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Parashat Va’etchanan THIS WEEK’S PORTION DEUTERONOMY 3:23-7:11 תשרפ נחתאו ן / Parashat Va’etchanan

In this week’s guide…

Our COMMENTARY from Rabbi Jason starts at Mount Sinai, when the Lord gave the Ten Commandments on two tablets and brings us all the way through the destruction of not one, but two Temples—truly tragic events. What is the connection between the two tablets and the two Temples? The somber day known on the Jewish calendar known as Tisha B’Av sits at the heart of the matter: the connection that can exist between pain and unfaithfulness to God’s Law...... 1 In this week’s NEW TESTAMENT TIE-IN we are taken up to the top of another mountain: Pisgah. Here, Moses found himself staring across the desert into the Promised Land…a place he would never set his feet. It’s a heartbreaking story of consequence and commissioning in which Moses’ appeal is denied and Joshua is charged to cross the , bringing Israel into her destiny. More than a thousand years later, a Prophet “greater than Moses” would find Himself atop a mountain in that Promised Land. A truly incredible connection that brings the goodness of God full-circle...... 2

BY THE NUMBERS considers the most significant passage in this week’s Torah portion: the Shema. The prayer, “Hear O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is One” has been on the lips of God’s people for millennia, but it also contains significant numerological meaning. In Western culture, people commonly think negatively about the number “13.” It’s considered “unlucky” by many. Rumor has it that the Otis elevator company estimates that 85% of their installations omit the 13th floor for this reason! But in Hebrew, the number 13 couldn’t be more different. Discover the redemptive value of 13...... 3

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OVERVIEW

This week’s portion begins with the sad and sobering account of Moses pleading with the Lord to enter the Promised Land (Va’etchanan is Hebrew for “and I pleaded”). Moses presented arguments to obey the law, recounted the establishment of the Cities of Refuge, recited the Ten Commandments. Finally, Moses and gave instructions for the Israelites’ conquest of the Land. Certainly, the highlight of this passage is the Shema, the prayer that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening services. 1 FUSION GLOBAL WITH RABBI JASON תשרפ נחתאו ן / Weekly Torah Portion – Parashat Va’etchanan Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

COMMENTARY by Rabbi Jason Sobel

Why did God give two tablets to Moses at Sinai? What was their interrelation? What might this connection allude to? Why is this Torah portion always read around Tisha B’Av? What valuable lessons can we learn from this tragic day?

oses came down from Mount Sinai with two tablets on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments. In Judaism, the Divine imperatives written on these tablets are the M Aseret HaDibriyot, the “Ten Statements” or “Principles.” These ten statements are the foundational principles of all the other commandments in the Torah. The first tablet deals with mitzvot bein Adam haMaqom, commandments that govern the relationship between God and man. The second tablet represents mitzvot bein Adam lechaveiro, commandments between man and his fellow humans. In giving Moses these tablets together, God demonstrated that these commandments (mitzvot) are inextricably bound together and equally important in God’s eyes.

Although the first tablet provides the foundation for the second, the second tablet provides tangible proof that we are committed to living out the precepts inscribed on the first. If the first tablet is the source and foundation of our faith, the second calls for the expression of that faith. Faith that does not demonstrate itself in actions is of little worth in God’s sight. As James (“Jacob” in Hebrew), the brother of Yeshua, states that “faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.” (James 2:17). How we relate to our Creator and one another are equally important to God. One without the other is incomplete and deficient in God’s sight. Love of both God and other people go together and form the foundation of the Ten Commandments as well as the entire Torah and New Covenant, Brit Hadasha. Yeshua underscored this point when he said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matt 22:37-39/NIV). ("Two Tablets on a synagogue in Tripoli") The first tablet forms the foundation for our relationship with God, while the second forms the basis for how we relate to those made in God’s image. The breaking of either tablet has dire consequences for God’s people.

