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Vaet'hanane - en bref

Deutéronome 3, 23 - 7, 11

Moïse raconte au peuple comment il a imploré D.ieu afin qu’il lui soit permis d’entrer sur la terre d’Israël. Mais D.ieu lui a opposé un refus, lui commandant de gravir une montagne pour apercevoir, de son sommet, la Terre Promise.

Continuant sa « répétition de la Torah », Moïse fait le rappel de l’Exode d’Égypte et du Don de la Torah : des événements sans aucun précédent dans l’histoire de l’humanité. Car « un peuple a-t-il jamais entendu la voix de D.ieu parlant au milieu du feu, comme toi tu as entendu... et a survécu ?... A toi, il t’a été montré, pour savoir que l’Éternel est D.ieu... Qu’il n’existe rien d’autre que Lui ».

Moïse prédit cependant qu’au cours des générations futures, le peuple s’éloignera de D.ieu, qu’il servira des idoles et sera exilé de sa terre, dispersé parmi les nations. Mais alors, ils chercheront D.ieu et reviendront au respect de Ses commandements.

La paracha Vaet’hanane contient aussi la répétition des Dix Commandements et les versets du Chéma qui expriment le fondement de la foi juive : l’unité de D.ieu (« Écoute Israël, l’Éternel est notre D.ieu, l’Éternel est Un ») avant de commander l’amour de D.ieu, l’étude de Sa Torah, le port des téfilines (les phylactères) et la pose d’une mézouza aux portes de nos habitations. (Chabad,org)

The meening of Shema Ysrael

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates

Shema Meaning

The first verse of the Shema is considered the most essential declaration of the Jewish faith — the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. The passage that follows details the particular ways in which that faith should be lived: Love God with all of your being, teach it to your children, recite it when you wake and lie down, bind it as a symbol on your body.

The second section specifies what will happen if God’s commands are heeded — and if they are not. Submission to God’s command will result in rain in its proper season, gathering of grain, wine and oil, grass in the fields for cattle, and abundant food. But if God’s will is flouted and foreign gods are worshipped, none of those blessings will come.

To ensure that these commandments are remembered, the final section concerns the biblical commandment oftzitzit , the ritual fringes that serve as a reminder of God’s presence and which are worn by many Orthodox men at all times.

You Shall Not Add

In this week’s parasha we read (Devarim 4:2): “You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of God, your God, which I command you.”

It is important to remember that either adding or detracting from the Torah is considered violating this Biblical command. We are often quick to criticize those that detract from the laws, but those that add to the law are equally wrong. God created the commandments with divine intelligence and he doesn’t need help in rewriting the Torah. Many times, we hear statements such as, one is not allowed to be lenient, but one may always be stricter. This is simply not true. If God permitted something, who are we to forbid it? If we can get ourselves to follow all the laws we have to follow, that would be a great accomplishment. We should focus on those laws, way before thinking of adding stringencies to the laws we do follow, while ignoring the actual commands that we are often lax in. Interestingly, a debate in Masechet Rosh Hashana (28b) seems to indicate the exact opposite. The gemara argues that adding to the law is worse than detracting from the law. This is because when you add to the law you now go and do something active, while simply ignoring a law is passive; Of course, both are forbidden.

Rabbi Ratzon Arusi gave a lecture in which he mentioned an interesting distinction between biblical laws and rabbinic laws. He stated that there are 613 mitzvot from the Torah that are eternal and can never be changed. We are never allowed to add to them or detract from them. He then discussed that there are a set of rabbinic laws that we follow as well. These are created by the Bet Din Hagadol (Sanhedrin) and can only be created by them. The laws that are created by them, and only the ones that are created by them, are binding on the entire nation. Since there is no Bet Din Hagadol today, no one has the ability to make a law that would force everyone to have to follow it. No community rabbi or chief rabbi or any rabbi can decide a law for the entire nation today. He states that the rabbinic laws are temporary and can be changed at any time by other courts. These rabbinical laws do not violate the above verse of not adding to or detracting from the law because they are not adding eternal biblical laws, they are creating a separate system of rabbinic law. We are obligated to follow the rabbinic law since the Torah commands us to, but they are very different than the eternal biblical laws which one cannot add to or detract from.

.15 Av- la fête de Tou Béav

Nos Sages nous disent que le 15^ème jour d’Av était une fête très joyeuse dans les temps anciens, en particulier pour la jeune génération, avec un accent particulier sur les idéaux religieux et les valeurs de notre mode de vie juif.

Venant si tôt après Tichea beAv, la transition radicale d’une humeur de tristesse à celle de la joie est doublement importante. Tout d’abord, cela signifie que tout intermède triste dans la vie juive est seulement transitoire, et est basé sur le principe de la « descente pour une élévation ». En d’autres termes, tous les événements tristes de notre histoire, qui sont commémorés lors des quelques jours tristes de notre calendrier, sont des pas en arrière nécessaires pour un plus grand bond en avant.

Deuxièmement, la transition même de la tristesse à la joie intensifie la joie, et lui ajoute une réelle qualité, qui n’aurait pas pu être appréciée autrement.

The 15th of Av

B’Av , the 15th Day of Av, is both an ancient and modern holiday. Originally a post-biblical day of joy, it served as a matchmaking day for unmarried women in the Second Temple period (before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.). Tu B’Av was almost unnoticed in the Jewish calendar for many centuries but it has been rejuvenated in recent decades, especially in the modern state of Israel. In its modern incarnation it is gradually becoming a Hebrew-Jewish Day of Love, slightly resembling Valentine’s Day in English-speaking countries.

