ב " ה

Eikev

Last we celebrated the first birthday of our youngest child, Talia. In Talia’s world, it is entirely normal that I wear a mask outdoors, that I converse with my laptop throughout the day, and that I am at home for so many hours of the week, particularly on Shabbat.

While I like to think that I have been a present father for all my children, I have never observed the early stages of a child’s development as closely as I have during recent months, and it has been a process of learning and reflection for me.

This week in particular, as we entered Stage 4 restrictions, Talia taught me about resilience. Now that she has taken her first steps, I watch her repeated efforts to gain the required balance and composure to walk normally. She must fall over at least 100 times a day, but always picks herself up immediately with a smile and tries again. She doesn’t view setbacks as failures or hurdles as barriers. She has a clear target in her sights and will keep trying until she achieves it.

Resilience does not necessarily need to be taught. We are born resilient and have natural abilities to overcome challenges and setbacks. With clear targets, patience, belief and a smile, we can turn our hurdles into stepping stones.

If you feel overwhelmed, exhausted or deflated by current challenges, you are not alone. There are many others experiencing the same emotions and there are many people and resources available to help. Please feel free to call me (0408 781 840) or Althea (0439 879 312) if you fancy a chat or would like to hear about ways Mizrachi and the Mizrachi CARES team can assist you.

There is a lot going on and a lot to deal with, but we can get there. One step at a time.

It’s with a mixture of pride and sadness that I write Mizrachi’s message this Erev Parshat . Two families are leaving us to return to Israel, and both of whom have played an important part and parcel of .מצות ישוב ארץ ישראל our community and now will observe

This week’s parsha is replete with encouragement for Aliya to beautiful Israel

אל ארץ טובה ארץ נחלי מים עינות ותהמת יצאים בבקעה ובהר. ארץ חיטה ושערה וגפן ותאנה ורימון ארץ זית שמן ודבש

ב " ה Drs Agi Bankier OAM ,geneticist and Dr Leon Anaf ,dentist brought up their families in Mizrachi Yavneh and Bnei Akiva and have contributed in many ways to the growth of Mizrachi, participating daily in tefilla, learning in the Beit , and teaching by example , and contributing Zedaka to our causes Agi has been a leader in support for Shaarei Zedek amongst many other roles. Leon joined Paul Korbl and John Kraus as the pioneers of Rav Danny’s Tuesday Lunch and Learn.

told רבונו של עולם The –לך The emphasis is on .פסל לך שני לוחות אבנים Moshe Rabbeinu was instructed to Moshe to construct the second tablets in his preferred fashion. Leon and Agi have set out to coin their own path and now it’s led them on the ultimate goal of the Religious Zionist, the path to Israel. There they will join Doodie and Anna and their children

Nir and Merav Sherwinter made their home in Mizrachi together with their children Rotem, Or and Aviya, who all attended Yavneh and Bnei Akiva. The entire family has made their presence felt in Mizrachi, Yavneh and Bnei and are returning home to Israel after Nir has completed his management role here at ExLibris. They will leave many friends behind. Nir served capably on the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia.

We wish both families every success even as we will miss them.

Wishing you all a shabbat shalom as we dig in again into a deeper lockdown

Dr Danny Lamm AM

Rabbi Mirvis

"And now Israel, what does Hashem your Go-d ask of you, but to fear Hashem your Go-d, to go in all His ways and to love Him and to serve Hashem your Go-d with all your heart and with all your soul. To observe the commandments of Hashem and His statutes, which I command you today, for your good?" (, 10:12-13).

In this week's Parsha, Moshe Rabbeinu continues his last will and testament. During the course of this speech, he teaches us what Hashem expects of us – to fear Him, go in His ways, love Him, serve Him with all our heart and soul, and observe His commandments and statutes.

Whilst this may seem like a long and demanding list, the way it is presented in the seems to trivialise the difficulty involved. The wording, "What does Hashem your Go-d ask of you, but…" seems to imply that Hashem does not require very much. Is it really so easy and simple to do everything Hashem expects of us?

This question appears in the (Berachot 33b), which answers that whereas we may find these things difficult, for Moshe Rabbeinu they really were very simple.

ב " ה Without rejecting or contradicting this answer, I would like to suggest that the Torah also provides an answer for those who are not on the level of Moshe Rabbeinu. How can it be easy or at least easier for us to fulfill this list of requirements? The very next verses in the Torah provide the answer:

"Behold, to Hashem your Go-d (belong) the Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens, the world and everything that is inside it. Only in your fathers did Hashem desire to love them and He chose their descendants after them above all Nations, as it is today. And you shall circumcise the foreskin of your hearts and no longer be stiff-necked. For Hashem your Go-d is the Go-d of gods and the Master of masters, the great, strong and awesome Go-d who will not regard faces (in judgement) and will not take a bribe. He who executes the judgement of the orphan and the widow and loves the stranger, to give him bread and dress" (Devarim 10:14-18).

