VaEt'chanan

(1) Comfort, oh comfort My people, says your God. (2) Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and declare to her that her term of service is over, that her iniquity is expiated; for she has received at the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.

(9) Ascend a lofty mountain, O herald of joy to Zion;

Raise your voice with power, O herald of joy to Jerusalem—

Raise it, have no fear; announce to the cities of Judah: behold your God!

O herald of joy to Zion. The congregation of prophets that herld the redemption to Zion.

The description here is of Zion herself as the herald, and so too Jerusalem. It says - you Zion the herald go up on a high mountain and you Jerusalem raise your voice with strength, don't be afraid lest the thing which you announce not come to pass, because it certainly will come. Not only this but also say to the cities of Yehudah 'here is your Gd' as if you are pointing to something which has already come and exists.

The two crowns that crown the people of Israel are: a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש). The nature of kingdom is manifested in Zion, the City of David ... The place that is the reflection in our world of the foundation of holiness of all worlds, the dwelling of holiness, is Jerusalem, place of our Temple ...

(23) I pleaded with ה' at that time, saying, (24) “O lord ה', You who let Your servant see the first works of Your greatness and Your mighty hand, You whose powerful deeds no god in heaven or on earth can equal! (25) Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country, and the Lebanon.” (26) But ה' was wrathful with me on your account and would not listen to me. ה' said to me, “Enough! Never speak to Me of this matter again! (27) Go up to the summit of Pisgah and gaze about, to the west, the north, the south, and the east. Look at it well, for you shall not go across yonder Jordan. (28) Give Joshua his instructions, and imbue him with strength and courage, for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he shall allot to them the land that you may only see.”

And how do we know that Moshe prayed 515 times? It says (Devarim 3:23): "I pleaded with God at that time". ואתחנן equals 515 in gematria.

At that time I said to you, “I cannot bear the burden of you by myself.

(18) Thus I instructed you, at that time, about the various things that you should do.

(8) Thus we seized, at that time, from the two Amorite kings, the country beyond the Jordan, from the wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon—

(1) These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan.—Through the wilderness, in the Arabah near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab, (2) it is eleven days from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea by the Mount Seir route. — (3) It was in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, that Moses addressed the Israelites in accordance with the instructions that ה' had given him for them,

(4) For in seven days’ time I will make it rain upon the earth, forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth all existence that I created.”

ארבעים יום FORTY DAYS — corresponding to the period of a child’s formation, for by their sinning they had troubled their Creator to form embryos of illegitimate children (Genesis Rabbah 32:5).

The Gemara asks: Is that so that a man is matched to a woman according to his actions? But Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Forty days before an embryo is formed a Divine Voice issues forth and says: The daughter of so-and-so is destined to marry so-and-so; such and such a house is destined to be inhabited by so-and-so; such and such a field is destined to be farmed by so-and-so. This clearly states that these matters, including marriage, are decreed for a person even before he is formed. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult. This statement that Rav Yehuda says in the name of Rav is with regard to a first match [zivug], while this statement of Rabba bar bar Ḥana in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan is with regard to a second match. A first match is decreed in heaven; a second match is according to one’s actions.

(25) Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country, and the Lebanon.” (26) But ה' was wrathful with me on your account and would not listen to me. ה' said to me, “Enough! Never speak to Me of this matter again! (27) Go up to the summit of Pisgah and gaze about, to the west, the north, the south, and the east. Look at it well, for you shall not go across yonder Jordan.

(Devarim 3:26) "And ("yithaber") the L-rd with me because of you (lema'anchem), and He would not hearken to me": R. Eliezer says: He was filled with wrath ("evrah" [like "yithaber"]). R. Yehoshua says: He (the L-rd) became like a woman who could not stoop because of her fetus ("ubar" [like "yithaber"]).

בעת ההוא [I IMPLORED GRACE OF GOD] AT THAT TIME — After I had subdued the land of Sihon and Og I thought that perhaps the vow that I should not enter the land was annulled, since this was part of the land of Canaan (cf. Sifrei Devarim 26:8 and Rashi on Numbers 27:12).

Rabbi Samlai taught: For what reason did Moses our teacher greatly desire to enter Eretz Yisrael? Did he need to eat of its produce, or did he need to satisfy himself from its goodness? Rather, this is what Moses said: Many mitzvot were commanded to the Jewish people, and some of them can be fulfilled only in Eretz Yisrael, so I will enter the land in order that they can all be fulfilled by me.

