Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: Chaim Moshe ben Esther, 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".

Ha'azinu

Deuteronomy 32:1 - 32:51

The Torah portion is a song, a poem taught to the Jewish people by Moshe. It recounts the trials and tribulations of the Jewish people during the 40 years in the desert. Jewish consciousness, until the present generation, was to teach every Jewish child to memorize Ha'azinu. In this manner we internalized the lessons of our history, especially the futility of rebelling against the Almighty.

The portion ends with Moshe being told to ascend Mount Nevo to see the Promised Land before he dies and is "gathered to his people". By the way, this is one of the allusions to an afterlife in the Torah. Moshe died alone and no one knows where he is buried. Therefore, "gathered to his people" has a higher meaning!

"My teachings shall come down to you as rain" (Deuteronomy 32:2).

What lesson for life can we learn from comparing Torah teachings to rain?

The Vilna Gaon said that rain helps things grow - but only from what is already planted. If someone has planted vegetables or fruits, rain will help them develop. However, if there are poisonous mushrooms planted, rain will help them grow as well.

Similarly, Torah study makes one grow. However, it depends on one's character traits as to how he will develop. A person who has elevated traits will become a greatly elevated person; a person who has faulty character traits such as arrogance, selfishness or cruelty can become a real menace.

It's never to late to be who you could have been ...

Shabbat Shalom and G'mar Chatima Tova!

R. Tank

Online Learning

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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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