From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 1997 11:27 PM To: Parasha-Page List Subject: Torah Weekly - V'zos Habracha
Reply-to: ohr@virtual.co.il From: "Ohr Somayach" <ohr@virtual.co.il> To: " Highlights of the Torah weekly portion" <weekly@virtual.co.il> Subject: Torah Weekly - V'zos Habracha
* TORAH WEEKLY * Highlights of the Weekly Torah Portion Parshas V'zos Habracha For 24 October 1997/22 Tishrei 5758 in Israel 25 October 1997/23 Tishrei 5758 Outside Israel =========================================================================== Stay on top Sukkos with Ohr Somayach @ http://www.ohr.org.il/special/sukkos =========================================================================== New Feature! Fun for the Whole Family! "Yossi & Co." will explore the weekly Parsha in a forum that everyone can enjoy. Come and join him at http://www.ohr.org.il/yossi =========================================================================== Overview The Torah draws to its close with V'zos Habracha, which is the only Parsha in the Torah not read specifically on a Shabbos. Rather, V'zos Habracha is read on Shmini Atzeres/Simchas Torah, when everyone in the synagogue gets called up to the Torah for an aliyah -- even boys who are not yet Bar Mitzvah. The Parsha is repeated until everyone has received an aliyah. Moshe continues the tradition of Yaakov by blessing the Tribes of Yisrael before his death. Similar to the blessings bestowed by Yaakov, these blessings are also a combination of the description of each Tribe's essence, together with a definition of its role within the nation of Israel. The only Tribe that does not receive a blessing is Shimon, because they were central to the mass immorality of worshipping the idol ba'al pe'or. Another explanation is that this Tribe's population was small and scattered throughout the south of the Land of Israel, and would therefore receive blessings together with the host Tribe amongst whom they would live; i.e., Yehuda. Moshe's last words to his beloved people are of reassurance that Hashem will more than recompense His people for all of the suffering they will endure. Moshe ascends the mountain and Hashem shows him prophetically all that will happen to Eretz Yisrael in the future, both in tranquillity and in times of oppression. Hashem also shows him all that will happen to the Jewish People until the time of the Resurrection. Moshe dies there by means of the "Divine Kiss." To this day, no one knows the place of his burial, in order that his grave should not become a shrine for those who wish to make a prophet into a god. Of all the prophets, Moshe was unique in his being able to speak to Hashem whenever he wanted. His centrality and stature are not a product of the Jewish People's "blind faith," but are based on events that were witnessed by an entire nation -- at the Red Sea, at Mount Sinai and constantly during 40 years of journeying through the desert. =========================================================================== Insights What Goes Around "And this is the blessing that Moshe, the man of G-d, blessed the children of Yisrael." (33:1) The perfect circle. Complete. The circle unites the beginning and the end. There is no beginning nor end to a circle. If you take one point and call it its beginning, when you get to the end you will find yourself back where you started. On Simchas Torah, we finish reading the Torah and immediately start again from the beginning. In our joy at having completed the Torah, we dance with it in a circle. Specifically in a circle. The Torah is endless. When we reach its end, we are already back at its beginning. The final words of the Torah are: "in the eyes of all Yisrael." And its first words: "In the beginning." The circle dance of Simchas Torah joins the end to the beginning, that "the eyes of all Yisrael" should be fixed on the "beginning." Spending and Saving "The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the Congregation of Yaakov." (33:4) There is a great difference between an inheritance and a heritage. An inheritance is the sole possession of the one who inherits it. It is his to do with as he pleases: To consume, to invest or to squander. However, a heritage must be cherished and preserved and passed on intact to the next generation. The Torah is our heritage -- not our inheritance. We must pass it on to the next generation as we found it, and not abridged, altered or adulterated. Seeing and Believing "...before the eyes of all Yisrael." (34:12) These are the final words of the Torah. The entire Jewish People were witnesses to all the miracles that were wrought through Moshe Rabbeinu. With their own eyes they saw, and "seeing is believing." In other words, their believing came from seeing; their faith in Moshe came from daily contact with miracles. These miracles were witnessed not by a small group who then convinced others through charisma or coercion. Rather, the entire nation -- the eyes of all Yisrael -- were witnesses to the miracles. They all saw the dividing of the Red Sea, the Voice at Sinai, and the manna. Manna was the miraculous food that the Jewish People ate every day for forty years. Forty years, day-in day-out. They saw it with enough regularity for it to have become mundane. This was the seeing that founded the rock-like faithfulness of the Jewish People throughout the long night of exile. With their own eyes they saw that Moshe, the prophet of Hashem, was authentic, and his Torah, the Torah of the Living G-d, was Truth. =========================================================================== Haftorah - Shmini Atzeres/Simchas Torah: Yehoshua 1:1 Immediately when we finish reading the Torah, we start again "In the beginning of God's creating the heavens and the earth..." In this way we remind ourselves that immersing ourselves in the truths of the Torah is an eternal task, without beginning or end. The Haftorah states "And Hashem spoke to Yehoshua bin Nun, Moshe's lieutenant, saying `Moshe my servant is dead. You arise and cross over the Jordan...'" to remind us that the work of the Torah is not that of a human being, not even the highest, but it is Hashem's work that began with the revelation at Sinai, and its accomplishment is not dependent on the personality and life of any man, however great and sublime he may be. =========================================================================== Sources: o What Goes Around - adapted from Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin o A Brick of Sapphire - A Plank of Wood - Rashi; o Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz; Zale Newman; Moshe Averick o Spending And Saving - Rabbi Nachman Bulman o Seeing And Believing - Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh o Haftorah: Adapted from Dr. Mendel Hirsch, based on the words of his father, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch =========================================================================== Do you link to us? Let everyone know about the Ohr Somayach Home Page by dropping the following text into the HTML document of YOUR home page: <A HREF="http://www.ohr.org.il" TARGET="_top"> The Ohr Somayach International Home Page</A> =========================================================================== SUBSCRIBE! to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions: ohrnews - Keep up-to-date with the Ohr Somayach Web Site weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion os-special - All the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach os-alum - "B'Yachad" - the Ohr Somayach Electronic Alumni Newsletter judaismo - Spanish-Language newsletter on the Parsha & Judaism month - Seasons of the Moon - The Jewish Year through its months Ohr Somayach NEVER charges for any of the above lists. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe {listname} {your full name} mailto:listproc@virtual.co.il =========================================================================== Dedication opportunities are available for Torah Weekly. Please contact us for details. =========================================================================== Written and Compiled by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman Production Design: Lev Seltzer =========================================================================== Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by the Jewish Learning Exchange of J L E Ohr Somayach International J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103 J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel J L E Tel: 972-2-581-0315 Fax: 972-2-581-2890 J J L E Mailto:ohr@virtual.co.il JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE http://www.ohr.org.il =========================================================================== (C) 1997 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample issue. ***************************************************************************** To educate, train and equip for study both the Jew and Non-Jew in the Rich Hebraic Heritage of our Faith. Eddie Chumney Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int'l