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Shabbat starts on Friday at 7:31pm and ends on Saturday at 8:27pm. The weekly Torah portion is Vayakhel and it’s Mevarchim Chodesh Adar II. Rosh Chodesh is on Sunday and Monday.

Mincha at Ainsworth Property – GF/459 Collins is in recess for the summer and will resume in March if we get numbers and if not, after DST ends. Join the WhatsApp group for updates.

Weekly sushi & shiur continues on Wed at 1.30pm at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom. Current topic: default terms for short/long term leases. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Mandi Katz.

The Torah reading of Vayakhel includes one of the most beautiful motifs in the Torah in three different verses: “every man whose heart moved him … brought a donation of the Lord for the task of the Tent of Meeting”; “all the women whose hearts moved them  with wisdom spun the goats’ hair”; and “every man and woman whose heart urged them to bring for all the tasks that the Lord had charged to do by the hand of Moshe, the Israelites brought a freewill gift to the Lord”.

These words capture the generosity and willingness that characterised contribution to the Tabernacle in the form of both gifts and labour, conveying that contributions were made with passion and willingness and not from a sense of obligation.

This idea of heartfelt contribution is given an additional dimension in the depiction of  Bezalel as a teacher.In describing the artist’s skill the text sings the praises of Bezalel’s wisdom, understanding an knowledge of his craft. But in in describing Bezalel and Oholiab as teachers the Torah tells us that God had “given in his heart to instruct” (“lehorot natan belibo“).
 
Commentators have understood this as an indication of Bezalel’s and Oholiab’s willingness and ability to teach – they were not just skilled artisans and artists but as instructors they also shared their knowledge freely and effectively.
 
Perhaps in the context of this portion which keeps coming back to the role of the heart in the act of giving, the phrase also reminds us that the greatest teachers are those who approach their own craft or subject with heart and passion.