Author Topic: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?  (Read 2959 times)

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Offline muman613

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Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« on: August 13, 2014, 08:35:13 PM »
Shalom JTF Reader,

I am starting the Video Study thread a tad bit early this week because I have a lot to do tonight and may not find time to be able to post...

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, demand of you? Only to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to worship the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command you this day, for your good. Deuteronomy 10:12-13

Our portion continues the lecture that Moses gave to the people of Israel before they were about to conquer the good land which Hashem swore to our forefathers. He resumes the story of the giving of the Ten Sayings (10 commandments) including the narrative of going up and getting the first luchot, him coming down and witnessing the people dancing at the golden calf, the breaking of the first luchot, the begging Hashem for mercy, going up the second time and getting the second set of luchot...

Also we learn more about the precepts contained in the Shema prayer...

And it will be, if you hearken to My commandments that I command you this day to love the Lord, your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, I will give the rain of your land at its time, the early rain and the latter rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil.

From Chabad's Parsha in a Nutshell:

Quote
In the Parshah of Eikev (“Because”), Moses continues his closing address to the children of Israel, promising them that if they will fulfill the commandments (mitzvot) of the Torah, they will prosper in the Land they are about to conquer and settle in keeping with G‑d’s promise to their forefathers.

Moses also rebukes them for their failings in their first generation as a people, recalling their worship of the Golden Calf, the rebellion of Korach, the sin of the spies, their angering of G‑d at Taveirah, Massah and Kivrot Hataavah (“The Graves of Lust”). “You have been rebellious against G‑d,” he says to them, “since the day I knew you.” But he also speaks of G‑d’s forgiveness of their sins, and the Second Tablets which G‑d inscribed and gave to them following their repentance.

Their forty years in the desert, says Moses to the people, during which G‑d sustained them with daily manna from heaven, was to teach them “that man does not live on bread alone, but by the utterance of G‑d’s mouth does man live.”

Moses describes the land they are about to enter as “flowing with milk and honey,” blessed with the “seven kinds” (wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates), and as the place that is the focus of G‑d’s providence of His world. He commands them to destroy the idols of the land’s former masters, and to beware lest they become haughty and begin to believe that “my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.”

A key passage in our Parshah is the second chapter of the Shema, which repeats the fundamental mitzvot enumerated in the Shema’s first chapter, and describes the rewards of fulfilling G‑d’s commandments and the adverse results (famine and exile) of their neglect. It is also the source of the precept of prayer, and includes a reference to the resurrection of the dead in the messianic age.


Let us start once again with the newest upload from Rabbi Richman:


You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2014, 08:36:52 PM »
Knowing how much some people love Rabbi Mizrachi's lectures, my second post in this thread will be a shuir posted by Rabbi Mizrachi from two years ago...


You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2014, 08:38:27 PM »
Rabbi Yehuda Glick from Hevron gives a short talk on the importance of Israel...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2014, 01:00:16 AM »
Rabbi Svirsky explains a lesson I studied from the Tanya with my rabbi a few weeks ago. It concerns the stanza, 'You shall love Hashem with all your heartS'... Notice that the word for heart is in plural... Why is this?





http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/53667/jewish/The-Second-Chapter.htm

2) In the second section, the commandment to love G‑d is given in the plural (“with all your hearts and with all your souls”) rather than the singular (“with all your heart, with all your soul”) employed by the first section. The first section, explains Rashi, is an injunction to the individual, while the second is an injunction to the community. (This difference is repeated throughout the two sections. The Hebrew language distinguishes between second-person singular and second-person plural, as Old English does with “thou” and “you.” The entire first section speaks in second-person singular, the second section in second-person plural.)
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2014, 01:17:19 AM »
Rabbi Nagen of Otniel yeshiva in Hevron on our portion.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2014, 01:31:49 AM »
Rabbi Machlis in Yerushalayim is always warm and welcoming... A few years ago he recorded this video on the portion.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2014, 01:42:14 AM »
Once again the great Rabbi Richman from the Temple Institute... This video was posted 3 years ago.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2014, 05:01:31 PM »
I have discussed this in  the 'Ask Muman' thread although it may have been discussed elsewhere also... This week we hear the term 'a stiff necked people'... Rabbi Elly Broch discusses what this means...



