SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaetchanan You shall do no task, you, and your son, and your daughter, And your male slave, and your slavegirl, and your ox, and your donkey, And all your beasts and your sojourner who is within your gates – So that your male slave and your slavegirl may rest like you. And you shall remember that your were a slave in the land of egypt, And the lord brought you out from there. (Devarim 5:13-14)   …It says here "So that...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaetchanan You shall say to your children: "we were slaves to pharaoh in egypt and the lord freed us from egypt with a mighty hand… And us he freed from there, that he might take us and give us the land that he had promised on oath to our fathers. Then the lord commanded us to observe all these laws, to revere the lord our god, for our lasting good and for our survival, as is now...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaetchanan   The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are living. (Deut. 5:3)   Not with our fathers – alone did He make the convenant, but with us – as in "and your name shall no longer be called Jacob alone, but also Israel with it." As it states in Midrash Tehilim about "From the mouths of babes and nursing infants you...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaetchanan If your son asks you tomorrow, saying, "What are the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which the Lord our God has commanded you?"  You shall say to your son, "We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord took us out of Egypt with a strong hand. (Devarim 6:20-21)   If your son asks you tomorrow: Tomorrow may mean, "at a later time." (Rashi ad loc)   If your son asks you...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaetchanan Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God commanded you, in order that your days be lengthened, and that it may go well with you on the 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...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaetchanan AND DO NOT STEAL   Do not murder… and do not commit adultery…and do not steal… and do not lust… We have already remarked that here, when Moses repeats the Decalogue, all the prohibitions of sinning against the life, the marriage, the property, the happiness, and the honor of one's fellow-men, as well as the mere lusting after what is forbidden, are all taken collectively together as one thought by the copulative letter vav. And we...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaetchanan GO UP TO THE TOP OF THE HILL AND LIFT UP YOUR EYES WESTWARD AND NORTHWARD AND SOUTHWARD AND EASTWARD AND SEE WITH YOUR EYES, FOR YOU SHALL NOT CROSS THIS JORDAN. (Devarim 3:27)   Seeing with Pleasure and Seeing with Sorrow And the Lord said to him: "This is the land…" (Devarim 34:4)   R. Eliezer says: He gave strength to Moses' eyes, and he saw from one end of the world to...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaetchanan YOU SHALL NOT TRY THE LORD YOUR GOD AS YOU TRIED HIM IN MASSAH (Devarim 6:16)   You shall not try the Lord your God – this is explained by the phrase as you tried Him in Massah. That is, do not say "If the Lord is in our midst to perform miracles for us, or if when we serve Him we succeed, have enough food to satisfy us and live well – then...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vaetchanan Our Father Who is in heaven, Rock of Israel and its Redeemer, King to Whom peace belongs, Bless Your children, lovers of their people and land, Some of whom say it is a time for planting Some of whom say it is a time for uprooting, Some of whom say it is a time to build, Some of whom say it is a time to tear down And they increase disagreement for the sake...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Vaetchanan I PLEADED WITH THE LORD AT THAT TIME, SAYING, "…LET ME, I PRAY, CROSS OVER AND SEE THE GOOD LAND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE JORDAN, THAT GOOD HILL COUNTRY, AND THE LEBANON." (Devarim 3:23, 25)   For the same state is in store for all (Kohelet 9:2) – Moses said to God: Master of the Universe, all are equal before you; you destroy the innocent and the wicked alike. The spies angered...