Those who know me well, would know how I often say, “if I were not a rabbi I’d be a helicopter emergency rescue pilot.”

We are very honoured to have someone in our community in Adelaide who does just that. Dr Dan Ellis, works in South Australia in helicopter rescue. He is currently in the Philippines after having been selected amongst four doctors representing South Australia.

DR DAN, EMERGENCY MAN

Our member Associate Professor Daniel Ellis FACEM, FCEM, FIMC & DipRTM RCSEd, FFICM, FRCS(Eng), MRCP, MRCA, EDIC, DMCC,

Director of MedSTAR Emergency Medical Retrieval Service, Deputy Director of Trauma and Senior Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Associate Professor at James Cook University, Queensland, is currently spending two weeks serving in the national Australian medical relief team in the Philippines which is treating patients after the typhoon there. Dan is one of only four medical people from SA in the second wave of relief support, which is operating a tent hospital called Camp Kookaburra. You can read about the relief work of the National Trauma and Critical Care Response Centre here: https://www.facebook.com/NatTraumaCentre

And here’s a link to a picture of Dan at work in a tent: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=422787777848240&set=a.415377508589267.1073741843.173911439402543&type=1&theater

And with the 2000th patient treated by the Australian relief effort:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=423357344457950&set=a.415377508589267.1073741843.173911439402543&type=1&theater

We send only our best! So come back safely.

If anyone is going to be here in Adelaide over Lag Baomer, please join us for a celebration.

Megillat Esther was read by Hmong-Rabbi Ben along with the help of Adelaide’s Jewish Batman David Benveniste and Kermit the Frogs brother Timrek. Rebetzin Rachel and young Akiva joined along from their Hmong village in Northern Thailand.
The community enjoyed a BBQ seudah with sausages, salad, and apple cider.
Thank you to all that helped with the food preparation and for organizing the event.

If anyone is around in Adelaide and would like to join us:

Friday Night Spiritual Gathering
Call it an Oneg Shabbat, a Tish, or a Farbi
Join us  for an evening of singing, words of Torah,
and inspirational stories.
When: First Friday night of the month from 9.00pm – midnight
Where: 10 Windsor Rd., Glenunga
Who: For men and boys

Refreshments served

“Oneg Shabbat, (Hebrew: “Joy of Sabbath”), informal Sabbath (or
Friday evening) gathering of Jews in a synagogue or private home to
express outwardly the happiness inherent in the Sabbath holiday. Now
more social than religious, the group entertains itself with music,
drama, community discussions, lectures, or the singing of religious
melodies—all in keeping with the biblical injunction, “and call the
Sabbath a delight” (Isaiah 58:13). Usually refreshments are provided to
complement the congenial atmosphere.   -Encyclopedia Britannica

City to Surf (City2Surf) in Sydney, Australia

Akiva and I at Bondi Beach, the finish line for the famous City to Surf (City2Surf) race, where the wind made the surf very strong indeed!

Today was the big City to Surf (City2Surf) race in Sydney, Australia.  City to Surf (City2Surf) is an annual and quite famous race from downtown Sydney to Bondi Beach. It is the biggest road race in Australia and there are tens of thousands of participants every year. Racers fly in from all over the world to participate!  If Rabbi Ben wasn’t busy traveling, I’m sure he would have done it! (I would have made him take Akiva, too!)

Adventuring Akiva and I just did Bondi Beach to Surf, which was about a 5 minute walk down to the beach.  But it was fun to see the crowds and watch the racers cross the finish line, with all the cameras flashing.  There was a lot of food cooking and music blaring.  At the end of the City to Surf (City2Surf) race was a finish line with giant digital clocks on top showing how long it had taken the runners (and walkers) to arrive.  The slowest took over 5 hours… I don’t know how long it took the fastest runners because Akiva didn’t wake up early enough to catch them (lucky me!).  After the festivities were over and the runners had all arrived, the buses to Bondi Junction started and there were three very long lines for the buses snaking all the way back down the hill to the beach!

City to Surf (City2Surf) was an appropriate name for the event today because the wind was so strong that the ocean was raging… there was plenty of surf!  They were probably the biggest waves I’ve seen since I arrived here.  Akiva enjoyed looking around at the ocean and at all the people… until his nap time, when he fell asleep.

There were a lot of Jewish runners in the event this year, as there always are.  On their way up Old South Head Road, they passed the JEMs (Jewish Education Matters) table.  JEMs volunteers gave out 4000 cups of water, 2000 biscuits, and even helped 12 men put on tefillin!  It is amazing to see how they turned the City to Surf (City2Surf) race into an opportunity to do mitzvot.

City to Surf (City2Surf) has thousands of participants. The roads around Bondi Beach were closed off. After the race, thousands of people lined up to get on buses back up to Bondi Junction. In the distance, you can see some of the lines of people waiting to get on a bus.

Another new addition to the City to Surf (City2Surf) race this year is a new kosher cafe – Glicks on Hall.  For a long time, Glicks has been a stalwart of Jewish kashrut in Sydney.  It is an established bakery that people know and trust.  For a long time there was also a kosher shop called Starks, but a few months ago it closed. Glicks took over the space and turned it into a cafe.  They serve hot soup, sandwiches, bagels, salads, pasta, and more, in addition to fresh breads, pastries, and coffees.  The new Glicks location is on Hall Street, which leads up from Bondi Beach toward Old South Head Road. So when the Jewish participants in the City to Surf (City2Surf) race were finished, they could refresh themselves with a hot drink or some delicious food.  In a smart business move, Glicks does not advertise itself as kosher with big glaring signs, but instead acts as a neighborhood cafe, drawing in all sorts of clientele.  Today, many City to Surf (City2Surf) racers visited Glicks and discovered that it is true that Jews really do make the best bagels! In Glicks I saw everyone from the most frum (religiously observant) of Jews to black people to Indians and Asians.  But I think it was especially nice that the Jews who ran in City to Surf (City2Surf) had somewhere kosher to go after the race, while other people were eating the non-kosher food down at the beach.

I think everyone, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, had a great time in the City to Surf (City2Surf) race today! I know that even though Akiva and I did not run the whole distance, we also had a fun time down at the finish line! And we even visited Glicks for a kosher hot chocolate after the race festivities were over. It was a great day for everyone!

A couple of nights ago it was fantastic to have attended the Siyum Hashas, the completion of the Babylonian Talmud that takes place once every 7.5 years.  Studying the entire Talmud this way means learning one page every day, which can take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour. This is serious dedication to keep going for 7.5 years. Understandably sometimes a day is missed, but the next day it needs to be made up.

I have tremendous respect and admiration for those who completed the Shas. Of the eighteen individuals in Sydney who made the siyum, two of them I am very close with.  One of them is a Rabbi with half a dozen kids, and I remember the day he started. Trying to find time to study every day with family, rabbinic, and general life commitments is a challenge, but proven doable.

The other guy I know is a businessman and has long been a martial artist training partner of mine. I can think of the times when we went up to the Blue Mountains where our old master trainer lives (2.5 hours’ drive away) we’d train the whole day and then my friend would fall asleep with the Talmud still in his hand as he tried to complete the section for the day.

This is serious dedication, and both these individuals who live different lifestyles demonstrate that no matter what it is possible to learn through the entire Talmud.

Congratulations and mazal tov to them and to the many thousands around the world who have studied through the Talmud.