Featured Article: Nothing But The Truth
By Rabbi Elly Broch
http://www.torah.org/learning/kolhakollel/5765/eikev.html

"And you should know that not because of your righteousness does G-d, your L-rd, give you this good land to possess it, for you are a stiff necked people". (Devarim/Deuteronomy 9:6)

"For it is a stiff necked people, and you shall forgive our iniquity and error, and make us your heritage". (Shemos/Exodus 34:9)

One of the criticisms persistently leveled against our ancestors was that they were stiff necked. What does it mean to be stiff necked? Moreover, if this is a criticism, why in the book of Shemos does Moshe appear to use it as a means to secure forgiveness for the nation?

Rashi (1) explains that the term stiff necked implies that the nation would turn the back of their necks toward those who attempt to rebuke them and refuse to listen. Sforno (2) further provides the etiology for this characteristic. It is caused by one attempting to follow his own mind and heart even though he has been instructed logically and convincingly that his ideas are incorrect. His stiff neck is manifest in his inability to "move his head" and listen to those attempting to guide and help him. Thus, in Shemos, Sforno understands that Moshe was pleading with G-d that although the nation was stiff necked and prone to commit infractions, nevertheless the nation wanted the Creator of the World to continue to dwell in their midst. Despite their stiff-neckedness He should forgive them.

Rabbi Avigdor Miller (3) explains that Moshe requested that the nation should be forgiven specifically because they were a stiff necked people. Moshe was suggesting that this trait could be directed and harnessed for unswerving loyalty to the Divine. Indeed, this is one of our permanent and conspicuous characteristics bequeathed to us from our forefathers. One little family, in a world of great nations that served idols and practiced magic, needed an enormous stubbornness of loyalty and conviction in order to resist and repudiate the prevailing influence of the world in which they lived. They were a stiff necked people that were skeptical of miracles and difficult to convince, but once they were convinced by observation of the world and open demonstrations of the presence and benevolence of a Creator, they were committed and unyielding in their loyalty. Even Bilaam, a wicked Midianite prophet who actually attempted to destroy the Jewish nation, ultimately praised them, "He kn eeled, he lay down like a lion, and like a lioness; who can rouse him up?" (Bamidbar/Numbers 24:10). We are a people that fight with lion-like ferociousness when oppressors attempt to repress or interfere with our practice of our precious heritage.

This stubbornness is a trait that, like many others, has destructive potential, but if channeled and used appropriately can be invaluable. Like our forefathers, we must thoroughly investigate our heritage, making Judaism integral to our beings and our identity, while maintaining a healthy skepticism of the myriad attractive yet false ideologies that prevail. We cannot simply assimilate the false philosophies that, although unsubstantiated, have engulfed our generation. We must utilize our stiff-neckedness to uncover the truth and live loyally by it.

Have a Good Shabbos!


(1) 1040-1105; Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki; commentator par excellence, whose commentary is considered basic to the understanding of the text
(2) 1470-1550; classic Biblical commentary of Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno of Rome and Bologna, Italy
(3) 1908-2001; a prolific author and popular speaker who specialized in mussar (introspective Jewish self-improvement) and Jewish history, Rabbi Miller commanded a worldwide following through his books and tapes: of the tens of thousands of Torah lectures he delivered, more than 2,000 were preserved on cassettes.
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2014, 05:09:19 PM »
Rabbi Shafiers short shmuz on the portion...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2014, 05:13:25 PM »
Rabbi Trugman of BeThereIsrael and OhrChadash talks a bit about the Chassidic insight on the parsha.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2014, 08:35:11 PM »
"A land Hashem your G-d seeks"

