Torah Parallels

~ THoughts on the Parsha ~ Parshas dEVARIM Get Out of the Back Seat By: Daniel Listhaus “ These are the words that Moshe spoke to all of [the B'nei] Yisroel, across the Yardein, in the wilderness, in the Plain, opposite [the Sea of] Reeds, between Paran and Tophel and Lavan, and Chatzeiros and Di-Zahav.” -Devarim 1:1 The Ramban 1 describes that the final sefer of the Torah serves three main purposes. One theme of Sefer Devarim is to repeat many of the mitzvos already commanded earlier in the Torah. For this reason, Sefer Devarim is often referred to as Mishna Torah , meaning “repetition of the Torah”. Another function of Sefer Devarim is to introduce some mitzvos which, although taught already on Har Sinai , were not yet written in the actual sefer Torah. Some of these mitzvos include hilchos yibum (laws of levirate marriage), motzei s hem ra (evil talk 2 ) , geirushin (divorce) , and eidim zomimin 3 . The third facet of Sefer Devarim is to document Moshe's mussar (rebuke) to

Parshas Balak What Do You Hear? By: Daniel Listhaus “ G-d came to Billam and said, 'Who are these men with you?' Billam said to G-d, 'Balak son of Tzippor, king of Moav sent to me: 'Behold! The people coming out of Egypt has covered the eye of the land. Now go and curse it for me; perhaps I will be able to make war against it and I will drive it away.' G-d said to Billam, 'You shall not go with them! You shall not invoke curse upon the people, for it is blessed! ” -Balak 22:9-12 After a series of internal issues and conflicts and the deaths of Miriam and Aharon, the B'nei Yisroel seem to finally regain their prestige and instill a sense of fear into the surrounding nations. After watching the battle during which the great Sichon and Og were defeated by the B'nei Yisroel , Balak realized that in order to destroy them, a different strategy would have to be used. Balak noticed that although some nations do battle with chariots and others with horses, the