Sep 4, 2026 | Torat Devorah
The opening verse in this week’s parshah states: “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem, your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers – all the men of Israel” (Deuteronomy 29:9) . As readers of the parshah, we need to analyze why Moses had to single out “your heads and your children”, and why did he not simply say “all of you?” Moreover, what was the reason for this covenant? Just a few lines ago (28:69), Moses had written: “these are the words of the covenant, etc…” The Or Hachayyim comments that if Moses was anxious to include what is written in this portion in the covenant, he should have written this chapter sooner and everything would have been included in what are described as “the words of the covenant in 28:69.” It appears that what Moses wanted with this covenant was to make the Israelites responsible for one another with their mitzvah performances. Each Jew has to see to it that his fellow Jew does not stumble and commit sins. The proof that this is what Moses had in mind here is to be found in verse 28 of our chapter where the Israelites are relieved of their responsibility when the nature of the sin committed is one that is secret. The Torah emphasizes publicly committed sins; sins that must be deal with by ourselves. It is clear that that verse speaks of the mutual responsibility of one Jew for the conduct of another. Naturally, the degree to which we have to carry out this responsibility varies with our position in the community.
The question could be asked as to why Hashem made a new covenant with the Children of Israel before they entered the land? The Midrash explains that the utter isolation of their desert experience, and the fact that they were totally dependant on God’s miraculous Providence for their survival, may have coerced them to keep the Torah in the wilderness. God considered a new covenant as absolutely necessary when they were ready to enter Israel., the land of material abundance, for there was a grave danger that they might become lax in their mitzvah observance and forsake Hashem.
In Parshat Vayelech, Moses tells the Israelites that although he won’t be entering Israel with them, God will be with them and will triumph as long as they keep the covenant.
Moses calls Joshua to command him to settle the people in the land. The Alshekh states that Joshua’s function is to be viewed NOT as THE CONQUEROR. The Torah emphasizes that you will come with the people, instated of you will bring the people, as stated later in verse 23. Had Moses said to Joshua publicly in v.7, what he said to him privately in v.23, Joshua’s function could have been misunderstood. Since the statement in v.23 however, was not made ‘le’eynei bnai israel’ – in the presence of the Jewish people, no misunderstanding was likely. Joshua’s courage was needed, since, de facto, he was to be the leader. As long as the people view Joshua as one of them, they will be satisfied that God is doing the fighting for them. It states “The Lord will not let you weaken” (Deuteronomy 31:8). Joshua need not fear or be faint-hearted, because God will walk ahead of the nation.
~Devorah Abenhaim
Aug 28, 2026 | Torat Devorah
The last commandment contained in KI TAVO, based on the words “and to go in His ways” (Deut. 26:17) is to model our personal traits on the traits and attributes of G-d. “Just as He is merciful and gracious, so you should be merciful and gracious…” The refinement of our traits is the inner work in the heart that G-d asks of the Israelites, an essential part of the spiritual work of the month of Elul. The repetition of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in the Selichos (penitential prayers) recited in this season comes to arouse us to follow these attributes in our daily lives.
It is indeed the traits of kindness and compassion that are the marks of the true Israelite and the distinctive attributes of AM SEGULAH, the “treasured nation” (Deut. 26:18) whom G-d has chosen to observe His Torah and enjoy its blessings. The very exaltedness of this calling gives Israel a weighty responsibility. Thus the Covenant entails not only privileges and blessings but also heavy sanctions for its infringement. Our parshah impresses upon us the seriousness of the Covenant with its account of the solemn ceremony that was to accompany the people’s entry into the Land. The Torah was to be written on stone, and the twelve tribes were to stand on two mountains adjacent to Shechem, six on each mountain, while the priests and Levites standing in the middle recited a litany of blessings and curses.
