Times: Shabbat starts tonight with candle lighting at 6:50 pm, and ends Saturday night at 7:46 pm. The weekly Torah portion is Tazria, Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Nisan and Parshat HaChodesh. Move the clock on hour back on Saturday night

Mincha in the CBD: Today, mincha, whisky and kugel today at 1.52pm From Monday, mincha reverts to 1.00pm Monday to Friday using the SMS reminder system. On Fridays, whisky and kugel.

Study: From next week, the Wednesday shiur and lunch switches to winter schedule, and starts at about 1.15pm after mincha.

Thought of the Week with thanks to Rabbi Menachem Wolf. Parshat Tazria: Lover or Soulmate This week’s Torah reading is the source of the discussion in the Zohar on soulmates – one of the most misunderstood concepts in life. Couples often approach me about their upcoming marriage and mention they are soulmates. Being open-minded, I am okay with the possibility. But I am unsure if what they are telling me is, in fact, the reality (and I will never know).

A soulmate is a person that contains the other half of your soul. The coming together of two such people isn’t about a loving or fun relationship. It is about completion and wholeness. The soulmate is everything you are not within yourself. They are not opposites; they are complementary – the strengths to your weaknesses (and likewise you to them). United by common values and interests. To discover whether you are with your soulmate requires sensitivity and time. Even then you may never know.
What we experience with the person at the beginning of our love life is passion. Love is a development within a relationship. It helps glue one to the other, but ‘the other’ may not be our soulmate. This does not mean the relationship will suffer because of this little fact. It is important to explore each other’s interests, strengths and weaknesses before committing. So you can discover: Is this person indeed complementary? Or is this person plain old fun to be around? From there, you take the plunge of commitment.

So, are you married? Don’t change your status. It is very possible you are with your soulmate. Fate brought you together for a reason. If you are not in a committed relationship yet, start looking for a person who is similar yet different. Someone similar and different to you, in a complementary way. Good luck.