Once we fully internalise that everything in the universe belongs to Hashem and that we are privileged to be part of Am Yisrael; If we can be less stiff-necked and "circumcise the foreskin" i.e. remove the cynical, negative, impure and artificial coverings from our hearts; If we truly understand that Hashem is the Go-d of gods and Master of masters, who is above human bias and cares for the orphan and the widow, then to fear, love and serve Hashem is not very much to ask. On the contrary, it should be our natural response.

In addition to considering what we expect from Hashem, we must consider what Hashem expects from us,

Shabbat Shalom.

Reb Leor Broh

Riddle for Ekev: My companions appear in the Parsha, but I don’t. Who am I?

Answer to Riddle for Last week (Vaetchanan): Five senses have we indeed Not all appear in the parsha we read. But in one verse you’ll find four The missing one you’ll know for sure

In the following verse (4:28), of the 5 senses, only ‘touch’ does not appear.

וַﬠֲבַדְ תֶּ ם־שָׁ֣ ם אֱ�הִ֔ ים מַ ﬠֲשֵׂ֖ ה יְדֵ֣ י אָדָ֑ ם ﬠֵ֣ץ וָאֶ֔ בֶ ן אֲשֶׁ֤ ר לֹֽ א־יִרְ אוּן֙ וְלֹ֣ א יִשְׁמְע֔ וּן וְלֹ֥ א יֹֽ אכְל֖ וּן וְלֹ֥ א יְרִ יחֻֽן׃

There you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, that cannot see or hear or eat or smell. See Rabbenu Bechaye who explains that touch and taste are so closely related that, at times, one will appear without the other, as they are included in each other. ב " ה

Refer eg. Tehillim 115 where touch appears rather than taste.

See further his enlightening comments on the 5 senses.

Rabbi Mirvis’ Thursday night Shiur this week explored the test of the Manna and its relevance to our lives today. With her usual clarity and comprehensive approach, Prof. Nechama Leibovitz z”l wrote about similar themes and quoted other approaches in this article, made available on the Jewish Agency’s Website.

Prof. Nechama Leibovitz z”l

The Test of the Manna

And thou shalt remember the long trek along which the Lord thy God hath let thee those forty years in the wilderness, that He might afflict thee, to put thee to the test to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments, or not and He afflicted thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know...Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not; that We might afflict thee, and put thee to the test, to do thee good at thy latter end. (8, 2---3, 16).

Both in our sidra (above) and in Exodus (16) the manna is described as a trial or test (nisayon) for Israel. Our commentators have remarked on the unusual nature of this trial. Usually a test or trial is something to be borne, an unpleasant experience or burdensome duty. Abravanel queries:

What test was implied in the provision of their daily bread in the form of manna, with a double portion on the Sabbath eve. Surely this was a great kindness, rather than a test?

Rashi explains this difficulty, in the first context where it appears, in Exodus where the Almighty announced the sending of the manna:

"That I may put them to the test, whether they will walk in My law or not" --- to see if they will heed the precepts connected herewith, that they should not leave over, and not go out gathering on on the Sabbath.

The test was not then in the gift of the manna itself but in the instructions accompanying it. The way the honored these instructions would serve as a pointer to their loyalty to the Divine commands, to see "whether they will walk in My law or not''. But by the same token, surely every precept in the Torah can be termed a test or trial? We may detect, however, in the wording of the text, that the trial had nothing to do with the instructions governing the manna 'but with the actual enjoyment of the Heavenly food. The life of luxury and ease they would enjoy in virtue of the manna would constitute the greatest trial of all:

ב " ה "That he might put thee to the rest"' if you will do )3is will, when He grants you sustenance, without suffering. (Sforno)

In other words. would the Israelites continue to fear God and keep His commandments In times of prosperity? But we may object to this explanation on the grounds that the diet of manna in the wilderness is represented as a burden. an affliction and not as an enjoyment. Nahmanides suggests a more plausible explanation:

The situation in which the Israelites were placed regarding the manna represented a great trial for them since they entered a desert without food of any sort and with no way out. They were totally dependent on the daily portion of manna which rained down and melted in the heat of the sun. They hungered for it greatly, but bore all their suffering in obedience to God who might have led them through an inhabited route. He chose however to confront them with this trial in order to test their eternal loyalty to Him...

