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Orchard of Delights Va’etchanan 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 17 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Cyan

master’s surrounding light, that is, his overall philosophy of Torah because only now does Moses himself finally completely understand
and life. Symbolically, the master places his hands on the student’s this message. He had to undergo his own trial of faith to understand
head to figuratively pass on this light as he physically and figuratively that even when God seems to ignore our prayers or responds in a
envelops the student with his philosophy. This surrounding light manner not to our liking, we must still cling to the belief in God’s
is indispensable to the student’s ability to translate his master’s oneness, that God is the source of everything and that everything He
general overriding principles into the daily practicalities of life and does is ultimately for the good.
the practice of mitzvot. Va’etchanan is always read on the Shabbat after the Ninth of Av,
When Moses asks God to appoint a leader he addresses him as “God the day dedicated to mourning the Jewish people’s tragic history.
of the spirits of all flesh.” God answers by saying: “Take for yourself, Perhaps this is another reason the Shema appears in this portion.
Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom there is spirit” (Numbers 27:15- After the fasting and the mourning, we need to declare once again
18). Rashi explains that the phrase “in whom there is spirit” means our enduring belief in God’s oneness. Just as the Mourner’s Kaddish
that Joshua was able to directly relate to the unique spirit found (recited after the death of a loved one) exalts God’s greatness despite
in each and every person. God is, in effect, fulfilling Moses’ exact the mourner’s recent personal loss, the recitation of Shema on the
request by providing a leader who will be, as it were, like God, able to Shabbat following the Ninth of Av reaffirms our belief in the justice of
relate to “the spirits of all flesh.” Joshua is graced not only with keen God’s decrees and signals our acceptance of His Divine Providence.
insight but also with the ability to relate to and communicate with
others. His appointment is certainly a rectification of the breakdown
of communications that lead Pinchas to kill Zimri (see “A Covenant
of Peace” above). £The Heart of Heaven£The Heart of HeavenThe Heart of Heaven
The meaning of the word “mitzvah” is commandment, but on a £
deeper level the root of the word means “to connect.” Each mitzvah
in a sense helps heal the broken vav in this portion and each time
we experience Shabbat and the holidays we connect to a more In Va’etchanan, Moses once again recounts the awesome Giving of
the Torah at Sinai. A key phrase that describes the event is “and
transcendental reality. At present the world lacks the vessels necessary
to experience Shabbat during the six weekdays, represented by the the mountain was burning in fire till the heart of heaven” (Numbers
vav, the straight line whose numerical value is six. However at the 4:11). “Till the heart of heaven” was one of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s
favorite expressions, one he often used when trying to describe the
End of Days, in the seventh millennium, when the cycle of history
comes full circle, we will experience each day as being “all Shabbat.” very depths of an experience, the inner core and essence of a matter.
Another favorite rhetorical question of his was, “What is higher
At that time the lights of tohu will be fully integrated into the vessels
of rectification. and deeper than the Garden of Eden?” His answer: “The heavenly
Jerusalem.”
Since, as we learned above, the Ninth of Av always falls the week
after the portion of Devarim is read, it follows that Va’etchanan
always falls the Shabbat after the Ninth of Av. This Shabbat also
has a special name, Shabbat Nachamu, which is derived from the
Haftorah read on that Shabbat. “Nachamu” means “comfort,” an

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