(12) Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as your God ה' has commanded you. (13) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (14) but the seventh day is a sabbath of your God ה'; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do. (15) Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and your God ה' freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore your God ה' has commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

(8) Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is a sabbath of your God ה': you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. (11) For in six days ה' made heaven and earth and sea—and all that is in them—and then rested on the seventh day; therefore ה' blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

Two different reasons are given for this commandment, because of two different objects. In the Decalogue in Exodus, the following reason is given for distinguishing the Sabbath: "For in six days," etc. But in Deuteronomy (chap. 5:15) the reason is given: "And thou shalt remember that thou hast been a slave in the land of Egypt, etc., therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee," etc.

This difference can easily be explained. In the former, the cause of the honour and distinction of the day is given; comp. "Therefore the Lord hath blessed the day of the Sabbath and sanctified it" (Exod. 20:10), and the cause for this is, "For in six days," etc. But the fact that God has given us the law of the Sabbath and commanded us to keep it, is the consequence of our having been slaves; for then our work did not depend on our will, nor could we choose the time for it; and we could not rest. Thus God commanded us to abstain from work on the Sabbath, and to rest, for two purposes; namely, (1) That we might confirm the true theory, that of the Creation, which at once and clearly leads to the theory of the existence of God. (2) That we might remember how kind God has been in freeing us from the burden of the Egyptians.--The Sabbath is therefore a double blessing: it gives us correct notions, and also promotes the well-being of our bodies.

Now He said here, ‘Remember’ the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy; and in the Book of Deuteronomy it is written, ‘Observe’ the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Our Rabbis have said with respect to these verses: “Remember and Observe were both spoken with one utterance.” Now the Rabbis were not so particular as to comment on the other changes of language [between the Ten Commandments written here and those in the Book of Deuteronomy. They commented only on the above-mentioned change] because their intent is to point out that zachor (remember) constitutes a positive commandment, i.e., that He commanded that we remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy and that we do not forget it, [as will be explained further on]. [They considered] shamor (observe), on the other hand, as a negative commandment, just as they have said, “Wherever Scripture says take heed (‘hishamer’), or lest (‘pen’), or do not (‘al’), there is a negative commandment.” It warns us that we should watch it [i.e., the Sabbath] to keep it holy and that we should not profane it ...

And there were two trumpets, one on each of the two sides of the person sounding the shofar. The Gemara asks: But is it really possible to properly discern two different sounds, that of the shofar and that of the trumpets, at the same time? Isn’t it taught in a baraita: “Remember the Shabbat day” (Exodus 20:8) and “Keep the Shabbat day” (Deuteronomy 5:12), were spoken by God simultaneously in a single utterance, something that the human mouth cannot speak and the human ear cannot hear? The Gemara answers: For this reason they would sound a long blast with the shofar, to make it possible to hear the sound of the shofar on its own.

Blessed are You, L·rd, Our G·d, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His Commandments & has favored us & His Holy Shabbat, with Love & favor did He bequeath to us, a remembrance of the act of Creation, the beginning of all holy callings, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt, & Your Holy Shabbat with love & favor, You bequeathed to us. Blessed are You, L·rd, Who sanctifies the Shabbat.

Rav Adda bar Ahava said: Women are obligated to recite the sanctification of the Shabbat day [kiddush]by Torah law. The Gemara asks: Why? Kiddush is a time-bound, positive mitzva, and women are exempt from all time-bound, positive mitzvot. Abaye said: Indeed, women are obligated to recite kiddush by rabbinic, but not by Torah law. Rava said to Abaye: by Torah law, and, furthermore let us obligate them to fulfill all time-bound, positive mitzvot by rabbinic law, even though they are exempt by Torah law. Rather, Rava said: the verse said: “Remember Shabbat and sanctify it” (Exodus 20:8), while in the book of Deuteronomy it is said: “Observe Shabbat and sanctify it” (Deuteronomy 5:12). From these two variants we can deduce that anyone included in the obligation to observe Shabbat by avoiding its desecration, is also included in the mitzva to remember Shabbat by reciting kiddush. Since these women are included in the mitzva to observe so too are they included in the mitzva of remembering Shabbat.

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Had the Jewish people properly observed the first Shabbat that was commanded them, no nation or tongue would have ever ruled them, as it is stated: “And it happened on the seventh day, some people went out from the nation to collect and they did not find” (Exodus 16:27). And it is written after they went out to collect manna: “And Amalek came and fought with Israel in Refidim” (Exodus 17:8). Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: If only the Jewish people would keep two Shabbatot in accordance with their halakhot, they would be immediately redeemed, as it is stated: “So said God to the eunuchs who will keep My Shabbatot” (Isaiah 56:4), and it is written after that: “And I will bring them to My holy mountain and will let them rejoice in My house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:7).

(4) Hear, O Israel! ה' is our God, ה' alone. (5) You shall love your God ה' with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. (7) Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.

