Shabbat Chazon Shalom! At Beit Torah we constantly discuss whether straying from the mitzvot is causing Middle East chaos today…

 

Tisha B’Av will start Wednesday evening 7/22 through Thursday 7/23/26. For those who fast: 7:30 pm Wed. thru 8:05 pm Thurs. in AZ. Check your times for your time zones as they may differ.

 

Devarim 5786 Ethical Will; Deuteronomy [Devarim] 1:1-3:22; Isaiah 1:1-27

 

Now Moshe was an old and feeble man

With his memory mayhap in part shot -

Of his days, they all seemed like yesterday,

So the Devarim Book is what we got

Eleven days from Horeb, Dead Sea south,

In the Aravah rift, words from Moshe's mouth:

 

A recap of forty long desert years;

With fair minded judges appointed per plan;

With wise leaders chosen to pave the way

Despite fights and gripes which seemed quite a lot,

Such as calumnies gossip from the spies

So save for Caleb and Josh, all must die...

 

Eleven days? With families and flocks?

Or by straight hard riding without a stop?

Yet where was Horeb, volcanic Mount Sinai?

Today's Sinai desert active then? NOT!

An Arabian area was why -

Likely called Sinai where Torah was got!

 

Note: The active volcanos of that time

Were found only in Arabia’s lands.

Our Sinai Desert’s name is most recent:

Britain’s named territories in the sand...

 

Was it written later in Moshe’s name

Using newer, good language per each jot?

Hot off the press to help Hilkiah teach

A return to the Laws that all might reach?

A saying that what is, is what G!d seeks:

Retroactive Land and Laws, wars and cause…?

 

The bloody taking of the Promised Land

Is well described in Dvarim’s great detail

With the slaughter of all its native folk

Was perhaps the end goal that Moshe planned,

Yet from other sources, all back-up failed

And in truth not all local folk did croak…

Like seen in the Book of Joshua tales!

 

The peoples and nations in Devarim and their known names

Are like in Numbers, but not all fights were described the same:

Amalek, Anakim, Sihon and Og come now to mind...

History of lost nations in the Land clearly defined

Before closing words remind that Folk who stayed behind

Agreed in the East to be shock troops for the Western line.

Joshua, as military leader, was charged to trust

That HaShem would battle with him to conquer as they must…

 

Haftorah, Isaiah third of admonition/ desolation

 

We now near Tisha B'Av with ben Amotz, Isaiah's first words

To the Kings of Judah during their four reigns

Railing against depravities, iniquities of which he heard

That would cause, if unchecked, desolation pains…

 

He urged them to fully cleanse themselves and right the wrongs they had done,

Such as by protecting widows and orphans, too…

Or if not, Hashem would bring them low until evil was all gone,

Repentant ones called righteous, Zion redeemed anew…

 

Further, Eighth Century B.C.E., he did say:

'HaShem feels abandoned by your sinful ways.

Unlike domesticated who with their masters stay,

Your rebellions remind HaShem of other days

When Sodom and Gomorrah were both led astray.

So G!d berates you Folk and clearly to you states

That for objects and sacrifices G!d cares not!

False pieties on Holy Days don't hit the spot!

 

Just cleanse yourselves of evil doings and do good;

Devote yourselves to Justice to help those in need

Or wronged. You can repent: do mitzvot as you should;

Keep Holy Days, always doing the best you could;

Defend Widows and Orphans; at all times, G!d heed

So you can be blessed- OR if not, be cursed with speed

With lives slivered, devoured, slagged, destroyed in books!

 

Know too, you must not others judge if you're with crooks.

HaShem punishes enemies despite good looks.

So too for you if you're with unsavory folk...

Those who repent will be righteous leaders - No joke!

 

Zion, as 'Righteous, Faithful City', will be saved

By repentant survivors with blessed future paved,

With ethical judges and leaders chosen all

To mete out Justice to Folk at every call!'

 

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Shabbat Nachamu Shalom!

 

Tisha B’Av will start Wednesday evening 7/22 through Thursday 7/23/26. For those who fast: 7:30 pm Wed. thru 8:05 pm Thurs. in AZ. Check your times for your time zones as they may differ.

 

How can we comfort the grieving? At Beit Torah we strive to listen and provide comfort as best we can …

Vaetchanan 5786 Nachamu; Deuteronomy [Devarim] 3:23-7:11; Isaiah 40:1-26+

 

Now Moshe had high hopes when he set out to do his task:

To free Jacob’s descendants and do all HaShem might ask.

