late father, Shimon Klein on 13 Iyar/ Saturday 18 May- Long Life.

Mincha followed by Seudah Shlishis ............ 4:40pm 
Pirkei Ovos .............................................. Chapter 3
Gematria and Story by Rev Amzalak............ 5:20pm
Shabbos ends........................................... 5:40pm
Followed by Havdalah
 
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Sunday.................................................... 8:00am
Latest Shema this week............................. 9:14am
 
MAZAL TOV
Reverend and Mrs Amzalak on the forthcoming marriage of their granddaughter Chaya Moskowitz to Levi Kaye in New York on Lag Ba'omer.
 
HAPPY JEWISH BIRTHDAY
Carol Melman............... 13 Iyar/ Saturday 18 May
Jonathan Isdale............ 13 Iyar/ Saturday 18 May
Layla Bando................. 14 Iyar/ Sunday 19 May
Eitan Meguideche......... 17 Iyar/ Wednesday 22 May
Avishai Kessel.............. 18 Iyar/ Thursday 23 May
 
LONG LIFE
Jack Klein for his late father
Shimon Klein............... 13 Iyar/ Saturday 18 May

Theresa Bengis for her late husband
Baruch ben Lasar ........ 14 Iyar/Sunday 19 May

Alex Bartos for his late mother
Rachel bat Avraham..... 15 Iyar/ Monday 20 May

Mrs Amzalak for her late mother
Bracha bat Moshe........ 18 Iyar/ Thursday 23 May

Carol Melman for her late brother Brian Shapiro
Baruch ben Aaron ....... 18 Iyar/ Thursday 23 May

Fiona, Tami & Wayne Kaplan for their late husband
and father Alan Kaplan... 19 Iyar/ Friday 24 May

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