Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Dvar Torah on Rosh Hashanah;

Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the “aseret yemei teshuva”, the ten days of repentance. Although we start the Selichot prayers from a month before Rosh Hashanah, but that is only considered as a preparation for repenting. The actual repentance  process starts from Rosh Hashanah and ends at  Yom Kipppur. It’s during these ten days that we reflect on the past year, recall the bad we did and the good we failed to do, apologise, confess and ask for forgiveness.

Yet there’s almost none of this on Rosh Hashanah. There is no confession, no “tachanun” is recited, no reference to the sins committed over the past year and no looking back. The only references to the process of Teshuva is a prayer reminding us that today our fate is being written for the next year: who will live and who will die, etc……

Surely the beginning of the days of repentance should begin with repentance?! So why there is no mention of Teshuva on Rosh Hashanah?! Lord  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, gives an answer to this question by the following quote: To mend the past,  first you have to secure the future.

This idea could be seen in the characters of the Torah such as Noah. After the flood, Hashem tells Noah to go out of the Ark and fill up the earth once again. But it seems that instead of looking forward, Noah looked back. Overwhelmed by grief, he found refuge in wine.  Before the flood he was the only person in the whole of Bible to be called righteous, yet he ended his days drunk and ashamed in front of his children.

But the opposite could be seen in Abraham. When Sarah died, Abraham was 137 years old. He lost the woman who had shared his life’s journey with him.  He might have been paralysed by grief. But the Torah says: “Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and weep for her. Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife”.  Then we read how Abraham bought the first plot of land in Israel and arranged for a wife for his son. G-d had promised him before that the land of Israel is his and that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, yet when Sarah died, he owned no land and had one unmarried child. Instead of complaining to G-d that He had not fulfilled his promises, he understood that he had to take the first step. First he had to build the future. Only then, he could honor the past.

And that’s what we do on Rosh Hashanah. The Torah reading is about the birth of Isaac, which is one of the forefathers of the future Am Yisrael. We pray that our names would be written in the book of life. We pray for prosperity and good health. We pray for peace in Israel and all over the world and we pray for our children. Only when we have finished praying for our future on Rosh Hashanah, only then, on the intervening days and Yom Kippur we can turn and apologise for last year.  In Judaism the future comes before the past!

We can see this phenomena taking place in our generations too.  After the Holocaust, Jews didn’t sit paralysed by grief. They built the future, above all the land and state of Israel. Also, when our fathers left Iran, they did not sit back and and grieve for what they’ve left behind, but rather, immediately they started to build the future for their family and their children. And now we are enjoying the fruits of their labor. And this is what Rosh Hashanah is all about ……… building our future!

Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you Shanah Tovah U’Metukah. May this year be a year of health, happiness, prosperity and above all, peace in the land of Israel and across the world. A year that the sweet taste of honey stays with you throughout the year. A year that we build a better future for our children and we see them grow.  And only then, may we move forward towards Yom Kippur and regret the past and ask for forgiveness!

Shana Tova, Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following parashiot summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parshiot in a Nutshell ”

The Parshah of Nitzavim start by saying: “You stand today, all of you, before the L-rd your G-d: your heads of tribes, your elders, your officers, and every Israelite man; your young ones, your wives, the stranger in your gate; from your wood hewer to your water drawer.”

Moshe warns of the exile and desolation of the Land that will result if Israel abandons G-d’s laws, but he then prophecises that, in the end, “You will return to the Lord your G-d”.

Then Moshe says: “For the Mitzvah which I command you this day, it is not beyond you nor is it remote from you. It is not in heaven… It is not across the sea…. Rather, it is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it.”

Moshe also talks about freedom of choice: “I have set before you life and goodness, and death and evil; in that I command you this day to love G-d, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments… Life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. And you shall choose life.”

