Chassidut on the Torah

Chassidut Archives

The week of Parshas Ve’etchanan, Tu B’Av, and Shabbat Nachamu (the first Shabbos after 9 Av) 5761 This week’s Dvar Torah is dedicated in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of Alexander Yitzchak (Sandy) Fischman, Mazal Tov! Overview Ve’etchanan (Deut. 3:23-7:11) opens with G-d’s refusal to allow Moshe to enter the Land. Next, Moshe reminds the Jews how they were taken out of Egypt, given the 10 Commandments, taught Torah, and should not stray from G-d and His laws. Moshe invokes heaven and earth as witnesses in warning the Jews of the consequences of erred ways. Then, Moshe designates 3 of the locations of the cities of refuge for the unintentional murderer. Following this is the review of the giving of the 10 Commandments and the famous verses of “Shma” and “Ve’ahavta”. The Jews are again reminded to keep G-d’s mitzvahs and avoid the consequences of sin, particularly idolatry and assimilation.  Insights Rashi brings two commentaries on the first word of this week’s Torah portion, ‘Ve’etchanan’. The first is the connection to the word ‘chinam’—a free gift; this would refer to Moshe’s request of G-d to allow him to enter Israel without being judged—even if he didn’t deserve it. The second is that ve’etchanan is one of the ten words for prayer used in the Torah. This would make the translation simply: “And I (Moshe) prayed...”. We have, one G-d and one Torah. From this we understand that even if there seems to be differences between Torah commentaries, nevertheless, all 70 ‘faces’ of Torah join together as they move in the channel that connects physical and spiritual worlds. Whichever aspect of the PaRDeS (Pshat-straightforward, Remez-hinted, Drush-homolitic or Sod-inner dimension explanations) they express, we can expect to find connections and supports between them. What is the connection here?  Chassidus explains the idea of a ‘free gift’ in this world. Each Jew is given certain abilities and characteristics in order to reach his or her true potential. It is impossible for the individual to break out of these boundaries on his or her own. Only when one is chosen by G-d to receive a ray of Divine light, incomparably more intense then his or her own strengths, can a person be transformed. This is because that person is tapping into the infinite. It is called a ‘free gift’ since it is not given in any quantifiable relationship to our observance of the commandments. Even though we must earn this gift, it is considered free because its value transcends all aspects of our reality and can be given to anyone, not only tzaddikim or extraordinary souls. It is available to every Jew. There is one specific method for tapping into this infinite strength. The study of Torah. Torah existed before the world’s creation, so it is not limited to the natural order. It is G-d’s will and wisdom. Since it transcends this physical world, it can tap into strengths beyond the world, to help a person break his or her boundaries. We learn from this verse Moshe’s inner intention. He wanted that the Jewish people should merit reaching spiritually lofty levels when they entered Israel through the study of Torah. Moshe was unsuccessful in his goal. This is hard to understand. It was Moshe who learned the Torah from G-d on Mount Sinai and thereby tapped into the infinite! He must have known the formula! If he was unable to draw this process down for the Jewish people, who possibly could? The inherent problem is that though Torah learning taps into levels much higher than this world and our observance of mitzvahs, the learning, just because of is great power, sometimes remains ‘suspended’. It does not always descend into the physical world. If so, what about prayer? The entire purpose of prayer is to effect positive change in this world. We see that the sick are healed and the rain falls! The power drawn by prayer does not remain above. Ahhh, that is the answer. Prayer is such an easy method to draw power into the world because it specifically does not always reach a relatively high source. So the prayers of Moshe were also not enough to grant the Jewish people added spiritual abilities, either. So what could? On one hand, the high level of Torah cannot descend into our plane, and on the other hand, prayer cannot go high enough. Neither alone can bring the desired affect. Moshe’s goal was to combine the unique benefits of Torah AND prayer in his effort to help the Jewish people. We learn this through the dual meanings of the word ‘ve’etchanan.’ As mentioned, ve’etchanan can refer to both ‘prayer’ and the ‘free’ gift that Torah brings in reaching above worldly heights. With all the good intentions that Moshe had, G-d did not heed his request. This is because G-d wants us to do the work by ourselves, to strive in both Torah and prayer and not to rely on Moshe. This lofty spiritual combination will only ultimately be revealed with the revelation of Moshiach. May it be now. Remember the next time you want to change the world. You have to do both Torah and prayer. Shabbat Shalom, Shaul

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