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Shabbat starts on Friday at 5:21pm and ends on Saturday at 6:21pm. The weekly Torah portion is Devarim and Shabbat Chazon. If Moshiach does not come, Tisha b’Av fast starts on Monday at 5:42pm and ends on Tuesday at 6:11pm.

Tisha b’Av (Tues) schedule: mincha is 1pm at Ainsworth Property, and 5pm at East Melbourne Shule.
Maariv is at 6pm at East Melbourne, and subject to numbers (via WhatsApp), 6pm at Ainsworth, both followed by breaking the fast.

Mincha 1pm continues at Ainsworth Property – GF/459 Collins Mon-Wed. Join the WhatsApp group where we take a count to confirm each day.

Weekly sushi & shiur will continue on Wed at about 1.10pm (after mincha) at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom. Current topic: borrower dignity. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Ya’akov Waller.

In the weekly Torah reading of Devarim’s opening chapter, Moshe instructs the people to choose for themselves leaders who are “wise and understanding, and known to your tribes”. This instruction encapsulates two principles of leadership that were revolutionary for their time and remain elusive to many even today.

First, it advocates a form of democracy. Moshe does not impose leaders upon the people; he requests that the people choose them. Moreover, these leaders are to be known to the people (per Rashi), ensuring representation and governance by peers rather than distant overlords.

Second, it promotes meritocracy. The criteria for selection — wisdom and understanding, or put differently, competence — are notable in that they are traits which are not based on inherited status or divine right. Where meritocracy is prioritised, as here, it is the people who are put first rather than the leaders.