Questions & Commentary on Parashat Devarim
1. Why is Parashat
Devarim always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av? What connection does
it have to this tragic day and what relevant lessons does it communicate to us?
Rabbi Jason Sobel
Tisha B'Av commemorates several terrible tragedies
that have befallen our people including the chorban bet hammiqdash, the
destruction of the first and second Temples.
To remember these tragic events and learn from them, observant Jews fast on the
9th of Av. Elaborating further on the reason why Jews fast on certain days like
Tisha B'Av, the Qitzur Shulchan Arukh states:
It is a mitzva from
the Prophets to fast on those days that troubles befell our ancestors
(Zechariah 8:19). The purpose of the
fast is in order to arouse our hearts to search the ways of repentance, and let
this be a reminder to our evil deeds and our ancestors that were like our
present [evil] deeds until it caused them and us those troubles [that we are
fasting for]. By remembering these things we will repent . . . Therefore it is
incumbent upon each person on those days to search his ways and to turn from
them. Because the main thing is not the fasting . . . The fast is only a
preparation to repentance.
On Tisha B'Av all of us should take the time to
examine our own lives and repent from our own sins. But how does the theme of teshuva
("repentance") connect to this week's Torah portion?
At the beginning of this week's Torah portion it
states, "Moses took it upon himself to expound this Torah" (Deuteronomy 1:5).
But why is this statement made here, when the actual expounding of the Torah
does not begin until chapter five, with the restatement of the Ten
Commandments? Would it not make more sense for verse five to appear as a
preface to chapter five? One Jewish expositor offers the following answer to
our question:
According to our Sages, one of the most fundamental
principals in the worship of God is that one must repent of one's past
transgressions before beginning to learn Torah . . . It was keeping with this
basic precept of Judaism that Moses reproved the people before he proceeded to
teach them the commandments of the Torah. The verse under discussion was placed
immediately before the admonitions in order to explain why Moses wanted to
recall the sin of the children of Israel.
It was because Moses "took it upon himself to explain the Torah" that he had to
reprove his people in order to cause them to repent of their sins.
Me'or VeShemesh
The answer to this question is just one way that Parashat
Devarim and Tisha B'Av are connected. Both are meant to recall the past
transgressions of our forebears in order to move us to repentance. By learning
from their mistakes and turning from them, we bring about a tiqqun
(rectification) for both our sin and theirs. As it states in Leviticus 26:40,
"They shall confess their sin and the sin of their ancestors."
What was their sin and the "sin of our ancestors"
that led to the destruction of the second bet hammiqdash? Knowing the
answer to this question is essential, so that we do not continue to repeat
their mistakes and thus bring further harm to our people and ourselves.
According to our Sages, the primary sin that led to the second Temple's
destruction was sinat chinam - gratuitous, senseless hatred among Jews.
Instead of putting their differences aside in order to fight the Romans during
the siege of Jerusalem,
many choose to fight and murder one another, out of their deep hatred (see
Josephus and b. Gittin 55b).
Does the Sages' reason for the destruction of the
second bet hammiqdash square with what Yeshua taught concerning the Temple's
ruin? In Matthew 23:36-39, he says,
Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this
generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often
I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under
her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate;
for I say to you, you shall see me no more till you say, "Blessed is the one
who comes in the name of the LORD!"
I believe the two explanations are compatible. Both
the brutal treatment of Messiah Yeshua, who came humbly as the Prince of Peace
to redeem Israel,
and the infighting that occurred in the first century among Jews were rooted in
sinat chinam.
The Talmud tells us that "Every generation that
does not merit the rebuilding of the Temple
is deemed to have destroyed it" (y. Yoma 1:1). This very powerful
statement merits careful consideration. This statement is an indictment of
every generation since the Temple's
destruction and a reminder that we are still guilty of the same sins. As
Messianic Jews, we are all too familiar with this kind of Jew against Jew
hatred that persists today due to religious, political, and ethnic differences.
Unless we learn to love and respect all Jews, and all other people for that
matter, we are as guilty as our ancestors in whose footsteps we are following.
2. Parashat Devarim
opens: "These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel
on the other side of the Jordan.
- Through the wilderness, in the Arabah near Suph, between Paran and Tophel,
Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab, it is
eleven days from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by the Mount Seir route." Why does the
Torah tell us, "It is eleven days from Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea?"
Rabbi Michael
Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeirah, in his commentary
Pituchai Hotam, first looks to Rashi on this passage. Rashi says that this verse was given in order
to commemorate a miracle in which it took the Israelites only three days to
make the journey of eleven days.
