The  WALK  FOR  EVERYONE – Hope, for Life, Peace & Contentment

Chapter  18   Conclusion

“Woe to those who speak of evil as good and of good as evil; who make darkness into light and light into darkness; they make bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and in their own view, understanding”             Isaiah 5:20,21

“The Torah teaches us not to move the markers.  Losing everything begins by losing a little bit at a time. When we move the landmarks of  [Torah] life, slowly and inexorably we lose our borders  and the lines become blurred.  Children, in particular, need clear solid lines to understand the boundaries the dos and don’ts of living correct[ly]..” [33.214]  All over the world – in the USA, Europe, the UK and even Israel – we have been witnessing this happening;  losing the Judean-Christian principles especially since the 1960’s.  No more is G-d or the Bible mentioned in our everyday communication.  In private or in  public forums.  We even hear the terms Eurasia and Londislam used.

Near the end of the Torah, in parshat Haazinu, we read the song that G-d told Moses to write down and teach the Isralites. [Deu 31:15-19]. It is to be a reminder to the nation Israel that G-d is a caring and loving G-d ‘like an eagle, arousing its nest, hovering over its young …יהוה alone guided them’ [Deu 32:11 & 12] who gave them the bountiful Land of Israel and that G-d ‘He will avenge the blood of His servants; He will bring retribution upon His foes, and He will appease His Land and His People’ [Deu 32:43]

At times you will feel as if G-d is concealing or hiding His face from you. That is when you need to turn to G-d and call out to Him as the psalmist did again and again and consider if ‘you became fat, you became thick, you became corpulent’ because of all your prosperity, status and wealth,  and ‘you deserted G-d your Maker’.   That is when you have to take to heart Moses’s concluding words to Israel:

“Apply your hearts to all the words that I testify against you today with which you are to instruct your children to be careful to perform all the words of this Torah, for it is not an empty thing for you, for it is your life, and through this matter shall you prolong your days..”[Deu 32:46-7]

“Good fortune is a serious challenge to a nation’s moral standing, for people are prone  to indulge their lusts when they have the resources to do so….When the great stray a little bit the commoners fall into a steep decline” [11:1103 & 1105]  As King Solomon, in the book Ecclesiastes warns that man should not be deceived by the dazzling splendor that blinds so many people to what really matters in life.  Rather, one must maintain one’s sense of values and always recognize that man, as the only creature with a Godly soul, must spire to higher goals. 

          “The sum of the matter, when all has been considered: Fear God and keep His commandments  for that is [because this is] man’s whole duty. For God will judge every deed – even everything hidden – whether good or evil.” [Ecc 12:13-4]

“ The law, as it were, lays down a minimum threshold: this we must do. But the moral life aspires to more than simply doing what we must…..At first Moses said that you are to keep His statutes and his testimonies which He commanded you, and now he is stating that even where He has not commanded you, give thought as well to do what is good and right in his eyes, for He loves the good and the right.

“Now this is a great principle, for it is impossible to mention in the Torah all aspects of man’s conduct with his neighbors and friends, all his various transactions and the ordinances of all societies and countries. But since He mentioned many of them, such as, “You shall not go around as a talebearer,” “You shall not take vengeance nor bear a grudge,” “You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor,” “You shall not curse the deaf,” “You shall rise before the hoary head,” and the like, He went on to state in a general way that in all matters one should do what is good and right, including even compromise and going beyond the strict requirement of the law … Thus one should behave in every sphere of activity, until he is worthy of being called “good and upright.”

“Ramban is going beyond Rashi’s point, that the right and the good refer to a higher standard than the law strictly requires. It seems as if Ramban is telling us that there are aspects of the moral life that are not caught by the concept of law at all. That is what he means by saying “It is impossible to mention in the Torah all aspects of man’s conduct with his neighbours and friends.”

“Law is about universals, principles that apply in all places and times. Don’t murder. Don’t rob. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Yet there are important features of the moral life that are not universal at all. They have to do with specific circumstances and the way we respond to them. What is it to be a good husband or wife, a good parent, a good teacher, a good friend? What is it to be a great leader, or follower, or member of a team? When is it right to praise, and when is it appropriate to say, “You could have done better”? There are aspects of the moral life that cannot be reduced to rules of conduct, because what matters is not only what we do, but the way in which we do it: with humility or gentleness or sensitivity or tact.” (*1)

“Faith is precisely the courage to take a risk, knowing that “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Ps. 23:4). It took faith to challenge the religions of the ancient world, especially when they were embodied in the greatest empires of their time. It took faith to stay Jewish in the Hellenistic age, when Jews and Judaism must have seemed small and parochial when set against the cosmopolitan culture of ancient Greece and the Alexandrian empire.”  (*2)

In Deuteronomy  6  “when Moshe laid out in passionate language the general life-principle of sh’ma-ing the Voice of the Holy One. At that time Moshe made it clear that for us job #1 – i.e., the most important thing a redeemed person can do, and that which separates a person from the way of the world — is to dedicate his life and his home to listening to, and hearing, and treasuring as one’s most prized possession, the Words of the One True God, to internalizing that Word, and letting that internalized Word totally  transform the way he thinks, speaks, and acts.” (*3)  Furthermore Bullock states that the pursuit of the Holy One is through TORAH instead of through religious activities which meet with public approval, make us appear pious, draw a crowd.  And I would like to add:  also through cultivating a personal relationship with G-d.  Being aware of His presence constantly wherever you are.  Talking to Him constantly.  Not just with silent prayer or praying out loud, but really talking to Him, thinking of Him as your Father, friend, confidant and helper.

As Rabbi Yossy Goldman reminds us in his book From where I stand, Life messages from the weekly Torah Reading, every day can be like a new beginning.  When we open our eyes in the morning and start a new day. [33.4 & 6]

  *    **     *      *      *     **

I truly hope that I have stirred your – the reader’s – heart and touched your mind.  We need today (2020) more than ever the  Guidance of G-d’s word;  to hold fast to absolute and timeless principles that are revealed in the Bible.

Therefore, as chosen one of Elohim, set-apart and beloved, put on compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other if anyone has a complaint against another…But above all these put on love, which is a bond of the perfection. And let the peace of Elohim rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one Body, and be filled with thanks.  [Colossians 3:12-15]

He (G-d) gives strength to the weary and grants abundant might to the powerless. Youth may weary and tire and young men may constantly falter, but those whose hope is in HASHEM  יהוה will have renewed strength;  they will grow a wing, like eagles;  they will run and not grow tired, they will walk and not grow weary. [Isaiah 40:29-31] 

FOOTNOTES

*1    Jonathan Sacks.  The Right and the Good (Va’etchanan 5775) Covenant & Conversation.

*2    Jonathan Sacks.  The Courage to Live with Uncertainty. (Noach 5776) Covenant & Conversation

*3      Bill Bullock.  Parshot Va’Etchanan.  Behold it with your eyes. [Rabisson@cableone.net]

A daily  walk

Chapter  17      The Righteous shall live by his faith.   Habakkuk 2:4  &

                         In all your ways know Him.     Proverbs 3:6

Something that is so singular and distinctive about the daily walk of a Jew are the rituals that a man, woman or child will perform throughout the day from the moment he or she wakes up till evening and before going to sleep.  These actions are those little moments throughout the day that connects one to our Creator G-d and draws down holy sparks from Heaven to the mundane and material life.  In fact, these are to treasure and keep – therefore to Shema (*1)

This especially is another example what Christianity does not share.  Praying together or reading a scripture with the children all depends on the parent’s habit of demonstrating and living his or her faith.  The stresses of modern life and the rush to get the children off to kindergarten or school and be in time for work are typical constraints that impinge on any kind of personal ritual one may feel inclined to keep.  And because these, or the bed time reading and prayers, are not prescribed in the Christian faith and therefore not an ancient tradition,  it is totally up to an individual to do or not to do.

The Hebrew or Jewish daily walk is very different.

The G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not only the Creator of all things, Lawgiver and Guide of History but also man’s Helper:  ‘Your miracles which are daily with us, Your wonders and goodness which are wrought at all times, evening, morn and noon’  If one keeps and enacts all of the following throughout the day, one will indeed notice the many small miracles that happened during our daily walk.  As the great teacher Dr Gerrit Nel said:  How can you expect to have a relationship with your wife if you seldom acknowledge her, speak to her and interact with her?  So is it also with our relationship with G-d.

(1)The first thing one does when opening one’s eyes when waking up in the morning, one says a prayer to thank G-d for a peaceful night’s rest, for being alive and restoring one’s soul.  The Jewish prayer that one recites is called the  Modei Ani.  What can be meaningful is to thank G-d for three specific things that are really relevant to you personally; and each morning three things that you did not mentioned the day before.  As Milton Steinberg said: “…some of it represents folk practice or local custom or individual option; all of it ….is subject in some degree to diversity of interpretation.  So, within a framework of uniformity, a fair measure of variety and freedom is achieved.” [50.122]

Then before continuing the daily tasks after getting up, one washes one’s hands. Susannah Heschel writes of her father Abraham Joshua Heschel, “my father never wavered in his piety, even continuing the custom of ‘nagel wasser‘ (rinsing the hands first thing upon awakening, in order to begin the day with prayer)” [58.xiv] It is the same principal as the custom to wash one’s hands before the breaking of bread, and starting the meal. As the Psalmist writes: Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem, and who may stand in the place of His sanctity? One with clean hands and pure heart (Ps 24:3&4)

(2) As  one steps out, and when putting on your right shoe, say: I am a child of G-d, confident and strong in my Soul and Spirit because of G-d’s love and faithfulness.

There is also a custom for one to then put charity aside. As you expect G-d to hear your prayers and requests, so you should give to those that need. As you expect G-d to hear your prayers and requests, so you should give to those that need. A charity box is not an unfamiliar site in a Jewish home. Often each child would have his own to put his or her contribution from his pocket money in. A wife could have one in the kitchen in which she will deposit what she has sav3d from her weekly budget. Men are fortunate too have pockets in their pants or jackets to keep coins to give Tzedaka (charity) when out about town. It is a good idea for a woman to keep a small purse in a side pocket of her handbag to easily give to someone begging .

(3) Then when washing and doing the morning ablutions one says a blessing.  So often one feels dejected, desponded and weary but when you look at yourself in the mirror remember what    G-d said: 

                Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you left the womb I sanctified  you  [Jeramiah 1:5]

Remind yourself:

                For You [G-d] have created my mind; You have covered me in my mother’s womb.  I acknowledge You, for I am awesomely, wondrously fashioned;  wondrous are Your works, and my soul knows it well   [Psalm 139:13,14]

(4) It is a tradition to say a blessing after leaving the toilet.  Ask any one who has had a bowel operation, or had procedures done to any of the body’s private parts, how pertinent it is to thank G-d that one’s body is functioning normally.

(5) Men have the additional obligation to say prayers when donning the undergarment adorned with  fringes [Tzitzit] as commanded in the Torah,  as well as putting on Tefillin.(*2)  “So he refers his every move to G-d and fulfills the instruction that a man shall be strong as a lion and fleet as a deer to do the will of his Father who is in Heaven” [50.122]

(6) When you are cleanly, freshly, and for women especially, modestly dressed; and feel clean and refreshed by G-d’s Spirit, step out aware that you convey His image;  you walk, talk and act in His Image as a son or daughter of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Therefore, as you leave your home and touch the Mezuza (see *3) the latter statement should be your guide.

(7) Not everyone is so fortunate to habitually arise at sunbreak.  With the overloaded obligations, commitments and tasks of this fast paste life that we lead; it is not easy to start the day with a Scripture reading or study.  I remember how my mother would at last at round about ten in the morning when the household had settled down, have her quiet time. At boarding school a bell was rung when we had to be dressed and ready to go down for breakfast, and which indicated the five minutes we had to first read the Bible and do our private prayers. I always especially recommend to people that are depressed and stressed, to read a Psalm and to underline the positive bits that can easily be reread or referred to in future.  These phrases and verses of praise and joy of G-d’s help, provision and guidance is the best tonic to carry with during the day.

(8) It is a custom before one drinks a glass of water, or any beverage, to thank G-d.  And how appropriate is it not today when all over the world we experience drought or unclean water. I usually at the same time thank G-d for the privilege to share company,  or thank Him for the friend that I am sharing time with.  Or pray that I may be a blessing and shine His light in the company that I am.

(9)  We read “When you have eaten and are satisfied, thank G-d” (Deu 8:10)  The term ‘saying Grace’ is familiar to most people. To make it a habit either before or after a meal is a beautiful tradition to teach children and bind a family together.  There is that very famous painting by the American artist Norman Rockwell that shows an old woman and young boy sitting at a table in a restaurant saying grace with all the people around them looking at them.  It is not unusual for a Jew to take out his daily devotional booklet in the restaurant and read the word of the Birkat HaMason. Thus one gives testimony to the miracle and privilege of having food to eat as well as that the Creator of this world provides all living beings with nourishment.

The custom to wash one’s hands before eating bread which usually commences dinner, reminds us of the Lather [bowl of water in front of the curtain leading to the Holy chamber of the Tabernacle] in which the priests washed their hands and feet, to be spiritually clean before they entered the Holy chamber.  By bending over the water they would see their reflection, all dressed in white, in the bowl made of the woman’s mirrors.  That was a visual reminder of being holy people onto G-d.  “Who does go up onto the mountain of יהוה And who does (may) stand in His set-apart place? He who has innocent hands and a clean heart” [Ps 24:3 &4]

This same image and reminder should be a reminder to each of us when we partake of a meal to thus lift up the occasion to a spiritual level, and this is especially pertinent on Shabbat.

(10) On leaving one’s house one touches the Mezuza (*3) on the doorpost.  This should not be just a fleeting and automatic action. To make it a meaningful moment, think about what the verse actually says:   Belief in one G-d, that you love G-d with all your heart, soul and resources; to teach this to your children; to be beware that you are not seduced by pagan, worldly and foreign ways. It will be meaningful to say in your own words: May I walk according to Your commandments and let Your light shine into the world.

(11) When setting out on your journey, be it by bus, train or car,  say a short prayer asking for G-d’s blessing on this journey and to protect you from harm. In olden days they would refer to protection from wild animals.  Today it is also so applicable because of the many dangers we face not only because of reckless drivers but also the many deranged people all over Europe, US, Israel, Asia, Africa, that blindly would attack and kill for their god.

And on returning home safely one says a prayer of thanks.

(12) There are many more occasions to invoke G-d’s name .  Judaism ordains benedictions for almost every juncture in life.  “Should (you) don a new garment, taste a fruit just then in season, see a flash of lightning, hear thunder, catch a glimpse of the ocean or of a rainbow or of trees burgeoning in the spring…(or) hear good news.” [50.124] At the beginning of Summer when I walk into the grocery store and with delight see the colorful display of the new fruits of the season, I cannot help but silently utter my amazement and joy saying ‘Oh G-d, how wonderful is your creation and provision!’

Throughout the day, wherever you are, notice and thank G-d for: the beautiful morning light falling into the room;  the breeze rustling through the trees;  singing of birds;  the patterns and colors and leaves on the ground where you are walking;  a squirrel dashing away;  the sound of children laughing;  a dog playing, and look up to the magnificent mountain or sky that fills your vision. All a reason to feel joy and sing a praise to our Father and Creator.

Greet people with a smile and when appropriate say a blessing.  Take cognizance of a poor person you pass or an obviously unhappy person, and say a silent prayer for them.  There may be also the opportunity to give tzedakah (alms) to a beggar. Ask the busy street sweeper or the tired till operator at the supermarket how they are and wish them well.

There are other occasions like when baking bread, the Tradition is to break off a small piece and say a blessing in remembrance of the priests and Temple.  When picking up your child from school, ask G-d for insight and patience.  Or as you go into a meeting, ask for wisdom and clarity.  As you can glean, there are many occasions throughout a day that one can communicate with our Father in Heaven.

(13) As from the moment you woke up, so too you end the day with a prayer to thank and praise G-d;   pray for people on your special prayer list and end off with the brief Shmah or Our Father prayer. (*4)

It should be clear from the above, that these customs inculcate an awareness of G-d’s presence in one’s life and that it is of inestimable value for yourself and your children to learn and practice.

FOOTNOTES

*1    See Deut. 6:4   In the Hebrew text of the Bible [Tenach] we read the famous first verse of what is called “The Shma” which is the closest to an affirmation of faith or creed one finds in Judaism.  Note also that this verse contains two unusual features.  The  ‘a’ or  ע which appears at the end of the first word (Shma),  and the ‘d’ or  ד  which appears at the end of the last word of this verse – echad which means ‘one’, appear larger than all the other letters.  [Remember there are no capital letters in Hebrew.] These two letters taken together and pronounced  ‘ed’ means ‘witness.’  And this is exactly what one’s actions throughout the day should be:  be a witness of our faith in G-d.

*2  Also referred to as Phylacteries. Exodus 13 and Deuteronomy 6 and 11, teach that Jews must bind the commandments upon their hand and between their eyes.  This is fulfilled by bindings special boxes containing three Biblical passages with leather straps over the forehead and round the arm.  The verses written on parchment cover the fundamentals of the Jewish faith: 1) Ex 13:1-10 & 11-16 describing the duty to always remember Israel’s redemption from Egyptian bondage and the obligation to educate his children of this as well as G-d’s commandments.  2) Deu 6:4-9  The Shema, pronouncing the unity of one G-d, and command to love and fear Him.  3)Deu 11:13-21  G-d’s assurance to us of reward that will follow our observance of His commandments. [See Chabad.org]    The practice is an ancient one and mentioned in the Brit Chadasha / New Testament.

*3  According to Deu 6:9 the children of Israel must write G-d’s words upon the doorposts of their houses.  In order to fulfil this, the words of Deu 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 are written on parchment and placed in the small container called a Mezuza, and attached to the right hand doorpost of the house. [38.115]

*4  In A Prayer to Our Father, the Hebrew Origins of The Lord’s Prayer,  by Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson, [Hilkiah Press, 2012],  they write how they discovered a Hebrew version preserved in secret by Jewish rabbis for over a thousand years,  that reveals a powerful message of spiritual growth for Jew and Christian alike.

Joyful and Special Appointments

Chapter 16:  God’s  Three appointed Festivals

…The appointed times of  יהוה   which you are to proclaim as set-apart gatherings,  –My appointed times are these.       [Leviticus 23:2]

And by this we know that we know Him, if we guard His commands.  The one who says ‘I know Him,’ and does not guard His commands, is a liar and the truth is not in Him.  [1John 2:3,4]

In chapter 6 I discussed the importance of Shabbat, and what it really means and entails.  Namely, that it is so to speak our betrothal or wedding ring of our G-d for us because we who follow His commandments, His Way and keeping the Shabbat, is like a rehearsal for the Festivals,  and the Festivals are a rehearsal for the End of Days and Olam Haba.  And we are His Bride that the Messiah will come to fetch and take to Olam Haba  (*1)

To believers who are familiar with the book of Revelation [Hazon] written by the Jewish apostle John, originally in Hebrew (*2) will be familiar with the concept of ‘the Bride’ 

   And one of the seven messengers …came to me and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come, I shall show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’….and showed me the great city, the set-apart Yerushalayim descending out of the heaven from Elohim…..And the city had no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it, for the esteem of Elohim lightened it, and the Lamb is its lamp. And the nations, of those who are saved, shall walk in its light…And there shall by no means enter into it whatever is unclean, neither anyone doing abomination and falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  [Rev.21:9,23,24,27]

And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our Elohim, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” And I heard as the voice of a great crowd, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunders, saying, “Halleluyah, for יהוה  El Shaddai reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him praise, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife prepared herself.” And to her it was given to be dressed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses (sic)  of the set-apart ones. And he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who have been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ “ And he said to me, “These are the true words of Elohim.”  [Rev 19:5-9]

Therefore, as it is clearly stated in Revelation 21:8 ‘But as for the cowardly, and untrustworthy, and abominable, and murderers, and those who whore, and drug sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the false, their part is in the lake which burns with fire and Sulphur, which is the second death”-   are not part of the Bride.  The prophet Jeramiah, in chapters 7, 16, and 25 of his book,  points out that because of the sinfulness of Yehuda, them trusting “false words which do not profit – stealing, murdering and committing adultery, and swearing falsely, and burning incense to Ba’al…..in the cities of Yehudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim I [G-d] shall make to cease the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice  of the bride….. the land shall become a waste!” [Jeremiah 7:8,9,34]

The Bride will be those that ‘Obey G-d’s voice’, walk in all the ways that He commanded “so that it be well with you” [Jeremiah 7:23]” The prophet Isiah in his book  chapter 49, also refers to the bridegroom and Bride that will not be rejoicing because they said יהוה  has forsaken them,  but on the day of vengeance (the End Times, time of Judgement) of Elohim, those that mourn will be comforted “And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your Elohim rejoice over you”  [Isaiah 62:5]

The three Festivals of Pesach [the Redeemer revealed], Shavuot [the Ketuba given] and Sukkot [Yeshua revealed as bridegroom] can be referred to in terms of a typical traditional Hebrew wedding as:  The match is made and the gifts are exchanged (Pesach), the Ketuba (*3) is given at Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot is the marriage feast. “The Scriptures teach us that the Father created signs, seasons, days and years as we know it on the fourth day.  The word seasons in the original Hebrew is ‘appointed times of festivals’ that is moadim.  These festivals are templates of Who the Messiah is, what He would do and when He would accomplish it.” (*4)

 For new followers of G-d’s way, His Torah [teachings],  these festivals  are important to acknowledge and keep because of the deeper meaning of each of these festivals as well as the direct relationship with the Messiah.  In fact they are remarkable Shadow images of the first appearance of Yeshua, Yeshua ben Joseph,  and the promise of His return as Yeshua ben David (*5), to rule from Zion (Jerusalem). Remember how the quotation from Leviticus referred to here above, clearly states that these festivals are G-d’s festivals and not Jewish festivals as so easily often commonly referred to.  See also Exodus 31:13 and       Ezekiel 20:12.