Tisha B’Av is a solemn day that commemorates the destruction of Israel’s Temples (amongst other tragedies— Click Here to learn more). Why was the First Temple destroyed? Because during its period, there were three sins: idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed. But regarding the time of the Second Temple, we know that they studied Torah, preformed the commandments (mitzvot), and practiced deeds of kindness—why then was it destroyed? It was because senseless, unwarranted hatred was prevalent among them. This tragedy teaches us that senseless hatred is equal to the transgressions of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed (BT 9b). 2 By violating both of the tablets’ principles, God destroyed both of the Temples and sent our people into exile, where we have remained until this day. The ultimate example of unwarranted hatred that led to the destruction of the Second Temple was the crucifixion of our righteous Messiah, Yeshua. Our senseless hatred toward Messiah and one another has continued to this day, preventing the geluah shleimah, the complete redemption of Israel. By striving to love God and Messiah Yeshua with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves, we demonstrate that we have turned from the sins of our forbearers. And by so doing, we hasten the end of our exile and the return of our Messiah. When we do this collectively as a people, the Lord will finally turn our fasts of mourning into festivals of joy through Yeshua, the Prince of Peace (Zech 8:19).

NEW TESTAMENT TIE-IN

e find one of the more unsettling passages in all of Scripture in this week’s Torah portion. After enduring forty years of intense drama as Israel’s leader, the Lord forbade Moses from entering the Promised Land. Moses told Israel that he appealed God’s decision, but “Adonai was angry with me W because of you, so He would not listen to me.‘Enough!’ Adonai said to me, ‘Do not speak to Me anymore about this matter’” (Deut 3:26). The Lord then sent Moses to the top of Mount Pisgah to view the Promised Land and commission Joshua to lead Israel into it. “Israel” began with a promise God made to Abram. God's explicitly promised that Abram's descendants would become a “great nation” and that “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12:3). The giving of the Law and the Promised Land were foundational to the fulfillment of this promise. However, God’s purpose for giving the Law and bringing Israel into the Promised Land was not merely to enjoy the good life. Instead, by living according to God’s laws in that land, Israel could embody their calling to bless all the families of the earth. It was a blessing to enter the Promised Land, but a time was coming when that blessing would have to break out of the Promised Land and invade the earth.

At the end of Moses’s life, God directed him to the top of a mountain outside the Promised Land, looking in. At the end of His time on earth, Yeshua directed His disciples to the top of a mountain inside the Promised Land, looking out (Deut 3:27). Moses commissioned Joshua to lead Israel into . Yeshua commissioned His disciples to “Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature” (Mark 16:15, italics added). In some real sense, the Kingdom of God had come to the Promised Land in the person of Yeshua (see Luke 11:20). It was the unleashing of this Kingdom on the planet (through the disciples), which would express the blessing God promised Abram those millennia ago.

(view from Mount Pisgah in Jordan) God’s blessings in our lives are never an end in themselves. God’s promises to us aren’t just for our benefit. Often, the Lord will bring us in (to our Promised Land) to form us and then send the “new us” out (into a world that desperately needs Him) to bless others. This reversal is the essence of love.

3 BY THE NUMBERS

This week’s Torah portion contains the Shema, the central prayer and declaration of faith and God’s oneness: “Hear O Israel, the LORD/YHVH is our God/Eloheinu, the LORD/YHVH is One (echad)” (Deut. 6:4). It also contains the great commandment, “You will love the LORD/YHVH your God with all your heart, soul, and resources” (Deut 6:5/CJB). But why is the Shema always read on the /Sabbath after Tisha B’Av? How can we avoid the idolatry and senseless hatred that destroyed the two Temples (according to the rabbis)? The words of the Shema and the number 13 (which is central to it) provides the answers.

The central teaching of the Shema is that God is one, that He alone is to be loved and worshiped. In Hebrew, the word for “one” is echad, which has the numerical value of 13. The number 13 is also the value of the Hebrew word for “love,” which is ahavah. The essence and goal of love (13) are to become one (13) with the beloved. We understand this to be true of a husband and wife, as it is written: “and the two shall become one (echad/13) flesh” (see Gen 2:24). Love leads to an imitate bond expressed in relational and functional oneness. The Holy Spirit invites us to cleave to God in the same way that a husband and wife cleave to each other.

