Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat DevarimRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Devarim · דברים · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:04Parashat Devarim and Sefer Devarim.0:08This week's parashah has 105 pesukim.0:12A new book, a new sefer, Sefer Devarim, in general reviews all the events and all the0:21mitzvot that the Jewish people had from Mitzrayim until the border of Eretz0:26Yisrael. Now, Sefer Devarim can be divided up really into three parts.0:31The first part, which begins from Parashat Devarim until the middle of Parashat0:37Re'eh, speaks about the events when Moshe Rabbeinu recounts the events that the Jewish people0:41experienced from Mitzrayim until where they were at the border of Eretz0:45Yisrael. From the middle of Parashat Re'eh until Parashat Ki Tavo, the Torah reviews the mitzvot that the0:55Jewish people had. And finally, from Parashat Nitzavim until the end, is basically Moshe's last words1:01before he passes away, preparing the Jewish people for their future and for their old-time future.1:07This week's parashah, Parashat Devarim, is always read before Tisha1:11B'Av, and therefore the name is known as Shabbat Chazon because of the haftarah,1:15which begins Chazon Yeshayahu ben Amotz.1:17And there's a connection, this Chazal bring down, between the parashah, the haftarah,1:22and the Shabbat Av.1:23We find that the word Eichah is mentioned in all three places.1:29In this week's parashah, it says,1:33Eichah esa levadi. In haftarah, also mentions the word Eichah in the haftarah, and Yeshayahu says,1:41Eichah hayetah lezonah. How could it be that this nation became what it became?1:44And finally, of course, Eichah yashvah badad, which is the first pasuk in Megillat1:50Eichah, which we read on Tisha1:51B'Av. This is the link, at least as the remez, from the three things: Shabbat1:58Chazon, Parashat Devarim, to the haftarah, and to Megillat Eichah on Tisha2:03B'Av. The topics that we have, we divide the parashah into four topics,2:06and they are the intro to Moshe's tochachah, Moshe's rebuke.2:11The second part of this week's parashah, the Torah tells us about appointing the judges.2:16The third is when Moshe sent out the spies to Eretz Yisrael.2:19The story, he'll be recounting the stories of when Moshe sent out the spies.2:23And finally, the Torah speaks about also the fourth part, which is the major chunk of2:30the parashah. Torah speaks about approaching Eretz and coming in.2:32As an overview of the whole parashah, like we said, from Devarim until2:36mid-Parashat Re'eh, the Torah is recounting the events of what the Jewish people had experienced.2:42This week's parashah, the theme is Moshe recounts from the time Bnei Yisrael2:48left Mitzrayim and approaching Eretz Yisrael.2:51So therefore, a lot of these stories, if not all of them, are repeated.2:55We already know them, and they're still very familiar to2:57us because we just saw them in Parashat Bamidbar. The parashah of the3:03meraglim, where the Torah talks about the meraglim, that's already Parashat Shelach.3:06When the Torah talks at the end of approaching Eretz Yisrael,3:09most of these stories are found in Parashat Chukat,3:12and therefore they will sound very familiar.3:14But still, the parashah has to be discussed,3:17and we'll speak about, be'ezrat Hashem, about the topics in depth a little bit more.3:22In this week's parashah, we have only two mitzvot,3:25and both of them are mitzvot lo3:28ta'aseh, and they number 414 and 415 in the Sefer3:34HaChinuch. And let's get to the3:36parashah. The first part of the parashah, the first couple of pesukim,3:39Moshe's introduction to the3:40tochachah. And the Chachamim say that Moshe wanted to give reproof to the Jewish people3:45before the end of his life.3:46So therefore, what he did, he gathered all the Jewish people together.3:50Why did he gather all the Jewish people together?3:52Because he didn't want anyone to say,3:55If I was there, I would have told Moshe Rabbeinu something else.3:58Now everybody's here.3:59Whoever has to speak, speak now.4:03Also, Moshe did it at the end of his life,4:05as the parashah says right in the beginning.4:07This was done on ashtei asar chodesh4:14be'echad lachodesh, on the 40th year, in the 11th month, in the beginning of the month,4:17known as Rosh Chodesh Shevat,4:21just 37 days before the passing of Moshe Rabbeinu.4:25And Moshe did this at the end of his life4:27because he learned from Yaakov4:28Avinu. Yaakov Avinu, before giving it to his children,4:31before telling his children where they went wrong,4:34he did it only at the end of his life,4:37as it says in parashat4:40Vayechi. And then you'll read the parashah, the Torah,4:42in the beginning just gives remazim,4:45hints to the4:46tochachah. And how do the hints come?4:47The hints come in names of places.4:50Torah says4:51these are the words that were said in the midbar,4:53in the4:57Aravah, מול סוף, בין פארן, בין תופל, ולבן, וחצרות, ודי זהב. And the Gemara points out4:58that we don't find these