Prayer does NOT work?! 2025 FB post
What!? How could that be?!
That seems to be the message when Moses prays to be allowed into the Land and is rebuffed [see the very beginning of this week's portion, Deut 3:23].
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But the real message of course is that prayer DOES work, just that it is not MEANT to 'work' in the sense of achieving the goals we set for ourselves, or to satisfy our requests however 'spiritual' they may be, and which we convey to God via 'prayer'.
And what makes it work? That too is in this week's portion - but it is an implied message in the mystical interpretation of a key phrase.
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But wait! Didn't Rivka and Yitschak (Rebecca & Isaac) get what they prayed for? They prayed for a child and were answered by God with the birth of their twins (Jacob & Esav).
However I would say that this is not a Biblical indication that every prayer for a child is answered, obviously this does not happen. But I would even say that Rivka & Yitzchak did NOT receive children as a result of that prayer - since it was already decreed that Yitschak would have a child - it was already promised by God to Abraham "ki beyitschak yikarei lecha zara" "your seed will come from Yitschak".
It seems that praying was part of the condition for the actuation of the promise, since Rivka was incapable of childbearing. So although it was necessary for them to pray in order that the promise come to fruition, it was not the prayer for a child which brought about the birth of the child, it only removed the obstacle to the fulfilment of the promise.
So we cannot assume that since their prayer was answered in the sense of their request being fulfilled, that this is the purpose of prayer, that this always results when we pray for something specific.
Indeed, Abraham surely relayed to Isaac the promise of God regarding future seed, and so Isaac was aware that it was alread decreed, and he must have told RIvka about this, and so when it didn't happen they understood that prayer was necessary. So the purpose of prayer is something deeper that "receiving what is not meant for you, by praying for it".
indeed, we God DID 'answer Moses's prayer', and one can even claim that Moses WAS granted aspects of his request - but there was more to it that just that:
1) It has been pointed out that Moses requested "let me go across and see the land" and God indeed granted half the request, to 'see the land' (from afar, by ascending to the top of a mountain). So perhaps this is teaching that indeed we DO receive some part of what we requested! [However whether we ourselves can measure the degree to which prayer achieves some percent of what we requested is a matter of statistical analysis, which is not the topic of my message here.]
2) Furthermore, Traditional teachings tell us that Moses' prayer did have great effect: his praying so fervently to be allowed to cross over was effective in helping others, ie gave merit to enable the Jewish people to across to the Land successfully; this was of course a major part of what he wanted from God in general, that his People should achieve their mission, and if he would go along (evenif not as leader) perhaps he felt that the People would be more successful in their mission. Moses however of course did not live to see how his prayer helped them, so we can learn from this that we cannot always see the actual effect of our prayer, and because of that we might erroneously think that it was for naught.
3) And of course as was pointed out extermely poignantly by a berieved mother (of a kidnaped and murdered soldier in israel long ago), that God always answers our prayers. Just that sometimes the answer is no.
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Nevertheless: as I said, there was more to it than that. So now we'll see:
i. What prayer DOES achieve;
ii. Why it works;
iii. What to do to make it work.
and how it worked for Moses.
i. Prayer achieves closeness to God
There is another deep message in the story, and in the last point above (#3), that should not be missed: Prayer 'works' in a way that is beyond the issue of whether the answer was yes or no, or to what percent we received of what we requested - the deep aspect of prayer is that God hears our prayers, in other words that God can be 'accessed' - directly without any intermediary, and by anyone not just some rabbi or special intermediary - the Tradition taught by Moses was that this story is included in the Torah to teach ALL OF US about prayer, that this aspect is true of anyone who is created in the image of God, whose soul was breathed in to them, as recounted in Genesis - in other words all of us! And the result of particularly deep prayer is that we are opened in a way which makes it possible for us to be able to feel God's presence (of course God is omnipresent, just that we are not always open enough to feel it, and prayer opens us, so that our soul-level is accessed, and the soul is 'God's breath' so to speak, as in Genesis).
Indeed, Moses was rewarded with the greatest gift someone praying can have - God responded directly! God was in actual contact with him!
That is the amazing message, that if we connect ourselves sufficiently, we can experience prayer as a two-way connection.
What an incredible closeness that can give rise to - surely this is beyond the fulfillment of an item on our request-list.
This is one of the deep messages from the episode of Moses's refused request to enter the Land, and why the fact that God's refusal of his request is included in the Torah.
