Parsha for Kids: V'eschanan 2023
Below is the transcript for this week’s episode of Parsha for Kids, V’eschanan 2023.
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Season 5 Episode 2:
Hello! My name is Chana and this is Parsha for Kids. The parsha of the week is V’eschanan, or V’etchanan. V’eschanan means “And I begged.”
Who begged? And what did they beg for?
It was Moshe. Remember that Sefer Devarim is Moshe’s account of his and the nation’s experiences as they traveled through the Midbar, in an effort to prepare the new generation for their life in the holy land. Here, Moshe revealed to the nation that he had actually begged God multiple times to allow him into the Holy Land.
But God did not listen to Moshe, and said to him, “Rav lach, it is enough for you, do not speak to me anymore about this matter. Go up to the top of the hill and lift your eyes up to the west, north, south and east, for you shall not cross this Yarden. But command Yehoshua and strengthen him for he will cross over before this people and he will make them inherit the land that you will see.”
We learn something very important from this episode. Sometimes God says no.
When people are young, they sometimes think of God like a vending machine. When you are standing in front of a vending machine, you select the item you want to buy- perhaps a can of Coke- and insert four bright quarters or a one dollar bill. After this transaction, you get your Coke. People sometimes think God is like that as well. You tell God what you want- for example, a new toy, or for a grandparent to survive an illness- and then you pray. You then expect God to give you the thing you’ve asked for.
But that’s not how it works. Sometimes, you don’t get the new toy. And grandparents die. Because our relationships with God are not, ultimately, transactional. This means they are not like a vending machine, where you pay for what you want with money, or prayers, or sacrifices. They are so much bigger than that.
God is someone that we love, and who loves us. And that means sometimes He says no. This includes saying no to something we really want, something we think we need. Moshe really wanted to go into the Promised Land. In fact, he was desperate to go in. But God said no. And then Moshe had a choice. He could have tried to go in anyway. He could have decided, resentfully, not to prepare Yehoshua to take his place. But Moshe did not do either of these things. While he did pray to God to change His mind,in the end he accepted what God had said. He accepted God saying no.
Moshe ultimately looked at the land, the land he had so desired to enter, and he listened to God’s no. Even though it was difficult for him. Even though it was not what he wanted. Still he listened.
And there is something noble in that. It is so noble, in fact, that it has become a trope in great children’s literature and fantasy books. An example of this occurs in the Lord of the Rings. You see, in the Lord of the Rings, there is a brave character named Frodo. He is given an extremely difficult task. He comes from a place called the Shire and his dearest wish is to accomplish the task and go home to the Shire. But when he actually does come home, he realizes that he is no longer able to remain there. “The Shire has been saved, but not for me,” he says. And this is a concept we see by Moshe as well. “The Promised Land will be entered, but not by me” is the same idea. There is an element here of sacrifice, of giving up on a dream, but feeling glad that others will get to benefit from that dream.
And so, we learn that sometimes God says no. And we also learn to admire the nobility of people who are able to keep going even when God tells them no.
TRANSITION
Moshe wanted to make sure that Bnei Yisrael would be able to live and prosper in the land of Israel. To that end, he taught them what they would need to do so that they would live. There’s more than one interpretation of what it means to live. It could either refer to living in this world or it could refer to your soul continuing to live on in the World to Come.
Moshe taught God’s command-
לֹ֣א תֹסִ֗פוּ עַל־הַדָּבָר֙ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אָֽנֹכִי֙ מְצַוֶּ֣ה אֶתְכֶ֔ם וְלֹ֥א תִגְרְע֖וּ מִמֶּ֑נּוּ
Do not add to the word that I command you and do not take away from it.
It is possible that Bnei Yisrael might have such a desire to serve God that they decide it would be a good idea to add to a mitzvah. For example, we have a mitzvah to take four species, the Arba Minim, on Sukkot- the Etrog, citron, Lulav, palm branch, Hadassim, myrtle branches, and Aravos, willow branches. Maybe Bnei Yisrael would decide that if they added a gorgeous sunflower to this bouquet it would be even more meaningful. Moshe warns them not to do it- not to add to the mitzvah.
