Times: Shabbat starts on Friday at 8:04pm and ends on Saturday night at 9.02pm. The weekly Torah portion is Mishpatim, and it’s also Rosh Chodesh Adar, and Parshat Shekalim. Purim is coming … a few people have registered that they be in the city, and we will be organising a Megillah reading. To register your interest, join the WhatsApp group here.

Mincha in the CBD: Mincha is in recess for the summer. We look forward to opening up when people return to their offices and we have sufficient numbers. Details at the WhatsApp group.

Study: The Weekly Shiur has resumed and continues on Wednesday at 1:30pmvia zoom Details here.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Geoffrey Bloch. It may seem incongruous that mourners recite the “kaddish”, generally understood to be a prayer praising God, at a time when faith might be tested, especially in the case of an untimely death or where prolonged suffering of a loved one was involved.

According to the Zohar (Kerech 2, Shemot, Parshat Mishpatim, page 105a), because of the fundamental principle that man is created in God’s image, when one of us dies, the “elokut” (the Divine) to be found in this world, is diminished.

By declaring “yitgadal v’yitgadash shmei raba” (may the Divine name be exalted and magnified), we are not praising God. We are reminding our friends and our community that the Jewish people have lost something priceless and divine, and we are expressing the hope that in time, though diminished by our loss, our people will nevertheless forge ahead into the future always contributing to and rebuilding the divine in this world.

It is inevitable that each of us has or will encounter loss and bereavement. At such times, this week’s Torah reading provides this beautiful and comforting sentiment that we can hold on to.