Va’eschanan – Peninim on the Torah

“And you should teach them diligently to your children.” (6:7)

We are enjoined to transmit Torah to the next generation. Rashi adds that “your children” also refers to one’s students. Indeed, teaching Torah to one’s students is a form of spiritual creation. Various interpretations cite the importance of either personally teaching or caring for the Torah education of one’s children. Horav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld z.l. cites the Talmud in Brachos 14 which states that one who recites krias shema but does not wear tefillin, is viewed as a false witness. In the parsha of krias shema, one mentions the imperative to wear tefillin. To accept the mitzvah of krias shema,…

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Sruly Schnair In Va'eschanan, 5754

“Get up on top of Pisgah … and behold with your eyes for you shall not go over this Yarden… (3:27) Then Moshe separated three cities beyond the Yarden. (4:41) And this is the Torah which Moshe set before Bnei Yisrael.” (4:44)

The parsha begins with Moshe’s supplication to Hashem, entreating Him to be allowed entry into Eretz Yisrael. Moshe realized that his hopes would not be fulfilled, and he stood making his farewell speech to Bnei Yisrael. He reminded them of their past iniquities and exhorted them to remember their obligations to both Hashem and man. It seemed that Moshe’s task in this world had come to an end. Suddenly, Moshe undertook a new mitzvah, one that would not apply until Eretz Yisrael had been conquered and divided. He separated three cities of refuge for the Ever Ha’Yarden. Why did Moshe…

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Sruly Schnair In Va'eschanan, 5754

“When you shall beget children and children’s children and you will have become old in the land and will practice depravity.” (4:25)

Moshe did not fear the immediate danger of aberration on the part of Klal Yisrael. Rather, he perceived that change would result from being in the land for a while, occurring after the birth of the second and third generations. Horav S.R. Hirsch z.l. interprets the word o,baubu, “and you will become old,” in a different manner. iah is not like iez, the antonym of “young.” Rather, it is more closely related to being the opposite of “new” or “fresh.” This concept is already suggested by the literal meaning of iah as “dark” or “sleep.” Only after the nation has…

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“And you should teach them diligently to your children.” (6:7)

“Get up on top of Pisgah … and behold with your eyes for you shall not go over this Yarden… (3:27) Then Moshe separated three cities beyond the Yarden. (4:41) And this is the Torah which Moshe set before Bnei Yisrael.” (4:44)

“When you shall beget children and children’s children and you will have become old in the land and will practice depravity.” (4:25)

YEARS

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