Parashas Va'Eschanan

Our Parsha this week is Parashas Va'Eschanan , just after Tisha B'Av , and so our Haftorah is one of comfort , Isaiah 40:1-26 ( always read on the Shabbos after Tisha B'Av ) , where HaShem Comforts us that our time of exile is finished .
In this Parsha , Moshe continues his speech to the people .
Moshe starts speaking in this Parsha of how he implored HaShem to let him enter the Land . Moshe felt that HaShem Had just Given him the task of destroying our enemies Sichon and Og and so , he felt that HaShem Might Relent on the decree of not letting him enter the land , and so Moshe hoped HaShem Would Allow him into Canaan .
We see the anguish in Moshe's plea of how desperate he was to come into Israel and so , fulfill the Mitzvos pertinant to the Land of Israel , but HaShem Said No .
We note a sadness in Moshe's words of how , we were responsible for him not being able to go in , for we angered Moshe at the the Waters of Merivah . So many times did Moshe pray for us . So sad that not once did we ever pray for Moshe to go into the Land . Moshe tells how HaShem Took him to the top of the Mountain and Moshe got to see a view more brilliant than anything any human being could have possibly seen.
Moshe reminds us to listen to HaShem's Commandments , which will be our life and enable us to live in the Land . Moshe warns us not to in any way add to or subtract from HaShem's Word , as so many other religions sadly do . But we are to observe the Commandments As HaShem Gave them . Moshe warns against Avodah Zorah Idol Worship . Moshe also praises our beautiful Laws that we were given . Then Moshe reminds us of how we all stood at the foot of Har Sinai , while it burnt around it with fire up to Shamaim , also dark and thick cloud and How HaShem Spoke To us From the Midst of the Fire . How HaShem Who Has No Form , Gave us the Ten Declarations and How HaShem Inscribed Them On Two Stone Tablets and How HaShem Had Moshe instruct us in HaShem's Decrees , and Ordinances to be performed when we enter Eretz Yisroel . Moshe then warns us not to make any form of any animal , bird or fish or man or woman on Earth , or to look to stars , sun or moon to worship , for this is Idol Worship . Moshe again repeats how HaShem Was Angry at him because of us and so , doesn't let him go over the Jordan . And so , Moshe warns us to guard and keep the Commandments of HaShem and never to make any idols but to remain faithful to HaShem Only . Moshe foresees the corruptness that will come and how we will make and worship idols further on into the future , when Moshe will not be there and so , he calls Heaven and Earth that will be there as witnesses of what will happen if we disobey , for punishment that comes to us , is from HaShem via what is in Heaven and on Earth . For if we turn to Idol Worship , HaShem Will scatter us among the nations and Put us into Galus Exile . It will be there that we will seek HaShem our G-D and if we truly repent , HaShem Will Relent . The Cities of Refuge are again Reviewed for the Unintentionally Murdered to flee there .
Moshe then repeats the Ten Commandments
We note that Moshe's Repetition of the Ten Commandments are almost the same , except here HaShem , in referring to Shabbos , Commands us to Safeguard the Shabbos , whereas in Parashas Yisro , HaShem Told us to Remember the Shabbos , for these two injunctions of the Shabbos From HaShem are to be strictly followed , to Remember and Safeguard Shabbos always , and so for these two Commands , we light two Sabbath Candles every Shabbos and have two Challot . Our Sages said that when HaShem Said The Commands in Parashas Yisro , HaShem Said them both within the same Instant , and we are to Remember the Holiness of the Sabbath at all times during the Sabbath so as not to break Shabbos , Chas Ve Shalom in any way and thereby Safeguard Its Laws so as to Remember HaShem Who Took us out of Egypt so as to Give us the Torah . The Holiness of Shabbos must pervade our all , right through Shabbos thus Remembering Shabbos at every instant and so , to help us , we are to Safeguard all Shabbos Laws , that HaShem Has Commanded us .
