Parsha Va’Eschanan: It’s What You Don’t See

Parsha Va’Eschanan: It’s What You Don’t See

 Dedicated to a refuah shelaima for Yehudis bas Leah, Yona Yaakova bas Mina, Chana Zelda bat Gittel Yita, Chaya Sarah bas Esther Leah, Moshe Aaron ben Necha Itta, Binyamin ben Simcha, and Yaakov ben Esther Malka.

Parshas Va’Eschanan is always read on Shabbas Nachamu, the Shabbas after Tisha B’Av. It is the parsha that extols the connection of Hashem and Bnei Yisrael, which should reflect the deeper experience of Tisha B’Av. This is the time when we see Hashem in our pain, when we recognize that our tragedies are a reflection of our distance from Him, and that it is up to us to work on bringing ourselves closer so that Hashem can remove the cloud of hester panim, of His hiding Himself away.

If we are honest with ourselves, we understand that the distance we experience today – the distance from Hashem and the distance from our own inner spirituality – is our own fault. Humanity has such a great desire to assert its independence and to challenge the status quote that we often break away from our spiritual core in our attempt to grasp it. We want proof of God and proof of our neshama because that is, many wrongfully believe, the only way we can understand the Divine. Somewhere deep within us, we have this notion that if we could just “see” the Divine then all of our problems would be solved, but, really, the solution lies in NOT seeing Hashem.

Parshas Vaeschanan contains one of the core prayers of Jewish life: Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. HEAR o’ Israel Hashem is our God, Hashem is One. Not See – Hear. The act of seeing is rooted in the physical. If I can see it, I don’t have to have faith since I have evidence. I don’t have to do any internal work to accept and understand.  Hearing, on the other hand, is an internal process. Sound enters our ears, so to speak, and reverberates throughout our being. They say that the eyes are windows to the soul, but you don’t enter through a window. The entry doors, then, are the ears – for they are responsible for hearing, for listening.

Moshe understood the human desire for something physical. Afterall, he remembered the first generation’s reaction to his delayed return from Har Sinai, how they demanded that Aaron create the Golden Calf because they feared that they had lost Moshe, their physically visible connection to Hashem. And so Moshe says to the people gathered at the border of the Promised Land: “For your souls’ sakes, therefore, be most careful—since you saw no shape when Hashem spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire—” (Devarim 4:15) and reminds them of all the prohibitions of creating forms of avodah zarah. This is Moshe warning the people that they will never be able to make Hashem concrete because, as they experienced, He is so much vaster than the visible world.

Rabbeinu Bahya explains this pasuk as a statement of truth: “Seeing that you know clearly that you did not see any phenomenon, image, at the time when Hashem revealed Himself, you must take care in the future never to make such a likeness…”  (Translation from Sefaria). You must take care in the future not to believe that there can ever be such a likeness. A physical likeness of Hashem would be limiting, and Hashem is limitless.

There is an interesting thing about the idea of hester panim, about the hidden face of Hashem. Panim is a plural word, always. Why? There are many responses to this question, but one such answer might be that a face is a reflection. People see in one another’s face mirrors of themselves. When we smile at someone, they most often smile back. When we like someone, they become beautiful. Our neshamos are reflections of Hashem. When Hashem hid His face from us, it also meant we lost something of ourselves, and that something, perhaps, is an understanding of our strength as spiritual creations.

Noting how Devarim 4:15 refers to guarding nefshoseichem, your souls, Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsh draws attention back to the interconnectedness of the soul to the Divine. The emuna that we inherited from Avraham Avinu is not something one can assess in one’s physical DNA. There’s no chromosome. It’s a “mutation” so to speak, in one’s spiritual DNA. It’s a link through that which cannot be seen or touched. This, according to Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsh, can be learned from this pasuk:

“…Besides God, there is only one other being of whose individual reality and personal existence, although invisible and unable to be realised by any of our physical senses, each one of us bears within himself the direct certainty of conviction, and that is our soul, our נפש. It is that, therefore, which reflecting back on oneself makes one comprehend the real existence of something which is invisible and intangible, and by the certainty of the conviction of one’s own self comprehend the conviction of the existence of God. As sure as we are of the existence of our own self so are we of the existence of God.” (translation from Sefaria)

The self of spirituality exists on a plane that we cannot see and we cannot touch. The questioning of God leaves us with the question of how we each are who we are because “nature vs nurture” and gene predictions still can’t explain the whole. But if you are very quiet and you listen, you can start to understand that the very nature of humankind, the very nature of the world itself, is all one and that one is Hashem. This is the truth that we will see – yes, see – in the time of Beis Hamikdash, bmheira biyameinu.