locations anywhere in the Torah.5:01What is the Torah talking about?5:03And the explanation is5:05that these are only hinting to the events,5:08not the places,5:08but the events that have happened by the Jewish people.5:13And finally,5:15the tochachah was done by the board of5:17Eretz Yisrael. Why?5:18So this way the Jewish people shouldn't say,5:20Oh, you know why Moshe is telling us off?5:22Very simple,5:23because he probably can't get us in,5:25and that's why he wants to tell us5:28off, our fault, we5:30sin, therefore. But really he can't get us in.5:31So Moshe put them right by the border,5:34gathered everybody,5:34and he told them5:35right before the end of his life,5:36and he rebuked them,5:37and he told them off,5:39and he showed them,5:40You should know, you're walking in right now.5:41There's nothing holding you back,5:42but you should know5:43where you went wrong,5:44that you should fix it5:46in order to prevent any problems in the future.5:48And we move on to the second part of the parashah.5:51Moshe recounts of how he appointed judges.5:54And this comes in here,5:55and a lot of mefarshim explain,5:57this was the beginning5:59of the slipping down from the Jewish people.6:04In Parashat Yitro,6:04already right after Matan Torah,6:05we find that Yitro6:06told Moshe to appoint judges,6:08and Moshe told this idea to the Jewish people.6:11They all said, You know, fantastic idea.6:13That was already the mistake of the Jewish people.6:17They should have said,6:20No, Moshe, we want to learn from you.6:22You're6:24Klal Yisrael. You're the first one to hear from Hashem.6:26We'd rather learn from you6:27than to learn from other people.6:29But, like the Chazal point out,6:31the Bnei Yisrael actually6:32didn't want to have such a close relationship with Moshe.6:34They were scared that Moshe might be too6:36machmir, he might be too much for them,6:37so they didn't want that connection.6:40Already, once they disassociated themselves with Moshe,6:43even on a small level,6:45already they started slipping down,6:47and that's where we find in this week's parashah6:49the word echa.6:50Echa6:54esa levadi torchachem vmasachem vrivechem. Moshe complains,6:55How can I carry all your burdens?6:56How can I carry all your6:59goings-on? So therefore,7:00Bnei Yisrael made that mistake7:02by choosing not to be with Moshe,7:04but rather to learn from Moshe's students.7:07We go on to the third part of this week's parashah.7:09Moshe rebukes the Jewish people,7:11reminds them of right after7:14they came out of7:17Mitzrayim. They sent the spies,7:19and those spies came back7:20and destroyed everything.7:22And Hashem was ready to take the Jewish people.7:24Eleven days it took.7:26Hashem could have done it in less than two weeks.7:28He could have taken the Jewish people from7:30Mitzrayim to come to Eretz7:32Yisrael. However, the problem was7:35that they wanted spies.7:37Right after Matan Torah,7:38they decided,7:38We want to send spies.7:39We want to spy out the land.7:40And Moshe rebukes them. He tells them,7:41You should know,7:42this is not only the spies.7:44This is all of you.7:45All of you wanted spies.7:48And the reason is7:49because you don't believe in Hashem.7:52Strong words that Moshe tells them.7:53You didn't believe in Hashem.7:54He guided you until now,7:55but you didn't have full trust in Him.7:57You want to know what's— Eretz Yisrael.8:00Be like, and therefore you asked me to send spies, but the spies ruined everything. They came back from spying the land,8:06and they came back on Leil Tisha B'Av. And here we have another connection from the parashah to the week coming up,8:12to the week where we mourn the Beit HaMikdash on Leil8:16Tisha B'Av. And this was the first thing that marked the calendar8:19on Tisha B'Av. The spies came back and they told the negative report of Eretz Yisrael, which caused all the Jewish people to cry and to mourn.8:27And Hashem says, This night will be established as a night of crying forever, which we see from our history.8:34And Hashem swore that nobody from that generation will come into Eretz Yisrael except for Kalev ben Yefuneh and8:42Yehoshua bin Nun, because these two who weren't spies, and they came back and they stood firm in what they saw, and they said that the land is good.8:51And even though the spies were all ridiculing them, and even the people were ready to kill them,8:55but still they stood firm with Hashem and Moshe Rabbeinu, and therefore their zechut is that they will go into Eretz Yisrael.9:04After the gezeirah, Moshe reminds them of how there was mapilim. There are people who wanted to go into Eretz Yisrael anyway.9:10However, Hashem was not with them, and they ended up being killed by the9:14Emori. As a result, the Jewish people stayed in that place, which was called Kadesh, for 19 years, 19 years,9:20and eventually it took them 40 years in the desert until that whole generation was wiped out and a new generation was ready to walk into Eretz Yisrael.9:29We move on now to the fourth part of the parashah, which is the final