Rosner’s Torah-Talk: Parashat Va’etchanan

Unfortunately, we do not have a new talk this week, so we will revisit our three past talks on parashat vaetchanan (we will be back next week with new video on parashat Ekev).

First, a few words on the parasha:

This Week's Torah Portion – Parashat Va'etchanan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11) – continues to present Moses' review of the Torah. Moses tells how he implored God to let him into the Promised Land and how God refused. He recounts the story of the Exodus from Egypt, declaring it an unprecedented event in human history. He predicts how in the future the people of Israel will sin, worship other gods, get exiled, and return to obey the lord outside the Promised Land. The portion also includes a repetition of the Ten Commandments and of the verses of the Shema.

Here is Rabbi Gary Pokras on the idea of being commanded to love God and on the difficulties that it entails:

Here’s Rabbi Julie Schonfeld on the connection between Tisha B’Av and parashat Va’etchanan:

And here’s Rabbi Terry Bookman on Moses’ plea to God and on the idea of not getting what we want despite our earnest prayers: