Overview of the Weekly
Reading: Vaetchanan,
Shabbat
Nachamu
To be read on the Shabbat of 11 Av, 5762 (July 20)
Torah: Deut. 3:23-7:11
Haftorah:
Isaiah 40:1-26 (1st
of the Seven Haftorahs of Consolation)
Pirkei Avot:
Chapter Four, (Chapter Three outside of Israel)
Stats:Vaetchanan contains 8 positive mitzvot and
4 prohibitive mitzvot. Among the Weekly Readings,
Vaetchanan ranks 17 out of 54 in number of verses, 10
in number of words, and10 in number of letters;
it is written on 249.5 lines in a Torah parchment scroll, 7
in overall length.
Ve'etchanan opens with G-d's refusal to allow Moshe to enter
the Land. Next, Moshe reminds the Jews how they were taken out of Egypt,
given the 10 Commandments, taught Torah, and should not stray from G-d
and His laws. Moshe invokes heaven and earth as witnesses in warning
the Jews of the consequences of erred ways. Then, Moshe designates 3
of the locations of the cities of refuge for the unintentional murderer.
Following this is the review of the giving of the 10 Commandments and
the famous verses of "Shma" and "Ve'ahavta".
The Jews are again reminded to keep G-d's mitzvahs and avoid the consequences
of sin, particularly idolatry and assimilation.
Tisha b'Av
On the eve of Tisha B'Av each year Reb Avraham of Chechanov would have to buy a new copy of Kinos--Lamentations. For every year, as soon as the mournful service was over, he would stow away his copy in the place where old and battered sacred books were lodged until they were buried. And each time he did this he would say: "I am sure that Moshiach will come this year, and then we won't have any further need for books of Lamentations."
(A Treasury of Chasidic Tales)
Vaetchanan
" I besought G-d at that time, saying...let me go over, I pray You, that I may see the good land." (Deut. 3:23-25)
The Midrash relates that Moses beseeched G-d with 515 prayers (the numerical equivalent of the word "va'etchanan" -- "and I besought") to be allowed to enter the Land of Israel. Even after G-d explicitly told him, "Do not continue to speak to Me any more of this matter," Moses persisted. We learn from this that we must never give up begging and imploring G-d to allow us back into the land of Israel, with the coming of Moshiach, for we have been promised that we are the last generation of exile and the first generation of Redemption.
(Lubavitcher Rebbe)
"Take good care of your souls." (Deut. 4:15)
One must not abuse or neglect the physical body, for "a small defect in the body creates a large defect in the soul."
(The Mezeritcher Magid)
FROM THE MASTERS OF KABBALAH (O:45-62/Vaetchanan)
Selected with
permission from the five-volume English edition of Ohr HaChaim: the
Torah Commentary of Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar, as translated and annotated
by Eliyahu Munk.
The holy Rabbi Chayim ben Moses Attar was born in Sale, Western Morocco,
on the Atlantic in 1696. His immortal commentary on the Five Books Of
Moses, Or Hachayim, was printed in Venice in 1741, while the author was
on his way to the Holy Land. He acquired a reputation as a miracle worker,
hence his title "the holy," although some apply this title only
to his Torah commentary.
"…and you should know this day, etc." [Deut. 4:39]
What is it that the people should know about on this day rather than
on any other day?
What knowledge were they to store up in their hearts?
Perhaps Moses referred to the need to subdue the evil urge which lurks
within all of us. Moses may have referred to 10 such pieces of information
which the Israelites were to store up in their hearts.
…6) He may have referred to something we have been taught by the
Zohar volume three page 178 that in order to conduct oneself properly
it is necessary to review every night what one has done during the day
so as to repair any spiritual damage one had become guilty of by day.
When a person keeps track of his deeds on a daily basis he will repent
all the inadvertently committed mistakes he has become guilty of, and
he will confess them. Unless he does this, his sins are liable to create
within him a lack of sensitivity to having made mistakes, even inadvertent
mistakes.
