Vaetchanan

With God's help you and I are beginning to study the weekly portion Vaetchanan, and we will read from verse 23 of chapter 3 of the book of Devarim. Moshe begins to tell about himself.

The verb lehitchanén means to ask for something as a gift; to ask for something without having any grounds to receive it; to ask that something be given to you out of mercy toward you. This verb contains the word chen (mercy or grace), from the same root chet-nun-nun. That is, I asked something of God by grace, by mercy. And this is what Moshe asked:

What is Moshe's request based on? You showed me Your strength, Your glory, Your greatness, show me this land too. You have given me so many gifts, You have gifted me so much, give me one more gift.

The question is closed. You, Moshe, will not enter the land.

There is also a very important detail in this, concerning how the Most High governs the world. Not always does the person who can say to God: “You began, You began through me,” not always does this person also finish. The Most High acts step by step, gradually, through many people. And here Moshe hands over the leadership to Yehoshua, he himself must instruct Yehoshua, give him all the authority, so that he would continue his work. We too must come to terms with the fact that not everything we have begun we will manage to finish.

Beit-Pe'or – this is the place where the people of Israel sinned, where many perished, it is a kind of reminder of sin.

With this chapter 3 ends, and we will begin reading chapter 4. Moshe gives instruction to the people of Israel, a very important instruction.

One can understand it this way: the word chok (law) refers to the relationship between the people and God, and the word mishpát (judgment) refers to the relationships between people, with judgments one judges between people.

Next comes an important commandment which must be understood correctly.

That is, keep with all diligence the commandments which the LORD gave you, keep the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I command you today. In the Torah every letter has been counted. Although there are Bible scholars, specialists, academics who say that the Torah is woven together from different pieces, that the very same book of Devarim which we are reading today was written much later than the other books. We believe in the integrity of the Torah, in the fact that every letter in it is in its place. There are only nine insignificant variant readings between different Torah scrolls, and each of these variant readings has its own history. And this is not about someone writing something more into the Torah. This is about someone possibly trying to do better, to say: “And I will do more.” Someone may say: “But this is too much for me, I will do a bit less.” For example, the Torah commands: “Six days work, and the seventh day is a Shabbat to the LORD, your God.” And here one could say: “And I will add, I will work only five days in all, and devote two days to the LORD, my God!” Or, for example (and you often come across this among people), they say: “And I will devote seven days, all seven days of the week, to the LORD, my God, and not work at all, not do any tasks at all.” One can make an adjustment and somehow fix the proportions, say: “And I will do more!”, “And I will do less!”, “But I can't work six days and rest on the seventh day, may I work nine days and rest one day?” Here the Most High says: “Keep everything that has been given. Do not add and do not take away from what I said.”

They say that this is how the problem of humanity began. When Chava said to the serpent: “We are forbidden even to touch this tree,” the serpent pushed her against the tree and said: “Here, look! Do you see? Nothing happens when you touch it.” And she understood: “Aha, well then, this prohibition is wrong.” This can happen to us too, when we think that the fence we have put around a commandment (and it is sensible sometimes to put a fence around a commandment), that this fence is the Torah itself. It is necessary, it is possible to set restrictions both in upbringing and in laws, but they must not be perceived as part of the Torah, as an eternal law. This is a very complex topic, there are very many disputes, very many accusations on this topic, and we will not go deeper into it now, I just wanted to show that this question can be looked at from different angles.

And what will happen if one does some abominations on the earth? If we say: “Away with them, these commandments! Let's live by our own understanding!” In verse 3 Moshe says:

You must understand, you saw the consequences of what happens when a person goes after other gods.

The best safety rule for existing in the land of Israel – is to cling to the LORD, the God of Israel. Those who went after Ba'al-Pe'or, the Most High destroyed. Those who clung to the LORD are alive.

Israel is like a letter of God: the nations who look at the conduct of the people of Israel and its relationship with the Most High will become jealous and will also want such a relationship with the Most High. It is they who should take an example from Israel, and not the other way around, God forbid.

All these events which took place must be remembered constantly, they must not depart from the heart for a single moment. More than that, they must be passed on, one must speak about them to the sons and to the sons of the sons. This is very important.

And here it is probably very important to repeat what I have already said many times, but still I will say it once more. Very important! The people of Israel is called “the people of the Book,” but here and everywhere the Torah instructs: do not just give the child the Torah to read, do not just give the child some Scripture to read, but speak with your own voice, communicate with him, so that he would hear the voice of his father, so that he would hear this testimony from his father, not from a book. So that the father would speak about his experience of communion with the Most High, so that the child would come to know God through the voice of the father, the voice of the mother, the voice of the grandfather, the great-grandfather.

What must you teach your sons and the sons of your sons about?

Moshe recalls those events which took place while the people were standing at Sinai.

In case someone asks you: “What does God look like? You remember, right? You were there, you have a testimony!”, the answer is: “Like nothing at all! There is no picture at all!” Do not believe anyone who will describe some pictures of what God looks like.

Moshe does not mention the story of the broken tablets here. Moshe retells the story, touching on those things which are important for the people, without using every occasion to reproach the people. The people remember this story, and Moshe does not reproach the people here needlessly once more.

Do not try to ascribe some image to God, using one or another of His creations.

This is a little piece that is difficult to translate. As often happens, the translator's faith influences the translation. One can translate it this way: these stars, all these heavenly bodies the Most High divided among the peoples and said: “You will believe in this, you will worship this star, and you will worship this star,” and gave each people its own star, some heavenly body which that people must worship. One can translate it so that the Most High for a time permitted the pagans to worship these heavenly bodies. One can also translate it so that these stars, and the sun, and all of this the Most High created for all the peoples of the world. Or one can translate the word chalák in the sense of anger (became angry or counted it as guilt). And then one can translate: for this worship of the stars and the heavenly bodies the LORD accuses all the peoples. All the peoples slipped in this, and the LORD has anger against these peoples because they slipped in this. Therefore, don't you do this! And it is precisely this understanding of the text that is close to me.