When Moshe repeats the Commandment not to covet , we note that HaShem , When Giving the Commandment , put the house first , but here , Moshe puts not coveting one's fellow's wife first . HaShem in His Care wanted to save the man his embarrassment and so , put the house first , so as to not specifically highlight the man's natural Yetzer Horah . Moshe , knowing they were about to go into the land , wanted to be very specific and thus highlight that a man's wife should not be coveted , for he knew that in the land where HaShem Will Not show the same Miraculous Closeness as we had in Bamidbar , wanted to be more specific with the men , so as to make this Commandment more direct , so as to make sure it is more specifically pointed out .
Moshe reminds the people of how , at Har Sinai , they begged HaShem not to Talk to them directly , for they were not on Moshe's Level to be able to stand HaShem's Voice , for when HaShem Spoke to them there , the people actually expired and died and had to be revived ( some Rabbis say they expired twice and had to be revived twice ) , and so they begged Moshe to please speak instead , after hearing the Commandments from HaShem . Moshe felt they should have listened to it directly from HaShem . Even the giving of HaShem's Ten Commandments was Miraculous in so many ways , for HaShem Spoke all the Commandments at once in the same instant and time frame . Also , HaShem Spoke them to each and every Jew,in the way each and every Jew would Comprehend it so that each and every Jew would get the same meaning as it was really intended , all spoken at the same instant . Even the Letters on the Tablets were miraculous , for some letters are round and thus carved right through , yet they remained within the Tablets floating in the air within the Tablets . The Letters read the same the right way , on either side of the Tablets , oh the Beautiful Miracles of our Beloved HaShem .
Within this Parsha is also the first verse of our Shema prayer , that we say morning and night as Commanded within the prayer itself from these very Torah words here in this Parsha . Our Rabbis have told us that Yaakov was concerned that perhaps one or more of his sons were not righteous enough and so they said to their Father , " Shema Yisrael HaShem Elokeinu HaShem Echad , " - " Hear O Israel , HaShem Is our G-D , HaShem Is One . " In referring to Israel , this was Yaakov's name and so they were telling him how HaShem is our G-D and that HaShem Is One . Our Rabbis say that Rabbinically , Yaakov in happiness responded with the words , " Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuso Le'Olam Va'ed , " - " Blessed Be His Name Forever and Ever . " These words don't appear here in Torah after the first verse and thus , when we recite the Shema , we say this second line softly .
We note that in a Torah Scroll , the letters ' Ayin ' and 'Daled ' are made bigger and more pronounced . There are various reasons for this . Put together , these two letters spell ' Eid ' which means ' Witness ' for we as the Jewish people are Witness to the World , to HaShem's Oneness , and so it is our task chosen , to bring HaShem's Oneness to the rest of humanity . The letter ' Ayin , ' has the numerical value of ' 70 , ' reminding us of the number of Jewish souls that originally went down ino Mitzrayim egypt . There are also 70 ways to interpret The Torah and 70 deep definitions for each word in The Torah . Also 70 is the number of nations of the World . The ' Daled , ' refers to the four directions that make up the physical , suggesting How HaShem Fills all things .
When saying this verse , we are to emphasize and prolong the ' Daled ,' so as to highlight HaShem's Oneness .
The Shema verses here tell us to Love HaShem with all our heart, soul and might . Rabbi Akiva , who was murdered along with the other Martyrs , that we read of on Yom Kippur , faced a horrific death , where the Romans scraped his skin with iron combs . When he was going through such torture , his followers asked him why he is not showing the pain and his face showed a slight smile and this holy man responded that he rejoices in HaShem , to be able to give up his life for HaShem for now he can show how he fulfills these very words of the Shema to love HaShem with all he possesses, his heart , his soul now and all his resources . These words of the Shema also bring up another important fact , to teach our children at all times , not just at set times but even while sitting , walking on the way , reclining and arising thus at all times are we to teach about HaShem and His Laws . Our children are our future and we must make it the highest priority before fancy occassions and holiday trips to unholy places , to look to our children's Torah Education . That comes before physical material delights . The story is told of how many years ago , a Jewish family in the cold of their country sacrificed their warmth , and so , sold their stove and froze , just to ensure their child got a Torah Education . This child grew up to become a famous holy Rabbi called the Ridvaz that was so versed in Talmud , that he was referred to by his students when they lifted him up on Simchas Torah that they were picking up " the whole Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi ." So must be our mind set to ensure our children get a proper Torah Education , So Commanded By HaShem Himself.