1  Pesach

It is quite remarkable how the days and dates of the Pesach festival mirrors the 7  days of what is usually referred to as the Passion week:  the triumphal entry of Yeshua into Yerusalem – as the prophet Zechariah prophesized: ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of  Tsiyon! Shout, O daughter of Yerushalayim! See, your Sovereign is coming to you, He is righteous and endowed with deliverance, humble and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ [Zach 9:9] and the people laid down palm branches and cried out: ‘This is the day יהוה has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it…Blessed is He who is coming in the Name of יהוה [Ps 118:24,26]- [& see Matt 21:9 and John 12:13];  Thus also the crucifixion and the rising of Yeshua [see the prophecies of Isiah 53:1-12 (*6)and Daniel 9].  See also Talmud: Sanhedrin 98a.

Pesach takes place in the Spring, in what is also called the month of Aviv, meaning Spring, but is today referred to as Nisan, the first month of the year as referred to in Exodus 12:1  This is when the barley grain ripens and therefore the barley is associated with Yeshua, the Messiah, and is the month when he was actually born. [Listen to the excellent explanation at https://youtu.be/ptIsXtTf6nO by Johnathan Cahn]

On the 10^th of Nissan [Friday evening to Saturday – see footnote *9], each household had to take an “unblemished lamb or kid, a male …..for examination until the fourteenth day” [Ex 12:1-6]  This day co-inside with Yeshua’s entry on a colt into Jerusalem. See now how Yeshua was ‘examined’ and judged the days before his crucifiction – Matthew 21:10-26:5 – as the Lamb was kept for 4 days in the homes of the Israelites in Egypt.

On the evening of Friday 9^th Nissan (*7), Yeshua had supper at Beit Te’enah, where Martha served Him and Lazarus, and disciples.  He had just raised Lazarus from the death, [See Sanhedrin 98b] after praying out loud to יהוה , in order that the many people surrounding Him, and Martha and Miriam will believe that G-d sent Him [John 11:42] “Therefore many of the Yehudim who had come….believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them what Yeshua did.  So the chief priests and the pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do? Because this Man does many signs.   If we let Him alone like this, they all shall believe in Him, and the Romans shall come and take away from us both our place and nation.’ And one of them, Kayaphas, being high priest that year (*8), said….it is better for us that one man die for the people than the entire nation should perish.’ “ [John 11:45-53] And therefore for days Yeshua was watched and judged by the chief priests and the pharisees.  [ See also Matthew 26:57-64 and Talmud: Sanhedrin 98b]

The 14^th day of Nissan [Tuesday evening till Wednesday evening] (*9) We read the instruction in Leviticus as commanded to Israel:  ‘In the first month on the fourteenth of the month in the afternoon is the time of the pesach-offering to יהוה [Lev 23:5] 

After the meal that Yeshua had with His disciples, which is referred to as The Last Supper, He went down to the garden of Gethsemane at night, with His disciples to pray.  He was captured there by Roman soldiers and taken to the High Priest Kayaphas and then to the Roman Consul Pontius Pilate, and then to Herod.  There he was mocked and hit [see Isiah 53:5 and Sanhedrin 98b ] He was taken back to Pilot and though Pilot found no fault in Him, had Him led away and he was crucified at 9:00 and passed away when the Pesach lambs were sacrificed at 15:00.  What is utterly amazing is that at the time that Yeshua died,  it is the same day the world over! From the West coast of the US to the East as far as Australia!  Therefore His death was literally covering all peoples, all nations.

The Israelites had to paint the lintel and door posts with the blood of the Lamb. It therefore was in the shape of the Hebrew letter ‘chet’ ח which is the 8^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the meaning of 8 is Olam Haba, or the 8^th millennium and the Hebrew word חי, ‘chai’ means ‘Life’!

The Hebrews had to eat the Lamb sitting ready to leave with their “loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand.  And you shall eat it in haste,  It is the Pesach of יהוה…..And I (G-d) shall pass through the land….I shall execute judgment. I am יהוה And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are, And when I see the blood, I shall pass over you, and let the plague not come on you to destroy you…And this day shall become to you a remembrance.  And you shall celebrate it as a festival to  throughout your generations…an everlasting law.” [Ex 12:11-14]   What strikes one in these verses is:  the blood that protects them from death [see Ex 12:23], that they had to be ready to go immediately at the call/ command,  as the Bride has to be ready when the King Messiah arrives.

When some of the scribes and Pharisees asked Yeshua for a sign to validate who he is and what he is doing, He answered them saying: “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Yonah.  For as Yonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so shall the Son of Adam be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” [Matt 12:38-40]  Therefore, compare now:  Yeshua was crucified just before sunset on Wednesday, i.e. Wed-Thurs = day 1;  Thurs-Fri = day 2;  Fri – Shabbat = day 3.  The 3 nights are: Wed, Thurs & Fri,  because He rose the night of Shabbat, before sunrise Sunday.  [It is a mystery how the RCC and the Christian tradition can count from Friday, that they call ‘good Friday’, till Sunday morning to be 3 days and three nights!]

An Omer of Barley would be cut on the first Shabbat of the Feast of Leaven Bread, that is the 7 days that follow the Passover meal, and be waved as a First Fruit Offering, called The wave of the Omer. This therefore coincides with the resurrection of Yeshua – and is another sign why Yeshua ben Joseph is associated with barley. [Reading Matthew 1:1-17], and counting the forefathers of Yeshua, confirms that He is the first of the 14^th generation of redeemed that will be resurrected.] [19:36-38,&56]

He was therefore not crucified on a Friday.  It is so strange that the Church throughout the centuries cannot count to 3!  No, but there is a reason.

From the start of the 2^nd Century, the so called Christian Church, became extremely anti-Jewish, anti-Torah, anti-Shabbat, and anti-Synagogue.  [See again chapter 5] By this time more and more gentiles became members of this New Way of Judaism. At first during the days of the Apostles after the Ascension of Yeshua thousands of Jews followed the teachings of Yeshua, and it was then called The Way (*10) and in the Talmud they were referred to as Notsrim. But as more and more gentiles  became adherents to this new movement,  ego, ambition and avarice and power overcame these men of clay feet that came from pagan traditions.  In 115CE  Bishop Ignatius exclaimed these new believers should no longer live for the Sabbath but for the so called ‘Lord’s Day’, Sunday.  Marcion in 140CE misinterpreted Matthew 5:1 – as many Churches still do today –  and said no more Torah study is needed because the Law has been fulfilled.  Polycarp in 155CE spoke out against keeping the Pesach and elevated Easter Festivities to be kept by the new believers.  Justin Martin in 160CE with his anti-Semitic writings influenced the Replacement Theology that still has influence today.

2  Shavuot

On the First Fruit Offering Festival: “on the morrow of the rest day the Kohen shall wave it (an omer of barley)…You shall count for yourselves – from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving – seven weeks, they shall be complete….(after) fifty days..you shall bring bread…..first-offerings to יהוה  “ [Leviticus 23:10-16]   This is then “a holy convocation for yourselves – you shall do no laborious work;  it is an eternal decree in your dwelling places for your generations.” [Lev23:21]

This festival commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments to Israel at Mount Sinai. Now Moses went up and down Mount Sinai to fetch the tablets of the commandments, but note the following verse that is known as the Jewish Riddle:  “Who ascended to heaven and descended? Who else gathered the wind in his palm? Who else tied the waters in a cloak? Who established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know? [Proverbs 30:4] 

After the day of the Ascention of Yeshua,  the disciples went to stay in Jerusalem as He told them to, and ‘they were continually in the Set-apart Place (Temple Mount) praising and blessing Elohim’  [Luke 24;53] They were there the time and day of the Festival of  Shavuot (which means seven weeks and is also called the Festival of Weeks), when the Shechinah of יהוה appeared, and a rushing mighty wind was heard,  and flames of tongues appeared and rested on the Disciples. [See Acts/Ma’Asei 2:1-11] Note! They were in the Temple and not in the socalled Upper Room. (*11) Most of the places where Christian tourists are taken to are not the correct places!

Yeshua Messiah through His teachings revealed the way how to replace hearts of stone, to write G-d’s laws on our hearts and grow into the image of the Messiah who was like in character and deed like G-d and represented our Holy Father and Creator, יהוה on earth– and this is what I have tried to convey in the preceding chapters : ”Carry out My laws and safeguard My decrees to follow them; I am יהוה your G-d. You shall observe My decrees and My laws which man shall carry out and by which he shall live – I am יהוה.” [Lev 18:4] “You shall sanctify yourselves and you will be holy, for I am יהוה your G-d. [Lev 20:7] See also Matthew 5:48.

  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the Heavens….. I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’ [Matt 7:21,23]

Yeshua said more than once: “I and My Father are one….believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him [John 10:30,38]  This is a Hebraic idiom meaning: we are of one accord.

“In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who possesses My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him….if anyone loves Me he shall guard My Word.  And My Father shall love him, and We shall come to him and make Our stay with him.” [John 14:20,23](*12)

As it is also written: “My brothers, what use is it for anyone to say he has belief but does not have works? This belief is unable to save him….belief, if it does not have works is in itself dead…Was not Abraham our father declared right by works when he offered Yitshaq his son …For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also the belief is dead without the works.”  [Jacob (James) 2:8-26]

Pesach and Shavuot form what is called the Spring feasts.  At Pesach we commemorate our Redemption /Deliverance  from bondage and slavery;  be it pride, wealth, status, whoring etc.- [as the 2^nd cup at the Pesach Festival dinner is called]  At the one-day Feast of Shavuot, we are reminded of G-d’s Way,  His Commandments that we are to keep if we wish to be His Bride and enter His everlasting rest in the After Life which Yeshua confirmed and also taught.

3  Yom Teruha,  Yom Kippur,  Sukkot – The Fall Festivals

The Fall Feasts consists of 3 parts:  Yom Teruah (or the feast of Trumpets),  Yom Kippur and Sukkot. These also are linked to a harvest, and at this time, the fruit harvest:  e.g. pomegranates, dates and grapes.  The hard shell of the pomegranate symbolizes our hard hearts that need to washed by the blood of Yeshua – red pips – and made righteous – white of pips.  Grapes or wine symbolizes joy.  The fruit harvest also should remind us that our faith and life that is walked in G-d’s Way, should bear fruit.

Yom Teruha

Before His Ascension, Yeshua said that He is going to prepare a place for us:  “I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I shall come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you might be too.” [John 14:2] So just like in the traditional Hebrew wedding pattern, the groom goes, after the gifts were exchanged and the Ketuba is written,  to prepare a place for His bride at his father’s house.  And it is not known when he will return to fetch his bride because it depends on his father’s satisfaction of what the groom has prepared and built.

A very well known parable that Yeshua taught is that of the Ten Virgins in Matthew chapter 25.  It starts off saying clearly: the reign of the heavens shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were wise, and five foolish.  The five foolish took their 5 lamps but no extra oil with them.  “Now while the bridegroom took time, they all slumbered and slept.  And at midnight a cry was heard, ‘See, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!’…..And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us of you oil because our lamps are going out… the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. And later the other maidens also come, saying, ‘Master, Master, open up for us!’  But he answering, said, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’  Watch therefore, because you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Adam is coming.” [Matt 25:1-13]

To understand that this is clearly about the coming of the Messiah at the End of Days we need to look closely at a few details.  Firstly, why did they not know when the groom is coming?  Yeshua clearly said to his disciples:  “..concerning that day and the hour no one knows, not even the messengers of the heavens, but My Father only” [Matt 24:36].  Furthermore, the term ‘that day’ when used in the Tenach, usually refers to the End of Days, and the Day of Judgement and The Lords Day. [See also Talmud: Sanhedrin 99a]  Secondly,  this parable is about Yom Teruha.

1 Thessslonians 4:13-18  “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.   For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Master, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Master shall in no way go before those who are asleep. 

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Messiah shall rise first: 

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (Bridegroom) 

So then encourage one another with these words.”  [This is what is known as the Rapture.]

Each Festival is like a Shabbat.  One has to prepare and cook for Shabbat. Because Pesach is on the 14^th of Nisan,  and after the counting of weeks, i.e. 49 days and then knowing when Shavuot the 50^th day will be,  one knows when to prepare for the Shabbat which is Pesach as well as Shavuot.  But, Yom Teruha takes place on the 1st of Tishrei.  Because the Hebrew calendar is a solar & lunar calendar, and the months go according to the moon, having 29 or 30 days,  one has to actually see the New Moon to know when the month starts. If the new moon is not spotted, then the next day would be the 1^st of the new month.  That is why Tishrei 1, or Yom Teruha is also known as “The Long Day” and therefore, this feast is kept over 2 days. And in the parable mentioned above, the fact that the 10 virgins fell asleep, and only five wise virgins took additional oil, hints at this: “Now while the bridegroom took time, they all slumbered and slept” [Matt 25:5]

We read in Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” Furthermore,  Israel was instructed to be a light unto the world. [Isaiah 44:8 & 49:6] And that is also the meaning of the Menorah in the Temple. Therefor a message regarding the oil the virgins had, is that it had to be sufficient, to shine until the bridegroom comes.  If the Messiah is our bridegroom that will come to fetch His Bride of faithful believers that have kept G-d’s word – Torah and its commandments – till the end,  shining brightly, then they will partake in the wedding feast and not those that have fallen by the way side or are lukewarm: “He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and not one shuts, and shuts and no one opens [see Isaiah 22:22] says this:….’I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot…So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.” [Revelation 3:7-16]

The arrival of the Messiah when he comes to judge and then take His Bride away, will be announced by heavenly voices and with the shout of G-d’s Trumpet. [See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18]

Then we also read “And in that day it shall be that a great shophar is blown and those …..shall worship יהוה on the set-apart mountain, in Yerushalayim”  [Isaiah 27:13 & Sanhedrin 97a]  [Here we read about the coming of Mesiah, returning to the earth to be King and rule in Zechariah 14:1-9]

Yom Kippur

It is quite possible that Christians think that Jews only ask G-d for forgiveness on Yom Kippur. That is totally false.  The Ethics of the Fathers, which is a well known Tractate of the Talmud, and was compiled by Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who was the redactor of the Mishnah, that is part of the Talmud, gives numerous ethical and moral instructions.  The Torah’s standards are very different from the world’s.  The Torah “speaks to the total personality.  It has been axiomatic since the Patriarch Abraham that sage and saint must be synonymous, that intellect, piety, ethics, and morality are part of an inseparable whole. Judaism is not a compartmentalized creed….In Judaism, to speak of legal authority without moral authority is as ludicrous as accepting the Ten Commandments with the exception of the first one: ‘I am Hashem, your God.’…. The Torah molds total people, not just minds; it defines values, not just norms of performance.” [55.XV]

In Pirkei Avos, we read the following, in a typical Hebraic way of thinking, said by  Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus[1^st-2^nd CE] ‘Repent one day before your death.’ [55.44]  Now, no one knows when he will die. Therefore, this dictum said by this well known sage in fact teaches one to do teschuva (*13) every day.  In fact three times a day a Jew will pray, and when he or she recites the Shema and the Amidah prayers, they implore G-d to redeem them,  to sanctify them with the Commandments, and set them right with good counsel from before His Presence, and save them for His Name’s sake. 

At the end of the day it is also custom to review the day’s activities and actions, and pray for forgiveness for what you may have done wrong, by word, deed or thoughts or against your neighbor.

As we read in Psalm 14:1-3 and 53:1-4, as quoted by Paul in Romans 3:10-18: “There is none righteous, no, not one!”  Every person has sinned. “For the wages of sin is death but the favourable gift of Elohim is everlasting life in Messiah Yeshua our Master” [Romansj 6:23] The penalty that we should pay for what we have done wrong, was paid in our stead by Yeshua on the cross.   Israel was for example sanctified, delivered and redeemed (*14) at the first Pesach in Egypt, and purified, mikved, in the crossing of the Sea.

Sukkot

Five days after Yom Kippur, is the 8 day festival of Sukkot. The first, seventh and eighth days are Shabbat festivals.   It is also called the Festival of Booths.  Jews then build a Sukkah made of flimsy materials which includes branches as roof covering so that one can see the sky and stars.  The meaning of this is a reminder of the Israelites’ forty-year journey through the desert.  It also symbolizes our total dependence on G-d and his provision and protection for us.

It also is to remind us of the time when The Messiah will come and be with us.  It is therefore a joyful festival when we invite people every day or evening into our Sukkah for a festive meal. The 8^th day is also a High holiday or Shabbat.   It is as if G-d is not keen for us to take leave and it also is because the deeper meaning of 8 symbolizes Olam Habah, eternity. This again also connects us to the concept of the coming of The Messiah.

This festival is very popular with Christians from many countries.  At this festival one sees people from China, Brazil, Holland, Sweden, Africa, Italy, Germany, France, England, Samoa, and many more, in Jerusalem.  Why is this?  The reason is because of a prophecy in Zachariah: “It shall be that all who are left over from all the nations who had invaded Jerusalem will come up every year to worship the King יהוה, Master of Legions, and to celebrate the festival of Succos.  And it shall be that whichever of the families of the land does not go up to Jerusalem to bow down before the King יהוה, Master of Legions there will be no rain upon them…The …plague will come to pass with which יהוה will strike the nations that do not go up to celebrate the festival of Succos.” [Zach.14:16-18]

_______________________________

From the discussion in this chapter it should be clear that Shabbat is clearly part of these festivals and how to keep them.  Shabbat is therefore not only the week’s 7th Day of Rest as G-d has commanded us, but also is intimately part of the festivals that not only reflect the History of the Hebrews, but are prophetic shadow exercises and occasions to remind us of the promise of the Messiah, his appearance and promised coming at the End of Days. 

FOOTNOTES

*1  The World to Come.  The hereafter… will begin with the resurrection of the dead and a final judgment.  The righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished.  [38.129]

*2  Watch  the interviews with Dr Miles Jones   https://aroodawakening.tv/tv-radio/watch-now/shabbat-night-live/?mc_cid=000316ddfd&mc_eid=ac9191cd6b, for Survival of the Hebrew Gospels.

*3  The marriage contract that sets out the obligations between the couple and especially protects the woman.

*4   See The Messiah revealed in the festivals. Preparing the Bride for her Hebrew Messiah. Hebrew Festival Series. DVD [Kolkallah.com]

*5   “Jewish tradition speaks of two redeemers, each one called Mashiach,  Both are involved in ushering in the Messianic era.  They are Mashiach ben David and Mashiach ben Yossef.” [53.93] See Sukah 52b; Zohar I:25b; ibid.II:120a, III:153b, 246b and 252a;  Midrash Agadat Maschiach.  Targum Yehonathan on Exodus 40:11;  Midrash Tehilim 60:3

“The harmonoy and cooperation between Mashiach ben David and Mashiach ben Yossef signifies the total unity of Israel, removing the historical rivalries between the tribes of Judah and Joseph;  see Isaiah 11:13 and Rashi there. (Cf. Bereishit Rabba 70:15)

*6   Rashi [Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki 1040-1105] the esteemed Sage and commentator of the Torah and most quoted,  early in his life concurred that Isiah 53 refers to the suffering Messiah, called Messiah ben Yosef, but later in his life,  after the cruel murderous actions of the 1^st Crusade 1096 who on their way to The Promised Land killed more than 18 000 Jews in three cities along the Rein river in Germany where Rashi lived. He changed his opinion and after that terrible time of persecutions said that Isiah 53 refers to Israel being the Suffering Servant, as Rabbi’s till today do. Isiah 53 was a Haftera reading in the Philips Sidur in England till the 1920’s but has been removed since then.  See also Talmud: Sanhedrin 98b and 99a.

*7   In Judaism a day starts at Sunset and ends at the next Sunset.  This tradition is from Genesis 1:5 ‘And there was evening and there was morning, one day’ So here we mean the evening of the 9^th day of Nisan was actually already the 10^th.

