| Va'etchanan 5761 - August 3, 2001 |
The Unbearable Heaviness of Being
So I don't exist. Or I don't exist and do exist at the same time. So what? I
still have to get up in the morning, I still have to deal with my credit card
balance, my mother-in-law, and this guy whose elbow is crushing my ribs on this
crowded subway car. It might make interesting reading, but in the final
analysis, what difference does it make?
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Va'etchanan
Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
Torah Reading for Week of July 29 - August 4, 2001
In which Moses implores G-d, describes the Exodus and the Giving of the Torah, predicts Israel's abandonment and return to G-d, and summarizes the fundamentals of the Jewish faith.
Also: Thirteen ways to pray, the inexistence of the universe, G-d's tefillin,
and the difference between onenees and singularity.
The Parshah in a Nutshell
Parshah with Commentary
More on the Parshah from the Chassidic Masters
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The Paradox of Free Choice
Isn’t everything predetermined by the mechanics of the
universe? I’m just a programmed machine; how can I be blamed for being what I am?
Since G-d knows the future, what choice do we have in it?
Since there is nothing else but His Oneness, what room is
left for us to make any difference? If G-d is the Primal Cause, doesn’t the buck stop
there?
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The Summer of the Kishka
Here was genuine culture, a living tradition, a way of preparing for Tisha B’Av
that I had never experienced before. It was an awakening, a discovery of
origins.
This is where hotdogs come from.
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A Time To Be Silent
"While you live under my roof you behave as I tell you." This
statement gives the message to the child that he or she is a temporary visitor
in the parent’s life. But this is not so, even if we want it to be. A 70-year
old woman was heard saying to her friend, "My 45-year old son spends $200 a
week in my honor... He spends it on a psychiatrist talking about me."
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The Grammar of Love
In the book of Proverbs King Solomon declares: "He who has found a woman has found good." Yet in the 7th chapter of Ecclesiastes he states, "And I findmore bitter than death the woman."
The grammatical differences between these two verses explain the conflicting images of woman they convey: Are you searching for love in the present, or in your past? Are you looking for your soulmate or are you looking for yourself?
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