I wish you all a beautiful Shabbas.

 

Parshas Va’eschanan: Moshe’s Message Even Today

This Shabbas is known as Shabbas Nachamu after the opening words of the Haftarah, which is a message of comfort after the disheartening observance of Tisha B’Av. Shabbas Nachamu always coincides with the reading of Parshas Va’etchanan, a parsha whose second aliyah is particularly apt for this time of year as it is an emotional roller coaster that is both frightening and comforting at the same time.

 

Va’etchanan continues Moshe’s parting words to Bnei Yisrael, and one can see within his words his deep love for the people he has led. The second aliyah, which is Devarim 4:5-40, begins with a statement of the greatness of Klal Yisrael – a statement that is meant to be an eternal warning and inspiration: “See, I have imparted to you laws and rules, as my God Hashem has commanded me, for you to abide by in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. Observe them faithfully, for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment to other peoples, who on hearing of all these laws will say, ‘Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people’” (Devarim 4:5-6)

 

The chukim and mishpatim of Bnei Yisrael were Divinely unique in their path to set the nation on track both civilly, morally, and spiritually. The laws were designed to address bein adam l’chavero, bein adam l’atzmo, and bein adam l’Makom. And the laws were given to help Bnei Yisrael become a unique example that people would wish to emulate.

 

Moshe needed the people to know that it is a path of greatness and that it is a path that requires great effort: “But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children’s children” (4:9).

 

These verses may seem like a continuation of previous admonishments in the Torah, but they are unique because these are not Hashem’s words, these are Moshe’s. The verses within this section of the parsha weave between “I”s and “You”s. When Moshe is telling the people what they should and should not do, it is not a rebuke but a testament of his love for them, his love that came at a tremendous personal cost.

 

“Now Hashem was angry with me on your account and swore that I should not cross the Jordan and enter the good land that your God Hashem is assigning you as a heritage” (4:21). Moshe hurts, emotionally, because he cannot enter the land with the people. But this is not Moshe complaining. This is Moshe trying to make certain that the people before him and the generations to come receive the most important message. Hashem keeps His word, always. Indeed, numerous commentaries discuss why, at the opening of the parsha and here, Moshe claims his punishment is “on your account.”

As summarized on Aish.com: “The Ohr HaChaim takes this same approach to its inescapable conclusion: Had Moshe entered the Land, the Temple would have been built – and could never have been destroyed; such was the spiritual power of Moshe. Had the Jews sinned despite this spiritual center, God would have destroyed the people, while the building [the temple] would have remained standing, intact and unscathed. God did not allow Moshe to enter the Land so that He could take out his "anger" on the building, on the stone and mortar of the Beit haMikdash, rather than on the people who had transgressed. The people would be exiled, not annihilated. Thus, Moshe rightly explains, his own punishment was ‘for your sakes.’”

 

Moshe’s punishment is “on your account” looking forward, not backward. And looking forward, Moshe knows: “When you have children and grandchildren, and are long-established in the land, and you become corrupt and make a sculpted image, the likeness of anything, and do evil in the eyes of God, your God, provoking Him to anger. I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you that you shall soon perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess; you shall not long endure in it but shall be utterly wiped out from it” (4:25-26).

 

Note the use of the personal pronoun “I.” This is Moshe speaking. This is not Moshe conveying Hashem’s words, but Moshe passionately telling the people that he knows that they will go down wrong paths. He knows because he loves them enough to know that they are not yet where they need to be and he is willing to tell them. It is a statement not a rebuke.

 

Indeed, it is not for no reason that the first five verses of the perek – part of the first aliyah – describe the death of those who sinned and fell to idolatry and immorality at Baal Peor. If even those in the generation of the Midbar could be waylaid… future generations must gird themselves with the knowledge Moshe was imparting that day. The most significant part of which was that even as they falter they must know:

 “But if you search there, you will find your God Hashem, if only you seek with all your heart and soul— when you are in distress because all these things have befallen you and, in the end, return to and obey your God Hashem. For your God Hashem is a compassionate God, who will not fail you nor let you perish; [God] will not forget the covenant made on oath with your fathers.  You have but to inquire about bygone ages that came before you, ever since God created humankind on earth, from one end of heaven to the other: has anything as grand as this ever happened, or has its like ever been known?” (4:29-32)

 

There are so many traps in the world to lead us off our path both as individuals and as a nation. Moshe specifically warns about idolatry because idolatry is cutting ourselves off from our relationship with Hashem, from the deeply personal connection that Moshe is telling us we have. This is why he states: “For your own sake, therefore, be most careful—since you saw no shape when Hashem spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire” (4:15).

