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Shabbat Parashat Vaetchanan| 5770

Vaetchanan | 13 Av 5770 | 24/07/2010

Parashat Hashavuah: “You Are All Alive Today”

“Do not add on to that which I am commanding you and do not detract from it … Your eyes have seen … for every man who followed Ba’al Pe’or, Hashem, your G-d, destroyed from your midst. You have clung to Hashem, your G-d; you are all living today” (Devarim 4: 2-4). What is the connection between not adding to or detracting from the Torah and Ba’al Pe’or, an unseemly form of idol worship, whose classic service is defecating on the idol? Also, isn’t the contrast between the lowly Ba’al Pe’or and those who cling to Hashem extremely obvious! It is also difficult to understand the draw of Ba’al Pe’or, which Bilam figured could entice many Jews, considering that Bilam understood so much about Hashem.

Ask the Rabbi: Billing Practices

We are presenting a short series to familiarize the public with issues that our batei din, Eretz Hemdah – Gazit, deal with and their solutions (in condensed and anonymous form).

Ein Ayah: The Dangers of Unbridled Intellect

“For this child I prayed” (Shmuel I, 1:27) – Rav Elazar said: Shmuel rendered a halachic decision in the presence of his teacher. [The gemara describes the give and take between Eili and Shmuel on whether a kohen must slaughter a sacrificial animal. Eili conceded the halachic point but said that] one who renders a halachic decision in the presence of his teacher is deserving of death. [Chana pleaded that Shmuel’s life be spared, saying, “For this child I prayed”].

P’ninat Mishpat: A Guardian Relinquishing a Minor’s Rights to Child Support

A husband abandoned his wife and young children, moved abroad, and refused to give a get. Finally he agreed after making his wife declare before a secular court in Israel that she would make no demands of child support on behalf of the children and that if someone would, she would have to pay 10,000 liras.

Hemdat HaDaf Hayomi: Swearing to Fulfill a Mitzvah (27a)

This week in the Daf Hayomi we continue to learn the issue of a person's obligation to fulfill his oaths. In general, a person who mistakenly transgresses an oath must bring a sacrifice, and if he did so purposely, he receives lashes. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule.

Hemdat Yamim is dedicated in memory of

Rav Yehuda Amital zt”l,

Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion

Hemdat Yamim of this week is dedicated
in memory of

Yitzchak Eizik Ben Yehuda Leib Usdan, a"h,
whose Yahrtzeit is

the 29th of Av

This week’s Hemdat Yamim is dedicated in loving memory of
R' Meir ben
Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld
o.b.m

Hemdat Yamim is endowed by
Les & Ethel Sutker of Chicago, Illinois in loving memory of
Max and Mary Sutker and
Louis and Lillian Klein, z”l.

A weekly divrei Torah leaflet: A Glimpse at the Parasha, Ask the Rabbi, From the writings of Harav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, zt”l, Pninat Mishpat (Jewish Monetary Law).