Parsha for Kids: Vayelech 2023
Below is the transcript for this week’s episode of Parsha for Kids, Vayelech 2023.
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Season 5 Episode 9:
Hello! My name is Chana, and this is Parsha for kids. The parsha of the week is Vayelech. Vayelech means “And he went.” It refers to Moshe, who went to speak the following words to Bnei Yisrael.
TRANSITION
Moshe shared that on the day that he was speaking he was 120 years old. He reiterated that he would not be able to accompany Bnei Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael. He reminded them that God would fight for them and to be strong and courageous when they entered the land. God would not fail or forsake His nation.
Moshe then spoke to Yehoshua, his disciple and the future leader of the Jewish people, specifically, advising him to be strong and courageous as well. He told Yehoshua that God would go before him and protect him. Moshe then taught Yehoshua about a special mitzvah called Hakhel. At the end of every Shemitah cycle, during Sukkot, Yehoshua or the leader of the generation would need to assemble the entire nation- men, women and little children- and read the Torah out loud to them. This would be a memorable experience that would be imprinted on their memory, and everyone would learn about and fear God, and be inspired to follow the laws of the Torah.
God spoke to Moshe and told him that he would soon die. He commanded Moshe to call Yehoshua prior to this time. God also told Moshe that despite all of Moshe’s best efforts, Bnei Yisrael would stray and forget God in the future. God told Moshe that there would come a time where God would hide His face from Bnei Yisrael because of their reliance upon other gods and idols.
It is important to recognize that God is only in hiding. It is not that He doesn’t hear or that He doesn’t care. It is that Bnei Yisrael would need to do the work to repair their relationship with God so that He could once again be fully visible to them. But God is always there, always listening, even when He seems distant.
TRANSITION
Moshe wrote a Torah scroll. He gave it to the Leviyim and told them to keep it in the Ark, Aron. He also told the nation he was aware that one day they would stray. He said he would teach them a song that would contain important ideas about God and the Torah, which we will learn about in the next parsha, Haazinu.
TRANSITION
So here’s what we learned this week!
It was important to God that everyone, even little children who might make noise, attend the Hakhel reading. This was because the Torah is for everyone, even the youngest Jew. Additionally, this experience would be very memorable, and might inspire even the littlest Jew to take the Torah seriously.
Even when it seems God is far away, He is only hiding His face. In reality, He is still there, and we are still in a relationship with Him.
If you have any questions or comments on this week’s episode, please email me at parsha4kids@gmail.com. That’s parsha the number 4 kids at gmail.com. Good Shabbos