*8  Remember the priests and High Priest were ‘political’ Roman appointees. See Johnson [43.111] and Dimont [51.90,91]

*9   It can be exactly calculated when the crucifixion of Yeshua took place because of the following facts to consider: Herod killed 2 priests at the Altar when there was a Lunar eclipse.  There was a lunar eclipse 2BCE; Herod died on a fast day of the Jews.  Pilot left Yerusalem 36CE,  Tiberius recalled him to Rome, but Tiberius died before Pilot got there. John the Baptist was  killed by King Herod, and Yeshua ben Yosef’s ministry was only 1 year.  [See Rood, 19.48]

*10  See Acts 2:41; and 21:20  and  [Richardson  52.76] “It is highly likely that in the predominately secular Jewish Tiberias of the second and early third centuries, members of the local Nazarene community of The Way lived in close proximity to their non-believing Jewish neighbors, with whom they quickly became bonded by their common, uniquely Jewish underpinnings, especially by the rich Jewish traditions they all shared.” [54.86]

*11 Most of the places, especially in Jerusalem, that Christian tourists are taken to, are NOT the actual places where some events of the Brit Chadasha / New Testament took place.  Most of these places were decided and pointed out by the pagan Emperor Constantine’s mother.

*12  Yeshua did not say that he is G-d.  He said to Satan when He was tempted by him in the desert:  “For it has been written, ‘You shall worship יהוה your Elohim, and Him alone you shall serve” – quoting Deuteronomy 6:13. [Matthew 4:10]

“…one came and said to Him, ‘Good Teacher, what good shall I do to have everlasting life?’  And He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One- Elohim.. [Matt 19:16,17]  See also: Isaiah 11:2; 53:6; Ps 110:1;   Matt 4:10, 19:16;  26:29;  Lk 18:19;  Jn 5:18,19  Jn 8:26,29,42,50;  Jn 12:49, Jn 14:28,  Jn 17:11,  Jn 20:17  Act 1:7, 7:31,  9:29;  Phil 2:6ff;  1Cor 15:57;  2Cor 4:4; 2Thes 3:3ff

*13  Teschuva does not just mean to say you are sorry, to ask for forgiveness.  This Biblical concept actually means to show remorse and turn back to the right way that G-d expects you to walk and be according to His Torah.

*14 These refer to 3 of the 4 cups of wine that is drunk at the Pesach meal. The 4^th  cup is the cup of Restoration, and it is that cup that Yeshua did not drink and said:  “I shall certainly not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on till that day when I drink it anew with you in the reign of My Father.” [Matt 26:29]

The Walk for everyone – Hope for Life, Peace and Contentment

You will return unto יהוה your G-d, and listen to his voice

Chapter 15 – Parashat 51 Nitzavim – Deu 29:9-30:20 &

                              Parashat 52 Vayeilech – Deu 31:1-31:30

“I will heal you from your wounds-….In the end of days you will be able to understand it”   Jer.30:17,24

Parashat Nitzavim starts off with Moses renewing the Covenant of G-d with Israel. With all the men of Israel, their small children and their women as well as the proselyte – ‘from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of water’.  Deuteronomy 29:13,14 reads: ‘Not with you alone do I seal this covenant and this imprecation but with whoever is here, standing with us today before Hashem, our God, and with whoever is not here with us today’  This last phrase has especially important implication for the Jews because this states that G-d’s commandments apply also to all Israelites today.

“The covenant of the sh’ma/sh’mar/asah lifestyle of Torah was thus specifically made applicable to and viable in the lives of the foreigners who came to live in the midst of the Redeemed Community. Who were/are those foreigners? Some are descended from the mixed multitude that came forth from Egypt with Moshe and Aharon’s generation. See Exodus 12:38. Some however have joined themselves to Israel’s God in the manner prophesied in Isaiah 56:2, 6-7, where we read:

“Blessed is the man that does this, and the son of man that lays hold on it; that keeps the sabbath from pollution, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

“Also the SONS of the foreigner, that join themselves to the Holy One, to serve him, and to love the name of the Holy One, to be his servants, every one that keeps the Sabbath from pollution /all who guard the Sabbath against desecration and takes hold of My Covenant [i.e. Torah];

“These I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon MY altar; for My house shall be called an house of prayer for all nations.

“These foreigners are the ‘still others’ prophesied in Isaiah 56:8.  They are the ‘other sheep that are not of this sheep pen’ prophesied in John 10:16.  They are the ‘scattered children of God’ spoken of in John 11:52.  They are among the ‘ten men from every language of the nations’ which Zechariah prophesies will, in the end of days, grasp the [knafim – corners of the Talit] of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’” Zechariah 8:23.  They are the ones ‘left from all the nations which came against Jerusalem’ which Zechariah says will, in the end times, go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to KEEP the FEAST of TABERNACLES. Zechariah 14:16.”

“Some of these foreigners may just look a lot like you.  Torah belongs to all the nations.  Hence earlier when we studied the book of Numbers we read that:

“ONE ORDINANCE will be both for you of the k’hal (of Israel), and also for the foreigner that sojourns with you, an ordinance FOREVER in your generations: as you are, so will the foreigner be before the Holy One. One Torah and one manner will be for you[1] and for the foreigner that sojourns with you.” [Numbers 15:15-16]   (*1)

The Torah therefore is binding upon all generations and therefore was not abolished by Yeshua ben Josef. Read again Matthew 5:16-20.

“the first time in history that we encounter the phenomenon enshrined in the American Declaration of Independence, namely “the consent of the governed.” God only spoke the Ten Commandments after the people had signalled that they had given their consent to be bound by His word. God does not impose His rule by force. At Sinai, covenant-making became mutual. Both sides  had to agree. So the human role in covenant-making grows greater over time. But Nitzavim takes this one stage further.

“It happened because Moses knew it had to happen. The terms of Jewish history were about to shift from Divine initiative to human initiative. This is what Moses was preparing the Israelites for in the last month of his life. It is as if he had said: Until now God has led – in a pillar of cloud and fire – and you have followed. Now God is handing over the reins of history to you. From here on, you must lead. If your hearts are with Him, He will be with you. But you are now no longer children; you are adults. An adult still has parents, as a child does, but his or her relationship with them is different. An adult knows the burden of responsibility. An adult does not wait for someone else to take the first step.

“ That is the epic significance of Nitzavim, the parsha that stands almost at the end of the Torah and that we read almost at the end of the year. It is about getting ready for a new beginning: in which we act for God instead of waiting for God to act for us. Translate this into human terms and you will see how life-changing it can be. “  (*2)

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes further:  “Then in a lightning-flash of insight, I thought: what if I turn the entire scenario around. What if, instead of waiting for Rabbi X to encourage me, I encouraged him? What if I did for him what I was hoping he would do for me? That was a life-changing moment. It gave me a strength I never had before. I began to formulate it as an ethic. “

“Don’t wait to be praised: praise others. Don’t wait to be respected: respect others. Don’t stand on the sidelines, criticizing others. Do something yourself to make things better. Don’t wait for the world to change: begin the process yourself, and then win others to the cause. There is a statement attributed to Gandhi (actually he never said it , but in a parallel universe he  might have done): ‘Be the change you seek in the world.’ Take the initiative.”

“ That was what Moses was doing in the last month of his life, in that long series of public addresses that make up the book of Devarim, culminating in the great covenant-renewal ceremony in today’s parsha. Devarim marks the end of the childhood of the Jewish people. From there on, Judaism became God’s call to human responsibility. For us, faith is not waiting for God. Faith is the realization that God is waiting for us. “  (*2)

Commandment  in these Parshot

Deu 30:15-20  Choose Life:  The Torah places before us life and the good, and death and the evil.   Love יהוה  your God.  Walk in His Ways, to observe His commandments, His decrees, and His ordinances.  Listen to His voice and cleave to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.

What we learn from the narrative.

“Moses emphasized that the people were standing before God, because the purpose of the covenant was to bind them to God’s Torah,…Sforno (*3) comments that Moses stressed that they were standing before God, Who cannot be deceived. [11.1087]  We read here as in parshat  Bechukotai, Leviticus 26:13ff,  very severe warnings and punishments if Israel should not follow G-d’s commandments and Word.  Do not make the mistake and think it does not apply to you today.  Yes, we were not promised a rose garden as the well known idiom confirms.  Yet there are sufficient witnesses and testimonies throughout the ages from ordinary people as well as Sages and Prophets that: 

                   יהוה unto the heavens is Your kindness Your faithfulness is till the upper heights; Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains; Your judgments are like the vast deep waters; You save both man and beast O יהוה. How precious is Your kindness, O G-d! Mankind takes refuge in the shelter of Your wings; They will be sated from the abundance of Your house; And from the stream of Your delights You give them to drink. For with you is the source of life; By Your light may we see light.   [Ps 36:6-10]

Don’t fool yourself.  A further warning is mentioned n Deu. 29:28. ‘The hidden [sins] are for יהוה, our God, but the revealed [sins] are for us and our children forever, to carry out all the words of this Torah.”

Note  the children are mentioned right after the men and before the woman.  This points to the responsibility to teach the children.  The Hebrew tradition and teaching starts at home.  Its not about going out to a building /church to be educated.  Therefore the father’s role as head of the family, and the mother who is with the children and interacts with them most of the time, are very important.

And especially today where the teaching of G-d’s word and prayer have been taken out of schools, the decision which school to send the children to, is also important.

Note the repetition again of the promise that G-d swore to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,  that Israel will be a people to G-d and that He will be their G-d, forever [Deu 29: 12].  Therefore the total negation of this fact by the world,  leaves one dumbfounded.  The so-called Palestinian Arabs,  the European Union and the liberal left, wherever, can ignore this promise by יהוה  the Creator our G-d, till they are blue in the face,  history will prove them wrong and as the Psalmist wrote:  “Why do nations gather;, and regimes talk in vain….He who sits in heaven will laugh, the Lord will mock them.”   [Ps 2:1, 4]

In verse 14 we read: “’And with whoever is not here.’ The covenant was binding even on unborn generations who were not present to enter into it, because parents and children are  like trees and their branches” [11.1087]

Deuteronomy 28:15-69 gives an accurate picture of Israel’s history and the land. And then in Deu 29:23 the reaction of nations regarding the state of Israel after the final exile 134 CE.  We find many confirmations as we read in the reports by travelers in the 19^th century like that of Mark Twain:

In Chapters 46, 39, 52 and 56 of his Innocents Abroad, American author Mark Twain wrote of his visit to Palestine in 1867: “Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies. Palestine is desolate and unlovely – Palestine is no more of this workday world. It is sacred to poetry and tradition, it is dreamland.”(Chapter 56)^[4][5] “There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country”. (Chapter 52)^[6] “A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action. We reached Tabor safely. We never saw a human being on the whole route”. (Chapter 49)^[7] “There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent – not for thirty miles in either direction. …One may ride ten miles (16 km) hereabouts and not see ten human beings.” …these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness…”(Chapter 46)  (*4)

In 1856 Henry Baker Tristram said of Palestine (*5) “A few years ago the whole Ghor (Jordan  Valley) was in the hands of the fellaheen, and much of it cultivated for corn. Now the whole of it is in the hands of the Bedouin, who eschew all agriculture…The same thing is now going on over the plain of Sharon where….land is going out of cultivation and whole villages rapidly disappeared….Since the year 1838, no less than twenty villages there have thus erased from the map, and the stationary population extirpated.”  (*4)

 The oft repeated promise by G-d to bring back Israel from the ‘four corners of heaven’ and gather them from al the peoples to which He has scattered them we read in Deu 30:1-6.  In fact  this is described in Jeremiah 32:37-41 and here in verse 41 we read the only time in the Tenach, quoting G-d, Him saying: “I will plant them steadfastly in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul” !  [Read Jer 33:20-22!] And today we see the fulfillment of G-d’s promise. Today the desert blooms, vineyards and orchards are seen all over Israel and villages and cities grew, confirming the prophets’s prophecies.

Again I cannot help but point out the foolish blindness of the politicians and enemies of Israel today.  Why do they deny these facts expounded on here above?  Why is Anti-Semitism running wild again today?  Why this hate towards Israel and the Jews?  There is only one clear answer:  They deny the reality of and truth of יהוה, the Creator of our world,  the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  They are too proud and self-obsessed to acknowledge a Supreme Being and a spiritual world beyond the material world that they worship and that their puny minds cannot fully fathom, master and control.

Parashat Nitzavim ends off with this encouraging and heartwarming decleration:

“For this commandment [Torah]that I  command you today – it is not hidden from you and it is not distant.  It is not in heaven, [for you] to say, ‘Who can ascent to the heaven for us and take it for us, so that we can listen to and perform it?’ Nor is it across the sea, [for you ] to say, ‘Who can cross to the other side of the sea for us and take it for us, so that we can listen to it and perform it?’ Rather, the matter is very near you – in your mouth and in your heart – to perform it.”  [Deu 30:11-14]  And I would like to add:  in your hand, in front of you.  Today you can read the Bible yourself.  It is not chained to a stender in a church any more.  It has been printed and translated into hundreds of languages.  No more is it forbidden, as poor William Tyndale had to give up his life for in 1535. (*6)

Note in the above quote ‘to perform it’ is mentioned three times. Therefore the false belief that Christians have that it is not necessary to perform the applicable commandments of the Torah,  is obviously false and an incorrect teaching by the church.   Here I am referring to for example the commandments that I listed in these last 8 chapters in my discussion of the fifth book of the Torah, Devarim / Deuteronomy.

Note also the consistency of the Bible from the time of Adam and Chava [Eve] right through the Bible were the Torah is referred to as the Tree of Life.

“ Earlier we saw that the strongest correlation between the Torah and the tree of life was made in Devarim 30:15, the end of Moses’ speeches.  Amazing that the Torah would begin with a story concerning the tree of life and end in the same manner.  So likewise, Revelation 22:2 (the end of the Scriptures) recaptures the image of the tree of life, bringing us back to Genesis………Lastly, note the thematic parallel between Moses and Yeshua, in that both of them gave prophecies concerning the second coming of the Messiah just before their deaths!” (*7)

“Praiseworthy is a person who has found wisdom, a person who can derive understanding  [from it],  for its commerce is better than the commerce of silver, and its Produce is better than fine gold. It is more precious than pearls, and all your desires cannot compare to it….Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its pathways are peace. It is a tree of life to those who grasp it,  and its supporters are praiseworthy.”[Prov 3:13-18]

Israel was told ‘יהוה, your God – He will cross before you’ [Deu 311:3] as they were poised to cross over the Jordan river into the Promised Land.    And then in Verse 6 we read ‘Be strong and courageous!’ There could be times that we feel G-d is hiding his face from us – see Deu 31:17,  that is when we need to do Teshuva and: ‘Call to Me and I will answer you’ says G-d.  [Jer 33:3]   There is therefore hope, support and trust!  It is worthwhile to remind yourself every day on your daily walk of this promise to Israel.   Then we can sing this Hymn, from the Haftara  for this parashat:

                        “I will rejoice intensely with יהוה, my soul will exult with my God, for He has dressed me in the raiment of salvation, in a robe of righteousness has He cloaked me, like a bridegroom who exalts [himself] with splendor, like a bride who bedecks herself with her jewelry.   For, as the earth sends forth its growth and as a garden sprouts forth its seedlings, so will my Lord, יהוה  Elohim, cause righteousness and praise to sprout in the presence of all the nations.” [Isaiah61:10-11]

In Deu 31:11-13 the Seventh year, the Shmitta year,  at Succot , the sixth Moed – i.e festival of יהוה our G-d,  the Torah had to be read in Jerusalem [‘the place that He will choose] to the men, women and small children, “and your stranger who is in your cities –so that they will hear and so that they will learn, and they shall fear Hashem your God, and be careful to perform all the words of this Torah”   NOTE!  that the ‘stranger’ is also included.

                   “Revelation 11:18 states that it is time for יהוה to reward His saints and judge those who destroy the earth.  The next verse states that the ark of the testimony could be seen.  Why are these verses placed next to each other—hint, what’s in the ark? This is thematically connected to Matthew 5:17-21 where Yeshua plainly stated that our future standing in the Kingdom would depend on whether or not we obey and teach the Torah…. The topics of Revelation 11:18 are placed next to Revelation 11:19 because the Torah (which was in the ark) is the basis for judgment and reward.  Remember, the Torah has not been abolished and it will be the basis of reward and punishment.” (*6)

Jeremiah 33:20-22 & 25 states “Thus said יהוה: If you could annul My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night,  so that day and night would not come in their proper times, so too could My covenant be annulled…”  Therefore, clearly we cannot pick and choose what to believe;  what we take seriously or choose what we want to do.

Do you now realize how false the teaching of a pastor or priest is that says: “The Law was nailed to the cross, Yeshua fulfilled it”  How can:  to be kind to your neighbor, the widow and the orphan; not to take bribes; to be honest and just in your business dealings; not to be cruel to animals, etc. etc. – laws / commandments that were listed in chapters 8 to 14,  not apply and not be those that a Christian should do ??

                   “Remember this and strengthen yourselves; take it to heart, O evildoers: Recall the early events of ancient times, [see] that I am God and there is no other;  [I am] God and there is none like Me.  From the beginning I foretell the outcome;  and from earlier times, what has not yet been; [but] I say and My plan will stand, and I will carry out My every desire”  [Isiah 46:8-10]

What we learn from the Hebrew text

In Deu 30:1-6 assurance is given to those that do Teshuva and listen to the Voice of G-d will be  brought back to the land.  To do Teshuva is more than ask forgiveness.  The Hebrew actually means, “Ask forgiveness from G-d, and turn back to the way that you are supposed to walk”

In Deu 30:3-6 ‘listen to His voice’ is mentioned THREE times.  When 3, 30, 300 0r 3000 is mentioned in the Bible one can usually find ‘hidden’ information – on the Sod & Remez level of the Hebrew text [See Chapter  7 of this blog] regarding the promised Messiah.

Therefore note Deu 18:18:  “A prophet from your midst, from your brethren like me, shall יהוה, your God, establish for you – to him shall you hearken.”  And:- “And calling the crowd to Him, He said to them, ‘Hear Me, everyone, and understand’ [Mark 7:14]

“The Hebrew word nitzavim is usually translated ‘standing’, but is, more literally ‘standers – men who stand’.  Nitzavim, you see, is the masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb natzav [nun, tzade, veit], Strong’s Hebrew word #5324, pronounced naw-tsawv‘. 

“There are two Hebrew verbs which are translated into English as ‘to stand’. The more frequently encountered word is amad. It is this word from which the word Amidah, from which the most common name given to the Sh’moneh Esrei prayer, is drawn.

“Amad merely refers to a human being assuming an upright position. Natzav, on the other hand, means something more like to stand up and be counted, or to take a stand.

“Natzav – the root of the word nitzavim — means standing boldly, with power and with strength.   And it means, quite often, standing in for someone else – like an ambassador stands in for a king. ……..

“Strong’s Hebrew word #3320, pronounced yaw–tsawb‘.  The first Biblical usage of this verb is found in Exodus 2:4, where we are told that Miryam, as a little girl, stood [Hebrew, yatsab] a distance away from the ark in which her baby brother Moshe was placed in the Nile, to watch over him.  This verb is the root of the word Nitzavim, ‘standing ones’, which described everyone participating in the covenant renewal ceremony of Deuteronomy 28-30.  As discussed in that context, the Hebrew verb focuses not on the act or posture of standing [i.e., being on one’s feet], but upon the purpose of standing – to be of service, to pray, to participate in a covenant act, etc. “ (*1)

FOOTNOTES

*1  Bill Bullock. Nitzavim – The Parashat of Decisions. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/FMfcgxvzKQsXmFqCgSGbXMGGPHXHHBrT

*2 Jonathan Sacks.  Covenant and Conversation.  The World is Waiting for you.  Nitzavim 2018-5778 

*3  Sforno: Ovadia ben Jacob Sforno (Obadja Sforno, Hebrew: עובדיה ספורנו) was an Italian rabbi, Biblical commentator, philosopher and physician. He was born at Cesena about 1475 and died at Bologna in 1550

*4  Wikipaedia.

*5   The name Palestine was given to the Land of Israel by the Romans to be an insult.  During the Ottoman period and also under the Mandate of the British, this name was used.  The orchestra in Israel during the 1920’s was thus called the Palestine Orchestra.  Jews born during the mandate and up to 1948 had written in their passports, born in Palestine.  After 14 May 1948 the Holy Land was given the correct name ‘Israel’.  There was never a state called Palestine as such as the Arabs living in Israel today claim. No king of Palestine, coinage, stamp, flag, parliament or constitution of an Arab state there ever existed!

*6  MAN, John. The Gutenberg Revolution. How printing changed the course of History.  Johanesburg:  Bantam. 2009.

