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Shabbat starts on Friday at 7:13pm and ends on Saturday at 8:12pm. The weekly Torah portion is Bereshit and Mevarchim Chodesh Cheshvan. Rosh Chodesh is on Sunday and Monday.
Mincha continues on summer schedule at 1.45pm at A-P GF/459 Collins, using the WhatsApp group to confirm a minyan each day.
Weekly sushi & shiur continues on Wed at 1.20pm at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom – followed by mincha at 1.45pm. Current topic: property set-backs. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.
Thought of the Week with thanks to Gaby Silver
Ever stared up at the night sky in awe and wonder, trying vainly to comprehend the vast enormity of the cosmos and everything in it? If so, this week’s Torah reading can make you feel a little uncomfortable.
Astrophysicists tell us those pinpricks of light from stars and galaxies have taken millions, if not billions, of years to reach our tiny, floating, watery rock. How do we reconcile this with Torah’s account of a universe created in 6 days, 5787 years ago?
There are plenty of ways to turn yourself into an intellectual pretzel to explain the discrepancy. Perhaps the Torah’s version of “Day” is allegorical? Perhaps G-d created the universe exactly as it is, to look billions of years old, to test our faith in Him, then put dinosaur bones in the ground as a practical joke?
Paradoxically, science has no better explanation. Big Bang? The laws of physics implode upon their own immense gravitational pull and would need to be rewritten over and over for it to hold. It’s not even a theory. It’s a guess.
So, perhaps we’re asking the wrong question.
What if it’s simply enough that G-d created everything we can see, and infinitely more we cannot – yesh m’ayin – out of absolute nothingness. Think about that for a moment: This seemingly simple concept represents an utterly incomprehensible testimony to The Almighty’s unlimited power and omnipotence – so great, that the hows, the whens and the how longs dissolve into almost comical insignificance.
In this awesome elegance, the difference between 6 days and 6 billion years is laughably irrelevant. As we read through the Torah’s account of creation, perhaps it’s simply enough to release our intellects, humble ourselves before His ungraspable greatness, be struck with wonder and awe and leave the fine details to The One who made it all happen – however He wanted to, in a way we can never understand. Just believe.