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LOOKS
LIKE WE MADE IT The
atmosphere was so tense that you could have cut it with a knife.
After hearing the 98 curses that were pronounced by Moshe, should
we fail to fulfill the mitzvot, the people started to feel overwhelmed.
People were questioning whether or not they had any future, other
than doom and gloom. It was
at that point that Moshe announced, “You are all standing here today
before Hashem.” We asked Moshe why he began his speech in such a manner, to
which he responded, “I saw that the people were becoming despondent and
I wanted to assure them that they had made it.
Even though they may have sinned, still Hashem wants to bring
everyone across the Jordan. But
Hashem also wants you to realize the great responsibility that you have as
you cross over the Jordan. You
have to maintain the Torah and teach your children how to act properly.
You must instill in them a proper reverence and love for Hashem and
His Torah. But if you fail to
comply, the 98 curses will be brought upon your collective head.”
While people remain uneasy, it is more for concern over whether or
not they can accomplish their mission.
Only time will tell. CIRCUMCISE
OUR WHAT? We know about a brit milah and proudly perform it on the 8th day of a boy’s life, even if it’s Shabbat, but when we heard Moshe proclaim that part of the act of repentance |
was to
circumcise our hearts, we had to wonder, “Exactly how are we supposed
to accomplish that feat? Undaunted
in our desire to serve Hashem, we asked Moshe precisely what he meant.
Moshe explained, “When a person sins he distances himself from
Hashem. Why would any rational person want to do such a thing?
Because of the yetzer hara. The
yetzer hara (evil inclination) teaches one to rationalize why they
are about to commit the crime. Part
of the act of repentance is to conquer one’s yetzer hara and put it in
its place, namely subservient to the yetzer tov (good inclination.)
When one does this, one is fulfilling the mitzvah of circumcising
one’s heart. It really
means to return to the proverbial Garden of Eden, when all of Adam and
Chava’s thoughts and motivations were only based upon how to serve
Hashem in the greatest possible way.
That, of course was ruined when the snake enticed Chava, (who had
been told by Adam that if she would merely touch the tree of knowledge, it
would mean her death) pushing her against the tree and demonstrating that
she did not die, thus further causing her to question everything, until
the yetzer hara took her all the way and we all know what happened then. |
TORAH WILL
LIVE FOREVER
After all the exhortations that we will fall into sin, you’ve got
to wonder, how it will happen. After all, we are all learning Torah implementing the rules
on a daily basis. Withstanding
all of this, should we slip into such egregious behavior, it would
inevitably mean that we ceased to learn the Torah.
That being the case, how could Moshe say, “When all the evils that
I spoke about take place, you will sing this song, for it will not be
forgotten by you;” how are we to understand the apparent contradiction?
Well, believe it or not, the answer is that indeed a vast majority of
our people will cease to study and not even understand what is happening.
But Hashem is promising us that there will always be a group of us
who will remain steadfast to the Torah and it will indeed never totally be
forgotten. There will be times
of a reawakening, in which things will greatly improve for us and there will
be times of slipping into our indulgences, based upon our successes in other
parts of our life, and things will begin to get bad.
But through it all, someone will always be learning the Torah, and
through their merit, we will survive as a people and continue to be a beacon
to the world as Hashem’s special family.
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