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ii. En od mil'vado:
Why it works: The mystical basis (for this teaching, and for why it works)
This week's portion contains the all-important phrase "en od milvado" "there is nothing else but God".
From Genesis ("And God blew [the divine breath/spirit] into..") we know we are at essence souls/the breath/spirit of God, and so the physical universe including our physical body is a mask covering the true reality, ie the spiritual realm. This powerful message of Genesis is amplified in this week's portion's phrase 'only God exists': via the Traditional teachings relating to this passage we are being told a deep mystical message, that (here I am paraphrasing/interpreting) since ONLY GOD exists, and our essence is of God's 'breath'/spirit, therefore there is nothing that can separate us from our essence, from the essence of all reality, ie God - even though God breathed out into the dirt to create humanity so it seems as though we are separated, in truth there is noting but God.
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We see a whole physical universe about us seemingly working according to "laws of nature" etc, so even if we acknowledge that God exists and that we are created in the divine image, that God's spirit is our essence we may nevertheless usually feel that God is away somewhere, distant from us. However we are told in this parsha that "there is only God", in other words the universe and laws of nature are reflections of God or illusions, THERE IS ONLY GOD, so there is no 'distance' between us and God.
So of course if we are sufficiently deeply connected to our essence, we not only can 'reach God' but in fact when we reach out to God it is a "two-way street", God and we are connected. And that is what 'prayer' is all about, not 'getting what we ask for' - and this is what Moses is teaching us. Paraphrasing his words in this sense, the passage would become: "I asked to be allowed to enter the Land, but I was refused...but GOD HEARD ME AND SPOKE TO ME!!!"
And that is of course what the 'true us', our soul, REALLY needs, connection to God, so in that sense we DO get what 'we' really need : we get what our soul is asking for rather than what we as a body asked for - eg Moses requesting to enter the Land - thinking it was what we needed, but his soul requested and received the deepest connection with God, and death via a 'kiss of God'.
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iii. Prayer as the Means to this goal
However, the above is 'only' information - that only God exists and that we can reach out to God and have a connection - the important issue is how do we actually get to FEEL this? How do we connect at that level?
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The answer is that what separates us from the divine essence is our ego, and the antidote is humility. The more we humble ourselves via prayer - earnest supplication as Moses describes - the more we shed of the outer 'mask hiding the true reality' and will be connected to our essence, our soul, which is of God, and then the more we will feel that indeed there is only God, and so we will be even more deeply connected, and then can experience the two-way connection.
The mask is our ego - not our self-worth which should never be doubted, but our natural predilection to thinking of everything through its relation to ourselves (it is said in various traditions that even the wish "I want to be holy" is a statement of ego, ie about one's own desires). And since we are human, the way to get to a lowered ego, a disolving of the mask, is via the kind of other-centered actions of kindness like Abraham to the guests, and via prayer. Prayer starts with first asking requests for ourselves, our health and well-being etc, which then puts us in a frame of mind which is cognizant of the existence of God, affirming that God is listening, and that all depends in the end on God's Will; and then prayer for others including all the Jewish People and the Land of Israel, and all humanity; and all this other-centeredness leads us slowly towards a lowered-ego-state, a lesser concentration on 'me', a lowering of the mask separating us from our essence. What an incredible closeness when our soul is in contact with its origin.
And THAT is what prayer is about, it is a means of:
a.) getting into the frame of mind required in order
b.) to lower our ego sufficiently
c.) for us to become connected to our essence
d.) so that automatically we feel God's closeness (which was always present, but not felt due to the mask)
e) which is what the real we (ie our soul) really wants....
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Of course we can also ask for ourselves, our own needs, but to obtain the deepest connection requires lowering the separation, and a good way to lower it is to ask sincerely for others.
And God is telling us - via dictating these words to Moses - that it works, ie God is telling us in the Torah that by following this method, God will be there at the other end of our phone call.
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What a gift it is to be connected to our essence, the Divine source of our soul.
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Conclusion: May we be blessed to be able to achieve the appropriate other-centeredness, simply helping other human with their most basic physical/emotional needs and situations, and thereby merit/enable this direct connection!
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ADD new: analyze different cases in chumash and nach: where God promised a certain outcome but made it contingent on prayer or other action, eg Yischok praing for Rivka to have chihldren, it is answered but this was predetemrined so it is not an example for us (unless we assume it is predetermined for us, but I dont think that it is legitiminate to learn out from the story that we should make that assumptionabout ourselves)
In some cases, it was for the Jewish people as a whole...
