Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God commanded you,

land that the Lord, your God, is giving you.

(Devarim 5:16)

in order that your days be lengthened

– Later, in reference to sending away the mother bird, it says and you

should lengthen your days – to tell you that if you observe the commandment

of honoring your father and mother and they pray for you that then you shall

lengthen your days, for the verb in the expression ya'arikhun yamekha [that your days be lengthened] is conjugated in

the hifil form, which is carried out by others.

(HaRIVA – Rabbi Yitzhak ben

R. Asher HaLevi of Speyer, leader of the Ba'alei haTosfot in Ashkenaz,

commenting on Devarim 5:16)

Honor your father and your mother as the

Lord your God commanded you – This intends to say, as they said

in the Jerusalem Talmud (Kiddushin 1-7),

that honoring one's parent is an easy commandment, for it is like repayment of

a debt for their trouble and sustenance, that is why it says even if your

father and mother deserted you and did not raise you, you should still honor

them, as the Lord your God commanded you

in the wilderness, where there was no great bother for parents to raise their

children, since manna would fall from heaven and water came from the well, and

meat arrived in the form of quail, and the cloud would iron their clothing, and

despite all this the Lord commanded to honor your father and your mother. Do so

unto the last generation! And so it is regarding the Sabbath, for they said,

"Sabbaths were given solely so that during them people would be busy with

words of Torah" (J. Shabbat 15:3),

that they should not be materialistic during the six weekdays. If so, this is

not the point [of the Sabbath commandment] for a person who occupies himself

with ideas and always cleaves to his Creator. That is why it says as… commanded

you – also on the Sabbath; even though the Generation of the Wilderness was

always occupied with Torah [study], and as they said "The Torah was given

only for those who ate manna" (Mekhilta

Beshalah 15), in any case they were instructed regarding the Sabbath;

that is why it [the phrase as the Lord your God

commanded you] was not included in the first [version] of the Ten

commandments.

The verse as the Lord your God commanded you

mentioned in connection with the commandment of honoring one's parent should

further be explained: in addition to the [universal obligation] to honor

parents, in Israel there is an additional [reason to honor them], since they

lead their children to the true felicity and transmit the ritual commandments and

the tradition from generation to generation. That is why in the Second Temple

the fathers, the jasper-stone of Benjamin was lost [from the High-Priest's

breastplate] (J. Pe'ah beginning chapter one),

since it was Benjamin who honored his father more than the other tribes did, as

I explained in parashat Tetzaveh. And this is why he said that even if the

father does not bequeath correct knowledge to his son, even so the latter

should honor him, as the Lord your God commanded you,

for in that generation in which the children also heard God's voice and did not

need to receive traditions from their fathers, and they heard the whole

explanation of the Oral Torah from Moses, even so, as

the Lord your God commanded you – to honor your father and your

mother.

(Meshekh Hokhmah

ad loc)

Because of You the

Lord did not Listen to Me

Yossi Morgenstern

Our parasha begins

with Moses' prayer to God in which he begs to be allowed to enter the Land of

Israel together with the Israelites:

I entreated the

Lord at that time, saying, "O

Your might? Pray let me

good mountain and the Lebanon." (Devarim

3:23-25)

Before the Israelites enter the Land of

Israel, Moses relates what occurred between him and God at that time

– in the wilderness. It is the climax of an historical survey that he addresses

to the People Israel, starting at the beginning of Devarim and lasting through

its third chapter. When we compare this account with that of parashat Korah, we

discover differences between them:

The Lord said to

sanctified through them. (Bamidbar 20:12-13)

Here Moses offers no reply to God's

statement; there is neither prayer nor pleading. Scripture continues: Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. Moses

remains faithful to his role as leader and king.

It would appear that

he accepts God's decree without complaint, continuing to function as he had

before the story of Mei Merivah.

The book of Bamidbar

displays the qualities of the man of God – complete faith that God is

just in all His deeds. God's decrees must be accepted without objection.

When we arrive at

parashat Va'et'hanan the Torah presents us with a different Moses: He

has lived with the decree for almost an entire generation. He reveals to the

people how he tried to change the harsh decree with all his might, and this is

something we had not yet read about in the Torah. Then Moses reveals something

to them in a single verse which is perhaps the key to understanding the entire

parasha:

But the Lord was

matter. (Devarim

3:26)

God tells Moses to stop praying about

this matter – the decree cannot be changed.

However, addressing this assembly forty years

later in the steppes of Moav, Moses adds one very important word – le'ma'ankhem

– because of you. This word can be understood as meaning

"because of you" or even as "due to your fault," but it can

also take on a different interpretation. God refuses to accept Moses' request

to enter the Land of Israel for the good of the entire people. It is not

only for the good of the people but also for Moses' own good – after all, God

tells him, It is enough for you. It is also for

your own good!¹ And we hear that

Moses understands this and makes his peace with God's response. The

chapter ends:

Go up to the top

we abided in the valley opposite Beth Peor. (Devarim 3:27-29)

Moses sees the Land, appoints a leader to

succeed him and prepares for his life's end, dwelling near his future grave: And He buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab,

opposite Beth Pe'or. And no person knows the place of his burial, unto this day

(Devarim 34:6).

