Vaetchanan

📜 The Story

Parshat Vaetchanan opens with a heartfelt plea. Moshe tells the people of Israel that he begged God 515 times to let him enter the Land of Israel. But God told him, 'Enough, do not speak to Me anymore about this matter.' Instead, God tells Moshe to climb to the top of Mount Pisgah and look at the land from afar, because Moshe would die on the other side of the Jordan River and not enter the land himself.

Moshe continues to warn the people to keep the Torah carefully, not adding to it and not taking anything away from it. He reminds them that they themselves saw and heard God speak to them from the fire on Mount Sinai, and he asks them never to forget that great day, and to tell their children and grandchildren about it. Moshe warns strongly against idol worship, because God is the one true God and there is none other besides Him.

In this parsha, Moshe sets aside three cities of refuge on the eastern side of the Jordan River, Betzer, Ramot, and Golan, so that someone who accidentally killed another person could run there and be safe. Moshe then repeats the Ten Commandments to the people a second time, in almost the same words spoken at Mount Sinai, to strengthen the covenant between the people and God.

The high point of the parsha is the reading of the Shema, one of the most famous and important verses in the entire Torah: 'Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.' Right after it comes the Ve'ahavta, in which we are commanded to love God with all our heart, soul, and might, and to teach these words to our children. From this passage we also learn the mitzvot of tefillin and mezuzah.

At the end of the parsha, Moshe warns the people that when they enter a good and spacious land and become full and prosperous, they must not forget God or follow the gods of the nations around them. He promises that if they keep the Torah they will merit long, good lives in the land, but if they forget God they will eventually be exiled from it. It is a parsha full of love, warning, and hope.