The Parshah of Vayelech recounts the events on Moshe’s last day of earthly life. “I am one hundred and twenty years old today,” he says to the people, “and I can no longer go forth and come in.” He transfers the leadership to Joshua, and writes the Torah in a scroll which he entrusts to the Levites for safekeeping in the Ark of the Covenant.

The mitzvah of Hak’hel (“Gather”) is given: every seven years, during the festival of Sukkot of the first year of the shemittah cycle, the entire people of Israel — men, women and children — should gather at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, where the king should read to them from the Torah.

The Parsha concludes with the prediction that the people of Israel will turn away from their covenant with G-d causing Him to hide His face from them, but also with the promise that the words of the Torah “shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants.

“ Dvar Torah “

Once again, we have double parashiot and with your permission I would like to say a few words on the second parsha, Vayelech.

Parashat Vayelech starts off by saying: ” Vayelech Moshe – And Moshe WENT, and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them: ‘I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no longer go out and come in, for Hashem has said to me, you shall not cross this Jordan.” He said these words on the last day of his life, which was his 120th birthday. The time had come for him to gather to his people and kiss this world goodbye.

But once again, the commentators are puzzled by the wording of the Torah. The Torah says “Vayelech Moshe”– and Moshe went…. But, where did he go? Where was his destination?! In fact, his “moving” action was so powerful that the parsha is named after it; “And he went”! From reading the plain text, it seems that he didn’t go anywhere?! He was still among his people, where he was for the past 40 years of his life. So, why does the Torah say that he went? And if he went somewhere, why does it keep us in suspense of his destination?

After searching for an answer for awhile, I came across a beautiful explanation given by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky. He says the following: The Torah wants to emphasize the fact that Moshe didnot sit idle. Even on the last day of his life, he went, he moved, he inspired, he taught, he blessed and he accomplished. Although, on the last day of his life, he rightfully deserved to sit back and let others come to him and show their final respect, but instead, he decided to move and take the initial step. The same enthusiasm that Moshe had in leading his people through the desert, the same vigor Moshe had when ordering Pharaoh to let my people go was still in him until the last moments of his life — until the very end. While he was still going forward, there was no dying down. And that’s what the Torah is trying to tell us: until the end, Moshe never stopped — Moshe “went”!

Yes my friends, life is all about moving forward and improving ourselves. Whether in business, relationship or spirituality, we need to have the enthusiasm to move forward and try to improve at all times, because once we stop, there is the danger of falling back and failing. As we learn from the parsha, there is no limit or time frame for improvement. Moshe moved forward till the last second of his life. He utilized all of his time to fulfill the will of G-d and to improve his relationship with the Almighty. He never stopped! He never gave up! And this is the kind of “enthusiasm” that we need to learn from the greatest prophet of all times.

Parashat Vayelech always falls around the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because it carries the same message. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we reflect on the past year, recall the bad we did and the good we failed to do. We apologise, confess and ask for forgiveness. And after Yom Kippur, we try not to repeat the bad we did before. But Hashem doesnot expect us to become perfect, since EVERY year he wants us to fast and ask for forgiveness, as if he expects us to sin year after year after year. All he wants us to do is to just improve. He doesn’t want us to sit idle— he wants us to keep moving forward just like Moshe did till the last moment of his life!

Remember my friends that there is always room for improvement. You can always study more, observe more, love more, sacrifice more and care more. All you need to do is to make a “move”!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parasha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell  ”

Moshe instructs the people of Israel: When you enter the land that G-d is giving to you as your eternal heritage, and you settle it and cultivate it, bring the first-ripened fruits of your orchard to the Holy Temple, and declare your gratitude for all that G-d has done for you.

Our Parsha also includes the laws of the tithes given to the Levites and to the poor. Moshe reminds the people that they are G-d’s chosen people, and that they, in turn, have chosen G-d.

The latter part of Ki Tavo consists of the Tochachah (“Rebuke”). After listing the blessings with which G-d will reward the people when they follow the laws of the Torah, Moshe gives a long, harsh account of the bad things — illness, famine, poverty and exile — that shall befall them if they abandon G-d’s commandments.