Moses understands that he must take leave of

the people and that he cannot join enter the Land with them.

We immediately hear from him:

And now, O Israel,

forefathers, is giving you. (Devarim 4:1)

Moses functions as a parent who understands

that he must take leave of his son and allow him to build his world and find

his way to serve God. However, the father does not send his son away

empty-handed. He takes pains to equip his son's "tool kit" with

instruments that will help him on the journey he must travel alone. That is the

secret of the book of Devarim in general and of parashat Va'et'hanan in

particular.

What does that "tool box" which

Moses hands the people contain? It contains Parashat Va'et'hanan, which is as

full as a pomegranate. He gives them the Ten Commandments and the Shema. He again

gives them the Ten Commandments they had heard at Mount Sinai as a

"clarified commandment" [mitzvah mevu'eret] to strengthen them

before entering the Land. They hear of the commandment to recite the Shema for

the first time in the book of Devarim. They receive it as an "innovated

commandment" [mitzvah mehudeshet]² in order that each

morning and evening they remember God's providence and His love for His people.

There was a reason why the Sages tied all

these matters together into one parasha. Only after Moses knew with certainty

that he would not enter the Land did he give the people these gems.

Moses understood that just as the Israelites

would enter the Land without clouds of glory or manna, they would also have to

enter it without him. As he ascended to the mountain top and saw the Goodly

Land with his own eyes, in his heart he certainly told the people he loved so

much: "Be strong and resolute!"

Goodbyes are difficult, even when they are necessary and important for

growth and development. The departing parent or leader must overcome his

difficulties and equip the "children" with tools which will make

possible their self-development and grant them they the ability to contend with

the problems ahead.

1. Interpreting rav lekha [It is enough for you] along the lines of lekh

lekha [go forth] (Bereishit 12:1) and p'sol lekha [carve

yourself] (Shemot 34:1), and Rashi there.

2. To borrow the terminology

from RaMBaN's introduction to the book of Devarim.

Yossi Morgenstern is a computer programmer

That You May Live

Fulfillment of the Covenant

That you should not say

"It is already written: To these shall the land be divided – the

land is ours, whether we are deserving or guilty." Do not say so, for your

entry into the land is dependent entirely on whether or not you observe the

laws and regulations.

(Hizkuni, Devarim 4:1)

There are those who believe

that God's love for Israel is promised unconditionally; they rely on such

verses as, Because of God's love for you and because of his keeping the

hand and redeem you from a house of slavery – The Holy One, Blessed Be He,

is obliged – as it were – to keep his promise and to redeem us.

But such is not the case.

As long as there does not exist a generation worthy and suitable to accept the

covenant and the grace, as God swore to the patriarchs, the Holy One, Blessed

Be He, has patience, and a thousand years pass before his eyes as if it was but

yesterday; but on the other hand, it is not at all certain that we will be able

to wait a thousand generations, if we are unworthy thereof. These words must be

declared against that dangerous ideology which contains a tremendous diminution

of religious belief, to the effect that the Jewish people received a promise of

great and glorious Messianic redemption merely by virtue of the fact that they

are the Children of Israel.

Those words of blasphemy

and execration heard today from the mouth of many who are assumed in their own

eyes to be the loyal and faithful of Israel, saying that The Holy One, Blessed

Be He is, as it were, obligated to keep his promise and redeem us; these words

may turn out to be misleading and disappointing, because they are oblivious to

the basic condition: Hear, Israel, the laws and the regulations.

(Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Parashat

HaShavua. pp. 776-777)

Even One Accused of

Murder is Entitled to a Decent Attitude and a Just Trial

Then Moses set apart

three towns… towards the rising of the sun – what is the meaning of the

rising of the sun?

R. Yossi, son of R. Hanina said: The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to

Moses: "Cause the sun to shine for the murderer and provide him with

refuge for exile, so that he not be doomed because of the sin of murder, just

as the sun lights up the world."

An alternate explication: For fleeing to by the accidental murderer –

Our Rabbis said: To what may this be compared? To an artisan who made an image

of the king; as he was making it, it broke in his hands. Said the king: Had he

broken it intentionally, he would have to be executed; now that he broke it

unintentionally, he is sentenced to exile and travel, so did The Holy One,

Blessed Be He, decree, Whoever now sheds human blood, for that human shall

his blood be shed, but one who kills without intent is exiled from

his home, as is written, He shall flee to one of these cities and will live

– The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said: In this world, where the Evil

Inclination is prevalent, people kill each other and they die, but in the

future to come, I will uproot the Evil Inclination from you and there will

be no death in the world, (Isaiah 25), He will destroy death forever.

(Devarim Rabbah 2)

You are to do

what is right and what is good

The prophets called the

Book of Bereishit Sefer HaYashar – "The Book of the Upright".