Look how merciful the LORD is: despite the multitude of sins which the people committed, the Most High will bring in, will show mercy to the people and will bring the people into the Land. And Moshe says this not out of resentment, but as a glorification of the mercy of the LORD: “He is leaving me behind, but to you He shows mercy, you will enter the land.”

The LORD will not allow you to be His people and at the same time worship some idols. Did you see what happened to those who acted that way? Therefore beware! God showed you mercy, but do not think that this mercy is limitless and that God will allow you to worship other gods. God is merciful to His people, but if you stop being His people, then you have a serious problem.

A very important instruction from Moshe: if you are punished, exiled, if the Most High has driven you away – just seek Him out with all your heart, and you will find Him at once. It is not that He will come to you, but that He is – near, you just look, purify your heart and look, and you will find Him at once, wherever you may be.

That is, will not weaken the force with which He holds you; literally the verb leharpót – to loosen one's grip, to let go. Even if you have been exiled to a foreign country and have begun to worship other gods, God holds you in His hand. We see this very well in the book of Ester.

That is, maybe it did not happen, but someone makes up, tells something like it. Human imagination has certain limits: even when a person invents something, he can invent something that exists in the world of his concepts. Not one nation has invented a story about how the invisible, transcendent Creator of heaven and earth was revealed to it, about how God appeared with such signs to the whole people. Not one nation has even such a legend; not only has such a thing not happened, but such a thing has not been invented either. And this means that human imagination cannot, is not able to invent such a thing.

The commandments, the laws are given so that it would be well with you. Keep them so that it would be well with you, not so that it would not be bad for you, but so that it would be well with you. The commandments are given in order to make a plain human being a happy human being, so that, when he keeps the commandments, it would be well with him.

With this Moshe's speech ends, and next it tells how Moshe designates cities of refuge, as the Most High commanded.

The verb sam (put, with the letters sin-mem) sounds like the word sam (potion, with the letters sámech-mem). The commentators say: “Moshe put a potion before the people of Israel. For the one who is worthy, the Torah becomes a potion of life, living water. For the one who is not worthy, it can become a potion of death, poison, dead water.”

Again it is repeated that both, Sichon and Og, were Emorite kings. Although, as we said in the weekly portion Devarim, Og himself was of the refa'im by origin. Next the border is repeated again.

In the weekly portion Devarim, in the commentary on verse 9 of chapter 3, we already spoke about the four names of Mount Chermon.

Moshe's first speech begins and ends with a historical background, with what Moshe had already managed to do – the conquest of the land of the two Emorite kings, a kind of distinctive prologue to our book of Devarim.

With God's help we continue to study the weekly portion Vaetchanan, and we will read chapter 5 of the book of Devarim.

We have already spoken (in the commentary on verse 1 of chapter 4 of the book of Devarim) about the word chukkím meaning the relationship between Israel (a person) and God, while the word mishpatím speaks more about the relationships between a person and his neighbor.

Guarding – is watching over that light which is already in us. When we study these laws, we are as it were filled with Divine light, and we need to guard it through keeping these commandments.

Further Moshe says:

One can understand this to mean that all souls (as tradition says) were present at Mount Sinai. And with all, with each of those who was born in the people of Israel or joined the people of Israel, with all of them the LORD made the covenant already there, at Sinai. One can understand this in such a way, as if we, being in the loins of our fathers, were already present there. And we also encounter such an approach more than once in Scripture. One way or another, Moshe speaks to a generation which for the most part was not there, at Sinai, and he emphasizes: “And with us too this covenant has been made.” And Moshe tells how it was.

Why was Moshe needed as an intermediary, as a kind of “proxy” for the connection between God and Israel? Moshe explains: “Because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain. And therefore I, Moshe, stood between you and God and spoke, passed on to you the words of the Most High.”

What text will we be reading from verse 6? There are many different approaches regarding this text. Some say that in the weekly portion Yitro (in the book of Shemot 20:2–17) we read what was written on the first tablets, and here it will be told about what is written on the second. Why do people have grounds to think that the tablets were different? In chapter 9 of our book Devarim, in verse 10, Moshe speaks about how he came down from Mount Sinai and carried the tablets on which were written similar words, like (kechol-haddevarím) those that were written on the first tablets. One can conclude from this, or one can read it this way, as if it is not one and the same. Others say that the tablets were absolutely identical, because there is one more verse (Shemot 34:1), where the Most High says to Moshe: “Bring Me tablets, I will write on them the same words, which were on the first (et-haddevarím ashér hayú al-haluchót harishoním).” The tablets were identical, and here Moshe simply retells the content of the tablets.

There is also a dispute regarding which script was used for writing the tablets. And some say that the tablets were written in the modern, so-called square script, or ktáv ashurí (Assyrian script). There are others who say that it was written in Paleo-Hebrew script, that is, in the ancient Hebrew script. Some say that the first tablets were written in square script, and the second – in Paleo-Hebrew. If there are so many opinions, it means that we cannot assert anything with certainty, and therefore we will simply read this text, perceive it as Moshe's retelling of what is written on the tablets.

On all three levels one could take some image and copy it. Maybe of a bird of the sky, maybe of some creature that walks on the earth, maybe of some sea creature. All of this the LORD forbids.

Here there is a difference from what we read in the book of Shemot (20:4). There it is written: fésel vechol-temuná, with the letter vav, that is, a statue and any image. Here it is written: fésel kol-temuná – a statue  of any image.  The difference is in one letter, in the letter vav, which means the conjunction and.

