Overview
of the Weekly Reading
To be read on Shabbat Devarim - 9 Av 5772 /July 28
Torah: Deut. 1:1-3:22
Haftorah: Isaiah 1:1-27 (3rd
of the Three Haftorahs of Affliction)
Pirkei
Avot: Chapter 3 Devarim is the 1st
Reading out of 11 in Deuteronomy and it contains 5972 letters, in 1548
words, in 105 verses Overview:
All of the Book of Devorim takes place in the last forty days of
Moshe's life. He begins by reviewing many of the Jews’ desert travels, wars
and conquests, the appointing of judges, the spies’ sin and the nation’s subsequent
punishment. G-d promises to help Yehoshua conquer in the Land of Israel as He
helped Moshe conquer the lands of the Emorites and Bashan (the present day Golan)
which were given to the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and part of Menashe.
An
essay from
Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent (L:4472/Devarim)
 (for
a free weekly email subscription, click
here)
This Monday evening and Tuesday (the 5th
of Av) mark the hillulah (anniversary of the passing) of the Holy Ari,
Rabbi Yitzchok Luria, the greatest of the Tsfat kabbalists. Many thousands of
visitors will arrive in Tsfat to pray at his gravesite. Rabbi Luria led the Tsfat
community of kabbalists for two years, assuming leadership after the passing of
Rabbi Moshe Cordovero in 1570. He passed away on the 5th of the Jewish month of
Av, 1572. Almost all the writings we have from the Ari were collected and edited
by his main student and protégé, Rabbi Chaim Vital. This
week's Torah portion, Devarim, is the beginning of Moshe's last discourse, in
which he tells the Jewish nation how to prepare to enter and conquer the Holy
Land. Rabbi Vital, in his Sefer Etz Hadaas, quotes his teacher, the Ari, as follows:
The land of Israel is the dwelling place of G-d in this plane. Therefore it
is called "the land" and the rest of the world is called "outside,"
since [other lands] are only peripheral to G-d's dwelling place. This is like
the image of the pupil of the eye, which is in the center of the eye, and from
where all sight emanates. This is the secret of the verse, "always are the
eyes of G-d upon it [the land, from the beginning of the year to the end of the
year]." This is discussed in the Zohar, Parshas Shelach, where it says that
the entire world is like the eye of a person. The white is the oceans which surround,
and the black is man's habitations. And in the pupil of the eye is Jerusalem.
And just like the pupil is the innermost point and the rest is outside of it,
so too, the land of Israel is the inner point of the world and the rest is the
externality of it…
When the Torah describes Jacob's ladder (Vayeitzei
28), the ladder stands on the ground ("artza") and its head reaches
the heavens. "The ground" also refers to the land of Israel. The word
"eretz," is usually used for "land," but here it has
an added letter, "hai." The added hai in the context of
the land of Israel hints to Israel being uniquely G-d's dwelling, (referencing
the last letter of G-d's most holy name). The end of the verse, "reaches
heaven," is telling us that the ladder transcends the physical land, the
physical Jerusalem, and reaches the supernal Jerusalem above. As the verse says,
"And behold, G-d stands upon it," connecting physical and spiritual.
Until
Mashiach comes and all the Jewish people are gathered again in the land of Israel,
we can only get a taste of Israel's true power. Until then, every Jew can connect
to Israel by conquering his or her private physical and spiritual space, transforming
it into a personal Eretz Yisrael, a Holy Land. Just as the Almighty made
the tribes victorious in conquering the land, so too, when a person is on a Divine
mission, the Almighty is with us every step of the way.
The instruction for
this work is what Moshe told the tribes of Reuven and Gad. They were told that
they have to be warriors, leading their brethren in conquest of the land. The
Torah describes the warriors of these tribes as able to "rip the arm and
the head" (Devarim 33). Specifically, we face two types of obstacles that
block our success. "Head" refers to intellectual obstacles, where a
person imagines that he or she does not have the strength or ability to fight
this spiritual war. "Hand" refers to physical obstacles, and in particular,
the difficulty of giving up on one's creature comforts to invest fully in the
battle. The verse is telling us that Reuven and Gad would "cut the arm and
the head with one stroke" (see Rashi to Devarim 33/20). This teaches us that
in these days immediately before Mashiach's imminent arrival, there is no time
to get caught up in dealing with the "arm" alone, or the "head"
alone, as we would if we had the time and opportunity to do things in an orderly
way. In these times, there is no order in taking the very last sparks of divinity
out of exile so that they can return to their source. Rather, each of us must
grab what we can, when we can. (Rebbe's Talks, 1984, pg. 2321)
Shabbat
Shalom, Shaul
Please
also read my weekly Shabbat Law, below. (for a free
weekly email subscription, click
here)
For last year's essay by Rabbi
Leiter on this week's Reading, see the archive.
