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Shabbat starts on Friday at 5:20pm and ends on Saturday at 6:20pm. The weekly Torah portion is Vaetchanan and it’s Shabbat Nachamu and Tu B’Av.

Mincha continues at 1pm at A-P GF/459 Collins Mon (special meat lunch), 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: law of neighbours. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Annette Charak.

This Shabbat, Shabbat Vaetchanan, we read the Torah’s commandment to love G-d with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might. It is also Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort, following the intense mourning of Tisha B’Av. And this year Shabbat is also Tu B’Av—the “Jewish Valentine’s Day.” How does Tu B’Av connect to Tisha B’Av?

The days leading up to Tisha B’Av are days of vulnerability, uncertainty and anxiety. Our tradition recognises that it takes a while to move out of that state.

According to a Midrash, Tu B’Av is the day we begin to move forward, to begin healing, to begin growing. Maybe we are also ready to love. According to Rabbi Sari Laufer, “Tu B’Av is not meant to be transformative, but it is meant to be preparatory.” It is a day of comfort and healing, a return to love after the pain and grief of Tisha B’Av. And this Shabbat, the first of the seven Shabbatot of comfort, begins the rebuilding from Tisha B’Av, through love, to prepare us for the High Holy Days.