The Maharal of Prague, one of the most outstanding Talmudists of his era, says that the book of Devarim is an explanation of what is written in the book of Shemot. And in our verse it is explained that any image, any attempt to depict something is fésel, falls under the category of fésel (idol). We see that over time some new ways of depicting appear. And today, for example, one can depict something in the air purely out of light, make an image which has no material carrier at all. And if some idol worshippers suddenly make a three-dimensional hologram of an idol, will it be forbidden? And here the Torah says that – yes. And in this case, even if it is a hologram, even if it is some image made in an unknown way, it is still forbidden.

Another commentator, the Baal haTurim (Yaakov ben Asher), says that in the book of Shemot the letter vav is an addition which hints at six things. The gematria of the letter vav is 6, because it is the sixth letter of the alphabet. And he says that this includes six prohibitions: the image of a man, the image of a woman, the image of cattle, the image of a bird, the image of a creeping thing, the image of a fish. There are many more explanations, but let us stop at these two.

The word pokéd is always very difficult to translate (I have spoken about this more than once already): it is both one who takes into account, and one who is in charge, organizes the work, gives orders. Here one can give the following example. A person comes to a doctor, and the doctor asks him about the history of illnesses in the family: “Has anyone of you had diabetes? Has anyone had a stroke? Has anyone had heart disease?” And doctors record the medical history of the ancestors, because they know that some of these illnesses can recur in the descendants. And here the Most High says: “If one of the descendants repeats the sin of the fathers, then it is charged to him as a repeat offense. And the debt of the fathers, which perhaps was forgiven, is counted on the descendants.” And if the fathers have already borne punishment, then the children bear an even greater punishment, because they are, in modern language, repeat offenders in breaking the laws. There is a separate bookkeeping for those who hate the Most High, and if they repeat their sins, repeat their sins not out of ignorance, but in hatred, in bitterness toward the Most High, then the LORD charges them with the sins of their ancestors to the fourth generation. On the other hand, the mercy of the Most High extends much further.

Imagine: what is the life span of one generation? Twenty, twenty-five, someone will say, thirty years. Once, in one of our discussions, we settled on twenty-five. That is, for twenty-five thousand years God keeps mercy. Does anyone remember his ancestors from the fifth, sixth generation? But God takes into account mercy, some good deeds that were done by the ancestors, to an endless number of generations (a thousand is almost infinity for us), takes into account the good merits of our ancestors for thousands of generations before us.

In verse 11 there is already another commandment.

We truly are called by the name of the LORD, the people of the LORD, when we serve the Most High. And someone may think that this is a kind of “ID card,” a certificate which one can (if necessary) show to a police officer or someone else in order to obtain some benefits. One can use the name of the Most High as an “ID card,” like a person who says: “I am a friend of the king! I am a friend of the emperor! I am a friend of the president!” and intimidates people by means of this, obtains some benefits by means of this. For greater weight someone may give his words force through an oath by the name of the Most High. And the Most High says: “I will not forgive the one who as it were calls Me as a witness in order to say: ‘Come on, God, come here, confirm that I am right.’ I will not forgive such a person. Do not raise My Name to your lips in vain.”

There is also such an understanding that among most peoples of the world it is not customary to call one's father by name. Each of our parents has a name, a good and worthy name. No matter what our father's name is, we do not call him by name. Not because we are ashamed of his name, not because he has some bad name, simply there is in this a kind of natural subordination, a kind of natural distance, a natural awe that stands before the name of the father. There is, of course, a whole religious movement that builds its theology on the idea that one must address the Most High by name. But we see in the books where this can be seen, in that same New Testament, that it speaks of Heaven, of the Father, of the Kingdom of Heaven, of the Son of the Blessed One, the Son of the Living God, but there is no addressing of God by name. Again, some movements, some translators introduce changes and translate the New Testament texts in a special way. But in reality the name of the Most High was not pronounced. This is how one can interpret this commandment.

Verse 12 speaks about Shabbat.

In the book of Shemot, in the weekly portion Yitro (20:8) we read: zachór et-yom hashabbát – remember the Sabbath day, and here: shamór et-yom hashabbát – keep the Sabbath day. To remember the Sabbath day is to fill one's vessels with light, as we said, to study. And here – to keep, not to lose this light, that is, not to break the tradition of this Sabbath rest, not to lose this light with which Shabbat fills us. One can understand it this way: zachór (remember) means constantly fill your vessel, do not take your vessel away from under the stream of light. And shamór (keep) means watch that there are no holes in your vessel.

There is another understanding, and I will give the following two examples. On the Sabbath in Israel soccer competitions are held. This is a long-standing tradition, all Israeli teams in the Israeli championships play soccer on the Sabbath. Some Orthodox Jews who are very interested in soccer, on the Sabbath, as if by chance, come up and stand not far from the lotto kiosks where bets are placed on soccer games, and listen to the match commentary. They themselves do not turn on the radio and seemingly do not break anything. Here there is shamór (keep), but there is no zachór (remember).

There is another situation, when some secular Israelis celebrate, for example, the bar mitzva of their son or some other festive occasion: they gather on Shabbat, make kiddush, hold a festive Sabbath meal – and each one buries himself in his smartphone, each one can take photos to show how beautiful our Shabbat is. Here there is remember, but there is no keep.

And so, in the book of Shemot we read: remember, here we read: keep. There is a version that the Most High put both shamór and zachór into one word, miraculously pronounced it as one word, shamór and zachór simultaneously. This must be combined in Shabbat, the commandment receives a broad interpretation.

