Shabbat Devarim Shabbat 28 July 2012 9 Ab 5772 Tisha BeAv

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- Jews were expelled from Spain from July 30 to August 15, 1492 (9 Av 5252 was on August 12th). - On August 1, 1914 (9 Av 5674) World War I broke out, causing unprecedented devastation across Europe and set the stage for World War II and the Holocaust. - On the eve of Tisha BAv 5702 (July 22, 1942) began the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka extermination camp. On Saturday night, after the evening service in synagogue, Jews will sit on the floor or on a low stool and listen to the reciting of the Book of Lamentations (Eicha).

Parasha

s it is mentioned in this newsletters Date, today is the 9th of Ab, in Hebrew Tisha BAv, As I have said in our last newsletters, Tisha BAv is the saddest day in the Hebrew calendar, a day of sorrow and a day of fast. But since it is Shabbat, the day of fast is postponed on the 10th of Av, that means Sunday. This day is a day of fast because on that very day of the 9 Av of the Hebrew calendar the following events occurred: - The destruction of the First & Second Holy Temples. Both were destroyed on the 9th of Av - 490 years apart. In addition to the destruction of the Temples, many other tragic events took place on this day. Here are a few: - The story with the spies who brought back a negative report after exploring the Promised Land, took place on Tisha BAv. As a result, the Jewish people refused to go to Israel. G-d then decreed that every male, over the age of twenty at that time, would die in the desert and not enter into the Promised Land. Due to this tragic event, Jews spent forty years in the desert. - On Tisha BAv the Romans decreed that the holy site where the Beth Hamikdash stood be plowed and desecrated. - The city of Betar, from where Bar Kochba fiercely fought the Romans, fell on Tisha Bav. According to the Talmud, many hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed there. - The first Crusade officially started on August 1096 (9 Av 4856) by Urban II, killing 10,000 Jews in its first month destroying Jewish communities in France and the Rhineland. - Edward I, king of England signed a decree of expulsion of Jews on July 18, 1290 and expelled them on the 25th (9 Av 5050).

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he study of cultural and religious environment of Israel in Yeshua days has proved an invaluable contribution to the dialogue. Within the framework of this dialogue, Victor Armenteros, doctor of Semitic philology, and Old Testament (vice rector of the River Plate Adventist University) offered a series of conferences on this topic. The meetings were very well attended and there were many questions from the audience.

News From Buenos Aires Judaism and Christian Origins

his Parasha begins the last of the Five Books of The Torah, Sefer Devarim (hence the Greek/ English title Deuteronomy). Sefer Devarim relates what Moshe told to the people of Israel during the last five weeks of his life, as they prepared to cross the Jordan into Eretz Israel. Deuteronomy means second law, Moshe reviews the mitzvot, stressing the change of lifestyle they are about to undergo: from the supernatural existence of the desert under Moshes guidance to the apparently Emotional Review of natural life they will experience under Yehoshuas leadership in the Land. the Past The central theme this week is the sin of the spies, ast weeks parasha gives us a summary of 40 the meraglim. The parasha opens with Moshe alluding stations where the people of Israel encamped to the sins of the previous generation who died in the during their stay n the desert. This week desert. He describes what would have happened if parasha is the continuation of Parasha Maasei and they hadnt sinned by sending spies into Eretz Israel. therefore this weeks parasha review the keys events Hashem would have given them without a fight all that befell Israel during those decades of miraculous the land from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, life and wanderings. including the lands of Ammon, Moav and Edom. Rabbi Wein underlines that there is a fundamental He details the subtle sins that culminate in the sin difference between these two narrative views of past of the spies, and reviews at length this incident and events. The review in parashat Maasei is essentially its results. The entire generation would die in the presented in a detached manner. It is full of facts, desert; Moshe would not enter Eretz Israel. names and places, unemotional and factual report He reminds them that their immediate reaction to regarding a long forty year journey of the people of Hashems decree was to want to go up and fight to Israel. redress the sin. Parashat Devarim by opposition contains a review He recounts how they wouldnt listen when he of facts and events by Moshe, but in a personal and told them not to go, that they no longer merited emotional way. It is a painful review of those years vanquishing their enemies miraculously. They in the desert. Moshe opens his heart and shares his ignored him and suffered a massive defeat. They frustrations and emotions with the people of Israel. were not allowed to fight with the kingdoms of Esav, However the promises of the Lord are still here and Moav or Ammon these lands were not to be part blessings upon the people of Israel The L-rd your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He of the map of Eretz Israel in the meantime. When the conquest of Canaan will begin with has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the L-rd your God has been with you, Sichon and Og, it will be via natural warfare. and you have not lacked anything. (Deut 2:7)

Devarim Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22

Overview

name of this month, Menachem Av is: Comfort Father; Menachem means comfort and Av means father. What does this mean in the context of this month? It reminds Jews that during this time, when they should repent for the sins which caused the destruction of the Temples, it is up to them to receive Comfort from the Father who is in Heaven (G-d) and to bring comfort to G-d (the Father-in-Heaven) through repentance, confession of our sins, reading the Torah and to be faithful to His mitzvot. It is already a small preparation for the days of Judgement (Rosh Hashana) and Atonement (Yom Kippur) which will be in less than 2 months.