M"R prayed for Miriam hi ssiter to be healed, but this was a special case where they were being punished for insulting HIM< so his prayer helped, and also God wanted to make a point dirrectly to them, he spke to them, referenceing M"R's status, so this is not at all the case in general for some generic individivudaul.
Go through all cases....
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A Deeper look at some of the "Ten Commandments":
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This week's portion contains Moses' review of the ten "utterances" ("commandments" as translated in English).
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Analysis of #1,2 & 4:
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#1 is "I am the Lord Your God". Is this a command?First of all, the Torah presents these - several times - as "the ten utterances" not "the ten commandments". And to discuss this issue, we need to differentiate between the experience of Sinai, of hearing words uttered by God, in contrast to the experience of reading the description of those experience and utterances.
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Indeed this first "utterance" is considered a commandment according to most Jewish Traditional sources, and one can perhaps better understand why this is so by seeing this "command/utterance" in the context of these related Traditional ideas:
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*All the Jewish souls of today were present at Sinai;
* At Sinai all those present had a very high level of 'prophetic connection' to God;
* The souls of those at Sinai escaped their bodies as they heard these first words due to the humanly-unbearable level of revelation;
* After hearing the first words. "I am the Lord your God", the Jewish People begged God to speak via Moses so that they would not die;
* The revelation at Sinai was meant to 'last' for all time, ie to leave a lasting impression on all the souls present.
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The actual experiences of the jewish People at Sinai vs reading about them as told in the Torah:
For the people there at the time, and therefore for the souls of all the Jewish People even today (including those who later converted and therefore whose souls were there as well), what was experienced when hearing these words directly from God was far beyond what our human brains can grasp as we read them.
The first utterance was a direct "introduction intrusion" by God, into the souls of all present, all the Jewish People today and the past and future, and was meant to leave a lasting impression; it was a communication which was a bonding, and constitutes a commitment on both sides to a relationship that is eternal, and with that, also a commitment to 'contractual' aspects, and thus to obligations.
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In these senses one can understand the first utterance"I am the Lord your God.." as being far more than what it seems to someone simply reading the words...whether or not the term "commandment" as commonly understood is a useful or correct term to use, one can understand the traditional attitude to these words as definitely not of lesser status than the other 'utterances' (quite the reverse!), nor as being merely some type of prologue - instead it is considered as a mutual commitment of a binding nature (and therefore also a "commandment-utterance").
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.#2: "Seeing sound"?!
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Moses says repeatedly that the people should not create images of God, and that "at Sinai you did not see anything, there were only sounds" , but this can be a references to the synesthesic experience of the Jewish People at Sinai, where it says "the whole nation saw the sounds" (there were shofar sounds etc, though there was no-one blowing a shofar, and they saw these and other sounds).
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In other words, God's 2nd commandment and the warning words of Moses are meant to remind/teach the people that since what they saw were sounds, not visual images of actual entities, the people should realize that it is impossible to make a visual image representing God, and that whenever they 'saw' something celestial, as is enigmatically (shockingly!) related in connection with the 'throne' etc), it was not an entity they were visually capturing, but a sound or other aspect which was transformed into a visual image, according to the limit of their spiritual/prophetic capacity.
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When the nation was at Sinai and heard God speak to them, and heard God's utterance "I am the Lord your God" they also saw accompanying sounds - ie experienced a visual impression of the sounds - so it was important at that point for the 2nd utterance to be about not crafting visual images to represent the divine..
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#4: "To do Shabbat":
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The very end of the creation account tells of shabbat, and the very last words of that are "which God created to do": where "to do" = La'asot": "And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because in it God rested from all God's work, which God created to do", with that last phrase being a rather strange wording which led to translations like: "which God in creating had made".
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However in this week's portion, we have God including in the Torah the words of Moses repeating the 10 commandments with variations from the record of its occurrence - we are told "keep shabbat....remember that you were a slave in Egypt and God took you out... and therefore God commanded you to do ("la'asot") the day of the shabbat".
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Why the reference to the exodus from Egypt in this re-telling of the 10 commandments?
Why did Moses say this and why when God wrote the Torah via Moses did God tell Moses that these words should be included? And why "to do"? [And God uses this phrase via Moses in the last passage of the week's portion, Deut 7:11]
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God's inclusion in the Torah of these words about the Exodus, is perhaps meant to help us understand the reference in Genesis: There, God rests but does NOT command humanity to rest (check it out!), however those last words in the creation account "which God created TO DO [la'asot']"can be a reference to the divine intention at that time of creation regarding a later point in history - at Sinai, after the Exodus - when there would be a command 'TO DO the shabbat'.