The first reference to this ceremony was made at the beginning of parshas RE’EH, which we read four weeks ago, before Moses entered into the details of the law code of the Covenant in the trilogy of RE’EH, SHOFTIM and KI SEITZEI. Now, in KI TAVO, after completion of the law code, the Torah depicts this striking ceremony to impress upon us that Israel’s presence in the Land is not for the sake of having mere territory. The Land is given as the place in which to fulfill the Torah. It is when Israel dwells in the land in order to observe the commandments that they are “for praise and for a name and for glory. a holy nation” (Deut. 26:19).
On entry into the land, they were to set up great stones washed with lime and write the Torah on them “with clear explanation” (Deut. 27:8) — “in the seventy languages” (Rashi ad loc.). The fact that the Torah had to be written in all the languages of the world shows that the presence of Israel in the land is not merely of particular interest to Israel alone but of universal significance for the whole of mankind.
For this reason, the present series of commentaries is entitled UNIVERSAL TORAH even though many sections of the Torah deal with commandments that apply exclusively to Israel and not to the other Children of Noah. Nevertheless, numerous commandments and teachings in the Torah apply to all humanity. Moreover, Israel’s observance of the Torah and their possession of the Land of Israel as the place designed for this are in the interests of the whole of humanity. As expressed in the words of the rabbis, “If the nations understood the value to them of the Holy Temple, they would have surrounded it with armed guards”. All those whose actions and policies obstruct the building of the Temple are doing a terrible disservice to the entire world.
Rabbi Yehoshua Greenbaum explains: Israel and it’s people and Jews everywhere are the focus of interest for everyone in the world precisely because of our exalted mission as the Treasured Nation. The history of Israel and the Jews, with its great heights and terrible lows and degradation, is a lesson writ large for all humanity on the righteousness of G-d. He gave a Covenant with blessings and curses, and the infringement of the Covenant has brought all the curses listed in the parshah in all their terrible details.
Moshe gives a vivid description of a ceremony that was to take place as soon as the Israelites crossed into the Holy Land. The tribes were to be divided into two groups. One was to stand on Har Grizim for the blessings of our people and the other on Har Eval for the curses that will befall our people if they abandon the Torah.
When one reads further in the torah we see a very perplexing phenomenon. When the actual recitation of the blessings and curses are mentioned, only the curses are given and not the blessings.
Rabbi Menachem Raab comments:
Perhaps the Torah is telling us a message about conduct. The fact that the tribes were divided into two groups was to tell us that when the Jewish people are divided and not united then the blessings are hard to come by. When Jews are united and stand up for each other, the unity brings greater good fortune to our people. It is the old adage, “united we stand, divided we fall.”
~Devorah Abenhaim
Aug 14, 2026 | Torat Devorah
You shall not plant for yourselves an idolatrous tree any tree near the Altar of G-d.” (16:21)
In this week’s Torah portion we learn that it is forbidden to plant trees in the Beit Hamikdash, the Holy Temple. What is the reason for this prohibition? Wouldn’t trees have been a wonderful way to enhance the beauty of the Holy Temple? At one time, it was the custom of idolaters to plant beautiful trees, called asheirot, at the entrance of their temples. These trees would be venerated as holy. In the Book of Shoftim G-d commanded the Judge Gidon to “Destroy the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the asheira next to it.”
The Torah prohibited the planting of any tree in the Beit Hamikdash or its forecourt. The Torah Masters then extended the prohibition to include the entire Temple Mount.
However, apart from the connection to idol worship, there is a more subtle problem here.
When something is very beautiful, it’s always a challenge to place that thing in its correct perspective. Whether it’s a beautiful person or a beautiful view, or a beautiful tree, the nature of beauty is to say, “Look at me! I’m so beautiful” It’s difficult to look beyond the surface of the beauty. In Hebrew, one of the words for beauty is shapir. The name Shifra comes from this root, as does the common Jewish surname Shapiro. In the Book of Iyov it says, “By His breath the Heavens are spread (shifra)” (Iyov 26:13). Iyov describes how G-d’s breath spreads aside the cloud cover to reveal the Heavens beyond. The word to spread aside, to reveal is from that same root, shifra.