Beit Shammai say: in the evening every person must recline and in the morning he must stand, as it is stated: “When you lie down, and when you rise.”

And Beit Hillel say: Every person recites Shema as he is, as it is stated: “And when you walk along the way”.

If so, according to Beit Hillel, why was it stated: “When you lie down, and when you rise”? This is merely to denote time; at the time when people lie down and the time when people rise.

With regard to this halakha, Rabbi Tarfon (a disciple of Beit Hillel) said: Once, I was coming on the road when I stopped and reclined to recite Shema in accordance with the statement of Beit Shammai. I endangered myself due to the highwaymen [listim]. The Sages said to him: You deserved to be in a position where you were liable to pay with your life, as you transgressed the statement of Beit Hillel.

ואהבת AND THOU SHALT LOVE [THE LORD] — Fulfil His commands out of love, for one who acts out of love is not like him (is on a higher plane than one) who acts out of fear. He who serves his master out of fear, if he (the master) troubles him overmuch, leaves him and goes away (Sifrei Devarim 32:1).

בכל לבבך [THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD] WITH ALL THY HEART — The form of the noun with two ב instead of the usual form לבך suggests: Love Him with thy two inclinations (the יצר הטוב and the יצר הרע) (Sifrei Devarim 32:3; Berakhot 54a). Another explanation of בכל לבבך, with all thy heart, is that thy heart should not be at variance (i.e. divided, not whole) with the Omnipresent God (Sifrei Devarim 32:4).

ובכל נפשך AND WITH ALL THY SOUL — even though He take thy soul (even though you have to suffer martyrdom to show your love of God) (Sifrei Devarim 32:5; Berakhot 54a, Berakhot 61b).

ובכל מאדך AND WITH ALL THY MIGHT, i.e. with all thy property. You have people whose property is dearer to them than their bodies (life), and it is on this account that there is added, “and with all thy property" (Sifrei Devarim 32:6). — Another explanation of ובכל מאדך is: — Thou shalt love Him whatever measure (מדה) it may be that He metes out to thee, whether it be the measure of good or the measure of calamity. Thus also did David say, (Psalms 116:13 and 3) "If I lift up the cup of salvation, [I will call upon the name of the Lord]; If I find trouble and sorrow, [I will call upon the name of the Lord]”.

The mishna continues: A groom is exempt from the recitation of Shema on the first night of his marriage, which was generally Wednesday night, until Saturday night, if he has not taken action and consummated the marriage. There was an incident where Rabban Gamliel married a woman and recited Shema even the first night. His students said to him: Didn’t our teacher teach us that a groom is exempt from the recitation of Shema? He answered them: Nevertheless, I am not listening to you to refrain from reciting Shema, and in so doing preclude myself from the acceptance of the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, for even one moment.

The Gemara relates at length how Rabbi Akiva fulfilled these directives. The Sages taught: One time, after the bar Kokheva rebellion, the evil empire of Rome decreed that Israel may not engage in the study and practice of Torah. Pappos ben Yehuda came and found Rabbi Akiva, who was convening assemblies in public and engaging in Torah study. Pappos said to him: Akiva, are you not afraid of the empire? Rabbi Akiva answered him: I will relate a parable. To what can this be compared? It is like a fox walking along a riverbank when he sees fish gathering and fleeing from place to place.
The fox said to them: From what are you fleeing?
They said to him: We are fleeing from the nets that people cast upon us.
He said to them: Do you wish to come up onto dry land, and we will reside together just as my ancestors resided with your ancestors?
The fish said to him: You are the one of whom they say, he is the cleverest of animals? You are not clever; you are a fool. If we are afraid in the water, our natural habitat which gives us life, then in a habitat that causes our death, all the more so.
The moral is: So too, we Jews, now that we sit and engage in Torah study, about which it is written: “For that is your life, and the length of your days” (Deuteronomy 30:20), we fear the empire to this extent; if we proceed to sit idle from its study, as its abandonment is the habitat that causes our death, all the more so will we fear the empire.

The Sages said: Not a few days passed until they seized Rabbi Akiva and incarcerated him in prison, and seized Pappos ben Yehuda and incarcerated him alongside him. Rabbi Akiva said to him: Pappos, who brought you here? Pappos replied: Happy are you, Rabbi Akiva, for you were arrested on the charge of engaging in Torah study. Woe unto Pappos who was seized on the charge of engaging in idle matters.

