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Mincha continues at  1.00pm at A-P GF/459 Collins, using the WhatsApp group to confirm a minyan each day.

Weekly sushi & shiur continues on Wed at 1.10pm at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom. Current topic: God, Satan & Job. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Annette Charak.

The text of the Torah is densely woven, with connecting threads wherever one chooses to look. In both this week’s Torah reading, Shelach, and the reading of Beshalach – with their shared root meaning ‘send’ – the people of Israel stand on the brink of a monumental change, close to the literal shores of a seemingly impassable body of water. And in both cases, they balk, wishing themselves back in the familiar, already revising their memories.

This week’s haftara contains a narrative that echoes the narrative of the parsha: men sent into the Land of Israel on a mission. The differences between the two missions are plenty: twelve named men sent to scout the whole land, most of whom provide a largely discouraging report vs two unnamed men sent to reconnoitre the region of Jericho who return with an overwhelmingly encouraging report. Nevertheless, the relationship between parsha and haftara is clear.

And the call and response between this week’s readings isn’t limited to the spy missions. Both end with literal threads: the parsha with the blue threads of the tzitzit, a physical and psychological reminder of the divine covenant and the injunction to be holy; and the haftara with Rahab’s crimson cord, serving as both a physical means of escape and a sign of safety and protection, a covenant of salvation and loyalty.