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Torah Portion -
Vaeschanan
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Written by Daniel Sandground
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Parashas Vaeschanan – The Power of Prayer
This week we have Parashas Vaeschanan which continues with the theme started at the beginning of the book of Devarim with Moshe giving over the Torah to the nation with reminders from their years in the desert and a review of the laws which would be most relevant for Israel's new life in Eretz Yisrael. We are overwhelmed this week with Moshe giving over prophecies on Israel's exile and return to the Land, the cities of refuge being re-outlined and of course the Ten Commandments and the Shema all given over in an action-packed sedra. There is therefore lots to discuss!
Following on from the recollection of the conquering of the mighty Sihon and Og in last week's sedra, Moshe recollects to the nation how he prayed to Hashem to let him... “cross and see the good Land that is on the other side of the Jordan...” [3:25]. It is brought down by Rashi that, now that he had conquered Sihon and Og
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Torah Portion -
Vaeschanan
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Written by d fine
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The pasuk (6:5) commands that you shall love HaShem with all your hearts (be’chol levavcha), which Rashi reveals refers to loving HaShem with both your inclinations; the yester hatov and the yetzer hara. How can one possibly use the yetzer hara - that force which attempts to hijack one’s spirituality and pull one away from HaShem - for good?
In Alei Shur (page 35), Rav Wolbe quotes Rav Tzaddok HaKohen who writes that the area with which the yetzer hara tests/entices a person is that same area where we have the greatest potential for growth in serving HaShem. For example, one might have a big yetzer hara test to say brachos really quickly and get on to eating the food - here Rav Tzaddok is telling us that since the yetzer hara is attacking your area of brachos, it must be that you have great potential to say brachos properly and with the correct intentions and mindset. It is much like war; the enemy will focus their attentions on attacking the area most potent and useful to the other side. So too will the yetzer hara attack each person’s individual strength and area of growth - and this area will be different for each individual for each person has their own unique strengths. Rav Wolbe comments on this that we learn from here that one is not to merely ignore one’s yetzer hara, but to confront it and realise one’s area of greatest potential. Thus, this is one way we can use our yetzer haras for the positive - by noticing which area they attack and thus using it to identify our strongest area of growth.
Alternatively, one can use the yetzer hara to fuel one’s performance of mitzvos. For example, if you are competitive by nature then use this to become better at learning Torah than the next person. Or, if you are stingy then use this to motivate you to daven well; commit to give a certain sum of money to charity for every Shmoneh Esrei you daydream through. Each bad middah can be turned round to spur on and promote the development of a positive middah or mitzvos.
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Torah Portion -
Vaeschanan
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Written by d fine
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Va’eschanan contains, amongst other treasures, the first paragraph of the Shema. In it (6:6) we are commanded that ‘these words that I command you shall be on your hearts’ (al levavecha); a phrase on which the Sfas Emes asks a cracker of a question and volleys back a classic answer. Why does Moshe tell us that these words should reside on our hearts - surely the more appropriate home for them should be in our hearts, representing our having fully internalised and worked upon these words and concepts. How are we to understand this command of on your hearts? The Sfas Emes answers that for sure the best place for these crucial words is in our hearts, for the reasons outlined above. But Moshe is telling us that if we are not on the level that these words can make it into our hearts and really become part of us, then at least they should remain floating and hovering above our hearts as opposed to being rejected and repelled completely. That way when the time comes that we can find room for these words and concepts in our heart, they will simply seep in naturally; for they have always been there or thereabouts waiting to come into our hearts.
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Torah Portion -
Vaeschanan
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Written by Administrator
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We would love to read your vort. Click "Submit your Vort" to send us your vort.
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Torah Portion -
Vaeschanan
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Written by B Rose
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We read the Posuk every day in the Shema, "You shall love Hashem, Your G-d, With all your heart" (6:5)
Chazal tell us that "all your heart" means with both your Good and Evil inclinations. Why is it necessary to tell us to serve Hashem with our Good inclination? The good inclination by its very nature moves us to do only good things!
Rav Moshe Feinstein tells us the answer is very simple, he says: When people follow the dictates of what their own thinking tells us is "good" they often do bad things. For example a person might give charity to institutions that he thinks are good but actually he is supporting activity which is not only not good but can sometimes even be bad. One must seek a wise person on how and to whom he should give. Similarly the midah of Racheim (mercy) can be yield bad results. Many merciful people in western countries have mercy on murderers and after half of a life sentence they are set free when they can go again and kill. Every Good trait has the potential for bad. Therefore we have to be reminded and warned to love Hashem with our Good Inclination by seeking Direction from a Torah Scholar and not to do the opposite by misplaced reliance on our emotions chas v'sholom.
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Torah Portion -
Vaeschanan
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Written by B ROSE
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The posuk states "And these words i command you today shall be upon your heart" (6:6)
Rashi says on the word "today": Let the words of Torah not be as an old royal edict which people don't attach much importance, but rather let them be like a new royal edict which everyone runs to hear"
Rav Chaim of Brisk explained this Rashi as follows. A persons poition and responsibilities change from day to day. Today's mission is not necessarily yesterday's or tomorrow's. Too often people become entrenched in a routine and frame of mind that was appropriate yesterday but now is irrelevant and can even be harmful
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Torah Portion -
Vaeschanan
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Written by Ben Rose
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The Posuk says "Do what is right and good in Hashem's eyes, so that He will do good to you and you shall come and inherit the land"
Rashi states that the beginning of this posuk means that we should obligated to beyond the strict requirments of the Torah.
Our posuk then is bringing two different concepts together, to go beyond the letter of the law and to inherit the land. The question is why are these two concepts linked.
Rav Dovid Feinstein Shlita (the son of the Famous Rav Moshe Feinstien Ztl) says
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Torah Portion -
Vaeschanan
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Written by d fine
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Our sedra sees the repetition of the ten commandments. These comprised of two tablets, each with five commandments on. These two sets of five pair up with each other; each with its adjacent commandment on the opposite tablet, as the kli yakar (shemos 20;13) explains. For example, the first commandment ‘I am HaShem’ corresponds to the first of the second tablet ‘you shall not murder,’ for the gravity and seriousness of murder of a human is sourced in the fact that a human has a spark of HaShem within them (see Avos 3;18); there is no such death penalty for the killing of an animal. Thus, murdering the person ‘removes’ that Divine spark from the world. Furthermore, keeping shabbes (#4) corresponds to its adjacent commandment on the other tablet not bearing false witness (#9), for when one keeps Shabbes he is bearing witness to HaShem having created the world, and breaking Shabbes is the corruption of such witness. See the kli yakar in full for how he explains all the pairings. We shall focus on one of those pairs, namely the prohibition against idolatry (#2) and on adultery (#7). What do idolatry and adultery have in common (other than that they sound similar in English) that they should be paired together?
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