Audio Shiur: Parashat Devarim - Why Do We Need a Second Torah?

Audio Shiur:
Parashat Devarim - Why Do We Need a Second Torah?

Why do we need a "Second" Torah? Isn't that concept a bit problematic? We also study the beginning of the Abrabanel's introduction to Devarim, where he poetically describes the destruction of Spanish Jewry?

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Audio Shiur: Parshat Devarim - Be Strong and Give Thanks

Audio Shiur:
Parshat Devarim - Be Strong and Give Thanks

The night before the shiur, sirens at 2:30am had us running to our safe room in Yad Binyamin. So, we begin with a brief study of Tehillim 144, a chapter that I've been saying during the war after Tefillah, which has resonated strongly with me. We then turn to Devarim, and study some incredible Midrashim about seemingly irrelevant places, which are actually quite relevant after all. Did you know that Gaza appears in Parshat Devarim as well?



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Table Talk for Devarim: The Kindness of Og

Originally published in the YIOP Bulletin in 5763

Chesed – acts of kindness – have a funny way of sticking around. In fact, you never know when an act of Chesed might get you out of a bind.
Moshe tells the Jewish people that when they attacked עוג מלך הבשן – Og the King of Bashan – God told him, “Don’t fear him, because I have placed him into your hands.” Why does Moshe suddenly become fearful now? What about the other enemies the Jewish people vanquished? While Og might have been a formidable enemy, why does Moshe fear him more than anyone else?
Not surprisingly, Rashi asks this question, and gives a terse answer. Quoting the Midrash, Rashi tells us that Moshe fears that perhaps, against this enemy, his זכות אבות – merit of the fathers – would not protect him against Og, because Og had, a long time before, served Avraham, as it is written, ויבא הפליט – “the messenger came” [and told Avraham of his nephew Lot’s capture]. Yet, Rashi isn’t giving us the whole story. There, the Midrash tells us that Og wanted to marry Sarah. So, he came and told Avraham about his nephew in the hopes that Avraham would rush into battle and be killed. Some chesed.
Yet, because of that one kindness, Moshe feared that the merit of that act would protect Og against the Jewish people. So go do an act of kindness. You never know when it may come in handy.

Table Talk Teaser: How old was Og at his death? How do you know?

Parshat Devarim - The Disturbing Original Plan

Audio Shiur:
Parshat Devarim - The Disturbing Original Plan

Each year, as we read in the end of Bamidbar about the desire of Reuven and Gad to settle on the East Bank of the Jordan River, I always have one over-arching question: Why didn't Moshe say "No"? He could have. And it really seems like he should have, and that if he had, Jewish history would have been fundamentally different. So why didn't he? By looking at a difficult text in our parshah, we can begin to understand that Moshe realized that things might not be up to him.

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Audio Shiur: Parshat Devarim - Living with Faith

Audio Shiur:
Parshat Devarim - Living with Faith

When Moshe challenged the people for lacking faith, he challenged us as well. What is Emunah? How must we express it towards God? And why did I smash my car buying a felafel? Really.

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For last year's shiur, "From Faith to Reality," click here.

Audio Shiur: Parshat Devarim - From Faith to Reality

Audio Shiur:
Parshat Devarim: From Faith to Reality
We examine the textual challenge of how the story of the Meraglim is described differently in Devarim and in Bamidbar. Using these distinctions, we try and draw lessons both about the tragedy in the desert and the lessons that we can derive from it for our daily lives.

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Table Talk -- Devarim 5767

Question: I pre-ordered the 7^th and final book of the Harry Potter series, which is due to arrive on Shabbos. Is there any halachic way to open the box, and if so, can I read the book that arrives on Shabbos?

Answer: No. Wait until after Shabbos, and then enjoy.

While most of the fantasy world created by J.K. Rowling emanates purely from her imagination, one detail from Harry Potter’s world actually appears in our parshah.

During Moshe’s review of the Jewish people’s experiences in the desert, Moshe reminds them of their defeat of the nation of the Emori, and especially their victory over Og, the King of Bashan. Og is no ordinary king. Aside from being alive since the time of the flood, he is enormous. In the words of Moshe, “his bedstead was a bedstead of iron…nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it.” (3:11) At the very least, his bed was 15 feet long and 7 feet wide. But Og isn’t just big. He’s also abnormal in another way.

The Midrash notes that normally, a person’s height is approximately three times his width. But from Og’s bed measurements, we can deduce that he was only about twice as tall as he was wide. From this, says the Midrash, we learn that “he was a disgusting creature, different from other creations.”

In other words, he wasn’t just a “giant”. Today, we would call him a “monster.”