We cannot observe Shabbat without doing our work, this is an integral commandment: the Sabbath comes after six days of our work. You meet such people who, when you tell them about Shabbat, object: “But I dedicate all days to the Most High!” Yes, all days must be dedicated to the Most High, but there is a special day. There are six days which you dedicate to the Most High and do your work, and there is a special, seventh day. And not we, but the Torah, the LORD himself, makes the distinction between them. Six days work and do your work – this is the beginning of the commandment.

There are very many disputes and judgments concerning the word melachá (work): what to consider work, what not to consider work. If one perceives work as a physical term, then any action, some expenditure of energy in joules, is already work. Of course, this is not what is being talked about. There is a mass of definitions, and whole volumes have been written about it, but, as the Talmud itself says: “This is a mountain hanging by a hair.” That is why all the Sabbath laws cause many disputes.

And here again there is an addition of what is not in the book of Shemot, in the weekly portion Yitro: so that your slave and your female slave may rest, just as you. There is such a great temptation to say: “We are busy here with spiritual matters, we are communing with God here, and you, come on, work, so that it is more comfortable for us to commune with God.” Here the Most High says: “In this Sabbath rest of yours you must take care to give rest to your slave and your female slave. You must not forget that you yourself were in slavery. I brought you out of slavery – this is My mercy to you, but you show mercy to them too, so that on your Shabbat they also rest. Even if they do not have spiritual comprehension of all the deep meanings and all the subtleties of Shabbat, you must still give them rest.”

Here it is meant that this addition (to take care that your slaves rest) is given because the LORD himself brought you out of the house of slavery, and you must remember that you have slaves, people who depend on you, and you must give them the opportunity to go out of their Egypt. In the book of Shemot (20:11) we read that the Sabbath is given because for six days the LORD created the world. There the commandments are told from the side of the giver: the Most High gives the commandments and says why He gives them. Here Moshe, from the side of the receiver, explains why we receive it so, what conclusions, what we must remember for ourselves.

That is, provide them with a dignified life. Give them the opportunity to live with dignity – in the way that is dignified for their country, for their region. Provide them with a fitting, full existence, so that they feel themselves to be dignified people both in the material sense, and in the emotional sense, and in the spiritual sense. Through your caring for your parents your days are prolonged, and not simply prolonged. One can, God forbid, end up an old man nobody needs, an abandoned old man who lies there, cannot get out of bed, constantly needs some care and does not receive this care. And such a life will be long, but bitter. Here the Most High says: “Not only will your days be prolonged, but you yourself will also have a blessed old age, if you take care of the dignity of your father and mother.”

Here the word tin'áf (do not commit adultery) means a relationship with a married woman.

In the book of Shemot (20:13) we read: ed sháker (false testimony), here – ed shav (groundless testimony). What is the difference? Ed sháker (false witness) – is a witness who accuses a person of something. A witness who brings a groundless charge, – is a witness who perhaps does not accuse the person, but can derive some benefit from his lie and from his groundless charge.

For example, there is a young woman whose husband went away to distant lands and disappeared, and there has been no news from him for a long time. She is supposedly married, but her husband is not around, and she cannot marry a second time, because no one has declared her a widow (it is unknown what became of her husband). And someone who wishes to marry her will say: “I saw her husband, and saw him dead in a distant country,” and on this basis may somehow try to marry this woman. The one who testifies about the woman's husband cannot marry her according to halacha (according to the law), but such scenarios are possible.

That is, not only bringing a slander against a neighbor, but also saying something groundless about a person, is forbidden. Even saying what is not worth saying about him, even though it is true, is also forbidden.

Here too there is a discrepancy between the book of Shemot and what is said here. In the book of Shemot (20:14) it is said: “Do not covet (lo tachmód) the house and the wife,” and here there are two different verbs: tachmód (lachmód) – this is to desire secretly, passionately; tit'avvé (lit'óv) – this is to desire more openly.

People also often ask about this: how can one forbid a person to want something? All right, they forbade taking, they forbade encroaching, but how can one forbid something on the level of thoughts? In the book of Bemidbar, in chapter 15, in verse 39, it is said: veló tatúru acharé levavchém ve'acharé enechém asher-attém zoním acharehém – and you will not go after your heart and after your eyes, after which you go whoring. And one could say: “Well, first the eyes see, and then the heart wants. That is how it should work, right? Why then are we told first after your heart, and then – after your eyes?” Because our heart determines our sight, our heart influences the eyes, makes the eyes see in a certain way. The beginning is in the heart, and if we keep our heart pure, then the eyes will not go after the heart and desire will not arise. This is one of the possible answers to such a question.

This is the end of the retelling of the Ten Commandments, or the content of the two second tablets (as I have already said, there are different opinions on this matter).

But it is frightening all the same, isn't it? We do not want to die. Therefore let us take precautions.

Such was the conversation Moshe had with the elders.

One can translate this as follows: and if only everything really were as good as they say. They spoke too well. They really thought: “Everything that God says, we will do.” It may well not turn out that way.

They were afraid of some physical manifestations, of the fire and the voice. But perhaps, as a result of this, they will fear, will tremble also before the Most High; perhaps something good will begin from this fear: “If they tremble before Me and also approach the keeping of the commandments with trembling, then these commandments will correct them and their sons constantly.”

In other words: “You could have risen to the angelic level, to the divine-human level, you could have stood in one rank with Moshe. But if you want to hear Me through Moshe, through the prophets, and you promise that you will keep it, that is good. Go down, return to the earthly level, return to normal life, to married life, to everyday life. Let them go, allow them to leave.”

Moshe remains on the same level. Further Moshe again addresses the people and says:

When you are moving, look only at the Most High, do not look to the sides. You look to the right, you look to the left, you will want to do like those who perhaps are going after other gods.

