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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: property set-backs. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Jeremy Herz

This week’s haftarah, after which Shabbat Chazon is named and which is always read before Tisha b’Av, contains the prophet Isaiah’s rebuke of a corrupt society that continued its religious rituals while neglecting justice, honesty and compassion. It includes the word “eicha” and, according to many traditions, is largely read in the mournful tune of Megillat Eicha.

“[21] How [Eicha] has the faithful city become a harlot! Righteousness slept there – but now they murder! [22] Your money has been counterfeited, your wine is diluted with water. [23] Your officers are wayward and a band of thieves – they all love bribes and seek paybacks; they do not judge the orphan, and the plight of the widow does not reach them!”

The commentator Malbim explains that these verses are framed as a conversation between Isaiah and an incredulous individual who returns to Jerusalem after an absence and finds the city in a state of moral decay.

In verse 21, the questioner cannot understand how such a dramatic decline could have occurred so suddenly. Isaiah responds in verses 22–23 that the degeneration was, in fact, gradual. Murder was only the final stage of a process that began with seemingly lesser forms of wrongdoing: counterfeit money, diluted wine and corruption. Once people became desensitised to dishonesty and exploitation, the foundations had been laid for cruelty and violence.

The trajectory of a society is ultimately shaped by our ordinary interactions with one another. By insisting on honesty, fairness and sensitivity in the “small” things, each individual contributes meaningfully to the moral health of the community as a whole.