This week we read פרשת נצבים-וילך, where, after discussing the blessing and curses that come with the nation’s actions, Moshe continues to explain the consequences of the ברית that will be made on הר גזרים. There we encounter a strange verse: “הנסתרת לה’ אלקינו והנגלת לׄנׄוׄ וׄלׄבׄנׄיׄנׄוׄ עׄד עולם לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת - The hidden things belong to HaShem, our G-d, and the revealed things are for us and our children, forever to do all these words of this Torah.” This פסוק is strange for a number of reasons. Firstly, what does it mean? What exactly are the “הנסתרת לה - hidden things to HaShem” and the “והנגלת לׄנׄוׄ וׄלׄבׄנׄיׄנׄוׄ - the revealed things for us and our children”? How does this fit into the context of establishing the ברית? And most eye-catching of all, why do we have dots over certain words in our פסוק?
4 Sept 2026
Parshat Ki Tavo 5786 - "תחת אשר לא־עבדת את־ה׳ אלקיך בשמחה"
This week we continue reading ספר דברים, now reaching פרשת כי תבוא, a Parsha in which Moshe gives some of the strongest תוכחה, rebuke, seen in the Torah. The descriptions of these curses are heart-melting, and in many verses gut-wrenching at how they foretell history. At the beginning of this passage, Moshe tells us the curses will come from a lack of proper harkening to HaShem’s word and observance of the מצוות. Again, in the midst of the קללות, curses, this cause is repeated: “כי־לא שמעת בקול ה׳ אלקיך לשמר מצותיו וחקתיו אשר צוך - Becuase you did not listen to the voice of HaShem, your G-d, to observe His Mitzvot and statues that He commanded you.” Yet, just 2 פסוקים later, another reason is stated:“תחת אשר לא־עבדת את־ה׳ אלקיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב מרב כל - In return that you didn’t serve HaShem your G-d with joy and a good heart from the abundance of everything”. This verse is difficult and leaves us with several questions. Firstly, and possibly most pressing: Why does the Torah give us two seemingly different reasons for the קללות? How can the absence of שמחה be enough to warrant such destruction foretold in the passage? Turning closer to the language: what is the meaning of “מרב כל - from the abundance of everything” in relation to our פסוק? But, most basic, what does it even mean to serve HaShem בשמחה?
4 Sept 2026
Parshat Ki Teitzei 5786- "וראית בשביה אשת יפת־תאר"
This week we read פרשת כי תצא, which opens by describing what might happen when בני ישראל go out to war. There the Torah describes how if a man at war sees a beautiful woman and desires her, he can “take her” and have relations with her once. However, if he wants her as a wife, she must be taken into his home, shave her head, cut her nails, change out of her clothing of captivity, and be given a month to mourn her father and mother. After this, if the man chooses to, he may marry her, but if not, he is forbidden from enslaving or selling her, but instead must set her free. This allowance raises 3 large questions: What is the deeper meaning behind the strange procedure spelled out in the Torah? How does this מצווה relate to our lives today? But most pressing, how could the Torah permit such a degrading and disturbing act? How are we meant to make sense of this?
Recorded in Yeshivat Sha'alvim
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