*7  Tony Robinson. Mishpacha beit Midrash. https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/0da55621/files/uploaded/NitzavimVayeilekh_2xqC1t8SJeNHis8Wtby3.pdf

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Walk with G-d -Serve G-d with gladness and a good heart

Chapter 14  Parshat 50 KiTavo / when  you enter– Deu 26:1-29:8

..you shall safeguard My decrees and My judgements and  not commit any of these abominations.  Leviticus 18:26

Ki Tavo –when you enter –  starts off with instructions for the Bikurim feast– First Fruits Festival. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (*1) discusses it as follows:

“What was original was not the celebration of first fruits. Many cultures have such ceremonies. What was unique about the ritual in our parsha, and the biblical world-view from which it derives, is that our ancestors saw God in history rather than nature. Normally what people would celebrate by bringing first-fruits would be nature itself: the seasons, the soil, the rain, the fertility of the ground and what Dylan Thomas called “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower.” The biblical first-fruits ceremony is quite different. It is not about nature but about the shape of history, the birth of Israel as a nation, and the redemptive power of God who liberated our ancestors from slavery.”

“This is what was new about this worldview: [1] Jews were, as Yerushalmi (see below) points out, the first to see God in history.

 “[2] They were the first to see history itself as an extended narrative with an overarching theme. That vision was sustained for the whole of the biblical era, as the events of a thousand years were interpreted by the prophets and recorded by the biblical historians.

 “[3] The theme of biblical history is redemption. It begins with suffering, has an extended middle section about the interactive drama between God and the people, and ends with homecoming and blessing.

“[4] The narrative is to be internalized: this is the transition from history to memory, and this is what the first-fruits declaration was about. Those who stood in the Temple saying those words were declaring: this is my story. In bringing these fruits from this land, I and my family are part of it.

 “[5] Most importantly: the story was the basis of identity. Indeed, that is the difference between history and memory. History is an answer to the question, “What happened?” Memory is an answer to the question, “Who am I?” In Alzheimer’s Disease, when you lose your memory, you lose your identity. The same is true of a nation as a whole. When we tell the story of our people’s past, we renew our identity.  We have a context in which we can understand who we are in the present and what we must do to hand on our identity to the future.  [Yosef Hayyim Yerushalmi, Zakhor: Jewish History and Memory, University of Washington Press, 1982. The historian David Andress has just published a book, Cultural Dementia, subtitled How the West Has Lost its History and Risks  Losing Everything Else (London, Head of Zeus, 2018), applying a similar insight to the contemporary West. ]”(*2)  

The question I would like to ask you, the reader, is:  Do you see G-d and His relationship with and actions with mankind and Israel as part of your history? That is, the history of your faith?

“The commandment [to bring the First fruits] was not simply a thanksgiving for G-d’s gift of the Land, but primarily for having settled in it as a permanent home.  It was only then that they could rejoice in it with an easy mind” [34.325]

“It is explained in Or Hatorah (Chassidic explanation) that the fruit of a tree is akin to the soul as it is enclothed in the body, and that offering up the first fruit is a act whose significance is the binding of the incarnate soul with its source in G-d. It is written in Hosea, ‘I saw your fathers as the first fruit of the fig tree.’ [Hosea 9:10]” [34.326]

COMMANDMENTS

1. Deu 27:16, 20, 21-23 These commandments recall those in Leviticus 18:1-30 regarding sexual conduct.
2. Deu 27:18  Do not cause a blind person to go astray on the road.

3.       Deu 27:19  Do not pervert judgment of a proselyte, orphan or widow.

4.       Deu 27:24  Acccursed is one who strikes his fellow stealthily.

5.       Deu 27:25  Do not accept bribes to kill an innocent man.

Comments  regarding  the  above  commandments

[1]   Sadly today sexual perversion and the public discussions of the sinful sexual antics of people is so much part of life.  No wonder the youth of today that are schooled in the liberal worldly schools and universities think that anything goes.  If children are not taught the Biblical foundation at home as Torah instructs us to do (see Deu 6:7) they will go astray. They will not develop discernment regarding what’s right and wrong.

It is shocking that even Pope Frances recently indirectly condoned a homosexual lifestyle by suggesting a civil marriage contract is acceptable. For a state to also legalizing the adoption of children by same sex couples surely goes against G-d’s creation and will of what a marriage and family is supposed to be. I cannot help being shocked and saddened when the so called Queer parades in Israel is lauded and promoted, and prominent publicity is given to the thousands of people that especially travel to Israel to take part in this public display of impiety and wickedness.  Surely then G-d cries for the so called Holy Land. Is it not because we idolize democracy and free speech without moral and ethical boundaries?

[2]   This commandment reminds me of the unfortunate way some children think it is funny and entertaining to tease or annoy and provoke or bully someone that is disabled, studious, old or just different.  It’s the duty of parents and teachers to put a stop to that kind of behavior as soon as it raises its ugly head.

Of course what is implicit in this commandment is to be helpful and kind to such a disabled person. One could also propose a metaphysical application by stating that it is wrong to trick, fool or not inform a person of the true facts of something.  (Does this not in part applies to the ‘Fake media’?)

What  we  learn from the narrative.

Deu 26:12ff  Here we read regarding Tithing. There were basically three types of “money or goods levied for the maintenance of religious institution.  The following types of tithes are mentioned in the Bible: the ‘first tithe’ given to the [Cohen and] Levites after the heave offering, the second tithe which was one tenth of the first tithe given [by the Levites to the Cohen] the ‘poor tithe’ which was given to the poor in the third and the sixth year, and the ‘animal tithe’ which was levied three times a year.” [38.182]  The first two years you take your tithe up to Jerusalem to enjoy there as the Scripture says on ‘whatever your soul shall desire’

It is important to note in your declaration given to G-d when you give your tithes, you declare “I did not give it to the needs of the dead” [Deu 26:14]  This is specifically mentioned here because in those ancient days it was a pagan custom to do sacrifices to the dead and bury the dead with gifts.  Today this is still a custom in certain cultures, but distinctly forbidden in the Bible.

In Deu 26:18 We read the purpose of Israel.  Moses tells them they are distinguished, treasured people.  When they observe and perform the commandments with all their hearts and souls, they will be a supreme nation, a nation of renown and other nations will praise them for their holy splendor.  [But not to forget “Not because your are more numerous that all the peoples did HASHEM [יהוה [desire you and choose you, for you are the fewest of all the peoples. Rather, because of HASHEM’s love for you and because He observes the oath that He swore to your forefathers” Deu 7:7]

In Deu 28ff Moses mentions all the blessings promised to Israel if they perform the  commandments with all their heart and soul; they shall be blessed in the city and in the field; in their produce, walk and offspring;  even their enemies will flee before them.  As we say at the Feast of Trumpets, to be the head and not the tail.

The strong warning uttered by Moses is: “Hashem will send in your midst attrition, confusion, and worry, in your every undertaking that you will do, until you are destroyed, and until you quickly perish, because of the evil of your deeds, for you having forsaken Me.”  [Deu 28:20]  Then verse 37 seems to describe the situation today with Anti-Semitism that is again increasing : “You will be a source of astonishment, a parable, and a conversation piece, among all the peoples where Hashem will lead you”

I have often wondered if verse 23 is not a prophecy concerning the Holocaust, describing the ovens that burnt thousands upon thousands of Jews to ashes: ”Your heavens over your head will be copper and the land beneath you will be iron”

“The central theme of this week’s parsha is thus clearly seen as the renewal of covenant vows – a remembrance…… And we, His treasured possession, are called upon to realize that to us the Holy One is much more than God.  He is Ish [husband].  His ‘commandments’ are not a burden, an obligation — they are the garments He has given us to wear that mark us as His…They are not “law”; they are the natural expression of bridal passion” (*3)

The warning in verse 47: “because you did not serve  יהוה your God, amid gladness and goodness of heart, when everything was abundant” should serve as a warning for us even today.

What  we  learn  from  the  hebrew

‘You shall observe the commandments and decrees that G-d commanded you’ appears in some form or another in this parashat  eighteen times.  The gamatria of the Hebrew word for ‘life’, חי (chai) is 18!

FOOTNOTES

*1  Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 until 2013. Author of more than 26 books he is described as ‘a moral voice for out times’;  ‘a light unto this nation’ (UK) – and the whole world’; ‘Britain’s most authentically prophetic voice’.

*2  Jonathan Sacks. The Story We Tell 2 Ki Tavo, Covenant and Conversation, 5778

*3  Bill Bullock. Rabbisson@cableone.net. 

The Righteous Society

Part 13   Parashat 49 Ki Teitzei – When you will go out. Deu 21:10-25:19

Turn away from evil and do good; and dwell [in security] forever.

For יהוה loves justice and will not forsake His devoted ones.

Ps 37:27-28

In this parshat we learn significant principles of what it means to live in a just and righteous society.  “As we begin today’s study, let us commit ourselves to look at our Bridegroom’s Torah not as a history book or a ‘book of law’, but as a mirror into our souls.  As we read it, let us compare what is written there – the description of the Creator’s Bride — to the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts, and see where, and to what degree, our thoughts and attitudes and approaches to life and to the Holy One’s creation have strayed from His design, and are in need of adjustment.     Let us consent to let the Torah be for us a guidebook for ‘in flight corrections’ (*1)

Commandments

1.  Deu 21:10-14  In time of war, a soldier may not abuse women.
2. Deu 21:15-17  You have to act responsibly and fair when drawing up your will.
3. Deu 22:1&4   Help an animal in distress. You shall not see the donkey of your brother or his ox falling on the road…you shall surely stand them up, helping him.

            Deu 22:10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

            Deu 25:4  Do not muzzle an ox in its threshing.

            Deu 22:6  When a mother bird is roosting on young birds or eggs, you need to send her away before you take the chicks or eggs.

4.   Deu 22:8  Take care that no person can come to harm on your property.  For example: You shall make a fence (railing) for your roof.

5.    Deu 22:9   Do not plant mix seeds.  “What the Creator has established as separate and distinct aspects of humanity are not to be mixed, mingled, confused, and diluted.  It is so with seeds.  It is so with animals.  It is so with mankind.” (*1) 

6.      Deu 22:20  A young unmarried girl or woman need to protect and guard her reputation.

7.     Deu 23:18  There shall be no promiscuous woman in Israel / among believers.

8.    Deu 23: 15  You shall act with decorum, proper hygiene and cleanliness when you need to go to the toilet and regarding your sanitation.

9.    Deu 23:16 You shall not turn over to his master a slave that has escaped.

10.   Deu 23:22 & 24 Your word should be your word.  One must be able to rely on a follower of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  When you make a vow to יהוה you should not be late in paying it…You shall observe and carry out what emerges from your lips.

11   Deu 23:25,26  A worker has a right to receive for him or herself from the produce that they work with.

12  Deu 24:6 & 10  In a dispute with someone do not harm his lively hood.

13  Deu 24:7  You may not kidnap a person.  It is evil to do so.

14  Deu 24:8  Do not gossip or commit slander.  It is called Lashon HaRa.

15  Deu 24:14  Pay a worker when he finished his work for you.  If he/she is employed for the day, payment must be made at the end of the day.

16  Deu 24:16  A father may not be punished for the sins of his son, and a son may not be punished for the sins of a father. [This also applies to females]

17  Deu 24:17, 19 & 20.  Do not pervert justice for a widow or an orphan.

18  Deu 24:19,20  Leave some of your harvest for the poor;  Leave the corner of your field for the poor   [Lev.19:9  ]  Leave the gleanings in your field for the poor.

19  Deu 25:3  Do not degrade the person in his punishment.

20  Deu 25:11  Do not embarrass a person in public.

21  Deu 25: 13   Be honest in all your business dealings. v.16 “For an abomination of Hashem, your God,….all who act corruptly”

Comments regarding some of the above commandments.

[1] Deu 21:10-14    “In this passage the Torah responds to the often inflamed passion of a soldier in battle…the Torah provides an avenue for the lustful soldier…so that [his desire]  will cool before it causes more harm. [There is an obligated waiting period]…The juxtaposition of the first three passages of the sidrah (part)are in themselves an implicit argument against this sort of liaison, for after giving the laws of the captive woman, the Torah speak of a hated wife, and then an incorrigibly rebellious child.  The implication is that there is a chain reaction; This improper infatuation with a captive woman will lead to one family tragedy after another. (Rashi)” [11.1046]

[2] Deu 21:15-17  A child may not be deprived of his rightful share in his father’s inheritance.  “By implication this passage shows that parents must beware not to permit rights and relationships to be disrupted by rivalries and even animosities that are not uncommon in family life.” [11.1047]

[3] Deu 22:1&4, 6 &10; Deu25:4  By extension it also applies to every case where one’s physical or verbal intervention can help someone avoid a loss.

The Torah, Bible, is full of commandments and examples or being considerate and caring to animals: –

If you cannot immediately find or identify the owner of a lost animal, you either have to take the animal to your home, or to a secure place like a kennel for example, for a lost dog.   To plow with an ox and a donkey together sounds absurd.  They obviously do not possess the same degree of strength.  Apart from being foolish, it would be cruel.

The ox chews a cud which a donkey does not, therefore a donkey would wonder why the ox may eat and he not.  Similarly,  it’s cruel to muzzle an ox that’s threshing because he’s surrounded by his food, yet he cannot eat.

Sending the mother bird away also implies being kind and compassionate to the animal; so that she may not witness the taking of her young.  It also infers being mindful of how one consumes the animals of the earth.  Irresponsible use of and consuming of animals could lead to their extinction.  We are to be guardians and stewards of the earth – in fact this was the first task given to man [Genesis 1:26–27] and the earth and all of it belongs to the Creator G-d. “For mine is every beast of the forest, the cattle of a thousand mountains.  I know every bird of the mountains and what creeps upon My fields is with Me.” [Ps 50:10-13]

One therefore also may not slaughter the mother and her calf / lamb or kid on the same day. [Lev 22:28]

“A man who strikes mortally an animal life shall make restitution, a life for a life.” [Lev24:18]

“..the seventh day is Shabbat to יהוה, your G-d;  you shall not do any work – [nor]…your ox, your donkey, and your every animal” [Ex 20:10 & Deu 5:14]

“If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its burden would you refrain from helping him? – you shall help repeatedly with him” [Ex 23:5]

“You shall bring forth for them water from the rock and give drink to the assembly and to their animals……Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock with his staff twice; abundant water came forth and the assembly and their animals drank” [Num 20:8,11]

“And I (said G-d)– shall I not take pity upon Nineveh the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and many animals as well?” [Jonah 4:11]

“The righteous one knows [the needs of ] his animal’s soul, but the mercies of the wicked are cruel.” [Prov. 12:10]

See also for instance how Jacob viewed his animals:  Gen.33:13,14 & 17: “But he (Jacob) said to him (Esau), ‘My lord knows that the children are tender, and the nursing flocks and cattle are upon me; if they will be driven hard for a single day, then all the flocks will die…I will make my way at my slow pace according to the gait of the drove before me and the gait of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir….But Jacob journeyed to Succoth and built himself a house, and for his livestock he made shelters..”  Notice how Jacob displays the same consideration and understanding he has for the little children as also for his animals.  Read also the parable Nathan told King David regarding ‘one small ewe’ of a poor man: “He raised it and it grew up together with him and his children. It ate from his bread and drank from his cup and lay in his bosom” [2 Sam.12:1-3]

This commandment ‘Not to muzzle an ox…’ is referred to in 1 Timothy 5: 17-18  in connection with ‘those who labour in the word and teaching…’The labourer is worthy of his wages’ (quoting Deu 25:4 & Leviticus 19:13)  Remember as we say, There could be 70 interpretations of a verse in the Bible, and therefore G-d’s word is a ‘Living Word’.  Applicable for all people everywhere and for all time.

[4] Deu22:8   Of course it entails more than just a railing around your roof.  [In Israel the houses usually have flat roofs, so that one can go up on the roof in the cool of the evening]  Just recently the news reported a case of a four year old boy who fell down a hole on a farmer’s land which led to a big effort to free him.  Barbed wire and glass lying around may not only injure children but also animals.

[5] Deu22:9  One can also apply this principle to the commandments in the Torah which entails not to take away or add to a commandment or not to mix the basic essence of one commandment with another.

[6] & [7] Deu 22:13-23:1 is all about traditional commandments concerning sexual purity, in fact the Torah repeatedly uses the expression:  You shall remove the evil from your midst.

(Read again Leviticus 18 & 19)  Never before in recent history as far as our memories stretches, up till the time of our great-grandmothers, has there been such a flagrant unashamed display of flesh in public. Be it night or especially during the day.  It is not only a lack of taste or upbringing, but clearly shows the absence of Biblical or Torah education and underpinning.  “You shall be holy, for holy am I, יהוה  your God” we are instructed in Leviticus 19:2.  Women and men should be modest in their dress. Not to be on display or overly attract attention as Paul admonishes those sitting in the Synagogue in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 “…that the women dress themselves becomingly, with decency and sensibleness, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly garments, but with good works, which is becoming for women undertaking worship of Elohim.”

[8] Deu 23:15    In many countries it is against the law for a man to relieve himself in public.  Note the instruction in the Torah for the Israelites over 3000 years ago:  “You shall have a place outside the camp, and to there you shall go out, outside.   You shall have a shovel in addition to your weapons,  and it will be that when you sit outside, you shall dig with it;  you shall go back and cover your excrement.  Forיהוה  your God walks in the midst of your camp…”  Note even today the soldiers are expected to follow this hygiene. Note the fact that G-d is in our city (camp) and this in itself should cause us to be concerned about the cleanliness and beauty of our city.

I would like to propose that it includes the picking up and discarding or your domestic pets’ droppings, especially in the cities and residential areas.  (Nearby where I lived was a large sports field that was frequented by dog owners.  Before the players could use the field, someone had to go around and first pick up the doggie do’s!  Such behavior is what one calls according to Torah language: inconsiderate & not being mindful of your neighbor.  In plain language: uncivil.)

[9] Deu 23:16  At first I was not going to include this command but unfortunately because of news reports it is clear that slavery did not end in the 19^th century. Slavery is a reality to deal with today and should be done in a Biblical way. [See also Chapter 11, (*6) ]

[11] & [18] Deu 23:25,26 – Deu 24:19 &20  ‘But why does the Torah need to repeat this lesson twice? Once regarding a vineyard and once regarding standing grain?…The closing lessons of isrelationship with Hashem to that of an employee…it follows that Hashem as a responsible employer,  surely provides us not only with wages owed, i.e. reward in the world to come, but He also provides us with what we need while we’re doing the job,  ensuring that our material needs are met on a daily basis.’ (*2)  

This ancient custom of leaving the corner of your field of e.g. wheat for the poor was clearly an automatic and built in system for caring for the less fortunate and hungry in a community. Therefore, it should be part of the culture of a government.  Unfortunately, usually it depends on individuals to campaign or start a movement to help the disadvantaged. [Do not for a moment think that I am supporting socialism!  History has proven it does not work.]

[12] Deu 24:6 & 10 ‘ Taking the lower or upper millstone as a pledge’ means that one’s actions should not, because someone owes you something, impact him in such a way that it is detrimental to his daily existence.  Also, when someone owes you something you may not barge into his house and enter without his permission. The Bible actually stipulates one should wait outside.  Note also how considerate one should be towards a poor person.

Currently we too often see extreme vandalism committed by protesters. Their unrestraint in venting their anger and frustration causes not only a severe financial burden to a community but can lead to disastrous consequences for an individual. This is clearly not the righteous way for an individual or group to resolve problems and differences.

[14] Deu 24:8  The Sages regard gossip as a very severe sin in fact as bad as murder.  It not only harms the person of whom is spoken, but also the person to whom it is told as well as the person that gossips or commits the slander.  [The example given in the Bible is that of Miriam, Moses’ sister who spoke badly about his wife.  Miriam as a consequence contracted what is called Tzaras. This is not leprosy as it is usually translated as.  It was a spiritual affliction that only could be healed by the special ceremony conducted by a priest. See Leviticus 14:1ff]

The brother of Yeshua ben Yoseph wrote in his book Yacob, today called James 3:2-12:-

“For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 

 “Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listel. 

“Even so the tongue is a little member, and boast great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindle! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defile the whole body, and set on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” 

“Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speak evil of his brother, and judge his brother, speak evil of the Torah, and judge the law: but if thou judge the Torah, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one Lawgiver and Judge, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judge another? “ James 4:11-12.

[19] Deu 25:3 & [20] Deu 25:11 The beauty of the Shabbat meal’s tradition to not talk politics, business, or contentious matters or gossip, but rather talk about the beauty and marvels of the world and miracles in G-d’s word, makes it so special.  This is so very different from the common discourse found in public and often reported in the mass media where people are often degraded and embarrassed in public.