In other words, Nahmanides maintained that the manna constituted a trial for the Israelites owing to its unusual nature. Neither they nor their fathers had known it. It was an unpopular, strange food which was not given them in abundance and could not be stored. Each day was viewed with apprehension by the hungry Israelites who waited expectantly for the manna and were assailed by the doubt that it would not suffice. The author of Ha-ketav Va-ha-kabalah clarifies the meaning of the term "trial'' used in the Bible:

God who is all-knowing requires no proof. His trial is rather to prove to the person himself the limits of his own capacities. "'That I might put thee to the test" means that God will bring man into such a situation which will be able to prove to man himself the extent of his Faith and trust in Him. The Biur suggests the following approach to our text:

By being placed in a position of absolute reliance on the Almighty for their daily sustenance, they would become habituated to trust in Him and their faith in God would become part and parcel of their nature. If we understand the manna as symbolizing the dependence of man on His Maker, the two references to the manna at the beginning and end of the passage we first quoted, aptly suit the context, which speaks of the wonderful natural wealth of the land they were going to possess:

For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land a land of brooks of waters, of fountains ... a land of wheat, barley... wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou mayest mine ... Beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God. (8, 7—11) We are accustomed to regarding this passage as the classic description of the fertility and other wonderful qualities of the holy land. But we must not ignore its other implication. The Torah sings the praises of the land to emphasize too the moral dangers and pitfalls that such gifts might bring with them.

Although the life of the Israelites in the promised land would no longer be dependent on water being extracted from the rock or on manna dropping from heaven…. nevertheless even the normal rainfall and all the natural gifts of the land were similarly derived from the Creator and not in virtue of their own power and might of their hand.

ב " ה

Rabbi James Kennard

The second paragraph of the Shema, which appears towards the end of the parasha of Ekev, describes the dangerous consequences of turning aside from following Hashem and his Torah and becoming enmeshed in idolatry. What happens next is:

ְ ו חָ רָ ה אַ ף ה׳ בָּ כֶם וְﬠָצַר אֶ ת הַשָּׁמַ יִם וְלֹא יִהְ יֶה מָטָ ר וְהָאֲדָמָ ה לֹא תִתֵּ ן אֶ ת יְבוּלָ הּ וַאֲבַדְ תֶּ ם מְהֵרָ ה מֵﬠַ ל הָאָרֶ ץ הַ טֹּבָ ה אֲשֶׁ ר ה׳ נֹתֵ ן לָ כֶם.

Hashem's anger will then be directed against you, and He will lock up the skies so that there will not be any rain. The land will not give forth its crops, and you will rapidly vanish from the good land that Hashem is giving you. (Devarim 11:17)

But immediately after this prophecy of dispersal, come the mitzvot of wearing , of learning and teaching Torah, and of mezuza.

וְשַׂמְתֶּ ם אֶת דְּ בָרַ י אֵלֶּ ה ﬠַ ל לְבַבְ כֶם וְﬠַ ל נַפְשְׁ כֶם וּקְשַׁרְ תֶּ ם אֹתָ ם לְ אוֹת ﬠַ ל יֶדְ כֶם וְהָ יוּ לְ טוֹטָ פֹת בֵּ ין ﬠֵ ינֵיכֶם. וְלִמַּדְ תֶּ ם אֹתָ ם אֶ ת בְּ נֵיכֶם לְדַ בֵּ ר בָּ ם בְּשִׁ בְתְּ � בְּבֵ יתֶ � וּבְ לֶכְתְּ � בַ דֶּ רֶ � וּ בְ שׇׁ כְ בְּ � וּ בְ ק וּ מֶ � . וּכְתַבְתָּ ם ﬠַ ל מְ זוּזוֹת בֵּ יתֶ � וּבִשְׁ ﬠָרֶ י�.

Place these words of mine on your heart and soul. Bind them as a sign on your arm, and let them be an insignia in the center of your head.

Teach your children to speak of them, when you are at home, when traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

[Also] write them on [parchments affixed to] the doorposts of your houses and gates. (Devarim 11:18-20)

One may ask why these mitzvot, which have each been presented earlier in the Torah, are repeated. But in particular, why do they appear in the context of the loss of the land and subsequent exile?

Rav Shimson Rafael Hirsch (19th century, ) sees the significance of these particular mitzvot that are to be performed in exile in the following way:

Even if you are exiled from your land, and no longer have your own soil to subordinate to God’s Torah, you must take God’s Torah with you wherever you may go. Your hearts and your souls, the thinking, aspiring, and achieving aspects of your personalities, remain committed to God’s Torah. By placing the tefillin-sign on your arms and heads, you constantly remind yourselves and others of this commitment to the Torah. No matter where you are, you remain bearers of God’s Word, you remain the people of God's Torah, and you are duty-bound to educate your children in this spirit and to devote all your own lives, at home and outside the home, to this purpose.