Parasha 2 Newsletter

he Jewish people have started last Friday the month of Menachem Av this month is known as the month of Av, but the Orthodox people gav to this month, the full name of Menachem Av. The Hebrew translation of the

Menachem AV

he Torah states, Then the L-rd said to me, Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as

Ammonites and Moabites

a possession. (Deut 2:9). After forty long years in the desert, the people of Israel were almost ready to conquer the Holy Land. But there were complications. Two of their most formidable enemies were untouchable. The Torah forbade the Jewish people to attack the nations of Ammon and Moav. They had to circle around to the north even though the direct path of invasion led through the lands of these two nations. The Torah did, however, allow Israel invaders to make threaten and intimidate Moav, as long as they stopped short of actual combat. Why was this special protection granted to these two implacable foes of Israel? We remember that they were descendants of Lot. Rabbi Naftali Reich says that Our Sages find the answer in an incident that took place five centuries earlier. During a period of famine, the Hebrew patriarch Abraham, his beautiful wife Sarah and his nephew Lot went to seek food in Egypt. The pharaoh at that time had a roving eye. Whenever a beautiful woman caught his fancy, he would kill her husband and take her into his harem. Sarah caught his fancy, which led him to focus on Abraham, who had escorted her to Egypt. Had he known Abraham was her husband, he would have killed him on the spot, but Abraham claimed he was her brother and was spared. Lot was standing there when Abraham represented himself to the pharaoh as Sarahs brother. If Lot had said one word or made one gesture to arouse the pharaohs suspicions, Abraham would have been doomed. But Lot remained silent, and the pharaoh accepted Abrahams story. The Torah rewarded Lot by forbidding the Jewish people to attack Lots descendants, the nations of Ammon and Moav.

to listen to the Almightys command to enter the land? Rabbi Yitchak of Volozhin gave the following answer that the people might have tried to mitigate their insistence on sending the spies by saying that the idea was good, but the project went astray. Moshe was telling them that the very fact that they came pushing and shoving, without proper manners, that there was something wrong with the project right from the start. People who are involved in a project that is truly proper will have appropriate ways at the beginning of the venture. Since they acted rudely and unruly, they should realize that they were doing something wrong. Rabbi Packouz draws a lesson: We must be aware that if we want people to agree with a project that we wish to engage in, we must speak with proper honor and respect. And if we find that we are not speaking with proper honor and respect, then we should be aware that our motivation is not on the right level! n Parashat Devarim, Moshe talks about the system of judges that he instituted through the sage counsel of his father-in-law, Yithro. I instructed your judges at that time, saying, Listen between your brethren and judge righteously between a man and his brother or his litigant (Deut 1:16). The word between used twice in the verse needs clarification. Indeed a judge judges between litigants, but does he listen between them? The Torah could have written, Listen to the presentation of your brethren and judge righteously between them. Why the expression, Listen between your brethren? Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky says Perhaps the Torah is telling us that in litigation we need more than to hear the litigants. Not only do we have to hear the litigants, we have to hear between the litigants! The subtle intonations, machinations, and body language may speak louder than the words presented in their case Sources: These comments of the parasha are based on comments published by Rabbi Kalman Packouz, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, Rabbi Ozer Alport, Rabbi Ari Kahn, Rabbi Noson Weisz, Rabbi Naftali Reich, Rabbi Berel Wein,

Parasha 3 Newsletter

Between the Lines

n recounting the story of the spies to find Moshe says: Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to. (Deut 1:22). Rashi states that the way the People of Israel came and gave this request to Moses means that the people came to Moshe in a disorderly manner. Children were pushing the elders and the elders were pushing the children. What difference does it make that they came in a disorderly manner? And why is it mentioned in conjunction with the offense of the acceptance of the slander of the spies about the land and the refusal

Honor and Respect

here was a convert from the town of Topol who refused to leave his fellow Jews when they were sent to the death camps in Poland. He was imprisoned in Zholinas detention camp to await the arrival of the deportation train. Some Slovakian collaborators came and searched for him there and offered him the chance to come back home. Youre not a Jew as far as we know, one young guard told him. Youre one of us, and you can take your family with you and go home, he said ingratiatingly. But Avraham Klein shouted into his face, I am a Jew! I am just like all the other Jews! I am going with all of them to Poland to suffer Neither you nor any other like you will send me home. Only G-d Himself can do that!

I Am A Jew

vraham Klein was born in Piestany, and converted to Judaism in the city of Munkacs. The Munkacser Rebbe himself brought him into the covenant of Avraham Avinu. He had gone on to marry a pious woman and raise several sons who studied Torah in the Yeshivas. Now that he was about to embark on the expulsion train to Poland he returned to his fellow Jews of Topol and said, You think its good to be a Jew only when times are good for the Jews!? Thats not so! Someone who is ready to suffer together with suffering Jews-thats someone who is called a Jew. I am going with you happily to Poland because that is the Creators will

A Jew must be ready to suffer with the Jewish people

man offered the poor man a gracious invitation and brought him to his house. He seated the poor man in a place of honor and wined and dined him like a king. Afterwards, the pauper thanked the rich man and prepared to leave. Tell me, did I treat you kindly? said the rich man, Oh, yes, said the poor man. Could you have been any kinder to you than I was? The poor man fidgeted. Do you want me to be honest? Certainly, said the rich man. Well, you could have invited me before you discussed business with your friend. For that half hour I was afraid that I might have to go to sleep hungry tonight. In our own lives, we need to pay close attention not only to what we do but also to how we do it. The full value and quality of a kind deed is determined by considering it in its full context. Indeed, sometimes the manner in which a kind deed is done is more important than the deed itself.

Parasha 4 Newsletter

n 1967, Israeli paratroopers captured the Old City and made their way to the Wall. Many of the religious soldiers were overcome with emotion and leaned against the Wall praying and crying. Far back from the Wall stood a non-religious soldier who was also crying. His friends asked him, Why are you crying? What does the Wall mean to you? The soldier responded, I am crying because I dont know why I should be crying.

Why to Cry

EDITOR
A newsletter published by the World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center Under the umbrella of the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission Richard-Amram Elofer 4, Abraham Lincoln 94186 Jerusalem Israel Tel. +972 2625 1547 Fax +972 2625 1319 email: richard@[Link] web: [Link]

rich man caught sight of a poor man sitting on a bench and decided to invite him for dinner. But first he had some business to discuss with an associate. A halfhour later, the business was settled. The rich

The Rich and the Poor

he Haftarah reading is taken from Isaiah 1, a chapter that prophetically warns of the impending destruction of the first Temple. An examination of the details reveals that the Jewish people had not yet internalized the lessons of history that Moses had attempted to teach them. A reading of the Haftarah shows that the Jews of the period were diligently observing their duties toward God. They were offering the Temple sacrifices as proscribed, they were faithfully observing the triannual pilgrimage to the Temple, and they were being diligent in their prayers. Something else was missing, and it was this missing factor that caused the destruction, I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its masters crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand (Isaiah 1:3). The L-rd is so upset with Israel that he call her Gomorrah Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! (10). In the verse 11 The Almighty said to Israel that he did not like their sacrifices. G-d is not against sacrifices but Israels ceremonies had lost their significance and became just rituals. Thats why the Lord does not like not only sacrifice but also Sabbath and feasts bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocationI cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; (13-14). The L-rd never loses hope, his people is still his people, Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean (16). It is a call to repentance Come now (18). The Lord is a God full of forgiveness and love for his people though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient (19-20). G-d is willing to forgive Whatever Israel did in the past. However, if the people dont want to repent and to ask forgiveness, the L-rd will not be able to bless them and they will fall under the rules of other power as Babylon and Rome. The text ends with a positive statement, I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness (26-27).

Haftar a Isaiah 1:1-27

Brit Hachadasha

n the parasha we have the first discourse of Moses before Israel enters the Holy Land. In the Brit Hachadasha text, it is also about Moses but with a comparison with Yeshua. Moses was faithful in all Gods house (Heb 3 :2). However Yeshua has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses (v. 3) I dont want to be disrespectful to Moses, but the Apostolic Writings are very clear, that Moses was a great prophet, he was faithful to God during all his ministry, that is why the world-to-come has been promised to Moses, but Yeshua is more that a prophet, he is the Messiah, that is why the letter to Hebrews says that Yeshua was found worthy and greater than Moses. Here the author of this letter made a comparison between the house and the builder of the house. In the verse 3 and 4 a great revelation is given in the auditors; Yeshua is the builder as G-d is the builder. Yeshua has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. (v.3-4). And again the text presents the faithfulness of Moses Moses was faithful as a servant in all Gods house, testifying to what would be said in the future. (v.5). Not only Moses was a prophet, but he was more than that, he was a servant of God. In the comparison of Moses with Yeshua, what Yeshua could be, to be more than Moses, to be more than a servant? The verse 6 goes further in Revelation But Messiah is faithful as a son over Gods house, in every house of that time, there was the owner of the house, a servant, who is checking that everything is OK, but the son is more that the servant, the son is the heir of the house, one day the house will belong to him. The second segment of the verse 6 says that we are his house. We already have seen this truth, since the Temple in Jerusalem does not exist, we are the temple of G-d Rabbi Shaul says For we are the temple of the living God (2 Cor 6:16). Moses was the builder, Gods people are the house and G-d and Yeshua are the owners, the master of the house. When Moses built the house of God in the desert, it was not easy for him, the people of Israel had hard time to learn obedience, but in the Brit Hachadasha, Yeshua sent his spirit to help us in the house building and the text says: So, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, (vs. 7-8).

Hebrews 3

Parasha 5 Newsletter