To mind also comes what have been seen reported and shown on air of the way men and women are debased and degraded when they are punished in public in Islamic countries. How different is that when a Judge in the West, in stead of sending an accused to prison, rather give him or her community service; to uplift, improve a situation and thus learn through his or her mistake and misdemeanor. 

[21] Deu 25:13  ‘A perfect and honest weight shall you have, a perfect and honest measure shall you have, so that your days shall be lengthened on the Land that יהוה , your God gives you. For an abomination of יהוה your God, are all who do this, all who act corruptly’ [Deu 25:15-16]  It is interesting to note when it is said: so that your days shall be lengthened…. From previous discussions and explanations the expression ‘ your days in the Land’ refers also to Life, and fulfilled life as well as Olam Habah / life in the Hereafter.  Similarly it is interesting to note when the word ‘abomination’ is used.  “Verse 14 makes clear that God abhors dishonesty” [11.1065]

What we learn from the Narrative

“The focus of the Hebrew word k’hal is not on ‘meeting’, or ‘congregating’ in the English sense.  It does not refer to those who choose to associate with each other, or join an organization to a cal.  The emphasis is on the concept of response l.  ….. According to the sages of Israel, entering into the k’hal of the Holy One means intermarrying with women who are part of the k’hal of the Holy One, and which are called to receive, to carry to term, to give birth to, to nurture, and to train the seed of Avraham.     Under this interpretation, the issue is intermarriage.

  “You can better understand this interpretation if you recall the first usage of the word k’hal.  It was, as pointed out earlier, in Genesis 28:3 – when Ya’akov was being sent to Paddan-Aram to do what? To TAKE A BRIDE.  ……. Moshe declares, say the sages, that a woman of the k’hal of the Holy One should only marry a sh’ma-ing man – a man who will take to heart Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and will perpetuate the Torah lifestyle – not some religion that emphasizes form and meetings over Torah…(but) responding to our Divine Bridegroom’s Voice as a Bride — in his children, and in his children’s children, forever.”   (*1)

Regarding the reason that the Ammoni and a Moavi male may not be part of Israel ‘to the tenth generation’:  “Applying this “law of context” to the mitzvot regarding admission/entry into the k’hal of the Holy One, one would note that most of the material surrounding these mitzvot deals was with the people of the Holy One at war, in military camps.  Considering that context, the issue would not be solely intermarriage, but also would involve who could be accepted into the military forces of the Holy One’s people….. Torah says this is because:  “. . . they did not come to meet you with bread and water on  your way when you came out of Egypt,  and they hired Bilaam, son of Beor … to  pronounce  a curse on  you.”  [Deuteronomy 23:4]”

 “Compare this concept with what Y’shua had to say in regard to His Kingdom in Matthew 25, where He taught, as part of His Olivet Discourse on the end of times that those who did not give a cup of water, or clothing, or hospitality, or comfort in time of sickness or imprisonment to ‘the least of these My Brothers’ would not participate in the k’hal of the Holy One, but would be sentenced to ‘depart from Me, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’   Matthew 25:41-46.” 

“The failure to meet the brethren with “bread and water” is to be the basis of the separation of “sheep” nations and “goat” nations.  It is the ultimate separation of those of the Ammoni mindset and character from the k’hal of the Holy One.

 “Compare also the teaching of Kefa in II Peter 2:1-22, regarding false prophets and teachers, who entice others away from a true Torah sh’ma lifestyle, as exemplified by Y’shua, to follow “the way of Bilaam, son of Beor” [II Peter 2:15], who appeal to “lustful desires of sinful human nature” [II Peter 2:18]; for these, Kefa teaches, there is no place in the k’hal of the Holy One. For them, Kefa says, “blackest darkness is reserved.” II Peter 2:17. “ (*1)

“A Just and righteous society, however, cannot be a pacifist society. Some things are worth fighting for. ….a willingness to go to war when war is what is necessary to defend the Holy One’s principles of justness and fairness against lawless nations.”  (*1)

What the Hebrew teaches us

“The word mitzvah….usually mistranslated into English as ‘commandment,’ is actually a form of the word tzavah (tsade צ  vav ו  hey ה  ) meaning, ‘to connect’ or ‘to attach’. A mitzvah is a God-ordained way to connect, or attach ourselves (to G-d)..”  (*1)

“Chapter 22 of the scroll of D’varim [Deuteronomy], which we study today, contains many miscellaneous mitzvot [life instructions] the Holy One has prophesied that those who are His people will perform “when/as you go . . .” Remember, each mitzvah set forth in Torah is designed to function as a “gateway into the kingdom of Messiah”. 

            “That does not mean that performing the mitzvah will earn a person “salvation” – that would be a “works-righteousness” approach which is the opposite of Torah’s way. ……..

“Do you not realize that every single mitzvah of Torah reveals something – some unique aspect – of our Covenant Partner in Heaven’s goodness?

Each mitzvah is an atrium into which the glory of the God of Avraham, of Yitschak and of Ya’akov shines, bringing revitalizing light into the life of anyone who will enter into it, and promising a taste of the sweetness of life in the Gan Eden, before the Fall. “  (*1)

FOOTNOTES

*1  Bill Bullock’s discussion of KiTetze: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#label/Bill+Bullock/FMfcgxmVzTMtPFGFXnlqTsKGLVkkMMpl

*2 Rabbi Pini Hecht. Between vineyards and fields of grain.  Parshat Ki Tetze.  The Jewish Report. 28Ag-4Sep 2009.

The  WALK  FOR  EVERYONE – Hope for Life, Peace & Contentment

Chapter 12 Justice -Parashat #48 – Shoftim    Deu 16:18-21:9

Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue – Deu 16:20

“It is not enough to seek righteousness; it must be done through honest means;  the Torah does not condone the pursuit of a holy end through improper means.” [11.1025]

It is a Hebraic literary construct to repeat a verb to place emphasis and express importance.  “If one believes in a God who is all-powerful and all-just, one cannot believe that this world, in which evil far too often triumphs, is the only arena in which human life exists. For if this existence were the final word, and God permits evil to win, then it cannot be that God is good.  Thus, when someone says he or she believes in God but not in afterlife, it would seem that either they have not thought the issue through, or that they don’t believe in God, or the divine being in whom they believe is amoral or immoral” [Joseph Telushkin quoted in 21.252]

“Pursuing justice is a positive commandment, requiring positive action. It is not enough to refrain from doing harm or wronging others.  Rather, God commands us to actively pursue justice, to engage in social work, to give charity, to go out of our way to help those in our communities…The Jewish love of law, love of justice, is thus rooted in love of God…the pursuit of justice does not exist for its own sake, but rather stems from love of God and of the Law God commanded.” [21.262 & 265]

As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said: ‘It’s not power that matters, but the fight for justice and freedom.’ (*1) “Justice and Mercy are not opposites in Hebrew but are bonded together in a singe word tzedek or tzedakah….Why then is justice so central to Judaism?  Because it is impartial.  Law as envisaged by the Torah makes no distinction between rich and poor, powerful and powerless, home born or stranger.  Equality before the law is the translation into human terms of equality before G-d.  Time and again the Torah insists that justice is not a human artifact. ‘Fear no one, for judgment belongs to G-d.’ Because it belongs to G-d, it must never be compromised – by fear, bribery, or favoritism.  It is an inescapable duty, an inalienable right.”(*2)  “The law, as it were, lays down a minimum threshold;  this we must do. But the moral life aspires to more than simply doing what we must.” (*3)

Commandments

1    Deu 16:18  Appoint judges in all your cities.

2   Deu 17:6 & Deu 19:15  By the testimony of two or three witnesses shall a matter be  judged

3   Deu 17:12  Do not be willful.

4   Deu 18:1-8  Care for those that serve G-d and the congregation, i.e according to the Torah and the unadulterated Word of G-d.

5   Deu 18:9   You shall not plant for yourselves an idolatrous tree or pillar.  Do not commit what is evil in the eyes of G-d:  you shall not pass your son or daughter through the fire;  do not consult a sangoma –those that practice divination – an astrologer, one who reads omens, a sorcerer;  an animal charmer; one who consults the dead, witchdoctors, or oji board, etc.

6   Deu 18:9  A murderer shall be punished.

7   Deu 19:14  You shall not move a boundary of your fellow.

8   Deu 20:19   When at war, you shall not destroy trees;  especially fruit trees.

9   Deu 21:1-9  An unsolved murder must be investigated,  &

10 Deu 21:1-9  Be hospital to strangers.

Comments regarding the above commandments

[1] Deu 16:18   The Hebrew word used in this verse is not ‘cities’ but ‘gates’  As the Sages said: a verse can have 70 meanings.  Here the word ‘gates’ can also refer to ‘our gates’:  eyes, ears, heart and even gonads.  Therefore,  guard your eyes from what they should not observe;   guard your ears from what is not according to Torah principles.  Therefore, keep your heart pure – as we are instructed in parashat Kodoshim: ‘You shall be holy, for holy am I, יהוה  your God.” [Leviticus 19:2, repeated in 20:7 & 20:26]

[2] Deu 17:6 & Deu 19:15  This principle in fact also applies to the Scriptures.   One must be careful not to base a Biblical principle on just one verse or phrase.  

[3]  Deu 17:12  Do not be willful.    It is interesting to see which words are synonyms for willfulness:  obstinacy, unyielding temper, stubbornness, obduracy, hardness,  intransigent, stiff neck, no compromise;   zealotry, intolerance & fanaticism.  But, do not make the mistake to think that Judaism or a Jew cannot have spiritual and intellectual courage  or that Judaism is static.  As the Midrash Tanhuma states: To rebuild a shattered world, Heaven is telling you to go ahead.  You do not wait for permission.

     “Most Talmudic scholars don’t realize that the authors whose ideas they teach would turn in their graves if they knew their opinions were being taught as dogmas that cannot be challenged. They wanted their ideas tested, discussed, thought through, reformulated and even rejected, with the understanding that no final conclusions have ever been reached, could be reached or even should be reached. They realized that matters of faith should remain fluid, not static. Halacha is the practical upshot of living by unfinalized beliefs while remaining in theological suspense. Only in this way can Judaism avoid becoming paralyzed by its awe of a rigid tradition or, conversely, evaporate into a utopian reverie…… What today’s Judaism desperately needs is verbal critics who could spread and energize its great message. It needs spiritual Einsteins, Freuds and Pasteurs who can demonstrate its untapped possibilities and undeveloped grandeur. Judaism should be challenged by new Spinozas and Nietzsches; by remorseless atheists who would scare the hell out of our rabbis, who would in turn be forced into thinking bold ideas.

“The time has come to deal with the real issues and not hide behind excuses that ultimately will turn Judaism into a sham. Our thinking is behind the times, and that is something we can no longer afford. Judaism is about bold ideas. Its goal is not to find the truth, but to inspire us to honestly search for it.” (*4) 

“The Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson 1902-1994] wanted us to see the unity that lies behind the apparent diversity of existence.  Listening to his expositions, we move beneath the surface of conflict and come to see that disagreement between the great sages is no more and no less than a difference of perspectives on a single Divine reality.” [34.XI]

[4] Deu 18:1-8    It is necessary here to add “, i.e according to the Torah and the unadulterated Word of G-d.” especially because of those mega churches that are so fashionable in the US whose pastors solicit large contributions and even insist on having Jet airplanes for their needs.  The ‘word’ that are preached in very many churches today distort not even the message of Yeshua, but totally ignore the Hebrew roots of the faith and worse still, totally negate the application of Torah.  

[5] Deu 18:9   Today even it is especially necessary to mention these idolatrous habits that are again so much in fashion.  There are also all over the world primitive nations that have and keep these ancient practices. Likewise is the horrific Islamic tradition of sacrificing and abuse of children to wear explosive belts & jackets.

      Communicating with the dead by going to the graves of great Rabbi’s leaves a big question mark to this practice.    Is the fact that we do not know the burial place of Moses an important message to us regarding revering the graves of great Sages? (*5)

[6] Deu 18:9  “ Tzedek (justice) is a key word in the book of Devarim ….The distribution of the word tzedek and its derivate, tzedakah, in the Five Books of Moses is anything but random. It is overwhelmingly concentrated on the first and last books – Genesis (where it appears 16 times) and Deuteronomy (18 times). In Exodus it occurs only four times, and in Leviticus five. All but one of these are concentrated in two chapters: Exodus 23 (where three of the four occurrences are in two verses, 23:7-8), and Leviticus 19 (where all five incidences are in chapter 19). In Numbers, the word does not appear at all.

    “ This distribution is one of many indications that the Chumash is constructed as a chiasmus, a literary unit of the form ABCBA. Here’s (an example of) the structure:

 “A: Genesis – the pre-history of Israel (the distant past). B: Exodus – the journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai. C: Leviticus – the code of holiness. B: Numbers – the journey from Mount Sinai to the banks of the Jordan. A: Deuteronomy – the post-history of Israel (the distant future)…..

“What does it mean? Tzedek/tzedakah is almost impossible to translate, because of its many shadings of meaning: justice, charity, righteousness, integrity, equity, fairness, and innocence. It certainly means more than strictly legal justice, for which the Bible uses words like mishpat and din. …..The late Aryeh Kaplan translated tzedakah in Deuteronomy 24 as “charitable merit.” It is best rendered as “the right and decent thing to do” or “justice tempered by compassion.”…

“Why then is justice so central to Judaism? Because it is impartial. Law as envisaged by the Torah makes no distinction between rich and poor, powerful and powerless, home born or stranger. Equality before the law is the translation into human terms of equality before G-d. Time and again the Torah insists that justice is not a human artifact. “Fear no one, for judgment belongs to G-d.” Because it belongs to G-d, it must never be compromised – by fear, bribery, or favoritism. It is an inescapable duty, an inalienable right.

“Judaism is a religion of love: “You shall love the Lord your G-d”; “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”; “You shall love the stranger.” But it is also a religion of justice, for without justice, love corrupts. (Who would not bend the rules, if he could, to favor those he loves?)

“It is also a religion of compassion, for without compassion law itself can generate inequity. Justice plus compassion equals tzedek, the first precondition of a decent society.”  (*6)

“the Holy One’s purpose in calling Abraham was to establish through him a nation characterized by righteousness and justice.  In fact, Genesis 18:19 clearly states that it is through these two virtues that the Holy One will be able to cause Am Yisrael to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth!” (*7)

[7] Deu 19:14   Again, we are not to just take this commandment on the peshat – literal– level i.e just regarding boundaries between properties.  “Let’s spend a moment…looking at some of the boundaries and borders of Jewish life. We too, have neighbors.   Some are friends and some are foreign…Many are exposed to cultures, lifestyles, business environments that are very different to our own….The answer is that we need landmarks.  We, too, [all believers] require boundaries and borders to help us draw the lines between being good neighbors, sociable colleagues and losing our own traditions.  Otherwise, we become the same as everyone else on the block or at work.” [33.213]  We run the risk then of not being the light to others that G-d expects us to be.

“In spiritual application, the sages also consider the phrase ‘she’archa’ [i.e. translated here as “your gates” (second person singular)], to refer to an individual’s sensory organs – his or her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. These organs, after all, serve as the “gates” through which we take in information from the outside environment and respond to it. Hence, this directive is applied spiritually by the sages to mean that every person should consider himself or herself “a city in microcosm,” and should appoint forces of moderation, self-restraint, and to control what his/her eyes look at, what voices his/her ears hear, and what goes into, as well as what issues forth from, one’s mouth.” (*8)

[9 & 10] Deu 21:1-9  In a previous chapter, Chapter 3, I wrote about the eglah arufah commandment  and ceremony.  Another example where one needs to understand the historical and cultural context as well as keeping in mind the overall tone and principles of Torah,  is the law concerning the ‘unsolved murder of a stranger’. [Read Deuteronomy 21:1-9] A stranger is found murdered in a field.  The elders and judges of the closest towns then have to measure the distance to each town to see which is nearest. The elders of the latter town “shall take a heifer, with which no work has been done, which has not pulled with a yoke…” and sacrifice it in a valley which cannot be worked or sown.  The meaning of this strange ancient ceremony is to repent for the inhospitality of the inhabitants of the town that obviously did not offer the stranger a place to stay or food, nor accompanied him on his way.  The mitzvah is therefore to be hospitable to strangers.  A commentary also noted that this ceremony will attract a crowd and possibly lead to the murderer’s identity.

What we learn from the narrative

If you know, really know the Bible, you will know that G-d is a G-d of Justice.  Even though, because of His enduring loving kindness (Chesed) and grace (Chanan – see Gen 6:8; Ex 33:19; Ps 9:14; Ps 86:6;), He is a G-d of righteousness and will not leave those that have sinned and not have made teshuvah unpunished.  When the Messiah comes, he will not be a ‘kind uncle handing out sweets’,  He will come with a sword to judge for G-d. (*9).  G-d will keep His promises as is referred to numerous times in these parshot:  He will keep his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and keep His promise to Israel to return the Jews to their land. “יהוה your God, will bring back your captivity and have mercy upon you, and He will return and gather you in from all the peoples to which יהוה your God, has scattered you. “ [see Deu 30:1-6] as we saw happened 1948!

The fact that Israel was not allowed to slaughter a kosher animal with a blemish, is not just underlining the principle of giving G-d our King the best, but is also a shadow image of the sacrifice of Yeshua ben Josef.  These commandments also only apply to the land of Israel and when the Temple stood.

“By describing the death penalty as destruction of evil from the midst of the nation, the Torah clarifies its purpose:  The death penalty is not revenge against a criminal;  it is needed to purge the national psyche of an evil that can infect others if it is left unchecked.” [11.1027]   By using the tern dead man, in Deu 17:6 the Torah implies that even if the court cannot act because the guilty party was not properly warned or his sin was not witnessed, he is still considered a dead man because God will punish him.  [11.1026]  In Proverbs 21:3 we read: To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to יהוה than sacrifice.

A lesson that one would wish all leaders of countries would take to heart we read in Deu17:15-20.  This is that the King or President or Prime Minister is to write two copies of the Torah for himself, and he or she is to read from it “all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear יהוה, his God, to observe all the words of this Torah and these decrees, to perform them, so that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren and not turn from the commandment right or left”!   The king is warned not to let his heart go astray because of women and riches.  Unfortunately history records that exactly the opposite has been the case.  For example, after Ceausescu, the communist Romanian president’s murder by his countrymen in 1989, it was discovered that his bathroom’s utilities were made of gold.  This was also discovered in some African countries after the overthrow of their despotic heads of state. (*10)

In Deu 18:15 we read:  “A prophet from your midst, from your brethren, like me, shall HASHEM, your God, establish for you – to him shall you hearken.”  Therefore one need to ask which prophet shared the following experiences or incidents and associations:  As a young child had to be hidden from oppressing authorities;  after his birth young boys under the age of two, were killed; was a shepherd;  sat by a well where woman came to draw water; he left his abode and returned; came out of Egypt;  what he spoke he said was told to him by G-d;  a miracle concerning leprosy is associated with him;  the number 3 is associated with him and a sign. The gematria of the soresh of Moses’s wife’s name Ziporah /צפר  ‘s equals 370 and this number also is the same as that for: ‘this is messiah’;  he rode on a donkey;  witnessed the suffering of his fellow countrymen;  first public miracle of water turned to red colour;  moved the waters of the sea;  was referred to as being a snare;  was a priest;  selected 70 men to be spoke persons;  sent out 12 men;  promised miraculous water;  his authority was challenged by his fellowmen;  pleaded for Israel and blessed people;  ascended and was expected to descended;  immersed his brother and others in water; numerous miracles are associated with him; etc. [Read also the so called’Jewish Riddle’ in Prov 30:4]

Deu 20:1 instructs the soldiers of Israel when they go out to fight, and see a mighty army,  more numerous than them, to trust G-d and not to fear:  ‘you shall not fear them, for יהוה your God, is with you’ and the Kohen shall speak to them.  I remember clearly how during the 2014 war with Gaza, the soldiers asked the Rabbi’s to pray for them and bless them before they go in to battle.  As verse 4 reads: ‘For  יהוה your God, is the One Who goes with you, to fight for you with your enemies, to save you’ (*11) 

Israel is also instructed  to first ask for peace, before they go into battle.  We also read in Deuteronomy that a soldier that has just gotten married, built a house or planted a vineyard need not go into battle, as well as those that are fearful and fainthearted.  Notice also that they were instructed not to cut down fruit trees – a law that still applies today in Israel.

Israel was told to eradicate their enemies so that they ‘they will not teach [them] to act according to all their abominations that they performed for their gods’ [Deu 20:18]  We know that they unfortunately did not do this and this is one of the reasons that they  were eventually exiled from the land.

FOOTNOTES

*1  Quoted in The Gardens Shmooze, Cape Town Hebrew Congregation, 10 Ja 1015.

*2  Jonathan Sacks. Pursuing Justice. The Jewish Press .com.  27 Aug 2014.

*3  Jonathan Sacks.  The Right and the Good. Covenant & Conversation 5775. 30 July 2015.

