Parashat Va'etchanan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11) for Aug. 5, 2006
This week's parasha study has been generously sponsored by Linda Halton
in memory of her mother and father William and Freda Brayer.
On Tisha B'av we reflect on Israel's exile at the hands of the Romans and pray that we will have the strength to withstand this current attack.
Study with Baruch Sienna
This year's cycle of weekly Parasha study explores what connections and insight we can find by examining the Torah portion together with the Haftarah.
This week with the recent events in Israel and the world, it seems fitting that we commemorate Tisha b'Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. Tisha b'Av marks the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people from the land of Israel. The first Shabbat after Tisha B'Av we read Parshat Va'etchanan, but the Shabbat is more commonly referred to as Shabbat Nachamu, this name taken from the opening words of the haftarah from (Second) Isaiah: Nachamu, nachamu- Comfort, comfort My people. This is the first (of seven) haftarot of consolation that follow the past three weeks of haftarot of admonition.
The portion Va'etchanan contains both the Shma and a recapitulation of the Ten Commandments (that differs in both slight, and more significant ways from the text in Exodus.
Second Isaiah lived a century later than Isaiah, after the exile (586 BCE). The prophet addresses the exiles of Judah now in Babylon and brought words of comfort. Because of his message of consolation that Israel's sins are forgiven, we assume that these prophecies were delivered after Cyrus the Mede conquered Babylon and permitted the Judeans to return to Jerusalem (538 BCE).
I don't like to use this weekly column as a soapbox for political commentary around current events, but I can't ignore the recent events in Israel. I am tired of Israel being attacked, both physically and in the media. "Pro-Israeli" websites present what seems to me to be a more balanced perspective; the rest of the world sees Israel as the aggressor, Israel as the source of violence and Israel as the reason for instability in the region. With every civilian casualty and Israeli air strike, the world goes on a media feeding frenzy to attack Israel's position. Yet even with a pro-Israeli perspective, killing over fifty (mostly women and children) civilians in an air strike is never a good thing.
It is tragic when 75 year old grandmothers and 4 year old children are killed by Israeli missiles, and it certainly does not advance the cause of peace. But it is never pointed out that these unfortunate (and I'll admit- all too often) incidents are, to use the military euphemism, "collateral damage". Too bad that the media also doesn't point out that Hezbollah shields itself behind UN posts and schools and other civilian positions, believing that Israel will not dare retaliate precisely to avoid civilian casualties. Israel doesn't target civilians, unlike Hezbollah who deliberately is firing missiles onto Israeli schools and hospitals. Hezbollah's hundreds of missiles raining down on Israel (and Israeli casualties) don't make the front page. It seems Hezbollah has permission to attack.
But in this current conflict, each side has miscalculated the other's fierceness and willingness to fight with the result of ever escalating violence and destruction. Even with Israel's army's response, Israel has suffered significant military and civilian casualties. Israel is now fighting on two borders; and the news headlines from the rest of the world are equally depressing: suicide bombers and car bombs continue to inflict casualties in Afghanistan, a recent shooting of a Jewish woman in Seattle has shocked the community, and violence in India and Sri Lanka make the world a scary place.
As long as the conflict was about Palestinian sovereignty and land borders, I believed that eventually a peace settlement would be (or theoretically, could be) reached. But Hezbollah has raised the conflict to a new level. I am anxious and disturbed by this latest conflict, and agree with many analysts that see this new war as not just 'more of the same.' We have to stop pretending that Iran's message that "Israel must be wiped off the map" and Al Qaeda's call to all Muslims to attack the western world is just empty rhetoric. Israel and the US are seen as the enemies of Islam, and the conflict is real. Good meaning Muslims must challenge these messages of hate and intolerance and work for a moderate Islam that can function in modern society.
Isaiah's "Lebanon is not fuel enough" refers to the cedars of Lebanon that in the days of the Bible were used for the Temple sacrifices. Too bad that today it seems that Lebanon is again 'not fuel enough' and is being 'sacrificed.' It seems unlikely that the US efforts can stabilize Lebanon, and neutralize Hezbollah which has become even more popular in confronting Israel's 'invincible' army. In fact, Hezbollah continued to attack Israel undeterred from Israel's air strikes, and has come out of this conflict stronger than ever.
So on Tisha B'av we reflect on Israel's destruction at the hands of the Romans and pray that we will have the strength to withstand this current attack. This week's haftarah words of comfort are therefore more timely than ever:
"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!" (Isa. 40: 9)
Shabbat Shalom,
BDS
