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Parshat Va etchanan August 20, 2016 16 Av, 5776 Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Va‘etchanan TORAH ARTSCROLL 958 One of the most profound centuries, ruled a considerable (od of the philosophers. The area between the Blac0 Sea and 0ey difference is that HERTZ 755 disagreements in Judaism is that between Moses the Caspian Sea, including whereas the philosophers Maimonides and Judah southern Russia, northern found (od in metaphysics, HAFTORAH Halevi on the meaning of Caucasus, eastern U0raine, the prophets found (od in ARTSCROLL 1196 the first of the Ten Western :aza0hstan, and history. northwestern Uzbe0istan. Many HERTZ 776 Commandments. For Maimonides (113 -1204), Jewish traders and refugees lived This is how Halevi9s rabbi the first command is to there, and in 838 the :hazar states his faith: . believe in believe in (od, creator of :ing Bulan converted to Judaism, the (od of Abraham, .saac Times heaven and earth: The after supposedly holding a and .srael, who led the basic principle of all basic debate between representatives children of .srael out of Egypt Candle Lighting 7:28 pm principles and the pillar of of the Jewish, Christian, and with signs and miraclesA who all sciences is to realize Muslim faiths. The Arabic writer fed them in the desert and Mincha 7:00 pm that there is a First Being 5imashqi writes that the gave them the land, after who brought every e-isting :hazars, having encountered the having brought them through Hashkama 8:00 am thing into being. .f it could Jewish faith, 1found it better than the sea and the Jordan in a be supposed that He did their own and accepted it3. miraculous way/(:uzari Youth Minyan 8:30 am not e-ist, it would follow :hazaria thus became, spiritually .:11) He goes on to that nothing else could as well as geographically, an emphasize that (od9s Parsha hiur 8:30 am possibly e-ist. .f however it independent third force between opening words in the were supposed that all the Muslim Caliphate and the revelation at Mount Sinai Main 9:00 am other beings were non- Christian Byzantine Empire. After were not, 1. am the 2ord e-istent, He alone would their conversion, the :hazar your (od, creator of heaven Beit Midrash 9:15 am still e-ist/To ac0nowledge people used Jewish personal and earth3 but 1. am the 2ord this truth is a positive names, spo0e and wrote in your (od 1. am the 2ord your Gemara hiur 6:20 pm command, as it is said: 1. Hebrew, were circumcised, had (od, who brought you out of am the 2ord your synagogues and rabbis, studied Egypt, out of the land of Mincha 7:20 pm (od3 (E-. 20:2, 5eut :7) the Torah and Talmud, and slavery.3 (:uzari .:2 ). (7esodei ha-Torah, 1:1- ). observed the Jewish festivals. Halevi lived before habbat 1nds 8:35 pm Maimonides. Judah Halevi (c. 1080- The :uzari is Judah Halevi9s un. August 21 7:30/8:30 am c.114 ) disagreed. The philosophy of Judaism, cast in Nachmanides (R. Mosheh ben greatest of medieval the form of the imagined Nachman, 11C4-1270) lived Mon. * Thurs. 6:35/7:45 am Hebrew poets, Halevi also conversation between the :ing after, but he too disagreed and a rabbi that led to the :ing9s with Maimonides9 Tues., -ed. * .ri. 6:45/7:45 am wrote one of Judaism9s philosophical masterpieces, conversion. .n it, Halevi draws a interpretation of the opening Mincha 7:20 pm The :uzari. .t is framed as portrait that is diametrically verse of the Ten a dialogue between a rabbi opposed to what would later Commandments. His Latest Times for and the :ing of the become Maimonides9 account. obDection is based on a hema/ hemoneh 1srei :hazars. Historically, the Judaism, for Halevi, is not passage in the Me0hilta: 17ou :hazars were a Tur0ish Aristotelian but counter- shall have no other gods Aristotelian. The (od of the besides me.3 Why is this Aug. 20 9:34/10:42 am people who, between the seventh and eleventh prophets, says Halevi, is not the saidE Because it says, 1. am Aug. 27 9:36/10:43 am Kiddush 2e3t habbat 1ikev is sponsored by Candle Lighting 7:17 pm reat Neck Synagogue Mincha 7:00 pm 26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11 23 (516) 487-61 Shabbat Announcements Va‘etchanan 5776 the 2ord your (od.3 To give a parable: A 0ing of flesh and blood What is at sta0e in this difference of opinion between entered a province. His servants said to him, 1.ssue decrees for Maimonides on the one hand, Judah Halevi and Nachmanides the people.3 He, however, told them, 1No. When they accept my on the otherE At the heart of Judaism is a twofold sovereignty, . will issue decrees. For if they do not accept my understanding of the nature of (od and His relationship to the sovereignty, how will they carry out my decreesE3 universe. (od is creator of the universe and the ma0er of the human person 1in His image3. This aspect of (od is universal. According to Nachmanides the verse, 1. am the 2ord your (od, .t is accessible to anyone, Jew or gentile. Aristotle arrived at it who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery3 is not through logic and metaphysics. For him, (od was the 1prime a command, but a preliminary to the commands. .t e-plains mover3 who set the universe into motion. Today, many people why the .sraelites should be bound by the will of (od. He had reach the same conclusion through science: the universe is too