The Themes of The Book of Devorim

This Shabbos we will start reading the Book of Devorim. Which is Anglicized as Deuteronomy (which means basically, review)
but is translated as "words".
It is Moshe Rabeinu's final words to the Jewish people who he faithfully led for the past 40 or so years.
Every year I try to find the pattern and themes of the Book of Devorim.

I have not been successful.

I do not believe this is the uncontrolled ramblings of an old man.
I know that there is a rhyme and reason for how and why Moshe says what he says and when.
There needs to be a theme for each Parsha, for example. And even though there are repetitions of certain concepts many times, they have to be repeated for a contextual reason.
The choice laws that Moshe reviews here have to be done for a certain purpose. Why certain laws were reviewed and others not. Why that particular Parsha in which those laws are reviewed is chosen, also has to have meaning.
For instance why the Laws of Kashrus in Parshas Reah, etc.

In this week's Parsha, Moshe recounts the story of the Jewish people in the desert, going in order, starting from before the receiving of the Torah when he structured the Court system, then the spies, and then suddenly at Chamishi, he jumps approx 40 years to the end of the the Bnei Yisroels travels to the conquering of the various lands that were conquered. Why?

So I think that basically over the years I have come to understand maybe the theme of the first 3 Parshas.
Devorim - the Am Yisroel, the people.
V'eschanan - the Torah
Ekev - The land of Israel.
But it is not exclusive or conclusive.
And then???
Your thoughts are welcome.

So We Should Know Who We Are

My how time flies!!!
I haven't written anything here for a very long time! I gotta stop that.
To ALL a wonderful Shabbat.
Don't forget Tuesday is the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz
This Shabbat we read Parshat Balak.
Balak was the Moabite King and he and his people were afraid of the Bnei Yisroel due to the power they showed as they made their way out of Egypt to the Land of Israel.
To deal with that, Balak hires Bilaam, the Diviner, to try to find a way and time to send curses onto the Jewish people. Instead however, he praises and speaks glowingly about the Jewish people.
What is the Torah trying to tell us? What is the point of devoting so much space to what a practicer of the dark arts thinks of us? Even though he beautifully describes the qualities and uniqueness of the Jewish people, but do we need to hear it from him?
One thing is that it is nice sometimes to hear what others think of us and it is nice to get a recommendation from others about us. But that should not be our real motivation and actually we should not do things just to please others.
I think a story my Father ZT”L told me fits in very well. After WWII my father went back to Hungary to learn in a Yeshiva, awaiting approval to go to America. After a time he found out he was able to go to the US and went to his Rabbi for a letter of recommendation. The Rabbi told him to come back the next day.
When he came back the Rabbi told him, “Here is the letter. The truth is that you really won’t need this where you are going, they won’t care about what’s in this letter. But I am giving you this letter so YOU should know who you are. It’s not going to be easy over there, so I never want you to forget who you are.”
The Jewish People were about to go into Israel out of the direct influence of Hashem and Moses. G-d didn’t want them to ever forget who THEY are.

An Important Kosher Conversation

Shalom,

Writing re kosher supervision. There are many things added to foods, that are harmful to health though they have been certified as kosher, GMO is extremely damaging but it is certified as kosher and etc. The question and request is since it is Torah law to not do things that harm health, how can all these harmful additives, GMO etc. be certified kosher, and also animal food products from animals that are badly mistreated, it is not just how they are shechted, it is how they are treated and live their lives before being shechted and the conditions also at the time of shechting… Torah is against cruelty to animals but this is not considered when animal food products are certified as kosher. Please, our people are getting sick unnecessarily because of the food they are eating which is making them sick. People trust that if something is labeled kosher it is healthy and OK to eat, but it is not so. Please, think the requirements for kosher certification need to be changed not for profit, for care of am Yisrael. Thank you for your consideration.
Person


Person,

Thank you for your email. You have raised wonderful points.

And the answer is, that kosher is not a HOLISTIC approval of all 613 mitzvot, commandments, but rather a SPECIFIC approval of those mitzvot that apply locally to kosher law. The misconception is that kosher means EVERYTHING is ok, and that is not the truth at all. "Kosher" means that it adheres to those narrow rules that apply. Kosher does not check for all the mitzvot and health concerns. Very fattening or high cholesterol foods can be kosher, but not healthy for you. Therefore, those concerns that you mentioned, although important laws, are not part of the kosher inspection.

It would be similar to going to the doctor and getting a full physical and passing with flying colors and therefore deciding you do not need to go to the dentist or the eye doctor. But the doctor just checked his parameters. He did not check your teeth or eyes. So to be completely healthy you ought to check those things too.

I agree with you that a person should take care of his health and should make sure that the food he eats adheres to all healthy standards and that the people preparing it must be moral.

Perhaps there needs to be another type of certification that checks for those other concerns. And perhaps it should be made clearer that Kosher does not necessarily mean healthy or that all the 613 mitzvot have been checked for. Maybe there should be a checklist of ALL the aspects that one needs to check for before he eats his food.

As far as the shechita goes, and this may sound contradictory, but I have been in a few slaughterhouses and great care is taken not to treat the animal cruelly. Even though the animal is killed, there is a great reverence for the life that is taken.