We see here that a commandment is a way, a road. Walk this whole road. If before this we read: “And your days will be prolonged, and it will be good for you,” then here we read: “And it will be good for you, and the days will be prolonged.” One can put it this way: eternal youth, an eternal renewal of the spirit will come about if you walk the way which the LORD commanded you. Just as your clothes did not wear out, just as nothing of yours spoiled while you were walking this way through the wilderness, in exactly the same way it can be in the land too, if you walk the way which the Most High commanded you.

With God's help, you and I continue to study the weekly portion Vaetchanan, and we will read from the beginning of chapter 6 of the book of Devarim.

As I have already said (in the commentary on verse 1 of chapter 4 of our book), chukkím (laws) – these are the vertical relationships between a person and God or between a people and God, and mishpatím (judgments) – these are the horizontal relations, the relations between a person and his neighbor.

Moshe says: “I will now set forth not the experience of the elder Moshe, not the advice of the experienced old man Moshe; I will teach you the laws and judgments which the LORD commanded to teach you. Nothing of my own, from Moshe, will I put into this.” Moshe himself does not enter this land, but he instructs the people in the commandments, laws and judgments by which this people will live in the land.

To fear – this is not always in the sense of fearing punishment, fearing wrath (although fearing wrath as well). To fear – this is to treat with trembling, with reverence, with veneration, to fear causing grief (so it is also with regard to parents). So that you would keep the commandments not for the sake of receiving a reward, for the commandments themselves are the reward, but out of fear before the Most High.

You, and your son, and your son's son – what does this speak of? A person may say: “Here, I have fathered a son, I have fed him… How he will live in the world, we are not responsible for that! Am I really responsible for how my children live? Can I really influence that? All the more, can I influence how my grandchildren live?” The Most High says: “I give you commandments, and you must take care that not only you are a Jew, not only you are a believing person, but you will be a truly believing person when your grandchildren are believing people. All the days of your life you are responsible for your children and for your grandchildren. Instruct your children and grandchildren, so that they walk the same road, the same way.”

And here one can say that, on the one hand, keeping the commandments prolongs the days, and on the other hand, conversely, not keeping the commandments can greatly shorten a person's life.

Beginning with verse 4 comes the text which has become, probably, the most famous Jewish prayer – Shma Yisrael. There are very many interpretations and very many understandings of this prayer, of every word in this text.

The peoples neighboring Israel at that time were pagans; they worshipped a multitude of gods. Each of the peoples had, perhaps, one main god, but besides this it also worshipped other gods. There were gods of hunting, or gods of agriculture, or gods of fishing, or completely strange gods: a god of gas in the stomach, a goddess of door hinges, or a god of mockery, who, by the way, died from bursting with laughter. And each of these gods had to be (if his help was needed) somehow buttered up, somehow made peace with. They (the gods) often quarreled among themselves; the myths of the neighboring peoples are full of this. Not only was there no one god – there was no single divine will. In the world of the pagans there was no plan, there was no purpose for the existence of the world, there was no purpose for the existence of a person. The gods of the pagans, like the swan, the crayfish and the pike, literally pulled each in its own direction, and there could be no balance between them, since there was no single design.

And our prayer begins with the proclamation that the LORD, our God – God is one. There is no power, there is no will that is carried out on earth except the will of the Most High. Nothing happens outside His design, outside His plan. And, having heard this, you must understand that you, a person, you, an Israelite, are part of one enormous orchestra with your own part (perhaps a small one, perhaps a big one), part of this great music, part of this perfect harmony, which perhaps is not visible to us in a contradictory world. You must understand that the contradictions of this world are an illusion, that behind everything stands the One Single God. And when you understand what God has made you a part of, then what is written in verse 5 will be fulfilled:

The word me'ód means very, that is, kol-me'odécha can literally be translated with all your “very-ness”, beyond what you are able, that is, straining and developing, in order to love God more. What is this like? Like a person who trains in lifting weights in order to lift even greater weights. A person hauls one-pood kettlebells so that, perhaps, at some stage he can move on to two-pood kettlebells. So also here: this is an exercise in love for the Most High, which leads to even greater love for Him.

There are three reasons in the book of Devarim, three reasons for love for the Most High. One reason – because God brought you out of Egypt, and love God for everything that He has done for you. For another reason – love God because, if you love Him, He will bless you. This is also very important. Love God for everything that He will do for you. And, finally, love God for the fact that you take part in His world, for the fact that you are part of His governing of the world.

The words Hear, Israel, the LORD, your God – God is one can be understood like this: hear with hearing, try to hear, because sight is directed at one thing; a person's sight does not allow seeing 360 degrees, does not allow remembering everything thoroughly, down to the pixel. One cannot learn a picture by heart – one can learn a text by heart. One can memorize a text and live with this text, interpret it, read reality as a text. If sight distinguishes pictures and forms, then hearing adds together, as it were pours everything into one melody, into one sound.

There is also this understanding among the multitude of understandings of this shemá yisraél adonáy elohénu adonáy echád. We, the people of Israel, carry a mission – to bring all the peoples to the one God; this is the task that the people of Israel carries. In Torah scrolls it is usually customary to mark the letter ayin (the last letter in the word shemá) as a large letter and the letter dálet (in the word echád) also as a large letter, so that together the word ayin-dálet, that is, the word ed, (witness) is formed. In other words, you are witnesses of God, and your witness must bring the peoples to the One God. And since God has given you this service, then love Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your excessiveness. Since the LORD is one, He embraces everything in Himself. And when we love Him, we love also the people whom He created, and the children, and the husband (the wife) whom He gave us. Love for Him is love for Him as the Creator, but also love for His creations as well. Therefore love for one's neighbor naturally follows from love for the Creator.

