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Shabbat starts on Friday at 7:43pm and ends on Saturday at 8:40pm. The weekly Torah portion is Mishpatim and Mevarchim Chodesh Adar. Rosh Chodesh is next Friday & Shabbat.

Mincha is now in recess for the summer and will resume after DST ends. Join the WhatsApp group for any updates.

*NEW* Parsha discussion group for men & women led by Yudi New on Tues at 1.15pm at A-P GF/459 Collins Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Weekly sushi & shiur continues on Wed at 1.20pm at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom. Current topic: strata titles. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Josh Wasbutzki

In this week’s Torah reading, we go through all the intricacies of choshen mishpat – of damages and other areas of practical law. Ths portion of Mishpatim contains the verses most attributable to nezikin – the group of tractates relevant to damages.

Nezikin is often the first set of tractates taught to kids in school, particularly Bava Metzia. There was one school in New York that wished to change the curriculum to something more practical, such as learning Shabbat or Pesachim. Why did it matter to kids as to what the consequences are of ox goring a cow? Was it really imperative for kids to understand what it meant to have a claim against land and taking oaths?

When R Moshe Feinstein heard about this, he immediately called a meeting with the principal of the school. He forbade them to change. When challenged by the principal, he retorted – it is essential for our children to have an understanding of what to do when they find a lost object, or what the damage requirements are after an ox gores a sheep/ruins a field. It means that at a young age, they have an understanding of how important another person’s property is.

R Moshe understood the sensitivity that an individual obtains by understanding the implications of wronging another, and how it helped shape inter-personal communication.

Hopefully, we can all take something away from an enhanced sensitivity of how important being considerate of other peoples property is.