Moshe concludes by telling the people that only today, forty years after their birth as a people, have they attained “a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear.”

” Dvar Torah ”

Harvest time! After months of backbreaking work, a farmer can finally enjoy the fruits of its labor. He can reap all of his crops and hopefully, it will cover his sustenance for the year to come. But before he can enjoy his freshly-harvested crop, the Torah commands in this week’s parsha that the farmer bring his “Bikurim”, or first-ripened fruits, to the Temple in Jerusalem as a gift to the Kohen. The sages describe the remarkable scene of thousands of people, rich and poor alike, come together in Jerusalem, rejoicing in song and dance with their baskets of fruit in hand, celebrating their successful harvest and offering thanks to Hashem.

Upon arriving in the Temple, the Torah commands: “The Kohen shall take the basket from your hand”. The Talmud relates an interesting detail regarding this event. The wealthy people, who brought their fruits in exquisite gold and silver baskets, would hand the baskets to the Kohen with the fruits still inside. The Kohen would then remove the fruits and return the baskets to their owners. However, there was a different approach used for the poor people. Unlike their wealthy counterparts, the less fortunate farmers who brought their fruits in cheap straw baskets would not receive the baskets back from the Kohen; the fruits would remain inside the baskets until the Kohen took them home. The obvious question is, why? The rich gets back his silver and gold basket, while the poor who might still have a need for his basket, goes home empty handed?! The Talmud comments regarding this ceremony that “The rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer”!! Is this justice in the eyes of Hashem? The Torah who is the master in showing compassion towards the needy, seems to have missed this opportunity! Why is it so?

Rabbi Kamenetsky gives a very interesting explanation. The wealthy farmer who owns many top quality fields, he probably has a lot of produce to present to the Kohen, and his fruits are beautiful and well-formed. The poor person, on the other hand, might only have one small field, and his produce is most likely of inferior quality. As a result, the amount of fruit that he brings to the Temple will be less, both in quality and quantity. If the fruits would be removed in order to return the baskets to the owner, the poor farmer would be forced to suffer the embarrassment of having people see his inferior gift. The halachah therefore prescribes that the fruits should remain hidden in the basket. The Torah feels that a person’s dignity is worth more than a few dollars. Let the Kohen keep the fruit in the basket. Let it at least have the appearance of being something significant. Even if it will cost him the price of the basket, let the poor man walk out with his dignity. A person can always make a little more money. It is much harder to recoup one’s pride!

Yes my friends, the Torah is teaching us that we should respect other people’s dignity and pride. It’s telling us how we should go out of our way in order to protect the feelings of others and to avoid embarrassment. The Almighty demands from us not to humiliate another person, not to put anyone to shame and above all, not to destroy anyone’s pride. Every person deserves to be respected since we are all children of Hashem. The whole theme of the Torah is about having compassion for your fellow human beings and to love your fellow Jew just like yourself.

Showing compassion for our fellow Jew is an important thing to do throughout the year, but as the Day of Judgment is approaching soon, it is more critical. Our sages tell us that Hashem deals with us in the same manner that we deal with our peers. If we are merciful towards others and we treat them with kindness and compassion, then Hashem will also be merciful towards us and judge us with compassion too.

Remember that Hashem accepted both fruits of the rich and the poor. Both were given the same respect to enter the holy Temple and to present their gift to G-d. Both walked in with their pride and dignity and both left with a joy in their heart. In the eyes of Hashem, all of his children are dear to him, and they should be dear to us too.

Shabath Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parasha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell ”

Seventy-four of the Torah’s 613 commandments are in this week’s Parsha. These include the laws of the beautiful captive woman, the inheritance rights of the first-born, capital punishment for the wayward and rebellious son, burial and dignity of the dead, returning a lost object, sending away the mother bird before taking her young, and the duty to erect a safety fence around the roof of one’s home.