R. Yohanan explains: This is the book of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were

called upright, as is written Let my soul die the death of the

upright. Jews of the Second Temple period were tzaddikim

in worldly affairs. Because of groundless hatred, they suspected whoever feared

God in a fashion different from their own of being a Sadducee and a heretic,

and this led to bloodshed and all the evils of the world, until the Temple was destroyed,

for The Holy One, Blessed Be He, is upright and he cannot tolerate this kind

of tzaddikim. [He prefers] only those who walk in the

straight path also in worldly matters, and not crookedly, even though [the

crooked behavior] is for the sake of Heaven, for this leads to the

destruction of creation and the devastation of civilization.

(From the NeTziV of Volozhin's commentary Ha'Amek

Davar, preface to the Book of Bereishit).

After mentioning that

one should observe these three categories of commandments (Mishpatim/regulations,

eidot/testimonies, hukkim/laws) and not test the Holy One,

Blessed Be He, with regard to any of them, He decreed (according to the

midrash) in favor of compromise on matters on which the Torah did not rule,

saying – You are to do what is right and what is good. And

because it [compromise] will lead to peace, He called it What is right and

what is good in the eyes of God.

(Rabeinu Behayey, Devarim 6:17)

It would seem that the admonition that the Torah adds to

all of its laws, You are to do what is right

and what is good in the eyes of the Lord, is superfluous. All of the laws

are directed towards that goal, in order to show man the straight path.

However, there are some things which are legally permissible but which were

prohibited solely on the basis of You are to do what is right… Judaism

does not stop at limiting deeds of actual evil – it also tries to root out

potential evil from the human soul. That is why there are special admonitions

that address that which is in our hearts.

(The "Admor

He'Halutz" – R. Yeshayahu Shapira z"l, as quoted by Nehama

Leibowitz)

The Danger of

"Idolatry" is Greater for Torah Scholars

…he especially warns

Torah scholars who deal with laws and statutes, only be on your guard and

guard yourself well. This makes it clear that the Torah scholar is more

likely than other people to fall into the corruption of idolatry. So it was in

reality: As Perek Helek

tells us, Jeroboam, Ahab

and Menashe were great Torah scholars, and they were

the first to bring idolatrous offerings and made all Israel sin. The author of

Lamentations says, Lord, see my destitution, for the enemy has grown great

(28:59), and we later explained (28:59) in the name of the midrash

that the evil inclination has increased hold over Torah scholars, since the

Torah scholar can apply his intelligence to find ways to permit things,

twisting the words of the living God to conform with his own view, confusing

people into thinking that it is a commandment.

(The NeTziV's Ha'Amek Davar on Devarim 4:14)

The 15^th of

Av – a Day of Equality, Reconciliation and Restoration

Rabban

Shimon ben Gamliel said:

There were no better days for Israel than the 15^th of Av and Yom

Kippur, for in them the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white

clothing in order to avoid embarrassing those who did not own any.

(Mishnah Ta'anit

4:8)

Rabban

Shimon ben Gamliel said:

There were no better days for Israel than the 15^th of Av and Yom

Kippur, for in them the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white

clothing in order to avoid embarrassing those who did not own any.

Yom Kippur makes sense –

it grants forgiveness and pardon, it is the day when the latter tablets were

given. But what is the 15^th of Av? R. Yehudah

said that Shemuel said: It was the day when the

tribes were allowed to intermarry…Rav Yosef said that Rav Nahman said: It was the day that the tribe of Benjamin was

allowed to re-enter the community.

(Ta'anit 30b)

Comfort Ye,

Comfort Ye, My People

Zealousness is as harsh as Sheol – Elijah's zealousness

against Israel was severe. As is written, I am moved by zeal for the Lord,

the God of Hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant… Elijah

should have gone to the place where his fathers stood and pleaded for mercy

upon Israel, but he did not do so. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to him:

"You pleaded for your own needs, go and return to Damascus". And so

is written with regards to Hezkiah: For there will be peace and truth in my

days (Isaiah 39:8). The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to him: "You

have pleaded for your own needs." Comfort, oh comfort My people, says

your God (Ibid 40:1), and you [Israel] have no need for Elijah's prayer."

(Midrash Zuta, Shir Hashirim, Parasha 8)

Comfort, oh comfort My people – All the tribulations and the suffering and the exile

are proportionate to the lack of da'at [knowledge, understanding]. When da'at

will be complete, then all deficiencies will be filled, in the sense of (Nedarim 41)

"If you have acquired de'ah, then what do you lack?" and as is

written: Assuredly, My people will suffer exile for lacking da'at, and

the essential element of eternal life – to be in the world to come – will be a

result of da'at. For da'at will spread, and all will know God,

and through da'at all will be part of His unity, and then all will live

eternal life as He does, for through da'at all are part of Him, as was

said by the Sage, "If I knew Him, I would be Him." The principle part

of da'at will be in the future, as is written, For the earth will be

filled with de'ah, and because of da'at, nothing good will be

lacking – all will be good.

(Likutei MoHaRaN, Parasha 21)

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