The Shema here also brings up the wearing of Tefillin , of two black boxes with Torah verses in each , worn on our arm opposite the heart and on our heads , for so must all our thoughts and concentration and actions be toward HaShem . The Shema mentions Mezuzos , on our doorposts that are to be put on our doorposts and remind us in whose house we really reside , HaShem's , for all things belong to HaShem . Our Sages say that if we follow these signs of wearing Tefillin , Tzitzis and putting Mezuzos on our doors , then all negative forces have no power over us , knowing that we must put our intentions fully into these Miztvos .
Moshe then Speaks of how all things come from HaShem , Who Is Giving us a land prepared for us with abundance , on a platter . The previous inhabitants hid their wealth in the walls of their houses and we , are being given all these things from HaShem . We are reminded to always remember that everything we get is from HaShem and to appreciate HaShem For all the good that we receive From Him in Eretz Yisroel . Again we are cautioned about idol worship . We are not to test HaShem as we did at Massah . We are to always observe HaShem's Commandments Always and teach our children HaShem's Mitzvos and how HaShem Took us out of Mitzrayim .
HaShem Warns us through Moshe that when we come to the Land of Canaan , we are not to let the nations that were there before , influence us in any way , but we are to destroy them and their idol worshiping ways ( HaShem Always Knows Best ) , and not in any way make a covenant with them or show them favour and not intermarry with them , for they will pull our children to idol worship , Chas Ve Shalom . We are to smash apart their pillars ( of idol worship ) , ashera trees and carved images of idols are to be burnt . Thus Israel is to be kept as a Holy Land , with not a single drop of anything that is is not Torah , so all forms of anything that isn't Jewish from the Torah , is not to be in the Land at all , for Israel is to be kept Holy to HaShem . The same goes for all time , through today and always , and this is HaShem's Land and only His Laws and Commandments are to be there and no false religions of idol worship in any way . HaShem's Command . For , according to HaShem and Moshe in this Parsha , we are a holy people to HaShem , treasured above all in Earth following HaShem's Commandments Always . So ends the Parsha .
This Parsha of Va'Eschanan as I said starts out with Moshe imploring HaShem To Let Moshe enter the land . One has to ask , if one wants something so deeply from HaShem , how many times does one ask for it . Well , Moshe asked and pleaded with HaShem in different ways to the number of 515 times . This is how many times Moshe kept asking HaShem to please enter the Land of Israel .
We can see this if we take the Hebrew word " Va'Eschanan " - " Implore " and take its Gematriah , which comes to 515 . This is how many times Moshe Implored HaShem to enter the Land . We learn from this also that one must never give up hope asking for saving , even to the point where an executioner's sword is almost on the back of our necks , Chas Ve Shalom . Though in Moshe's case , who so deeply wanted to enter the land so as to perform the Mitzvos that can only be performed in Eretz Yisroel , was still turned down and told No . HaShem Who Is The Most Compassionate of Compassion, Still Told Moshe No . What was HaShem's Answer to Moshe's Imploring ? It was , " It is too much for you Moshe ," so what did that mean and What Reasons Could HaShem Have Had For Not Letting Moshe Into the Land at that time .
In answer to the first question , Moshe had gone so far in level , almost to the point of out of the physical and his next step , had to be a spiritual one . He had reached trhe 49th gate of Wisdom and so , to do more physically , had become unnecessary , and more would have been too much , more than he needed , thus HaShem Told him , " Dear Moishele , rest now , you have done enough and don't need to do more , for more is too much for you , so my dear Moishele , time to come home to Me . "
It was also time for Yehoshuah to have his time as Leader and it would not be proper for Moshe to be led by anyone then . The fact of Moishe's concern that he wanted to fulfill the Mitzvos only done in Eretz Yisroel , HaShem Gave him credit for these , just by the Laws of them that Moshe taught of them , from HaShem , that our people would fulfill in the Land . Moshe would get credit that way too ( for a teacher gets credit for what his student does , that the teacher taught that student ) . Thus , there was nothing more that Moshe needed to do for himself at that time, to gain heights of spiritual level and thus more would have been ' too much ' for him .
