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Mazal Tov to Zalman and Tali Ainsworth and families on the birth of a son!
Times: Shabbat starts on Friday at 5:36 pm and ends on Saturday at 6:34 pm. The weekly Torah portion is Re’eh.
Mincha in the CBD: On Mon/Tue, Mincha is at ABL – 21/333 Collins, on Wed at Warlows Legal – 2/430 Lt Collins, and on Thu at L1 Capital – 28/101 Collins. Join the WhatsApp group to stay across the latest details.
Study: The Weekly Shiur continues on Wednesday at about 1.15pm (after mincha) at Warlows Legal – 2/430 Lt Collins – and via Zoom. Current topic: can parties contract against standard Torah terms? Details here and on the WhatsApp group.
Thought of the Week with thanks to Yudi New. Things are looking glum. The economy is tanking, the cost of living is skyrocketing and your team missed the finals by a solitary point. Its easy to fall into a pattern of helplessness and hopelessness.
From the depths of despair that was the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941, the holy Piasecno Rebbe provides genuine perspective.
In his sefer Aish Kodesh (where he recorded his sermons delivered weekly in the Ghetto) on this week’s Torah reading, Reb Kloynimus Kalman Szapiro encourages us to see the blessing in everything and all circumstances. Incredibly, he encourages us to believe that even G-d’s concealment during the darkest times, can spur us to get closer to and reaffirm our relationship with Him. Conversely, by not seeing the hand of G-d, it is as if we are pushing Him further away.
This is what the verse tell us – “Re’ah” – “see”. When we apply the correct lens, we can truly see “Anoichi noisen” – that G-d, who is one, gives and allows Himself to be revealed to us as an active and guiding hand in our lives.
Not surprisingly, this weekly message coincides with Rosh Chodesh Elul when, as the famous parable teaches us, the King is in the field and, critically but often forgotten, He receives each of His subjects with a shining countenance.
May we all merit to be able to open our eyes to see and feel the love and blessing that G-d gifts to each and every one of us.
Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov.