MODIA
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Judaism, Torah and Talmud

A. The 5th Book of the Torah

We begin the fifth book of the Torah, Devarim (Deuteronomy). Devarim is a short book. As seen from the table below, it is book no. 4 in terms of size.

II The meaning of the 5th book

Main meaning: "add nothing and omit nothing from the Torah"
This 5th book ends the written law.
It teaches us first and foremost that respect for the word of God means to add nothing and to omit nothing from the Torah. The Torah can never be an old testament that is supplanted by a new testament. This is in total contradiction with the essence of the Torah which is the word of God.
The Bible recognizes that there are other religions, and says simply: "they have their gods" and it is not in conflict with them. But the word of God cannot be changed by someone who wishes to find a "new" meaning in his word, so that he can become a "new" prophet, equal to God. If Jews had studied and understood the text of the Torah, they would not have been swayed by "new" movements which tried to introduce new interpretations and new prophets. The Torah itself condemns this.
It is even explicit on this point, because it is aware of man's propensity to be swayed and that this is something that is eternal. When we fall for temptation, we have no right to say we were not warned.
The Torah even gives us the example we should follow: the book of Devarim begins by saying that Moshe abided by "all that Hashem had given him in commandment, hekhol asher tziva Hashem" (1, 3).

It is not me therefore who warns against attempts to modify the word of God, but chapter 13 of Devarim:
lo tosef-alav ve lo tigra mimemnu
"all that I have commanded, thou shalt not add or omit any thing"

But,
1)
--- men are easily tempted by the miraculous or the miraculous theories that other religions offer,
--- there are always false prophets who try to use miracles as proof that the Torah refers to "them" and not to the sole message of Moshe;
--- these false prophets (who can be moral men) then develop an alternative interpretation of the Torah in order to show that the Torah refers everywhere to them.

2)
The Torah responds to these attempts in two ways:
One) with a positive commandment
ve lo kam navi od beTisrael ke Moshe
"And there hath not risen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moshe" (Devarim 34, 10). The revelation ended with Moshe and all we need to know was transmitted by him.
Two) a warning (13, 2-4)
"ki yakum bekirbekha navi o holemhalom
And if there arise in the midst of thee a prophet or a dreamer of dreams
ve natan elekha ot o mofet
and he give thee a sign or a wonder
u va haot vehamofet asher diber elekha….
and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee…..
lo tishma el divre hanavi hahu o el holem hahalom hahu
thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or unto that dreamer of dreams."

All Jews, who have a religious bent and are attracted by the direct or disguised teachings of missionaries who work for messianic movements, such as Jews for Jesus should:
One) read these texts,
Two) respect them, for they are the word of God,
Three) reject all the arguments put forward by these missionaries (who always use the same tactic: you long for the Messiah, X is the Messiah, he performs miracles and the Bible speaks of him in such and such verse).

I often see, on my way to work, at Jerusalem's central bus station Christian missionaries openly proselytizing, with the Bible in their hands. They go for young people without a kippa, for they consider them to be a-religious, and they launch into this set discourse.
I also receive similar propaganda in the mail.
The missionaries then use the Jews they have seduced into their fold as examples to bring others into their movement.
There are Jewish organizations that are combating this new form of Shoah, which is being waged by Christians at a time when official churches are talking of dialogue and reconciliation. Note that the Vatican Council's declaration on missionary activity explicitly mentions the missionary "duty" which "begins in Jerusalem" as the condition for the salvation of the world.
There seems little point in talking of a dialogue between the two religions, when such missionary activity persists.

The warnings and teachings of the Torah

The Torah teaches us that such events will take place and will have 5 distinguishing features:
--- a prophet
--- a visionary
--- who will emerge from the ranks of the people
--- miracles
--- the miracles will be used to promote missionary work.

Indeed, this phenomenon took place many times in our history and led to the creation of new religions which, as described in the Torah, claim to be
--- a continuation of the Torah
--- which predicted their development.

In response, the Torah calls for fidelity and love:
lo tishma el divre hanavi hahu o el holem hahalom hahu
thou shalt not hearken unto that prophet or unto that dreamer of dreams

The meaning of these events: a test of love

After having instructed and warned us about false prophets, the Torah goes even further and gives us the meaning of these events in 13, 4:
"ki menase Hashem Elokekhem etkhem ladaat ha yishekhem ohavim..
for Hashem your God putteth you to proof, to know whether ye do love Hashem…

bekhol levavekhem uvekhol nafshekhem
with all your heart and with all your soul."