In Jewish thought, something is only beautiful to the extent that it reveals what is beyond, what is inside. The part of the body where the personality of a person, his inside, is revealed is the face. In Hebrew the word for face and inside is the same – pnim/panim.
In Jewish thought, a beauty that reveals nothing more than itself cannot be called beautiful. “Art for Art’s sake” has no place in the lexicon of Jewish thought. Jewish beauty is the revelation of the inner.
On Friday night, a Jewish husband sings a song of praise to wife called Aishet Chayil – a Woman of Valor. Towards the end of the poem it says, “Charm is false and beauty empty. A woman who fears G-d, she should be praised.” When charm and beauty don’t reveal their source, their pnim, then they are false and empty. Charm and beauty by themselves are false and empty, but when they are ennobled and animated by an interior life of holiness and spirituality they radiate the purpose of their gift.
Similarly in the Holy Temple, the beauty of a tree can lead the mind in one of two ways: It can either lead to thoughts of the kindness of the Creator of the tree, how He brought into being such a beautiful thing, or it can stop at the surface: “Wow! That’s beautiful!” Mother Nature is so beautiful that it’s easy to forget that Mother Nature has a Father.
~Devorah Abenhaim
Jul 31, 2026 | Torat Devorah, Uncategorized
The Torah commands us to love three entities: God, our neighbor, and the “ger.” The term “ger” is usually translated to mean “convert” or “proselyte,” but it literally means “stranger.” In the context in which love of the “ger” is commanded, the Torah (Devarim 10:19) uses a play on words: “Love the ‘ger’ because you were ‘gerim’ in the land of Egypt.” Ibn Ezra (Shmot 20:1) categorizes this latter commandment in the group of commands which are given along with a simple reason which does not require extra deliberation or a sought explanation. On the simplest level, the correct translation of the term “ger” in this context would be “stranger,” for the Israelites were strangers in Egypt, not converts to Egyptian religion and society. They were, in effect, outsiders.
Rashi invokes this verse when he describes how the Jews will view Moshe’s (not Jewish) father-in-law if he travels with them in the desert (Bamidbar 10:31). Others imply that the verse does refer to converts. The midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 8:2) records the following parable in describing the plight of a “ger.” A king has flocks of sheep, but one day a gazelle comes and joins them. The gazelle goes out with them to pasture and returns with them at night. When his shepherds tell him of this gazelle, the king takes great delight in watching the gazelle, seeing that it eats, that his shepherds don’t hit it to stay in the assigned areas, that it drinks first when the animals return. They ask him, “You have thousands of sheep over which you make no fuss. So why do you care so much about this one gazelle?” The king answers, “The sheep does what it wants. It goes out and comes back in the evening to sleep, as is its nature. But a gazelle is wild and does not normally live a domesticated life in the presence of sheep or humans. Shouldn’t we give tremendous credit and special attention to this one, who gave up an expansive wilderness and life among all the wild creatures to come and live in our yard?” The midrash concludes, “Shouldn’t we also give tremendous credit to the ‘ger’ who has chosen to leave his family and his people [the nations of the world] to join our ranks? This is why we must be very sensitive so as not to harm the ‘ger’ in any way.”
For the land… is not as the land of Egypt.. where you did sow your seed, and did water it by foot, like a vegetable garden… [rather] it drinks water of the rain of heaven (11:10-11)
“Rain” represents the reciprocal relationship between heaven and earth. “A vapor rises from the earth” to the heavens, and the heavens return it as rain which “quenches the face of the land” (Genesis 2:6). This represents the spiritual truth that “an arousal from below evokes an arousal from above” — that G-d responds to the efforts of man, reciprocating our prayers, yearnings and deeds with nurture from Above.
