This is the Parasha with more Mitzvot than any other. Of all of them, what is the Mitzva with special resonance at this time of year? I would say, Nedarim, vows. Yom Kippur will begin with Kol Nidre, nullifying vows. Why is that such a focus as the Chag begins?
The taking of a vow is the exercise of great power. A person can make something forbidden at the level of a Torah...Read more...
We’ve reached the point in Devarim where the Mitzvot come hot and heavy. One verse after the other. Sometimes more than one to a verse. The Mishna in Makkot says that it is a Zchut, a merit, for the Jewish people that there are so many Mitzvot. People might think that it makes it too likely that people will violate a Mitzva if there are so many of them. That’s hardly a...Read more...
Devarim includes the retelling of many stories. They often appear with an extra detail. This is not because Mpshe has embellished. It is because there are details which were not as relevant in the first telling but are salient for the message Moshe is trying to get across now. This is true in the retelling of the story of the Golden Calf.
To begin, it’s important to establish that it is in...Read more...
We don’t speak before Eicha or Kinnot at night. But it’s Erev Tisha B’Av, so I’d like to use this time to introduce things.
There is a phrase in the prophet Yirmiyahu (6:26), in a verse that predicts the destruction of the Temple. He tells Klal Yisrael that they will don sackcloth and wallow in ashes in what he calls “Avel Yachid,” a phrase that is hard to...Read more...
