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

Rashi cites the Sifri which interprets “your children” to be synonymous with “your students.” Indeed, students are likened to spiritual children. The Talmud Bava Basra 8b interprets the pasuk in Daniel 12:3   —   sgu okugk ohcfuff ohcrv hehsmnu, “and those who teach righteousness to the multitudes [shine] like stars forever”, as a reference to Torah teachers. Why is a mechanech, educator, compared to stars? Horav Mordechai Ilan, z.l., suggests two reasons. The rebbe must be pure, his mind and heart unspoiled. Just as the stars are distant from the earth, the rebbe’s essence is  distant from “artzius,” earthliness…

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“For inquire now regarding the early days that preceded you … has there ever been anything like this great thing or has anything like it been heard? Has a people ever heard the voice of G-d ?” (4:32,33)

These pesukim are among the most powerful and profound in the Torah. They are also among the most demanding.  They present to us proof of the Divine essence of our religion.  They define the Revelation at Har Sinai as an event unparalleled in the history of mankind. A religion consists of a number of components all of which are prerequisites for establishing a personal belief in a particular religion. The first and foremost foundation is the recognition of a Divine Being to be worshipped. Second are instructions from this Divine Being as to the manner in which He is to…

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“Only take care and guard your soul most diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen.” (4:9)

The pasuk teaches us that it is as important to remember and ultimately transmit the experience of Matan Torah to the next generation, as it is to pass down the actual content of the Torah. As Rabbeinu Bachya states, “For if one forgets the experience, he will end up denying the content.” Without the tremendous and awesome experience of Revelation, Judaism can be transformed into an uninspiring secular experience. Judaism is alive!  It is a religion with vibrance and vitality, which is transmitted from generation to generation. It has been passed down from that first group of Jews who stood…

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“You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor shall you subtract from it, to observe the commandments of Hashem … Your eyes have seen what Hashem did with Baal Pe’or.” (4:2,3)

The sequence of the pesukim raises two issues. First, the order of the commands demands explanation. One would assume that the admonition regarding subtracting from the Torah would be written first, because it is so obvious. The Torah should have subsequently warned us against trying to become too pious to the point that we feel we know what the Creator is thinking. Horav Dovid Feinstein, Shlita, explains that in truth the “do not subtract” is essentially a corollary of the “do not add.” Whenever one attempts to amend the Torah by adding to it, he is actually subtracting from it….

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