Parshat D'varim
Rabbi David Laor
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Shabat Shalom!
This Shabbat, which takes place before the 9th of Av, is called “Shabbat Chazon”, in light of the first words of the Haftarah reading, that we read from the first chapter of the book of Isaiah ben Amotz. On the one hand, Isaiah rebukes at people who sins against God, and on the other hand, he offers us a comforting and very important ethical message, which teaches us the deep meaning about the purpose of sacrifices and offerings in the Temple, which the Jews in the world crave and remember with poems and prayers on the 9th of Av.
Why then - asks the prophet - are all the sacrifices on the altar necessary, if the people who bring them do not stop doing evil in the eyes of God? Isaiah opens his book in a very critical manner, addressing an evil people, who visit the Temple to atone for their iniquities, offering incense, blood of bulls and sheep. On verse 11, God ponders: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs or of goats”. In other words, being sinners, do you think you can atone for your sins only with offerings? And a few verses later it says: "who hath required this from your hand, to tread My courts”, And in verse 15, it clearly states: "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood”. So, even today, if we raise our prayers, God may still not listen to us!
So what is the true path to forgiveness and atonement? What does the Lord require from us, if the sacrifices of the Temple and today´s prayers in the synagogues, are not enough? The answer is found later in verses 16 and 17: “Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 learn to do well. Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless, plead for the widow”, after that Isaiah concludes: “18 Come now, and let us reason together”, and if your sins were many: “ ...they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool”.
With those beautiful words from tomorrow´s Haftarah, this Shabbat, just before the day of mourning – for the memory of the destruction of both Temples, Isaiah loudly rebukes the evil people in his time. His words, however, echo to us today, because we can get lost in the numerous ceremonies or if we focus on many details, and lose the essence, the moral, the ethical message of the true desire of the Creator of the Universe. In Israel, it is said that "שמרוב פתקים לא רואים את הכותל" – there are so many notes in the fissures of the Wailing Wall, that the wall itself is lost. The words of the prophet reach us 28 centuries later, to our days, with an indescribable relevance, vigorous and strong!
The Temple, the offerings, the burnt offerings, the sacrifices with blood, and today our prayers, make no sense, if the people do not take away the evil from their hearts, if they do not demand judgment, if they do not help the poor, the orphan and the widow, to anyone who needs our support! Can't you even imagine how a third temple could exist?! Many sages did not even try to imagine it, and left everything in the hands of the messianic age. Today there are those who visualize it as a spiritual center for the entire world, without sacrifices or offerings on the altar, just prayers.
This 9th of Av, I shall be in sad grief, but not because of the loss of two glorious temples that were left in ruins, but because of what the people on those days did to lose them. I shall mourn for the shadows of war covering today the entire Middle East, I mourn because the cynical use of religion in Israel today, where you see in the TV news criminals appearing in court becoming suddenly “religious”, with Kipa and even Talit, covering their faces with books of Psalms. That is what I mourn for, more than buildings from times past.
It is worth mentioning, that in describing the construction of the Tabernacle, long before the first Temple, God indicated in the book of Exodus 25:8 “וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם” - “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them”. Among them, it is written, not in the middle of the Temple, but in the middle of each one of us, because the altar is our own heart, and the "sacrifice" is what we can give, specially the most valuable: our time, by helping those who are in need.
It is an appropriate moment to remember, the wise words of one of the greatest personalities and spiritual leaders of the world, Mahatma Ghandi who said: "In prayer is better, a heart without words than words without heart..."
Shabat Shalom!
