Feature Tidbit A Perfectly Matched Parsha As much as Parshat D'varim is suited to be read on the Shabbat before Tish'a b'Av, so is Va'etchanan the perfect choice (not that we have one) to serve as Parshat HaShavua after Tish'a b'Av. It is filled with lessons that carry extra messages in light of the recently marked fast day. Listen up, Jewish People, G-d says to us. You've been mourning the latest destruction of the Beit HaMikdash for more than 1900 years. During that time, you've suffered countless times - pogroms, Crusades, Inquisitions, expulsions, humiliations, restrictions, persecutions, confiscations, the Holocaust... assimilation. Itis quite overwhelming. How can you ever rise up from all that? The answer is succinctly put in 4:1 - Torah and Eretz Yisrael. Not more than that and not less. You (we) who cling to HaShem will be alive. egardless of what has happened to us, we are still the nation with the close relationship to G-d. But our Chosen-ness is not unconditional. It is not without commitment on our part.We must never ever forget the experience at Sinai which gave us our special relationship with G-d. It was a difficult experience because we so no image of G-d. Even as the Torah is preparing to repeat the Aseret HaDibrot, we get constant reminders not to fall prey to the tempations of idol worship. Again, the post Tish'a b'Av message is to preserve our souls, individually and communally, so that we do not stray from the Torah way of life and remain in Exile. Obviously, the parsha speaks on its "original" level, but it takes on a new dimension because of its calendar position. The parsha contains both the Aseret HaDibrot and the first passage of the Shma - the fundamentals of Judaism which were obviously not properly kept by many previous generations. Our relationship with G-d, the parsha tells us, is not merely inherited from our ancestors. The "deal" between G-d and His People is repeatedly made throughout history with each generation of Jews. This too ties in with the idea that "any generation in whose time the Mikdash is not rebuilt, it is as if it was destroyedin that generation." A person who carefully Rather than continuing the sentence started at the end of page 2, I'd rather finish with an important clarification. I am not suggesting that behavior of individuals is responsible for national calamity. In this regard, we are judged by G-d as a whole. If our balance sheet comes out in the black, then we can merit goodthings as a Klal, even if individuals aren't all okay. We don't know how G-d keeps score. But we do know what He wants of us. We each have to strive for self-improvement and contribute to the overall wellbeing of Klal Yisrael. [The Vaetchanan Homepage]
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