This tells us that those who let themselves be swayed
--- do so because their love of Hashem
--- is imperfect and not total.
Just as a man may love his wife but lets himself be seduced by another woman: the love this man has for his wife is not total.

The Torah teaches us that such people do not know that it is NORMAL for love to be tested this way in order to become even greater,
and include this teaching of the Torah which they do not know;
--- then they will realize how they became the dupes of others and of themselves,
--- they will understand that they had abandoned the words of the Torah, for a new temptation,
--- and, by returning amidst their people, they will attain a love that is not subject to uncontrollable urges, personal projections, and confusion between the true word and illusions-visions-miracles.
Just like a man who, after having erred, understands exactly what happened and why and runs back to his wife. The prophets use the same metaphor in relation to God.

Many Jews erred in this way ; there are many forms of Shoah (psychic, physical and often both), which find their victims when they have lost their way, as seen in the words of Moshe.
Like the Jews in the desert, those who have erred should re-read verses 1, 29-31:
"lo taaretzun velo tireune mehm
dread not, neither be afraid of them.
Hshem Elokekhem haholekh lifnekhem
Hashem, your God who goeth before you,
Hu yilahem lakhem…..
He shall fight for you,
according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes. And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that Hashem thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place."

Thus it is with love: after the first romantic encounter that leads two people to live together, they begin a long process of coming to terms with the reality of loving the real person rather than the object of their needs or fantasies; and they should not reproach one another for not living up to this fantasy. This is when one discovers if one really loves the other person totally, "with all our heart and all our soul."
Both partners will go through a difficult time before this takes place.
Sadly, many people do not realize that these are normal stages of love, and they often flounder at this time, or flee to other loves, in pursuit of their original fantasy.

The Jewish people are surrounded by false friends who use similar tactics to persuade them to leave their people. Missionary work is extremely well organized and does not depend on the talents of one person or discourse.
A Jerusalem taxi driver told me an incredible story: as a young child in occupied France, he was sent to safety, like other Jewish children, in a convent: "my two Jewish friends who were also sent there are now priests or nuns, but I had an aunt who sewed my name in the hem of a jacket and, after the war, she looked for me and found me through the jacket and was able to get me out of the convent; the others were swallowed up." Two Jewish victims of a Christian Shoah.
Adults can understand better the trials we have to overcome.

Annihilation: kill the witness

This problem also has a tragic aspect: when a person abandons a love object, he or she often wants to kill it in order to avoid culpability, and so the other person becomes the victim who must be eliminated. Thus, religions which emerged from the Torah and did not respect the words of chapter 13 (not to add or omit anything) ended up "through an absurd love of God" killing Jews in every century.
Today this takes on the new form of the battle against "the judaisation of Jerusalem," which is an indirect way of killing Jews. This concept, which was formulated during the Congress of Churches of the Middle East held in Beirut, with the collaboration of the PLO and a message of support from the Vatican Secretariat, has now replaced the previous one of "internationalization of Jerusalem." The two have the same goal: the annihilation of the Jewish people.
The forms of annihilation are becoming more and more civilized, but the strategy remains the same and we have been warned against it by the Torah.
Let us now follow the path of the last book of the Torah.

III - Themes of the parasha

The following points are only a guide to help readers understand the meaning of the text as they are reading it, which everyone must do, even if it is in English.
In Chapter 1, until Devarim 2, 16, Moshe recounts the long list of rebellions by the people, despite the deeds and promises of Hashem that they will be given the land of Israel. The result of their rebellion was that the annihilation of this entire generation in the wilderness.
Then, from Devarim 2, 17, the reverse takes place: the people behave correctly and want peace with their neighbors, but the latter refuse and they are the ones who are annihilated.

The parasha ends with several promises based on these lessons

--- you will find rest "after" these difficult trials;
--- you will acknowledge the heritage which Hashem gave you;
--- Hashem will protect you in the future as he did before;
--- you will not be afraid, for Hashem, your God, will fight for you.
It may be reassuring to note that it is not the first time in our history that we are confront the same situation of:
--- the rejection of the Torah by individual Jews;
--- and the rejection of our role by our neighbors.
This took place since the first generation and the Torah, which knows "its Jews," gives them a detailed analysis of this phenomenon and of the appropriate response.

