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You shall teach them to your children to discuss them. (11:19)

Rashi comments that  Chazal have inferred from this pasuk that when a child begins to talk, his father should converse with him in lashon hakodesh, Hebrew, and should begin to teach him Torah.  If he does not teach him Torah, it is viewed as if he had ______ buried him.  This is implied by the juxtaposition to the next pasuk, in which the Torah states, “In order to prolong your days and the days of your children.”  The mitzvah of limud haTorah takes on a new perspective when it applies to a father’s obligation to educate his children.  A father…

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To love Hashem, your G-d, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (11:13)

Rashi comments that “serving with the heart” is a reference to tefillah, prayer.  Yet, there is a dispute among the Rishonim if daily prayer is min ha’Torah, a Biblical command,  or m’dRabbanan, a  Rabbinnical decree.  While granting that the number of prayers, their text and content reflect Rabbinic input, the Rambam asserts that  the origin of prayer is Biblical.  Ramban contends the concept of  prayer, excluding prayers  of distress, is Rabbinic in origin.  Indeed, since prayer is avodah she’blev, service of the heart, the expression of human feelings and emotions should be man’s creation.   Hence, Chazal composed  the various…

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Now, O Yisrael, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you? Only to fear Hashem, your G-d. (10:12)

Fear of G-d is essential. A person is able to acknowledge Hashem and freely submit to His will only when he truly fears Him. One naturally  succumbs to the yetzer hora, evil inclination.  Through our yiraas Shomayim, fear of Heaven, however, we are able to overcome the blandishments of the yetzer hora.  The Chofetz Chaim placed emphasis on the word  “viata” “now”.  A person should go through life inquiring, “What does Hashem ask of me – now?  Not tomorrow, not yesterday, but right now!  When we keep the idea of current obligation  in our mind, Judaism becomes alive. Our whole…

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