Shalom Friends;
This week, our Parshat HaShevua, Devarim is being sponsored by Jack and Chana Kaminker of Ramat Beit Shemesh Lilui Nishmas Jack’s father Aryeh Shlomo Leib ben Elyakim and for the health and wellbeing of their children and family and dedicated for the safety of the Chayalim and the liberation of all remaining hostages, as well as for the good health and security of kol Am Yisrael. To the Kaminker family, many thanks for your sponsorship and for your continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShevua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
Subscribe to the Israel and the Sin of Expulsion blog, to ask questions or to sponsor a Parsha Vort at: olehchadash@yahoo.com
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We open our Parshat Devarim with an excerpt from Rabbi Shmuel Goldin’s Parsha Summary in his Sefer, “Unlocking the Torah Text,” Sefer Devarim (page 1) :
On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after Yetziyot Mitzrayim, as the B’nei Yisrael stand poised to enter the land of Canaan, Moshe opens his farewell address. Prohibited by Divine decree from entering the land of Canaan, this great leader will spend the last five weeks of his life delivering a series of wide-ranging messages to his people. These messages comprise the text of Sefer Devarim.
Early in our Parsha, Torah records Moshe speaking to the B’nei Yisrael:
“Provide for yourseIves distinguished men, who are wise and well known to your tribes [Sh’vatim], and I will appoint them as your heads…. So I took the heads of your tribes, distinguished men, who were wise and well known, and I appointed them as heads over you, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens, and officers of your tribes. I instructed your judges at that time, saying, ‘Listen among your brethren and judge righteously between a man and his brother or his litigant. You shall not show favoritism in judgement, small and great alike shall you hear; you shall not tremble before any man, for the judgement is Hashem’s; any matter that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to me and I shall hear it.’ I commanded you at that time all of the things that you shall do.” (Sefer Devarim, Perek 1, posukim 13, 15 – 18 rendered to English in the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash)
This author hearkens back to Rav Pinchas Yehoshua Kaganoff giving a shiur in my old Shul, Ahavas Torah, years ago back in Philadelphia. Rav Kaganoff was speaking and noticed someone taking notes. He asked for the person’s notebook and commented (as this author paraphrases) that the Written Torah was like a person’s notes, whereas the Oral Torah provides the “nuts and bolts,” the full dimensions of man’s understandings passed down from generation to generation in Mishne, in Talmud and the understandings of the great Chachamim through the generations — from Moshe Rabbeinu through to the great Rabbanim and Chachamim of our times.
Aharon Yaakov Greenberg, in his Sefer, “Torah Gems, Volume 3” comments on the words “and… known” citing Semag and Rambam (page 117) :
“And known” — beloved, as in, “for I know him that he commands his sons.” Choose judges that will be beloved and acceptable to the community.
Rambam (in the Laws of Sanhedrin) lists [among] seven qualities that judges must have, one of them is “love of their fellow-men.” He states this as follows: “And know among your tribes’ — those that their fellow-men are pleased with.”
We also bring an excerpt from Rebbetzin Nechama Leibowitz, with commentary, in her Sefer, “Studies in Devarim” (pages 9 – 13) :
In this sidra, Moshe…. begins from the moment, thirty-eight years previously, their parents had stood on the threshold of the promised land which they forfeited on account of their misconduct [seemingly alluding to the sin of the miraglim], Moshe describes how he had prepared the B’nei Yisrael, at that time, for the entry into their
patrimony [noun: an estate inherited from one’s father or ancestors; any quality, characteristic, etc., that is inherited; heritage] by appointing leaders and officers.Besides the general rule to deal justly, many detailed regulations of judicial procedure are derived from every word and turn of phrase in the… text. In posuk 16, the word “hear” as well as the unusual adverbial qualification “between” are the subject of exegesis [noun: : critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, especially of the Bible].
The hearing of the litigant in the absence of the other may give rise to partiality, since the one cannot correct the impression given by the other. But even if both are present, there are still dangers to be avoided in the interests of justice.
The word “hear” is understood in the sense of “pay attention” “grasp.” The equal treatment to be accorded to both litigants can be distilled from the word “between.”
The demand to mete out impartial treatment to both parties recurs in all… Biblical contexts [in upcoming Parshiyot] dealing with judicial matters.
Our Sages have taught us not to regard any text in the Torah as merely repetitive, and they elicit… the separate and exclusive messages of each word and phrase. Here we… deal with the implications of the repeated references to favoring the “poor” and “mighty.” The word “poor” does not only mean the destitute in worldly goods.
The judge 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…. In Sh’mos we are bidden not to favor the poor man in his cause; in Vayikra not to respect the person of the poor nor favor the person of the mighty.
Torah was not concerned… with protecting the weak but with upholding justice, since, as it concludes in our sidra, “the judgement is Hashem’s.”
Rabbi David Feinstein, z”l provides commentary in his sefer “Kol Dodi” on the words above “judge righteously” in posuk 16 (pages 257 – 258) :
The question presents itself: Why does Moshe choose this moment, on the eve of the Jews’ entry into the Land of Israel, to admonish judges to be fair in their judgements?
We can simply say that he wanted to make the point that a high standard of justice was a prerequisite to their settling in the Land. This is why we say, in davening Shemoneh Esrei, the Bracha: “Restore our judges,” before the Bracha: “And to Yerushalayim, Your city, may You return in compassion,” to indicate that we will not be worthy of possessing our Land until true Torah justice has been restored.