*4  Rabbi Dr Nathan Lopes Cardozo.  Judaism: Thinking Big. The Times of Israel. 3-5-2015

*5  Read for example the following article regarding the ostentatious veneration of Rabbi Simon ben Yochai’s  grave site, which maintains that all is based on a scribal error: Jameel@Muqata, LafgBaOmer-One Big Mistake, Jewish Press.com. 27 April 2013; As well as:  Donny Fuchs. The Cult of Uman. Jewish Press.com.  8 Sep 2014;  Donny Fuchs. Talking to the Dead. Jewish Press.com 17 Aug 2014.

*6  Jonathan Sacks.  Pursuing Justice.  Jewish Press.com. 27 August 2014.

*7  Tony Robinson. Shoftim. Parshat HaShuvua. Restoration of Torah Ministries.

*8  Bill Bullock. Responsible Kingdom Administration. Rabisson@cableone.net

*9  Read Malachi 3:1-6

*10  The previous despicable and contemptible president of the Republic of South Africa, Zuma, built himself and his numerous wives a palatial homestead in Zululand at the estimated cost of more than the millions the UK annually give South Africa.  Its estimated that Zuma’s rule cost the country R1 trillion; and much more was defrauded under his rule.

*11  Google ‘miracles during Israel’s wars’ to read of many miraculous occurrences that are told, and available to watch on the internet.

You Shall Rejoice

Chapter 11 – 47 R’eh- See. Deuteronomy 11:26-16:1

            There is a way that seems right to a man, but at its end are the ways of death. Proverbs. 14:12

The Gutnick edition of the Chumash’s insights into the Hebrew word for ‘see; could fall into one of three categories: Plain obedience, Intellectual appreciation or Vision. The latter, “At this level, one does not merely appreciate the value of keeping the Torah’s precepts, one sees (re’eh) it.  That is the necessity and positive results of observing the mitzvos becomes as clear and self-evident as seeing a physical object with one’s eyes,” (*1)

This parashat opens with Moses saying to Israel: ‘See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse,’ [Deu 11:26] This should remind us of what we already learn in Genesis chapter 2, especially verses 16 and 17.  Man was given free will. ‘God said, Behold. I have given to you all herbage yielding seed that is on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed yielding fruit; it shall be yours for food”…. And יהוה God commanded the man saying, “of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat thereof; …” [Gen 1:29 &Gen 2:16,17]

I maintain that we too often forget the above primordial history of mankind and this commandment [the fourth] given to man.  It spells out our choice; our free will.  It underlines the fact that we are neither robots nor puppets whose master pulls the strings.  So often we contemplate the eternal question of evil; of bad things that happen, and we forever ask why?  Let’s take an example of a contemporary problem in Europe.  Europe is facing death of its culture and morals.  They are trying to mix oil and water and turning a blind eye to the principle that we learn from the previous parashat: You shall not worship other Gods/cultures.  They will be a snare for you. [Deu 7:16] the so called ‘honour killing’ of girls and women, and the female genital mutilation’ that lifelong robs the woman of any pleasure during the G-d sanctioned physical act, are being turned a blind eye to for the sake of so called political correctness.  The west has fallen hook and sinker into the death trap of a foreign culture.  Now, we you, have a choice, remember?  Should you sanction or keep quiet regarding such barbaric acts that occur in your neighborhood/city/country? [See also Chapter 10 (*4)]  In fact there is a lesson from history in the parashat Re’eh under discussion!  Read the whole of chapter 13 in Deuteronomy! (*2)  It also teaches us that an individual’s action can affect a whole community.

As before , I will not list or discuss the commandments that the Jews specifically had to do in Israel, i.e. the korbanot. (*3) I also do not list those that repeat some that has been commanded in previous Parshot of Deuteronomy.

The Comandments

1. Deu 12:12 & 18; You shall rejoice before י-הוה you God, in your every undertaking.
2. Deu 12:23, 15:23 Do not consume blood – for the blood, it is the life
3. Deu 12:28 Safeguard and hearken all these words, in order that it will be well with you and your children after you forever.
4. Deu 12:30-31b Do not burn your sons and daughters in the fire as heathens do, it is an abomination to יהוה your God. Abortion of babies that is so common today, is applicable here.
5. Deu 14:1 & 2 You shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person,
6. Deu 14:3-21 You shall only eat kosher animals, fowls and fish
7. Deu 15:7 You shall not harden your heart or close your hand against your destitute brother. Rather you shall open your hand to him; you shall lend him his requirement, whatever is lacking to him.
8. Deu 15:12-18 & Exodus 21:1-6  Teach us regarding the proper and humane treatment of servants.
9. Deu16:1-15 You shall keep G-d’s festivals: Pesach, Shavuot, Yom Teruha, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.

Comments regarding the above Commandments

[1] Deu 12:12 & 18 – Note how this commandment says ‘You shall rejoice before G-d – you, your sons, daughters, slaves and the Levite who is your cities.  This obviously implies that יהוה our God should be known and worshipped by all in the community.  That your belief in, love for and relationship with G-d is not just a private matter but should also be shared by your family and the community.  Mentioning specifically also the Levite, adds a further dimension to this commandment.  The Levites did not receive land in Israel.  Their sole occupation was to serve G-d and the community had to care for their needs. (More details are to be found in Numbers and Leviticus) (*4) This paints quite an ideal picture of a community.  How does one achieve this?

“The purest tzadikim (righteous individuals) do not complain about evil but instead increase righteousness.  They do not complain about atheism but instead increase faith. They do not complain about ignorance but instead increase wisdom” [42.193]

       “Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will He teach sinners in the way. The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach his way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies”. Psalm 25:8-10

“To be good is to do good. God created the world so that others could enjoy it.  Goodness is not an attribute of the soul but a way of acting and creating, creating happiness for other people, mitigating their distress, removing even a fraction of the world’s pain. We worship God spiritually by helping his creations physically.”  [47.40]

To be able to “rejoice’ one needs to be happy and joyful.  But is one always?  No, we all experience times when we are down, sad or even fearful. But then G-d’s word teaches us not to be afraid, not to lose resolve and to trust G-d. [See Deu 2:34; 3:2; 3:22] The Israelites travelling through the wilderness had to lift their eyes and follow G-d’s pillar of cloud or fire.  In Psalm 121:1,2 we read: I raise my eyes upon the mountains;  whence will come my help? My help is from יהוה, Maker of heaven and earth,’ G-d’s word tells us that He is the Creator of everything.  By being aware of His presence always and everywhere and admiring the beauty and marvels in creation:  The light reflecting off the leaves; the cool breeze blowing through the trees; a dog lapping up water left by the rain and children playing and laughing.  All this beauty and marvels lifts one’s spirit and help us to feel the nearness of G-d.

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach is especially known by most people for his love and joy.  He showed love for all people;  young or old,  believers and non-believers. Greeting someone “Shlomo’s face would pulsate with beaming joy, a gasp of delight would emerge from his mouth, and the person would be greeted, usually by name with “Holy brother/sister….Reb Shlomo’s decision to emphasize joy in his teachings and concerts drew directly upon the teachings of the Ba’al Shem Tov….’s emphasis on serving God with joy and living life joyously was both refreshing and revolutionary”. [49:48,75] (*5)

[2] Deu 12:23, 15:23- Not to eat blood is a commandment that is also important for Christians and new believers to adhere to.  See Acts 15:20-21 where Shaul (Paul) clearly points out the important commandments that they, the new believers in the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and His word must keep from the outset is:  “But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.” (See also Chapter 5)

[3] Deu 12:28  ‘Moses taught the people the process for spiritual accomplishment.  First one must safeguard what one has learned, meaning that people must review the laws[משנה] so that the Torah becomes  a part of them, and they do not stumble when questions arise.  With that done they can hearken, I.e. perform the commandments properly. (Rashi)’ [11.1005] The fact that it is said: in order that it will be well with you and your children after you forever, clearly infers that by walking and living according to G-d’s way, and teaching our children to follow the Biblical way, will assure a good and secure future for them.  One can think of many examples from history that confirm the truth and wisdom of this commandment. Just one example is how Europeans have treated non-Europeans.  The fruits of which that we witness today.

[4] Deu 12:30-31b  The Muslim Culture praises the sacrifice of their children because of some or other terrorist action or so called honour killing. This is because of the dreadful fanaticism of their Islamic belief.  For them it may be right in the ‘eyes’ of their Allah, but it definitely is an abomination to י-הוה our God.  They have a totally different view of the Biblical belief regarding the sanctity of life. Remember, the Ten Commandments does not appear in the Koran or any of their other writings.

Another example of their attitude towards people and cultures other than theirs is illustrated by the fact that after the fall of Rome it was especially Islam that practiced and used slavery as a form of Jihad; they were the main traders of Black Africans to the USA, and practice Slavery till today.   “The legends of European slave raiders venturing into the jungles of Africa to capture free peoples are generally just that: myths….the far greater and longer-running Islamic slave trade into the Middle East has been so ignored as to make it one of history’s best-kept secrets….. One reason that very little has been written about the Arab involvement in slavery is that traditional Islamic culture still condones slavery” [24:10,11, see also p.5-45]

Is aborting our children any different when it’s done for idolizing modern society and its ways?  Sadly and shockingly, news about the abduction of children and women is widely reported today.  (*6)

[5] Deu 14:1 & 2 -The heathens and pagans cut and or pierce their skin and tattoo their bodies. The Torah here clearly says to us as believers of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ‘For sure you are a holy people to  יהוה your God,’ and then specifically to Israel: ’Hashem has chosen you for Himself to be a treasured people, from among all the peoples, on the face of the earth.” Just as Israel had to be different from other peoples to be a light onto the nations, in the same way, you as a non-Jew following the way, the Torah of יהוה your God, need to in adhering to this commandment, show who your G-d is by not following this latest trend of tattooing and piercing your body which is a temple for G-d’s holy spirit.  Compare for example Maoris, Africans, Egyptians and American Indians.

[6]  That which made Jews definitely different from the surrounding heathen nations and later, European culture, is the keeping of Kosher.  “Animal fat is also forbidden…We know that not eating blood pertains to eating only…a kosher animal whose blood has been properly drained.  We also know that the phrase, ‘so that it will go well with you,’ is simply another way of saying ‘so that you will be blessed and experience an abundance of physical LIFE,’… They aren’t a matter of salvation; however, they are a matter of LIFE and Death. Its not a coincidence that many of today’s sicknesses and diseases are medically related to eating.” (*6)

Some time ago I watched a program about the restaurants in Venice that are famous for their mussel dishes.  It also showed the huge market halls where these hundreds of bags of different colored mussels were sold.  They said that vetting the acceptability of mussels for human consumption has become problematic because dishonest fishers go and catch mussels in the industrial areas which is forbidden. Mussels are not Kosher. Mussels act as filters for the ocean. All substances, bad and rotten, and heavy metals present in the sea, are consumed and filtered by mussels.  This just once again underlined the wisdom of G-d.  Another notable fact I recall was when Rabbi Osher Feldman told us during one of his classes,  that throughout the thousands of years of history, no fish with scales but no fins, has ever been found. ( There are many amazing scientific facts recorded in the Bible, thousands of years before scientists discovered them).

Another amazing and interesting fact is the rout of the flow of blood: “In Kosher animals…the blood flowing in the vertebral artery joins with blood flowing in the front (carotid) artery.  This results in absolutely no pain during ritual slaughter. In animals that the Torah forbids Jews to eat [i.e. pig, horse, rabbit] the blood flows directly from the vertebral artery to the brain. [ 37.154] Some European countries that are considering banning the Kosher slaughtering of animals,  demonstrate their lack of knowledge of the Bible, the science of the process as explained here above as well as makes one suspect anti-Semitism may be also a motivation.

Read Leviticus 11:1-46 and Deu 14:3-21 for details of what are kosher animals.

[7] In Deu 15:11 it clearly states: ‘For destitute people will not cease to exist within the Land’ which Yeshua confirmed: ‘for you always have the poor with you’ [Matt 26:11] The Hebrew word Chesed encapsulates the meaning of caring for the poor very well.  It means ‘loving kindness’, that what we associate with the heart of G-d.  By caring and giving to the less privileged, we make this a better world and reflect G-d’s love and care.

[8] Deu 15:12-18 & Exodus 21:1-6   One obviously take in consideration all of Torah regarding the treatment of people that work for one.  The Commandments commands that servants shall also rest on Shabbat; to love your neighbor as yourself. Treating a person with consideration, respect and kindness, is the Torah way.  Unfortunately, even today there are people held as slaves in countries that do not worship the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  All throughout history, the bad, unfair and inhumane treatment of people, be they servants or employees, can be ascribed to the fact that Torah values were never applied.  The fruit of which that we consequently have to deal with especially today.

[9] Deu16:1-15  Note these Festivals are called “G-d/-יהוה’s appointed festivals… holy convocations .. these are My appointed festivals’ (Lev 23:1,2).  Two thousand years ago when the anti-Semitic Church referred to them as Jewish festivals, and incorporated the Pagan festival of queen Asherah/Ishtar as Easter, and the Pagan festival of the sun god and Tammuz and called it Christmas, the shadow images and true deeper meaning of these festivals were lost and forgotten. [See also Chapter 5 & 16]

Just as you, as believer in and follower of יהוה, the Creator and our G-d, need to keep the seventh day as a Shabbat, likewise you are supposed to keep his Festivals. Details of which can be found in Ex 12:1 and Lev 23:1-44.  My contention is, rather than make up your own customs and rituals, learn from the Jews how to keep these ‘holy convocations’.  The following is a significant verse: “it shall be that all who are left over from all the nations who had invaded Jerusalem, will come up every year to worship the king יהוה, Master of Legions, and to celebrate the festival of Succos.  And it shall be that whichever of the families of the land does not go up to Jerusalem to bow down before the king, יהוה, Master of the Legions there will be no rain upon them…” [Zech 14:16,17]

In Deu 16:14 we are instructed ‘You shall rejoice on your festival’ having a festival together with the community, enhances a spirit of joy and gladness.  It reminds one of Psalm 100  A Psalm of praise. “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations.”  (see also Chapter 16)

What we learn from the narrative

In Deu 12:2 we read that Israel was commanded ‘You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations that you shall possess worshipped their gods..’ They unfortunately did not do this.  Throughout their history that we read of in the books of Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, we see how again and again they veered off the path, and we read again and again how this or that king did what was bad in the eyes of G-d.  We do the same when we allow a house of prostitution, cults and for example public display and honoring of what is an abomination to G-d be paraded down town.  I then have an image of G-d crying, seeing what His people that are supposed to be holy unto Him, allow.

Multiple times it is mentioned in this parshat that the land , Israel , is their inheritance as was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: Deu 11:31  It makes it so obvious that the UN and the international community do not know or respect the Bible!

Just as important is the repetition of ‘at the place that יהוה, Your God, will choose from among all your tribes, to place His name there, shall you seek out His Presence and come there.’ Deu 12;5&; 12:4,11; 12:21; 14:23-16:2,11; 15:20, 16:6.  This is referred to as HaMakom, The Place and this is of course Jerusalem.  How could there be any argument about this?

Keeping the 7th year as a Shmitta, the remission of debt, and the three yearly tithes and males going up to Jerusalem three times a year, are all commandments that Israelites are bound by.  Yet farmers all over the world have learned the benefit of letting the land rest for a season.  Interestingly recently an economist in New York stated that practicing the law of ‘remission of debt’ could greatly benefit the debt ridden American economy.

What we learn from the Hebrew

We are G-d’s trustees and therefore our obligation is to give charity and kindness.  The more often you give, the more it becomes second nature.  The fact that it will have a positive effect on you is hidden in the gematria of the Hebrew word.  Giving charity is צדקה   The root צדק is related to words that means: objective justice, being righteous, being dutiful, clemency and satisfy the rightful need. ק=100 and צ = 90 + ה = 5 + ד = 4.  Therefore, giving guarantees getting plentiful in return.  As Deu 15:10 says: ‘You shall surely give him, and let your heart not feel bad when you give him, for in return for this matter, Hashem, your G-d, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking’. (*7)

            ******************************

This Parashah Re’eh, ‘See’, “is a perennial reminder to all of us that even our vision alone can bring virtue or vice. Let us look at the world correctly and invite the blessings of G-d into our lives… The Talmud states categorically ‘the reward for Mitzvot is not in this world at all’ Ultimate accountability is reserved for the world to come… the G-dly way of life is not only a pathway to Paradise in the hereafter, but is in itself a blessing for us in the here and now.”[33.207,209]

FOOTNOTES

*1 Re’eh/See. Livingwaters.com. Ardelle Brody

*2 After an initial reading of Chapter 13 in this Parshat, it sounded like ancient history that befell Israel, and I kept asking myself if it applies today.  And then as I started writing this chapter, contemplating Moses’s opening words, it suddenly struck me that we in the West are experiencing exactly what Israel is warned about and to which most of chapter 13 is devoted to.

*3 Karbanot (plural)refers to the various offerings, incorrectly translated as ‘sacrifices,’ that were offered up at the Temple.  The word korban means ‘to draw closer.’ Therefore, it is in fact an act of drawing closer to G-d.

*4  Note, in the Chumash we learn that there is no special obligation to support the Levites in the diaspora.

*5  Baal Shem Tov lived 1698 to 1760.

*6  See ‘Navy Seal exposes Trafficking’ at Michael@michaelrood.tv

*7   Robinson, Tony. Re’eh, Parshat HaShuvua, Restoration of Torah Ministries.  

• Cut away the barrier of your heart

Chapter 10 – 46 Eikev / on heels of / footprint – Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25

Cast off from upon yourselves all your transgressions through which you have transgressed and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 18:31

The Commandments

In this parsha Eikev [Deu 7:12-11:25] commandments are given that Jews specifically have to do as well as some that are applicable only in Israel, therefore, I will not list these

“What Moses is telling us throughout Devarim is that God does not seek blind obedience.  The fact that there is no word for obedience in biblical Hebrew, in a religion of 613 commands, is stunning in itself (modern Hebrew had to borrow a verb, letzayet, from Aramaic).  He wants us to listen, not just with our ears but with the deepest resources of our minds.  If God had simply sought obedience, he would have created robots, not human beings with a will of their own. (*1)

1.  Deu 7:16:-  You shall not worship other gods but י-הוה other gods will be a snare for you. (note this is again repeated in Deu 11:16) Do not let your heart be seduced by other gods and go astray and prostrate yourselves before them.  G-d will then withhold the blessing of rain for your land.
2. Deu 8:10:-  When you have eaten and be satisfied, thank and bless G-d.
3.  Deu 8:11,18; 9:4:-  You shall remember י-הוה G-d: that it was he who gives you strength to make your wealth,  Take care lest you forget י-הוה your G-d.., lest you eat and be satisfied and build good homes and settle… and everything that you have will increase – and your heart will become haughty and you will forget י-הוה your G-d… Do not say in your heart… Because of my righteousness did י-הוה bring me to possess this land?
4. Deu 10:12, 16:-  What does י-הוה your G-d asks of you?  You shall cut away the barrier of your heart and no longer stiffen your neck.  Fear G-d, go in all His ways, love him, serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.  Deu 8:5 notes you will be chastised, you will perish if you do not go according to G-d’s ways and fear him.  Be grateful, for he is bringing you to a beautiful bountiful land.
5. Deu 10:18:-  Consider the widow and the orphan because G-d cares about them.
6. Deu 10:19:- You shall love the proselyte (convert) for you were stranger in the land of Egypt.
7. Deu 11:1-8 – Do not forget the miracles that G-d did since taking you out of Egypt with a strong hand, as well as His chastisements when you sinned.  Once you are in the land, don’t make the excuse that you did not experience all that, and lie and forget.
8.  Deu 11:8,9, 22 Observe ALL of G-d’s commandments in the Promised Land.  That, will make you strong and your days will be prolonged to enjoy the land flowing with milk and honey; and then the land will be blessed with rain:  the early rains and the late rains, to provide food for you and your animals
9. Deu 11:18 Place the words of G-d upon you heart and upon your soul.
10.  Deu 11:20 Attach a Mezuzah with these words Deu 6:4-9 & 11:13-21, written on the parchment inserted in the Mezuzah, on your doorpost of your house and gates.
11. Deu 11:19 You shall teach this Torah to your children, to discuss them, while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when you arise

A few comments regarding the above commandments

[1] Deu 7:16- This commandment is the second commandment of the Ten Commandments [see Ex 20:3]- mentioned straight after the first that states: I am י-הוה your G-d, and mentioned again and again in the Torah.  We know from history that the pagans that lived in the Promised Land and those that surrounded Israel, had many gods as also had Greece and Rome that ruled Israel for periods.  Even today there are many cultures and nations that worship many gods.  Now, before you think, ‘well that doesn’t apply to me, ‘do you worship a famous star [film or singer]?  Do you worship status, wealth, prestige, sport of a kind? What do you idolize?  What or who takes up all your money, energy, time and mind?  “..the idealistic attraction to idolatry ..is not that one feels he is being drawn into another religion, but it is the desire to associate with another culture which just happens to have another god.  It is the need to merge into the cultural expressions of another friendly group.” (*2)

[2]  Deu 8:10 – There is a well-known painting by the famous American artist Norman Rockwell that shows a grandmother sitting at table in a café with her grandson, with bowed heads, thanking G-d for the food in front of them,  Two young boys to their left that share their table, look on quizzically.  Rabbi David Aaron wrote concerning this parashat Eikev: “Imagine a man who observes Sabbath but it has no meaning to him – no taste, The only thing that keeps him doing it is guilt, or respect for the tradition, or simply habit. Without his understanding the meaning behind his observance, it will eventually stop sooner or later, in this generation or the next…getting excited about the commandments driven life requires having a reason.  We’re missing the real reason behind it all.  And without meaning, tradition becomes stale, and commandments become heavy burdens.” (*3)

Blessing the food we eat and thanking G-d is probably the easiest Mitzvah/Commandment that we do most regularly.  It is therefore one of the many ‘connections and acknowledgements’ of G-ds existence and presence in our lives, that we can make on a daily basis.

