Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things.” – Kurt Vonnegut Jr. How often do we find ourselves complaining loudly about issues that seem insignificant in retrospect? Our closet having too many clothes, our phone not having enough charge, or …

Don’t be a stranger. “Marriage is a great way to find the one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life” – Comedian Rita Rudner Sometimes we are kinder to strangers than we are to our loved ones.  Perhaps it is because our tolerance for the …

Australia and Judaism Combine Celebrating 2020 Hanukkah Season Cairns, QLD, —To celebrate the 2020 Chanukah season, Chabad North Queensland lit up a giant boomerang menorah at the Cairns Esplanade.  The life size menorah, was constructed entirely of boomerangs and provided Cairns’ Jewish and wider community with a safe way to …

Compliments cost nothing, but many pay dearly for them – Thomas Fuller What is the point of giving compliments?  Are they really the integral self-esteem boosts some people claim they are or are they just unnecessary demonstrations of vanity?  To give them correctly for some might not be worth the …

Dvar Torah for this week Vayakhel Pekudai and Coronavirus An African child playing with a roll of waste paper recently was told off by his mother “Don’t waste! There are children in Australia who don’t have access to toilet paper right now”. Our universe is currently suffering the impact of …

JEWISH COMMUNITY OF CAIRNS, CELEBRATED THE NEW YEAR FOR TREES BY VOLUNTEERING FOR THE COUNCIL. The Cairns Jewish Community celebrated the ecological new year for trees Tu B’Shevat by planting trees for the council to make it a more beautiful city, on February 9th 2020..   Cairns has a vibrant …

You have heard of the Giant Mango but have you heard of the Giant Mango Chanukah Menorah? Cairns Jewish Community ignited a public Chanukah menorah erected on the Esplanade in Cairns .  This Chanukah menorah –  is likely to be a world first, as it is created using North Queensland …

Toldot. When spouses can be your sibling For most people, the relationship with siblings will be the longest lasting of their entire lives.  The attachment with siblings is immovable, no matter what happens there will always be an innate sibling bond.  The bond with a spouse, however, can change in …

The children of the Cairns Jewish Community baked and delivered honey cakes as a present for the Jewish New Year to the Cairns based 51st regiment of the ADF today. The children made the cakes together at the weekly Sunday kids programme and delivered them to show support for their local army base. “It …

If you were to be plucked out of your kitchen table without any notice and transported to the same location, albeit 1000 years in the past, how useful would your information be? If science fiction and modern novels are to be your guide, you could assume it would help you …

“The cure for everything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea” – Karen Blixen. Couples beginning to create a family know all too well the investment and challenges a family unit brings.  Financial costs aside, the mere newfound responsibilities are daunting. Starting from the first step of pregnancy and …

If given the hypothetical choice to be born as the next monarch of a kingdom centuries ago, at the height of their power, or to be born into a middle class family this century, what would you choose? In making this decision it might be helpful to remember that the …

MacKay – Queensland – Whilst traditionally a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah typically features a row of proud grandparents in the congregation doing what is known in Yiddish as kvelling (swelling with pride), instead Dean Waring, was surrounded by his wife and children as he had his barmitzvah.  Dean lives …

Many people can relate to the annoyance of someone who gets a bit overboard in sharing his or her vacation memories and photos?  It almost seems as if the photos replace the purpose of the vacation.  Many would even question the purpose of a visit to Pisa, if is bereft …

A new twist to Rosh Hashana’s round challahs with beigel/bagel bake. [CAIRNS, QLD] — With just a few weeks before the onset of the Jewish New Year the Jewish women of Cairns were tasked with mixing, kneading and making blessings as they learn the Yiddish art of beigel/bagel making, a new twist …

We live in a time when we can have virtually unlimited access to vast resources of information in devices as small as our watches. Astoundingly, we most often harness this capability to play games and look at “memes” and cartoons.  This point struck home when I went to a scheduled …

CAIRNS, QLD. It’s Never too late to celebrate! This past Tuesday, the 10th of July at the Chabad Centre for Jewish life in North QLD (a division of RARA) in Cairns, Grant took on a new label becoming “Bar Mitzvah”ed- a full fledged Jewish adult, albeit, well into his adulthood …

Pleasure or Purpose? How many times have you been fed up with nuisances or hardships in your life?  Just as you think you have control of your life something else comes up and puts a cog in your wheel.  Imagine you could plug into a simulated reality of your choice …

Humility while winning. Have you ever heard a recipient of an award or compliment say they feel “humbled” by the accolade?  Why is it that they associate humility with winning?  If anything, not winning would show humility.  When you win, you feel exalted, proud and excited.  You feel like you …

The Townsville Jewish community celebrated its first ever Bar Mitzvah last Saturday January 6th 2018 – 19 Tevet. The service was held in the Sasoon Chabad RARA House in Townsville and  Barnabas Sarnyai became a Bar Mitzvah – a full fledged Jewish adult. Family and friends came from as far …