The number 13 is connected not only to God’s love but also to his mercy. When Israel sinned by worshiping the golden calf, the Lord considered destroying the Jewish people and starting over with Moses. In response to Moses’ intercession for the Children of Israel, the Lord demonstrated his mercy and kindness by declaring the “13 Attributes of Mercy”: “Then Adonai passed before him, and proclaimed, ‘Adonai, Adonai, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, showing mercy to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means leaving the guilty unpunished, but bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation’” (Ex 34:6-7). Jewish tradition teaches that this verse contains 13 attributes or aspects of God’s mercy. It universally believed that the sincere recitation of these verses, accompanied by genuine repentance, arouses the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness. Yeshua modeled these 13 Attributes of Mercy, and we who follow Him must strive to embody them as well. Just as God is gracious and slow to anger, so should we. Just as the Lord abounds in lovingkindness and forgiveness, so should we.

We find the ultimate expression of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness in His dwelling among the people. The number 13, which represents the spiritual middle or center, is seen in the Lord’s Presence in the center of His people. During Israel’s forty years in the wilderness, the twelve Tribes of Israel set up camps around the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle (the dwelling place of the Lord’s manifest Presence) was the 13th camp in the center. God’s Presence was the spiritual center that united those 12 Tribes around loving and serving the Lord. God’s permeant House, the , also served as the unifying, spiritual center of the 12 Tribes. The Tabernacle (the 13th camp) and the latter Temple made God’s people “one” (echad/13) in their “love” (ahavah/13) for God. These places of worship enabled them to express the Lord’s 13 Attributes of Mercy to the world. 4 But of course, there is more. The love, mercy, and oneness of God, as symbolized in the number 13, find its ultimate fulfillment Yeshua-Jesus. The 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the letter mem. Mem is the first letter of the name of Moses and Messiah in Hebrew. What is even more significant is that while “Messiah” equals 358 in Hebrew, “Moses” equals 345...a difference of 13. The numerical value of “Messiah” is higher than that of “Moses” because Messiah Yeshua embodied God's love, mercy, and forgiveness in far more significant ways.

But there is even more! The numerical value of “void” (vohu) is 13, as in “the world was chaos and empty/void (vohu)” (Gen 1:2). This connection suggests that when love is absent, life is empty (13), creating a void (13). How is this void overcome? The answer is ahavah, the Hebrew word for love, which you might recall has a numerical value of 13. It also no coincidence that the “love chapter” in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 13. And guess how many verses it has? 13! No other passage makes it so clear that if we don’t have love, we have nothing—we are empty.

If we love (13) God, then we must become one (13) with Him by placing Yeshua at the spiritual center (13) of our lives. And we must emulate His love (13) by embodying the “13 attributes of Mercy” so that our lives overflow and never become empty (13).

Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the Tree of Life Version.

5 THOUGHTS for REFLECTION Take some time this week to prayerfully consider and discuss with friends: § The “connection between the tablets”—love of God and neighbor—is profound. The Apostle John reminds us: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 Jn 4:20). Is there anyone in your life that you’ve been struggling to love? Why not reach out this week and take one, small step toward them: a text, a card, a call? Ask the Spirit for wisdom and courage—you’ll have all the grace you need!

§ Is the Son the “sun” (center) in your solar system (life)? Like the Children of Israel who took the blessings/spoils of Egypt and turned them into an idol/golden calf, we can let good things become ultimate things. Consider your time and finances—both can provide clues as to what is at the center of our lives. Take comfort in knowing that one “greater than Moses” intercedes on your behalf!

6 תשרפ בקע / NEXT WEEK’S READINGS: Parashat

TORAH Sunday / Deuteronomy 7:12-8:10 Monday / Deuteronomy 8:11-9:3 Tuesday / Deuteronomy 9:4-29 Wednesday / Deuteronomy 10:1-11 Thursday / Deuteronomy 10:12-11:9 Friday / Deuteronomy 11:10-21 Saturday / Deuteronomy 11:22-25

Prophetic Reading (): Isaiah 49:14-51:3

New Covenant Reading: Matthew 16:13-20

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