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Thus in Genesis we are told that God creates the shabbat and blesses it as a day of resting, "which God created to do" in other words with the intent to later command that it be so kept, & 'done', by the Jewish People, after they accepted this covenant at Sinai after exiting Egypt and slavery.
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May we be blessed to feel the shabbat energy every week!
The Content and Order of the Ten Commandments:
A Modern Rephrasing of the Ten Commandments
1. The first commandment underlies the rest: there is an absolute morality, a good and evil, and a moral imperative to follow the good: in Biblical terms, there is a God, and God commands to obey these rules (In the two version of the 10 commandments, God is creator of all and that is the surce of Divine authority, and God is the one who gave freedom to those receiving the commands, and these commandments are their minimal obligation.
2. The second commandment: no other moral code than the one presented here is acceptable: don't set up political and national systems which turn ito religions: in Biblical terms, there is only one God, you should have no other gods.
3. The third commandment: don't set up your own priorities and false values as though they are divine, and don't use religion in ways which counter the intent of these commandments. in Biblical terms, don;t take the name of God in vain.
4. The fourth commandment: maintain awareness of the order of priorities in life, have time to reflect on why the universe exists and why you exist; allow everyone some time off from worldly pursuits so that all can reflect; divide your time periods into 7-day cycles (a Biblical innovation) with one day off for workers, bosses, everyone: in Biblical terms, keep the Sabbath.
Commandments 1-4 involve Humanity's relationship with itself, societal obligations etc. The fifth commandment involves family, and the rest involve the individual obligation to other individuals.
5. The fifth commandment: creating and maintaning a good relationship with your parents is a key to a life worth living; have respect for an authority which truly cares about you: in Biblical terms: honor thy father and mother ['in order to lengthen your days'].
The rest of the commandments, 6-10, involve the individual's obligation to other individuals, starting with the most severe to the lesser severe, from actions through words, to thought (and osibly intent to commit a criminal act).
6. The totally non-reversible and completely final act of murder;
7. Acts of personal (sexual) violation (especially adultery);
יא שָׁמוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ, ה אֱלֹקַיךָ.
11 Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD thy God commanded thee.
יב שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד, וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ.
12 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work;
יג וְיוֹם, הַשְּׁבִיעִי--שַׁבָּת, לַה אֱלֹקַיךָ: לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה כָל-מְלָאכָה אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ-וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ-וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְשׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרְךָ וְכָל-בְּהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ--לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתְךָ, כָּמוֹךָ.
13 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou.
יד וְזָכַרְתָּ, כִּי עֶבֶד הָיִיתָ בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיֹּצִאֲךָ ה אֱלֹקַיךָ מִשָּׁם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה; עַל-כֵּן, צִוְּךָ ה אֱלֹקַיךָ, לַעֲשׂוֹת, אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת. {ס"
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Old vort: Asher boro elokim la’asos: what is la’asos? It is shabbos bec Shabbos is tachlish ma’aseh shamayim va’aretz, so God made the world for shabbos.
New addition: la’asos is shabbos bec: "la'asos es hashabos ledorosom" [and it is 'asiyah':"(ois hi)...oso es hashamayim.. (shovas vayinofash)" vaeschanan: " שָׁמוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ, כָל-מְלָאכָה אַתָּ , לַעֲשׂוֹת, אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת"
.shmos 31:16 ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת לעשות את השבת לדרתם ברית עולם
א וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ, וְכָל-צְבָאָם.
1 And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
ב וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה; וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה.
2 And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.
ג וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת-יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ: כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ, אֲשֶׁר-בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת.
..כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת:" (בראשית ב, 3- 1)
Asher boro elokim la’asos: what is la’asos? Shabbos is tachlish ma’aseh shamayim va’aretz, so God made the world for shabbos.
In vaeschanan M”R repeats the aseres hadibros: יא שָׁמוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ. יב שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד, וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ. יג וְיוֹם, הַשְּׁבִיעִי--שַׁבָּת, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה כָל-מְלָאכָה אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ-וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ-וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְשׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרְךָ וְכָל-בְּהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ--לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתְךָ, כָּמוֹךָ. יד וְזָכַרְתָּ, כִּי עֶבֶד הָיִיתָ בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיֹּצִאֲךָ יְה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִשָּׁם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה; עַל-כֵּן, צִוְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לַעֲשׂוֹת, אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת.