Rabbi David Laor
August 9th 2024
Tue, October 8 2024
6 Tishrei 5785
Rabbi's Sermons
Bereshit - Genesis
- Parshat Bereshit: Oct. 26, 2019, October 1, 2021, October 2, 2021
- Parshat Noah: Nov. 2, 2019, October 8, 2021, Oct. 29, 2022
- Parshat Lekh-L'kha: Nov. 9, 2019, Oct. 31, 2020, Oct. 31, 2020 - Part 2, Oct. 15, 2021
- Parshat Vayeira: Nov. 16, 2019, Nov. 7, 2020, Nov. 7, 2020 - Part 2, Oct. 22, 2021, Oct. 23, 2021
- Parshat Hayei Sara: Nov. 14, 2020, Oct. 30, 2021
- Parshat Toldot: Nov. 30, 2019, Nov. 21, 2020, Nov. 6, 2021
- Parshat Vayeitzei: Nov. 28, 2020, Nov. 13, 2021
- Parshat Vayishlah: Dec. 14, 2019 , Dec. 5, 2020, November 20, 2021
- Parshat Vayeisheiv: Dec. 12, 2020, Nov. 27, 2021
- Parshat Miketz: Dec. 4, 2021
- Parshat Vayigash: Jan. 4, 2020, Dec. 26, 2020, Dec. 11, 2021
- Parshat Vay'hi: Jan. 11, 2020, Jan. 2, 2021
Shemot-Exodus
- Parshat Sh'mot: Jan. 18, 2020, Jan. 18, 2020 - Part 2, Jan. 9, 2021
- Parshat Va'eira: Jan. 25, 2021
- Parshat Bo: Feb. 1, 2020, Jan. 23, 2021
- Parshat B'shalah: Jan. 30, 2021, Jan. 15, 2022, Feb. 3, 2023, Feb.4, 2023
- Parshat Yitro: Feb. 15, 2020, Feb. 6, 2021, Feb. 6, 2021, Feb. 21, 2022, Feb. 22, 2022
- Parshat Mishpatim: Feb. 22, 2020, Feb. 18, 2023
- Parshat T'rumah: Feb. 29, 2020, Feb. 29, 2020 - Part 2, Feb. 20, 2021, Feb. 4, 2022, Feb. 5, 2022, Feb. 25, 2023
- Parshat T'tzaveh: March 7, 2020, Feb. 27, 2021, Feb. 12, 2022, Feb. 11, 2022
- Parshat Ki Tisa: March 14, 2020, March 6, 2021, February 19, 2022
- Parshot Vayak'heil-P'kudei: March 21, 2020, March 13, 2021, February 26, 2022, March 18, 2023
Vayikra-Leviticus
- Parshat Vayikra: March 20, 2021, March 11, 2022, March 24, 2023, March 25, 2023
- Parshat Tzav: April 4, 2020, March 27, 2021, March 19, 2022
- Parshat Sh'mini: April 18, 2020
- Parshot Tazria-Metzora: April 25, 2020, April 17, 2021, April 2, 2022, April 20, 2024
- Parshot Achrei Mot-Kedoshim: May 2, 2020, April 24, 2021, May 7, 2022, May 3, 2024, May 10, 2024
- Emor: May 9, 2020, May 1, 2021, May 13, 2022, May 14, 2022, May 6, 2023
- Parshot B'har-B'hukotai: May 8, 2019, May 16, 2020, May 7, 2021, May 21, 2022, May 28, 2022, May 24, 2024, May 31, 2024
Bamidbar-Numbers
- Parshat Bamidbar: May 15, 2021, May 20, 2023, June 7, 2024
- Parshat Nasso: June 6, 2020, June 6, 2020 - Part 2, May 22, 2021, June 10, 2022, June 2, 2023, June 14, 2024
- Parshat B'ha'alotcha: June 13, 2020, June 13, 2020 - Part 2, June 9, 2023, June 10, 2023, June 21, 2024
- Parshat Sh'lach: June 20, 2020, June 20, 2020 - Part 2, June 5, 2021, June 28, 2024
- Parshat Korah: June 27, 2020, July 18, 2020, July 24, 2023, July 5, 2024
- Parshot Chukat-Balak: June 26, 2021, July 12, 2024, July 19, 2024
- Parshat Pinchas: July 11, 2020, July 11, 2020 - Part 2, July 2, 2021, July 3, 2021, July 22, 2022, July 23, 2022, July 26, 2024
- Parshot Matot-Masei: July 18, 2020, July 18, 2020 - Part 2, July 10, 2021, July 30, 2022, August 2, 2024
D'varim-Deuteronomy
- Parshat D'varim: July 25, 2020, July 25, 2020 - Part 2, July 17, 2021, August 6, 2022, August 9, 2024
- Parshat Va'et'hanan: Aug. 1, 2020, July 24, 2021, August 12, 2022, August 13, 2022, Aug. 16, 2024
- Parshat Eikev: Aug. 8, 2020, July 31, 2021, August 19, 2022, August 20, 2022
- Parshat Re'eh: August 7, 2021, August 30, 2024
- Parshat Shoftim: September 7, 2019, Aug. 22, 2020, August 14, 2021, August 14, 2021 - Part 2, September 3, 2022, September 6, 2024
- Parshat Ki Teitzei: Aug. 29, 2020, August 20, 2021, September 13, 2024
- Parshat Ki Tavo: Sept. 5, 2020, Sept. 5, 2020 - Part 2, August 28, 2021, Sept. 17, 2022, Sept. 20, 2024
- Parshot Nitzavim-Vayeilech: Sept. 11, 2021, September 24, 2022, Sept. 27,2024
- Parshat Ha'Azinu: Sept. 26, 2020, October 4, 2024
- Parshat Haberakhah
Rosh HaShanah: Sept. 19, 2020, Sept. 19, 2020 - Part 2, Sept. 19, 2020 - Part 3, Sept. 20, 2020, Sept. 7, 2021, Sept. 8, 2021, Sept. 9, 2021, Sept. 26, 2022
Yom Kippur: Sept. 28, 2020, Sept. 16, 2021, October 5, 2022
Sukkot: Oct. 3, 2020 , Sept. 20, 2021
Passover: April 3, 2021, April 23, 2022, April 7, 2023, April 12, 2023 April 27, 2024
Rosh Hodesh: April 22, 2023
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