Ve'ethchanan: Listen!
In the parsha, Gd tells people to shut up and listen.
The relationship between parents and the Shabbath is mentioned. That verse, in Vayikra, was taught to me as a message to give the word of Gd ( as interpreted by the rabbis) priority. Yet the Shema instructs the parent to teach the child about Gd and the mitzvah. On cannot hear two voices ( Megilla 21b) even if they are saying the same thing! Perhaps listening to the Shabbath corrects the message of the parents. Perhaps listening to the parents corrects the message of Shabbath.
The story of the people of Israel standing before Sinai is retold. The people beg for the voice to be silenced. Let Gd speak to Moshe and let the law trickle down to the people. The voice is lethal! But a way must be found to listen.
Moshe pleads for entry into the promised land. He is silenced and given a viewmaster.
When we are told Shema, listen, isn't the shut up implicit? ( Later it is explicit Deut 27:9). I bristle at that kind of address. Here is this invisible past telling me to shut up!
One of the useful approaches that is derived from orthodoxy is the assumption of perfection. It is an exercise: treat the system- the Torah text, Gd, Moshe, the rabbis- as if they are infallible. Shut up and listen is the best possible advice. If you listen hard enough, sincerely enough, you can get the message. If you interrupt and talk, express your own desires, you lose some part of the benefit bestowed by the listening.
Throughout much of Devarim, the mitzvah is singular and not clearly identified, Listening would seem to be close to it;
As I listen to the 10 commandments I try to understand the fist commandment: Gd says: It is all about Me. Just as in Genesis, the first creation encompasses all of creation, the first commandment encompasses all The summary precedes the details.
The interplay between the fourth ( honor parents) and fifth ( Shabbath) commandments is interesting.
When we are told Shema, listen, isn't the shut up implicit? ( Later it is explicit Deut 27:9). I bristle at that kind of address. Here is this invisible past telling me to shut up!
One of the useful approaches that is derived from orthodoxy is the assumption of perfection. It is an exercise: treat the system- the Torah text, Gd, Moshe, the rabbis- as if they are infallible. Shut up and listen is the best possible advice. If you listen hard enough, sincerely enough, you can get the message. If you interrupt and talk, express your own desires, you lose some part of the benefit bestowed by the listening.
Throughout much of Devarim, the mitzvah is singular and not clearly identified, Listening would seem to be close to it;
As I listen to the 10 commandments I try to understand the fist commandment: Gd says: It is all about Me. Just as in Genesis, the first creation encompasses all of creation, the first commandment encompasses all The summary precedes the details.
The interplay between the fourth ( honor parents) and fifth ( Shabbath) commandments is interesting.
Back in Vayikra ( 19:3) we are told:
Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and ye shall keep My sabbaths.
The relationship between parents and the Shabbath is mentioned. That verse, in Vayikra, was taught to me as a message to give the word of Gd ( as interpreted by the rabbis) priority. Yet the Shema instructs the parent to teach the child about Gd and the mitzvah. On cannot hear two voices ( Megilla 21b) even if they are saying the same thing! Perhaps listening to the Shabbath corrects the message of the parents. Perhaps listening to the parents corrects the message of Shabbath.
The story of the people of Israel standing before Sinai is retold. The people beg for the voice to be silenced. Let Gd speak to Moshe and let the law trickle down to the people. The voice is lethal! But a way must be found to listen.
posted by Sheldon Goldberg at 10:52 AM
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