However, Rabbi Abuchatzeirah is dissatisfied with
this answer, he then says to look in the Ari Z"l (Rabbi Yitzhaq Luria). The Ari
in his commentary references the seven kings that earlier died, killed in the
wars with Israel
on its journey to the land. To give a brief explanation without overly
deviating from the topic at hand, according to the Zohar, these seven
kings were supposed to serve as a tiqqun (a rectification or repair) for
the damage done through seven specific sins, their failure to do so, while
further indulging in those sins led to their deaths (3:212b). In addition to
the seven kings the Ari cites the four klipot of Abba and Imma.
Klipot being the other parts or back parts that because of their
defilement are given over to the side of darkness and evil in general. Abba and Imma are the masculine
and feminine sides of the lower six sephirot (or aspects of God's
personality).
The Ari then explains that in fact the reason to
Torah says "Eleven days from Horeb to Kadesh" is because it was at this time
that Israel
performed tiqqunim for these seven specific pogumim
(defilements). He states that according to the Zohar (2:150a) one cannot
understand Torah, perceive holiness (qedusha) or comprehend the sages
while in a state of pogum in any of these seven areas. So according to
the Ari, Moses our teacher was preparing the Israelites for the reception of
the Torah, thus through the tiqqunim elevating them to the proper level
of holiness to be able to comprehend the Torah.
The Ari also states that these tiqqunim must
be done in every generation by every Jew; he says that even Moses our teacher
and Elijah the Prophet, despite of inherently high levels of holiness, only
merited to be tzadiqim (unique, righteous individuals) on account of
their performance of these tiqqunim. Thus, according to the
interpretation of the Jewish mystical tradition, this verse comes to teach us
the desperate need then and now for increased holiness and Tiqqun Olam,
even if we are numbered among the righteous.
Joshua Brumbach
Luke
23:44-56 - Recognizing Redemption and
Looking Forward!
In this week's Besora reading, we encounter
Yeshua's atoning death, during which, crying out in a loud voice, he declared,
"Into your hands I commit my Spirit."
Yeshua's moment of death cataclysmically impacted both the physical and
spiritual realms - rending the parokhet (the curtain in the Temple) and
causing the earth to shake, darkness to come over the earth, and causing tzadiqim
(righteous people) to be raised from the dead (see Matthew 27). This was a
cosmic event and an atoning act that would usher in redemption to all who would
forever believe.
Many witnesses to Yeshua's death recognized the
moment in which they were in, and many who had not previously believed also
came to recognize the revelation of Yeshua's Messiahship.
We are told that a very righteous member of the
Sanhedrin, Joseph of Ramatayim, who had not been in agreement with the
decision of the Sanhedrin, also recognized the significance of the moment. He was also a man who, "Looked forward to the
Kingdom of God
(23:51)." Joseph approached Pilate
and asked permission to bury Yeshua's body. Pilate granted his request.
We all know how the story ends. Three days later
Yeshua was miraculously resurrected and revealed himself to his talmidim
(his disciples), as well as to many others. His resurrection would be an act
that would have cosmic, redemptive ramifications for all of humanity. This
week's reading is an encouragement to recognize the times in which we are. Many
of us often live our lives and never recognize the moments in which God is
about to act. However, we are called to be aware and recognize what God is
doing.
We need to be like the
tzadiq Joseph of
Ramatayim,
who not only recognized the cosmic moment of Yeshua's death, but was one who
"looked forward to the Kingdom of God." We all need to be eagerly seeking out God and
his Kingdom, and preparing the way for Messianic Redemption. We as Jews, and
especially as Messianic Jews, are placed on the earth for the purpose of
Qiddush HaShem - the sanctification of
God's Name. Therefore, let us be ready
to recognize what God is doing, and prepare ourselves and those around us for
the return of
Mashiach Tzidqenu - our
Glorious and Righteous Messiah!
Parashat Devarim
1. Why is
Parashat Devarim always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av? What
connection does it have to this tragic day and what relevant lessons does it
communicate to us?
2. Parashat Devarim
opens: "These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan. - Through the wilderness, in the Arabah near Suph,
between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab, it is eleven days from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea
by the Mount Seir
route." Why does the Torah tell us, "It is eleven days from Horeb to
Kadesh-Barnea?"
NEXT WEEK'S READINGS
- PARASHAT VA'ETCHANNAN
Deuteronomy
3:23-7:11
Isaiah 40:1-26
Luke 24:1-11
UPCOMING YACHAD NETWORK EVENTS
4th Annual Young Leaders Shabbaton
New
York City ●
June 2008
7th Annual Young Messianic Jewish
Scholars Conference
New
York City ●
June 2008
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