Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17; Haftarah: Isaiah 54:11-55:5

Abstract of weekly Torah portion:
11:26 Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today;
28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
32 And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today. read more…

Deuteronomy 7:12 till 11:25; Haftara: Isaiah 49:14 till 51:3

I write about this because healing has much to do with the understanding of the holiness of the Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom, Rolf Piller

In the meantime I received many suggestions what else one could do. If you feel led to do so, then go ahead with it. I for my part want to close that chapter and move on to praying for those affected.
Shalom
Rolf read more…

Va’Etchanan, Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11; Haftara: Isaiah 40:1-26
By Michael Schneider, israel today, Jerusalem

God Almighty chose Israel so that He could do mighty wonders and signs through this rebellious, stiff-necked people, because “in our weakness His power is perfected!”

This is a period of mourning for the Jewish people over the destruction of the Temple, the first in 586 BC by the Babylonians and the Second in 70 AD by the Romans. Through history, this period, culminating with the fast of the 9th of Av, has seen catastrophes and misfortunes befall the Jews, such as the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290, from France in 1306, and then from Spain in 1492. Amazingly, even the expulsion of Jews from the Gaza Strip in 2005 began on the 9th of the Hebrew calendar month of Av!

Commentary:
Our weekly reading begins with a moving prayer by Moses requesting that God allow him to enter the Promised Land, despite his earlier sin of striking the rock for water when he was instructed to merely speak to it. Moses has been waiting most of his life to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel. The Lord is merciful, and grants Moses half of his request by letting him see in an supernatural way from Mount Nebo all of the land from the Golan in the north to the Negev in the south. read more…

Deuteronomy 1:1 till 3:22; Isaiah 1:1 till 1:27

Numbers 33:1-36:13, Numbers 28:9-15; Jeremiah 2:4-28 + 3:4
By Michael Schneider, israel today, Jerusalem

Commentary:
Our weekly reading on this Shabbat concludes the fourth book of the Torah, Numbers. Chapter 33 of Numbers recaps Israel’s 40-year journey through the desert, and ends with a divine mission: “You shall cross the Jordan River to the Land of Canaan,” and remove all the inhabitants and the relics of their foreign cults – “because I will give this land to you.” Israel was warned that any remnant of the godless Canaanites and their religions would be like “barbs in your eyes” and “thorns in your sides.” Israel was furthermore warned against any covenant with the Land’s former inhabitants. The reasons for this admonition continue to be clear even today.