 

Parshas Va’etchanan is a parsha that resonates with relatability even in our time. We are no longer in an era of idolatry. We don’t think of statues or stars as divine beings. We do, however, chase after ideas and -isms, unseen idealizations that are equally man made. Hashem may not have appeared in a visible shape, but His presence at Har Sinai was unquestionable. These isms speak of justice and righteousness, but within them is human pretext.

 

More and more we are seeing Jews around the world realizing that something is wrong, that something isn’t working. Those others to whom they turned for guidance still see us as part of a different nation, still want us to earn the title of “great nation is a wise and discerning people,” which Moshe here points out can only be achieved but observing the laws faithfully.

 

It is no small task, but it is a task that Moshe, our greatest teacher, knew every generation would be up for. It is a task – perhaps the task- that must balance our fight for the physical land that we love.

Parshas VaEschanan: Thinking About What is Coming

This past week was…intense. Not a few people went into last Shabbas wondering if this week would see unthinkable disaster or, perhaps, ever-yearned for salvation. With Iran threatening to attack and reports insinuating that they would do so on Tisha B’Av, the Jewish world held its breath. And life continued forward as before. And many wondered, even as they were grateful for the lack of attack, why or when – and even why we keep cutting to the edge of a new era but are unable to get there.

 There are many interesting aspects to this week’s parsha, Parshas Vaeschanan, that could speak to the situation in which we are living. In particular, it is interesting to look at the second half of perek hey (5), starting at pasuk 20, which is the beginning of the fifth aliyah. In the parek, Moshe is describing the reaction of Bnei Yisrael to hearing Hashem at Har Sinai, at the giving of the Aseres Hadibros.

 “And it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, and the mountain was burning with fire, that you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord, our God, has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we saw this day that God speaks with man, yet [man] remains alive. So now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we continue to hear the voice of the Lord, our God, anymore, we will die. For who is there of all flesh, who heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? You approach, and hear all that the Lord, our God, will say, and you speak to us all that the Lord, our God, will speak to you, and we will hear and do’” (Devarim 5:20-24).

 In other words, the people stood at Sinai, saw the thunder, heard the lightening, listened to Hashem’s voice, and grew terribly afraid. They knew that they were receiving something sublime, that they were experiencing a moment that would take them to another level of existence – and they backed away from it. They feared it. They asked Moshe to intervene for them.

 The Rambam listed 13 tenets of Jewish faith, the Ani Maamins, and one of those is “I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach, and although he may tarry, nevertheless, I wait every day for him to come.” Waiting – yearning – planning – pining for Moshiach. This is what a Yid does.

 

But, to say something controversial…

 

It is part of the human condition to fear change.  It is natural to be afraid of the unknown. And as much as we all may express our emunah, true emunah and bitachon is incredibly difficult to achieve. Over the past few weeks, the question of what to daven for has been a conundrum. If one davens that this is Moshiach coming, does that mean one does not daven for peace and stability. And if one davens that the enemy backs down, is that buying more time until global decisions necessary for spiritual change are made?

 Bnei Yisrael at Har Sinai were at an inconceivable level of spiritual awareness, and their fear drove them to make space between themselves and the Divine. Have we grown past that? Can we? Ani Maamin b’emunah shelaima bviyas Hamashiach…but is that enough? Believing Moshiach is coming, wanting Moshiach to come, preparing for Moshiach –  but will we be able to embrace Moshiach when he comes?

 This week’s parsha is named Va’eschanan, which means “And I entreated.”  This week’s Shabbas, however, is known as Shabbas Nachamu, after the opening words of the Haftarah, which mean “Console, console My people," says your God” (Yeshiyahu 40:1).  There is a tremendous lesson of bitachon in the two names associated with this Shabbas. When one takes it upon themselves to truly beseech Hashem, to reach out and entreat Him for help – whether that be asking Hashem to send Moshiach or asking Hashem to help one get to the level of emunah to fulfill the ani maamins – then one will be able to witness Nachamu, the consolation and comforting of our nation.

 

May we achieve this soon.