Think about it, G-d is the creator of everything. It is because of Him giving the blessing of rain and man’s foresight and ability instilled in us by the creator, that we have food on our table.  Apart from thanking G-d for the miracles of food, our blessing for what we drink and eat, lift it to a higher and spiritual level.  It obviates us being gluttons eating rapaciously (*4)

“Man doesn’t not live by bread alone.” [Deu 8:3] a famous line but what does it mean? The verse comes from this week’s Torah reading [see also Matt.4:4] and is a reference to the miraculous manna, which fell from heaven daily in the wilderness.  The conclusion of the verse is that man lives by the word of G-d. `Thus, it is reminding us about the true source of human sustenance. Contrary to popular belief, it is neither our earthly toil nor sweat of our brow nor all those conferences, meetings, and sales seminars that ensure our success.  The reality is that it is G-d who sustains us and looks after us.” [33.201] (NT reference added by me)

[3] Deu  8:11, 18; 9:4 – This commandment so aptly describes the well-heeled and prosperous people in the US, Canada, South Africa and Australia et al that have fallen victim to the good life. (*5)  Too easily when we eat and are satisfied, have good houses, and a holiday home and two cars in the garage, we forget G-d.  We become proud, haughty, and arrogant and would even refer to the Bible as those ’ancient tales of no use to me’.  Deu 7:25 says:’… you shall not covet and take for yourself the silver and gold that is on them(carved images of gods) lest you be ensnared by it’ And when things go bad, we suddenly run to G-d and fellow men would tease us, saying we are grabbing at a crutch.

Faith is a daily walk and relationship with the Almighty father,  such an intimate relationship only comes from knowing Him, through his word and communicating with G-d with Thanksgiving and praise on your lips, in your heart and soul on a daily basis.

[4]  Deu 10:12,16 – The fourth commandment listed here above is the antidote to the third.  In the wink of an eye one can lose everything:  your life, health, wealth or status.  That is when one realizes only one’s soul, one can hold onto and keep pure and holy as Jews realized in the Concentration Camps.  Rabbi Jonathan sacks wrote: ‘the moral voice itself comes to seem like an un warranted intrusion into personal freedom… other civilizations failed because they forgot these difficult truths, so easily lost in affluent times,  Jews have never forgotten.  They made memory a religious obligation… Today a view prevails that all ways of life, all lifestyles, are equally valid.  Judgment itself is held to be morally wrong because it assaults the principle that each of us should be free to live as we choose…each of us is unique, and there are many different ways of living well…Some ways of life lead on to happiness, others to frustration, loneliness, disappointment and quiet despair.  The truth is that we discover what doesn’t work when It is already too late.’ [1.178] [my bold emphasis]

[5] Deu 10:18 – European countries have as of late discovered that their welfare state policies do not work and are headed for total collapse because of the hundreds and thousands of so called refugees from the Middle East and Africa that are flooding their countries.  (A Spanish parliamentary actually stated this during Aug. 2018).  The Torah teaches us to care for our fellow man in ever growing wider concentric circles.  First in the home, the family that forms the basis of society, the extended family and then the immediate community, and so in ever larger groups.  What a difference this would make if only we lived like this!  More and more governments are experiencing problems to keep up with the costs of social demands their welfare policies create for them.

‘The directive to be holy was given to the entire assembly of the children of Israel…G-d commanded Moshe to gather all of the Jewish people… This teaches us the [parshas Kedoshim] was said before the entire assembly because the majority of the Torah’s fundamental principles are contingent upon it….holiness can be attained only when one is part of a community and not in isolation…and treating all people with respect and genuine fraternity” [36.51] And this has very much been the Jewish tradition through the ages.  (my underlining)

[6] Deu 10:19 – A society or community often find it difficult to practice this commandment when new converts are from a different culture or are a different race or skin colour.  The commandment to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ should go hand in hand with this commandment.

[7] Deu 11:1-8 – Believers today also experience daily miracles – big and small.  Often you think it was  just ‘per chance’ or a fluke – yet usually it is a miracle from G-d.  Remember what G-d did for you; remember those small daily miracles.  It’s a good habit to diarize these: e.g. ‘today I un-expectantly bumped into X and happen to mention to Y which led to the right information to solve my problem.’  And when we look back over our lives, we can clearly identify the big or small miracles that lead us on in our path of life.

[8] Deu 11:8,9,22 – We read the following comment in the Chumash regarding these verses:  “G-d is aware of and concerned with human activity” [11.995] And on the same page we read the beautiful… Verse: ‘the eyes of Hashem [G-d], your G-d are always upon it [the land of Israel] from the beginning of the year , to the years end.’ [Deu 11:12]

[10] Deu 11:20 refers to the Mezuza is the container affixed on the right side of the gate or door of one’s house, that contains a hand-written parchment on which is written the Shema. It is a “reminder of God’s eternal Presence, in this case in the Jewish home…Upon entering and leaving the home, or any room therein, the Jew is reminded of the potential for sanctity in all aspects of life, and of the relationship one must have with God to achieve a saintly life. In that way the love of God and the positive consequences of our relationship with God will be our central interest and goal in life.” [21.232] (See also Chapter 17)

Commandments 9, 10,&11 mentioned here above are repetitions of what was mentioned in the previous discussion, Parshat 45 Va’etchanan.  These commandments are part of the Shema (*6).  The first paragraph of the Shema is found in Va’etchanan…And the second in Eikev…They are clearly related.  They have many ideas in common, but they also diverge at a number of points.  “If one examines the text closely, a significant distinction between the two chapters becomes immediately discernable.  The first chapter is in the singular; and the second is in the plural.  Teach Torah to your son in the first and to your children in the second… one important answer is that G-d speaks to the individual but G-d also speaks to the community” [33.204]

“The first parasha of the Shema is an expression of “Torah for its own sake,”  that being the love of God without instrumental significance, and it’s aim its contained within itself.  Therefore no reason is given and there are no sanctions.  Had one been able to able to give a reason for it, it would have lost its significances a categorical command, as something a person accepts because he sees its value in itself.  But not every person is capable of that.  We know the saying of Maimonides that the Torah permitted man to serve God and to observe the mitzvoth with the hope of being awarded, and to refrain from sin because of his fear of punishments. It is to these people that the second paragraph of the Shema is addressed.  But the purpose of faith isn’t not the results which stem from the fact that there is faith, but the faith itself… The love of God, the fear of God, and the worship of God are all intermingled, and cannot be separated..” [32.170]

Now again consider the above.  Is there a commandment or principle that you as a believer or Christian need not do?

What we learn from the narrative

In Deu 7:12-15 and 8:1-10 Moses tells Israel of all the blessings they will receive if they hearken to, observe & perform the ordinances.  Then again in Deu 11:13 he again says: ‘if you indeed heed…’ which means “ if you listen – and I mean really listen”  Jonathan Sacks furthermore writes:  ‘Listening to another human being, let alone G-d, is an act of opening ourselves up to a mind radically other than our own.  This takes courage… My deepest certainties may be shaken by entering into the mind of one who thinks quite differently about the world…. It is the antidote to narcissism: the belief that we are the center of the universe.  It is also the antidote to the fundamentalist mindset characterized by the late Professor Bernard Lewis as ,’I’m right; your wrong; go to hell.” (*1)

It is said that the world that you live in is a product of your perception of reality.  If Israel kept the commandments, G-d said he would safeguard the covenant and loving kindness (Chessed) He swore to their forefathers.  They will be blessed and loved by G-d; they will have many children, the land will be blessed to be fruitful.  Verse 14 states ‘you will be most blessed of all peoples’  Any believer and follower of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that keeps his commandments will also experience bountiful blessings.  But it can depend on your perception of your circumstances.  Rabbi David Aaron gives a striking example;’ Imagine three people sitting right next to each other in a doctors waiting room…Let’s say the first person walked in and complained, ’Oh, how small this room is.’  The second person enters and exclaims, ‘Look, how bright this room is’.  The third person comes in and thinks ‘Ugh, what a messy room.’  Now they are sitting inches apart, but they are not in the same room.  The first person is sitting in a small room feeling really cramped.  The second person is sitting in a light room, feeling cheerful.  The third person is sitting in a messy room feeling disgusted…Your consciousness of G-d determines how much of the light and truth [and blessings] will be allowed into your world.  To the extent that you acknowledge G-d, to that extent G-d will be in your life.  This is a very crucial idea.  Although G-d is, G-d is not revealed in your perceptual world unless you actively acknowledge and invite G-d in,’ (*7)

Deu 7:18-21  Moses said to Israel, who was about to enter the Promised Land knew it had giants that made them feel like grasshoppers, ‘Do not fear!…for  י-הוה, your God is among you, a great and awesome God’  Later we read G-d saying to Joshua as they were about to enter the land: Jos 1:5…’as I was with Moses so will I be with you; I will not release you nor will I foresake you.  Be strong and courageous.’ (this last phrase is repeated in verse 7&9) We too often have to remind ourselves of G-ds nearness, not to fear, but to hold on to him for ‘The name of י-הוה is a strong tower; The righteous run into it and are safe’ [Proverbs 18:10] 

Is it not amazing that the Israelites ‘ garments and sandals did not wear out all of the forty years, and their feet did not swell. Read Deu 8:4  Such was G-d’s safeguarding!

From Deu 8:2 we learned that G-d tested them. ‘י-הוה your God led you these forty years in the Wilderness so as to afflict you, to test you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would observe his commandments or not’ The message to us is to be faithful, trust G-d and perservere.  Do not give up!

Deu 9:4 ‘…Because of the wickedness of these nations did Hashem (G-d) drive them away from before you.’ Often the fact that israel had to destroy all the pagan nations, men women and children included, is questioned and seen as being cruel and without mercy.  We are not given details of their sinful life style; rather not to fill our memory banks with the awful misdeeds and disgusting behaviors of the heathens.  We can be sure that it was because of their unacceptable behavior and wickedness according to G-d. that they have to be destroyed.  We never need to doubt the long suffering and mercifulness of י-הוה our God ‘for very great are His mercies’ [1Ch 21:13] [see also Ex34:6, Deu4:31] In verse 5 Moses reiterates that the Israelites should not think their righteousness is sufficient, but that G-d is a faithful and G-d honors his convenant with their forefathers.

Deu 9:17 Moses broke the two tablets on which G-d wrote the Ten commandments because they were the Ketuba (marriage contract) so to say and had Israel read them, they would have been guilty of unfaithfullness; he therefore interceded for them.  (Read Jeremiah 31:31).

Deu 9:19 and :25-29  We read here how Moses pleads to G-d and reasons with him just as Abraham did – see Genesis 18:22-33. יהוה is a G-d that one can talk to;  He is a loving Father.  Even though we read ‘For י-הוה your  God – he is the G-d of the powers and the Lord of Lords, the great, mighty and awesome G-d, who does not show favor and who does not accept a bribe’. [Deu 10:17]

“At the heart of Judaism is a convenant of love.  Judaism has often been seen –  notoriously by Christianity – as a religion of law and justice rather then love and compassion.   To be sure, Judaism is a religion of law and justice between human beings, because only where there is law can there be a just society, and Judaism is nothing if not a religion of society.  But between God and man there is a bond of love….

“ ‘In that day, declares the Lord, You will call Me “my husband” (ishi); You will no longer call Me, “my master” (Baali) [Hosea 2:18]

“For Hosea, at the core of Baal worship is the primitive idea that God rules the world by force, as husbands rule families in societies where power determines the structure of relationships….The God to whom we speak in prayer is not the ultimate power but the ultimate person, the Other in whom I find myself.” [1.86]

We can even say that Moses cared for the reputation of G-d.  In fact there is an expression where we say Kiddush Ha-shem, when something is said or done that is to the glory of G-d.  The converse is Hillul HaShem, which refers to an utterence or action that profanes the name of G-d, or even any actions that brings disgrace to Israel or Jews.

What we learn from the Hebrew

Not only the actual Hebrew language teaches us so much more, but also the stylistic structure of the Torah.  The fact that the narrative is not always in a chronological order has meaning, and often chiastic structures appears.  Repetition of words in a section is also noteworthy.  Note for instance how often the word ‘remember’ appears, and how many times the word ‘love’ is used in this Parshas Eikev.

“The true meaning of the word ‘ love’, ahav, in Hebrew: “The first biblical usage of this verb is in Genesis 22:2, where it refers to the relationship between Avraham and Yitzchak.  To ahav means to consciously choose as a favourite, to pursue time with and communion/fellowship and constant interaction with, and to thereby bond with, someone, prefering that person’s company, ways, opinions, and values over any other.”(*8)

“ The word our English Bibles translate as “bless” is  Barach, means to release from restrictions and limitations.  To barach someone or something means to infuse the object of blessing with unlimited potential and empowerment.

“The Holy One will do that with us.  He will release us from restrictions,  He will release us from limitations.  He will infuse us with unlimited potential and empowerment.

“ The word our English Bibles translate as “rain” in this passage is Matar,… Strong’s Hebrew #4306 , pronounced maw-tawr’.  Matar does not, However, mean only ‘rain’ in the sense of precipitation.  Rather, it refers Hebraically to anything that that falls or is dispatched from heaven to earth. (*8)

“ In Eretz Yisroel, we are dependant upon the former and the latter rains.  If the former rain [ yoreh] does not fall in October through December [beginning immediately after sukkot, and continuing intermittently through Chanuka], our land will be too dry in the Spring.  If the latter rain [mal’kosh] does not fall in March and April [ between Purim and Pesach & Feast of Matzah], our crops will wither on the vine and stalk, and yield no harvest.

“We must have the rains.  We must trust the Holy One for the rains.

“And the Holy One will discipline us, by depriving us of the rains we need, if we lo sh’ma [not listen, hear, heed, and walk in] His instructions for living. (*8)

FOOTNOTES

*1 Sacks, Jonathan. Listen, Really Listen. Eikev. Covernant and Conversation.  2018/5778

*2 Va-etchanan, 2009. www.yourlivingwatrers.com  Ardelle brody.

*3 You get Back What You Put In.  The Joys of a Commandment- Driven Life. Rabbi David Aaron, Isralight, 2018

*4 The Torah way of honoring the food that we eat as being a gift from G-d, and treating animals humanely, is in stark contrast to the horrifying news and video showing black Africans cutting meat from a horse they kept tied up alive and a mob in Africa hacking at a live elephant lying squirming in agony while they hack away at him.  No wonder the Torah forbids us to tear a limb off a live animal [ see Leviticus 17] see also Dallen [12.97-121] In Psalm 50:10 we read: For mine is every beast of the forest; the Behemoth upon a thousand hills.

*5 “I think we sometimes forget the real Galut mentality is not necessarily living in a ghetto, but considering the non-Jewish world to be so great.  The real exile within, the exile inside our own heads and hearts,” [32.203]

*6 The Shema is the closest Judaism gets to a ‘confession of faith’.  It does not have a confession of faith as other religions have.  The first pharagraph of the Shema is in Deu 6:4-9 and the second paragraph is in Deu 11:13-21 and therefore appear in this parshat that I discussed.  Miamonides, also known as the Rambam, listed 13 priciples of faith that are also regarded as the basic faith principles that a Jew adheres to., “the fundamental truths of our religion and its very foundations.”:–

1. Belief in the existence of the creator, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists.
2. The belief in G-ds absolute and unparalleled unity.
3. The belief in G-ds’s non-corporeality, nor that he will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling.
4. The belief in G-ds eternity
5. The imperative to worship G-d exclusively and no foreign false gods.
6. The belief that G-d communicates with man through prophecy.
7. The belief in the primacy of the prophecy of Moses our teacher
8. The belief of the divine origin of the Torah.
9. The belief of the immutability of the Torah.
10. The Belief in G-d’s omniscience and providence.
11. The belief in divine reward and retribution
12. The belief in the arrival of the Messia and the Messianic era
13. The belief of the ressurection of the dead.

It is the custom of many congregations to recite the Thirteen Articles, In a slighly more poetic form, beginning with the words Ani Maamin—“I believe”—everyday after the morning prayers in the synagogue. [See Chabad.org or page 179 of the Artscroll Siddur.]

—The word Shema/ shamoa tishme’u,  appears 92 times In Deutronomy.

*7 Rabbi David Aaron. What you see is what you get. Sparks, Isralight, Dec 2010

*8 Bill Bullock. Ekev. Rabbisson@cableone.net

• This is How

G-d commanded us to perform all these decrees, to fear [have awe of] Yehova our God, for our good, all the days, to give us life… Deu 6:24

Chapter 9 – Va’etchanan / And I begged Deut 3:23 – 7:11 

The ninth Chapter of this blog is based on the second Parasha in Devarim/ Deuteronomy named ואתחנן / Va’etchannan meaning ‘And I implored / begged’. [See here below in the section What we learn from the Hebrew] “Devarim 1:5 states that ‘Moses began explaining this Torah… saying’  The reason why the book of Devarim is so critical to understanding the purpose and scope of the Torah is because Moses explicitly stated that he would explain it. In other words, he’s going to help us understand it. He will tell us the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of the Torah. Therefore, we should expect Devarim to be a gold mine of treasures pertaining to the Torah.” (*1)

Deuteronomy”… is a fundamental theological statement of what Judaism is about.  It is an attempt to integrate law and narrative into a single coherent vision of what it would be like to create a society of law governed liberty under the sovereignty of God: a society of justice, compassion, respect for human dignity and the sanctity of human life.  And it is built around an act of mutual commitment, by a God to a people and by the people to God. The commitment itself is an act of love.  At the heart are the famous words from the Shema in this week’s parsha; ”You shall love the lord your God with all your heart , with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5) The Torah is the fundamental narrative of the fraught, sometimes tempestuous, marriage between God and an often obstinate people.  It is a story of love.” (*2)

We can identify 3 different types of commandments: Mishpatim (judgments / commandments) – these are ethical laws we can understand and that most societies themselves would establish, i.e. do not murder, be kind to your neighbor.

Edot (testimony/witness) Laws that a society would not necessarily have thought of like e.g. keeping the Shabbat, cities of refuge….

And Chukim (decrees/statutes) laws and principles that we do not understand, yet is a commandment from G-d like e.g. not to eat pork and the commandment regarding the Red Heifer. (*3)

The Commandments mentioned in this Parsha

1 Do not add or subtract from the commandments.  Deu4:2

2 Guard your soul. Deu 4:9

3 Remember to teach your children Deu 4:9

4 Establish a place/ city of refuge Deu 4:41

5 Learn the commandments and be careful to preform them Deu 5:1

6 The Ten Commandments:  1.) יהוה /Yehova is your G-d. Deu 5:6-18

7 ( 2) You shall not have any other gods. Make a carved image, and worship them.

8 ( 3) You shall not take the name יהוה in vain.

9 (4) Observe the Shabbat and keep it holy.

10 (5) Honor your Father and Mother

11 (6) You shall not murder

 12 (7) You shall not commit adultery.

13 ( 8) You shall not steal

14 (9) You shall not bear false witness.

15 (10) You shall not covet.

16 You shall not stray to the right or left of the commandments. Deu 5:29

17 Your G-d, the only one G-d, you shall love with all your heart, soul and resources.  Deu 6:4,5

18 Teach the commandments to your children. Deut 6:7

19 Write the commandments on your heart, bind them as a sign on you and your home.  Deu 6:6-9

20 In his name you shall swear Deu 6:13

21 Do not test G-d/ Hashem.  Deu 6:16

22 Do what is fair and good.  Deu 6:18

23  You shall not assimilate with the heathens around you. Deu 7:3

A Brief Discussion of the above Commandments

[1] Deu 4:2:- To add or subtract from the commandments means one thinks it is lacking and not perfect.  In fact even if you think a commandment is antiquated or archaic, and surely do not apply to the 21^st century, the essence and spirit of the commandment still stands! [*4] This we shall see in the following chapters as we discuss the laws stated in Deuteronomy.

