Shabbat Shalom 7/20/13 (Va’etchanan/And I Pleaded)
Shalom mishpachah veh chaverim!
Our Torah portion this week Va’etchanan (And I pleaded), comes from D’varim/Deuteronomy3:23 – 7:11. Chapter 4 begins “. . . listen to the laws and rulings I am teaching you, in order to follow them, so you will live; then you will go in and take possession of the land Yehovah, the God of your fathers, is giving you.” (D’varim/Deuteronomy 4:1). After I read through our Parashah, I was curious about the number of times these words or words similar to them were repeated. I counted no less than ten times in this Parashah alone and perhaps I overlooked some. Those are . . .
Chapter 4:1; Chapter 4:5; Chapter 4:14; Chapter 4:40; Chapter 5:28 (31);
Chapter 5: 30 (33); Chapter 6:1; Chapter 6:3; Chapter 6:17-18; Chapter 7:11
Even with all His encouragement, it was still difficult for (Ahm Is-rah-el) Am Isra’el ~ People of Israel to grasp hold of the fact Yehovah was GIVING them The Land. Quite honestly, it’s no different with us today. The Almighty has given us SO many promises and He even reminds us of them on a daily basis through His Torah and yet, we are challenged to trust and obey, to walk in faith and not fear.
Let us strive to SHEMA each and every day . . . living out Abba’s many promises to us.
Ahavah veh tefilot (love and prayers), Batyah