PARASHAT D’VARIM (1:1–3:22) The parashah and the whole book are called Dvarim because they begin with the words These are the words [Hebrew: Dvarim] Moshe spoke to all Isra’el. The common English name for this book is Deuteronomy, from Greek deuteros [two] and nomos [law], since Moshe presents Israel with the Law a second time. The parashah begins with a review of what the people of Israel have done since leaving Sinai. In this review two kings, Sichon and ‘Og, are central. Moshe is speaking: “I sent envoys from the K’demot Desert to Sichon king of Heshbon with a peaceable message, ‘Let me pass through your land. I will keep to the road, turning neither right nor left. You will sell me food to eat for money and give me water to drink for money. I only want to pass through. Do as the people of ‘Esav living in Se‘ir and the Mo’avim living in ‘Ar did with me, until I cross the Yarden into the land ADONAI our God is giving us.’ (2:26-29, Complete Jewish Bible) In this parashah we learn about the history of this area. (2:20-23, CJB) When the time of a people group is up, God allows other peoples to come in and conquer them. The people of Amman conquered the Zamzumim. Esav conquered the Horim and we learn about the history of Gaza [‘Azah] -- “It was the same with the ‘Avim, who lived in villages as far away as ‘Azah — the Kaftorim [sea peoples], coming from Kaftor [Cyprus], destroyed them and settled in their place.” (2:23 ) History seems to repeat itself because people don’t seem to learn. In our parashah the people of Israel are not trying to make war but ask politely if they might pass through the kingdom of Heshbon. The king, Sichon, totally refuses. Bad choice! “But Sichon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through his territory, because ADONAI your God had hardened his spirit and made him stubborn, so that he could hand him over to you, as is the case today.” Moshe continues, “ADONAI said to me, ‘See, I have begun handing over Sichon and his territory before you; start taking possession of his land.’ Then Sichon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Yahatz; and ADONAI our God handed him over to us, so that we defeated him, his sons and all his people. At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed every city —men, women, little ones — we left none of them.” (2:31-34, CJB) What would the UN have said about that? Would there have been a Human Rights investigation? After this, King ‘Og too is defeated. We can see the parallel in the war we are fighting now with Hamas in Gaza. In this case we were attacked by Egypt in 1967 (“Six Day War”) and ended up in control of Gaza. We stayed there until 2005, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon organized us to try to leave in a peaceable way. We abandoned greenhouses and other infrastructure that the Arabs could have used productively. Instead they chose to destroy these valuable assets and make war on us. Since then they have not wanted to live in peace but have continued making war, sending rockets by the thousands at our civilian population. We ourselves just spent two nights with our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren in their home in the south. There were a number of “red alerts,” including when two rockets landed 500 meters from their house. We heard BOOMs and shooting all night long. It’s a war. The last two verses of our parashah continue quoting Moshe: “Also at that time I gave this order to Y’hoshua: ‘Your eyes have seen everything that ADONAI your God has done to these two kings. ADONAI will do the same to all the kingdoms you encounter when you cross over. Don’t be afraid of them, because ADONAI your God will fight on your behalf.’” (3:21-22, CJB) That is our prayer for today – that God will act on our behalf. ”Just as God defeated Sichon and ‘Og, may the Lord be with our soldiers. We pray for protection for all our soldiers and for all Israel. Shabbat shalom. -- David and Martha. PS: We just heard from our daughter Miriam that the younger brother of one of her believing friends was killed -- Shai Kushner, zichro lbrakhah (may remembering him be a blessing). His picture is included. Other pictures: the rocket that landed 500 meters away, David; Martha and grandson Dael during the red alert in the not-safe room; and a picture from the TV st showing a rocket that landed.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 09:35:54 +0000
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