Yet the People were quite naughty with idols, gripes, dissent…

They made HaShem quite cross with them nearly everywhere they went.

Moshe begged on their behalf their punishment to prevent …

HaShem, though cross with Moshe’s ways, in the end did relent.

 

But given G!d's grief over the wayward People's misdeeds,

Moshe twice told the Folk they lost him entry to the Land

By delaying forty years the Jordan's crossing he'd planned.

So he was refused to go over despite all his pleas -

Moshe was then therefore allowed only the Land to see -

To cross the River Jordan and enter was not to be...

 

With leading fights on Transjordan land, aged Moish could not keep up.

He sorely blamed HaShem, it is said, for keeping him in the East…

Still it was closer to family… Time for Joshua to lead…

Just as G!d had told Moish to teach Josh strength, courage, acumen’s speed

To take over the Land when G!d dislodged the nations from above.

 

Hence, Moshe’s focus was teaching the Law for which there was great need,

Recapping the giving of the Brit by a voice alone, naught seen...

Then No idols could be made of HaShem’s form seen only in dreams;

There amidst a flaming mountain’s groans, dark clouds above,

We were told to add no new laws to our Brit’s gift of love…

Some say Moshe thought he was addressing men of the tribe.

Others note that women were included, daughters and wives!*

 

In short, Moshe Rabbeinu taught the Folk to follow Laws

And teach to kids, also their journey’s shared story,

In order to achieve life especially in the Land,

To avoid destructions, calamities bad choices cause -

Although HaShem promised no annihilation was planned

While Heaven and Earth witness as us caretakers flub up…

And all again told of three refuge cities in the East…

 

Moshe exhorted Folk to faithfully learn, study, teach

All the Laws as well as the Brit he put within their reach:

NO idols; NO swearing falsely; NO other deities;

Observe Shabbat: livestock, Folk, servants, strangers to include;

Honor your parents [but only their good behaviours do];

NO murder [not ‘killing’]; NO adultery; NO stealing

[particularly of souls and spirits]; NO covetting;

NO false witnessing! Follow the Brit and all Laws to thrive,

To help prevent calamities as well as stay alive!

These Dvarim terms nearly the same as in Exodus jive

When Folk had Moshe tell HaShem's words so to stay alive!

 

At this point, to the People, Moshe proclaimed the watchword

Of Shema and VeAhavta as Brit, not command nor prayer.

Then he added on some more exhortations to be heard

Especially by kids so they can understand those words

Giving the history of the Egyptian's marvels seen

Then the fiery thunder of Horeb's Laws could then mean:

When lands are taken, destroy foreign idols, objects, places.

Do not intermarry. Foreign religions: leave no traces…

At times: Folk were told to expel natives; others: kill them there…

 

This latter’s not the words at Mount Horeb in Sinai sands.

Hence we now ask: What did they do when they entered the Land?

 

*all wives were also daughters!!!!!

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Haftorah Nachamu, Isaiah 40:1-26

 

Bloody dramas of this portion along with the good, too,

Leave us a bit unsettled. What history should we rue?

So the comfort of Haftorah is welcomed, Nachamu,

With a promised Jerusalem restored – what does that mean?

 

Not just town rebuilt, but with Shechinah’s presence imbued,

Yet with a strong caution since our ephemeral flesh will be

As all is, save the Words of HaShem throughout eternity.

None can be likened to HaShem at whose call all will be seen…

So Comfort’s the call as we go to the High Holy Days scene…

 

A double punishment for Jerusalem was meted

Then reinstated with the Shechinah when completed.

So all now should feel comforted and ready to rebuild

A highway to Zion for all folks' spirits to be filled

With a desire to follow Laws and do Mitzvot as willed

By HaShem who's eternal; as a shepherd shepherds all.

 

However, we who are but a blip in time must recall

That only HaShem knows the measure of every part

Of Nature and the Universe; alone will decide,

Consulting no other; all seeing, from sight none can hide.

 

No idols nor men can to HaShem compare as they, too,

Are not permanent, unlike the Source of all evolved new -

That Source: the True Judge of all Creation, all of us, too.

