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Times: Shabbat starts on Friday at 4:49 pm and ends on Saturday at 5:50 pm. The weekly Torah portion is Naso.

Mincha in the CBD: On Mon/Tue/Thu, Mincha is at ABL – 21/333 Collins, and on Wed at Warlow’s Legal – 2/430 Lt Collins St. Join the WhatsApp group to stay across the latest details. No mincha on Monday because of the public holiday.

Study: The Weekly Shiur continues on Wednesday at about 1.15pm (after mincha) at Warlow’s Legal – 2/430 Lt Collins St. – and via Zoom. Current topic: employee eating rights. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Yehuda Gottlieb. This week’s Torah reading, Naso, deals with the section about a Nazir. The Nazir is someone who dedicates himself to God and takes on the extra stringencies of growing his hair and not drinking wine during the term of his nazirut.

The Gemara in Shabbos (daf 13) learns that the language of the verses imply that the Nazir must take extra precautions and make himself an additional ‘fence’ so he doesn’t find himself in a situation where he would be tempted to drink wine. For instance, the Gemara says the the Nazir should distance himself even from a vineyard.

The commentator Netziv in Ha’emek Davar states that this law of distancing oneself from something that is forbidden is not found in relation to other vows. This unique law found in Nazir is due to the extra stringency that one is taking upon themselves when they take a vow of this nature. However, he also notes that the converse can be true and that since a Nazir is forbidden rabbinically to even come in to contact with wine, he must be extra careful as even the contact of wine can cause him to sin further and actually come to drink the wine. This is a case of where one is doing an act to come closer to God and therefore must accept the greater responsibility that comes along with it.