For why HaShem Chose not to let Moshe into the Land , I have mentioned a few reasons already , but there is another , that is hidden in the Gematriah of the word " Va'Eschanan , " , for HaShem's Action even here in Saying No , was " Chanan " - " Merciful , " , where the word ' Chanan ' appears in the word " Va'Eschanan . " But was was this Act of Mercy ?
If we take the Gematriah of the word " Va'Eschanan ,' that comes to 515 , our Sages tell us that this number shows a Secret .
We know that Moshe passed on in the year 2488 of the Jewish Calendar . We know from deep texts , that the time of the End of Days final Date , is to be the year 6093 ( we round it off to 6000 but 6093 is the exact figure ) from Creation . This means that Moshe passed on 3605 years before the time that will come of the End of Days . We know that HaShem makes Holy the Sabbatical Year , which is every Seven years . If we take this number 3605 , that is the number of years from Moshe's passing , to the date of the End of Days , 3605 divided by the number of Sabbatical Years between these two dates ( in other words the number of Sabbatical Years from Moshe's passing to the End of Days ) 3605 divided by 7 equals 515 , the exact number of times Moshe Implored HaShem , thus what Moshe was actually doing in Imploring these 515 times , was actually covering us all with his prayers from the time he wasn't physically with us then , right up until the time comes to the End Of Days . Thus Moshe was praying for our Forgiveness and Redemption even from then , right up until the End of Days , so caring was Moshe . So beautiful and Merciful Is HaShem and so far beyond our capacity of wisdom , Is HaShem , for He Has a Reason in everything He Does , even though it may not look merciful at the time , HaShem is too far beyond us and our limited capacity of intelligence and wisdom . It is also interesting to note , that the Malachim Angels also apparently pray 515 prayers a day to HaShem , and Moshe was now entering into a Spiritual Realm close to Hashem . So much a deep secret hidden in the word " Va'Eschanan . " For within the word too , it is shown that from the time Moshe prayed and implored ( showing that we too can pray and ask for things for all prayers have a purpose beyond what we may know ) , from that time on , it will last till the time HaShem Brings the Ultimate Mercy of the End Of Days , for the word " Va'Eschanan " can be separated into the words " Va Et Chanan ," which means , " And to the time of Mercifulness ," which will be at the End Of Days . It will be then , that ( the word )' Chet ' - ' Sin ' ( which appears in the middle of the word " Va'Eschanan " ) , will be no more and we will all live in a time of total Mercifulness .
So much did Moshe do for us all , right up until the End of Days , to Implore for each one of us , constant Mercy from HaShem .
This really teaches us all that HaShem Is Totally Merciful in all things , and that there is so much that we really don't know and that at all times , we need to have Emunah in HaShem , For He Knows All and HaShem Knows What Is Needed for All of us and all of Creation .
We may sometimes think things are not as we like or want , but none of us really know at all what we truly need . What we want is not what we need and what we need is not always what we want . Things may not always go as we would like , but then again , we know so little , so who are we , so small , to judge . We really know very little . We may think that things are hard and a struggle , but HaShem Has A Very Good Reason for All That He Does and For All that we go through , and even though we have no idea of the why's, we can be sure that HaShem Has A Much Needed Reason , for our sakes , for all that happens and all that we go through . For in all our " Va'Eschanan , " - " Imploring , " in the midst of it all , is HaShem's " Chanan ," - " Mercifulness , " That He Knows Best How To Bring All of Creation , to its Beautiful Destination , of the End Of Days , for us all to return and to be in Gan Eiden with our Beautiful Creator HaKadosh Baruch Hu The Holy One Blessed Be He .
I wish HaShem With Total Love , A Very Beautiful Special And Sweet Shabbos Kodesh With Love , and to all my fellow Yidden and Creation , a Very Beautiful Special and Sweet Shabbos Kodesh with Love .