FROM
THE CHASSIDIC REBBES "If any case is too difficult for
you, bring it to me and I will hear it" (1:17)
The Baal Shem Tov
taught in the name of the Ramban that the meaning of this verse is, if you don't
know how or whether at all to do something, know that the doubt arises from you
because of the personal gain that you would derive from doing it. Therefore, dis-attach
yourself from the personal gain you would derive from doing it, and "bring
it to Me" -- that is, intend to do it for the sake of Heaven, without any
motive for personal gain. Then, "I will hear it"; I will make it heard
- I will give that person the understanding how to behave.
[Baal Shem Tov]
For
more than a decade of "From the Chasidic Rebbes" on this Weekly Reading,
see our archives
MOSHIACH
THIS WEEK
The famous Chasidic rebbe known as 'the Shpoler Zeide'
lived in an attic, On the ninth of Av each year he would stick his head out of
the window and call out to the the Al-mighty: "You wrecked Your house, and
You're crying over that? You've got what to cry about!" He then began to
list names of different Mishnaic and Talmudic sages, while saying, "They
asked You; they prayed to You: Bring the Moshiach! But You still haven't. The
Baal Shem Tov asked You for Moshiach. But You still didn't bring him. And now
I'm asking You for Moshiach. But...You're still not bringing him! Soon a day is
coming when they won't want (G-d forbid) - not You, and not Your Moshiach. Then
You'll have to bring him!" For nearly a decade
of "Moshiach This Week " on this Weekly Reading, see our archives
From
the Kabbalah Commentaries on the Chumash ("5 Books of Moses") 13th
century - "RambaN" - Rabbi Moshe
ben Nachman 14th
century - "Bachya" - Rabbi Bachya
ben Asher 16th
century - "Alsheich" - Rabbi Moshe
Alshech of Tsfat 18th
century - "Ohr HaChayim" - Rabbi
Chaim Ben Attar a sample for this week:Ohr
HaChayim "…which Moses spoke, etc."
[1:1] Inasmuch as Moses commences with hinting at Israel's insubordination
already at the Sea of Reeds, the present generation might well have countered
that there was no point in dragging up sins committed by people who had long since
died. After all, the last of the 600,000 men whose death had been decreed as a
result of the sin of the spies had died on the 15th of Av previously. The Torah
therefore teaches that if Moses had spoken in G-d's name, such a complaint might
have been justified. However, Moses personally was not bound by such considerations
and he deemed it important to remind those who had been younger than twenty at
the time of the Exodus to look back on a string of insubordinations the people
had been guilty of already at that stage of the Exodus. While it was quite true
that the Celestial Court sentences only people above the age of 20, the same is
not true of courts administered by judges on earth who consider males over 13
years as fully liable for their actions. When Moses "dragged" up these
ancient sins, he had in mind all those who had been at least 13 years old at the
time.
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.
For
the rest of "The Masters of Kabbala and Chumash" on this
Weekly Reading; and on all the other Readings. |
A
MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE from
the Chabad Master series, produced by
Rabbi Yosef Marcus for www.ascentofsafed.com
and www.kabbalaonline.org For
a free email subscription to the Chabad Master series, click
here.
FROM
THE SAGES OF KABBALAH ON KabbalaOnline.org Specifically,
for an overview of the recommended articles in the columns:
Holy Zohar,
Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary Kabbalists, and
more,
click to Devarim one
sample: The Zohar  Divine
Encounter in Egypt
From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
Israel
only recognized G-d's true majesty after they were in Egypt and were forced into
slave labor and cried out to Him. Even though they were slaves and were exposed
every day to all types of sorcery and similar wickedness designed to lead people
astray, nevertheless, they didn't alter their customs or stray from the path of
holiness. Afterwards they merited to see many miracles and mighty deeds;
"I am the Lord your G-d from the land of Egypt", for that was the land
where He revealed His Glory To
continue, click
here. For a free email subscription to our weekly anthology,
click here.
For another taste of recommended Kabbalah articles on a variety of subjects,
click to the our
weekly Kabbalah magazine
Here
is a smaple from this week's:  KOL
Magazine, Vol. 8, No.44 This year we will not fast on Tisha b'Av!, the
day commemorating the destruction in the past of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem
(see the last 4 articles).
That's because it falls on Shabbat, so the fast
is postponed until sunset on Shabbat Day. It continues until we make Havdala on
Sunday night.
The 5th of Av (Monday night - Tuesday) is the 440th "Hilula"
(yahrzeit celebration) of the Holy Ari, greatest of the Tzefat Kabbalists.
Join
KabbalaOnline in Tzefat at ASCENT, and thousands of others all around the town
for the annual pilgrimage and Tzefat celebration.. Sample
article:
.jpg) The
Hidden Festival
By Rabbi Yaakov Menashe Normally, on a fast day, we
say Vidui (confessions) and Tachanun (supplications). Yet on Tish'a B’Av
(the 9th of the Jewish month of Av), one of the saddest days in the Jewish calendar,
we do not say any supplications, as if putting Tisha B’Av on a par with the
Holidays. Why is this? [To continue, click here] |