“Torah is always the giver of light and we are always the recipients.  In our learning we add nothing to it, we merely strive to uncover what was already there.  But through the mitzvoth (commandments), we, both receive and give light…. Whereas the Torah exists externally in itself, the mitzvoth need the partnership of man…the commandments require physical acts and objects, and they change the fabric of the world.” [34.294]

[2] Deu 4:9:- Moses tells them to be careful to guard their souls, after he told them that the other nations will admire them for their Torah.  Therefore do not become proud and arrogant and think that its they that are so wonderful and forget the miracles that they saw and witnessed; that these commandments were given by G-d; and forget to teach their children.  In Deut 7:7 Moses informs them: ‘ Not because you are more numerous than all the peoples did י-הוה desire you and choose you, for you are the fewest of all the peoples.  Rather because of י-הוה ‘s love for you and because He observes the oath he swore to your forefathers… (my underlinig)

“God does not forget.  The basic question is whether you will remember or forget.” [32.165]  To guard your soul to surely invite G-ds spirit, the Ruach Hakodesh , to live in your heart and soul; to avoid that which is evil and that what is an abomination to G-d; not to have that in your life, not to accept it, no to commune with it. [See also #9 here below]

[3] Deu 4:9:- This commandment in this verse not only from part of the Pesach ritual when at the family table to Pesach Haggada is read, it also forms part of the ‘Shema’ [see also Deu 6:7 #7 here below]  Many years ago I read a little book by Margaret Marshal in which she referred to this Torah principle.  It really struck a cord in me.  I was forever mulling over the fact that the word of G-d would be read at school assembly; people would go to church; at national festivals there would be prayers to the Almighty, and yet there was little evidence of it in the day to day living and actions of individuals.  Reading about that commandment ‘You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when u arise’ [Deu 6:7],  struck me how this refers to the Hebraic /Jewish way where the teaching of, speaking about and doing (living/ asah) our faith in the Almighty Creator of the earth, starts at home.  It is not enshrined in a special building out there, it’s here in our hearts, in our homes and our daily living and interactions.

[4] Deu 4:1:- One of the first tasks Moses had to perform when they entered the Holy Land, was to establish six Cities of Refuge. The Ten Commandments commanded not to murder, not to kill.  But what if it was an accident?  What should one do about the revenge the family or friends or group would feel?  Causing somebody’s death by accident is an especially horrible thing.  There is an interesting shadow image hidden in this commandment concerning the messiah.  The person who accidentally kills someone, can escape to one of the cities of refuge, and has to stay there till the death of the High Priest in Jerusalem. It is told that the wife of the High Priest was so concerned that the guilty party would pray for the imminent death of the High Priest so that he/she can leave the City of Refuge,  that she would send food to the refugee to keep him happy.

It’s interesting to see where this commandment occurs in the narrative.  In fact this is one of the important factors to consider when studying Torah.  The narrative is not always chronological and there is always a deeper meaning for that. Here we find this law place in between Moses’s exhortation to Israel to do the commandments diligently, and recalling the terrible sins they committed during the 40 years of travelling in the desert, especially their licentious behavior at Ba’al Peor [see Num 25]. He also mentions here the famous verse that is one of the many descriptions of the Holy One ‘For י-הוה, your God- is an all-consuming fire, a jealous G-d’. [Deu 4:24] and then in verse 31 ‘For י-הוה, your God, is a merciful God, He will not abandon you nor destroy you,…’which is the consolation they are told, after telling them that just as they bowed to Idols and followed pagan customs, so will their children’s children.  But God is merciful and ‘…he will not forget the covenant of your forefathers that he swore to them’. [Deu 4:31b]  And then this enigmatic verse follows:  ‘Has there been anything like this great thing or has anything like it been heard’. [Deu 4:32b] Here it refers to the miracle of the Exodus and the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.  But these words are echoed in Isiah 66:8 ‘Who has heard such as this?  Who has seen such as these?’…- regarding to the Prophecy of the rebirth of Israel in 1948.

From the depths of despair where you [or this refugee or the Jews in the Galut] may find yourself, we read : ‘From there you will seek י-הוה your God and you will find Him, if you search for him with all your heart and and all your soul.  When you are in distress and all these things have befallen you, at the end of days (*5) you will return to י-הוה, your God and hearken to his voice.’ [Deu 4:29,30]  Is thus hidden here in this commandment, that we are not perfect?  We do sin and not always on purpose.  Yet, our G-d is a merciful G-d and a forgiving G-d that makes provision for the payment due.  There is redemption.  Recall, the death of the High Priest, sets the refugee free.

[5] Deu 5:1:-  Hear [שמע], O Israel, the decrees and the ordinances that I speak in your ears today: Learn them, and be careful to perform them.’ In Deu 4:40 Moses said: ’You shall observe His decrees and His commandments that I command you this day, so that He[G-d] will do good to you and to your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days on the land that י-הוה, your God, gives you, for all the days.’ Remember how I explained in Chapter 8, that this verse refers to the Shadow Image of how we get to Olam Haba [Heaven / the after life].

[6] Deu 5:6-18:- One can write a book about the well-known and famous Ten Commandments, (*6) in Hebrew referred to as Aseret Ha-Dibrot.  Is it not phenomenal that these commandments can be understood by any person on earth and in every century.  The main principle is that it basically teaches relationships. A Rabbi and Pastor, both confessed that what occupies them most concerning their congregants is problems with relationships.

A Commandment that is completely misunderstood by Jews as well as Christians is the Third Commandment:  The Hebrew actually says [paraphrasing]: You shall not blot out/forget the name of  G-d.  In other words we are to KNOW His Name, remember it and not forget it.  Nehemia Gordon did years of research and found thousands of examples of יהוה   written with the vowel points in Hebrew. See “Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence”,  especially p 93, written by him, no 59 in the Bibliography.  He proves that the name is pronounced Yehovah. The priests are commanded to say and place this Name on Israel.  Therefore, the Jewish tradition to not say this name is wrong and this tradition was caused by the Roman persecution!   Watch also Dr Miles Jones discussing this
https://youtu.be/9D7QK1WFF_w

Dr Peter Hammond gave the following succinct framework for the Ten Commandments at a Biblical Worldview Seminar. Each command deals with a specific area;  Each command includes a prohibition;  Each command includes an implicit right and each command includes a call to action.  It touches on the following ten aspects – next to it he gives examples of what it forbids:

G-d –  – polytheism, pantheism, atheism

Worship – idolatry, statues, icons, pictures, films, false religious worship, a person;

Speech – profanity, false prophecies, blasphemy

Time –   – desecration of Sabbath

Authority – disrespect, dishonor, disobedience

Life –   – murder, abortion, euthanasia

Love- adultery, pornography, perversion, homosexuality & disregard for man/woman created in the image of G-d

Property – theft, socialism, laziness, bad stewardship

Truth – perjury, gossip, slander, media bias

Conscience – coveting, greed, selfishness, socialism (and exploitation because of greed, I need to add).

Obiedience to the Ten commandments will result in:

Respect for G-d, respect for people, respect for property

Commandments   1-4 is about our responsibility to G-d

The 5^th  is our responsibly to our parents

6-10 is our responsibility to people

The Ten commandments are the foundation for our rights:

Freedom of worship, the righto know G-d’s will and to do it,

Freedom of speech, the right to work and to rest

Respect for authority, the right to life, sanctity of marriage, private ownership of property,

The right to be protected from slander and freedom of conscious

Now I would like to quote Rabbi Yossy Goldman of Johannesburg’s eloquent discussion of the Ten Commandments, from his book [33.196-198]    that was printed in my synagogue’s weekly schmooze.

“The 10 Commandments – No Multiple Choice”

“Often, I hear people say, “well I’m am not all that religious but I do keep the ten commandments.’ At such times I’m tempted to say, ‘Really? You know that the Ten Commandments are not multiple choice….’ I sometimes wonder if the people who glibly make that claim actually know what the Ten Commandments are…..

1. I am the L-rd Thy G-d.  Basically, this is the commandment to believe in one G-d.  I have every confidence that we all get full marks on this one.
2. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  O.K. so you don’t make a habit of bowing down to that bust of Buddha in your living room, the question is, should it be there in the first place?  And isn’t it interesting that today we have all these idol competitions being run around the world.  Then, of course, there are all those well-established contemporary idols we tend to ogle and worship.
3. Do not take the name of G-d in vain.  This is not only about taking the oath or swearing in court. What about swearing in the street?  How many choice four letter words are in your vocabulary? And why drag G-d into those graphic expressions?
4. Observe the Shabbat day to keep it holy.  Interestingly the Ten Commandments appear twice in the Torah.  In Exodus, the fourth commandment begins with Zachor – Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.  This week, we read Shamor – observe the Sabbath day.  ‘Remembering’ is achieved through positive acts such a Kiddush and candle lighting, etc.  ‘Observing’ Shabbat is to guard it from any desecration, is the hard part.  It may cramp our current lifestyles.  That is where true commitment comes it. (my underlining)
5. Honor thy Father and thy Mother.  Many people do indeed fulfill this mitzvah in exemplary fashion.  I stand in admiration of sons, and daughters, and often in-laws, who care for and tend to the needs of an aged parent or parent–in-law.  They schlep, they cook, they humor and often tolerate irritable cantankerous elders.  This commandment seems to get more difficult as time progresses.  Yet the Torah makes no distinction based on age.  It is our responsibility to look after our parents when they are dependent on us as they looked after us when we were dependent on them.
6. Thou Shalt Not Murder. Well done. Here’s another easy on to fulfill.  I’m sure not one of you reading this has ever murdered anyone.  You thought of doing it, you almost did it but, in the end, Jews aren’t the murdering type.  We can safely tick another one. [read also Matt. 5:21-25 I need to add]
7. Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery.  Ummm…Let’s move on to the next one. [Read also Matt. 5:27-29 -added by me]
8. Though Shalt Not Steal.  Strictly speaking this refers to kidnapping in particular.  However, all stealing – including white collar method —apply
9. Thou shalt Not Bear False Witness.  How truthful are we? Even if we are not under oath, our word should be sacred… [Read also Matt.5:33-37- added by me]

10)Thou Shalt Not Covet. Not easy either.  Commentary defines this injunction as a prohibition on badgering someone, or conniving, to acquire- even legally- that which belongs to another.  Go get your own.  Why must it be his spouse, house or car?”

Coveting does not only cause havoc within one’s heart but also can affect a community and even nations.  History is replete with examples. (*7)

• [Commandments numbered 16,17,18 here above] Deu 5:29:-  To not stray to the right or to the left of the commandments means only to follow G-ds way and not to ‘bending the rules’ or finding ‘loopholes’; or as is so popular today, to decide for yourself or according to the ‘group’ that you belong to. Not to follow today’s world views and opinions e.g. same sex marriages and gender fluidity.  See also Deu 6:4 Read how Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains The Shema: “As I have argued elsewhere, one of the most striking facts about the Torah is that, although it contains 613 commands, it does not contain a word that means “to obey”.  When such a word was needed in Modern Hebrew, the verb Le-tzayet was borrowed from Aramaic.  The verb used by the Torah in place of “to obey” is Sh-m-a.  This is of the highest possible significance.  It means that blind obedience is not a virtue in Judaism. God wants us to to understand the laws he has commanded us.  He wants us to reflect on why this law and not that.  He wants us to listen, to reflect, to seek to understand, to internalize and respond.  He wants us to become a listening people…  The deep truth behind person-centered therapy is that listening is the key virtue of the religious life.  That is what Moses was saying through Devarim.  If we want G-d to listen to us we have to be prepared to listen to him.  And if we learn to listen to him, then we eventually learn to listen to our fellow humans: the silent cry of the lonely, the poor, the weak, the vulnerable, the people in existential pain. …..the very act of listening is a form of respect” (*9) (my underlining)
• [19] This commandment refers to the wearing of Tzitit and attaching a Mezuza to your home.  These two commandments you have to do if you are a Jew or if you convert to Judaism.  If you are a non-Jew, and you want to follow the commandment of wearing  Tzizit, then do it at least according to the custom of Judasim.  The finer details of what the tassels actually look like and are knotted like, is according to the Oral instructions given to Moses by G-d, in other words, the Oral Law.  There are fascinating deeper meanings in the number of strands and knots. Also, if a non-Jew would like to fasten a Mezuzah to his house because he is proud to follow the Holy One’s Way, which he thus openly confess to the world, then this person and his household better follow the commandments with sincerity and commitment and thus not be an embarrassment to Judaism or G-d!  I will always remember how my rabbi told us when he was growing up in Sydney, his father reminded them to be always aware of who and what they represent when going around wearing their kippa /yarmulkes.

• [23] Deu 7:3:- Today, when the promise of blissful multiculturalism is showing cracks in societies all over the world, this commandment needs serious reconsideration.  It’s not just a warning to Jews, but all, listed in Deu 7:2-4 with the famous admonition: Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers.  For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness?  And what fellowship has light with darkness…For you are a Dwelling place of the living Elohim as Elohim has said, ‘I shall dwell in them and walk among them, and I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people…And I shall be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughter to me says י-הוה the almighty. [2 Cor 6:14-18]

“The unmistakable concern of the Bible is correct behavior.  This point to the profound difference between the Jewish outlook and the philosophical worldviews of Plato and Aristotle:  Whereas the philosophers were mostly interested in correct thought…Judaism is primarily interested with moral action.”[35.306] ‘so does G-d say, ‘Let the wise not be praised for his wisdom, let the strongman not be praised for his strength, let the rich man not be praised for his riches.  Only in this regard shall one be praised: Be wise and know Me, for I am the Lord who does loving-kindness, moral justice and righteous compassion in the land, because these are what I desire, says the Lord,’ (Jer. 9:22-23)

What we learn from the Historical narrative

In the opening verses (Deu 3:23-25) of this Parsha we actually learn how to pray because of how Moses structured his prayer.  He starts by praising G-d and acknowledging His greatness, before he utters his own request.  We also note that he pleads with G-d.  Yet, G-does not grant him his wish and Moses accepts that, for ‘For My (G-d) thoughts are not your thought and your ways are not My ways.’(Is 55:8)

Moses in recalling their past, what they have experienced since their miraculous exodus from Egypt and all through the past 40 years in the desert, clearly emphasize- what is a consolation to us too – that the Almighty Creator of this world is deeply involved in the life of every one of them (and us) [Read Deu 4:31,32]

We read an almost poignant aside said by G-d to Moses, when he remarks on the fact that Israel said: ושמענו ועשינו  (we hear and we will do) before they even heard all of the commandments; ‘…they did well in all that they spoke.  Who can assure that this heart should remain theirs…’ G-d says to Moses.  [see Deu 5:25-26] And then they are actually told by Moses prophesizing that they will go astray, they will sin, they will bow down to idols, yet he assures them: ‘He is the God, the faithful God, who safeguards the covenant and the kindness for those who love him and for those who observe his commandments, for a thousand generations.’ [Deu7:9]  Thereafter, the following verse clearly states: And He repays His enemies.  Therefore, reading the text carefully we are told: G-d is faithful and kind but also just.  He will repay them; they will be punished.  The Promised Land is for those that do Teshuva – that is repent: ask for forgiveness and return to the right way.

What we learn from the Hebrew Words

“…men develop routines and practices, which over time crystallize into halakah – a ‘work of the flesh’ – in the form of a man-conceived pattern or routine as to how the mitzvah should be done.  Hence, we have the ‘laws of mezuzah’ – a set of rules, not found in the Holy One’s Torah – about where to place and how to position a little box with a miniature scroll inside, on what doors while saying what blessings.  There is nothing inherently wrong with this halakah.  The fact that it is a work of the flesh does not, ipso facto, make it evil – it just means it has no power of itself.  As long as the halakah does not nullify or distract from – the Spiritual reality behind the mitzvah of Torah to which it relates, and is recognized for the work of the flesh that it is, it does no harm, and can greatly assist in enjoyment and teaching of the mitzvah.  But if the halakah ever is used as a standard by which to judge another – or is thought of as a means of ‘pleasing God’ – it has been misused.” (*8)

יראה / Yirat – Fear, Awe

“Yirat Adonai is to be the first and most basic element of our lives.  It is the key that unlocks all the spiritual potential the Holy one has hidden within us.  Without yirat Adonai we will very quickly veer to the right or to the left of the path the Holy One has chosen for us, becoming either lawless or legalistic.  What does yirat Adonai mean?  It does not mean that we think He is angry at us, or to be afraid He will squash us like a bug.  The Hebrew word our English bibles translate “fear’ is a form of the Hebrew verb Yare, meaning to feel awe in the Presence of, and to respect and reverence as totally transcendent in power, beauty, and holiness” (*8)

שמע / Sh’mah – Listen

“The Hebrew word for this is the verb root sh’ma, which is sometimes translated as listen, sometimes as hear, and sometimes as obey.  The word means all of these things, and much more.  We are not just to listen for and to what the holy One is saying, Beloved.  We are to adopt His directives as the center of gravity of our thought-life, our self-talk, our conversations, our reactions and our behaviors. We are to intensely focus our attention and energy on the Holy One’s pronouncements.  As a plant stretches out in the direction of the sun to receive its life giving rays, so our necks and spiritual ears are to be continually stretching toward the Divine Bridegroom’s Words, endeavoring to hear every word and receive every life-giving instruction for living exactly as the Lover of our soul spoke it.  The study of Torah is not an academic exercise.  Neither is Torah submission a ‘work of the flesh’.  Both Torah study and observance are natural responses to the prophetically empowering Voice of the Holy One” (*8)

דברת בם / dibarta bam – you are to speak to them

“Torah, you will find, speaks over and over again about the transmission of Torah from fathers and mothers to their children…Successful Torah teaching does not come from lesson plans.  It comes, instead, from life.  A parent whose heart is submitted to the Holy One and whose life is submitted to his Torah teaches Torah 24/7/365 by how he/she lives, by how he/she communicates, by how he/she deals with life’s challenges, and by how he/she responds to good -and bad- circumstances. Torah is taught by modeling the Torah lifestyle.  The Holy One contemplated that we would teach our children His mitzvot by letting them see us day in and day out, setting the Holy One’s words constantly before us – before our eyes, on our doors and our gates.  The Holy One contemplated that we would teach our children His mitzvot by having them watch us struggle to make and keep the Holy One’s Torah the most pervasive influence in our lives.” (*8)

עשה / asah – to do

“The meaning of ‘asah’ is to take the Torah/  Scripture / your faith, from the realm of theory and words into the realm of concrete, functional reality, i.e. as a potter takes a lump of clay and makes a jug, To asahG-d’s instructions/ commands, means more than to ‘do’.  It means to interact with material the way a potter interacts with clay.  It means to make visible and tangible that which was only spoken or thought or believed.  To asah G-d’s instructions/commands,  means to build them into something visible, tangible, for all to see.  To do the commandment makes it so much greater, fuller, then just the peshat meaning of the words. ” (*8)

FOOTNOTES

*1 Robinson, Tony. https;//irpcdn.multiscreensite.com/0da55621/files/uploaded/Vaetchannan_E9A2qzLDR3qeQYJYEIWw.pdf

*2 Sacks, Rabbi Jonathan, Making Love Last  Va’etchanan 2018/5778

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/2a91b54e856e0e4ee78b585d2/files/5036cb12-f2b5-4645-afcd-c4eb779e32b8/C_C_5778_Making_Love_Last_Va_etchanan.pdf

*3 A Christian will understand the shadow images of this commandment

*4 Remember what Yeshua ben Joseph [Jesus] said: “ Do not think I came to destroy Torah or the prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to complete.  For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and earth pass away, one yod or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done.” [Matt 5:17,18]

And to illustrate and explain what he means with to complete or fulfill them, – what the actual essence of the law is – he gave 8 examples: for instance ‘You shall not murder, ‘and whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.  But I say to you that whoever is wroth [angry] with his brother without a cause shall be liable to judgment, And whoever says to his brother ‘Raka!” shall be liable to the Sanhedrin, But whoever says,’ You fool! Be liable to the fires of GeHinnom” [Matt 5:21,22] Note: a Yod and a Tittle are of the smallest letters and markings in the Hebrew manuscript.

*5 This is the Biblical and Hebraic way of saying The End Times , when the Messiah will appear

*6 Again I need to remind the reader that the Ten Commandments does not appear in the Koran, Hadith or Sura

*7 read also: http://www.aish.com/jw/s/The-10-Commandments-Today.html

*8 Bill Bullock. Studies for Parshot Va’etchanan http://mail.google.com/u/0/?tab=wm#label/Bill+Bullock/164dd36db46782e1

*9 Johnathan Sacks. His discussion concerning Parasha Va’etchanan: First you must listen, Covenant and Conversation, 14 Aug.2014,