"Chosen? For what?!
In this week's portion God tells the Jewish People that they were chosen (ie God had Moses record this speech of Moses, so it is a message from God). But chosen for what?!
ו כִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: בְּךָ בָּחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה, מִכֹּל הָעַמִּים, אֲשֶׁר עַל-פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.
6 For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be His own treasure, out
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Shlomo Carlebach's teaching on this was that we are chosen to teach the rest of the world a special message, recorded in Genesis, as part of the meaning of the teaching there that humanity was created in the divine image.
The message was given to the Jewish People in the Torah, or was given to them orally (or they heard it at some level at Sinai) and then recorded in the written Torah, but it was meant for all humanity: namely, the mission for which the Jewish People were chosen includes spreading God's message to humanity that ALL humans are chosen, we are ALL children of God, created in the divine image.
And Tradition tells of the 70 nations, each with its own divine mission. and that all of them heard the voice coming from Sinai. So in some sense all are chosen, for different purposes or missions.
May we all be blessed to not only carry this message to everyone, but to internalize it, so that it can influence our relationships with others, thereby achieving true holiness.
When we relate to others as they are in essence, ie we relate to people as God's image, we are lowering our own 'ego', our sense of self as opposed to the other, and of ME wanting to do what I want, and in this way the ego which blocks our essence is lowered and the essence - our soul - can shine forth. And since our soul is of God, as also related in Genesis, this is a revelation of Godliness in the category of holiness. And so by seeing all individuals as being in the image of God and all nations as being chosen by God for some specific mission, we can open up to the holiness which is bursting at our seams from deep inside, our essence, hoping to be released/revealed, to not be blocked by ego.
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May we merit indeed to be able to relate to each other in this way - imagine what a world we could create!
What's the meaning in this week's Torah portion of the Jewish People in some circumstance being "raised above the other nations".
Dvarim 26: Parshat Ki Tavo
טז הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה, ה' אֱ'ךָ מְצַוְּךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה וְאֶת-הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים; וְשָׁמַרְתָּ וְעָשִׂיתָ אוֹתָם, בְּכָל-לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל-נַפְשֶׁךָ.
16 This day the LORD thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes and ordinances; thou shalt therefore observe and do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.
יז אֶת-ה' הֶאֱמַרְתָּ, הַיּוֹם: לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵא' וְלָלֶכֶת בִּדְרָכָיו, וְלִשְׁמֹר חֻקָּיו וּמִצְוֺתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וְלִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקֹלוֹ.
17 Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and that thou wouldest walk in His ways, and keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His ordinances, and hearken unto His voice.
יח וַה' הֶאֱמִירְךָ הַיּוֹם, לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה, כַּאֲשֶׁר, דִּבֶּר-לָךְ; וְלִשְׁמֹר, כָּל-מִצְוֺתָיו.
18 And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be His own treasure, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments;
יט וּלְתִתְּךָ עֶלְיוֹן, עַל כָּל-הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה, לִתְהִלָּה, וּלְשֵׁם וּלְתִפְאָרֶת; וְלִהְיֹתְךָ עַם-קָדֹשׁ לַה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר. {פ}
19 and to make thee high above all nations that He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in glory; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the LORD thy God, as He hath spoken. {P}
Explanation: I think that this can be understood at several levels. For example, we know that God spoke to the prophets of various nations, and that Jewish Tradition teaches that the nations were given prophets as great as the ones given to the Jewish People. We don't know the messages they were given, only the messages directly relating to the Jewish people, as re Bilaam. (And Jewish prophet Jonah prophecied to Ninveh, an entirely different nation, and perhaps there were things he told them that they needed to hear that Jonah did not record in the book of Jonah given to the Jewish People.
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In any case: We need to understand:
1) the meaning of "chosen";
2) what the Torah means by "the other nations"
3) in what circumstances God states that the Jewish people will be "raised above",
4) to clarify what exactly is involved in this "raising above".
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According to Torah metaphysics, each founding nation had a role in the world, and indeed the ancient Indians, Egyptians, Sumerians, Greeks, Romans and others produced marvels for which they are still famous. But they have vanished as 'nations', they do not anymore stand out for continuing activity in the realms which made them famous long ago, have long ago ceased performing the special function as "a founding nation.