The Chassidic masters explain that this is the doctrine of the rain-watered land. Egypt, however, was nourished not by descending rain but by the overflow of the Nile, which would periodically flood the land. The spiritual “Egyptian” is one who does not recognize the Heavenly source of the blessings of life. He believes that all is generated from below — that everything he has and has achieved is of his own making. The people of Israel had been subjected to the Egyptian mentality for four generations. Thus they had to spend forty years in the desert during which they were subjected to a diametrically opposite set of circumstance, in which one’s daily bread descends from heaven and one’s own efforts have no effect on the result. Only after this lesson in the true source of life could they enter the Land that “drinks water of the rain of heaven” — where man’s efforts are crucial and significant, yet are permeated with a recognition of, and dependence upon, the true Source of All.
~Devorah Abenhaim
Jul 24, 2026 | Torat Devorah
The Parsha contains an apparent redundancy — it contains several admonitions to observe the laws taught by Moshe, but later states “and you shall do that which is right and good in the eyes of the Lord”. What new instruction does the latter verse add? Rashi and Rambam explain that this verse contains the additional command to do “right and good” — i.e., to go above and beyond the letter of the law in serving Hashem and aiding one’s fellow man. One who does so shows that he acts not only out of a sense of duty, or to gain rewards, but also out of a sincere desire to do Hashem’s bidding for its own sake. This ideal is illustrated by the following story: A man came to the Brisker Rav before Pesach and asked “Can I use milk instead of wine for the Four Cups?” The Brisker Rav didn’t reply; instead, he removed five rubles from his pocket and gave them to the man. The Rav’s wife asked “Would not one ruble have been more than enough money for him to buy wine?” “Perhaps,” responded the Rav, “but from his question, it was clear that he didn’t have money for meat either, for one can’t eat meat and use milk for the Four Cups. Therefore, I gave him enough money for both meat and wine for his Pesach Seder.”
“See that I have taught you statutes and laws as the Lord, my G-d, commanded me, to do so in the midst of the land.” Some philosophers advocate that if a person wants to live a life of sanctity and purity, he must flee from inhabited places and live alone in the wilderness. This is not, however, the path of the Torah. We are told to live an elevated life among other people. True sanctity and perfection is to live among other people and behave towards G-d and your fellow man in a manner consistent with Torah values (Arvai Nachal). The ideal of Torah is to bring sanctity and idealism into all aspects of human endeavor. If you live alone, you will be free from anger, envy, causing others pain, etc.; but, you will also be missing opportunities for kindness, compassion, charity, etc. Only when you are in the company of others can you fulfill allaspects of the Torah.
“And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and G-d delivered you from there . . . therefore he is commanding you to make the day of Shabbos.” Rabbi Avraham Twerski comments: Several times, the Torah refers to Shabbos with the word “to make,” as though there were something active about Shabbos, although it would seem that the salient feature of Shabbos is complete rest or lack of activity. In the repetition of the Ten Commandments, there is a marked change from the original recitation. There it says that we must observe Shabbos because G-d created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh.” Yet, here it says that we should observe in remembrance of our enslavement in Egypt, Hashem is commanding us to make the day of Shabbos. Why does the Torah give a different reason for Shabbos here? Perhaps it is because that here the Torah is not telling us why to observe Shabbos, but how not to observe it. The idea of a “day of rest” is essentially a secular concept. One rests so that he/she can “recharge” the batteries in order to increase one’s work efficiency for the following week. The day of rest is a means rather than an end. The Torah concept of Shabbos is just the reverse. One works six days in order to be able to have a Shabbos. Exhaustion is not the reason for Shabbos any more than it was for G-d’s resting on the seventh day. Shabbos is a day of spiritual growth and development. It is a day when through prayer and the study of Torah, one should be able to create a new self, a person more refined than one had been heretofore. Shabbos is passive only in the sense of abstinence from work, but that abstinence is not sufficient. It must be used to enable oneself to make oneself into something finer and more spiritual person. This is what the Torah means by repeatedly using the expression “to make” the Shabbos. Make the Shabbos an active day of spiritual achievement and creation.