This is why Moses commanded the people to make sure they would become
aware of their actions on a daily basis, i.e. 'this very day;'
do not wait until the Day of Atonement to confess your sins and to rehabilitate
yourselves. If you so this, "you will bring it back to your heart"
- you will ensure that your heart remains conscious of and sensitive to
your shortcomings.
7) Moses may also have alluded to the day the soul was placed in the body of a person. According to Zohar volume one page 233 on that day G-d exhorts the soul which has come from the celestial regions to observe the commandments of the Torah while on earth, threatening with a variety of penalties for non-observance, but also promising reward for observance. When Moses said 'this day' in our verse, he referred to the day when the soul began its journey on earth.
An
essay from Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter
(W:45-62/Vaetchanan)
This week has two important dates: Sunday was the 5th of Av, the yartzeit of the great Safed Kabbalist, Rabbi Yitzchok Luria (the Ari), and Thursday is the fast of the 9th of Av, the day both Temples were destroyed.
The day of a tzaddik's passing is an important day because all of the mitzvot AND the fruits of those mitzvot that the tzaddik accomplished in his lifetime are brought back into the world on that day in a tangible way. We can actually connect to the tzaddik by studying his teachings. One of the main teachings of the Ari was the need to study Torah's inner dimension, Kabbala. Once Mashiach arrives, the entire world will study Torah, (even non-Jews). At that time, Kabbala and Chassidus will be the primary focus of that learning. Therefore, studying it now will hasten the redemption.
Rabbi Chaim Vital writes in the name of the Ari (Intro. to Sha'ar
Hamitzvot), Know that every single soul spark (the soul of each person
is a spark of a complete soul relating back to the 600,000 complete and
primary souls that exited Egypt) has to fulfill each of the 613 commandments
that are possible to fulfill today, with the exception of commandments
like Temple offerings...(and others having to do with divorce or being
widowed, G-d forbid). Even the commandments that are not obligatory for
everyone to fulfill, like sending the mother bird away from her nest to
take her eggs or young, is crucial to make every effort to fulfill. This
is because each of the 613 commandments-248 positive and 365 negative
commandments-are connected to the 248 limbs of the body and the 365 blood
vessels and sinews.
If a person missed performing even one commandment that was possible to
fulfill, he is lacking in (the spiritual essence behind) that organ and
is called a 'blemished person'. The Torah says about him (specifically
regarding priests but can refer to everyone), "Each individual that
has a blemish should not approach the altar." It is not only important
to do a commandment, but also to have the proper intention while performing
it. We must do the commandment because G-d commanded us. For example,
in cutting hair: It is not enough to not shave the sidelocks. While cutting,
we must intend that we (and the barber) are refraining from shaving the
sidelocks to fulfill G-d's command! So too with prayer: we shouldn't pray
because we want to ask G-d for our needs, but rather, we should pray because
G-d commanded us to ask Him for what we lack.
We see something similar in this week's Torah portion (based on Likutey Torah of the Ari, Ve'etchanan (67b)). The commandment to keep Shabbat says, "Keep the Shabbat to sanctify it, as you have been commanded by G-d, your Lord (5/12)." Similarly, the commandment to honor our parents says, "Honor your father and your mother, as you have been commanded by G-d, your Lord" (5/16). In both verses, the words 'as you have been commanded by G-d, your Lord' seem unnecessary. The reason the Torah adds these words in just these two mitzvahs is because both of the commandments have a moral foundation that would cause a person to fulfill them in any case. Shabbat is a day of rest, when we renew our strength for the coming week; honoring our parents is obvious because they raised us. Therefore, the verse tells us, 'do THESE commandments as you have been commanded by G-D, your Lord-do them because G-d commanded us to do so, and leave the other moral and intellectual reasons as secondary.
Shabbat Shalom,
Shaul
