This weeks parsha always follows Tisha B’aav, there’s a section in this weeks reading which discuss the time that will come, when the Jews will sin and will receive terrible punishments because of their sins. The reason given why the Jews came or will come to sin was due to complancency, when a person becomes set  and comfortable, it is very easy to forget G-d and to do whatever it is you feel like doing.  The only reason for any of these punishments is so that we should remember Hashem and go back to doing his way. Which is why that section of the parsha leaves us with intense  hope, “When we do remember Hashem and seek him with our hearts and souls we will find him” as soon as we look for Hashem earnestly and honestly we will find him, then our former glorious relationship with Hashem will be restored.

Tisha B’aav is historically the day for Jewish Mourning, many national tragedies have occurred on this day, namely the destruction of both Temples. The second Temple was destroyed 2000 years . Over and above all the things we are mourning for,  is that due to our sins G-D’s presence no longer dwells among us. The main sin for which the second Temple was destroyed, was based on the hatred one Jew carries for another. until we can correct that we will not be restored to our previous status.

The posuk says “You should love Hashem with all your hearts”  why does the posuk use the plural form of heart, “hearts” ? The sages said , it means with both of your inclinations, your good and evil inclination. How can we use our evil inclination to serve G-D?  There are times where a person can use their negative traits for positive, for example,  jealously.  Jealously is typically a bad trait, but for example, in an instance where you would be jealous of someone else’s good deeds, that can help you try to do those good deeds.

Rabbi Akiva, the great scholar who only began learning at the age of 40, was passing by a stream where he noticed a rock that had a hole in it. The hole was created from a tiny constant drip of water over many years.  Rabbi Akiva, upon seeing this said to himself, “If a rock which is so hard, can be pierced by water, which is so soft, then certainly my heart which is softer than a rock can be pierced by Torah which is stronger than water.”

The beginning of Devarim discusses Moshe giving rebuke to the Jews. A cursory glance at the posuk doesn’t necessarily scream rebuke, rather one must look at Rashi do fully understand the rebuke Moshe was offering. Why didn’t Moshe put it bluntly, instead of forcing the reading between the lines? We are to learn from this that one must constantly be reading between the lines, you must  look into something to take something out of it.

There is a Posuk in Isiah where he reprimands the Jews that an ox knows is master, a donkey it’s trough, but the Jews do not know G-d who raised them.  A question raised is that an ox and donkey dont have any intellegince and whatever they know is instictive and natural.  We who have thought and must try to figure these things out how can it be a complaint on us?  The answer must be that we do naturally believe in G-d and it is only our desires that blind us to this obvious truth.  Since we go out of our way to push away the knowledge we can be punished for it.

In this weeks Parsha, Moshe is recounting to the Jews their experiences together, Moshe repremands them where appropriate and offers words of encouragement where appropriate. There is one posuk telling over what Hashem said to Moshe to tell the Jews while on Har Sinai  “you’ve grown a lot here and its time for you to move on and meet the rest of the world” . The question is asked, if they were growing so much, why not allow them to stay there forever and continue to grow? This is to show us,  when we have the Torah nearby, one may think that it’s constricting and limiting to that place, but even when we are not in that place,  one can and must do what the Torah requires , and this will helpus grow and improve the world.

There is a Posuk in Tehillim reffering to Hashem that says, “to recount in the mornings Your kindness and Your faithfulness in the nights”.  The mornings are symbolic of times of redemption, when we clearly see Hashems presence among us, therefore we would count his kindness which is evident and clearly visible.  The nights however are symbolic of times of turmoil, whether personal or national, and this is why we take about G-d’s faithfulness, no matter how bad things may seem, it is still being guided by Hashem and there is a light in the end of the tunnel, although you may not see it.

There’s a posuk in Aycha (Lamentations) which when reffering to the day of the destruction of the Bais Hamkidash , refers to it as Moad (Moed is the word used in the torah to refer to holidays, literally translatyed means time). Why is Moed, which is generally used for holidays (happy occassions) is used now for such a sad event. Rav Gifter explains, just as we get close to Hashem during happy events, we can get close to Hashem maybe even more so during sad and tragic times.

The Tribes Rueven, Gad and half the tribe of Menashe, wanted to settle outside Israel proper on the east bank of the Jordan River.  Moshe Got upset at them and for 10 sentences the Torah writes of Moshe rebuking them. Immediately following his Rebuke, they explain to him that they did not intend to immediately settle outside, rather they would fight with and help their brothers in attaining Israel, before settling in the east bank.  If they had a good excuse, why wouldn’t they have cut Moshe off right away to explain. We learn from this how valuable it is when one is rebuked to sit through it, even if the rebuke is incorrect. Posuk from Mishlei (Proverbs) ” Rebuke a wise man and he will love you, but be wary to rebuke a fool lest he hate you.”