Also recounted are the judicial procedures and penalties for adultery, for the rape or seduction of an unmarried girl, and for a husband who falsely accuses his wife of adultery. The following cannot marry a person of Jewish lineage: a bastard; a male of Moabite or Ammonite descent.

Our Parshah also includes laws governing the purity of the military camp; the prohibition against turning in an escaped slave; the duty to pay a worker on time; the proper treatment of a debtor and the prohibition against charging interest on a loan; the laws of divorce (from which are also derived many of the laws of marriage); and the procedures for yibbum, marriage beyween the wife of a childless deceased to her brother-in-law.

Parsha concludes with the obligation to remember “what Amalek did to you on the road, on your way out of Egypt.”

” Dvar Torah ”

One of the most difficult tasks for any parents is to raise their children. There are no set of rules to follow. Even if there is, there is no guarantee that it will work on every child, since each child is different. One of the biggest nightmare for parents is, G-d forbid, to be faced with a problematic child? What should they do?

Well, in this week’s parsha, the Torah talks about a wayward and rebellious son (Ben sorer u’moreh). The Torah says: ” If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son, who does not listen to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they discipline him but he still does not listen to them, then the parents shall grasp him and take him out to the elders of the city and say to them, ” This son of ours is wayward and rebellious; he does not listen to our voice, he is a glutton and drunkard ….. All the men of the city shall pelt him with stones and he shall die;”

The Chachamim say that the reason the boy is put to death is because the parents notice a trend in their young son’s spiritual development that will almost inevitably lead to a lifestyle involving robbery and perhaps even murder. Therefore the Torah advises that he should be put to death “at the stage in life when he is still innocent,” rather than allowing him to mature to a point where he will actually be fully deserving of death.

But the Talmud says that an actual case of “ben sorer u’moreh”, stoning of a child, has never happened and will never happen. No parents would have the heart to take their son to be stoned to death! The Torah is merely mentioning this law just for educational purposes. So, if the whole purpose of this law is to educate us, let’s see what we can learn from it.

The commentators notice something very interesting in the paragraph and accordingly, they come up with the following question. Why does the Torah separate the father’s and the mother’s voice when describing the rebellious child, but when the parents present their case in front of the court, they sound united-” he does not listen to OUR voice”?!

Rabbi Frand gives an interesting interpretation. In describing a rebellious child, the Torah is trying to stress that the parents were not of one voice and one opinion! The child did not listen to his father’s voice and independently he did not listen to his mother’s alternate voice either. When the child hears mixed messages, he does not listen to either parent and he goes after his own heart and hence, he becomes rebellious. Only subsequently, when the child has already left the right path, do the parents come and, sadly, tell the elders of the court: “Now we are together. Now we have a unified voice and we know that what our son is doing is wrong.” Unfortunately by then, it is too late. The son has already became a rebellious child, and it’s very hard to bring him back!

Yes my friends, There are no secret formulas to raising good children. Raising children is the most difficult job in the world. However, there are clearly certain things parents should try to avoid. Parents should always present a unified message of their expectations to their children. When a child hears mixed messages – one thing from the father and another thing from the mother – that is a garden in which weeds can grow. Parents may have disagreements among themselves as to what is the proper course in raising children. But those disagreements need to be decided among themselves; in private! When parents come before their children, they need to articulate a clear, decisive, and uniform message. When they reach the status of “our voice” rather than “the father’s voice” and “the mother’s voice,” their chances for success will be much greater.

It fascinates me to see that from every law in the Torah, we can learn something, even if the law does not apply to us. Whether the Torah talks about the sacrifice ceremonies in the Temple, all the way to the laws of Shemitah, there is always a lesson to be learned. That’s why our sages say that all parts of the Torah are as equally important. We have a very precious book in our possession, let us cherish it at all times!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin