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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 Ya’akov Waller

The weekly Torah reading of Va’etchanan commands: “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor subtract from it.” The prohibition against subtraction is obvious. But why should addition be equally objectionable?

The answer may lie in the verses that immediately follow. Moshe recalls the destruction at Baal Peor, contrasting those who were swept away with “you who cleave to Hashem your G-d,” who remained alive. In the aftermath of a tragedy in which the survivors were distinguished by their steadfast loyalty to G-d, the Torah takes an unexpected turn, highlighting the risk of uncontrolled—and ultimately misguided—piety.

The reason for prohibiting both subtraction and addition is stated in the verse itself: we must preserve the commandments of G-d. Addition, no less than subtraction, can alter their content and character. What presents itself as greater devotion may instead substitute our own conception of holiness for G-d’s command.

There are occasions for going beyond the letter of the law. But an addition that reshapes the divine command can be as fundamental a departure as subtraction. In either case, the individual moves from serving G-d to serving something else and, at its worst, places the human being at the centre of divine worship.