PARACHAT EKEV
31 JUILLET 2021/ 22 AV 5781
Nous souhaitons un Mazal Tov à
Hedva et David Azerad
et Chalom et Yael Thibault
Pour le mariage de leurs enfants
Hadassa et Jeremy
Et beaucoup de bonheur aux nouveaux mariés
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Nous regrettons le décès de Selim Moghrabi , un pilier de notre communauté
Fier fondateur de Maghen Abraham . Il restera toujours dans nos pensées
Ce verset tiré de la paracha de la semaine , Ekev , le personnifie
Travailleur sans relâche, toujours prêt à aider, améliorer et inspirer
Plutôt qu’être satisfaits des accomplissements passés, nous devons continuellement aspirer à donner le meilleur de nos aptitudes en accomplissant notre mission divine
Maghen Abraham offre ses sincères condoléances à la famille Moghrabi
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Nous vous rappellons que les prières du Shabbat matin sont à la Spanish , à 9 heures
Les masques et les distanciations sont observés ;un kiddush suit les prières pas besoin de s’enregistrer
LA PARACHA EN BREF :
Dans la paracha de Ekev (« Parce que »), Moïse poursuit ses réprimandes : il promet aux Enfants d’Israël que, s’ils accomplissent les commandements de la Torah, ils connaîtront la prospérité sur la Terre dont ils s’apprêtent à prendre possession, conformément au serment fait par D.ieu à leurs ancêtres.
Il rappelle aussi les manquements commis par la première génération constituée en peuple : le veau d’or, la rébellion de Kora’h, la faute des espions, leurs accès de colère contre D.ieu: « Vous vous êtes rebellés contre D.ieu depuis le jour où je vous ai connus », leur dit-il . Mais il souligne aussi la bienveillance divine, le pardon des fautes et les Secondes Tables de la Loi données après leur repentance.
Les 40 années passées dans le désert, ajoute-t-il, des années pendant lesquelles chacun fut nourri par la manne venue du ciel, leur ont enseigné que « l’homme ne vit pas seulement de pain, mais l'homme vit par la parole émise de la bouche de D.ieu ».
Moïse décrit la terre d’Israël comme un pays « ruisselant de lait et de miel », béni par les « Sept Espèces » (le blé, l’orge, le raisin, la figue, la grenade, l’huile d’olive et la datte), le lieu où s’exerce, par excellence, la Providence de D.ieu dans Son monde. Il commande au peuple de détruire les idoles des anciens maîtres de la terre et de ne pas se laisser gagner par un sentiment d’arrogance qui lui ferait croire que « ma puissance et la force de mes mains m’ont apporté cette richesse ».
Un passage essentiel de la paracha est constitué par le second paragraphe de la prière fondamentale du Chéma –(Chabad.org)
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Thoughts on Parashat Ekev
From Mayer Sasson
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Basic and essential
"You shall fear G-d…" (10,20)
Hagaon Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, the Rosh Yeshiva of Branowich used to say: "It is a mistake to think that Fear of G-d is one attribute amongst many that a person should have and that someone without it is a person missing one quality only.
Actually, a person without Fear of G-d is not worthy of being called a Man because if he doesn't recognize the Master of the World he is compared to an animal.
Thus Shlomo Hamelech said in Kohelet: "G-d you shall fear and His mitzvahs…. For this is the entire person." Therefore since Fear of G-d is so basic and essential in our lives we ask for it twice in the Blessing of the Month: a) "Life that has Fear of G-d and Fear of Sin", and b)"Life in which we have Love of Torah and Fear of G-d".
Shabbat Shalom!!
Mayer Sasson
LES MITZVOT DE LA PARACHA:
Cette Paracha renferme 8 Mitzvot fondamentales : 2 négatives et 6 positives
Les 2 négatives traitent du sujet de Avoda Zara (idolatrie) : Ne pas utiliser un objet fait ou contenant de l’idolatrie, et ne pas tirer profit d’un objet de Avoda Zara
Les 6 Mitzot positives sont :
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Birkhat Hamazon : Prière qu’on fait après avoir mangé. Nous remercions Dieu pour nous avoir donné cette nourriture . Si l’on ne fait pas cette prière , c’est comme si on avait volé la nourriture
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Aimer l’étranger et le converti
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Yrat Hachem : La crainte de Dieu . Hachem est partout. Il récompense les Mitzvot et punit les Avérot
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Avodat Hachem : Il faut servir Dieu avec les prières et le Mitzvot
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Ubebkato : Nous devons être collés à Hachem Nous le faisons en nous associant à la Torah et les commandements
Shemita
Next week is Rosh Hodesh Elul (in 9 days from now). It is the last month of this year and
of this Shemita cycle. This coming year 5782 will be a Shemita year. This occurs once every 7
years. Something special about this Shemita year is that it is 13 months long as it happens to
coincide with being a leap year (2 Adars – That means fall/winter holidays will all be early this
year while the spring/summer holidays will all be late this year). It is not common to have Shemita
and leap year both in the same year, as that only happens every 2-3 Shemita cycles (The next
time that happens is in the year 2043). This is a great time to review some of the laws of Shemita
to try and understand it better. It is a topic that is often not understood and not studied sufficiently
even though it is a significant part of our Torah. There are 23 mitzvot (9 positive and 13 negative)
out of the 613 to study and understand. That is about 4% of the Torah just on number of laws but
Shemita also has principles that are associated with more laws as well. We are often taught nice
philosophical ideas around the Shemita but we rarely learn the basics of what it actually is. We
can’t study them all in one shot but we can review some of the laws in the upcoming weeks in
preparation for the new year. One important public service announcement is to please please
not be fooled by online scams selling you a piece of land in Israel so that you can fulfill the mitzvot
of Shemita. That is absurd and almost as bad as falling for the you have an uncle in Kenya that
left you a million dollars scam. Torah is not a game, let’s treat it with respect.
To start there are laws for the Shemita year that are already applicable now. For example,
Rambam explains that when the Temple was built, there is a Halacha Lemoshe Mesinai that we
do not work the land from 30 days prior to the Shemita. That would begin next week. Rambam
states that this is not applicable today. However, even today any tree we plant needs to fully take
root 30 days prior to Rosh Hashana so that a passerby doesn’t see it and thing we planted it on
the Shemita year. This is an actual example of Marit Ayin
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef explains that therefore one needs
to stop planting 2 weeks before Rosh Hodesh Elul (this past week was the deadline).
The laws of planting and harvesting in the 7th year only apply in the Land of Israel. It
applies even when there is no Temple. The rabbis were worried that people may leave the land
of Israel and travel to nearby Syria in order to be able to farm, so they created a gezera forbidding
farming land in Syria as well.
There is a positive command to let the land rest and a negative command to not work the
field. Therefore someone that does work the field this coming year violates the negative command
and did not fulfill the positive command either. The verse for the negative command is in Vayikra
25:4 and it specifically says to not sow (planting – seeding the ground) or prune. One only receives
biblically ordained lashes for planting/pruning or for harvesting. This applies to grains, vines, or
other trees, etc. Other farming work that is done to the ground or plants would still be forbidden
but one would only get rabbinic lashes for those. It is even forbidden to plant a tree or plant that
is non fruit-bearing. If someone did plant on the 7th year and did not realize that he needs to uproot
it, even if he planted it by mistake.
L’origine de notre succès
וְאָמַרְתָּ בִּלְבָבֶךָ כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי עָשָׂה לִי אֶת הַחַיִל הַזֶּה: (דברים ח:יז)
[Moïse avertit le peuple juif : « Prends garde à ne pas] te dire en toi-même : “C’est ma propre force et le pouvoir de ma main qui m’ont permis d’acquérir cette richesse.” » Deutéronome 8,17
Les enfants surpassent souvent leurs parents dans nombre de domaines, même s’ils ont hérité d’eux leurs talents et leurs aptitudes. La raison pour laquelle les enfants peuvent manifester des aptitudes que leurs parents ne semblent pas posséder est que ces talents sont à l’état latent chez les parents et ne sont devenus manifestes que chez les enfants.
De façon analogue, D.ieu appelle son peuple « Ses enfants ». Il nous a de fait laissé le soin d’amener le monde à son accomplissement, en nous abandonnant une certaine partie de Son pouvoir. Ainsi, lorsque nous accomplissons un acte qui contribue à rapprocher le monde de son ultime accomplissement, nous pouvons nous fourvoyer en en attribuant le succès à notre seul talent.
Aussi la Torah nous rappelle que, tout comme les enfants doivent leurs louables aptitudes à leurs parents pour les avoir héritées d’eux, de même devons-nous garder à l’esprit que nous devons tout notre pouvoir d’accomplir de grandes choses dans ce monde exclusivement à D.ieu.1 ¨Chabad.org)
Ekev Summary
In this week’s parasha, Moshe continues his speech to Bnei Yisrael. One of the purposes of Moshe’s final words to Bnei Yisrael was to make sure they conquer the land successfully. He goes about it in two ways. First, he tries to encourage them to have faith in Hashem. He reminds them how much Hashem loves them and has protected them all these years. Second, he reminds them of some of the mistakes they made throughout the forty years in the desert. Hopefully, they would remember their mistakes and how they were punished, and this would help them make the right decisions in the future. He tells them that Hashem has taken them through the desert and fed them Manna and ‘tested’ them many times in order to see their loyalty, to help them improve themselves in the end. Moshe encourages them to remember all the miracles, which they had seen firsthand. He tells them that they have a special responsibility to be loyal to Hashem, for they have seen Hashem’s miracles with their own eyes.
The Parasha concludes with Hashem telling Bnei Yisrael to keep his commandments and to fear Him, and He will bring them to the land and make them prosperous and give them longevity. The second paragraph of the Shema is also found in this week’s parasha.
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Moïse dit ensuite au peuple juif que ce que D.ieu requiert de lui n’est pas excessif et certainement pas hors de proportion avec l’immense miséricorde que D.ieu lui accorde en permanence.
Révéler notre Moïse intérieur
וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל מָה ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ שֹׁאֵל מֵעִמָּךְ כִּי אִם לְיִרְאָה אֶת ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ וגו': (דברים י:יב)
[Moïse dit au peuple juif :] « Qu’est-ce que D.ieu demande de toi ? Seulement de révérer D.ieu. » Deutéronome 10,2
« Révérer » D.ieu, consiste à craindre que D.ieu nous voit commettre un acte dont nous aurions honte que D.ieu soit le témoin. Cette conscience permanente de vivre en la présence de D.ieu était probablement facile à atteindre pour Moïse, mais comment a-t-il pu présumer qu’elle peut l’être pour nous ?
La réponse est que, de fait, chaque juif recèle au fond de lui une « étincelle » de Moïse. Lorsque nous révélons notre Moïse intérieur, la crainte de D.ieu devient relativement aisée à atteindre.
Le Moïse qui nous habite est notre aptitude innée à atteindre des niveaux profonds de conscience du Divin. Posséder cette étincelle intérieure nous permet de méditer à la présence de D.ieu au sein du monde et au fait qu’Il transcende l’univers, et ainsi de nous éveiller à une conscience profonde de Sa présence. Même si nous ne sommes pas en mesure de maintenir cette conscience en permanence, le fait d’y méditer intensément nous laisse une impression suffisamment profonde pour qu’il soit relativement « facile » de la ranimer en nous à tout moment.1
Ekev Quiz
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1) Q. What must the Jewish People do to ensure that Hashem will fulfill His promise to do good for them?
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A. Guard even the ‘light’ commandments.
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2) Q. What were the: a) ‘wonders’; b) ‘strong hand’; and c) ‘outstretched arm’ that the Jewish People witnessed in Egypt?
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A. The: a) Plagues; b) Pestilence; c) Slaying of the firstborn.
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3) Q. When a Mitzvah is performed, whose name is attached to it?
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A. The person who finishes it. We see this with regards to the bones of Yosef. In Sefer Yehoshua it says that they buried the bones of Yosef, which Bnei Yisrael took out of Egypt, in Shechem. We know that Moshe is the one who took the bones out of Egypt and carried them through the desert, but because they finished the Mitzvah it was credited to them. The rabbis are here teaching the concept that it is very important to always finish a good deed that you start.
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4) Q. How did the Jewish People do their laundry and tailoring while in the Midbar?
A. The midrash teaches that the Ananei HaKavod (Clouds of Glory) would clean and bleach their clothing. Also the children’s clothes would grow with them as they got bigger. This is all, of course, meant metaphorically to teach us about the close relationship that we had with Hashem during this period of national growth.
5) Q. How many days did Moshe spend on Mt. Sinai altogether?
A. He stayed 40 days and 40 nights, 3 times, for a total of 120 days and 120 nights. Although it is not clear in the text, according to Rashi’s calculations, Moshe first went up to receive the Torah on 6 Sivan. 40 days later (on shiva asar (17) b’tammuz) he came down to witness the sin with the Golden Calf and broke the tablets. On the 18th he punished the sinners and on the 19th he returned up the mountain to ask Hashem to forgive the people. He came back down on 29 Av to tell the people they were forgiven and that they will receive a second set of tablets. He went back up the next day on the 1st of Elul. He learned the Torah from Hashem for 40 more days and returned on 10 Tishre (Yom Kippur) with the second set of tablets. That is the date that God officially forgave the people.
6) Q, Hashem was angry at Aharon because of his role in the sin of the golden calf. How was Aharon punished?
A. The verse states that God wished to ‘wipe him out’ but Moshe prayed and he was spared. Rashi explains that to wipe out means to lose all his sons. When Moshe prayed it saved 2 of his sons but the other two (Nadav and Avihu) ended up dying. Although several Midrashim try to downplay Aharon’s role in the sin of the golden calf, rashi and indeed the text of the Torah appear to place a significant amount of the blame on him.
7) Q. Who made the Aron (ark) in which Moshe placed the second set of Luchot when he came down from Mt. Sinai? What special function did it later serve?
A. Moshe made the Aron while he was on Mt. Sinai. This became the Aron that would accompany the Jewish people into battle. Today no one knows if it still exists waiting to be found, or if it was burned during the sack of Jerusalem.
8) Q. Which sin committed by the Jewish People was prompted by the death of Aharon?
A. The midrash (based on the juxtaposition of these events in the narrative) states that when Aharon died the Ananei HaKavod disappeared. The Jewish People, fearing war with the King of Arad, appointed a leader and retreated toward Egypt eight places (to Bnei Yaakan, then to Mosera, etc.). The Levi'im fought with them and forced them to return.
9) Q. Why were the Leviim selected by Hashem from among the Jewish People?
A. Because they did not participate in the sin of the golden calf.
10) Q. What path does the Torah prescribe for gaining new knowledge?
A. By repeatedly reviewing what one knows, one more easily acquires new knowledge.
11) Q. How does one go about `serving Hashem with the heart'?
A. By doing worship from the heart, namely prayer.
In the second verse of the Shema,
we read that if Bnei Yisrael worship idols Hashem will punish them ‘very fast’. The generation of the flood were given 120 years until they were destroyed. Why is the punishment now worse?
When Bnei Yisrael sin, the sin is greater than the generation of the flood because the generation of the flood had no one to learn from. Bnei Yisrael now know what has been done in the past and they are expected to learn from the mistakes of past generations. Ha’emek Davar comments that it was essential for the generations of the Exodus and wilderness to see all the miracles firsthand because most of them had not grown up with the Torah. This commentary may explain why the tribe of Levi were the only tribe to stay loyal during the sin of the golden calf. The midrash teaches that in Egypt, they did not work as slaves, and they were allowed to study ‘Torah’. Since the rest of Bnei Yisrael were working all day and had no time, this would make them more prone to lack of faith. Someone who has suffered a lot more has a harder time having complete faith in Hashem. It is interesting to note that the midrash gives the tribe of Levi a special role in Egypt, while according to the text of the Torah, they had no special status until after the sin of the golden calf.
JEWISH QUOTES :
Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side.
To a hungry man everything bitter is sweet. " ~~ Proverbs (Mishle) 27:7
"No "There is one thing one cannot buy—one’s parents." ~~ Traditional Proverb
labor, however humble, dishonors a man." ~~ Talmud, Nedarim 49b
One should respect one’s father-in-law like one’s own father." ~~ Midrash Tehillim
The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been. " ~~ Henry A. Kissinger
When a man is able to take abuse with a smile, he is worthy to become a leader. " ~~ Nachman of Bratslav
A golden key opens all gates." ~~ Traditional Proverb
When you come to serve God, prepare your soul against temptation." ~~ Ben Sira 2:1
What neither fire nor water can consume, false testimony can." ~~ Talmud, Shevuot
THE SHABBAT SMILE
Young David asked his wealthy grandfather, Sol, how he had made his money. Sol said, "Well, David, it was 1955, and I was down to my last five cents. I went to the local market and invested that five cents in a large apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents."
"The next morning, I invested the ten cents in two large apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and I sold them at the end of the day for twenty cents. I continued this system for a month. Then Bubbie’s father died and left us five million dollars."
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At the King David Hebrew School, the children were learning about how God created everything, including people. One little boy was especially interested in the part where God created Eve out of Adam's side.
Later that week, his mother saw him lying on the sofa, looking ill. "What's the matter?" she asked.
"I have a pain in my side. I think I'm going to have a wife."
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Little Rachel Goldstein was talking to her teacher – the skeptical Ms. Smith -- about whales.
Ms. Smith said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though they were a very large mammal, their throat was very small.
Rachel stated Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Ms. Smith reiterated a whale could not swallow a human; it was impossible.
Rachel said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah."
Mrs. Smith asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"
Rachel replied, "Then you ask him."
LE SOURIRE DU CHABBAT :
Un jeune homme demande au rabbin:
- Rabbi, est-ce que je peux sauter en parachute le Shabbat ?
- Isaac, tu peux sauter, bien entendu, mais tu ne peux pas l'ouvrir.
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Un commissaire est furieux contre ses agents. Un suspect vient de s'enfuir des lieux du crime.
- Je vous avais ordonné de bien surveiller toutes les sorties de l'immeuble. L'avez-vous fait ?
- Bien sûr, chef. Mais d'après moi, il a dû sortir par une entrée!
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Le propriétaire d'un club de parachutistes avertit les nouveaux membres :
" Le règlement m'oblige a vous signaler que la proportion des accidents mortels est
de un pour mille...
Mais, De toute façon cela ne vous concerne pas puisque vous n'êtes que trente! "
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CHABBAT CHALOM
MAGHEN ABRAHAM
David Hasson