Similarly, Bnei Yisrael might decide one day that a mitzvah would be better if they changed it a little. For example, perhaps tzitzit should have only three fringes instead of four. And here again Moshe warns them not to do it and not to take away from the mitzvot.
The mitzvot reflect what God desires of us, and it is not up to us to change them. It is by following God’s commands and cleaving to Him that we remain alive. Sometimes, however, our Sages teach about a concept called hiddur mitzvah, beautifying a mitzvah. For example, we have a rule that we are supposed to make a Sukkah, but we can hang decorations in it and make it beautiful as a way of enhancing our mitzvah.
In fact, Moshe tells the nation that if they heed God’s laws and live by them, the other surrounding nations, who worshiped idols. will say
רַ֚ק עַם־חָכָ֣ם וְנָב֔וֹן הַגּ֥וֹי הַגָּד֖וֹל הַזֶּֽה:
“Only this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
Being proud of your beliefs and not apologizing for them is essential to being a Jew. To this day, we see that when Jews hold fast to their beliefs, they are respected for them. Recently I read a story about a boy who decided to become more observant and felt that it would be inappropriate for him to run in a state competition on Shabbat. Running in this way would be problematic because it would be engaging in intense exercise as a form of work on Shabbat, which at minimum would be divrei chol. Everyone around this boy told him to run, but he decided not to do so. The next year, the date of the competition was changed to be on Sunday. This time, he was able to run, and he and his team won. Many people admired this boy for standing up for his beliefs, including people who were not Jewish.
At some point in your life, you might be faced with a choice between acting as an observant Jew and keeping God’s laws and doing something that is more convenient. It is important to recognize that the way that God sees you is what is most important. Human beings can be wrong. But God created you and desires what is good for you; if you can stick to what God wants of you, that is ultimately better for you.
TRANSITION
Moshe warned Bnei Yisrael not to forget the things their eyes had seen. Instead, he urged them not to let their memories and their history leave them. He told them to make sure their children and their children’s children learn about God and His Torah.
Moshe reminded Bnei Yisrael about all that happened at Har Sinai and how God had spoken to everyone out of the midst of the fire. At Har Sinai, Bnei Yisrael heard God’s voice but did not see an image. This was important because Bnei Yisrael were about to enter a land filled with idolaters, all of whom made gods in specific forms- whether animals or humans or the constellations. Bnei Yisrael was the only nation who believed in an invisible God. Moshe wanted to make sure that Bnei Yisrael would not start misrepresenting what they had seen and convince themselves that they had actually seen some kind of image or form at Har Sinai after all.
Moshe knew that if Bnei Yisrael did start to create foreign images or serve avodah zarah God would become very angry. God would destroy His nation and scatter them across the earth. There would be very few Jews remaining. But even then, there would be hope.
וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּ֥ם מִשָּׁ֛ם אֶת־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ וּמָצָ֑אתָ כִּ֣י תִדְרְשֶׁ֔נּוּ בְּכָל־לְבָֽבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ:
And from there you will seek the Lord Your God and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.
God never abandons us. He can always be found. Even when we have sinned, even when we have been driven out of our land, we can come home to God again. This verse is one of my favorites in the entire Tanakh. If you truly look for God, you will find Him. He is always there, waiting, wanting you to come back to Him.
TRANSITION
Moshe stressed how unique God was compared to all other idolatrous Gods. The God of the Jews, our God, had done tremendous things. He spoke directly to Bnei Yisrael out of the fire on Har Sinai. He fulfilled and continues to fulfill the Brit, covenant, he made with our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. He alone is God- there is no other- in heaven above and earth below.
Moshe then separated out three additional Arei Miklat, cities of refuge, which we learned about in a previous parsha. He then repeated the Ten Commandments, Aseret HaDibrot, to Bnei Yisrael, reminding them of how important they were.
After this, Moshe said the Shema. This is an incredibly important Jewish prayer. For many children, it is the first prayer they learn.
שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהֹוָ֥ה | אֶחָֽד
Hear Oh Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
Moshe then said the second part of Shema, what we refer to as V’ahavta.
וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָֽבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ:
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your means.
