On Yom Kippur, the holiest day on our calendar, we reached the epitome of sanctity as we recited the Neilah service crying out to Hashem for His mercy and compassion. We concluded with Shema, the national call for acceptance of Hashem’s sovereignty and we answered with a resounding yes but it requires an explanation.
Chofetz Chaim cites an early source that the seven days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are very significant. They correspond to the seven days of the week and we have an incredible opportunity to rectify all the Mondays and Tuesdays of the year when we observe those days with total dedication to Hashem.
We will soon stand in judgment pleading with Hashem for yet another year of good health, a comfortable income, nachas from our children and each other. Truly, if one even superficially considers the possible negative outcome of this time it should send us into a frenzy. However, we unfortunately don’t have that cognizance of this special time and therefore we don’t shiver in our boots at this time of the year.
Hashem’s ‘desire’ to provide us with mitzvos is amazing. During the harvest when one is very occupied with reaping his crop and ingathering it into piles ready to shipped off to the silo for processing, to forget a heap of grain would certainly be a generic incident. Therefore, upon noticing the forgotten harvest he would go back and retrieve it. However, the Torah commands us otherwise.
Hashem guarantees us that a prophet will come forth from amongst the nation. The Torah states this saying that he will appear from your brethren, your very own brothers. It would seem that it would have been more appropriate to have said that he would be chosen from the people. Why is the terminology employed refer to our brothers?
The verse states that Hashem sets in front of us a blessing or curse. Initially the Torah seems to address the individual expressing ‘You’ in the singular form saying that one should realize the opportunity of blessing or curse. Yet the verse concludes that Hashem places in front of ‘You’ in a plural context
We read in the parsha the second paragraph of the Shema. We say that if we will perform all the mitzvos properly Hashem will provide us with rainfall and we will harvest crops enabling us to have sufficient resources. The Talmud states that when we follow the will of Hashem then we will merit that others will do our work.
We wept and cried on Tisha B’Av and now we enter into the period referred to as the 7 Shabbosos of Consolation. The Haftorah readings for these weeks mention and discuss our future as a people aspiring for that eventual time when Hashem’s Presence will be recognized by all and we will return to Eretz Yisroel with the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash.
We are well aware that this Sunday, the ninth day of Av, Tisha B’Av is the saddest day of the year. We sit on the floor until noon of that day and we recite Kinnos, special prayers evoking the tragedies of yesteryear which actually remind us of the calamities that have befallen us in every generation. We mourn the loss of the Beis HaMikdash which was destroyed a couple of thousand years ago.
Two and a half tribes opted to stay in Transjordan and not inherit land in Israel proper. And they did so with tremendous sacrifice. They were away from their families for 14 years until the conquest of Israel and the apportioning of the land was completed. In the exchange between Moshe and the leaders of those tribes there seems to be repetition.