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