Rabbi’s Shabbat Message

Old Wisdom but New Ways!

At age 7, legendary Jewish comedian and actor George Burns, born Nathan Birnbaum in the Lower East Side of New York, had an unforgettable experience that he turned into a hilarious anecdote:
“There was a Presbyterian church down the street from my home, and they had a talent contest sponsored by a department store. My friend and I signed up, sang a song, and – lo and behold – we won first prize. We each received a watch worth about 65 cents.

I ran home to tell my mother, who was doing the laundry, that I didn’t want to be a Jew anymore. ‘I’ve been a Jew for seven years and never got anything. I’ve been a Presbyterian for one day and got this watch!’

My mother said, ‘First help me with the laundry, then you can be a Presbyterian.’ So I did. The watch fell into a bucket of water and stopped running – and I became a Jew again.”

George Burns’ story reflects a timeless truth: the things we cherish and value as children change with age. How we connect to our traditions, beliefs, and identity can look very different from generation to generation. What’s meaningful to one, might seem outdated or irrelevant to the next.
In this week’s Torah portion, God instructs Moshe to create two silver trumpets (chatzotzrot) – to summon leaders, rally the people, and signal when to journey onward. The Torah states “make yourself two silver trumpets; you shall make them hammered out of a block of silver.”

After Moshe passed away, these beautiful majestic trumpets were no longer used. This comes as a surprise, but the Midrash explains that the phrase “Make yourself” was key – these instruments were tailor-made for Moshe’s leadership. They were never meant to be passed on. Even Joshua, his faithful successor, had to forge a new way of communicating for a new era.

The message is clear: values endure, but methods must evolve. The Torah’s values are eternal. How we communicate those values advances with each generation.

A recent study reveals a striking generational divide: among those aged 65 and up, around 50% use Facebook, yet less than 2% use Snapchat. Meanwhile, roughly 65% of Millennials actively use Snapchat. Both generations crave connection, but the platforms they use to connect are different. What moves the Boomers might fall flat with Gen Z. Different times demand different trumpets.
As we adapt our message to new mediums, striving to communicate timeless values in modern packaging, we must also stay vigilant to injustices disguised as diplomacy. Yesterday, we awoke to the disturbing news that Australia has imposed sanctions on Israeli MKs Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Sanctions like these were meant for despots, not for elected officials in a democracy.

While our politicians may disagree with the views of these figures, Israel is a thriving democracy with its own legal system, checks, balances, and electoral process – just like ours. These are the values Australia shares with its allies. Democracies resolve political differences at the ballot box, not through blacklist-style diplomacy.

Targeting elected officials of the only Jewish state while terrorist regimes continue unchecked shows profound moral dissonance. These sanctions are not foreign policy – they are moral confusion.

Now, more than ever, when truth is blurred and values are rebranded, we must communicate with clarity and courage. Whether through silver trumpets, Instagram reels, or the floor of the Knesset, we must preserve our values and pass them to future generations.

The lesson from Moshe’s trumpets still holds: choose your trumpet! The world is listening. The message is eternal. The moment is now – let’s sound the trumpet with conviction.

 Join us at 5:30pm for the service, with a L’Chaim at 5:00pm beforehand.Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Levi and Chanie