TORAT ERETZ YISRAEL In addition to the explicit references to Eretz Yisrael found in this week’s parashah, there is at least one hidden reference. When enumerating the four river-branches that issue forth from Eden, the Torah states: The name of the first is Pishon; that is the one that encircles the whole land of Chavillah,…
THE DESIRE OF KINGS This week’s parashah enumerates the blessings that Moshe Rabbeinu gave the Children of Israel before he died. Many of these blessings contain clear references to the special qualities – both spiritual and physical – of Eretz Yisrael. The last verse in Yosef’s blessing states, בכור שורו הדר לו וקרני ראם קרניו…
THE FINAL STAGE OF HISTORY Shirat Ha’azinu is basically a synopsis of Jewish history, starting with HaShem’s choice of Am Yisrael and culminating in the final redemption, for which we so sorely yearn. It therefore behooves us – the generation living so close to the End of Days – to study this Song and learn…
THE INGATHERING OF THE EXILES The Lord your God will return (ve’shav) your captivity and have mercy on you, and He will return (ve’shav) and gather you from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your dispersed will be at the ends of the heavens, from there the Lord your…
TRUE HAPPINESS A recurring theme in this week’s parashah is simcha – happiness. In the opening section, which deals with bikurim (first fruits), the Torah states, – You shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord, your God, has given you and your household (26:11). In the next section, dealing with Vidui Ma’asrot (Confession…
THE LEAP OF FAITH One of the many mitzvot enumerated in this week’s parashah is the prohibition of causing a fellow Jew to take interest (ribit) – i.e., borrowing money on interest. (The prohibition of lending on interest is stated in Shemot 22:24 and VaYikra 25:35-38.) However, the Torah explicitly permits a Jew to give…
PERMANENT PROPERTY You shall not move your fellow man’s boundary, which the earlier ones established, in your inheritance that you shall inherit, in the Land that the Lord, your God, gives you to possess it. (19:14) The Midrash (Sifrei) comments: What does this verse teach us? Does [the Torah] not already state, You shall not…
ME OR WE – THAT IS THE QUESTION כי יכרית ה’ אלוקיך את הגויים אשר אתה בא שמה לרשת אותם מפניך, וירשת אותם וישבת בארצם (יב:כט) When the Lord your God will cut down the nations, which you come to drive them out from before you, you shall drive them out and dwell in…
PRACTICE MAKES IMPERFECT Twice a day we recite the second paragraph of Kri’at Shema, taken from this week’s parashah. By the age of twenty, we have said it well over 10,000 times! If we have paid any attention to what we’ve been saying, we know that it talks about the blessings we will receive if…