part of the parashah, but it's really pretty much the majority of the parashah.9:37And Moshe recounts of how Bnei Yisrael were approaching Eretz Yisrael to come into Eretz Yisrael.9:41First they tried to go through Edom, the land of Esav, where they stayed by9:50Se'ir, and Hashem tells Moshe that you should know, the time has not come. For you to conquer Edom, for to conquer Esav,9:56this part still belongs to Esav. You want to walk through them; if they let you, fine, but you should not take war with them.10:02And as we know from Parshat Va'etchanan, that the king of Edom refused. He didn't allow the Jewish people to walk through his land,10:08so they had to go around. And what the Torah doesn't tell us in Parshat Chukat is that they went also to Moav,10:14and Moav also didn't want to let them in. And Hashem again told them, Do not fight with them. Do not go to war with Moav.10:23Their time also has not come yet, and therefore they had to go up through the land of Sihon.10:28And again through Sihon they requested to go in, but this time Sihon said, We're going to go to war.10:34And like we explained in Parshat Chukat, Sihon was the protector of Eretz Yisrael, hired by the other nations.10:40So he came to war against the Jewish people, and that war was won by the Jewish people, and they took all his land.10:47Afterwards, Og comes to fight with the Jewish people. Why? Because he wants to take revenge10:51that the Jewish people killed his brother Sihon. And again, the Jewish people were told to be strong, not to be scared, and they defeated Og as well.11:00And that land, which belonged to Og and Sihon, was eventually given to Shevet Reuven and Gad, like we just learned in Parashat Matot.11:11That whole area was given to Shevet Reuven and Gad on condition that they go with the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael,11:19help them conquer the land and settle, and then only then they could go back to get their portion outside of Eretz Yisrael.11:26And finally, the Torah concludes with Moshe being mechazek Yehoshua, strengthening Yehoshua, because Yehoshua was going to be the eventual leader.11:37And therefore Moshe says the following words:11:42Veti hoshua, atzaveti baita hi lemor. And to Yehoshua I commanded him, and I told him,11:47You saw with your own eyes what Hashem did to all these kings.11:52Sichon and Og were not small warriors, not small kingdoms.11:56These were giants. These were very powerful nations.12:00You saw what Hashem did. You saw how we wiped them out. We took all their land.12:04And the Midrash explains that there was really other nations that came and helped them to fight.12:12You should know, Hashem is going to do the same exact thing to all the kingdoms that you're going to walk into them,12:18because Yehoshua is the leader, and because he's going to take this nation inside,12:22Moshe had to be12:24mechazek him, not just by words and speeches,12:26but he showed him. He saw with his own eyes.12:28He should be strong, have confidence in Hashem, have bitachon in Hashem.12:32Hashem will do the same things as long as you keep the Torah.12:38Don't be scared of the goyim,12:40because you're not fighting your wars.12:42It's Hashem who's fighting for them.12:43And those are the words of how we finish the12:48parashah. The lesson of this week's parashah is,12:52we said already that Sefer Devarim is a book of review.12:57Moshe reviews with the Jewish people all the forty years that they went through the desert13:02and all the mitzvot that they went through.13:05And so too, in this time that we're reading Sefer13:08Devarim, we also have to review.13:10At the end of the forty-year journey of the Jewish people,13:14Moshe reviewed with them everything13:15to see what they did, their mistakes, and what they can learn from it13:19and how to fix it in the future.13:20So too, we're approaching the end of the year.13:24We're approaching the end of the year.13:26We're seven weeks away from Rosh Hashanah.13:31We're less than a month away from Chodesh Elul.13:34We're very close. Already13:36the end of the year is here.13:37Even though it's summertime and it's hard to get into it,13:40but a person has to know it's the end of the year,13:41and it's time for us also to review where we're holding.13:45What mistakes have we done this year?13:48What can we do to fix that the next year should be a smooth ride, a smooth sailing,13:52like we mentioned last week?13:53The 42 travels of the Jewish people hint to also the travels of each person per year,14:00like14:02the Sefarim explain. Together with all the travels that are not mentioned in the Torah,14:05when the Jewish people went back,14:06it comes out to around 50 travels, or 50 places,14:10and those are the 50 weeks of the year that we all travel.14:15And just like Moshe reviewed everything to see what we could learn and what we could fix,14:19so too we must review our past year to see what we could learn from it14:26and what we could fix, that we should have a smooth ride next year.14:54Shabbat shalom.