| התנך

In Sefer Devarim, Moshe addresses the Jewish people at large, who time and time again had provoked G-d and Moshe. Yet Moshe continued to give his heart and soul for the Jewish people.

The first chapter of Sefer Yeshayahu, which we read as the haftara on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av, includes a famous series of verses in which God declares His disinterest in the people's sacrificial offerings: "Why do I need your abundant offerings… I am satiated with burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of sheep; and I do not desire the blood of bulls, lambs and goats!" (Yeshayahu 1:11). Several verses later (1:14), God declares His aversion for "your new months and festivals," claiming that He looks upon them as "a burden" (torach) which He can no longer bear.

In Yeshayahu's famous prophecy which we read on Shabbat Chazon (the Shabbat preceding Tisha B'Av), the Almighty laments to the prophet, "I have raised and exalted children – but they have betrayed Me!" (Yeshayahu 1:2).

אִם אֶסַּק שָׁמַיִם שָׁם אָתָּה וְאַצִּיעָה שְּׁאוֹל הִנֶּךָּ (פס' ח)

כי בכל מקום שנפלת לשם נמצא איתך ה' יתברך

In Parashat Devarim, Moshe recalls God’s commands to Benei Yisrael at various points during their sojourn through the wilderness not to initiate hostilities against other nations. God first issued such a warning as Benei Yisrael passed near the border of Edom (2:4-5), and then again later as the nation approached the lands of Moav (2:10) and Amon (2:19).

When we consider the events that Moshe chose to include in this address and those which he excluded, a clear pattern emerges. Moshe’s concern in delivering this speech is to avoid a recurrence of the sin of the spies.

השיר "עד אמצא מקום" מביע כמיהה לגאולה ולבניית המקדש. שיר זה עושה שימוש בחלקי פסוקים ומקורות מדרשיים העוסקים בגלות ובגאולה. הפסוק הפותח את השיר לקוח מתהילים קל"ב ומביע את כמיהתו של דוד לבנות את המקדש.

In his introduction to Sefer Devarim, Abarbanel poses a very simple question about this sefer: who wrote it?

Was Sefer Devarim, like the rest of the Chumash, dictated word-for-word from the Almighty to Moshe, or, did Moshe himself compose this sefer with ru'ach ha-kodesh (divine spirit, prophetic powers), much like the later prophets did (Yeshayahu, Yirmiyahu, etc.)? Since the bulk of Sefer Devarim is simply a transcript of Moshe's addresses to Benei Yisrael, one might argue that this sefer is his own creation, just as the prophets would record their prophecies.

הפרק מצייר את דמותו של הצדיק הארצישראלי: אדם שלא מנותק מהעולם, גומל חסדים ומעורב עם הבריות. ננסה להבין מהי המשמעות של "משמועה רעה לא יירא" (ז) וכיצד הצדיק מתמודד עם אתגרים וקשיים.

יהודה עמיחי מתאר את זכרונות ילדי הלוויים מהמקדש, ומתכתב עם המזמור "על נהרות בבל", שגם בו יושבי הגלות נזכרים במקדש. מצד אחד המשורר מתאר בצורה נועזת ילדים המשחקים בחופשיות, ומצד שני, בשירו המקדש הופך לחוויה קיומית.

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