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Shabbat Shalom! How can we resist human foibles? At Beit Torah we strive to provide care to the needy as best we can while avoiding corruption and greed …

 

Eikev 5786 Tikun Olam; Deuteronomy [Devarim] 7:12-11:25; Isaiah 49:14-51:3

 

This portion reiterated that all People needed to follow the Laws

Or else, it is further stated, there will be curses without pause.

Blessings, respect, admiration by all nations if we are true -

Or if not, infertility plagues and Egyptian diseases we knew

Will return with People’s bad choices regardless of prayer filled voices.

Was it true that the Faithful were promised fertility and health?

Would that not give guilt feelings in the ill, barren and poor of wealth?

 

Reminders of the past recalled forty wilderness wander years,

Of Egypt’s plagues and wonders: miracle at the Sea of Reeds;

Manna as food; broken tablets; water found to provide for needs.

Stiff-neckedness; orneriness; building a golden calf from fears;

Finally receiving the Law at Horeb despite causing Moish tears;

Fire destroying outskirts of camp along with Judges’ Meeting Tent;

Also a plague from gluttony with uncooked quail as they went;

For such weaknesses and much more were these all as punishment sent

While Moshe interceded many times to save from even worse;

He refused to father a nation; preferred to help ours to heed;

Argued: to abandon the Folk, to all nations' scorn would lead.

The Folk built an Ark as per given specs to avoid being cursed -

Made of acacia wood for the replacement tablets to receive...

 

To Ancestors the Land was promised. ‘Twill be given on their crowns.

A Land of plenty to mines and eats: so give thanks when tummies full!

 

Then, too, the People’s survival not by their merit but by grace

Of HaShem so they could conquer thirty-one Kings’ Canaanite towns,

Such grace from G!d dislodging nations bit by bit, their Kings disgraced

Not due to Israelite good behaviour, but given locals’ pagan ways -

Ways that must be wiped out to avoid tainting all of Israel’s days.

So ‘twas said those nations were wiped out, but what does that really mean?

Did locals there flee or die? - or just their governments left the scene?

Were locals still there with practices banned? Were they dead or displaced?

 

G!d’s largess and Moshe’s pleadings repeatedly saved Aaron’s face

As well as of erring People’s, who’d yet to earn their Holy place

Housing tablets and arks under Aaron's then Eleazar's pull.

 

Discard all tainted by idolatry sins - no gold should you take;

Heed, you’re told: shun idolatry; treat all with no favors nor bribes;

Just as HaShem does follow Laws: care for the widows and strangers,

Fatherless, converts, as you should your own family’s weal and lives.

Faithfully perform all the mitzvot to avoid further dangers…

Do not forget, by becoming prideful, from whence all your bounty came;

Taking credit not yours; forgetting Egypt, thirst, scorpions, snakes:

Hardships to make you mature to avoid becoming doomed again...

 

Our second Shema paragraph, therein included, clearly stated:

Follow Laws, love HaShem to be blessed. Be faithful so all goes well.

Care for livestock, the less fortunate, and children before yourselves.

If these things aren’t done, you’ll be cursed. Bless HaShem when you are sated.

So to succeed in all you do, to the Mitzvot you must stay true!

 

Haftorah, Isaiah

 

HaShem promised to rebuild and restore the Folk

After they felt abandoned by G!d in the Land.

Yet G!d never forgot the wayward People's plight.

Abraham's and Sarah's G!d-Promised Land post-flight

To their G!d Chosen Children as the Future's Light!

 

So Isaiah asked: 'How could this possibly be?

For HaShem sees all deserving of praise or woe -

Saw how your stolen kids were raised by pagan hands,

Hands which will return those children, set karma free

To pay their evil in kind, as HaShem decides…

Perhaps with penance work to keep themselves alive?

 

Now I, Isaiah, proudly show myself to all

As I trust in HaShem unlike they who light fires

With their distrust of G!d to flail in burning pain.

So listen to me now! You must Justice desire;

Remember your Ancestors from whom we all gain

Our love of HaShem, the Brit, Mitzvot we all seek

To find comfort, Zion rebuilt into Eden complete

With gladness, joy, thanksgiving, and musical treats.'

 

Hence a similar vein in Haftorah we find

As HaShem cares for offspring, cautions them to mind

With pronouncements and deserved punishments dished out

Calling all: pursue Justice, the Holy revere

As we recall our forebears who answered the call

To seek justice as we should to prevent our fall;

To reach comfort, fruitfulness, joys bringing us near

With gladness, sweet music, thanksgiving, love and cheer!

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