Weekly Parsha

Mazal Tov to the new grandparents and to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Gerstler on the birth of their new baby boy. May you and your wife be blessed to raise your son with Torah, to chuppah and for ma'asim tovim. 

Refuah Sheimah: Yehuda Baruch ben Sarah, Stephen Waczkiewicz (Shimon ben Sarah), Yossefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon".

Shoftim

Deuteronomy 16:18 -- 21:9

The name of the Parshah, "Shoftim," means "Judges" and it is found in Deuteronomy 16:18. Topics in this week's portion include: Judges and Justice, "Sacred Trees and Pillars," Blemished Sacrifice, Penalties for Idolatry, The Supreme Court, The King, Levitical Priests, Priestly Portions, Special Service, Divination and Prophecy, Cities of Refuge, Murder, Preserving Boundaries, Conspiring Witnesses, Preparing for War, Taking Captives, Conducting a Siege and the Case of the Unsolved Murder.

This week we have the famous admonition: "Righteousness, Righteousness shall you pursue, so that you will live and possess the Land that the Almighty your G-d, gives you" (Deut. 16:20).

"You shall be wholehearted with your G-d" (Deut. 18:13).

How are we to understand this verse?

The Alshich interprets this verse to mean that one should be sincere in his observance of Torah even when one is alone with G-d, when no one else sees what he is doing.

Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk comments, "Your devotion toward G-d should be whole and not fragmented. If you do some things for G-d and others for yourself, then you are not being wholehearted with G-d."

These two interpretations are complementary. The person who is observant of Torah only when others see him, but when in complete privacy may transgress Torah, is really not devoted to G-d at all. Rather, his public observance of mitzvot is self-serving.

Wholeheartedness with G-d requires that even those permissible things we do should be directed toward the Divine service. Ideally, food should be eaten not for the gustatory delight, but because the energy derived from eating the food can be utilized in doing mitzvot.

Life is fragile -- handle with prayer

Shabbat Shalom,

R. Tank

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Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College in New York, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is a Jewish Chaplain actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation in the United States and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.

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