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God asked Abraham to form a nation - which would also be a religion – and to institute a system to ensure that the nation and religion should last forever (including establishing schools & courts, laws of charity, business, agriculture and neighbor-disputes etc). Only the Jewish People remain from those ancient times as a national entity maintaining its distinctive character, and so indeed when they will eventually succeed in fulfilling their function to be a holy nation, and the light of God will be seen by the remnants of the other nations, in this way will they be "raised above" the other nations, who will hopefully be inspired to return to their cosmic roots and become as they were meant to be..
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All humanity is created in the image of God, and the Jewish People, the only remaining founding nation functioning in their original role, were chosen by God as emissaries to bring to all humanity this all-important divine message, ie to teach the message of Genesis – dictated directly word by word from God to Moses - that there is one God, creator of all, and that we all have a moral responsibility to choose Good over Evil, and that all humanity is created from the breath/spirit of God" and all people should treat all others as befits a being "created in the image of God". And when we fulfil our mission from God to become a holy nation, this will be apparent to all other nations, so that they will all thereby be able to learn the great message for them that God has entrusted to us to impart to all.
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May we all be blessed to feel the special uniqueness that we all have, the one thing that is the same about all of us is that each of us is unique, because we are at essence the breath/spirit of God, and may we be even more blessed to make others feel this way!
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Said at Machlis (family was away at sheva brochos.
Parsha says "en od milvado" (and another similar statement: כִּי ה' הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים, בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל-הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת: אֵין, עוֹד.).
Combining with breishis re ruach/tzelem elokim: (parsha obliquely mentions breishis: כִּי שְׁאַל-נָא לְיָמִים רִאשֹׁנִים אֲשֶׁר-הָיוּ לְפָנֶיךָ, לְמִן-הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אָדָם עַל-הָאָרֶץ, )
ie combining idea of human as ruach/tzelem with en od milvado, we get:
1. can reach hashem (creator, director of all universe) directly, ie prayer, without intermediary, wo synagogue or temple, or sacrifice
2.parallel of anochi hashem & lo tirtzach (and some of others)
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Prayer: source is vaeschanan, though answer is no, bec what we are being told is that we can reach God, H' cares etc, we can create a conneciotn and this is the purpose of prayer, not that H is a serivce to humanity (prof Leibovitch), to get us what we want. This is the Jewish message.
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Puns and use of similar words:
אֶעְבְּרָה-נָּא, וְאֶרְאֶה...
כו וַיִּתְעַבֵּר ה' בִּי לְמַעַנְכֶם
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'לֹא תֹסִפוּ, עַל-הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם..... וַיֹּאמֶר ה אֵלַי, רַב-לָךְ--אַל-תּוֹסֶף דַּבֵּר אֵלַי עוֹד, בַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה.
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As though referencing "ro'im es hakolos" ie they only saw kolos not tmunos o f objects: קוֹל דְּבָרִים אַתֶּם שֹׁמְעִים, וּתְמוּנָה אֵינְכֶם רֹאִים זוּלָתִי קוֹל.
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Reminiscent of sneh: וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֲלֵיכֶם, מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ
and later: כד כִּי ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֵשׁ אֹכְלָה הוּא: אֵל, קַנָּא
in contrast to sneh which was NOT consumed
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Mispar, sefer: cross section while looking at a typical scroll is a circle, samech
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Zayin is male, samekh can be the sign of female: פֶּן-תַּשְׁחִתוּן--וַעֲשִׂיתֶם לָכֶם פֶּסֶל, תְּמוּנַת כָּל-סָמֶל: תַּבְנִית זָכָר, אוֹ נְקֵבָה.
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three consecutive letters almost in actual order: דָּגָה
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From "Chumash English NEW.."
va'eschanan: 'pen...tishkach' so we have zichron etc: in previous section and this we see that god wants us to love him, cleave, be close, tests us to see if we love him, is 'meyaser' us as father does to son. so that is what it is all about, re-establishig the conneiotn to god.
(said at machlis on shabbos right before RH)
hashivenu ve'nashuva: all we need is to want to to teshuva, to come to shul and want it, and then god can come to intiaiate the contact which will enable us to reciprocate and get close.
