Life is not a trial like on this movie they were filming in Rajasthan India. They kept shooting the same scenes over until they got it right. With life we only have one chance to get it right.

‘Today is my birthday,’ or better I should say ‘today is my Jewish (Hebrew) birthday.’ As Jewish people we follow the lunar calendar and all the dates of our festivals are set according to this. The same is true of our birthdays.

Yom Kippur this year was on October 8^th, next year Yom Kippur will be on September 26th. Why the change? Why can’t we just have Yom Kippur on October 8^th every year?

The reason is that all holidays need to be on a specific date because this is when their energy is aligned in the spiritual realms. Having Yom Kippur on the wrong day would be like showing up to the courthouse for your case on a Sunday morning and there is no one there. Simply, it is the wrong day.

A birthday is a very special time. On our birthdays, our ‘Mazal,’ which in some ways is our Zodiac, is aligned and we can receive great energies and blessings for the entire year. I grew up only observing my Hebrew birthday which followed the lunar calendar.

According to the Torah it is actually forbidden for a Jew to count the secular months according to the solar calendar. We can name them but it is best not to count them. Thus when I fill out forms that want a date, instead of writing in a number in the box I’ll write the three letter abbreviation for the month.

Now back to the Jewish Hebrew birthday. A birthday from A Jewish point of view is not a time for a big party. It is a serious time to reflect on the past year and to make resolutions for the coming year. Just like we do on Yom Kippur. What is special is that, on our birthday we are given extra power to achieve the goals we set for the year, if we set them on this specific day. Our power extends beyond the self. On our birthday we should bless people with what they need and they should bless us.

Last night I had a small ‘birthday farbrengen.’ A ‘farbrengen’ is a Yiddish word. It is a Chassidic concept where a group of friends come together to make a few  l’chaims and to inspire one another. A birthday farbrengen has all that a normal farbrengen would have, like singing, sharing inspirational stories, and words of wisdom, and in addition, everyone goes around the table and blesses the birthday person. The birthday person then in return goes around the table one by one and gives a blessing to each individual.

To find out your Hebrew birthday you can use this calendar here.

Life is not a dress rehearsal, it’s the real thing! When shooting a movie you can do the scene over until you get it right. In life we only get one chance to get it right.

Korean klezmer band plays traditional Jewish Yiddish music at Newtown Synagogue in Sydney, Australia

When you think of traditional Jewish klezmer music, you probably think of old Jewish singers crooning away in Yiddish and plucking at their violins.  When I think of traditional Jewish klezmer music, I think of my husband, Rabbi Ben, sweetly singing me “Tum Balalaika” at our wedding.  But I’m pretty sure that nobody, when thinking of klezmer music, thinks of Koreans.

You just don’t expect to see trendy, young, modern Koreans, clad in the latest fashions (yet still tznius, modest), singing in Yiddish.  And you definitely don’t expect them to actually sound the way traditional Yiddish klezmer singers do.  Enter: The Korean Klezmatics!

Painting symbolizing Auschwitz at Culture Day at Newtown Synagogue in Sydney, Australia

On Sunday, Newtown Synagogue in Sydney, Australia hosted Culture Day.  It is the first in a series of Culture Day events, featuring a small Jewish modern art exhibition, complete with the artist, art historians, and other guest speakers.  For the opening Culture Day event, Newtown Synagogue even ordered sushi, sandwiches, and fruit – and hired the Korean Klezmatics!

The Korean Klezmatics did a great job.  They sang the Yiddish songs in a real traditional way and it sounded fantastic.  We also really enjoyed looking at all the artwork, inspired by all sorts of Jewish places and events, from Auschwitz to Tel Aviv.

You can check out Culture Day at Newtown Synagogue again next Sunday beginning at noon!

Read the PDF here: L’chaim New Caledonia

Bicycle trip in Australia along the Great Ocean Road in 1999

It’s great to be back in Australia after having been away for three years. Rachel and I are at New Town Synagogue for the next month over the Chagim, where I’m acting as Rabbi/chazzan.

New Town has some very interesting Jewish history. I’m told that at one point there were six kosher butcher shops in New Town. New Town was where many Jews settled on their arrival to Australia in the 1800’s. The New Town Synagogue has that old Synagogue charm to it.

Anyway, being excited to be back in Australia I scanned some old photos from my pre-digital days of traveling around Australia and will be uploading them soon to the Australia country page.

Shana Tova!

There is a custom to blow the Shofar every day during the month of Elul as we lead up to Rosh Hashanah. Most people blow four sounds from the Shofar known as Ta’shrat, which stands for: Te’kiah – Sh’vorim –Te’ruah – Te’kiah. I follow the Chabbad custom of blowing ten sounds: Ta’shrat – Ta’shat – Ta’rat (these are abbreviated terms).

Either way, the important thing is that we blow the Shofar to remind ourselves that Rosh Hashanah is coming and it’s time for some serious introspection. The sound of the shofar is a wakeup call. It’s for ourselves to hear and for others who may be around listening.

Rachel and I spent two weeks in Fiji on our way to Australia. I don’t think much shofar blowing has been done in Fiji and it was special to blow shofar around the country as we traveled from island to island.

Rosh Hashanah is this coming Wednesday night, making Thursday and Friday festival days. Hearing the shofar is a great mitzvah and does a lot for the neshamah (the soul) even if it sounds just like noise to the mind. Everyone should try and get to a shul to hear the shofar at least for the first 30 blasts at the beginning.

Shanah Tova.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA5DrGzBW6s&w=420&h=315]

Rabbi Ben surprised me with a trip to Fiji to celebrate our anniversary!  Of course the Traveling Rabbi would think of the gift of travel – and I am definitely not complaining! It is beautiful here!

So far we haven’t found any Jews, although I have heard that there are a handful of people of Jewish descent living in the capital city of Suva, which we have not visited.

We spent Shabbat on the island of Mana in the Manaluca Islands group.  These photos show the beautiful Shabbat candles I lit, with some Fijian flair.  Even our candles look like they’re in paradise!

To prepare for Shabbat, we brought some small challah rolls with us from the plane and I went fishing on Thursday and caught us some fresh local fish.  For lunch on Saturday we just had some eggs that were boiled on Friday afternoon, some salad, and some bread.  It was simple, but we were able to sit and watch the calm waves of the Pacific Ocean lap at the shore as we ate, which made everything so beautiful!

It was truly a very special Shabbat!