We have said more than once that the people of Israel is a people that has been commanded to speak, to talk with the children. And therefore repeat these words to your son, so that both your son and your son's son live by these words. Whatever you do, you must carry these words within you; you are a witness. And perhaps this is not a literal repetition of these words (although literal repetition as well), but you are a letter, you are a text, you are a witness who carries this letter into the world. Wherever you are, whatever you do, you repeat these words. This prayer is read four times a day. Indeed, when a Jew wakes up, then before going to the synagogue for the morning prayer, he pronounces these words. Then during the morning prayer, then during the evening prayer, and already in bed for the fourth time. Indeed, both lying down and getting up.

Here, of course, the spiritual meaning is also meant: let your hand, too, act through these same words. A master of some craft, for example, a pianist, does not think about how he plays, does not think about which key of the piano he needs to press. There are also some other masters of fine and fast work or of slow and fine work, who work and do not think about how to move their hand. In just the same way the hand itself can move, can do good in automatic mode, without straining our brain, and the left hand will not know what the right one is doing. And this is an important understanding of the words tie on your hand. Besides this, there is the commandment about tfillín (phylacteries from the Greek), when we literally tie these words onto our hand, in order to remember, to remind ourselves that these words must be the guidance for our hands.

The word totafót is very difficult to translate; already the sages of the Talmud argued about how to translate it; but one can understand it like this: and the eyes will perceive the world through the prism of these words. We have spoken (in the commentary on verse 18 of chapter 5) about how the eyes follow a person's heart, and if a person's heart is corrupted, then sight too can become corrupted, and the eyes will perceive reality in a distorted way. And this very totafót must correct our sight. Every morning we bless the Most High for the fact that He gives sight (opens the eyes) to the blind (pokéach ivrím), because we sleep with closed eyes, and He awakens us, opens our eyes for us. On the one hand, we see nothing, but on the other hand, He saves us, cleanses us from all the errors of our sight, from all cognitive visual distortions, from all visual illusions. Today it is very fashionable to offer various pictures and optical tricks (in which one thing is seen, but in reality it is something else), which reveal the imperfection of our sight. Spiritual sight is also imperfect, and here we receive a command from the Most High to correct it as well.

And on the borders of your city, of your community, on the gates, and on the borders of your house, on the doorposts, write these words. When you cross from your personal space into public space, from the space of your city, of your group of people, of people close to you, of like-minded people, you cross into the world of people who live in other cities and, most likely, think differently beyond this border – cross this border through the prism of these words with which I have instructed you.

This is the most famous Jewish prayer, and since 1951, every morning except Sabbath, at 5:58 in the morning, this prayer is heard on Israeli radio, heard in the voice of the Israeli announcer who is probably the most skilled in the area of pronunciation, Moshe Chovav. Since 1951, every day, every morning, the broadcasts of the radio station “Voice of Israel” begin with the prayer Shma.

When you fear God, when you, in the state of a God-fearing person, seek the truth, that is when, for the sake of the truth (in court, in some proceeding, not just like that at the market), you may swear by His name and by no other name. Do not seek any other authority. That is when, when you fear God, for the sake of fulfilling the Divine truth, call on God's name and swear by God's name. He is the only criterion of truth, the seal of truth, and the truth of this or that is checked against His will, by His measures. Since today we do not have such courts, we, of course, should not swear.

If you, having come into the land, see some beautiful temple, or a beautiful statue, or some beautiful way of worshipping another god, then do not go after these gods.

God will be among you, next to you, therefore do not gaze after other gods. Here the word lehashpít (to destroy, to exterminate) is used in the meaning to drive out.

At Massa, at Refidim, when there was no water to drink, the people asked (Shemot 17:7): “Is the LORD among us? Is the LORD in our midst?” Do not try to test whether God sees, do not try to test whether God will notice, or to say: “But maybe He will not notice, maybe we will find a loophole, maybe He has lunch break hours, or at night He does not see?” Do not try, do not try to imagine that He will not see you in a pagan shrine, or in the sea, or somewhere else.

What does the testimony, which must be kept, mean? Remember that you must be witnesses for the Most High. And another understanding: the tablets are called the tablets of testimony, that is, keep also the commandments which are on the tablets.

What does the upright and the good mean? For example, there is a person who lives by the laws of the country, by the laws of the state, and violates nothing. He always crosses the street on the green light, always pays his taxes on time and does everything else correctly, but he does nothing good. He will not help an old lady across the road, will not buy her a loaf of bread if she needs it, and in general does no good deeds at all. And sometimes, in court too, in some proceedings, he only says: “This I owe, this I am obliged to do. Take this, and do not want anything more from me!” But here Moshe says: “Do both the upright and the good in the eyes of the LORD.” It is not enough to be honest, and it is not enough to keep the letter of the law; one must also be kind, and good. The word tov (good) and the word yítav (it will be good for you) – these are words of one root. Do good in the eyes of the LORD, so that it would become good for you.

Here again the Most High speaks about how your son will ask you and you must answer him. Although further on, generally speaking, it is written what exactly needs to be answered to him, you must answer yourself, not say to him: “Son, the book of Devarim, chapter 6, verse 21, read it. There is the answer to your question.” No! Answer with your own voice; it is not always necessary to quote Scripture word for word.

Sometimes it is very hard to feel this very we. After all, in fact we were not there, we live in another century, we were born more than three thousand years later, but one must feel oneself at Sinai and feel this very we through the making of the covenant.

What does utzdaká tihye-lánu mean? And it will be a justification (righteousness) for us, this will be our merit. By this we will be able to pass the baton of keeping on to our children as well. If someone says that one must keep the commandments, his children will also say that one must keep the commandments. If someone says that one must study Torah, and studies Torah, his children will also say that one must study Torah and will study it. If someone keeps the commandments, strives to keep them, his children will also keep them. A child looks at our keeping and asks: “What is this that you are doing?”, and we tell the children about what we keep. That is, here action does not follow words, instruction, but instruction follows action.

