Va’eschanan - 7th Portion

Join me as we learn for Shabas parasan the seventh Torah reading chapter 7 verse1 yesterday we learned about the commandments where Moshe reminds the Jewish people about not only observing the commandments but develop and cultivate a love for God and as well as the awe of God and by following the commandments we generate that love and awe that we have of God. Today, Moshe continues to remind the Jewish people about the great miracles that God has done to them and the reason why we follow the commandments and as well as the prohibition of intermarriage and to get rid of any idolatry when they come into the land of Israel. Reminding the Jewish people of their significance of being the holy nation, the unique nation as we'll read in today's Torah reading chapter 7 verse one. Because when God your God will bring you to the land that you are entering there to possess it and he will cast out many nations before you. Who are these nations theites and the priestites and theites and theites? Seven great nations. Seven great nations stronger and more powerful than you. They're more numerous and stronger than you meaning that he's going to throw them out. We find the same terminology when a person's uh chopping wood and the iron goes flying off and therefore hits somebody. The same terminology is used when God will then deliver them to you. and you'll be able to uh destroy them. You should utterly destroy them. Please do not make any covenant with them and do not be gracious to them. The word there's in the Talmud has many different opinions of what the word means and the tract of and this applies to the seven nations who it applies to. But over here Rashi gives a few interpretations. Number one, do not be gracious to them. A person is not allowed to say to another person, "Oh, look how beautiful this individual is if he's a non-Jew." Another explanation is do not allow them to stay in the land. You're not allowed to sell property in the land of Israel to a non-Jew. Verse three. Now the laws of intermarriage. You must not intermar with them. Do not give your daughter to their son and do not take their daughter for your son. Verse four. When for if what happens is the children that come from such type of intermarages what happens is they will then turn away your Jewish grandchildren whatever it may be and they'll start to serve other gods and God will then become very upset and angry with you and he will quickly destroy you. Now what is he talking about? How is it possible that your son is going to go away from me? So there are two ways that can happen. Number one ways the son of a non-Jew who marries your daughter is going to take away your children. That means your grandchild even though technically your grandchild will be Jewish because since the mother is Jewish but because the non-Jewish father is going to take him astray to the places where he wants to go. that's going to be that your daughter is going to give birth to from away from me from here. We heard the verse tells us many ask how do I know that the Jewish literary goes after the mother over here is one of those places where the Torah expresses clearly that the daughter's child is still called God's bin son. Why? Because the daughter's child is a Jewish person. So therefore, what the Torah is telling us over here the son of your daughter comes from a non-Jew considered Jewish as we see that the Torah is still concerned about this child serving idolatry but your grandson who comes from a non-Jewish woman is not called your son because it doesn't say it about the second part of the verse about your daughter not taking another man that your son will go astray only when your son goes away meaning over referring to only when the mother what that means if the mother's a non-Jew is not considered as a Jew because already at that point the moment he's born to a non-Jew is already given over to idolatry even though it's your son and that's why if you look at the words that the Torah tells us that when your son goes away is referring to the case we are your daughter marries a non-Jew and that's the last part of the previous verse therefore telling us that that grandson is Jewish why then is he serving idolatry because his father who's not Jewish is taking him that However, if it was the son that married a girl, that non-Jewish, that's a non-Jewish child regardless. [snorts] Verse five, this rather this is what you must do to them. Their altars you must destroy and their monuments you must break. You must smash and you must cut down their defiled trees and their and their sculptures should burn in fire. Their altars shall those that they built out of stone their statues which is made out of one stone. They're trees that they bow down to. These are trees that they bow to that they serve and their sculptures. These are grave and images that they make. Verse number seven, God did not delight in you because you were the most numerous of all the nations and therefore he chose you. Why did he choose you? On the contrary, you are the least of all people. You are the the the minority. Simply put, meaning it's not because you were many, that's why God chose you. desired you consider yourselves humble like or like motion that what are we not like the king of I'm just like God so who's like God not so if you look at the Jewish leaders they're all the ones that are humble look at the non-Jewish leaders they're all the ones that are egotistic and that's what God is saying I picked you out of your humility. In this case, key as we mentioned has four different ways. In this case, it's because as well, what does God say? Why he chose the Jewish people? Verse eight, God loves you. Because he kept the oath that he swore to your forefathers. God took you out with a mighty arm and he released you and redeemed you from the house of slaves from the hand of the king of Pharaoh. Key in this case as we mentioned uh key before was because in this case only God did not take you because since you are the most numerous only because he loves you because since he has to keep to the oath that he made to your forefathers. Verse 9. Seeing that God has kept your promise, you can know that God your God will he is one that is a faithful God will always keep his terms of the covenant and the kindness lay to those who love him and those that keep his commandments for thousands of generations. But even beforehand he said before in chapter 5 he said for 2,000 before when he was talking about the people who keep the mitzvah out of love it says 2,000 over here he's talking about those who keep the mitzvah out of fear out of awe it's a thousand greater is the reward to one who follows God out of love than the one who follows God out of all those are those that do the mitzvah out of love. Those that do the mitzvah out of all. Verse 10. And he recompenses those who hate him. To destroy them. That means that they while they're still alive. He does not delay one who hates him. He recmpasses them while he is still alive. That means while the guy is still alive of the evil guy will give him back his good. So therefore he doesn't have a portion in the world to come. One who is evil will get his reward. Even though he may do something good he'll get it in this world so that when it comes the world to come he shouldn't get anything. Verse 11. Therefore, you shall guard and observe the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that I command you today to do. Today, you will do them. Says tomorrow, meaning in the world to come, you will get your reward. This concludes the Torah reading of