Rashi explains what this means. You should love God with all your heart means that you should love Him with both your Yetzer Hara, evil inclination, and your Yetzer HaTov, good inclination. Use both of these inclinations to serve God.
With all your soul means even if He takes your soul. You may have heard of Jews being moser nefesh for Judaism, risking their lives for God’s laws and commandments. Unfortunately, there have been times throughout history where Jews were persecuted and even killed simply because they were Jews and obeyed God’s laws. One of the ultimate ways of showing God your love for Him is to be willing to die for Him.
With all your means- this refers to all your possessions. Those people who value possessions more than their bodies should love Good with their possessions. Additionally, this can also be interpreted to mean to love God no matter what He gives you. King David, for example, loved God when he was living through pain and tribulations, and also when he was given riches and honor.
V’ahavta goes on to say that we should inscribe God’s words upon our heart. We should teach them to our children, when we are sitting down in our house, getting up and walking, or when we lie down. We shall bind God’s words as a sign upon our hand and between our eyes- this refers to the Tefillin- and inscribe them on our doorposts and our gates- referring to mezuzot.
The words of God should surround us. They should be inscribed on our heart. Spoken by our lips. Written and bound to our bodies. Adorning our homes. Everywhere we look, we should see and feel God.
TRANSITION
God warned Bnei Yisrael that when they entered the land of Israel they would need to utterly destroy the Chitities, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizites, Chivites and Yevusites. If they did not, then they would fall prey to their ways, intermarry with their women, and worship their idols.
It is important to understand why God hated idolatry. Why would the powerful Jewish God care so much about someone worshiping a stone idol, or even an idol made out of gold?
Because it was not about the idol. It was bad, of course, for Bnei Yisrael to worship a false god, a god that was worthless and created by human hands, a god that wasn’t real. But in those times, in the time of idolatry, it was much worse than that. Because people who worshipped idols did things that were abhorrent. Chief among these was human sacrifice. The priests of these idols would tell their nations that the rain would only fall or the crops would only grow if they would sacrifice their sons and daughters to appease their god. And so the scared people would give their children up and kill them.
And God did not want that.
An idolatrous society was an evil society. It was a society that believed their god desired murder and cruelty. And the Jewish God did not want Bnei Yisrael to become like that. Therefore, Bnei Yisrael had to totally eradicate the seven non-Jewish nations that lived in the land of Canaan. This was only permitted because God said it was permitted.
Moshe reminded Bnei Yisrael of that when he said
כִּ֣י עַ֤ם קָדוֹשׁ֙ אַתָּ֔ה לַֽיהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּךָ֞ בָּחַ֣ר | יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ לִֽהְי֥וֹת לוֹ֙ לְעַ֣ם סְגֻלָּ֔ה מִכֹּל֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָֽאֲדָמָֽה:
For you are a holy people to the Lord your God- the Lord your God has chosen you to be His treasured people, out of all the people on the face of the earth.
Bnei Yisrael were holy. Different. Set apart. Unique. And it was their job to showcase and demonstrate their way of life - a way of life that demonstrated honesty, not taking advantage of others, not using their power over the weak or the poor- to the other nations. They were the ones who had to teach other humans how to behave- they had to make sure NOT to be influenced by the wrong ways those people were behaving.
God did not choose the Jews because they were numerous. He chose them because He loved them and He wanted to fulfill His Brit with Avrarham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. God is faithful, but we must be faithful to Him as well. Having chosen us, and having taught us a righteous way to be in the world, it is our job to be the light. We are meant to show others the way.
TRANSITION
So here’s what we learned this week:
Sometimes God says no. We must understand that and accept it, and learn how to go on even when we are not happy about it.
We are not permitted to add to or take away from mitzvot. We must keep them the way that God gave them to us.
We need to have the courage of our beliefs. We need to be proud of who we are as Jews and be willing to stand up for what we believe even when it is difficult.
It is very important to love God and to pass on the traditions He taught us to our children.
Especially in a time of idolatry, it was important that Bnei Yisrael not become confused and accept idolatrous beliefs as their own. Instead, they needed to be the ones that other nations would learn to emulate.
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