Here chapter 6 ends, and we will continue reading chapter 7.

That is, they must be driven out or destroyed. The words lo techonném can be understood in several ways. One can understand techonném from the verb lachanót (to make camp, to give a place of residence), that is, do not leave them a place of residence. One can understand it as coming from the word chinám (free, for nothing) – do not give, do not bring them any gifts, do not try to make friends with them. And the third understanding – from the word chen (attractiveness) – do not find any attractiveness in them. You may say: “Of course, statues of Buddha are just idols, but what beautiful idols! And how beautiful the figurines of the Hindu god Ganesha or the Greek god Zeus can be, how beautiful pictures depicting other Greek gods can be!” This too must not be done, because it can have spiritual consequences.

The LORD chose you to be a people through which God's action is carried out, His instrument of action; He chose you out of all the peoples that are on the earth. And you must keep yourself a fit instrument for this action, remain fit so that the Most High would be revealed through you.

That is, the LORD chose you not because you are the most suitable project, not because you are more numerous than other peoples and therefore the most suited for the mission, and not because you are clever, and not because you are strong, but out of love for you. This is not a deal, this is a covenant of love; therefore remember this and keep this, value this love.

Remember that, even if you have not achieved something, your deeds accumulate, and this baton is passed on, and perhaps the plan, the design in which you take part, will be fulfilled after a thousand generations. Perhaps this mercy will be born after many and many generations; something that you do will perhaps put forth its shoots there. But you remember that your God is a Strong God, a God Having Power, and if you do something, He will repay, He will not leave your deeds without fruit, even if you do not see it right away. But remember the other thing too, remember that the LORD:

You may go after other gods, you may teach your children to go after other gods, despite all that the LORD did for the people, despite the fact that you received houses which you did not build, you received wells (pits) which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant. All this you received as a gift; the Most High prepared everything for you, gave it to you. You intercepted, seized, received the labor of other peoples. You may forget that this is from the LORD, you may consider it your own, consider that you yourself can preserve it for a thousand generations, and pass it on, and strengthen it. But the LORD says: “This is My mercy. If you are with Me, then this will be built up, will accumulate, wealth will be gathered for a thousand generations. But if you go to other gods and become a hater of Mine, then I will quickly destroy all these houses which you did not build, and perhaps also those houses which you will build. And everything that you build up, everything that you hope to expand, deepen and develop – all this I will give to other peoples.”

The commandments were given by the LORD to the people so that it would be good for the people. Whoever keeps the commandments, it will be good for him in a natural way, and to this the blessing of the Most High will be added. And even when you receive the land and it seems to you that you already have a house, a vineyard, an olive grove, that you have your own business and you stand firmly on your feet, do not forget that all this is from the LORD, your God. One often hears various stories about parents who invested in their children, bought them apartments, cars, and the children forgot about them. And the same thing happens in the relationship between a person and God. The LORD says: “I am near, I have not moved to another city. And I have not become feeble, and I can exact payment from My haters. And if you are with Me, then everything that you build will be strengthened and will grow for a thousand generations. Therefore keep My commandments, so that it would be good for you.”

In the weekly portion Vaetchanan (3:23–7:11) we again meet the Ten Commandments, which the Most High gave. And a question arises which, probably, can arise only among Jews: why write the law on two tablets? Did the Most High really not find one large tablet, and perhaps it could have been written smaller on it? One way or another, it would have been possible to make do with one tablet. And the rabbis (Jewish sages) give different answers to the question of why two tablets were needed.

The first version. On each tablet five commandments were written. On the first tablet were written five commandments which speak about the relationship between a person and God, on the second tablet – about the relationship between a person and his neighbor. And here one can even find certain parallels between the first five commandments and the second five commandments.

The first commandment says: “I am the LORD, your God. Let there be no other gods for you.” And the sixth commandment (accordingly, the first commandment on the second tablet) says: “Do not kill.” For the name of God means both Judge and Giver of life; therefore taking upon oneself the lordship of the Most High, the understanding that God gives life, deprives a person of the possibility of killing someone else.

Parallel to the second commandment, do not make yourself an idol, is the commandment from the second tablet – do not commit adultery. Indeed, turning to an idol, to a foreign god, is similar to the attitude toward another man's wife or toward a man who is not one's husband. When we speak about a person turning to a foreign god (to one who is not God) or to one who is not his wife (not her husband), then it is one and the same: wanting to receive from one from whom one should not receive. There is a connection.

The third commandment – do not pronounce the name of the LORD your God in vain. What must be understood here? Probably, this commandment must be understood more fully. When we pronounce the name of God in an oath, in some promise, we as it were take with us the authority of God, His banner. And, accordingly, parallel to it is the eighth commandment (the third from the second tablet) – do not steal.

The fourth commandment is connected with the Sabbath day (Shabbat). Having received the commandment of the Torah, the Jews sanctify the Sabbath day; they do this as a testimony that God created this world for six days, and on the seventh day rested from His works. One of the purposes of keeping Shabbat is a testimony that the Creator of the world is the Most High. Even the sanctification of the Sabbath day begins with a testimony that God created the world. Therefore we can say that parallel to this commandment is the ninth commandment from the second tablet – do not pronounce false testimony.

The fifth commandment, honor your father and your mother, defines the relationship with parents, the relationships in the family. In general, the family, the clan lived on what this clan had acquired; all the clan's property was passed on from generation to generation. We see that children lived in houses which their parents built, they pressed oil in oil presses which their great-grandfather built. Of course, respect for parents and respect for what they have done is one of the foundations of life in the family, and the attitude, the respect toward one's own family, toward its property, in parallel gives rise to an attitude toward the property of one's neighbor. Therefore the tenth, last commandment, parallel to it – do not covet anything of what your neighbor has.

