parshah va’etchanan

Devarim 3:23-7:11

Short summary:

  • Moses tells Israel that he will see but not enter the promised land.
  • Moses continues to review what’s happened so far …
  • We repeat the 10 Commandments
  • We find the verses of the Sh’ma.

(link to a better summary)

Woah. Whew. While I could probably go on and on about the beauty of the Sh’ma, I’m not. There was something else that struck me as more poignant this week. Go read the second aliyah again. OK.. Now reread 29-31. In these few days past Tisha B’av, after much loss, persecution, sadness… Which is good because this shabbat is also known as the shabbat of consolation or Shabbat Nachamu. more info here and here). (What is haftarah? see wikipedia).

Some more d’vrei torah may be found at the following links:
Ohr Torah Stone – Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
chabad

שׁבּת שׁלום