Thanks again and please let me know if this answer suffices and please feel free to ask any other question you have.

All the best,

Rabbi Zev

IN THE PARSHA: A Message for the Ages

This week is a double Parsha Tetzaveh and Zachor
In Parshas Tetzaveh basically the command to light the Menorah daily, the Priestly garments and Golden Alter are described.
In Parshas Zachor we are told about the command to never forget what Amalek did to us.
The Jewish people had just left Egypt, happy in their salvation and confident in their purpose. They were not threatening anyone, keeping to themselves and doing what they were supposed to do. Yet there are always some people who are bothered by that, either because of jealousy or pure evil. And as I mentioned in a previous post, the Amalek isn’t always from without. Sometimes the Amalek is from within; sadly many Communities have been devastated by conflict and maliciousness from within.
Amalek saw the Jewish people in their splendor and although being evil they were cowards and attacked the Jews from behind, attacked the tired stragglers, attacked sneakily. Cowards can do a lot of damage too.
But the answer to combat Amalek was to STAND STRONG and LOOK UP!
Moses went to stand on top of the hill with his hands up defiantly.
The message is that we must remain firm in our morals and principles.
STAND STRONG and LOOK UP to Hashem.
Often we drift along in life without the need to stand up and commit to what we believe in and require. Events like Amalek help us to define who we are, to solidify our convictions and compel us to further our goals and purpose in the correct Torah way.
That’s why it is a commandment never to forget. That’s why it is a message for the ages.

We Must Remain Focused On Our Goals

We are now almost 1 week into Chodesh Adar. It is the month of Joy. But it also is the month that Haman tried to destroy us. The modern day Haman is the one who tries to divide. There are Hamans from without and unfortunately Hamans from within.
We must not let Haman take control, we must not let Haman turn us around from what we want to accomplish. We must keep om marching ahead focused.
Then we will truly be able to rejoice in the Geulah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta6UmkqzZA0

WE MUST REMAIN UNITED

Purim is almost 1 week away and I was thinking about the Purim story and an important message. During the time of Purim the threat to the Jews was worse than ever before or since. EVERY Jew was in danger. In every other instance the threat was in one or more countries yet there was always a place that Jews were safe. During the time of Purim, since Achashverosh ruled over all the known world, every Jew was under his control and therefore in danger.
And yet it all got turned upside down and all the Jews were saved.
What happened? How were they able to fight against it?
Because they all came together.
The Megillah tells us that in order to get his decree passed Haman told the King that the Jews were "spread out and divided". The commentaries tell us that this means that they were not united and all the diferent factions were not getting along. In order to save themselves Mordechai managed to get everyone to come together. קיימו וקבלו היהודים - Keemu V'kiblu Hayehudim. It was nothing short of spectacular. It doesn't say that all the Jews became the same, that all the Jews became Sephardic or Ashkenazic, so to speak, no. Despite their differences they embraced, respected and understood each other.
So the message is clear. Strife brings destruction and unity brings joy & salvation.
ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר אמן כן יהי רצון

Tu Bishvat - A Man is aTree

As it is Tu Bishvat, the new year for the trees, we are technically celebrating the trees. But there is a strong connection between a tree and a human being. And that allegory is made throughout the Talmud. There is a Possuk, verse, in the Torah, where it discusses the rules regarding how to act in a war when entering an enemy's territory you're conquering. The Torah tells us we may not cut down any fruit bearing tree, because "Ha'adam eitz hasadeh". Which is translated to mean that the tree of the field is indispensable to the man. However, the literal translation is "the man is a tree of the field" From there go all the teachings which compare the human to the tree. And all the lessons we learn from that.
Today someone taught me a new comparison with a wonderful lesson.
He said that a tree cannot move, yet it is able to spread it's influence far and wide.
It can spread it's seeds all over to plant new trees and it's fruit can be enjoyed all over the world.
Sometimes we think we are only successful in influencing others if we go out and around "influencing", and sometimes we need to, since we are mobile. Yet the tree teaches us that we can still do a lot of positive, inspiring and motivating, by staying right where we are and being a proper role model doing what we're supposed to do.

Parshas Beshalach - Moshe's Hands

The Jews just left Egypt, barely cohesive as a nation and Amalek decides to attack them.
Moshe tells Yehoshua to go the next day to fight with Amalek and he will go up and stand on the mountain.
Whenever Moshe, on top of the mountain, raised his hands Bnei Yisroel were stronger but when he put his hands down Amalek was stronger.
The Mishna in Rosh Hashana asks, "V'chi yadav shel Moshe osos milchama?"
"Do the hands of Moshe make war or break war?" Was it actually magic hands of Moshe which made Israel win or lose the war?
"Rather it showed the Bnei Yisroel that when they looked up to Hashem for their answers and devoted their hearts to their Father in Heaven they would succeed, they would win"
Also I believe that the message is that one, especially a leader, needs to stand strong and firm in his principles. Not being wishy washy but being upright and definite in his morals and values. Then the people will follow him and do the correct thing. When Moshe showed strength and conviction by keeping his hands "up", the people were able to be follow and fight the war successfully.
It is really important to know that we must look up to Hashem for our assistance and guidance, and that we must remain determined and resolute in our morals and principles.