A lesson for our generation

1. This problem has persisted ever since among our people, who refuse to come to the land of Israel, even though Hashem says we should (and we are not talking about coming on holiday or to retire, for the Torah does not mean this). It talks about coming "to live" (tihiyu) in Israel, not coming here for a few days of fun, because Israel is "our heritage" and we have a holy mission here.
2. We are not the first generation to be seduced by false prophets.
3. We are not the first generation to be surrounded by enemies who use every possible strategy to stop us from realizing this goal. After having waged war, and been defeated, these neighbors then used a strategy of peace and pacifying declarations, but the Torah has shown us that our ancestors were also similarly seduced and were almost annihilated because they rejected their heritage.
We should not forget any of these teachings of the Torah.

The priority: understanding our heritage

Devarim is also called mishne Torah, which means "short summary of the Torah" for its goal is to make us remember and to warn us. The fact that the first theme of the book relates to the land is a sign of its centrality. It stresses faith in the promises of Hashem and a commitment to living in Israel in order to live according to the Torah.

The Talmud's "shock" approach

Tractate Ketuvot 110 b elaborates on these teachings in a forceful manner, and aims to "shock" us with these two statements (positive and negative):
--- "she kol hadar beeretz dome kemi she yesh lo eloka
every (Jew) who lives in the land of Israel is like someone who has Eloha" (a God)
--- "vekhol haddar be hutza laaretz, ein lo eloka`
and every (Jew) who lives outside of Israel does not have Eloha
she neemar 'latet lakhem et eretz kenaan liyot lakhem leelokim…
as it is said, 'to give you the land of Canaan and to be your Elokim' (God);
and every (Jew) who does not live in the land of Israel does not have God (Eloha), and this is written in order to teach you this: that he who lives outside of Israel is like a person who practices idolatry (oved avodat kohkavim)."

A lot of courage and sincerity is needed to study the Torah, for the Torah detects those who are insincere.

The Talmud text explains here that anyone who lives in a foreign culture inevitably absorbs the surrounding culture, its values, its character, and its "gods" who are different to the god of the Jews. So a person who does not choose the god of the land of Israel makes a different choice, and is subjected to influences against which he cannot defend himself. This is called today, inevitable assimilation.

The Talmud draws the conclusion that "it is better to live in the land of Israel in a city where the majority is non-Jewish, than outside of Israel in a city which has a Jewish majority." It answers in advance all those who claim that they can live a life of Torah outside of Israel.
Rashi, on whom this commentary is based, takes up the same point in his commentary on Vayikra 25, 38:
"haddar beeretz Yisrael, ani lo leelokim, vekhol hayotze mimena ka oved avodat kokhavim
he who lives in the land of Israel, I am for him Elokim, and every (Jew) who leaves it is like a person who practices idolatry."

The Flowers of Rashi

Rashi's teachings on the land of Israel
Keeping to this theme, let us study everything Rashi wrote on the land of Israel. I will not make any comments, for every reader should reflect and find his own meaning.

--- on Bereshit 16, 3 (Avraham's sojourn in Canaan): "This indicates that the years of sojourn outside of the land (Israel) have not been taken into account. God only told him" I will make you a great people, when he was already in the land of Israel."

--- on Bereshit 47, 29 (do not bury me in Egypt): "Egypt whose land will one day be covered with vermin (during the plagues), and mroeover the dead who are buried outside of Israel live with the suffering of underground migrations that strive to rejoin the land of Israel for the resurrection" (see Bereshit Rabba 96).

--- on Vayikra 18, 28: (that the land spue not you out): "Eretz Yisrael eina mekayemet overei avera…the land of Israel does not accept those who defile it" (Rachi uses the same verb ose as 25, 38 above: the Onkelos Targum interprets this as "emptying," "rejecting."

--- on Vayikra 28, 12: regarding Yaakov's dream, Rashi stresses the principle that one does not descend from a level of kedusha (bakodesh maalin vela moridin, Zohar III: 162 b), saying: "the angels who had accompanied him to the land of Israel could not leave it, so they went up to heaven, on a ladder."
One must not leave the land of Israel; and the Sages discuss at length whether someone who lives in Israel has the right to leave it on trips which do not have the goal of disseminating the Torah.

