Shmuel Shabbat Shalom

The holy day of Yom Kippur begins tonight at sundown. Enjoy these thoughts on the weekly Torah portion and on the significance of Yom Kippur.

This is it! We read this portion near the end of the Torah as the year draws to a close.

Portion Ki Tavo opens with a joyful opening “When you enter the Land…” At long last Moses can give his people the instructions for their life in the Promised Land. His instructions regarding the first fruits apply to other areas of life, like new marriages, new homes and new babies.

We are winding our way towards the end of the Torah. A strong element in this week’s portion of Ki Tezeh is Rachamim, or mercy. Shmuel is puzzled by a particular verse and hopes to untangle it as he shares his thoughts.

Shmuel has returned home to Israel after his long summer travels and has a teaching to share for this week’s portion, Shoftim. This week’s portion is a serious one that is full of relevant commands, namely: the rules of war.

Portion Re’eh details the covenant between the Children of Israel and God. It admonishes the Children of Israel to guard themselves against pagan practices as they enter the land of Israel. Several times it mentions the place that God chose. What is this place? Jerusalem of course!

This week marks eleven months on the Hebrew calendar since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Eleven months is the traditional Jewish mourning period. This week’s Torah portion Ekev speaks of future disasters and destructions, many of which feel all too familiar today.

In the English translation of this portion, it almost seems as though Moses blames the Children of Israel for his exclusion from the Land. However, when read in Hebrew, it could be understood that Moses was excluded from the Land for the sake of the Children of Israel. How can that be?

At last, we begin Devarim (Deuteronomy), the final book of the Torah. The portion opens with a painful reminder of the sin of the spies. The sages teach that the day that the spies returned with a bad report was on the 9th of Av, also called Tisha B’Av.

This portion will summarize the lessons of Bamidbar (Numbers) before moving on to Deuteronomy and Moshes’ final speech. Vows, personal priorities, and a surprising tribal connection between Reuben, Gad, and Moses are all in store!