Good Shabbas

 

Parshas Va’Eschanan – How Supplication Can Be Comforting

Yesterday was Tisha B’av, tomorrow is Shabbas Nachamu, and today is the short space in between where we can contemplate that dynamic. This is the closest those two days ever come together, and that offers us a profound opportunity to contemplate the real possibility of transitioning from gulus to geula. For many of us, as much as we intellectually do yearn for Moshiach and a new era, there is a stumbling block in fully accepting the concept. Partially this is because of our natural tendency to feel safe in the space in which we are living, and partially this is because we have trouble truly believing in redemption. 

The parsha read on Shabbas Nachamu is always Va’eschanan. It is the second parsha in Sefer Dvarim, the sefer that was written on the precipice of great change. This parsha starts with Moshe’s personal tragedy – with the one time in which his beseeching Hashem was rebuffed. But in this, there is much that we can learn about the importance of wanting to move forward. Moshe tells the people of how strongly he pleaded with Hashem to encourage them to go forward. He was their safety in the wilderness, but he was ending, and the next era was already being prepared for them. That Shabbas Nachamu’s parsha contains this rich depth of yearning is an excellent reminder that even if we have just observed another day of desolation, even if Hashem has not granted us redemption yet, we should still be driven to ask and ask and ask again.

The word redemption means “the action of regaining or gaining possession of something” or “the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.” It has both a both physical and a metaphysical meaning, and this is essential to the Jewish idea of redemption, of Moshiach. On a physical level, we will return to the Promised Land. On a metaphysical level, we will once more be ready, as a people, to be on the spiritual level of avdei Hashem. And while most of us in the 21^st century can now understand the possibility of the physical return, the state of the world, the state of the Jewish people in particular, makes us worry that we will never earn redemption – and this, too, is answered in Parshas Va’eschanan.

Moshe recaps the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai and the great and glorious purpose of the Torah just before he plunges into the sure and certain declaration that future generations will stray and be punished and return. And then he recites the Aseret Hadibros, the Ten Commandments - the same and yet different. This is a powerful reminder to us of the very real possibility of spiritual redemption. Bnei Yisrael messed up bad, and Hashem gave them another chance. Hashem wants Bnei Yisrael to succeed. Hashem wants to bring about an era in which He can remove the Hester Panim, the hiddenness He bears to mankind. He gives us opportunities upon opportunities.

Tradition tells us that the reason that Hashem tells Moshe, “Do not continue to speak to Me further about this matter” (Devarim 3:26) is because if Moshe had asked one more time, Hashem would have relented. This is what is important about Parshas Va’eschanan.

How often in the Torah did Moshe implore Hashem on behalf of Bnei Yisrael. Hashem wants to forgive. Hashem wants to push us to the next era. Bnei Yisrael gathered around a golden calf, seemingly the ultimate spiritual fail, and Hashem still gave them another chance, a new set of commandments, because Hashem is aware of the glorious potential within us. Nachamu, be comforted, because while  redemption has not come yet, it will.

There is a powerful message in the timing of Parshas Va’eschanan. Don’t give up on imploring Hashem until He tells you not to say another word (should we ever be on such a level!) and be comforted. Hashem wants to hear our pleas, and Hashem wants to give us another chance. Believing this whole heartedly, we can go from desolation to comfort in an instance. May that time come speedily in our days.

Wishing you all a beautiful Shabbas.

Parshas Va’eschanan – Because of Hashem’s Love

Va’eschanan el Hashem – “And I implored to Hashem…” Thus Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest prophet and teacher in Jewish history, states at the beginning of this week’s parsha when he reminds the people that he is going to die and will not lead them into the Promised Land.

 

Well, goodness! Let’s be honest…If Moshe’s pleading with Hashem didn’t work, what chance is there that my prayers will? We read about Moshe’s “crime” of striking the rock instead of speaking to it, and we (meaning an average, ordinary person) wonder how this could be considered such an unforgiveable error. The only real answer is that the world, Hashem’s world, is so much bigger than we can understand, and, in many ways, this is an undercurrent of this weeks parsha.

