Parashat Va’et’hanan/Shabbat Nahamu
Deuteronomy 3:23-29

Of the many texts and verses in our portion that have taken special places in our tradition and liturgy (such as the Sh’ma and the Ten Commandments) one verse is recited at the end of every traditional prayer service, morning, noon and night. The last words of the first paragraph of `Alenu, the concluding prayer  of each service, are this verse from our Torah portion: “And you shall know today, and you shall return it (va-hashevota) to your heart – that the Eternal is the Almighty God in the Heavens above and on the Earth below, none other (ayn `od).” (Deut. 4:39) Continue reading →

Parashat D’varim/Shabbat Hazon
Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22

Moses begins his personal and especially powerful review of Israel’s history and destiny, along with a review of the Divine directives to help Israel on their path. Each review is connected to the other. Our history and our Torah of laws and values are interdependent and mutually influential.

As Moses sets the stage for his extended set of orations, he begins by acknowledging the point at which these words are spoken – at the threshold of entering into the Promised Land. And he reminds the people that they are here, in this place, at this moment, because of a failure of nerve that condemned them to wander in the wilderness for forty years. Their present moment and location are not what they might have been. The people could have entered the land at a different moment, from a different place. Instead, the change in place and time has been determined by their own actions a generation ago. But pointing out this sad fact is not necessary to Moses only to set the stage for his main point.
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Parashat Mattot/Mas`ei/Rosh Hodesh
Numbers 30:2-36:13

Is it Pharaoh’s revenge? Joseph’s comeuppance?

Now, forty years after the exodus from Egypt, on the brink of entering the Promised Land, two tribes and a part of a third refuse to cross the Jordan and take a portion of the land. The tribes of Reuven and Gad (and then part of Menasheh) argue with Moses that, since they have much livestock, and the land to the east of the Jordan is perfect for grazing cattle, “thus our portion has come to us from the other side of the Jordan, eastward.” (Num. 32:19)

Eventually a deal is struck, and these Israelites remain to the East and do not partake in the division of the tribal portions in the land of Canaan. We should notice that the allotment of portions on the western side of the Jordan is done at God’s bidding, with the participation of all the tribal leaders. The Eastern tribes take their portions for granted – “our portion has come to us.” They basically engage in a landgrab.
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