Parashat VaEtchanan
PARSHA-PIX Upper left is a plus and minus in a negation circle. The Torah forbids (a few times) adding to the Torah or detracting from it. Once again, the Torah tells us of the mitzva to designate cities of refuge — 3 in the east side of the Jordan (and three on the west side of the river). Here in Va'etchanan, the three AREI MIKLAT on the east side of the Jordan are identified: BETZER in the desert flatlands in the territory of Reuven, RAMOT in the Gil'ad area of the territory of Gad, and GOLAN in the Bashan area of Menashe territory. The LUCHOT in the TORAH on the mountain stands for the repetition of the Aseret HaDibrot (with changes) and reminds us that the whole Torah was given by G-d at Sinai, not just the Big Ten. The outstretched palm is on its way to cover the eyes for the saying of the SH'MA. S'faradim do it differently – with fingertips rather than the Ashkenazi palm. The tip of the thumb and pinky are placed in the corner of each eye and the tips of the other three fingers are placed on the forehead. The way the hand is held, those three fingers form the letter SHIN. The warning lights represent Moshe's warnings to us to remain faithful to HaShem and not to be confused by what we witnessed but cannot completely comprehend. The Shabbat candlesticks represent SHAMOR and ZACHOR. They are contained B'DIBUR ECHAD, in one speech-bubble. The reminder-finger is for the command to never forget the Sinai experience and to pass on the memory to future generations. And then at the bottom, center and left, is a speaker, and a video monitor crossed out. On that great day of Revelation at Sinai, we HEARD what was said, but we did NOT SEE any image.
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