--- on Bamidbar 13, 17: Rashi predicts that we will first see what is not good in Israel and then what is good will reveal itself (this is an important teaching especially at this time when many use the argument that the situation in Israel is not good, in order not to come and live here): "Get you up this way, said Moshe: this is the method of traders who first show you cheap merchandise and then move on to the expensive merchandise."

--- on Devarim 11, 10: Rashi says that the least beautiful city in Israel is more beautiful than the most beautiful city of Egypt (it is clear that he is not referring only to visual beauty).

--- on Devarim 33, 13: "from the moment Jerusalem was chosen as the dwelling place for the shekhina, the shekhina did not dwell anywhere else."

--- on Devarim 46, 6: "Yaakov said: the goods that come from outside of Israel do not suit me."

--- on Yehoshua 15, 3: "Jerusalem is higher than all the land of Israel."

--- on Isaiah 30, 2: "The land of Israel is higher than all other countries" (see also Bereshit 45, 9, and Bamidbar 1, 25).

--- on Isaiah 45, 8: "The land of Israel which I prefer to all others."

--- on Ezekiel 36, 2: "The land of Israel is the highest the most beautiful point in al the world."

--- on Yoel 2, 21: "The land of Israel, if I return to thee in repentance."

--- on Psalm 24, 1: "kaShel haaeretz ; to Hashem is the land: the land of Israel."

--- on Psalm 132, 6: "the beit hamikdash (the Temple) is higher than all the land of Israel."

--- on Job 5, 10: "He gives dew to the land: to the land of Israel."

--- on Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 1, 4: "All the righteous (tzaddikim) of the land of Israel are called eretz, land."

The nations of the world and the land of Israel
Clearly, day-to-day politics cannot only follow the Torah, but, on the other hand, it is impossible to understand the history of the land of Israel without referring to the teachings of the Sages.

Thus, Rashi teaches us about the constant involvement of other nations in the land of Israel, when he writes on Devarim 33, 17: "is it possible that each of the 31 kings who were defeated by Yehoshua all reigned over the land of Israel? This is to teach us that there is not a king or a governor who did not acquire a palace or a piece of land in the land of Israel, for it had great value to all of them."

He also says that kings fought among each other in order to be able to allot names to different places in the land of Israel. There is a similar custom today, when donors who give money to Israel are allotted plaques in their names. Rashi says that "this is in honor of this land."

Thus, the constant and obsessive preoccupation with Israel by the nations of the world should not be seen solely as a form of persecution or double game by the "friends" of Israel: it is also a sign of true appreciation of the importance of this land.

This phenomenon should motivate Jews to make aliya to Israel and to live here according to the Torah.
The Arabs come every week in thousands to pray on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and they urge each other to do so, sometimes numbering up to 200,000 to 300,000. In comparison, how many Jews come to pray at the Western Wall, the shaar hashamayim, gateway to heaven, though which their prayers will pass and rise to heaven? Go check and see, and your heart will be moved.

Parasha Devarim should be read with the feelings of hope as expressed by Moshe and Yehoshua.

Let us also think about Moshe's suffering as he gazed at the landscape of Eretz Yisrael, in the knowledge that he would never enter it, while we, who are so little deserving, have been accorded this gift.

This is why I have inserted on this site, devoted to the Torah, images of the land of Israel and a listing of sites on life in Israel. This is an intrinsic part of the Torah which is the indissoluble union of divinity, land and people.

How to live in the land of Israel, according to Rashi

In Vayikra 20, 2 one finds an expression, am haaretz (the people of the land), which has a negative connotation today, meaning "ignorant brutes." I once saw a man curse a yeshiva student, because he devoted a lot of time to the Torah, and publicly humiliate him, calling him am haaretz. As noted in the study of the episode of Balaam, the aggressor did not realize that this term signifies great praise of the student for it defines him as belonging to the "people of the Holy land." As is written in the last verse of the parasha, even in the evil words of the enemy Balaam, "God is fighting for you."

This is how it is for the many enemies of Israel; their attacks against Israel turn into disaster for them and into victory for Israel.