~Devorah Abenhaim
Jul 17, 2026 | Torat Devorah
This Shabbat we begin the reading of the last of the Five Books of Torah – the book of Devarim. In this book, Moses is the speaker as indicated by the fact that it states “Hashem spoke to me” (1:42, 2:9, 3:2). Whereas in the rest of the Toah discourses begin by stating “Hashem spoke to Moses”. According to Nachmanides, the book of Devarim may bThis Shabbat we begin the reading of the last of the Five Books of Torah – the book of Devarim. In this book, Moses is the speaker as indicated by the fact that it states “Hashem spoke to me” (1:42, 2:9, 3:2). Whereas in the rest of the Tore divided into three main sections: 1) 1:1-3:29. This section contains the words of reprimand to the people. He discusses the experience of the children of Israel – the first generation – those who left Egypt, and how they stood on the threshold of the Promised Land only to sin and defer their entry for thirty eight years. This section also witnesses Moses addressing the second generation; those who were permitted to enter the land of Canaan. 2) 4:1-26:15. This division contains the main subject matter of the book – a recapitulation and elaboration of the statutes and ordinances. 3) 26:16-end of the book. This section concludes the book with blessings, curses, and a song.
The Torah reading begins by stating: “These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel” (1:1). The word ‘these’ or in Hebrew ‘eileh’ is restrictive, especially in regard to what has been written previously. The Or Hachayyim explains the seeing Moses recorded in this book only words which he had spoken on his own initiative, the Torah wishes to emphasizethat only the admonition recorded in this book were spoken by Moses on his own initiative. We are told in Megillah 31 that Moses personally composed the curses recorded in this book, and that even legislation which Moses repeated in this book he had not been commanded to repeat, but did so on his own volition. The Torah was concerned that we might conclude that just as Moses had felt free to say things of his own volition in this book, he might have done so in the previous four books. This is why the book commences with the “Eileh devarim”, “ONLY these are the words Moses spoke of his own volition, none other.”
Moses addresses the judges of the people and reviews the laws of how to deal justly and rightly with the people that come before them. In our parshah, we have directives of how judges are to judge, and later on in Devarim, we have more instructions. It states later on in Devarim: Thou shalt not pervert judgement; thou shalt not respect persons” (Devarim 16:19). Similarly, in Leviticus 19:15 it states: “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgement; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor favour the person of the mighty, but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.” Nechama Leibowitz , in her introduction to the book of Deuteronomy comments that our Sages have taught us not to regard any text in the Torah as merely repetitive, and they elicit for us the separate and exclusive messages of each word and phrase. She examines the implications of the repeated references to favouring the “poor” and “mighty”. The word “poor” does not only mean the destitute in worldly goods. Here is the interpretation of our sages on the text in Exodus 23: If a disreputable and a decent person stand before you in judgement do not say that since he is a disreputable, I shall view his cause unfavourably , but “thou shalt not pervert the judgement of thy poor” – he who is poor in good works (mitzvot). The judge, Leibowitz explains, has to limit his consideration to the parties standing before him in court and take no account of a person’s past, but weigh up the matter objectively on the basis of the facts presented to him. We find a similar duplication in the case of the admonition not to favour the poor man. In Exodus, we are bidden not to favour the poor man in his cause; in Leviticus not to respect the person of the poor nor favour the person of the mighty. Malbim, who specializes in clarifying the subtle differences in apparently synonymous expressions in the Torah directed his expertise to explaining our text: He says that the phrase ‘nesi’at panim’ (“lifting up the face” translated in our text by “respect the person”) implies overlooking some transgression or unsavoury matter. The word “favour” comes from a Hebrew root meaning external beauty (hadar) referring to whatever is attractive in man’s eyes. It is the way of the world to make allowances for poverty and to pay respect to external appearances. The Torah therefore forewarned us against both these pitfalls. But it could be argued that though forbidden to make allowances for the poor in the question of a lawsuit, it is permissible to pay him honour and give him respect, so that his opponent should forego some of his claim. For this reason, the Torah states that it is forbidden, too, to favour i.e. to honour the poor in his cause.
~Devorah Abenhaim
