Articles in D’varim Parshah
Devarim: When Crying is not Enough
Emotional Death
“Rabbi,” he wailed, “my wife of seventeen years has just passed on and I cannot live without her.” This cry pierced me to the core. I empathized and soothed in every way I could. In the end, the words that resonated with him were, “Don’t compound your wife’s physical …
Devarim: Torah in Chinese
Translating Torah
Thirty – seven days before his passing Moses set out to teach the Torah. You might think that Moses would use his remaining weeks to teach hitherto unrevealed mysteries, but he did no such thing. Instead he translated the Torah into seventy languages. (1)
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D’varim: Human Initiative and Divine Inspiration
The Fifth Book
The first four books of the Torah are presented, as a narrative by G-d, the fifth book, Devarim, is a narrative by Moses.
According to one opinion that Moses first conveyed his message to the Jewish people orally and was later commanded by G-d to transcribe the words and …
D’varim: Eternal Commitment
A Shabbat of Vision
The Shabbat before the ninth of Av goes by the name Shabbat of vision, so called in honor of Isaiah’s vision that is recorded in the Haftorah chanted on this Shabbat. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Bardichev (1740-1810) taught that on this Shabbat of vision the Jewish soul …
D’varim: The Lover’s Rebuke
This week we begin to read the book of Deuteronomy. In reading this book we develop a profound respect for leaders such as Moses. Standing on the verge of death Moses prepared to bid his people farewell. He leaves them his final will and testament.
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D’varim : Absolute Faith
The Untenable Dilemma
On a trip to Israel in November of 2001, I asked a number of Israelis to share their thoughts on how the Intafada might be quelled. Their response was, “There is no resolution. The State of Israel will continue to exist and so will the Intafada. Somehow we …