 

Parshas Va’eschanan’s first independent perek - since it starts with the last seven verses of perek gimmel – begins with Moshe’s warning to the people to “listen to the decrees and the ordinances that I teach you to perform, so that you may live, and you will come and possess the Land that Hashem, the God of your forefathers, gives you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor shall you subtract from it, to observe the commandments of Hashem your God, that I command you” (4:1-3). And again, the most honest reaction one might have is to wonder what might be wrong with enhancing one’s devotion, with adding laws to make society more zealous or remove a law for the sake of making the world more just. But the Torah tells us straight out that this is not something we are capable of, not even the most holy of us can cross the line of God’s commandments…

…because then we all do. Moshe’s repetitious reminder against creating a carved image of any type is followed immediately by the declaration that “When you beget children and grandchildren and will have been long in the Land, you will grow corrupt and make a carve image of anything, and you will do evil in the eyes of Hashem” (4:25).

 

The consequence of our betrayal shall be – has been - our scattering through the nations, our loss of “rank,” so to speak and, more significantly, our lack of connection. When we think that we can understand Hashem enough to create carved images or enough to transform His laws, that is when we become lost. That is when we must seek our way back to the basics so that the covenant can be revived.

 

Devarim 4:29 speaks of this process. It says: “From there you’all (to represent 2^nd person plural) will seek Hashem, your God, and you will find him if you’all search for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” This is a fascinating and revelatory pasuk. The actions that must be taken are stated in second person plural, but the other verbs and pronouns (including Hashem Elokecha) are second person singular. We as a people must come to understand what our laws and our role in the world mean, but each individual must find his/her own path within that law, they must find the path with their heart and their soul individually.

 

Moshe lists all the wonders and miracles and proofs of Bnei Yisrael’s unique relationship with Hashem, but all these miracles were done, Moshe explains, “in order for you [Bnei Yisrael] to know that Hashem, He is the God. There is none beside him” (4:35). And they were done for klal Yisrael, for Moshe, for the people who left Mitzrayim, and for the people gathered before him that day…all these miracles were done because “He loved your forefathers, and He chose his offspring after him…” (4:37).

 

Parshas Va’eschanan contains the most famous lines of the Torah, the most significant words in a Jew’s life: Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem, Echad…” (6:4). It also contains the commandment to “Love Hashem your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might…” (6:5).

 

We have trouble staying within the lines of our restrictions because we cannot be to Hashem as Hashem is to us. Hashem loves Bnei Yisrael because He “sees” in us the traits of spiritual passion and spiritual awareness that Avraham possessed. He gives to Bnei Yisrael unceasingly, with all His might. Hashem gives because He knows clearly the critical role we are meant to play in this world, and everything the happens to Bnei Yisrael – collectively and individually – is meant to help us connect to that role. We cannot ever match His love for us, His care for us. Hashem knows that. Hashem knows the limitations of being human. That is why He gave us these guidelines as set down in our Torah.

 

We were not chosen for our own merits. We were chosen because of Hashem’s love. Now we must put our efforts, all of our efforts, into returning that love - And Hashem tells us exactly how to do it: With all our heart, with all our soul and with all our might, by following the laws of His Torah.  

 

Parshas Va’eschanan: Does the Opinion of the Nations Matter?

Does it matter what the other nations think of us? It is a question that is surely asked in different ways in every generation. Sometimes it is asked in an off-hand manner, sometimes condescendingly, and sometimes with honest concern. It sounds like a philosophical question but, in truth, it is really a practical one… or at least it should be, and it is one that needs to be particularly and uniquely addressed in the age of universal entertainment and social media.

There is a growing sense in the world that not only do we lack total privacy (given that Amazon, Walmart, and such, seem to know what one needs even before one begins to search) but that our every action is being judged. In a world of hyper-sensitivity to any form of “ism,” one might expect a decrease in anti-Semitism. Statistics, however, demonstrate the opposite. In an era of identity politics, Jewish identity is under attack – blatantly reminding us, once again, that it does matter what the other nations think. 

Before anyone gets defensive and declares that the relationship of Klal Yisrael and Hashem is what matters most and that Hashem runs the world and decides our fate – both collectively and individually, this is a fact that is not in question. But it is all one of a piece. The Torah shows us that Hashem wants us to pay attention to the entire world. In the beginning of parshas Va’eschanan, Moshe tells the people: “Observe them [laws and rules] faithfully, for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment to other people, who on hearing of all these laws will say, ‘Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people’” (Bamidbar 4:6).

Moshe told Bnei Yisrael straight out that it is important to heed the feeling of the other nations toward the Jews. He did so because we are supposed to be an Am Kodesh, a sanctified nation. We are meant to be the spiritual leaders of the world, and if the other nations do not find us praiseworthy, we have failed.

It seems that this pasuk becomes particularly relevant as the world of observant Judaism is besmirched in entertainment media. With books and television shows being created as tell-alls about why people were miserable in their lives in observant communities, with a vaudevillian level of hyperbole to make certain it is entertaining, who would want to come to this Am and praise them for their faithfulness? Should we be angry at the people who create this media – certainly, particularly those who ignore the thought that it could damage the lives of many people. But perhaps watching the world swallow those portrayals without question should be an alarm to us, a clarion call to look at ourselves and how we behave.

It is not as simple as demanding strict observance of the law…indeed, perhaps this type of call – the one that demands new stringencies in the wake of tragedy – is one we must reevaluate all together. In this section of the Torah, Moshe also tells the people “Take the utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so they do not fade from your mind as long as you live” (ibid 4:9). What did Bnei Yisrael see? We saw miracles. And when we reacted to those miracles with joy and song, as we did after the Yam Suf, we rose to a position where the whole world was watching us with awe. This, according to our sages, was actually why the actions of Amalek were so heinous – that while the whole world saw triumph and power and God’s greatness through Bnei Yisrael, they dared to attack. However, when Bnei Yisrael “forgot” the power of the miracles that had been witnessed, when they complained and looked only to what they did not have and to fear and anxiety, then Klal Yisrael suffered.

Our history tells us of the glorious ages of the past, when the Beis Hamikdash was a beacon to the world. And we lost it. First to our inability to remain faithful, as Moshe warns, and then to our inability to live with joy and love – because sinas chinam, senseless hatred, only comes from a place where there is no true joy.

To be the nation that inspires the world, we must remember Moshe’s words to “observe faithfully,” but we must do so with joy and with love. Moshe gives us some subtle clues of how to do this in this parsha as well: “You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it” (ibid 4:2).  The world of Jewish life that is portrayed so negatively in entertainment media is a world that is fettered by chosen limitations and enforced judgementalism.  We must remember that there were twelve distinct shvatim and that our tradition speaks of seventy faces to the Torah. Do not add means remember that a chumrah is a stringency, something a person or community takes upon themselves to enhance their devotion, but when a stringency becomes a rule then have we not added to the Torah? Have we not created a new “law”? Or, at least, are we not teaching our children that these are laws when they are not?

Does it matter what the other nations think of us? Yes, it does. “Observe faithfully,” pasuk 4:6, is said to the klal as a whole in the second person plural, but the call to watch yourselves scrupulously is spoken individually, in second person singular. For us to rise again to the pinnacle of world opinion, to the place where we are looked upon with awe, we have to focus not on the differences, on the individual expressions within the realm of Torah observance, for each of us must guard our own souls. Rather we must demonstrate joy and ahavas Yisrael. When all Jews feel that they have a place in the nation, then we can start to rise again, and when the world sees our nation come together and radiate the beauty of Hashem’s Torah, we will finally have succeeded in becoming an Ohr Goyim, a light unto the nations.

 

 

 

 

Statues (Va'Eschanan #3)

In this week's parsha, Parshas Va’eschanan, we read Moshe's recitation of the Aseres Hadibros, the Ten Commandments. Just as when they are first recorded in Sefer Shemos, hereto one cannot help but sense the majesty and import of these first fundamental mitzvot. While most of the Aseres Hadibros are easily understood well across the spectrum of time and space, the Second Commandment can seem a bit archaic to those of us in the 21st century: "You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters beneath the earth" (Devarim 5:8). The implication of the prohibition is that this is connected to avodah zarah, idol worship, because the commandment continues: “You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me, but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments” (5:9-10).

Upon first reading, one might easily scoff at the foolishness of making a statue for worship. It is easy to forget that we benefit from the prayers of the Anshei Knessesst Hagedola, who prayed that the urge for idol worship would be removed from the people. Deeming ourselves advanced and educated, we do not question that the statuary in our modern society are either artistic creations or the commissioned work of artisans designed to commemorate and/or communicate. 

Statues are powerless, obviously - and, yet, such a belief may be short-sighted. Rioters pulling down public statues are wrong for their brazen acts of destruction, for their lack of civil civic behaviour, and for their desire to ferment chaos and rewrite reality how they see it. However, perhaps their actions are a means of helping us realize that while we may not believe these statues are gods, we should not believe that graven images have no power.

