QUESTIONS ON PARASHAT VA'ETCHANNAN

1. Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

What is the connection between declaring our allegiance to God through the words of the Shema and teaching words of Torah to our children? How important is this mitzva? Are we only responsible for teaching our own children Torah?

2. The first Shabbat after Tisha B'Av is called Shabbat Nachamu. The special name for this Shabbat is derived from the opening words of this week's haftara - Isaiah 40:1-26. What does the Hebrew word nachamu mean and why is this haftara always read after Tisha B'Av?