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Shabbat starts on Friday at 5:09pm and ends on Saturday at 6:10pm. The weekly Torah portion is Matot-Masei (Chazak) and it’s Rosh Chodesh Av.

Mincha continues at 1pm at A-P GF/459 Collins Mon (special at L1), Wed, and Thu 1.45pm at L1 Capital using the WhatsApp group to confirm numbers.

Weekly sushi & shiur continues on Wed at 1.10pm (after mincha) at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom. Current topic: fencing law. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Gaby Silver.

In this week’s reading of Mattot-Masei, the Torah lists the 42 stops the Jewish people made on their way from Egypt to the Land of Israel. At first glance, it appears to be a travelogue. However, there’s a deeper message: these journeys represent the path each Jew takes through life.

Some of those stops were uplifting, others were difficult or riddled with mistakes. Nevertheless, every step, even the messy ones, is part of the growth process. Life isn’t just about the high points. It’s about how we move forward through the challenges. Even the “wrong turns” can bring us closer to who we’re meant to be, if we keep moving with purpose.

The portion ends with the boundaries of the Land of Israel, reminding us that each of us has a personal “promised land”, which is our divinely bestowed mission: to utilise our potential to bring G-dliness into the world. We’re meant to achieve this, not by jumping over the hard parts, but by walking through them, with trust that we’re fulfilling G-d’s will, and that He guides and protects our path in the same way that he did for Jews in the desert.

The journeys in the desert weren’t just theirs. They’re ours too. May we embrace our own path with courage, and keep moving forward—step by step—toward something holy.