But in fact the Jews would not be Jews if they had only one version regarding the tablets, therefore there is also another opinion. According to this other opinion, ten commandments were written on each of these tablets. On one tablet was written the version that is used in the second book of Moshe (Shemot), and on the other tablet – what is written in the fifth book of Moshe (Devarim). That is, the tablets were given in two copies. Why might such a thing be needed? Because any agreement between two parties is usually made in two copies, so that each of the parties remembers the obligations it has taken upon itself and the obligations of the other party. One copy of this agreement was kept in the sanctuary, in the ark of the covenant. This is the copy of the Most High; it descends, in a cloud it comes down upon the ark of the covenant. And the other copy, the second tablet, the copy of the Jewish people, was kept by the Levites.

One can, of course, ask: but where is the truth, how was it really? From the Jewish point of view, it pleases God that we should have a diversity of opinions; therefore both opinions have the right to exist.

One more important point that must be noted in our weekly portion. Moshe says at the beginning of chapter 4: “Listen to the commands and laws which I give you. Do not add to the words which I command you, and do not take away from them, because your knowledge and your wisdom are in full view of the people.” This is a very important point. There is no concealed, secret addition, no secret part of the Jewish teaching. There is no part of the Torah that is known only to the Jews alone. Although we can meet such views not only among some antisemitic historians or in the theories of philosophers: we can meet this even among Jewish teachers (there are some teachers who teach so). But the Most High says that He has a special care for every people. For every people there is its own guidance and its own task. The Most High says in the book of Amos (9:7): “I brought the Jews out of the land of Egypt, the Philistines – out of Kaftor (Crete), and the Arameans – out of Kir.” The Most High has care for all peoples.

And what about the Jews? They, strangely enough, are part of His care precisely for other peoples. The Most High says in the book of the prophet Yeshayahu (49:6): “…I will make you a luminary (a source of light) for the peoples, so that you would become My salvation to the ends of the earth.” In another place (2:3) Yeshayahu says that peoples will come and, looking at Israel, will want to learn from it: “For out of Tziyon will go forth Torah, and out of Yerushalayim – the word of the LORD.” From this it follows not only that there is no hidden part of the Torah, but also that upon Israel lies the commandment to teach the Torah to other peoples, to show them the Torah. No concealed part of the Torah exists, and none can exist.

One more point that we need to note here. Moshe begins to speak: “I am leaving you, the Most High has forbidden me to enter the land,” – and further: “But you, do not leave the laws, do not leave the commandments.” An interpretation of this story was given by one of the rabbis two hundred years ago. He was the rabbi of a small (15 households) shtetl in Poland, a very wise, learned man. For his wisdom and learning the inhabitants of Prague wanted to make him their rabbi. Prague was a large Jewish city, the largest, one could say, Jewish community in Europe. They (the inhabitants of Prague) sent a delegation to the rabbi and made him an offer that could not be refused. The rabbi said: “I must think for a week.” He announced to the community that he was thinking about leaving and, accordingly, a week later gave a positive answer. He began to pack, carts drove up, and the loading of his belongings began. He loaded for a very long time and dragged out the time. Finally the loaders said: “We cannot wait any longer, come on, finish up and let's go.” And the rabbi answered: “I must give my last sermon in the synagogue.” He came to the synagogue and said: “I am leaving you for Prague. Please, continue to keep Shabbat, continue to keep purity in food, do not become thieves, do not start committing adultery.” People asked: “And why should we suddenly start doing all this?” He asked them: “And why does Moshe speak about this? Why does he think that the people of Israel must start again?” And he said to them: “I have been the rabbi of your community for about thirty years. Many of you grew up before my eyes. All of you came to me with every small or big problem of yours. One could say, I dedicated my life to you.”

When Moshe received the sentence, he was in exactly the same situation. No one begins to grieve over the fact that Moshe will not enter the land. Although at one time Moshe did not agree that the LORD should destroy the Jewish people and said to Him: “If You do so, blot me out too from the book of Life,” yet the Jewish people refuses to do what Moshe commanded. And the inhabitants of the Jewish shtetl also refused to do what the rabbi tells them. The reason for this is ingratitude. The Polish rabbi, just like Moshe, says: “If you are ungrateful toward me, you will soon forget everything that God has done for you. And, having forgotten what God has done for you, you will stop fulfilling His commandments, will stop loving Him. Ingratitude will lead to departing from the fulfillment of the commandments.”

For us this is also a lesson. We must know how to be grateful, for ingratitude leads to falling away from the commandments. A small disregard toward one who did something good for us can lead to a great falling away afterwards. And this is one more important lesson of our weekly portion.

And one more interesting point. In chapter 3, in verse 26, Moshe says: “Because of you I did not enter this land.” Why because of you? Of the generation that sinned in the story with the scouts, no one except Kalev and Yehoshua remained alive. Moshe himself said at one time that fathers will not die for the sins of children, and children will not die for the sins of fathers. Why then does he here accuse the children of what the fathers did? In fact Moshe knows what he is doing. The Jewish people in the spiritual sense is not divided into generations. Every person in every generation must feel as if it is he himself who is coming out of Egypt, as if he is standing on Mount Sinai; there is no division. It is we, the contemporaries, who weep with the scouts. It is we, the contemporaries, who after this immediately go out to battle without understanding that God is not with us. Therefore these words of his apply not only to that generation which Moshe addresses, but also to my generation: “Because of you I did not enter this land.”

Read also the stenogram of the portion Devarim, the talk on prayer, the book of commentaries on Devarim and the weekly portions of the Torah.