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H’ (or malach) appeared as a flame in the bush: אֶהְיֶה רשֶׁאֲ אֶהְיֶה. Not onl is the word שֶׁאֲ in the phrase, but that word is the one which most looks like flames. [Good for a diagram, T-shirt!] [Also, in Vaeschanan: ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֵשׁ אֹכְלָה הוּא: אֵל, קַנָּא, but in the sneh, it says וַיֵּרָא מַלְאַךְ יְה אֵלָיו, בְּלַבַּת-אֵשׁ--מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה; וַיַּרְא, וְהִנֵּה הַסְּנֶה בֹּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ, וְהַסְּנֶה, אֵינֶנּוּ אֻכָּל....
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עַל-כֵּן
In vaeschanan M”R repeats the aseres hadibros, and in this telling it has:
יא שָׁמוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ. יב שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד, וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ. יג וְיוֹם, הַשְּׁבִיעִי--שַׁבָּת, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה כָל-מְלָאכָה אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ-וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ-וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְשׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרְךָ וְכָל-בְּהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ--לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתְךָ, כָּמוֹךָ. יד
וְזָכַרְתָּ, כִּי עֶבֶד הָיִיתָ בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיֹּצִאֲךָ יְה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִשָּׁם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה;
צִוְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לַעֲשׂוֹת, אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת.
So this is also another case of ‘al ken’, the second re shabbos (al ken berach). So if al ken is ‘despite’, Why ‘despite this’? maybe because it seems like a prelude to a command re pesach?
Actually though, the al ken should be before ‘lo ta’aseh kol melocho’ because that is a non-seuitar!
Va’eschanan:
‘Ivri’/’la’avor’:
The first Jew was Avraham Ha’Ivri, Yosef is ‘ivri’ (and later Yonah said ‘ivri anochi’). M”R/H talks to Pharaoh of ‘Elokei Ha’ivrim’. But M”R who is the next great figure after Avraham avinu, and who brings his descendants back to the land, is not allowed ‘la’avor’.
There are many different meaning to “avor” in this section:
· First is ‘(pls let me) cross over’ (Hebrew ever- English over),
· then ‘trans-(Jordan)’, the same meaning but used as a name, or qualifier, and in lashon smichut
· then ‘(H was) angry (at me)’,
· then again ‘to cross over’,
· and then ‘(Yehoshua will) lead’.
Last psukim in Parshas Dvorim, and then beginning of Vaeschanan:
וְאֶת-יְהוֹשׁוּעַ צִוֵּיתִי, בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר: עֵינֶיךָ הָרֹאֹת, אֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְה ם לִשְׁנֵי הַמְּלָכִים הָאֵלֶּה--כֵּן-יַעֲשֶׂה יְה לְכָל-הַמַּמְלָכוֹת, אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עֹבֵר שָׁמָּה. כב לֹא, תִּירָאוּם כִּי ….
כג וָאֶתְחַנַּן, אֶל-<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans
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Va'eschanan
2nd pasuk: "lehar'os…es godlecho…e'ebro no v'er'eh"and Hashem answers "ur'eh b'enecha". Why the stress on r'iyah? (and the word appears yet more)
What is significance of 'ebr': E'ebro….be'ever hayarden…vayisaber hashem…lo ta'avor…yehoshua..ya'avor". Of course Araham haivri, etc.
Also: in Devorim 1:35-37 MR stresses 'seeing the land' but re him it's coming to the land, because he did see it?
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4:12: at sinai they didn’t see tmunah,"utmuna aynchem roim zulasi kol" again the implication of seeing a kol. Also: 4:15
See below: from file "General Material taken from Main"
שתי הדברות הראשונות
לא רק שיש קשר בין "אנכי ה'" ובין "לא תעשה לך" אלא יש גם סיבה לכך ש"לא תעשה" נאמרה מיד אחרי "אנכי ה'" בזמן מתן תורה שהרי בהתגלות ה' יש גם צד מסוכן והוא שההתגלות עלולה לגרום לאנשים לנסות ולשחזר את מה שראו ומה שחשו על ידי בניית דמות תמונה או כל משהו מוחשי אחר. אבל כמובן שה' איננו גשמי והצגתו בצורה גשמית הינה עבודה זרה. ואכן במעמד הר סיני מיד כשה' מתגלה אל העם הוא אומר: "אנכי ה'... לא תעשה לך פסל וכל תמונה" (שמות כ בד).
Shma Yisrael as first two commandments, B”Y heard only these two, m”r repeats what God said re halevay b”y would always fear God as they did a tSinai, m”r then reminds them of this fear and therefore then speaks davka of “ve’ahavta”. Also, Shma has hashem and elokim = love + awe.
