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Shabbat starts on Friday at 7:43pm and ends on Saturday at 8:40pm. The weekly Torah portion is Terumah and it’s Rosh Chodesh and Parshat Shekalim.

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

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

Thought of the Week with thanks to Jeremy Herz.

The Torah portion of Teruma introduces us to the vessels used in the Tabernacle.

The first vessel described is the Ark which contains the Tablets. Rings are placed on the Ark, into which the poles used to carry the Ark are slotted. These poles allow the Levites to carry the Ark during the Jewish people’s journey in the desert.

Strangely, the Torah commands that the poles are never to be removed from the Ark. Rambam even counts this as one of the 613 commandments.

But if the purpose of the poles is to facilitate the transportation of the Ark, why does the commandment apply even when the Jews are camped?

Sefer HaChinuch suggests that the commandment is to ensure that in the event the Jews are suddenly commanded to travel, there is no risk that hastily inserted poles would be incorrectly installed, causing the Ark to potentially fall.

A message we might take from this practical explanation is that we should always be ready and prepared to perform mitzvot when they present themselves.