rescued them, liberated them, and brought them to safety. The finely tuned for the emergence of life to have come into being first verse of the 5ecalogue is not a law but a statement of fact, through chance (this is sometimes called the anthropic a reason why the .sraelites should accept (od9s sovereignty. principle). Some arrive at it not through logic or science but through a simple sense of awe and wonder (1Not how the Than0s to a series of archeological discoveries in the twentieth world is, but that it is, is the mystical3 said Wittgenstein). This century, we now 0now that Nahmanides was right. The biblical aspect of (od is called by the Torah, Elo0im. covenant has the same literary structure as ancient near eastern political treaties, of which the oldest 0nown are the There is, however, a quite different aspect of (od which 1Stele of the Fultures3 (before 2 00 BCE), recording the victory predominates throughout most of Tana0h, the Hebrew Bible. of Eannatum, 0ing of 2agash, over the people of Umma, both in This is (od as He is involved in the fate of one family, one southern Mesopotamia, and the treaty of Naram-Sin, 0ing of nation: the children of .srael. He intervenes in their history. He :ish and A00ad, with the people of Elam (c. 2280 BCE). Other, ma0es a highly specific covenant with them at Sinai J not at later treaties have also been discovered, involving Hittites, all li0e the general one He made with Noah and all Arameans and Assyrians. One details a pact between the Hittite humanity after the Flood. The Noahide covenant is simple and 0ing Hattusilis ... and the Pharaoh Rameses .., regarded by basic. The sages said it involved a mere seven commands. The some scholars as the Pharaoh of the e-odus. These treaties Sinai covenant, by contrast, is highly articulated, covering usually follow a si--part pattern, of which the first three almost every conceivable aspect of life. This aspect of (od is elements were H1I the preamble, identifying the initiator of the signaled by the use of the four-letter name for which we treaty, H2I a historical review, summarizing the past traditionally substitute (since the word itself is holy and could relationship between the parties, and H3I the stipulations, only be pronounced by the High Priest) the word Hashem (on namely the terms and conditions of the covenant. The first the two aspects and names, see :uzari .F: 1-3A and Ramban verse of the Ten Commandments is a highly abridged form of to E-odus 3: 13). H1I and H2I. 1. am the 2ord your (od3 is the preamble. 1Who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery3 is the Maimonides, the philosopher, emphasized the universal, historical review. The verses that follow are the stipulations, or metaphysical aspect of Judaism and the eternal, unchanging as we would call them, the commands. Nachmanides and the e-istence of (od. Judah Halevi and Nachmanides, the one a Midrash are therefore correct in seeing the verse as an poet, the other a mystic, were more sensitive to the introduction, not a command. particularistic and prophetic dimension of Judaism: the role of (od in the historical drama of the covenant. Both are true and Great Neck Yoetzet Halacha Lisa Septimus Welcomes your questions about mi0vah, valid, but in this case, Halevi and Nachmanides are closer to observance of taharat mishpacha (halacha relating the meaning of the biblical te-t. to married life) and women9s health, as it connects to Jewish law. Reach out to her at: Phone: 16.41 .1111 Email: [email protected]. All conversations and emails are 0ept confidential. Great Neck Synagogue 26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck , NY 11 23 516-487-61 Rabbi Dale .olakoff, Rabbi Rabbi 0an 1ichter, Assistant Rabbi Dr. Ephraim 5olf ,67l, Rabbi Emeritus 8eev :ron, Cantor Elea6er Schulman, 67l, Cantor Emeritus Rabbi Sholom Jensen, Youth Director 8ehava & Dr.
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  • What's in God's Name

    What's in God's Name

    THOUGHT OF NACHMANIDES: VAYECHI: WHAT’S IN GOD’S NAME? Gavriel Z. Bellino – January 6, 2016 ספר שמות ו Exodus 6 )ב( וַיְדַ רבֵּ אֱֹלהִ ים, אֶ ל-מֹשֶ ה; וַיֹאמֶ ר And Elohim spoke unto Moses, and said unto (2) אֵּלָ יו, אֲנִי יְהוָה. )ג( וָאֵּרָ א, אֶ ל-אַבְרָ הָ ם ,him: 'I am YHWH; (3) and I appeared unto Abraham אֶ ל-יִצְחָ ק וְאֶ ל-יַעֲקֹב-- לבְאֵּ שַדָ י; ּושְמִ י unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, b’El Shadai, and My יְהוָה, לֹא נֹודַעְתִ י לָהֶ ם. )ד( וְגַם הֲקִ מֹתִ י name YHWH, I was not known to them. (4) And I אֶ ת-בְרִ ייתִ אִתָ ם, לָתֵּ ת לָהֶ ם אֶ ת-אֶרֶ ץ have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their כְ נָעַ ן-- תאֵּ ץאֶרֶ מְ גֻרֵּ יהֶ ם, אֲשֶ ר-גָרּו בָ ּה. sojournings, wherein they sojourned. (5) And )ה( וְגַם אֲנִי שָמַעְתִ י, אֶ ת- תנַאֲקַ בְ נֵּי moreover I have heard the groaning of the children יִשְרָ אֵּ ל, אֲשֶ ר מִ צְרַ יִם, מַ עֲבִדִ ים אֹתָ ם; of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and וָאֶזְכֹר, אֶ ת-בְרִ יתִ י. .I have remembered My covenant פרוש הרמב”ן על ספר שמות ו:ב-ה Nachmanides on Exodus 6:2-5 AND GOD SPOKE UNTO MOSES. Rashi explains that He spoke to him harshly because he had been critical when he said, Why have you done evil unto this nation? AND HE SAID UNTO HIM: I AM YHWH, Who is faithful to recompense reward to those who walk before Me wholeheartedly.