(Deuteronomy 11:12)
Av 19, 5774/August 15, 2014

"A land Hashem, your G-d, looks after; the eyes of Hashem your G-d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year." (Deuteronomy 11:12) This is a statement of such grandeur and far-reaching import that when reading it one feels compelled to stop and re-read it not once but many times. The original Hebrew imparts an even more compelling message. The Hebrew word doreish, which is here translated at "looks after" more properly means "seeks," and the Hebrew words don't state that "the eyes of Hashem your G-d are always upon the land," but that the eyes of Hashem your G-d are always "in the land." Whereas the English translation suggests a paternalistic and lofty gaze from on high, the Hebrew tells of a G-d whose Divine presence permeates the land of Israel, whose "eyes" are on eye level with both the land and the people who possess the land, and which are constantly seeking to create a relationship of mutual trust and blessing between the land of Israel and the people of Israel. G-d's presence is dynamic in the land of Israel and it is a dynamic relationship that G-d demands between His people Israel and the land.

The land of Israel is not the end goal but only the staging ground and the starting point for Israel's destined role in the world. "In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth (earth=land in Hebrew)," (Genesis 1:1) and our sages tell us that the land G-d created was the land of Israel for the people of Israel. And it is this very land that G-d seeks with His "eyes, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year." (Deut. 11:12) It is this very land whose heart and place of the Holy Temple the patriarch Avraham called "Hashem will see, as it is said to this day: On the mountain, Hashem will be seen.'" (Genesis 22:14) G-d, whose eyes "are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year," can be seen, can be felt, and can be approached here in the land of Israel as nowhere else in the world, and likewise G-d "seeks" and detects and scrutinizes man's heart and soul here in the land of Israel as nowhere else in the world.

You can't make this up, people, and it is a difficult truth to share with those who aren't here in the land of Israel, and it is not an invention of modern Zionism, but it is written clearly black on white, here in this week's Torah reading of Eikev: G-d's nearness is so imperceptibly and inconceivably close here in the land of Israel that no lie will go undetected for long and no impurity will be remain unwashed in due time. The verses which follow, words which we repeat every day as part of the Shema prayer, make it clear that everything, from the rain that falls, to the grains and fruits that we raise and consume, all are a measured and commensurate response to Israel's keeping G-d's commandments, commandments which pertain to our fellow man, to the land of Israel itself and to G-d. It is a package deal and with proper care the rewards are immeasurable.

Israel at war and at peace, Israel's economy and prosperity, Israel's scientific and medical advances, high tech and energy technology, her musicians and actors and writers and painters are all a result of and a reflection of the intimate relationship that G-d seeks with His eyes here in the land of Israel. Israel's successes and Israel's failures rise and fall within the parameters that G-d determines according to the incomprehensible algorithm which is His determination of reward and punishment. There is no happenstance here in the land which G-d seeks with His eyes, "from the beginning of the year to the end of the year."

We are currently six weeks before Rosh HaShana, the day which marks both "the beginning of the year [and] the end of the year," and the nation of Israel is already beginning the process of intense reflection which marks our preparations for the upcoming season of judgement and return. No verse of Torah better describes this season than our verse quoted above as it is during this time that we dwell upon G-d's immediacy and approachability and His accepting of both what we have become over the past year and whom we intend to be. Without G-d's intimate nearness, renewal and repentance would not be an option.

Many good Jews devote most of their waking moments between the seventeenth day of Tammuz and the ninth day of Av, the three week period of mourning the destruction of the Holy Temple, thinking of, longing for and praying for the Holy Temple. And many of these same good Jews turn their thoughts elsewhere on the tenth day of Av. But in light of all that we have shared above, and in light of G-d's presence and constant engagement with His people and with His land, our above quoted verse, which we read every year following the ninth of Av, stands out as a clarion and a directive to double and triple our efforts, now and throughout the upcoming year, to rebuild for G-d the house He so richly deserves, here in the land He loves and seeks out, "from the beginning of the year to the end of the year." May G-d bless our efforts to rebuild His house, "a house of prayer for all nations." (Isaiah 56:7)


You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline Ephraim Ben Noach

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Eikev : What does Hashem want?
« Reply #11 on: August 15, 2014, 09:14:37 PM »
^I listened to Temple talk today, it was a good show!
Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the horn, and the people be not warned, and the sword do come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.