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לג:לב" "אני אעביר כל טובי על פניך...לא תוכל לראות את פני... וקראתי בשם ה' לפניך...והסירות את כפי..."
לד:כט: "ומשה לא ידע כי קרן עור פניו .. והנה קרן עור פניו וייראו מגשת אלי...ובבא משה לפני ה' יסיר את המסוה"
לג:יא: "ודבר ה' אל משה פנים אל פנים כאשר ידבר איש אל רעהו..."
לג:כ: "לא תוכל לראות את פני כי לא יראני האדם וחי"
הפסוקים לכאורה סותרים אחת את השני
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לד:כ: "ולא יראו פני ריקם...שלש פעמים בשנה יראה כל זכורך את פני האדון ה' אלקי ישראל...לראות את פני ה' אלקך"
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וכל העם רואים את הקולות
{בקומבינה נוסף: צד מסוכן של התגלות ה' הוא שההתגלות עלולה לגרום לאנשים לנסות לשחזר את מה שראו ומה שחשו על ידי בניית דמות תמונה או כל משהו מוחשי אחר. אבל כמובן שה' איננו גשמי והצגתו בצורה גשמית הינה עבודה זרה. ואכן במעמד הר סיני מיד כשה' מתגלה אל העם אומר ה' " אנוכי ה' לא... פסל... תמונה...".}
אולי על מנת להמחיש שאי אפשר לתפוס את האלוקות על ידי תמונה או כל המחשה אחרת ושאי אפשר ליצור תמונה של א-להים על ידי החושים האנושיים גרם ה' בהתגלותו בהר סיני לכך ש'כל העם רואים את הקולות'. זאת אומרת העם הרגיש שהחושים אינם מסוגלים לתפוס את האלוקות ואין דרך לבנות פסל או ליצור תמונה שמתארת נכון את התגלות האלוקות כי הדבר שייצור האדם לא יגרום אף פעם לראות קולות כפי שהיה במעמד הר סיני.
רואים את הקולות
בפרשת ואתחנן יש לכאורה סתירה לגבי הר סיני. כתוב שבני ישראל ראו את ה' כביכול אבל גם כתוב שמשה אומר לבני ישראל "לא ראיתם כל תמונה" (דברים כב טו). בדרך כלל אומרים ש'ראו את ה'' הינו משל ולכן אין סתירה. אך אפשר לתת תשובות נוספות לקושי זה:
א. הפסוק אומר שראו את ה' ומכאן אפשר לדייק ולאמר שראו את ה' ולא את תמונתו ולכן אין סתירה בין הפסוקים. יש להוסיף כמובן שאי אפשר לראות את ה' אך בכל זאת אין סתירה בין הפסוקים כי האחד מדבר על ה' עצמו והשני על 'תמונה' של ה'.
ב. "כל העם רואים את הקולות": ראו קולות זאת אומרת שמה שראו לא היה תמונה אלא ראו קולות וכך אין סתירה בין הפסוקים. ואזי "ויראו את אלקי ישראל" מתכוון ל: 'ויראו את הקולות של אלקי ישראל'.
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מקבילות
"ויראו את אלקי ישראל" (שמות כד י). איך יכול להיות ש'ראו' את ה'! אולי אפשר ברמז להבין פסוק זה באורו של הפסוק: "מה ה אלקיך שאל מעמך כי אם ליראה את ה' אלקיך" (דברים י יב) ואכן "ויראו את אלקי ישראל".
להוסיף ל'רואים את הקולות'
"לא ראיתם כל תמונה"
"ויראו את אלוקי ישראל" (שמות כ"ד י')
"ויראו את אלוקי ישראל"
"מה ה' מבקש... ליראה אותו"
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4:20 "le'am nachala"; 7:6 "am kadosh…becha bochar…am segula" "chashak hashem bachem, vayivchar bachem….ki me'ahavas hashem eschem"…."hashem ha'ne'eman shomer habris vehacehsed le'ohavav". See also in Ekev: 10:15
Also: R"eh: 14-2: am kadosh..bachar…segula"
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5:4 panim befanim diber hashem imachem (I HAVE MATERIAL FOR THIS?)
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I HAVE good MATERIAL FOR THIS if I haven’t used it already in Yisro: : 5:11: aseres hadibros
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6:4: shma, ve'ahavta
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