The Aseres Hadibros is not the only place in Parshas Va’eschanan where the making of statues is prohibited. Moshe says to the people, "And you shall watch yourselves very well, for you did not see any images on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire. Lest you become corrupt and make for yourselves a graven image, the representation of any form, the likeness of male or female" (4:15-16). - Here, Moshe is reminding the people that the greatest moment in their history cannot be encapsulated in one specific form. He is, in a way, instructing them that they cannot, with their mortal hands, capture the momentuous occasion of God giving them the Torah. It has already been recorded in its best form in the Torah itself. 

The perek continues with several similar prohibitions, such as not looking to the heavens and finding stars and celestrial objects to worship. One might easily question whether the prohibition of creating graven images was meant only for images which one intended to worship or includes images that are artistic. In truth this is a far larger topic, but there is room for leniency as long as, according to the Ba’al Ha’Turim’s understanding, one makes the form imperfect and incomplete (missing a finger, bust of a head, etc).

It is interesting to note that the prohibition of creating graven images is repeated one more time in this same perek. After telling them that he was to die, Moshe says: "Beware, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image, the likeness of anything, which the Lord your God has forbidden you” (4:23). This is not simply a repetition. This is significant. Moshe knows how much the people depend on him, how much faith they have put in him as a means of connecting to Hashem. He does not want a repeat of the cheit haegel.

But what if, one might ask, they just wanted to create something to memorialize him, a way to try to capture his personage for future generations? This is the question we can relate to, and it can be answered with another question - Can a statue capture a man in his full essence or fully articulate the values of a society? Essentially, the answer is no. At the time of their commissioning, most of the statue that are now at the heart of the controversy were created with the idea of capturing the essence of something society felt was important. Time changed, history was reinterpreted, a new generation decided that those values were wrong and these remnants of the past could and should be destroyed. 

Imagine if a statue of Moshe had been made. Beyond the risk, noted by many mefarshim as the reason we do not even know where he is buried, that it would come to be worshipped in its own right, such a statue would forever limit our ability to relate to him beyond that image. Our understanding of Moshe and his role in bringing us the Torah must be understandable for every generation, not a limited image. 

At the end of the Second Commandment, Hashem states: “I, the Lord your God, am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me, but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments” (5:9-10). Ultimately, what is right and what is wrong in our times and in times past and in the future  is up to God to decide, for his understanding of time and place is truly limitless. 

Thoughts on Supplication (Va’eschanan #2)

This week’s Torah portion starts with the word va’eschanan, which, in English, translates to “And I supplicated.” (Also translated as to seek concession and to entreat)

Supplication. It’s a powerful word. Awkward, a bit, in modern English; Perhaps because in 21^stcentury Western society, with no true authoritarian figure to respectfully fear, we rarely find ourselves in need of supplication. In Hebrew, however, it is a particularly beautiful word. As Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch notes: “Chanan is granting, conceding. Chen is to be worthy of concession. Hitchanen is to seek concession for one’s self, to make one’s self worthy of concession…It is a reflexive action on one’s own inner self in connection with God to make it worthy of His being kindly disposed to grant.”  

In Hebrew the verb to pray is l’hitpallel…another reflexive verb. It is taught that proper tefillah is composed of three elements 1. praise, 2. request, and 3. gratitude. As I thought about the name of this week’s parsha, I was struck by the thought that, of these three elements of prayer, proper request is often the most challenging. That may sound strange since it is often noted how people most frequently turn to God only in their times of need. But how many of us actually know how to really voice our requests, how to make one’s concession worthy of “His being kindly disposed to grant [it].”

Praise and gratitude are challenging in that one must determine the difference between the two. One may appreciate (praise) the beauty of the sky and also express gratitude for how the sun gives warmth. The desire to praise Hashem is fueled by the awareness that the power of creation is just so awesome and life is full of reasons to be thankful to Hashem.

Requests, however, are sometimes difficult. Hebrew has a lot of words for asking: l’shoal, l’vakesh, l’hazmin, but l’hitchonen is asking something from a much deeper place in one’s soul. This is what one should be striving for.

Nevertheless, it is easy to struggle to get beyond a shallow level of request. How does one actually supplicate? Perhaps it is east to get stuck at basic asking - although the hard truth is that more often we end up alluding to the problem and assuming that Hashem knows what we mean. Afterall, if Hashem is omniscient, then heHe already knows what we each need, so why are we bothering Him? More than that, if Hashem put a person into whatever situation is bothering them, isn’t it so that they should grow from dealing with it or because it is a situation that He knows they can handle? This attitude prevents one from reaching the proper level of reflection necessary to reach the point of l’hitchonen, to entreat Hashem from the bottom of one’s heart, opening one’s self up to be judged as to what He really wants from us and will do for us.