In fact, the expression am haaretz has a totally different meaning, as Rashi comments:
"am shebegino nivret haaretz, am she atidin lirash haaretz al-yede mitzvot allalu, am haaretz, it is a people by whose merit the land was created, those who will inherit the land through their mitzvot."
This is what one wishes for the inhabitants of this land -- that it should be for them the promised sanctuary. Amen.

Rashi is answering here the question many people are asking today about Israel: has it been built on the right foundations, for
- after the creation of the state, the edifice seems to be crumbling,
- the institutions built by the pioneers are no longer able to transmit the old values and are cut off the traditions of the Torah,
- many of those in power (often supported by leaders of the diaspora) are ready to agree to a peace, which is determined by Israel's enemies and which involves abandoning our heritage.

Rashi tells us two things:
- those who build the land of Israel, it is as if they created it: respect them;
- those who will secure our heritage are those who will live here and keep the mitzvot.

Rashi elaborates on Vayikra Rabba 36, 4: "the heavens and the earth were created only because of Israel, for it is written 'in the beginning Elokim created the heavens and the earth,'and we know that 'beginning'refers to Israel." Rashi explains this at length in his first commentary on the Torah.
If Rashi begins his commentary on the Torah with these words, it means they are extremely important and helps us understand why Moshe begins his review of the Torah in Devarim with the same questions.

The Ramban
Ribbi Moshe ban Nahman, known as the Ramban or Nahmanides, (the glory of Sephardi scholarship 1194-1270), also begins his commentary of the book of Devarim with these words: all this "so that man may not say: I cannot take possession of the land (Israel)." May the wisdom of these Sages, and the courage they displayed in maintaining hope from generation to generation, help all of us at this critical time in the history of the land of Israel.

Second Level

Hope and happiness at close-hand
Let us end with a divine confidence that warms our hearts. I say "confidence" for the Torah creates a divine bond between the Creator and His people whom He loves on His land which He loves.
We know that the message of the Torah is transmitted by:
- studying with 1's whole being, which includes the circumcision, for mila also means word,
- the study of 2 laws which are one; the oral and the written Torah,
- the study of the 3 forms of the Torah: sefer (letters), sipur (story), and sefar (numbers),
- the 4 levels of interpretation found in the word pardes (peshat, remez, drash, sod),
- passing from study to action and halakha,
- the many sparks that emerge from the midrashim,

Ribbi Yaakov Abuhatzera adds an important teaching, based on sefer (letters). He says that the book of Devarim is more than a review of the Torah, it is its apex. This state is called in Hebrew malkhut (royalty). Those who have studies this concept will understand the meaning. You will also remember the self-development which we underwent during the Omer in order to attain this state of "royal perfection," malkhut.
This is shown in:
- the first 2 words of the parasha: ele hadevarim (these are the things, the words..),
- the next 5 words: asher diber Moshe el kol Yisrael (which Moshe spoke unto all Israel) have a numerical value (gematria) of 496, which is the same as that of malkhut, royal perfection. In addition, the letters of the word Yisrael mean, inter alia, li rosh "for me this head," which signifies that the people of Israel are the center of God's divine plan. This meaning is transmitted in the sefer (letters), sipur (narrative), and sefar (numbers according to the Hebrew letters) of the text. Indeed, the gematria of rosh is the same as that of hamalkhut, which is 501. The meaning of the Torah is therefore "numbered" into the text, just like a code.

These formulations have been transmitted by tradition and no one has the right to play around with gematriot or false Torah codes.

So if we know how to read the Torah, we can see from the first verse of this parasha, that we are close to this goal of perfection and wholeness to which we aspire for ourselves, for the people of Israel, and for all creation. The Torah was given to us so that we would learn to see happiness that is often invisible to those who do not know how to see with their heart, or to those who have not yet understood the treasure of their Jewish tradition. "Modia," I make known, said He who gave us His Torah.
He who wishes to study, can do so, for we received the tradition of the Torah. Let us study with joy.

Exercise in memorization:
learn by hear these important expressions:

1.
lo tosefalav ve lo tigra mimenu
Do not add or omit anything (from the Torah).

2.
Eretz Yisrael eina mekayemet overei avera
The land of Israel does not accept those who defile it.

Re-read the whole parasha in this perspective.
Discuss your thoughts with those who are close to you.
Look up the relevant commentaries of Rashi and reflect on them.