Nitzavim-Vayeilech - 5th Portion

Join me as we learn Chumash for Thursday parshas Nitzavim and Vayeilech combined. Chapter 31 verse seven. Yesterday we learned this Moshe tells the Jewish people that today is the day of his passing. He's 120 years telling them that they're going to cross the Jordan. He no longer is the one that's going to lead the Jewish people and Joshua will take his place. He tells them about the Torah scroll that he gives to each one of the tribes. As well, he tells them the second to the last one of the commandments which is the laws pertaining the hakhel year. Verse seven. Vayikra Moshe l'Yehoshua Moshe called Yehoshua vayomer lo l'einei kol Yisrael l'einei kol Yisrael in front of all the Jewish people "Chazak ve'ematz be strong and courageous. Ki ata tovi et ha'am hazeh el ha'aretz ki ata hu asher tavi et ha'am hazeh el ha'aretz because you're going to be the one that's going to come with the Jewish to the land asher nishba Hashem la'avoteichem that God swore to our forefathers them to give to them ve'ata tanchelenuha ve'isam and you must apportion it to them as an inheritance. Rashi ki ata tovi et ha'am hazeh The Targum uses the translation "Arei ata te'u im am Hashem ad ein you're the one that's going to bring the nation im Moshe amali Yehoshua." Moshe said this to Yehoshua. Se'ganim she'baderech ye'u imcha you have the elders of the generation are going to be appointed together with you. Acher l'fi da'ato va'ato Make sure that you all are on the same point of view. Meaning that you will consult with all of them and you will be at the same level so to speak with the elders and so on. That's the way Moshe told it to Yehoshua. Aval Hakadosh Baruch Hu however God amar l'Yehoshua told Yehoshua as we read later on in verse 23 ki ata tovi et benei Yisrael el ha'aretz asher nishbati lahem that you are the one tovi al korcham you're going to force them. It's up to you. Meaning that it's going to be Yeshua to be the leader, not in consultation or in consort with the elders. Tell Michael if they don't listen, take a stick and knock them over the head and they're going to have to follow. What God was telling Yeshua that there's one spokesman for the generation, not multiple. You can't have multiple leaders. There's one leader and one leader with one opinion and therefore you can't have a bunch of different leaders saying a bunch of different things. Verse 8. God is the one that leads you. Who you will be with. He will neither fail you nor will he forsake you. Do not do not fear and do not be daunted. Verse 9. Moses wrote down the entire Torah. He gave it to the children of Levi. Those that are carrying the the ark of the the ark of God. Who carried the ark of the covenant. And all the elders of Israel and to all the elders of the Jewish people. And Moses wrote it and he gave it. Then he didn't give them he gave didn't give them only what he wrote up until now. Only once he concluded it from the beginning of until the son of the he gave to the people of his tribe. Interesting thing that we have over here as well. A few interesting commentaries that are mentioned on this idea is number one, when did he actually finish the Torah? Did he finish it on the day of his passing? Did he finish it before? What about the parts that we see at the end that he says that he died? So and did he only give it to the tribe of Levi? Did he write all of it that day? And there's many different commentaries and explanations. Some of them that he actually only finished it on that day. Some say that he wrote it entire Torah. He gave it to the tribe of Levi but the Talmud says that when he gave it to the tribe of Levi, all the other tribes complained and said, "How come we don't get a Torah? The tribe of Levi is going to say that it's only theirs, and therefore he gave every single tribe their own Torah." And miraculously was able to write so many Torahs on that day. And then there's a different discussion in Jewish law. How was he able to write it? Was it Shabbat? Was it not Shabbat? Was he allowed to finish it? And now for a lot of discussion and commentary just on this idea of that Moshe giving the Torah to the tribe of Levi, and when he actually wrote it, and when he finished and completing writing it, not for discussion at this moment. >> [clears throat] >> We now go to the next mitzvah, the mitzvah of the hakhel. And this would happen, as we know, every 7 years, uh right after the year of the sabbatical year. Yitzav Moshe so this is now chapter uh chapter 31, verse verse 10. Vayitzav Moshe es amo leimor, "And Moshe commanded the Jewish people saying, Miketz sheva shanim b'moed shnat hashmitah, at the end of every 7 years at the appointed time, if uh at the appointed time, shnat hashmitah b'chag uh the year of release, b'chag hasukkot on the festival of sukkot." Rashi, verse 10. Miketz sheva shanim, b'shanah rishonah shel hashmitah, she hi hashana hashminit, uh which is the eighth year, meaning in the first year of the new sabbatical year. So the way the cycle of years that they would count would be from one sabbatical year to the next sabbatical year. So it'll be seven-year cycles. So it's the number one year, the year after the sabbatical, but if you're counting from the previous sabbatical year, it'll be number eight. Um shnat v'lamah koresh shnat hashmitah? So then why does he call it the sabbatical year if it's really the next year already? Shedayim shvi'it neged hag hashabbat b'kodesh shvi'it she'hi yetzei mitzei shvi'it, because since some of the laws of sabbatical year still apply during the fall of the previous year, so therefore he still calls it the sabbatical year. What are you going to do at that time? Verse 11. V'heikol Yisrael lir'ot et pnei Hashem Elohecha, "When all the Jewish people come to appear before God, your God, the holy place that God chooses, which is in the holy temple, you will read this Torah of Israel before all the Jewish people and they with their ears, meaning that they should hear it. Meaning you have to put it in a way that every Jew should be able to hear it. As Rashi says, who is the one that had to read it? It teaches us that they will build a platform. And why was it told to Yeshua? Because the king was the one that would read it. Where would he read from? He would read the book of Deuteronomy until after Shema Israel. As it says in the tractate of Sota, they would build a beautiful platform that the king would come on and the king would then read from the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy until after the Torah reading of Shema. And >> [cough and clears throat] >> and tell this to all the Jewish people. Verse 12. Gather, assemble all the Jewish people, the men, the women, and the children, including their converts that are in your cities. So that they in order that they should learn, in order that they should hear, in order that they should learn, and they should revere and they should revere God, your God, and they will safeguard to do all the words of the Torah. Why men, women, and children? Rashi explains, the men that they should learn. And the women that they should listen and to know what are the mitzvahs for them to follow. Why do they need children? What are the children going to do? Why did they come? To give reward to those that bring them. Meaning that it's a mitzvah for the parents to bring their children and like this they can get reward for bringing their children. Verse 13. In addition, their older children who prior to this They they didn't know about it. They didn't properly know the importance of the Torah. They should hear and they should learn to fear to revere God their God all the days. That you are alive on this world on the land that you're going to cross the Jordan River to live in that land there to possess it. This concludes the Torah reading for Thursday prior to the seventh of May 2013.