For all of the significance of the word va’eschanan, one might argue that Moshe’s tefillah to which he is referring (the desire to go into the Promised Land) was refused. In a commentary based on Rabbi Joseph Soleveitchik, I found the following interesting explanation: “When he was told that he would not enter Eretz Yisrael, Moshe pleaded for forgiveness. Had the people joined him in prayer, the Holy One would have been forced to respond. But they did not join. Thus we read that with tears in his eyes Moshe tells them ‘Va’eschanan,’ I prayed alone. ….It was not the fault of Am Yisrael that Moshe made a mistake. But had the people possessed the sensitivity and love for Moshe similar to that love that Moshe felt for them, they would have torn the decree into shreds…”

The difference between va’eschanen and va’nischanen (we plural) is significant. We are a people that is a brotherhood. When one Jew suffers, we must all feel that pain.

I thought about these ideas as I was settling in after a long drive returning from the Bike4 Chai, in which my husband was one of over 500 amazing riders who biked 180 miles to raise money for Chai Lifeline’s Camp Simcha. They raised over $10 million by asking people to open their hearts and their wallets.  How much power the Jewish community has to make a difference in the world! Imagine how much more we could do if we out that same focus into supplicating, and not just asking, Hashem for everything we need.

For Enquire Now (Va'eschanan)

There are no such things as “throw-away lines” or “filler text” in the Torah. The traditional perspective is that every word is from Hashem, and Hashem did not waste any words. This is important to remember when reviewing parshat Va’eschanan, because one could easily get caught up in the big items that this parsha holds. Not only are there the words of the Shema, the ultimate utterance of Jewish faith (Hear O’ Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is one!) and two of the paragraphs that are read with it, but this week’s parsha contains the second iteration of the Ten Commandments. The less famous bits, however, are also incredibly significant.

The fourth chapter of Devarim contains Moshe’s dire prediction that Bnei Yisrael will stray from their relationship with Hashem and will “serve man-made gods of wood and stone” (4:28), but also that they will once again seek out Hashem, Who would forgive them and be compassionate to them. It is followed by a reminder of how unique their experience at Sinai had been, how no other nation had (or has) ever experienced such events.

Within these verses one can find the essence of Jewish survival, the path of teshuva (repentance being its most common translation, but more accurately, return). God never expected perfection, because only God is perfect. Moshe reminds Bnei Yisrael that if they falter, they are not lost. “But if you search for Hashem your God, you will find Him, if only you seek Him with all your heart and soul” (4:29).

Moshe is speaking to the soul of Bnei Yisrael. Many years ago, I heard a Dvar Torah about the name Yisrael and how it can be translated into “he who wrestles with God.” This translation resonated with me deeply, perhaps because emunah has never come easily for me. To really be in a relationship with God requires work. It requires knowing how to answer those who question faith. It requires being willing to fight with oneself against one’s personal, physical desires if they are contrary to the Torah. It requires an active process.

Judaism is a life of questioning, and this week’s parsha contains what very well might be the oldest line of proof text useable to rabbis trying to prove that Judaism encourages questioning and searching: “For enquire now concerning the earliest times which were before you, since the day that God created man (Adam) upon the earth...” (Devarim 4:32).

Perhaps I was particularly effected by this line because my own journey toward observance was very much based in looking at the past. The March of the Living (1992) had a profound effect on me, such that I thought about all of the people who had come before me and had sacrificed so that I could still be a Jew in the 20th (now 21st) century. Every Jew today reflects generations of striving and sacrifice. In later days, in times when I wrestled with faith, one of the most solid proofs in my mind was history. There is no nation that has remained so steadfast since “the earliest times.” Between wars, persecution, and assimilationist tendencies, the probability of Jews maintaining their traditions today is astounding.

This verse is also a reflection of Judaism’s encouragement to acquire knowledge about... everything. For by learning and exploring, one is bound to strengthen their faith in God. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch concludes his comments on this verse by stating that “to obtain knowledge of nature and history which is open to our research within these limits [reflecting previous commentary about limiting study to that which is after Creation] is not only  permitted but something which is eminently desirable to the fullest possible extent, for only a mind armed with such a wide panoramic view on all matters can draw the right conclusions of the Jewish position in the world in the whole of its speciality.”