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 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 [period], when evil appeared and the Sadducees began denying the tradition of 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 Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand, for who is [like] God in heaven or on earth who can do as Your deeds and Your might? Pray let me cross over and see the good land that is on the other side of the Jordan, this 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 Moses and Aaron, "Since you did not have faith in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly to the Land which I have given them. These are the waters of dispute [Mei Merivah] where the children of Israel contended with the Lord, and He was 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 angry with me because of you, and He did not listen to me, and the Lord said to me, "It is enough for you; speak to Me no more regarding this 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 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. But command Joshua and strengthen him and encourage him, for he will cross over before this people, and he will make them inherit the land which you will see. And 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, hearken to the statutes and to the judgments which I teach you to do, in order that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord, God of your 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 and Come and Inherit - Inheritance of the Land Is Contingent Upon 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 sworn oath that he swore to your fathers did God take you out, with a strong 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 [righteous], devoted to Torah study, but they were not yesharim - [upright] 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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