There is another reference to this at the end of [Parshat Devarim’s] Haftorah: “Zion will be redeemed with justice and those who return to her with righteousness.” (Rabbi David Feinstein citing Yeshayahu 1:27)
This vort focuses on righteousness in judgement knowing that contemporary Israel’s judiciary is a very far distance from true Torah justice as characterized by the great Torah scholars of the generations, or by great contemporary scholars, such as Rabbi Goldin, Rebbetzin Leibowitz, Rabbi David Feinstein who are cited in this vort, and other great scholars quoted or cited by this author in previous weekly vorts through the years.
In today’s Israel, it seems that there is a lack of righteousness in a judicial system where judges, at all levels through to Supreme Court justices, are chosen by corrupt legal groups based on political or ideological agendas contrary to the representation of the people and a very far distance from true Torah standards. Such a judiciary furthers divisiveness among the various factions within Israel, thus projecting weakness to our enemies and jeopardizing national security. Such projected appearance of weakness surely fueled the coordinated, barbarous Hamas attack and invasion on Simchat Torah.
Such perversions of justice as monopolizing a sitting prime minister with protracted petty, nonsensical “litigation,” particularly during an existential [adjective:of or relating to existence] war runs counter to standards of righteousness and further jeopardizes national security.
This author views standards of justice and righteousness as not confined to a judicial system. They extend to all aspects of governance, including the military.
The military high command echelons, by their loshon hora against, and their mistreatment and lack of righteousness via their threats, aimed at their border guard subordinates, were soo enamored (adjective: charmed or captivated) and sold on their misconceptions of Hamas’ intentions, which soo fit in with their evolved warped ideologies and with their alignment with politicians seeking to topple the current governing coalition at any cost that they were totally unprepared to implement the defense of Am Yisrael at the outset of the war of Simchat Torah.
In acting in this manner against their border guard subordinates, the high command echelons not only violated Divine Commands against vexing (verb – used with object: to torment; trouble; distress; plague; worry) by words, but in vexing these female border guards by their words, they decimated the security of Israel’s border towns and risked the lives and security of all of Israel. The results: six-hundred plus days of war, over 1,200 Jews savagely murdered and over 850 Chayalim fatalities during over 630 days of the war.
Israel’s fresh victory-oriented strategies in Gaza exemplify positive changes resulting from the appointments of a new defense minister, foreign minister and military chief of staff who seem to be signaling a more zealous, diligent command structure and strategy based on valid understandings of their adversary’s intentions and concern for Israel’s sovereignty and security. The pre-emptive and ongoing actions against Iran are nothing short of miraculous, B’Yad Hashem. May we see our government and military become Totally self-sufficient as to manufacture of military equipment and aircraft, weaponry, munitions — heavy munitions, as well as showing independence of actions responding to any threat, regardless of so-called “super powers.” And may see, from here on, that border guard personnel at all points of possible danger are listened to and treated with respect and dignity. May these words come to fruition B’Esrat Hashem.
Not withstanding the previous horrendous “ceasefires” and drips and drabs of hostages in exchange for thousands of bloody-handed terrorists, may it be that our Chayalim, regardless of the machinations of malfeasance and nonfeasance by their previous high command to date, but now under command of both a new defense minister and chief of staff, emerge totally victorious — eradicating from the face of the earth Hamas, Islamic Jihad, their other terrorist buddies, UNWRA and the so-called “innocent civilians” of Gaza who joined with Hamas in their murderous deeds. May our Chayalim, on multiple fronts, return home whole — physically, mentally and spiritually and that the Chayalim Liberate and bring home all remaining hostages B’Yad Hashem. May we see a Final and Decisive victory by our Chayalim, mandated by a government secure in it’s foremost service of and emunah in HaKadosh Borchu, B’Ezrat Hashem! And may we see the restoration of true unity within Am Yisrael.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif e permanently re-settled in Gush Katif, once the IDF, by the Yad Hashem, destructs and eradicates the wild beasts of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, all other terror entities, and if necessary Iran, and that our brethren be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them, that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes and the oft-destroyed Yeshiva buildings in Homesh be rebuilt, as well as the buildings of Yishuv Elchanan, all at total government expense. May our Chayalim return from battle unharmed — physically, mentally and spiritually and may all of the remaining hostages brutally taken by the wild beasts of Hamas be liberated and brought home to their families. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now in his fifth year at home in Eretz Yisrael and continues in a new chapter in his life. May Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham have an aliyah in Shemayim and may her spirit and memory continue to lift Jonathan to at least 120 years. May the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem — as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel, the recent recovery of the remains of Tzvi Feldman as well as the recovery of the remains of Oron Shaul as should the remains of the other chayal from the Gaza War of ten years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we see, in 5785, the REAL Jews from the Ukraine and Russia as well as the US and Canada, the real Jews via matrilineal descent, make Aliyah enmass — via thorough review by Misrad HaPanim. And may we soon and finally see the total end to the Communist Chinese Wuhan Lab corona virus pandemic and all like viruses and variants. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nei Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
Moshe is available for editing of English language documents, articles, manuscripts and more. Please be in contact with him at olehchadash@yahoo.com for your English language needs.
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