The Gemara relates: When they took Rabbi Akiva out to be executed, it was time for the recitation of Shema. And they were raking his flesh with iron combs, and he was reciting Shema, thereby accepting upon himself the yoke of Heaven. His students said to him: Our teacher, even now, as you suffer, you recite Shema? He said to them: All my days I have been troubled by the verse: With all your soul, meaning: Even if God takes your soul. I said to myself: When will the opportunity be afforded me to fulfill this verse? Now that it has been afforded me, shall I not fulfill it? He prolonged his uttering of the word: One, until his soul left his body as he uttered his final word: One. A voice descended from heaven and said: Happy are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your soul left your body as you uttered: One.

The ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: This is Torah and this its reward? As it is stated: “From death, by Your hand, O Lord, from death of the world” (Psalms 17:14); Your hand, God, kills and does not save. God said the end of the verse to the ministering angels: “Whose portion is in this life.” And then a Divine Voice emerged and said: Happy are you, Rabbi Akiva, as you are destined for life in the World-to-Come, as your portion is already in eternal life.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days as joyous for the Jewish people as the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur, as on them the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in white clothes, which each woman borrowed from another. Why were they borrowed? They did this so as not to embarrass one who did not have her own white garments. All the garments that the women borrowed require immersion, as those who previously wore them might have been ritually impure. And the daughters of Jerusalem would go out and dance in the vineyards. And what would they say? Young man, please lift up your eyes and see what you choose for yourself for a wife. Do not set your eyes toward beauty, but set your eyes toward a good family, as the verse states: “Grace is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30), and it further says: “Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates” (Proverbs 31:31). And similarly, it says in another verse: “Go forth, daughters of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon, upon the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, and on the day of the gladness of his heart” (Song of Songs 3:11). This verse is explained as an allusion to special days: “On the day of his wedding”; this is the giving of the Torah through the second set of tablets on Yom Kippur. The name King Solomon in this context, which also means king of peace, is interpreted as a reference to God. “And on the day of the gladness of his heart”; this is the building of the Temple, may it be rebuilt speedily in our days.

The mishna taught that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days as happy for the Jewish people as the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur. The Gemara asks: Granted, Yom Kippur is a day of joy because it has the elements of pardon and forgiveness, and moreover, it is the day on which the last pair of tablets were given. However, what is the special joy of the fifteenth of Av?

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: This was the day on which the members of different tribes were permitted to enter one another’s. What did they expound: “This is the matter that the Lord has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying this matter shall be practiced only in this generation.

Rav Yosef said that Rav Naḥman said: The fifteenth of Av was the day on which the tribe of Benjamin was permitted to enter the congregation of the Jewish people as it is stated: “And the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying: None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife” (Judges 21:1). What did they expound that enabled them to dissolve this oath? Rav said: They understood the verse literally, as it states: “None of us,” and not: None of our children.

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The fifteenth of Av was the day on which the deaths of the Jews in the wilderness ceased. The entire generation that had left Egypt had passed away, as the Master said: as long as the death of the Jews in the wilderness had not ceased, God’s speech did not come to Moses, as it is stated: “And it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, that the Lord spoke to me, saying” (Deuteronomy 2:16–17). Only then was God’s speech delivered to me, i.e., Moses, but not beforehand.

Ulla said: The fifteenth of Av was the day on which King Hoshea, son of Ela, canceled the guards that Jeroboam, son of Nevat, placed on the roads so that the Jews would not ascend to Jerusalem for the pilgrim Festival. And Hoshea, son of Ela, said that they may ascend to wherever they wish, i.e., they may go to Jerusalem, Bethel, or Dan.

Rav Mattana said: There was an additional salvation on this day, as it was the day that the slain of Beitar were brought to burial, several years after the battle at Beitar (see Gittin 57a). And Rav Mattana said: On the same day that the slain of Beitar were brought to burial, they instituted the blessing: Who is good and does good, at Yavne. Who is good, thanking God that the corpses did not decompose while awaiting burial, and does good, thanking God that they were ultimately brought to burial.

It is Rabba and Rav Yosef who both say: The fifteenth of Av was the day on which they stopped chopping down trees for the arrangement of wood that burned on the altar, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: From the fifteenth of Av onward, the strength of the sun grows weaker, and from this date they would not cut additional wood for the arrangement, as they would not be properly dry, and they would therefore be unfit for use in the Temple. Rav Menashya said: And they called the fifteenth of Av the day of the breaking of the scythe, as from this date onward no more trees were cut down, and therefore it was a celebration for the trees. The Gemara adds: From the fifteenth of Av onward, when the days begin to shorten, one who adds to his nightly Torah study will add years to his life, and he who does not add [mosif] will be gathered [ye’asef]. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase: He will be gathered? Rav Yosef said: It means that his mother will bury him, as he will be gathered to his grave (see Genesis 49:33).