ב " ה This echoes a comment of Rav Hirsch ( 25:17) regarding why the poles inserts into the sides of the Ark containing the luchot could never be removed:

The poles, the means of carrying the Ark, symbolically represent the command and the mission to carry the Ark and its contents, if it becomes necessary, away from the precincts of its present position. The command that these means of transport never be lacking is to emphasise in our minds the fact that from the very beginning it must be made clear that this Torah and its transmission is in no way bound or confined to the place or existence at any time of the Temple and Sanctuary.

Exile is no bar to connection with Torah. On the contrary, who have been sent away from the land of Israel can, and must, re-double that connection in their new environment.

Rashi (11th century ) expounds on the juxtaposition of exile and these mitzvot by saying:

אף לאחר שתגלו הוו מצויינין במצוות, הניחו תפילין, עשו מזוזות, כדי שלא יהו עליכם חדשים כשתחזרו.

Even after you have been banished be marked by mitzvot: put on tefillin, make mezuzot, so that they will not be new to you.

Unlike his Midrashic source, which exhorts that mitzvot in general should not be new when we return to Israel, Rashi specifies the mitzvot in the original text (i.e. in Devarim 11:18-20). But this raises the obvious question: Tefillin and mezuzah are not mitzvot dependent on the land of Israel (unlike, for instance, agricultural laws such as and ma’aser). Why would we have imagined that they would not apply outside of Israel, and need a verse to tell us otherwise?

This question leads the Ktav VeKabalah (19th century Germany) to suggest that maybe our text of Rashi is corrupted. Perhaps Rashi originally referred to teruma and ma’aser as mitzvot that might have supposed to not apply outside of Israel (whereas in fact there is a rabbinic obligation to separate tithes in the parts of Mesopotamia, that were incorporated into the Davidic empire). A scribe in a later age which another scribe, at an even later time, expanded into ,תו״מ as תרומה ומעשר then abbreviated Nevertheless this ingenious theory is undermined by versions of Rashi copied by early .תפילין ומזוזה .תפילין ומזוזה sources such as the Ramban which include

The Mizrachi (16th century Turkey) suggests that in exile, living in borrowed or rented homes, we might think that are exempt from the of mezuzah. And whilst suffering the trials and tribulations of being in a foreign land, we would not have the requisite concentration that must accompany the wearing of tefillin.

Rashi’s source, the Sifrei (Ekev 43) (2nd century, Israel), brings a parable:

אף על פי שאני מגלה אתכם מן הארץ לחוץ לארץ, היו מצוינים במצוות, שכשאתם חוזרים לא יהיו לכם חדשים. משל למלך שכעס על אשתו וחזרה לבית אביה, אמר לה: הוי מקושטת בתכשיטיך, כשתחזרי לא יהיו עליך חדשים. כך אמר להם הקב"ה לישראל: בני, היו מצוינים במצוות, שכשאתם חוזרים לא יהיו עליכם חדשים.

Even though I am exiling you from the land to the Diaspora, be marked by the mitzvot so that when you return they will not be as new to you. A parable: a king who became angry at his wife and she returned to her father’s house. He said to her: “Adorn yourself with your jewelry so that ב " ה when you return they will not be new to you.” So said Hashem to Israel: My children, be marked by mitzvot so that when you return they will not be new to you.

The Ramban (13th century Israel) says that this midrash conveys a “profound secret” that he has “already alluded to” (in 18:25). Although it is not clear what the Ramban means by his “allusion”, it is likely that he is referring to his premise that Hashem’s relationship with the land of Israel is unlike His connection to anywhere else. Every other land is administered by some heavenly body on behalf of Hashem, but Israel is overseen directly by Hashem Himself.

That would explain why there is even a supposition that mitzvot would not apply outside of Israel and outside of Hashem’s direct involvement, as suggested by the Midrash.

The Maharal (16th century Prague) adds, in his effort to “reveal the secret” of the Ramban, that mitzvot ,statutes of the G-d of the land” - in Melachim Bet 17:26,27“ - ”משפט אלהי הארץ “ are called consolidating the notion that mitzvot belong in Israel but not elsewhere. Even though the midrash refutes this idea, we are left with the understanding that Israel is the natural place for mitzvot in a way that is not replicated outside.

The Ktav VKabala also believes that there is a “profound secret” in the Midrash’s parable, though of a more rationalist nature. The king’s wife needs to wear her adornments, even when banished to her father’s house, to show that she has not given up hope of returning to her husband. Thus the wearing of the adornment demonstrates the extent of her continual link to her husband the king and to his palace, and her love and desire to return.

The parable therefore teaches more than just that mitzvot in exile are “for practice” as a superficial understanding might suggest. Tefillin, mezuza and indeed every mitzvah that we perform while outside of Israel are an expression of our ceaseless link with the “king’s palace” - the land of Israel itself - and with “the king” - Hashem.