There is no way to know exactly how early Tu B’Av began. The first mention of this date is in the Mishnah (compiled and edited in the end of the second century), where Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel is quoted saying:

There were no better (i.e. happier) days for the people of Israel than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur, since on these days the daughters of Israel/Jerusalem go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards. What were they saying: Young man, consider whom you choose (to be your wife)? (Ta’anit, Chapter 4)

Nous avons l’obligation de lire le Chema dans ces deux situations ; que tout soit clair et évident pour nous (le jour) ou obscur (la nuit). Dieu est en effet à l’origine de tout et de Lui n’émane que le Bien. C’est aussi la raison pour laquelle le Chema fut enseigné dans la dernière des 40 années d’errance dans le désert et juste avant l’entrée en Terre sainte. Les enfants d’Israël s’apprêtèrent à quitter la quiétude du désert pour s’installer dans les turbulences de la vie. Il fallait donc leur rappeler que le monde et la puissance de ceux qui y vivent ne sont qu’une illusion. Leur force leur vient exclusivement de Dieu, Maître et Créateur de l’univers qui renouvelle notre existence à chaque instant.

Va’ethanan Quiz

1) Q. “And I prayed to God at that time...” Why at that time?

A. One explanation given is that God made a vow that Moshe would not be allowed to enter the land. Moshe knew that, as much as he prayed, it was impossible to break God’s vow. When he defeated Sichon and Og, whose lands became part of the Israelite homeland, Moshe thought perhaps God had annulled the vow against his entering the Land. He thought that if the vow had been annulled then it would be possible to pray that God allow him to enter the main part of the land too.

2) Q. What is Ha'Lebanon?

A. Ha'Lebanon literally means the country Lebanon but the commentators explain that here it is referring to the Bet Hamikdash. The reason the Bet Hamkidash is called Lebanon is because a) it ‘whitens’ (lavan), i.e., atones for, the Jewish People, and b) it was built from the cedars of Lebanon.

3) Q. What is meant by ‘God, our G-d, God is One’ (‘Shema Yisrael God Elokenu God Echad’?

A. Midrashically it is explained that God, who is now our G-d, but not [accepted as] G-d of the other nations, will eventually be [accepted as] the one and only G-d. Literally it simply means that our God is a singular God and there is no other – establishing our monotheism.

4) Q. What vision does Moshe have on the mountain?

A. The Midrash teaches that when Moshe is up on the mountain, he has a vision of what the future holds for Bnei Yisrael. He warns them that they must obey God’s commandments if they want to stay in the land. They must keep it pure and holy. He also predicts that they will be exiled; but, after a period of punishment in exile, they will return to Israel and rebuild the land.

PROVERBES

Qui trop s'estime, à la fin dommage en reçoit.

Noblesse sans argent, lampe sans huile

Tous gentilshommes sont cousins, et tous les vilains sont copains.

Qui du sien donne, Dieu lui redonne

Qui fait confiance à un beau parleur fait confiance à une passoire

Qui prédit mieux le beau temps que la pluie

Qui croit en Dieu n'est jamais seul.

Prends conseil avant de répondre, et garde-toi de te précipiter .

Préserve ta langue et garde-toi d'injurier.

Jette l'homme chanceux dans le fleuve let il remontera avec un poisson dans la bouche

Eduque ton enfant quand il est jeune, il te réjouira à l'âge adulte

THE SHABBAT SMILE

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Moishe goes to see his Rabbi.
"I need your advice. My wife just gave birth to a girl"
"Mazeltov."
"Thank you. Can we name the baby after a relative?"
"According to Jewish custom, you can name a baby after a departed father, mother, brother …"
"But they are all still alive," says Moishe.
"Oh, I’m terribly sorry to hear that," said the Rabbi.

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Moshe was at his golf club and went into the clubhouse to see whether anyone could offer him a lift to Hendon. His own car was off the road being serviced.
"Sure," said Morry, "I'll give you a lift. My Rolls Royce is just outside."
As they're driving along, Moshe says, "Morry, what's that thing on the dashboard ticking all the time?"
"That's my digital clock."
A few minutes later, Moshe asks, "And what's that thing on the dashboard moving up and down?"
"That's my tachometer," says Morry.
Then a few minutes after that, Moshe starts to ask, "But what's that...."
"Hold on a minute, Moshe," says Morry, "I can see you've never been in a Rolls Royce before."
"Never in the front seat." says Moshe.

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A Rabbi, a cantor, and a synagogue president were driving to a seminar when they were kidnapped. The highjackers asked the three of them to hand over all of their money and jewellery. When they replied that they hadn't any, the hijackers told them that immediately after their last wishes were fulfilled, they would be killed.
"My last wish," began the Rabbi, is to give a fascinating, complicated, long sermon that I have always wanted to but never been allowed to give."
"We will grant your wish," the hijackers replied.
"My last wish," said the cantor, "is to sing a beautiful, Yemenite style song, one of my own compositions lasting two hours. I have never been allowed to sing it."
"We'll let you sing it," replied the hijackers.
"What is your last wish," the hijackers asked the shul president.
"Please, please shoot me now."

CHABBAT CHALOM

MAGHEN ABRAHAM

David Hasson